Newsletter

Strategic Intent:

At Our Lady’s School, we aim to strengthen our Catholic community through: fostering respectful relationships; clear, strategic faith-filled leadership; and our commitment to professional pedagogical excellence that is founded upon our deep knowledge, collegiality, effective teamwork and our Gospel inspired dedication to the learning and wellbeing of each child.

Education in Faith

That students understand and make more meaningful, relevant connections between the Catholic story and their own lives.

That staff develop their capacity to design and implement a contemporary RE curriculum.

Leadership and Management

That staff teamwork and ownership of the Vision and educational priorities of the school will improve

Learning and Teaching

That student learning outcomes will improve.

Student Wellbeing

That the wellbeing of all students will improve.

School Community

That the home/ school partnership is strengthened to the benefit of student learning outcomes. 

Dear Families and Friends,

I hope you are managing to stay on top of everything at the moment. It is a really challenging time and things just seem to be changing constantly. In times of uncertainty it is a natural response to feel anxious and concerned, please know that we are here for you. We are blessed to be part of a wonderful community so reach out if we can do anything or if you become aware of a family that may be in need of some special support. 

Lockdown Update

From 12:59pm Saturday 21 August 2021, restrictions across Victoria changed.

You cannot leave your home other than for one of the five following reasons:

• shopping for necessary goods and services
• caregiving or compassionate reasons, including medical care or to get a COVID-19 test
• authorised work (with a permit) or permitted education
• exercise (once a day for 2 hours)
• to get a COVID-19 vaccination (provided the distance travelled, and the time taken is no more than is absolutely necessary).

A stay-at-home curfew is in place for metropolitan Melbourne. Between 9:00pm and 5:00am, you cannot leave your home (or the home of your intimate partner or bubble buddy) other than for limited reasons, including:

• authorised work
• health and medical purposes
• care and support of a child or someone with special needs
• in an emergency or to escape harm.

This information is for all parents requiring onsite learning at OLPS.

In regard to the continuation of remote and flexible learning based on advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer, schools in metropolitan Melbourne will continue with remote and flexible learning until Thursday 2 September, except for students in the following categories: 

Category A - MUST NOW PROVIDE A SIGNED PERMIT

Children where both parents and or carers are considered authorised workers who cannot work from home, work for an essential provider and where no other supervision arrangements can be made: 

- Where there are two parents/carers, both must be essential workers, working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision.

- For single parents/ carers, the essential worker must be working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision. 

Some people are not required to carry a permit under the scheme, including certain emergency services, public safety and health workers. These people can use their photographic personal identification from their place of work as evidence of their permitted worker status. eg hospital workers and health workers etc.

Category B - PERMIT NOT REQUIRED

Children experiencing vulnerability, including:

- in out-of-home care deemed vulnerable by a government agency, funded family or family violence service, and assessed as requiring education and care outside the family home

- identified by a school or early childhood service as vulnerable, (including via referral from a government agency, or funded family or family violence service, homeless or youth justice service or mental health or other health service) 

- Where a parent/carer indicates that a student with a disability is vulnerable because they cannot learn from home, and/or informs the school the student is vulnerable due to family stress

Authorised worker permits for on-site supervision

From Wednesday 18 August, parents and carers will only be able to request on-site supervision for their children in Category A if they hold a permit as an authorised worker. 

A permit is not required for accessing on-site supervision under Category B.

I have attached a copy of the permit below. These can be emailed to the school as soon as possible.

Permitted Workers Form

For students that are learning on site, it is recommended but not compulsory for students to wear a face mask.

Book Week

This week is the CBCA ( Children's Book Council Awards). The theme is Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds and the website can be found here. https://cbca.org.au/

Thanks to our Literacy Leader Ms Kimberly Chin, we have organised some exciting activites for the students. Class and specialist teachers will communicate these activities via their daily overviews on the student portal. One of the activites we are looking forward to is the Character Dress Up on Wednesday.... What is Book Week without a Parade, even if it is online! 

E- Smart Week

eSmart Week is September 6th - 12th. Classes will be doing some explicit lessons during this week to celebrate "Responsibe Action" by demonstrating how to stay safe online.

As parents it is not an easy job keeping on top our childrens online activity and with the pandemic resulting in most of the children learning from home, it is even more of a challenge.

There is a wealth of information available for parents to assist them and I have summarised some information that I believe to be pertinent at this time.

With this in mind  I wish to bring to your attention once more  the school’s official position concerning student use of social media. This is particularly important during this extended lockdown.

OLPS turns to the eSafety Commissioner to ensure we provide you with up to date and evidence based advice.

Please click on the link to take you to the site should you wish for additional information https://www.esafety.gov.au/educators/trusted-providers 

What do I need to know as a parent?

All social media platforms (including WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Discord and Tik Tok) have a minimum age of 13 that is clearly outlined in the terms of service. Irrespective of the age rating mentioned in the App Store, 13 years is the mandated minimum age whether or not they have parental permission.

At OLPS we are very clear that  we do not recommend any student under the age of 13 have access to their own social media account.

In addition to the age restriction, social media presents a myriad of issues related to the unsuitability of content (sexual references, language, drugs, alcohol and broader adult themes) on these platforms. These social media platforms have not been designed, managed or filtered with primary school age children in mind. The risks of cyberbullying and inappropriate messaging are increased when developing brains are presented with disappearing direct messages such as those featured in most social media. Another significant risk is the exposure to other users wishing to harm and abuse young people. The evidence is very clear that wherever young people gather online via social media platforms there will always be a risk of predators. We acknowledge that there is a time and a place for social media however these challenges of social media present much greater risk for primary school aged children.

 We understand that this is currently a tremendous challenge, as communication opportunities for our kids are very limited.

 We urge you all to be acutely aware of who and how your child(ren) are communicating with if they are using any form of social media.  

 This is the time that our young people need active and courageous parenting more than any other time. I encourage you to remain profoundly interested in your child’s friends (especially their on-line friends), engage actively with their learning and remain firm in your modelling of values and ethics to your son and daughter. Schools are great at packaging up and teaching knowledge, but behavioural practices will come from home. We will continue to do as much as we can to support you with this. 

Further information about specific social media platforms, as well as games and apps, you can access the parent eSafety Guide (Australian Government eSafety Commissioner). https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/esafety-guide  

In 2022 we will be continuing to support you as parents and carers to navigate this challenging environment through various parent information sessions. You will recall that we have worked with Inform and Empower over the past two years.

These sessions will continue to share with our school community up-to-date and practical information that is sure to benefit every family. 

Thank you for working in partnership with us in this very important area of mental health and wellbeing.

On behalf of our school community I reach out in support of all Afghan students and families who are experiencing increased distress and trauma due to the unfolding situation in Afghanistan. 

 At this time of uncertainty, we pray for peace, dignity and freedom for the men, women and children of Afghanistan. May the international community respond with courage, vision and kindness.

Take care of one another 

Mrs Annie Engellenner

Principal

It’s Book Week Time! Even though we can’t be onsite, teachers across all levels have fun activities planned to celebrate book week. During the week there will be open google meets where staff members will be reading their favourite book. The timetable will be on the student portal. Even though we can’t be onsite for the yearly book week parade, we encourage children to still get dressed up in their book week costume! If you are happy to have your child’s photo published within the Our Lady’s Community please email a photo of your child/children to kchin@olsurreyhills.catholic.edu.au.

We hope that all children who are participating in the Premiers’ Reading Challenge are finding new and interesting books to read. There isn’t much time left! Many students have nearly finished the challenge which comes to an end in September.

Kimberly Chin

Literacy Leader

As this current lockdown continues,  our challenge is to continue to be creative ,find the joy and gratitude in the little things and to try and focus on what is meaningful and important. Sometimes the youngest of people can give us the advice and the strength we need. I found an article that stood out for me as a parent and teacher. I hope you find some inspiration from it too.

Please know that the staff at Our Lady’s are here to support you in any way we can.

Carissa Bright

Student Wellbeing Leader

School Fees

School fee statements will soonbe  sent to families.  School fees can be paid by direct credit or  B-Pay. If you pay your school fees by credit card, when you fill in your credit card details please include the CVC number on the back of the card.

Student Absences

If you child is going to be absent from school, it is your responsibility to inform the school via telephone call, skoolbag app notification or email.

Teachers do not check their emails after 8.45am as they are invloved in the act of teaching or student supervision.

If you are notifying the school after 8.45am, could you please contact the office not individual class teachers. This will avoid the school needing to contact families.

Working With Children's Checks

There are in excess of 20 parents that no longer have current Working with Childrens Checks. Please check your details and update if necessary. 

Thank you to our parents that have voluntered to be class reps this year. 

Prep: Lisa Grant, Kat Brosolo, Joanna Kelly

Year 1 /2 C: Kasia De Costa, Emma Ryan

Year 1 /2 L: Jess Campbell, Laura Edgcumbe

Year 3 /4 L: Rach Voshege, Melissa Pellegrini

Year 3 /4 N: Marjie Langford, Rach Glass

Year 3 /4 L: Emma Lynch, Elaine Hanlon

Year 5 /6 H&L : Daniela Greening, Cath Bergin, Steph Johnson

Please see attached below information regarding Our Lady's School Uniform, including how to order online and the uniform price list.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Uniform Orders are filled on Mondays.
• Please order Uniform Orders thru CDF.
• To keep costs low we are only stocking limited quantities across the Range. If items are not available please allow a 2 week turn around to allow time for items to be ordered and delivered from our Supplier.
• If you need to try on Uniforms for size this can also be done on Mondays unless other arrangements have been made with Krista.
• If you have any queries, please email Krista on uniformshop@olsurreyhills.catholic.edu.au

All students attending Our Lady’s Primary School have the right to feel safe and be safe. The highest possible standard of care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a fundamental responsibility of all within our school community.