Term 2, Week 3

9 may 2023

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School

​We are Respectful
We are Responsible
We are Safe
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School is located on the traditional lands of the Punnilerpanner people of the North Nation. We acknowledge and deeply respect the Palawa people, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Community, and all Elders past and present. We are committed to learning alongside our students and community in this place, and support the continued sharing of knowledge and culture.

What's On?

Whole School
​Prayer

Monday 15 May
All School Prayer
(Primary - 3B)
9:00am in the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church.

​Parents and carers are welcome!

upComing Events

Term 2​​​​
  • Grade 1 Wonder Walk to Art Gallery - Thursday 11 May (9:10am - 2:00pm)
  • Kinder Mother's Day Morning - Thursday 11 May (8:40 - 10:30am)
  • ​Assembly (2M) - Friday 12 May (2:00pm - 2:50pm)
  • Mother's Day at OLOL - Monday 15 May (9:00 am - 10:15 am)
  • Walk to School Day - Wednesday 17 May

MR farr'S  Reflection

Deputy Principal

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.
Matthew 6: 5
Welcome everyone to Week 3.

​I have been reflecting recently about our Charism, particularly the element of Simplicity.  It can be a challenging element of our Charism to live out even though it should be, well, simple!  

With our Masterplanning process and Admin refurbishment moving forward, as you can read below, it is timely that we keep in mind and strive to live out Simplicity as we approach these works.  Our founding Sisters lived this out in all that they did, wanted for nothing more than what was needed.  How do we balance the opportunity to create something amazing within our school, yet at the same time, keep it simple and create what we need?

I'm a big believer in just getting the job done.  There's no need to be showy, there's no need to talk about oneself etc.  The above verse from Matthew's Gospel is in regards to Jesus explaining to His disciples how to pray, but I think it can be taken as more than that.  It is Jesus explaining to His disciples how to live as well.  Our actions don't need to be seen by others to be validated, nor should we need the validation of others to know that we have achieved, completed, created or simply 'done' something wonderful.  Praise is fantastic and certainly makes us feel good, but outwardly seeking praise - standing on the street corners to be seen by others - is not for me. 

I often discuss with my children the idea of keeping things simple.  That doesn't necessarily mean going without, but we try to focus on being happy with what we have.  This can be incredibly hard!  There's always something else, something more, something extra to want and to pine over!  Especially for children, but I must say I have a list of guitars and guitar pedals about a mile long!  Perhaps there's value in that though, wanting for something but also having the strength of character to recognise it is not something that's needed and being happy to simply leave it 'sitting' there.

There's a version of the Lord's prayer that I've heard recently that I think is sensational.  It's composed / arranged by Christopher Tin and was originally put together for a video game called 'Civilisation 4', back in 2005.  I heard it recently and thought it was quite an interesting piece, I do have a highly eclectic taste in music mind you!  It is sung in Swahili, so it's not something that I understand word for word, yet that is, in part, what makes it so powerful.  It's a creative way to communicate a simple prayer with a simple message.

Enjoy your week,

Stu
Our Lady of Lourdes Masterplan
Our Lady of Lourdes under the guidance of Catholic Education Tasmania has begun the process of a Masterplan for our school. Please see the documents attached which reflect the wishes of 16 students, staff and parents who worked with an independent team to share their wishes for OLOL into the future. The Facilities Team from Catholic Education Tasmania have been working with a Project Team (Leadership, Admin Staff, Groundsman, Student Support) to draw up some possible plans for this Master Plan. These will be shared with the community, for your input, as soon as they are available.

On the 4th of April, an informal Sense-Making Workshop was held online with the leadership team from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School. In the workshop, participants were presented with systemised feedback and a summary of the visions and challenges, of each group, as well as all the workshop outputs. They were asked to identify top challenges, reverse engineer those challenges to themes, and to start developing their school vision. The conversation was followed by the participants creating actionable ‘quick wins’ for what they can do now that will cost no money to improve their schools. 

The results of this workshop helped inform the Place Vision and Principles report that will be provided to Catholic Education Tasmania with this report.

​*See attached reports.
Our Lady of Lourdes Place Vision
Our Lady of Lourdes Workshop Summaries 
Administration Refurbishment
Our Lady of Lourdes has been granted funds to refurbish the Administration Area; from the entry point on Stewart Street, Staffroom, Admin Offices, Principal, Finance & Counselling Offices; Uniform Shop, Japanese and Science, Planning and wingani Classrooms.
Plans are in the final stage for these works and will be shared with the community as soon as is possible.  There will then be time for consultation with the community.  A timeline will then be created in preparation for the building; communicating this clearly to the community and information about how these areas will be decanted and the modified provisions that will be needed to continue effective administration of the school during this building process.
Spelling Mastery – Curriculum: INSIGHT
At Our Lady of Lourdes we have begun teaching a spelling program called Spelling Mastery.  This is part of the direct explicit instruction framework that Catholic Education Tasmania have adopted in the teaching of Literacy and Numeracy.  This Spelling Program has inherent within it the application of the Science of Learning, cognitive load theory and Rosenshine’s Principal’s of Instruction.  

This in essence means:
• Every skill is introduced, reviewed, expanded, assessed and then reviewed cumulatively.
• It teaches phonemically (sound-symbol relationships) morphemically  learning about the bases and affixes of words) and whole word for words that do not fit spelling generalisations.  
• Students are encouraged to think their way through spelling rather than memorising word lists.  
• Repeated practice and application assists with cognitive load.
• Grouping to a placement test ensures students are at the optimal level for their learning and means some groups have mixed grades of students learning together.
•Teacher scripted lessons ensure best teaching and learning practice is incorporated into the lessons.  
The Insight project, based squarely on the science of learning, is founded on the following four key components:
  • an ubiquitous, low-variance, knowledge-rich curriculum - that supports teaching and learning.
  • The need to manage cognitive load in all teaching and learning activity - which is achieved through
  • High-impact teacher practice - that is based on
  • Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction.

Social & emotional learning 2023

Parent Conversation
The Wellbeing Team would like to invite you to join us for a conversation about separation anxiety.

Should this be something that you may struggle with at home or at school drop-off, we would welcome an opportunity to hear of your experiences, feelings and frustrations, and/or strategies that have worked for you and areas where you would like more support. The Wellbeing Team looks forward to working together with parents and caregivers on this topic so that we can share information, ideas, strategies and suggestions. This way, we will grow stronger together and be better able to support caregivers whose child/children may experience separation anxiety in the future.

Date: 22nd of May
Time: Morning Drop off - 10 am
Location: Upstairs Meeting Room (next to wingani)

Morning tea will be provided. 

Please RSVP here. We look forward to seeing you there.

School news


​Move Well Eat Well – National Walk Safely to School Day
At OLOL we encourage all parents, carers and staff members to promote and encourage safe and regular walking as a normal part of every child’s day.  Friday 19th May is National Walk Safely to School Day.  To acknowledge this, at Our Lady of Lourdes we will be offering a ‘walking bus’ on Wednesday 17th May 2023. 
​All students from Kinder to Grade 6 are invited to meet Staff outside Harris Scarfe in Fenton Way at 8:20am.  From here we will walk directly up Fenton Street and turn right into Stewart Street to be at school in time to commence the day.
Let’s see how many families can make an extra effort to walk to school this week.  Remember Part Way is OK!  Perhaps, park the car a little further from your usual parking area and walk part of the way to school with your children.  ​
​School Gates
The school Steele Street gates will now be locked from 3:30 pm each day.
If requiring any assistance after this time, please come to the Stewart Street school entrance and knock for assistance.

Student Free Days 2023
Student Free Days for 2023 are:
Term 3: Monday 24 July
Term 4: Monday 16 October
​
Outdoor Play and Learning
Dear OLOL community,
We are seeking resources for our lunchtime Loose Parts Play. If you have access to resources such as pipes, plumbing connections, flexi pipe, milk crates, tarps etc. we would very much appreciate your donations. 
Please contact the school admin team via: [email protected]

​Compass - Entering an Attendance Note

​St Brendan-Shaw College Scholarships
A reminder that applications for College Scholarships are open for 2024. Scholarships are offered for entry in Year 7. Scholarships offer discounts on tuition fees up to 50%. Scholarships are granted for the duration of the student’s education. They are subject to the maintenance of excellent performance levels as well as contributing to the life of the College.

Applications close on 12 May 2023. Late applications will not be considered.
​
For more information, please contact our Executive Assistant to Principal [email protected] or visit www.sbsc.tas.edu.au/scholarships/

Student of the week

Sports News & Rosters

Click here to access 'Sports News, Registrations and Rosters​​
  • Devon Netball 
  • Soccer - Season Commences 1st April 2023 
  • NW Football League Primary School Roster 
  • Devonport Primary Basketball Roster​

Mersey Leven Catholic parish

Weekend Masses
Saturday Vigil
  • 6:00pm St Mary's, Penguin
  • 6:00pm Our Lady of Lourdes Devonport
Sunday
  • 8:00am St Joseph, Port Sorell
  • 9:00am Sacred Heart, Ulverstone
  • 9:30am Our Lady of Lourdes, Devonport
  • 11:30am Holy Cross, Sheffield
  • 5:00pm St Patrick, Latrobe

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

eSafety
The eSafety Commissioner website is a Government website that provides up to date, effective advice and support for parents, educators and children to safely and effectively navigate and manage the challenges that often come with being 'online'.

We encourage you, as parents, to access the eSafety Commissioner website to further develop your understanding of the Apps your children may be using, how to have difficult conversations with children regarding a range of online behaviours and how to recognise that your child may be experiencing harmful online behaviours such as cyberbullying, looking at inappropriate content for their age or perhaps overuse of technology.

You can visit the eSafety Commissioner website here: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

Additionally, you may like to view the attached resources which can be downloaded directly from the eSafety Commissioner website: 'Online Safety: A guide for parents and carers' and 'eSafety: Early Years - Online safety for under 5s'
School Technologies Focus

Community News

Click here access 'Community news'​​​
  • Devonport Surf Life Saving Club - Aquathlon - 17th March
  • City of Devonport Brass Band
  • Net Set Go Come and Play - Netball  5-10 years
  • Devon Dragonflies North West Netball Clinic
  • Tennis
  • Hockey
  • Studio 81 Dance Company
  • Mersey Leven Catholic Church - High Tea
  • School Holidays @ Hive
  • NAB - AFL Auskick - skills development program

Policy in Focus

This week in our 'Policy in Focus' section of the Newsletter we have attached Catholic Education Tasmania's Outdoor Play and Learning policy.  As we reinstate loose parts play at lunchtimes it is timely to view and read this policy.

Tasmania Catholic Education Commission Outdoor Play and Learning Policy

OLOL School Calendar

2023 Term Dates

​
2023 TERM DATES
TERM 1
Friday 3 February - Thursday 6 April
TERM 2
Wednesday 26 April - Friday 7 July
TERM 3
Tuesday 25 July - Friday 29 September
TERM 4
Tuesday 17 October - Thursday 14 December
© OUR LADY OF LOURDES CATHOLIC SCHOOL 2018
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED