OLHC News

From the departing Principal 

Therese Stewart

Dear Families,

 

Today is our last newsletter for Term 3 and my last newsletter at Our Lady's.

 

We have nearly reached the end of another term that has been filled with learning, laughs and some difficult times for children, families and for staff.  Covid continues to impact all our lives every single day and will continue to do so for some time.  We hope the holiday break gives everyone a chance to recharge the batteries and enjoy the freedom of no zooms and no remote learning.

 

This morning we had our first scheduled meeting with the School Reviewer, David Allibon. We have shared all our documentation with him and he was grateful and acknowledged everyone's hard work over the last weeks.  Review gives schools the opportunity to recognise what has been done well and most importantly the focus for the future and the next school improvement phase.

 

Today the teachers have spent the day planning for next term.  This is difficult when you don't know if you are planning for the classroom or planning for the continuation of remote learning.  On Sunday there will be an announcement as to what the start of next term will look like.  We will be in touch with you through Operoo if we are continuing with remote learning and if not, we look forward to seeing everyone on Monday 4th October.  We will communicate with all families as to what this will look like over the holiday period.

 

Yesterday Katrina Smith (Year 1-2 teacher) ran an Art Zoom session with over 50 children creating beautiful water colours inspired by the work of Monet.  I must say mine turned out pretty well thanks to Katrina's excellent step by step instructions.

 

Thank you for all your work with the children this term.  Without you as your children's teachers learning would not have been able to continue over the last months.  Thank you for your  support of the staff and for your words of thanks and kindness.  On those challenging days, and there have been many they have made all the difference.  

 

Thank you to the staff at Our Lady's.  They continue to work hard to ensure the children stay connected to their teachers, their classmates and that  learning continues, albeit in a different way.   May they enjoy their holidays they certainly deserve the break from screens.

 

Like everyone in the school community, the staff  have made me feel very welcome and have been a pleasure to work with.  I am sorry that I have not seen more of the children and families during my time at Our Lady's,  it is a strong community that will continue to flourish in the years to come.

 

I know Patrick will be made to feel very welcome,  I hope you have the opportunity to welcome him face to face very, very soon.  Here is a snippet from Patrick before he commences at the start of next term.  He is looking forward to meeting the children, staff and families and working together over the coming years.

 

School finishes tomorrow at 1pm for those onsite and learning remotely.

 

Take care of yourselves and your families and may you enjoy the next two weeks of the holidays with your children with no expectations around computers, devices and remote learning.  Hopefully the beautiful sunny days will continue for the next fortnight and outside activities will part of every day for the children.  Lindy has included 115 activities for you to do over the holidays with your  children if you need them!!!

 

Until next time,

 

Therese