Term 2 Week 4, 2021

School Board
Last night the 2021 / 2022 School Board met for their first meeting since the AGM.  I congratulate these dedicated parents who have taken on this important role within our school community. I look forward to working with this group of people as the year progresses.

I have included an extract below that will assist to shape the work of the Board as we move forward in planning for the future of our school.

“Catholic Schools must provide a comprehensive educational experience for all children while allowing individual differences and talents to flourish. To achieve this, schools need dedicated and competent teachers as well as modern facilities and resources. To enable this to happen effectively, the School Board requires a clear vision of education for its particular community, thus ensuring that all students receive a well- rounded education of high quality.”

~Manual for School Board Members ~

2021 / 2022 Our Lady of the Visitation School Board

Chairperson:                  Cameron Wadrop

Deputy Chairperson:     Renee West

Secretary:                      Julie Reed

Treasurer:                      Peta Coudraye

NAPLAN
Our Year 3 & 5 students sat the NAPLAN tests in literacy and numeracy over the last two weeks. The staff were very proud of the manner in which the children conducted themselves, they were calm, focused and wanting to work hard to achieve a good result. As we know NAPLAN is only one measure of a child’s skills and knowledge.  There are many other factors that teachers take into consideration to contribute to the overall understanding of each child’s development.  I would like to thank Ms Ida and Ms Naismith for their leadership in ensuring the tests were carried out in an organised and calm environment.

Pupil Free Day - Friday June 11
Friday June11^th will be a Pupil Free Day. This day was booked at the beginning of the year and set aside for staff professional learning. In amongst all the disruptions to regular teaching and learning it is still necessary for staff to access quality professional development and continue to experience new learning to support better student outcomes. This date is the Friday before the June long weekend and it may be a really great opportunity with restrictions lifted on regional travel for a short family getaway somewhere in country SA. I thank you in advance for your support with this.

We will be offering the OSHC program on this day for families who may need child care.

200 Years of Catholic Education in Australia
On Monday, May 24th a National Mass will be celebrated across the Nation on the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians to commemorate 200 years of Catholic education in Australia. In South Australia, this celebration will be held at St Francis Xavier Cathedral at 10am with Archbishop Patrick O’Regan presiding. Our school leaders will be attending, accompanied by Mr Fitzgerald and myself to represent the Our Lady of the Visitation School Community.

National Simultaneous Storytime
Yesterday our entire school participated in the National Simultaneous Storytime. This is an annual campaign that aims to encourage more young Australians to read and enjoy books. It aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas. 

This year’s book, Give me some Space!, was read by astronaut Dr Shannon Walker, streamed live from the International Space Station .

Hello everyone,

I hope that you are all well. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of you and your family for the  support that was offered to me in relation to the  Vinnies Sleepout back in Week 2. The fundraising continues until the end of the month, however my main focus was for our children to be openly asking questions and discussing the whole idea of homelessness.

Our Faith
Last weekend, we celebrated the Ascension of Jesus – acknowledging Jesus leaving his friends and going up to heaven. The teachers led our school community in a prayerful celebration of this event.

This coming weekend, the Catholic Church celebrates Pentecost. Pentecost occurs 50 days after Easter and is when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. The Holy Spirit gave the disciples the strength to spread the good news of the Gospel that Jesus is risen and comes to bring us new life. The message from the Bible holds for us today, and we remember to call on the gifts of the Holy Spirit to guide us in our daily life and spread the good news of Jesus to all. Primary students can think of Pentecost as the birthday of the Church.

Our Children
Next Monday (May 24^th), four of our community members will be attending a special mass at St Francis Xavier Cathedral in the city.  As part of our celebration of 200 Years of Catholic Education in Australia, all major cities will be celebrating masses simultaneously. There will also be a live stream of the mass on this link:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRtDkvfgz3M.

Our Parish
This coming Saturday, some of our children will be attending a workshop at school as part of their preparation for celebrating the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion. This is an important day for the children – deepening their understanding of these two sacraments and preparing for their celebration in a nurturing and supportive environment.

Please keep Leonardo Luu, Leonardo Ziernicki, Jackson Woodforde, Shayda Yousefpour and Amir Yousefpour in your thoughts and prayers.

God bless you and take care,
Patrick

Secondhand Uniforms

We  have the last of our secondhand uniforms available for purchase in the front office. Below is a list of the size ranges we have available.

Long Pants - Size 2 - Size 14

Shorts - Size 2 - Size 14

Short Sleeve Shirts - Size 8 - Size 20

Long Sleeve Shirts - Size 18 & Size 20

Sports Jackets - Size 12 - Small

Summer Dress - Size 6 & Size 8

Winter Skirts - Size 6 - Size 14

Pinafores -  Size 6 - Size 12

School Bags & Excursion bags

School Fees 2021

School fee statements were sent home at the end of week 2.  We ask that if you have not already entered a regular payment plan (e.g., BPAY, Centrepay, or direct debit repayments) that will clear your fees by the end of the 2021 year or contacted the school to extend your time to pay, that you contact Micaela to discuss payment options available. 

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. If you are having difficulty with meeting your fee obligations, we have several options available to assist you.  Please do not hesitate to contact Micaela Callipari (Bursar) or Frank De Tullio (Principal) on 8248 2480 regarding fees and any assistance you may need.

School Card for 2021

School Card applications are required annually.  2021 School Card applications can be completed online, and forms are available from the front office.

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 

For eligible families, OLV’s lower income fee will apply once School Card is approved. 

Preschool Fees 2021

Preschool fee payments can be made in full or periodically, ensuring the quarterly balance is paid no later than Week 7 of each term.  Lunch Care Fees are billed at the beginning of the term and are due in full by Week 7 of each term.

OSHC Fees

Families accessing our OSHC service are reminded that 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 a separate BPay reference number to school fee accounts and must be used so payments are allocated to the correct account.  Payments made via EFT must include “child’s name” and “OSHC” as a reference in the payment description.

Qkr!

Our Lady of the Visitation is now using Qkr!, a payment app that has been implemented in schools and businesses across Australia, as a payment option for various financial transactions.  As per the app title, QKR! is “quicker” plus easier & convenient.

The app is available for payments of fees (School & OSHC), Children’s University, Soccer and other payments as they arise.  Small cash events will always remain for students to purchase ice blocks, Mother’s/Father’s Day gifts etc., however Qkr! allows for cashless ordering transactions where orders need to be placed and/or parents may prefer their child not handle cash.

Please feel free to speak to Micaela should you have any queries or need assistance in loading the app, or if you would like more information.

Thank you.

Micaela Callipari

Bursar

accounts@olv.catholic.edu.au

The R/1 classes have had a busy start to Term 2!  We have been learning about sharing our favourite healthy recipes as part of Oral Language presentations, exploring the season of Autumn through Art, learning about money and discovering the Power of Yet.

R/1 Red made money boxes using junk materials as part of the Mathematics curriculum.  The children were very creative and produced cars, butterflies, table tennis tables and many other colourful creations.  We have also been learning about the Australian coins and notes and their value, how, why and when we use money and different ways to make the same amount of money.

In R/1 Blue, we try to remember ‘The Power of Yet’ when we are learning new and tricky things.  The Power of Yet means that if we cannot do something, we add the word ‘yet’ to the end of our sentence to show that we are trying new skills.  On Thursday, we reflected on a new skill we want to learn but find difficult and this will be our Term 2 goal.

The R/1 Classes have been sharing information about their favourite healthy treats for their Oral Language Presentations this term.  Students in R/1 Purple have been learning about what healthy snacks look like, taste like and how they make us feel.  We also love seeing the healthy and colourful lunch-box snacks that are brought to school each day.

R/1 Yellow used beautiful leaves to create Autumn pictures. We learnt that the season of Autumn is March, April and May. 

Growing into Reception

What a great start to Term 2 in GIR!  From colours to frogs and zoo animals! Our weekly themes have linked nicely to our sounds from the Jolly Phonics Program.

These are just some of the activities we have been doing.

Cc and Kk – We made castanets and kites, discovered how colours can be mixed together to make other colours. We stacked cups and sorted colours.

Ee – Egg fun!  We role played and sequenced the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty, made pattern walls and built walls for Humpty to sit on.  The children loved listening to the story Green Eggs and Ham, playing with slime eggs and decorating green egg cookies!!

Hh – Hopping frogs!  We looked at a frogs life cycle, explored our frog small world play, made puppets and learnt how to hula with a hoop!

Rr- Rhinos!  Made rhino masks, counted zoo animals and made our own sensory rice bags. The children LOVED being zoo vets in our role play area.

We have listened to stories, sequenced pictures, counted collections, made patterns and continued to learn our Jolly phonics sounds, just to name a few!

Our home corner has transformed into a variety of exciting, hands on and inviting role play experiences! The Zoo vet surgery being very popular!

Lots of fine motor activities have been explored with our weekly themes allowing for the development of hand strength, pincer grip and hand/eye coordination. Puzzles, sensory bags, bingo markers and stickers, small world play, monkey balancing, finger frog hopping, tracing and using tweezers and droppers are some of the activities GIR have experienced.

We love to play, learn and grow together!