Week 2
Prayer
Learning Area News
Principal News
Monday 22 April
Dear Parents,
We're excited to share with you the latest updates and happenings from our school. A reminder that assembly this week will be on Wednesday 24 April at 2:50pm due to school closure this Friday 26 April. If your child has received an award in this newsletter they will be presented with their certificate at Wednesday's assembly.
On Thursday we look forward to accompanying our school captains to the dawn service at the Pascoe Vale RSL for the wreath laying ceremony. It is sure to be a reverent and sober moment as we remember the time men of the ANZAC approached Gallipoli beach.
The school gate opens promptly at 8:35 am. For the safety and security of all students, please ensure that children are not waiting outside the school before this time and are not left unsupervised. Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our school community safe.
For more information about the happenings and events at our school please remember to check out the green learning tabs above and the important dates and events below.
Curriculum Overviews
The term two curriculum overviews are ready to be accessed via this newsletter on the learning and teaching page or via compass. The termly curriculum overviews offer a snapshot of your child's learning this term. They are designed to keep you informed about the curriculum, learning goals, and key milestones. With this insight into the curriculum, parents can actively support their child's learning at home, reinforcing concepts covered in the classroom and encouraging their curiosity and exploration. Additionally, these overviews provide an opportunity for you to discuss your child's interests, strengths, and areas for growth with their teachers, ensuring a personalised approach to their learning. Together, let's celebrate their achievements, address their needs and lay the foundation for future success.
Professional Learning- MACS: Vision of Instruction
An exciting development in our system's approach to education has been published and shared with key leaders in the Catholic Education System. The Vision of Instruction has been designed to support Catholic Schools with clear guidance on instructional best practice, ensuring a consistent approach to teaching and learning excellence across our system.
In line with St.OPPS commitment to providing the best possible learning experience for your children, we have embarked on the aspects of this document that aim to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in our classrooms. This includes clear learning intentions, success criteria, explicit teaching, feedback and focus teaching groups ensuring differentiation and that the needs of individual students continue to be met. These high standards at our school translate in strong data and learning progression.
As part of the roll out of the Vision of Instruction statement from MACS, we have recognised the importance of continuous professional learning for our teachers. In order to stay abreast of the latest educational practices and methodologies, MACS is offering teachers across our system with engaging and increased professional learning opportunities throughout the remainder of the year. This will take various form; such as attending system run professional learning days- off campus, observing practice from other teachers- on or off campus and piloting new curriculum resources within the learning spaces and providing feedback on material- on campus.
As a result from time to time parents will notice replacement teachers in the learning spaces. Please rest assured that we will endeavour to use our regular replacement teachers and thorough plans will be left for children to continue learning. The professional learning is a necessary step to facilitate the professional growth of our educators. By allowing our teachers the time and space to engage with new knowledge and skills, we are ultimately investing in the long-term success of our students.
We believe that this investment in professional learning will have a positive impact on your child's educational experience, leading to enhanced learning outcomes and a more enriching school environment. We thank you for your understanding and support as we work towards realising our vision of providing a world-class education for all of our students.
Staff News
We regret to inform you that Sarah Williams, our valued LSO, has resigned from her position. We extend our heartfelt gratitude for her dedication and contributions to our school community and wish her all the very best in this next chapter of her life. We are excited to announce the addition of two new Learning Support Officers (LSOs) to our team. Tori Buchanan and Samantha Calafiore. They will be working predominantly in the Year 3-4 area, providing invaluable support both within and beyond the classroom. We are fortunate to have this additional support to enhance our children's learning journey. Please join us in welcoming Tori and Samantha to our school family, and we look forward to their positive impact on our students' educational experience.
What's on in the next fortnight
Please note: This event has been cancelled due to a lack of interest. Mon 22 Apr: Parent Information Night - Family Resilience 6:45pm-8pm
Mon 22 Apr: Year 4 Incursion - Mayor Cr Adam Pulford (Merri-bek)
Wed 24 Apr: School Assembly - 2:50pm
Thur 25 Apr: ANZAC DAY Public Holiday- School Captains to attend dawn service at RSL
Fri 26 Apr: School Closure Day - First Aid Training for Staff
May
Wed 1 May: Year 4 Eucharist Family Night - 6:30pm- CHURCH
Thur 2 May: Year 5G: North Melbourne Game Day Excursion
Fri 3 May: Interschool Sports - (Home) St Oliver's vs St Fidelis (11:30am-1pm)
Have a great week.
Delfina Pieri
Principal
principal@sopascoevale.catholic.edu.au
Important Dates and Events
Term 2
Tuesday 16 April- Friday 28 June- 1pm dismissal for students
Term 3
Tuesday 16 July- Friday 20 September 1pm dismissal for students
Term 4
Tuesday 8 October- Tuesday 17 December 1pm dismissal for students
2024 School Closures and Public Holidays
Monday 15 April: Professional Learning Day- Staff- No school for students
*Thursday 25 April: ANZAC Day
Friday 26 April: Staff First Aid Training- No school for students
*Monday 10 June: King's Birthday- Public Holiday
Monday 15 July: Professional Learning Day- Staff- No school for students
Monday 7 October: Professional Learning Day- Staff- No school for students
Monday 4 November: School Closure- No school for students
*Tuesday 5 November: Melbourne Cup- Public Holiday
Monday 2 December: Professional Learning Day- Staff- No school for students
2024 Parent/Teacher Progress Meetings
Wednesday 15 May: Yr Prep- Six Parent/Teacher Progress Meeting - 1pm finish for students.
Monday 21 October: Yr Prep - Six Parent/Teacher Progress Meeting- 1pm finish for students
Term 2 Important Dates and Events
May
Wed 8 May: Esports Competition
Wed 8 May: Mother's Day Stall - 9-11am
Thurs 9 May: Year 5L Class Mass - 10am
Thurs 9 May: Year 6 Excursion- Parliament House
Fri 10 May: Mother's Day Class Activity & Morning Tea- 9-11am
Fri 10 May: Interschool Sports - (Away) Moreland vs St Oliver's - 11:30-1pm
Fri 10 May: National Walk Safely to School Day
Fri 10 May: School Assembly - Mother's Day Raffle & Blessing - special time 2:30pm
Wed 15 May: Parent Teacher Progress Meetings - Students finish 1pm
Thurs 16 May: Year 3L Class Mass - 10am
Fri 17 May: Interschool Sports - (Home) St Oliver's vs St Bernard's -11:30am-1pm
Mon 20 May: CHESS Tournament - School Hall
Tue 21 May: Year 1 Dream City House Incursion
Wed 22 May: SAC Meeting - 7pm
Thurs 23 May: Year 3M Class Mass - 10am
Fri 24 May: Interschool Sports - (Away) Newlands vs St Oliver's -11:30am-1pm
Fri 24 May: School Assembly - 2:50pm
Wed 29 May: Year 5 & 6 Camp - Phillip Island
Thu 30 May: Year 5 & 6 Camp - Phillip Island
Thu 30 May: Year 4D & 4G Class Mass - 10am
Fri 31 May: Year 5 & 6 Camp - Phillip Island
Fri 31 May: Interschool Sports - BYE week
June
Fri 7 Jun: Feast of The Sacred Heart Mass - 12pm
Fri 7 Jun: Interschool Sports - (Home) St Oliver's vs St Paul's (11:30am-1pm)
Fri 7 Jun: School Assembly - 2:50pm
Mon 10 Jun: King's Birthday Public Holiday
Tues 11 June: Year 2 Como House Excursion
Wed 12 Jun: Prep Excursion Kew Traffic School
Fri 15 Jun: Interschool Sports - (Home) St Oliver's vs AIA (11:30am-1pm)
Sun 16 Jun: First Eucharist 3:30pm St Oliver Plunkett Church
Tue 18 Jun: Esports Competition
Thu 20 Jun: Year 4D & 4G Class Mass - 10am
Thu 20 Jun: PA Winter Warmer - Pizza Hot Food Day & Onesie/PJ Casual Day
Fri 21 Jun: Interschool Sports Finals
Fri 21 Jun: Year 4 Incursion - Coastal Nectar
Fri 21 Jun: School Assembly - 2:50pm
Fri 28 Jun: Interschool Sports Finals
Fri 28 Jun: End of Term 2 - 1pm finish
Education in Faith
FIRST EUCHARIST
This term we look forward to celebrating First Eucharist with our Year Four students.
The Eucharist is the sacrament that completes the process of initiation into the Christian community. When candidates share in the sacred meal of the Christian community for the first time, they do so as fully initiated members.
Families and students will be preparing for this blessed sacrament throughout the term.
We begin with our Eucharist Family Night Wednesday 1 May at 6:30pm.
First Eucharist takes place Sunday 16 June at 3:30pm.
PROJECT COMPASSION
Caritas is the Catholic Church's international aid and development agency in Australia. They are committed to working alongside the most vulnerable and addressing the imbalance of power by including the people affected in the decisions impacting their lives.
During the season of Lent (last term),we began our mission in support of Caritas through Project Compassion. Each family received a Project Compassion Box and students discussed ways in they could raise money by helping at home.
We are in the final weeks of raising funds for Project Compassion and encourage all St Oliver families to assist by donating as much as you can to the Project Compassion family boxes.
Your contributions will create lasting change for all future generations.
Please return all Project Compassion boxes to the school office by Friday 10 May.
Student Administration News
Extended Leave of Absence Form.pdfPrep 2025 Enrolment Forms
A gentle reminder that Prep 2025 enrolment forms are due at the school office for processing by 30 April.
If you have a future Prep next year, or know of a family in our community who would like to apply, please make sure applications are in by the end of the month.
Extended Leave of Absence Form
If you are planning an extended leave from school for your child, please complete the Extended Leave of Absence form - see PDF attached or a hard copy can be found at the school office.
Thank you and have a wonderful week.
Second Hand Uniform Store - Donations
If you have any good quality school uniform items that your child/children have outgrown and you would like to donate to our Second Hand Uniform Store, please drop them off at our school office.
Please make sure that all donated items are the new school design and are neat and washed.
If you are a parent who is interested in organising our Second Hand Uniform Store, please email me on cleone@sopascoevale.catholic.edu.au or pop into the office for a chat.
Thanking you all in advance for your kind donations and help with running our store.
Carol Leone/Katherine Darmanin
Office Administration
Parent Auxiliary News
Dear St OPPS Community,
As we approach Mother's Day, we are excited to organise a special event to celebrate and honour the amazing mothers within our school community. To make this occasion even more memorable, we are planning a Mother's Day Raffle featuring two-three hamper prizes per class.
To bring this idea to life, we are kindly seeking your support through donations of gifts, vouchers, or monetary contributions. Your generous contributions will not only add to the excitement of the raffle but also contribute to creating beautiful and thoughtful hampers for our deserving mothers.
Whether it's a small gift, a voucher from a local business, or a monetary contribution, every contribution will make a significant impact. This is an excellent opportunity for us to come together as a community and show appreciation for the incredible mothers in our midst.
If you would like to contribute, please drop off your donations at the school office by Wednesday 1st May. Your support is crucial in making this Mother's Day raffle a success, and we are truly grateful for your generosity.
Thank you for being a part of this celebration and helping us make Mother's Day extra special for the wonderful mothers of St. Oliver Plunkett Primary School. If you would like to contact us please feel free to email parentauxiliary@sopascoevale.catholic.edu.au or feel free to call Franca on 0403 029 905, Julie on 0418 578 638 or Amy on 0438 266 324.
As part of the Mother’s Day festivities we will be holding our annual Mother’s Day Stall on Wednesday 8th May. We know this is a very exciting time for children and how much they love to buy a gift for their mums and special people in their lives.
In order to make this day a success, we are calling upon volunteers to assist in a range of activities. If you can spare some time to assist with this please sign up below. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Please click on the following web link (or copy it into your web browser if clicking doesn't work) to go to the signup sheet:
To sign up, just follow the instructions on the page. It only takes a few seconds to do.
Thank you for volunteering!
Thank you! to all our wonderful families for your donations towards our Easter Raffle at the end of last term.
This was also made possible by all our beautiful volunteers, who put together an amazing array of prizes for so many lucky winners on Thursday 28 March.
Your continued enthusiasm and support for our school community is greatly appreciated!
Canteen News
Hello Everyone
Classroom Cuisine is our online lunch order system. It is a convenient and user friendly service and provides high quality healthy school lunches at an affordable price.
Classroom Cuisine delivers lunches on THURSDAY and FRIDAY at 1:40pm.
The menu is available online. Please visit the website below and register your child and order lunches beginning this week.
Classroom Cuisine- Ordering Site
Canteen Volunteers - 2024
Thank you to all our wonderful canteen volunteers this year. We couldn't have done it without your generous help.
Volunteer opportunities for "Term 2 2024 Canteen volunteer sign up" are now open. There are still spots available and our students enjoy seeing our parents friendly faces at the canteen every week.
If you have time to volunteer, please take a moment to check the available days and click on the following web link (or copy it into your web browser if clicking doesn't work) to go to the signup sheet:
https://volunteersignup.org/WYCXB
To sign up, just follow the instructions on the page. It only takes a few seconds to do.
Thank you for volunteering!
Student Awards
Awards will be printed in Monday's newsletter. Please be on the look out for your child's name.
Two children from each class will receive awards for displaying the below dispositions in their learning. They will receive their certificates at our fortnightly assembly on Fridays that take place on even weeks Week 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 at 2:50pm.
Parents are welcome to attend our fortnightly assemblies.
Risk Taking Russ Resilient Ruth Self Motivated Sally Reflective Rita Persistent Pete Curious Carter Collaborative Cody
Year Prep
YEAR PREP A
Adeline L for being a collaborative learner as demonstrated by the way she interacts with her classmates using kind words.
Noah M for being a self motivated learner as demonstrated by the way he always starts his work straight away and follows instructions.
YEAR PREP W
Amelia C for being a resilient learner as demonstrated by the way she uses kindness to support others within the classroom.
Christian C for being a persistent learner as demonstrated by his ability to stay focused on his learning to complete his task with effort and care.
Year One
YEAR 1B
Kyahna M for being a self motivated learner as demonstrated by her willingness to share ideas during discussions.
Isabella L for being a persistent learner as demonstrated by the way she attempted to read unfamiliar words.
YEAR 1MJ
Violet V for being a risk taking learner as demonstrated by willingness to contribute to class discussions, even when she is unsure.
Anthony C for being a persistent learner as demonstrated by his ability to take on teacher feedback when learning about chance in Maths.
YEAR 1V
Sienna M for being a resilient learner as demonstrated by her ability to sense the emotions of her peers and show kindness to them.
Hugo F for being a risk taking learner as demonstrated by his ability to challenge his mathematical thinking when adding two-digit numbers together.
Year Two
YEAR 2L
Layla S for being a collaborative learner as demonstrated by the way she interacted with her group during a literacy task.
Clarissa C for being a risk taking learner as demonstrated by her ability to step out of her comfort zone and create friendships at a new school.
YEAR 2R
Ethan E for being a curious learner as demonstrated by his ability to ask meaningful questions in class discussions.
Emilia E for being a self motivated learner as demonstrated by her ability to be organised and ready to learn.
Year Three
YEAR 3L
Raffi C for being a resilient learner as demonstrated by the way she finds something to be grateful for by noticing the positives that exist around her and uses kindness to support her peers.
Eva S for being a self motivated learner as demonstrated by her ability to have all belongings ready for learning and approach challenging tasks with positivity.
YEAR 3M
Henry R for being a curious learner as demonstrated by his ability to show an eager and positive interest when exploring our new narrative topic in class.
Selena T for being a persistent learner as demonstrated through the effort she puts into her spelling when attempting to achieve a new learning concept.
Year Four
YEAR 4D
Victoria D for being a curious learner as demonstrated by her ability to ask thought provoking questions, demonstrating her interest in what we are learning.
Spencer R for being a risk taking learner as demonstrated by his willingness to openly share his opinions and ideas in class discussions, even when unsure of the answer.
YEAR 4G
Evie J for being a resilient learner as demonstrated by her want to understand before she walks away to complete her tasks. She wants to master the aspects of all her learning.
Olivia N for being a self motivated learner during maths and writing lessons. When she is set a student led task she will give her best and avoid distraction.
Year Five
YEAR 5G
Felix B for being a self motivated learner during a maths lesson when he sought out help and worked with the teacher group.
Savannah S for being a reflective learner throughout book making, taking on feedback and improving her work.
YEAR 5L
Thomas K for being a risk taking learner during a Mathematics session by challenging himself to revise errors and order negative and positive decimals.
Thomas J for being a curious learner by making connections with how the heart beats faster when feeling angry or upset during a lesson about health.
Year Six
YEAR 6F
Chloe P for being a resilient learner as demonstrated by her growing confidence in responding to questions in whole class discussions, keep it up Chloe.
Mikaela M for being a self motivated learner as demonstrated by completing unfinished classwork at home without being asked to.
YEAR 6P
Roan R for being a collaborative learner as demonstrated by his ability to contribute to all class discussions.
Lucas G for being a resilient learner as demonstrated by the way he displayed confidence during a challenging learning situation.
Extend News- Before and After School Care
Always Learning and Always Evolving
Extend's valuable and informative monthly publication, 'The Link - Community Hub', has just released its latest edition. It provides interesting articles, reviews and ideas for our community to read and share!
Please click below to download the latest edition
We sincerely hope you find this resource useful and insightful.
Wishing you well,
The Extend Team
School Noticeboard- Special Acknowledgements
Our School Community Notice Board acknowledges special Staff or School Family News. It allows us to be connected through prayer while we are apart and it is something I would really like to continue when we are back together again. If you have a particular event happening in your life e.g. birth or death and would like us to acknowledge this event please email me. We as a school community would love to offer prayers and thoughts to you during times of great joy or sadness.
principal@sopascoevale.catholic.edu.au
Community News and Events
MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER Weekend
“Live Your Best Married Life in Love”
Every relationship is a journey and the grind of everyday life can cause you to lose touch with your spouse.
This experience gives married couples the tools to keep your passion alive in a gentle, nurturing environment, away from pressures and distractions of daily living.
The weekend is based around Catholic values and couples of all faiths are welcome.
Please check our website for more details.
12-14 April 2024 in Melbourne
Information/Bookings: Phone Mercy & James 0409 183 676 or
Email: vicbookings@wwme.org.au Website: wwme.org.au
