8 - 21st March, 2025 - Term 1, Week 8

Principal's News

Dear Families,

It is hard to believe that we have just completed Week Eight of the term! NAPLAN assessments have now been completed, and our Grade Threes and Fives should be congratulated on their efforts. The final two weeks will be busy ones, with our STOMP program taking place each day next week, our Family Night on Thursday evening and our Easter activities in the last few days of the term. All OLSH students have worked very hard this term, with some fantastic learning done and next week’s STOMP program will be a great opportunity for some well-deserved fun! The students look forward to showcasing their dance moves at the Family Night.

This week has seen quite a lot of illness at OLSH for both students and staff. Bad colds, covid and gastro have been present, as well as many students with persistent coughs. While we understand that nobody intentionally spreads illness to others, it helps greatly if families keep children at home when they are unwell. We have barely been able to cover our teachers this week and lots of students have been miserable with different complaints. We appreciate how tricky it can be when parents need to work and children are sick, but please consider whether your child should really be at school if they are unwell. We appreciate your cooperation with this. Hopefully yesterday’s rain has washed away some germs!

OLSH celebrated Harmony Day today, with students dressing in clothing that represented their cultural heritage or represented who they are as a person. Harmony Day is a celebration of our cultural diversity – a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home. This year’s theme is “Harmony – we all have a role to play!” and this message is extremely important in the context of schools. At OLSH we promote tolerance of others and respect for all cultures, and we hope that students will leave our school practising these values so that they can be contributors to a peaceful society and world. Thanks to Mrs. Lohmeyer and the Student Leaders for organising the day.

As the holidays draw closer, it’s a good idea to check the dates for next term. As was mentioned in our earlier newsletters, there are several school closure days in Term Two and a very short week to start the term, with Easter Monday, a professional development day for staff and Anzac Day all in the first week back. Dates are in the calendar on the newsletter and are as follows:

Tues 22nd April - Staff PD (Term Two begins on Wednesday, 23^rd April)

Friday 25^th April - Anzac Day

Mon 19th May - Staff PD

Tues 27th May - Staff PD

Monday 9^th June – King’s Birthday Long Weekend

Students are welcome to bring their runners for STOMP lessons each day but must change back into their school shoes afterwards. They will already be in their runners on Monday and Friday so these days are covered. The STOMP performances on Family Night will begin at 6pm, so all students will need to be with their teachers at least 10 minutes before this. 

If you haven’t replied to our Family Night invitation, please let us know through the link in the newsletter how many people are coming along and whether you prefer sausages or hamburgers, or call the office to add your name to the list.

Thank you to all those families who have brought in donations for our Easter Raffle – we have some fantastic goodies to put into our prizes! The more donations we have, the more prizes we can make, so don’t forget to send something in as soon as you can! Keep selling your raffle books and don’t forget - you have to be in it to win it! Thanks to those who have already sent their books in.

Have a great weekend!

Narelle Gallagher

Links:

Enrolments at OLSH:

OLSH Calendar:

Religious Education News

Sacramental Program: Those families wishing to participate in the Sacramental 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

Lent: The children have been learning about the importance of prayer, almsgiving and fasting during the lenten period. During this time we are asked to turn back to God and think of those in need. We fast to help us remember God and those in need.

Teaching & Learning

Our Grades Three and Five students have now completed all NAPLAN assessment! Well done to all of our students who gave each test their best efforts. As we have said previously, NAPLAN is only one form of assessment that takes place at OLSH throughout the year, and all data assists us to drive our teaching. We look forward to seeing the results of the NAPLAN later in the year.

OLSH Family Night - NEXT THURSDAY

Please select the following link below to r.s.v.p. for the upcoming Family Night next week.

https://forms.gle/aPQojSwG3WM4L1jJ8

Please join us on Thursday, 27th March for our Family Night! Students will perform their STOMP dances followed by a BBQ which will be provided by the school. After we have eaten, classrooms will open for a short time for families to wander through.

Due to catering constraints, this event is for immediate school families only.

• BYO chairs, rugs and drinks (strictly no alcohol is permitted).
• Students are to come dressed in casual clothes and suitable footwear for dancing.   
• Sausages or burgers, onion and coleslaw in bread will be served for tea.

Timetable:

• Start time: 5.30pm onwards
• STOMP Performance: 6.00pm sharp
• Tea served: 6.20pm
• Classrooms open: 6.45pm to 7.15pm

Easter Raffle & Donations

We already have some great donations and 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 is a basket in the foyer of the office where families can drop their donations into. 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, 28th March & the Raffle will be drawn on the last day of Term 1.

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:

• Jordan H - 26th March - 8 yrs

• Connor P - 28th March - 12 yrs

• Parker V - 29th March - 8 yrs

Prep News

STOMP- Next week (24^th-28^th March) students will participate in the STOMP dance program. On Thursday the 28^th of March all students will perform at the Family Night. Please make sure you have completed the form to help with catering for the night.

Well done to the Prep students who have worked hard while I have been away!

Grade 1 News

Literacy- We have been learning about the conjunctions "but" and "so", and adding them to sentences correctly in our writing time.

In Reading, we have finished our class book Inside Out. We will watch the movie at the end of the term to make some comparisons!

In Science, students were put into groups and were asked to create a zoo map. They had to focus on grouping the animals correctly around the zoo. Everyone got so creative! These maps are up on display and can be seen in our room next week on Family Night.

Reminders-

Next week is STOMP. Students will take part in some dance lessons each morning and performing on Thursday night for Family Night. They will need to be at school before 6pm ready to dance when it is their turn.

Library is on Mondays, so please remember to bring in library bags!

Spelling tests happen each Friday. Please make sure your child is practising at home during the week!

Grade 2 News

Hi everyone, 

The students have had a great week exploring some of the themes of Harmony Day. They created some lovely artwork over the week, some of which is displayed on the library window. It was fantastic to see all of the student's interests and cultures expressed through their outfits today!

Spelling results have been improving each week. It's great to see how diligently the students have been practising and the pride they take when they have improved on their previous result! 

 Reminders: 

*STOMP week (week 9)

*Family night (including STOMP performance Thursday 27th -next week)

*Easter Raffle Books

*Donations for the Easter Raffle

Week 9 Class News:   All students welcome to share if they have some special news. 

Have a great weekend!

Lisa

Fossils!

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Grade 3 News

This week, students completed the final two NAPLAN tests, putting in their best effort with great determination. We are proud of their hard work!

In Religion, we are reflecting on the people and places that help us feel closer to God. Students are thinking about this as they create digital photo montages on their Chromebooks, which we will print and display for parents at next week’s Family Night.

In Maths, we have been practicing different strategies to find the difference between two numbers. In Literacy, we are reading about Energy from the Sun, linking our learning to Science. This week, students explored facts and myths about the Sun and Earth. You will see some of our great work in the photo gallery.

We are all looking forward to STOMP next week and can’t wait to share our dances with you on Thursday evening!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Cheryl-Anne 

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Grade 4 News

This week has been an extraordinary week in the Grade Four classroom as the students have had a different teacher each day! I have been away due to sickness and CRTs are difficult to get. In my absence, rest assured that the  regular classroom program and timetable has happened each day. 

Next week, we have the much anticipated STOMP program. Our students really love STOMP week and it will culminate with our family night BBQ and STOMP demonstration on Thursday evening. Students will need to bring their runners each day to school next week. Please refer to Mrs Gallagher's news for more information regarding STOMP. 

Grade 5 News

This week we have been learning about the behavioural adaptations of animals and humans in Science, and the students have started a research project about the adaptation of an Australian Animal. We've discovered that because of our unique environment, Australia is home to many animals with very extraordinary behavioural and structural adaptations!!

Students have also enjoyed learning some of the strange collective nouns used to describe groups of animals this week- our favourite was a parliament of owls!!

If your child doesn't already have an art smock at school, please send one in next week. It could be a old tee shirt or button up shirt- anything that covers their uniform. We'll be painting again in Art next week!

Grade 6 News

Next week we will be participating in our Stomp Dance program. Grade Six will complete their lesson at 9am each morning. Our family night is being held on Thursday and students will showcase their dance moves that they have learnt throughout the week. Our classroom will be open after the Stomp performance for families to come in and have a look at what we have been working on. 

A reminder that Easter raffle books are due back on Monday. We are also still after some donations for our Easter raffle, so if you are able to donate something it would be much appreciated. 

Grade Six have loved having an hour of Creative Writing on Fridays with Mrs Lohmeyer. They have been working hard to write an adventure story for their buddy. These are nearly complete and next week we will be illustrating them! They will then read this story to their buddy in Week 10. 

Have a great weekend! 

Breanna Meyer 

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

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.