Welcome Back

I warmly welcome you all back to the new school year and welcome our new families and staff members, especially Di Scoble (returning to OLA), Ciaran Allsop (PE Teacher), Judith Hille (Finance Officer), Felicity Creagh (Social Worker – Fridays) and Leah Bailey (Education Assistant).

I hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas Break, shared with family and loved ones and are looking forward to the new school year. A number of changes have been made to the school’s procedures and calendars and these will be communicated below.

Wishing you all a safe and wonderful 2020!

2020 Priorities

Moving forward into 2020, reflecting our current Strategic & ASIP Plans, our focus will be to sustain what we have implemented over the last couple of years and consolidate. We will continue to be ‘Agents of Change’ through the initiatives we have implemented. Our priorities are:

• To sustain and consolidate the many initiatives implemented over the last couple of years, including Enterprise and Innovation, REACH, Intensive Intervention, Science Specialist, morning fitness, Sensory Program;
• Greater focus on the School’s Evangelisation Plan and greater emphasis and opportunities for faith development for staff and students;
• Making our RICE Values more visible throughout the community;
• Maintaining our high educational standards by providing staff with relevant professional development;
• To continue to build and foster a caring and nurturing community at OLA.

Welcome Back Family Night

All families are welcome to attend the Welcome Back Family Night scheduled for Friday 14 February, 5.00 – 9.00pm. Music will be organised and played in the Sr Goretti Hall for the students as families are invited to position themselves on the oval and socialise. As you can appreciate no ball sports will be permitted.

Sausage sizzles will be sold on the night (cooked by the staff) as well as ice-creams, slushies, juice boxes and water bottles (from the canteen). Sausages in a bun will be sold between 5.00pm and 7.00pm, with the BBQs being switched off at exactly 7.00pm. The canteen will close at 8.30pm.

For catering purposes, in ordering buns and sausages for the evening, an order form was sent home yesterday and is also attached below, please return the form to your eldest child’s teacher by Monday 10 February. We don’t require payment until the night (to be paid at the canteen).

I realise it is Valentine’s Day, but it promises to be a great night for all OLA Families to come together, for a few hours, welcome the new school year and socialise.

Welcome Back Night Sausage Sizzle Pre-Order

Induction/Commitment Mass for New Staff, Year 6 Students, Board and P&F Executive

All families are invited to the school’s Induction/Commitment Mass scheduled for Wednesday 12 February, commencing at 9.00am in the parish church. During the celebration, all new staff to OLA, Year 6 students, Board and P&F members will be making a commitment to serve our wonderful OLA community during the year. During the celebration, all new staff, Board and P&F Executive members will be presented with a religious symbol. The Year 6 Students will be presented with the blessed Ministry and Leadership Badges. Looking forward to seeing all families at the celebration.

2020 Term Calendars

The term calendars, uploaded in 2019, have been amended over the Christmas break and are attached. The interactive calendar on the website has the most up to date information, please check this on a regular basis.

OLA Parent Calendar 2020

Merit Certificates

In 2020, all students will be receiving two merit certificates during the year. These certificates will be based on individual student achievement.

RICE Values

In 2019, through our Strategic and Annual School Improvement Plans, we introduced four new school values, these being Respect, Integrity, Compassion and Excellence.

At OLA, we want to promote the RICE Values in our everyday interactions with others. In 2020, we will be introducing the following:

• Values Focus: Each term we will have a focus value – Term 1 Respect, Term 2 Integrity, Term 3 Compassion and Term 4 Excellence.
• Values Lesson: Each week a 15-minute lesson will be taught that focuses on the value for the term.
• Values Certificate: During the weekly lessons, students who have demonstrated the focus value will be awarded a RICE Award. At the end of each term, those who have received a RICE Award will receive an icy pole from the Canteen.
• RICE Tree: Each classroom has a RICE Tree. Students will receive a leaf for actions that reflect our RICE Values. Once students receive their leaf, they will place it on the class tree. Students can receive a leaf for any value at any time.

Assemblies in 2020

As mentioned in late 2019, the Leadership Team Members have been reflecting on the change of assembly times from a Friday morning to a Friday afternoon. While the change in time has proven effective in reducing the impact on teaching and learning time, it has been noticed that Fridays exclude our Kindergarten children. Moving forward, to include the Kindergarten students, assemblies will be moved to Wednesday afternoons (when scheduled) in 2020. I appreciate that this will be an adjustment to all, but I am confident that the change of day, to include Kindergarten students from Term 2, will benefit the school community as a whole. All assemblies are allocated for 2020, so please mark the dates in your diary.

Newsletter in 2020

As mentioned late 2019, and commencing in 2020, we will be moving to a fortnightly newsletter. We are going to be increasing the amount of communication sent via the school app, which we anticipate will reduce the number of emails and other forms of correspondence sent. If you have not done so already, please download the Connected app today! For security reasons, we will not publish the unique code in the newsletter, but it is available at the office.

2019 School Annual

The 2019 School Annual is currently being finalised and will be sent to the printer in the coming weeks. We’re hoping to have the school annuals printed and delivered to the school by the beginning of April.

Interim Reports and Parent Meetings

During the Christmas break, the Leadership Team decided to align the interim reports with the parent meetings (parent meetings were scheduled for the beginning of Term 2), hence interviews will now be held on the first three days of Week 10. Please check the school calendar for the updated information.

New School Uniforms

Don’t the students look fantastic in their new uniforms. A reminder the current the changeover period will cease at the end 2023. By 2024, all students should be in the new school uniform, but I am hoping families will endeavour to change uniforms in the near future. A reminder to all parents that students are not permitted to wear free dress items in lieu of the uniform.

Medical Conditions

If your child has a medical condition, e.g. anaphylaxis or asthma, please complete the required paperwork that is available from the School Office. All medications need to be left at the School Office with your child’s completed paperwork. Students in Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and Pre-Primary will have medications stored in the classroom, however, the School Office will still need to be notified of your child’s medical condition.

Permission to Use Student Images 2020

If you would like to amend your child’s permission to use student images from 2019 then please contact your child’s class teacher directly. All permissions given in 2019 will rollover to 2020 unless otherwise advised. New students to OLA in 2020 will be given a consent form next week.

OLA Bushfire Appeal

CEWA is encouraging all schools to make a donation to the Australian Bushfire Appeal. At OLA, we will be having a free dress day to raise money for this cause. Students are invited to wear free dress on Friday 14 February with a gold coin donation. Your support for our Australians in need is greatly appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

Greg Martin
Principal