Term 2 Week 8 Newsletter - 17-06-22
Principal News
Often the idea of being tested comes with a negative connotation. We’re not talking about entering the Olympics Games to test our well-trained bodies and mental resilience against other athletes. Instead, we’re referring to the pain and suffering we may experience when our world is shaken.
In a way, we are very much like those Olympic athletes; we have the capacity to build our spiritual and mental fitness by practising acceptance, surrender, trust and dependency on God. There are many daily opportunities for us to train - someone cuts you off in traffic, your TV goes out right before the State of Origin, students keep acting up in class, it's Friday night and your kids don’t want to go to bed. All great spiritual workouts are good preparation for the many life experiences we cannot control or change.
Some trials are far more difficult and painful. In these moments, we might wonder about Jesus being led into the desert and tested for 40 days. How could He have endured that trial without a deep trust and connection with God? And how can we grow in our trust and connection with God? Perhaps Jesus endured the desert by being sustained and loved by his Father through prayer. We too can build up our spiritual endurance when we engage in the same daily practice of prayer.
We don’t often consider the other trials Jesus encountered. The times he continued to teach and heal people despite being hungry, mentally drained and exhausted. The times he travelled long distances on dirt roads without a home to sleep in. Or the times people shunned and rejected him, and even tried to stone or throw him off a cliff!
anciscan priest Richard Rohr says that, 'after the age of thirty, we have more to learn from our failures than we do from our successes'. Trials, although painful and heartbreaking, have the capacity to grow and expand our hearts. They teach us how to care for and give to others. Perhaps in the end, Jesus was able to fully give of himself and acquiesce to his greatest trial because he was formed by a lifetime of smaller trials while growing in acceptance, surrender, trust and dependence on God.
At times people may try to comfort us by saying that God will not give us more than we can handle. Perhaps the real comfort is in knowing that we have a God who is in the thick and worst of it with us. A God that sustains us with peace. A God who gives us the Holy Spirit. A God who can transform all things for good; including our trials. A God who understands, even when we don’t.
Through our trials, let us continue to surrender, trust and depend on the God who loves us without fail.
The Soul 15 June 2022
Gift a Book: Northey-Manser Family
When the floods came through and our beautiful school was submerged, my friend and teaching colleague, Tina Rubie from Armidale, contacted me and asked what she could do to help. I told her about how all the books in the library were gone and this is when she came up with the idea to start a book gathering campaign called Gift A Book 2022.
We both put the call out on social media, across family and school networks for donations of new or gently loved books. Over the last few months we have had hundreds of donations from across Australia, UK and USA.
We have had authors, illustrators, schools, families, businesses, artists, whole communities get involved. Generous humans have travelled hundreds of kilometres to deliver these books to us to be distributed.
With this support we have managed to collect thousands of books that will be shared amongst each school that has had their school library affected.
Today I delivered hundreds of brand new and gently loved books, games and puzzles to OLHC to begin the process of restocking the school library.
Along with these books, Tina's mother and Aunty very lovingly, hand knitted and crocheted a reading buddy for each of the Kindergarten students to have to read to in class and at the end of the year keep. When there were left over buddies Piper was asked, by them, to decide what to do with them. She decided that there should be a Borrow A Buddy system in the library for children who are feeling sad or lonely at lunch, to borrow for a cuddle.
We hope these beautiful books, games and buddies are loved and that the generosity of heart, with which they have given, can be felt by every student at the school.
Demountable Classrooms and New Furniture
We have been working incredibly hard to ensure our learning spaces have everything our students and teachers need to be successful. On Monday, we opened our new demountable classrooms, and this led to Year 1, 2, 5 and 6 moving into new classrooms. Our new Chromebooks also arrived this week and thanks to the great work of out IT specialist, Shery, all classrooms now have technology to support their learning. Year 1 will see 40 new Ipads arrive in the coming week.
My New Gallery
Child Protection
Our Child Protection Policy is available on our school website and in the school office.
Children and young people have a fundamental right to grow, develop and feel safe in environments that are free from violence, exploitation and harm. The Catholic Schools Office and our parish school have clear expectations that all students will be protected from all forms of harm including sexual, physical, and psychological harm as well as ill-treatment and neglect. The Catholic Schools Office and our parish school have certain responsibilities and expectations to ensure the safety and protection of children in their care, including supporting measures to ensure that children and young people will be taught how to protect themselves, and to seek help if they are concerned about their safety.
This document aims to :
1. Clarify expectations of employess who work in child related employment.
2. Provide and safe and supportive environment for children and employees: and
3. Build and maintain a contemporary workplace that is safe, respectful, professional and is legally compliant.
The care and protection of children and young people is paramount. All staff at OLHC are Mandatory Reporters and are required to report if they have any concerns regarding the safety, welfare or well-being of a student.
Semester One Report Cards
During Week 10, reports will be sent home for every child in the school. These are important to keep parents informed about the learning that is taking place at school and how each child is progressing through the curriculum.
Reports cover a lot of what we do at school, however, it is not possible to report on all learning that takes place. Children learn so much during a semester that it would take more time to report on the learning than it would to plan the learning experience itself.
Therefore, we report in the main subject areas and the main strands in each subject. Literacy and numeracy are reported on in more detail as these are the subjects to which we devote the most school time.
We are building a culture here at Our Lady Help of Christians where we view all learning as important whether we report on it or not. Indeed, not all learning can even be assessed and therefore reporting on that makes it even more difficult.
Students are encouraged to develop a love of learning where the experience of discovery is a greater reward than reading a good mark or grade. Of course good marks and grades are important but all learning is important whether it is assessed and reported on or not.
Under the direction of the Catholic Schools Office, Semester One Report Cards will not show grades from A-E for our children. This decision was made for all schools and children impacted by the floods. Your child's report card will have a particular focus on their strengths and areas of development for English and Mathematics, with a general comment covering other Key Learning Areas.
All Report Cards will return to A-E repoting for Semester Two.
Mission News
Feast of Corpus Christi
On Sunday, our Church celebrates The Feast of Corpus Christi, also known as The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This Feast commemorates the immense gift of the Eucharist in our lives and in the Church.
In Latin, Corpus Christi means Body of Christ. On Holy Thursday, we remember the institution of the priesthood and the Eucharist, the Last Supper, the Agony in the Garden, the betrayal of Judas and the beginning of the Passion of Christ. It is easy to become lost in so many beautiful things to remember. Corpus Christi Sunday allows us to focus solely on celebrating the real presence of Christ – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity – in the bread and wine.
We welcome all our parish school community to mass this Corpus Christi Sunday!
Year 4 Superstars!
This fortnight, I have spent some time in Year 4. Year 4, with Mr Denny, have been learning about Pentecost and together we completed a detailed read of a Scripture passage that told us about Jesus’ promise, the promise that God will send the Holy Spirit in His name. In the passage Jesus says:
“I leave you peace. My peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don’t let your hearts be troubled. Don’t be afraid” (John 14:27).
We wondered what this peace meant and we discussed the word that Jesus would have used - "shalom" and that this can be interpreted as completeness and wholeness and then we came up with some incredibly insightful ideas about this ‘peace’ that Jesus gives us. I was very impressed and had to share our learning! Well done Year 4, I loved watching your 'aha moments' and I absolutely loved the challenge of your questions and wonderings!
Making Jesus Real Awards
KP
Maddison C - For Making Jesus Real through the care and concern she shows others. Thank you Maddison.
1L
Telani B -For always being a kind and caring member of our class. Keep shining your light Teilani.
1P
Michael W - For helping a friend when they were unsure of something. Keep shining your light, Michael!
2L
Piper N-M - For always looking out for others and making sure that they are O.K. Well done Piper.
2P
Juliet W - For showing compassion by helping a friend in need. You're a great friend Juliet. Keep it up!
3L
Ryan B - For always showing the face of Jesus in our classroom, through your kindness and smile.
3P
Ethan R - For always thinking of others and being a kind friend and student.
4L
Matilda J - For bringing positivity and joy into our classroom. You always show the face of Jesus by treating others with kindness.
5P
Archer A - For being compassionate and displaying empathy towards others. You should be proud.
6L
Elleanor W - For consistently being respectful of everyone she encounters. Thank you for being a gentle and caring peer.
Learning & Teaching
Kindergarten have been learning about Time, including the days of the week, in Mathematics.
Year 1 have been busy learning about number patterns. They always find fun ways to develop their fine-motor skills.
Year 2 have been applying their knowledge of fractions to real-life situations like sharing lollies and money into halves and quarters.
Year 3 Renewable Energy design projects
Year 4 painted some boxes for Kinder to use for imaginary play
Year 5 visual memory practice for spelling and stamina reading
Year 6 are learning about improper fractions and mixed numerals.
OLHC Achievement Awards
KP
Hudson F - For consistent application and focus as a learner resulting in improvement in all areas. Keep up the great work Hudson.
Grayson G - For consistent efforts to always present bookwork of a high standard. Well done Grayson.
Wyatt P - For his dedication to learn all his sounds and apply them in reading and writing tasks. Well done Wyatt.
1L
Jacob P - For working hard in all mathematics tasks and taking initiative to extend your learning. Well done!
Jack C - For giving 110% towards all your writing tasks. You should be proud of your work Jack, well done!
1P
Oliver B - For working really had to write a super sentence about a crocodile. Keep up the great work, Oliver!
Grace H - For working hard during number work and challenging herself with 3-digit numbers.
2L
Taze P - For amazing growth in counting and place value this term. Well done Taze!
Alby S - For fantastic note taking and planning to compose an information report.
Harriett J - For persistence in challenging hrself in maths with halves and quarters.
2P
Isla L - For using feedback and the 'Bump it Up' wall to imporove her information report. Keep working hard Isla!
Alistair P - For the persistence you showed when writing your information report about Koalas. You're a super star Alistar!
3L
Wyatt E - For designing and creating an excellent energy saving solution to help our school save energy. Amazing work!
3P
Colin W - For excellent focus and effort during all learning activities. Amazing work!
Milani H - For excellent focus during spelling lessons and working with suffixes to create word families.
4L
Flynn W - For always using efficient strategies to solve mathematical problems.
Luna N - For consistently producing quality texts which contain interesting perspectives and engaging vocabulary.
5P
Tully S - For your excellent use of the 'Bump it Up' wall to improve your writing and making it an even more amazing piece to read. Well Done.
Archie W - Congratulations Archie for the improvement in the presentation of your work. Keep it up!
6L
Cooper W - For improved writing pieces through editing and using the success criteria. Keep up the great work.
Jackson P - For sharing his thoughts and knowledge of his extensive vocabulary. Thank you for the insights you enlighten us with.
Sports News
Lismore Diocesan Cross Country
Congratulations to Harvey Power who traveled to Eastern Creek on the 7th of June and represented Lismore Diocesan at Cross Country. Harvey came 5th in his 12/13 years age group and he was successful to be placed in the Polding team. He will now progress to the State NSWPSSA Cross Country in Sydney on the 22nd of July. Well done Harvey, we wish you all the best as you progress forward.
Cricket Trials
Cooper Williams and Reid Simes attended the DIO Cricket trials on Wednesday the 15th of June. The standard of skills was at a high level and the boys represented our school with great pride and sportsmanship. Both Cooper and Reid will now progress to the Polding Cricket Trials at Tamworth on Friday the 26th of August. As a school, we are very proud of their effort and we wish them all the best at the next level.
Athletics Carnival
The OLHC Athletics Carnival will take place next Monday the 20th of June at Hepburn Park. As a school, we are really excited to come together as a school community and watch the children participate in some key events.
It’s important to acknowledge that events such as the 1500m Race, Long Jump and Shot Put will be completed external to the carnival, as Hepburn Park does not have the facilities for us to complete the events on the day. All students will know by the end of Week 9 if they have been successful to progress to the Richmond Zone Athletics Carnival.
A schedule for the day has been shared with you via email. Please note the times are an estimation, however we will try to stick to the times as close as possible.
1500m Race and Long Jump Events
Those students who are participating in the 1500m Race will walk to Rovers Soccer ground on Tuesday the 21st of June. Students that are 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12/13 years of age, who have put their names down will be supervised by Mr Piccoli, Mrs McCarthy and Mrs Rose. The boys and girls that come first and second place will progress to the Richmond Zone Athletics Carnival in the age groups 8-10yrs, 11yrs, 12/13yrs.
Those students who put their names down for Long Jump will travel to St Carthages by bus on Wednesday the 22nd of June and complete their three jumps. We are very limited with time, so we do ask the children to consider if they are participating on a competitive level. The boys and girls that come first and second place will progress to the Richmond Zone Athletics Carnival in the age groups 8-10yrs, 11yrs, 12/13yrs.
Netball Gala Day
On Thursday the 4th of August, we will send 3 mixed netball teams to a Netball Gala Day at the Lismore courts. Students that are in Year 5 and Year 6 have already placed their names down on a list to attend this day and they will receive a note next week with more information. The day is designed for the children to step out of their comfort zones, learn some new skills and have lots of fun! Early next term, the students will be provided with opportunities throughout Weeks 1-3 to practice netball skills and go over the rules.
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