Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School East Warrnambool eNewsletter

Acknowledgement of Country

Our Grade 4 students have created personalised Acknowledgement of Country posters that reflect their own thoughts, feelings and wishes. We will share a new poster each week.

Prayer

Leadership & Stewardship

Principal's Message

Dear Parents, Guardians & Students,

Another successful Grandparents Day on Thursday. It definitely is a special day on our calendar and one the students all look forward to. Once again, a big thanks to Shannon Rea and the PFA for all the work behind the scenes. Also, to the parents who supplied a plate for the morning tea, very much appreciated. We had some great assistance from our Hands On Learning team, who made some sausage rolls and sandwiches for the day, expertly led by Katie, Ava and Stacey. Katie and Ava do a brilliant job running this program and it is fantastic to see the students feel energised in the program.

Lots of passionate supporters around the place on Friday with Team Colours day and we had a great assembly from 6OB to finish off the term. It has been a short but busy term and I wish everyone a relaxing time over the school holidays.

Thanks,

Naish

School Fee Reminder

All school fees for 2025 are now due. Please finalise these as soon as possible. Please make contact with the school office if you wish to discuss your fees.

To pay directly into the school bank account, please see details below:

Account Name: OLHC

BSB: 083 957

Account Number: 75170 2580

Reference: Account Number/Family Name

If you are on a direct debit or credit card payment plan, please ignore this message.

Important Dates

Term 4

Monday 6th October - Term 4 begins

Monday 6th October - Swimming Program begins F - Yr 4

Friday 10th October - Regional Athletics - Ballarat

Friday 10th October - Foundation Fairy Park Excursion

Wednesday 22nd October - Down the Garden Path Art Show Official Presentation @ 6pm

Thursday 23rd October - District Cricket Competition

Thursday 23rd October - School Mass - Time to be confirmed

Friday 24th October - Regional Basketball Competition - Ballarat

Wednesday 29th October - Regional Volleyball Competition

Friday 7th November - Yr 1 Werribee Zoo Excursion

Tuesday 11th November - Remembrance Day

Tuesday 11th November - Tennis Hotshots Competition - Colac

Teaching & Learning @ OLHC

A Message from Mr A

STUDENT LEADERS CONGRESS

I had the pleasure of attending the Student Leaders Congress night on Monday night at the Lighthouse Theatre. Mr Bidmade has been driving this with our Grade 6 students. Here is an update from him about the night-

“Sophia McCarthy, Harry Powell, Gabriela Niruban, Harrison Watson and Hugo Ross presented their semester one leadership project to the Warrnambool Community on Monday night. As a part of the Student Leaders Congress, based in South West Victoria, these students were given a challenge to boost the mental health and wellbeing within their school community. After much planning and collaboration, they settled upon a Wellbeing Afternoon with their Year One buddies. This saw the Year Six and Year One students partake in activities surrounding their nutritional, social, emotional and physical wellbeing. With key learnings being based around what great outcomes eating, moving and thinking positively can have on an individual. After completing their project at school, they then had to present it in front of a capacity crowd at the Lighthouse Theatre. A daunting but extremely rewarding experience. Local musicians Tom Richardson and Jacob Paton Lee were guest speakers at the event and spoke about the power of community and how this can change some peoples perspectives on life. Which is exactly what the Wellbeing Afternoon offered! We congratulate these students and both the Year One and Six cohorts for their engagement and positivity towards the task.”

Mr Bidmade

GRADE 6 I AM- PASSION PROJECTS

Our Grade 6 cohort have been busy getting ready for their final Inquiry unit for their primary careers, with the I Am- Passion Projects coming up next term. For those unaware of this unit, the students get to pick their own topic and research it over the course of the term. It culminates with an exhibition evening where they have to show that they are an expert in their chosen field. The teachers have been busy organising guest speakers this term to hook the students in. The students listened to Leisa McCosh, who does CRT work at OLHC, about her love of creating and the work she has done as a local artist. We were lucky enough to have her daughter, Ellie, speaking about her love of marine biology. I tracked down an old student, Balun Cumming, to speak to the students about his love of surfing. Balun actually did his passion project way back in 2015.

It was great to have an ex-student in to speak and the students had some great questions.

Have a relaxing break with your family.

Thanks,

Naish

Technology Toolkit with Ms Fitzgerald and Ms O'Keeffe

A space providing weekly snapshots of student learnings, as well as online safety tips and relevant technology updates. Please reach out with any questions:

Ms O’Keeffe: nokeeffe@olhcwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au (Mon & Tues)

Ms Fitzgerald: efitzgerald@olhcwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au (Wed, Thurs & Fri)

The first episode of the current season of Parental Guidance on channel 9 provides a nuanced conversation about screen time with our children. It is a great episode to have a think about the positives and negatives of screentime on our children. I found it interesting that the children with unlimited screentime actually showed better understanding of how to navigate more negative online experiences but the children with more boundaries around their screentime use seemed to have a more positive relationship with their screentime.

If you haven’t watched yet:

https://www.9now.com.au/parental-guidance/season-3/episode-1

Spirit of Our Lady's Award

Archer Bowley

Roisin Barlow

Hayley Bonnett

Piper Bongers

Avin Herath

Hazel Davison

Elora Bowley

Gia Shortt

Faith & Culture

Parish Office Hours: 9am - 4pm Monday - Friday

P: 5562 2231

E: southwestcoast@ballarat.catholic.org.au

webpage : https://www.southwestcoastparish.com.au/

Weekend Masses

Saturday Vigil

6:00pm OLHC, Warrnambool East

Sunday Morning

9:00am Infant Jesus, Koroit

9:00am St Pius X, Warrnambool West

10:30am St Joseph’s, Warrnambool

10:30am St Patrick’s, Port Fairy

6:00pm St Joseph’s Warrnambool

*11:00am St Anne’s, Purnim

2nd Sunday of the month (Eucharist)

Weekday Masses

NB: MASS OF THE DAY IS REPLACED WHEN A FUNERAL IS HELD AT THAT CHURCH

Tues 10:00am St Pius X

Wed 10:00am St Joseph’s

Thu 10:00am OLHC & 11:00am Mercy Place

Fri 10:00am St Joseph’s

Sat 10:00am OLHC

Building the Kingdom, One Lesson at a Time
(Luke 16: 1 - 13)

Jesus went on to make these comments: “If you’re honest in small things, you’ll be honest in big things; If you’re a crook in small things, you’ll be a crook in big things. If you’re not honest in small jobs, who will put you in charge of the store? No worker can serve two bosses: They’ll either hate the first and love the second or adore the first and despise the second. You can’t serve both God and the bank.” (Luke 16: 10 - 13)

Jesus reminds us that faithfulness in small things prepares us to handle the greater things. As educators, we often see our work as preparing young people for the “big moments” of life – exams, transitions, future careers. But Jesus is reminding us that greatness is born in the ordinary and the everyday.

In the classroom being “faithful and honest in the small things” might look like:

Welcoming every student by name each morning.
Taking the time to listen to the quiet child who doesn’t speak up.
Preparing lessons that not only teach content but inspire wonder.
Modelling respect and compassion even when the day is long and the challenges are many.

These small acts – though they seem unnoticed – are the seeds of transformation. They form the moral imagination of our students and point them toward a life of integrity, justice, and faith.

Jesus also warns us we cannot serve two masters. In education, that might mean resisting the temptation to let data, performance, or prestige become our ultimate measures of success. Those things have their place, but our true calling us to nurture human dignity and help students discover the presence of God in their lives.

So this week, let’s commit ourselves to the little things – to faithfulness, presence, and hope. Let’s create classrooms where mercy, joy, and curiosity thrive. Let’s be educators who show that what we do, and the way we do it, flows from the love of God.

Our call to action is simple but powerful: be faithful today, in this lesson, with this child, in this moment. The Kingdom of God is built one small act of faithfulness at a time – and you are part of that building.

The Clever Teen and the Lost Wallet

Cameron was a Year 11 student who worked part-time at a local café after school. One afternoon, while cleaning the tables, he found a wallet stuffed with cash. It belonged to a man who had been in earlier – someone known in town as a bit rude and stingy.

At first, Cameron thought, No one saw me pick this up. I could just keep it. But something tugged at his heart.

Instead of pocketing the money, Cameron did something different. He opened the wallet, found the man’s loyalty card for the café, and decided to act smart. He asked the café owner for the man’s number (from the loyalty card system), called him, and said:

“Hi, I’m Cameron from the café. I found your wallet – it’s safe. Come and pick it up whenever you can.”

When the man arrived, he was shocked. “You could have taken it. No one would have known.”

Cameron just smiled. “Doing the right thing isn’t about who’s watching.”

The man was so moved that he not only thanked Cameron but started coming back to the café more often – and this time, he was friendlier, even tipping the staff.

Jesus told a story about a manager who had to think quickly and act wisely when he was about to lose his job. He used his head to make friends wand build a better future.

Cameron was a “clever manager” too – but in a good way. He used his situation to do what was right and build trust. His choice turned a moment of temptation into a moment of grace – and it made an impact on the whole community.

Like Cameron, we’re called to use our brains and our hearts to make good choices, even when no one is watching.

In families, this means being honest, kind, and fair in small daily decisions.
In schools, it means speaking up for others, choosing to include, and building a community where trust grows.
In parishes, it means looking for ways to welcome, serve, and bring people closer to God.

Jesus reminds us: we can’t serve two masters. Let’s choose God – in small choices and the big ones – and use our gifts to help build the Kingdom.

Wellbeing

If you want to learn to ride a skateboard or get better at maths, you need to practise. It’s the same when you want to feel happier!

Here are some easy ideas to give Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness and Emotional Literacy a try every day. Because the more you practise, the better you will feel.

Let's Practice!

**A reminder to parents, carers and grandparents that SchoolTV** is a free resource.
SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource that we have to support you with the challenges relating to modern-day parenting. This award-winning resource helps build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. It can assist in starting conversations on topics that are sometimes awkward or difficult to tackle.
In addition to the weekly topic we publish in our newsletter, all of the SchoolTV topics are always accessible through our school website under the Student Wellbeing section. You can also use this link: https://olhcwarrnambool.catholic.schooltv.me/category-latest-newsletter
There are videos from experts as well as a huge range of websites, books, apps, fact sheets and podcasts.
If you require any further information about SchoolTV, please contact Mel (mwillis@olhcwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au)

Tap here to access SchoolTV

“Research shows, regular physical activity and exercise leads to changes in the brain. It improves cognitive function, elevates mood, improves learning and reduces ‘stress chemicals’ like cortisol.”

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Overview of this edition

Physical activity and exercise is not only vital to a child’s overall development but it has so many other benefits. With children spending more time on computers being sedentary, it is even more important to get kids moving more. As well as maintaining a healthy weight, it also improves concentration by helping to establish connections between different parts of the brain. It helps kids develop fundamental movement skills impacting positively on their confidence, self-esteem and ability to develop social skills. On an emotional level, it reduces stress and anxiety while improving posture and sleep. Physical activity and exercise is good for your child’s health, now and in the future. Parents should encourage their kids to move or play sport at every opportunity – in and out of school.

https://olhcwarrnambool.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/physical-activity-exercise