Acting Principal's Message

Dear OLA Families,

We have passed the halfway point for Term 1 and time has absolutely flown!

We appreciate the time to meet with families last week for our Parent Teacher Interviews. These are such a valuable opportunity to check in on how the children are settling, as well as discuss student learning so far and co-create goals and hopes for all students for the 2022 school year. We are so grateful for all families who made an appointment and partnered in discussions around wellbeing and learning at OLA. 

Shrove Tuesday

Last Tuesday 1 March was Shrove Tuesday. Traditionally during Lent, Christians would give up rich, tasty foods such as butter, eggs, sugar and fat. Shrove Tuesday was the last chance to eat them – and what better way to do so than with a delicious pancake! 

We thank our wonderful OLA Parents & Friends Association for organising pancakes for all students on this day. 

Ash Wednesday

Last Wednesday 2 March was Ash Wednesday and marked the beginning of Lent. Our Grade 6 Social Justice/MJR Leaders proudly represented the school at OLA Parish Mass in the morning and collected the blessed ashes for the rest of the school. All classes participated in a reverent prayer service in the afternoon and received the ashes. 

Read more about our Lenten preparations in the Religious Dimension section of this newsletter. 

District Swimming Competition

Congratulations once again to all OLA students who participated in our OLA Swimming Squad this year. This week we congratulate the 24 students who represented OLA at the Kingston District Swimming Carnival. We are proud of you all for having a go and giving your best. 

Read more about OLA's District Swimming Carnival participation later in this newsletter.

Whole School Assemblies

We are so grateful to be going ahead with our whole school assemblies on Friday afternoons each fortnight. These are a great opportunity for us to gather as a whole school community in our outdoor spaces to remain COVID Safe. We are so proud of the students for listening so attentively throughout and we are grateful for the family members who were able to attend. 

Our next outdoor whole school assembly will be Friday 18 March (weather permitting). 

OLA Library 

It has been amazing to see classes coming in and out of our new OLA Library in Exodus Hall. It feels like ages since we have been able to borrow books given last year’s COVID restrictions and our relocation of resources earlier this year. 

We thank our wonderful staff and parent volunteers who have worked hard to create a warm and well resourced Library space for us to use throughout the duration of the building project. We have had all the carpets, windows and walls cleaned and it feels and looks so good. 

Students are invited to borrow books from the OLA Library on their allocated Library day. Please help your child to remember to bring in their library bag on their allocated day. 

iSea iCare Peer Teaching Workshop

Our Grade 6 Sustainability Leaders and Steve Pertz (Grade 5/6 teacher) attended a Peer Teaching Workshop on Tuesday 8 March at Mentone Primary School. We are proud of your contributions and so excited for you to share your learning with the other students at OLA. 

The Grade 6 Leaders have written a section for this newsletter if you would like to hear more about this special opportunity. 

School Closure Day - Tuesday 15 March

A friendly reminder that we have a school closure day this coming Tuesday 15 March. These days are invaluable opportunities for our staff to receive professional learning and work together to constantly review and improve our practice here at OLA. 

This coming Tuesday there will be two main areas of focus:

• Positive Behaviour Support: Patrice Wiseman (previously a Behavioural Consultant from Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools) will meet with us for two hours to continue our learning about a school wide positive behaviour approach. This is a restorative approach for school communities to develop positive and safe behaviour support.  Within this approach, schools improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children and young people. Students and staff benefit from:
  • increased respectful and positive behaviour
  • improved social-emotional wellbeing
  • positive and respectful relationships among students and staff
  • a predictable learning environment with improved perceptions of safety 
• First Aid Training: Helen McGrath from Total First Aid Training is coming to lead four hours of first aid training with all staff. This includes general first aid, asthma and anaphylaxis. It is vital that we remain up to date to ensure the safety of all students in our care.

Celebration of learning

Some highlights of my week continue to be students coming to share their work. It is wonderful to see the effort and growth for these children, as well as the clear pride on their faces at their own accomplishments.

This week, we had some Senior students share their homework presentations, some Grade One students share their recount writing, and some of our clever Preps came to show off their knowledge of the OLA School Prayer. 

School tours

It has been a pleasure to continue welcoming families this past fortnight for our School Tours.  We were so proud to showcase our school and special thanks to our School Captains who so proudly and capably spoke about the school that they love. If you or your friends missed this tour we invite you to register and join us on the upcoming tours which are advertised on our new kindergarten flyers. Enrollments are open and we ask that siblings coming to OLA in 2023 enrol now.

Regional Athletics celebration

A very big congratulations to Jess G (3/4TR) who competed at the Regional Athletic  Championships a couple of weeks ago in four events (discus, long jump, 70 metre and 400 metre races). Jess did very well and progressed through to the State Athletic Championships in Long Jump with a Jump of 3.63m and also 400 metres with a time of 1min 17.55 sec.  

He is competing this long weekend with his sister Emily (past OLA student) who also got through in the long jump and hurdles. Wishing you both the best of luck!

Thank you all for helping to make OLA the best school in Cheltenham.

Enjoy the weekend.

Caitlan Taig

Acting Principal