Term 4, Week 4

7 november 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 13 November
Primary (5M)
Parents and carers are welcome!

upComing Events

Term 4​​​​​
  • Grade 3 Hagley Excursion - Tuesday 7th November
  • Assembly (Grade 5) - Friday 10th November
  • NW Catholic Primary School Athletics - Wednesday 15th November

MR farr's Reflection

deputy principal

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.  Anyone who keeps learning, stays young.
Henry Ford
Welcome everyone to Week 4.

I’ve never really been interested in motorbikes.  They have simply never ‘done’ anything for me.  I didn’t ride motorbikes as a kid or hung out with friends that rode them and to be honest, I think I'd struggle to ride one!  As an adult I have a couple of mates that have their licences but don’t ride very often, if at all.  I guess I've just never really 'got' the fascination!  But . . .

Lately I’ve found myself intrigued by getting my learner’s license.  The way my brain works is that once I start to ponder something, I'll look a bit deeper and deeper, until I struggle to focus on much else!  so at the moment my 'spotlight' won't move off of the world of LAMS Approved Motorbikes!  My wife has very quickly told me that “You’re 40.  It’s called a mid - life crisis!”  Now, I’m not sure about that!  (Maybe? 🤔)  For me there’s something about learning something completely new and foreign that appeals to me.  The challenge that it presents, the level of effort that’s required to master a new skill, the joy of being able to tick that off and say “Yeah, I learnt how to do that!”  The more I look at it the more the appeal of the 'freedom' and thrill of riding a motorbike would bring is certainly appealing, but I'm not interested in the speed, the wheelies or the lightning fast acceleration.  That side of things is definitely not where I'm approaching this from.

The joy of learning is something that we try to instil in our students.  The desire to learn something new, the willingness to step out of their comfort zone, the ability to find joy in the struggle of learning and resilience to keep at it until mastery.  It’s not easy to have this mindset and to maintain it if we are finding what we are learning highly challenging.  As adults we often don’t face these types of challenges unless we are actively seeking out opportunities to learn something new.  But our children, our students, they face these challenges everyday - of course learning will become tiresome after a while!  That’s why when we ask “How was school?” Or “What did you do today?” we get the “Boring.  Nothing.  Dunno.” type answers.  I’m assuming this is the same for most families and it’s not just my children!

It’s a wonderful feeling when your child comes home enthused about something they learnt at school and they’re eager to show it to you.  My children do so less often than I’d like, but there are still times when they are excited to tell me about a piece of writing they did, how they went on a maths test or explain to me something they learnt during Science.  In our busy lives it is important to make sure we take time to listen to these stories and truly engage with our children’s excitement, as this is key to fostering a love of learning that creates resilient, confident adults.

The other key is to model it ourselves.  Now, I may never work up the courage to go and learn how to ride, nor ever get my motorbike license, but I do try to learn new things regularly.  In the past that’s been jazz guitar, Aikido, paddle boarding, how to plaster, if you recall I built a (rather small, retaining) wall a few years ago in my backyard!  Whilst doing these things I try to make it clear to my kids what I’m trying to learn so as to at least have a chat about what’s happening, and at the ideal bring them along on the learning journey with me.

I wonder what you are genuinely trying to learn at the moment?  What challenge have you set yourself through which you can model a love of learning for your children?

Enjoy the week,

Stu
CURRICULUM & PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
INSIGHT Pedagogies based on the Science of Learning
Engagement Norms ensure children are doing something every minute, whether it be discussion with a partner, reading text aloud, showing responses on a whiteboard or gesturing. These norms are designed to keep students actively engaged in their learning.

School news

Fish Free School Zone & Nut Awareness
Can all parents be vigilant about enforcing our fish free school zone and nut awareness.
​
These foods can contain fish:​
  • Fried rice, spring rolls and paella with fish specifically.
  • ​Dishes that are often prepared with fish-based sauces, like oyster sauce.
  • Sushi.
  • Salad dressings.
  • Sauces, like steak and Worcestershire.
  • Seafood soups and broths.
  • Spreads like taramasalata.
​
Canteen
Nachos Special Day (GF) $6.00 - Tuesday 14th November
Corn chips topped with salsa, cheese and grilled. Sour cream available when ordering.
Orders are now open on school24.net.au and will close Friday 10th November at 9.30am.
Late orders will not be accepted. 
No other lunch orders will be available on this day.
Please order this special from 'EVENTS' on school24.net.au NOT on Compass.
​
Uniform Expectations
​Can all parents and carers  please ensure that:
  • Students' socks are white or navy blue with the Sports Uniform (the school is moving to navy blue).
  • No logos on socks.
  • Black (polishable) shoes with the formal uniform.
  • Shirts can be worn out with the boys Summer Uniform.
  • No necklaces or fancy earrings - just plain gold or silver studs.

Picking up Children Early
Our Lady of Lourdes reminds parents to provide advance notice if you are picking up your child early.   An email to [email protected] is the best communication method. Phone call is also an option. It allows for advance preparation if the office staff are given significant advance notice as organising students to leave class or specialist lessons can take some time.
​Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Playing in the Playground After School
It is our school expectation that if parents choose to allow their children to play in our playground after school then it is their responsibility to supervise and support them to be Respectful, Responsible and Safe through direct behaviour support of their own child and modelling of appropriate adult behaviour.  Effectively, you are responsible for your child after you have collected them at the end of the day.  Although the weather is beginning to change (slowly!) and it is lovely in the after school sun, our gates will continue to be locked at 3:30pm each day.  We do ask that you please ensure you have left our school grounds by then.
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Head Knocks at School
If your child presents to First Aid with a head knock, we will assess and treat with ice. If they appear fine your child will go back to class where they will be monitored by Staff. The office will send you an SMS so you are aware and able to check in with your child when they get home. If we are at all worried about your child we will phone you so they can be collected.

School Gates
​The school Steele Street gates are now 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.
Online Safety - eSafety Commissioner's Office Resources
People usually know how to keep themselves safe offline, but it's not always the case when we go online. In our latest initiative, we compare online safety to everyday objects that keep you safe – just like eSafety does when you go online.

When it comes to online safety, we can help. We educate Australians about online safety risks and help to remove harmful content such as cyberbullying of children and young people, adult cyber abuse, image-based abuse and illegal and restricted content.
​
The eSafety Commissioner can support with:
STUDENT OF THE WEEK

Sports News & Rosters

Click here to access 'Sports News, Registrations and Rosters​​
  • Devon Netball Spring Roster
  • Devonport Primary Spring Basketball Registration
  • Triathlon
  • OLOL Sports Policy

Mersey Leven Catholic parish

Weekend Masses
Saturday Vigil
  • 5:00pm St Mary's, Penguin
  • 5:00pm 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

Community News

Click here access 'Community news'​​​​​
  • City of Devonport Brass Band
  • Cricket
  • Mersey Rowing Club - Learn to Row Program
  • Come & Try Scouting
  • Niche Movement

  • Hockey
  • Studio 81 Dance Company
  • Slip Stream Circus
  • Nipper "Come & Try" Day

Policy in Focus

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School
Class Formation Policy


Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, Devonport is committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment for its students, staff and volunteers. This commitment includes the social, emotional, spiritual and academic growth of each child.
A clearly defined, collaborative and transparent process for the creation of classes at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, Devonport will assist in maintaining a positive environment for all stakeholders, particularly students, and create a school community that is effective in its core purpose of providing education for its students.
The purpose of this policy is to provide a clear framework for the process of placing children into classes and ensure Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School:

  • Provides each child with the opportunity to be part of a class of children where they will have the best opportunity to learn.
  • Provides evenly balanced classes in which the social, emotional, academic, spiritual and physical needs of each child are taken into account.
  • Ensures that optimum use is made of prior knowledge that teachers, parents and other key stakeholders have of each child before class placement. 

OLOL School Calendar

2023 Term Dates

​
2023 TERM DATES
TERM 3
Tuesday 25 July - Friday 29 September
TERM 4
Tuesday 17 October - Thursday 14 December

2024 TERM DATES
TERM 1
Wednesday 7 February - Thursday 11 April
Easter Break
Friday 29 March - Wednesday 3 April
TERM 2
Monday 29 April - Friday 5 July 
TERM 3
Tuesday 23 July - Friday 27 September
TERM 4
Tuesday 15 October - Wednesday 18 December