OLHC News Issue 17 Term 2 Week 8 2022 - 17 June
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Enrolment 2023 – Personalised or group Tours available anytime!
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Principal Report
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Early mornings and reporting student absence through PAM
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Parent Access Module - PAM & Semester One reports
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Freestyle Dance Ministry
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Mass Times & Parish Information
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Centenary of the Brigidine Sisters and Brigidine Education
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Calendar Dates
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Updated COVID-19 information
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School Holiday Fun... lots of laughs!
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, happy, and hopefully with no tears
For our Foundation children, we have many opportunities for your child to become familiar with their teachers, peers, and buddies.
Students enrolling in all year levels 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,
REMINDER: TERM 2 FINISHES NEXT FRIDAY AT 2.15 PM.
Last week, I sent a text message to all families about Student-Led Conferences. Thank you to the families that have already allocated their day and time. This is a very special time for all our students to share and articulate their learning to you and help you understand their future learning for Semester Two. There are still a few families that have not made arrangements with their child's teacher. Please make sure you have made a Student-Led Conference booking via PAM for next Monday and Tuesday after school.
All bookings for these need to be done through PAM (Parent Access Module) on our SIMON system. This is where you will also receive your child's Semester One report. When you log onto PAM you will see a link called Parent-Teacher Interviews. Please click on this link and select your child's teacher and a time slot you would prefer. If you have trouble with this, please call Mrs. Lane-Storey in the General Office and she will help you.
Kinder Information Parent Session & School Promotion
Last night, Katey O'Keefe (Murtoa Kindergarten Teacher) invited our school to the Kinder to present to parents, information about our school. This was an opportunity for the Kinder parents to meet our teachers and myself. At the beginning of the session, we launched a new promotional video for our school. Following this, we had a Q&A session where parents asked us what they needed to know about their child beginning school next year. Next term, all our students will be making regular visits to the Kinder to build buddy relationships with the Kinder students. It is a very exciting time and we look forward to our 2023 Foundation students coming to our school to visit.
Please see the video below of OLHC Murtoa and please feel free to share it far and wide. We are not a private school. Our school is open to all families (Non-Catholic and Catholic) and we value the diversity and richness that each person brings to our school. We have so much to celebrate and I'm honoured to be the Principal of such an incredible community.
Until next week.
Kind regards
Mrs. Cathy Grace
Early mornings and reporting student absence through PAM
The weather has now turned to bring blessed rain but also cold snaps, especially in the mornings. Please ensure your children leaves home in the mornings wearing a jumper and/or coat, beanie, and/or scarf, as it is quite bitter on their arrival to school. For the older students, with your assistance, they can take greater responsibility for ensuring that they have their jumpers and warmer uniform at hand. Throughout this week we have had many absences with students and also some staff ill. Please notify your child’s absence, preferably through PAM, or call the school as early as possible on the day of their absence as teachers do not always have access to emails early in the day due to yard duty and other commitments. Thank you all for your patience and understanding. I understand some families are still navigating how to access and use PAM - the Parent Access Module through the SIMON Everywhere portal –please call the General Office if you need assistance in setting PAM up on your phone. We will organize one on one support so that you have everything set up at your fingertips.
Parent Access Module - PAM & Semester One reports
Once again this semester's reports will be sent online through PAM. Teachers have completed your child's report however we have a technical issue with the report templates and awaiting support from Ballarat to rectify the issue. Hopefully, reports will be released on Monday via PAM once the issue has been resolved. I thank all teachers for the energy, thoroughness, sincerity, and professionalism that they bring to their report writing. Our Lady's continues its firm commitment to working in partnership with parents to enable our children to achieve their best.
This PAM system provides parents access to a range of information specific to their child including Mid and End of Year Reports, calendar of events, access to permission forms, and recording of student absences. If you have any difficulties accessing PAM, please contact Joan in the General Office or email jlane-storey@olhcmurtoa.catholic.edu.au
Freestyle Dance Ministry
Next Wednesday, 22nd June from 12 pm onwards, Justin and Dan from Freestyle Dance Ministry will be facilitating dance workshops with our whole school. They will be arriving at school at about 10.30 am to set up their equipment and begin workshops the hour before lunch and for an hour after lunch. These workshops are being fully funded by Yarriambiack Shire and I thank Justin Knorpp, the Youth Impact Officer for supporting us in making this happen for our students.
On Monday, a permission form from Freestyle Dance Ministry will be sent home with your child. Please fill this out and return to school. This is to grant consent for your child to participate and appear in video, photography or written articles to be shared on Freestyle Dance Ministry/OM Australia website and/or social media platforms. These forms need to be returned to school by Tuesday 21st June.
Students are to wear their sports uniform and wear their runners/sneakers. In the morning, Miss Kirby will be leading all classes in some exciting and enjoyable sessions for the last week of term.
Mass Times & Parish Information
Mass: St Mary's Church, Murtoa
Sunday 19th June 8.30am
Communication from St. Paul VI Parish- regarding Sacramental Programs:
To all the families awaiting to complete their Sacramental Programs,
We (the Parish) want to sincerely apologise for the extremely long delay in between the Sacramental Program preparations you and your family have made and the final stages in completing this journey, whether it be First Communion, Reconciliation or Confirmation.
Obviously, Covid restrictions and lockdowns over the past two and a half years have had a dramatic impact on the way we live our lives. Our Parish community has had to adhere to the governmental guidelines, and has made decisions over this time to ensure the safety of all our Parishioners and families in our community.
Please know that we are working hard behind the scenes to ensure that you and your families get to properly celebrate the Faith Journey your young person has been on. We are hopeful of locking in dates and times very soon that will allow these spiritual celebrations to take place. As soon as these are locked in we will let you know.
We would like to thank you all for your understanding and patience in regards to this matter and look forward to supporting you and your families into the future.
If you have any questions in regard to this information, please contact the Parish office on:
wimmeramallee@ballarat.catholic.org.au
Or call 5382 1155.
Thanking you in Advance:
Justin Amor
Centenary of the Brigidine Sisters and Brigidine Education
The first group of Brigidine Sisters arrived to teach in Horsham in 1920.
In 2020, we had planned to commemorate the Centenary of the Brigidine Sisters and of Brigidine Education in Horsham however, plans were shelved as the global pandemic closed down any hope of holding celebrations at that time.
Two years on, we are now planning to proceed with a weekend of celebrations to mark the milestone.
On the weekend of 16 and 17 July, you are invited to participate in tours of the three schools - Ss. Michael & John's Primary School, Our Lady Help of Christians, and St Brigid's College; celebratory Masses at Murtoa and Horsham; and social gatherings in the Parish Centre. There will also be a presentation of the commemorative quilt which will hang in the Parish Office, and the launch of a book recognising the 100 years of Brigidine Sisters in Horsham.
See the attached flyer for further information and how to pre-order a copy of the book The Spirit of Brigid Alive in Horsham - 100 years of Brigidine Education. To assist with planning, please indicate your intentions to attend by emailing brigidine100@gmail.com by 8 July 2022.
Kind Regards
Kingsley Dalgleish
Chairperson
Centenary of Brigidine Education in Horsham Committee
On Sunday 17th July, everyone is invited to join in a special Mass at St Mary's Church, Murtoa at 8.30 am. Following this, everyone is welcome to a self-paced tour of Our Lady's school and enjoy a cuppa and catch up. Please RSVP to the General Office by Friday 15th July - this is for catering purposes.
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.
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School Holiday Fun... lots of laughs!
Hilarious, ridiculous fun for your kids that will have the whole family in stitches.
THURSDAY 30 JUNE 10:30AM
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Gratuitous, ridiculous, hilarious, joyous and possibly hazardous, Rich and Matt are The Listies, Australia’s maestros of kidult comedy, a multi-award winning duo who win over everyone who comes to see them with their insane, interactive, illogical and irreverent escapades. As seen on ABC TV’s The Listies Work for Peanuts. The Listies’ Teleportaloo book series, published by Penguin, is available in all bad bookshops.
For more information call the HTH box office on 53829555, go online at www.horshamtownhall.com.au