33 - 31st October, 2025 - Term 4, Week 4
Principal's News
Dear Families,
The week has been shorter than usual, and I know there were many students happy with the prospect of a few extra days off over the weekend! Today, staff will be taking part in professional development on Structured Literacy, our last official learning in the three-year journey, and on Monday teachers will begin preparing and writing student reports. I am currently in Horsham at a Principal's Meeting, discussing many issues such as budgets for the coming year - all a lot to think about as we move into November. We won’t see our students again until Wednesday but hope this is a nice break for families in the middle of what is a busy term.
Next week the books for our major raffle will be sent home. We are very excited to have some fantastic prizes up for grabs, thanks to the generosity of some of our families (Portaro, O’Shea and Pluckhahn families) and also some regular donors, for which we are very grateful. These donor’s businesses are listed on the raffle books, so please support them where you can, as without their support, it would be difficult to have such great prizes to offer. We ask that each school family does their part to sell a raffle book and if you would like extra books, please ask at the office. Our raffle will be drawn at the End of Year Concert, along with our usual hampers. We thank all families for their support of this raffle in advance!
This week, we are happy to announce the appointment of Mrs. Jo Campbell to the role of PE teacher in 2026. Jo will also be working in classrooms to supply teachers with their release time. Jo has been in education for many years and taught at OLSH before she took up her current role at Sacred Heart School in Mildura! We welcome Jo back to OLSH and look forward to having her as part of our community next year.
As the end of the year draws nearer, we often see students pushing the boundaries of uniform with incorrect shoes, socks and jewellery. The uniform expectations remain the same until school is finished. A reminder that jewellery worn by students at OLSH is to be kept to a minimum, as per the handbook. Earrings should be small sleepers or studs, and should not have charms dangling from them, as these are easily hooked on jumpers or fingers while playing and could cause injury. We thank you for your support with this issue.
I hope you all enjoy the longer weekend and feel fresh when we return to school on Wednesday!
Narelle Gallagher
Links:
Enrolments at OLSH:
OLSH Calendar:
Religious Education News
Sacrament of Reconciliation (Year 2 & Above)
Registration forms should now be completed and returned to the parish office with payment.
Below are the details of the celebration of the sacrament.
- Celebration of Sacrament - Wednesday November 26th
Mission Mass
Our annual Mission Mass will be held on Thursday November 20th beginning at 9:15am. All families and parishioners are welcome to attend.
This will be a part of our Mission Week activities beginning on Monday November 17th - Friday November 21st.
Christmas Hampers
For our Christmas Raffle we are asking for donations of groceries to put together a number of Christmas Hampers. Each grade has been allocated different items to bring to ensure we have a good variety. There will be a basket in each classroom to place the donated items in. The following is a list of food suggestions to donate which will be put together to make up the hampers for each class (no home brand products, thank you):
| Grade Prep | Bon Bons, Shortbread, Plum Puddings, Serviettes, Decorations, Plastic Plates, Christmas Wrap, etc. |
| Grade 1 | Cereal, Dried Fruit, Muesli Bars, Foil, Gladwrap, Lunch Bags, Freezer Bags, Jelly, Lollies, etc. |
| Grade 2 | Soft Drinks, Long Life Milk, Fruit Juices, Cordial, Fruit Boxes, Topping, etc. |
| Grade 3 | Pasta, Rice, Flour, Coffee, Teabags, Milo, Cake Mixes, Sugar, etc. |
| Grade 4 | Potato Chips, Dry Biscuits, Sweet Biscuits, Popcorn, Cup of Noodles, Pretzels, etc. |
| Grade 5 | Pudding Mixes, Ice-Cream Cones, Long Life Custard, Desserts, Coconut, Custard Powder, etc. |
| Grade 6 | Canned foods e.g.: Fruits, Tomatoes, Corn, Soups, Spaghetti, Baked Beans, Tuna, Beetroot, Sauces, etc. |
Major Raffle
A big thank you to our wonderful sponsors and generous school families for supporting our 2025 Major Raffle. Your contributions have helped us secure some amazing prizes, and we are so grateful for your ongoing support of our school community. This raffle plays a key role in our fundraising efforts, helping us continue to provide valuable resources and opportunities for our students.
We hope to send tickets out next Wednesday. Each family will receive one raffle book to sell, and we kindly ask that all tickets are returned sold. If you would like extra books, they will be available from the school office.
Tickets are due back: 4th December, 2025
Student Leader News
Recycle Bottles & Cans
The Student Leaders have organized an account for donated bottles and cans. If you have refundable bottles and cans, you can recycle them at any CDS container refund depots in Mildura and scan the barcode below. This will donate the money directly to the Student Leaders to go towards new equipment for the students!
Thank you, OLSH Student Leaders
Student of the Week
| Class: | Awarded to: | For: |
| Grade Prep : | Jack Ietto | always trying his best with all of his learning. |
| Grade Prep : | Jimmy Hallam | his great work when writing sentences with conjunctions. |
| Grade 1 : | Hunter McPherson | using different strategies to dealing with conflict and showing amazing improvement with his handwriting. |
| Grade 1 : | Cleo Page | making great improvements with telling time on both analog and digital clocks. |
| Grade 2 : | Oliver Lohmeyer | working cooperatively and reflecting on how to face challenges when participating in the Brave program with Miss Roads. |
| Grade 2 : | Laney Pollard | always being a great friend to her peers by showing kindness and care. |
| Grade 3 : | Pippa Page | actively participating in discussions, sharing her ideas and asking really interesting questions. |
| Grade 3 : | Levi Pluckhahn | showing perseverance and a positive attitude by giving your best, even when tasks are challenging. |
| Grade 4 : | Violet Barlow | making a wonderful effort with her joined handwriting across all learning areas. |
| Grade 4 : | Savannah Borchard | writing a well thoughtout SPO during Structured Literacy. |
| Grade 5 : | Charlie Cowling | his excellent effort and positive attitude towards Mathematics. |
| Grade 5 : | Frankie Roberts | consistently putting in excellent effort and care in her writing. |
| Grade 6 : | Ava Barnes | going out of her way to help others around the school. You are so kind! |
| Grade 6 : | Shanae Scheer | being a kind and considerate classmate and looking out for her friends. |
Happy Birthday
We wish the following students a Happy Birthday:
Month of October:
- 2nd - Pippa P - 9 yrs
- 3rd - Hazel W - 6 yrs
- 4th - Rubee S - 8 yrs
- 6th - Zali B - 12 yrs
- 12th - Phoenix M - 13 yrs
- 14th - Kai L - 7 yrs
- 17th - Lachlan C - 8 yrs
- 17th - Levi P - 9 yrs
- 18th - Savannah F - 12 yrs
- 21st - Frankie R - 11 yrs
Month of November:
- 14th - Cleo P - 7 yrs
- 15th - Aylah B - 6 yrs
- 17th - Levi D - 11 yrs
- 22nd - Wyatt L - 7 yrs
- 23rd - Erica B - 10 yrs
- 25th - Jimmy H - 6 yrs
- 25th - Oliver S - 12 yrs
- 27th - Goldie B - 6 yrs
- 27th - Violet B - 7 yrs
OLSH Canteen
Orders need to be completed by 9.15am every Friday.
CDF Community Fund
Prep News
Enjoy your long weekend!
Show and Tell: No show and tell during Week 5.
Assembly- The Preps will be presenting at assembly on Friday 14th November.
On Thursday, the 6th of November, the 2026 Preps will be having their second Transition Day. Current Prep students will be working in the Library with Mrs Garraway. Students will need to take their bags straight to the library and go out to play.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Rebecca Appledore- rappledore@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 1 News
It’s been a short but very busy week in Grade 1! A big well done to those students who continue to make good choices in class, even when it can be tricky, your effort and kindness do not go unnoticed.
On Tuesday, we created some spooky Halloween art and began writing our own fun narratives. The creativity has been wonderful to see!
In Maths, we worked on telling the time and are now moving on to counting on and using number lines.
I hope everyone enjoys the extra-long weekend. Have a restful break, and I’ll see you all back on Wednesday!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Grace Laity- glaity@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 2 News
The weeks are flying by and with our short week next week, it will be the end of term before we know it!
This week the students have been learning about narrative writing. We have been listening to some storybooks and identifying the structure of them. The students have then been writing retells of the story. They have done such a great job at this!
In Mathematics, we have been learning about breaking numbers into parts, called partitioning. For example, 324 has 3 hundreds, 2 tens and 4 ones but we can also partition it into 32 tens and 4 ones or 3 hundreds and 24 ones. We have also been learning about finding the nearest ten or hundred.
In Art today, we continued to learn about the life and techniques of the artist Paul Klee. The students did continuous line drawings which they turned into creatures.
I have included some photos from our Grandparent's Day last week- it was great to see everyone!
Have a great weekend!
Lisa
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Lisa Ryan - lryan@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 3 News
Today we said goodbye to Mrs Bruggy, who has been completing her placement in our room since the beginning of the term. We have really enjoyed getting to know her and having her teach in our class.
In Religion, we reviewed the Creation Story and reflected on how the Sabbath is a gift from God to remind us to rest, be thankful, and enjoy time with family and God.
In Maths, we finished our unit on the place value of three- and four-digit numbers. Many students found rounding numbers to the nearest hundred and thousand quite challenging, so we’ll review this concept again next week.
In Literacy, students have been drafting paragraphs about democracy. They explored how voting allows people to share their opinions and make fair decisions together. I hope to share some of the students’ writing on Seesaw next week.
Continuing our Fibre and Fabric unit in Art, we are wrapping up our weaving project by adding some felt embellishments. Next week, we’ll prepare a calico bag for tie-dyeing.
Have a fabulous long weekend, everyone!
Kind regards,
Cheryl-Anne
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Cheryl-Anne Courtney- ccourtney@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 4 News
This week in Religion, we explored the Christmas story as told in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. Did you know that there are actually two different versions of this well-known story?
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is born in a stable and visited by humble shepherds, while in Matthew’s account, there is no mention of a stable or manger — instead, wise men travel from afar to bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
During our class discussion, many students were surprised to learn that these two Gospels offer different details about the same event. They commented that the stories often blend together in their minds as one familiar Christmas story!
On Wednesday, we had our Term 4 Inform and Empower Cyber lesson which focused on the importance of not sharing personal information and the difference between scammers and hackers. We also explored how to identify red flags and navigate safe, online information. Please refer to the attached Parent Information Flyer which gives an overview of the learning.
Have a lovely weekend,
Julie
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Julie Phelan – jphelan@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
(Friday's): Emma Garraway - ewood@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 5 News
It has been a short but busy week. We started with a visit from Joe from Victoria Police as part of the Police in Schools program. We also took part in our final Inform and Empower session for the year, where students learned about how to be responsible and informed online consumers.
Next week, I will be away on long service leave. Mrs Milani will be taking the class on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Adam Lawrence
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email: Adam Lawrence- alawrence@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 6 News
We had Joe from Police in Schools come in to visit us this week. He was focusing on public speaking. Students were each given a random object and they had to talk about that object for 1 minute. It was very funny! Joe gave students lots of valuable tips about speaking in front of people.
Inform and Empower was on Tuesday morning where students viewed a video about remaining safe online. These are always valuable and engaging sessions!
We are busy working on our class concert item. A note regarding costumes will be out in the next couple of weeks to give you plenty of time to get organised. School Concert is being held on the 11th December.
There is also a lot going on preparing for the Grade 6 Graduation. Mass will be held on 15th December at 9:15am, followed by a morning tea for students and families.
I hope everyone has a nice 5 days off! See you on Wednesday!
Breanna
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Breanna Meyer - bmeyer@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
- Sophie Lohmeyer - slohmeyer@olshmerbein.catholic.edu
Other News
General News
School Advisory Council Members:
Thel O’Shea, Hannah Mills, Courtney Portaro, Sandra Hammet, Lana Borchard, Sara McClelland, Jennifer Wilson, Jordan Wade, Adam Lawrence (Staff Rep) & Narelle Gallagher (Principal).
Change of details:
Please contact the office if you have had a change of details. Phone: 50252258 or Email: admin@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Bell Times
8.30am | Supervision of students begin. Classrooms remain closed. |
8.45am | Classrooms are opened for preparation time. |
8.55am | Organisational bell (students go to the toilet, get a drink, be in line before music ends). |
9.00am | Teachers collect students from their line and proceed into class. |
11.00am | Recess bell. |
11.25am | Organisational bell (students go to the toilet, get a drink, be in line before music ends). |
11.30am | Teachers collect students from their line and proceed into class. |
1.30pm | Lunch bell. |
1.40pm | Students are to finish eating and then go to play. |
2.20pm | Organisational bell rings (students go to the toilet, get a drink, be in line before music ends). |
2.25pm | Teachers collect students from their line and proceed into class. |
3.10pm | NSW bus bell. |
3.25pm | End of day bell rings. |
SIMON Everywhere App
This can be downloaded from either the Google Play Store or the Apple Store. The app has been updated earlier this year and an email was sent out to parents. If you are having issues with logging in, can you please contact Mia in the office.
Student Medical Profile
Medical Profile: Please make sure that the school has been notified of any changes that have been made to your child’s Medical Profile on PAM and to also include this on the pink Parental Authority and Consent Form each year.
IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENT TO MAKE OLSH AWARE OF ANY CHANGES.
Parent Notified Absence
If your child is unwell and will be absent from school, you are able to complete a Parent Notified Absence (PNA) on the SIMON Everywhere App or Parent Access Module (PAM) which will automatically notify the teacher and a text message will not be sent.
Newsletters
These are distributed every Friday on SIMON Everywhere and the OLSH Website. Please contact us if at any time you have any queries or require any further explanation about events, dates etc. Any items for the newsletter are asked to be handed in at the office by 9.00am on Friday.
Attendance & Sign in
A reminder to parents that the school needs to be notified of a student absence by 10 am on the day. This can be done by calling the school office or by using SIMON Everywhere or sending an email to admin@olsmerbein.catholic.edu.au.
Second Hand Uniform
Please contact the school if you require any second hand uniform.
