OLOG eNewsletter Term 1 Week 4

Dear Parents and Caregivers, 

As we embark on the solemn journey of Lent, it is a time for reflection, prayer, and renewal. Lent provides us with a sacred opportunity to deepen our relationship with God, to reflect on our lives, and to make positive changes that align with our faith.

Throughout this season of Lent, our school community will engage in various activities and reflections to enhance our spiritual growth and understanding of the significance of this holy season.

Our preparatory journey began last week on Shrove Tuesday and with the 2024 launch of Project Compassion. Special thanks to parents who greatly assisted us with cooking and sharing of pancakes.

We officially began our Lenten journey with solemn Ash Wednesday services, where we received ashes as a sign of repentance and a reminder of our mortality. The service set the tone for the season of reflection and preparation ahead.

Lent is also a time for almsgiving and service, especially to those in need. Our school community will actively engage in acts of service and almsgiving, whether it's through fundraising efforts for the Caritas Project Compassion campaign or volunteer opportunities. By practicing generosity and compassion, we strive to embody the spirit of Lent.

There is also often the association of fasting with Lent.  Perhaps this reflection below might provide some additional thoughts about fasting for this Lent.
 

Do you want to fast this Lent?

Fast from hurting words and say kind words.

Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.

Fast from anger and be filled with patience.

Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.

Fast from worries and have trust in God.

Fast from complaints; contemplate simplicity.

Fast from pressures and be prayerful.

Fast from bitterness; fill your heart with joy.

Fast from selfishness and be compassionate.

Fast from grudges and be reconciled.

Fast from words, be silent and listen.

As we journey through Lent together, let us open our hearts to God's grace and guidance. May this season be a time of spiritual renewal, transformation, and growth for our entire school community.

School Board and P&F AGM

The School Board AGM will be held on Monday 18 March, 7:00pm in the Community Space. The School Board has three vacancies and are seeking nominations.

The School Board has an important role in the school. It has delegated responsibility from the Archbishop for the overall wellbeing of the school, within SACCS (South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools) and diocesan policies and guidelines. In practice Boards in a spirit of partnership, act to:

develop policies that nurture the religious dimension and guide the direction of the school;
develop the relationship between the school and parish;
promote educational excellence within the school;
support the administration of the school;
foster harmonious and positive collaboration within the school community;
protect children
monitor buildings and grounds development, Master Planning and maintenance;
exercise financial stewardship of the school; and
ensure compliance with legal obligations.

We strongly encourage you to consider nominating for the School Board. Election to the membership of the Board is for a period of two years.

If you are interested in nominating please email me or fill in the form forwarded in Audiri.

P&F 70's Celebration this Friday

It is not too late to purchase your ticket for this Friday's celebration. Special thanks to Martina Fleming, Kerry Mansour, and Madeline Stewart who have been planning and preparing for the celebration. 

Peace and Blessings

Josette Charles
Principal

Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent. The season of Lent is a time of preparation for Easter when we relive the mystery of the Risen Christ and the light of hope it sheds on our whole existence.

When we speak to the children about Lent, there are three ways the Church teaches us we can truly turn our attention to God in our lives; through prayer, through ‘fasting’ or living in a way that is ‘simple’ and through giving to those in need.

Last week we celebrated Ash Wednesday Mass, where we were marked with ashes on our foreheads as a public expression of our faith and humility.

At our Ash Wednesday Mass, we also marked the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion appeal.

Donations to Project Compassion allows Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to alleviate poverty, hunger, oppression and injustice.

We encourage you to put your compassion into action this lent through your prayer, fasting and almsgiving by supporting Project Compassion.

Each family received a Project Compassion box after our Ash Wednesday Mass and each class has a larger Project Compassion Box. Coin donations can be made through individual or class Project Compassion boxes throughout weeks 3-9.

We will also support Project Compassion by having a have a Simple Living Day on Wednesday 27th March (Week 9).

More details will be provided, but the children will have a plain rice and bread roll lunch to empathise with those who are less fortunate than us. We will be asking for a Gold Coin Donation for Simple Living Day.

I have included some prayer ideas for families during Lent, a wonderful way to journey together throughout this Lenten Season.

WEEK ONE

WEEK TWO

WEEK THREE

WEEK FOUR

Upcoming Masses Term 1

Year 3/4: Week 6 (6th March @ 9.15am)- Lenten Theme

Year 5/6: Week 8 (20th March @ 9.15am)- Lenten Theme
 

Joy and Blessings

Debbie Scuteri
APRIM/Inclusive Education Coordinator

Informing the school of absences

If your child is not going to be at school due to illness, or will be late due to an appointment, it is imperative that you inform the school by:

• Phoning the 24 hour student absentee phone number: 8177 9191 before 8.55am; or
• Completing the absentee form in the Audiri app; or
• By emailing the class teacher or olog@olog.catholic.edu.au

Advance Notice of Absence / absence of more than five (5) days

For advance notice of your child’s absence, please complete the Application for Exemption from School Enrolment/Attendance Form, which is available from the Front Office.

Unexplained absence

If a child is not present and the school has not received an absentee call or email by 9:30am, the office will contact parents (generally via text) to ascertain the student’s whereabouts.

If your child is late

If your child arrives after 8:55am, they will need to enter through the Front Office and be signed in manually by a parents/caregiver via the IPAD (Passtab), then go to the classroom. If this process is not followed and the student has been marked as absent, an automated text message will be generated.

Early Departure

Should any child need to leave the school grounds during school hours e.g. dental/doctor appointment, parental permission must be given. All students must be signed out at the Front Office by their parent/caregiver before leaving the school.

This year, Our Lady of Grace School is once again entering the Premiers Reading Challenge. The Premier’s Reading Challenge is a literacy engagement program that was introduced by the Premier in 2004 to encourage students to read more books and enjoy reading and improve children’s literacy levels.

The Challenge requires students to read 12 books between the beginning of the school year and the 6th of September (Term 3, Week 7) and fill out the Reading Record. All students from Our Lady of Grace School are strongly encouraged to participate. They can borrow books from both our school library and public libraries which strongly support the Challenge.

Students from Reception-Year 6 will be required to read 8 books from the Premier’s Reading Challenge booklist at an appropriate literacy level. All books that are a part of the Premiers Reading List have been marked with fluoro stickers signalling appropriate literacy levels, Red for Reception – Year 2, Green for Years 3 – 5 and Yellow for Year 6 - 9. They may read 4 books of their own choice at a similar standard to the books on the list.

More information for parents and families regarding the challenge can be found at; https://premiersreadingchallenge.sa.edu.au/parents-families/

Once the Challenge has been concluded, awards will be given to all the children who participated and completed the challenge. Awards are determined by how many years the child has completed the challenge, rather than the year level the child is in.

We hope that you support your children through this exciting challenge. Happy reading!

Happy Week 4, everyone!                                                                                                 

Here at OSHC, we have been busy getting settled into the new year, meeting new families, and welcoming back old ones. We have had a strong focus on kindness and inclusivity in our program over these last few weeks, as the children are getting to know each other and building friendships.

Now, over the next fortnight, our focus will be on working together in the community and the importance of sustainability. With Clean Up Australia Day coming up, we will learn about the different ways we can be sustainable and look after our planet, and how we can use teamwork to help keep our planet clean!

Also, a few reminders for families; if everyone could please check your bookings for OSHC are up to date, make sure nothing has rolled over accidentally from last year, and that your ongoing bookings are set up ready to go! This is to ensure we can plan ahead and have the right number of educators on to care for the children each session.

Please also check your enrolment information online to see if anything needs updating, i.e. medical information, dietary requirements, approved people to pick up your children, phone numbers etc. We work with conjunction with the school, but do need up to date information of these things for our systems!

If you have any questions or queries at all, please don’t hesitate to contact the OSHC on 0450 776 714

Hoping you all have a great rest of the week!

Activities Coming Up

• Community Pantry project
• ‘Recycling Robots’
• Playdough Flowers
• BIG ART Fridays: Autumnal Crafts
• Cooking Activity:  Cookies