5 - 1st March, 2024 - Term 1, Week 5

Principal's News

Dear Families,

It has been a busy week, with Grades Three to Six participating in their swimming programme at the Merbein Pool and for a change, the weather has been kind to us! The students have been very keen to get into the pool for their lessons, particularly on Wednesday! This year our decision to only take half of the school swimming at a time has been a good one, with our younger students able to have continuity of learning in these early weeks of term. Grades Prep to Two will participate in a swimming programme later in the year.

I can’t believe that it is March already! This month there are quite a few school activities happening, so please keep an eye out in the newsletter and calendar for these. One of our more exciting activities for the students is the STOMP Dance Programme, where the students spend the week working with an instructor from Melbourne on various dance moves, having some fun and getting fit all at the same time! STOMP week will run from March 18^th to the 22^nd. More information will be in the newsletter prior to this. In the same week, School Photos will be taken on Tuesday, March 19^th. We are currently following up with the photographers regarding the photo envelopes, as we usually have these by now!

On Thursday, March 21^st, OLSH will be holding our annual Family Night. This is a great opportunity for families to come together in an informal way to enjoy a BBQ tea, watch their child perform the dances they have learned as part of the STOMP programme and to have a wander through your child’s family. A flyer will go home next week asking families to indicate numbers, which will help us with catering. Last year we enjoyed a great night together and hope that this year will see most, if not all of our families attending.

Last week I attended the Diocesan Principal’s meeting in Horsham, where the main topic of discussion was creating a new Strategic Plan for our diocesan schools over the next five years. Part of this plan is to look at developing High Performing Catholic Schools across our diocese and how this can be done using the guidance of some world-wide experts in this area, particularly the expertise of Pasi Sahlsberg, who has done extensive work in the field of education across the globe. Over the year we will be looking at what we do well already, what we can do better and why schools may not be performing as well as they should, with a focus on equity for all students in Catholic schools. Last week’s session was an introduction and there is a lot more to be discussed before we see a solid plan, but I hope to share this with you as it evolves.

Our Easter Raffle is now underway and tickets are selling well, which is great! For our raffle we rely on donations from our families for the prizes and already we have had some lovely goodies sent in to the office! We appreciate everything that comes in, as it means more prizes for our families! Further on in the newsletter there is a section outlining what you can and can’t send in. We thank all of our families for your support.

A few reminders to families:

• Hot Cross Buns – don’t forget to get your orders and money in!
• ECSI survey – we appreciate your assistance in completing this survey! The link can be found further on in the newsletter.

Now that we have reached the middle of the school term, we often see a little more fatigue happening for our students. Making sure that children are in bed at a reasonable time plays a big part in how children perform at school the next day. Our School TV link today covers this very topic and we hope that you find it both useful and interesting. Take a look while you are reading the newsletter!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Narelle Gallagher

OLSH School Calendar

Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) Survey

Information was emailed out to parents last week.

Religious Education News

Sacrament of Confirmation (Grade 3 and above): Children in Grade 3 and above who have been baptised, have the opportunity to continue their sacramental journey by making their Confirmation. Below are the dates of Confirmation and parents need to contact the parish office to register their child. 

Parent Information Meeting: 27th March 7pm, Sacred Heart Church.

The  celebration dates are as follows: Friday 17th May, Saturday 18th May and Sunday 19th May.

Project Compassion: Families should now be busy raising money for Project Compassion. Caritas Australia uses this money to assist different communities around the world in areas such as farming, education and medical assistance. They also help those living in war torn countires. Every little bit counts towards making lives of others better.

Project Compassion boxes will need to be returned to school during the last week of the term. 

Altar Servers Guild: The parish is founding an Altar Servers Guild to provide practical training and ongoing formation to Guild members. The Guild will meet weekly during school terms. If you are interested in joining the Guild and becoming an altar server visit: 

www.sunraysiacatholic.org/altar-servers or call the parish office on 5021 2872.

Easter Liturgy: will be held on Thursday March 28th at 12:30pm in the OLSH Church. All families are welcome to join us in our celebration.

ANOINTING MASSES

• 28th February, 2pm, Mildura
• 14th March, 5:30pm, Red Cliffs
• 21st March, 9.30am, Merbein

Learning and Teaching

This week, the staff participated in additional online learning about Structured Literacy, with a focus on 'The Principles of Structured Literacy and Writing Instruction.' The session covered the six principles of writing instruction and introduced some methods from 'The Writing Revolution.' All of our staff have already integrated elements of this process into their teaching practices, as three of our members are fully trained in 'The Writing Revolution' method. We have two more online sessions scheduled for this term, concentrating on 'The Principles of Structured Literacy and Writing Instruction.'

Adam Lawrence

NAPLAN BROCHURE

School Photos - Tuesday 19th March

Our Schools Photos are fast approaching.  We will be sending home the envelopes to families as soon as they arrive.

OLSH Easter Raffle

Our annual Easter Raffle went home last week and we already have some great donations and sold raffle books returned.  As always we rely on the generous donation of Easter eggs and treats from our school families to make the raffle successful. There will be a basket in the foyer of the office where families can drop their donations into over the next few weeks. The more donations we receive, the more prizes we have to give away! 

More tickets are avaible from the office.  

Tickets are due back: Monday, 25th March & the Raffle will be drawn on the last day of Term 1.

OLSH School Leaders Profiles

Natalie Sutton-Leunig - School Captain

Hi, my name is Natalie and I am ini Year 6.  I play netball outside of school for Merbein.  I enjoy going down to the river on the weekends.  I have two brothers and one sister.  I enjoy art, writing and sport.  I love cooking at home whenever I can.  I like leading the school for 2024.  I like to do my best and set my mind to achieve my goals.  I love to be kind to my family and the world.

Ava Dodson - Student Leader

Hello, my name is Ava Dodson.  I am one of the Grade 4 Student Leaders.  I have 4 people in my family if you include me.  I have one older sister who recently started high school and left this school.  My favourite animal is a Koala and my favourite colour is pink.  If you see me in the playground come and say hi.

Hot Cross Bun Fundraiser

This year OLSH Merbein will once again be taking part in the Banjo’s Hot Cross Bun Fundraiser. For every order made, Banjo’s Mildura will donate 20% of all sales back to OLSH Merbein.  We are yet to decide on what we put the funds towards this year. Banjo’s Hot Cross Buns are delicious and great toasted or fresh with a cuppa so we hope that all families will support this drive! 

How it will work:

• Collect your orders/money and keep a record on the form below - this will be for your records                (we will be sending these forms home on Monday)

• Log on to CDF Pay and complete your order by the following date:  Wednesday, 20th March

• All orders will be delivered to the school for collection on Tuesday, 26th March at 3.20pm on wards.

Updated Information from CDC Buslines

Victorian Conveyance:

This year the Victorian conveyance passes are GREEN with BLACK writing. Please note we are still waiting on the passes to arrive; students will not receive their pass for another couple of weeks.

Important note: There is a change with Victorian conveyance as conveyance passes are ONLY for travel between HOME AND SCHOOL ONLY, on school days, between 7.00am to 10.00am and 2.30pm to 5.00pm. This is stated on the back of the conveyance cards.

 NSW Conveyance:

Students will no longer be provided with passes however, please ensure students who reside in NSW  and utilise the bus service to/from school have completed an application for free travel online https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-for-a-school-travel-pass

Please return your 2023 conveyance pass prior to receiving your 2024 conveyance pass. 

 The fee for a replacement pass is $10.00. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us: 

• Phone (03) 5023 0274
• Address 8 - 10 Bathurst Court, Mildura, VIC 3500 / PO Box 752, Mildura, VIC 3502
• cdcvictoria.com.au

Enrolment at OLSH

The link below will take you to our website where you are able to fill out the online enrolment form.  To finalise the application you will need to upload your child's Birth Certificate and Immunisation Record. 

If you have any questions please call the school or email admin@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au

SchoolTV

Students today have extremely busy schedules, with ever increasing responsibilities at school and at home. Many kids, especially adolescents, are going to bed later and later and are at risk of sleep deprivation. This affects three areas of a child’s development: psychological, physiological and psychosocial. All three are essential to a child's growth, learning ability and overall wellbeing. Sleep is vital to a child’s overall development and is as important as diet and exercise.

Sleep also strengthens a child’s immune systems and supports their ability to function properly on a daily basis. Children who do not get enough sleep show increased levels of aggressive behaviour, are less attentive and are much less active. Trying to catch up on sleep on weekends is not the answer and can still lead to severe sleep deprivation.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn about the importance of sleep and how sleep deprivation can have adverse effects on a child’s health and wellbeing.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Sleep edition of SchoolTV
https://olshmerbein.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/sleep

Happy Birthday

We wish the following students a Happy Birthday:

• Harry Petty - 5th March - 10 yrs

• Alessio Portaro - 6th March - 6 yrs

• Ava Barnes - 7th March - 10 yrs

• Jacob Cain - 7th March - 12 yrs

• Ryan Hawkes - 9th March - 9 yrs

• Shanae Scheer - 9th March - 11 yrs

Student of the Week

Prep News

Word Books- These will come home next week. In these books are lists of words for your child to practise at home. When your child feels confident with these words please let me know and I can assess and then glue some more in if they are ready for them. In the book are also lists of ways that you can practise the words. 

Now that the Preps will be completing full weeks they may come home very emotional. Tonight students will be bringing home a handout with some information about After-School Restraint Collapse which was recommended by Jo Finlayson (Learning Diversity Leader and Wellbeing Officer). 

Sunraysia Daily will be once again producing the feature “Welcome to Preps 2024” which will be published on Saturday, March 9, 2024. Look out for a photo of our students in the paper!

Week 5 Photos

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Grade 1 News

The Grade 1's have started to settle into the routines of the classroom well and we have been busy this week in all areas of our learning.

Literacy- Students have been doing well with the new Structured Literacy routine, pictured below are the students engaging in paired fluency. 

Mathematics- We have been focusing on addition this week and students have had an opportunity to go on thier computers to complete set tasks on Splashlearn. 

Science- This week students designed a bird feeder which they will have an opportunity to make next week.

Reminders-

Library is on Monday.

No more show and tell for the rest of the term.

Spelling and readers should be getting completed most night at home.

Grade 2 News

 Congratulations to all of our Grade Twos for performing so confidently at our Assembly, I was very proud of you all! Thank you to the parents who came to watch or watched from work or home on our Facebook page. 

Mathematics

This week we have been adding and subtracting multiples of ten from two-digit numbers. The students have done a great job looking at the patterns and thinking about which place value changes and which stays the same. 

Literacy

This week we have been learning about the different noun types: proper, common and pronouns. We have been identifying these words in sentences and discussing which words need a capital letter.

We have also looked at the suffix 'ed' and how this changes the tense of a word. 

*Spelling test results were very varied this week and some students have told me that they did not practise at all at home. Please encourage your child to practise these at least a few times during the week. It makes a big difference to their results and only takes five minutes. 

Art

In Art we made collages of flowers and labeled the different parts. The students had a great time using different materials to make their flowers.

Have a great weekend!

Lisa

Grade 3 & 4 News

We have had a busy week this week with swimming lessons being the focus. Everyone has had a great time and we hope that some new swimming and water safety skills were learnt over the week.

As part of our home learning focus, all students in grades three and four are learning the times tables. This is so far proving to be successful as many students are moving up to the next level each week. For those that haven’t moved very far yet, we say to these students that this is a learning experience and practice makes perfect! Please support your child with learning their times tables homework each week.

Next Friday 8^th March is Grade 3/4L’s assembly. The following week, Friday 15^th assembly is Grade 3/4P’s assembly. Parents and friends are very welcome to join us at 9am on the morning of assembly.

Julie and Adam

Swimming fun at the pool!

Grade Five News

We've had a wonderful week of swimming. Students have had a positive attitude towards the lessons and there has been many opportunities for each child to develop their water safety skills and knowledge.

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Grade Six News

• Well done to the students for completing their swimming lessons this week. It is an important skill to learn and it has been a very valuable week. 
• Just a reminder to keep practising your times tables at home. Well done to the students who have been bringing their diaries in daily for me to sign. Keep up the good work!

St Joseph's College, Mildura 2024 Open Evening

General News

School Advisory Council Members:

Thel O’Shea, Hannah Mills, Grant Finlayson, Amy Cupper, Sandra Hammet, Lana Borchard,           Adam Lawrence (Staff Rep) & Narelle Gallagher (Principal). Our first meeting for the year is on March 5th.

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.