Principal's Message

Dear OLA Families

Happy Father's & Special Friend's Day 

Our Father's Day Breakfast was a wonderful opportunity for students and families to invite significant men in their lives, such as uncles, grandfathers, and those who are like fathers to us to OLA. We loved seeing all come together for breakfast, kicking the footy, shooting hoops, visits to the classroom, prayer, meditation and sharing our best work in the classrooms. We hope all the great men and humans in our life have a Happy Father’s Day. We also took an extra moment during this time to remember those fathers and grandfathers from our community who have died and included them in our prayers.

Thank you to our many helpers for making the Father's Day Breakfast possible as well as the Father's Day Stall which is always such a special time for our students. Thank you especially to our community connections for all the donations of items such as bread, bacon, coffee and eggs. A special shout out to Waller's Bakery in Hampton and Mickelburough's Egg Farm. It was lovely to see the school made cards and gifts starting to make their way home to honour the great men in our community.

Father's Day & Special Friend's Stall

This morning the school was a hive of activity, as our students went shopping for gifts for their Dads/special people. We sincerely thank our Parents and Friends representatives and helpers - Eli, Rachael and Kyra plus exceptional Year 6s - Noah, Rishon, Charlotte and Cleo K! 

Book Week Celebrations! 

WOW! What a spectacular way to begin Book Week!

Our school grounds were absolutely buzzing with energy, colour, and pure imagination today! We are incredibly proud of our students for their amazing participation. Seeing everyone jump in with such enthusiasm perfectly captured the wonderful spirit of our school and the absolute love of reading. It was particularly heartwarming to see our children dressed up as characters from books they truly love. 

The absolute highlight was hearing them confidently connect their costume to their favourite character from their book and even more amazing to proudly share the message of the book! A massive, heartfelt thank you to our wonderful families and children for the outstanding effort, creativity, and love poured into every single costume. Your support is what makes days like this so magical.

We also want to give a huge shout out to our incredible staff! The positive energy, smiles, and dedication you brought to the parade truly made it an unforgettable day for our kids. 

Finally, a special thank you goes to our fantastic Literacy Leader, Miss Turner! Thank you for your brilliant organisation and for planning a fortnight of exciting events that celebrate our community's deep love of reading. 

School Readiness

The wonderful Carley McGauran ran a 'Starting School' workshop for our 2027 Prep families last Thursday night.  So many wonderful takeaways. A couple of parents reflections: 

“Thank you for the opportunity and last night's experience. Thank you for a most valuable presentation!  It was a wonderful opportunity to take some time to stop and reflect about the coming prep transition. It will be a huge transition for our little ones which we must not take for granted and we will be more mindful of how to support them in our best possible way. Thank you for helping us to help them!”

"Thank you for hosting such an informative session! So many things resonated, it will make the transition to school as smooth as can be. Trust the process!!"

MACS School Improvement Survey is OPEN

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS): Monday 31 August – Friday 18 September 2026

A big thank you to those who have completed this so far. The survey has been emailed to all parents and carers - please check your junk box. We would really love to hear from as many of our community as we can. It is so important for a school to hear what they are doing well so we can keep doing what we are doing well and what could be even better so we can make improvements - please take this opportunity to share your thinking. Over the next couple of weeks our staff and Grade 4-6 students will also complete the survey.

Tiredness

In my interactions with staff, parents and students so many of us have commented that Term 3 has flown past, and we only have two weeks to go! As we look to the end of term and factor in our recent and upcoming school events, please do not be surprised if your child/ren release and express their biggest of emotions in the safety of home, especially in light of this particularly big term. Over the next week or two, the key will be to maintain a balanced routine between school and home for all of our students, to ensure a successful and positive closure to Term 3. Removing some of the before or after school activities can sometimes help with this balance. As always, please speak with your child's classroom teacher if you have any questions or concerns. 

Recent Illnesses

Over the past month, various viruses and respiratory issues have been sweeping through our classrooms, leading to a spike in absences and numerous calls for children to be picked up from school. This is a fitting reminder for everyone to remain vigilant during this challenging period. Please ensure that children stay home if they exhibit high temperatures or cold like symptoms, to ensure this does not impact the wider class or staffing group. Presently we have a couple of cases of Influenza in the senior school so please be extra vigilant. If you have symptoms of Influenza we encourage you to seek advice from your medical provider.

Hats and sunscreen

On those sunny winter days and all throughout the year at OLA we have students who very much enjoy applying the sunscreen kept in their bags/tubs every day. Children are always welcome to keep their hats at school and wear them on these days too.

Washing Hands

At OLA we educate and encourage students to be as hygienic as possible.

Schools have a responsibility to provide appropriate hand hygiene consumables to support the personal hygiene routines of students. Consumables include:

• soap, preferably in liquid form via a dispenser 
• a method for hand drying (for example, paper towel or hand dryer)
• alcohol-based hand sanitiser (where deemed appropriate).

Phones and Smart Watches

We ask families to remind their children that all mobile phones and Smart Watches (i.e. any device with cellular capacity) are to be handed in to the office at the beginning of each school day. This is important from a child safety perspective and applies to all students. This also aligns with the Victorian State Government legislation and is a consistent position across MACS schools, independent schools and government schools. Thank you for your cooperation. Parents who need to contact their child can do so by contacting the school office.

Car Park Safety

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. Please follow the arrows in the car park and drive at 5km per hour. Please remind grandparents and helpers of this as it is often those visiting our community who are not aware of our processes.

A reminder that all cars lining up in the left lane are in the process of dropping off or picking up their child and we ask that parents remain in the car and that your child has quick access to their bag/s for a quick kiss/hug and drop. Cars in the right lane are proceeding through the car park to locate a car park. If your child is not at the gate when you arrive at the front of the line we will kindly ask you to move into a car park so we can keep the flow. Thank you for your patience and for not sounding your horn during this time. If you do a lap of the car park or enter from Wilson Street and turn left to join the queue you may get a little locked in until the flow of cars begin to move. We thank you again for your patience with this.

We ask that all children especially toddlers and pre-schoolers are supervised by parents and carers at all times when in the carpark and school grounds. Please ensure you are holding your pre-schoolers hand when in the carpark.

Secondhand Uniform Donations

We are calling for donations for our second hand uniform stall. Items can be delivered to the school office and families are ask to please ensure they have been washed and are in good condition. 

OLA Fete

Please check out our OLA Fete tab in this Newsletter or on our refreshed Fete tab on our school website and let us know if you can help in any way...

• Does anyone have any lemons they could donate so that one of our beautiful past families can make lots of Lemon Curd?
• Please donate a bottle of wine or spirits for the Luck Bottle Stall at our Fete. You may want to think about going in with a family to donate a bottle of champagne or spirits. Bottles are stored under lock and key at the front office!!
• Do you have any white squares that you would consider lending to us for the day?
• Taking the time to reach out to companies and small businesses to sponsor or make donations to our Fete
• Can you make jams or preserves for our Fete?
• Do you or a sporting club that you belong to have a Marquee that we could borrow for the Fete so that we can reduce hiring costs?
• Are you able to bag up some mixed lolly bags or make cup cakes or larger cakes/slices for our Cake Stall closer to the time?
• Save some money by purchasing Early Bird Wrist Bands for the Rides
• Don’t forget to donate your pre-loved toys, books and clothes - Please take them to store in Exodus Hall.
• Please donate to our class hampers for the staff Spinning Wheel Stall! OLA Class Hamper Themes. Thank you

Child Safe Standard 7

11 months 11 standards...

As a school we will highlight one Child Safe Standard each month. 

For August it is Child Safe Standard 7.

“Processes for complaints and concerns are child focused.” 

As Catholic educators, we have a moral, mission-driven and legal responsibility to uphold and actively promote the wellbeing and safety of every student entrusted in our care. Our commitment to the protection of students includes ensuring that children, families and community members can raise complaints and concerns safely, are listened to respectfully, and understand how to access child-focused complaint processes that prioritise childrenʼs voices and wellbeing. 

Our Catholic communities uphold clear, accessible and child-centred policies and procedures for responding to complaints and concerns, supporting staff and volunteers to act promptly, lawfully and with integrity so that child safety and wellbeing are central to every response.

Prep 2028 Sibling Applications

Believe it or not, we are already planning for Prep 2028! We have received strong interest from new families wishing to join the OLA community, and we are beginning to look ahead to future enrolments. If you have a younger child who is eligible to commence Prep in 2028, we kindly ask that you submit a sibling application as soon as possible (please log onto our website to complete). This will assist us in understanding the number of sibling places required and help us determine how many new families we may be able to welcome into our wonderful school community. We have 18 applications already so please ensure your application is submitted too.

Planning for 2027

As we begin preparations for the 2027 school year, we kindly ask that families notify the school as soon as possible if their child/children will not be returning to OLA next year.

We have received a significant number of enrolment enquiries and currently have waiting lists operating across all year levels. Having an accurate understanding of our student numbers allows us to plan effectively for staffing, class structures and funding allocations for 2027. 

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 3, 2026

Tuesday 14 July - Friday 18 September (10 weeks)

Term 4, 2026

Tuesday 6 October - Tuesday 15 Dec (11 weeks)

Pupil Free Days for 2026

• Monday 5 October Vision For Instruction - Walk Thrus continued
• Monday 2 November Assessment & Reporting
• Friday 4 December 2027 Planning and Preparation 

Please note on the following dates school finish early at 1pm:

OLA Fete on Friday 6 November

Last day of school Tuesday 15 December

Congratulations

Outstanding work!

The love of reading was alive and well at OLA this week with children reflecting on the books they read and learning what other children love to read too. The activities completed were stunning! Congratulations to all but especially to these children who visited us for a Principal sticker!

Expo Invites

How beautiful to have our Grade 3/4 students visiting the leaders of the school to invite them to visit the Grade 3/4 Expo next Tuesday 8 September at 2.30pm. We cant wait to join you.

Visit and Invitation 

While the School Captains were preparing to lead the assembly we had a little visit from our Prep students inviting us to join them for their prayer services in the coming weeks. These are always a beautiful part of life in our OLA community. Thank you Benjamin for representing Prep JM together with Hallie and Fox. We loved your visit.

Happy Friday!!

Stunning sunshine graced us this morning for Run Club. 

There were great vibes and we loved the tunes too! 

What a wonderful day and a wonderful couple of weeks.

Thank you all for helping make life at OLA so much fun and so memorable. We really do have an amazing community here at OLA and in Cheltenham. 

We are also loving the footy and sport finals going on at the moment. Thank you all for supporting our students to be involved in sport and to give their best in the best spirit. Thank you also to these lovely visitors from 3/4GO who are helping the Principal be excited about the Hawks win last night!!

Richard Jacques

Principal