23 May 2019

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

Principal’s Messages

INSPIRED BY YOUTH

Last week I had the pleasure of accompanying our Year 6 class to the Great Aussie Bush Camp on their annual camp. I found myself surrounded by great enthusiasm, excitement and boundless energy. One of the reasons we take the children on camp is to have them deepen their understanding of themselves and explore their personal boundaries. It was so encouraging to see them extend themselves physically, mentally and socially. All the children pushed hard at their limits and explored new ground. It was very encouraging and a welcome reminder that we should strive to explore our limits.

Thanks Year 6 for representing the school so well and thank you even more for representing yourselves so fully.

NEW FACEBOOK PAGE

Please feel free to make posts and comments on our Facebook page relating to happenings at the school. The new address is

Our previous group page has now been closed down.

The new page will steer away from being a source of answers for questions, but rather a platform to promote the school and inform the community of what is happening at OLV.

Another aspect of the CSO policy is the reference to “Closed Groups”. Our Diocesan schools and their related communities should not be promoting any closed groups within or about the school. Whilst these may be seen as a good way of passing on information etc. about what’s happening in your children’s classes, these groups are discouraged and should not, at any time, include the following:

• The school name or crest or reference to it;
• Photos of children in our school uniform;
• Photos of children or teachers without their permission;
• Any mention of other parents, staff or children’s performance or interaction with each other (ie gossip)

COMMUNICATION

The school provides information to parents via a number of platforms. These include:

• Facebook
• Newsletter via Schoolzine, Compass and email;
• Notifications via Compass and Schoolzine;
• School Website – www.shortland.catholic.edu.au
• Paper Notices – Rosters, calendar, term planners
• Word of mouth

As you can see, there are many ways parents receive information and from where information can be retrieved. When our Facebook Page changes to an open page, parents are urged to use the other forms of communication and information sources rather than pose questions or seek reminders about upcoming events. If there are late changes to scheduled events, then COMPASS Notifications are the preferred means of passing on information, especially short term or unscheduled events. Don’t forget to make changes to your Term Planner if changes are made.

If you need a question answered, please try the following:

• Refer to the last newsletter, Compass Notifications or the Schoolzine App
• Ask a friend
• Email the school at admin@shortland.catholic.edu.au
• Give the school a call on 49511003

WINTER UNIFORM

Our change into winter uniform was the beginning of Week 3. Please ensure that your children are wearing all part of the uniform correctly. Items that seem to go by the wayside are the ties, tunic belts and the jacket. Remember – sloppy joes are not accepted school uniform options.

Woollies EARN & LEARN

We are excited to be taking part in the 2019 Woolworths Earn & Learn program. During the previous campaign, we were able to purchase some great resources with the points we earned, thanks to you. From now until June 25th 2019, you can collect stickers at Woolworths that go towards Earn & Learn points. For every $10 you spend at Woolworths (excluding the purchase of tobacco, liquor and gift cards), you will receive a sticker. These stickers can then be given to your children to collect on a special sticker sheet. Just bring them into school or pop them into the OLV School Box at Jesmond Woolworths. Don’t forget to collect them from your friends and relatives if they are not supporting other schools. Last year we were are to purchase some very valuable play resources and musical instruments.

The more points we earn, the more we can redeem from a choice of over 10,000 educational resources including Mathematics and English resources, art & crafts materials and much, much more! We are grateful for your support and look forward to a successful program. If you have any questions, please ask at School.

COSI Survey

Back in March, the parent body was sent a link to complete an online survey as part of the COSI (School Review) process. The low number of responses received makes it difficult to gather any real picture of the parents’ views on how the school meets your needs. We are sending you a paper version of the survey in the hope that a wider snapshot of the community views can be gathered.

We ask that, if you did not complete the online survey, you take a moment to fill out the survey and return it to school by the end of next week (Friday 31 May), sealed in the anonymous envelope provided.

A big thank you to those who were able to complete the on-line survey – there is no need for you to do it again.

REC News

St Vinnies Sleep Over

On Thursday 6 June, we are organising a Winter Sleep Over for the primary children at OLV. The children are invited to come back to school after dinner and spend the night sleeping on the floor of the hall to raise awareness and some funds for the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal. We will have some videos explaining the work of Vinnies and the plight of the homeless in our community. The following morning the children will share a B&E breakfast and be sent to school in their Pyjamas. If you have misplaced the note handed out by Mrs Dunn, please ask for another note.

The infants will be invited to wear their PJ’s to school on the Friday for a gold coin donation. A sausage sizzle lunch will be available for all on that Friday – 7 June. More details soon.

ST VINCENT DE PAUL WINTER APPEAL

Just a reminder to keep sending in items for our St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal. All donations are to be placed in the St Vincent de Paul bins in the foyer, out the front of the main office.

From The Office

Office Hours

The NEW office hours are

The office is unattended between the hours of 11.30am to 12.00pm.

School Fees

Our Term 2 school fees for 2019 have been sent home. All school fees are due by the end of May 2019. It would be appreciated if all accounts be paid promptly.

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.

Entertainment Books

Thank you to everyone who has purchased an Entertainment Membership.

All entertainment Books are due to be returned as soon as possible. Could you please return your book or make your online payment. Proceeds of the sale of the entertainment book are helping OLV.

P & F News

FLURO FUN DISCO

We are looking forward to a fun night tomorrow. Get the kids dressed in their brightest Fluro gear for a night of dance and fun. Disco starts at 6pm. Make sure your Hot Dog orders have been handed in.

$1.00 per guess. Winner wins all the lollies and the Tupperware 1 Litre Eco Bottle.

CANTEEN NEWS

The canteen will be open on Fridays only this term. If you can spare some time please let Rowena Olenjik know as we still need helpers for canteen to open consistently next term.

Term 2

Pastoral Care News

I would like to thank Max’s family and Indigo’s Grandad for working so hard to get our gardens weeded and ready for the next step. Also, Some of our students have been busy in the gardens, giving up their own time to weed and plant. We have a huge job ahead of us to make our gardens beautiful again. If you can spare an hour, please see me and we can work out times.

Fundraiser: We have had a Return and Earn Container delivered today so we can recycle drink containers. There will be a picture of what is accepted and what is not acceptable. Notification on where these funds will be distributed will be given at a later date.

While walking around our school over the weekend, I thought how lucky we are at Our Lady of Victories. Wonderful people and nature at its finest.

I am thankful.

Take care and God Bless
Karen

Class News

Kinder

Our first Kinder Liturgy is on Monday at 9am in the hall. We would love to see our Kinder families represented. Some children have taken home short readings to practice. Please assist them so that they will be confident when reading on the day. 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 learnt a new word “atmosphere” as we defined ‘Weather’ as “ what’s happening up in the atmosphere”. In Visual Arts we are looking at a French artist, Henri Matisse who lived from 1869-1954. He was a friend of Picasso who we studied in Term 1. Matisse developed a new art form which became known as cut-outs. He described it as “Painting with Scissors”. Look at some examples of his work below.

Year 1

Year 1 have started work on the story called ‘Blossom Possum’ written by Gina Newton. There are lots of Australian animal characters in the story who go on an adventure together. This story gave us the opportunity to have a look at the difference between proper nouns and common nouns. We have also written about the orientation of this story which includes information about where it is set, who is in it, what happens and when.

Last week in Maths, we learned different strategies to help us solve addition questions that have tricky numbers. Year one used addition wheels to become more familiar with addition facts that add to the same total. This week we are learning about measuring length using informal units. We have used our hand spans to measure around the classroom and have also used objects such as paddle pop sticks, paper clips, cubes and pegs.

We have looked closely at the Sacraments of Initiation which include: Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion. These Sacraments welcome us into the Church community. Year 1 watched a Baptism ceremony and identified the important features: the Baptismal Font, Paschal candle, family, Holy Water and Godparents.

In History, we have been learning about the different types of celebrations we have throughout the year. Some of these celebrations are cultural days, religious celebrations and holidays.

In Science, we conducted an experiment using different materials to make the loudest shaker. We enjoyed testing out the different containers and materials and realised the importance of ensuring we do a ‘fair test’. Making sure we test all the materials in the same style containers made it a ‘fairer’ test.

Year 1 will be on Monday morning Liturgy in Week 6, June 3. Children with readings will receive them next week to take home and read over. Thank you for taking the time to read with them and build their confidence! Looking forward to seeing you there!

Year 2

The first unit of work we are looking at in Religion is all about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, We have looked at when to use the word sorry and when we should forgive others. We enjoyed our visit from Bishop Bill and asked him some interesting questions.

This week in Science, Year 2 will learn how to make a simple irrigation system for our class vegetable garden. Our bean plants have started to shoot which is exciting to watch.

During the last few weeks in English, Year 2 have been reading rhyming books. These books have inspired them to write couplets about their mothers. We hope you enjoy reading theses couplets.

Year 2 Mother’s Couplet

Year 3 /4

Over the last couple of weeks, in Religion, we have been learning about the Sacrament of Confirmation. One of the focus areas has been the Gifts of the Spirit and identifying people in our lives who demonstrate these gifts in their interactions with others. The seven Gifts are: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Courage, Reverence, Right Judgement and Wonder & Awe. This week, we are looking at the sacrament’s ritual and the signs and symbols associated with this ritual. In English, we have been reading the book ‘The letters of Rosie O’Brien’ by Kate Walker. It is 1804 in Australia and Rosie has finally reached Sydney Cove after spending four months aboard the prison ship traveling from Portsmouth, England, to Sydney. She is working at the Female Factory in Parramatta spinning and weaving wool. In Maths, last week, we completed some activities focusing on odd and even numbers and patterns. This week, we are working on capacity, and measuring and comparing various containers using litres (L) and millilitres (mL). In History, we are reading about the explorations of Matthew Flinders and George Bass. Did you know that they were the first men to circumnavigate Tasmania (then called Van Diemen’s Land) in a sailing boat called Norfolk? Flinders then went on to circumnavigate Australia (then called New Holland) and map its coastline. They also charted the waters around Botany Bay in a small rowboat called Tom Thumb. In PDH, we discussed ‘Fire Safety’ and learnt that the three things needed to create a fire are oxygen, heat and fuel. We revised the Fire Safety Plan that the school has and discussed the need for everyone to have a plan at home in case of fire.

Year 5

What a massive week we had last week with NAPLAN running through the entire week. I was so very proud of them all and the mature way they approached these tests. While it is an important component of their schooling, it is not the be-all-and-end-all. It is a snapshot of where they are at a particular moment in time. With the tests online this year, the results are supposed to be available to us within a very short timeframe, so stay tuned. Of course, when they do return, if you have any concerns, please let me know and we can find a mutually convenient time to discuss the results.

In other news, in English, we have started our new novel, set in the Goldrush era. It links beautifully with our History and Art units this term. You will have seen the homework assignment given out last week, where the students are to construct their own ‘claim’. They have had many ideas given to them, so there should be no problems completing it on their own.

In Maths, we have been looking at area, how it is measured and calculated, and what unit of measure is appropriate when measuring areas of different sizes. We looked at what landmarks were inside one square kilometre of our houses last week.

In Religion, we have looked at all seven Sacraments but are now focussing on the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

In Science, we have continued to look at the states of matter, focusing on looking at the properties of gas more closely.

In PDH, we have collated and analysed the data results from the smoking questionnaire that students completed with you at home.

In Art, we have been looking at various tools used in the Goldrush. Students observed these tools focusing on their weight, size and use. They have started their linear drawings of the tools that will be used for their major artwork.

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 are rewriting our own versions of the story, “Dancing the Boom Cha-Cha Boogie” by Narelle Oliver, using our own imaginary characters and settings. We are each working with a partner and we are enjoying the chance to be creative as we work on our drafts.

In Maths this week, we have been introduced to the Cartesian Plane and we had fun creating a giant plane on the yellow cement. We took turns at being the various coordinates until we made a human triangle. We have enjoyed completing worksheets where we named an object on given coordinates or listed the coordinates for certain objects.

We all had the most wonderful time at the Great Aussie Bush Camp last week. We have written down our favourite experiences and are sharing some of them below:

Class Awards