Principal's Message

Dear OLA Families,

Our first two weeks of Term 4 have whizzed by! It has been so lovely to see the delight on children's faces as they catch up after holidays especially with the many friendships, games and activities happening during our break times. Thank you for such a wonderful first couple of weeks back. It has certainly set the tone for a great term ahead. 

This term there is much to look forward to with some of the highlights including:

Trivia Night at OLA - Saturday 28 October @ 6.30-11.00pm

OLA Colour Explosion - Friday 10 November @ 12.30-2.30pm

Family Learning Walk - Reading focus - Monday 13 November @ 8.30-10.00am

Grade 4 Camp Experience - Monday 20 November

OLA School Production - Mission H20 - Thursday 30 November at Kingston Arts Centre

Grade 1-6 Orientation for 2024 - meet new teacher - Thursday 7 December

Prep Nativity at OLA - Monday 11 December @ 9am

Grade 6 Graduation - Thursday 14 December 

World Teacher's Day

We are so grateful to our fantastic P&F Team and the Grade 5 families for organising a very special morning tea for World Teachers Day last Thursday. It was a great opportunity to celebrate teachers, Learning Support Officers and our administration team and the work they do for our students and all in the OLA community. Thank you also for the many beautiful words, gifts and thoughts that were given to our team on this day.

Dipping my hat to you and all the OLA staff for World Teacher Day.

 

Just a quick note to say thank you so much for having me in class today. I find it to be a tonic for the soul - they’re all gorgeous and seeing them grow and learn under your patient guidance is such a blessing. I really appreciate the opportunity that you and OLA provide us as parent helpers.

 

Happy World Teachers Day! Your dedication and support have made this new chapter a positive and enjoyable experience for both our child and our family. Thank you.

Trivia Night

We are hosting over 190 guests at this year's OLA Spring Carnival Trivia Night in Brigid Hall on Saturday 28 October. Please book your table, make a bid on the online auction items, purchase some raffle tickets and donate some items for the class hampers. There are so many ways to get involved in this great night and we thank Lauren Koukoumanos and her team for organising this exciting event on behalf of our active 2023 P&F Team. 

Please note that the Local Matters Jar at Grill'd Heatherton is quickly filling in the favour of OLA winning the most tokens. If we win we receive $300 for our new bubblers/water taps.

Production

Preparations for our whole school production 'Mission H20' are well underway. The students are participating in acting, singing and dance rehearsals with great positivity and their classroom teachers are seeing a different side of their students! The show will be performed on the evening of Thursday 30 November at Kingston Arts Centre. We are very excited to be able to perform in this venue and for you to come and be part of the audience. 

The school production is a compulsory school event - the idea is that each child gets their chance to shine on stage and be a part of something big! Please mark it in your calendar. More information will follow about details such as costuming in the coming weeks. Great thanks to Claudelle Salter (mum of Jack) who has offered to help organise/source costumes. It would be wonderful if she had a helper or two - sewing is not a requirement!  

Please don't hesitate to email our Performing Arts teacher Trish O'Gorman if you have any questions or if you would like to help out - pogorman@olacheltenham.catholic.edu.au

Colour Run Launch

Today at school our P&F launched the 2023 OLA Colour Run which will take place at Cheltenham Park on Friday 10 November, 12.30-2.30pm. The children have been asking to do one of these for the last couple of years so we are excited that this is able to go ahead. Today the children are coming home with their Colour Run Booklet and we have sent out an Operoo with information and directions on how to register your child for this special event. We look forward to this fun day and we have ensured the start time allows for lunch orders to go ahead as normal. More information will be provided closer to the day.

Guided Learning Walk for Parents

On Monday 13 November 8.40-10.00am we will be hosting our next Learning Walk for parents at OLA. We will visit three classes from across the school with each of the classes focussing on Reading.  Our Principal, Literacy Leader, Deputy Principal and Learning & Teaching Leader will be leading the learning walk. For this walk we would like to secure approximately ten parents to join us.  We can't wait to share in all things learning and Reading with you and welcome you to book in for this walk through office@olacheltenham.catholic.edu.au

Grade 5/6 TwistED Science Excursion

Today the Senior School classes headed off to TwistED Science in Moorabbin as part of our Chemical Science unit for Term Four.

The Grade 5/6 students participated in a workshop where they experimented with different chemical reactions, as well as spending time exploring the STEM interactive learning space making discoveries with air, light, magnets, construction, and virtual landscapes. The classroom teachers said it was a joy to observe the children’s curiosity, creativity, and application of their problem solving skills throughout the open ended learning stations, as well as how they excitedly shared their scientific observations with their peers. 

We are proud of you and thank you for representing OLA with such respect and openess to learning and having fun.

Grade 5 Leadership Opportunities

The beginning of Term 4 is an exciting time for our Grade 5 students as they begin to think about and prepare for the 2024 Grade 6 Leadership positions. The senior teachers have begun talking with their students about the many wonderful opportunities that await them. Please see the timeline below and keep an eye on Operoo for further information. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any queries. 

Calling for new OSAC members

I take this opportunity to thank Linda Rumsey and Steve Bustin for their service to the OLA community as active members of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Primary School Advisory Council (OSAC) over the last 3 years. The experience and expertise that you both have provided OLA is very much appreciated. We especially appreciate you both being at the end of the phone for advice and support. Thank you Linda for your exceptional role as Chair of OSAC for the last 2 years. We know you will both continue to be great advocates for our wonderful school and that you will find new and exciting ways to remain connected.

As two vacancies have become available on OSAC, we are calling for nominations to fill these positions. Please find attached on the OSAC tab, the OSAC Membership Nomination Request, which contains detailed information regarding the role. Also please note the application closing date of Monday 30  October. We look forward to securing two new members for our team whose skills compliment those of the members already on the School Advisory Council.

Calling for 2024 Fete Chair or CoChairs

Biannually we look forward to the famous fun filled OLA Fete. We have tentatively booked the Fete for next year on Saturday 23 November. To ensure this special event can take place we are calling on a member/s of our community to lead the Fete Committee for 2024. Last Fete saw two committed parents of OLA CoChair this great event and share the workload. This can be a fun way of raising thousands of dollars for our OLA community. The last Fete raised enough money to purchase the furniture in the new Library. We will need to confirm that we have a lead person or team of leaders by Friday 27 October to ensure this great event can go ahead. You are welcome to speak with me in person or email principal@olacheltenham.catholic.edu.au

Calling for new OLA Parents & Friends members

We thank our 2023 P&F Committee for their support of our great school and we especially thank outgoing Chair Andy Wright and Deputy Chair Stacey Straford for creating such a welcoming and positive team. This year has seen a large focus on providing opportunities for the children and parents to have fun, enjoy being part of our great community and to fundraise. Please know that your active support is very much appreciated. We have also loved the social events organised in the different year levels and the support the P&F representatives give their level when there is a need for support for a family, a child or a staff member. These P&F Year Level Reps will be looking for new reps to join them or replace them.

If you would like to be part of helping our school next year and adding to our wonderful sense of community, please consider joining the 2024 P&F Team. It is a great way to contribute to the development of the school and meet other parents.

In addition to looking for executive postions like Chair and Deputy Chair, each year level requires two parent representatives, who are responsible for updating the parents in their year level with important information/reminders, and organising a couple of events throughout the year. For example, the Grade 1 P&F representatives host the Morning Tea for new and current families on the first day of school.

Feel free to chat to this year's P&F members if you would like some more information or, better still, if you would like to get involved. You can also speak with me in person or email any questions or ideas to principal@olacheltenham.catholic.edu.au

Book Club Parent Volunteer

The OLA P&F Committee are looking for their next Book Club organiser.  It is genuinely an easy role, with a 1 hour commitment each issue. There are 8 issues per year.  

If you are interested,  please contact either Rachael or Andy to chat further. The role could commence as early as issue #8 (mid November 2023), but in the new year is also possible - further information is available in the Parents and Friends tab of this newsletter. We thank Rachael xx for making Scholastic Book Club happen in 2023.

Class Placements 2024

The staff work together on class lists for the following year from the start of Semester 2. The process will be completed with consideration given to social cohesion, friendship groupings, placement of siblings and positive academic influences. Other factors to be considered include keeping a ‘balance’ of children with social, emotional, physical, behavioural and academic needs, and an even spread of year level numbers and genders in multi-age classes. This is an opportunity for students to either further develop existing friendships or an opportunity to develop new friendships. We see the ability to create new friendships each year as a valuable opportunity to further develop personal life skills for all children.

Parent Input - Meeting with the Principal

If parents have any relevant information that they believe is essential to the class placement process, they are invited to make a time to meet with the Principal to share their thoughts. Parents are requested to make an appointment by 31 October each year. Appointment times can be negotiated with the school office by calling 9584 9488. We will evaluate all input and make a professional judgement on the placement of the child in question. The final decision rests with the school. Please keep in mind the many limitations that are already placed on the staff during this complex process. Appointments relating to class placements must be made by 31 October each year so that staff can have relevant information to assist them with the placement of children. 

'Teacher Shopping'

Parents making requests simply as ‘Teacher Shopping’, without any foundation, are unlikely to receive their requests for the next year. The reference ‘teacher shopping’ is a term used when parents have heard positive comments on teachers in the school from other parents and think that teacher may be good for their child. Likewise a sibling may have had a teacher previously that a parent wishes for their next child to experience. We would love to meet all requests but there are other elements around class placements, as detailed previously, which may take priority over a request as such. We are blessed with a highly skilled and enthusiastic staff team and we are confident that all teachers will meet the needs of your children. If all parents submitted requests for teachers then our system of student allocation would be compromised. As stated above, parents are invited to meet with the Principal to discuss thoughts that may be pertinent to class placements but we ask that you take on board all of the above information when making your request.

Calendar

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

Please note the following change of dates:

• OLA Parents & Friends AGM and Christmas Drinks has been moved from Friday 24 November to Monday 13 November at 6pm with Christmas Drinks for all at 7pm
• Term 4 Working Bee has been moved from Saturday 4 November (long weekend) to Saturday 25 November 10am-12pm
• Grade 4/5 Parent/Child Workshop (which was scheduled for Thursday 26 October 6:30pm) has now been cancelled.

Key dates for the next 2 weeks...

Prep 2024 Parent Information Evening

We are excitedly preparing to welcome our 2024 Prep families and students for their Orientation program. This program continues to be a highlight of the year, as these children take their first big steps into school life. While some students already have a sibling at OLA, we cannot underestimate how this can still be quite an overwhelming experience as the children transition away from a very small Kinder/Early Learning Centre setting into a significantly larger one. For our new (and not so new) Prep parents, we look forward to welcoming you on Thursday 9 November at 7.00pm. This information evening is a wonderful opportunity to meet new families (often friends for life!), teachers and key staff who will work with your children.  

Our Prep 2024 Orientation Sessions are as follows:

• Tuesday 14 November 9:00am-10:00am
• Tuesday 21 November 9:00am-10:00am
• Tuesday 28 November - Playdate at a local park organised by the P&F Prep reps
• Tuesday 5 December 9:00am-11:00am

Working Bee

We are looking forward to welcoming families to the Term 4 OLA Working Bee , Saturday 25 November from 10.00am-12.00pm.  

We especially welcome the following families who are rostered on:

If you are not able to make it you are welcome to make a donation to the school. 

Please bring along your tools such as wheelbarrows, blowers/blower vacs, whipper snippers, rakes, shovels, brooms, hedge trimmers, secateurs and other gardening tools.  

Summer Uniform

As of Week 3, all students need to be wearing their full (correct) summer uniform. We have had requests for skorts to be worn with blue OLA short sleeve shirt and this is all in keeping with the OLA Uniform Policy. A school hat must be worn at break times, with a strict 'no hat, no play' rule applying. Sunscreen must be applied before school and students are encouraged to re-apply before lunch every day. We are all looking forward to more of this sunshine and warmer days!

Correct school shoes and socks must be worn and we remind students and families, when purchasing new school shoes for next year, black Asics or Nike runners are not part of the regular school uniform.  We thank you in advance for your understanding. 

Students are to wear navy socks with their summer uniform and there must be no logos on white sport socks. Black leather shoes must be worn with the summer uniform. There are strictly no variations to the school uniform, for example, non-school hat, alternative sock colours, non uniform long sleeve tops under short sleeve school shirts etc.  

OLA Second Hand Uniform Shop

Rachael and the amazing Second Hand Uniform Team will have the shop open on Tuesday 5 December, 9.00am-11.00am for families seeking uniform items to start the 2024 school year. You can also email 

Phones and Smart Watches

A reminder to all families that mobile phones are to be placed at the office as the children arrive at school and collected from their at 3.15pm. If your child wears a smart watch then it needs to be disabled during the school day or in class mode. Thank you in advance for your support.

Car Park

A reminder to all families to take it gently in our OLA Car Park and to remember that the safety of all in our community needs to be the focus of this space. If you are pushed for time I would encourage you to come up with Plan B. Over the holidays we have been meeting with line marking companies and car park experts to see what we can do to help make our OLA Car Park as safe as possible. We have also been speaking with local residents and families who are parking in our car park and walking to the station or simply leaving thier cars onsite in spaces that need to be available for our community so that we can move cars through more easily and find spaces.

Congratulations

Principal Awards

Congratulations to all the students who have been to visit Mr Jacques, Mrs Taig and Mrs Reeder in these first couple of weeks of school. 

Take care

As we settle back into the routines of school life, we take this opportunity to remind families to closely monitor the fatigue levels of the students, particularly with the desire to stay up later with the extended daylight hours. In addition to the full academic schedule we have planned, in the coming weeks we will implement an extensive and rigorous assessment schedule to review the academic progress of our students. We know that students respond best when they are well rested and settled, so we welcome your support with this. 

May this be a wonderful term full of happy memories and new opportunities.

Richard Jacques

Principal