OLOF TIMES
04th September 2020
Our Vision
Our Lady of Fatima Palmyra is a Catholic School that aspires to
provide a respectful, secure and caring learning environment
where our community is committed to following
the teachings of Jesus.
From the Principal
Dear Parents,
It is hard to believe we are at the back end of Term 3 now as you read this newsletter. Clearly 2020 will be a year to remember for a whole range of reasons, it has obviously been a very different year with lots of ups and downs and a variety of unusual challenges. I would like to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge everyone in our school community for their support and agility with the changes that have needed to be made, often at short notice, to adhere to requirements provided by the leaders of our system. We have also needed to be as consistent as we can to continually share the right messages to ensure we do not become complacent in these challenging times. A priority for us has been maintaining a strong sense of normality for the children to reduce the potential for stress and anxiety, in these uncertain times. Thanks to everyone for your support!
Well-Being in the OLOF Community
We have had a strong focus over the last couple of years regarding Well-Being in our community. We started in 2018 with a focus on the children, before moving onto the staff and parent community. We currently have a sub-committee to the P&F, liaising with Rob La Roche to develop ideas to continue to develop the concept of Well-Being. One of the ideas that came out of this group was to connect with some elderly people in our local community. Our Year 5 students, under the guidance of Rob have set up pen pals with some residents at Aegis, Melville.
I had a visit from one of our parents Matt Ducat, (Cohen’s Dad) who works at Aegis, he came in to describe the positive impact the letters received by our Year 5’s had on the residents recently. Later that day we received an email from one of the coordinators at Aegis, Melville. I have provided a copy for you below:
Hi Rob,
Thank you so much for the wonderful letters that the children have written. They have brought so much joy to the residents and the talk around the facility is all about their new OLOF pen pals.
I will be working with the residents over the next 2 weeks to get some letters written up and sent back to you all.
The children look so smart in their school uniforms and the photos were a fabulous idea. I will try to attach some photos of our residents as it’s nice to know who you are writing to.
I knew the residents would enjoy hearing from the kids but I had no idea it would be so popular. The residents have been showing their letters to friends and their families.
Thanks again,
Jacqui
This is such a special way of putting a smile on the faces of the elderly people, particularly in the current climate, congratulations to all involved.
We also have a Latino Dance experience coming up next week which falls in line with our current School Virtue, Courage. Our Well-Being sub-committee have distributed some information already, I will be drawing on courage to come along and join in, it promises to be a lot of fun. Come and join us next Friday afternoon after school if you are able to!
Swimming Lessons
Our fortnightly swimming lessons seemed very successful, concluding last Friday with the distribution of certificates which were sent home with the children. The sunny weather last week was fantastic, but it has also been great to get back into the complete school routines this week to ensure we finish Term 3 strongly.
Winter Sports Carnival
Congratulations to all the children and staff who contributed to the children enjoying the Winter Sports carnival last Friday at Troy Park. All the children seemed to enjoy their experience which is the number one priority, we had some mixed success on the day with the footballers only losing one game (by 1 point), the netballers having a small amount of success and the soccer players finding the opposing schools very strong competition! Special thanks to Lisa Callaghan for sharing her netball expertise with our older students, her input at training sessions and throughout the carnival day was very much appreciated.
Bookclub Orders
The recent Bookclub orders were distributed earlier this week. This is a great programme and a wonderful opportunity for the children to continue to develop their love for books and literature. Enormous thanks to Clare Gendron who coordinates the programme to enable this opportunity for the children.
School Fees for 2020
Thank you to all families for their contribution towards the 2020 school fees. As a community we are tracking along very well from a fee collection point of view. Earlier this week Amy Sheridan distributed an updated fee statement to all families as at 31st August. If you are on a current payment plan, no action is required. Again, if you would like some support with the school fees, please do not hesitate to drop in to meet with me.
Father’s Day Breakfast
Yesterday morning was a great chance to mingle with the fathers and grandfathers in our community as we joined together for a bacon roll and a coffee to celebrate Father’s Day this weekend. It is always great to see so many fathers and grandfathers in the community and our Pre-Primary children reflected on just how special our father and grandfathers are by leading us through a beautiful liturgy where they shared some special thoughts and photos about their fathers and grandfathers. The Pre-Primary children were joined by their buddy class, the Year 4’s who provided some support and reassurance for the younger children as they led our liturgy. Special thanks to Sandra Leavy as well as Peta Brandis and Kath Pratley for guiding and supporting the children to ensure we experienced a very meaningful reflection on these important people in the children’s lives.
Enormous thanks also to the members of our P&F who were here from 7am ensuring that our Fathers and Grandfathers in our community were catered for and made to feel spoilt.
Bookweek Assembly
As a community, we have chosen to celebrate Bookweek this week with the Year 5’s leading our Bookweek assembly today. It is always a bit of fun watching the children dress up and enjoy the opportunity to share some information about their favourite book character. Between the 2 assembly “sittings”, we had our traditional Bookweek parade which was also good fun! The Year 5’s did a great job combining Bookweek with Father’s Day as our focus for the assembly, huge thanks to Rob La Roche and Nicole Wright for leading the children through such an important focus. It was also great to see so many parents in attendance to celebrate the occasion with us on the oval.
Principal Review
As part of the employment conditions for principals in Catholic primary schools, our contract is reviewed in our third and eighth year in the school we are leading. Data has been collected as part of this process from a range of people in our community and a number of individual and group interviews will take place here at school on Thursday 10th September and Friday 11th September to put some of the data collected into context before a final report is written on my performance as the principal of Our Lady of Fatima. I would like to thank in advance, all those who have committed to the interview schedule next week and those who have contributed to the data collected. This process is facilitated by CEWA and there will be two delegates here at our school for the two days next week.
Science Show
In Week 9 this term Lara Gleeson will be facilitating a Science Show for the children. This will be an opportunity to showcase some fun, hands-on activities for the children to enjoy, sharing a range of Science concepts in the process. It should be a lot of fun for the children.
Upcoming Athletics carnival
Preparation for our annual School Athletics carnival is well underway. You will have received a note over the last couple of days with the finer details for the day. As previously mentioned, our P&F are organising the option of a Subway lunch for the children, staff and parents. I have been asked to mention:
“…parents need to add themselves as a user to their existing lunch order accounts (just as they did when adding their children)in order to place their own lunch order — please refer to the notes in the newsletter under school lunch orders that instructs how to do this. When parents are adding themselves they scroll to the bottom & choose the parent option. All of the parent orders will be in a separate tub on the day (as with each class & the staff orders). The subway lunch will be delivered at 12pm.”
(Thank you to Kerri Jondahl for providing these instructions)
We are hoping for fine weather and looking forward to as many parents as possible in attendance.
Best wishes for the coming fortnight.
Paul Hansen
Principal
Dates to Remember
Tuesday 8th September
Reconciliation Retreat at Schoenstatt Shrine for Year 3’s
Wednesday 9th September
P&F Meeting at 7:30pm
Tuesday 15th September
Science Show
Wednesday 16th September
Science show
Thursday 17th September
Year 1 assembly
Friday 18th September
School Athletics carnival
Kindergarten 2021 Enrolment Applications
If you have a child born between 1st July 2016 – 30th June 2017, they are due to attend Kindergarten in 2021. Application forms are available on our website or at the school office. Please return application forms to the school office ASAP. We don’t want you to miss out!
‘Online & Technology Safety’ with Mr La Roche
Gaming is a popular past-time for many students and parents. In the last 12 months the game ‘Fortnite’ has taken the world by storm due to its free play option and availability across multi-platforms. Based on conversations teachers hear in the playground, it is a popular game amongst a wide range of students in both junior and upper primary at Our Lady of Fatima. This week’s guide gives parents some helpful information around monitoring and playing the game appropriately. I hope it is helpful.
Happy Father’s Day to all our dads and grandads this weekend.
Blessings For Fathers
Dear God, we give thanks for fathers.
We recognize the dedication and patience
it takes to be a source
of compassion and
understanding when helping
to shape a young life.
Bless all fathers,
especially those who are new
in this sacred role. We pray they feel
Your presence with them.
May they know that Your strength
and wisdom are within them,
providing all they need
to guide and support
their children with kindness and love.
Book week pictures
Well done to our school community for celebrating Book Week by coming to school dressed as their favourite book character! There were so many great costumes. It is pleasing to see that our children’s enthusiasm for reading is so strong and it really is a SUPER POWER!
Thank you to the staff for immersing themselves in the enjoyment of book week. It was also great to see so many parents watching the parade.
‘P&F Community wellness Committee Update’ - Wellbeing Theme for Wk 7 & 8
Courage is making good choices in the face of fear or worry or some kind of negative consequence.
It doesn’t have to involve a big, strong, powerful action. In fact a person’s most courageous behaviours can take place on their inside …dealing with, managing, overcoming fears & worries.
We can build and improve our courage just by practising it in little ways, every day – like trying something new! Then when a humongous big challenge comes along, our courage will be well prepared to deal with it!
support our school at Gilbert's fresh market and The Foodies Basket
Gilbert's Support Our School Program donates 1% of the money spent by you to your nominated school every time you shop with us! Sign up for free at the checkout and scan each time you shop.
As at 16/06/2020 the Gilbert’s Fresh, Hilton SOS Program has 31 schools, and 2,236 customers signed up, plus, Gilbert’s has donated $40,945.00 to local schools since the program commenced in October 2017.
The Foodies Basket, Attadale donates a $1 for every 100 points accumulated. Just give our School name or show your card each time you purchase.
School Lunch orders every Monday and Thursday.
Uniform Shop
Contact Us
Email: admin@olof.wa.edu.au
Website: www.olof.wa.edu.au
Location: 3 Harris St, Palmyra WA, Australia
Phone: 08 9333 7900