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- FREE Gold Class Tickets!
- School Leaders
- Welcome Disco Tomorrow!
- Marketing Help - Appeal # 3
- Project Compassion Boxes
- Enhancing Student Technology Skills at Home
- Welcome to the World Nicholas John McGurk
- Letter Box Drop
- OLOL Athletics Day
- SRC Class Representatives for 2020
- School-Family-Community Partnership Opportunities
- School Improvement
- Fees and Levies
- The Resilience Project Ad and RSVP Link
- Foundation Final Rest Day - Wednesday 26th February
- Camps Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF)
- Open Days and 2021 Enrolments
- Nut Allergy
- Extend Update
Want to win TWO GOLD CLASS CINEMA TICKETS?
In our next Newsletter we will be asking for your support in completing an online anonymous survey. This is a system survey that will inform our school improvement agenda. Families who complete the survey will be entered into a draw and the family drawn will win
TWO GOLD CLASS CINEMA TICKETS!
Congratulations to all our school leaders for 2020. We thank Mr Adrian Costa for the preparation of the school leadership elections and Miss Irene Archer for the preparation of the beautiful Mass. The Leadership program is one that we take very seriously at OLOL including being able to announce the leadership positions at the Term One Whole School Mass in the context of the entire parish community. A big thank you to Fr Hayes who as usual said a beautiful Mass. The 2019 school leaders left some big shoes to fill but, we are very confident the 2020 school leaders will do an amazing job in their leadership roles this year.
Thank you to the 4/5/6 parents who helped with the morning tea that followed the Mass. A big thank you to Oriana Sliwinski for taking the time to create the most exquisite individual cup-cakes for each leadership position; such a thoughtful and generous action. (Four of them are pictured above).
Thank you all for coming to the Mass it was a great example of the happy nature of our school.
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Special performances by our resident Hip-Hop Crew
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Food (BBQ) & drinks available for purchase
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Disco Stall - glow sticks, face glitter, bubble wands and more! Gold coin donation please
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Icy poles for the kids
In our second Newsletter, we asked for help to set up a Social Media Planning Committee. We now have a fledgling committee that will look into this aspect of marketing our school.
Now in our third Newsletter, we are asking for help to find 'OLOL Ambassadors' to spread the word about our wonderful school in the local pre-schools.
The most effective marketing strategy in any industry is referrals through 'word of mouth'. This is doubly true of parents talking about schools because schools are dealing with the most precious aspect of their lives. When a parent speaks highly of a school there is no agenda other than you wanting to share how important getting the right school for your child is.
We would like to ask parents who have a child in the school, but who also have a child in a kindergarten, childcare centre or creche to act as an ambassador for our school. The role of an 'OLOL Ambassador' is to be a representative of OLOL and key liaison person in your pre-school. We would support you totally in this role with an information pack and suggested conversations, including ways we can collaborate with your pre-school.
The idea of this role is that you publicise the fact that your children are at school here, and to share your experience at OLOL. Then when kinder teachers or others in the community want to know more about OLOL they have a willing person to go to. We might also get you to spread the word about events or opportunities for involvement with the school to encourage the 'chatter'. If you are in a position of still having children in a pre-school environment please consider volunteering for these important roles.
(I might add, we mostly actually know who you are so if you don't volunteer you may well be approached!)
Next week the season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, which also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allow Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to alleviate poverty, hunger, oppression and injustice.
We encourage you to put your compassion into action this Lent through your prayer, fasting and almsgiving by supporting Project Compassion. Each family will receive a Project Compassion box for their donations. Project Compassion inspires so many communities to come together to raise much needed funds for the most vulnerable women, children and men in Australian and around the world.
Together, we can all help to break the cycle of poverty and injustice. Let’s Go Further, Together!
Enhancing Student Technology Skills at Home
In 2021, all NAPLAN tasks will be completed online. This means the students will now complete previously handwritten assessments electronically.
We have observed many students experiencing difficulty in many elementary keyboard skills, for example moving the mouse and typing on a keyboard. They are very used to manipulating screens manually/digitally but the skills of using keyboards are very different skills. We will of course be making time to attend to improving these skills at school but it would be fabulous if students could be encouraged to use desktop or laptop computers at home.
OLOL offers a range of valuable online activities which can assist students on various levels. Sites such as Sunset Maths (Essential Assessment), Matific, Typing Club, Storynory and Get Epic will help academically as well as improving keyboard skills ! These links are available via our Student Portal. All students have access to these programs as well as GSuite apps via their school email addresses.
If you would like any further information regarding the use of ICT at home please feel free to get in contact with either Mr Adrian McAlister or Mr Adrian Costa.
Welcome to the World Nicholas John McGurk
THANK YOU for the superb and communal effort around the letterboxing of Open Day Flyers. I have had such beautiful feedback about how the students have really enjoyed doing this activity with very obliging parents. I thought the above photos were so cute they HAD to be shared. Please feel free to share your letterboxing photos too - we could get a whole gallery together.
Amongst all the fabulous feedback we have had from families we have also received some pertinent 'constructive' criticism. Mainly that we didn't allocate enough flyers and secondly the flyers were an inconvenient size for most mailboxes and you had to fold the flyers in order to post them. Soooooo ..... we have had the flyer redesigned and reprinted and we know have thousands of new DL sized 'easily posted flyers ready to go!
Please drop into the school office ASAP to pick up your new and improved Open Day flyers and get back out into those streets and resume posting!!! Please?
The annual OLOL Athletics Day will be held at Orrong Romanis Reserve on Thursday 5th March. It is always a great day for families to come and support their children outside the classroom. Students will participate in a range of athletic events from sprints to shot put to sack racing. Students and families are encouraged to wear their House Colours on the day, or just their sports uniform.
The events will start at 9.45 am and the final presentation to start at 12.15 pm.
As there is a lot of setting up and equipment to take from school to the park we are looking for some amazing volunteers to help with this. If you are available and willing to help with the setup and/or pack up of the day can you please fill in this form.
We will also need volunteers to assist with marshaling the 5/6 relays, so again if you available and willing to help can you please fill in this form.
We currently only have three volunteers but require many more, so please, if you are able to help out at all on the day, click on one of the forms above.
Many thanks!
SRC Class Representatives for 2020
The Student Representative Council (SRC) is a group of peer-elected students who meet regularly to support and create a range of school initiatives. In previous years, these activities have included but are not limited to creating student versions of our Child Safety Policies, helping to embed Daniel Morcombe curriculum in their classrooms, promoting school and community events (eg: The Walkathon, The Resilience Project, etc:), conducting peer and staff surveys, selling ANZAC Day badges and providing feedback to their classrooms about the issues discussed during the meetings.
Congratulations to our SRC Representatives for 2020:
F/1M: Roy Murphy, Luka Modric
F/1R: Franklin Brown, Freddie Stayt-Butler
F/1J: Sophie Painter, Audrey Duck
2A: Charlize Tulloch, Brooklyn Underwood
3P: Joshua Borg, Juliette Wilden
4G: Tom Stayfer, Naomi Tay
5/6C: Zoe White, Victoria Hogan
School-Family-Community Partnership Opportunities
‘Research reveals that families who are involved in their children's schooling significantly increase these students’ performance. Epstein 1995.
With this in mind, the leadership team recently discussed ways of increasing our own OLOL family-involvement toward improved educational outcomes for our students. We have always used researched-based strategies as the basis for OLOL’s continued agenda of improvement. Fullan and Sharratt two world leaders in school reform say,
‘By taking a collaborative approach to the development of family-involvement programs, schools can form successful partnerships with families and community groups to improve the educational achievement of all students.”With frequent interaction amongst school, families, and communities”, notes Epstien, “more students are more likely to receive common messages from various people about the importance of school, of working hard, of thinking creatively, of helping one and other and of staying in school’ p 701. As a result, school-family-community partnerships enable students and families to produce their own success’. Sharratt and Fullan, 2009.
Taking this research on board we decided we would, through a series of articles in the fortnightly newsletter, reiterate each of the school-home opportunities that OLOL offers their families. By going slowly and deeply into what is offered and the purpose and importance of the different opportunities we hope to really engage as many families as possible to involve themselves as fully as possible in their children’s schooling. We will call these articles School-Family-Community Partnership Opportunities.
Now you just have to wait a fortnight for the first installment!
As part of our ongoing improvement strategy at OLOL, 2020 will see our building's exterior windows restored and the hall refreshed. My concern is, in the midst of all this beautification our piano may look a little tired. I was wondering if there is, in our parent body, someone who could give our piano a bit of a freshen up? So if there is anybody who has watched one too many Netflix shows on furniture restoration and would like a go at the piano. Please let me know.
The 2020 fee statements were sent out last week. Some of our families have made enquiries regarding fee payment plans. Below is the section on Payment of School fees taken directly from OLOL School Fee Policy.
Payment of School Fees
How to pay
Our Lady of Lourdes offers several options for paying fees, eg:
- Direct debit – set up by CDF (Catholic Development Fund – School financial institution) paid weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly. Application forms are available from the school office.
- Credit card, Internet Banking, Cash and Cheque.
When to pay
Fees must be paid:
- in full at the commencement of the school year; or
- in three instalments, payable March/June/September; or
- by monthly, fortnightly or weekly instalments; or
- in accordance with a payment plan by special arrangement with the Principal (In every instance a genuine attempt will be made to arrange an affordable, regular payment plan for fees) –
but in any case, all outstanding fees must be paid in full by the end of Term Three.
The Fee Payment Policy is attached below and is also available on the Parent Portal under ‘Policies’. If you have any further queries regarding fees or levies, please speak with Margaret at the office.
Foundation Final Rest Day - Wednesday 26th February
Our foundation students have had Wednesday’s off for resting (and some assessments) since the start of the school year. Their final rest day is next week, Wednesday 26th February.
After that it’s all day every day for the next 13 years!
Camps Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF)
The Victorian Government are continuing the Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF) initiative to ensure all Victorian students can take part in school trips and sporting activities. The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) will run over four years and provide payments for eligible students to attend camps, sports and excursions. Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply. $125 per year will be paid for eligible primary school students, with $225 per year paid for eligible secondary school students. Payments will go directly to the school and be tied to the student.
If you hold a valid means-tested concession card (CRN) or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. The allowance will be paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions, or sporting activities for the benefit of your child/children.
Application forms are available at the school office for your convenience. You can also visit the website www.education.vic.gov.au/csef for more information. You should lodge a CSEF application form at the school as soon as possible to be eligible for the payment in March 2020.
Parents that received CSEF last year do not need to complete an application form for this year providing there has been no change in the family’s circumstances.
To all of our existing parents, if your child turns five by April 2021 and you are intending for them to commence school next year, please come to office for an enrolment form.
OLOL has several students with allergies and anaphylaxis reactions to a variety of nuts. Please refrain from packing any items containing nuts (this includes Nutella, peanut butter, nut and muesli bars) so that our school is safe for these children. We thank you for your vigilance in this matter.
The Extend Superstar is…
All of the extend crew, with a special mention to Ben Tribe, Olivia Adam and Amber Bush for being extra helpful and kind this past week.
What’s Been Happening?
Hi Families, friends and Extenders! We hope the first part of the Term has been running smoothly for you all. We have been busy bees over at extend, doing crafts, outdoor play, building blocks, and our activities. We did our first bake off last week and also began our enrichment program! This Term, we are focusing on Emotional literacy. For our first activity, we made our own playdough and turned it into different colours. We used the colour we chose to reflect on what emotions this colour reminds us of. We will be continuing these activities throughout the term, and sharing these with families during our open day! Keep an eye out for more activities and information. Extend will also be open for a full service day on the 6th of March, which is a pupil free day, we hope to see lots of friendly faces there to do fun activities with!
We are excited for a new week, and can’t wait to share more with you all in our next newsletter. Warmly, Extend :)
Enrol and book now: extend.com.au
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
Week 3: Bake Off! |
Week 3 : Gardening Day |
Week 3: Animal Collage |
Week 3: Brain Playdough |
Week 3 : Dream Catcher |
Week 4 : Body Lettering Game |
Week : 4 Group Sport |
Week 4 : Healthy Bake Off |
Week 4 : Tote Decorating |
Week 4 : Pre-Disco Picnic |