Principal's Message

Dear OLA Families

How good is this sunshine today. There must be no better way to spend a Friday then in the sunshine and on excursion at Myuna Farm. What a great day out together and a great way to learn outside of the four classroom walls. The children’s curiosity and questions were very impressive. We are super proud of our Prep children and a big thank you to Mrs Montebruno, Miss Riley and our volunteer parents for making this day possible.

Our best wishes to Mrs Taig

Today marks a very special day in the life of our Deputy Principal, Caitlan Taig. A special thank you to Caitlan for her determined efforts and hard work to have ticked off as many items from her To Do List before heading on Parental leave this afternoon! We are so grateful for your support and for you. You turn up and you are positive and you give above and beyond. We will miss you for the remainder of the year, but we hope you know you go with our blessing and every best wish to you, Rick and Mac. May this be the bestest time. Take care. We can't wait for the updates along the way. 

It was lovely to have Raf and John from the OLA P&F present Caitlan with a special gift and card from our school community at last Friday's assembly and today we finished the day with three cheers from across the school.

Thank you to so much to our beautiful community for your well wishes, check ins, cards and gifts. It is a privilege to be part of such a wonderful school and the Taig family and Bub Number Two are definitely feeling the love! We will send through an update and photos once bay has arrived. See you all in the new year!

- Caitlan Taig

A reminder of change up of roles as of Monday

With Mrs Taig beginning Parental Leave this afternoon, I am delighted to once again share the following staff appointments during Caitlan's leave:

Deputy Principal, RE Leader & Learning and Teaching Leader - Josy Reeder

Learning Diversity Leader, Wellbeing Leader & Literacy Leader - Shelby Turner

Intervention Teacher - Ruby Powell

Congratulations and thank you to Josy, Shelby and Ruby.

Mother's Day

Last Friday our community came together to honour the extraordinary mothers and great women in our lives. We enjoyed the traditional Mother's Day and Special Friend's Breakfast, amazing coffees, open classrooms, meditation and prayer together, the Mother's Day Stall and Assembly.  

Mother's Day is such a special day on so many levels, and we hope last Friday at school and last Sunday at home that we all took a moment to celebrate and honour all the mothers and special people in our lives both past and present. Whether it was through breakfast in bed, a hug, a meal together, a heartfelt message, a thoughtful gift, or spending quality time together, it is a time where we get to show our appreciation. It has been a privilege for us on staff to hear the children speak of their gratitude and appreciation for the mothers and great women in their lives.  It's so important we recognise the care and love as well as the amazing contributions these great people make in our families and in our community. 

Thank you to everyone who was involved in helping make this such a special and memorable day. We sincerely thank Ben Gray, the P&F and the many OLA Dads for supporting the fabulous breakfast and Eli Dunlevie and her team of volunteers for supporting the stall. The generosity of our families reflects greatly on our thriving school community. It really is one of the children's most favourite days of the year and they especially love hosting you and seeing you in action making things happen and helping to create precious memories. Thank you to the generosity of all who made donations of products and time.

Junior Mayor goes to...

Congratulations to Cleo K for being elected the Junior Mayor of the City of Kingston for 2026! We also congratulate and thank her fellow school captains, Charlotte C, Noah W and Rishon S for their support and assistance in our OLA Junior Mayor entry.

On Thursday 7 May our school captains participated in the annual City of Kingston Junior Mayor Competition. 24 schools from our local community competed in the event to present a two minute speech on the topic of 'three ways our council could get young people involved in activities, programs and decisions that impact our community'. Our head speaker Cleo was supported by Charlotte, Noah and Rishon and the team worked incredibly well in the build up to develop their speech and props for the big competition. Cleo will now spend the next twelve months attending key events and council meetings where she will work alongside the Mayor of Kingston, Miss Georgina Oxley (who is also a past student of OLA!) and she will have a say in key decisions made by the local council. Congratulations! We know you will learn a lot from this amazing opportunity Cleo. 

Child Safe Standards

The Child Safe Standards are a set of 11 requirements that organisations must follow to create a culture and environment that is safe for children. These standards aim to prevent, respond to, and report child abuse by requiring organisations to implement policies, procedures, and practices that put children’s safety and wellbeing first. They were developed in response to inquiries and recommendations from Royal Commissions and aim to drive cultural change within organisations that provide services or facilities for children.

11 months 11 standards...

As a school we will highlight one Child Safe Standard each month. This intentional focus on one standard will help our school maintain it’s compliance requirements and continue to build our child safety culture. Please refer to the Child Safe Standards tab in this newsletter for this information.

2027 Preps!

We are excited to announce that Enrolments for Prep 2027 are at capacity. A reminder to anyone that you may know considering OLA for Prep next year that applications were due Monday 30 March. However, if you know of anyone who may be late to the table or may have forgotten, enrolments are still welcome and will be placed on our active Waiting List. Enrolments for other grades in 2027 are also welcome with some grades having a waiting list operating as well. Enrolments for 2028 are now open and we encourage interested families to enrol now.

We remain indebted to our current families and staff who continue to spread the great word about our school, as this was referenced by nearly every single new family we met with. It has been a joy to see the children share what they are looking forward to and to see first hand how curious and keen they are to learn.

2026 Working Bee #1 - 16/5/2026

We are looking forward to our Term 2 Working Bee going ahead on Saturday 16 May 10am-12pm. 

Like many schools, we hold Working Bees where we ask our families to commit to one rostered Working Bee a year completing basic gardening and maintenance tasks.

The Working Bees will take place on the following dates:

• Term 2 - Saturday 16 May 10am-12pm 
• Term 3 - Saturday 25 July 10am-12pm
• Term 4 - Friday 30 October 4-6pm

Please find below the 2026 Term 2 Working Bee Roster - we have families from each of the grades across each of the three Working Bees. You are welcome to bring your children to the Working Bees and they can help with tasks and/or play with other children who are also attending. The sense of pride in our school grounds and buildings is increased dramatically with engagement in activities such as this and it is a lovely informal way to get to know other families at OLA. We also ask families to bring tools along to Working Bees (clearly named) that may be able to assist us in the tasks at hand, for example, wheelbarrows, rakes, shovels, Whipper Snippers, Hedgers, blowervacs etc.

If you have a particular skill that could help the school please also let us know and we can ensure that you are able to be assigned to an appropriate task. Please note you are welcome to swap/change your days with another family or you can make a donation (on average families donate $50) if you are unable to attend. If you would like to request a different date to attend a Working Bee please email Sharan at the office (office@olacheltenham.catholic.edu.au) with your preference.  Thank you as always for your support of our great school.

2026 Working Bee #2 - 16/5/2026

NCCD and Supporting Students with Disability 

As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting all learners at OLA, our school participates each year in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). This process helps schools better understand and support the needs of students who may require adjustments to access learning on the same basis as their peers. The information below provides an overview of the NCCD process and what it may mean for your child. If you have any questions regarding your child’s learning needs or support, please feel free to contact Shelby Turner, Learning Diversity Leader and Wellbeing Leader (as of Monday!).

Sickness

It is helpful and important that when your child is sick that they do stay home to rest and recover. If you do choose to send your child to school because you think they are well enough please do not give them the words, "please get the school to ring me if you are unwell". You can imagine that this is naturally their go to state of mind.

Uniform

A timely reminder of our high expectations in regards to School Uniform here at OLA. We appreciate that we all have many balls in the air so let's be mindful not to drop this one. Please ensure your child only wears blue or black hair ties and ribbons. A simple chain necklace is welcome to be worn under the children's uniform and studs or sleeper earrings only. No bracelets/anklets/nail polish please - they are a treat for the weekend/holidays. Please also ensure white socks with sports uniform only and no logos and navy socks with our regular school uniform. Please support us as we place a press on this important aspect of school life. Taking pride in our uniform/dress is a lesson and learning for life. Winter Uniforms are to be worn in Term 2 and Term 3. 

Please note:

• No nail polish or writing on our skin.

• Hair that is below shoulder length must be tied up.

• During Winter we especially ask that students do not have different coloured short or long sleeve tops under a short sleeve shirt. 
• If wearing a short sleeve shirt they are designed to be worn outside of the bottom garment. 
• If wearing a long sleeve short then that needs to be tucked into the bottom garment.

School Fees

A reminder that school fee accounts are now due. We ask families to please ensure payments are kept up to date. If you have any questions regarding your account, or require support, please contact the school office.

Calendar

Please open the ‘Key Dates and Events’ tab in this newsletter for important dates or access the OLA Calendar here. 

School Term Dates - 2026

Term 2, 2026

Monday 20 April - Friday 26 June (10 weeks)

Term 3, 2026

Tuesday 14 July - Friday 18 September (10 weeks)

Term 4, 2026

Tuesday 6 October - Tuesday 15 Dec (11 weeks)

Please note: 

School Closure Day on Friday 5 June for Staff Professional Learning with Fr Rob Galea.

OLA Fete

Donations and Sponsorship 

The OLA fete is on Saturday 7 November, and the fete committee are busy preparing for what we hope will be an amazing event. We are currently seeking donations and sponsorship to make our fete a huge success. We ask you or anyone you know who runs a business and would like to donate, or sponsor, the OLA Fete to please contact either Antonella or Liz via email: biv_is@hotmail.com liz.grace.dawson@gmail.com 

In exchange for donations, we will provide your business with exposure via social media accounts and in the school newsletter. Let’s all work together for our beautiful school to make this year’s fete at OLA the best one yet.

Congratulations

Sophie M

Over the holidays, Sophie M competed in the Victorian Calisthenics State Titles. She won 1st place in the 11 year old Graceful Solo which is a huge achievement in the calisthenics world and an amazing achievement for our very own Sophie M from OLA.

District Cross Country

Congratulations to all students who represented OLA at the District Cross Country Championships. OLA was represented proudly and we loved how all involved gave their best. A special shout out to the following children who have progressed onto the next level and will be competing in Division Cross Country on Wednesday 27 May:

Elle F

Sophie M

Cleo K 

Brigitte M

Phoenix O

Harry C 

Special reminders:

OLA Parent Trivia Night

*School Closure Day on Friday 5 June for Staff Professional Learning with Fr Rob Galea*

Thank you, as always, for the partnership and support you bring to our wonderful school community. We look forward to seeing many of our OLA families at the Working Bee tomorrow, Saturday 16 May, 10.00am-12.00pm.

Richard Jacques

Principal