Filter Content
- Welcome
- Term 2 Expo
- Reports
- Reports and Teacher Talk Time
- Thank You and Goodbye
- Walkathon
- Some Sad News
- Term 2 Whole School Mass
- Sacramental Update
- Year 5 & SRC Group Photos for purchase
- Wonder of Living
- Lamont Book Fair
- Earn and Learn
- Beauty and the Beast
- Mindful or Mind full?
- Dancelife Unite 2019
- Extend
Dear Parents,
Welcome to our brand new Newsletter! This newsletter is the first of many using our brand new fully integrated digital environment. We are in the process of working with an education program called Schoolzine which will integrate a brand new website, school app and our fortnightly newsletters. The next steps are to update the website and roll out the new school app - however, we are still in the process of designing the app so, for now, any communication will remain the same.
As we transition to the new digital environment, support is available from our office and a letter containing important family information will be sent home in due course. The digital newsletter can also be printed by you if you prefer. The newsletter can also be translated into over 100 languages if this would be helpful to you.
The Communications subcommittee of the school board with the assistance of Miss Archer have been working for some time to make the communication channels between school and home as smooth as possible. We hope you find the new design, mobile capability and quick links to articles convenient and easy.
Happy Reading,
Francine Walsh
Principal
This semester we are pleased to announce that you will be receiving your child’s semester report online via the nForma Parent Portal for the first time. The nForma Parent Portal will allow parents to view their children’s reports online through an easy login process and will archive all reports from 2018 onwards. You have received an email with instructions on how to set up your Parent Portal account. Please follow the steps carefully. Reports will be available from Friday 21st June. If you have any difficulties with setting up your portal account please contact Mr McAlister.
Reports will be available on the Parent Portal from Friday 21st June.
At OLOL we are driven by a deep belief that every student is capable of successful learning. This is born out by the priority given to building and maintaining positive and caring relationships between staff, students and parents. It is also evident in the choices the school makes in identifying and implementing the best of current educational philosophy and practice.
You are aware of the use of ‘Seesaw’ the communication tool we are currently using to share students’ work with you. This program has been incrementally introduced over the past 12 months and is now used from F - 6. There are many positive aspects to Seesaw, two of the main parent related benefits are that it shows parents the learning that is taking place for their child on a regular basis and the easy digital format also gives working parents a much greater insight into our classrooms than has previously been possible. It also begins to come close to a Utopian view of assessment and feedback. Leaders in the field of education have for many years had a vision of assessment as an ongoing progression of knowledge throughout the year where a parent has as clear a picture of their child’s learning as their classroom teachers. That way the big moments of ‘REPORTS’ in July and December are not the be-all-end-all only point of reporting that they once were. Rather they are just two more points in a very clear picture that you already hold about your child and their ongoing development.
There will always be a place for a summative report. Parents also frequently want to know how their child compares against an established ‘norm’. At OLOL, we prefer to celebrate ‘growth’ in all its forms. In this way a child who has demonstrated improvement in an area by working hard and surmounting challenges is celebrated, but so too is the child to whom learning comes easily and rather than ‘resting on their laurels’ has also worked diligently to improve. Both of these students despite ‘ranking’ differently against an established ‘standard’ have the same right to feel proud of their achievements, set new goals and continue on their upward trajectory of growth and improvement.
You will notice that our timetabling for the mid-year ‘Teacher Talk Time’ and ‘Digital Portfolios’ has changed. This is because with the use of Seesaw it is expected that you will already be familiar with the work your child is producing. The teachers in the written reports will frequently refer to different pieces of work on Seesaw as a demonstration of either a mark given or a concept developed. We do ask that you are familiar with both your child's written report and seesaw portfolio before you come for your Teacher Talk Time. In this way all parties: students, parents and teachers can play their part in the goals that are set and share in the expectations for the coming semester. This slight change in practice is evidence of the fact that we routinely evaluate the effectiveness of what we are doing and use that evaluation to adjust our practice.
Your Teacher Talk Time (TTT) will take place in your child’s home classroom.
Bookings are now open, please go to www.schoolinterviews.com.au (instructions for making bookings are on the following page).
Monday 24th June & Tuesday 25th June
‘Teacher Talk Time’ will be held on Monday 24th June and Tuesday 25th June. Bookings must be finalised before Friday 21st June at 4.00pm, when bookings for this event will close.
Interviews are strictly 15 minutes and spaces are limited. If you require more time, please contact your teacher directly to make alternative arrangements.
Now you can book school interviews for the times that suit your family.
Go to www.schoolinterviews.com.au and follow these instructions.
Simply enter the code: ejtpb and press "Go"
THIS CODE CHANGES – DO NOT USE LAST YEAR’S EVENT CODE
You may change your bookings, any time prior to the closing date (Friday 21st June at 4pm), by re-visiting the www.schoolinterviews.com.au website, and using the event code. Remember to use the same name and email address, you used when you made your original booking. Parents wishing to change their interview times after the closing date, should contact the school directly on: 9510 6688.
We would love to hear what you think about online booking. If you get time, click on the “contact us” button on the www.schoolinterviews.com.au website, and leave some feedback - anonymously if you wish, but please include the school’s name and suburb.
The gorgeous Miss Kate Hyland has decided to act her age and leave us for an extended Aussie Overseas adventure trip. So we have employed a brand new but very experienced Physical education teacher to take over the reigns. We thank Kate for not only the engaging PE program she delivered as part of our curriculum but for all the extra training and organising she has done to ensure the students at OLOL have a quality PE experience. We all wish her a fabulous time overseas and thank her for all her efforts. We welcome Rachel McLeary to the wonderful staff at OLOL. She will join us from Term 3.
Thank you!
Thank you to those who have dropped in remaining money and paid online. The money has been counted and we raised more than $20,000!
Thank you to all those who supported the event; through donations, volunteering on the day, organising such a smooth running event. We are in the process of arranging the new sandpit... watch this space!
We've had quite a sad fortnight on staff with the death of two close members of families.
Nicole Farnsworth our lovely ESO lost her sister Deborah after a long illness and Adrian McAlister's Grandfather Allan McAlister had his funeral this morning.
We know you will join us in acknowledging their grief and praying for their families.
On Sunday 23rd June, we celebrate our Term Two Whole School Mass. We will be celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi, a day to honour the Holy Eucharist. Our Year 3 families who are preparing for the Sacrament of the Eucharist will make a commitment to God and the Parish, to support their child in their journey in faith together. Every child and their family are asked to attend four whole school Masses each year. The communal celebration following this Mass will be hosted by Year 3 and 4. If you have any questions regarding helping out on the day or what to bring to the Morning Tea, please contact your Class Reps.
Choir members, please assemble in the
Choir Loft at 10.45am. See you all there!
Important Sacramental Dates for Term 2
Eucharist Sacramental Information Evening – Thursday 8th August at 7.00pm
First Eucharist Mass – Sunday 25th August at 11am.
Year 5 & SRC Group Photos for purchase
Academy Photography have now placed our Year 5 & SRC Group photos online. You can view and purchase these photos on the Academy Photography website ios.academyphoto.com.au using the following secure shoot key :
Year 5 & SRC – QMH38PWW
All orders will be posted directly to your home address.
The Wonder of Living supports parents with discussing issues around growing up, puberty and sexuality education generally. We are happy to announce that in term three we have booked two sessions with the Wonder of Living program presenters which offer a holistic sexuality education program for Year 3 – 6.
These evenings are a combination of parent/child presentation and discussion and are matched to the needs of children. Wonder of Living is a value-based, family-orientated program which supports a parent’s role as primary educator by modelling the delivery of age appropriate information. These two evening will bring concepts to life and provide accurate, sensitive explanations to the questions every child needs to ask.
The facilitator led evenings give support to the rights and responsibilities of parents around these issues while respecting the privacy of children and young adolescents.
Years 3-6 Session – Wednesday 21st August (60 mins) 7pm
This first evening is for families with children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 and is called “A New Baby”.
Years 5-6 Session – Wednesday 28th August (75mins) 7pm
The second evening is for families with children in Years 5 and 6 only it is called “Stepping Out” and deals with the topic of puberty.
We are encouraging every family with a child in year 5 and 6 to attend both evenings as they deal with very separate but equally important information.
An information letter and return slip will be sent out next week.
The Lamont Book Fair commences on Monday 17th June. The book fair will run from Monday through to Thursday and will operate from 8.40am – 9.00am and again in the afternoon from 3.30pm – 3.50pm. This is a great opportunity to purchase some fabulous, well-priced books for your children. A percentage of all sales go towards books for our own school library so please come along and take a look.
Mary is looking for volunteers to assist with the book sales. Please see the roster outside the school office. As always any parent assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
The Earn and Learn program ends in less than two weeks!! Thank you to everyone who has been madly shopping at Woolworths and collecting stickers for the school. The more points we earn, the more we will have to redeem on fantastic play equipment and classroom resources for the children.
Matinee performance: Friday 13th September at 11.30am.
Evening performance: Friday 13th September at 7.00pm
After the huge success of our Resilience Project Night we have decided our whole school wellbeing focus for terms two and three, will be MINDFULNESS - the letter M from the acronym GEME. As our lives become busier it is important to pause and reflect on all that is good. This is also true of your child’s life at school. To support our students with this focus all classes will practise daily mindfulness activities.
Below is a snippet of all of the benefits your child might experience from our daily practise of mindfulness.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment with openness, curiosity and without judgement.
Benefits of using mindfulness meditation
Mindfulness is a tool that can help you to:
- Reduce worries, anxiety and distress
- Enjoy more energy
- Create a sense of calm
- Learn how to relax and regulate emotions
- Enhance awareness and creativity
- Improve concentration and increase productivity
- Develop a sense of empathy and connectedness
- Enjoy better health and sleep
The science of mindfulness: YouTube Clip
Watch Associate Professor Dr Craig Hassed from Monash University talk through the scientific benefits behind mindfulness:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsXxvPWd_k4
Monique Gaylor
Wellbeing Leader
Our Hip-Hop dancers are competing in the 2019 Dancelife Unite competition. The details of their performance is as follows :
When: Saturday, 15th June
Where: Xavier College, 135 Barkers Road, Kew
Time: The OLOL dancers are due to perform at 4.25pm