OLHC News Week 8 Term 1 2022
Principal Report
Dear Parents, Friends, and Carers,
WELCOME BACK!
It is with open arms and big smiles that we welcomed Mrs. Lane-Storey back from her stint of Long Service Leave. This was a well-deserved break for Joan and we are all so happy to see her back so refreshed and re-energized. A huge thank you to ALL staff for the extra duties that they picked up (without asking) in Joan's absence. We truly do have an amazing team where everything we do is for our students to give them the best opportunities and to improve student outcomes.
Financial Auditor’s visit
The Auditors will be in the school on Wednesday 23rd March. We ask
that interruptions to the office are kept to a minimum on this day as
Joan will be busy with them. Thanks to Joan for her efficiency in the office ensuring all is in order not only for their visit but all year round!
P&F Meeting:
There will be a Parents and Friends meeting will be held on Wednesday 30th March 6.30 pm at the Railway Hotel, Murtoa. Everyone is welcome - let's come together, kids most welcome, and have a meal and reconnect. We need to have a representative from each family at this meeting. We will do a brainstorm of possible family events we can hold to reconnect families and allow people to get to know each other. Let's move the focus of the Parents and Friends to one of having fun, families engaging and interacting rather than fundraising all the time. Our relationships with each other are far more important, especially since the impact of the global pandemic. Details of the meeting have been posted on the P&F Facebook messenger group page. This will be a nighttime meeting and let's aim for 100% attendance from each family. There will also be a little bit of housekeeping to sort out eg. office bearers (as this group is a sub-committee of the SAC). This shouldn't take too long. This year, our school is hosting the Dunmunkle School Athletic Sports. This means our school will be running the Canteen so we will discuss this at the meeting also. Our school sports as mentioned in previous newsletters will be held on Friday 1st April at the Murtoa Recreation Reserve.
Working Bee - A date for all your diaries is Sunday 27th March. We will be holding our annual working bee. The working bee will start at 10 am and be for 2 hours. Lunch (finger food) will be provided. Last year, every family was represented one way or another. Even the families that could not make the Sunday, helped out on another day that suited them. It was amazing what we achieved in tidying up the yard. Closer to the date, a list will be compiled of the necessary jobs and equipment needed. So please watch this space.
NAPLAN MAY 2022
NAPLAN is the national literacy and numeracy assessment that our Year 3 and 5 students undertake each year in May. This year NAPLAN will be completed online and held across three days from 10th May to 12th May inclusive. A parent and carer information sheet has been given to your child today. Please take the time to read through the sheet and visit the links provided in the sheet, including the types of questions and how you can support your child through the testing days. Further information as to the scheduling of the assessments at our school will be provided to families closer to the date.
Important Dates for your diary:
- Working Bee - Sunday 27th March - 10 am start.
- 9th May to 30th May - Mrs. Bush on Long Service Leave: Mrs. Sue Tyler will be teaching for the Senior class.
- Grade 3/4 Camp - Sunny Stones Camp Term 3 – Wk3 on Wednesday 27th July, Thursday 28th July, Friday 29th July.
- Grade 5/6 Camp - Melbourne Urban Camp Term 4 – Wk3 on Wednesday 19th October, Thursday 20th October, Friday 21st October.
- School Athletic Sports - Friday 1st April at Murtoa Recreation Reserve. Our school is hosting the Sports this year so we will be asking our Parents and Friends to run the Canteen.
- School Cross Country - Thursday 28th April beginning at Rabl Park.
More information about the above events will be in the newsletter once details have been finalized.
Until next week Kind regards
Mrs. Cathy Grace
St Paul VI Parish Wimmera-Mallee Survey
The St Paul VI Parish Council are wanting your feedback on how you, as a Parishioner, feel they are going at the moment.
The Parish Council is hoping you may be able to find the time to complete the short questionnaire they have compiled so they can get a sense of what is working well and the areas in which they need to improve.
To provide your feedback simply enter the following web address into your internet browser and complete the survey- https://forms.gle/8BGh1ZL9SJWffNn46 , or use the link button below.
Parishioners have until Sunday the 20th of March to provide feedback.
Child Safety at Our Lady Help of Christians
The Governing Authority has ratified the policies and procedures for Child Safety. Please click on the link below to access these policies which address each of the Child Safety Standards.
https://olhcmurtoa.catholic.edu.au/child-safe
Lent - Third Week
Third Week of Lent
(Week beginning Monday 21st March)
We are now in the third week of Lent with the Project Compassion story of Janice, a Wagilak woman and traditional dancer who tells her family’s stories through movements handed down over generations.
Like many remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Janice’s faces a range of challenges – low employment and education, financial hardship, poorer health and lower life expectancy.
With your help, Caritas Australia supports Djilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation, which operates a centre for traditional and contemporary Aboriginal arts and culture, providing employment and generating income for local communities.
Janice believes that Djilpin Arts’ work is essential to create opportunities for young people to stay on-country, to share intergenerational knowledge between elders and the younger generation - to promote healing, and to keep culture alive.
Watch a short film about Janice’s story here.
Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au
Positive Start
The Victorian Government has provided information on the Positive Start in 2022 initiative, which offers students in all low-fee Catholic schools a chance to reconnect with peers and enjoy the kinds of activities that many missed out on over the past two years.
With Positive Start, Victorian students will be more active, reconnect with friends, and find inspiration in new and exciting places.
Holiday camps
Eligible parents and/or carers can book a free holiday camp for their child who is in Year 3 or above.
Holiday camps give children a positive and fun experience away from the regular holiday routine.
Whether a single overnight experience or spending several nights away, taking part in a school holiday camp program is a great way for your child to try new things, make new friends and enjoy active time in the great outdoors.
If students wish to go to a holiday camp, parents and carers will need to book. Schools do not organise these camps for students.
To be eligible for free holiday camps, students must meet one or more of the following criteria:
- attend a school that experienced closures of five days or more due to COVID-19 in 2021
- have an approved Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) application for 2022
- have a parent who holds a valid means-tested concession card
- are Indigenous students
- reside in out-of-home care (temporary or permanent)
- are from a refugee background
- are students with a disability.
All of our students would qualify based on the first dot point listed above. Some will meet several of the criteria listed.
More information about this initiative can be found here, or by using the link button below.
An expression of interest letter will be emailed to all families next week. The letter outlines how families can express an interest in their child attending a free holiday camp.
Families must register their interest by Friday 25 March 2022 to be considered.
Mass Details
Mass: St Mary's Church, Murtoa
Sunday 20th March 8:30 am
Naplan 2022
NAPLAN is the national literacy and numeracy assessment that our Year 3 and 5 students undertake each year in May. This year NAPLAN will be completed online and held across three days from 10th May to 12th May inclusive. A parent and carer information sheet is attahed. Please take the time to read through the sheet and visit the links provided in the sheet, including the types of questions and how you can support your child through the testing days. Further information as to the scheduling of the assessments at our school will be provided to families closer to the date.
Financial Assistance Information
Calendar Dates
Please click on the link below to take you directly to our School Calendar.
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.
Parent Access Module (PAM)
We strongly encourage parents to use the Parent Access Module PAM (SIMON Everywhere) to inform us of student absences. These notes can be set in advance (if, for example, you know that your child will be absent a week in the future). Notes written in the diary are for communicating with teachers. Absent notes need to be directed to the office.
Please speak with office staff if you have any questions about PAM.
Simon Everywhere APP
The Simon Everywhere app delivers instant notifications to parents' mobile phones, delivering the functionality of PAM (SIMON Parent Access Module) in an easy to navigate app.
We request that all parents please download the Simon Everywhere app, search and add Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School, Murtoa and log in using your existing PAM credentials.
We will use Simon Everywhere for all important notifications.
You will be able to manage all your day-to-day school needs from the Simon Everywhere app - notify us of absences, view the lunch orders menu, read the newsletter ...
Please contact the office with any questions.
COVID-19 reminders...
Our school continues to monitor and abide by all COVID safe regulations and recommendations issued by the State Government and the Catholic Education Office.
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). We will continue to distribute RAT tests to students when they arrive.
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 see information above in the Principal report).
COVID Safe requirements for visitors and volunteers performing work on school site
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.
Schools must advise visitors and volunteers they must adhere to COVIDSafe requirements –
including vaccination, physical distancing, face mask requirements, cough etiquette, and good
hand hygiene.
Other visitors to schools (not performing work)
Service Victoria QR code check-in is not required at schools. Routine school visitor record
keeping arrangements will continue to apply.
In Victorian Catholic schools, parents, carers and other adult visitors who enter school buildings must be able to show evidence of two doses of COVID-19 vaccine or have a valid medical exception.
The following limited exceptions also apply:
- when attending to administer medical treatment to their own child when the treatment
cannot be administered by the school - when attending to collect their child who is unwell and cannot leave the school
building unaccompanied by their parent/carer - when attending for a momentary period that does not involve any sustained contact
with staff or students, for example, to collect a completed art project, collecting a
packet of rapid antigen test or similar.
Proof of vaccination can be checked by a COVID-19 digital certificate (Service Victoria app or smartphone wallet) or printed copy of a digital certificate or immunisation history statement.
Community News
MINYIP MURTOA FOOTBALL NETBALL CLUB
Hello NetSetGO families! Great news, our registrations for NSG are open! Please see the link below.NetSetGO is aimed at school-aged children between 5-10. Training will start the first Thursday of Term 2 on the 28th April. Kristy Davo will be taking on the SET/GO girls again and we have a few 15s girls eager to develop our NET group of girls. 
There’s a few changes this year, including the platform on which you register. It’s very simple but please be aware you will need to create a new user. Don’t try and use your old passwords to login! The information I have is that after you register, you will receive an email with a voucher to receive your NSG pack. So this is a little different too. Please if you have any queries, don’t hesitate to contact me. Can’t wait to see the girls on the court 
https://netball-registration.worldsportaction.com/userReg...
TANYA KERNIGHAN HEADLINING SENIORS CONCERT
Join Tania Kernaghan for a very special ‘up close and personal’ performance as she shares with you the stories behind her hit songs which have been instrumental in shaping her stellar career.
You’ll love hearing, The Verandah, Where The Murray Meets The Darling, Nine Mile Run and everyone’s favourite, Boys In Boots, along with a couple of old favourites Tania has handpicked to perform especially for this Seniors Festival concert..
Save the Date!
Yarriambiack Seniors Concert
Monday 28 March
Concert: 10:30am -11:30am
Lunch: 12pm (BBQ meat and salads)
FREE event for the Over 50s
Warracknabeal Racecourse
More details to follow in coming weeks.
For more information contact Lisa on (03) 5398 0100 or linkster@yarriambiack.vic.gov.au.
Australian Catholics Magazine
The Autumn 2022 Schools Edition of Australian Catholics is out now - at the following link:
OLHC School TV...
Today parents face a multitude of modern-day challenges in raising happy, well and resilient young people. Whilst there is a great deal of information available, this can often be confusing and overwhelming for parents looking for guidance.
SchoolTV addresses this as a new online resource designed to empower you as parents with credible and sound information with realistic, practical ongoing support strategies. Each week, we will list a special report on a chosen topic. Please take the time to read and click on the link to watch the related video to enhance your understanding and give you possible support strategies. There is nothing you need to download, you just click on the provided link.
The OLHC School TV link is https://olhcmurtoa.catholic.schooltv.me/
Due to the pandemic, the world we now live in is a very different place. The hyperconnected nature of our current environment means that we are constantly being reminded of the challenges we face via numerous media and social media channels. Our connectivity to the digital world exposes us to a barrage of messages that can leave us feeling overwhelmed. As a result, many children and their parents are reporting higher levels of stress and anxiety.
Our brains have not evolved fast enough to adapt to this digital landscape. The combination of constant access to information and having little control over the situations presented can be stressful and overwhelming. It is therefore important for adult carers to check in with their children and be aware of what information they may have been exposed to. It may not necessarily be the information itself that is harmful, but more their inability to process and make sense of it. Providing children with the skills and strategies to cope will enable them to flourish and thrive, socially, emotionally, and academically.
The blueprint for parenting, based on our own experiences, is no longer fit for purpose in raising kids as citizens of tomorrow. This can be inherently stressful and overwhelming, not only for parents and carers but children alike. If left untreated or unmanaged, constant stress and anxiety can lead to a number of behavioural issues or health consequences.
This Special Report suggests a number of strategies to help manage any feelings of overwhelm that
you or your child may be experiencing. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.
If you do have any concerns about the well-being of your child, please contact the school for
further information or seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to your special report: https://olhcmurtoa.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-managing-overwhelm