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PRINCIPAL ON LEAVE
As mentioned last time, I will be on leave for Term 2. I have been offered time for a Sabbatical which I have accepted and will be walking a Camino in Spain. This is a reflective time which culminates at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostella in Northern Spain where the remains of St James are kept.
In my absence, Mr Craig McNee will be standing in as Actiing Principal.
Loved by God-Serving All-Sharing Gospel Joy
WALLSEND – SHORTLAND PARISH
wallsendshortlandparish@mn.catholic.org.au
ABN: 57 591 794 629
(02) 49559575
Dear Parents and Carers of children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6,
Enrolment for the Sacramental Program 2023 is now open.
We warmly welcome you to continue the process of your child’s Sacraments of Initiation (Confirmation and Eucharist, including Reconciliation).
Please complete the Enrolment Form and return it by Wednesday 5 April 2023 to the Parish Office via their email address or to the school Office. Parent information sheets, and enrolment forms will be given out to eligible students or will be available in the school office. The first Parents/Carers Information Night (Compulsory) will be held on Tuesday 2 May 2023 at 6pm.
On Thursday March 30, it is Harmony Day at Our Lady of Victories, where we will celebrate the cultural diversity within our school community. Children are asked to wear orange, or the colours of their country of origin. For some, it may be their country of birth, or the birthplace of their parents or grandparents. The day will begin with a special Harmony Day Liturgy in the hall at 9am, which parents are warmly invited to. Children will also take part in a cultural activity during the day, and are encouraged to be adventurous, and bring some food from a different country for their own lunch or recess.
Over the next few weeks each class will be working on introducing the idea of Visualising to improve comprehension while reading.
Visualising for comprehension means to formulate pictures in our minds based on the activities in a story. Creating mental images, as if watching a movie while reading, is important in reading comprehension because the reader is able to glean a deeper understanding of the story that will target long-term memory.
Some activities you might like to introduce at home to help with visualising are:
- Draw and label what you think the main character looks like. Use the clues the author has given you through their descriptions.
- Draw and label the setting of the setting of the story. Use the clues the author has given you through their descriptions.
- Choose a page in the story and read it. After you have read the page, draw an illustration showing how you visualise the events.
- Imagine you were the main character. Draw what you would see, hear, tough, taste and smell in the story.
Each class will share with our community the activities they have completed in our Week 11 newsletter.
Stage 3 participated in the Project Compassion Zoom on Monday.
The season of Lent asks us to reflect on those in our wider community who are less fortunate and vulnerable. In Stage 3, we are constantly considering ways to give to those in need during this season of Lent. On Monday 13th March, Stage 3 were provided with the opportunity to dive even deeper into Caritas Australia's outreach program. The interactive Q&A session offered the opportunity for our Stage 3 students to interact with Caritas Australia staff and partners from both overseas and here in Australia.
The 30-minute session on Zoom enabled our Stage 3 students to explore the stories, programs and issues for each week of Project Compassion. This week, we explored Priscilla's life story from a remote village in Zimbabwe. Students were able to pose questions to the Programs staff and partners, who are in direct contact with those we support.
Parish Sacramental Program
St Patricks Day
LOST PROPERTY
Please put your name on all your belongs. We still have lots of jumpers, hats and drink bottles without a owner.
VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION
In order to Volunteer at OLV you are required to complete the Volunteer Induction and be cleared by the Catholic Schools Office to Volunteer.
Please follow this link https://www.mn.catholic.org.au/people/volunteer/ and complete the steps.
EXTERNAL PROVIDERS
If your child will be seeing a provider (eg; speech therapist or occupational therapist) this year at school, please complete the attached application form and return to school. If you require further information, please don't hesitate to contact the office.
COMPASS
OLV uses the "Compass" App. Log in details for parents/carers have been emailed to all new parents. If you are still unable to login, or your account has been made inactive, please contact Leanne in the office to arrange a reset of your password.
- For all new families please familiarise yourself with the information booklet you received in your information pack or enrolment pack "Parent Portal Compass User Guide" I have also attached this.
- Only Parents/Carers have access to Compass Parent Portal. Parents must have separate email addresses in order to both have access to compass.
- New Users when logging into Compass are given the opportunity to update their details. It has been noted that some parents have updated their mobile phone number by taking out the gaps within the phone number. This is not required. The system requires phones numbers to be in this format.
- REMINDER: PLEASE ONLY EXPLAIN WHOLE DAY ABSENCES - PLEASE DO NOT REPORT PARTIAL ABSENCES through the Compass App. Reporting partial absences will cause inconsistences with your child's attendance.
- SMS's are sent to parents of students who are absent from 9.35am each weekday morning. You will receive a text message if your child was not present during the marking the roll process. Please logon onto compass and explain your child's absence. Do not reply to the text as compass does not accept reply texts.
- Please notify the office beforehand if your child is going to arrive late; you will however still receive an SMS. The arrival time of the student will be logged as an explained absence when they present to school on their arrival.
- On occasion you may be sent a text message even though your child is in attendance at school, this may be becuase they have arrived late and not come to the office for sign in. If your child is late please come into the office with your child and sign them in via the compass kiosk.
QKR APP
Part of “progress” is moving towards a cashless society – which is for discussion on another day. To assist with the banking, ordering and handling of moneys we are moving more of our payments to the Qkr system.
You will find attached instructions for QKR App. This easy to use phone app gives you the flexibility to place orders for Canteen and fundraisers from your phone. It also reduces the need for your child to bring cash to school. Please remember to amend your child's year group on the QKR App to aid the timely collection of their order. We will be moving to a wider usage of this app as the term progresses.
- Make sure your child matches the class they are in now. You may need to go to your account settings and change their class. This will have to be completed at the beginning of every school year.
- Please do not send in a paper bag as well as ordering online. (this will stop any double up of ordering)
- If your child is away or sick and you have ordered their lunch, you have to 8.00am to cancel your order on QKR and receive a credit for next time.
- All ordering is now closing at 8.15am Monday Morning. This allows enough time to print out the relevant reports for our volunteer ladies.
- As of Term 2 all lunch orders will only be able to be ordered through QKR. Cash on the day will only be for ice blocks, lollies and chips.
We will be looking at providing this service for other quick financial transactions such as sausage sizzles, raffles, pie drives etc,
Thaks to everyone for taking up this service.
FINANCE NEWS
Fee Statements have been emailed out last week.
- Any school fees that are outstanding, without an agreed payment arrangement with the Prinicpal, will be actioned per the Diocesan Fee Collection Policy.
- For those families experiencing financial hardship it is not too late to contact the school office to arrange an appointment with the Principal or Finance Office, to discuss payment options.
- Payments can be made via BPay, Direct Debit, or credit card over the phone or in the office.
- Calculations have been sent home to most families. This will help you to pay a weeklly amount to have your fees paid by the due date 30/11/23.
Any fee payers that wish to establish a new direct debit or adjust their existing direct debit, please contact Leanne in the office.
We encourage families not to pay their fees via the COMPASS App. The bank fees are significantly higher than if paid via Bpay or credit cards at the office.
Health Care Card
Most families have already completed the attached Health Care Card Forms and returned to the school with a copy of their Health Care Card. If you have a Health Care Card and have not handed it in please contact the office. Health Care Cards gives up to 50% of your tuition fees.
Kinder |
Evie C - for being able to organise items from largest to smallest area. Jesa S - for excellent presentation of her bookwork. Luca S - for excellent participation in class discussions. Oriana H - for drawing very detailed pictures for the sounds m, s, and t. |
Year 1 |
Nikita P - for always trying your best and making great improvements in Literacy! Israel L - for always encouraging others in the class and including people in your group! Afia A - for always trying your best and challenging yourself in your learning! Year 1- for practising and presenting a fabulous St. Patrick’s Liturgy! |
Year 2 |
Eleanor T - for outstanding identification of patterns on and off the decade in maths. Lucy C - for outstanding spelling results. Keep it up! Matilda B - for her excellent use of expression during reading fluency. Josie B - for her great ideas in Science when designing an arcade game using forces. |
Year 3 |
Billy F - for working hard on growing his mindset and seeing what he can achievewhen he applies himself to all areas of learning. Alierah M - for being a happy and enthusiastic member of our class. Elsa S - for displaying a positive and responsible attitude to her learning. Tom W - for working on displaying a persistent and positive attitude towards his school work. |
Year 4 |
Luka S - for an amazing improvement in writing a narrative. Well done Luka on your dedication to succeed. Max B - for working extremely hard to improve his narrative writing, and for including the main features needed in this text type. Grace G - for demonstrating empathy to everyone, by her words and actions. Jennifer F - for trying to complete her work in the allocated time, and for always giving her best. |
Year 5 |
Ashton F - for displaying a positive and determined attitude towards class activities Emme P - for being an upstander and for applying a growth mindset towards her learning Oliver W - for always having a go at his class activities with a positive attitude Michelle A - for listening with respect, following instructions and for being a kind friend to all |
Year 6 |
MargreitK - for working well with your peers during discussion and work times Summer F - for showing persistence and resilience when trying something new Lochlain H -for drawing a great depiction of his bedroom during art Summer P - for great work during independent class activities |
EALD |
Year 1: Nikita P - for amazing improvements in reading and persevering with sounding out her words. Year 2: Tesa S - for showing determination and perseverance in her reading and writing |
V & M Awards |
Kindergarten: William F for being a caring and thoughtful student and helping others in class. Year 1: Alexis G for speaking kindly to others and making sure your friends are okay! Year 2: Ruby H for making the right choice, regardless of other's opinions. Year 3: Ariana C for being kind, caring and sensitive to the feelings and thoughts of others. Year 4: Jesse M by empowering others to follow his example, in doing the right thing and for always being a great role model. Year 5: Blake B for showing kindness and respect towards his peers Year 6: Max G for being a kind, caring leader of our school |
Lexia Awards |
Nikita P - Level 2 |
ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
We had a great day on Tuesday with our Athletics Carnival. It was terrific to see so many of the children get out there and have a go just for the fun of it.
There are so many people to thank - the wonderful crew in the Canteen (Thanks Kristy for putting that together) , the helpers on the track and field (always appreciated - thank Sally for 13year of helping with timekeeping - still one swimming carnival to go) and to all the staff who kept things runing smootly.
We wil be presenting trophies and ribbons at our assembly on FRiday next week from 2pm - all welcome to come along.
SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY
We will be holding our School Cross Country on Thursday next week. We begin our activities at 10:00am and all th echildren are encouraged to participate. Three runners from each age group wll be elegible to represent the school at the Diocesan event as long as they meeting the Diocesa qualifying time.
We will start our races at 10am on the top field. All are welcome to come along and cheer the children on - or join in yourselves.
DIOCESAN WINTER TRIALS
We had three children representing the school and North Region at the DIocesan Winter Sports Trials - Gemma & Charlie (soccer) and Harrison (Rugby League). Congratulations to Gemma who was selected to reproesnt the Diocese at the Polding trials.
We would like to wish the following children a Happy Birthday.
Kindergarten | Sophia C, Emmet M |
Year 1 | Israel L |
Year 2 | Jemima K |
Year 3 | Vincent D, Grace B, Paige W, Sophia T, Thomas W |
Year 4 | |
Year 5 | |
Year 6 | Ojo T, Harrison S, Margreit K, |
Congratulations and we hope you had a happy day
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P&F Association AGM
The P&F AGM is scheduled for Monday 27th March at 7pm. A general meeting will be held after. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Our Lady of Victories P&F…... What is it all about?
The P&F provides opportunities to connect with other families to find out what is happening at OLV and to have a voice on a range of matters.
The P&F can only operate with the involvement of parents and the time commitment is not too demanding. We meet in school terms once a month for approximately an hour and all parents/guardians of our current students are able to participate.
The P&F has multiple roles including:
President- Provides leadership and acts as the association’s representative. Chairs P&F meetings. Ensures decisions made at the meeting are acted upon promptly.
Vice President- To act in place of the President in their absence from meetings
Secretary- Responsible for creating and distributing meeting agendas and minutes and communication to families via the school’s online platforms and notes.
Treasurer- Manage all financial dealings for the association, keep records of receipts and expenditures, bank any money regularly, ensure financial records are audited.
Canteen Co-ordinator- Responsible for the running of the canteen this includes ordering stock, food menus, pricing and co-ordinating canteen roster.
Uniform Pool Co-Ordinator- Responsible for the running of the uniform pool including ordering new stock, sorting and displaying donated stock, and being available at the time suitable to yourself to open the uniform pool for sale of items.
General Members- Any parent of our school community is welcome to attend and contribute to P&F meetings. They are able to contribute to items of discussion and have a vote on decisions being made.
Would you like to join the P&F in 2023? Our AGM will be held on 27th March at 7pm in the school library. A general P&F meeting will follow.
All executive positions will be declared vacant on the night, and we welcome any parent or guardian of current students to nominate themselves for a position. If you have any questions or would like to know more about the P&F, please contact the P&F on olvparentsandfriends@gmail.com
We hope to see you there!
ST NICHOLAS OOSH Services
How to enrol for our OOSH Services:
You will be able to access the school newsletter here, special dates notifications and other messages from time to time.
Go to this link to download the Schoolzine App: