OLHC News

From the 

Principal/Deputy Principal 

Dear Parents and Carers

How time flies. Here we are in November already heading rapidly for half way through the term. The students at school have been very busy with class work, excursions and  many great learning opportunities. Looking at the calendar for the rest of the year I can see that it is only going to get busier so lets make sure we are all getting plenty of sleep as we head towards Christmas.

 

As I write this newsletter we are anticipating that the weather will be kind to us this afternoon so by the time you get to read this the students will have completed the PFOL Colour Run. Huge thanks to Claire Lafferty and her team of volunteers for organising the event for our students. The sense of anticipation and excitement was almost palpable in the yard before school this morning. I can’t tell you how it went but I'm thinking it will be wonderful.

 

Thanks to all families for their support of the year 5/6 students ‘Bizarre Bazaar’ project raffle. The students had done so much work on the design and construction of the items and were so proud of their final products. Thanks to Anne Askew and Amanda Kenny for their efforts to work with the students on such an engaging unit of learning. While talking about the years 6’s, I would like to thank Clare Bisby, Kathy Toomey and Anne and Amanda again, for their efforts in preparing the year 6’s for the sacrament of Confirmation and coming along to St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday 23/10 for a very special ceremony. 

 

Starting next week we will be welcoming our 2023 Foundation students to school with a series of orientation sessions on Wednesdays. I know it is an exciting time for those families so if you see a new face around the school make sure you make them feel welcome. We will also be having a Remembrance Day ceremony for the students at 10.50 on Friday 11/11. 

 

Towards the end of the term the junior school students will embark on swimming lessons. We encourage all families whose children are a little hesitant to find some time to get them to a pool and do a little water safety confidence building. Having our young ones confident and water safe is such a vital part of growing up. 

 

Thanks to Lindy Chaplin-Holmes and her team of SWELL artists parents, they have been working hard on an exciting project that is beginning to look very exciting. If we have a few volunteer parents who are good at concreting posts into the ground or willing to give it a go, we could use your help. Please let us know who you are.

 

A reminder to all parents that the school gates open at 8.30am each morning when a teacher comes on duty to supervise. We seem to have a growing number of senior students arriving at the gates way before this. We ask that you make sure your children are not at school too early for safety reasons.

 

We look forward to having Mr. Green back from his short stint away. I hope he has had a good rest because there is plenty to do before the end of the year.

 

Mark Pinkerton

Deputy Principal

 

From the Principal

Staffing Update

Over the next couple of weeks I will be informing you of a variety of staffing updates.   This week I would like to focus on those current staff that are moving on to other roles or retirement after making such valuable contributions to our school community.

Congratulations to:

  • Annie Facchinetti who started at Our Lady’s in 2003.  Annie has had a variety of roles at Our Lady’s over twenty years of dedicated service.  Annie is currently our Learning and Teacher Leader and Literacy Leader, and has accepted a full time position as Head of Literacy at Burke Hall (the Junior School) at Xavier College.  This is a great opportunity for Annie and we wish her well for the next step of her career.
  • Chris Hoyne, our Performing Arts teacher started at Our Lady's in 2002 and will be taking long service leave in 2023 and then retiring.  Chris has a long history of producing wonderful school performances not only at our school but other schools he has worked for along the journey.  We wish Chris well in his retirement.
  • Amanda Kenny after thirteen years with our school community has secured a job at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Ringwood.  Amanda has been an integral member of our teaching team during that time and we wish her well as she embarks on the next stage of her teaching career.
  • Maree Rofe who has decided to formally retire from her teaching role after a wonderful career.  Thankfully Maree has agreed to be a part of our replacement teacher pool from next year, so we look forward to seeing her throughout 2023.  Maree only started with us this year but has been a valuable addition to our team.  We wish Maree well in her retirement.
  • Amanda Doody who joined us in Term 3 for the remainder of the year in Yr 3/4 has secured an ongoing position at Holy Cross PS Mickleham.

All of these staff members have been wonderful colleagues and contributors to our school community.  We will miss all of them and farewell them appropriately closer to the end of the year.

 

CLASS PLACEMENTS FOR 2023

In the coming weeks we will be creating class groups for the 2023 school year. There are many factors that are taken into account and I would like parents to be aware of our process for determining these groups. 

 

It is worth noting that we do not create class lists by assigning students to teachers.  Lists of student groupings will initially be created, often without knowing where all teachers will be placed for the following year.  Keep in mind that sometimes teachers will be moved in levels, take leave or move school.  Class lists are created with priority given to the factors below.

A balance of:

  • gender
  • year levels
  • social / emotional / academic needs
  • medical considerations
  • sibling and relative placements
  • previous teachers / home group combinations
  • friendship groups (who they work well with in class)

Every effort is made to place students with a friend they work well with, however we strongly promote building relationships and making new friends as this helps build resilience and broadens both friendship groups and diverse learning opportunities.  We pride ourselves on our community spirit at OLHC and this is another way we foster and promote inclusiveness.

 

Groups are formed based on the mix of students to best meet the criteria above and then teachers will be allocated to them.  I am currently in the process of finalising staffing for 2023.

 

I ask that our judgement and professionalism be trusted in making a decision that is, on balance, in each student’s best interest.

 

Where sensitive circumstances exist, this should already be known to the current teacher, but it would be helpful if you could inform me of any such special considerations via direct email at patrick.green@olhceltham.catholic.edu.au with the Subject Heading of ‘Placement’. 

 

Please do not assume that correspondence from previous years is considered as circumstances and relationships change over time and not all staff are privy to previous information on these matters. 

 

In doing so, please respect that any email seeking a consideration should:

  • not include requests for placing children with specific friends
  • not include requests for children to be separated from particular students and 
  • not include requests for children to be with/without a specific teacher

Careful consideration will be given to the information provided however not all requests can be achieved or they may not be possible or desirable due to other factors.  Placement emails must be submitted by Friday 18th November.  In fairness to all, requests after this date cannot be considered.

 

The staff and I will do our utmost to work with you to support your child in transitioning to their next phase of learning.

 

If you know your child is leaving OLHC to attend a different school next year (this does not include Year 6 students) and you haven’t already informed the school in writing, could you please do so as soon as possible.

 

Kind regards,

Patrick Green

Principal