YEAR 6 GRADUATION

We are looking forward to celebrating our Year 6 students who will be leaving OLV at the end of the year. They will be moving onto the next stage of their education journey. The celebrations will begin at 9:15am with Mass in the church. The children and their parents will share a special luncheon afterwards. All the children at OLV will be involved on the Graduation Mass and all parents and friends are invited to celebrate with us.

Graduation Day will be WEDNESDAY 14 DECEMBER (please note the change of date from last newsletter)

LAST DAY SEND OFF

To wind up the celebration of the year for Year 6 and the rest of the school, there will be a special liturgy on Friday, 16 December, at 11:20am. Year 6 will say their final goodbyes and share their stories of their time at OLV.

This will be followed by our usual Class Awards Assembly at around 12:00.

The day and the year will finish for the children with the “year 6” clap out at 2:30pm.

All parents and friends are welcome to attend any of these celebrations.

COLOUR RUN

We had a great day last Friday with the colour run organised by the P&F. Many thanks go to the organisers for making it such a special day. Check out the photos on our Facebook page to see how much it was enjoyed. We thank everyone for their hard work in securing sponsorship and appreciate the new display shelves for the library to which these funds are directed.

KINDER ’23 ORIENTATIONS

Last Tuesday our 2023 Kindergarten children were here for their second orientation day. We had such a lovely morning. We began by listening to the story of The Three Little Pigs then the students and their buddies made pig masks. It was such a beautiful day on Tuesday that we took the opportunity to use our outdoor equipment. The children were creative in the sandpit and mud kitchen. There was also so much fun had on the playgym. We are looking forward to our next orientation on 22^nd November. 

OUT OF UNIFORM DAYS

We have two Out of Uniform days planned for Friday 18 November and Friday 2 December.

The first day (18 November) is aimed as a fund-raiser for the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. Children are invited to dress in a Christmas theme for a “gold coin” donation and share a BBQ Sausage Sizzle lunch for $3.50.

The second day (2 December) will be to donate items for the annual Christmas Hamper Raffle. Each class will be given different goods to donate towards the hampers so stay tuned for what your class will need to bring in that day. Your donation will give the children the privilege to wear their Christmas finery again.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

The children are preparing some songs for the Christmas party coming upon Friday December 9. We will be having a night of carols and fun to finish off the year. There will be a BBQ dinner and a visit from a special Christmas character, More details to come soon.

GENERALISATION AND STEROTYPING

Sadly, it has come to the school's attention that some students are using words and language considered racially and culturally offensive.

As a school community within a Multicultural Country; we are absolutely committed to welcoming ALL of our students and their families. This includes honouring the diverse languages, traditions, Religions and customs that our beautiful  families bring to our rich school community.

In tackling the issue raised, we have begun a series of lessons in recognising bias and prejudice within our language, opinions and conversations.

Students have participated in discussions around the use of generalisations and how these may lead to stereotyping. For example: such generalisations as "all kids these days are disobedient" can influence opinions and behaviour towards children. Similarly, generalisations based on race and culture lead to negative and untrue stereotypes about individuals' race and culture. It is important that students understand that words have power; and words have consequences. 

It is crucial that we have these discussions with our children if we are to assist them in appreciating difference and how we as individuals fit into and function in society.

We will be having discussions around racism and calling out racist behaviours. As a welcoming, Catholic community we encourage you to have similar discussions with your children; and call out comments that you recognise have the potential to marginalise or stereotype a particular group within our society.

The truth is, we are ALL different; and we are all valued.

 Let's celebrate the beautiful diversity that we have at Our Lady of Victories.

Yours in Harmony

Maree Adams

EAL/D Teacher

TRANSLATING THE NEWSLETTER

Did you know you can translate our newsletter into any language you prefer? There is a button at the top of the Skoolzine App which will translate the newslettter into your preferred language. 

Guive it a go

STOP WORK ACTION

We would like to notify parents that staff at Our Lady of Victories will be taking protected action in pursuit of their claim for wages and conditions. This will take place on:

TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER from 8:30am to 9:30am

Children may be dropped off at the normal time, 8:30am, but classes will not commence till 9:30am. There will be limited supervision during this period of the day. Classes will resume at 9.30am.