Principal's Message

Dear OLA Families,

Thank you for another wonderful two weeks! As we are officially in the season of Winter now (and over halfway through the term) we hope you've dug out those winter woolies. 

National Reconciliation Week

We acknowledge the Boon Wurrung people, the Custodians of the land our school is on. We pay our respect to their Elders and acknowledge their continuous connection to Country. We come together in peace and harmony, respecting the dignity of each person.

This week is National Reconciliation Week (NRW). It is is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

As a school, we have been exploring NRW in class and look forward to further opportunities in the following weeks. I thank Fi Lee, Gen O'Meara and the FIRE Carriers for organising a welcome to country, smoking ceremony and Little Long Walk for Wednesday 21 June. More information to come. 

FIRE Carriers Excursion

Our wonderful FIRE Carriers have certainly been busy lately! From assisting with the OLA Parish 'From the Heart' workshop on Sunday 21 May, to a Living Culture Peninsula Walk excursion on Monday 22 May, we look forward to you sharing your learning with us. 

Please refer to the FIRE Carriers section of this newsletter for more information. 

Integrating our Cultures together

Together with principals from the South Central Principal Network we had the privilege of being based on Larrakia land last week. We enjoyed beautiful weather and spent the time deepening our understanding and connection to Aboriginal spirituality, cultures, languages and traditions.

We had time to be enriched and consider how we are culturally responsive in our own lives and in our own school communities. It became obvious through beautiful experiences and meeting great people that once we know better we do better. Integrating our cultures together in our communities is up to each one of us. 

Grappling with reconciliation is so important when acknowledging the diverse ancient culture of Aboriginal people. There is much to learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through their knowledge, cultures and traditions. 

Highlights of the trip for me included: 

*Visiting Ubirr in Kakadu National Park - seeing the vast landscape and learning about how the art work has recorded day to day events in the lives of Aboriginal people and how this art work helps to tell their story. We were grateful to walk the land with local elder Graeme as he shared stories of how they sustain their local environments and food chains, the importance of family, ceremonies and respect. 

*Visiting Catholic Education Northern Territory to pray together and learn about the relationships of the Aboriginal people, their spirituality and connectedness to the environment. 

*Visiting the Tiwi Islands and community where we were able to experience first hand Aboriginal spirituality, cultures, languages and traditions.  An excellent way to culminate a week of learning and immersion.

*Networking with great Principals who brought their positive attitudes and enthusiasm. Such a great support network who are willing to listen and share their experiences and knowledge. 

Our week had an emphasis on relationships, respect and opportunities to foster connections with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. All our experiences had a meaningful impact toward us playing our part in Australia’s  reconciliation journey. 

The timing of this Principal Conference was perfect with all of this taking place as we acknowledged National Sorry Day and National Reconciliation Week. It certainly affirmed in each of us a respect for the languages, cultures and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

Thank you to Caitlan Taig and Josy Reeder for leading the school during this time and of course while I have been on camp this week. 

Richard Jacques

District and Division Cross Country

On Tuesday 23 May, 57 students represented OLA at the Cheltenham District Cross Country. Students in ages 9/10 run 2km and those in the 11 and 12 age groups run 3km at Mentone Grammar Playing Fields. Our students had been training hard both at school and at home, and we had great success with 10 children going on to compete at Kingston Division Cross Country on Tuesday. This was held at Karkarook Park.

We congratulate Matthew R who has progressed through to the Southern Metropolitan Region and we wish him the best of luck for his race on Wednesday 14 June at Hastings Foreshore.

Liz Thompson

Junior Mayor Competition

We congratulate our school captains for all the work they did to prepare their presentation. They came up with some wonderful ideas to increase Wellbeing in children, including an app and sharing our work with the Chillout Room here at OLA. Kiara was chosen to be our main speaker and she made us very proud! Kiara will now participate in meetings as part of the 2023 Kingston Junior Council.

Find out more in the Learning & Teaching section of this newsletter.

Hawthorn Blind and Wheelchair Sports Incursion

On Monday 29 May, the Hawthorn Football Club came to OLA to hold an incursion for Grade 3-6 around Sports for people with disabilities, specifically, people who are vision impaired or use a wheelchair. 

Students have said:

I think the blind footy incursion was really fun and cool. We learnt that even though someone is blind, it doesn't stop them from doing what you enjoy. We got to wear special glasses and pass the ball around. In wheelchair footy, we got to do challenge races and we learnt how to turn and go really fast.

James S (3/4ST)

I loved the blind footy incursion a lot, it was so much fun. I loved hearing other people's back story and I also loved wearing the glasses. I learnt a lot. The wheelchair footy was also really fun. There were two groups and I went with Joe and the others went with Jared. 

Rose L (3/4ST)

Blind footy was so much fun, there was a ball that made a sound so you can hear it but you couldn't see it because you had a pair of glasses so you wouldn't see. The glasses made things blurry or there was a little hole to see through. You had to keep them on the whole time. In wheelchair footy, there were two groups. One group went with one person to get to know them and the other group went into the wheelchairs to play a game and know how they work. It was the best, I loved it so much. The wheelchairs cost $12 000.

Aaliyah W (3/4ST)

Blind footy was fun but I felt bad for what blind people have to live with. We got to put on glasses to wear and I fell over a few times trying to kick the footy. I learned how to move very fast in the wheelchair, we even got to do races. I got clumsy and bumped into other people. The wheelchair cost $12 000. 

Rishon S (3/4ST)

Grade 5 and 6 Camp

Our happy campers have had a wonderful time on Grade 5 and 6 Camp this week. From canoeing, to flying fox, to team building activities, the students have had rich opportunities to work together, challenge themselves and build relationships with their peers and teachers. 

We thank all the staff who took time away from their own families to ensure this experience could take place.

Grade 1/2 Excursion - Gould League

On Thursday 1 June the Grade 1 and 2 student went on an excursion to The Gould League Sustainability & Education Centre. Students participated in hands on, interactive activities and explored how living things are connected. They examined the changes plants undergo as they grow and discovered the key features that help plants survive in our fascinating world. A few of our students shared that their favourite part of the day was digging up bugs with a shovel!

Prep 2024 Interviews

It has been so lovely to begin our process of Prep 2024 interviews. This week, we have met with a number of families (new and current) to discuss their children and enrolment for next year. Not only are these great opportunities to meet with families, it is so important for our future OLA students to come in, see the school and continue getting to know some of the friendly faces here.

Enrolment Tours for 2024

It is great to have the enrolment applications coming in.  We are busy making offers and look forward to meeting with each new and current family for 2024 in the coming weeks. We thank everyone who has attended our school tours and for considering OLA as an educational setting for their child and for them as a 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.

New Master Plan

With the official opening now taken place on the recent Stage 3 building project we have completed that series of works.  We now get to dream about the future of OLA in 1 year, 5 years and 10 years. If you have any ideas about what we should prioritise and make happen to support the learning and wellbeing of the children at OLA for both internal and external spaces, please share your ideas with Richard and Caitlan. Smith & Tracey, our architects are working with students and staff and listening to their ideas on Tuesday 13 June. On that same day so we are calling our School Advisory Council together to meet with the architects, share and develop ideas at 7.00pm and so if you would like to join us you are more than welcome. Please RSVP to rjacques@olacheltenham.catholic.edu.au if you would like to join in the conversations on the next Master Plan. Once we have our next Master Plan drawn up we can begin to apply for state and federal grants again which is exciting.

You will see some boards appear at the front of the office next week, detailing our building works to date. If you have any ideas you'd like to contribute and can't make the meeting on Monday 13 June, please feel free to write them on the boards. We are hoping to capture the voice of our community before we go into the next planning stage. 

School Closure Day - Friday 9 June

A friendly reminder that next Friday 9 June is a School Closure Day. The staff professional learning focus will be wellbeing, with a particular focus on how to implement the Peaceful Classrooms program developed by educator, counsellor and psychotherapist Georgina Manning.

The ‘Peaceful Classrooms’ program provides lessons, meditations and activities for the whole class or groups and is suitable for students from Kinder right through to Year 12.   ‘Peaceful Classrooms’ provides schools, organisations and wellbeing practitioners with an engaging Mindfulness activities and meditations for children and teens. The program has been created to support all children in the classroom or groups to develop an ongoing Mindfulness practice, learn about Mindfulness and be able to embed this into their day to day lives.  

Simple, effective and proven exercises help students to stay calm, relax, focus and learn more effectively during the day.  Peaceful Classrooms helps students to build their emotional resilience so they are better equipped to deal with the day to day stresses that life brings them.  

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews are coming up on the following dates:

• Tuesday 20 June 1:40-7pm
• Thursday 22 June 3:40-5pm

An Operoo will be sent out to families later next week with booking information. 

1/2KM Update

We write to inform you that despite Kirsten Milinski's strong desire to return to work this year her specialist has advised that she will need to continue treatment and recovery throughout Term 3 and Term 4. On behalf of the school and Kirsten, I would like to thank you for your understanding and support.  

We are grateful to Yueni Yang for extending her contract with us until the end of Term 2, however it is not possible for Yueni to complete the school year teaching in 1/2KM.  We have contracted Yueni until Friday 28 July (end of Week 3, Term 3), to assist with a smooth handover with the successful classroom teacher.

We have advertised externally for a suitably qualified classroom teacher to fill the position for the remainder of the school year in 1/2KM.  We will update parents on the outcome of the employment process in the coming weeks.

Please continue to keep Kirsten and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

Richard Jacques

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...

Thank you all for being part of such wonderful community events over the last couple of weeks.

Caitlan Taig

Deputy Principal