WELCOME BACK 

As we step into the new year, I'm thrilled to join this incredible community. 

 For me personally, this marks the beginning of a journey filled with opportunities, growth, and exciting new experiences. My hope this year is to foster an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and inspired to achieve their best. 

To the parents, thank you for entrusting us with your children's education. Your support and involvement will be invaluable, as we can create a nurturing and empowering environment for our students to thrive.  

For me personally, this marks the beginning of a journey filled with opportunities, growth, and exciting new experiences. My hope this year is to foster an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and inspired to achieve their best. 

To the parents, thank you for entrusting us with your children's education. Your support and involvement will be invaluable, as we can create a nurturing and empowering environment for our students to thrive.  

Let's embrace this journey together with enthusiasm, kindness, and a commitment to excellence. Remember, each day is a chance to learn, grow, and make a positive impact on ourselves and those we encounter. 

As we begin 2025 and in this Jubilee Year, we look towards our diocesan theme, ‘One Call. One Mission. Pilgrims of hope,’  it is worth reflecting on the words of Pope Francis.  “We must fan the flame of hope that has been given to us and help gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and farsighted vision.”   

Thank you, and let's make this year exceptional! 

Warm regards, 

David Treloar 

Playground Update.  

The recent holidays were a hive of activity as we worked tirelessly to prepare our environment for an amazing 2025. I was so pleased to hear that the community had noticed changes already and I am anticipating that that will continue when landscaping retaining walls( the bank) and mowing contractors are finalised.   

I am excited to announce that on Monday the 24th February, work will begin on our new playground equipment, complete with a new shade shelter. This new addition will provide all our students with a safe and enjoyable outdoor space for play and learning. 

We are dedicated to providing a safe and enjoyable environment for all our students. To ensure that children play games that are suitable for their age, skill level, and development, we have designated specific areas for different activities: 

• Top Field: Reserved for primary children to play ball games and running games. 

• Bottom Field: Designated for infants to enjoy ball games and running games. 

• COLA Area: A shaded, passive area for all students to engage in non-running games. 

• Top Quadrangle (Yellow Quad): Assigned for primary students to play handball. 

• Library Quite passive area for all students who want to play board games, read and escape from the heat. Mon, Tues, Wed and Friday 

• Playground Equipment: Currently reserved for Kindergarten to Year 3 students. 

As previously mentioned, we will be removing and replacing the playground equipment in the coming weeks. The new equipment will feature a shade cloth roof to enhance safety and comfort. Once the equipment is ready, we will schedule specific times for infants and primary children to explore and enjoy it. This will allow children to climb, slide, and swing with peers of similar strength and size. 

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. 

AFTERNOON PICKUP 

It’s been so wonderful to meet so many of you on the Lovell Pde exit. Thank you for saying hello and introducing yourselves.  

To make sure that children and families leave safely and quickly we would like to encourage some of the following considerations when we pick up our children in the afternoons. 

• Parking - if you are coming into the school to pick up your child, we respectfully ask that you do not park on the school side of Lovell Pde between the church and the bottom gate. This greatly hampers the smooth flow of the Valet Pickup line. Please consider parking in the church carpark and walking down the short 50m into the school. 

• Valet Pickup - please be patient and wait the 30 seconds for the car in front of you to secure their children before they move off. Be mindful of the traffic coming down the hill from the carpark. Also be mindful if you are across residents’ driveways and please try to secure your child as quickly as possible. 

• Sandgate Rd - Please do not call your children to cross the road unescorted. Those children that do need to cross will be escorted to the lights by a teacher. 

RESPECTING OUR NEIGHBOURS 

We are fortunate to live in such a welcoming and open neighbourhood. Parents are asked to be respectful of the private property of our neighbours and not to venture into their yards or play in the front lawns as you make your way to cars parked in the church or surrounding streets. 

Parent and carer groups established within schools offer an opportunity for families, school staff and Clergy to gather, explore, discuss, imagine, implement, support, encourage and journey together as we work in community for the benefit of all children and young people enrolled in our schools. OLV values the wonderful support and generosity of the parent body in supporting our school.  

In 2025, the OLV school community will operate as a Family and Community Engagement Forum (FACE Forum). Documents outlining the requirements for these forums will be provided in the near future but may vary on the way OLV has operated in the past.  

I will be putting out a compass push in the coming weeks to organise our first meeting and plan the year.  

I am looking forward to working with you all.  

A Message About eSafety  

Our Lady of Victories is committed to helping students develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be safe and respectful users of technology. With the school year skipping away already, now is the perfect time to have conversations with your children about online safety. I have approached the local Police Liaison Officer/Youth worker for her to come into our senior classes to discuss online safety.  

To support this,  the eSafety Commissioner (eSafety.gov.au) has practical resources to help with hard-to-have conversations, information for children under 5and cyberbullying. 

To learn more, visit eSafety parents and share this with your friends and family! 

We are also aware that students’ online experiences often move seamlessly between school and home, and are therefore aiming to develop, with your support, a whole-of-community approach to keeping our students safe online. 

We will be sharing a range of information, tips and resources for parents and carers from the 

eSafety Commissioner (eSafety.gov.au) that you can use with your family to help create positive 

experiences for your children online. We encourage all parents and carers to keep an eye for any information you can use to build your 

knowledge, skills and understanding of online safety. 

Reporting when something goes wrong online 

If your child experiences something harmful online such as cyberbullying, image-based abuse or 

illegal and restricted content, you can report it directly to the social media service, game, app or 

website where the incident occurred. 

Often young people will need the support of an adult to report. The eSafety Commissioner 

(eSafety.gov.au) advises taking the following steps: 

1. Collect evidence before reporting to the platform or taking other action. If the issue is ongoing,

make sure you collect screenshots showing what has been happening and for how long. 

2. Report to the platform where it happened. Use The eSafety Guide to help you. After you report,

the service may remove the content straight away. They may also block those responsible or 

delete their account. If the post involves something illegal like grooming, they may refer it to law 

enforcement or another agency to take further action. 

3. If the platform does not take action, you or your child can report it to eSafety. eSafety will ask

you to complete an online reporting form and include evidence. 

Online safety for every family 

The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety.gov.au) has released resources to help parents and carers from 

all backgrounds protect their families online.  The Online Safety for Every Family resources cover how to: 

• get started with social media
• enjoy safer online gaming
• help your child if they are bullied online.

And to make sure more families can start a conversation with their children about online safety, 

the resources are available in English, Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Burmese, Dari, Hindi, Nepali, 

Punjabi, Sinhalese, Swahili, Tamil, Tigrinya, Uyghur and Vietnamese.