24 - 8th August, 2025 - Term 3, Week 3
Principal's News
Dear Families,
The weeks are already flying by, and we are already at the end of Week Three of Nine! Next week, OLSH will celebrate Book Week (a week earlier than the official date!) and all students are invited to dress up as their favourite book character. At 9am, students will take part in a short parade of their costumes on the basketball court, before participating in activities based on the Book Week stories. Everyone loves a dress up (especially the teachers!) and we look forward to seeing everyone getting into the spirit of the day.
At OLSH, we are introducing the option of Brain Food to keep children’s brains fuelled for learning. Our students have a short brain break around 10am during the Structured Literacy block, and this is an opportune time for students to refuel with a snack if they wish to. If you would like your child to have brain food, we ask that you send an extra fresh fruit or vegetable snack to have during this time - sweet biscuits and chocolate are not good brain food! Please pack brain food separately from your child’s lunch in a small, named container so it can be placed on their desk or in the designated place in the classroom each morning (see example below).
Earlier in the year, I informed families that sandals would no longer be an item on our uniform list. This decision was made for the following reasons:
- Sandals do not provide the protection of school shoes when students are playing in the yard, as exposed toes can easily be injured by bark and sticks.
- Many students are not wearing sandals that are supportive of young feet.
- Current OHS rules strongly recommend closed-in shoes as appropriate footwear for the school environment and there are very few schools, if any, who allow sandals to be worn.
While we understand that some families will be disappointed by this decision, it has been made for the safety of the students. Towards the end of the term, students will begin to transition to summer uniform and we appreciate your assistance in making sure that the correct footwear is worn.
In Week Five, the junior unit will take part in their swimming program at the Mildura Wave Pool. Students will travel by bus to their lessons each day and will need to be prepared with the necessary items. Please check the swimming flyer and reminders in your child’s class news for details.
Father's Day is just around the corner, and we will once again be having a breakfast for dads and kids to enjoy on Friday, 5th Septemb. We are making a change to the time of the breakfast and activities this year, and more details are on the flyer in the newsletter today. Please save this date in your calendar as one not to miss!
Have a great weekend!
Narelle Gallagher
Links:
Enrolments at OLSH:
OLSH Calendar:
Religious Education News
Sacrament of Reconciliation (Year 2 & Above)
There will be an opportunity for children in Grade Two or above to make their Sacrament of Reconciliation. Below are the details of the parent information night and the celebration of the sacrament. Please contact the parish office for further details if you are interested in making the sacrament.
- Parent Information Session - Wednesday October 15th
- Celebration of Sacrament - Wednesday November 26th
Athletics Day
On Tuesday August 26th 2025, all OLSH children will participate in the annual Athletics Day. This will take place at the Mildura Little Athletics Track on 11th Street.
All children will need to be dropped off at the track by 8:45am and collected from the track by 3:25pm. There will be NO BUSES being used, therefore it will be the responsibility of each family to ensure their child/ren are dropped off and collected from the above address.
Children will need to be dressed in their full PE uniform and can wear items that display their house colours (Green or Yellow). They will need to bring a drink bottle (filled with water), hat, snacks and lunch if your child does not have a sausage in bread.
There will be a sausage sizzle available for students only on the day. Each child will be given two sausages in bread. Students are welcome to bring along additional food if they would like.
If any families are available to assist on the day with roles such as running events, cooking and serving the BBQ, etc. please contact the school or Michael Breewel at mbreewel@olshmerbein.catholic.
All children will move around the different events in their age groups. Below is a guide to the times (remember this is a guide only, times may change):
- 9:00 - 9:35 - Sprints and Finals
- 9:40-10:00 - Distance Run
- 10:05 - 11:15 - Events
- 11:20 - 11:40 - RECESS
- 11:45 - 1:25 - Events Cont.
- 1:30 - 2:00 - LUNCH
- 2:00 - 3:00 - Relays/Novelties/Presentation/Clean Up
We look forward to another successful Athletics day!
There will be a coffee van at our Athletics Day for parents only.
Mini Olympics
Children will be selected to represent OLSH at the Mini Olympics on Tuesday September 2nd. Those selected will be based on results from our Athletics Day and meet the standards set out by Athletics Victoria. More information will follow after our Athletics Day.
Father's Day Breakfast
Book Week - Dress Up - NEXT WEEK
We will be celebrating Book Week next week (11–15 August), one week earlier than the official Book Week dates due to the Grades Prep to 2 Swimming Program taking place in Week 5.
Throughout the week, classes will take part in a variety of Book Week-themed activities, including a ‘Dress as Your Favourite Book Character’ Day on Tuesday, 12th August.
We will hold a costume parade at 9:00 am where students can showcase their outfits. Friends and family are warmly invited to attend.
Student Leader News
Recycle Bottles & Cans
The Student Leaders have organized an account for donated bottles and cans. If you have refundable bottles and cans, you can recycle them at any CDS container refund depots in Mildura and scan the barcode below. This will donate the money directly to the Student Leaders to go towards new equipment for the students!
Thank you, OLSH Student Leaders
Happy Birthday
We wish the following students a Happy Birthday:
Month of August:
- 1st - Patrick C - 6 yrs
- 1st - Wynter D - 6 yrs
- 4th - Knox A - 7 yrs
- 5th - River H- 9 yrs
- 8th - Ilario M - 8 yrs
- 9th - Isabelle H - 8 yrs
- 14th - Michele D - 12 yrs
- 16th - Sonny P - 11 yrs
- 22nd - Romeo D - 8 yrs
- 23rd - Pandora H - 7 yrs
- 24th - Julius M - 8 yrs
- 25th - Libby Giddings - 12 yrs
- 26th - Adriano C - 7 yrs
- 26th - Isabel M - 8 yrs
- 27th - Aston M - 11 yrs
Student of the Week
| Class: | Awarded to: | For: |
| Grade Prep : | Hannah Burns | Her great work during writing this week when turning fragments into sentences. |
| Grade Prep : | Samuel Mazza | His growing confidence when sounding out words. |
| Grade 1 : | Hunter-Rose Kelly | Always showing kindness, care, and compassion to her classmates. |
| Grade 1 : | Haylee Pluckhahn | Amazing handwriting and great listening skills. |
| Grade 2 : | Romeo Dichiera | Working hard to improve his reading skills and demonstrating excellent growth in his assessment results. |
| Grade 2 : | Indiana Williams | Showing kindness and maturity when playing and working with her peers. |
| Grade 3 : | Meila Goodger | Having a positive attitude towards learning and always completing work to a high standard. |
| Grade 3 : | Ivy Libchard | Her enthusiasm for learning and always being willing to help others. |
| Grade 4 : | Savannah Williams | Demonstrating a positive attitude in all learning areas. |
| Grade 4 : | Tommy Field | Consistently displaying excellent sportsmanship when playing team games. |
| Grade 5 : | Lily Barlow | Showing great effort in Mathematics this week and working hard to improve her understanding of angles. |
| Grade 5 : | Ariana Mazza | Showing great effort in writing and working hard to improve sentence structure and ideas. |
| Grade 6 : | Libby Giddings | An amazing start to her new school |
| Grade 6 : | Izobel Matulic | Always trying her best at all learning tasks. Well done! |
OLSH Canteen
Orders need to be completed by 9.15am every Friday.
Prep News
Next week we have our Book Week dress up on Tuesday! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone dressed up.
Show and Tell- Week 4’s topic is ‘Something that has spots’.
Swimming- Junior swimming is coming up from the 18th-22nd of August (Week 5). We will be traveling via bus to the Wave Pool to complete these lessons. Thank you to everyone who has given permission on Simon for this. If you haven't completed this yet or are having issues please contact the office. This will be a very big week for the Preps.
Learning in Prep
Writing-This week we have been turning fragments (parts of sentences) into sentences. Students have been doing really well with this. Our sentences this week have been about different materials items are made out of, including glass, plastic and wood.
Maths- This week students have started learning about Subtraction. They have done a really great job with this and I'm sure they would love to show you how they can solve sums at home!
Science- Students explored what different objects feel like, were made of and why they are made that way.
Religion- We are learning about being kind and how we can do this.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Rebecca Appledore- rappledore@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 1 News
It’s been another exciting and productive week in Grade One!
In Writing, we’ve been learning all about paragraphs — focusing on how to write strong topic sentences and supporting them with interesting details.
In Maths, students explored number lines and practised plotting numbers accurately.
In Science, we investigated animals that are considered “pests” and discussed the ways they can impact our environment.
Swimming- Junior swimming is coming up from the 18th-22nd of August (Week 5). We will be traveling via bus to the Wave Pool to complete these lessons. Please see SeeSaw for a flyer that details what students need to bring.
Book Week- On Tuesday we are having our school Book Week parade. Students are to dress up as their favourite book character, if parents would like to come and watch the parade, it will be at 9am. I can't wait to see everyone's costumes!
Show & Tell- We have started Show & Tell for this term, the roster has been sent home in reader folders. The theme is free choice.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Grace Laity- glaity@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 2 News
We have had a great week of learning in Grade Two and have been enjoying the warmer weather!
In Literacy we have continued to learn about topic sentences and supporting details. The students wrote some great supporting details for the topic sentence: Forces can change the shape of different objects and materials.
In Mathematics we have been learning about number patterns and revising strategies for solving subtraction problems using a numberline.
In Science today we learnt about how forces help helicopters fly. We made some paper helicopters and had fun flying these from the top of the playground. The students had some great suggestions about how to make the helicopters fall faster and more slowly to the ground including increasing the weight and changing the rotor blades.
In Geography we are learning about Australia's place in the world and had a look at the seven continents of the world.
Upcoming Events:
Book Week- On Tuesday next week we are having our school Book Week parade. Students are to dress up as their favourite book character. If parents would like to come and watch the parade, it will be at 9am. I can't wait to see everyone's costumes!
Swimming- Junior swimming is coming up from the 18th-22nd of August (Week 5). We will be traveling via bus to the Wave Pool to complete these lessons. Please see SeeSaw for a flyer that details what students need to bring.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Lisa Ryan - lryan@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 3 News
This week we have continued to learn more about Australia and our closest neighbours. We demonstrate our knowledge by reading, discussing and writing about the topic. Here are some sentences written by River, Quinn and Chelsea.
Two activities people like to do at the beach are surfing and diving. I think Australia is fascinating and diverse because it has beautiful and unique wildlife and stunning coastlines. By River
Australia is surrounded by many small islands that are really fun to learn about. By Quinn
Two Australian cities that have famous landmarks are Sydney and Brisbane. By Chelsea.
Last Friday we enjoyed some creative activities to learn more about persuasive texts. Students have been asked to create a unique and delicious donut flavour. We are writing about our donuts and today we started making a 3D paper mache donut. I will post some photos of our creations on Seesaw next week.
Next Wednesday will will have our Term Three ‘Inform and Empower’ online lesson which hwill explore ways we can navigate uncomfortable situations and explore what it means to be an upstander. Please refer to the link on the Grade 4 news for some parent information.
Have a lovely weekend.
Cheryl-Anne
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Cheryl-Anne Courtney – ccourtney@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 4 News
Thanks to everyone who came to support the Grade Fours with their assembly item today.
This week we have been working hard on identifying direct and indirect speech, learning about the suffix ‘-tion’ as well as the importance of rules and laws in our community. Students can explain why we need laws, what is a law and what happens when someone breaks a law.
On Wednesday in Art we started to create some very interesting paper mache animals! This task will take us quite some time to get to the end product as there is a lot of time to wait for each paper layer to dry. Watch this space!
Our idiom for this week was ‘Turning Over a New Leaf’. Perhaps you could ask your child what this idiom means.
Congratulations to Toby Walsh who received his pen licence this week!
A reminder that next week we are celebrating Book Week. Much of our Structured Literacy next week will be centered around the Short Listed Books. Our whole school Book Fair Parade will be be held at 9am on Tuesday morning and parents are invited to attend!
Next Wednesday we will have our Term Three ‘Inform and Empower’ online lesson. This lesson will focus on developing strategies for navigating uncomfortable situations and explore what it means to be an upstander. Please refer to the link below for some parent information.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Julie
Congratulations Toby on receiving your Pen Licence this week!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Julie Phelan – jphelan@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
(Friday's): Emma Garraway - ewood@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 5 News
This week, students have been learning about angles and how to use a protractor to measure them in Mathematics. We have also been learning about the North American continent and its geographical features, such as the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls.
Remember it is book week on Tuesday. We will be doing some activities with Grade Six.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email: Adam Lawrence- alawrence@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
Grade 6 News
We’ve had another busy week in Grade Six!
This week, we kicked off our Asian Countries Projects, and the students have been really engaged in researching interesting facts and information about their chosen country. In Maths, we've been learning all about equivalent fractions and how to multiply fractions. Students are gaining confidence as they apply these new skills in different problem-solving activities. In Science and Reading, we've been exploring the concept of changing matter. We’ve looked at how materials can change from solid to liquid (and back again!) and discussed real-life examples of reversible and irreversible change
Upcoming Dates to Remember:
Book Week Parade – Tuesday, 12th August
OLSH will be celebrating Book Week with a parade starting at 9:00 AM on the basketball court. We can’t wait to see the students dressed as their favourite book characters!
Athletics Day – Tuesday, 26th August
Please note that students will need to be dropped off and picked up from the ovals on this day.
Have a lovely week!
Breanna
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me during office hours, either the SeeSaw app or email:
Breanna Meyer - bmeyer@olshmerbein.catholic.edu.au
- Sophie Lohmeyer - slohmeyer@olshmerbein.catholic.edu
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
8.30am | Supervision of students begin. Classrooms remain closed. |
8.45am | Classrooms are opened for preparation time. |
8.55am | Organisational bell (students go to the toilet, get a drink, be in line before music ends). |
9.00am | Teachers collect students from their line and proceed into class. |
11.00am | Recess bell. |
11.25am | Organisational bell (students go to the toilet, get a drink, be in line before music ends). |
11.30am | Teachers collect students from their line and proceed into class. |
1.30pm | Lunch bell. |
1.40pm | Students are to finish eating and then go to play. |
2.20pm | Organisational bell rings (students go to the toilet, get a drink, be in line before music ends). |
2.25pm | Teachers collect students from their line and proceed into class. |
3.10pm | NSW bus bell. |
3.25pm | End of day bell rings. |
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.
