Dear Parents & Parishioners,

In Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent occurring six and a half weeks before Easter, and falls between February 4 and March 11, depending on the date of Easter. It is immediately preceded by Shrove Tuesday, also referred to as Pancake Tuesday.

In the Christian church, Lent is a period of penitential preparation for Easter. Ash Wednesday is commonly observed with the distribution of ashes and with fasting.

In the Catholic Church, ashes are applied in the shape of a cross on the forehead of each worshipper on Ash Wednesday. These ashes are obtained by burning the palms used in the previous year’s Palm Sunday service. Anyone who wishes to receive ashes may do so, regardless of age, religion or personal standing in the church. Mass on this day is traditionally one of the most heavily attended non-Sunday masses of the liturgical year.

Yesterday afternoon we gathered as a school community in the church to celebrate Ash Wednesday. During the mass all the children and adults had the opportunity to be marked with a sign of the cross made from blessed ashes. The ashes are a symbol of penance and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice.

"Humility is acting in service to others rather than to self."

S. Chris Edmonds

Humility serves. Humility gets down low and lifts others up. Humility looks to the needs of others and gives time and effort to help with those needs. Jesus took the form of a servant and humbled himself, even to the point of death. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Humility measures everything it does by whether it serves the good of other people.

The season of Lent provides us all with the opportunity to practice a little humility.

NAPLAN Online

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. The NAPLAN test window starts on Wednesday 12 March 2025 and finishes on Monday 24 March 2025. At OHR, we will schedule the tests as soon as possible within the testing window.

Years 3 & 4 Parent Gathering

The next Parent Gathering will be held at the home of Tiffiny and Michael Korda. This function is for parents who have children in Years 3 or 4, and will be held on Friday 21 March. An invitati will be sent out later today with further details.

Student Use of Mobile Devices at School

It is important to remember that students are not permitted to use mobile devices, including smartphones and watches to communicate with parents, and vice versa, during school hours.

“…parents who need to contact their child during school hours should do so by placing a call to school Administration. Mobile phones and other personal devices are to be left at school Administration for safe keeping during school hours.

Parents are reminded that in cases of emergency, the school’s Administration remains a vital and appropriate point of contact and can ensure your child is reached quickly, and assisted in the appropriate way.”

Our Holy Redeemer Cybersafety Policy

Thank you to the parents and students for supporting us in this regard. Every day a growing number of students are in the practice of leaving their mobile devices at the school office for safe storage until dismissal.

In Sympathy

During the week we learned of the passing of a past OHR parent. Sadly, Ryan Rodriguez died suddenly at the young age of 42. The OHR staff extend their deepest sympathy to his wife, Shirley, and daughter Raja.

Easter Colouring Competition

During the week, the office of Jess Wilson MP extended the following invitation for our

students to participate in the annual Easter Colouring Competition:

Dear Frank

I am once again excited to invite Our Holy Redeemer Primary School to participate in the 2025 Easter Colouring Competition for primary school students in the Kew Electorate.

Easter is an important date in the Christian calendar, but it is also celebrated widely by children who enjoy a chocolate feast on Easter Sunday!

Just a quick note on the fine print. Please find enclosed copies of the colouring competition for you to distribute to students. Students who would like to be involved are asked to colour in the Easter picture for their chance to win an Easter prize. The competition is open to primary school students living in or attending primary school in the Kew electorate (students need not reside in the electorate). One winner and one runner up will be awarded per school, with winning entries to be judged by me prior to Easter.

Please ask students to submit entries to your school office by Monday 24 March 2025. My office will organise for them to be collected from Tuesday 25 March 2025.

An afternoon tea for the winning students will be held in my office for the presentation of certificates and prizes. Further details will be confirmed shortly.

I hope Our Holy Redeemer Primary School will participate in the 2025 Easter Colouring Competition!

I would be grateful if you could confirm your involvement at your earliest convenience by emailing me at jess.wilson.mp@parliament.vic.gov.au

Yours sincerely

Jess Wilson MP

Member for Kew

Working Bees

There are four Working Bees scheduled throughout this year and it is hoped that each family would be able to attend at least one of these events. The Working Bees will be coordinated by both Luke Torpey and Justin Bolger to address the upkeep of the school grounds and minor maintenance matters. Working Bees are a cost effective and essential means to maintaining aesthetic school grounds that afford a safe and welcoming environment for our children, parents and visitors.

Working Bees provide the opportunity to connect with other families, and the children always have a great time helping out and playing with one another in the school grounds. A range of days and times are available to enable each family the opportunity to select the most suitable Working Bee.

The dates for this year’s Working Bees are: Sunday 23 March, Sunday 4 May, Saturday 9 August and Sunday 19 October. A complete list of dates can be found on the school calendar.

You can email your preferred day to

Justin: justin.trees@hotmail.com or Luke: luke.torpey@jrtpartnership.com.au

We request that you look ahead at your commitments for 2025, and nominate for at least one Working Bee now. It’s a great way to show your children that you value their school through committing to a few hours per year. Certain families have been extremely generous with their time over recent years in turning up to multiple Working Bees within the one year.

The first Working Bee is a morning session (8.30am – 10.30am) scheduled for Sunday 23 March. A barbeque and refreshments will be provided during this time.

Math You Can Touch Creative Challenge

For details of the Math You Can Touch 2025 Creative Challenge, please head to the Learning & Teaching News page.

Crossing Safety: Repeated

Kris, our Crossing Supervisor, would like parents to remind their children to dismount from their bikes when using the crossing at the intersection of Union and Mont Albert Roads. This is an important part of road safety when riding a bike.

Open Mornings

This Wednesday 12 March, we will host the first of two scheduled Open Mornings for prospective parents considering enrolling their children in 2026 and beyond. The school will be open to visitors, between 9:00am and 10:30am. A great morning is planned. We will commence with a gathering in the hall where the students will treat our visitors to a number of exhibitions and performances. The Senior Students will then take on the responsibility of showing our guests around the school. Afterwards our visitors will be invited to the foyer of the hall for a cuppa.

If you are available between 10.00 - 10.30am to talk to the visiting families over a cuppa, please don't hesitate to send me an email.

If you know of anyone considering a school for their child, please encourage them to come along to our special Open Morning and to also arrange a personal school tour.

As you can appreciate, we are working towards finalising our 2026 Prep enrolments by the middle of May.

It would be gratefully appreciated that all existing school families who have a child commencing school in 2026 complete an enrolment form and submit it to Heather.

School Closure Day

Our first school closure day for Staff Professional Learning will take place on Monday 24 March.

The focus of the day will be 'Strengthening Evidence-based Pedagogies' in which the staff will delve deeper into the work begun last year under MACS' Vision for Instruction, a system-wide approach to achieving teaching and learning excellence.

Parent Helpers

Are you interested in becoming a parent helper this year? If the answer is 'yes', please head to the Learning & Teaching News page for details of an induction session being facilitated by Mrs Lisa Canty.

Managing Big Feelings Parent Webinar - Tonight!

As a follow up to our Starting School presentation with Carley McGauran in 2024, we present the Managing Big Feelings webinar. This webinar is primarily targetted at parents/carers with children in Prep (Foundation) though to Year 2. This session is not to be confused with Raising Kids in a Digital World which is scheduled to be held later in March.

The Managing Big Feelings session is designed to support parents/carers to show up in the most helpful way when your children experience big feelings. The goal is for parents and carers to feel more informed and empowered.

Managing Big Feelings

Presenter: Carley McGauran

Date: Thursday 6 March

Time: 7.30pm (75 min)

Here is the link for parents to register for the webinar :

bit.ly/bigfeelings2025

Wishing everyone a great weekend,

Frank

Camp Australia

What's on in Term 1