OLHC News Issue 16 Term 2 Week 5 2022 - 26th May

Enrolment 2023 – Personalised or group Tours available anytime!

We invite all prospective families to come to Our Lady's school for a visit to see for themselves our great school and learning in action. New and existing families are invited to contact principal@olhcmurtoa.catholic.edu.au or phone 5385 2526 to arrange a personal or small group tour of our school and learn more about how Our Lady's Primary school can be your first choice for your child’s primary education.

Our well-organized transition program working with Murtoa Kindergarten will ensure that your child starts their education at Our Lady's School feeling confident, and hopefully with no tears, regardless of what year level your child starts.

For our Foundation children, we have many opportunities for your child to become familiar with their teachers, peers, and buddies.

Students enrolling in Years 1 - 6 will be invited to attend the State-wide Transition Day which is usually held in early December.  This date will be confirmed closer to the time.

Principal Report

Dear Parents, carers, families, and parishioners,

Happy Catholic Education Week to you all! We are excited to be travelling to Warracknabeal tomorrow for our combined schools’ celebrations.
Our communities are beautiful places that can and do enrich the
mystery of Christ’s identity and enable his way to be continually
raised up in and by community. “Go into the world and proclaim
the good news to the whole of creation” is an urgent invitation to our community to comprehend the meaning of Jesus’ life to grasp what this looks like in following and enacting God’s dream for the world. We pray that our communities inspire from within to be people of peace, hope, and love in these times of displacement, anxiety, and concern for Earth as our common home: to realize each unique community’s intimate connection in proclaiming who Jesus is and what it means to follow in the light of the gospel for these times.
Catholic Education Week is an opportunity to celebrate and enhance the reality of this identity, to dialogue with the Catholic faith tradition and the world in which we live to interpret and proclaim the good news.
Tomorrow when we are gathered as one, we will be reflecting on how we can share the Good News in our world: in our families, in our school community, in our wider Murtoa & district community, in our nation, and on a global level. As a Catholic School Community, we acknowledge that Christ is the foundation of Catholic Education.  With this knowledge:• We aim to support the children as they learn to respond to the Gospel in their daily lives and we aim to support the children as they come to value learning and assist them to explore their emerging role in society.

The gospel values of Faith, Reverence, Respect & Dignity, Truth/Honesty, Learning & Excellence, Witness & Commitment, Love & Care, and Community. Imagine, just for a minute, if every single contact we had with another showed the other true respect, upheld their human dignity, and demonstrated genuine love and care for them, no matter what their race, gender, social class, religion, or sexual preference was.
Imagine if we accepted everyone just as they were, like Jesus did, and showed them the kind of
welcome and acceptance that Jesus would. If we can do that, then we truly will be bringing the
Good News of Jesus to those we meet; we will be showing that Jesus is still alive and living
through us.

Until next week.                                                                                                                                                                

Kind regards

Mrs. Cathy Grace                                                                                

Our School Feast Day

On Tuesday, 24^th May from 8.30 am to approximately 10.30 am many community members were invited to attend a special breakfast at Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School.  This special breakfast of egg/bacon muffins or muffins (with spreads) with coffee/tea/juice was to begin our day celebrating our school feast day. 

Our school is named after ‘Our Lady’ – Mary, the mother of Jesus.  This is part of our school identity and Catholic Tradition. 

Tuesday 24^th May is the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians.  This is an important Feast in our Country and especially in our school.  In Catholic Tradition, Our Lady, under the title of ‘Help of Christians’ is a spiritual Patron of Australia, along with St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

Catholics believe that Our Lady, Mary (mother of Jesus) was a very obedient, faithful, hopeful, and charitable woman who through her time in the midst of dangers and difficulties, and now in our time (through her spirit), led people to their happiness. 

The Feast is also a call to all Australians to work together against social trends that marginalize people or groups of our community and our world.  Mary in her spirit is a mother to us in the order of grace.  There is so much we can learn of how to be by understanding Mary and her contribution to our world.

It was an amazing opportunity to share a breakfast meal and reconnect as a community of people. It was great to have families from Murtoa Kindergarten join us too; along with Monsignor Glynn, our Parish Priest, and other Murtoa Community members.

Breakfast Feast in honour of 'Our Lady' - Mary & her contribution to our Murtoa Community.

Junior Excursion - Tuesday 24th May

Year 1 and 2 students, with iPads in hand, walked down the main street of Murtoa to the Murtoa Water Tower Museum and railway station. Mr. Peter Adler met them at the museum and explained to the children how Murtoa came to be where it is, why the water tower is there, and what else used to be in Murtoa in the olden days. In class, the children have been learning about how things used to be done and the different ways we do things now. The students took many photos of ’olden day things’ so back in class they can investigate the changes that have been made in modern times. The highlight of the day was when Mr. Adler let the children ring the bell in the bell tower of an old Lutheran school that used to be in town. It was a beautiful day for our excursion and the children had a wonderful time learning about our town.

Students have been learning about History in Integrated Studies and during the excursion really discovered what 'old' means.  They appreciated items used in the past and compared them with items used today.

National Simultaneous Storytime

Yesterday we joined with schools across the nation to celebrate Simultaneous Storytime. National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, and many other places around the country.  We were very fortunate to have Mrs. Curran read 'Family Tree' to us.  Mrs. Curran loves reading and we love listening to her read to us.
Now in its 22nd successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote
the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes. This year’s book is ‘Family Tree’. Students listened to the book before completing an activity.

NCCD....National Consistent Collection of Data

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992This link will open in a new window (DDA) and the Disability Standards for Education 2005This link will open in a new window (the Standards), Australian students with disability must be able to access and participate in education on the same basis as their peers. To ensure this, students with disability may receive adjustments to access education, based on the professional judgement of teachers, in consultation with the student and/or their parents, guardians or carers.

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) gives Australian schools, parents, guardians and carers, education authorities and the community information about the number of students with disability in schools and the adjustments they receive. The Australian Education Regulation 2013 requires all schools to report the data collected for the NCCD to the Australian Government on an annual basis.

Please see the NCCD sheet for parents below for further information.

Free SchoolTV: Positive Parenting...

“There is no such thing as a perfect parent. However, research shows that one of the most important protective factors in the lives of young people is a close relationship with a supportive adult.”

The mental health of today’s young people is at an all-time low. Depression, anxiety and self-harm are sadly on the rise. Unfortunately, there are more risk factors than protective factors, facing young people growing up. To parent effectively, it is simply not enough to avoid the obvious dangers like abuse, neglect and overindulgence. Parents therefore, need to arm themselves with practical skills, knowledge and strategies when it comes to raising children. Numerous studies suggest that the best-adjusted children are reared by parents who find a way to combine warmth and sensitivity with clear behavioural expectations.

(written by Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg)

Mass Times & Parish Information

Mass: St Mary's Church, Murtoa
Saturday 28th May  6.00pm                                                                                                                                                           

St Paul VI Parish Wimmera-Mallee Position Vacant Administration Officer

Calendar Dates

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

Updated COVID-19 information

Face masks

From 11:59 pm Friday 22 April, face masks, while recommended, are not required in any school setting. This means students in grades 3 to 6, staff and visitors in primary schools are no longer required to wear face masks. Any student or staff member who wishes to wear a mask may do so, including those who are medically at-risk.

RAT screening program changes

RATs will continue to be distributed to you as they have been throughout this school year for the remainder of this term.  However, from Monday 23 May 2022, we do not recommend that your child complete a RAT twice a week as previously advised.

RATs however will continue to be required by students who are household contacts to attend school (5 negative tests over a 7-day period) or who have symptoms.

The ongoing supply of RATs to families in our school will ensure that parents and carers will have them should they need them if their child is a household contact or has symptoms.

Families must continue to notify the Department of Health and the school if their child returns a positive RAT result. Additionally, you should inform us if any of your children are household contacts.

Thank you also to all families who has got their child vaccinated. Vaccination continues to remain the best way to protect students and staff in our school.

Getting vaccinated is easy and bookings can be done via the coronavirus website. If you have any questions about the vaccines, I encourage you to speak to your GP or a health practitioner.

Rapid antigen test screening requirements

Students who have tested positive for COVID-19, and have completed their 7-day isolation period, now do not need to undertake rapid antigen test (RAT) screening for 12 weeks after their release from isolation. This was previously 8 weeks.

Household contacts

Students who are household contacts of a COVID-19 case are not required to quarantine. They may return to school as long as they undertake rapid antigen tests (RAT) 5 times during their 7-day period. They are required to notify the school that they are a household contact.

Students aged 8 years and above who are household contacts are required to wear face masks when indoors at school unless they have a valid exemption.

If a student household contact returns a positive RAT result, they must isolate for 7 days.

Vaccination requirements for visitors to schools

Parents, carers and other adult visitors (not performing work) are no longer required to show evidence of two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

As we approach winter and flu season, the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 and booster shots for students 16+ remains the best way to ensure protection for students and staff.

If you have any concerns about getting your child vaccinated, please get in contact with your GP or another health professional who can answer your questions.

Thank you for your ongoing support in keeping our school safe.

Positive Partnerships is offering a FREE webinar - "Understanding Behaviour".  See the below flyer for details.

Active Kids Voucher program

Round 4 of The Get Active Kids Voucher Program is now open.

Victorian families with a Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card can apply for up to $200 to support their child's sport and active recreation activities.

This can be used to support uniform or registration fees, and is valid for Auskick, NetSetGo, junior netball, footy and hockey registrations.

Applicants can apply for one voucher per eligible child between the period Monday 21 March 2022 to Tuesday 31 May 2022.

https://www.getactive.vic.gov.au/vouchers/