Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School East Warrnambool eNewsletter

Acknowledgement of Country

Today we acknowledge and pay our respects to the First Peoples, the traditional custodians of the lands and waterways and thank them for their continued hospitality.

We acknowledge and celebrate the continuation of a living culture who have lived with Creator God through creation of land, sea, waterways and life.

Prayer

Leadership & Stewardship

Principal's Message

Dear members of the OLHC school community,

OLHC Community Sports Day

I wish to thank the staff and parents who worked together to make our Sunday Community Sports Day such a success. I certainly get a ribbing from other principals about this tradition, as their sports days tend to only have a smattering of parents and grandparents due to work commitments. This event allows us to remain connected and can be the only time we get to see some family members. I also wish to thank the parents and grandparents for the way in which you conducted yourself around our young children. Sports events can bring out the worst in some people and this behaviour can spoil both the experience for both participants and those trying to supervise the event. We rarely, if ever have to deal with this and I can’t thank you enough for modelling such positive and balanced traits. A special shout out to our PFA and the supporting parents who worked tirelessly in the canteen and BBQ. Tough as teak !!!

PFA

The PFA held their annual AGM on Tuesday and voted in a new leadership team. We wish to thank Laura Levette, Shannon Rea and Jess Nolte for their incredible work as leaders of the PFA. They will continue to still serve our school but have handed the reins over to a new leadership team of Abby Mahoney, Desiree Ryan and Bridget Hill. We are indebted to people who have the capacity and willingness to volunteer and their efforts are sincerely appreciated. It is worth noting that quite a few schools in the Diocese no longer have a PFA. This is not a path I wish to go down as the PFA, besides raising funds to supplement the gap in government funding, is the driver of community events that you can participate in. Along with the School Advisory Council, I feel very fortunate to work with such generous and hardworking people.

Country Buses

At the time of writing this newsletter, I have just finished a Video Conference (Thursday 1200) with Liz Hilton the Senior Officer, School Bus Program and Peter Nelson Director, Student Transport and Allowances, Department of Education. Both people hold positions of significant influence and it was great to be able to present our story and to see what can be done for our 16 OLHC families (totalling 27 students) who are deemed ineligible to access the school bus program beyond term 1. Matthew Byrne, Deputy Director of DOBCEL also joined me. This allowed me to present our collated data (everything from bus routes to average bus numbers per day to our enrollment history.) I feel presenting this information was useful and provided a context for the Department to fully appreciate where we sit. Both Peter and Liz were fair, open and listened. They have taken this opportunity to go away and reflect on our case and will give me a response in the next few days. Considering the first correspondence was that the children were off the bus - end of the story, we have moved the needle to a way better position. Let's see what transpires.

As my father used to say - Nothing's easy boy.

Senior School

We are getting closer to starting the process of building a brand new senior school and gathering space for our wonderful school. The building and works include 6 classrooms (grades 5 & 6), resource/breakout space, small group spaces, community room, amenities, outdoor learning spaces and reconstruction of a hard court and playground. It certainly is the biggest bill I have ever signed off on!! I have attached some preliminary drawings that act as a guide only but will give you a sense of the wonderful building our school will end up with. We hope to go to tender in late July and then get to work ASAP after that.

Enjoy the extended weekend!

Steve

Camps, Sports and Excursions Funds (CSEF) Applications for 2024

Please note there has been a government increase for those families that have qualified for the CSEF 2024.

On the 2024 school fee schedule, a valid concession was advertised as $125.00 per student. This amount has increased to $150.00 per student.

If you have handed in your 2024 application no further action is required. Otherwise please complete the below form & send in a copy of your concession card no later than 25th April, 2024

This is a timely reminder for families to fill this form out if you have a valid concession card.

CSEF_application_form_

Important Dates Term 1

12th & 13th March - Yr 4 Camp

Wed 13th March - Emmanuel College Open Night

Wed 13th - SAC Meeting

13th - 20th March - NAPLAN

Thursday 21st March - Colour Fun Run

Friday 22nd March - NO SCHOOL - Staff PD

Thursday 28th March - Last day of term 1 - finish @ 2.30pm

Friday 29th March - Good Friday

Sunday 31st March - Easter Sunday

Teaching & Learning @ OLHC

A Message from Mr A

Week 6 Term 1

SPORTS DAY

What a day! Such a great community event that always gets a big turnout. A big thank you to all the parent helpers and Mr K for co-ordinating. And a big congratulations to all the students who participated in the day.

HANDS-ON LEARNING

Due to Carlin Veale leaving for other employment, we welcome Ava Bishop to the Hands On Learning program. Ava will be a great addition with her ability to form positive connections with the Senior students. Well done Ava and good luck to you and Katie for the year!

NAPLAN

Over the next two weeks, our Grade 3 and 5 cohorts will be sitting NAPLAN assessments. The students will complete 4 assessments over this period in the areas of-

Reading
Writing
Language Conventions
Numeracy

These standardised tests are a normal part of a child’s educational journey and one we use to track cohort progress and plan for future teaching and learning initiatives. Sometimes these can cause some level of anxiety for several students, however, our message to the students is always just to do their best. Parents will receive an individual student report later in the year.

GRADE 4 CAMP

This coming Tuesday our Grade 4 level, head off to Sovereign Hill in Ballarat for their two day camp. This experience is linked to aspects of their Inquiry unit, First Contact, and gives a good insight into how the Gold Rush shaped part of our Australian identity. Good luck to all involved.

For those Folkying this weekend, stay hydrated. I hope you enjoy the long weekend with your family.

Thanks,

Naish

Age Group Champions

Book Club due Friday 8th March

A reminder that all orders must go through the loop (online). If the children like to use their own money, they can give it to you and let you order for them. Book FairBook Fair will be in May (next term), to trial a more suitable date. Watch out for further info and the Theme and competitions!.

Thanks Louise Taggert and Ben Louden

Congratulations to Sharon Dwyer on her nomination for the 2024 Spirit of Catholic Education Award

https://dobcel.catholic.edu.au/2024-spirit-of-catholic-education-award-nominees-announced/

Classroom Awards

Foundation

Hunter Moran

Jack Devereux

Charlie Conn

Sam Battistello

Yr 1

Fergus Mahney

Freddie Rowan

Tom Ryan

Remi Keogh

Yr 2

Quinn Moloney

Wilbur Moloney

Margot Green

Isaac Ryan

Yr 3

Olivia Hodson

Mia Southwell

Axel Thorne

Yr 4

Harper Griffin

James Hare

Lenny Chiller

Eliza Lawrence

Yr 5

Harper Green

Harry Powell

Gabriela Niruban

Hamish Tuggey

Beau Morrison

Yr 6

Oliver Carr

Marli Moore

Kavish Hurria

Quinn Thomas

Spirit of Our Lady's Award

Emily Connolly

Coco Auld

Theo Mills

Harper Romaniszyn

Ruby Dews

Vincent Orero

Jevin Almeda

Faith & Culture

Parish Office Hours: 9am - 4pm Monday - Friday

P: 5562 2231

E: southwestcoast@ballarat.catholic.org.au

10._4th_Sunday_of_Lent_SWCoast.pdf

Grade 6 Celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation: Tuesday 19th March @ 7pm

Project Compassion - Lent

Coming to the Light
(John 3: 14 - 21)

What does it mean to come to the light? It starts with honesty, primarily about ourselves. We have to lay down our defences and rationalisations, “our side of the story,” and confess ourselves in good old-fashioned Catholic tradition, telling the truth about who we are. It involves admitting we’re afraid of our darkness, ashamed of some of our choices, knowing we can be petty and self-serving. We may be unwilling to love our enemies or to forgive those who injure us. Our compassion is undersized, and we shrink from self-sacrifice above all. We don’t like risking our comfort and security; most acts of goodness, we know, require that.

We prefer the darkness to the light. In darkness, we can pretend we’re better people. We can feel better about ourselves without having to change. But once we come into the light, things have to change. WE must change. The good news is, Jesus makes such change possible, even desirable. We become who we’ve longed to be. And God so loved the world, just for this.

What truths are hardest to admit about yourself? What kind of person do you long to be?

The Benefits of Light Revealed
(John 3: 19 - 21)

Jesus continued, “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”

Hypothesis: Light is necessary for life. Thus, begun my young daughter’s science fair project. To prove her simple hypothesis, she proceeded to plant six bean seeds in pots and place three on a sunny windowsill and three under a bed. By day 14, the three seeds on the windowsill were showing signs of life with little sprots shooting through the soil. The seeds in the darkness were showing no activity. Hypothesis apparently proved. Conclusions were drawn.

Naturally, other more sophisticated scientists will say that not all life requires life – don’t forget about those deep-sea vent worms that survive on the ocean floor – but as a general rule for most forms of life, follow the light. Light is where you will find goodness. Light is where you will find nourishment. Light is where your future lies.

In fact, light is so important to life that the United Nations named 2015 the International Year of Light. The initiative is meant to instil in the citizens of the world “an appreciation for the central role of light in science and culture.”

Wellbeing

If you want to learn to ride a skateboard or get better at maths, you need to practise. It’s the same when you want to feel happier!

Here are some easy ideas to give Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness and Emotional Literacy a try every day. Because the more you practise, the better you will feel.

Let's Practice!

Tap here to access SchoolTV

Is your child worried about NAPLAN? Here’s how you can beat NAPLAN jitters

NAPLAN can be an anxious time for some children. Dr Helen Schiele offers tips and advice on reassuring and supporting them.

In the month of March, schools will undertake the NAPLAN national test over two weeks. This diagnostic tool is a part of a school’s assessment schedule and, as such, is used to ascertain where your child is in regards to the Achievement Standards of the curriculum. Ensuring that your child’s learning abilities and stretches are identified in being strengthening and in the narrowing of any learning gaps.

Why the language we use is so important

Children in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will sit a number of tests in the areas of literacy and numeracy. This needs to be seen as just another test that will be presented to your child as they move through their learning journey.

For some children though, especially those in Year 3, this will be their first lived experience of sitting a test that sees them operate in a performance mode. This mode is where your child will see the test as one where they have to impress, where a mistake will seem like the biggest thing in the world and where feedback given may be taken personally. As parents, our role is to ensure that in encountering a NAPLAN test that this becomes a normalised situation in their life.

The language we use with our children is important in creating a self-assurance in approaching this testing schedule. It’s important your child knows that you will remain incredibly proud of them no matter the test results, as long as they tried their best, and they were able to draw upon a series of strategies to help them manage the testing space. A test should be seen as a celebration of what your child knows, understands and how they can demonstrate their thinking.

NAPLAN is a demonstration of this knowledge, the mindset needs to be one of, ‘I tried my best’, ‘This is what I knew and understood on that day’, and ‘With each and every day I will learn more and I will be able to do more’.

Tips for kids doing NAPLAN

During NAPLAN your child’s learning environment will be different. Tests will be timed, there is no collaboration, there is no brainstorming with peers, there is no asking for clarification. In talking with your child, discuss how their classroom will look different on the day and what they can do when they can’t ask the teacher for help. What can they do to help themself to work out what to do?

Rereading the question – read on, read back
Reading the whole question before answering.
Take a breath
Take a sip of water.
Pause, and take a minute or two to remember what this looked like and sounded like in your classroom.
What did the teacher say about this?
When writing a persuasive piece, what language and what words can I use to help me make my argument sound better?
List five positive and five negative points about my argument that can help me to order my thinking.
For those completing the test online – make sure you read the question in full before moving on to the next question and think about your typing and digital technology skills.
Once you have completed a written answer – become an editor of your work, does it read well, have you checked your spelling, is your work grammatically correct, have you correctly punctuated your work?

Finally, our children should remember that this is a test about their abilities on one day, and not who they are as a person. They should be positive, celebrating themselves as the creative, dynamic learners that they are, be it in music, sports or the arts – and have fun with learning.

About the author

Dr Helen Schiele is a Principal Consultant and Senior Early Childhood Specialist at Independent Schools Victoria.

Flourish Wellbeing e-Magazine (March 2024)

The March 2024 edition of Converge International’s Flourish Health and Wellbeing eMag is now available. Featured Articles:

Inspire Inclusion, International Women’s Day 2024
Embracing Neurodiversity
Podcast – Sports Drinks

Also in this edition:

The Work/Workout Mash Up
Hearing Loss
Fitness Trends 2024
Growth Mindset
And more!

Parents & Friends Association

Hi OLHC families,

We are holding a Colour Fun Run on Thursday 21st March with a target of $50,000 to raise money for our senior playground. The majority of the fundraising occurs in the lead up to our event, so we’re asking all families to pitch in as every $1 counts!

This event has been organised to be our major fundraiser for this year and hopefully, we can reach our goal of raising the much needed funds for the upgrades to our school playground. It is a great event for the kids to participate in and get to know they are helping do something great for their own school, and generations of kids to come after them.

We are super excited to announce that we have had our Assistant Principal, Mr A volunteer to be slimed at the Colour Fun Run IF the $50,000 is raised! We have some teachers that have volunteered to be slimed along the way at different monetary milestones.

My child will be away on the day, can we still fundraise?

Yes please! All students are invited to create a student profile and help with the fundraising efforts, every dollar counts.

What is the Colour Fun Run?

It is an online fundraising program, where all children have their own profile to help raise funds for the school. Families create their own online profile through the website, set your fundraising target and work towards earning those prizes! In your profile you will have a unique cyber safe link to share with your family and friends to donate to get you close to your target.

Do we have to get the prizes?

No. We have listened to the feedback from our last colour fun run and know that not all kids want to get the prizes. You have a few options:

You can choose not to login and order the prizes after the Colour Fun Run.
You can choose to login and order the prizes and keep some and donate the others.
You can choose to login and order the prizes and donate them to our “sack”, which we will have in the foyer. We will partner with Little Vinnies or other local charities to donate those toys to families in need.

What do we need you to do?

All we need you to do is create an online profile at funrun.com.au.

This is an inclusive fundraiser for the whole family to attend. We would love to see you there!

Thank you all in advance,

OLHC PFA

2024 Parents & Friends

What we do?
We plan and run events and services to provide our school community with great social opportunities but also to raise vital funds needed to bridge a funding gap, therefore helping to provide the staff and our children with the best possible resources for a thriving school and education.

Who we are?
The PFA is a place for all parents to get involved in the happenings of our school, Mums, dads, caregivers- everyone is welcome! Our meetings offer a forum for parents to share ideas but also to hear about and understand the school environment through the involvement of our Principal, Steve Madden.
The commitment to enriching our school community is what drives the PFA at OLHC.

How can you help?
To make it all possible, the Parents & Friends rely on the support of the school community and therefore we ask that you please take some time to consider where you can assist.
We have provided a list of possible events and services with approximate dates that they are usually held.
We understand that circumstances change over time and therefore you will not be locked in at this point. In the lead up to the event, the event coordinator will contact you to see if you are still available to assist.

We thank you for your time and we hope to see lots of you joining the fun!

PFA Events Term 1 Form

MAJOR FUNDRAISER

YELLOW PAGES DELIVERY 2024

The Yellow Pages delivery to the Warrnambool region has been our major fundraiser for several years now. It is a fundraiser that requires our families to donate their energy and a bit of time, but in return has raised between $5000 - $7000 of outside money each year.

We remain committed to this fundraiser while it is available to us or until we find a replacement with equal income potential.

When?
Anticipated delivery dates at this stage are between the 22nd March to 7th April (first week of school holidays).

What’s involved?
* We have 70+ rounds to be allocated.
* Each round size varies from 200-350 books.
* Each round is mapped and the correct number of books (as close as possible, considering new residences etc) are stacked in the hall ready for your collection.
* We ask that each round is to be collected prior to the start date (dates to be finalised). This then gives you a couple of weeks to complete the round (if you wish to take that long).
* Each premise in the round must have a book placed in its letterbox or at its door unless they have requested to ‘opt out’ of a delivery (these will be listed for you if you have any in your round)
* All leftover books are to be returned with the maps to the hall.

We can’t express enough how important it is to capitalise on fundraising opportunities that bring in outside dollars. But we need your help to make it successful and to do that, we need families to deliver a round.

PLEASE COMPLETE THE BELOW FORM ASAP SO WE CAN ENSURE ALL AREAS ARE COVERED