3 May 2018

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

Principal’s Message

Welcome Back

Great to see all the faces again this week in their winter uniforms. As you can see by the dates above, it will certainly be a very busy term. So, strap in, sit back and enjoy the ride.

Mothers Mass and Morning Tea

All mums, grandmas, aunts and any other significant women in your children’s lives are invited to attend Mass and Morning Tea on Friday 11 May. Mass will be led by the Year 4 children and begins at 9am sharp. Morning Tea will be served in the hall afterwards. Please fill out the RSVP for catering purposes.

Monday Liturgy

One of the highlights of the week is the Class Liturgy we have on Monday morning. It is a great way to focus our thoughts and come together as a family community in the name of the Lord. I often wonder what we can do to have parents join us in the liturgy especially when we have so many parents dropping children off on Monday morning and staying for the bell and assembly.

Parents are most welcome to join us for the 15-minute liturgy and reflection and even be participants if they wish. Would you like to be someone involved in the liturgy? Please let us know and more importantly, please join us.

Morning Assembly

It is always wonderful to see so many parents at our gathering assembly each morning. It is the perfect way to focus and reflect one the day to come. The Morning Prayer is very important to us and everyone is encouraged to say the prayer with us rather than continue any conversations with those around. The words of the prayer are:

May you be in heaven 5 minutes
Before the devil knows you’re dead.

Kind regards,
Gerry Vandermaat – Principal

ANZAC Dawn Service

We had a great roll up for the Dawn Service during the holidays. It was wonderful to see so many of the OLV community there commemorating the service of our men and women, and not just the school captains. There were many families at the service – so thank you all for showing your respect. The school captains did a wonderful job speaking and placing wreaths during the service. They were a wonderful representation of OLV to the rest of the community.

KINDER Enrolments 2019

The enrolment period for 2019 is now open. Parents who are seeking enrolment for their children at OLV in 2019 should ask for an Application for Enrolment from the office. Alternatively, an enrolment pack can be found on our school website or on the CSO website.

If you are aware of any families that are also considering enrolling next year, please pass on this message.

High School Enrolments

If parents of Year 6 students are looking for enrolment to a Catholic high school and have not already submitted their forms. Parents have a choice of sending their children to San Clemente at Mayfield or St Pius X, Adamstown. Parents may not make application for enrolment at both schools. Further information regarding enrolling in a Catholic High School is available on the CSO website in the link below. The bulk lot of applications from OLV will now been submitted on Friday. If parents wish to seek enrolment at either of the two catholic high schools, the applications MUST be in at the office with all supporting paperwork first thing Friday Morning.

It is important to note that a fee clearance will be needed, before enrolment to the Catholic High Schools will be accepted.

If parents are looking towards the public or selective high school, they should contact that school or go online in the link below.

Mosquitoes

It seems the little blighters have deserted us due to the cool nights. So, we won’t need to “fog” the trees again. This treatment seemed to have some affect and we will monitor the situation and begin the treatment again in the next summer season.

Compass Goes Live

We are live!!!

Other features of the new system will be the preparation and storage of the student report card. Gradually parents will be given access to this information live and up to date. Once these modules come online, parents will be provided with a username and password to access different aspects of the platform and which will assist with their communication with the school and access to their child’s progress.

Staff are being trained next week on the Parent Portal and Reporting using COMPASS. There will be some changes to the Semester Reports and parents will have access to the portal from around Week 5. I am aware that some parents with children in High School have access to those children’s progress, however there needs to be, and will be training for all parents to use this great resource.

It will be an exciting and interesting time for all.

Late Arrivals

Now that Compass has gone live, the reason “LATE” is no longer acceptable for absence. Parents must enter/give the reason they are late eg- sick, traffic, could not find shoes, slept in etc. We will be able to track and monitor the reason and offer any suggestions to help if this becomes a chronic issue.

In addition, it is not appropriate nor advisable for parents to drop children off at the gate and have them sign in for themselves. Any child that arrives late must have their parent sign in – if not, an unexplained absence is recorded.

Gate Entry

People are getting used to our new gate and it seems to be working well. The only issue we are having is that people are not making sure the gate has locked behind them- entering or leaving. There is a slight time delay before the magnet reactivates to lock the gate. If visitors swing the gate closed too hard after passing through it, there is a tendency for the gate to “bounce” and remain open too far for the magnet to take effect. Please take a moment to ensure the gate has secured behind you when entering and leaving. THANK YOU

If you enter or exit via the front gate during school hours, please ensure the gate securely closes behind you.

School Fees

Every family will receive a school fee statement for Term 2 fees in the next week. If you have not had a chance to get to your school fees yet, we urge you to make some time to look at your fee statement and work out what payment option suits you best. The school takes many methods of payment and Mr Vandermaat is happy to sit down with any family to work out a payment plan that suits your financial situation. Leaving school fees until last minuet can make them overwhelming and unmanageable. Please feel free to contact the office regarding; Direct Debit, EFTPOS, BPAY, cash, cheque, credit card or if you would like to make an appointment to meet with Mr Vandermaat regarding your fee situation. Please also remember if you are a Health Care cardholder you are entitled to a 50% discount on the tuition part of the school fees once you provide the school with a copy of your health care card and sign a consent form.

Winter Uniform

Officially, we changed into winter uniform on Monday. Please use your discretion and ensure that no non-uniform items are worn. Please no tracksuit pants under dresses. Coloured beanies and scarves should not be worn when it is cold but navy blue items are acceptable. Following is a list of the official school winter uniform for clarification.

P&F News

If parents would like to add to the monthly meeting agenda, please call Kylie Westaway or send an email to OLVparentsandfriends@gmail.com.

Meeting Minutes Term 2

1. Sadly, we have had to postpone a second meeting this year due to the inability of members to attend. It seems Monday nights might be the reason. We are investigating a time and day change and will inform parents of the new time for our next meeting.
2. Executive positions - Not all positions were filled at the AGM, and we are still looking for nominations from anyone interested in filling the role of P&F treasurer. Please contact Sally Walsh or Kylie Westaway,

Mother’s Day Stall:

Notes went home yesterday for your child to order a gift to purchase from the stall which will be held on WEDNESDAY 9 MAY. (the date was changed to allow for the DIO Cross Country). Please get these back to school by Tuesday 8th May.

Clothing Pool:

The Uniform Pool is now set up and operating from the “Bell Room” next to the Year 1 classroom. The Uniform Pool is open every Thursday morning from 8:40am – 9:10am.

Please Note: we can only take cash sales as no EFTPOS facilities are available.

Canteen Roster:

Class News

Not a lot has happened in classes this week at the time of producing this week’s newsletter. Look out for a full report on what is happening in your child’s class in our next newsletter.

Kinder

More baby news!!! Mrs Hunt is expecting a new addition to her family. She will continue teaching Kinder till the end of term when she will take leave. A replacement for her is being sought.

Year 1

We farewelled Ms Noble at the end of last term. Miss Speirs has taken on her teaching load for the rest of the year.

Year 2/3

Welcome to Term 2. A great start has been enjoyed by year 2/3. We commenced the term studying the text “Hey Little Ant” by Philip and Hannah Hoose . This text tells the story of an ant using many persuasive arguments to convince a little boy not to squish him. The students then wrote reasons for and against squishing the ant and produced a brief text demonstrating their viewpoint. In maths, we revisited place value. In year 2, we created number sequences and in year 3 we ordered and represented 4 digit numbers in various ways. In science, we commenced our unit on heating and cooling and we considered how some animals warm themselves in sub zero conditions. In History, we will be looking at the concept of community and remembrance in relation to national days such as ANZAC Day and its significance. In religion, we completed an assessment and reflective activity about Jesus, Lent and Easter. We will commence our unit on still life very soon in visual arts.

Year 4

We will be continuing our investigation of FORCE and will be taking a closer look at FRICTION and how this can be a useful or harmful force in our daily lives and how we can overcome the difficulties it presents.

Year 5

With Mr Hammond leaving us at the end of last term, Mrs Bourne and Mrs McGann are taking over his teaching load in Year 5.

Year 6

Year 6 will be off to Camp in week 3. It will be a fun time for them all. We are going to the great Aussie Bush Camp at Tea Gardens.

LEXIA AT HOME

It is great to hear that so many children have been able to download the Lexia Core 5 program at home. Some are even using it with their IPads!

Here are the details again if you would like to do Lexia at home.

If you would like to use the program at home you will need to download this new version. You can download from the link below or, you can use it via your web browser.

You do not need any codes but will need the admin user email address. lady@victories.com.au from their children log on with their usual Lexia username and password. I Pad and I Pad mini users can download the Core 5 app from the App store- search for “Lexia Reading Core 5”.

If you have any problems, please contact me at the school on a Tuesday or Friday. – (Jenny McCallum - Learning Support Teacher)

SPORTS NEWS

Diocesan Cross Country

Well done to the following children who will be representing the school at the Diocesan Cross Country Championships next week.

Parents are asked to ensure all the paperwork and payments are returned by tomorrow.

Tennis for Sport

The children will be participating in a weekly Tennis program conducted by HOTSHOTS from weeks 3-10 this term. The cost of the program is $40 per child and will be added to the school fees account. It was a big hit last year and the children are looking forward to it again.

BIRTHDAY WISHES