Our Lady of the Cape Primary School

Dear Parents and Community Members,

As we are currently experiencing cold mornings and wet wintery days, we look forward to the sun coming back a little bit more every day help to chase away the winter blues. We certainly notice that our students miss being able to run and play on rainy days, although the rain is welcomed and needed.

As we are all getting tired towards the end of term, and with limited hours of sunlight to renew our energy, it is important that we are kind to each other. Kindness is not just a fleeting gesture but a catalyst for driving positive change and energy around us.

Studies have shown that when we perform acts of kindness, our brain releases chemicals like dopamine and oxytocin, which make us feel happy and connected. Kindness is also associated with boosting mood, reducing stress and anxiety and lowering blood pressure.

We are so fortunate at OLC to see many acts of kindness in our community.

How can you start a kindness ripple in our community today?

I have been fortunate recently to welcome my second grandson, while my first grandson is only 8 weeks old. There is something magical about seeing your sons holding their sons, and it is lovely to have two little cousins who will grow up together so close in age. I feel very blessed!

We have had a busy couple of weeks at OLC, with the Winter Carnival, our Year 4 students receiving Jesus for the first time with their First Holy Communion, Cross Country, Year 3 cultural excursion to Ngilgi Cave and several Class Assemblies. Our teachers have also been very busy writing reports to inform parents about student progress so far this year.

I have spent the last few weeks meeting with families for enrolment interviews for our Kindergarten class for 2027. I always ask new families why they are seeking enrolment at our school, and it is heartening to hear them talk about the positive reputation our school continues to have in the community. This is due to a great team effort, with our amazing staff (including our dedicated teaching staff, education assistants, office and admin staff and our hard-working groundsman) and due to the comments, conversations and recommendations made by school families. Most new families have a story to tell about some connection, or something they have heard about our school. Our Kindy 2027 class is almost full. We are taking enrolments for Pre-Kindy 2027 if you know of anyone who has a child who will be 3 after 1 July this year. Please enquire at the office. Please note our Pre-Kindy classes this year are now full.

Congratulations to our school choir and Mrs Natasha Stokes, our Music teacher. The choir achieved a score of 87, resulting in 2nd place, after singing ‘I am Australian’ and ‘Whisper’.

The report praised good intonation and diction, a dramatically engaging performance, good responsiveness to conductor and rhythm and vitality.

There is great excitement about the upcoming DISCO to be held tomorrow, Friday 19 June. We are so grateful to our P&F for their organisation of this event, helping to make memories for our students. Can’t wait!

On Friday 3 July, reports will be available through SEQTA. You will receive an email letting you know when reports are available to view. Please celebrate progress with your child and talk about their achievements with them. If you have any concerns, please make an appointment with the classroom teacher. If you have problems accessing your child’s report, please contact the office.

Thank you to families who have paid their annual school fees or have commenced a payment plan. Statements reminders were sent home recently to those parents who have not commenced a payment plan. The collection of school fees is essential for the running and improvement of the school facilities and resources. If you have not commenced any repayments and are experiencing difficulties, please contact me to arrange a confidential chat. Thank you.

From time to time, parents call the school to change afternoon pick-up arrangements and we are happy to pass on messages to students. However, when there is only one person in the office and calls to deliver messages are coming late into the afternoon, it is very difficult for office staff to effectively deliver these messages. Please make sure you contact the office before 2.30pm if you would like a message delivered to your child about afternoon pick-up changes. Our friendly, helpful office staff are happy to help out when unavoidable changes are made to afternoon arrangements, but, if possible, it is preferable that your child knows at the beginning of the day how they are getting home. Thanks for your understanding.

This is always a wonderful morning of play, sensory experiences, craft, creativity and fun! Come and join Mrs Clark as your child begins their journey at our school and becomes familiar with the Kindy environment. All welcome!

Once the afternoon school bell sounds and students are returned to the care of their parents, we have noticed that increasingly, students are staying behind at school and playing on the school playground facilities. During the school day, we have guidelines in place for safety reasons, always having at the forefront the need to keep our students safe. Sometimes, when using the playgrounds after school hours, students seem to be disregarding the usual school safety rules, and playing on the playgrounds, particularly the pre-primary, kindy playgrounds, the nature playground and in the trees, in a way that may lead to injury. Please help us to keep students safe and injury-free, by leaving the school grounds promptly after the bell, and not allowing your children to play on the play areas after the conclusion of the school day. Thank you very much for understanding.

5H Assembly

P&F Disco

Andrew Chinn Incursion

OLC’s Got Talent

Cultural Week

End of term Mass on Thursday 2 July at 9.00am

The last day of Term 2 for students is Thursday 2 July.

Please note that Friday 3 July is a student free day.

Term 3 commences for students on TUESDAY 21 July.

From time to time, and for a number or reasons, students and families leave OLC. This is a reminder that a term’s notice must be given in writing if your child is leaving our school. Thank you to those families who inform us, as per our policy, in a timely manner. Where the appropriate notice of an entire term is not given, fees will be charged as stated on the enrolment form, signed by parents when they enrol their children. Please note we also have an ‘Exit Survey’ that we send to leaving families, as we would like to receive their feedback to enable us to continuously improve.

As the leaves fall and the days grow colder, we are reminded that change is a natural and beautiful part of life. Just as trees let go of what they no longer need, we too can learn to release worries, show kindness, and make space for growth. This week, take a moment to appreciate the simple things, support one another, and trust that every season brings new opportunities to learn and flourish.

May God bless you

Mrs Angela Hegney

Principal

Attached is a Parenting Tip from the Big Life Journal about riding the wave and navigating meltdowns.

Dear OLC Parents,

Here at OLC we are very lucky to learn about our local Wadandi Culture, as well as the Indonesian and Italian cultures.

In Week 11 this term, we will be celebrating these cultures, as well as all the cultural backgrounds of our school families. They include First Nations, British, European, South American, African, Asian and many more….

We have a variety of activities planned across the week.
As part of Cultural Week we ask you as a parent to please have a conversation with your child/ren about the cultural heritage/s that exist in your family. I’m sure you probably already have! Some families may need to go back a few generations to identify their family origins.

The students may be asked to share this information in their class at some point during Cultural Week.

Week 11 - Thursday 2nd July Cultural Dress Day

An integral part of Cultural Week is Thursday’s (Week 11) dress up day. We are asking that students come dressed as either:

• The colours (or a colour) of the flag from one their countries of origin.
• An example of traditional clothing from their cultural heritage.
• Something that represents the country or origin such as a soccer or other country sporting top. (This could be worn with the OLC sports uniform). This year we have coincided OLC Cultural Week with the FIFA Football World Cup.
• 
  

Parents, we would like to avoid children coming to school on Thursday with AFL tops or other Aussie sporting merchandise. We are all proudly Australian, however on this week it is about diving back to our family origins before they came to Australia or their First Nations cultural heritage. We look forward to celebrating and having some fun during this year's Cultural Week.

Look out for upcoming photos on the school’s social media pages.

Best Regards,

Adrian Torrese
Assistant Principal

We are seeking donations of fruiting plants for our school garden. Each family that donates will have their name proudly displayed on the tree, recognising their contribution to our growing space. For anyone able to donate, please contact Kyle Edwards on 0415 995 045.

The OLC School Garden focuses on sustainable practices, including composting, seasonal fruit and vegetable growing, and environmental stewardship. Students will actively engage in the cycle of pick, compost, grow, and eat—harvesting produce, composting organic waste, enriching the soil, and growing new food. This hands-on process builds understanding of sustainable food systems and waste reduction while delivering tangible outcomes. The garden will also provide an inclusive space where families can connect, nurture the environment, and support student learning. Through shared gardening experiences, the project promotes wellbeing, community engagement, and a strong sense of belonging while creating a self-sustaining space for the future.

Blueberry bushes
Kiwi Fruit
Lavender (to attract bees for pollination of the other trees)
White mulberry trees

Thank you for your support.

On the 22nd of June Australian songwriter and singer, Andrew Chinn, will be visiting our school to share his songs with our children. Andrew’s songs, such as “These Hands”, “Rainbow”, “An African Blessing” and “Rise Up!” are used in classrooms and liturgies around Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. Andrew will workshop songs with each year level during the day and his visit will culminate in a whole school concert that will take place in the school hall at 1.45pm. Parents and Grandparents are more than welcome to attend. We hope to see you there!

The paid position of crosswalk attendant has still not been filled. We have many students who walk or ride to school, and need to cross Cape Naturaliste Road each day. Their safety is a great concern for us. Until an attendant is appointed, we will endeavour to provide school staff to attend the crossing. Please note that students who ride their bikes to school will need to wait for supervision before walking their bikes when on school grounds to get to the crossing.

We are working closely with the Dunsborough Police to promote the position and would appreciate your assistance in spreading the word if you know of anyone who would be available.

For more information you can contact the Children's Crossing Unit on (08) 6274 8731 or email on childrenscrossingsunitsmail@police.wa.gov.au.

We hope all OLC families have stayed safe during the last few days of severe weather. We know of many families who remained without power or water for many days after the storm had passed and we wish to remind families that the pastoral care freezer has delicious frozen meals for times like this when life takes us on an unexpected path. Please help yourself to the delicious meals that have been prepared for the pastoral care freezer and we sincerely thank Sara in the Canteen for ensuring the freezer is always stocked with hearty meals for families in times of need.

Thank you to those families who have paid their child’s entry fee to attend the Disco this Friday. There is still time to confirm your child’s attendance by either paying the $10 entry fee prior to Friday or paying at the Disco Door on Friday. Gold coin donation stalls will be open 20minutes prior to each session commencement, a great opportunity to buy a glow stick pack, glow in the dark temporary tattoos, bag of lollies and take home a Polaroid photo capturing the fun times.

Food orders have now closed. Food can be collected from the canteen window in the undercover area towards the end of each session.

Thank you to Pre-Primary, Year 3 and Year 6 Class Reps and Families for organising each session and volunteering your time this Friday. These fun events planned for OLC children do rely on many helpers to come together to ensure a successful event, so your involvement is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for supporting this fun event.

Boardstore is excited to launch a fun, creative Kids T-Shirt Design Competition open to students at Our Lady of the Cape and Dunsborough Primary School! This is a great opportunity for our local kids to showcase their talent, the winning design will be printed on our next run of Boardstore kids’ T-shirts and also receive a few prizes!

Competition Details:
Theme: “Surfing, Yallingup, Dunsborough” – Anything fun, ocean-inspired, surf culture, beach life or creative imagination is welcome!

Who can enter: Students in Years 1 to 6.

Prize: The winning design will be professionally printed on our next batch of kids’ tee shirts. The winning student will also receive:
1 free Boardstore t-shirts featuring their design
A $100 Boardstore voucher
And public recognition!

We will also select a few highly commended designs for special mention.

How to Enter:
Students can draw their design on an A4 sheet (template provided) or digitally. Hard copies are available at the school office.

All entries must be submitted via the school or handed into Boardstore by 30th July.

This competition is a great way to encourage creativity, design thinking, and local community connection.

Community safety is a key priority for our community, and a number of agencies have come together to respond.

The City of Busselton, in partnership with WA Police, the Department of Communities, St John WA, WA Country Health Service (WACHS), and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES), is working collaboratively to develop a Community Safety and Crime Prevention Plan.

Edith Cowan University (ECU) has been engaged as an independent facilitator to support this work.

We want to understand which crime and community safety issues matter most to you.

To assist in setting priorities and shaping future actions, residents, workers, and business owners across the City are invited to complete a short online Community Safety Survey. Your feedback will help inform local strategies to improve safety and wellbeing for everyone.

The survey is open to people aged 15 years and over who live, work, or own a business in the City of Busselton.

Please click the link or scan the QR code to take part.

Community Safety Action Plan | Your Say Busselton

Email: admin@ladyofcape.wa.edu.au
Website: www.ladyofcape.wa.edu.au
Location: 245 Cape Naturaliste Road, Dunsborough WA, Australia
Phone: 9781 3200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OLCDunsborough/