Sacrament of Confirmation

The Year 6 Confirmation Candidates, as well as the OLA Parish Candidates, will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation this weekend. Thank you to the teachers, Tiana Versace, Sophie Webb, Emily Coffey and Sophie Costello, for not only preparing the students in receiving the sacrament, but also coordinating the whole event, from preparing and printing the booklets, to creating the Confirmation stoles and coordinating the soloists.

We encourage as many students in Years 3,4 and 5 to attend the event and participate in the choir. The celebration commences at 10.00am and will conclude at approximately 11.15am. Please encourage your children to attend the celebration.

Cancer Council ‘Ponytail Project’ Fundraiser

We have all experienced living with a person who has cancer, knowing someone who has/had cancer or who has passed away from cancer. Being the family member or friend of someone who has cancer, or is dealing with cancer within their families, can be scary and confusing. We all want to support these people and sometimes we just don’t know what to do.

With so many fund-raising activities in our communities, it is not always possible to say yes to students who want to fund raise for a cause. As you can appreciate, if I said yes to every idea put forward to the Leadership Team, we would be fundraising every week, and it wouldn’t be sustainable, however we decided to support Emma Thompson with this fundraiser because cancer, in one way or another, has affected us all. Some of us have lost loved ones, as I have with my mother, who passed away a few years ago from cancer, as well as friends.

Attached to this newsletter is a letter explaining how the community will be supporting Emma in her quest to support those who are trying to eradicate the disease. Please take a moment to read the attached flyers and support those who are living with the disease.

Click here to learn more about Emma Thompson’s Ponytail Project Fund Raiser

Veritas Library Grand Reopening

It’s official, the Veritas Library had its official reopening to welcome the community to the newly refurbished library. We also had Cristy Burne, renown author, visit the school on Monday for the official reopening. Thank you to our P&F and OLASAC for providing the funds and to Claire Dale and Luisa Durkin for their efforts in coordinating the refurbishments as well as inviting Cristy to be a part of the celebrations.

Veritas Library Events

Wednesday 25 May is National Simultaneous Storytime. National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. This year we are reading Family Tree by Josh Pyke, a heartfelt celebration of family, community and the seasons of life.

Tuesday 7 June we are looking forward to a visit from author James Foley, who will be coming to share his experiences writing and illustrating picture books. James’ latest book Stellarphant has been nominated for the Children’s Book Council Awards this year. This event has been enabled by Love to Read Local Week and the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Wellness Week – Yoga

In 2021, through the OLASAC members, and part of our OLA Strategic Plan, the suggestion was put forward to have wellness activities for both the students and staff at OLA. Week 8 is our designated Wellness Week and the OLA P&F have organised a Yoga instructor to complete a session with each cohort group. More details will be included in the Week 7 newsletter. A huge thank you to the OLA P&F for coordinating the event.

School Disco Change of Date

Unfortunately, due to the term moving so quickly and having insufficient time to coordinate the event, the Year 5 parents, coordinating the event, have decided to change the date to 29 July (Week 2 – Term 3). Thank you, once again, to the Year 5 parents for taking the time to coordinate the disco. I have heard, on the grapevine, the boys are already practising their dance routine for the ‘Year 6 Dance Off’. I am still confident the Year 6 girls will take the prize home this year. Good luck to both groups in their ‘Dance Off’.

Trading Cards & Toys

Over the last few weeks, we’ve had a number of issues relating to students bringing in trading cards and toys to school. Trading cards have been accidentally damaged and toys have been misplaced/lost. The school policy, as it is in most other schools, is that students are not permitted to bring to school trading cards nor toys unless they’re showing them for news. If this is the case, students are to hand in their items to their class teachers until it’s news time. Please remind your children the above items are not permitted at school and will be confiscated (for safekeeping) until the end of the day when it will be returned, to be taken home. Thank you for your support with the above.

Playing on Equipment Before and After School

Over the last few years, our aim, as a school, has been to build community. To see children and families engaging, before and after school, is encouraging, especially how the children are playing together. Many schools’ policy is that students are not permitted to play on the equipment, nor play with any sporting goods, before and after school. When they arrive at school or are waiting for their parents to be collected, they all sit in a designated waiting area. At OLA, we’re the opposite in that we believe the students should be given the opportunity to expel some of the excess energy they have so when they enter the classrooms, they are ready to learn. As a staff, we have noticed the children are more settled when entering the classrooms, because of our OLA morning daily fitness program.

Having stated the above, the ECE staff have advised the Leadership Team members there are students playing on the playground equipment, unsupervised. This is a concern because once students are dismissed to their parents each afternoon, the parents take responsibility of their children, including supervising them when they’re on the playground equipment. We want to continue to support the community, however, we also need to ensure children are safe at all times. By all means, continue to use the playgrounds after school, but I request that you’re vigilant with your own children. I strongly suggest all students in Pre-Primary and Year 1 participate in the OLA Morning fitness program each day on the main oval.

Moving forward, I request you support the staff in supervising your children every morning and afternoon in the ECE (Kindy, PP and Year 1 areas). The Leadership Team will be present each afternoon to monitor the situation and if the situation does not improve, we will have no choice but to stop allowing the children to play on the playgrounds, before and after school. I am confident all parents will read this message and support the school in ensuring the children, in their care, are well supervised, before and after school.

2023 Pre Kindergarten / Kindergarten Enrolments

A reminder to our current families to submit enrolment applications for siblings as soon as possible to secure a place for your child. We now have waiting lists for both year levels and we certainly wouldn’t want our own siblings missing out. Please contact Jane Sloss on 94713000 or email Jane at enrolments@ola.wa.edu.au

Thank you.
Greg Martin and Michael Morris
The OLA Leadership Team