Dear Families,

I trust the term is going well for you all. I would like to share with you a compliment I received last week whilst attending the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Netball Carnival with our Year 5 and 6 students. Throughout the day, students were able to access the canteen run by Toowoomba Netball. At the conclusion of the carnival, it was reported back that the Lourdes students had the best manners at the canteen and were a delight to serve! I was very proud of how these students represented their school and displayed the positive Lourdes Way. I also received positive feedback about the students at the Touch Football carnival and how they played fairly, with a positive attitude and gave it their best during the day. Well done to all!

Grandparents Day

When Pope Francis announced the establishment of a special day for grandparents in 2020, he told us that “grandparents are the link between generations, passing on the experience of life and faith to the young”. It was so wonderful to have so many grandparents and important family members join us for a liturgy and classroom visits last Wednesday. Our students enjoyed showing their school, classrooms and learning to their visitors. Thank you for being a special part of Lourdes!

Mark the Date – Loving the Arts at Lourdes

A reminder to mark your calendar for Loving the Arts at Lourdes on September 6. There will be a wonderful display of student artwork plus an evening filled with entertainment, food, drinks, and great company. More information will be sent to families next week.

Staffing

We welcome Mrs Liz Wagner who will be teaching Year 1T for the next 5 weeks. I am sure the community will enjoy having Liz as part of the OLOL community during this time.

Leadership Forum

During Week 5 (August 5-9), I will be in Chinchilla at the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Leadership Forum. Mrs Janice Moore will deputise during this time.

Next week we approach the halfway point in the term. This is a time where we need to continue to ensure our students have good attendance, pushing through the cold and sometimes a bit of fatigue to continue to be an engaged Lourdes Learner.

Kind regards,

Bridget

Ms Bridget Trenerry
Principal

Upcoming Events

Last week we celebrated Catholic Education Week. The theme was “Communities of Faith, Hope and Love.” This year we focused on Love.  We began the week with the OLOL Parish thanking our school staff for their contributions towards the faith education of our children during the 9:30 am Mass on Sunday. 

We congratulated the Long Service recipients of our staff - Allyson Jessen – 20 years and Loretta Simmons – 25 years. Allyson has been one of our Learning Support team members for the last few years before that she has taught Year 2 and Year 4 classes. Loretta is our Art and Italian teacher – encouraging our children to create beautiful works of art and inspiring the students to speak and experience Italian. We thank them both for their wonderful contribution to the Catholic education of our students.

Last Wednesday, Year 2 led a beautiful assembly celebrating our wonderful Grandparents. We were so impressed with the wonderful attendance of over 400 grandparents.  Our Grandparents thoroughly enjoyed the prayer, visiting classrooms and morning tea.

On Friday it was the Bishop’s In-service Day. Students had a holiday, while all OLOL staff gathered at St Mary’s College to listen to Dr. Patrick Coughlan – Director of the Toowoomba Diocese, and Keynote speaker – Graeme Connors - Graeme spoke and shared “His Lyrical Story” with 1200 staff of Toowoomba and surrounds. His humorous approach, to sharing the songs he had written which illustrated his life growing up as a Catholic, was well received.

The 2nd meeting for children and parents involved in the preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation is on Sunday, 11th August, at 10:30am in the OLOL Church.  Parents and their children will work on the second topic of their booklet in rotating groups.  

The 3^rd preparation meeting will be on Sunday 25th August at 10:30am 

The Sacrament of First Reconciliation is on Tuesday, 3^rd September at 7:00pm. A short ceremony practice will be on Monday 2^nd August at 3:30pm in the OLOL Church. 

Any questions or queries please contact the OLOL Parish office. (07 4634 1453 Monday – Friday 9:00am - 1:00pm) or email  olol.parish@bigpond.com   

The Prep to Year 3 children will celebrate the Feast Day of St Mary Mackillop with a special prayer celebration at 10:00am in the OLOL Church on Thursday, 8^th August. All are welcome to join us. 

As part of the liturgical year in our Catholic tradition, we have different days where someone or something special is recognised on a Feast Day.

August 8^th is the day we recognise St Mary the Cross Mackillop - our first Australian saint. St Mary Mackillop saw the need to provide an education for children of poor families in the 1870’s. She inspired some young women to follow her to teach these children – these women became the Sisters of St Joseph. Mary and her sisters travelled throughout the heat of the outback to some of Australia’s most remote communities. They were willing to do whatever it took to set up schools, so overlooked children could pursue an education, reach their potential, and flourish. Our own Toowoomba Diocese saw the benefit of Mary’s vision –the Sisters of St Joseph started schools in places like Quilpie, St George, Allora, Pittsworth, Chinchilla, Inglewood, Millmerran, Tara, and St Thomas More’s in Toowoomba. Mary Mackillop Catholic College is named after St Mary Mackillop. The Sisters of St Joseph, who follow in St Mary Mackillop’s legacy continue to provide educational opportunities here in Australia and neighbouring countries.

Let us all continue to walk in the educational footsteps of St Mary Mackillop – by being grateful for the opportunity to learn, and express ourselves as well as remembering to help others. St Mary Mackillop was fierce in the face of adversity and acted when she saw injustice. So let us be fair and act when we see injustice, let us see a need and do something about it.

The Year 4-6 children will celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady – Mary, the Mother of Jesus on Thursday 15^th August with a Mass at 10:00am in the OLOL Church. Again, all are welcome to join us. 

The Assumption is another one of our special Catholic Feast Days. We recognise the importance of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We believe that God called Mary- body and soul to take a special place in Heaven

Father Quinlan always reminds us that this day is also a day to remember the importance of our own mothers in our lives. Mary cared for Jesus, she was the person who taught and guided Jesus to be the best person he could be. Just like our own mothers do now.

We celebrate our annual Fathers’ Day Mass and Sausage Sizzle on Thursday 29^th August at 10:00am in the OLOL school hall. All Dads, Granddads, Pas, Dars and Poppys are warmly invited to attend. Please email a photo of your Dad/Granddad/Poppy/ Pop/Dar/Pa with their children, for our Fathers’ Day powerpoint, to Mrs Moore (Janice.Moore@twb.catholic.edu.au ) one photo per family, by Wednesday 21st August 2024. 

If anyone is willing to be part of the cooking and serving crew which starts cooking sausages at 8:30am – please contact Mrs Moore. We serve the sausages to our guests and our students after Mass for a sausage sizzle morning tea. A RSVP forms will be emailed to families in coming days so we can gauge our sausage numbers and chairs for this Mass – Please keep an eye out for it.

Our Crazy Sock Day is on Thursday 12^th September – wear your craziest socks with your sun safe coloured clothes and bring in a gold coin donation for Catholic Mission – a group that helps communities all over Australia and poorer areas of our world. Catholic Mission aims to empower people to help in their communities by providing education and opportunities to improve living standards.

We are also asking for a new pair of socks – any size, which we can donate to the Base Soup Kitchen- a way to help those who are struggling in our own local community. We are endeavouring to remind our students that service as a Global Citizen helps those locally as well as globally.

We have a busy term ahead!

Have a great week!   

Cheers  

Janice

Janice Moore
Assistant Principal Religious Education (APRE)

DAR Update – Low Variance Routines

This year, with the implementation of DAR – Diocesan Approach to Reading, teachers are continuing to incorporate a range of low variance routines into classroom practice.

Purpose of Low Variance Routines

Low Variance Routines are designed to increase student engagement and learning through repetition of tasks or actions on a daily basis that eventually become automatic. These routines are often aligned with school-wide processes for consistency and predictability. They are short, structured and involve only a small number of actions within a routine.

Why Low Variance Routines work: Established routines organise the educational setting, aiding in the management of cognitive workload. This supports learners’ concentration, participation, and effective processing of information. Ultimately, we want our students to focus on the content and learning, the routines increase their ability to do this.

Lourdes' approach to integrating innovative routines in the classroom is commendable and long standing. Utilising strategies and routines like exit slips, whiteboards, and non-verbal responses not only enhances student engagement but also caters to diverse learning styles. These methods, honed through years of practice, reflect a commitment to continuous improvement and a deep understanding of effective teaching strategies.

Emily

Emily McKay
Acting Assistant Principal

Prep

What a busy start to the term we have had.

In preparation for the Early Years Day Celebrations, we are asking if anyone wouldn’t mind collecting any boxes, plastic containers and newspapers for some of the activities. We unfortunately do not have the space to store these boxes and containers until week 9 of this term ready for our Early Year Celebrations on Wednesday 11^th September. Any help in collecting these would be greatly appreciated.

We will be seeking parent helpers for this day to assist with the activities. Please let your child’s teacher know if you’re available to help. Helpers are needed from 11:00am until 1:00pm.

Breakfast, Morning Tea and Lunch:
As it is quite cold now and we don’t eat our morning tea until 10:30am, children benefit from a wholesome breakfast to fill their tummies. When packing lunches, we recommend including sandwiches with wholesome fillings (e.g. chicken/ham) and fruit. We refer to these as brain food and we always encourage the children to eat their brain food first to help sustain energy throughout the day.

Father’s Day:
Father’s Day invitations have been sent home. Fathers will be invited to a ‘Tea and Toast’ breakfast on Thursday 29^th August from 7:45am to 8:25am. We hope you can join us for this special occasion.

Cobb and Co Excursion:
On Friday 2^nd August the students in Prep will visit the Cobb and Co Museum in Toowoomba City to participate in the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders Cultural Week activities and learnings. Please make sure you are on time to school this day as we will proceed boarding the bus at 8:45AM to leave by 9AM. Please ensure that your child’s morning tea and lunch comes in a disposable bag clearly named along with their water bottle and hat.

Just a reminder there is a lot of sickness going around at the moment – please keep your child at home if they are unwell.

Important dates:
Cobb and Co excursion – Friday 2^nd August (Please refer to the note on Parent Portal regarding lunch arrangements and departure times)

Mary Mackillop Feast Day - Prep – Year 3. 10am – Thursday 8^th August - OLOL Church

Melita, Amy and Becky

Year 1

Welcome to week 4! Last Wednesday, we enjoyed spending time with our Grandparents as part of our Catholic Education Week activities. The children enjoyed having their Grandparents visit and impressed them with their Grade One learning. Together, they completed classroom activities and our Grandparents answered questions about their childhood.

In English, we have commenced reading Possum Magic to explore the structure of a narrative and write character descriptions for Grandma Poss and Hush. The students have discovered WOW words that Mem Fox has used in the story and are learning how to make inferences using the illustrations to better understand the text.

In Maths, we are learning about collecting and representing data. The children will be encouraged to ask simple questions to gather data and then they will be shown how to represent that data on a graph.

On Thursday 8^th August, we will celebrate the feast day of St Mary MacKillop with Prayer at 10:00 am in the Church. You are welcome to join us in the Church for this special prayer, remembering our Australian saint.

We are looking forward to our excursion to the Darling Downs Zoo on Tuesday, 13^th August. Students will need to arrive at school on time as we will depart on the bus at 8.45am sharp. Students are asked to wear their sports uniform on the day, and must bring a hat, water bottle and generous morning tea and lunch. We are scheduled to arrive back to school at around 2.45pm. There will be more details of costing sent home closer to the date.

Parent volunteers are welcome to join us, to guide a small group of students around the zoo. Accompanying volunteers will be required to pay entry to the Zoo. We ask volunteers to meet us at the Zoo at 9.50am. Please let your child’s teacher know by Friday 2nd August if you wish to come along. It should be a great day out for the children!

Laura, Jenny and Liz           

Year 2

Welcome to Week 4! It was wonderful to see so many grandparents and families here for Grandparents’ Day last week. Year 2 students enjoyed interviewing their grandparents and have started to put their information together into a digital presentation. Also, well done to our students for their wonderful job leading the prayer celebration.  

On Tuesday, we enjoyed our excursion to the Cross Nest Historical Museum. It was fascinating to explore many different technologies of the past. In HASS, we will discuss our findings from the Museum and continue to discuss ways in which technology has changed over the years. Our learning in Religion will focus on Abraham and Sarah, and in Maths we will continue to focus on multiplication.

Have a great week. 

Sarah, Ange and Ange      

Year 3

Happy Week 4! It is lovely to see students so engaged in their learning and making new connections.

Maths:
Students have been learning how to estimate, compare, and measure capacity. We have enjoyed opportunities for hands-on activities where students explore this concept (see photos attached). Over the next couple of weeks, students are learning how to tell time to the nearest minute on an analogue and digital clock. This is always a challenging concept, so encouraging your child to read the clock at home, wear an analogue watch, and problem solve duration questions (e.g. if it takes 10 minutes to get home, what time will it be when we arrive?) would go a long way in supporting their understanding.

English:
Students are thoroughly enjoying learning about different Australian animals by studying information reports. So far, students have read about emus, wombats, crocodiles, and dugongs – ask them for an interesting fact! Students are focusing on highlighting key information from the text and recording these facts on their animal fact file. We are working towards turning researched facts into informative paragraphs, using Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary, subheadings, descriptive language, and interesting sentence starters.

HASS:
We were very blessed to have the opportunity to attend Cobb and Co Museum on Monday where we experienced authentic activities exploring First Nations Australians culture. Our day included weaving, painting story stones, playing a traditional game similar to tic-tac-toe, throwing a hunting boomerang and replica of a hunting woomera and spear, grinding seeds, smelling lemon myrtle leaves, using fire sticks, watching traditional dances, and so much more! Students were incredibly respectful and engaged in all activities. See photos attached.

Science:
Students have explored and compared external features and life cycles. 

Religion:
Students have worked in groups and independently to research scripture from the Old Testament that references Jesus as the Messiah.

Grandparent’s Day:
It is always so heartwarming to see grandparents and special friends take interest in student’s education and lives at Lourdes. Please extend our thanks and gratitude to all family members and friends who attended last week. See photos attached.

Key Dates:

• 16^th August – Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary excursion
• 29^th August – Father’s Day Mass at 10:00am
• 30^th August – Pupil Free Day (CTJ Day)
• 3^rd September – Sacrament of Reconciliation @ 7pm in OLOL Church
• Week 9 – Swimming Week (2^nd September – 6^th September)
• 11^th September – End of Term Line Dancing Liturgy @ 2pm in Hall
• 12^th September – Crazy Sock Day – gold coin donation
• 13^th September – Last day of Term 3 and End of Term Assembly - 12:00 noon

Thanks for reading!

Mel, Demi, and Renee

Year 4

Welcome to Week 4.  We hope everyone enjoyed the three-day weekend at the end of Catholic Education Week.

Year 4 has had a busy few weeks. A couple of weeks ago we had our Pyjama Day where we saw lots of different sleepwear and students were encouraged to donate a gold coin to The Pyjama Foundation who support foster children and help improve their literacy levels.  We also thoroughly enjoyed attending the dress rehearsal Elf the Musical at the Armitage Centre.

Thank you to all the Grandparents who came to the Grandparents Assembly and joined the children in their classrooms, last Wednesday. We hope that they enjoyed spending time with their grandchildren and enjoyed being able to discuss and see the children’s work. We loved having them in our classrooms! 

On Friday, we will continue to learn our line dancing lessons with Year 3, there are some talented dancers amongst us! 

Year 4 are continuing to be wonderful Lourdes Learners each day and we look forward to the learning ahead!

Have a fabulous two weeks everyone.

Suzanne, Aleisha, Jessica and Danielle

Year 5

Curriculum:

English and HASS are proving the perfect pairing as students explore life and perspectives in the 1800s. We are working towards our historical narrative in English and are building our knowledge to complete a research task for Hass in the coming weeks.

Maths is providing the opportunity to go back to our first impact cycle for the year and apply our knowledge of factors and multiples. Multiplication and Division fact recall are at the forefront for the next few weeks. Developing quick recall and/or strategies to assist this knowledge is very important and something that needs to be practised at home, as well as school. A fun way to help consolidate and develop these skills include the Speed Skills on Maths Online.

Key Dates:

• Friday 2 August - Sport Commences 
• Thursday 15 August – Feast of the Assumption Mass 10am
• Thursday 22 August – Book Week Dress Up Theme: ‘Reading is Magic’
• Thursday 22 August - 5R Assembly 
• Thursday 29 August – Fathers’ Day Mass at 10am 
• Friday 30 August – Pupil Free Day
• Week 9 – Swimming Block
• Friday 6 September – Art Exhibition 5:30pm
• Thursday 12 September – Crazy Sock Day
• Friday 13 September – End of Term Assembly 5MG at 12 noon

Grandparents Day:
Thank you to all the Grandparents and family friends who came and made last Wednesday so special for our students. It is always wonderful welcoming families into our school, so thank you for taking the time to come and join us.

Catholic School Touch and Netball:
The Lourdes spirit was alive and well at the Touch and Netball Carnival last week. It was wonderful to see students cheering each other on and tackling new challenges, especially for those who had not played these games before. It was evident that all students are aware of our focus on being a global citizen, cheering each other on, making friends with others from schools across the diocese and always being respectful to others. You should be very proud parents right now.

Homework:
Homework includes Maths Online task(s) and revision, Spelling and Reading Eggspress tasks. A reminder that our classroom is open from 8am Tuesday to Friday for students to come up and complete homework tasks.

Students are encouraged to read for a minimum of 20 minutes each night.  Please note that Library is on a Thursday morning for Year 5P and 5MG classes, and Wednesday for 5R.

Thank you for reading!

Sandra, Lisa, Garry and Jess     

Year 6

Upcoming dates:
Friday August 2- Interschool Sport – Round 1

Tuesday August 6 - West Zone Athletics

Wednesday August 14 – Sports Morning for whole school involvement – led by Year 6 Serviam group 8 am

Thursday August 15 – Feast of the Assumption Mass – Years 4-6

Prep photos:
Thanks to families who have emailed photos (JPEG format). We only need one photo of your child from their first year of schooling, by the end of this term please. So far, we have approximately 15 photos from 71 students. These photos will be used for our graduation.

Homework:
Thank you for your support in ensuring homework is complete and due each Friday. This forms deliberate practice and contributes to over one year’s growth. (https://visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/, 2024)

Our Learning:
English: Nate Halpin: “We have been leaning how to create a Lawyer paragraph so we can persuade the reader . We can use a Slam Dunk paragraph when writing persuasive texts . It concludes with very short sentence to “slam home” the point.”

WAGOLL ( What a good one looks like) Slam Dunk paragraph: Indy Rose Kelly:   Isn't it time to showcase Australia's surfing skills in all Summer Olympics? Interestingly, surfing will be included for the second time in summer Olympic history. Tyler Wright, Australian surfing champion and Olympic competitor, believes surfing brings a new level of excitement to the Olympics. Furthermore, Australians are renowned for their surfing prowess and should compete in the Summer Olympics. Audiences watching the Olympics will enjoy learning about the skills needed to catch the ultimate wave. The knowledge gained will inspire and encourage other to try surfing and chase their dreams. Surfing is Olympic worthy.

Thank you:
Thank you Grandparents for visiting our classrooms last Wednesday. It was great to see many of you engage with our students and share Typing Tournament challenges, maths quizzes, view our Sway digital presentations and class galleries,

Kylie, Shauna, and Steve

Queensland School Sport Representative

Congratulations and best wishes to Odin (Year 6) on his selection in the Queensland School Sport 10-12yrs Cross Country team to participate in the School Sport Australia National Exchange in Victoria later this month. Odin’s selection was the result of a strong 3^rd placing at the recent State Championships while representing Darling Downs School Sport and is a fitting reward for his dedication and commitment to training.

Catholic Touch & Netball Carnival

Well done to all OLOL students who participated at the recent Catholic Touch & Netball Carnival and represented OLOL with pride and determination. A special congratulations to the Girls Year 6 Competitive Touch Football team who won all their games to reach the final and despite not winning, were very competitive and showed great commitment throughout the day.

Catholic Athletics Carnival

A great day of athletics was held at the recent Catholic Athletics Carnival with over 40 OLOL students participating. This carnival proved to be both a great competition warm-up for the older students participating at the upcoming West Zone Athletics Carnival and a positive competition experience for the younger students.

AFL Austkick

We hope the 50+ students who are participating in the Monday after-school AFL Austkick program are having a positive and fun learning experience with their AFL coaches. For those students who missed out, it is anticipated another program will be run in 2025 at OLOL.

Swans Cup Primary School Touch Football Competition

Congratulations and best wishes to the 13 Year 6 students selected to represent OLOL in the Monday after-school Swans Cup Primary School Touch Football Competition. After a slow start the team is starting to combine well under the coaching of Mr Lobwein and may be a chance to play finals in a few weeks.

Inter School Sport

OLOL will again be participating in the Term 3 Toowoomba Inter School Sport with students representing OLOL in Hockey, Boys and Girls Football, Netball, and Boys and Girls Rugby League. With ISS starting on Friday 2 August and running for 4 weeks, students are reminded to ensure they have all safety equipment relevant to their sport and wear the appropriate uniform.

Hockey – shin pads, mouthguard

Football – shin pads

Rugby League - mouthguard

Richard

Richard Dugdale
PE Teacher

Library Happenings… 

The Olympics have commenced, and we are excited to be watching our Australian athletes compete! 

Delicious Reading – try a cookbook today! 

The world is a busy place and each day we are faced with many choices. One of our library notice boards reminds us to be kind, curious, caring, bold, daring, brave and creative each day.  

Book Week 

Book Week 2024’s theme, “Reading is Magic,” is truly enchanting! This theme celebrates the transformative power of books to transport readers to new worlds, spark imaginations, and evoke a sense of wonder. 

Don’t forget to continue planning your costume... Dress Up day is not too far away! Reminders from the last newsletter: 

• It is NOT essential to purchase a costume 

• It is OK to be a character or person from any book 

• It is OK to come along as your favourite author – they just wear regular clothes 

• The theme for Book Week is ‘Reading is MAGIC’ but your costume does not have to match the theme 

• Group costumes and themes are perfectly OK 

• Bringing along a copy of the book your character/person is from is NOT required but always welcome 

• There are NO prizes for costumes at Lourdes 

Date Claimer!!! Book Week Dress Up - Thursday 22nd August 

Book Week Activities 

Activity Year Levels Date / Due Date 

Colouring In Competition All Tuesday 20th August 

Crown and Wand Making 1-6* Monday 19th August 

Chalk Characters Comp 1-6* Tuesday 20th August 

Disney Sing/Dance Along All – Big Lunch Wednesday 21st August 

Dress Up All Thursday 22nd August 

Trivia Competition All Thursday 22nd August 

*During usual lunch breaks at the Library. 

Overdue Items 

Thank you to those families who have sorted their overdue books. Letters including charges for long-term overdue items will be sent in coming weeks.  

Chess 

Chess lessons with Mr Lord have commenced. If your child is interested and missed the EOI cut off please email Danielle.Leathart@twb.catholic.edu.au ASAP. We have a very limited number of spaces available for children in Year 1 – Year 6 – get in quick! Please be on the lookout for invitation to the Toowoomba Chess Teams Tournament on Tuesday 27 August 2024  at Toowoomba Christian College. We invite all our Year 3 – 6 Chess Club Members to nominate to join a team for this day. On the day we play several rounds and  the day concludes at 4:15pm. Please note that student/s will need to organise transport to and from this activity. We do not offer bus transport for this event. For more details, please keep an eye out for the Activity permission via Sentral 

Book Club Issue 5 

Orders have been placed and we expect the books to arrive within the next week. Once they arrive, we will unpack the orders and deliver to classrooms as soon as possible. Thank you for supporting Book Club at Lourdes.  

Keep Reading, 

Mrs Leathart, Mrs Monte and Mrs Kemp. 

Choir will be featured in our upcoming Loving The Arts At Lourdes Showcase in September. If your child is part of choir, could I please ask you to remind your child to attend every rehearsal in the lead up to this big event. 

Rehearsals are on each Monday - first part of morning tea in the music room. 

Looking forward to this great event!

Ebony Rosier - Music, Dance & Choir