OLHC News Issue 12 Term 2 Week 4 - 10th May 2024

Our Lady Help of Christians is a Child Safe School and is committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We acknowledge the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia, and Japagulk peoples as the traditional custodians of the land upon which our school was built. 

Principal Report

Dear Parents and Friends of Our Lady's, 

It's been a busy week at school, with a face-to-face visit from Buffy (Auslan), the Mothers' Day liturgy on Tuesday, a hip-hop dance session with Justin from Freestyle Dance Ministries, Shrek the Musical on Wednesday, and cluster athletics on Friday! If your children are tired this weekend, there is a very good reason!

It is always a joy to welcome family members to our school, and Tuesday morning's liturgy for Mothers' Day was no exception. It was great to see mothers, aunts, grandmothers, and other special friends join us for some entertainment, prayer, reflection, gift-giving, and conversation. Thank you to all the guests who joined us on the day, and well done to the students for all their hard work.

I draw your attention to an item in our newsletter,  the upcoming celebration of 60 years for our school. Please read and share this invitation with your family and friends and make an effort to join us on the day.

Have a great weekend!

Chris McCumstie

principal@olhcmurtoa.catholic.edu.au

Our Lady's 60th Anniversary Celebration

On Saturday 15th June we are celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Our Lady's. The date slipped by last year (1963 - 2023), but we are wanting to invite all past and present students, families, staff and community members to come and join us.

We would like to acknowledge the history of our school, and all the effort that went into the building of this special place, before the original building is replaced later in the year.

An event has been set up on our Facebook page and we would appreciate if you could go online and invite any of your friends who would be interested in this special day.

Mother's Day Liturgy

On Tuesday morning we had a Litugy for mothers, grandmothers and special friends. It was followed by the children giving out some special gifts they had made. We hope all mums have a very special day on Sunday.

Our Lady Help of Christians Feast Day

Our Lady Help of Christians is the patroness of our school. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is given many titles by believers across the world, and this is a name that is very special to Australians and to our school. It reminds us that Mary is our advocate in Heaven, praying for us and listening to us when we pray.

To celebrate this special feast day in our school, we especially invite grandparents and other special friends to a liturgy and morning tea on Friday 24th May at 9am. Please join us as we gather for food and conversation, prayer and reflection, and some fun and games with the students. The morning will conclude at 10:30am.

Music with Mr Robarts

Mr Robarts has been bringing his guitar along to the school and teaching the children a huge variety of songs with action. They all love it. 

School Wide Positive Behaviour

We introduced students to our behaviour matrix last Monday. This is a document that helps guide our students in exhibiting positive behaviours across all areas of our school. The matrix frames what positive behaviour looks like, and provides our teachers opportunities to explicitly teach and model good behaviours to our students.

We will continue to share SWPBS with our school community, as the children respond well to the teaching and reinforcement of this program.

Child Safety

Our Lady Help of Christians is a Child Safe School. We implement the 11 Child Safe Standards, and work to embed these in our school culture. Our newsletter is just one place among a number where we educate our community about Child Safety. Below is a concise and helpful guide to the Child Safe Standards. The Child Safety Officer at OLHC is Chris McCumstie, and he can be contacted for information at any time.

principal@olhcmurtoa.catholic.edu.au

Introducing School TV

Our Lady Help of Christians School is very excited to introduce a new initiative to help support parents in the education and formation of their children.

Because parenting doesn't come with instructions, SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource implemented at our school to help support you in the challenges of modern-day parenting relating to youth mental health and wellbeing. Parenting is a learning journey and SchoolTV supports families by providing credible information from trusted sources with practical strategies to help alleviate some of the challenges being faced by young people today.

Watch video interviews with leading wellbeing specialists and browse a library of resources. Each topic is accompanied by factsheets, podcasts, books, articles, apps and other videos.

This award-winning resource helps families build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. It will assist you in starting those conversations on topics that can sometimes be awkward or difficult to tackle.

Parents and caregivers are the greatest influence on a young person's life and SchoolTV focuses on empowering confident parenting.

Explore SchoolTV today, by clicking on the link below.

'Shrek the Musical' at Horsham Town Hall

Students attended the Shrek Musical and were treated to a personal introduction to some cast members! Mr. Robarts' daughters performed in the show and the children were delighted to meet them after. A great time was had by all! Events like this, made possible by our membership in the Country Education Partnership (CEP), ensure that our children do not miss out on enriching cultural experiences, despite our rural location. 

DSSA Athletics

The Dunmunkle Cluster School Athletics were held today at Rupanyup Recreation Reserve. All students from the cluster gave a tremendous effort and enjoyed the day. 

The results were:

1st- Rupanyup Primary School (64.1)
2nd- Our Lady Help of Christians School (63.66)
3rd- Murtoa College (58.38)
4th - Minyip Primary School (53.9)
5th - Marnoo Primary School (51.9)

Many thanks to Rupanyup for hosting the sports, and to the other schools, especially Murtoa College, who provided assistance in the events and smooth running of the day.

Congratulations to Charlotte, who broke a record in the 200m sprint. Charlotte beat the previous record, held for over twenty years, by almost two seconds!

Bright Sparks at St. Brigid's College

The Bright Sparks program kicked off at St Brigid's College this week. Students from across the Wimmera, including four students from OLHC, joined together for a variety of workshops.

Below are pictures from the Robotics and Art workshops enjoyed by Hunter, Kaden, Andre and Charlotte. 

All Bright Sparks families and any other prospective families from OLHC are invited to visit St Brigid's for their Open Day on Monday 6th May. Guests can receive a Student Led Learning Walk, a Self-Guided Tour or can attend the Enrolment Info Evening. Register here: https://forms.gle/Aniun32Q7tT1DwkGA

If you would to arrange an alternate time to tour the College, please contact the Front Office on (03) 5382 3545.

Important Upcoming Dates:

May:

• Friday 24th May - Our Lady Help of Christians Feast Day. Liturgy and morning tea for grandparents and special friends 9am

June:

• Monday 10th June - Holiday - No school for students
• Saturday 15th June - 60th Anniversary Celebrations Open Day 12noon to 5.00pm
• Friday 21st June -  Normal School Day (not a School Closure Day)
• Friday 28th June - Last Day Term 2 Early finish 2.15pm

Mass Times & Parish Information

Sunday 12th  May Livestreamed Mass at 9.00am St. Mary's Murtoa.

Parish Bulletin

Calendar Dates

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