Term 2 Week 10, 2021

End of Semester 1
As we approach the end of term, I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all the staff for their great work and to all the parents who have helped support their children in any way.  On reflecting on the students’ achievements from reading their reports and self-reflections, our students are making excellent progress and have learnt a great deal.

Our Lady of the Visitation School is a wonderful community to be part of and it is the commitment of the staff and the support of the parents that create this culture.  This has been such a busy last few weeks with the reports, learning conversations, Netball Carnival and excursions. Thank you to those parents who have volunteered by going on excursions, sporting events or helping out on Saturdays at school soccer.

Last weekend, I attended and watched 5 of our soccer teams (I will make sure I attend the other teams early next term). I was impressed by the way our students participated, tried their hardest and most importantly were having fun.  I would like to thank all those parents who have taken on a role with soccer and to parents who take and support their children each cold Saturday morning.  Your children do appreciate it.

I hope that you all have a safe and enjoyable time with your children over the school holiday break and look forward to working with you all again next term. 

Student Learning Review Meetings 
The majority of Student Learning Review meetings have now been completed and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made the time to come along in the cold. It was great to see so many students confidently leading the learning review, talking about their strengths, and working together with parents and teachers to set goals for future learning. We value this important opportunity to meet together and hope that you will continue to support us in developing your child’s potential.  

There has been positive feedback from a number of parents regarding the online booking system we initiated for this round of interviews.  We will continue to use the procedure.

COVID Update
With the events of last week around Australia it reminds us that we still need to be vigilant in maintaining procedures to ensure our safety.  At this stage there has been no change to our current procedures at OLV.  I would like to remind parents of the following:

QR Codes:  Please ensure you QR code when entering the school site to pick up / drop off or attend events.

Social Distancing:  when attending indoor events please social distance.

Facemasks:  These are not mandated but strongly recommended by our Premier.  This is your choice.

Please remember that in the event of a state lock down, we will communicate via email.  It is important that we have your current email address and you check these regularly.  We have procedures in place in case of this event.

Student Absences

A friendly reminder… when alerting the school of the absence of your child/ren, can you please contact the school via the phone number or email address below.

(P) 08 8248 2480

(E) absent@olv.catholic.edu.au

We appreciate your assistance with this matter.

Hello everyone,

I hope that you and your families are well.

What a busy term it has been!

We have celebrated liturgies in the Veritas Centre, witnessed the achievements of our wonderful students during assemblies, admired the growth in leadership of our amazing Year 5 and 6 children and have generously raised money and awareness for Adelaide’s homeless by supporting the Vinnies Leaders Sleepout.

Our 5 special sacramental children have continued their faith journey – looking towards our parish celebrations of Confirmation and First Eucharist at the end of July.  Please keep the children in your prayers.

Our Year 6 leaders Jordan Smith and Tara Coggins have come up with an idea to raise money for the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal. This Friday (the last day of term), we are inviting all of the children to wear casual clothes to make the last day as bright and colourful as possible. We ask that each child brings along a gold coin (or coins!) that will be collected and sent to St Vincent de Paul. I spoke with Umez, the Youth and Community Engagement Officer at St Vinnies, and he is overwhelmed by our community’s continued generosity.  After all that you did as a community when I did the Leaders Sleepout earlier in the term, it is truly humbling to know that our families are so giving. Thank you.

Looking forward, we are going to be welcoming new students in Reception, our new Reception teacher Ros Braham AND we welcome back Mrs Bianca Bruno on Fridays.

We thank you Lord, for this term.

For the challenges, the successes, and the mistakes from which we have learnt.

Be with us as we spend our time with family and friends.

Give us strength and courage to do what is right, to be witnesses of our faith.

Help us to give time and effort to help others and to be peacemakers in our family these holidays.

Keep us safe Lord in our activities and give us rest.

Bring us back refreshed and ready for a new term.

We thankyou Lord for our classmates, teachers, parents and all those in our community.

May we continue to be empowered by hope and inspired by curiosity throughout this school year.

We pray this through Christ our Lord,

Amen

God bless you and take care,
Patrick.

School & Preschool Fees 2021
School and Preschool Fee Statements with a balance were sent home this week.  Please take the time to check your statement and ensure payments will repay any outstanding balance in the required time frame outlined in the 2021 School Fee Schedule.  If you have not already entered into a regular payment plan (e.g., Bpay/EFT, Centrepay, Qkr! or direct debit repayments) that will clear your fees by the end of the 2021 year, please contact Micaela to discuss payment options available. 

School and Pre-School Fees are invoiced annually and payable over the four terms by the following due dates unless an alternative payment plan has been put in place.  Due dates for minimum quarterly balance payments are by the end of week 7 each term: 12th March, 11th June, 3rd September and 26th November 2021.  Updated statements are forwarded each term and are available on request at any time.

A direct debit payment method can be established to cover the annual total fees over the year, therefore spreading the entire fees over the year. This is the preferred payment option.

Pre-School Lunch Care Fees are invoiced each term as required, due week 7 of the term/s it is accessed.

All fees must be finalised by the end of Week 7 in Term 4 (26th November 2021), unless prior arrangements have been made with the Principal or Bursar.

All parent/caregivers are reminded that it is a contractual obligation that forms part of your enrolment at the school that fees are paid within the terms of our fees policy. Please do not hesitate to come in and speak to Micaela or Frank DeTullio about fees and any assistance you may need.

School Card for 2021
School Card applications are required annually.  2021 School Card application can be submitted online, or forms are available from the front office.  Please apply as soon as possible.

The School Card scheme is administered by the State Government to provide financial assistance towards the cost of education for full time students* of lower income families. Any parent/caregiver who would like more information about the scheme can contact Micaela at the school or the School Card section on 1800 672 758 (free call) to discuss or visit the link below: 

https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/education-and-learning/financial-help-scholarships-and-grants/school-card-scheme 

*School Card and other discounts do not apply to Preschool fees.

Fee Remission for 2021
Parents/caregivers experiencing financial difficulties are encouraged to apply for fee remission ASAP.  Please email accounts@olv.catholic.edu.au for a fee remission form or collect from the front office if you wish to apply. 

We assure parents/caregivers that all details provided will be kept strictly confidential.  If you are having difficulty with meeting your fee obligations or have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Micaela or Frank DeTullio on 8248 2480 to discuss assistance and payment options available.  Please be assured of the school’s support for your family during these difficult times. 

OSHC Fees
Families accessing our OSHC service are reminded that OSHC fees need to be paid promptly after accounts are sent home each week.  OSHC fees are billed on a separate system, with payment details and options listed on the weekly distributed invoice/statements.  Payments made via BPay have the same Biller Code of 297788, however, the BPay Reference Number is different to school fee accounts and must be used so payments are allocated to the correct account.  Payments made via EFT must include either your BPay reference number, or your “child’s name” and “OSHC” as a reference in the payment description.

Thank you.

Micaela Callipari
Bursar

accounts@olv.catholic.edu.au

Term 2 for the Year 4/5/6 students has seen them be in engaged in many different and varied learning experiences. We would like to share with you a “snapshot” of our term.

Some of the activities have included…

• MOTHER’S DAY - Time was spent designing, card and gift making to say “thank you” to our mums for their love and all they do.
• TIPPY TAP – a Religious Education STEM focus. In RE the students have been exploring the work that CARITAS Australia undertakes in communities around the world. As in many places around the world there are no pipes or access to water in homes. Working in groups the students were challenged to design and make a Tippy Tap. A Tippy Tap would allow their hands to be washed hygienically. Students were challenged to think about sustainability in their choice of materials. Working together as a team was a key component to completing the task.
• NAPLAN – our Year 5 students completed their online NAPLAN testing – well done.
• DESTINATION AUSTRALIA – one of our homework contracts focused on destinations around Australia. Students were able to research places they would like to visit in Australia and made models and posters to promote these.
• REFUGEE WEEK – as a unit we used differentiated texts to look at the story of Ahn Doh as a beginning of our focus for refugee week. Supporting students to develop a deeper understanding of terms that are commonly used in the wider community, such as “refugee”, “flee” and “asylum”, was a focus. The students worked together to film a clip discussing these terms. The clip formed part of a prayer Power Point that was shared with the other year levels to use in their classrooms during Refugee Week. An example of these discussions can be seen on our OLV Facebook page.

Included are a selection of photos that reflect some of our learning this term. So much more was achieved.

The Year 5/6 Red class are preparing for the Catholic Schools’ Music Festival. All in the class have been learning singing and performance skills, including choreography, memorization, reading music, and above all producing a good vocal sound.      

Fifteen of our students will take these skills to performance level by singing at the Entertainment Centre in September. As part of this process, they recently went on an excursion to Whitefriars School to participate in a regional rehearsal under the direction of the festival’s musical director Denise Rothall. Our students rehearsed this year’s songs with several other schools’ choirs, getting their first experience of part-singing in a large choir.

During this rehearsal auditions for solos were heard, and three of our singers, Eden, Ali and Mackenzie, stepped up to the challenging process of singing solo from the front.

We wish all our singers well over the next few weeks as they fine-tune and prepare for the performance.