Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School East Warrnambool eNewsletter

Acknowledgement of Country

Today we acknowledge and pay our respects to the First Peoples, the traditional custodians of the lands and waterways and thank them for their continued hospitality.

We acknowledge and celebrate the continuation of a living culture who have lived with Creator God through creation of land, sea, waterways and life.

Prayer

Blessed are you, Lord God, Creator of body and mind and heart;
you have sent the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge to guide your people in all their ways.

At the beginning of this New term:
Bless the students, teachers, and staff of the schools of our diocese, that together we may grow in faith, hope, and love as we learn from you and each other how to follow in the ways of your Son, Jesus.

Expand the horizons of our minds, that we may grow in wisdom, understanding, and knowledge; deepen our commitment to seek the truth of your ways; and enliven our faith to reach out to those in need.

In Christ’s name we pray.

Leadership & Stewardship

Principal's Message

Dear Parents, Guardians & Students,

At last Wednesday’s staff meeting Marie Harney announced that this year will be her last. I will write in more detail about Marie later in the year, suffice to say her contribution to OLHC and the broader Catholic Education has been incredibly significant, over a long period of time. The next chapter of Marie’s life awaits with her husband Terry and joy that Grandchildren can provide. Well played, Marie!

Term 4 tends to have an overload of events, despite our best attempts to keep things streamlined. This is particularly so for our grade 6’s. We will continue to communicate all events so people are well placed to know what's coming up.

To mark 150 years of Catholic Education, 5 message sticks were gifted to schools to carry the message of " Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer" See below for details. The message stick is currently on its way around our 21 classes for discussion and viewing.

Important Dates

Term 4

Friday 1st November - Mission Day

Friday 1st November - Assembly 1BS

Wednesday 6th November - State Track & Field Comp - Melbourne

Monday 11th November - Remembrance Day

Thursday 14th November - Yr 1 Craftanoon

Friday 15th November - Yr 5 Emmanual College visit

Friday 15th November - Assembly FJF

Friday 22nd November - Community Picnic

Wednesday 27th November - Yr 2 Poetry Cafe

Wednesday 27th November - 2025 Foundation Transition

Wednesday 27th November - Yr 6 I AM Presentation

Friday 29th November - Assembly 2SS

Wednesday 11th December - Yr 6 Graduation Evening

Wednesday 18th December - Last Day of School for Students

Teaching & Learning @ OLHC

A Message from Mr A

NOVEL STUDY UNITS

A major change over the last 12-18 months has been a move to Structured Literacy across the school. This has included implementing the Little Learners phonics program at the Junior level. Some of the Middle and Senior levels have been using rich literature to run novel study units this year. These have included Matilda by Roald Dahl in Grade 3, Storm Boy in Grade 4 and currently, our Grade 5 level is studying the Michael Morporgo novel, Warhorse. The Grade 5 team has done an excellent job front-loading the students with information about this story, including the role animals played in the World Wars. There was also a pretty cool personal connection for Oliver Hildebrant when the students were learning about Weary Dunlop. See below the Class Dojo update from Mr Hogan-

GRADE 1- WERRIBEE EXCURSION

Our Grade 1 headed off to Werribee on Friday morning. This is always a big day as they jump on the Safari bus and travel around the park to visit all the animals. Check out the perfectly timed photo below, captured by a parent as the smaller bus was departing today.

HANDS-ON LEARNING

Our Hands On Learning program is ticking along efficiently under the guidance of Katie and Ava. Below is an update and photos from Katie-

Our Hands On Learning teams have been busy this term constructing cornhole boards for the school. These will be used during Mission Day activities next week and will then be available for students to play with during regular break times.

The students (and staff) have had to display many of our school learner profile attributes to get these completed successfully with modifications to the design needed for us to be able to store the boards compactly. This has taken a lot of resilience, open mindedness and great communication within the groups to work together and persist through the task.

We have also worked on designing our new hothouses to go over the existing garden beds so that we can get the most from our garden, all year round.

Katie

Have a great weekend with your family.

Naish

Sport Report

District Cricket

Yesterday, 40 students traveled to Reid Oval for the Warrnambool City District Cricket Day. They were divided into four teams: grade 5 girls, grade 5 boys, grade 6 girls, and grade 6 boys.

It was an exciting day, with all teams starting strong and securing wins. The grade 6 boys, grade 6 girls, and grade 5 boys all remained undefeated throughout the day. The grade 5 girls performed admirably as well, finishing in second place after losing only to the eventual champions, St Pius.

The Grade 6 Boys and girls have qualified for Division Cricket in Hamilton.

Japan Trip 2025 Information Meeting

Thursday 31st October 5.30pm - 6.30pm

St. Joseph's Primary School, 70 Botanic Rd, Warrnambool (enter via reception)

The aim of this meeting is to present information regarding the proposed Japan Trip for students in September 2025. (Year 6 students, and the possibility of Year 5 students - TBC)

We are currently gathering details about pricing and will have more information regarding this at the meeting.

Technology Toolkit with Mrs Fitzgerald and Mrs Murfett

New technology updates, cyber safety tips and snapshots of the learning experiences happening in the digital classroom. Let’s work together to make the online space a positive space! If you have any questions or concerns please contact us:

Mrs Sarah Murfett: smurfett@olhcwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au

Mrs Ellen Fitzgerald: efitzgerald@olhcwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au

Have your Say!

We would love for you as parents and carers to have your say about what you would like to see in the newsletter when it comes to cyber safety. If you have a moment, please take our 2 min survey so that we can engage parents and carers more.

https://forms.gle/ncD85XLzApmz1rZ57

Wannon Water Poster Competition

In Term 3 some OLHC students participated in the Wannon Water poster competition. Jane McKinnon from Wannon water was blown away by all the entries. We were lucky enough to have some winners in the different age groups.

In the Year 3-4 category

First Place: Lenny Jansz and Hugo Auld

Second Place: Emily Bunting and Mia Allan

Third Place: Annika Coomaraswamy

In the Year 1-2 category

First Place: Archie McMillan

Third Place: Sully Dickson

The 12 different Water Corporations submitted their winning posters for each category to be judged and Lenny and Hugo also won second place in the state competition for their category.

We would like to congratulate all students who participated in the competition. Here are some photos of the student’s posters.

Mission Day - Friday November 1

The day will begin with Prayer in the Church at 10.15. The Mission Day activities will begin at 12.00 and be run by the Year 6 students. We will have a coloured clothes day and then run fun activities to raise money for Catholic Mission. We would appreciate the students bringing $3 to help us please

We have our Mission Day because we are a Catholic School. As students in a Catholic school we are called to care for people who don’t have all the things they need to live their best life

On MISSION DAY we will be following the Catholic Social Teachings of Solidarity and Preferential Treatment for the Poor.

Pope Francis, the leader of our Catholic Church, wants to let us know that we are Jesus’ Mission in the world. Pope Francis gives us an invitation to join in and do something extra for the mission.

Thankyou for your support

The Grade 6 Minnie Vinnies Team

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

Jesus is Calling
(Mark 10: 46 - 52)

Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over.” They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus. Jesus said, “What can I do for you?” The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “On your way,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved and healed you.” In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road. (Mark 10: 49 - 52)

At Mass today, I brought with me a long list of prayer intentions. I have friends who are out of work or who hate the jobs they have. I know people who are depressed, sick, or lonely; lots and lots of people who wish their lives were different than what they are. Sometimes I want to call out, like the man on the side of the road: Jesus, have pity! Have pity!”

And Jesus is calling back, “What can I do for you?” I don’t always know. What’s best got all my suffering friends? The right job or the right relationship may not be enough. Happiness doesn’t arrive in the neat packages we expect. Bartimaeus was sure of what he wanted, and he had the courage and strength to spring up and run to Jesus. Maybe his response is the best one, and the only one we need: “I want to see.” If each of us could clearly see, we might not be so regularly paralysed by the events in our lives. We might spend less time frozen on the diving board, and more time in the water.

His Faith Saved Me
(Mark 10: 46 - 52)

I sat slumped in my pew listening to the drone of the priest’s sermon. “How do I always get this guy?” I carped to myself. “Please don’t lecture us. Must you sap the life out of every gospel?” the uncharitable complaining inside my head continued.

By the end of the homily, I had resolved never to put myself through this torture again, but by the end of Communion I realized I had a lot to learn from this guy.

It all started with a commotion at the back of church. People were filing up to the altar to receive Communion when one of the ushers began speaking in loud tones to a man in a wheelchair who had just come in off the street. The usher was refusing to let the very dirty man go up the aisle. The man in the wheelchair couldn’t speak, but he was groaning in angry, anguished tones.

The priest kept looking to the back of church as he was distributing Communion, trying to figure out what was going on. Finally, he motioned to the usher to let the man through. He met the man halfway up the aisle and asked, “What is it you want?” The man pointed to the ciborium and then put his hand to his mouth. The priest walked up to him, said, “Body of Christ,” served the man Communion, and blessed him. That’s when my eyes were opened.

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.