COVID-19

This year has been such a strange year.  Things have been different for students and families especially in planning events.  Often decisions made have changed in a day.  I would like to thank our parent community.  You have all been most supportive and willing to ‘go with the flow’ as we moved to and from school since the Drop, Kiss & Go was adopted and the new Preschool arrangements.  Your ongoing cooperation and understanding during these times has been greatly appreciated and I thank you all for your patience, positive mindset and the ability to work with us as these challenges are continually placed before us. 

As I said early, COVID-19 continues to impact on community events but we are planning to ensure that our students, especially our Year 6 students, have the opportunity to participate in as many Term 4 events as possible, albeit with some restrictions necessary.

I would like to announce the class structures and staffing for 2021.  Class placements will go home with students on Monday 7th December.  There will be a transition session Monday 7th December 10.00 – 11.00 for students to meet their new teachers and orientate themselves with their new rooms, expectations and procedures.  Our R/1 teachers have been working closely with the Growing into Reception classes throughout this term.

Over the last week, Brown Falconer Architects have consulted our school community to provide information / data on what our school requires as they develop a Master Plan which looks at the needs of our school for the next 10 – 15 years.  There were a lot of consistencies across the feedback provided by the School Board, Students and Staff.  I expect the Master Plan to be completed by the end of February 2021.  This will enable us sufficient time to apply for Block Grant funding.

This is an exciting time in the history of our school.

Many thanks to Ashton Jackson and Mark Coggins and all the House leaders for all their efforts throughout the year.  They have all been outstanding school leaders in 2020.

I am delighted to announce that our School Leaders for 2021 are:  Tara Coggins & Jordan Smith

I would also like to announce that the House Leaders for 2021 are:

St Anthony                    Mackenzie Howie & Jacob Leonard
St Dominic                    Ella Gustard & Jayden Poulton
St Elizabeth                  Mayah Edwards & Lucas Kalaitzis
St Mary                         Eden Gallagher & Jake Atkinson

I congratulate the students who were elected House Leaders for 2021 and also thank the other students who participated by being candidates. 

We are still finalizing our Enviro Club Leaders and next year all classes will elect SRC Reps which will form part of our school leadership structures.

Tomorrow Friday 4th December the SRC's have organised a Casual Day.

Please bring along a gold coin donation which will go towards the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal.

Congratulations to all of the students who received a certificate or medal for the Premier’s reading challenge in 2020. These were presented to students at OLV at a special presentation last week.

It is now four consecutive years that we have had 100% of children completing the Reading Challenge.

The impact of reading is significant in student achievement, there is a great deal of research to support this: Children who read books often at age 10 and more than once a week at age 16 gain higher results in maths, vocabulary and spelling tests at age 16 than those who read less regularly. 

At OLV we are committed to improving students literacy levels.

We have come to that time of the year where we are asking for all library books and class readers to be returned to school.  This is a necessary process to ensure we take stock of our essential school resources.  The library will be closed for the remainder of this year and class readers will not be sent home in the final week of school.

Overdue notices have been sent home today. Our school policy is that parents will receive an invoice for any lost or damaged books.

I ask that all parents look around their house and in the children’s bedrooms for any Our Lady of the Visitation books & readers. These need to be returned to school tomorrow.  This will allow us to use our budget to purchase new materials, instead of replacing lost books.

Are you attending the Family Christmas Eve celebration with your family? I encourage all families to attend.  Once again OLV School will be coordinating this celebration with the parish.  We need our children to assist with the Liturgy as:

Readers - (of the Word and Prayers)
Actors - (enactment of Nativity Story)

A rehearsal will take place on Wednesday 23rd December 11.30 – 12.30 in the church.

Please contact Our Lady of the Visitation School (8248 2480) or info@olv.catholic.edu.au if you're interested. We hope to see you there!

Tuesday 8th December                          No Kindy

Wednesday 9th December                    Last Day School for Year 6

      7.00pm     Year 6 Graduation Ceremony

Thursday 10th December                      Last Day School for R – Year 5

                                                               Last Day Preschool

As the borders begin to open, those planning holidays for next year, the term dates are:

Term 1           27 January (Wednesday) – 9 April (Good Friday 2 April) 

Term 2           27 April – 2 July 

Term 3           19 July – 24 September 

Term 4           11 October – 10 December (Thursday) 

Celebrations – Masses and Liturgies

Family Faith Formation

The 2020/2021 cycle of Family Faith Formation to prepare children for the sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion will commence very soon.

Due to the various restrictions we are under, I ask you to 'register your interest' if you wish to have your child or children participate in this cycle.

Please email familyfaith@catholicparishes.com.au or phone the parish office on 8449 6378 during business hours. Make sure you leave your name and contact number so I can return your call. Children need to be from a catholic family and at least 7 years old to be part of our group.

Please register as soon as possible.

Judy Fernandez Coordinator,
Family Faith Formation

God bless and take care,
Patrick.

There are numerous items in lost property that need to be collected including lots of Sports Jackets.  Could you please come into the Office to check if any of the items belong to your child/children.  All items need to be collected by the end of this year.

Lots of learning happening in GIR this term as we continue to prepare for the start of our Reception schooling next year!

The students in Year 2 Red and 3 Blue recently participated in a puppeteer workshop at school.

Sue Harris a renowned puppeteer, visited the students, sharing her expertise and knowledge in a series of workshops with each class. The final session culminated in both classes meeting together to share storytelling and puppet performances.

We had a fun term in STEM. The Junior Primary students have a great time coding the Bee Bots, investigating magnets and using Scratch on the iPads. 

The kindy are celebrating the festive season with lots of fun art, craft, painting and writing activities.