Principal's Message

Dear OLA Families,

Thank you all for helping to create such a calm and happy start to Term 3. It has been lovely to hear about the many and varied holiday breaks our students, parents and staff enjoyed. While some skied the snow slopes, some jetted off to warmer climates and some enjoyed a 'stay-cation', enjoying some quiet days at home. It was so good to visit all the classrooms lastweek, catching up with the students and seeing how excited they were to be back at school. We have certainly hit the ground running and we are straight back into our teaching and learning program. 

Routine is key when returning to school, so we remind all families to ensure the students are in their classrooms by 8.40am. Please also remember that gates officially open at 8.30am and staff are then on yard duty to supervise and ensure that all are safe.

Grandparent's Day 

We are delighted to be opening our doors THIS Monday 24 July for Grandparents and Special Friends - 'G' Day! Children are welcome to bring along a Good, Great or Grand person/s in their lives for the morning. We have scheduled this day on Monday 24 July as it is close to the Feast of St Joachim and St Anne - the grandparents of Jesus.

Our plans for the morning include:

We are grateful to all the families who were able to send in a photo of their special 'G' person so that we can use it in the Prayer Service in a slide show. 

100 Days of Prep Celebrations-Wed 2 August

We look forward to the celebration for our Prep children for their 100 days of school. The celebrations will take place on Wednesday 2 August. The Prep team invite all Prep children to come dressed as 100 year old people.   We invite parents/special friends to join us for a 100 days Parade in the School Hall at 8.45am. We look forward to a fun day of celebration with our elderly Prep children!  

Smoking Ceremony & Little Long Walk

Ngata!

Thank you to our teachers for preparing their gorgeous children and helping to make OLA’s Little Long Walk such a respectful and beautiful experience for all involved at the end of last term. Josh and Jillian West who conducted our Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony, Leanne, Jenaya and Urayea from The Long Foundation and members from the OLA Parish Care for our Common Home Group all spoke so highly of our students and the whole experience. We appreciate the support you gave us and want to acknowledge the hard work of our amazing FIRE Carrier leaders. They are sensational! 

Wurruk,

Fiona Lee and Gen O'Meara

Winter Appeal 

Thank you to all families who donated non-perishable food items, beanies, gloves, scarves, blankets and toiletry items for our Winter Appeal last term. Our local St Vinvent De Paul conference, along with our OLA Mini Vinnies are extremely grateful for your generosity. Many people in our community will benefit from these items. Thank you. 

Volunteers

Later this term we will be hosting our very own OLA Art Exhibition and in Term 4 we will be showcasing our Performing Arts with a production on the stage at Kilbreda College.

If you have any passion or skills that may help us with these exciting projects please let me know in person or by email rjacques@olacheltenham.catholic.edu.au

We would love some interior designer eyes to hang some art work, or some crafty people to mount some art work, or people that can sew to support some costume making, sourcing or organising etc

Reports and Parent/Teacher Meetings

Thank you to all our staff for their work, care and preparation of each child's Semester 1 Report.  We also thank our staff for the time given to meet with all parents and for celebrating the learning and growth of the children as well as setting the focus for Semester 2. Thank you to our parents for attending these important meetings - your partnering with us is very much appreciated.  

Life skill of being on time

When chatting around the table this week at home we ask you talk about the importance in life of being punctual and being on time.  Please note the gates open at 8.30am and that the first bell for school goes at 8.40am with meditation beginning promptly at 8.45am when the second bell goes. Any child who arrives later than this waits in the office quietly so as to minimise interruptions in class during this beautiful and special moment of being still. Being on time is a really important life skill - please work with us to make this a reality and to minimise interruptions to learning.

Uniform

We remind all families (and students) to maintain the expected standards for the school uniform. Hair ties, scrunchies and ribbons must strictly be in 'school colours'. We also request nail polish and bracelets be removed, as this tends to be a pattern after an extended term break.  Your support is very much appreciated. 

OLA Video Clip

We are proud of our story here at Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Primary School and we are proud to have captured a piece of it with the creation of a short 4 minute video celebrating all that is OLA Cheltenham. We encourage you to take a moment to watch this clip:

Next Master Plan Meeting

The Smith and Tracey team will join us at OLA on Monday 7 August (not Thursday 27 July as proposed at the last Master Plan meeting) at 7.00pm to update us on where we are at with Master Plan ideas and plans. All parents welcome.

Term 3 Working Bee

We are looking forward to welcoming families to the Term 3 OLA Working Bee on Saturday 29 July from 10.00am-12.00pm.  

We especially welcome the following families who are rostered on:

Please bring along your tools such as wheelbarrows, blowers/blowervacs, whipper snippers, rakes, shovels, brooms, hedge trimmers, secateurs and other gardening tools.  Our main aim is to spread soft fall on the playground, sweep up pathways, weed and trim garden beds and help make the school feel and look great.

Enrolment Applications 2024

We continue to receive enquiries and enrolment applications for Prep and other grades thoughout the school for 2024 and beyond.  We are enjoying meeting with each family. Please know that all enquiries regarding enrolments are always welcome. Please contact the school office on 9584 9488 if you would like to arrange a school tour.

Starting School Workshop with Carley McGauran

On Thursday 10 August we are hosting the wonderful Carley McGauren for our Parent Workshop: Starting School - How your family can thrive and not just survive. This workshop is open to all new and current families starting at OLA in 2024 (any families from other grades are welcome too!!) as well as any other Kinder parents who would like to join us. This workshop will begin at 7.00pm and go for 75 minutes.  

Please register and join us on Thursday 10 August in Brigid Hall for this session. Carley McGauran is such an impressive human being and so down to earth and practical.  I hope there are many take-aways for you. 

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...

2024 Plans

We politely ask all families to notify the school should your child/children not be returning to OLA in 2024. We have had a number of enquiries in recent weeks and have waiting lists for 2024 across most year levels. Having an accurate indication of our enrolment numbers for next year ensures we are able to plan accordingly and access appropriate funding i.e. staffing and resourcing. We thank you for your cooperation. 

Last day of 2023

Please note that in accordance with directives from MACS that the last day of school for 2023 for students in Prep to Grade 5 is Friday 15 December. Grade 6 will graduate and celebrate their last day on Thursday 14 December.

Annual Report to the Community

Not only have we been working on updating our website with current photos and information but we have also presented the 2022 Annual Report to OSAC, published it on our web page and printed it in booklets at the front office. You are welcome view the report online or obtain a copy from the front office. The changes on the website will go live by the end of next week. 

Celebrations

Courage

Embracing the Power of Courage! 

OLA's theme for the year is all about stepping out of our comfort zones and embracing the incredible strength within us. We congratulate the children in 5/6 NC for bringing our theme alive with this amazing art work which is displayed in the 5/6 communal area.

Mathematics ENA Project in Grade 1/2

The Junior teachers continue to participate in the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Early Number and Algebra program this year. This term, we are focussing on Multiplication & Division. All Grade 1 and 2 students have participated in a pre-assessment interview. In the coming weeks, teachers will meet with MACS experts to analyse data and plan a sequence of work to support all learners. This is another great example of how we differentiate learning at OLA. 

Gardening Club

OLA is excited to have received the 'Woolworths Junior Landcare Grant' this year. This money will go towards continuous work in our gardens and new planter pots to place around the school. Thank you to all our Learning Support Officers who make this opportunity possible.

Surf Life Saving Medals

Congratulations to Connor who participated in the Lifesaving Victoria Junior Pool State Championships, in Geelong on Sunday 18th June, representing Mentone Life Saving Club. Connor competed in individual and team races, which also included obstacle races, tube race and line throw race. Congratulations on your 7 medals!!

Cleo & the Matilda's

Cleo in Grade 3/4 is a passionate soccer  player so you can imagine her excitment withthe Wallabies playing right here in Australia! The class were very excited to tune into ABC news and to see her in the Herald Sun! 

Principal Awards

Principal Awards go to amazing students like this who give their absolute best in presenting their project work from home. Thank you for giving your best.

Casual Clothes Day

Our School Captains suggested we have a casual clothes day to celebrate the last day of Term 2. What a great idea!! All children (and staff!) were welcome to wear casual clothes and to make a gold coin donation towards the new drinking taps that the P&F Team are planning to purchase later in the year.  $249 was raised by the gold coin donations. Thank you.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Jack in PFL on becoming a big brother to Oliver. It is so lovely to see how proud Jack is of his little brother. Congratulations also to Erin and Matt. Sending our love and best wishes from all in the OLA community.

Thank you all for a wonderful start to Term 3!

We hope you are enjoying some of the many wonderful sporting events on in the calendar at this time of year. 

May the best team win this weekend between the Hawks and Tigers!! Go Hawks!!

Richard Jacques

Principal