Principal's News

Dear Parents & Parishioners,

There are many opportunities to be involved in the life of a primary school because they tend to be smaller than secondary schools.

Research proves that parent involvement is important. It shows that the more parents are involved, the more likely their child will succeed. The research also shows that children with involved parents attend school regularly, develop better social skills, get their homework done, are more positive about school, and are more likely to graduate and go on to higher education.

If you are involved, you know what’s happening at school. That makes you a better and stronger advocate for your child.

You can get involved at school by:

Building a relationship with your child’s teacher
Talking to your child about their day at school; following up on Seesaw posts
Reading to your child (even older kids benefit from reading aloud)

Being a homework coach, where you let your child take responsibility, but stay aware of tasks that are due

Volunteering, for example, helping with classroom activities such as reading groups or excursions or in the school tuck shop
Attending parent groups or committees, such as PFA meetings
Working on school fundraisers and events such the Colour Run
Participating in social activities with other parents and families such as the OHR Spanish Night
Helping outside school hours, for example, coaching school sports teams, assisting with working bees, etc.
Attending events like assemblies, school productions and Book Week parades.

As the old African proverb says, "It takes a village to raise a child." It is easy to imagine then that it would take a community to raise a school. We can't rely on local, state, or federal governments to take ownership of the issues we face locally. We need to work as a community to nurture our school for our particular community needs.

The answer to real school transformation is strong, authentic community connections and actions. When families and schools band together to support learning, young people achieve more in school, stay in school longer, and enjoy the experience more.

This year the PFA issued each family an OHR Event Planner, to be put on the fridge. This is a visibile means of keeping an eye on all upcoming events. All the proceeds from any PFA fundraiser go directly back into the school to benefit the programs, equipment and facilities which, in turn, profit our children. But the biggest single factor that parents can contribute is their time in assisting with these events. This builds connection with one another and, therefore, community,

School Improvement Framework

As part of the School Improvement Framework, once every four years every Catholic School undergoes Review. During 2023, for example, approximately 25% of Catholic schools - inclusive of primary and secondary - in the eastern region of Melbourne will be reviewed. Our Holy Redeemer is one of those primary schools. All schools engaging in school review embark on a continuous, collaborative process through which a school community identifies the strengths and challenges of the organisation and uses the information as a basis for making deliberate, positive, cohesive and observable changes in measurable student outcomes.

Effective Catholic schools have a continuous improvement agenda that is visible, comprehensive and explicitly planned. These approaches are data-informed, evidence-based and co-constructed actions that are collaborative and aligned to improving student learning outcomes (Catholic Education Melbourne 2019).

Some key considerations of the review include:

How do we ensure that review covers the multi-dimensional nature of learning?
How do we ensure that review has a clear focus on supporting teacher quality?
How do we ensure that review leads to specific and disciplined cycles of improvement?
How do we ensure that the religious dimension is deeply embedded within the review process?

Our Holy Redeemer will be reviewed during the first week of Term 4. In order to effectively prepare for this review, the input of every staff member is required as we reflect on the progress we have made since the last review, with consideration given to the following five dimensions: Learning & Teaching; Leadership & Management; Religious Dimension; Student Wellbeing; and School Community. For this reason the school will work with staff from the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Eastern Region Office over two consecutive days. Those two days, which will form school closure days, are Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 July.

OHR Public Speaking Final

There was a feeling of anticipation and excitement as the school community was joined by parents and other family members, on Tuesday afternoon, to witness the OHR Public Speaking Final. The hall was filled with an air of expectancy, and the finalists did not disappoint. Every student's speech captivated the audience and showed the depth of skill possessed by the finalists. Parents described 'being blown away' by the performances of the students. Each year the bar appears as though it is raised a little higher! As a number of parents commented afterwards, "The Public Speaking Program at OHR affords every child the opportunity to hone these essential skills, the calibre of which is extremely high."

Once again, Ann Rennie accepted our invitation to act as guest judge. Anne is a past parent of OHR and a current teacher of English at Genazzano College. We always value Anne's time, expertise and passion for public speaking.

Thank you to Mrs Canty, our Literacy Leader, who organised all facets of this year's Public Speaking Season. And finally, congratulations to every OHR student who prepared a speech this year and took the brave opportunity to deliver it before an audience of their peers. Every student deserves to take a bow!

Go to the Learning & Teaching News for a report from Mrs Canty.

Lunch Orders

Classroom Cuisine will be the new provider of lunch orders at OHR from the beginning of Term 3. Details were communicated in an email sent out last Friday. Those details have been re-produced on the PFA News page in today's newsletter.

School Closure Days in Term 3

There will be two consecutive school closure days in Term 3 enabling the OHR staff to work with the MACS Eastern Region Office in prepration for our school Review. Those days are: Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 July.

End of Term

The children will be dismissed at 1.00pm tomorrow afternoon.

The school holidays provide the opportunity for children and parents to take a good break from the busy nature of school life. It’s apparent that the children become tired during the middle of the school year with the onset of winter. It’s time for them, and you for that matter, to have a break from the school routine.

The second term has been busy with plenty of great learning and extra curricular opportunities on offer for the children including, but certainly not limited to: the ANZAC Day Commemoration; the Year 3/4 Camp at Phillip Island; Eucharist Reflection Day; an Open Morning; 2024 Family Enrolment Meetings; lunchtime chess program; Excursion to the Melbourne Museum (Prep and Yrs 1/2); About Real Life Family Nights; Inform and Empower Cybersafety Sessions: F-6; Sporting Schools Soccer Clinics; Friday Inter-school Sport; District Cross Country; Lamonts Book Fair; Grandparents’ & Special Friends’ Day; Walk Safely to School Day; Yrs 3/4 AFL Gala Day; OHR Public Speaking Season; Members of Parliament meetings (SRC); PFA Kids Movie Night; etc. etc. … It certainly has been a busy one.

Next term will provide many highlights for the school community including: The Sacrament of Confirmation; MASH Rotary Primary Schools Speech Competition; 100 Days of Prep; District Athletics Day; Book Week; Dads & Kids' Night; the School Production; and the list goes on.

Thanks to all our parents for your ongoing support and all that you do to make our school community great.

I would like to wish everyone well for a good holiday break,

Frank