Welcome to Term 4
It was great to see the children back from the holidays on Monday ready to get back to their learning. I trust you had time to relax with them during their break. Term 4 tends to be a busy term with end of year activities I would like to remind parents that when you come into the school yard, masks are to be worn and physical distancing is to be observed. At this stage we still cannot permit parents inside classrooms.
Emailed with the link to the newsletter is the Term 4 calendar. Of course, in this changing landscape of COVID-19 we will continue to be mindful of the latest health advice and restrictions, but we certainly hope that we can host the number of community events listed in this calendar. There will need to be restrictions for parent/carer attendance at some events. Please stay informed in advance of the details for these events.
Class Placements for 2022
Work begins next week in commencing to shape the class groups for 2022. As always I invite you to send any information that you would like us to consider in selecting a class for your child via email, to info@olv.catholic.edu.au by Friday of next week - 22nd October.
As in previous years I stipulate that this is not about ‘choosing a teacher’ but providing an insight into the learning environment in which your child thrives with their academic learning and social development.
OLV Master Plan
Our Lady of the Visitation School in 2019, engaged Brown Falconer Architects to develop a Master Plan. A school needs to adapt and evolve with the changing landscape of teaching and learning if it is to continue to provide a quality education for boys and girls at OLV. This will provide exciting opportunities for our school over the next ten years as the Master Plan is enacted.
Through this Master Plan we aim to set out plans to ensure that Our Lady of the Visitation School is not just a great place to learn and be taught, but it continues to be a great school in our area.
The Master Plan aims to enable students to experience personalised learning opportunities in modern flexible spaces, both indoor and outdoor. Spaces that are currently lacking within the existing fabric of our school.
This has been a lengthy process where all stakeholders have had an input into its development.
Please find the Master Plan display in the following areas for parents to view:
Veritas Centre Verandah (windows)
Outside the Uniform Shop
Outside the 2/3 B Community Room
An overview of the Master Plan is attached in the email with the link to the newsletter.
Swimming R – 4 Weeks 2 & 3
Over the next 2 weeks our students will be participating in the Swimming program at the Largs Bay Swim Centre. Unfortunately, as was the case last year, parents are not allowed to attend the pool to watch their children. We are following the pool’s COVID Management Plan. Extra staff will be in attendance to assist children with their changing. This is an opportunity for our children to develop a sense of independence. Children not swimming will accompany their class to the pool and sit with their class teacher.
Sports Fun Day 2021
What a fantastic day – it seems so long ago. It was a great way to complete Term 2. Congratulations to St Dominics - Sports Day Trophy & St Marys – Spirit Cup.
The overall winner was – St Dominics.
On behalf of the school community I would like to thank the following;
- John Merrett, Amelia Maddern & Shey Angove who put in so much hard work in preparing the students, organising the events and ensuring that the day was successful.
- Tracy for scoring and providing First Aid.
- Our team leaders who helped with the coordination of the Sports Day and organising their teams.
- To our staff for their ongoing commitment in providing our children with positive experiences.
- Thank you to the parents who helped out with supporting the children.
- Congratulations to all the students who participated extremely well.
OLV Soccer 2021
Our OLV 2021 school soccer season has come to an end. Congratulations to all our players on their dedication, good sportsmanship and improvement of skills throughout the season.
Many thanks to our fantastic coaches Matt & Melissa Dyda, Shaun Oliveira, Tobi Cibich, Anthony Ivcevic, Jarrod Spearman, Matthew Hosking and Arron Poulton. Thank you for your time and effort in supporting and guiding our children and to our COVID Marshalls – who had the toughest job of all!. We really appreciate it!
We also thank John Merrett for being our school soccer delegate for 2021. He has attended NWJSA meetings, supported with registrations and continued to be the main source of communication between the association and our school. Thank you!
Parents, thank you for your commitment in taking your children to games each Saturday morning. We hope you have enjoyed being part of the fun. Please ensure soccer tops are washed and returned to Tracy in the Front Office.
We have a planned Soccer Presentation Night on Monday 15th November after school. More details to come.
Uniform
The beginning of Term 4 is the designated change over to the Summer School Uniform. The weather over the last few weeks has been so unpredictable so there is a two week change over. You can decide which uniform your child is most comfortable in.
It has been a joy this year to prepare our Year Five and Six students for their performance in this year’s Catholic Schools’ Music Festival. Over three terms we worked continuously, learning the lyrics, the harmonies, the choreography, memorising at home and paying attention to so much detail to bring the performance together. Our students were enthusiastic and committed singers, and I’m sure had a night they will remember forever.
Here are their responses to the event.
One thing that stood out to me was . . .
. . . the support acts in the live performance (Zahra)
. . . the singing and the dancing in the performance (Tara)
. . . how fun it was to walk up on stage and sing (Tilley)
. . . the support acts (Lacey)
. . . the singing in the performance and in the lesson (Grace)
. . . the audience gave me joy as they were so excited hearing our voices and the feedback
from the audience was very positive. (Mayah)
One thing that surprised me was . . .
. . . how many people there were in the audience and performers. (Jaydan)
. . . how loud and how good we sounded - really good! (Izzy)
. . . when the audience applauded (Leo)
. . . how dark! I couldn’t see everyone while I was performing. (Ziva)
. . . I wasn’t as nervous as I thought because I was prepared (Eden)
. . . how well I remembered the words for the songs. (Max)
. . . how much I enjoyed it and how I didn’t get too nervous (Jordan)
. . . how calm I was singing onstage (Ali)
. . . how much I felt like I belonged! (Mackenzie)
Recently at kindy we have been learning about the people who help us in our community and ways to keep ourselves safe. We have learnt about fire safety, road safety and the dangers of playing with matches or medicines.
This week we were lucky enough to have a visit from the Metropolitan Fire Service who reinforced the messages of fire safety. They also showed us their uniforms and talked to us about emergency vehicles. We were very excited to look inside the fire engine and hear their sirens. We also had the chance to squirt water from the huge fire hose!
Social