17 May 2018

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

Principal’s Message

Medic Alert

Several cases of vomiting have/are occurring at school. It is advised that all parents are required to keep children at home for 48 hours after the last vomiting episode. It is also recommended that if your child complains of feeling unwell and seems genuinely unwell, that they are not sent to school. This consideration prevents the spread of germs and keeps staff, students and extended families safe and healthy.

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

Incursions

Wandana

Wandana is a Sydney based Company that specialise in curriculum based Aboriginal education designed to help students explore Aboriginal culture. Using non-tokenistic activities the students will cover a wide range of educational requirements in a creative and dynamic manner. Covering many areas of Aboriginal culture and its people in song, dance, didgeridoo, art, history and storytelling.

On Monday 4 June, the children will be participating in a school wide activity with Wandana to commemorate and learn about NAIDOC and gain a firsthand glimpse of some our indigenous people’s customs and culture. Firstly, they will be involved in a Liturgy and presentation from. Afterwards they will participate as a class group in art activities, which will be combined to produce a mural for the wall. A timetable of the day will be forthcoming and parents are welcome to join us at the beginning of the day and during the class sessions. The cost for the incursion will be $5 per child.

Start Smart

Representatives from the Commonwealth Bank will be speaking to the children on 31 May. They will be presenting a free workshop to the children about the importance of saving and how to manage money. More information about the program can be found at

San Clemente Visit

Unfortunately, the Principal from San Clemente was not able to make it this week to visit the Yr 6 children. He will be visiting them on Monday 28 May instead.

Complaints Handling

From time to time occasions arise when we are not happy with the service that we are receiving. Our Lady of Victories has a course of action that parents should follow. The CSO’s Complaints & Grievances Resolution Policy is available, if you are not satisfied with a resolution of something that may have happened at school. For your information, the procedure for handling complaints at OLV is summarised as follows:

1. Raise the issue as early as possible – Classroom based issues with the class teacher. Other complaints with the principal and or delegate.
2. If classroom issues are unresolved, then they can be directed to the principal.
3. If not resolved by the principal or is about the principal, reference to the CSO via the Parent Liaison Officer who will refer the matter to the appropriate Assistant Director.’
4. If the matter remains unresolved, the Assistant Director may refer the matter to the Director. Formal Appeals are made through the Director of School in writing in a timely manner.
5. If still not resolved, the parent/carer may wish to go to an external agency or legal advocate for advice and assistance.

Anonymous complaints may not be acted upon.

I refer parents to the flyer that is attached, in the foyer and on our school website for a fuller explanation. Anonymous complaints may not be acted upon.

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 our school website at:

or on the CSO website at

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

Year 6 Camp

We have been receiving regular updates from Mr V and Mrs Carroll about what a wonderful time Year 6 are having at camp and how much they are missing being in the class and in the office. Have a look at the photos and see if you think they are telling the truth???

HIGH SCHOOL Enrolment

If parents of Year 6 are looking Application forms for a Catholic high school, these will be sent home in week 10. They must be returned to school by end of Week 1 in Term 2. These will then be forwarded to the respective high schools. 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 at

It is important to note that all fees outstanding need to be cleared 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 at

Compass Goes Live

PARENT TRAINING

One of the uses for COMPASS is the accessibility for parents to monitor their child’s progress and what’s happening in their learning. From MONDAY 28 May, this module of COMPASS will become available to parents. This will mean that some training and explanation of the COMPASS tool will be required. This training will take place on Monday afternoon at 3:15pm on 28 May and again at the P&F Meeting scheduled for that night. After the training, parents will be given access to their login and passwords to enter the Compass platform. The children’s reports from past year will be available and when the time comes, the current semesters reports will be also be available.

NB – THIS WILL BE THE ONLY WAY TO ACCESS YOUR CHILD’S SEMESTER REPORTS. There will be no more written reports.

Office Kiosk

Our little gadget has arrived and is sitting on the counter. This “kiosk” replaces the blue slips that parents filled out in the past. If you are wishing to sign in late or sign out early, parents need to tap in their name and follow the prompts - only RESIDENTIAL PARENTS/CARERS/GUARDIANS may do this. If you are a relative, or a friend is helping out by doing this for you, then you will need to inform the office in writing, or by phone, that there is an alternative arrangement happening that day.

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 when 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 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 minute 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.

SCHOOL PHOTOS

We will be having our school photos in our winter uniform this year. These will be taken on Monday 28 May by A-One foto makers. If you would like to have a look at the types of photos that will be available you can check out their website at the link below. Photo wallets will been sent home shortly and are due back on photo day. Please note that if paying by cash the correct money is needed to be put in the envelope and no change will be given. Sibling/Family photo envelopes will be available from the office.

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

• 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.

• Executive positions - Not all positions were filled at the AGM earlier this month, 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,

School Disco:

School Disco. Theme: Fire & Ice, Friday May 25th.

Reminder for disco money to be paid by Wednesday 22nd May. Entry is $5 per child or $12 for 3 or more children. Hotdogs are to be pre-ordered, $3 per hotdog. Drinks are available on the night for $1.50 along with chips and lollies for $1.

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

Kinder

Our Religion unit is “The Church as the Family of God”. We learn that the Church is not just a building but is made up of all the people who belong to God’s family. We identified some important things about being part of a family such as feeling accepted, feeling loved and feeling safe. We also discussed the things a family does together. We learnt that our school is a part of God’s family. Our Kinder class will be celebrating a Mass on Friday in Week 5 on the theme of “Families” and we would like a family photo please from each student to put on our poster which will be displayed in the Church for our Mass. Please send in a photo ASAP or email it. In English we are learning to read and spell words that belong to the ‘at’ and ‘am’ families eg. at, mat, sat, am, Sam, ham. We viewed images of the Sydney foreshore (Botanical Gardens, Art Gallery, College Street and Hyde Park) as an introduction to this week’s story, “Alexander’s Outing”. Alexander is a duck who lives with his mother and siblings in the Royal Botanical Gardens. They leave the gardens in search of adventure. Our Reading groups are progressing nicely, thanks to all our helpers. In Maths we are learning to make the teen numbers by using ten as a base eg. Thirteen is ten and three more. We are counting to 20 and back again and playing games such as Bingo to help us recognise the numerals to 20. In Science, we are learning about the weather. We having been observing the weather each day and recording it in a Weather Diary. We think about how our skin feels (cold, cool, warm, hot), we look at the sky for cloud cover (sunny, partly cloudy, overcast) and we look for things that are moving (no wind, gentle breeze, strong wind). We viewed images of symbols in our environment eg. a MacDonald’s sign, road signs and safety signs. We identified weather symbols and illustrated them, matching them to the correct weather words. We learnt a new word “atmosphere” as we defined ‘Weather’ as “what’s happening up in the atmosphere”.

Kinder will be leading the school at Mass on Friday the 1st of June. All welcome. The theme is: “The Church as the Family of God.”

Year 1

Year 1 have had a busy start to Term 2. We have been reading ‘Blossom Possum’ written by Gina Newton and Kilmeny Niland to discuss the narrative features of this text. It has also been an opportunity for everyone to learn about proper nouns, as this story contains many different characters. This week we have focused on developing our journal writing. Year 1 have been checking their work to make sure it includes information that describes 'when', 'who', 'what' and 'where'.

In Maths we have covered some work on position, identifying left and right as well as other positional language we use such as ‘under’, ‘beside’, ‘above’ and ‘next to’. Year 1 have also been learning about place value, using tens and ones to assist building different numbers and to help with counting. We have been using hundreds charts to help us identify and continue increasing and decreasing patterns.

Our new topic in Religion is about Baptism. We have started the unit by identifying what a Sacrament is and that there are Seven Sacraments.

In Health this term, we have been learning about medicines, who looks after us when we are sick, who gives us medicines and where they are stored. Everyone is very excited about learning some Tennis skills this term for Sport.

Year 2/3

Year 2/3 has been busy working on their number skills. Last week we worked on our addition and subtraction strategies, while this week we have applied some of this knowledge to recognising and continuing patterns. In English we worked on our word knowledge considering the difference between then and than and your and you’re. We also read about Simpson and his donkey, Murphy, and noted the brave qualities that Murphy possessed. In religion we have been learning about the sacrament of reconciliation and why forgiveness is such a powerful and important part of God’s plan for us. In science we have begun learning a little more about the transfer of heat. We are excited about playing tennis again this term. Year 2/3 conducted themselves beautifully this week with the commencement of the Naplan assessments. Year 2 showed great maturity working in another class for the allocated time period and year 3 made a great start to the assessments on Tuesday demonstrating a calm approach and a commitment to the task. Well done year 2/3.

Year 4

In Year 4, our English unit centres on life in early Australia. We have been reading ‘The Letters of Rosie O’Brien’. Reading these letters have given us an idea of what life was like for a young convict girl in the colony of New South Wales in the early 1800s. In our Library lessons with Mrs Spencer, we have been leaning about the First Fleet and life as a convict. In Religion we have been learning about being a member of the Church through the sacrament of Confirmation. We have discussed the Gifts and the Fruits of the Spirit and thought about how we use them in our everyday lives. In Maths we have learnt and practised doing trading in subtraction using the decomposition strategy. This week we are looking at patterns in the multiplications tables and finding links between various numbers. In History we have been reading about the voyages of Captain James Cook. We wrote a report about his first and most famous voyage, and we have been researching his other voyages as part of a homework project.

Year 6

In Religion, we are learning about and developing a greater understanding of the Sacraments of Service – Holy Orders and Matrimony. We have defined the terms vocation, commitment and service and discussed them in relation to these two sacraments. In English, we have begun a unit on the genre of Fantasy. We read and discussed various aspects of the picture book, “Old Ridley” by Gary Crew. We also discussed the features of fantasy writing and recalled fairy tales and movies we have watched, noting the specific features of writing within them, which contributed to a successful story. In Maths, we have practised and further developed problem solving skills using addition and subtraction with numbers up to 7 digits. This week, we have been introduced to the Cartesian Plane and we look forward to completing more interesting activities next week. In History, we have read and discussed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We discussed these rights in relation to marginalised groups in our own country. As you read this news, we are having an absolutely wonderful time on our Year 6 Camp. We will have lots to tell in our next newsletter!

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

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)

WINTER UNIFORM

Ties and Top Buttons

Now that the weather is truly becoming more like winter, we expect all children to be in their proper winter uniform from next week. This includes ties and knotted jumpers/school jackets with crest. So that the children are presenting themselves at their best, we are having a blitz on ties and top buttons. The biggest excuse that the children come up with is that “it (top button) chokes me”. This should not be the case if the shirt is big enough, and hopefully parents will help them do up the top button when they get dressed in the morning if the children cannot manage it by themselves. This applies to boys and girls.

Long Hair

One of the expectations at school is that children with long hair should have it tied up. This is not for fashion reasons, but mainly for WHS reasons, so that long flowing hair will not be caught up on equipment etc. This applies to all children including boys. A blue ribbon, school ‘scrunchie’ or a plain dark coloured hair tie should only be used.

Beanies, Scarves and Gloves

To keep the UNIFORM, wearing scarves, beanies and gloves are not part of the uniform. However, on those very cold mornings, children may wear them to school if they are navy in colour.

When it comes to ‘Uniform Crackdowns’, it is inevitable that some children will complain and come under close scrutiny. I ask parents that they dress their children correctly and ensure they support the efforts the teachers are making to keep the school looking good. If you have any problems with uniform, have a look at the clothing pool.

A Thank You Message from Nicole Parfrey

I would like to say a great big thank you to our wonderful school community, the amazing school staff, parents and students. Wonderful displays of support and compassion to both myself and my family have been received during this last week, whilst we have dealt with the house fire at my elderly parents home, and the subsequent health issues my mother has faced. Unfortunately, this has caused me to be away from school and I may need to be away in the future. You have all been very patient with my replacements and I am grateful for your consideration.

Thank you also for the lovely messages, flowers, and little treats. At difficult times like these, it is lovely to know how you are appreciated. With God’s grace we continue with everyone safe and well.

SPORTS NEWS

Diocesan Cross Country

Well done to all the children for their effort in the Diocesan Cross Country. By all reports, it was a great day – though there were some parking issues. Thanks to those that came along to cheer them on and help with transport.

Soccer Gala

Many children in Year 3-6 have “signed” up for the North Region Soccer Gala on 8 June. A permission note goes home tomorrow for you to give permission for your child to participate. Forty children have indicated their desire, so we will need a fleet of parents to transport them to and from Raymond Terrace. If you can help with this, please indicate on the return slip. We are also looking for 2-3 managers to help with organising the teams on the day.

School Athletics Carnival

We are taking the children to a new venue for our Athletics Carnival this year . It will be held at the Ferndale Centre in Newcastle.

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.

Class Awards

Class awards for Week 8