Dear Parents,
We have enjoyed a very busy first term with lots happening in and around the grounds of OLMC. A special welcome to our two new teachers, Miss Jolinsa Jeewa who is taking the Year 1/2/3 class and to Mrs Carla Ferreira who is the K/PP ably supported by Mrs Moffat. We hope they are both enjoying their new school. We also welcome back Mrs Rachel Steele who is working one day a week.
We began the year with a very successful Annual Community Meeting with many parents in attendance for the Annual General Meeting of our School Advisory Council (SAC) and P&F Association. For such a small school, we do very well with numbers. Thank you to those of you who attended and enjoyed afternoon tea after the meeting. Thank you to Michael O’Brien who took on a role within our SAC and to Sheree Tropiano who joined the P&F as the treasurer.
Congratulations to our Year 5/6 students who took on their new Ministry roles and have begun working well on their portfolios. The students presented their speeches at an assembly and received their new badges blessed by Father Robert.
We have celebrated two important Feast days this term. The students wore all things green for St Patrick’s Day and enjoyed an Irish themed day and green treats. The Presentation Sisters who established our school travelled from Ireland and it was their tradition to always mark St Patrick’s Day with a dinner of bacon, cabbage and potatoes and a glass of stout!
The Year 1-6 students celebrated St Joseph’s Day on March 19th with a beautiful Mass in the church. Afterward, Father Robert showed them all of the images and statues of St Joseph that are a part of our famous church.
We marked the beginning of the Season of Lent with a reverent prayer service with Father Robert during which all of the students had their foreheads marked with ashes and we were reminded of trying to turn toward God for the next 6 weeks until Easter Sunday.
Our Year 3 and 5 students completed their NAPLAN testing last week and once again approached this with a calm and determined attitude.
Well done to all of the students for their cheerful participation in our Faction Swimming Carnival and to our small group of students who represented OLMC at the NCVISSA Interschool Carnival in Geraldton last Friday. A huge thank you to Mrs Messina who once again organised our carnival so well and to the parent helpers who turned up to assist on a very hot day. Your assistance is always greatly appreciated.
Our Year 5/6 students returned home yesterday from camp at Kalbarri and had a really wonderful time managing themselves away from their home and participating in activities that might put them out of their comfort zone. A very big thank you to Mr David Tropiano for attending along with staff members, Mrs Messina, Miss Danica, Miss Penny, Mrs Krippner and myself.
A sincere thank you to those parents who replied to the request for a Parent/Teacher interview at the end of the term and for making yourselves available to discuss your child’s progress. Please contact your child’s classroom teacher if you wish to participate in a meeting.
Thank you to those parents who were able to attend our P&F meeting for Term One where the committee determined the way in which it wanted to allocate money raised through fundraising. A special thank you to our two dads, Mr Anthony Dreghorn and Mr Stephen Pope who gave up their time to attend the Busy Bee last Saturday and assisted Mr Dale Schulz with jobs, especially with refurbishing and painting the cubby in the K/PP yard. It looks fantastic and will be used as an outside reading nook for the students as the cooler weather sets in.
A reminder, students will finish this term on Friday, 11th April. School will resume for students on Tuesday, 29th April as staff will be attending a Professional Development day on the Monday. Holy Week begins with Holy Thursday on April 17th and ends on Easter Sunday, 20th April. This is the most important day on our Catholic calendar and the students will be focusing on these days during the last week of the term.
God bless and keep safe.
Jill Hollands
Principal
