Principal's Message

Dear OLA Families,

Thank you all for an amazingly exciting term of learning and fun. So many wonderful opportunities have been provided to the students at OLA in Term 3 helping to create many special memories. There has been so much to celebrate and we congratulate our students, staff and families for all they have given during this term.  These special moments have brought much laughter, joy and community spirit. Over the break, we hope that you are all able to have some rest and recharge. Below is a snapshot of what we have achieved this term in 10 weeks:

Term 3 Highlights

• Kingston Division Mixed AFL & Netball, District Basketball and Districy Athletics 
• Inform and Empower Cyber Safety Parent Workshop with Marty McGuaran
• School tours for prospective families, Prep 2023 Interviews & Parent Info Night
• OLA House Team Athletics Day at Duncan Mackinnon Athletics Track
• First Eucharist Parent and Child Workshop and the Sacrament for Grade 34s
• About Real Life Sex Education P-6 Parent and Child Workshops and 3P-6 Classroom Sessions 
• Father’s Day Breakfast, Stall and visit to the classrooms
• Amazing Class Assemblies celebrating learning from our classrooms
• Term 4 Working Bee
• GATEWAYS & The Australian Mathematics Competition added to our Extension Program 
• Preps 100 days of school celebration & Milo’s Birthday Surprise
• Positive Behaviour Support and Mathematics Professional Learning for staff
• Grade 1/2 Family Faith Formation Night
• Cancer Council Big Afternoon Tea at OLA
• Feast of Mary MacKillop Prayer Service 
• Our Lady of the Assumption Feast Day and House Team activities
• OLA Performing Arts Night celebrating the OLA Choir, Taiko Drums and Wakakirri
• Grade 3/4 Hawthorn Football Club AFL blind and wheelchair Experience
• Book Week - ‘Dreaming with Eyes Open’ Live-in-School Performance & Dress Up Day
• Wakakirri Performance at Frankston Arts Centre
• Confirmation Parent and Child Workshop
• The Japanese Oishii Festival 2022 
• Prep-2 Excursion, Como House
• Grade 1/2 Excursion, Rippon Lea
• Grade 3/4 Excursion, Polly Woodside and the National Gallery of Victoria
• Grade 5/6 Excursion, Point Nepean
• iSea and iCare Excursion for OLA Sustainability Leaders
• Chess lessons continued & Chess Championships
• Prep and Grade 6 Buddy Activities
• Prep Class Prayer Services
• OLA Fete preparations and Building Project speeding along

The Japanese Oishii Festival 

What an amazing week of celebrating our Languages Curriculum here at OLA.  Thank you Sensei for all your preparation and organisation of a week full of fun activities and learning opportunities.  Thank you also to our Arts and Culture Leaders for their support and work in helping make sure the festival was a huge success.  We were all so proud to watch the children play music, perform taiko and plays, sing and dance at the Japanese Festival Concert. Thank you to our many families for attending and supporting this special event.

OLA Parish Fete

Over the holidays you may have the opportunity to rustle up some donations for our OLA Parish Fete.  A big thank you for all the donations that we have received already.  DoOnations for the following stalls are most welcome: 

Lucky Bottle Stall, OLA’s Fashion Op Shop, Preserves Stall, Plant Stall, Pre-Loved Toys and Books.  Sponsorship Volunteers and Stall Volunteers are also being called for.  Wristbands for rides at the OLA Fair are going live very soon. 

Each family is also asked to donate an item to their child’s class hamper:

Please have Saturday 26 November clearly marked on your calendars.  The organisers are looking forward to creating a really fun community day for all of us to enjoy and we thank them for all they are doing.

Sports Colours Day

Finals fever is in the air today at OLA with the children and staff wearing their favourite sport team’s jumper, hat and scarf.  A great way to celebrate the end of term and the finals series. All students and staff were invited to dress in the colours of their favourite sports team. Whether you support AFL, NRL, Netball or Soccer it was great to see everyone proudly displaying their team’s colours as we enjoyed the last day of Term 3.

Class Placements 2023

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. 

Building Project

It is action stations here at OLA as we move through September and hit our finish date of 26 October.  The outdoor open spaces are coming to life with new plantings and landscaping, pinboards are being installed and the internal painting is nearly completed, our mural artist is sharing design ideas that incorporate many of our passionate artists' work and all cabinetry and electrical work has been completed.  In the next two weeks with full and uninterrupted access for the builders it will be looking amazing and even closer to completion.  The heart of our school is going to look amazing and it will provide open and flexible learning spaces for all in our community to enjoy. Thank you to MACS, Jardon Builders, Smith & Tracey Architects and the Victorian Government for helping make this project happen.

MACSSIS Surveys - LAST DAY TODAY!

We remind parents that the valuable MACSSIS surveys must be completed online by the end of today, Friday 16 September.  All staff along with children from Grades 4-6 have been surveyed, gathering data from all key stakeholders. We thank you for taking the time to provide this important feedback within our community.

Summer Uniform

We hope that as the children finish Term 3 that you can put away their winter uniform and bring out their summer uniform. However, should it turn cold again, in the first two weeks of Term 4 students are welcome to wear summer or winter uniforms.  By Monday 17 October all students must be in full summer uniform.  We also remind parents that Term 4 has a ‘No Hat – No Play’ Sunsmart Policy. Children without hats at school will be restricted to the undercover ‘quiet’ area. A reminder that girls and boys wear navy socks with their summer uniform and there must be no logos on white sport socks.

Key Dates for the End of School Year

Wednesday 30 November      End of Year Dance & Community Event

Friday 9 December                   Grade 6 End of Year/Big Day Out

Thursday 15 December           2.00pm Grade 6 Assembly 

                                                         3.00pm Guard of Honour 

                                                         6.00pm Grade 6 Graduation Prayer Service and Ceremony

Friday 16 December                 Grade 1-5 classes conclude at 1.00pm

Monday 19 December             Staff Planning Day for 2023 

Tuesday 20 December            Staff Conclude 2022 School Year

Thank you

The Grade 3-6 students have learnt about Pickleball this week in PE. Tina, one of our parents and a Pickleball expert came in and helped lead these sessions - the children really loved learning a new game and playing it with their friends.

Visitors

Thank you to Kate, one of our Prep Mums for helping keep our visiting Mumma Duck and baby ducklings safe as they crossed the busy streets around our school on Thursday.  They used our crossing to keep safe and after taking some respite they were off again on their journey.  Thank you to Wildlife Victoria for their advice and support.

Congratulations

Thank you to Mrs Taig, Mrs Holdsworth, Mrs Berley, Mrs Arthur and Mrs Lee for your amazing work with PKM in helping prepare the children for their Class Prayer Service yesterday. These prayer services are really special and the families and all present were so proud of the respectful and prayerful children.  It was lovely to host our Sustainability Leaders, Mr Pertz and our OLA Parish Care For The Common Home group members.  We thank Mrs Milinski for her beautiful letter to the children and families too.

Dear Prep KM, 

How is everyone? I hope you are all working hard and having a great time at school. I saw a video of your Japanese performance. You all looked gorgeous in your costumes and it made me smile to see you up on the big stage. I am going well at home and the doctors say that home is the best place for me to be so I can get better. I know you are in good hands with wonderful teachers like Miss Holdsworth, Mrs Lee, Mrs Hudson, Mrs Arthur and Mrs Dooley. I would like to thank them along with the lovely Mrs Berley for taking such great care of you. 

I hope you have a fantastic holiday before you start term 4. I wish I could be there for our class prayer service but I'm sure it will be beautiful. 

I will pop in next term to visit you and check that you are practising your reading and to see your gorgeous faces of course. Love to all Mrs M xx

Well Wishes

We wish Gabrielle McGee our Finance and Administration Manager well as she will undergo knee surgery and will not be returning for the first 6 weeks of Term 4. We welcome back Mary McGuire, who will assist in the office in Gab’s absence. If you have any account queries please continue to contact myself or the school office.

Gratitude

Thank you to the staff for another amazing term at OLA, and to the students for their hard work and determination. Wishing all our families the most relaxing of holidays and may we all enjoy some special moments with our families and some time just to be.

Richard Jacques

Principal