OLHC News Issue 32 Term 4 Week 3 - 25th October 2024

Our Lady Help of Christians is a Child Safe School and is committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We acknowledge the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia, and Japagulk peoples as the traditional custodians of the land upon which our school was built. 

Principal Report

Dear Parents and Friends of Our Lady's,

Well done to the Year 3/4 Students who attended the Camp at Adekate this week. School camps are a lot of fun, but also present some challenges to students, who may be going away for the first time, or pushed to expand their zone of comfort in the activities. It is a great thing to see young people enjoying themselves, making new friends, and learning more about themselves through the camp experience. A very big thank you to Nicole Noonan from Murtoa College who organised the camp and thanks to the staff and students from Rupanyup, Minyip, and Murtoa who joined the students from Our Lady's on the camp. We look forward to future camps as a cluster of schools!

I extend a warm invitation to you all to attend a parent information evening on Wednesday 6th November from 7pm. The purpose of the meeting is to speak about the current and future practices of the school in relation to teaching and learning. We’ll have an opportunity to share the successes of our school as well as speak about the changes and ongoing growth required for continued improvement. Parents will be given the opportunity to ask questions and take part in the conversation, which I hope will make our school’s future bright and positive. We will be joined on the evening by Sarah McKnight, Education Officer Teaching and Learning from DOBCEL who assists our school in this area. In the meantime, as always, please make arrangements to speak with me if you have any concerns about your individual child.

All the very best, 

Chris McCumstie

principal@olhcmurtoa.catholic.edu.au

STRUCTURED LITERACY at OUR LADY'S

What we implement at Our Lady's is called structured literacy, which is informed by the wide body of work known as the Science of Reading. If you follow the news, you may have seen articles and stories from educational leaders promoting structured literacy across all schools. We are definitely on this journey ourselves, and each day in the classrooms we explicitly teach phonics, revise spelling rules and patterns, unpack vocabulary, check for comprehension and promote fluency in reading. We reflect on our practice and have great discussions about how we can improve our teaching to bring about the best educational outcomes for all our students.

It was fitting that I came across some artwork of auroras that Ms. Mock and Mr. Collie did with the students in the last few weeks (pictured below), because in 2025, we will take part in the Aurora Program. This program connects us with experts and leading academics from La Trobe University, to build our capacity as a staff and to explore in greater depth the science that underpins our literacy practices. I'm very much looking forward to this journey as a school, continuing the good work done in the past, and focusing as a whole community on the same thing- the learning and flourishing of our students.

Year 6 St. Brigid's College Experience Day

Monday 28th October, Year 6 students will be spending the day at St. Brigid's College, to participate in educational activities with other local Catholic Primary School students. Bishop Paul Bird will visit the students during the session. They will be transported to and from St. Brigid's College by bus.

Students - 

• Wear Our Lady's uniform
• Take fruit and snacks for Recess
• Take own lunch
• Water bottle filled with water
• Transport will be provided 
• Permission Form on Simon
  

Bishop Paul Bird visit

Bishop Paul Bird to visit with Mons Glynn on Monday, 28th October.

We are privileged to receive a visit from the Bishop of our diocese. Bishops are the successors of the Apostles and have a special role in the Church to govern and to shepherd believers. Bishop Paul is visiting every school in the diocese as part of 150 years for the Ballarat Diocese.

We are looking forward to sharing the story of Our Lady Help of Christians School with Bishop Paul and Mons when they visit.

New Build in 2025- Plans for Classrooms

We are at an exciting stage with our plans for a new school. Swanbuild, the company that the school have employed, have commenced work and at this stage we are looking forward to the whole project being completed by mid-2025.  

When the original and main school building is demolished, learning will take place in the Library and Multipurpose Room. Our Junior Class will move to the Library for their day-to-day learning, and Seniors will move to the Multipurpose Room. Because the build is modular and largely occurs offsite, we are hoping for our time in temporary learning spaces to be short and swift.

Kinder Visit

This week Murtoa Kinder children visited Our Lady's. In the classroom Ms Mock read them a book "Where to Hide a Star". They then went on to decorate individual clay stars that they took home with them, followed by a hunt around the playground looking for gold puffy star stickers that some of the senior students had hidden.

The Solar System

This term the whole school is learning about our stars, planets and the whole solar system. In the Junior Room the children wrote sticky notes saying what they thought was in the sky. They also asked "I wonder ..." questions and have been researching what is true and false.

The students went outside this week and collected a variety of the beautiful things that nature gives us and decided how they thought each planet would look. Their display looks amazing!

Message from Mrs. Dalgleish

A reminder that Mrs. Dalgleish has asked for all library books to be returned so that stocktake can occur this term.

Please ask your children to look far and wide and return all books that they have borrowed this week.

Thank you to the students who have returned books.

Year 3 & 4 Camp Adekate

Photos from the 3/4 Adekate Camp are below!

My New Gallery

State Track and Field Primary - State Championships

Eimer came 2nd in her Triple Jump event (Greater Western Regional Athletics, Ballarat) and will now compete at the State Level on Wednesday, 6th November at Lakeside Stadium, Albert Park.

This is the first time for many years that a student from Our Lady's has made it to State Level Athletics, and we wish Eimer all the very best!

Child Safety

Our Lady Help of Christians is a Child Safe School. We implement the 11 Child Safe Standards, and work to embed these in our school culture. Our newsletter is just one place among a number where we educate our community about Child Safety. Below is a concise and helpful guide to the Child Safe Standards. The Child Safety Officer at OLHC is Chris McCumstie, and he can be contacted for information at any time.

principal@olhcmurtoa.catholic.edu.au

To start Term 4, the staff and students revisited the Child Safety Wall, where clear information is displayed about what to do if a child feels unsafe, and who our Child Safety Officer is (Chris McCumstie, the Principal.) Feedback from students was that the revision of this material was helpful, which is positive to hear. 

School TV

The SchoolTV initiative at Our Lady Help of Christians School aims to help parents to navigate the often complex issues they face in raising their children.

Expert advice, helpful tips, and other resources, are available to all our parents and caregivers. Explore the wide range of topics at SchoolTV by clicking on the link below. 

Important Upcoming Dates:

October:

• Monday 28th October - Year  6 'Experience Day' at St. Brigid's College, Horsham
• Thursday 31st October - Year 7 2025 Murtoa College Transition Day 2

November:

• Tuesday 5th November - Melbourne Cup Day - School Day Yes
• Wednesday 6th November - Parent Evening 7pm
• Wednesday 6th November - State Athletics
• Thursday 14th November- CEP Performance at Warracknabeal TBC
• Thursday 21st November - Year 7 2025 Murtoa College Transition Day 3

December:

• Thursday 5th December -Year 7 2025 Murtoa College Transition Day 4
• Monday 9th to Wednesday 11th December - Year 5/6 Camp Melbourne 
• Tuesday 17th December - Graduation Mass St. Mary's Murtoa (To be confirmed)
• Wednesday 18th December- Last Day for Students
• Friday 20th December- Last Day for Staff

Mass Times & Parish Information

Sunday 27th October - Live Stream at St. Mary's Catholic Church 9.00am

Parish Bulletin

Calendar Dates

Please click on the link below to take you directly to our School Calendar.