THANK YOU

As we reach the half way point of the term, we do so because of the great patience and cooperation from parents. So a big thank you for:

• dropping off patiently - driving to the bottom of the space before letting the kids out of the car;
• not doing a u-turn outside the gate;
• responding to bells with understanding;
• staying socially distanced - even without the red dots;
• holding your children's hands while walking across the road;
• understanding that changes may come unannounced;

WELLBEING WEEK

Next week will be WELLBEING week and we want to revive our spirits and reset our focus on ourselves and each other. We want the week to be a stress free as possible and bring some joy into our work. The first step will be to cancel homework for the week - but we encourage you to do something fun as a family during the time your child might have done their homework -- go for walk, play catch, play a board game, do a jigsaw puzzle. Secondly,  we will have restful mediationor quiet time set aside each day to calm the children and provide a way to release any tensions. 

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

One of our School Improvement goals  is to improve our writing. Last year we concentrated on better spelling to write better and this year we will be focusing on making our sentences more exciting and focused on the style required. We will be sharing our work done in each class in our WOW WORK section in the class news. Check out the great work done this week.

NEW STAFF

We welcome someone new to our staff this week. Mrs Gallacher will be working with Kinder each day as a Learning Support Assistant. We wish her well with her stay with us and we are confident she will be a wonderful support fo the children in Kinder.

SAN CLEMENTE ORIENTATION

In line with current Covid -19 guidelines relevant to Catholic schools across NSW, and San Clemente’s wish to meaningfully engage prospective enrolments with our school community, the planned Open Evening set down for 4^th March will be postponed to a date early in Term 2. It is hoped that, at that time, restrictions will have eased to the point where families can come to the school together to meet with staff and students and to experience a genuine appreciation of all that San Clemente has to offer. Enrolment applications for Year 7, 2022 and for other year groups are available now through the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle website and enquiries are welcome at the school office at any time.

During Term 1 there will be visits to our Catholic primary schools by members of the San Clemente staff and Executive to welcome Year 6 students to San Clemente in Year 7, 2022 and opportunities for students from other local primary schools to connect with the San Clemente community.

Details of an Open Day or Evening will be made known to all families when details are finalised.

 ENROLLING NOW FOR 2022

From March 1, the enrolment window for 2022 will be opened and we will be accepting enrolments into Kinder for next year. If you are looking to start one of your children next year, or know of anyone who is also considering this, please contact the office for an enrolment package.

ZONES OF REGULATION

This year we are introducing a program aimed at giving children knowledge and skill on how to monitor and self-regulate their emotions. The children will learn how they fit into the 4 zone and how they can move between them during the day. The four zones are: BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW & RED and can be summarised in this diagram.

Each class is developing their own icons to fit their style, but the ZONES are the same. Please talk to your children about what they are learning and how they can use the strategies they are taught. More information each newsletter.

One word Watermark - SERVICE

When we began the year, the staff decided on a word that would encapsulate our work here at OLV. After much discussion, blending our school Mission and Vision statement with the work being undertaken in ‘Clarity – What Matters Most in Learning, Teaching and Leading’ by Lyn Sharratt, which is the direction of the CSO over the next few years, the word SERVICE was chosen. We then went about defining what that meant for us. The following is our response.

Our Lady of Victories, Shortland is founded on the person of Jesus. By choosing ‘service’ as our 2021 motto, we choose to remain personally committed to serving others, following the example of Jesus.

‘Service’ indicates the nature of our relationships with our students and knowing all the faces that make up OLV. It is a relationship of genuine involvement and concern. We strive to nurture the personal growth, dignity and self-esteem of each student while serving their needs for academic progress.

We believe that all students can learn and we have high expectations for them. This means we must serve each ‘face’ through our planning, differentiated teaching and assessment practices, while fostering relationships, cooperation and respect through professional collaboration and our caring, nurturing classroom environment, which is the students’ ‘third teacher’ (Clarity p2).

It is with this in mind, that we look forward to a year of service at OLV.