OLHC News Issue 25 Term 3 Week 7 - 26 August 2022

WELCOME TO COUNTRY...

Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School acknowledges that God has been walking with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, making God's presence known through a continuous living culture over many thousands of years. We pray in thanksgiving for these ancient peoples who have enriched and sustained our continent over all that time. In particular, we praise God for the people who nurtured the lands where our schools are built and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families who continue to support Catholic schools.

As partners in Catholic Education and open to God’s presence, we pursue the fullness of life for all.  Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School is committed to the safety and well-being of all students.

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Victoria and pay respect to the ongoing living cultures of First Peoples. This newsletter comes to you from the lands of the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia, and Jupagalk Nations.

Principal Report

Dear Parents, carers, families, and parishioners,

The senior students have come up with a few ideas to give a few things to look forward to for the remaining weeks of this term.  These are:

Pyjama Day - On Thursday 1st September, all staff and students are able to wear their pyjamas and dressing gowns to school.    

Footy Colour Day and lunch - on Wednesday 14th September, all staff and students to wear their favourite footy team clothes.  This is the last day of term for our students, so a special lunch will be provided of pies, party pies or hot dogs with a fruit box.  

REMINDERS:

On Thursday 15th and Friday 16th of September (the last two days of this term), staff will be having professional learning in Halls Gap.  There will be no school for students on these days.  The professional learning will be focused on our Catholic Identity and Faith formation.  The two days will be facilitated by consultants from the Catholic Education Office, Ballarat.  Staff from St Patrick's school in Nhill will also be participating in these two days.  This will be a great opportunity for us to finally have some face-to-face professional learning in Religious Education as this has been a challenge for us the last two years due to the pandemic.  Please mark these two dates in your diary.  Therefore the last day for students this term will be Wednesday 14th September.  Students will finish at the normal time of 3.15 pm on this day.

SIMON Everywhere

IMPORTANT: Last weekend there was a significant upgrade to SIMON Everywhere.

Parents need to upgrade to the new version of SIMON Everywhere via the App Store as soon as it becomes available, as the old version will cease to function after the rollout.

The SIMON Team understands that while the outage was not ideal for parents, this upgrade will present significant improvements to the experience.

Upcoming Events

Family night on Friday 28th October at Murtoa Mechanics Hall.  This is a music family trivia night with a Halloween theme.  More information will be advertised in the near future.  Please mark the date in your diary as it will be great to have every family represented plus extended family, friends, and community people.  So please spread the word and keep your eyes peeled for explicit details.

Fathers Day Breakfast - All fathers and significant adult male family members are invited to breakfast on Wednesday 31st August, 8:30 am.  Breakfast will be eggs/bacon muffins or muffins with jam/vegemite and tea/coffee/orange juice.  We look forward to sharing this special meal with the significant male people in our lives.  The children have been practising a very special prayer and song to perform at breakfast.  Please keep an eye out for special invitations in your child's school bag.

Murtoa Big Weekend - Saturday 1st October and Sunday 2nd October.  This is the 150-year celebration for Murtoa so there is lot happening in the town over this weekend.  Our school will be open on Saturday from 1 pm to 3 pm.  Further information closer to the date!

School Christmas Pageant - Thursday 8th December at 6:00pm BYO picnic tea for a 6:30pm start.  Concert is called ‘The Night the Angels Danced’.  This will be held at school in the Multi-purpose room.

Until next week - have a great weekend and please travel safely if you are on the roads.               

Kind regards

Mrs. Cathy Grace                                                                                

Sunnystones Camp

On Wednesday, 24th August our year three and four students, Mrs. Bush and David Anderson set off with Murtoa College Primary and Rupanyup Primary students for a 2 night/3 day camp to Merrimu.

Sunnystones is a unique solid rock homestead located on the edge of the Long Forest Conservation Reserve, providing a peaceful rural setting with magnificent views. Set on 50 acres surrounded by superb State Parklands rich with Australian bird and wildlife. The camp is 1 hour from Melbourne, Geelong, and Ballarat, making it perfectly located to combine the camp visit with other attractions in the area.  

Our students had the opportunity to participate in activities such as trekking, bush walking, flat ropes course, archery, bush hut building, and team building exercises.  We look forward to hearing about their adventures when they return.  Please keep an eye on next week's newsletter for some written reports from our campers.  Below are a few pics that Mrs. Bush sent through during the last few days.  Also please see our OLHC Facebook page for more photos.

Sunnystones Camp

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Book Week - 'Dreaming with eyes open...'

On Monday,  special events were planned for Book Week. The theme for this week is ‘Dreaming with eyes open'.

Students came to school dressed as their favourite book character or something related to the Book Week theme.  

We began the day with a parade to show off our costumes.  Students were then placed in small groups and had opportunities to be immersed in the storytelling and interact with the books featured in the CBCA 2022 Shortlist.  Teachers facilitated engaging activities for all students on this day. 
Check out our gallery of photos below.

Dreaming with eyes open...

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Enrolment 2023 – Tours available anytime! Please call for a time that suits you and your child - 53852526

Gifting Mass

On Tuesday 6th September at 2pm, our school will be celebrating a 'Gifting Mass' at St Mary's Church, Murtoa.  The focus of this Mass is to reflect and pray for community members who need assistance in a wide range of situations. As a school community, we offer up a variety of supplies of food and toiletry items that are generously collected and donated by our students, staff and families over the weeks leading up to the Mass.  The generosity and kindness of our community can be felt through seeing our students presenting baskets to the church altar, giving people access to food that they need but find it difficult to purchase.
These baskets of food will be accepted by St Vinnies and the Christian Emergency Food Centre, who will then provide them to our community members in need. 

Please take some time to clean out your pantry and send your non-perishable items to school and have them placed in the baskets at the front door.  Below is a list of possible/suggested items:

Child Safe Standards - Commitment Statement

Below is a link/file attachment that is the updated Statement of Commitment to Child Safety from the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria (CECV). This statement has been updated in light of the revised Child Safe Standards that came into effect on July 1st.
Please take the time to read the updated statement.
We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and wellbeing and welcome feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further
strengthen our child safety policies, procedures, and practices.
If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions, please contact Cathy via phone or email.. 

Murtoa Show

136th Annual Murtoa Show will be held  on the Big Weekend on Friday, 30th September 2022.

Students have been preparing entries during various lessons at school.  The school will enter student's work into the show to represent OLHC.

Children are welcome to enter other sections as a Murtoa resident.  If they have time during the school holidays, they might like to create an entry and follow the directions in the show schedule below to enter into the particular category. Detailed instructions, including entry information, are contained in the flyer below.  Click on the 'Murtoa Show Categories for Entries' link below for further information.

Catholic School Parents Australia 2022 Parent Survey Now Live

Have your say on what matters regarding the wellbeing and learning of your child.

For example, has COVID-19 or your partnership with the school affected your child’s wellbeing and learning?

If you are a parent or carer with a child in a Catholic school, CSPA would love to hear from you.
Click on the survey link and share your feedback to assist CSPA in reporting to the Federal Government and Catholic education.

Your feedback will remain anonymous.

Mass Times & Parish Information

Mass: St Mary's Church, Murtoa
Sunday 28th  August LLA 9.00am

Calendar Dates

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

UPDATED COVID-19 information

As part of the changes, parents and carers who have COVID-19 can transport their non-COVID-19 children via private vehicle to their primary or secondary school when an alternative person is not available to assist. This will include school holiday programs held on school grounds.

This means that parents and carers will be able to leave COVID self-isolation to take their non-COVID-19 child to school or school holiday programs via a private vehicle.

The parent or carer must travel directly to and from the school only. They must remain in the vehicle at all times unless it is reasonably necessary to leave the vehicle to walk the child to and from the entrance of the school safely. They must wear a face mask at all times.

Family members are asked to continue reporting positive COVID-19 cases to the Department of Health.

You must also let the school know if your child is a close contact. Students who are close contacts and want to attend should still take 5 RATs over 7 days and wear a face mask whilst indoors if they are aged 8 years or over.

Students should continue to stay home if they are unwell, even if they test negative on a RAT.

It is strongly recommended by the Department of Health that face masks are worn in indoor settings, with face masks mandatory for those aged 8 and over who are household contacts and attending school. This is because wearing masks is effective in reducing the transmission of COVID-19.

In practice, this means that the Victorian Government is recommending that, through to the end of winter, students aged 8 and over and staff will wear masks when in class, except where removing a mask is necessary for clear communication or when a particular activity requires the removal of a mask.

Masks are not required to be worn outdoors but can be worn when physical distancing is not possible. This recommendation should not constrain student participation in the full range of school activities, including music, sport and performances.

Reduction of Testing and Isolation Exemption Period.

The period of time when someone is considered a recently confirmed case and therefore exempt from testing and isolation requirements has been reduced to 4 weeks. Previously, this period was 12 weeks.

This means, that staff or students that have recovered from COVID-19, are not required to get tested or isolate/quarantine again if they are re-exposed to a case within 4 weeks of ending the isolation period.

After 4 weeks, the relevant advice must be followed depending on the type of contact.

Additionally, where a student or staff member who is a household contact wishes to attend school (and not isolate for 7 days) they must:

• Continually test negative using a rapid antigen test, on at least 5 days out of the 7-day period (ensure tests are spaced at least 24 hours apart)
• wear a mask indoors when outside your home (for those over 8 years of age)
• notify their employer/school, and
• not visit hospitals or care facilities.
• More information is available via the coronavirus.vic.gov.au webpage.  See links here for close contacts and COVID-19 cases.

Thank you for your support as we continue to make these adjustments.