Welcome to Term 4!

It’s hard to believe we’ve already reached the final term of 2025. We hope you had a restful and enjoyable September break. Spring in Toowoomba is always a special time, with perfect weather and the city’s beautiful gardens and parks in full bloom—an ideal setting to relax and recharge.

Miranda

Ms Miranda Murray
Acting Principal

Upcoming Events

Welcome Back to Term 4

Welcome back to Term 4! The term has begun with great energy, culminating with the Colour Run on Friday afternoon. We hope everyone has settled back into the routines of school life. Term 4 is always an exciting and productive time filled with consolidation, progress, and celebration of student achievements.

Standardised Testing

Over the past two weeks, students in Years One to Six have completed a series of standardised assessments in Reading, Spelling, and Mathematics. These assessments are conducted annually, alongside other diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments, to provide a comprehensive picture of each child’s learning progress.

PAT (Progressive Achievement Tests) help teachers better understand where students are in their learning journey. The results inform teaching and learning programs, allowing teachers to set personalised goals, monitor growth, and cater to the individual needs of each learner.

If you have any questions regarding the testing process or your child’s results, please contact your class teacher.

Life Education

Students will participate in the Life Education program during either Week 2 or Week 4, aligning with our Health and Wellbeing Week in Week 3. This program directly supports the Health Curriculum, helping students develop knowledge and skills for making safe and healthy choices.

A cost of $13 per student will be billed to families to cover the program.

The Life Education website is also filled with great resources for parents. There are helpful guides on a variety of health and wellbeing topics, including:
• Cybersafety
• Mental Health
• Food and Nutrition
• Body Safety
• Body Image

You can explore these resources by visiting the link below:
https://lifeeducationqld.org.au/parenting-guides

Award Criteria

We have recently updated our criteria for the weekly assembly awards and the end of year awards for Years 5 and 6. If you would like to find out more, please read the document located on our website under Policies, Procedures, Plans and Reports.

Have a great week,

Melita

Mrs Melita Hohn
Acting Assistant Principal

Welcome back to Term 4. I hope everyone had a restful spring holiday and are ready for the next 8 weeks of fun filled OLOL action.   

Year 3 Retreat

Last term our Year 3 cohort experienced a retreat about “Spring Renewal.” We are lucky to be able to walk to Newtown Park and experience the beautiful trees and rose garden in the park. We had a beautiful day, listened to our meditation and then created some fabulous natural mandala pictures in groups. We thank Father BJ for coming along to pray with us.

Health and Wellbeing Week

Next week is Health and Wellbeing Week at Our Lady of Lourdes. We concentrate on making healthy food, exercise and mindful choices.

Each day next week we will have a different activity for the children to enjoy.

Bring an apple and it can be made into an apple slinky!

Tuckshop Ordering for Thursday Morning Breakfast

Ordering cut off by 8:00 am next Wednesday 22 October.

Menu

• Bacon and Egg Muffin
• Yoghurt cup and fresh fruit
• Pancakes
• Popper Juices

Prices to be advised on Flexischool App

If anyone is available to help, please email Teagan our tuck shop convenor at Teagan.Harch@twb.catholic.edu.au. Helpers needed from 6:30 am

Parish Family Mass

The Parish Family Mass was on last Sunday 12th October 2025. It was great to see the two Mass Congregations gathering for Mass and morning tea.

October- the Month of the Rosary and World Mission Month

The month of October is regarded as the month of the Rosary so sharing a Hail Mary each day with your family is an enjoyable way to remember Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We thank the Diocesan Rosary Group for their donation of Rosary beads for our Year 5s to use during their Rosary reflections.

October is also World Mission Month – Catholic Mission asks us to donate to support their work in troubled areas of our world. We had our Crazy Sock Day last term and the money we collected will go to Catholic Mission.

Sock Donations

We donated new socks to the Base Soup Kitchen and they were super impressed with our boxes of donations – Thank you to our community for supporting this giving initiative. We thank Toni and Dakota for accepting the boxes 

We Serve

Congratulations to Michael Nicholson ( Year 6) for his “Clean up Lourdes” initiative.

He is organising a clean up crew at second break in an aim to keep our school clean and tidy. True “We Serve” in the spirit of St Angela Merici.

Personal Development Programme

All families will receive a Sentral email outlining the topics of discussion for the year level’s Personal Development Programme. This year this programme will be combined with the Health Programme and incorporate a “Respectful Relationships” component.  If you have any questions or queries about the topics your child’s class will explore, please make an appointment to meet with your child’s class teacher by this Friday 17^th October.  

Red Day for Personal Safety

On Friday, 31^st October it is our “Wear Red for Personal Safety” Day – A Day when we remember the special messages and resources of the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Foundation. We explore ways to keep ourselves safe. Wear something that is “sun safe red”, wear a hat,  school joggers, and bring a gold coin so we can support the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to continue in their quest to keep all children safe.  

We have planned a "Red” walk together to walk around the school block.

The plan for the morning is:  

• An assembly led by 2G at 8:40 am
• Complete a walk around our school block  
• Return to school for a Zooper Dooper together.  - We thank the P&F for sponsoring the iceblocks.

Our walk signifies the importance of walking in solidarity to keep us safe. It is important that our students can Recognise, React and Report, if they feel they are in danger. Parent and Carers are welcome to join us - we leave the school at approximately 9:00 am.  

 St Vincent De Paul Grocery Hamper Donations

Our School Value for Term 4 is “We Serve.” St Angela Merici reminds us to “Strive to do good and help others, for in doing so we are serving God.”

This term we are collecting non-perishable groceries, toiletries, and Christmas items to make up hampers for our local St Vincent De Paul Chapter.  If you wish to donate a gift card – that is also an option. The members of St Vincent De Paul have always been very grateful for the generosity of the community of OLOL. This is a way for us to support those less fortunate than ourselves, to enjoy a special Christmas. We plan to give these donations to members of our St Vincent De Paul Chapter at our 12 noon End of Year Mass on Friday, 5^th December. Donations can be cans of non-perishable items vegetables, tinned fruit, soup, spaghetti, pasta, rice, pancake mix, long life custard, tea, coffee, jelly, jam, vegemite), toiletries (toothpaste, shampoo, soap, deodorant), special Christmas treats (chips, chocolates, nuts, bonbons, Christmas decorations)... Remember to check use-by dates.

Please send in your donations to your class teacher and thank you for supporting St Vincent De Paul in this way. We are being Global Citizens by serving our local community.

Term 4 Assemblies  

Please remember our Thursday Assemblies start at 2:15pm.  

We have an assembly in Week 2, 3, 5, and 7 this term. 

Week 2 Assembly is led by 1M

Week 3 Assembly is led by Prep J

Dates for your diary  

Friday 31^st  October – “Wear Red for personal Safety Day” – gold coin donation   

Tuesday 11^th November – Remembrance Day  11 am – Led by Year 3 – school hall

Tuesday 18^th November – Volunteers Thank you Morning Tea – 9:30 am – Staff room

Tuesday 25^th November – Year 5 Leadership Speeches 8:45 am

Wednesday 26^th November – Transition Day – Prep Orientation and Step up Day

Thursday 27^th November – Year 5/6 Awards and Year 6 Final Assembly - 12 noon – School hall 

Tuesday 2^nd December - Year 6 Graduation- 6:30pm – OLOL Church

Wednesday 3^rd December:

                    Years 3-5 Christmas Concert 11:30am 

                    Prep -2 Christmas Concert – 2:00pm - School hall 

Friday 5^th December – End of Year Mass –12 noon – School Hall 

Janice

Janice Moore
Assistant Principal Mission and Identity

(APMI)

OLOL Parish Council Update
​What's on at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in October

A big congratulations to our 23 students who received the Sacrament of Reconciliation in September! We’re excited about the new look in the Children’s Liturgy Room and the Quiet Room, making them brighter for families and meeting groups. Plus, our church has had a nice exterior clean with sparkling windows.

The Parish enjoyed the Family Mass last Sunday at 9:45 a.m. Wishing Fr. Jamie a wonderful holiday this month!

For questions or more info, feel free to reach out via email at ourladyoflourdesparish@twb.catholic.org.au or phone 4634 1453. ​

OLOL Pastoral Council

Dear Parents and Students

Welcome back to school and a busy Term 4. Please find below various details and information regarding the Term 4 OLOL PE & Sport Program. As always if you any concerns or questions, always feel free to contact me (0409 069 437) for further information or to discuss your concerns.

Regards

Richard

Upcoming Dates

Term 4

Friday After School Basketball

OLOL will be entering 2 teams (tbc) into the 6-week 2025 Term 4 Toowoomba Primary Schools Basketball Competition. Please note the information below and refer to the attached document for further details:

1. Competition Dates: Friday 24 October/ 31 October/ 7 November/ 14 November/ 21 November/ 28 November
2. Age Group: Boys and girls in Yr4-6
3. Times: TBC (2024 start times - 4.30pm,5.20pm, 6.10pm)
4. Payment: $30 competition fee to be added to school fees
5. Uniform: Singlet supplied by OLOL
6. Selection: Players will be selected on ability not age or year level. The number of teams nominated will be determined by the number of coaches available.
7. Coaching: If can coach a team, could you please email your availability for one training time (before, during, or after school). As mentioned, the number of teams we nominate will be determined by the number of coaches available.

Yr3-6 OLOL Swimming Carnival

The Yr3-6 OLOL Swimming Carnival will be held on Monday 1/12/25 Week 10 at the Glennie Aquatic Centre. Full carnival details and the event nomination process will be communicated in Week 4.

Concerns and Questions

If you have any future questions or concerns, always feel free to contact me. I am very keen to ensure we maintain a high level of communication and give every possible opportunity for students to play, enjoy, and learn in a friendly, safe, positive, and inclusive environment. Please note that I do not work at OLOL on Mondays except for occasional Sporting School lessons, however I am still available to be contacted to ensure I can support and assist in any way possible.

Richard Dugdale
PE Teacher

Keep Reading in Term 4

As we head into the final term of the school year, it's more important than ever to encourage students to keep reading. Research consistently shows that reading for pleasure boosts academic achievement, emotional wellbeing, and lifelong learning. Our library is full of amazing tales of adventure just waiting to be discovered. Let's remind students to keep turning those pages and exploring new worlds!

End of Year Library Dates

Friday November 14^th (Week 6) – last day for student borrowing.

Friday November 21^st (Week 7) - last day for student returns.

Wednesday November 26^th (Week 8) – all outstanding loans will be charged to school accounts.

Overdue notices will be sent via email, so please keep an eye on your junk folders. If you need additional time to locate books, please email Danielle.Leathaet@twb.catholic.edu.au so I can adjust records accordingly. If you think your child may have returned book/s please email so we can check the shelves here in the library, sometimes things don’t scan correctly.

Chess Lessons

Chess Lessons have now finished for the year.  If you have any questions about chess, please contact: Danielle.Leathart@twb.catholic.edu.au

Parent Borrowing

Parents are welcome to borrow up to 10 additional books from the library collection. We are open at the times below. Please be reminded that parents are unable to borrow from the home reading collection including all On My Own and Read with Me titles. These titles are in high demand for staff and students, and we do not have enough copies to loan to families from this collection. Parent loans are due back by November 21^st 2025.

Additional Decodable Readers

Please access extra Decodable Readers via DRA online (class teachers will have logon details) or Wheelers eBooks (student email and password to logon).

Book Club

Issue 7 brochures have been sent out. Orders are due Wednesday 22^nd October. We expect delivery about a week AFTER the order has been finalized. Please email queries about Book Club to Danielle.Leathart@twb.catholic.edu.au

Important Links:

• AccessIt https://au.accessit.online/ORL13 (email address and password needed to logon)
• Wheelers eBooks Wheelers eBooks (email address and password needed to logon)

Library Opening Times

Happy Reading!

Mrs Leathart, Mrs Monte and Mrs Kemp

Lourdes on the Lawn

Lourdes on The Lawn will be held on Saturday, 25th October from 12:00 noon-5:00pm. Make sure you get your tickets before sales close! Cheese platters are also available to purchase through Try booking when purchasing tickets.

Bring a chair or picnic blanket and enjoy a wonderful afternoon with your family and our amazing school community. Inflatables, face painting and a disco for the children along with live music, market stalls, a BBQ and bar for the adults, will make for an enjoyable day for the whole family.

Eftpos and cash facilities are available to purchase food and beverage tickets. Please note our market stall vendors may not have eftpos facilities. Items from those stalls can be purchased using cash. Don't miss out, this is a whole school event!  Click the link now to get your tickets!