OUR LADY OF HOPE NEWSLETTER - Term 1 Week 10 2023
A Word from the Principal
Dear Families,
How quickly a term can travel!
I acknowledge that we still have another week to go before we arrive at the April School Holidays, however, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the continued loyal support of our staff, children and families to enable us to celebrate a wonderful term of learning, activities and connections.
Recently we celebrated our 2023 Sports Day at the Bridgestone Athletic Centre and were able to witness the athleticism of our children and a beautiful sense of team work and joyful enthusiasm in all of the events. I recognise the tremendous effort of Mrs Kath Cottrell in coordinating the day in partnership with our colleagues and fantastic support from the Gleeson College students. Congratulations to all of our children for their fair play and co-operation and special mention to the Xavier Team for winning the Athletics Shield and to the Ignatius Team for being successful with the Co-operation Shield.
As we prepare to enter the focal point of our Easter liturgical celebrations, I trust that you have an opportunity to reflect on the message of Easter. The story is one of unconditional love. This week, our students have led us through a number of reflective prayer services led by Mrs Subotkiewicz and Mrs Reuther. Very powerful experiences!
May you be continually reminded of the love that surrounds you in your home, workplace and at Our Lady of Hope School. Jesus displayed the ultimate sacrifice so that we may experience the blessing of eternal life.
May peace be within us and amongst us this Easter.
Kind regards,
Paul
Religious Dimension
Our Lady of Hope School staff wish our school community a restful and joyful Easter.
May the spirit of Christ touch your lives and fill you with joy and peace.
Easter Liturgical Calendar
Holy Thursday 6th April
- Mass of the Last Supper 7:00pm (St David's) Followed by Adoration until 10:00pm
Good Friday 7th April
- 10:00am Stations of the Cross (St David's School)
- 3:00pm Passion of our Lord (St David's)
Reconciliation will be available following Stations until 12:30pm and following the 3pm Passion
Holy Saturday 8th April
- 7:00pm Easter Vigil (St David's) Lighting of the Easter fire will begin in the memorial garden
Easter Sunday 9th April
- Sunday Mass 9:00am (Our Lady of Hope)
- Sunday Mass 10:30am (St David's)
Enhancing Catholic School Identity
We have invited our families to share their feedback about the Catholic dimension of Our Lady of Hope School. This was posted on Szapp and there are three $50 uniform vouchers on offer to encourage our families to participate. Once the survey closes, we will randomly select three surveys and provide these recipients with a $50 school uniform voucher.
The main questions explored are:
- How is Catholic identity lived and shaped in our school (current reality)?
- How would our school like to see its Catholic identity expressed (preferred future)?
- What potential is present in our school to realise its preferred Catholic identity?
The survey closes on Friday Term 1 Week 11.
Your observations will be crucial in ensuring our Lady of Hope School continues to reflect a strong Catholic dimension in our future endeavours.
Family link and code to ECSI survey:
Survey link: www.ecsi.site/au/user/
Survey access code: h3N6Q6
You are reminded to ‘screenshot’ or ‘take a photo’ of generated password, because this is for each individual and it is the only way to go back into the survey if time lapses or you need complete in two sittings.
Learning Dimension
Three Way Learning Conversations
We have distributed information to our families via SZapp about our new procedures for Parent – Teacher Interviews. In Term 2 Week 2 we will be inviting families to book a time to meet with their child’s teacher/s. The significant difference to previous years is that we are asking our children to attend these three way learning conversations. We have a strong belief in our children having a voice in their learning journey. Our children have been hearing our staff talk explicitly about ‘student agency’ and how important it is for us to develop our children’s ability to think about their thinking (metacognition). We anticipate that these conversations will provide our staff and families with new insights about how our children learn and the learning goals they are setting themselves.
Life Buoyancy Institute
On Monday 1st May (Monday Term 2 Week 1) every staff member at Our Lady of Hope School will be participating in ‘Impact Training’ with the Life Buoyancy Institute. This is the first stage of Our Lady of Hope School developing a comprehensive trauma responsive and wellbeing focus across every element of our school. We look forward to our teachers, Admin Team, ESO’s and our OSHC Team joining together to develop a whole school understanding of how to support ourselves and our community. We look forward to sharing our new knowledge and skills during Term 2 and beyond.
Administrative Dimension
Staff Leave
- Paul Bennett: Paul will be taking a week of Long Service Leave in T 1 Wk 11 to spend time with relatives from the U.K. We are thankful that Mrs Kerry Neville is willing to undertake the Acting Principal role during Paul’s leave.
- Lea Cohen: Lea is undertaking Long Service Leave for the duration of Term 2 2023. We trust that she will enjoy being with her family in Sydney and look forward to her returning safely to us at the start of Term 3.
- Cos Longo: Cos is undertaking Long Service Leave for the first 4 weeks of Term 2. We trust that he will be blessed with wonderful time with his family. We welcome Mr Jake Matthews to Our Lady of Hope School who will be teaching the Science program in Cos’ absence.
- Mrs Jo Jack: Jo will be accessing two weeks of her Long Service Leave in the first fortnight of Term Two. May this time provide her with opportunities for experience rest and relaxation with her loved ones. We welcome Mrs Sarah Walsh back to Our Lady of Hope School as she covers Jo for weeks 1 & 2.
Master Plan
Our Lady of Hope School has undertaken an extensive process in determining an architectural firm to lead us forward in developing our Master Plan and assisting us with our future capital works program. We are pleased to announce that we have elected to appoint Swanbury Penglase as our school architect. Early next term they will commence conversations with our staff, students and families in understanding the key elements that we are eager to include in our future building design at Our Lady of Hope School. It is our aim to have our Master Plan approved by the start of September 2023 and that we will be seeking CESA approval to commence building in 2024/2025.
School Fees
Good news – Fees for 2023 have not increased and will be set at the same level as those in 2022
2023 Fee Statements were mailed to all families at the end of Week 2 and should have been paid by 24th March. If you have not paid, please do so now.
If you have moved in the holidays and have not notified us of your new mailing address, please do so as soon as possible to ensure that all communication about your child is sent to the correct address.
Some things to consider around your fee payment:
Did you stop your direct debit at the end of 2022?
If you did, don’t forget to restart – forms can be found on our website and emailed to me.
Did you stop your BPay payment at the end of 2022?
If so, don’t forget to restart – BPay details can be found at the bottom of your statement and are unique to your family account.
Did another child commence school?
If so, have you adjusted your periodic payments to cover the additional fees.
Did one of your children leave Our Lady of Hope at the end of 2022?
If so, have you adjusted your periodic payments to reflect the lower fee amount
Did you have an opening balance on your statement?
If you did this could be due to a number of things:
- Your direct debit may be too low – please adjust accordingly, I’m happy to help with calculating the amount for the payment if needed, please call or email for assistance.
- Some of your periodic payments may have rejected – please ensure that you always have sufficient funds available in your account to cover these payments and once again you may need to adjust this year’s payments to make up last year’s shortfall
- You may make payments manually and have overlooked one – please ensure you pay the outstanding balance as soon as possible.
Do you think you will qualify for the Lower Income Fee Remission?
Remember to qualify for the Lower Income fee remission you should make an application for School Card, and this must happen each year. You can apply for school card by visiting www.sa.gov.au and making an online application, or forms are available at the Front Office and on our website. Please note our preferred method of application is online.
Are you struggling to pay your fees?
If this is you – please come and see me and we can work something out. All information that is shared in this discussion is completely confidential, but if we don’t know we can’t support you and your family. We are here to help.
If you have any questions regarding fees, please feel free to contact me.
Kind regards - Charmaine Gillard (Business Manager) Email: cgillard@oloh.catholic.edu.au
New Volunteer Induction Session
If you have any queries about your current volunteer status or would like to start the process of becoming a volunteer at OLOH please contact the Front Office staff on 8289 8344 or email mmcgrath@oloh.catholic.edu.au
Marion McGrath, Principal’s Assistant & Events Coordinator
Enrolments at OLOH
To all current families; if you have a young child due to start school in 2023, 2024 or 2025, please ensure that you have lodged an Enrolment Application (you would have received correspondence from the school if you have lodged paperwork). Places are filling fast! Enrolment applications can be obtained from the front office or via our school website:- OLOH Enrolments. If you are not sure please email us at kslazak@oloh.catholic.edu.au and we will check our enrolment records.
School Absentee Notification
If your child or children are going to be away for any reason (i.e. illness, family/social, medical/dental appointment, car trouble, running late etc.) we ask that parents please contact the Front Office via the SZapp absences form or if this is not possible by phone on 8289 8344. If your child arrives at school after 8.50 am, please sign them in at the Front Office.
Uniform Shop News
The Uniform Shop is now open on Tuesday morning between 8:30-9:30 am and Thursday afternoon between 2:30-3:30 pm for the remainder of this term. Any further changes to opening times will be notified via the newsletter and SZapp in due course. It is located off the courtyard in the room between Rooms 7 and 8 just to the right of the ramp.
The Uniform Shop order form can be found on the OLOH website: https://www.oloh.catholic.edu.au/uniform-price-list or alternatively hard copies of the form are available in the Uniform Shop as well as the Front Office.
Admin Staff
Canteen News
All Qkr App orders need to be submitted by 8:30 am. There are two menus: a Mon./Tues./Wed. option and a Thurs./Fri. option (link below). Please remember that you can order in advance and on recurring days. This will be particularly helpful with the much earlier cut off time.
As always, volunteers are welcome and if you have a spare hour or more especially on a Wednesday or Friday, give me a call on 8289 8448. If you are volunteer trained, have all the relevant clearances, are double vaxed and can spare some time (even 15 minutes makes a huge difference), I'd love to see your smiling faces!
If your child receives an emergency lunch, please pay for it via the GPS Qkr App under the Monies Owing section. The Qkr App is not a personalised system for each student so please just pay the relevant amount for the order.
The Canteen Price List for Term 1 2023 can be found on the link below.
Natalie Cotton, Canteen Manager
Community Dimension
OLOH Playgroup
At Playgroup, in conjunction with the recent National Reading Hour, we explored the idea of BRINGING BOOKS TO LIFE!
The children had so much fun ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’, looking for the animals on Old MacDonald’s farm and exploring the dinosaur world. It was with anticipation they discovered the animals in Dear Zoo. The children had a fabulous trip on the bus whilst we read The Wheels on the Bus. They were wondering about who ate the porridge in Goldilocks & The Tree Bears. The Teddy Bears’ Picnic was a favourite as always, as was exploring which house was the strongest in The Three Little Pigs.
Finally, there was so much laughter as they all tried to get in 'the boat' as we sang Row Row Row Your Boat, together.
What a fabulous day it was at Playgroup, bringing books to life!
What a fantastic morning we had in week 8 celebrating OLOH Playgroup Sports Day as well as National Playgroups Week. The children thoroughly enjoyed all the gross motor activities we had set out both inside and outside. To enhance our Sports Day experience we also focused on the colours of our sports teams and provided sorting and matching craft and experiences for the children. Both parents and children alike enjoyed our 'race' around the playground and all participants received a well done ribbon. At the end of our session we sang some parachute songs and Mr Bennett played his guitar and led us in singing some other tunes that focused on lots of movement.
Easter isn't too far away and the Easter bunny made some early deliveries to Playgroup. It was terrific to see lots of our Playgroup families join us for our Easter celebration in week 10 and, as always, new families are always welcome.
Ali & Bernadette,
Playgroup Facilitators
Mother's Day Stall
Dear Families,
All students have the opportunity to purchase a gift from the Mother's Day Stall. All profits from the Stall go directly to our School. Purchases are optional.
Students will need to bring:
- A named envolepe with small notes/coins.
- A named carry bag to take their purchase home.
Admin Team
Mother's Day Breakfast and Liturgy Invitation
Congratulations Rose
We congratulate Rose for her recent success at the LC Age Swimming Championships which was held over the long weekend. As an 11 year old in her first championship Rose exceeded all expectations:
- 100m Butterfly. Rose swam a PB and qualified for the final with a time of 1:27.48 (8th overall)
- Saturday: 50m Butterfly. Rose swam a PB and qualified for the final with a time of 35.45 (6th overall).
- Monday: 50m Freestyle. Rose swam a PB in her heat with a time of 33.16 (12th overall).
In each of these events Rose swam 12 year old times meaning that she has qualified for this same event next year. She is well placed to improve these results in the Short Course Championship to be held in July. An awesome effort Rose - we are proud of your commitment to your swimming!
OLOH Lunch Time Activities
The students at Our Lady of Hope have been enjoying our lunchtime activities which are run by our dedicated staff members and our talented senior students. Activities on offer this term include Car Play, Library, The Quiet Zone, Scoop Ball, Table Tennis, Bubbles, Skipping, Chess Club, and The Garden. These activities are aimed at supporting positive relationships amongst our student community. If your child is interested in any of these activities, please encourage them to join in on the day.
Kickstart Breakfast
St. David's Parish
Children’s/Young People’s Choir (Ages 6–16)
If you would like to join this choir, you will be most welcome.
We sing at St. David’s Church Tea Tree Gully on the second (2nd) Sunday of the month at 10:30 am and practice is held on the immediate Saturday prior at 3:00 pm.
We are also seeking adult musicians for this group – piano, guitar etc.
If any children or young people would like to sing or adults can help as a musician once a month, please contact Amanda Bartels via the Parish Office on 8264 4694.
After School Sport
OLOH Braves U9s Summer FUTSAL season has now ended. The students had a blast! The team is pictured below with their coach/manager Adrian. Thank you for your efforts with the team this season.
School Calendar
Families are able to access a ‘live’ calendar at the following locations:
- Szapp tiles
- OLOH Website ‘News & Events’ tab – School Calendar
- OLOH online newsletter
A paper copy is static and doesn’t allow us to make alterations should circumstances change. Whilst it is our intention to eliminate date changes, should they be necessary, we will communicate these to families via Szapp/Seesaw.
Noticeboard
The services and events contained in this bulletin are in no way connected with the school and are included in this newsletter for your information only. Parents and caregivers need to make their own enquiries and assessments about the suitability of these events and services for the needs and those of their children.
Gleeson College Enrolment Deadlines and Sibling Reminders
Play Therapy SA
Modbury Hawks Netball
Golden Calisthenics
Hockey SA Holiday Clinics