Issue 6 I  19 May 2022

Dear Parents & Carers,

We are so blessed to be part of the Forest community; our school has the gift of green space for the students to learn and run around in. The land around us allows us to be part of a precinct that includes our Church, Parish Centre and Early Learning Centre (ELC), as well as an Aspect satellite class.  A connected community ensuring great outcomes for all.

Pope Francis calls us to protect our environment in his encyclical letter Laudato Si’ (2015) as Earth is the greatest resource God has given us. On many occasions Pope Francis has reminded us of the importance of looking after our common home to ensure it is protected for future generations. For a deeper understanding of the message we have received from our Pope you can read the encyclical letter here.

Sustainability Committee
We are looking for 2-3 parents interested in forming a sub-committee of the P&F, working with our staff and students on the important sustainability agenda at OLGC. The time commitment is flexible and respectful of what is manageable. We have begun working on our community garden and will be working with Northern Beaches Council on the Swap for Good program targeted at our canteen. The program includes action plans, resourcing, and ongoing support to ensure we are minimising our environmental impact.

If you are able to provide us with parent support with this important agenda, please contact Justine Playle via the P&F email address pf.olgc.forestville@gmail.com to discuss the expectations of the committee.

Nut Aware School
At OLGC we are a nut aware school. This means we request that all nuts and any food containing nuts are not brought to school. Parents are asked to check ingredients of products and recipes made at home before sending food. Children are reminded to never share food. This request is made to ensure we are keeping our students with life threatening allergies safe. Please refrain from sending nut products to school.

NAPLAN
Congratulations to the Year 3 and Year 5 students who completed their NAPLAN tests this week. NAPLAN tests the skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. It is important to remember that NAPLAN is not about passing or failing, but about assessing learning progress at a point in time.

NAPLAN results are used in a variety of ways. Students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers. Teachers use the results to help identify students who need greater challenges or extra support. Schools use results to identify strengths and areas of need to improve teaching programs, and to set goals in literacy and numeracy.

NCCD
The nationally consistent collection of data on school students with disability (NCCD) is an annual collection of information. The NCCD enables schools, education authorities and governments to better understand the needs of students with disability and how they can be best supported. The NCCD is a compulsory collection and is detailed in the Australian Education Regulation 2013. For more information, please see the parent fact sheet.

Warm regards,
Fiona Dignan

PERMAH a Positive Psychology Framework
 
The staff at OLGC has been learning about the PERMAH framework for wellbeing.

Professor Martin Seligman, one of the world’s leading researchers in positive psychology, suggests that we can cultivate personal wellbeing by ensuring the presence in our lives of PERMAH.
But what does PERMAH stand for?

• Positive emotions
• Positive engagement
• Positive relationships
• Positive meaning
• Positive accomplishment
• Positive health

We have been reflecting on each area and noting what we already do at OLGC and what we could include in the future to provide students, parents and staff with opportunities to engage positively.

The model can be used in any setting, we invite you to take a look at it at home in the context of your family.
 
Paola Brannan
Assistant Principal

First Eucharist
This weekend some of our children will begin their preparation for First Eucharist. The program is a Parish Family based program in which we respect that the parents are the first teachers in matters of faith, with the emphasis of this program on the empowerment of the home as a faith community.

Please keep these students in our prayers as they embark on the next step of their faith journey. 
 
Parish Family Mass
Thank you to the Year One families and teachers who joined together last Sunday to celebrate Mass and Eucharist together. It was wonderful to see families enjoying the occasion on a sunny Sunday with our Parish community and Father Biju.
 
Stage 3 will be hosting the next Parish Family Mass which is on Sunday 12 June at 10am.
 
We would love for more families to join us for Mass so that the students can witness our growing faith community. Please visit the Frenchs Forest Catholic Parish website for Mass Times.
 
Altar Servers
CALLING ALL ALTAR SERVERS
If your child is in Year 4, 5 or 6 and is interested in becoming an Altar server, we are recruiting!!

Please see the attachment for more details in relation to training.

We are eager and keen to get more students serving at the Altar of God.

Project Compassion
A huge thank you to all the students, teachers, staff and families who participated in the fundraising for Caritas this year.

I am incredibly proud of the effort we achieved as a school community.

Collectively, we raised $1,243.40. The fundraising focus this year was “for all future generations” and I am sure this substantial contribution will brighten the futures of many.
Thank you for coming together to build a better tomorrow for our global community. Our Lenten Season of almsgiving has been fruitful for those less fortunate than ourselves and I am honoured to be a part of such a supportive community at OLGC.

Allison Houston
Religious Education Coordinator and Classroom Teacher 

This term our enthusiastic OLGC staff have been trialling and refining mastered skills for the implementation of the new K-2 English syllabus in 2023. An invaluable component of this syllabus is the development of students’ reading fluency. Reading fluency is the ability to accurately read at an appropriate rate whilst demonstrating prosody and comprehension of the text. Research has found there is a high correlation between a reader’s ability to read fluently and their ability to comprehend. This is due to the demands on working memory. If a student cannot read with automaticity it will impact on the student’s ability to think about the meaning of the text, impacting on reading comprehension.

Our experienced team at OLGC have created a series of videos for Kindergarten and Year 1 parents to enhance their skills in improving the reading fluency skills of children at home. We would invite you to view these short videos sent via Compass which focus on several key skills. They will be released sequentially over the next few weeks.

• Video 1: What is reading fluency and what does the research tell us?
• Video 2: How do I question my child when reading?
• Video 3: Pause, Prompt, Praise and assisting my child with decoding words
• Video 4: How can I use the school or local library as a resource?

I would like to thank the wonderful teachers for committing to improving the knowledge and skills of our school community with the aim of improving student outcomes for all students in our school.
 
Alex Vumbaca
Year 1 Teacher and Literacy Coordinator

Tuesday 24 May
Broken Bay Carnival Cross Country Championships

Tuesday 31 May
Performance Band performing at Northern Beaches Instrumental Festival

Monday 13 June
Public holiday

Tuesday 14 June
P&F Meeting

Thursday 16 June
OLGC Celebration of 60 years for students

Tuesday 21 June
Years 3 & 4 - Northern Beaches Eagle Tag Gala Day

Thursday 23 June
Years 5 & 6 - Northern Beaches Eagle Tag Gala Day

Friday 24 June
Glitter & Glow Disco 

Sunday 26 June
Training Band Workshop (OLGC)

Thursday 30 June
Last day of Term 2 (Students)

Monday 18 July 
First day of Term 3 & Athletics Carnival

Broken Bay Carnival Cross Country Championships
Congratulations and well wishes to the following students who have been selected to attend the cross country to be held at Fagan Park, Galston:
 
Mason C, Caitlin B, Mia T, Jean B, Austin R, Cate W, Sebastian B
Fred B, Cate W, Angus T, Chelsea P, James W, Anneliese C, Tristan A, Cooper G, Gabriel H, Heidi M and Abigail R.

Broken Bay and Polding Sports Trials
During March and April some of our students with skills and experience in particular team sports were invited to represent OLGC at Broken Bay Trials.

Congratulations to the following students who were also successful in being selected to represent Broken Bay at the NSW Catholic Schools Polding Trials, a great achievement:

Callan W - Rugby league - Bathurst
Cooper G - Touch -Tamworth
James W - Rugby league -Bathurst
Dominik P - Softball - Sydney
 
Julie-ann Thompson
PE Teacher

Thank you to the parents who volunteer and assist in the Canteen.

If you would like to volunteer, please visit https://www.carebookings.com.au/code/mrasx. Please note all volunteers need to be fully vaccinated and are required to show proof of vaccination upon arrival at the office. However no canteen experience is necessary. 
 
There are a few volunteer options that are being trialled for Term 2.

• AM volunteer (9am – 11:30am)
• PM volunteer (11:30am – 2pm)
• Select both AM & PM volunteer if you are available all day. Lunch will be provided. 

Attached you will find some Frequently Asked Questions which will assist you in logging in to the CareBookings website.
 
Thank you in anticipation for the time you are giving to our community.
 
Niki Gavranic 
Canteen Manager

Dear Parents and Carers,

Mother’s Day collection
Firstly, a huge thank you to every family who donated something special for our Mother’s Day collection.
 
It has been incredible to see our amazing mother’s get behind the spirit of giving instead of receiving.
 
A special shout out also goes to our Year 2 parent and carer volunteers for collecting the Mother’s Day donations and putting together over 40 gift hampers.
 
These were gratefully received by the Manly Warringah Women’s Resource Centre to be distributed to women accessing their services. It was an amazing show of support from our OLGC community, putting our Catholic faith into action.
 
School Disco – Friday, 24 June 2022
Please find attached an invitation to the students’ most anticipated social event of the year - the OLGC Glitter and Glow Disco!
 
The event will be held on Friday, 24th June 2022. With a session for Kindergarten to Year 2, starting at 4:45pm followed by Year 3 to 6 starting at 6:20pm.
 
Tickets cost $12 each and can be purchased on Qkr! Select ‘Current Students’ under School payments and click on the ‘Glitter and Glow’ line.
Dress code is “Glitter or bright!” RSVP by 11th June, 2022.

Parents Social Night – Saturday, 22 October 2022
It’s time for parents to get together and celebrate the school year… without the children!

Please keep the date free and stay tuned for more details.

Playground Resources
Thank you so much to all of the families who have participated in the discussions surrounding the purchasing of new playground resources. Our school is a reflection of our community, so it was fantastic to have all the parent’s feedback. In addition, a student survey has been carried out by the school leadership team, so the students can also have their say.

Please note that a decision on school playground resources will be held at the P&F General Meeting this term.
 
Term 2 P&F General Meeting – Tuesday, 14 June 2022
We will be joined by a guest speaker Dr Julian Wojtulewicz a paediatric sleep specialist who will assist in providing parents with tips on how to address issues associated with 21^st century life and a lack of sleep and to answer any questions parents may have. This meeting will be available via Zoom and also in the school hall.

OLGC P&F Committee