Newsletter

Our Lady's Primary School - Friday 29th March, 2019

Our Lady's Primary School Surrey Hills


Guided by the life of Jesus Christ

Inspired by the Spirit of Mary

Our Lady’s Primary School is a place of growth and challenge.

Where we seek to ignite imagination and promote a lifelong passion for God and learning 

Learning together in Faith Hope and Love


Principal: Mrs Annie Engellenner - principal@olsurreyhills.catholic.edu.au

Office Manager: Mrs Julie Leung - jleung@olsurreyhills.catholic.edu.au

Parish Priest: Fr Mark Reynolds - wattlepark@cam.org.au 

Hours of Supervision of Students: Monday – Friday 8.30am -3.45pm

School Office Hours: Monday to Friday - 8.30am – 4.00pm

Reflection

Lent

It all happens between Palm Sunday and Holy Saturday. One man, determined to change the world, stands with honour and integrity as others humiliate and insult him. He chooses non-violence while others beat and torture him. With his last breath, he forgives instead of curses.  

Walk with this man this week. On Thursday watch him kneel and wash feet. Think about how he has served you and where you can serve others in his name. On Friday watch him stand with dignity against the forces of violence and oppression. Think about his sacrifice and ask for his strength to stand peacefully but forcefully for all those who are crucified by rejection, poverty, or oppression in our schools, cities, and world. On Sunday listen to all the readings at Mass. They tell of God’s repeated attempts, since the beginning of time, to save us. Give your life anew to that God and ask how you can help save God’s world.   Don’t miss this week. All you need to know about your life unfolds in the life of one man who decided two thousand years ago to change the world.

Reference:GPBS eNews         

Together we can be God’s love in the world today.

Leadership and Management

Dear Parents, Friends and Guardians of Our Lady's School Community,

It is hard to believe that the end of Term one is fast approaching. It has been a busy and exciting ten weeks and I am very grateful to the staff of Our Lady’s for creating such a positive and engaging learning environment for all our students. Our students are at the centre of every decision we make and I thank them for their honesty,  enthusiasm and love of learning. Thank you for your trust and support. We are all on a journey that is unique and personal and it is a privilege to share the journey through primary school with you. 

The end of the term is an opportunity for reflection. This term we are very proud of the particular attention we have paid to the way in which we use our words. During this season of Lent we have been  fasting from using words that could hurt others and more importantly prevent us from being the best version of ourselves.

Part of our professional learning in Religious Education this year, is to deepen our understanding of scripture so that we are better able to present it to our students. It is important for us to re-imagine the words of the past and give them meaning for today.

One of my favourite examples is as follows:

Blessing on our words……

O Word Made Flesh, stand guard at the gate of my mouth. Be my voice this day that the words I speak will be healing, affirming, true and gentle. Give me wisdom to think before I speak. Bless the words in me that are waiting to be spoken. Live and abide in my words so that others will feel safe in my presence.

.12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience…...Colossians 3:12

Thank you for supporting us in our work.

Student Wellbeing – Anaphylaxis

We currently have several students who have severe anaphylaxis – a severe, rapidly progressive allergic reaction which is potentially life threatening.

Exposure to nuts, including ingestion or even touching an area where nuts have been, or coming into contact with someone who has recently eaten nuts could possibly cause a reaction which may cause anaphylactic shock, requiring emergency hospitalisation.

We are committed to remaining vigilant at all times, offering the greatest protection possible to all of our students with allergies through risk minimisation.

We are seeking the support and cooperation of all families to minimise the risk to these students. Please refrain from sending to school peanut butter and muesli type bars or homemade slices containing nuts.

Please wash your child’s face and hands thoroughly before they leave home, especially if your child has had peanuts prior coming to coming to school.

It is also important to remind your child never to share his/her food and drinks with other students.

Minimising the risk in this way is just one of several strategies already incorporated at Our Lady’s. In addition, all staff are trained annually in how to recognise an anaphylactic reaction and how to administer an EpiPen, and each child with severe allergies has their own Action Plan in the event of a reaction.

I thank you for your cooperation in helping to make our school a safe environment for all students.

If you have any queries in relation to this matter please contact your child’s teacher or the school office.

I am looking forward to seeing you all at the Fun Run on Monday. There are many exciting things happening in our school next week, hopefully you will be able to join us for some of the events

Wishing you all a very happy Easter break.

God Bless

Mrs Annie Engellenner 

Religious Education

Religious Education 

Lent

We have continued to have a whole school focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving during this time of Lent. We are gently reflecting on the power of our words. We have been deepening our learning about the power of our words to build people up as well as how our words can tear others down. We have explored how our words contribute to creating wonderful learning spaces where everyone can learn, grow and flourish. We want this flourishing for children world wide, which leads us to the connection of almsgiving and caring for those in need. We particularly do this through our support of CARITAS as well as our wonderful connection to Grace Orphanage. The money we raise from our ‘fun run’ on Monday will support these organizations.

We also have a focus on prayer during Lent. We will have a liturgy in the Multi Purpose Room prior to the fun run and then afterwards the students will have a reflective time visiting beautiful prayer stations created by each level. This is sure to be a rich time of sharing beautiful prayer as a community. When we combine learning, prayer and action we are nurtured to live out our faith in  meaningful ways. 

In the words of Macrina Wiederkehr, “May our words become love in the  lives of others” 

Confirmation commitment masses

Confirmation commitment masses are this weekend. The confirmation candidates can choose to go to one of the following masses.

●       Our Holy Redeemer- 30th March  6.00pm

●       Our Lady’s Church- 31st March- 9.00am

●       Our Holy Redeemer- 31st March 10.30am

The Confirmation Candidates are also looking forward to their Reflection day on the 2nd May next term, which is  lovely way for the students to gather as a group and reflect on their learning.

Parent Meditation Friday mornings in the Library

Once again a small group met this morning to chat about meditation and have a time of meditation together. This is a time for you! Whether you are new to meditation or an experienced meditator please feel welcome to come along. Come to the library, straight after drop off and give yourself a time to stop, feel refreshed and go out into your day feeling calm! Be great to see you there. 

Clare Hicks

(Religious Education Leader)

Reconciliation

We would like to congratulate the following students who last week made their Reconciliation.

Alfie, Harry, Ari, James ,Charles ,Will, Jade ,Georgia ,Rhys ,Ariana ,Leena, Quinn ,Finn, Cassidy, Maeve, Scarlett, Jack ,Lior ,Samantha  ,Liam ,Nikolas and Charlie. 

We are also grateful to Mr Fogarty and Mrs Coloretti for preparing the children to receive the sacrament and to Fr Mark for leading the special occasion.

Religious Education Dates 2019

Digital Technologies 

It has been a busy, yet successful start to the year in the area of Digital Technologies. The beginning of each year involves a lot of administration to ensure our student and staff Google accounts are ready to go. Studyladder accounts have also been set up for your child. In addition to this, photo and video consent forms have been distributed, returned and collated.

Over the holiday break, a new server and switchboard were installed, the WIFI was reconfigured and we have reconfigured our data cabinets which house our devices. All of these improvements ensure our systems and devices are running smoothly and quickly.

We are very excited to have purchased 20 new Chrome Books and 20 new iPads and implemented these across the Junior classes. We have also been fortunate to have Education Consultant Martin McGauran deliver his workshop, ‘Thrive Online’ to the students in Years 3-6. Martin’s engaging presentation used the message from, ‘Be Internet Awesome’, where children are encouraged to:

  • Be Internet Smart
  • Be Internet Alert
  • Be Internet Strong
  • Be Internet Kind
  • Be Internet Brave

After working with the children for the day Martin then presented a staff meeting familiarising staff with the resources to use in class time to embed and extend their learning. The Junior grades have been using resources from Zippep’s Astro Circus which reinforces the concept of cyber safety, through a series of games aimed at students from Foundation to Year 2. This term, Martin and his sister, Carley McGaran who is a qualified psychologist, have also run a very informative Cyber Safety Parent Information Session. We look forward to working with Martin over the coming terms as he and I continue to work with teachers and students in the classrooms.

Next term will see the launch of See Saw for our students from Foundation to Year 6. See Saw is a collaborative digital portfolio platform which allows students to upload examples of their work. Our aim in using See Saw is not to present highly edited pieces but real examples of your child’s work. We hope that by using See Saw the partnership between home and school will be strengthened further. You will have insight into what your child is learning at school and how they are learning it. Soon you will receive a letter with details on how to set up a See Saw account and link your child to your account. 

Lucy Ludescher

Digital Technologies Leader

Cyber Safety

Last night we welcomed Marty and Carley McGauren  to Our Lady's. Marty and Carley spoke to parents about the need to be informed and empowered in regards to your child's online usage.  This presentation is in line with our whole school approach to the e - Learning Curriculum.

Thank you to the parents that supported this event.The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.If you weren't able to attend the presentation can be found at the link below.

There are also A4 posters available in the office. These can be used as a visual reminder to that can be put up on the fridge, about some of the key messages about keeping Cyber Safe.

Literacy

It has been a great start to the school year! All classroom teachers have been busily getting to know their students personal, social and academic needs. 

When teaching literacy, in order to differentiate the learning needs of students,  teachers plan and develop weekly literacy rotations. They prepare engaging activities which are aligned with the Victorian Curriculum. 

Teachers at Our Lady’s make the learning visible and articulate the learning intention and success criteria. Making the learning visible allows students “to know what they are learning, why they are learning it, how they will know they have learned it, and what it means to have learned it”. (Professor John Hattie) 

During our morning literacy block there is always a buzz of activity. You only have to walk through the corridors and have a sneak peak into the classrooms to see students collaborating, questioning, thinking & researching! It’s absolutely wonderful! 

Next term we look forward to our parent helpers supporting us in the classrooms with our literacy learning. 

Antonella Coloretti

(Literacy Leader)

Mathematics

This year we are excited to be continuing our involvement in the STEM ( Science Technology Engineering and Math’s) Collaborative with Our Holy Redeemer and St Luke’s Primary School. The purpose of the partnership is to strength teacher capacity to design and deliver the Victorian Mathematics Curriculum that is  differentiated to meet the needs of each and every student. The focus of our Professional Learning Day on Friday 26th April is to work collaboratively in the design of math’s units.

Clare Hicks

Learning and Teaching Leader

Student Wellbeing

This term we have been focusing on Respectful Relationships. Respectful Relationships is a whole-school approach which recognises that schools are a workplace, a community hub and a place of learning. Everyone involved in our school community deserves to be respected, valued and treated equally.

Build a culture of learning together. (Horizons of Hope.) 

Our School has received a grant to implement the Respectful Relationships Project, along with 126 other schools across the State. The Respectful Relationships Project in schools and early childhood settings is about tackling family violence through education. "By having this program in Victorian schools and kindergartens our students will learn from a very young age that the best relationships are respectful ones." (Fiona Richardson, Minister for Women and the Preventions of Family Violence) All the evidence shows that education is key to ending the cycle of family violence, which is why teaching respectful relationships at school is so important. In the family violence prevention space, the term ‘respectful relationships’ has a very specific meaning, that is, the building and promotion of gender equity in relationships, and the challenging of gender stereotypes. This definition is based on clear evidence that challenging gender stereotypes and promoting gender equality helps to address gender-based violence. 

We know that changes in attitudes and behaviours can be achieved when positive attitudes, behaviours and equality are lived across the school community, and when classroom learning is reinforced by what is modelled in our school community. 

This term we have;

  • Developed a Respectful Relationship team consisting of three teachers. We will extend our team next term which will include students and a parent representative.
  • Surveyed students in relation to RR
  • Began an audit on our books - non gender bias books
  • Each class has taught one Respectful Relationship unit
  • Respectful Relationship team attended Professional Development

Ange Loadman

Student Wellbeing Leader

Sustainability News

On Wednesday the 3rd April, the Green Team will be holding a fundraising stall after school for Grace Orphanage. We will be selling fresh eggs, worm wee and also worm castings (a must for your garden and kitchen needs), all produced at our school. See you there!

Sport News

Dear Parents of Running Club Members, 

A Junior Park Run operates in Templestowe at 8:00am on Sunday mornings. I thought this 2km course might be a good opportunity for our Running Clubbers to get a taste of cross country running in a magnificent, rural setting.  As such, I am inviting the 39 members of the OLPS running group, to attend the Westerfolds Park- Park Run on Sunday April 7th. 

This is not a supervised school event, if you wish your child to participate you need to transport them and be present throughout the event. If transport is difficult for you, let me know as possibly car pools could be organised.

I will be attending and will run with any students who would like to run with Mrs James and a school group. This group’s pace will be the pace of our most conservative runner.

Other students who may wish to run ahead to challenge themselves are encouraged to do so, the course is marshalled continuously by volunteers, so they are in line of sight of adult volunteers the entire course. We can all meet up as a group at the end of the run.

PLEASE REGISTER BEFORE THE RUN AND BRING A PAPER COPY OF YOUR BAR CODE on the day. That way your child will get an official time and can look up his/her results online later.

See attached link. Park Run for detailed information below.

If you are planning on attending please let me know, via email or written message no later than Tuesday April 2nd.  

If there is sufficient interest in this event and we decide to go ahead we can arrange a meeting point on the day for our group. Students should wear their OLPS sports top if they are attending. Siena Wheeler is the sports leader who looks after the school sports tops, students can see Siena to organise a loan top if you do not own one.

I will confirm whether this event is going ahead or not via a note on Thursday April 4th.

This should be a lot of fun for our keen runners!

Please see me if you have any questions.

Keep on running!

Mrs James.

Teeball - Our Lady's V Sacred Heart

The Tee ball game was a great game, it was close! The score was 21 to 6 with Our Lady’s taking home the win. Sacred Heart were a good team showing great sportsmanship and teamwork. But Our Lady’s just got the win. Sacred Heart were very kind, and deserved the win as much as Our Lady’s did. Both teams played wonderfully and were happy to come out to Interschool sport on the lovely Autumn morning.

By Lucas C

Cricket

Our Lady's V Sacred Heart                     

This Friday Our Lady's Cricket Team played Sacred Heart at Surrey Park. Damian and Billy had great batting and bowling. In addition to his magnificent batting and bowling Damian took a magnificent catch and had to dive to catch it. A great highlight of the match was Damian, Billy, Ilsa, Fintan, Jack and Alec hitting beautiful fours and sixes. Damian and Alec got two wickets in a row. The cricket team is very good but needs to work a lot on their fielding. The Captain this week was Jack. Everyone had a great time and everyone had a lot of fun.

 Lucas M and Alec

Top Ten Tennis Lessons

Top Ten will be conducting lesson on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 to 5:00pm. Any enquiries should be directed to Top Ten Tennis directly on 9830 6619, not to Mrs Jane James.

Please see link below.

Top Ten Tennis

Download

Child Safe Standards

Following on from last week’s introduction to the Child Safe Standards and the outline of Standard 2, this week we look more carefully at Standard 3. 

Standard 3. Establish clear expectations – Code of Conduct.

Our Lady’s school is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. Our school community recognises the importance of, and a responsibility for, ensuring our school is a safe, supportive and enriching environment which respects and fosters the dignity and self-esteem of children and young people, and enables them to thrive in their learning and development.  Code of Conduct provides guidance and support to staff, volunteers and other members of the school community and clarifies the expectations on the adults in our school setting, including what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable behaviours and relationships.

Examples of acceptable behaviours include:

  • upholding the school’s statement of commitment to child safety at all times
  • treating students and families in the school community with respect both within the school environment and outside the school environment as part of normal social and community activities
  • listening and responding to the views and concerns of students, particularly if they communicate that they or another child has been abused or that they are worried about their safety/the safety of another child
  • promoting the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
  • promoting the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of students with culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds
  • promoting the safety, participation and empowerment of students with a disability
  • reporting any allegations of child abuse or other child safety concerns to the school’s leadership, including Ms Clare Hicks, Child Safety Officer
  • understanding and complying with all reporting or disclosure obligations (including mandatory reporting) as they relate to protecting children from harm or abuse.
  • if child abuse is suspected, ensuring as quickly as possible that the student(s) are safe and protected from harm.

Examples of unacceptable behaviours include:

  • ignoring or disregarding any concerns, suspicions or disclosures of child abuse
  • developing a relationship with any student that could be seen as favouritism or amount to ‘grooming’ behaviour (for example, offering gifts)
  • exhibiting behaviours or engaging in activities with students which may be interpreted as abusive and not justified by the educational, therapeutic, or service delivery context
  • ignoring behaviours by other adults towards students when they appear to be overly familiar or inappropriate
  • discussing content of an intimate nature or use sexual innuendo with students, except where it occurs relevantly in the context of parental guidance, delivering the education curriculum or a therapeutic setting
  • treating a child unfavourably because of a disability, age, gender, race, culture, vulnerability, sexuality or ethnicity.
  • communicating directly with a student through personal or private contact channels (including by social media, email, instant messaging, texting etc) except where that communication is reasonable in all the circumstances, related to school work or extra-curricular activities or where there is a safety concern or other urgent matter
  • photographing or videoing a child in a school environment except in accordance with school policy or where required for duty of care purposes in the school environment or at other school events where students are present, consuming alcohol contrary to school policy  or taking illicit drugs under any circumstances.  Our Child Safety Policy is available via the school office.

Oxfam

This year Sarah (Lucien 5/6H) will be participating in the Oxfam event with three other parents from different schools. Sarah began her walk at 9.00am today. On behalf of the school community we congratulate Sarah on this amazing achievement and wish her all the very best.

School Logo

Thank you to the families that participated in the google survey for our new school logo. The Parish Education Board were very pleased with  the response. A number of parents have also taken the time to email me with questions and queries. 

At the Parish Education Board meeting on Wednesday, we discussed in detail the need for a long transition period. Details of this transition process will be communicated to the school community in the near future. 


Important Reminders

Foundation Information Evening

The evening will be held in the Foundation Classroom on April 3rd at 7.00pm. We look forward to providing you with some valuable information about the learning areas and how you can support your child’s learning at home. 

Assembly

Next week we will have our final assembly at 1.00pm on Friday 5th April. At this assembly we will have the opportunity to say farewell to Will Fogarty and present our student awards 

Students will then be dismissed at 1.45pm.

Teachers will undertake Professional Practice Time between 1.45pm and 3.45pm 

We will resume school for Term 2 for a very short week on Tuesday, April 23rd. 

Week One  - Term 2

Student Awards

Awards for the weeks beginning 18/03/19 and 25/03/19

1/2S

Edward C - for sharing excellent maths’ strategies with the class

1/2AL

Zac P - for displaying a Growth Mindset. You are trying so hard. We are very proud of you.

Marcella - For having such a positive attitude. You help to create a happy classroom. You are wonderful!

1/2JL

Holly - for being a fantastic Year 2 role model and supporting your Year 1 peers. You really do go that extra mile to help others.

Zara P - for contributing your reflections during guided reading and having a fantastic growth mindset during literacy tasks.

Ella S - for creating imaginative illustrations to support her writing and for working hard on speaking in English.

Ben K - for your willingness to contribute to class discussions and for your confidence when reading aloud to the class.

3/4C

Emma A - For being a determined mathematician and for persisting with challenging tasks.

Bridget B - For always being highly motivated and striving to give her best at all times.

3/4U

Charlie P - For demonstrating his learning in fun and creative ways, especially during his Famous Failures project 

5/6L

Emma W - for the  reflective thought and effort she always put into her homework

Cooper - for the reflective thought and consideration he put into his recent homework, particularly in the area of RE. 

Sports Awards

Zara P - for working hard during the AFL clinic. Zara always tries to do her very best!

Gus - for always offering to assist with sports set of equipment and having a positive attitude to all things sport.

Siena W - for her one-handed catch of the season in cricket and great fielding.

Lenny - for strategic play during the AFL football clinic and trying his very best.

Sophie H - for leading a well thought out netball drill for her peers. It was enjoyable for all.

Polite in the Playground Award

Heather - Foundation

Mason - Foundation 

Arts Awards

Jasper - for demonstrating how to draw a bird to the class.

Ned - for completing a detailed bird drawing.

Office News

Dear Parents,

We anticipate that the Year 6 transition forms for government schools will be available in the next few weeks. They will be sent home with every Year 6 student as soon as they become available.

Office Manager

Julie Leung

Dates Ahead 2019

Surrey Hills and Wattle Park Parish Sacramental Program

Surrey Hills Wattle Park Parish provides sacramental preparation, catechist classes for children within the parish who do not attend the parish schools. 

EUCHARIST classes, for children who have been Baptised and received First Eucharist (First Communion) will begin Thursday, 13 June. 

For Reconciliation and Confirmation class enrolment details (Eucharist enrolment in Term 2) please contact:

Nanette Giovannini,

Parish Sacramental Coordinator. nanette.giovannini@cam.org.au Tuesdays & Wednesdays, Parish Office, (excluding school holidays) 9890 2510.

CDF Payment for Tuckshop and Uniform

We understand there have been issues ordering tuckshop this term which has made the process frustrating! We have met with a manager from CDF this week and hopefully those issues have been rectified. However, if you have further issues, you are able to email CDF directly at support@cdfpay.org.au. Thanks for your patience, Luisa.

New Uniform Price List 2019

Please find attached 2019 updated Uniform Order form.  Due to supplier cost rises we have had to increase sell prices for selected items to keep in line with these changes and to ensure the uniform shop operates cost efficiently. Uniform order forms are available on the App or in hard copy at the school office.

For uniform enquiries please contact either Krista Conroy 0434 143 369 or Gab Sabljak 0400 651 281.

Uniform Price List 2019

Download

PFA Dinner - Save the Date

Details are as follows:

Save the date 2019 PFA Dinner, Box Hill Town Hall, 20th July. More details to come. Please save the date.

Fete News

Fete sponsorship and donations 

The school fete attracts a number of generous sponsors each year, including parents and local businesses from around the area. If you would like to find out more about this year’s sponsorship opportunities, please contact James Patterson on 0420456414 or Matt Hawking on 0438295578. Or, if you would like to donate an item for the major raffle or the silent auction please contact Elaine Hanlon on 0420401000.

Hot Cross Buns

The PFA will be selling hot cross buns next week on Thursday and Friday.

Parenting Ideas - The Messages All Boys Need to Hear

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Children's Liturgy

Children’s Liturgy – Sunday at 9am mass at Our Lady’s – ALL CHILDREN WELCOME!  (please note that pre-school children need to be accompanied) 

We would love more volunteers (parents) to run the Children's Liturgy, please contact Joanna Kelly if you are keen to assist, it's fun and easy!

Joanna Kelly - 0422 901 894,  hughandjoanna@gmail.com