OLHC News Week 3 Term 1 2022
Principal Report
Dear Parents, Friends and Carers,
Welcome to the first edition of our enewsletter. This week, Mrs Maher and myself had our first training session in setting up our new look newsletter. This format is going to save many trees, also time and allow everyone to read this digital version from any device.
As mentioned in last weeks newsletter, our newsletter will also be linked to our school facebook page as well and you will also be able to access this from any digital device you use eg your phone either iphone or android.
This year, most of our correspondence, including permission forms will be entered on our SIMON platform. All families need to activate their SIMON account if they haven’t already done so. If you haven’t received an email to do this, or you don’t know how, please call the school and we will set you up. Over the next few weeks, Mrs Maher will be checking SIMON and contacting each family to make sure you know how to access SIMON. We can also help you add a SIMON icon to your phone home screen so you have everything at your finger tips. This will make it easier to complete permission forms and get correspondence from the school. There will be no hard copies of forms sent home—everything will be digital. We understand that this is a change for you however together we will continue to learn and make our lives easier and more effective.
Until next week Kind regards
Mrs. Cathy Grace
New Staff
This week, we officially welcomed our new teacher - Miss Kirby. Every Wednesday, she will be teaching Art and Health and Physical Education to both classes.
Students will need to wear their sports uniform so they are dressed appropriately for physical activity. Also due to COVID -19 guidelines, students need to remember to bring a drink bottle filled with water.
AUSLAN
This week all students completed the AUSLAN Deaf Awareness Training. This was facilitated by Darren Beath. who is one of the founders of AUSLAN in the West. Auslan in the West was established in 2017 to provide the community with the enrichment of Australian Sign Language in the Western region of Victoria and in Western Australia. It is a great benefit for everyone to learn a visual language to communicate in everyday life.
The other founder of the organisation is Darren's wife, Briana. Darren and Briana are both Profoundly Deaf. Their two children have hearing and their first language is Auslan. They are a bilingual family and they communicate in Auslan every day. Darren and Briana have taught Auslan for over 10 years and enjoy teaching Auslan in various settings.
During Darren's visit, we met his interpreter Ben. There were many important pieces of information that Darren explained. There were:
- AUSLAN means Australian (AU) Sign (S) Language (LAN)
- It's a visual language
- It's lots of fun
- You can make deaf friends
- You can sign to your friends through windows
- You can sign underwater
- You can sign with your mouth full
- You can sign across the room without yelling
- AUSLAN is not an acronoym
- AUSLAN has unique grammar and structure
We learned the AUSLAN alphabet and some greeting gestures like:
- Hello, how are you?
- I'm good thank you.
- What's your name?
- My name_____.
In AUSLAN the word 'is' is not used.
Mrs. Grace is going to be co-learning AUSLAN with the whole school. We are hoping to start lessons in the next few weeks. The main discovery we have made for our AUSLAN learning is that we need to practice, practice and practice so we don't forget the signs.
Vision and Mission
Our School Vision
As a Catholic School Community, we acknowledge that Christ is the foundation of Catholic Education.
- We aim to support the children as they learn to respond to the Gospel in their daily lives.
- We aim to support the children as they come to value learning and assist them to explore their emerging role in society
- We are committed to a Child Safe School Environment to a community where students can learn, love and grow within a supportive and nurturing environment.
Our School Mission
- We will work together to provide quality education in keeping with Catholic/Christian tradition
- We will challenge each student to strive for excellence within a comprehensive, stimulating curriculum that develops the self-esteem of all.
- We will be involved in the life of the Parish and the wider community.
Our staff is committed to working collaboratively to build relationships that ensure a holistic approach to learning and growth for all students and each other.
Staff Mantra:
Hooked on Learning - Whatever It Takes - HOL(Y)WIT
Water Safety Awareness Program
On Monday, our students began their water safety awareness program for 2022. We have been so fortunate to have amazing weather to allow us to go swimming. We would like to thank Chez and Dave Anderson for their support and the friendly welcoming we have received whilst at the pool. Murtoa is very fortunate to have an amazing facility in the community.
The remaining swimming times/itinerary:
Friday 11th February - 12.45pm to 2:15pm
Monday 14th February - 1:10pm to 2:50pm
Tuesday 15th February -1:10pm to 2:50pm
Thursday 17h February - 1:10pm to 2:50pm
Friday 18th February - 1:10pm to 2:50pm
What to wear/bring:
- Children must bring their bathers to school in a bag (NOT to be worn under school uniform).
- All students need to bring bathers, a towel, and a rashie /T-Shirt (no rashie / no T-Shirt means no swim).
- All students will change at school before going to the pool.
- Sunscreen will be applied at school
- Students will walk to the pool and if it’s too hot, students will be bused to the pool.
- If a student does not bring their swimming gear, they will remain at school to complete learning tasks.
Calendar Dates
On our old newsletters, we had a page that was devoted to upcoming events and important dates. It was called "Dates to remember at OLHC". With this new newsletter format, we don't need to allocate a dates page because there is a link called 'School Calendar'. All dates will now be here and you can access this from your device at any time. Depending on which device you use to read the newsletter, will depend on where the menu with the School Calendar link is situated. If you are on a desktop/laptop the menu will be on the left. If you are on your phone or a smaller device, there will be 3 horizontal lines up the top (this is called a hamburger icon) and if you click on this, there will be a drop-down menu. Then you will scroll down to the School Calendar link.
Lunch Orders
This term lunch orders will be on Monday and Fridays. These will be provided by the Murtoa College Canteen. Below is the updated Canteen list. To order your child a lunch order, please write your child's name, class and lunch order items. The correct money needs to be placed in the envelope. It would be appreciated if you could put some sticky tape around the envelope to keep the money secure. Children then need to place their lunch order envelope in the green lunch order basket in the hallway before 9am.
Lunch orders will start on Monday 14th February.
Schoolzine App...SZapp
To make it easier for parents to access the newsletter and other communication you can download the Schoolzine App. It's called SZapp and it's available from the App store (Apple devices) or Google Play store (Android devices).
Please click on the link below for instructions on how to set it up on your device.
https://www.schoolzine.com/szapp-installation
The above link has step by step instructions on how to install the app on your chosen device and how to register yourself as a user so then you can find our school.
COVID-19 UPDATE
Our school continues to monitor and abide by all COVID safe regulations and recommendations issued by the State Government and the Catholic Education Office.
For the time being, until further notice, unfortunately, there will be no parent/carer daily involvement on site. Parent and carers assisting with Reading, attendance at assemblies and similar activities are currently on hold.
Rapid Antigen Tests - RAT Tests have been handed out to families. Thank you to the families that have tested their children and let the school know the result. These tests are voluntary - It is suggested children are tested twice weekly (eg. mid-week and end of the week). Hopefully, more RAT tests will be delivered for Week 3/4 distribution. I will keep you all informed.
Face Masks - Students in Year 3 and above must wear a facemask indoors, unless a lawful exemption applies - Students are not required to wear a mask outside - School staff must wear a face mask in all indoor settings, except where removal of a mask is necessary for effective communication of teaching. All visitors to the school-aged 8 or above must wear a mask unless a lawful exemption applies. Students in Prep to Grade 2 a strongly encouraged to wear a mask indoors at school. A face mask must cover the nose and mouth. Face shields, scarves, or bandanas do not meet these requirements.
Please email principal@olhcmurtoa.catholic.edu.au if your child in Year 3-6 has a legal or medical exemption for not wearing a mask.
COVID Safe requirements for visitors and volunteers
Visitors and volunteers performing work on school sites (both inside and outdoors) are required to have received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by 25 February 2022 if they became fully vaccinated on or before 25 October 2021. For those that became fully vaccinated after 25 October 2021, the deadline is 15 March 2022, or have a valid medical exception.
This requirement applies to:
- a person contracted to work at an education facility and who will or may be in close proximity to children, students, or staff, whether or not engaged by the education operator including casual relief teachers, NDIS providers, and auditors (but does not include delivery personnel).
- the diocesan education office staff who attend an education facility (such as allied health personnel)
- the staff of any other entity who attends an education facility
- volunteers that attend an education facility and that work in close proximity to children, students, or staff (including parent helpers)
- students on placements at an education facility.
Reminders for Current Restrictions…….
- Students dropped off by car to enter the front door. All students must use hand sanitizer as they enter the building.
- Bus children enter the blue side doors. All students must use hand sanitizer as they enter the building.
- Face masks to be worn by staff/essential visitors and all students in Years 3 to Year 6 and highly recommended for students in Junior classroom.
- Students will NOT be drinking from bubble taps - every student to bring a filled water bottle.
- No sharing of food or drink bottles.
- All staff and students to use regular hand hygiene - sanitize hands-on school entry, before and after eating, blowing nose, coughing, sneezing, using the toilet, and before and after playtimes. There is hand sanitizer at the main doorways.
- Any child constantly sneezing or feeling unwell is to stay home or they will be sent home if they show any signs of being unwell.
- Parents need to inform Mrs.Grace of any confirmed cases within their family or people they have been in contact with (that are a confirmed case). All families need to adhere to Covid 19 procedures in place with the Department of Health and Human Services to manage suspected or confirmed cases of Covid 19 in schools