From the Principal

Dear Families,

Welcome to term 3

How quickly the year is flying by.  I am looking forward to the term ahead watching the children grow and develop and also working with the teachers to ensure we do all we can so that every child is the best they can be.

Principal Announcement

As announced in an email to all parents on Tuesday, the new Principal has now been appointed to Our Lady's.  Mr Patrick Green, currently the Principal at St Dominic's in Camberwell,  will be joining the community at the beginning of Term 4.   I know everyone will be very pleased to have this finalised and will be looking forward to meeting Patrick.  I rang Patrick on Tuesday to congratulate him on his appointment and to arrange a time to visit the community.  A very special thank you to Faith Bell and Jacki Landy for their dedication to the process of the appointment of the new Principal.  Faith and Jacki were both panel members and gave up many hours of their own time to be part of this process.  Thank you both!

If you did not receive this email from me on Tuesday it may mean that your email address is not up to date on our data system.  Please give Liz or Loretta a call to let them know of your change of details.

Covid Update

We continue to monitor covid cases in and around Melbourne and work to keep everyone safe.  At this stage we will continue with the current plan in place at Our Lady's.  Parents are very welcome in the school yard but will be unable to come into classrooms.  Please remember to wear masks if you are unable to social distance while outside or in the admin area.  All staff will return to wearing masks indoors except when teaching.  If you are coming into the admin area please remember to wear your mask and QR Code in no matter how long you are on site.   This is a Department of Health requirement.  Covid is once again active in Victoria, please keep children home if they are unwell and we will be in contact if children become unwell at school.   If by any chance your family is impacted by having visited exposure sites and are required to be tested or quarantine please let the school know as soon as possible.  Many thanks!

Pupil Free Days

We had our first pupil free day for the year last Monday.  The majority of school staff were in attendance as we worked together on goal setting and began preparation for the school review scheduled for Term 4.  There are three days set aside this term.  This is unusual but as we had none in term 1 and term 2 we are catching up.  The dates are as follows.

Monday August 9th- Review preparation continues working with MACS staff.

Monday August 30th - Religious Education - Pedagogy of Encounter

Many thanks for your support and understanding as we work together to create a culture of continuous improvement at Our Lady's.

Cybersafety Parent Evening - July 29th ay 7pm! 'Raising Kids in a Digital World'

Please make sure you have this date marked in your diary.  This is the something that the school feels very strongly about in regard to the health and safety of all children.  We would really like to see a representation from all families.  You will not be disappointed.

We welcome the Chapman Family to OLHC, Zahra and Alexia have had a really happy start. Please keep an eye out for their mum, Kim and Dad, David in the yard and introduce yourselves.  Michael Madres has also started at Our Lady's and is very exited to be here as well as his mum Andria and Dad, Nick.  This is a wonderfully inclusive community and I know they will enjoy becoming part of it.

Our new classroom teachers, Clare Bisby (Year 5-6) and Yvette Egonidis (Year 3-4) have joined the community and are very very excited to be working with the children, staff and parents. 

The children in Years 3-6 had the opportunity to attend a live theatre performance of Mary Poppins at Loyola yesterday after being invited to attend the dress rehearsal.  It was an excellent opportunity for the children to experience the live show, performed by the students from Loyola.  The show was enjoyed greatly by both students and staff.  They were all very excited to be on their first excursion for quite some time.

Term overviews will be coming home to families in the next week.  The Overview allows you to see what will be happening with your child/children and their learning this term.  It is a way to stay connected and be involved.  If you have any questions or concerns in regard to your child please do not hesitate to contact their classroom teacher to discuss.

I look forward to the term ahead.

Until next week 

Therese

Please keep Therese Stewart and her family in your thoughts and prayers after the death of her mother-in-law Maureen who passed away last week. 

May the family be comforted by their beautiful memories of Maureen.

St Vincent de Paul winter grocery appeal.

Thank you again to everyone who so generously donated goods to this appeal. The response was amazing.  Congratulations to the Prep children and their families who won the final count and earned a free dress day.  

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