Make me a channel of Your peace

Where there is hatred, let me bring Your love

Where there is injury, Your pardon Lord

And where there's doubt, true faith in You

Make me a channel of Your peace

Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope

Where there is darkness, only light

And where there's sadness, ever joy

Oh Master, grant that I may never seek

So much to be consoled as to console

To be understood as to understand

To be loved as to love with all my soul

Make me a channel of Your peace

It is pardoning that we are pardoned

In giving to all men that we receive

And in dying that we're born to eternal life

Oh Master, grant that I may never seek

So much to be consoled as to console

To be understood as to understand

To be loved as to love with all my soul

Make me a channel of Your peace

Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope

Where there is darkness, only light

And where there's sadness, ever joy

Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome to our third week at school for 2021. Today’s prayer helps us reflect on our catholic identity and the importance of reaching out to others, making a  difference in other’s lives by bringing peace, love, justice, hope and joy where we can.  At our first meeting as a staff, we were able to reflect on the importance of our role in a Catholic school.  With Jesus as our model, we reflected on his role as a servant of God and how this service looks in us when we live and share the Gospel values, serving our students, families and the broader community.

We have had a great start to the school year and your children are to be commended on the wonderful way they have returned to school ready, open and engaging in the learning experiences that are being presented to them. This year we have decided to go with the  theme “We Reach for the Stars.” This fits very well with our Positive Behaviours for Learning, our school motto,“Setting the Right Course” and our focus on high expectations. All year levels have begun with a focus on students understanding and knowing more about themselves as a learner.

2021 Annual Action Plan: Please see below our 2021 Annual Action Plan which stems from our 4 year School Improvement Plan. We continue to consider what it is we are wishing to improve or get better at.

Our first area of priority is that every student is engaged, challenged and connected. Some actions we will implement are:  to make greater connections in our Learning and Teaching of scripture, faith and life; continue with the Berry Street Professional Learning, implement whole school Positive Behaviours for Learning and create more outdoor learning opportunities.

Our second priority is that every teacher provides high quality learning and teaching and leadership for school improvement. Some actions include: a focus on Inquiry Learning and Mathematics, with an emphasis on engaging students and providing opportunities for problem solving that increases critical and creative thinking, the development of a whole school data plan as well as shadowing, mentoring and coaching across the school.

Building Works: 

Our building is progressing well and still on track to be completed by May. Exciting times for our whole learning community.

Student Leadership: 

The leadership program offered to the students at Our Lady Star of the Sea, particularly to our Year Six Students, focuses on students learning to be respectful and responsible leaders.

We congratulate the students who have willingly taken on responsibilities and wish them success in their roles, developing their vision and goals, organising and leading others by using their character strengths, given and learnt skills and capabilities.

School Leader 2021

Meet and Greet Interviews

You will have received an email from Operoo for  Meet and Greet interviews. These will be conducted over this week, Week 3 and Week 4 and are an excellent opportunity for you to share important information about your child with their teacher. If you would like to access the Meet and Greet via a Google Meet please email your classroom teacher and they will send a link.

COVID Update:

May I also take this opportunity to thank you all for the outstanding way you have so respectfully followed our COVID safe practices. We will continue to update you should there be any changes in our COVID safe practices. At this stage, we will not return to dropping your child into class one morning a week within a 10 minute window until the mask wearing has eased and then we will communicate this with you. Please continue to ensure you have a mask on if entering the building for essential reasons and access via the external door to the room without walking through the school buildings for appointments made via operoo. Please use the sanitiser available at each entrance and ensure physical distancing whilst being aware of congestion. At all other times we ask that you enter via reception as if you are here longer than 15 minutes you need to sign in.

School Start Time: A gentle reminder that students can arrive to school from 8.30 am. The music bell goes at 8.50 am to begin to settle into class by 9 am. If your child happens to arrive earlier than 8.30 am on the odd occasion we direct them to the library space for supervision. 

A Baby Boy: Congraulations to Michael Coldwell and his wife Milly as they welcomed their first baby on the weekend-  George Coldwell. 

Warmest wishes for the fortnight ahead.

Kerryn

February 9th is Safer Internet Day. On Safer Internet Day the world comes together with a shared vision of making online experiences better for everyone. 

Parents who would like to start the chat with their children about being safer online are invited to register for one of the eSafety’s webinars. These live webinars explore the latest research and they are a great way to learn how you can help your child develop the skills to be safer online. 

All sessions are delivered by eSafety's expert education and training team.

Click here or visit( https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars) to find out more information regarding these webinars.

I have also included the launch by the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant and Jimmy Rees of the book Swoosh and Glide and Rule Number 5.  This early years picture book introduces young sugar glider possums Swoosh and Glide as they show other young Australians how their family uses digital devices safely. Read the picture book, Swoosh Glide and Rule Number 5 as a great way to 'start the chat' about online safety.

Safer Internet Day 2021 Launch from eSafety Office on Vimeo.

Healthy Eating and Oral Health

As a health promoting school, Our Lady Star of the Seal promotes the importance of healthy eating and oral health behaviours, which contribute to good health and overall well-being, and the capacity of students to achieve optimal learning outcomes.  Parents are encouraged to read our Healthy Eating and Oral Health Policy (Click Here).  

This policy confirms our commitment to:

• encouraging students to make healthy and informed food and drink choices
• promoting the importance of a healthy lifestyle, which includes drinking water, eating healthy food and maintaining oral health
• developing an understanding of how food provides nutrients for energy and growth and how to select food to promote health and growth.
• creating a supportive environment for healthy eating and good oral health for students, staff, families.

Also supporting healthy eating behaviours and as part of the Healthy Lunchbox Week (February 7 - 13) the Bellarine Community Health (BCH) dietitians have created a lunchbox checklist to support families on the Bellarine to prepare a healthy lunchbox.

You can find the Prepare a Healthy Lunchbox flyer on the BCH website here

or download by clicking on the image below:

Paul Anderson

Student Wellbeing Leader

Term 1 Week 3 - Green Hub News

Term 1 Week 3 - Red Hub 1 Information Booklet

Term 1 Week 3 - Yellow Hub News & Yr 2 Information Booklet

Red Hub 3 - Year 3 Information Booklet

Term 1 Week 3 - Blue Hub News

Term 1 Week 3 - Purple Hub News

Term 1 Week 3 - Orange Hub News

School Swimming 

School swimming lessons will resume at the Bellarine Aquatic and Sports Centre (BASC) for 2021. This program is designed to maximise swimming ability and water safety.  Swimming lessons at BASC utilise a 9 day intensive program. All students from Year Prep - Year 3 and some students from Year 4 - Year 6 will participate in this program.

Students in Years 4 - 6 who are considered strong swimmers, can competently swim 50 metres and achieved Level 4 or greater, may choose to participate in a one day swimming safety program combined with an intra-school swimming competition, which is held later in the school year. School swimming permission forms via Operoo will allow parents to choose which program best suits their child. Year 4 - 6 students may only choose one program. 

School Sport Victoria (SSV)  

Seeking Nominations for State Team Trials

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL, SOCCER, BASKETBALL, CRICKET & NETBALL

School Sport Victoria (SSV) has opened registrations for the 2021 Team Vic Trials for primary school students for some of the above sports. All registrations are done directly through SSV, but must first be endorsed by our school. SSV have requested that we clearly explain that these sessions are not come and try sessions but rather trials seeking athletes with advanced skills who compete at a very high standard of competition. Our school can only endorse up to 3 individuals for each sport. 

Parents of interested Year 6 students need to email an expression of interest to Lisa Grigg lgrigg@staroceangrove.catholic.edu.au with their child’s name, age and sport they wish to nominate for. Current standard/level/division of competition, along with any individual awards etc that the student has received should also be outlined. There must also be a contact name and number of a club or representative level coach(es) that could be contacted if necessary. 

Expressions of interest need to be received by Friday, 12th February, 2021.  Individuals selected by our school will be notified by 25th February. 

Further details can be found via the School Sport Victoria website https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/team-vic . 

Division Swimming Trials

The 2021 Division Swimming Championships are an opportunity for selected students from Years 3 - 6 to participate in an Interschool Swimming competition. The Division Championships are currently being organised to take place at Kardinia Swimming Pool, Tuesday 16th March.  

In order to be ready for this event, swimming trials for Our Lady Star of the Sea students will take place at the Bellarine Aquatic Centre for interested Year 3 - 6 students. 

An Operoo eform will be sent to all Year 3 - 6 parents outlining date, times and requirements this week. 

Please note that this competition is separate to our school swimming program.

Any queries can be directed to Lisa Grigg lgrigg@staroceangrove.catholic.edu.au

Click on the link below to see how we use our bins at school. 

Using bins at Our Lady Star of the Sea

The Travelsmart Group met this week for the first time and it is our responsibility to try and promote healthy travel to school. We conduct surveys fortnightly to determine how many students from each class are travelling to school walking, riding or scooting. The class with the most students travelling actively wins the Golden Sneaker Award. We also organise Walktober with the same goals in mind where we compete against other schools. During the year, we will also be a part of Walk to School day and Ride to School day. Let's have a great year and get active! 

Each fortnight we award the Golden Sneaker to the class who has the most active travellers. This week the winner was 4ME. 

The Kid’s Safety Club met this week and we are responsible for helping to identify and fix anything that might be dangerous in the school or our play spaces. We help check our play equipment and make sure that everything is working and safe. If we find anything that is not working we let our teachers know and they organise for it to be fixed or replaced. We also promote safety in our school and we participate in a number of safety days including Bike Safety Week, Walking Safely to school, promoting Sun Safety and Cybersafety. Thanks, Kid’s Safety Club.

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

Every Victorian child should have access to the world of learning opportunities that exist beyond the classroom. The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) helps ensure that no student will miss out on the opportunity to join their classmates for important, educational and fun activities. It is part of making Victoria the Education State and the Government’s commitment to breaking the link between a student’s background and their outcomes.

School camps provide children with inspiring experiences in the great outdoors. Excursions encourage a deeper understanding of how the world works while sports teach teamwork, discipline and leadership.  All are a part of a healthy curriculum.

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

 The annual CSEF amount per student is:

• $150 for primary school students

HOW TO APPLY

New applicants should Click here for CSEF Application Form  or contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form. 

If you applied for CSEF  last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year unless there has been a change in your family circumstances. 

You only need to complete an application form if any of the following changes have occurred:

• new student enrolments; your child has started or changed schools this year.
• changed family circumstances; such as a change of custody, change of name, concession card number, or new siblings commencing this year.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about CSEF visit:
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/csef.aspx

Essential to the care of the school grounds, is the commitment from parents to join in with the organised working bees and mowing roster. 

The following dates are the proposed working bee dates for 2022. You are encouraged to committ to one or more of these dates. 

2022 Working Bees 10am - 12pm

Oral health therapists will be visiting Our Lady Star of the Sea Primary School on Tuesday 8 June 2021. The visiting dental health service provides a screening check to children at Our Lady Star of the Sea, upon request from parents/guardians via the consent form attached.BCH Parent Consent Form

Click here for information about the service. 

The service is free to students and may incur referral to Bellarine Community Health Dental Service.

If you would like your child to have a FREE dental screening, please return completed consent form to the school office by Friday 26 February.

If you do not wish to participate in the school screening program, you are welcome to contact the Bellarine Community Health Dental Clinic to arrange an appointment for your child. All primary school aged children, are treated free of charge.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Bellarine Community Health dental team on 5258 0828.