OLOG eNewsletter Term 3 Week 8

Dear Parents and Caregivers

A lot can happen in the life of OLOG particularly over the last month. My sincere appreciation and thanks to Acting Principal, Emma Fowler for her leadership during this time while I was on long service leave. Emma shared many positives about all the special events, learning, connections with families and the array of activities. I did spend my leave in Far North Queensland, enjoying the warmth and exploring the environment. Cape Tribulation and being in the Daintree Forest was a highlight.

What a huge turnout for the Father’s Day Breakfast and Liturgy. Thank you to our dedicated staff and parent volunteers, for providing a delicious breakfast and a chance for dads to catch up with other dads. Thanks to the P&F for the Father’s Day stall. Children are always excited to consider the best gift for dad. The special gifts made in classrooms are filled with care and love.

OLOG school disco is a highlight on the OLOG calendar. Again, I thank our dedicated staff for their support on the night and to the many parents who volunteered to support children and the disco experience at OLOG.

The Season of Creation

Spring weather has finally appeared and suddenly children have been sharing that they are feeling hot. Spring also begins the Season of Creation. This is the annual Christian celebration to pray and respond together to the cry of creation. The ecumenical family around the World  unites to listen to, and care for our ‘Common Home’.

The Season of Creation celebrations begins on Friday 1 September - the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and ends on Wednesday 4 October - the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christians.

This year we will unite, in prayer, around the theme, “Let Justice and Peace Flow”. As a school community we are called to listen to the call of justice and peace and take action.

What does this action look like?
We can all do our part to look after our earth and to take time to experience God’s love through creation.

Some simple ideas are:

• Take a beach walk and spend some time praying and giving thanks for the gift of creation that God has given us
• Switch to a bamboo toothbrush
• Plant something
• Refrain from using single use plastics
   

Religious Literacy Assessment Tool (ReLAT)

Our school will be participating in an assessment in Religious Education for all Year 4 students in South Australia Catholic Schools. This annual assessment has been developed by the Catholic Education Office and will take place during Week 8 of Term 3, 2023 (11 September – 15 September).

• Religious Education (RE) is a core Learning Area in all Catholic schools. It is a foundation for all learning and is integrated into the life of the school through prayer, liturgy and social justice programs. ReLAT will focus on knowledge content which is core to the Year 3/4 Crossways Religious Education curriculum.  Students in Year 4 in 2023 have been engaging in the new Religious Education curriculum for two years. As a basic knowledge test, ReLAT complements the continuous, fuller, and deeper assessment of learning that occurs in the RE classroom.
• Please note that the assessment is not a measure of a child’s faith nor their participation in the broader life of the Catholic community.  It is important to draw upon a variety of assessment strategies to develop a comprehensive picture of a child’s progress and understanding in Religious Education.
• The data from the ReLAT assessment will be collated and used by the school to inform whole-of-school professional learning needs and the continuous improvement of teaching in Religious Education.  Individual results will be made available to your child’s teacher.  An individual ReLAT report for parents, will be provided to you, to complement the school report. If you have any questions regarding the Religious Literacy Assessment Tool (ReLAT) please contact Debbie Scuteri (APRIM).
   

Hat Wearing Time!

From Monday 25 September all students must wear an OLOG School Hat during all outdoor activities. NO HAT = NO PLAY (as per our Uniform Policy). Students will be asked to sit under the undercroft in the front area of the school if they are not wearing an OLOG School Hat. Please remember to name your child's hat.

Hats are available from the Front Office or can be ordered via Qkr! for $22.

Staffing Information

Debbie Scuteri (APRIM) is currently on leave. Recently Debbie's husband has undergone open heart surgery and is recovering well. We keep Deb and her husband Tony in our prayers for a good recovery.

Sam Jones (Inclusive Ed Coordinator) will finish her time at OLOG next Tuesday. Sam has brought her gifts and dedication as a strong educator to OLOG over the last three years. We thank Sam and wish her all the best in her new pathway.

Peace and Blessings

Josette Charles
Principal

Father’s Day Breakfast and Liturgy

On Friday 1st September the OLOG Staff prepared and served approximately 150 fathers and children a tasty egg and bacon breakfast. The weather was in our favour, and it was a delight to see so many people attend. The Father’s Day Breakfast was followed by a beautiful Father’s Day Liturgy led by the Reception and Year 1 Students.

We are so thankful for the positive male role models in our children’s lives.

We hope you had a lovely day with your families.

Back Packs 4 SA Kids

Thank you for the generous donations of stationery for our Social Justice Initiative this term.

Next week we will be collating the stationery into the pencil cases, so if you haven’t had a chance to donate yet, please do so by Monday the latest.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Joy and blessings,

Debbie Scuteri
APRIM/Leader of Learning

SACPSSA Touch Football Carnival

In week 7 students from years 5 and 6 joined other Catholic Schools from around Adelaide in a Touch Football carnival held in the South Parklands. All Students played in a tournament with scores being kept for both our senior boys and girls teams who finished 3rd and 6th respectively in the elite 10 team competition. 

Students had a great day learning and testing their Touch Football skills which has been the focus of our PE lessons in recent weeks. 

Clinton Alleway
PE Teacher

As part of the PE program for 2023, the Year 2, 3 and 4's are participating in a week of swimming lessons provided by the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre. The School Aquatics Program provides opportunities for students to gain confidence with their swimming and water safety skills. The program will include three components: stroke development, water safety and personal development.

The Year 6 students are very excited to announce that they will be hosting Enterprise day on Friday 22nd September (Week 9). The Year 6’s have been working very hard to create products/games to be part of this exciting day.

Enterprise day is part of our HASS topic (Business and Economics) where the students develop a business idea and essentially become mini entrepreneurs. The students build a business idea, develop designs, learn who their target audience is and how to market and advertise, along with budgeting as they only have $10 of the school's money to spend. 

The students have developed flyers describing their business idea and the costs involved which we hope to make available to you early next week. It would be appreciated if you could please have a look through the flyers so that your child comes with the appropriate money. Small change is always best as notes can become tricky to provide the correct change for. In previous years tokens have been made available, but this year we will be sticking to physical cash as it is a great learning experience for all involved.

All profits will be donated to a charity which will be decided by the year level.

Alistair Fleming
Year 6 Teacher

During Term 4 Mini Vinnies will be working together to make Boxes of Joy for our local nursing homes, Bupa and Charles Young. We welcome any donations of individually wrapped chocolates, lollies, Christmas biscuits, or even hand cream and lip balm. OLOG classrooms will also be invited to make “something” special to add to our Boxes of Joy throughout the term. Please contact Miss Carol if you have any questions.

Please join us on Saturday 14th October from 11:00am for a day at the races. All dad's are welcome!

We will meet in the Diva Lounge which is located on the ground floor of the grandstand with an outdoor terrace directly overlooking the Winning Post and mounting yard. It is the perfect spot to watch the best of the Spring Racing Carnival at Morphettville.

Ticket Includes:

• Entrance into the racecourse
• Entry into Diva Lounge
• Four hour beverage package
• Food offering from the Diva Kitchen

Dress Code: Race Wear

Tickets can be purchased HERE.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Hello families! I’d like to start off by expressing my gratitude for the warm welcome I have received at OLOG over the past couple of weeks. I’ve enjoyed getting to know a bit more about your children and hearing all of your suggestions of how we can make OSHC both an engaging and safe space for your children.

With the safety of your children being of paramount importance to us, we’d like to facilitate a space where we are maximising supervision whilst being engaged by adding structure to our mornings and afternoons. Research has shown that many children benefit from some level of predictability to their worlds. In saying that, please rest assured that our activities, experiences and menu will still vary day-to-day based on the children’s interests. I’ve attached our new routines, which will also be available in our upstairs OSHC space for families and children to refer to. Thank you for your patience as we work towards fine-tuning these based on the children’s needs throughout the term, and please do not hesitate to share any feedback!

On another note, with the change in season, we understand that little ones can feel unwell and taking sick days from OSHC can be a large financial burden on families. We like to do our part to assist and alleviate some of that stress on you. If you can provide a medical certificate (or a sick note from the school nurse) for the day of their absence, we waive all associated fees for that booking.

Medical certificates can be emailed to oshc@campaustralia.com.au.

Thanks so much again for having me on board, I look forward to being a part of your children’s growth with Camp Australia here at OLOG!
 

Before School Care Routine 

7AM – 8AM – BREKKY AND INSIDE PLAY: Free choice and programmed indoor play, based on the children's interests. A selection of cereals and toast are available for the children until

8AM. 8AM – 8:30AM – OUTSIDE PLAY: Breakfast is packed away, tidy up our space. We’ll head outside with our bags for some outdoor play before school.

8:30AM – SCHOOL: Children collect their bags and sign out with an educator at the Oval to begin their school day. Educators will wait with the children for the teacher on duty to arrive.
 

After School Care Routine

3:10PM - 3:30PM – SCHOOL FINISHES & SIGN IN: Children will head up to the OSHC space upstairs to drop off their bags and sign in.

3:30PM – 4:30PM – AFTERNOON TEA AND PLAY TIME: Once all the children are signed in, we will move down to the Oval, where children will be provided with a snack and seasonal fruit for afternoon tea. During this time, the children will have the opportunity to engage in programmed and spontaneous outdoor experiences.

4:30 – 5PM – OPTION OF INSIDE AND OUTSIDE PLAY: Staff permitting, we will open the OSHC room upstairs for children who choose to engage in inside experiences.

5PM – 6:15PM – INSIDE PLAY & HOME TIME: Free choice of a range of engaging activities to participate in inside our OSHC space upstairs. Children have the option to eat any remaining food from their lunchbox as a late snack