OLHC News Issue 29 Term 4 Week 1 - 6th October 2023

Statement of Commitment to the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples...

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 and Friends of Our Lady's, 

Welcome back for another term at Our Lady's School. I trust that all our students and their families had a restful and relaxing break. It is a blessing that holidays come at regular intervals in the school year, just as teachers and students alike reach the end of their energy stores. Our core business at OLHC is teaching and learning in the Catholic tradition. The school holidays aid us in this mission by providing the mental and physical break our students require to properly dedicate their school time to learning. We cannot expect them to learn all of the time without accommodating recreation, relaxation, and family time. I hope our community enjoyed all three of these during the break.

Term 4 promises to be a fun-filled adventure with lots of learning and extracurricular activities. We plan to tackle quality teaching and learning, the school grounds and gardens, as well as excursions and end of year celebrations. 

I wish all the students, teachers and families the very best for the last leg of our school year. As always, please feel free to contact me at any time and to come in for a chat when you are at the school. When school and home cooperate and communicate well, we will achieve the best outcomes for our students.

Chris McCumstie

New Family - Welcome to Our Lady's School

We extend a big welcome to David and Sarah Byrne and their boys - Joey in Year 4 and Sammy in Year 2, who started school at Our Lady's on the first day of this term.

Staffing Update

Late last term I received the resignation of Anne Newton, who has been on long-service leave since the end of Term 2. Anne has been a dedicated teacher and much-loved member of Our Lady's School for 27 years. She has helped the school to grow and develop and has supported staff, students, and families in innumerable ways. Anne's gentle manner, excellent teaching, and quiet faith will be missed. On behalf of the community, I would like to thank Anne for the immense contribution she made to Our Lady Help of Christians School. I wish her all the very best for the future.

In light of this news, both teaching positions are open at our school in 2024. The full-time teaching positions at OLHC are currently fixed-term positions until the end of 2023. These two classroom teaching roles are now advertised on the Catholic Education Ballarat website and elsewhere, with the opportunity for our current teachers to apply for the ongoing positions.

School Wide Positive Behaviour

Education is not only about the intellectual or academic instruction we give to students. It is also about the cooperation between the home and the school in the formation of our students' character. Each week we would like to share with the parent body our school-wide behaviour focus, so that parents and caregivers know what we are working on at school and can make similar efforts in the home. We want to form well-rounded, polite, hard-working students who are filled with joy and who get the most out of their time at school. This requires positive reinforcement of good behaviours, and gentle correction or redirection when expected behaviours are not evident.

For Term 4, our focus will be CLASSROOM behaviours.

These include:

- entering and exiting in an orderly way
- moving about the room sensibly
- focusing on school work and aiming to achieve the best standard
- listening and looking at others when they speak
- following the instructions of teachers straight away
- helping others in need

We will have more to say on these and other classroom expectations in the coming weeks.

There will always be times when our students depart from these expectations, but so long as we are united in our efforts to build up the character of our students, we can hope to see progress and the formation of good habits.

Murtoa Show

137th Annual Murtoa Show was held  today. 

Student's results will be published in next week's Newsletter.

Important Upcoming Dates:

October:

• 2nd - Term 4 begins
• 6th - Murtoa Show:  School Closure Day - NO SCHOOL FOR STAFF OR STUDENTS
• 6th - Greater Western Region Athletics - Ballarat
• 18th - Fr. Matt visit
• 23rd - CEP Performance - 'Music in My Suitcase' 
• 27th - National teachers Day

November:

• 1st - Fr. Matt visit
• 6th - Pupil Free Day - No school for students - Staff PD
• 7th - Melbourne Cup - school closed - public holiday.  No school for staff or students.
• 15th - Fr. Matt
• 23rd - SAC Meeting 6.30pm

December:

• 6th - Fr. Matt visit
• 12th - Statewide Transition Day
• 14th - Graduation Mass
• 15th - Last Day for students
• 18th - Last Day for Staff

Teacher Adverstisement

https://teacherson.net/vacancy/106255-two-classroom-teachers-our-lady-help-of-christians-school-murtoa

Mass Times & Parish Information

Murtoa's Big Weekend - Ecumenical Service

• Sunday, 8th October 2023
• Supper Room, Mechanics Hall, Duncan Street, Murtoa
• 11am - 12pm

Sunday morning extends a warm welcome to visitors to attend a Ecumenical Service. The theme of the service is: The International Year of Dialogue for Peace.

Calendar Dates

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