Principal's Message

Dear OLA Families

What a couple of weeks we have enjoyed at OLA. School Tours have begun , our School Advisory Council have met for the first time for 2023, our new 18m x 3.6m ball stopping fence has been installed, Swim Squad have trained and trialled for the District Swimming Championships, Grade 4/5 have participated in the Big Bike Ride, Life Ed have been to speak to our Grade 3-6 children about making good decisions and drug education, we enjoyed pancakes with our classmates on Shrove Tuesday, we attended Ash Wednesday Mass together and received ashes on our forehead and began our Lenten journey, Grade Prep-2 teachers received Professional Learning around Early Number and Algebra, Grade 3 families attended the Reconciliation Family Workshop, SRC students received their leadership badges, the sun shone for our OLA Welcome Picnic, we celebrated all that is OLA by filming our community in action, all staff attended Literacy Professional Learning with MACS Southern Region Office expert in Olivia Quinlan, Our FIRE Carriers took on their new roles and we enjoyed the handover ceremony, the staff met with parents and celebrated learning and wellbeing as well as set goals for their children and we finished the week with Sport for our Grade 5/6s and Prep completing their first full week of school. Thank you all for being part of these wonderful opportunities.

Parent Teacher Meetings

Thank you all for taking the time to meet with your children's classroom teacher/s.  This is such a wonderful moment in time where the teachers learn more about each and every child while they are also able to share successes, data and set goals for the year ahead. Three good questions we endeavour to answer: Is my child happy? What is my child doing well? What can I do at home to help my child?

Filming and Photo Shoot Day 

Thank you to all involved in helping being part of creating a new video and update of our school website celebrating all that we are at OLA Cheltenham.  Thank you to all the wonderful students, families and staff who participated and made it possible.  Stay tuned, as we cant wait to share the final result with you all. While we took lots of photos and film, Tserlin and Mark from School Presence will be back to join us on Thursday 16 March to capture more of our story.

School Tours for Enrolments 2024

Requests for School Tours have begun already! Enrolments for Prep 2024 are now open and we encourage all families to submit their applications as soon as possible. Our families are our greatest advocates, so please keep spreading the good word about our amazing school to your friends and family. If you have a child or you know someone wanting to tour schools for their child, please encourage them to book a school tour online on the school website or call Sharan in our front office to book a school tour.  If you are not able to make these tours please note that you are also welcome to call to make a time that does work for you. 

Welcome Picnic

Thank you to Andy and Stacey, our P&F Chair and Deputy Chair for hosting our 2023 OLA Welcome Picnic last Friday evening. It was great to see so many of our OLA families together on our Oval enjoying the warm sunny evening! Thank you to our dedicated P&F Team for organising this for our families, the Second Hand Uniform Team for their commitment and to OSHClub for providing fun activities.

COVID Safety

We are no longer required to inform MACS or the government agencies about positive COVID cases.  We are also no longer required to send communication home to families here at school. We will however, inform families when there are four cases in the one class. 

While we are beginning to see some COVID Safety rules and routines relaxed, we want to assure you that we continue to maintain the following COVID safe practices:

• Hand sanitizer is available for all to use as you enter new spaces
• Children wash hands before eating
• Teachers disinfect desks at the end of each day 
• Air purifiers are turned on in every room
• Doors and windows open where possible for ventilation.

Reminder - It is still strongly recommended that students:

• who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days 
• should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic
• who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

Canteen

We are loving our Canteen on a Friday.  A reminder and a request, please do not send children with more than $5.

A call out to...                                                                         OLA past and current students and families

With our building works completed on the original school we are looking at creating a display of the last 70 years of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Primary School (OLA). We thought amongst some photos and other memorabilia items being displayed that we could have some words from past and current students or families.  We would especially love to hear from families who have had 2 or 3 generations through this beautiful school. We welcome your favourite photos/artefacts/memories /why OLA holds a special place in your life. We would love to hear from you or any other person you know who may be interested by the end of March (we have extended the date).  

We are hoping to celebrate the official opening on Friday 19 May at 10am with Mass, Blessing and cutting of the ribbon. Please save the date and join us for this special occasion.  You will be welcome to walk through the new areas and to enjoy morning tea.  We are wanting to have some of our story displayed for this special occasion and anniversary - a big thank you to Sr Margaret and Maree Thomas for sharing some brilliant memorabilia already. Please include your name and the years you attended OLA. You are welcome to drop these items off at our office or email me at  rjacques@olacheltenham.catholic.edu.au

Working Bee

Like many schools, we hold termly Working Bees where we ask our families to commit to one rostered Working Bee a year completing basic gardening and maintenance tasks.

The Working Bees will take place on the following dates:

Term 1 - Saturday 25 March 10am-12pm (Please note change of date from 4 March)

Term 2 - Saturday 6 May 10am-12pm

Term 3 - Saturday 29 July 10am-12pm

Term 4 - Saturday 18 November 10am-12pm (Please note change of date from 4 Nov)

Please find below the 2023 Working Bee Roster - we have families from each of the grades across each of the four Working Bees. You are welcome to bring your children to the Working Bees and they can help with tasks and/or play with other children who are also attending. The sense of pride in our school grounds and buildings is increased dramatically with engagement in activities such as this and it is a lovely informal way to get to know other families at OLA. We also ask families to bring tools along to Working Bees, (clearly named) that may be able to assist us in the tasks at hand, for example, wheelbarrows, rakes, shovels, blowervacs etc.

If you have a particular skill that could help the school please also let us know and we can ensure that you are able to be assigned to an appropriate task. Please note you are welcome to swap/change your days with another family or you can make a donation if you are unable to attend. If you would like to request a different date to attend a Working Bee please email Sharan Talbot at the office (office@olacheltenham.catholic.edu.au) with your preference.  Thank you as always for your support of our great school.

Grandparent's/Special Person's Day

We are excited to announce that we are looking forward to hosting Grandparent's/Special Person's Day this year at OLA on Monday 24 July from 9.00-11.00am. Please save the date and share with these special people.

Calendar

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

Key dates for the next 2 weeks...

Congratulations

Congratulations to Jess G in Grade 4 for competing in discus, 200m, 400m, and long jump at the South Metro Regionals Little Athletics Carnival last month! We're so proud to announce that he'll be competing at the state level for discus. Good luck and keep up the fantastic work!

Congratulations to Isabella K in Grade 5 for having the intiative to reach out to the insprational and great role model Eddie Betts. Bella's email to Eddie sparked a lovely email in return and video from Eddie wishing all at OLA the very best. Thank you Bella for making this happen. We look forward to accessing some of the resources he mentions throughout the year.

Dear Isabella,

Thankyou for your time in writing your letter, it is great to hear from you. I’m pleased to hear that you were able to learn more about Indigenous culture through my book. That was one of my main reasons for writing ‘The Boy from Boomerang Crescent’. Congratulations on your role as F.I.R.E. Carrier at your school, it is nice to hear that you are ready to take on the role whole heartedly to educate our younger generations and spread the message of reconciliation. I believe that it is very important to continue to spread awareness to work towards a more inclusive future for our children. We are only a small part in that change, but it has to start somewhere - and I’m glad that your school is participating and initiating this action. There are many great resources to learn more about Aboriginal Culture and thank you for thinking of ‘Eddie's Lil Homies’ as a place to start! We are very excited to be in production for the Eddie’s Lil Homies animation TV Series and can’t wait to share it with everyone! Again, thank you for your letter and all the best for the year ahead!

Regards, Eddie Betts

Best Wishes

Wishing our very best to all the children representing OLA at the District Swimming Championships on Monday 6 March and to the Grade 3-6 children participating in Cross Country on Tuesday 7 March.

Celebrations 

Ash Wednesday Mass

We had a wonderful start to the Lenten season with a meaningful Ash Wednesday Mass. Our school community came together to reflect and begin our Lenten journey. Thank you to all who participated! The parishioners were so proud of our students and said they were so impressed with how respectful and engaged they were. Thank you to the many families who joined us.

Reconciliation Family Workshop

It was lovely to see our Grade 3 students and families exploring the Sacrament of Reconciliation last week. Our families came together for a faith workshop to deepen their understanding of this important Sacrament. We're grateful for this opportunity to grow in our faith and thank you to Fr Alan, Mrs Taig, Miss Turner and Miss Riley for their input and preparation for this special evening.

FIRE Carriers

Congratulations to our 2023 FIRE Carriers.  We were super proud of you being handed this important leadership role on Wednesday afternoon at the OLA FIRE Carrier Commissioning Ceremony. Thank you also to our outgoing FIRE Carriers - Connor, Maggie, Sara and Lucas and thank you to our Care for the Common Home parishioners who attended to support and show thier interest and care. Thank you to Mrs Lee and Mrs O'Meara for leading these students and for organising such a sacred ceremony.

Friendships

It is lovely seeing little friendships developing in the classrooms, lunchtime and after school clubs and on the playground.

Principal Awards

Caitlan, Josy and I love nothing more than being called to visit a class to congratulate students their amazing work or when children come to visit us with their work. Congratulations to 1/2MV on the amazing writing this week and in particular for their recount of Elmer.

Bike Ed

Our Grade 4/5 students have benefitted from learning the skills and knowledge to safely navigate the roads on two wheels. Bike education is not just about riding bikes, it's about instilling confidence, responsibility, and respect for traffic rules. Thank you to Mrs Thompson and Mrs Herat for bringing their training to life and to our parishioner Peter King for sharing his expertiseand the many parents who helped make the Big Bike Ride possible.

Everyone looked their very best today for school photos - some very fancy hair doos that must have taken some time to make happen before school today! Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for your support in all the special happenings over the last fortnight. 

Richard Jacques

Principal