Term 1 Week 2 Newsletter - 09/02/2024

Principal News

Next week sees Ash Wednesday and of course the beginning of Lent, with our school celebrating a liturgy to signify the beginning of our faith journey toward Easter and new life.

The word Lent comes from the Old English word ‘lencten’, meaning spring - the time of new life in the northern hemisphere. To move toward ‘new life,' fasting and prayer are practised in Lent as remembrance and reflection of our Lord’s fasting in the wilderness.

During this time, we often talk about what we are going to refrain from. We also discern what we are going to give. Pope Francis has previously told us almsgiving - donating money, goods or time to the poor - ‘sets us free from greed and helps us to regard our neighbour as a brother or sister. What I possess is never mine alone.'

Pope Francis not only underlines giving in Lent, but he warns against our culture that takes, uses or discards: ‘How many of God’s children are mesmerised by momentary pleasures, mistaking them for true happiness! How many men and women are entranced by the dream of wealth, which only makes them slaves to profit and petty interests! How many go through life believing that they are sufficient unto themselves, and end up entrapped by loneliness! How many young people are taken in by the panacea of drugs, of disposable relationships, of easy but dishonest gains! How many more are ensnared in a thoroughly digital existence, in which relationships appear quick and straightforward, only to prove meaningless!’

So this Lent, in fasting and giving, let us also think about what it is to take; what it is to discard others; what it is to deny the ‘least of our brothers and sisters.'

Welcome Back

Welcome back to the beginning of a new school year. I trust that you all enjoyed a relaxing and enjoyable break with your children and found some downtime to escape the hectic pace of school terms, lunches and washing uniforms.

We have enjoyed an extremely positive start to the school year with students returning happy to see their friends and class teachers and with a clear intent on meeting expectations for their learning and behaviour. We are working incredibly hard to continue improving as a school and it is extremely rewarding to be part of such a vibrant faith learning community.

We are truly blessed at OLHC to have such amazing students, parents and staff.

There is always a sense of excitement for our students and their families in the anticipation of returning to school and settling back into daily routines and learning expectations. I thank all parents, guardians and grandparents for assisting the school in ensuring all students made their Mathematics Assessment Interviews. This was a wonderful opportunity to spend quality one to one time with their class teachers, begin developing a positive relationship and demonstrates the emphasis placed on learning at our school. It is also rewarding to see such positive growth in our student learning and confidence.

During the holidays we achieved many wonderful renovations and upgrades for our children and it has already made a huge diefference. Our upgrades included:

1. Complete boys and girls toilet renovations

2. New staff toilets

3. Renovated Inclusive toilet

4. Renovated front office

5. New playground area full of new play equipment

6. Renovated Principal and Assistant Principal Office spaces

7. New filtered cold water dispenser for staff and students

8. Renovated school psychologist office space

9. New additional needs office spaces

10. Library upgrades

11. The whole school has been professionally cleaned and pressure washed.

I am extremely grateful for your continued support during these times and I know that together we will ensure that our children and school continue to thrive.

2024 is going to be an amazing year full of learning, friendship and growing together.

School Upgrades

Welcome Kindergerten

Wednesday was a very special day for our parish school community. We have enjoyed an extremely positive start to the school year and it was an absolute privilege to welcome our kindy students and their families to our parish school family.

It was beautiful to see so many new smiles, happy faces and excited students and families walk through the front gate. No tears from any kindy students today (not sure about the parents)

We are truly blessed at OLHC to have such amazing students, parents and staff. Wednesday was a great reminder that it takes a village to raise our children and we are extremely grateful to have such a vibrant, loving and welcoming community.

2024 PUPIL FREE DAYS

Term 1

Friday 1st March: Dan White PD-Religious Education

Term 2

Wednesday 29th May: Proclaim-As determined by Bishop Gregory Homeing

Friday 5th July: Student Wellbeing-Pastoral Care Framework

Term 3

Monday 22nd July: Curriculum-Learning and Teaching

Friday 27th September: Spirituality

Term 4

Monday 14th October: Curriculum-Learning and Teaching

OSHC will be available on all pupil free days to support our familes needing this service.

Year 6 Leadership Roles

During the week, we had the privilege of listening to our Year 6 students present their speeches for a school leadership role in 2024. I was blown away by the quality of their speeches, how confident they were and how articulate they all were in describing themselves, their leadership qualities, and reasons why they believe they would make wonderful leaders at OLHC in 2024.

I would like to thank all students for nominating themselves for leadership roles, preparing wonderful speeches and having the courage to speak in front of their peers and teachers.

As a school community it is important to recognise that we are all leaders. We can be leaders in everything that we do in our daily lives - in our work, at school, when we are teaching others or when we are learning from others. Often in life we are faced with difficult decisions and challenges and it is our attitude that often determines the path we take and the choices that we make.

“It is our choices and behaviour, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Facing challenges and learning from our mistakes takes courage and support from family, friends and our school community. As our Year 6 leaders continue on their journey of learning and leadership throughout the year in 2024, we wish them every success and pray that they will have the strength to face challenges, learn from their mistakes and strive to be the best that they can be for the benefit of our OLHC community.

2025 Enrolment Timeline

Our 2025 enrolment is now open. If you have a child starting in kindergarten next year, now is the time to complete your online enrolment application. If you know any new families who would like to join our school family, please share this with them.

https://enrolment.lisslism.catholic.edu.au

No Parking and Drop Off Zone

Please be reminded that the area indicated in the image below is NOT to be used as a pick up, drop off or parking area. This is a signed designated no stopping area that allows clear view of the pedestrian crossing to keep our children and families safe.

Parking or stopping in the space can attract a significant fine and loss of demerit points.

Mission News

Ash Wednesday and Lent

Next week we will begin our Lenten journey, marked by Ash Wednesday. Our theme this year is: Serving from the Heart through our Hands. We look forward to some wonderful acts of service during Lent. It is the start of 40 days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. 

During our liturgy, we will receive ashes on our forehead in the shape of a cross. The cross is used to show that a person belongs to Jesus Christ, and it also represents a person's grief and mourning for their sins – the same sins that we believe Jesus Christ gave his life for when he died on the cross.

We invite our families to join us for our Ash Wednesday Liturgy at 9:30am on Wednesday 14th February.

Project Compassion 2024 

During Lent, we as a school community participate in Project Compassion. There will be further information on how we support this important Lenten fundraiser in the coming week. Last year we had so much fun with our friendly classroom competition - with bake sales, fidget toys, colouring comps and guessing competitions. We also had the opportunity to raise awareness about important issues, and a chance for our community to take part in a social justice action. Everyone who contributes is empowered and able to stand in solidarity, with the communities we serve and those who benefit from our actions!

Each fortnight over Lent, we will highlight Project Compassions beneficiaries from Australia and abroad in our newsletter.

Student Discipleship Opportunities

Throughout the year our Year 4-6 students are offered the opportunity for student discipleship through Diocesan retreat days. Our Year 6 students may attend the Incitare Retreat, Year 5, the Exuro Retreat and all Year 4 students participate in the Accendere Retreat. These retreats allow our students to celebrate their faith and are a chance to bring students together to meet like-minded peers and to celebrate with other young people who practice their faith. 

Our first retreat is coming up on the 27th February and students in Year 6 have been offered the opportunity to apply. We have a number of students who have shown interest in attending the retreat and we look forward to announcing those students and showcasing their day in an upcoming newsletter.

Learning & Teaching

English and Mathematics Years 3-6

Teachers in Years 3-6 have begun to implement the new English and Mathematics Syllabus.  

English

The new English Syllabus Is underpinned by the two processes of understanding text and creating texts. Through speaking, listening and interacting with others, your child will have the opportunity to learn to express their ideas and communicate effectively. They will be able to build on the foundational skills to read and write with increasing fluency. 

Your child will engage with a wide range of quality literature, including: stories, poetry, plays and multimedia, for enjoyment and to learn about themselves, their community and the world. They will also learn to appreciate, reflect on and build knowledge about how language works. This will help them learn to make meaning when reading and viewing texts, and to create texts in ways that are imaginative, creative, interpretative, critical and powerful.

Spelling in Years 3-6

We have identified spelling as an area of development across our primary classes. Using spelling screeners, we have grouped students based on their learning needs so that we can ensure we are meeting the needs of all learners. Your child's class teacher will provide more information about this next Tuesday at the Parent Information Night. 

Mathematics

In Mathematics students develop essential numeracy knowledge and skills and develop an understanding of concepts in Number and Algebra, Measurement and Space, Statistics and Probability. Students develop understanding of and fluency in mathematics through exploring and connecting mathematical concepts, choosing and applying mathematical techniques to solve problems to communicate their thinking, and reason.

Year 3 Visualising characters in English

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 12

Next

Year 4 Spelling

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 15

Next

Year 5 Reading fluency and vocabulary work in English

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 17

Next

Year 6 Vocabulary work in English

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 14

Next

Kindergarten drawing their family members and painting family portraits

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 20

Next

Year 1 perfecting their spelling, writing and numeracy skills

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 20

Next

Year 2 are very proud of the excellent writing they produced in English

Sports News

K-2 Tennis Program 

This term all students in Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 will participate in a tennis skills program that will be run by two coaches from On Tour Tennis, Lismore.

The program started on Tuesday the 6th of February (Week 2) and it will finish on Thursday the 4th of April (Week 10). Year 1 and Year 2 will participate in the program every Tuesday and Kindergarten will participate every Thursday. The children will wear their sports uniform and black school shoes as they normally do on PE days. They will be out in the sun, so it is very important to ensure they all have their school hat and a drink bottle. We do have suncream at school, however, if your child requires a specific suncream, please pack this for them. 

This program will provide the opportunity for the children to be introduced to tennis through learning basic fundamental movement skills and perceptual motor skills which will assist in grasping the key concepts required to play. 

Richmond Zone Swimming Carnival

On Tuesday the 13th of February we have 28 students that will travel to Alstonville pool to compete at the Richmond Zone Swimming Carnival. As a school, we wish these students all the best.

Winter Sports Trials

On Thursday the 22nd of February, 12 Year 5 and Year 6 students will participate in the Richmond Zone Winter Sports Trials. We wish all these students all the best as they represent our school in their selected sport.

School News

Community News

Reminder:  Please make sure you change your childs class when you go to order canteen for the first time this year.

LISMORE RUGBY CLUB -   is holding rugby clinics for children, boys and girls, to try Rugby as a sport in the winter months.

Clinics will be held over three weeks. The clinics will be fun to help develop coordination, ball handling, running, catching and passing skills in an organised and enjoyable environment.

Age groups are 5-9 years, 10-12 years and 13-16years

Boys and Girls are invited

Details are;

Where:      Lismore Rugby Club grounds; 1 Rugby Road Lismore

When:       Week 1      Sunday 25^th February 2024 | Time       3pm

Week 2      Sunday 3^rd March 2024       | Time        3pm

Week 3      Saturday 9^th March 2024   | Time       11am

Contact

Bevan Gay

Lismore Rugby Club

Junior Coordinator

Phone: 0427 404 279

Email: BevanGay1954@gmail.com