Term 4 Week 8 Newsletter 26/11/2021
Principal News
In our staff Spirituality modules this year, we were reminded of the teachings of St Therese of Lisieux and provided with some simple, yet powerful messages about Goodness and its connection with Truth and Beauty. Firstly, “Truth helps us discern what is good” and “Goodness manifests as the flourishing of myself and others through love.” We are reminded that “I become good through correctly choosing good things,” while twentieth century Catholic philosopher, Dr Jospeh Pieper, describes beauty as “the glow of the true and the good that flows out of every ordered state of being”.
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven". St Therese of Lisieux understood that to be like a child is to recognise in one’s humility a way forward towards goodness. For her, humility reveals that we are good because God made us that way. She reminds us that Jesus is there to help us to overcome our weaknesses so that we can bring love to situations and people we find difficult. In this, Therese lived a life around becoming small; "Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a small kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love."
THANK YOU
As we appraoch the final weeks of the school term, we can be forgiven for looking back at the year and wondering, “Where did the time go?”
2020 and 2021 has certainly challenged us. The way in which we live our daily lives, go on holidays, the way we work and for us at school, Blended Learning has challenged us to reshape our thinking about how we engage our learners.
During the business of the year and our days, we sometimes forget to stop and acknowledge the people in our school who give their all, doing whatever it takes for our children. Our Staff!
When our children walk through our front gates, they know that they are loved, cared for and
that they belong. This doesn’t just happen by chance or hope! It is very deliberate and something
that we all work incredibly hard to achieve in our parish school.
Our staff spend their time in highly accountable classrooms, meeting the needs of each and every
child, which involves learning and teaching a crowded curriculum, supporting social
development, mental and physical health and doing all of this and more in a world that is
becoming increasingly complex. And, we certainly don't always get it right everytime.
Our school and the work our staff do today is very dierent to how it was in the past. It is
impossible to compare schools, classrooms and learning and teaching today from how it was and
if we try, we disadvantage our children because society has changed, the world is changing and
we must be agile enough to move with these times. The learning environment has changed so
quickly and our staff do an incredible job of keeping up with students' likes and dislikes, learning
styles, changing family circumstances and challenging learning difficulties and behaviours they
face.
I want to take the opportunity to thank all the staff at OLHC. They are an incredible team and our children are incredibly lucky to have them.
2022 Staffing
I am happy to announce our staff for next year. I thank all staff for their cooperation and understanding when decisions are being made to do what is best for the children at our school. I know that we have another exciting year of learning ahead and all staff are looking forward to new and exciting challenges in 2022.
At the end of the year we will farewell Mr James Bleakley and Mrs Sally Innes. James will be persuing a career with NSW Fire and Rescue and Sally will be taking leave from her position at OLHC as she continues to learn and grow and experience 12 months teaching at St Carthages.
I would like to personally thank them both for the wonderful work they have done for our students and our parish school in the time that they have been here.
| Kindergarten | Mrs Jo-Ann Parker and Mrs Melissa Vasta |
| Year 1 | Mrs Haylee McCarthy |
| Year 1 | Mrs Elise Sheridan |
| Year 2 | Miss Elke Jansen |
| Year 2 | Mrs Lisa Bradfield |
| Year 3 | Mrs Amy Rodda |
| Year 3 | Mrs Genevieve Sciascia |
| Year 4 | Mr Zac Denny |
| Year 5 | Mrs Elizabeth Owen |
| Year 6 | Mrs Angela Jeffrey (Mon-Thur) and Mrs Kristy Hague (Fri) |
| Release from face to Face | Mrs Michelle Riley and Mrs Keira Hayward |
| Intervention | Mrs Sally Anemaat |
| Classroom Learning Support | Miss Sarah O'Conner, Mrs Aleisha Johnston, Mrs Pamela Fry and Mrs Penina Papworth |
| Office Staff | Mrs Jenette Williamson and Mrs Kim Newton |
| Leader of Inclusion | Mrs Cindy Denny |
| Leader of Sport | Mrs Michelle Riley |
Instructional Leader | Mrs Belinda Cahill |
Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching | Mrs Katie Rose |
Assistant Principal Mission | Mrs Kristy Hague |
School Psychologist | Miss Tamara Shepherd |
Grounds and Maintenance | Mr Anthony Parker |
OSHC | Mrs Kate Maclean and Mrs Katie Moran |
Principal | Mr Michael Piccoli |
Step Up Day
Monday, 13th December, is step up day where students will go to their new class for 2022. Here they will meet with their new teachers, talk about the learning expectations and be introduced to new routines and most importantly have some fun.
These days are a great introduction as to what students can expect in their next year of learning, growing and building relationship. They can ask any questions they have and it is also a chance for them to get to know their new teacher before the new school year starts.
Mission News
Kinder Visit to our Parish Church
Last Friday, we had the opportunity to take our Kindergarten students down to our Parish church. Father Peter welcomed each student with a special card made just for them, spoke with them about all the different items in our church, including the images, the special ‘light’ that tells us that Jesus is home. Father Peter prayed with our children and gave them a very special blessing.
It was a wonderful introduction and welcome to our Parish church and we thank Father Peter for his time. We look forward to welcoming our students to our Parish masses; mass times can be found below.
Suitcases of Love
On Monday last week, Mr Piccoli and I had the privilege of transporting our donation of 20 full suitcases, plus two extra boxes to CASPA, Lismore. The care, kindness and love shown by our community is incredible. MacKillop Youth once again shone, moving and packing the suitcases into our vehicles to take over to CASPA.
The team at CASPA were truly humbled by the generosity of the donation, and they were blown away by the sheer size of it and shared that it will make a real difference to the lives of many local children.
All students at OLHC are encouraged to love and serve others, just as Jesus Christ taught us. This has been one of the most wonderful experiences for our students to participate in and to follow Jesus' commandment to "love one another, as I have loved you".
Our final heartfelt thanks, for your generosity, kindness, love and care! What a brilliant community we are a part of.
Retreats
Last week, Kindergarten, Stage 1 and Stage 2 participated in our annual retreat program. The retreats are an opportunity for our students to connect with their faith journey and learn about the life of Jesus and how he is a model for all of us to aspire to be.
Kindergarten learned about what a W.E.S.T person is and how we can all be Welcoming, Encouraging, how we can all say Sorry and be grateful or say Thank you! The students made paper plates showing the most happy, welcoming friendly face they could, encouraged each other whilst doing some tricky tasks; made sorry bracelets that represented all the things they were sorry for; and finally they drew on post-its all the things they are thankful for and placed them in our prayer space - you can see below just how thankful our girls and boys are!
Stage 1 began the day watching Secret Life of Pets and during our retreat, reflected on the ways that the characters were W.E.S.T friends. We made thank you bracelets and gave them to someone very special who we wanted to say thank you to. The children reflected on the ways that we can make sure we are welcoming, enthusiastic, we can say sorry and thank you!
Stage 2 completed the Accendere retreat which means to ‘switch on’ to our faith. It is a diocesan retreat that focuses on friendship and begins a discipleship journey for students of our diocese that continues through to Year 12. We began our day together thinking about the things that make a good friend, we learned about Jesus’ friendships and how we must look after not only ourselves and our friends but also our neighbours. We learned that everyone is our neighbour thanks to the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Our retreats are one of my most favourite activities throughout the year. The children have so much fun and learn about their faith; and the little bonus this year was that we were able to use our newly completed downstairs rooms - which were a hit!
Kinder
Stage 1
Stage 2
Making Jesus Real Awards
KP
Nikki Q - For making Jesus Real by seeing a need and helping others without being asked. Thank you for being such a great classmate Nikki.
KR
Teilani B - For the care and concern she shows those around her, supporting them in times of need. Thank you for Making Jesus Real in our class Teilani.
1M
Hudson H - For always including others during playtime. Keep shining your light Hudson!
1P
Paige W - For encouraging a friend and giving up your turn to allow them to have a go.
2J
Harper S - For becoming a 'nature warrior' and looking after God's creation on the playground. Keep it up Harps!
2O
Mason B - For ensuring all members of your cooperative learning team were able to get the reward. What an amazing friend!
3V
Robbie G - For being respectful to his classmates and a caring, friendly and kind member of 3V.
4B
Anneliese F - For being considerate of others when working in groups.
5I
Isaac G - For your wonderful generosity and being willing to shave your head to support others in need. You are an inspiration, Isaac!
6B
Zarli L - For being a kind friend and always being generous with her time in the company of teachers and peers.
Learning & Teaching
OLHC Achievement Awards
KP
Frankie D - For consistent application to challenge herself and achieve her learning goals. You are on fire Frankie.
Hudson R - For outstanding application to reading and writing tasks to produce great results. Well done Hudson.
Robbie S-A - For becoming a risk taker when writing to compose more interesting sentences that give more detail to his reader.
KR
Grace H - For her hard work and dedication towards her learning in writing. Well done on your efforts Grace.
Curtis S - For being such a focused learner and doing his best when completing tasks. Well done Curtis.
1M
Klaire R - For her focus and commitment during STAR. Well done Klaire!
Piper N-M - For showing persistence to achieve her Writing goal. You are smashing it Piper!
Heidi W - For always approaching every day with enthusiasm, cheerfulness, and a willingness to do her best.
1P
Isla L - For your dedication towards your maths work and extending yourself to help others with their own maths tasks. Well Done!
Damian K - For challenging yourself in Maths to extend your learning - well done Damo!
Mia B - For composing great persuasive writing pieces - you have worked very hard on your writing this week Mia!
2J
Ryan B - For developing an enthusiastic attitude towards your 'free' writes. Keep on working hard, Ryan!
Rhiannon F - For persevering when faced with co-operative learning team challenges. Great work Rhiannon for not giving up!
2O
Bly B - for your dedication towards improving your writing. I am so proud of how you have used the feedback to revise and edit your work. Keep it up!
Wyatt E - For your consistently positive attitude towards learning. You always tackle each activity with enthusiasm.
William D - For your commitment towards your cooperative learning team this week. What a great leader you have been.
3V
Marlie H - For having confidence in her own ability and working with determination on all tasks! Well done!
Riley C - For using amazing vocabulary in his writing and striving to do his best. Congratulations!
Sophie M - For being dedicated to completing all set tasks to a high standard. Congratulations, Soph!
4B
Tyson C - For your enthusiasm and dedication to our mapping challenge.
Faith V - For a positive attitude to learning, and having a go in all tasks.
Tyler B - For engagement and participation in Dance.
Archie W - For your dedication and persistence to improving your bookwork.
5I
Cooper S - For your fantastic efforts to improve your writing. Keep up the great learning, Cooper!
Ellanor W - For your amazing optical illusion artwork. Thank you for sharing your talent, Ellanor!
Amarli G - For working extremely hard to do your absolute best at every learning task. You are a star, Amarli!
6B
Myka M - For working diligently to improve her writing so that it is engaging and rich in vocabulary.
Harlow R - For her persistent progress in reading comprehension and making incredible growth.
Layla W - For writing an exciting imaginative text with fantastic and rich vocabulary and improved grammar and punctuation.
Brylee W - For her persistence and focus in Mathematics learning. This dedication is paying off.
Kindergarten
Year One
Year Two
Year 3-Spelling and writing using the Bump It Up Wall
Year 4 Writing and Mathematics
Year 5- Modelling mathematics solutions and Science puppet shows testing the opaqueness of materials.
Year 6 Converting Measurements and playing Cricket games
Sports News
School News
2022 school travel applications are now open
Below is some useful information to assist with student travel enquiries.
Applications for student travel in 2022 opened on Tuesday 12 October 2021.
Students who need a School Opal card or travel pass for 2022 can apply now. A new application will need to be submitted if they are applying for a school travel pass for the first time, or if they are requesting an additional travel entitlement as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (e.g. joint custody).
Students who change address, school, campus location, or who have repeated a year or received an expiry notification from Transport for NSW for their school travel entitlement should renew or update their details before the end of term 4. This will ensure that schools can endorse applications and current entitlements are updated and remain valid. School Opal card holders will have the changes applied to their existing card.
If a student’s distance eligibility has changed based on their grade the system will automatically update their entitlement if they meet the new criteria. If they do not meet the new eligibility criteria, they will receive an expiry notification via email.
Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition that is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.
Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply.
Students in the Opal network applying for an Opal card (including a Term Bus Pass) for the first time will receive their Student Opal card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out from January 2022.
Students living in rural and regional (R&R) areas should receive their travel pass at the start of the new school year from their nominated transport operator. It may come via the school or be sent directly to them at home. Note: some R&R operators do not issue travel passes. Students/parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.
School Student Transport Scheme site change (SSTS)
On 1 October 2021 the School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS) information and application portal was moved to transportnsw.info.
Access to the School Portal will also be via transportnsw.info. To navigate to the School Portal from the home page click Tickets and Opal, then School students, then scroll down to Information for school staff and select School portal.
Community News
Theatre Productions: 'A Thousand Cranes' and 'And the River Flowed a Raft of Corpses'
A number of children from our school are involved in two shows at the Star Court Theatre on Saturday 4th December.
Theatre Theatre Director Angela Mitchell has produced two brilliant performance pieces, A Thousand Cranes by Kathryn Shultz Miller, the story of Sadako Sasaki who attempted to make a thousand paper cranes in order to achieve her wish of becoming well again.
The paper crane has become a symbol of hope to children all over the world. A beautiful and uplifting play by children for families.
The second performance is The River Flowed as a Raft of Corpses – The poetry of Yamaguchi a survivor of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Please support our wonderful performers if you are able. The link for tickets can be found below or they are $20 at the door.
Northern Rivers Football Academy still has some availability within our High Performance Program.
Our U8-U12 Girls & U7-U9 Boys trials are being extended!
A fantastic opportunity to test yourself, train with a carefully designed syllabus and program, whilst still being able to play your football in the local competition.
Training Days until 13th December:
Girls U8-U12
Tuesdays 6pm-7.30pm
Boys U7-U9
Wednesdays 6pm – 7.30pm
To register please complete the online form https://form.jotform.com/
Email info@nrfootballacademy.com.au if you have further questions
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