Principal’s Message

You would have had to have been living under a rock to not have heard about Cleo Smith, who was in the prayers of millions, away from her family for 18 days, and then by the grace of God found her way back to her family safely. Cleo is a Pre-Kindergarten student at St Mary Star of the Sea, the attached article gives a slightly different perspective of the ordeal as the journalist wrote this article focusing on Fr Steven Casey and Principal Steve O’Halloran’s perspective on the importance and power of prayer and community. I hope you find the article of interest.

https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/kidnapped-wa-girl-cleo-smiths-rescue-an-answer-to-prayers-says-parish-priest/

As we rapidly approach the end of the year, there are many exciting events occurring at school, but we must also remember that as we run towards the finish line of 2021, our children are also being faced with stressors such as assignments, tests and the thought of walking into a new class or school in 2022. In line with our value of excellence, we support and encourage each student to do their best and to be proud of their best, however, the burden of the stress that children increasingly feel, coupled with the fatigue of the last few weeks of the year may lead them into having a fixed mindset, rather than a preferred growth mindset.

A growth mindset is key to not only a child, but anyone’s ability to learn and grow to their full potential. Rather than share an article or video made by a university academic, I thought it would be worthwhile to share a Year 5 student’s presentation on what having a growth mindset is and how it can impact a child. I have shown this video to my own children as a way to open discussion about how we improve at things, how improvement isn’t meant to be easy and how the way we think impacts our performance. I hope that you can use this video the way that I have with your children.

The Mindset of a Champion | Carson Byblow | TEDxYouth@AASSofia

Michael Morris
Principal

Leadership Team Message

Plastic Free Lunchbox Day

The Sustainability Club has been working hard to set up initiatives in the school to reduce the waste that is going into landfill unnecessarily, and to improve our recycling system. On Friday mornings, lunchboxes will be opened to check, and class tallies will be made to record the total of plastic free lunchboxes each class has recorded. A prize will then be given to the class with the best score. Please help your child to be a part of this initiative. It is hoped that in 2022, our lunchboxes will be completely plastic free every day of the week. We can all do our bit to reduce the amount of plastic that is going into landfill. Thank you for your support!

The Sustainability Club

Our Lady’s Assumption Annual Community Meeting

Thank you to those who attended the ACM on Tuesday afternoon. The Principal’s Report, SAC Chairperson’s Report as well as the P&F Report will be available on the school website soon.

During the meeting, the Our Lady’s Assumption School Advisory Council (OLASAC) was appointed. Congratulations to Amanda Cipriani, Laura Ocello, Nigel Swavley, Mark La Cava and Narelle Roberts on their appointment/re-appointment.

OLA School Advisory Council

Chairperson:	Amanda Cipriani
Deputy Chairperson:	Nigel Swavley
Treasurer:	Mark La Cava
Secretary:	Laura Ocello
Communications:	Narelle Roberts
Ex-Officio Members:	Fr Ken D’Souza (OLA Parish Priest) Greg Martin (Principal) Michael Morris

We also wish Brooke Tran, Dani Wares and Nathan Leber all the best as they conclude their terms on the OLASAC.

The OLA P&F also held their elections at the conclusion of the ACM, the P&F plays a vital role in the running of our school and the sense of community that comes from their many activities. We thank each and every one of you for giving your time for our school.

Congratulations to the elected 2022 members.

OLA P&F

President:	Deanna Marocchi
Vice President:	Lina Brunini
Treasurer:	Katie Catena
Secretary:	Ann-Maree Barbaro
Communications:	Magda Bartucciotto

Thank you to Narelle Roberts who is leaving the P&F after many years of service. Narelle, thank you for all you have contributed to OLA during your time on the P&F.

Year 5 Leaders

A huge congratulations to all the Year 5 students who read their speech in front of their Year 4,5 and 6 peers over the last week. Public speaking is never easy, but you all took it in your stride and performed extremely well. We look forward to officially welcoming the 2022 student leaders, congratulations to all!

2022 Leadership Positions

HEAD GIRL	HEAD BOY
Isla Wood	Jordan Gabriel
DEPUTY HEAD GIRL	DEPUTY HEAD BOY
Tasha Nguyen	Keegan McCubbin

FACTION CAPTAINS

GORETTI	O’MARA	DOMINICA	VERITAS
Joshua Cremasco Elizabeth Tonet	Jameson Hennessy Ciara Ognenis	James Cala Hayley La Spada	FJ Danze Grace Truong

 

Remembrance Day

On Thursday 11 November, we came together as a school to remember those lost during armed conflict. Thank you to the Year 3 students who led our liturgy, the children were reverent in their participation in our service

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Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten Orientation

In Weeks 4 and 5 parents have been invited to attend their children’s introduction to school at either the Kindy or Pre-Kindy Information Sessions or the Orientation mornings. This Thursday and Friday sees our parents and children come together for Orientation which is a great opportunity for not only children, but for parents to meet and greet before 2022. Seeing so many enthusiastic children and parents was fantastic, we look forward to seeing you in 2022.

REACH – Night of the Notables

What an awesome way to meet many of history’s most influential characters. In a unique take on learning about these key historical figures, our REACH students were required to ‘become’ their chosen character and be able to answer questions from the wandering parents. It was an amazing night, full credit to the students for being so well researched and excited about the night and a huge thanks to Mrs Tollis for coordinating the evening.

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Pre-Kindy and Kindy 2023 Enrolments

If you have not yet enrolled your child in Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten for 2023, please contact the School Office ASAP to collect an enrolment package. Places are filling up very quickly, and we don’t want current families to miss out on enrolling their children.

2022 Staffing

Please find attached the 2022 staffing.

In an update to our staffing, I’d like to extend congratulations to Miss Rebecca Smith, who after deciding to take Long Service Leave in 2022, has accepted a secondment to Santa Maria College in Attadale. We wish her all the best for 2022 and look forward to her return in 2023.

We also say farewell to Mrs Julie Pilatti who has accepted a teaching position at St Columba’s, South Perth. We wish Mrs Pilatti all the best in her new position.

Pre-Loved Book Sale

Thank you.

Michael Morris and Rebecca Smith

The OLA Leadership Team