OLSH College Newsletter 03 August 2023

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Paul Melloy, Principal Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome back to a new term, and we hope you enjoyed the holidays. This is a critical academic term, especially for our seniors. After tomorrow, six weeks of tuition are left for our Year 12’s. An exciting time of finishing and preparing for exams; while looking forward to the future to see what’s possible for next year and the following.

The Aussie of the Month

From Traeger, our June Aussie of the Month is:

Sinchan Sedhai

Sinchan consistently exhibits kindness and a willingness to help others. She radiates warmth and approachability, making it easy for people to talk to her. Sinchan gets along well with her peers. Moreover, she’s highly diligent and completes her tasks efficiently. Sinchan has a compassionate nature and extends to everyone she interacts with. She is known for always wearing a smile and being incredibly helpful. Congratulations Sinchan.

From Traeger, our July Aussie of the Month is:

Ainsley Tiongco

Ainsley is an enthusiastic student who displays respect in all his interactions with staff and students. He participates in all activities and is always inclusive of everyone around him. He is an exemplary member of the OLSH community who demonstrates our Marist Values at all times.

New Staff in Term 3

At the beginning of Term 3, we have been blessed with the recruitment of 11 new staff, in all areas of the College. We welcome to OLSH:

• William Phelps – Teacher of Senior Biology and Science

• Daniel Martin – Media and Marketing

• Gayatri Saraswati – Inclusion Support Assistant at Traeger

• Huazheng (Cami) Song - Inclusion Support Assistant at Sadadeen

• Alvaro Tejerina Sanchez - Inclusion Support Assistant at Bath Street

• Alexia Cheneval - Inclusion Support Assistant at Bath Street

• Adele Nichols – Maintenance Team at Bath Street

• Steven Lazar – Maintenance Team at Traeger

• Paul Mortimer-Stent – Maintenance Team at Sadadeen

• Suzette Lau – After School Care at Bath Street

• Dwayne Powell – Aboriginal and Islander Education Worker (AEIW) at Sadadeen

FROM THE PRINCIPAL Ministerial and Catholic Director’s Visit FROM THE PRINCIPAL

In an exciting time for education in Central Australia, the Federal Minister for Education, Jason Clare, visited Alice Springs and OLSH, with the Director of Catholic Education in Australia, Jacinta Collins, and the Director of Catholic Education in the Northern Territory, Paul Greaves.

The Federal Minister has allocated $40.4 million to education in Central Australia in 2024. This is his second visit, to sit with the 44 principals in this area and discuss how the money could best be utilised for indigenous education.

This allocation of funding, above the normal annual allocation, puts Central Australia schools at the highest level in all Australia. For those familiar with the Gonski Report, a review into equitable outcomes in school funding across all schools in Australia, our allocation of funding would now put OLSH Catholic School at 97% of the Gonski’s recommendation. Presently, we are sitting at approximately 79%. Originally, Central Australia had planned to achieve 100% the Gonski recommended level by 2050. This puts into perspective the incredible support from Minister Jason Clare and his progressive approach to educational funding.

Minister Jason Clare and Jacinta Collins were particularly interested in OLSH’s data on school attendance and the academic success in indigenous achievement in Year 12. At OLSH in 2023, indigenous attendance in on a par with non-indigenous attendance, sitting at approximately 91/92%. This takes us back to pre-Covid levels. In fact, in our first enrolment and validation report this year, indigenous students had a 92.3% attendance rate compared to 91.3% for non-indigenous students.

The next set of data our visitors were particularly interested was indigenous achievement. For the last 4 years, indigenous students in Year 12 have attained a 100% pass rate in the NTCET qualification (Northern Territory Certificate for Education and Training – Year 12 pass), including excellent achievements in VET courses. To hear our story, Jason Clare and Jacinta Collins met with 7 students at Sadadeen; to listen to their perspective of indigenous achievement, school support and more broadly, life in Alice Springs. Our students were articulate and explained their reasons for indigenous success at OLSH, how it is achieved, what school support is in place to support this and how important education is to their future lives. Many thanks to these students for being so natural and authentic.

There were two blessings from this special visit. It is so pleasing to be recognised for the outstanding results OLSH produces every year. Not only for high school attendance but also our academic and VET results; although attendance and success at school are intrinsicality linked. Secondly, behind all the support systems in place, nothing compares to the relationship between teachers and their students. This is where OLSH excels. Our positive student/teacher relationships were recognised by the Government’s External Validation in 2021 and placed in the highest category in the countryOutstanding. It is my belief that this is the real strength behind any of our achievements – attendance, VET results, SACE results, PAT and NAPLAN results and our senior NTCET results. Many thanks to all staff, teaching and administration, for the special care and support you give to all our students.

Marcellin Champagnat, over 200 years ago, urged his Marist Brothers and all associated with Marist schools, that “If you want to teach young people, first you must love them. You must love them all equally.”

Denise Simon, Assistant Principal Dear Members of the OLSH Community,

Welcome to our first newsletter for term 3. It has been a busy but rewarding start tto the term with multiple highlights for sure!

Year 11 Colloquium

The Colloquium was held on the 20th & 21st of July, led by Adam Burns from Marist Youth Ministry based in Brisbane. He works with the 20 Marist schools located in Queensland, Northern NSW and Northern Territory. The focus for the two days was on leadership, using our founder Marcellin Champagnat, Jules Chavalier and Jesus as role model. The students were extremely engaged during the course of the said time frame and interacted well with their peers and staff present. A most rewarding day for sure!

Tell Them From Me CEONT Survey

Keeping you informed that the mentioned survey is a CEONT initiative and is required to be completed by all Catholic schools in the Diocese. Important to mention here is that the survey is an essential part of our whole school evaluation and planning process. As we value the role of staff, students and parents/carers within our school community we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at the College. The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. The timeline for completion has been communicated in an earlier email. Link for all parents

http://tellthemfromme.com/olshsurvey2023

Bishop Charles’ Visit to the College

Bishop Charles visited the three campuses on Thursday the 3rd of August. We thank Bishop for spending time with our students. Many insightful conversations and great Q&A’s from students too.

Bath Street: 8:30 - 9:30 am - Q & A with Yr 4 (Topic: Prayer & Sacramentality)

Traeger: 12:00 - 12:50 pm - Address the Assembly (Catholic Social teaching)

Sadadeen: 1:00 – 3:00 pm Q & A with Year 10 & 11 (Moral Decision Making & World Religions) A special word of appreciation to Mandeep Kaur, Pushpa Dieckelmann, Susan Marshall, Clare Kurnow & Jacinta Boniwell for preparing the students for Bishop Charles’ visit.

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Footsteps 2 Marist Program

Footsteps 2 seeks to deepen and build upon the experiences of participants who have previously completed the initial Footsteps program (formerly known as Sharing Our Call I and Sharing Champagnat’s Vision). This three-day residential course at The Hermitage, Mittagong provides experienced Marist educators with the opportunity to enrich and revitalise their appreciation of Marist charism and spirituality and Marist education. The programme will allow participants a significant encounter with other Marists who share a passion for living out God’s mission in the Marist way. This year Andre Simon & Jacinta Boniwell will be attending the the program from the 6th – 9th of August.

Bath Street First Friday Mass

A big thank you to Bishop Charles and Fr Prakash for celebrating Mass on the 4th of August at The OLSH Church. A special thank you to Rebecca Scollen for all her organisation and hard work behind the scenes.

Camps at the College

The Year 6 overnight camp is scheduled from the 3rd – 4th of August. The students headed off this morning and were extremely excited. They will be undertaking a variety of activities along with fossicking too! They will also be enjoying a delectable camp oven meal under the stars. We await to hear all about their camp on their return.

Keeping you informed that our Year 9 & 10 camps are upcoming events for our students this term. The Year 9 students will be participating in outdoor education activities at Mylor Adventure Camps in South Australia. This will take place between the 25th – 30th of August.

The Year 10 camp will be heading to Hamilton Downs between the 20th – 22nd of September. This year Amy Stockwell will be coordinating the camp. She has had extensive experience in the field of Outdoor Education. Amy has worked as a camp assistant at Mylor Adventure Camp an Outdoor Education Camp in the Adelaide Hills. She has also supported offsite hiking and mountain bike camps for the Mylor Adventure Camp Company. Amy has worked as a group leader on the St Philips Outdoor Education Camp Program and studied Stage 2 Outdoor Education during her schooling. She is currently studying a Bachelor of Business (Management) at University of South Australia. Her Qualifications include: First Aid, Pool Lifeguard, AUSTSWIM License, Ochre Card, Cert 3 in Aquatics and Recreation.

God bless, enjoy the break and may the sacred heart of Jesus be everywhere loved.

Denise Simon

BATH STREET

Marita Hunt, Head of Campus

Welcome to Term 3. A lot has been happening in just a few short weeks. In Week 1, our Year 3s and 4s were involved in a special workshop presented by members of the Sydney Dance Group. It was great to see our students’ enthusiastic participation - we definitely have some dancing talent at Bath Street! In Week 2, we had an ‘Author Visit’. Kate and Jol Temple worked with our Year 2s, 3s and 4s, sharing their experiences as authors and passing on some helpful writing tips to our aspiring young writers at Bath Street. A special thanks to Miss Steph for organising these two fantastic events so early in the term.

National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD)

At this time of year, we usually have consultants visit from Catholic Education to support us in Inclusion Support as well as curriculum. One area of support is ensuring we, as a school, are ready for the NCCD census. The Disability Standards for Education 2005 (the Standards) require that all Australian schools:

· Ensure that students with disability are able to access and participate in education on the same basis as students without disability

· Make or provide ‘reasonable adjustments’ for students where necessary to enable their access and participation

· Provide reasonable adjustments in consultation with the student and/or their associates; for most students, this means their parents, guardians or carers.

Very briefly, for the students who have a recognised or imputed disability, teachers are asked to document consultation and collaboration with parents/carers, assessment of individual needs, adjustments being made and the monitoring and reviewing of adjustments for a student to be placed onto the NCCD. Those students who have substantial adjustments made to their learning are required to have an Education Adjustment Plan (EAP) developed in collaboration with their parents or carers.

EAP meetings are held with parents/carers, classroom teacher, the Inclusion Support Coordinator and in some instances the Inclusion Support Practitioner. These EAP’s are developed once per semester to create goals that support the child in the area/s of concern.

We are happy to discuss further with you if you would like more information about the Inclusion process.

College Concert

It’s that time of year again, when we showcase the talents of our Bath Street students on stage at our annual College Concert. The concert is on in Week 6, Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th August. Please keep an eye out for any notes and reminders regarding all things related to the concert - costumes, rehearsals, songs/ dances to learn etc.

BATH STREET

Kiss & Go/School Crossing

Please continue to adhere to all Kiss & Go rules to ensure the smooth running of pick-ups and drop-offs. Also, regarding our school crossing, we had a rather frightening ‘near miss’ on Monday this week. Please stop at the line before the crossing when instructed to do so by our crossing monitors. We urge all parents to drive carefully and attentively on Bath Street, especially during peak times. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Important Dates & Upcoming Events

3rd August - Parent and Child First Communion Meeting 5:30pm

4th August - First Friday Mass 9am, Year 3, Year 12s will be joining us

7th August - Picnic Day

9th August - Bath Street Campus Tours 9:00 - 10:00am

15th August - Assumption Day Mass

21st August - First Communion Retreat Day/

First Communion Practice in the Church

23rd & 24th August - College Concert, Marian Centre

31st August - Father’s Day Stall

1st September - First Friday Mass Year 2

Week 8 starting 4/09 - Transition & Year 2 Swimming

Week 9 starting 11/09 - Year 1 and Year 2 Swimming

TRAEGER CAMPUS

Wayne Eglinton, Head of Campus

We hope you had a fantastic break filled with joy and cherished moments with friends and loved ones. As we embark on this new semester, we want to extend our warmest greetings to all our students, parents, teachers, and staff, especially those new to our community. It’s a fresh start, and we are excited to continue our learning journey together.

This semester holds endless possibilities for growth, exploration, and fun! Our dedicated team of educators is ready to guide and support each and every one of you on your educational path. Whether you are in Year 5 or Year 8, we have exciting and engaging lessons planned to challenge your minds and nurture your creativity.

For Year 8s, this is their final semester at Traeger. This is a time to continue to prepare yourselves for senior secondary but also leave Traeger on a high note - “Letting their little light - SHINE!”

Remember, we value not just academic excellence but also kindness, respect, and empathy towards one another. Let us strive to create a school environment that fosters friendship, inclusivity, and understanding, following in the footsteps of Jesus.

Parents and guardians, your involvement is crucial in shaping our students’ future. We encourage you to maintain open communication with our teachers and staff, as your partnership is vital in providing the best possible education for your children.

To our students, embrace the opportunities that await you in Semester Two. Take risks, ask questions, and let your curiosity guide you. Each day is a chance to learn something new, not only from your textbooks but also from your friends, teachers, and experiences.

Let’s make this semester extraordinary and memorable. Together, we can achieve greatness! Welcome back, everyone, to a fantastic Semester Two.

Academic Assembly

We celebrated the achievement of many students last Friday at the Academic Assembly which was held at the Marian Centre. It was wonderful to see so many students receiving awards for 100% attendance, Academic Endeavour and Academic Excellence.

Assembly

Week 1 assembly “ Ordinary Time “ was prepared by 8.3 with Miss Paige . Thank you. Week 3 assembly was prepared by 7.3 with Mr Clark . Thank you. Congratulations to the award winners presented at the assembly: Tyler Campbell, Mia Coulson, Ikman Deol, Logan McGargill,Gracella Lema, Edna Kurian, Bhajleen Kaur.

All correspondence will be via email or telephone. Contact the Campus using these details. Direct phone: 89508511 email : traeger.olshalice@nt.catholic.edu.au

Please email any student absences. Please advise promptly if you have any change to your contact details.

AMC

competition

Congratulations to the following students who participated in the Australian Mathematics Competition.

Luke Follayttar 5.1

Donnie Barnett-Stanyer 5.1

Sahej Bamrah 5.1

Veeraj Gonawala 5.1

Rosna Martin 5.1

Bakshi Dhaliwal 5.2

Aaliyah Malcolm 5.2

Jinat Sandhu 6.2

Hargun Johal 6.2

Yanyu Chen 6.2

Feon Sanjo 6.2

Barakath Shihab 6.2

Yr 6 Camp - Gemtree

Chloe Brown 7.1

Alvin Sijoy 7.1

Gurasees Kaur 7.1

Bodhi Cortissos 7.2

Shae Driver 7.2

Blake Pedrotti 7.3

Edna Kurian 8.2

Tunsu Ngallah 8.2

Thomas VDGH 8.3

Emaan Vaaliya Akath 8.3

Jevindu Gamage 8.3

Our Year 6s are currently on camp at Gem Tree. We look forward to their stories and photos upon return.

Canteen - Please Order

The canteen line has been extremely busy this term. We would prefer that students order their recess/lunch so they can experience playtime. Recess and Lunch orders must be placed in separate brown paper bags clearly labelled with the student’s name and Homeroom and recess or lunch.

Car Parking

The bus bay cannot be used for pickup, drop off or parking. The buses need to be able to access the ‘bus zone’. Rangers have fined drivers for not following this rule. We also ask that parents REFRAIN from parking inside the school gates when dropping off and picking up students in the busyness of the morning and afternoon. Please Park in the street; this is for the safety of the students.

We request that the drop-off time in the morning be as close to 8.00am as possible. The teachers on duty start at 8.00am. Also we have many students arriving late. All students should be at school by 8.15am.

We ask parents NOT to park in the school grounds, for the safety of our students. Students are to be collected via the front pedestrian gate, where they will be waiting within the school grounds.Students must not

School Arrival Times After School Pick Up Lost Property

Please remember to name your children’s clothing, lunchboxes and other belongings. We seem to accumulate a lot, all with no names.

SADADEEN CAMPUS

Jasmeet Dhingra, Head of Campus

We welcome everyone back after the holidays and hope everyone had a good break. It is wonderful to see classes filled with enthusiasm and positive mindsets. Our staff participated in Restorative Practices Training on the first day back. Restorative Practices help build capacity to enable students to self-regulate behaviour and contributes to the improvement of learning outcomes.

In this new Semester we welcome two new staff members – Mr William Phelps as our Senior Biology and Science Teacher and Mr Dwayne Powell as our new AIEW. Mr Phelps comes with an extensive experience of teaching in Secondary School and also at University. Mr Powell has worked with Aboriginal students for the last eight years and is very passionate about their education. We wish them both well as they begin their journey as part of OLSH community.

Year 11 Colloquium

Our Year 11 students participated in our annual Leadership Colloquium on July 20th and July 21st in the Marian Centre Foyer. The Colloquium was led by Adam Burns (Marist Youth Minister) and Denise Simon (Assistant Principal – Mission). The focus of the Colloquium was ‘Leadership’, specifically, student leadership as potential Year 12 leaders in 2024 in the Marist tradition. Students showed wonderful participation, consideration and maturity in several sessions, followed by small group discussions. We would like to thank Mr Madamombe and Mr Simon for their support of students over the course of two days. We now look forward to the students taking the initiative as we begin the process of electing student leadership for 2024.

Academic Assembly

Academic Assembly was held on Thursday 27th June in the Marian Centre. We acknowledged students that excelled in ways that support their education and formation. We recognised students with 100% attendance, Academic Endeavour and Academic Achievement. It is a great start to young person’s education if they are regular attenders, attentive to the many demands of being a student, and conscious of the need to achieve to the best of their capacity. It was wonderful to see a great turnout of Parents and caregivers to celebrate student achievements at the Assembly.

Year 12 Parent-Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews for only Year 12 students are scheduled for Wednesday, 16th August, 3.30 –5.30 pm in the Marian Centre Foyer. Information for the online bookings will be sent closer to the date. We encourage all Parents to attend these interviews to check the progress of their child as we finish all 12 courses by the end of this term. Please note that Year 12 teachers will be running holiday workshops during the September holidays in preparation for the final assessments and the SACE Exams.

Sports Update

This term, we have hit the ground running with sports at Sadadeen Campus. Over the past two weeks, recess & lunch have been non-stop with volleyball matches; the talent we see this year is phenomenal. We will conclude this competition with a Grand Final match followed by two afterschool matches against St Philips on Tuesday in weeks 4 & 5. In addition to this, we also have students eager to participate in the upcoming Interschool Orienteering (WK4 Fri) and Interschool AFL Gala Day (WK5 Fri). It would seem that we are not the only school in the mood for sport and comradery, as we also have a combo AFL match lined up for WK 4 Wed: OLSH/St Philips VS CSC/Yirara. Additionally, the 2024 Marist Basketball Competition has been announced to take place in Term 1, from March 24 - 28 in QLD (Beenleigh). Interested students are encouraged to attend the Marist Basketball meeting Thursday at lunch in Week 4 for more information.

Year 9 and 10 Camps

The dates for our Year 9 and 10 Camps are as follows

Year 9 (Adelaide)

Saturday 25th August to Wednesday 30th August. Thursday 31st August is a day off for all Camp staff and students. They resume school on Friday, 1st September.

Year 10 (Hamilton Downs)

Wednesday 20th September to Friday 22nd September. Term Break follows this.

Details for the two camps have been communicated with students and Parents. If there are any further queries, please get in touch with Mrs Denise Simon on denise.simon@nt.catholic.edu.au

As our Senior students prepare for the end of formal schooling, we also begin planning special events for them towards the end of the year. Please mark the following dates in your calendar.

Year 12 Breakfast and Big Day Out – 20th October

Year 12 Graduation Mass and Assembly – 17th November

Year 12 Valedictory Dinner – 18th November

The details of the above events were communicated to all Parents by Mr Andre Simon (Yr11/12 Coordinator) last week. Please contact Mr Simon at andre.simon@nt.catholic.edu.au if there are any queries.

Year 12 Important Dates and Events College Concert

Preparations are underway for our College Concert to be held on Wednesday 23rd August and Thursday 24th August in the Marian centre from 5.30 pm onwards. Further details will be communicated next week to all families. Tickets can be booked online from next week onwards. We thank Miss Brittany Dunk and Ms Xavia Nou for assisting and preparing the students for the various acts.

Slow down

A gentle reminder to all our Parents who pick up and drop off students at the front of the Campus to observe the speed limit of 10km/h. Both mornings and afternoons are busy, with most of our students walking across the road simultaneously to either catch the bus or make their way to the student car park. It is a shared zone, and the speed limit sign should be always followed by all motorists.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic College

“Let Mary’s Heart beat in us: The great gift that Marcellin left us”

Marcellin Champagnat

PUBLISHED BY EVA MARSHALL OLSH MEDIA