Newsletter

                                                        Principal: Ms Judeline Wadhwani, principal@olshinternational.com

                                                        Acting Principal: Mr Patrick Baiwan, admin@olshinternational.com

                                                        Head of P-6: Mrs Wiki Thomas, primary@olshinternational.com

                                                        Head of 7-12: Mrs Rachel Baiwan, secondary@olshinternational.com

                                                        Head of RE, Faith & Mission: Mr Raymond Rangatin, rrangatin@olshinternational.com

                                                        School Address: P O Box 211, Kavieng, New Ireland Province

                                                        School Telephone Number: (675) 984 2128

                                                        School website address: www.olshinternational.com

Dear parents, guardians, members of the OLSH community and extended OLSH community,

I am delighted to inform you that Week 5 has seen the introduction of Student Achievement Certificates in various award categories.

Students at P-12 have been recognised for effort and attainment across subjects, for showing kindness to peers, presenting a smart appearance in uniform and for overall attainment of the 3As through the Class Champion Award.  Teachers are encouraging all students in every class to endeavour their best to earn these weekly awards.

A list of all the worthy recipients is published further in the newsletter.

As I write, there are only so many counted school days remaining to the 2021 National Examinations:

• Year 10 – 33 days
• Year 12 – 38 days
• Year 8   -  43 days

 Your son/daughter should by now have settled into a rigorous routine of home study involving a balance of homework and revision.  Please see the OLSH Home Study Expectations in the link further on.  Parents and guardians, we ask for your support at this critical period of preparation.  The teachers are working hard to prepare students every day in every lesson.  The response from the students must be focused and rigorous for their success in both, the Mock Exams as well as the National Examinations.

Attendance at Year 12 is still of concern.  Parents please encourage your daughter/son not to take the odd day or days off each week.  Every day of classroom instruction at this time of term is vital.

• Mock 1 – Week 6 – commencing on Monday 16 August
• Mock 2 – Week 8 – commencing on Monday 30 August

• Year 10 – Monday 11  – Friday 15 October
• Year 12 – Monday 18  – Friday 22 October
• Year   8 – Monday 25  – Thursday 28 October

• 7-12       Wednesday 15 September - 3:30 to 6:30 pm
  

We trust that all parents who attended were able to discuss your daughter’s/son’s Semester 1 report with their teacher and to collaborate on the best and most effective ways forward for your child’s/children’s improved learning in Semester 2.  There will be more feedback from the P-6 team by Mrs Thomas next week.

As the health and safety of all members of the community are paramount, I reiterate below my message to the OLSH community with regard to COVID-19 safety.  All parents and guardians are asked to support the school by doing the right thing at all times.  

Please do not send your child to school if they are sick or display any signs of cold and flu or have a fever.  Please get medical attention for them at the earliest and inform the school of their absence.

All staff and students above 12 years of age are expected to wear a mask at all times in school.

Personal hygiene and hand hygiene are to be practised every day at home and at school.

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

This saying best fits Year 10 student Jedidiah Kalisa who took out the first place in the Governor’s Essay Competition.  Jedidiah’s essay was one of 300 entries in the senior category of the Governor’s Essay Competition as part of the New Ireland Day celebrations. From the 300 entries, Jedidiah’s essay was selected as the winner for 2021 Governor’s Essay Competition.  Jedidiah follows in successful OLSH tradition.  Theresia Waulas was adjudged winner of the same competition in 2020.

Well done Jedidiah.  OLSH is proud of you.  Jedidiah’s essay will appear in a future newsletter.

Ms Maxine Moses, Year 1 teacher has resigned from OLSH due to personal and family reasons.  Ms Moses has been teaching at OLSH since 2015 and was a valuable member of the P-6 teaching staff.

We thank Ms Moses for her years of service to OLSH and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

2021 fees must be paid in full by Friday 3 September.  Sponsors are hereby reminded to contact the school if experiencing delays in payment as we are starting to prepare the 2021 school’s financial reports for the annual end of the year audits.

Mr Patrick Baiwan

Acting Principal

Year 4 students have been learning Persuasive writing this term.  

They wrote a simple essay on their favourite hobby or what they like best. They used essay guidelines provided by the teacher

The essay included three parts: 

·         Introduction –Students briefly introduced their topic, with supporting reasons and facts  and a clear point of view, to the readers

·         Body – Students explained in detail each argument and the reasons supporting it, with examples or evidence (facts)

·         Conclusion – Students ended their discussion by writing a short summary of their arguments and gave their opinion of the topic.

Students were expected to hand in daily and weekly drafts of their essay for the teacher to edit and approve the next draft. In the process, peer editing was encouraged for fellow students to edit others’ drafts before it reached the teacher. During the course of task work, students learned to edit drafts, identify grammar, punctuation, paragraphing, and checking for key elements of task requirement such as topics, subtopics, reasons or supporting examples/facts/evidence and opinion. Below is an example of the template that the students used as a scaffold to help organize their draft and how the students were taught to set out their draft.  

Melissa Amos and Sr Thomasita Dom msc interviewed Ms Norah Sevian, Resource Centre Manager who is one of the longer-serving staff members at OLSH.

Ms Norah Sevian has been with the OLSH community since 2008 where she is familiarly known to all the staff and the students as the school Librarian. Being of East Sepik heritage she grew up outside her home province.  Part of her childhood days and growing up were spent in Alotau, Port Moresby and the Highlands, but she has been in New Ireland for over 20 years. Her cultural view and comparison of her home province with New Ireland are simple.  “New Ireland is more relaxing.   Given the customs and carefree attitude of the people here, they’re more laidback.  Ms Sevian doesn’t really miss her home province because she didn’t grow up there.   Since she’s raised her children here and been in New Ireland for more than 20 years, she feels that New Ireland is her home.

Ms Sevian has been with OLSH International since 2008. In that time she has performed the roles of Secretary, Administrative Assistant, Registrar and this year she is the Resource Centre Manager, a very different job from previous positions held. Going down memory lane, Ms Sevian recalls “When I first joined the school my office was a portion of what is now the staffroom. And the Library, as it was known then, was located in Room 4”.

The Resource Centre is a specialist area housing many learning and research tools for the students and staff and she enjoys her time here assisting them. As importantly, she finds it fun to explore new ideas and create a new display for all to see and to take a sneak-peek through as many books as she can, as there are so many fascinating things to read about.

Ms Sevian believes that we are extremely fortunate at OLSH to have a Resource Centre that is able to provide information and learning materials to cater for all. The only downside to working in this facility are the power outages that can make the Resource Centre a little unbearable to concentrate on work.

Ms Sevian says that OLSH has always been a special place.  “Like the students, I too have learned much over the years and I am still learning”.

Ms Sevian loves being creative and is into learning new things. She mentioned that she was a tomboy in her younger life since she grew up with 3 brothers.

Her favourite dish is Chinese veggies and spicy food since and thinks it’s delicious to eat a variety of food. If she were to be an animal she would prefer being a bird since they don’t have to struggle to find food and shelter and they fly away wherever and whenever they wish to, which to her is the true definition of being free-spirited unlike our kind (humans) who worry about the basic essentials needed to sustain our lives.

Motherhood is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences that stands out most in her life. Through all the good and not so good experiences, she is grateful for her experiences of being a mother.

The most memorable books that Ms Sevian read are The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and the Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis.  As a child she read these books and enjoyed watching the movies and cartoons with her brothers. It was one of her most cherished, childhood memories. The books to her showed the importance of courage and friendship. She has read many books but she really appreciates the simplicity of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe compared to the Harry Potter series.

Every day for Ms Sevian is a good day.   When she sees the smiles on faces of the students and staff, it brings her warmth and is also one thing that has kept her at OLSH, a school that is always improving.  “The challenge we have is to maintain our standards in every aspect as staff and students. All in all OLSH students should not think that competition is just within the province but rather, across the country.  So her message to the students of OLSH is to “Be the BEST YOU”.   By that she means students should take advantage of their learning to become good at whatever interests them and whatever they’re good at.

Melissa Amos & Sr Thomasita Dom

Year 11

CATHOLIC CHURCH CALENDAR: 19thweek in the ordinary Year ‘B’ 2021

WEEK REFLECTION: John 5: 41-51 

“Jesus the Bread of Life”

Sometimes we are like the people in the Gospel story who found it was hard to believe that Jesus was the Son of God. Through God’s Word in the Bible, we come to know and love God more and Jesus Christ, whom God has sent to be our Saviour and Lord. At Mass, we are able to receive the wonderful gift of Jesus in Holy Communion and we come to know Jesus more through listening to the readings, prayers and homilies. Jesus says he is the living bread from heaven and we can be with him forever.

Prayer: Loving God, we thank you for sending Jesus, our Bread of Life, who shares everlasting life with us. We know we are truly blessed with the special gift of Jesus when we receive Him in the Eucharist. By our actions, help us to show your love to all we meet so they, too, will want to receive the Bread of Life. Amen

Bishop’s Feast Day (August 15th) is also the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady – Mother Mary.

The Bishop’s Feast Day will be celebrated at Fissoa Catechetical Institute. All Catholic Agency schools will be attending. OLSH International School will be sending representation.  The program will also include the unveiling of the “Legion of Mary” shrine which begins the 100 years international celebration of the Legion of Mary; this coincides with the Legion of Mary Congress in September.

Thank you and God bless you all

Mr R. Rangatin

Head of Religious Education, Faith and Mission