News from around our Learning Spaces.

" Tell Show me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn” (Benjamin Franklin). 

News From the Leadership Team

Religious Education: Ms Hicks

Our wonderful inquiry question-"Who do we want to be?" has led us this term to create pledges in our classroom. 


Foundation

In Prep we want to be kind , share our things and be a good friend to others.

1/2U

In 1/2U we want to be a class who shares God’s kindness and love with all people. We want to be able to recognise and celebrate our own strengths as well as the unique qualities of those around us. We strive to be leaders through our actions and words in our school, homes, and communities. We appreciate the little and big moments each day and take the time to show empathy, gratitude and mindfulness. We want to be responsible and respectful learners who display a persistent attitude.

1/2L

In 1/2L we want to be a community of brave learners, approaching new ideas with a growth mindset and persisting when challenges come our way.  We want to encourage each other in the classroom and on the playground by recognising the unique strengths, gifts and talents that God has given each of us and which make our classroom community a strong team. We want to be honest and accountable when we make mistakes and strive to use our words and actions for good. Just like Jesus, we hope to be people of great love.

3/4LH 

"In 3/4LH we want to be a respectful team of students and teachers. We are kind, hardworking and well mannered. We will help others and ourselves by using positive language, taking risks and focusing on our learning. We care for each other and we collaborate to reach goals. When someone says stop, we stop. We will treat others the way they want to be treated through inclusivity, care for God’s Creation and adding happiness to all who meet and know us"

3/4DC

In 3/4DC  we care about each other and our classroom and our school. We share what we have and listen to each other with our eyes, ears and heart. We learn, laugh, and collaborate with everyone. We help each other learn by sharing our ideas respectfully. We work hard, and persist because we are striving to develop a growth mindset. We stand up for ourselves and others, and when someone asks us to stop, we stop. We understand that mistakes help us learn and support each other so that we can learn from our mistakes. We ensure everyone feels welcome and feels a sense of belonging at OLPS because we are all part of God’s creation. This is who we are even when no one is watching because we are 3/4DC.

5/6BS

 In 5/6 BS we want to be class members that try to be the best they can be  by showing optimism,  honesty , kindness  and respect.  We will try to help each other when we need support, understanding that we are all learning and are at different stages of this journey. We will try to show respect by listening when others are talking. We will try to be inclusive by smiling at others and saying good morning to our classmates.  We will try to show gratitude and optimism even when it is hard. As role models we will  demonstrate respect for ourselves, others and the environment. We will be the face of God to others.

5/6HS

In 5/6HS We want to be people who make life beautiful for ourselves and others. As class members we aspire to be positive, focussed and motivated. We will try to encourage one another and support one another when times are challenging. As friends we aspire to be loyal, patient and to be better listeners. We will try to accept one another, respect other opinions and show empathy. As leaders we aspire to be good role models, be visionary and be selfless. We will try to make things less about ourselves and more about others. In all things we will be guided by the life of Jesus.

It's wonderful to see how we have started the year with such great pledges, to " be the best that we can be".


Opening of the School Year Mass

We will have an Opening School Year Mass on Tuesday 20th February at 9.15am in the church. All parents and friends are invited to join us.


Family Masses

We invite families to attend Mass as a level on the below dates. We will include the students in the masses and it will be a time of community sharing after mass. Families will be invited to bring a small plate of food, e.g biscuits to share after mass.

Physical Education - Mrs James


CONGRATULATIONS SWIMMERS!

43 students along with staff and trsusty parent helpers walked to Aqualink today for our annual yr 3-6 swimming trials.

 What a brave lot of students they were, with ALL managing to dive from the diving blocks to commence their events. 

As we were a small group we enjoyed having time to learn and practise out diving and swimming.

Many thanks to all our parents who recorded, started & timed the events (Daniela, Phil & Yvonne) plus the parents who walked with our staff to keep our students safe on on their journey to the pool.

The District squad will be annopunced soon. 


IMPORTANT DATES ON THE OLPS SPORTING CALENDAR

28/2/24 OLPS Athletics Carnival

·  29/2/24 District swimming Carnival

·  13/3/24 School Sport Victoria tennis Trials

·  20/3/24 Walkathon-Caritas


Student Wellbeing - Mrs James

SRC Semester 1

Introducing our Student Representative Council for semester One 2024.  

The SRC is an opportunity to promote meaningful dialogue about things that matter in the learning and social environment of the school and its community. Well done to the students above who were voted by their peers to represent each class.


The Student Resilience Survey.

During term One students in years 3-6 at OLPS will complete the Resilience Youth Survey as a part of our work in The Resilience Project.

The Student Resilience Survey is an online survey which collects, analyses and reports the resilience of young people at a cohort level in terms of their strengths, life satisfaction, hopefulness, anxiety and depression, coping style, and risk and protective behaviours. Specifically, the survey measures the resilience and wellbeing of your young people across 9 key domains: Understanding Self, Social Skills, Positive Relationships, Safety, Healthy Body and Healthy Mind, Learning, Positive Attitude, Positive Values, Positive Identity.

 

The Resilience Survey has been administered to nearly 400,000 young Australians aged 7-19 and used in over 1,500 schools nationwide. The Survey incorporates scientifically validated, reliable and internationally accepted measures, meaning you can rely on the results as an accurate measure of the resilience, mental health and wellbeing of the young people in your school or community. It also provides a sound basis for planning and implementing targeted resilience building initiatives.

 

How does the survey benefit my school?

●  The ability to accurately and efficiently measure vital data within school cohorts.

●  Clear visual & written reports on student resilience, mental health and wellbeing.

●  Evidence-based strategies to help school leaders respond in a proven, scientific and practical way.

 

What are the key features of the Resilience Survey?

●  Online, quick and user friendly - The 60-question survey can be completed in under 30 minutes.

●  Rapid turnaround of reports - Through our online client portal your school survey data is available on demand and interactive in a full range of formats, with easy to read and interpret gender and year level detail.

●  Confidential, safe and secure - All student data is non-identified and anonymous. Data transmission and storage is secure.

●  Widely used, definitive dataset - The Resilience Survey is the definitive measure of youth resilience and wellbeing in Australia, used by over 1,500 schools and nearly 400,000 students across the country.

●  University co-developed - The survey was developed in collaboration with the Department of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy at the University of South Australia (UniSA), led by Professor Kurt Lushington and Professor Jill Dorrian.

●  Interactive online portal - To test drive our exclusive interactive online portal, contact us for your demonstration login.

 

For more information about the survey, please visit http://resilientyouth.org/survey.

 

          Mapping English Learning: Ms Dunne

Students referred to an anchor chart about the main idea as one form of self-assessment. L.I.: Learning Intention S.C.: Success Criteria


At Our Lady’s, the study of English is central to the learning and development of all students. We create confident and articulate learners and teach students to critically reflect on a range of texts to support them to confidently communicate in both formal and informal settings.


Our English learning began in 3/4 this year by engaging with literature and learning to interpret, analyse and reflect on texts. Inspired when reading and listening to Roald Dahl students reflected, responded and evaluated their understanding using a graphic organiser. 


During English learning; reading and writing skills are explicitly taught and modelled. We created mind-maps and co-created anchor charts to support all students in checking their understanding and empowering them to ask; What am I learning? What do I need to do next? 


This week we have been learning to identify the ‘main idea in texts. After explicit modelling, we together created an anchor chart of our understanding. Students began to connect their understanding of reading to writing by writing paragraphs with a ‘main idea’ sentence. It was a big week!





Mathematics: Miss Lynch

Late last year, we used our Intensive Partnership (IP) Grant to buy an abundant supply of current maths resources for the school. With the professional learning  from the TMEL project in 2022, we explored and unpacked the importance of students using tactile concrete materials across the mathematics curriculum. With this knowledge and the experts who provided the professional learning over eight days, we have adapted the practice. 

The new resources can be used across the following strands in Mathematics:

Number

Algebra

Space (Geometric Reasoning)

Measurement

Statistics 

Probability

Stay tuned for how these resources will be used by students at school!

Learning and Teaching/ Digital Technologies: Mr Hawke

NAPLAN Preparation: Mr Hawke

As the Learning and Teaching Leader, I have been so excited to see the learning already underway at our school. In only three weeks, our students have achieved so much and have demonstrated an eagerness to learn. This term, our students in grades 3 and 5 will be participating in NAPLAN testing. 


At Our Lady's we know that some students can become quite anxious about these tests. It is important we emphasise that it is only one test and not a reflection on our students or the amazing things that they can and do achieve.


The NAPLAN tests will assess our students in four areas of learning - Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy. Testing will commence quite early in the year and will be completed over three days (March 13th, 14th and 15th).  Any students not present on those days will be able to sit their tests the following week (March 18-22). The NAPLAN window closes on Monday the 25th of March. 


We hope that our students come to the tests with confidence and do their best. We look forward to celebrating their success later in the year.