Principal's Message

Dear OLA Families,

We wish all the great Dads, Uncles, Grandads, Great Grandads, neighbours and friends in our community a very special Father's Day for Sunday. Thank you for being the role models and mentors that you are and for being the kind and caring people you are.

At OLA today we loved having all our special people join us for breakfast and we thank you for spending time visiting your child's classrooms and for looking at some of the learning that they are super proud of. Thank you to our P&F, staff and the many volunteers including Grade 6 helpers for making this morning so memorable and fun. The children always say that the Father's Day and Special Friends breakfast and stall are a highlight of our school year.

God our Father,

We give you thanks and praise for fathers young and old.

We pray for young fathers, newly embracing their vocation;

may they find courage and perseverance

to balance work, family and faith in joy and sacrifice.

We pray for fathers around the world

whose children are lost or suffering;

may they know that the God of compassion

walks with them in their sorrow.

We pray for men who are not fathers

but still mentor and guide us with fatherly love and advice.

We remember fathers, uncles, grandfathers, and great grandfathers

who are no longer with us

but who live forever in our memory

and nourish us with their love.

Amen

Art Show

We are excited to invite you to the 2023 OLA Art Show! 

Wednesday 6 September 

6:30-8pm

Brigid Hall

The official opening will be at 6:30pm. We will gather in the courtyard outside Brigid Hall where Mrs Hudson and her Arts Leaders will say a few words and officially open our 2023 'Courage to Create' Art Show. We will then open the doors and families can enjoy having their child lead them through the exhibition.

Please note we will also have the Art Show open on Thursday 7 September 8:30-10am and 3-4:30pm for those who would like a second look or to bring a member of their family through that were not able to make it on Wednesday evening.

We thank our wonderful Parents & Friends Association for organising a sausage sizzle, drinks and a bake sale for Wednesday evening. The second hand uniform shop will also be open. See you there!

Book Week

The 'Magic of Reading' was certainly celebrated at OLA in Book Week 2023! Thank you to our Literacy Leader, Christine Thredgold and all the staff for your positive energy and enthusiasm that you helped generate during this week. The activities were so appreciated by all the students at OLA: 

Buddy Reading on Monday

Felice Arena - Author Visit on Tuesday

Parents read with their children on Wednesday

Teachers and Leaders read their favourite books on Thursday

Book Week Parade on Friday

State Award goes to OLA!

Last Monday we received a very special phone call. The phone call was from the Wakakirri team telling us that OLA were one of the few schools in Victoria to go to the state finals! The Victorian state performance is going to be at Frankston Arts Centre on Monday 4  September. Wishing our Wakakirri students all the very best at the Victorian State Awards Night on Monday. Chookas!

School Improvement Survey is OPEN

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS): Monday 28 August – Friday 15 September 2023

A big thank you to those who have completed this so far. We have had 17 families complete this to date which is nearly 10% of our families. We would really love to hear from at least 50% of our community. This week our staff and Grade 4-6 students have completed the survey.

Calendar

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

Key dates for the next 2 weeks...

Congratulations

Special Birthdays

Wishing our Library Support Officer, Di Milburn a very happy 60th birthday!! We hope you had a great birthday and we hope the celebrations have continued throughout the week. Happy Birthday Di!!

We also wish Shelby Turner, our Middle Years Leader and Grade 3/4ST classroom teacher a very special happy 30th birthday! May the celebrations be good fun and may you enjoy all the extra love that comes your way with it being a zero birthday. Happy Birthday Shelby!!

District Athletics

Congratulations to all who represented OLA at the recent District Athletics Carnival at Duncan Mackinnon Athletics Track on Tuesday 22 August. We also congratulate all the children who have made it to the next level of competition - Kingston Division Athletics.

Prep CH Prayer Service

There were prayers, singing, and yummy morning tea in our Prep CH classroom last Thursday as the children hosted a prayer service for their families. As a school community, we are very proud of our youngest students….there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. 

Inform & Empower

Congratulations to our partners Inform and Empower on taking out two gongs at the National Finals of iAwards for their Live Streamed Incursions. We love your energy and your innovative direction. Marty and his team help to educate our students Prep to Grade 6 to be safe online and to make good choices.

Wishing all our families a restful weekend and a lovely Sunday celebrating all the great men and special people in your lives. Thank you for another amazing couple of weeks at OLA. It is so hard to believe that we only have 2 weeks to go of Term 3.

Richard Jacques

Principal