Dear Parents and Caregivers

Welcome back to a new school term. With Term 2 being eleven weeks, it is going to be another busy term. I hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable Easter and two-week break.

Welcome

I would like to officially welcome Victoria Bayer and Julia Tamigi to OLA. Victoria will be replacing Liana Anastasio in Kindergarten M and Julia has been appointed as a General Education Assistant in the middle grades.

Clubs

From next week (Week 2) the OLA Clubs will commence at OLA, some have already started, with all teaching staff taking on extra responsibilities and ‘Value Adding’ to OLA by supervising and leading a club. Students can choose which club(s) they attend during the term and participate in the planned activities. Some clubs may be capped at a certain number of participants but parents will be advised about this when the information comes out for that specific club. Thank you to all the OLA teachers for giving up their time to support our students. Please take note of the dates and times for each club.

Sacramental/Mass Celebrations Capacity

We have been advised recently places of worship (churches) are now permitted to be at 100% capacity hence all future celebrations, such as the Eucharist Celebrations in a few weeks’ time, will be at 100% capacity. Restrictions are still in place for certain areas within the school, e.g. the Sr Goretti Hall. The COVID-19 situation continues to be everchanging, so please be aware that these restrictions may change based on government guidelines.

Mother’s Day Celebrations – OLA Parish

All families are invited to join the OLA Parish for Mother’s Day Mass on Sunday 9 May at 9.30am. Bowra & O’Dea will be sponsoring a morning tea for all attendees straight after the Mass.

2020 OLA School Annuals

The OLA School annuals have been delivered and will be distributed to all families over the next few days.

Year 4 Sacrament of Eucharist Retreat Day

We welcome back Dr Nathan Leber who will be working with the Year 4 students in preparation for their Eucharist Celebrations on the weekend commencing 14 May.

Assemblies

As mentioned late last term, and commencing this term, assemblies will be reverting back to whole school assemblies, with social distancing applying to parents seated in the Sr Goretti Hall. I am content we have now been given the green light to come together as a school again and not have split assemblies as we’ve had over the last 6 months. Our first assembly is scheduled for Wednesday 5 May, (Year 6G) commencing at 2.15pm in the Sr Goretti Hall.

OLA Winter Uniform

All students are now requested to wear their winter uniform. As per previous years, all students are given a week’s grace (Week 1) to organise themselves, however, all students need to be in the new winter uniform commencing next week (Week 2), unless the old winter uniform is still being worn. Thank you, to all the parents, for their support with the above.

Interschool Swimming Carnival

The interschool swimming carnival is scheduled for Friday 30 April, commencing at 9.30am, HBF Stadium, Floreat. Interschool OLA Swimming Caps are available to be purchased at a cost of $15.00 each. Please see Mr Allsop if you would like to purchase an OLA Cap. I wish all our students, representing OLA, all the best during the carnival next week.

Circuit Morning Fitness

Since introducing the daily morning fitness program, students have participated actively in the program, with music playing in the background. We now would like to move to the next phase of the morning fitness program and organise circuit activities, with planned sporting activities for the students, on a daily basis. To achieve our aim of an organised circuit for the students, we require parent assistance at each station, on a daily basis. If you’re able to assist, and it doesn’t have to be every day, please email Ciaran at ciaran.allsop@cewa.edu.au who currently organises the morning fitness program. Once parents indicate their support for the program by volunteering to assist, Ciaran will coordinate a roster and distribute to all volunteers. Looking forward to your support and assistance with the above.

Anzac Day Liturgy

The school will be honouring those who fought for our country so we can all live the lives we’re currently living, on Tuesday 27 April, commencing at 11.00am. Parents are welcome to join us for the liturgy. A reminder Monday 26 April is a public holiday.

Recycling Bin – Cash for Containers

OLA is now being proactive in saving our planet and recycling recyclable items. The recycling bin is situated outside the Administration Building near the Year 3G classroom. All the monies received from the recycling will go to the OLA P&F to purchase resources for our students.

Over the next few weeks, the Year 6 Sustainability Ministry will be promoting the recycling at OLA. In the meantime, please read the information in the P&F section, bring your recyclable items and support our school. Please take note of what can and can’t be recycled. Thank you for your support.

Updated Term Planners

As published late last term, attached to this newsletter is the updated Terms 2-4 planners.

OLA 2021 Term Planners

OLA Faction Banners

As we continue to rebrand the school, with the students, we are currently in the process of designing new OLA Faction Banners. With the template provided, the students have been invited to design their own school faction banner. Once these have been created, a decision will be made as to which banners will be sent to the graphic designer for developing. Once the graphic designer has created the samples, the community will be voting for the faction banners and the most popular banners will be going to print and new full-size banners will be created for faction carnivals.

Swimming Lessons

Due to unforeseen circumstances, and for safety reasons, our swimming lessons, in Term 2, have been postponed, at this stage, and we’re in the process of seeking alternate arrangements, however, if a suitable venue and appropriate dates are not available, we may have to postpone the lessons until 2022. Ciaran Allsop is currently looking into alternative times and venues.  Our reasons for this are as follows:

• The only time available was not ideal timing on our calendar;
• As the winter months set in, we believe it will be too cold for our students;
• As Bayswater Waves prepares to begin their renovations, some of their 50m pool, bookings will be moving indoors, compromising the amount of pool space available to all pool users. This in turn, has affected the number of classes that can be run in a session, which would ultimately lead to timetabling issues on our end due to reduced capacity.

I apologise for the above however the decision has been made in the best interest of our OLA students.

Wishing you all a great first week back.

Thank you.

Greg Martin, Michael Morris and Rebecca Smith

The OLA Leadership Team