11 - 26th April, 2024 - Term 2, Week 2

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,

Yesterday a good number of our students, staff and families gathered to take part in the Merbein Anzac Day march. It was great to see so many of our students representing our school and proudly wearing badges and carrying photographs of those who were dear to them, and who fought for our country in various wars. Although thankfully, war seems so foreign to us in Australia at present, it is fantastic that the crowds come every year to commemorate all those who fought and died for us in battle. As always, when we settled at the rotunda yesterday to listen to the Anzac service, our students showed the utmost respect for the occasion. I know the local RSL appreciates the presence of all our local schools at the service each year, and we will continue to show our support in the future.

Next week is Catholic Education Week, which coincides this year with the acknowledgement of 150 years of the Ballarat Diocese. Throughout the week, the students will be taking part in various activities focusing on this celebration, with the week ending with a mass for all our Catholic primary schools in Sunraysia. There is currently an advertising campaign taking place promoting Catholic Education, with ads featuring on the television. At OLSH, we are proud to promote all that is good about Catholic education, as we love our school, it’s students and our community. The theme of Catholic Education Week is “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” meaning that even when times are difficult, we should always look forward with faith.

As part of Catholic Education Week, we are going to support the Salvation Army by dressing up in a splash of red colour for a gold coin donation. May is the month when the Salvos hold their Red Shield Appeal, which raises money for those in need. Doing our part to assist others is part of our Catholic Social Teachings, and what better time to demonstrate this than in a week dedicated to Catholic Education and the elements that make us who we are. A flyer with more information can be found later in the newsletter.

Our Cross Country Run took place on Tuesday morning on a beautiful sunny day! The warmer weather didn’t deter the students from their task of completing the one, two or three kilometre run and there were some great efforts put in on the day! This morning at assembly, the medals were presented to the age group winners and some of our older students will go on to run next week at the District Cross Country. We wish them all the best for the day. Thanks to Mr. Breewel for his organisation on the day of the run and to the parents who assisted with marshalling around the course. It was much appreciated.

Our Mother's Day morning Tea and activities will take place on Friday, May 10th, starting with a liturgy in the church. This is always a special morning for our students, as they love to spend time with their mums at school when the opportunity arises! Following the liturgy, we all move to the classrooms (in Family Groups) and spend time doing some short activities before our mums head over to the Multi-purpose Room for the morning tea. This is a time allocated for our mums only, since it's your special day! If you haven't already replied to the invitation that was sent out last term, please let us know as soon as possible if you are attending (there is a link further on in the newsletter).We hope to see you all there!

When the bell goes at the end of the day and students move out to the front of the school, things can become quite hectic as we send students out the gate to walk home or get into cars. The expectation of all of our students is to be sitting on the seats under the shelter, so that we can keep an eye on everyone and keep them safe as they wait for parents. We ask that famiiles do not congregate around the tree at the front, but instead collect your child and keep moving out through the gate. This enables us to see who is still waiting to go home and creates less crowding. No children should be running around the tree, or climbing on the rock, as we would hate to see any child getting hurt. We appreciate your cooperation with this issue.

All students must be in full winter uniform on Monday. Uniform items are available from Lowes in Centro and we also have a small number of second hand uniforms here at school.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Narelle Gallagher

OLSH School Calendar

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.

OLSH RED DAY - 2ND MAY 2024

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. Please ensure your child's permission form has been completed before May 3rd. 

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 week, I was involved in a Leaders meeting for schools taking part in the Sunlit Literacy project who are transitioning to Structured Literacy. This day provided useful information about how to best use the information gained from the upcoming testing students will complete. This will allow teachers to further help students in areas where they need assistance. It also allowed conversations around how schools have found the swap to Structured Literacy from a Balanced Literacy approach. There were common themes from all schools, highlighting both what has been easy and what has been a challenge. However,  overwhelmingly teachers are seeing a benefit for the students. This information will now be relayed to all teachers over the coming weeks.

Adam Lawrence

ANZAC Day

Cross Country

OLSH Cross Country: Congratulations to all the children who participated in the school Cross Country race on Tuesday. It was great to see so many children try their best. 

Cross Country Winners - 2024

6 and Under

Boys:                                                                                                               Girls:

3rd - Parker Moule                                                                                    3rd - Indi Walsh

2nd - Kai Libchard                                                                                     2nd - Pandora Henderson

Winner - Dusty Hallam                                                                             Winner - Laney Pollard

7 Year Olds

Boys:                                                                                                                Girls:

3rd - Parker Valinoti                                                                                 3rd - Zara Russell

2nd - Julius Mazza                                                                                     2nd - Indi Barnes

Winner - Ledger Bell                                                                                Winner - Isla McCleland

8 Year Olds

Boys:                                                                                                                  Girls:

3rd - Aiden Davis                                                                                          3rd - Ivie Mazza

2nd - Morgan Dowling                                                                               2nd - Harriet Parker

Winner - Nash Seymour                                                                             Winner - Ivy Libchard

9 Year Olds

Boys:                                                                                                                 Girls:

3rd: Isaac Lohmeyer                                                                                   3rd: Violet Goldsmith

2nd: Jake Borchard                                                                                      2nd: Summer Alderson

Winner: Rory Cowling                                                                                Winner: Violet Dimasi

10 Year Olds

Boys:                                                                                                               Girls:

3rd - Beau Blore                                                                                         3rd - Ava Barnes

2nd - Aston McGowan                                                                             2nd - Ariana Mazza

Winner - Levi Davis                                                                                  Winner - Frankie Roberts

11 Year Olds

Boys:                                                                                                                Girls:

3rd - Oliver Smith                                                                                       3rd - Holly Cumming

2nd - Dane Alderson                                                                                  2nd - Zali Breewel

Winner - Isaac Longeri                                                                             Winner - Paley Hammet

12+ Year Olds

Boys: Girls:

3rd - Phoenix McGowan                                                                          3rd - Pippa Annand

2nd - Cody Pollard                                                                                      2nd - Olivia Doughty

Winner - Hayden Gourlay                                                                       Winner - Matilda Pritchard

District Cross Country: A number of children have been selected to represent the school at the Disctrict Cross Country Race on Thursday May 2nd 2024. 

Please make sure all permission notes are completed before next Thursday through SIMON.  It is the parents responsibilty to get the children to and from the event on the day. 

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

Able Gregg - School Captain

Hello everyone.

My name is Able Gregg and I am thrilled to represent OLSH as school captain this year. I am extremely proud to hold the position as a leader not only for my friends and family, but all my peers. I enjoy playing basketball and participating in all sports whether I'm good at them or not.

My goal for 2024 is to be a role model to all students at OLSH and give them someone to look up to when they then represent their school as school captain or if they are a future Year 6 that wants to make an everlasting impact.

When it comes to learning I am always 100% committed and dedicated to being the best version of myself and being a sponge soaking up my learning skills. If it's math for example, I'm in and ready to focus. If it's literacy I knuckle down and focus. I've learned some very unique skills on having a growth mindset and extending my knowledge in “AUSLAN” and I will continue to keep that focus through 2024. I hope everyone has an awesome year in 2024. I look forward to helping you all.

Cheers- Able

SchoolTV

In this edition of SchoolTV - MINDFULNESS

Over the last decade, mindfulness has been slowly rising in popularity with many individuals practising it on a regular basis. Evidence based research has found that there are many benefits to mindfulness which has prompted schools across the nation to implement this practice into their daily routines.

Mindfulness can be described as attention training for your brain, enabling you to focus on something without judgement and to stimulate curiosity. Mindfulness can be practised in a number of ways and is something that can be done by everyone - no matter what your age! It has been practised by many cultures around the world, but it is not exclusively affiliated to any particular philosophy or religion.

Mindfulness helps improve memory, engagement and performance. Its positive effect on the brain can improve immunity, mental wellbeing, learning ability, emotional health and even, time management. It is especially important in this era of information overload as our attention is constantly being pulled in many directions making us more distracted.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents can learn the best way to introduce this mindfulness to their children, implementing into their daily lives to have an overall positive impact on family relationships.

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 Mindfulness edition of SchoolTV
https://olshmerbein.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/mindfulness

Happy Birthday

We wish the following students a Happy Birthday:

• April 29th - Sophie Lewis - 6 years
  
• 30th April - Zara Russell - 7 years
• 2nd May - Dusty Hallam - 6 years
• 4th May - Levi Body - 11 years
• 4th May - Bailey Smyth - 7 years

Student of the Week

Prep News

Well done to all students for their great effort at Cross Country on Tuesday. Thanks to everyone who came along to watch and assist on the day.

Show and Tell- Week 3 Show and Tell topic is ‘Something that has wheels’. 

Assembly- The Prep students will be doing a class performance on Friday the 17th of May.

Grade 1 News

Congratulations to all of the students for their amazing efforts in Cross Country! It was great to see everyone try their best and cheer on their peers.

Show & Tell- A reminder that Show and Tell for the term has commenced. The roster has been sent home and is also posted on Seesaw.

Grade 2 News

 Congratulations to everyone for trying their very best in the Cross Country on Tuesday. It was wonderful to see everyone having a go and supporting their classmates.

It was great to see a large number of our students at the ANZAC ceremony in Merbein yesterday. The students were very respectful and listened attentively to the guest speaker.

On Friday next week, we will be travelling to Mildura by bus to attend the Combined Schools Mass at Sacred Heart Church (Eleventh Street). Please ensure you have given your child permission to attend this via the SIMON app.

In Science today, we continued to look at Earth's resources and made ice-cream in a bag to see how cream becomes ice-cream!

In Maths, we are learning to add two-digit numbers by  splitting the smaller number into tens and ones. 

Thank you to those students who have continued to read regularly at home and practise their spelling words. It really does make a difference!

Have a great weekend, 

Lisa

Grade 3 & 4 News

It is the end of another very busy week. Is becoming more apparent that this is the new norm!

Well done to everyone who gave their best efforts in Tuesday's Cross Country and many thanks to those families and students who were able to make it to the ANZAC Day march yesterday.

There are a couple of events coming up which require parent permission via SIMON. These include: Catholic Education Week Mass on Friday 3rd May and the Field Days Excursion on Friday 17th May. Please make the time to check these out and give your child consent to attend.

Just a reminder that the Grades 3/4 homework focus this year comprises of reading and learning the times tables. We thank you for your support in this area and request that diaries are signed each day. There seems to be many blank pages in some student's diaries!

Grade 3/4P have Sport on a Tuesday this term. Students in Mrs Phelan's class should wear their sport uniform on this day. Thanks.

Enjoy your week.

Julie and Adam

Grade Five News

• Congratulations to all students for participating in the Cross Country event on Tuesday. Everyone gave it their best effort and should be proud of their accomplishments.

• We spent some time learning about the history of Anzac Day and the ways that Australians commemorate the occasion. We made Anzac biscuits and completed artwork inspired by poppies.

• Next week we celebrate Catholic Education Week. On Friday we will be travelling to the Sacred Heart Church in Mildura to join in with the other Sunraysia Catholic schools for a mass. Please make sure you have given permission for your child to attend through the Simon App. 

• Students are reminded to bring their diaries to school each day and to make time each afternoon to practice their times tables and to read.

Grade Six News

• Well done to everyone who participated in Cross Country on Tuesday. It was great to see students having a go and reaching their personal goals. 
• Grade Six opened our assembly today with great respect as they spoke about the importance of Anzac Day. Well done on their presentation and it was great to see parents there to watch. 
• Next week we celebrate Catholic Education Week. On Friday we will be travelling to the Sacred Heart Church in Mildura to join in with the other sunraysia catholic schools for a mass. Please make sure you have given permission for your child to attend through the Simon App. 
• Students need to be in full winter uniform this coming week. Please email or come and see me if you are having any issues with uniform.
  

General News

                                               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.