10 - 19th April, 2024 - Term 2, Week 1

Principal's News

URGENT - 2025 Prep Enrolments

If you are a current OLSH family who has a child eligible for school in 2025, you must fill in an enrolment form which is located on our school website as soon as possible. Places are filling fast and we need to be sure of our sibling numbers before we can accept enrolments from new families. These enrolments are now also open.

Dear Families,

I hope you all enjoyed the Easter and school holiday break and are ready for another solid term of learning! As always, there will be plenty happening this term, so please make sure you get any events and celebrations into your diaries early. The term also has two days where we will not be at school – ANZAC Day on the 25th April and the King’s Birthday Long Weekend on June 10th , which will help us to get through eleven busy weeks!

As we come into the colder months, all students will be expected to be in the correct winter uniform. This can be worn anytime from now, but all students must transition into their winter uniform by the beginning of Week Three (29th April). This is not far away, so please make sure that you are prepared with the appropriate items. There are a number of second hand jumpers from our lost property that have been washed and are available to purchase from the school if needed.

Yesterday, families of our Grade Six students electronically received an information pack regarding enrolment in secondary school in 2025. Enrolling your child for secondary school is the responsibility of each family, and we suggest that this is not left to the last minute, as schools can fill their enrolments quickly. Please read the information from the P-10 College carefully and note the dates for completion. Families who wish to send their children to schools other than the P-10 College are encouraged to follow this up in good time. Most schools have open days and opportunities for families to look through their campus. The P-10 College has an Open Night on May 1 st for those who are interested.

Our Grade Five/Six Camp to Roses Gap is coming up fast! Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Breewel, Mr. Bower and myself will be attending the camp with the students and are looking forward to the adventure! This will also be a great chance for Grade Six to spend some time with Mrs. Lawrence as she joins their class for the remainder of the year. On Monday, students who have indicated that they are attending the camp will receive a note with information about what to bring. Full payment for the camp is due by Friday, May 17th and we ask that families honour this commitment. As always, please make a time to meet with me if you are having any financial difficulties.

Anzac Day is coming up on Thursday, April 25th. This is a public holiday, but staff, students and families at OLSH have always been invited to take part in the local march from the RSL to the Kenny Park memorial gates. It has always been great to see a large number of our students on the day, proudly representing our school in their school uniform. At OLSH we feel that it is important to commemorate Anzac Day and those who fought for our country in war. The march and formalities at the rotunda usually finish at around 10am. We hope to see you there! 

Our school Cross Country run will take place next Tuesday at Kenny Park. The students will walk across to the ovals from school just after 9am and will complete their runs by approximately 11am. All parents are welcome to come along to cheer the students on or to assist by standing around the course to direct students. If you are able to help, please see Mr. Breewel on the day or let the office know before Tuesday. Permission to walk across to the oval must be given for the day, as well as permission to walk over on Monday for a practise. Please check that you have done this in PAM. We look forward to a good morning of activity!

Catholic Education Week is coming up in Week Three and our students and teachers will be travelling into Mildura for a mass at Sacred Heart Church with all Sunraysia Catholic Primary Schools. The diocese of Ballarat, to which our school belongs, is also acknowledging 150 years of education. While the history of Catholic Education has not always been positive, we must acknowledge this and look forward to the future, while celebrating everything that is great about belonging to a Catholic School. At OLSH, we feel there is a lot to celebrate!

One week gone already! Time flies! Have a great weekend.

Narelle Gallagher

OLSH School Calendar

Religious Education News

Catholic Education Week: will be held from Monday April 29th - Friday May 3rd. During the week we will be acknowledging 150 years of Catholic Education.

The Catholic Education Week Mass will be held on Friday May 3rd at 10am at the Sacred Heart Church.

Mother's Day Liturgy: will be held on Friday May 10th at the OLSH Church at 9.15am. This will be followed by a morning tea at the school. All Mums and other special ladies are welcome to attend. Please make sure you have replied to the office asap.

Sacrament of Confirmation (Grade 3 and above): We have some children in the process of making their Sacrament of Confirmation this term. Please keep Violet Dimasi, Morgan Dowling, Isaac Lohmeyer and Jacinta Wagner in your prayers as they prepare for this special occasion on their faith journey. 

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

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.

Learning and Teaching

This term, starting in May, we will enter a testing period. This will consist of the PAT tests in Mathematics, Reading, Grammar and Spelling. There will also be an assessment on Writing. These tests are done online, either in class or in small groups. They provide vital information about student learning, and allow teachers to track student progress. The tests at this time of year are used as a check-in and to highlight where the learning focus needs to be for the rest of the year.

Adam Lawrence

Mother's Day Liturgy & Morning Tea

We will be celebrating our OLSH mums with a Liturgy on Friday, 10th May 2024 at 9.15 am. Following the Liturgy in the church mums will join the students in the classroom for activities and then head over to the Multipurpose room for Morning Tea. 

We would love to see you all there and we are asking you to r.s.v.p. by the 3rd May so we can organise the food and activies.

ANZAC Day

Merbein RSL is holding the annual Anzac Day March on 25th April 2024, and we would like to see OLSH students and families attend.  The day commences at 8.45 am, with the March to commence at 9.00 am from Merbein RSL Rooms (116 Commercial Street). We will march to the Kenny Park Memorial Gates where a short Remembrance Service and Wreath Laying will be held, followed by the remainder of the service at the Band Rotunda in Kenny Park.   At the conclusion of the service, you are welcome to attend morning tea and light refreshments at Merbein RSL Rooms. 

Cross Country

OLSH Cross Country: Our annual Cross Country event will be held this Tuesday April 23rd 2024 from 9.00am.

Please ensure your child's permission form has been completed before Tuesday. 

The run will take place at Kenny Park Oval. The children will be separated into their age groups (not classes) and will race either a 1 km, 2 km or 3 km race. They will need to be dressed in their full PE uniform and bring a drink bottle with water.

We will need some parental assistance on the day to marshall children around the track. If you are available, please contact Michael Breewel at the school. 

Below is the table of events. These times are only guides:

9:15am - 12+ Year Olds

9:45am - 11 Year Olds

10:15am - 6 & Under Year Olds

10:30am - 7 Year Olds

10:45am - 8 Year Olds

11:00am  - 9 Year Olds

11:15am - 10 Year Olds

District Cross Country: The District Cross Country event is for children aged 9 years and above who perform well at our Cross Country race. They will be selected on their times and will represent OLSH against children from other schools. 

The District Cross Country will take place on Thursday May 2nd 2024 at the Aero Ovals. Notes outlining the information will be given to children who are selected. 

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

OLSH School Leaders Profiles

Matilda Pritchard - Sports Captain

Hi! My name is Matilda. I am your Gleeson Sports Captain this year. I'm excited for this role and the opportunity to lead Gleeson in up-coming sporting events throughout the year. I can't wait for Gleeson to try their best to win the sports carnivals! It should be a great year!

SchoolTV

A SPECIAL REPORT: Parenting Styles

There are so many different opinions offered on how best to parent. New parents will often have firm beliefs about how they wish to balance love and discipline, but this ideal often goes out the window when a toddler throws their first tantrum in the supermarket!

Raising children can bring parents and caregivers great joy despite many learning ‘on the job’ and growing into the role through experience and understanding. Children will always flourish in a warm and loving environment, supported by clear guidance.

In this Special Report, parents and caregivers can gain a greater understanding of the four defined parenting styles by taking part in the quiz. It can guide parents towards deciding which style they wish to adopt and the effects it may have on their children.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report:
https://olshmerbein.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-parenting-styles

Happy Birthday

We wish the following students a Happy Birthday:

• Dane Alderson - 22nd April - 11 years
  

Prep News

Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter break and are ready for a busy Term Two.

Reading- Well done to all students who continued to read over the holidays. Please make sure you are reading each night.

Hats- Hats are no longer compulsory to wear during recess and lunch times however please make sure these are returned to school.

Uniform- Students are expected to be in full winter uniform this term and definitely by the end of Week 3. 

Show and Tell- A note was sent home with the Holiday Homework last term. Week 2 Show and Tell topic is ‘Free Choice’. Please let me know if you need a new list.

Art Folios- These were sent home at the end of Term 1. Could these please be emptied and returned to school, ready for more work at the end of this term. 

Please make sure you have given permission for Cross Country on Tuesday 23rd April. This needs to be completed via Simon. If you need more information, please contact the office.

Grade 1 News

Well done to everyone for a great start to Term 2! The students have settled well into routines and have enjoyed seeing each other after the Easter break.

Literacy- During Structured Literacy this week, students have learnt about pronouns and how use them in sentences. We have also added detail to our sentences by adding "why" and "how".

Maths- Students have been very engaged this week as we learnt about money. Student's have understood the different value that coins hold and ordering them from least to greatest value.

Science- This week in Science we have learnt about the Sun and the path it takes from morning to night. We discussed the recent Solar Eclipse that occured earlier in the month.

The Show and Tell roster for Term 2 went home earlier this week. A copy has also been put onto Seesaw.

Grade 2 News

 Welcome back to Term Two! I hope everyone had a lovely Easter break. The students were certainly very excited to share what they had been up to in the holidays.

We have a busy week next week, with our CrossCountry race on Tuesday and ANZAC Day on Thursday (public holiday).  We also have Catholic Education Week in Week Three and our Mother's Day celebrations happening in Week Four, so lots to look forward to! Keep an eye on the Newsletter and SeeSaw for details of each event. 

RE: Our new topic for RE is 'Love' and we have begun by exploring what love is and how we can show love to each other. 

Mathematics: We been learning about graphs and how we collect data and display it in different ways. We have also answered questions about information displayed on graphs. 

Literacy: This week we have focused on compound and simple sentences. We have identifed  the different types of sentences and written our own compound sentences by joining them with a conjunction. 

Science: This term we will be learning about Earth's resources and how we can use them responsibly.

Have a great weekend!

Lisa

Grade 3 & 4 News

Welcome back to another action packed term! We hope that those who could, had a relaxing break.

Next week we have our whole school Cross Country event which will be held on Tuesday 23rd April at 9.15am. If you would like to help out in any way, please contact the  office.

This week we began all new topics in most subject areas. This term we introduce History, beginning with the Age of Exploration - a time when many explorers, navigators and traders left Europe in search of new lands. Our Science focus this term is Chemical Science where we will be looking at different materials and how they are purposed to do different things.

Dont forget (we are sure you wont!), that there is a public holiday on Thursday - being ANZAC DAY. Many of our structured literacy readings will be focused on this very important Australian event.

We would like to wish Emmett good luck as he races for the Australian title in go-karting next week in Queensland. 

Just a reminder that Grade 3/4P will be having Sport on a Tuesday from this Term. Would all students please wear their sport uniform on this day. Thanks.

Enjoy your week.

Julie and Adam

Grade Five News

Grade 5 have had a great week and everyone has showed enthusiasm for learning.

• In Maths we're working on mental strategies for multiplication. Students are encouraged to practice their times tables for 5-10 minutes each night.
• In Literacy we have completed work on pronouns, sentence types and the prefix tele while reading and writing about how Earth compares to other planets in the Solar System. 
  
• In Religion we have started a new unit of work called Heritage. This unit will connect with our learning about Anzac Day.
• Students are reminded to read each night and bring their signed diary to school each day. 

Grade Six News

• Welcome back to Term Two! I hope everyone enjoyed a nice break over Easter.
• There have been some online permissions sent out via Simon. Please make sure you have at least given permission for Cross Country on Tuesday. There will also be a permission to sign for camp and the upcoming field day excursion, so keep an eye out for those soon!
• Anzac Day is next Thursday. We would love to see you at the Merbein RSL to march with us. If you are coming please wear school uniform.
• Grade Six will be opening with an assembly item next week. Please join us if you can. 
• Just a reminder students need to be reading and bringing in their diaries each day. Reading is very important and is a home learning expectation in Grade Six. 
• Students need to be transitioning into winter uniform now. This needs to be finalised by the start of week three.

General News

Merbein FNC NetSetGo starting on Thursday, 18 April at 4.00pm. 
Key things to note: 

• -The comp will run for 10 weeks.
• -Every Thursday at 4.00pm for 45 minutes (subject to weather).
• -$100 which includes your netball insurance and NetSetGo cover. You will get a code to get your free NetSetGo merch.
• -Free BBQ on the last session for presentations.
• -Facebook group chat to stay in the loop with any info.
• -It's not too late to join!

Please email laurenberry@outlook.com.au your child’s name, DOB and your contact number and any queries.

                                               MILDURA BALLOON BASH

Event Dates: Saturday 29th June – Sunday 7th July, 2024

Meeting Times: Sunrise flights - approx. 5.45 – 6.15am; Afternoon flights - approx. 2.30pm – 3.00pm

Meeting place: Powerhouse Precinct – 122 Hugh King Dr, Mildura

Duration: Approx. 45-60min flight; total experience 3-3.5hrs

Click here to find out more!

 Global Ballooning will have limited spaces available, accommodating up to 32 passengers per day across sunrise and afternoon flights, ensuring attendees of the Big Balloon Bash will have ample opportunity to partake in the magic of hot air ballooning against the stunning backdrop of Mildura's landscape throughout the 9-day event. Additionally, there will be a Night Glow event featuring an array of balloons illuminating to music.

 Children from 6 years old can join our balloon flights.

School Advisory Council Members:

Thel O’Shea, Hannah Mills, Grant Finlayson, Courtney Portaro, 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.