7 March 2019

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

Principal’s Message

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

This week we are celebrating Catholic Schools Week. It is a time to celebrate and showcase the great opportunities Catholic Schools provide for the children and families in their community.

This year’s theme, ‘Learn, Serve, Belong’ acknowledges the vision for Catholic Schools in the diocese – ‘At the heart of everything there is always Jesus Christ’. This vision is the foundation of the education Catholic Schools offer and is the lens through which everything is viewed – the belief that informs and critiques all policies and decisions.

‘Learn, Serve, Belong’ celebrates the connection to the community, the diversity of learning and the supportive and inclusive environment that students experience as part of their Catholic education

Some highlights of the week have been:

• Tuesday 5/3 - Burning of the Palms Liturgy
• Tuesday 5/3 - Diocesan CSW Mass and Project Compassion Launch – Captains attended – Here is what they had to say:

I learnt that even though we all come from different backgrounds and cultures, we are all part of one community, the Catholic Church.( Oscar H)

This Tuesday the school captains and I went to the Catholic Schools Week Liturgy at the Newcastle Cathedral celebrating the launch of this year’s Project Compassion. It was a fantastic experience to get to learn about our intentions with Caritas this year and to hear the amazing stories of people that Project Compassion helped make a living and enjoy life. I can’t wait to see our progress with Project Compassion this year. (Eloise S)

On Tuesday, the School Captains and Vice-Captains went to the Hamilton Cathedral for a liturgy. I learnt that the theme for Project Compassion this year is ‘Hope’. I really liked going to the Cathedral because I had never been there before. (Jocelyn B)

On Tuesday, we went to the Sacred Heart Cathedral. I liked the songs, the Liturgy and of course THE PANCAKES. Also I saw my cousin there and that was the highlight of the day!. I learnt that this year’s Project Compassion has a theme of “Giving Lent 100%”.

• Wednesday 6/3 – Parish Ash Wednesday Mass

Tomorrow is a special day in the week as we are inviting everyone to come along and join in a liturgical celebration, morning tea, open classrooms and a BYO picnic lunch with your children.

• Friday 8/3 – School CSW Mass (Year 5), Morning Tea from 9:45am, Open Classrooms from 10am, shared picnic lunch from 11am
• Catholic Schools Week is also the official start time for enrolments for 2020. So it would be a great opportunity to invite your friends along and anyone you know who might be looking for Kinder enrolment in 2020.

Check out this video about how different people see learning.

What is learning?

Why not ask your children what they think learning is? Let us know what they think.

COSI

COSI stands for Continuum Of School Improvement. It is a six year cycle and part of this Continuum is a process of review. This year our school is in a review year.

The purpose of the review is for the school to reflect on its practice and identify areas for improvement and to stimulate action to ensure this happens.

As part of the review process our school is seeking feedback from our community – parents/carers, staff, students and clergy.

Yesterday, an online survey was sent to you via email. We would be most grateful if you could complete this survey (it should only take about 10 minutes),

An online parent/survey is administered by an independent organisation, the University of Newcastle’s Faculty of Education.

Your responses will be treated confidentially and your privacy respected. Surveys should be completed before 27 March and a reminder will be sent to you via email once before that date. If you prefer to complete a paper copy, please let us know.

The more surveys completed, the greater the feedback received which will inform our future journey towards school improvement.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Flat Pack Expert Needed

We are looking for anyone who has experience putting together flatpack furniture. Whilst an IKEA qualification is not necessary, we need someone who can read instruction and have an hour or so spare. We have a couple flat pack cupboards and a shelf system that need assembling. If you can help out, let Leanne know in the office. Tools provided (they come with an Allen key)

MoMo Challenge/HOAX

A number of children having been talking around the school about the MOMO Virus/Hoax/Challenge. Whilst it has reportedly been popping up in YouTube clips and other Online platforms, the spread of its threat through playground discussion and online media is more of a worry.

Firstly, an explanation. The MoMo Virus and MoMo Challenge is said to be `hacking’ sites that stream Peppa Pig such as YouTube Kids, where Fortnite is played and YouTube accessed (though this is disputed) It is possible that the virus has affected other sites and online games too. The Momo Challenge encourages children to commit dangerous and potentially violent acts through social media and video games such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Minecraft.

Momo is a ghoulish-looking avatar that has reportedly threatened and cyberbullied children across the world; the challenge has caused much distress and has been linked to suicides. If children refuse to do the challenge, MoMo threatens to leak personal information, leaves disturbing messages, and sends violent images. We encourage you to supervise and join with us in monitoring your child’s online activity. Please be prepared to discuss this issue with your child if they are aware of it or use these online platforms. If your child is talking about the Momo Challenge, please directly address the dangers.

Secondly, it concerns me that some children are using the “MoMo” story to scare their classmates. I would hope that this would concern parents as well. We try to develop an ethos of love and respect in our school and children who “bully” others by using this and other scary stories are frowned upon.

For parents, a link about what “MoMo” is all about and how you as parents might address it if it arises in your household.

(From safeonsocial.com supported by the eSafety Commissioner)

(From National Online Safety)

Condolences

Our prayers and wishes go to Mrs Bradley whose brother passed away this week. We wish her God’s peace and strength in this difficult time.

OOSH is coming

We are waiting patiently for final “official” approvals for the start date of St Nicholas OOSH. Once we have the OK, things will move very quickly. We will let you know when this time comes. In the meantime, Sister Anna will be available from Tuesday to Friday after school as usual and if parents are needing morning care, this can be arranged on request.

If you intend to use the OOSH either before or after school, you might like to download the application forms, fill them out and send them into school for processing.

I apologise for the delays, but the wheels of bureaucracy move slowly.

Check out this link for more info on St Nicholas OOSH.

2019 School Improvement Plan

Each year our school writes a plan for what we want to achieve during the year, how this will happen and what we hope the end result will be. Our School Improvement Plan (SIP) for 2019 will target Numeracy across all classes, specifically in the area of problem solving. This is an area that, as a staff, we identified as a need.

To do this, the staff are attending Professional Development workshops on problem solving strategies, programming and assessment throughout the year, run at our staff meetings. This will enable all staff to use the same language when teaching problem solving as well as providing the students with various opportunities to learn, practice and refine their knowledge of each of the strategies presented to them. They will also have the opportunity to learn and use Newman’s prompt as a way to break open a question.

By the end of this year, it is anticipated that Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 will be ‘experts’ at using many of the strategies, whilst the children in Years 3-6 will have had an opportunity to practice and become efficient users of all of the strategies required to become effective problem solvers.

School Photos

We will be having school photos on Tuesday March 19. Order forms were sent home last week. If you would like a family photo taken please contact Leanne for a “Family Envelope”. Parents are asked to return these ASAP.

Book club

The book club order form and online ordering is due back to school on or before Monday 18th March, 2019.

From The Office

School Fees

Our school fees for 2019 have now been sent home. It would be appreciated if all accounts be paid promptly. As in past years, Resource Fee and Levies etc are billed in total in Term 1. If you would like to manage your account with regular payments please contact Leanne in the office who can help you with a payment plan. Those who are in legitimate financial hardships can make application for consideration by making an appointment to see the Principal.

All extracurricular activities (Dance, Gymnastics etc) will be included on your accounts as they arise so that a closer tracking of payments and receipts can be done. All receipts of payments will be emailed to the primary email supplied by parents through COMPASS.

Statements will be emailed home monthly. If you are paying by direct debit or BPAY your statement is for your records only.

Condition of Enrolment Form, Cybersafety User Agreement & Code of Conduct

This week every parent will receive:

On green paper - a document headed “Conditions of Enrolment”
On red paper - Cybersafety User Agreement.
On orange paper – School Community Code of Conduct

These Forms are mandatory for every student. The Catholic Schools Office has requested all schools ensure that these documents are completed, signed and returned by the end of Term 1. Schools have been instructed to follow up any outstanding documents. To those parents who have already submitted them, I thank you and to those who have not could I encourage you to do so ASAP.

REC News

This week is the beginning of Lent.

Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular and important holy days in the liturgical calendar. Ash Wednesday opens Lent, a season of fasting and prayer.

Ash Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday, and is chiefly observed by Catholics, although many other Christians observe it too.

Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head. The ashes symbolize the dust from which God made us. As the priest applies the ashes to a person's forehead, he speaks the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

Alternatively, the priest may speak the words, "Repent and believe in the Gospel."

We burnt the palms from Palm Sunday last year in our liturgy on Tuesday to create the ashes for Ash Wednesday.

Catholic Schools Week

This week we celebrate Catholic Schools Week by coming together to celebrate Mass on Friday 8th March at 9am followed by morning tea provided for parents and friends in the Hall. Once morning tea is over you are encouraged to join your children in their classrooms and participate in some fun activities. Please bring a picnic lunch to share with your children at 11am.

Plenary Prayer

Come, Holy Spirit of Pentecost. Come,
Holy Spirit of the great South Land. O God,
Bless and unite all your people in Australia
And guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.
Give us the grace to see your face in one another and to recognise Jesus,
our companion on the road.
Give us the courage to tell our stories
and to speak boldly of your truth.
Give us ears to listen humbly to each other
and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.
Lead your Church into a hope-filled future,
that we may live the joy of the Gospel.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, bread for the journey from age to age. Amen.

Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us. St Mary MacKillop, pray for us.

Schoolzine App

Go to this link to download the Schoolzine App:

You will be able to access the school newsletter there and notifications will come through Schoolzine similar to the old SkoolBag.

P & F News

OLV Hair Scrunchie Packs are now available to purchase for $5 each at our School Uniform Shop. If you can’t make it to the shop on a Thursday Morning, then send your $5 in a labelled envelope via your child’s class note bag.

The recent AGM saw the following people elected to the Executive roles

President: Nas Obray
Vice President: Kylie Westaway
Secretary: Andrea Brown
Canteen Coordinator: Rowena Olejnik
Uniform Pool Coordinator: Kylie Gallagher
Treasurer role: not officially filled, still needing someone. Thank you to Sally Brown Walsh for helping out until we can fill this role. Please let us know if you are interested in filling this important role.

Next P and F meeting is set for Monday 25th March, all welcome.

Election Day:

On Saturday 23rd March the school will be used again for election, we will be running a BBQ and cake stall. We will need cakes and slices to sell at the stall, if you can make something for the stall please bring donated goods to school on Friday 22 March, we will also need some volunteers during the day to help with the stall. If anyone is available to help please let me know. The P & F have committed to some exciting resources to be used in the classrooms with the children in all stages. All fundraising efforts will go towards this, so please help out if possible, even if only for an hour.

Canteen Closure

Sadly we have had to close the canteen until we are able to gain some volunteers to fill the roster for Terms 1 and 2, once we have the roster filled we will be able to open the canteen again. If you or a grandparent are able to help, even if only once or twice a term, please fill in a form with your availability and return to Leanne in the office or let Rowena Olejnik know.

The lunch bags have arrived, the kiddies are excited to be able to use them when we can open the canteen again. We also have some spare lunch bags which will be available for purchase through the uniform pool, please see Kylie Gallagher.

Pastoral Care News

Mini Vinnies have kindly given up their own time to sell ice blocks to raise money. Our students are thoughtful and kind here at Our Lady of Victories. We are so lucky. There will be another ice block day on Thursday.

Mini Vinnies will also commence running a Colouring-in Competition for 50c an entry and a Pin the Tail on the Donkey stall to raise money. It will be 50c a turn.

Mark and Ojo have taken on the task of watering our vegetable gardens, and our shrubs. I have quite a number of helpers, who have impressed me constantly by stepping up, when I have asked for volunteers.

Thank you to all my helpers…..

Thank you to all my helpers…..

Take Care and God Bless
Karen

Class News

Kinder

In Science Kinder had fun exploring the various ways they can make a ball move - slide, roll, spin, bounce etc. We experimented using the balls to find out which ball will roll the furthest using the language “I predict that the ________ will roll the furthest because_____”. We used the acronym, cows moo softy (CMS – change, measure, same) to conduct a fair test to answer the question:

“What can make your ball roll further?”

We went outside under the cola to conduct our test. We created a gentle slope for the long cardboard tube we used and rolled a golf ball down it. We measured how far the golf ball travelled. Then we changed the slope of the tube to make it steeper and found out that the golf ball travelled further.

We changed 1 thing (slope of tube), measured 1 thing (distance), and keep everything else the same in the experiment.

Year 1

We have been informed that Mrs Hingston will not be returning to work until Week 8. We are looking forward to her return. Mrs Hingston has set work from her program to be followed by the replacement teacher. We hope she recovers soon from her Appendectomy. Ouch!!

Year 2

Last week Year 2 had a very challenging task in Science. They had to create a lego rubber band powered car. The children were very inventive but we had to call Mr V to help us with the rubber band power. It was very interesting watching Max Gallagher and Mr V working together to master this task. Thankfully, they did not give up and eventually got their car working, CONGRATULATIONS.

This week in Religion we will begin our Lent and Easter Unit. During Sport Year 1 and 2 boys have worked on their cricket skills and the girls have worked on their netball skills. This week the groups will swop and the boys will work on their netball skills and the girls will work on their cricket skills.

Year 3/4

During the last two weeks in Religion, we have completed our unit on ‘Jesus’ Ministry’ by looking at ways the Catholic Church cares for people today and then exploring ways that we can continue Jesus’ mission in the world. In Maths, our focus has been Multiplication and Division. Learning the ‘multiplications tables’ is a very important part of Stage 2 Maths, so each day we complete a 3-minute challenge to test and further our knowledge of the tables. In English, we continue to enjoy reading the book “The Tale of Despereaux” by Kate DiCamillo and completing comprehension and other written activities. During Wednesdays Sport time over the past five weeks, girls in Year 3-4 have enjoyed learning the rules of and playing the game of Boccia, while the boys have been strengthening the skills needed to play tee-ball. Next week, the girls will work on tee-ball skills while the boys play Boccia. Our Science unit this term is ‘Sunny Days’. Last week we learnt about sundials and how they were used to tell the time. We made our own sundials last week and looked at changes in the sun’s position in the sky and the affect these changes had on shadows, and thus time. We made some sculptures in Visual Arts using styrofoam, sticks and paint. They look amazing on our wall!

Homework: Yr 3-4 will receive weekly Homework tasks every Tuesday and must complete and return Homework the following Tuesday. Over the week, it is expected that students do some homework at least four nights out of seven.

Year 5

What a week we have had. In Religion we have examined times when people followed Jesus, located examples of being a follower of Jesus in the Early Church and discussed how people continued to follow Jesus after Pentecost. We explored what Jesus meant by “Come follow me” and listened to some songs about following Jesus, listing the things that Christians need to do in order to follow him. In English we have continued to read our novel and learn about our characters. Elsie is one of these characters and we discussed what we knew about her and then wrote a series of questions that we would like answered. This may never happen though, as at this stage in the novel, Elsie, through choice, doesn’t speak. In Maths we have been concentrating on Multiplication and division strategies and have become very adept at using the area model to solve multiplication problems. In History we have looked at the spread of the colonies – why? where? when? problems, successes and failures. We are practicing hard for our Mass on Friday (9am) and hope as many people as possible can join us for the celebrations as we round out Catholic Schools Week.

Year 6

In Religion, we have completed our unit on Jesus and have begun our Lent and Easter unit. Before finishing the Jesus unit, we observed a number of depictions of the Cross of Jesus. After discussing their varying aspects, we each created our own depiction of the Cross. They look great on our wall! We also worked in groups to compile reports on Jesus’ Mission on Earth. In English, we are continuing our work on the book “Playground”, compiled by Nadia Wheatley. We read a recount by an Aboriginal elder named Andy Tjilari, regarding his experience of learning to make a spear by consistently watching his father do it. This occurred during the 1930s. We are all finding the book very interesting, particularly in regard to the education of Indigenous children. In Maths, we have been challenged over the last week by multiplication and division activities, but we are super keen and are becoming quite clever in solving algorithms and problems. We are working hard in Music to master various chords on the ukulele and we are learning a few different songs. It is tricky, but fun! In Science, we have been learning about renewable energy sources and we have worked in groups to create a poster for 5 Renewable Sources: Solar, Hydro, Wind, Biomass and Geothermal. This is our last week of this round of Sport. Next week, the girls will be participating in Frisbee activities and the boys will have fun with League Tag.

Sport News

Great work, Bailey W, who represented the school and region at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival last week. Whilst he won’t be progressing to the next level, his efforts in his 5 events was admirable.

Bailey prepares for his next event

Class Awards