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TELL THEM FROM ME
Every two years we reach out to the different stakeholders in our community to gauge their thoughts on how the school is successfully providing for the children and where to work on so we can improve.
From next week parents will be able to participate in the TELL THEM FROM ME Survey to express your views on how Our Lady of Victories is performing. The survey will be open from MONDAY NEXT WEEK 20th May.
We will also be surveying the children (yrs 4-6) and staff to glean their opinions and ideas on how we can make OLV better. Please keep an eye out for an “opt out” notification for your child early next week if you do not wish your child to participate in the survey.CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK
One of the most remarkable features of our Catholic schools is that they foster communities where individuals can freely express themselves and develop their humanity through education. They stand as lively Catholic communities of faith and learning, committed to delivering an excellent education that empowers every child to find purpose and meaning in their lives. Each year, we come together to commemorate such accomplishments through Catholic Schools Week - a time that recognises and celebrates the distinctive qualities of Catholic education.
This dedicated week provides a platform for schools to not only showcase their vibrant Catholic identity but to affirm their integral role within our local communities, highlighting the multitude of learning and faith experiences that occur every day.
Today, we celebrated the beginning of Catholic Schools Week with a Liturgy at the Sacred Heart Catherdral.Four of our School Leaders attended the launch of Catholic Schools Week today to mark the celebrations of Catholic education in our Diocese. The theme this year was FOLLOW ME. It was a great celebration of song, dance and prayer.
At OLV we will be celebrating Catholic Schools Week on Friday next week (25/05) with a Liturgy at 1:20pm followed by Open Classrooms for the afternoon.
WINTER UNIFORM
With the cooler weather starting to set in, we will be changing to our WINTER UNIFORM from Monday 20 May. Please ensure that your child has the correct uniform which includes the school tie. The correct school jacket should be worn, or alternatively the correct knitted woollen navy jumper. NO SLOPPY JOES. Please make sure all items are clearly labelled with names as often the outer layer is peeled off and discarded whilst playing.2025 ENROLMENTS
Parents are reminded that they need to lodge their Kindergarten Enrolment Applications in as soon as possible. We will be interviewing prospective families over the coming weeks to make an offer.Year 7 enrolments into San Clemente also need to be in as soon as possible.
PUPIL FREE DAY REMINDER
Parents are reminded that Friday 31 May and Friday 5 July are Pupil Free Days. The school will be closed on those days.
E-SAFETY WEBINAR
You are invited to attend a ‘lunch and learn’ eSafety webinar on the topic of ‘Wellbeing and digital technologies.’
The 30-minute webinar, hosted by the eSafety Commissioner in conjunction with the Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ ACT, will provide an overview of strategies to protect, respond to and support your child online.
The webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people in secondary schools and will focus on the digital skills to protect and support young people’s mental health and wellbeing online.
When: Tuesday 23 May
Time: 12.30pm-1pm
To register visit: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1215418181488532309
FOLLOW ME! CELEBRATING CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK MONDAY 20TH TO SATURDAY 25TH MAY 2024
This week, we celebrate the contribution that Catholic schools make to the lives of students and families around Australia. Catholic schools educate over 805,000 students (one in five Australian students) and employ over 109,000 staff. For over 200 years, Catholic schools in Australia have provided a choice to Australian families for the education of their children, that reflects their own beliefs and values.
Our Diocesan theme for Catholic Schools Week this year is “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19). In this story from the Gospel of Mathew, Jesus invites Simon, Peter and Andrew to place their trust and confidence in Him and to follow Him on a journey as His disciples (followers or students). For disciples, to ‘follow-me’ meant that they became like an apprentice to Jesus, to learn His ways, to love like He does, and to serve the poor and outsider like He does. To ‘be’ Good news to all the earth!
This invitation continues to this day as Catholic schools help fulfill the mission given by Jesus, to “Follow me!” Working alongside our parishes and other agencies to love and serve those in our communities. This attitude of service and caring for the whole person, flavours our Catholic schools’ approach to everything! From striving for excellence in learning, to dedicated pastoral care and wellbeing, to faith formation opportunities for every child, we work hard to help each child to flourish in life.
Thank you for trusting our Catholic school with the care and education of your child.
At Our Lady of Victories we would like to invite everyone to come and celebrate Catholic Schools by participating in our school liturgy led by Year 5 on Friday 24th May at 1:20pm. After liturgy we will have open classrooms where all visitors will be able to participate in activities throughout the class classrooms and see some of the activities your child completes throughout an average day.
Here's a message from Bishop Michael:
Month of Mary
May is the Month of Mary. For centuries, the Catholic Church has set aside the entire month of May to honour Mary, Mother of God. Not just a day in May, but the entire month.
Throughout the month of May, we are going to honour Mary with weekly reflection as a school community. These opportunities will be a reflective and meditative experience rather than a time for discussion focusing on the Glorious Mysteries. We will participate in this at 12:30pm every Thursday throughout May. A bell will ring to alert everyone to stop and settle. The children will hear an overview of the mystery that we are focusing on through the speakers, we will then have a minute silence for reflection and finish with saying a Hail Mary together.
St Vincent de Paul Sleep Out.
St Vincent de Paul Appeal
This term we are focusing our efforts on supporting The St Vincent de Paul Society who work hard to assist people in need and combat social injustice across Australia. Last week we launched our Vinnies Winter Appeal where we are asking for donations of unwanted clothes, blankets, towels, socks, boots etc that can be donated to homeless people who are feeling the cold as the temperature drops during our winter nights. If you have items that can be donated, please send them into school at your earliest convenience.
On Thursday 13th June we will be hosting a Vinnies School Sleep-Out here at school to highlight the needs of the homeless and bring awareness to this growing concern in our society. Homelessness is a problem often overlooked and misunderstood in Australia. Over the past five years, there has been a 30% increase in the number of families with children being assisted by homeless services. Most of the children in homeless services are under 12 years of age. Homelessness has serious impacts on children’s education, health and wellbeing. This hands-on event develops students’ understanding of the impact of homelessness and provides an opportunity to take action. Through ‘sleeping rough’ for one night, the Vinnies School Sleep-Out initiative hopes to raise awareness of the realities faced by members of the community with no place to call home. Students in Years 3 to 6 are able to participate.
If your child would like to be part of the experience they will need to get more information off Mrs Dunn and you will need to give them signed permission to be able to attend.
VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION
In order to Volunteer at OLV you are required to complete the Volunteer Induction and be cleared by the Catholic Schools Office to Volunteer.
Please follow this link https://www.mn.catholic.org.au/people/volunteer/ and complete the steps.
EXTERNAL PROVIDERS
If your child will be seeing a provider (e.g. speech therapist or occupational therapist) this year at school, please complete the attached application form and return to school. If you require further information, please don't hesitate to contact the office.
COMPASS
OLV uses the "Compass" App. Log in details for parents/carers have been emailed to all new parents. If you are still unable to login, or your account has been made inactive, please contact Leanne in the office to arrange a reset of your password.
- For all new families please familiarise yourself with the information booklet you received in your information pack or enrolment pack, "Parent Portal Compass User Guide" This is also attached
- Only Parents/Carers have access to Compass Parent Portal. Parents must have separate email addresses in order to both have access to compass
- New Users when logging into Compass are given the opportunity to update their details. It has been noted that some parents have updated their mobile phone number by taking out the gaps within the phone number. This is not required. The system requires phones numbers to be in this format
- REMINDER: PLEASE ONLY EXPLAIN WHOLE DAY ABSENCES - PLEASE DO NOT REPORT PARTIAL ABSENCES through the Compass App. Reporting partial absences will cause inconsistences with your child's attendance
- SMS's are sent to parents of students who are absent from 9.35am each weekday morning. You will receive a text message if your child was not present during the marking the roll process. Please logon onto compass and explain your child's absence. Do not reply to the text as compass does not accept reply texts
- Please notify the office beforehand if your child is going to arrive late; you will however still receive an SMS. The arrival time of the student will be logged as an explained absence when they present to school on their arrival
- On occasion you may be sent a text message even though your child is in attendance at school, this may be because they have arrived late and not come to the Office for sign in. If your child is late, please come into the Office with your child and sign them in via the compass kiosk.
QKR APP
Part of “progress” is moving towards a cashless society. To assist with the banking, ordering and handling of money, we are moving more of our payments to the Qkr system.
You will find attached instructions for the QKR App. This easy to use phone app gives you the flexibility to place orders for Canteen and fundraisers from your phone. It also reduces the need for your child to bring cash to school. Please remember to amend your child's year group on the QKR App to aid the timely collection of their order. We will be moving to a wider usage of this app as the year progresses.
- Make sure your child matches the class they are in now. You may need to go to your account settings and change their class. This will have to be completed at the beginning of every school year
- Please do not send in a paper bag as well as ordering online; this will stop any double up of ordering
- If your child is away or sick and you have ordered their lunch, you have until 8.00 am to cancel your order on QKR and receive a credit for next time
- All ordering is now closing at 8.15 am Monday morning. This allows enough time to print out the relevant reports for our volunteer ladies
- As of Term 2 all lunch orders will only be able to be ordered through QKR. Cash on the day will only be for ice blocks, lollies and chips.
We will be looking at providing this service for other quick financial transactions such as sausage sizzles, raffles, pie drives etc,
Thaks to everyone for taking up this service.
Health Care Card
Most families have already completed the attached Health Care Card Forms and returned to the school with a copy of their Health Care Card. If you have a Health Care Card and have not handed it in please contact the Office. Health Care Cards gives up to 50% off your tuition fees.
Abed Education
On Wednesday 15th May, Mrs Matheson and Year 5 girls; Pippa, Kasey, Hope & Isabella caught the bus to St Pat's in Wallsend where we participated in a Cultural Connection Day with all feeder schools whom will likely head to San Clemente for High School.
The day was full of workshops, craft, connecting, inspiration and making friends for both teachers & students alike.
The high school children were so helpful and we got to play games altogether in the playground. We rounded up the day with an indigenous game with a hoop, balls and throwing skills, pretending the hoop was a kangaroo and the balls were the spears.
Please see attached some photos of our great day. The joy and smile on the children's faces said it all. We will incorporate some of our new activities and skills during NAIDOC Week this year.
Yours in Indigenous Education
Hannah Matheson
On Wednesday, Mr. V and Mr. Watmore took seven representatives from OLV to the Dio Cross Country in Maitland.
All students represented OLV with immense pride and ran like true champions. What made the day even more enjoyable was that each child finished their respective races with a smile on their face.
Thank you to all the parents who came and supported their child on the day, your support was greatly appreciated. An even bigger thank you to the students who ran, you should be very proud of your efforts.
2024 Cross Country Representatives:
Lily P, Annabelle H, Gibson F, Max B, William T, Benjamin T, Maxwell W.
We would like to wish the following children a Happy Birthday.
| Kindergarten | |
| Year 1 | |
| Year 2 | Josie B |
| Year 3 | Ruby B |
| Year 4 | Annabelle H, Evan S |
| Year 5 | |
| Year 6 |
Congratulations and we hope you had a happy day
ST NICHOLAS OOSH Services
How to enrol for our OOSH Services:
You will be able to access the school newsletter here, special dates notifications and other messages from time to time.
Go to this link to download the Schoolzine App: