4 - 21st February, 2025 - Term 1, Week 4

Principal's News

Dear Families,

Our week kicked off with Parent/Teacher interviews on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, with around 90 of our 103 families taking the opportunity to meet with teachers to chat about their child’s start to the year! Teachers enjoyed the chance to share their observations about their students and I’m sure this was also the case for our families. Even though we have only been back at school for four weeks, there has already been some great learning happening. These meetings are also important because by meeting with your child’s teacher, you are demonstrating to your child that you are interested in their learning, which in turn assists student engagement. We thank everyone who came along!

I have been in Horsham for the past two days at my termly Diocesan Leadership Gathering, where all principals in our Ballarat diocese meet to complete professional learning and to hear about any operational updates regarding our schools. Today, we continued our work with Pasi Sahlberg and Dave Runge on the Diocesan Strategic Plan which will span the next ten years, that being to create a system of High Performing Catholic Schools. We are currently into our second year of this journey, with the plan slowly unfolding and taking shape. Although there was some discussion amongst principals that things seem to be moving slowly, this year we hope to share more of this plan with our school community so that you too can also understand the direction in which our school is heading. Staff will be learning more about the Strategic Plan on our school closure day on May 27th.

On Monday, our school is taking part in an audit of our 2024 Census data and our practices around the implementation of learning adjustments and social/emotional interventions in our school. To attract funding through the National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) we must prove at least ten weeks of adjustments have been made to support students with Individual Learning Plans. The funding we receive through the NCCD contributes greatly to the number of Learning Support Officers in our school, who often assist with the implementation of learning programs for our students. Thanks to the hard work of our teachers, LSOs and Jo Finlayson (our Learning Diversity Leader) we are confident in our practices and hope we will pass with flying colours!

Next week on Monday, our Grade Three to Six swimming program kicks off with classes heading to the Merbein Pool from 11.30am. Please make sure you have given PAM permission for your child to attend and that they have all the required items with them to take part, including bathers, towels, thongs, etc. Qualified swimming instructors will be running all sessions. Our junior students will complete their swimming program later in the year at Mildura Wave Pool.

Can I remind families that students with long hair (girls and boys) are required to tie their hair back. This is not only to keep it out of their way when learning, but also to avoid head lice, who love longer hair! Tying only small pieces of hair back with the rest hanging freely will not save you from head lice, so save yourself the trouble of picking out the lice by tying hair back properly. We appreciate your cooperation with this.

I hope you all enjoy the weekend!

Narelle Gallagher

Links:

Enrolments at OLSH:

OLSH Calendar:

Religious Education News

Ash Wednesday: will be held on Wednesday March 5th. An Ash Wednesday Liturgy will be held on the day. This will take place in the Church at 12:30pm. All families and parishioners are welcome to attend. 

Ash Wednesday is a holy day that marks the start of the season of Lent for the majority of the world’s Christians. Lent is a 40-day period that represents the Temptation of Christ, and Christians honour it by fasting, praying and taking part in daily devotional activity. Lots of people, including non-Christians, will choose to give up a bad habit or someting they love, like a treat, for the period of Lent in much the same way as many people choose to set resolutions for the New Year.

Many Christians will go to church on Ash Wednesday and have the sign of the cross marked in ash on their foreheads. It is the day on which most people begin their Lenten observances. Ash Wednesday means a lot to people who follow the Christian faith, as it is traditionally seen as a day of repentance. 

Sacramental Program: Those families wishing to participate in the Sacrament Program need to contact the Parish Office for more details.

Sacrament of Confirmation (Year 3 & Above)

• Parent Information Session - Wednesday April 2nd.
• Celebration of the Sacrament - Friday 30th & Saturday 31st May & Sunday June 1st.

Sacrament of Holy Communion (Year 4 & Above)

• Parent Information Session - Wednesday April 2nd.
• Celebration of the Sacrament - Friday 20th & Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd June.

Sacrament of Reconciliation (Year 2 & Above)

• Parent Information Session - Wednesday October 15th
• Celebration of Sacrament - Wednesday November 26th

Teaching & Learning

NAPLAN

Preparations are underway for NAPLAN, which will take place from 12–26 March. Grade 3 and 5 students will participate, and class teachers are actively preparing them for the assessments. Parent information is available on the VCAA website, or you can contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions about the process.

Flare Primary Literacy Strategy

In 2025, our school will continue implementing the Flare Primary Literacy Strategy. As part of this, La Trobe University will conduct research to evaluate improvements in students’ reading, writing, and spelling skills, as well as teacher confidence in literacy instruction.

De-identified student data, including Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN Literacy results, will be collected and analyzed as part of the study. All data will be securely stored and handled according to privacy regulations, and no individual students, teachers, or schools will be identified in published reports.

A letter will be sent to the parents of our new students next week. If you have any questions about the inclusion of your child’s de-identified data, please contact your child’s teacher or Cheryl-Anne Courtney, Teaching and Learning Leader.

School Photos - Tuesday, 18th March

Parents are now able to order photos using the MSPOnline system.  Please refer to the flyer below to register and order your child/rens photos or go to the following website: https://olotshsmerbein-vic.msp.photos

Buddy envelopes and Student Leader envelopes have been sent home to families. 

NEXT WEEK Swimming Program - Grades 3 to 6

School Fees

School Fee Payments 

Thank you to families who have paid or begun paying school fees. We ask that these be finalised by the end of Term 3. If you have any questions regarding fees, please contact the office. Thank you for your support!

Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF) 

If you hold a Health Care Card and have not yet completed a Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF) application for 2025, please do so immediately. This entitles you to a $154.00 credit per child. 

School Savings Bonus

Those families who had a Health Care Card in 2024 will be recieving the School Savings Bonus by the end of this term once payments have been finalised.  Prep students who hold a current card will also be eligible.

Respectful Relationships

OLSH Canteen

Orders need to be completed by 9.15am every Friday.

Happy Birthday

We wish the following students a Happy Birthday in the coming week:

• Ekam Benipal - 26th Feburary - 11 yrs

• Ned Collins Wood - 1st March - 10 yrs

• Milla Davis - 2nd March - 6 yrs

Prep News

Parent/Teacher Interviews- Thank you to everyone who came along this week to discuss your child’s learning.

Prep Rest Day- The next and last Prep Rest day is Wednesday the 26th Feb. 

Reading- Please make sure you are listening to/reading each night.

Baby photos- If you haven't already, can you please send in a baby photo by Monday as we will be looking at them during History this week. This can be either emailed or a hard copy. 

Sunraysia Daily will be once again producing the feature “Welcome to Preps 2025” which will be published on Saturday, March 1, 2025. Look out for a photo of our students in the paper!

Week 4 Photos

Grade 1 News

Writing- We have been busy adding detail to sentences this week. We added "who" and "what" to sentences to add detail to our writing.

Maths- We have started addition in Maths this week. Using the counting on method to add, and recalling our friends of tens.

Reading & Spelling- Thank you to those families who are getting reading and spelling done most nights. Students earn dojo points for getting 3 or more nights of spelling work done. Our focus this week was the "or" sound.

Art- The classroom looks so colourful with our beautiful artwork on the window. We made our own stained glass windows using cellophane this week. Everyone did a great job!

Grade 2 News

 Hi Everyone, 

 We have all enjoyed the cooler weather this week! 

Thanks to everyone who came to the Parent/Teacher interviews. It was lovely to have time to chat about how your child has settled into school and their learning progress so far!

Literacy

This week in Literacy we have been learning about the 'th' digraph and how to join two simple sentences together using conjunctions such as because, but and so. We have also learnt about the four sentence types including statement, exclamation, question and command sentences. 

Spelling

Thanks to everyone who has been practising spelling words at home. Spelling results have been stuck into students' home spelling books today so you can have a look at how they went. I think the words were quite challenging this week!

Mathematics

 This week we have been learning about 'fact families' for example: 3 + 2=5, 2+3=5, 5-2=3, 5-3=2

The students did a great job writing related subtraction facts for given addition sentences! 

 Reminders:

• Shrove Tuesday - 4th of March
• Ash Wednesday - 5th March
• Photo Day -18th March

Week 5 Class News:   Julius, Isla and Archie

 Have a great weekend!

Lisa

Grade 3 News

Thank you to those of you that came to school on Monday and Tuesday afternoon to have a conversation about your child's start to Grade 3. I am looking forward to working with you and your child this year. 

Next week we have a 45 minute swimming lesson each day which most of the children are very excited about. Please remember to pack a hat, sunscreen, slip on shoes, towel, goggles and a plastic bag for bringing wet clothes home each afternoon. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Cheryl-Anne 

Grade 4 News

Thank you to everyone who made the time to meet me on Monday and Tuesday. It was lovely to reacquaint with familiar faces and meet new families. 

Over the past two weeks in Maths, we have been concentrating on learning the formal algorithm for addition and subtraction and I must say almost all students have nailed it! Well done. Please support your child with their weekly times tables focus. A reminder that homework is handed out on Monday and is to be returned on Thursday. A quick times tables quiz on the Thursday determines if students move up to the next level or not. There is no shame in not moving up whatsoever as it gives more time to consolidate what students do not know.

A couple of reminders:

• please bring in egg cartons if you have any
• some students are yet to bring to school their art smock
• swimming lessons will be held next week. Please ensure that your child comes prepared with their bathers, towel, suitable footwear (thongs, slides, crocs) and a plastic bag to put wet bathers in. Grade 4 will be swimming at 12:15pm - 1:00pm.

Have a great weekend,

Julie

Grade 5 News

The students have been working extremely well and making my job easy. We did our DIBELS testing on Wednesday. Students have been continuing to learn about democracy, focusing this week on the importance of volunteers. We have also been working hard to prepare for our assembly next Friday, rewriting the words to a Hunters & Collectors classic to highlight the importance of democracy.

In Art, we have been learning about Henri Matisse and his technique of 'painting with scissors.' This is the use of paper, glue and scissors to create art. Students have completed two artworks in the Matisse style and have also learned about the artist behind the technique.

Remember that it is the Grade Five assembly next Friday!

Grade 6 News

It's been a little bit of a mixed up week with me being out of the room a lot and students away! There seems to be a lot of coughs and colds going around our room at the moment.

A big thank you to everyone who came to chat at Parent Teacher interviews. It was great to get some insight into how your child has started the year. 

Swimming week is next week! Details have been posted on Seesaw. Students will need to make sure they have their swimming gear ready to go to the pool everyday. Please provide a spare bag to put wet clothes in. We will be swimming at 1.45-2.30 each day and will be having an early lunch before we head to the pool. 

Any questions let me know,Breanna Meyer

Other News

General News

School Advisory Council Members:

Thel O’Shea, Hannah Mills, Courtney Portaro, Sandra Hammet, Lana Borchard, 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

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.