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

Rising Above

Lord Jesus, Risen Savior,

When I feel burdened, May I envision You on the Cross And look up to You. When I make decisions, large and small, May what I do be pleasing in Your sight As I seek to follow You. When I could say something hurtful, May I recall Your glorious Ascension And rise above.

Amen.

Leadership & Stewardship

Principal's Message

Dear Parents, Guardians & Students,

What a wild and wintery week it was here at school and there was some palpable cabin fever in the air on Tuesday and Wednesday, but we survived.

When we are in the depths of winter and the very thought of climbing out of a warm bed to exercise or even get up becomes a challenge, there is no better time to try to find ways to flick our thinking. In short changing our perspective and being optimistic.

Perspective Is Everything

Discomfort...to...Growth
Rejection...to...Redirection
Failures...to...Lessons
Pain...to...Power
I have to...to...I get to
I’m terrible at...to...I'm working on
I'm not ready...to...Great opportunity
It's too hard...to...I am capable
Threatened...to...Inspired by
Give up...to...l persevere

Change your mindset, change your life. While this can seem easy on paper, I firmly believe we can train our brains to be optimistic. An easy entry point is to practice having an awareness of gratitude. For a young child on a cold day…

- “How lucky are you to have a nice warm jacket/beanie/socks to wear?”

- “ I love it when it’s cold, we get to have hot soup for dinner”

- “ I get to jump in puddles and make mud pies”

- “ I love indoor days when we draw, make lego and cook together”

The Benefits of Optimism

Enjoy our wintery weather.

Steve

Next Friday is the last day of term. Children are invited to wear casual clothes. In addition to this, one of our senior students - Taylah Kelly, (6MM) has proposed to me that we invite students to wear colourful or silly socks on this day as well. There is NO cost associated. Taylah’s idea is to bring some colour and fun to the end of term and brighten up our day in the middle of winter. I am currently looking at a number of proposals from our seniors and I love that they have a voice in our school. The knock on effect for us is invaluable, especially in terms of connection, leadership, initiative and ownership of our school. Well done, Taylah.

Important Dates

Term 2

Tuesday 1st & Wednesday 2nd July - Yr 5 Art Show

Friday 4th July - Assembly 6MM @ 12.30pm

Friday 4th July - Last day of Term, Casual Clothes, 'Silly Sock Day' - 2.30pm finish

Term 3

Monday 21st July - First day of Term

Thursday 24th July - SSV State Cross Country

Friday 8th August - Division Lawn Bowls

Teaching & Learning @ OLHC

A Message from Mr A

FUN LOOP FRIDAY

Ask and you shall receive. I have been struggling for new questions for the Fun Loop Friday so I put out the feelers for some student input last week. I got some very interesting questions that should keep me going. This week was from Lewis Shortt…If you were the principal for a day, what would be the first rule you would make? Lots of interesting answers as the students made their way into school this morning. Many are looking for soft drink to come out of the drink taps, recess and lunch all day, finish school early, casual clothes and a pool. I’ll see what I can do. A big thanks to the Grade 6 girls who always bring the energy and dance moves.

LEADERS WELLBEING DAY

On Friday our Grade 6 leaders ran a Wellbeing Day with our Grade 1 cohort. This is initiated by our Grade 6 leaders as part of the School Leaders program that they participated in earlier in the year. The brief was to positively impact wellbeing within your school. The leaders and the Grade 6 cohort ran well-being based activities with the Grade 1 level in the latter part of Friday this week. A big thanks to Mr Bidmade and the Grade 6 level for running this.

GRADE 2- WORLD OF WORK

I happened to walk past the Grade 2 area the other day and saw they were having another parent visit for their Inquiry unit, World of Work. This time it was Lucas Davey’s dad, Nick, who works as a manager at Bunnings. Nick brought in some recognisable aprons for the students to try on and went through what a day in the life of a Bunnings worker looks like. Lucas comes from a long line of Bunnings workers and is destined for a part-time role in the future. Thanks for coming in Nick!

GRADE 3- LIBRARY VISIT

A brief summation from Mrs Chapman about what the Grade 3 level have been up to-

‘On Thursday the Year 3s visited the Warrnambool Library as part of their novel study Matilda, by Roald Dahl. Matilda loved to read books and 'travel the world' through the adventures that books give us. After a tour of all the fabulous spaces in the library including the Media Room, the Making Space which had a 3D printer, badge making and sewing machine in it, we were lucky enough to see Orchestra Victoria play their instruments to the story "Tomorrow is a new day". We then got to ask questions of the Orchestra members. It was a wonderful morning spent in an amazing space that is our Local Library.’

GRADE 6- COAST IS CLEAR

Our Grade 6 level has been busy finishing off their sustainability unit, The Coast is Clear. Busting out the creativity vibes, the students have been creating dioramas to show how they can positively impact the sustainability of our coastlines. The students self-reflected and presented their final products to each class on Friday morning. Well done Grade 6 level.

Enjoy the weekend.

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)

Last year we surveyed OLHC parents to ask what type of tech-related information you would like to see in our school newsletter. “Quick tips for online safety” was most requested, so this term we’re focusing on content from www.cyber.gov.au/learn

Classroom Snapshot: Year 4 Digi Tech

Our Year Four students have almost completed their unit about Artificial Intelligence. You might like to ask your child to explain the benefits, risks and limits of AI in our world.

Amongst recent class discussion, analysis and reflection were these individual responses:

When it comes to art work and original paintings, AI can be dodgy and not good. Already, in June 2025, there are scammers on the internet who are using AI to create art.

Lily O’Keefe

Deepfakes are dangerous because people are pretending to be actors and Prime Ministers. For government security messages, AI is a massive problem because it can make things worse if it’s not the real message.

Olivia Hodson

AI is tricky and sometimes wrong because people are creating AI artworks and selling them as real paintings. Sometimes they scam you for your money. This means the real artists will lose their fame and income.

Ollie R

Sports Report

Push-Up Challenge

Duration: 16 Days

Participants: Students across all year levels

Goal: Build strength and consistency, increase push-ups by 2 daily.

💪 Challenge Overview

The Push-Up Challenge is Australia's largest mental health and fitness event. Each year, hundreds of thousands of Australians take up the challenge to complete a set number of push-ups. We educate participants with daily mental health facts.

We used the Push-Up Challenge to promote fitness, routine, and resilience as well as talk about mental health. Each day, students performed push-ups starting with 10 on Day 1, increasing by 2 each day, up to 40 on Day 16.

Thanks to everyone’s hard work and consistency, this challenge was a huge success!

Day	Push-Ups/Student	Participants	Total Push-Ups
1	10	36	360
2	12	40	480
3	14	32	448
4	16	50	800
5	18	38	684
6	20	18	360
7	22	43	946
8	24	17	408
9	26	32	832
10	28	20	560
11	30	24	720
12	32	32	1,024
13	34	19	646
14	36	16	576
15	38	15	570
16	40	79	3,160
		Total	12,574

🏅 Challenge Highlights

✅ Total Push-Ups Completed: 12,574
📆 Average Per Day: 786 push-ups
💥 Biggest Day: Day 16 with 3,160 push-ups by 79 students!

🎉 A Huge Thank You

To every student who joined in — whether for one day or all sixteen — your energy and effort made this challenge a triumph. You pushed through, stayed consistent, and supported your peers. That’s what this is all about.

Special thanks to staff, Mel, and Grade 6 students.

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

2025 OLHC SACRAMENTAL DATES

YEAR 4 FIRST EUCHARIST

TUESDAY JULY 29TH:

First Eucharist Information Evening (Parents and Children)

7pm - St Joseph's Church, Warrnambool

TUESDAY AUGUST 5TH:

Formation Day (Students and Miss Squires)
10am - 2pm at St Pius, Warrnambool

SATURDAY AUGUST 9TH:

Presentation of First Communion Candidates
6pm at OLHC Church, Warrnambool.

SATURDAY AUGUST 23RD & SATURDAY AUGUST 30TH

Sacrament of First Communion - held over two weekends
6pm at OLHC Church, Warrnambool.

First Eucharist Enrolment is open until the end of Term 2. Please click on the link below to finalise your child's enrolment.

To families who have already enrolled their child/ren at the beginning of the year, please reaffirm your commitment as well as select the Mass you will be attending. Thank you.

https://forms.gle/CNGTXN9SKiCb7ac8A

A Remarkable Feast
(Matthew 16: 13 - 19)

“Blessed are you, Simon Son of John!”

So Peter gets the keys, and Paul gets the better part of the New Testament. It is ironic, really, that we Catholics base our authority on Peter, while Paul becomes the de facto pope of Protestants, who appeal to his authority as final.

It probably makes sense to the two men as well. Both understood the theology of reversals. Peter the underdog becomes the cornerstone of the future papacy, though reasonable people might have chosen Paul. Paul, the man of incomparable orthodoxy, becomes the champion of those who dissent from the centre of orthodoxy. Only in the kingdom are such things natural.

The Feast of Peter and Paul in itself has something off-centre about it. These men had one recorded encounter in Jerusalem and it was not exactly a meeting of the minds. Yet they are linked together eternally in the whimsical feast. Perhaps this is an ecumenical feast which offers hope for divided Christianity. Peter continues to speak to us from Rome, while Paul preaches to us in the heart of the Eucharist.

On This Rock

Many churches bear the names of Saints Peter and Paul. One of the most prominent is the spectacular Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

In the mid-19^th century construction of the church began in an environment when the growth of the Catholic population and the increasing visibility of Catholic institutions gave rise to the suspicion that the Catholic Church and its large number of immigrant members posed a threat to traditional American values. Riots against Catholics and their poverty were sometimes the result of this attitude.

With the potential for violence against the building in mind, the cathedral’s original clerestory windows were placed over 75 feet above the ground, their height, legend has it, measured from the distance the builders – and therefore a potential vandal – could throw a rock into the air.

The apostles Peter and Paul suffered their share of persecution for their faith. What is interesting was their reaction: They didn’t retaliate – Peter became a rock rather than tossing one back. They simply had faith, endured, trusted in God – and kept on building the church.

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)

As we are approaching the middle of winter it becomes even more important that we put things in place to care for our bodies. Sleep is important for keeping our immune systems healthy and for emotional regulation...

Sleep

Students today have extremely busy schedules, with ever increasing responsibilities at school and at home. Many kids, especially adolescents, are going to bed later and later and are at risk of sleep deprivation. This affects three areas of a child’s development: psychological, physiological and psychosocial. All three are essential to a child's growth, learning ability and overall wellbeing. Sleep is vital to a child’s overall development and is as important as diet and exercise.

Sleep also strengthens a child’s immune systems and supports their ability to function properly on a daily basis. Children who do not get enough sleep show increased levels of aggressive behaviour, are less attentive and are much less active. Trying to catch up on sleep on weekends is not the answer and can still lead to severe sleep deprivation.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn about the importance of sleep and how sleep deprivation can have adverse effects on a child’s health and wellbeing.

Here is the link to your Edition https://olhcwarrnambool.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/sleep

Tap here to access SchoolTV

Parents & Friends Association

Next Meeting

Wednesday 6th August

Save the date!

School Disco - TBC Late August

Father's Day Breakfast & Stall - Friday 5th September

Grandparents Day - Thursday 18th September

Community

TheirCare Registration Form - tap here

Seaside Community Kitchen

An update and an invitation to any family or person who would like to share a three-course meal on
a Monday night.
Meals are served between 5.30 pm and 6.30 pm in St Joseph’s Hall, entry off Kepler Street or Ragan
Parade.
Meals are free and are intended to assist people in these challenging economic times. Please do not
feel embarrassed to come along. The hall is warm, tables are set, and the atmosphere is friendly.
To date (up to and including Monday 23 rd June), 114 meals have been served. On Monday, 23 rd
June, 31 meals were provided – 10 sit-downs in the hall and 21 takeaways.

Phone Alan 0417 222 221 or Anne 0418 529 990 for further information.