Dear Parents & Carers 

A warm welcome back to the start of a brand new school year. The first few days were a hive of activity and excitement, so good to see everyone back and to hear about the many holiday adventures. There were very few tears and limited reluctance to come to school but that was just from a couple of the teachers!  We are well and truly off to a great start. A warm welcome back to all families. Always a treat to see the kids back, looking refreshed from the holidays, spiffy in their new uniforms and most…just a little bit taller! 

Naturally, some students particularly those who are new to our school, were a little hesitant but once day one was underway, all seemed to fall into place. A lot to do I think with the efforts of our wonderful teaching staff in preparing for the start of a new school year. If there is anything more we can do to assist you with getting back into the school routine, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

A warm welcome to all our new families who join our school community for the first time. Our Lady of Lourdes is a great school and we are delighted that you have joined us and trust your time here will be an enjoyable one. A special welcome of course, to our adorable Preppies who are discovering what full time schooling is all about.  

We also extend a warm welcome to our new staff members who have joined the Lourdes team. Mrs. Shauna Coren who will be teaching Year 6C, Miss Jessica Packer in Year 5P and Mrs. Sarah Goldthorpe who will be team teaching with Mrs. Janice Moore in Year 3GM. Over the holidays we sadly farewelled Mrs Kate Tague who accepted a position at the Good Samaritan College. The wonderful Mrs. Maria Kehoe thankfully has returned to head up our Learning Support program along with Mrs. Allyson Jessen. I thank Maria and Alyson for their willingness to take on this very important role at such short notice. 

To all our class teachers I would like to express my appreciation for the time and effort they have spent over the recent holidays to ensure that their respective classrooms were organized and prepared for the term ahead. Such a great feeling to walk into welcoming & well-resourced classrooms. The work you have done to provide vibrant learning environments has not gone unnoticed. 

Many thanks to all the parents as well. From my observations and discussions with the teachers, the children have arrived fully prepared with the correct book list items, uniforms and a keen attitude to commence the school year. Well done, you have done a great job!  

Following is a short article entitled “Make this Year your Child’s Best Ever at School”, written by Michael Grose (Author/Parenting & Education Specialist) that I found over the holidays. It is very much worth the read.  

“A new school year means a fresh start for students. Regardless of your child’s performance last year, they start school with a clean slate. A break offers students the chance to begin new habits and adopt new behaviours. Here are five ideas to help you make the most of the fresh start and make this year your child’s best year ever year at school: 

1. Commit to your child going to school every day on time. One of the most important things you can do to ensure your child has a bright future is to make sure he or she goes to school every day – and gets there on time. Kids spend more time asleep than at school, so we need to maximise every day to get full value. 

2. Help kids start each day well.   A good night’s sleep, a healthy breakfast and some words of encouragement from you will help set a positive tone for a day of learning. This may mean that you adjust your morning routine so that kids have plenty of time get up, eat and get ready for the day. 

3. Establish work & study habits. The most successful students are those that develop regular study habits that suit their lifestyle, their study style and their school’s expectations.  Find out the work expectations from your child’s or young person’s school and help them establish a work routine that matches. 

4. Make sure your child gets enough sleep. Many children and young people are sleep-deprived, which impacts on their wellbeing and their learning. A good night’s sleep consolidates learning, as well as assisting future learning. Children need between 10-12 hours of sleep each day, while teens need a minimum of nine hours. Help kids get sufficient sleep by having a regular bedtime and get-up time each day. Have a 45-minute wind-down time each night and remove screens and mobile phones from bedrooms. 

5. Insist kids exercise. The old saying about ‘a healthy body and a healthy mind’ is so true. Exercise releases the chemicals needed for learning and wellbeing. Yet kids today get less exercise than those of past generations, which is an impediment to learning and mental health. Health professionals recommend a minimum of 60 minutes of exercise per day for kids of all ages. Encourage your child to play sport; promote free and active play and look for ways to make moving part of their daily lives.” 

Be Prepared 

With the start of any new school year or term, it is vitally important for students and parents to be fully prepared. Getting off on the right foot is a pre-requisite for ongoing success. There are a few simple ways to ensure your kids and yourselves have a productive start. Having all booklist and uniform items is a must. Taking shortcuts in these areas only serves to build anxiety in children and can prove disruptive to classroom routines.  

The school’s uniform code is very simple to follow. Please note that the policy is there to be adhered to by all parents and is not open to individual interpretation. Avoid letting your children decide what is permitted, especially when it comes to joggers when in sports uniform. No fluro means no fluro – including the laces and black shoes means black shoes for formal wear.  

Communicate

Open communication between yourselves and your child’s teacher is paramount for a successful and enjoyable year for all parties. From feedback received from parents in last year’s school review, we have attempted to streamline the modes of communication. As of this year the preferred mode of communication with your child’s teacher, other than face to face, will be via email. Class dojo’s will no longer be offered.  

Please feel free to contact me at any time either by email, phone call or face to face, but it is pertinent that your first point of contact is your child’s teacher as they have first-hand knowledge of your child’s progress and daily happenings in the classroom and playground.  

The teaching and support staff here at OLOL will do everything we can to help your child to do their best. Let us know if we can support you in any way. Remember, communication between home and school is vital for a happy and productive school year. Myself, Mrs. Moore (Assist. Principal Religious Education) and Ms. Murray (Assist. Principal Curriculum & Admin) are also more than happy to meet and discuss matters at any stage. 

How to keep in touch

• Read the newsletter which is emailed to each family every fortnight. Please ensure the school has your current email address. 
• Download the Schoolzine App for newsletters, updates, reminders, emergency notifications, change in routines etc. Instructions are provided in this newsletter. (instructions are included in this newsletter)
• Facebook sites – OLOLMemos or individual Year level sites for reminders. 
• Attend parent information nights & parent/teacher interviews. 
• Be aware of emails sent from your child’s teacher. 
• Get involved in school life. Be part of the P&F Assoc., help in the classrooms, sports training or carnivals, support fundraising ventures.  

Please keep in mind that like in any organization, problems arise from time to time.  A school community is a complex body involving the Parish, Catholic Schools Office, School Administration, teachers and ancillary staff, visiting specialists, parent groups and students, OHS regulations, Child Safety legislations and comprehensive curriculum delivery.  

As educators of children, we understand the concerns of parents and we ask that parents in return understand that the roles of the teacher continue to become more demanding and complex.  The education of our students is a partnership. When an issue arises, please contact the person concerned directly at the earliest opportunity and in the least formal way, i.e., a quick chat before or after school, courteous email or phone call at a reasonable time of day.   

Following this initial contact and if the matter seemingly cannot be resolved, the Principal or Assistant Principal should then become involved. Please avoid the approach of “going over their head” as all this creates is a feeling of distrust. 

Another important point is to keep an open mind about what you hear.  We love and cherish our children; however, it is wise to remember that they can sometimes embellish and misinterpret things.  

Checking ‘stories’ with your child’s teacher in a courteous manner will resolve any such problems, as they are the ones that will know all the facts and can give a clear explanation of both sides to the story. 

Keeping an open mind about why we do certain things or why a certain policy or procedure is put in place is also an important mindset to have. One thing I have learnt over 25 years of Principalship, is that not everyone in the school community is going to agree with every policy and procedure. What I can assure you of, is that there are always valid reasons and due consideration involved in our decision making processes. 

Trust

Above all, a trusting relationship between home and school is what I believe the single most important factor of success. Lourdes is blessed with highly skilled, experienced and compassionate teachers who will put in 110% to cater for all the students in their care. Most too, have families of their own, so they know how hard parenting can be. Our tremendous academic results and excellent reputation over many years speak for themselves. But they just don’t happen. It takes a lot of hard work, collaboration and shared purpose between students, staff and parents for it to become reality and for it to be sustained.  

Parent Information Nights

At the beginning of each year an information session is conducted by the individual class teachers. This is an opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and also clarify expectations for the year. During this session information is shared with regards to routines and communication. There is also an opportunity for parents to ask questions regarding such routines.  

Please refrain from raising personal issues your child may be experiencing or experienced. Such questions are best left to one on one meetings with your child’s teacher following the session or at another arranged meeting time. As mentioned in the calendar and in my welcome letter, which was forwarded home last week, the Year 1-3 Information night was held on Monday night. The Years 4-6 Information night will be conducted next week Monday 8th February @ 5:30p.m. 

Traffic Management System

To alleviate the traffic congestion during the morning drop off and afternoon pick up times, a traffic management system was created in Term 4 last year.  A simple rule applies when utilizing the main or Church carparks left in, left out. Please refer to the site plan attached to this newsletter.  

The main issue I wish to reiterate, is our genuine request for parents utilizing either Stop, Drop, and Go zones, to delay your afternoon pick up time until after 3:00 p.m. The children are supervised every afternoon until 3:30 p.m. There is no need for parents to arrive at the Stop, Drop & Go zones prior to 3:00 p.m. This practice is the major contributing factor to traffic congestion in the afternoons. 

We really would appreciate that all parents and carers closely follow the new direction of travel when utilizing either the Church or main carparks. I would also greatly appreciate it if you could pass these instructions to grandparents or other people who may collect your children from school.  

Not only will this system help create a more efficient traffic flow but most importantly a much safer environment for all members of the School and Parish community. I thank you in advance for your ongoing co-operation and patience.  

Stop, Drop & Go 

We offer two Stop, Drop & Go zones both morning and afternoon. These areas will be the parking bay area in front of the handball area in Ascot Street and in the carpark behind the Church. Both areas will be clearly identified as Stop, Drop and Go zones. Parents must remain in the vehicle; students are to get in and out of the car at the top of the zone or when otherwise directed by the teacher on duty. Please note that it is not mandatory to use these zones. Parents are still most welcome to find a park and walk their children into and from the school.  

This definitely applies to families with children in our Prep classes only. We do recommend that you drop and pick up your children from the hall or classroom each day. Preppies with older siblings can utilize the stop, drop and go zones, however they must be accompanied by their older brother or sister.  

Mornings: The Ascot Street Stop, Drop & Go area is the priority zone and can be used to drop off students from any year level. If congested, do not wait in Ascot Street for the zone to clear but proceed around the corner into Goodwood St. and utilize the Church Stop, Drop and Go zone.  

Afternoons: The Ascot St zone is the pick-up area for students in Grades 4-6 and their younger siblings as well as children being collected by PCYC or other childcare organisations. If this zone is congested or your children are not ready, vehicles are requested to drive around the block for a second attempt. The Church carpark zone is for Grades 1 - 3 students and their younger siblings only. If congested or your children are not ready, you will need to do a lap of the block.  

To assist the teachers who will be on duty, it would be greatly appreciated if vehicles could display family name of students who are being collected in the afternoons.  

The success of the afternoon pick-up zones will depend on consistent adherence to the above procedure, clear communication between parents and children as to where they will be picked up from, timely communication between parents and the school of any changes to the pick-up routine and timely and prompt movement of students from the classroom to the correct pick-up zones. Supervision until 3:30 p.m. will still be provided in both areas.

Be Safe

Please be ever vigilant of school children when driving and parking in the school precinct. Remember the police will be out in force regarding speed limits, parking and safe driving practices in school zones. Slow right down around schools and be conscious and respectful of others when parking. All schools in town experience traffic and parking issues. We have put several measures in place to help reduce the congestion but above all your patience during these busy times is vital for the safety of all. We certainly do not wish for a tragedy to occur for drivers to slow down and park in a safe place, even if it means a 2-minute walk.  

School Fees

All Toowoomba Diocesan schools are currently in the process of transitioning to a new administration and financial software system. As a result, want to ensure the correct information has migrated over to the new system. Therefore, it is anticipated Term 1’s school fee invoices will be delayed until Week 4, i.e. week commencing Monday 15th Feb.  

Instrumental Music Tuition

Apart from all Yr. 5 & 6 students who learn the ukulele and percussion as part of their music curriculum, tuition for other musical instruments for students is also available. Most of these lessons are offered out of class time i.e., lunch time or after school. Mrs. Kylie Parker is our instrumental teacher and will commence lessons for those students who were in the program last year next Tuesday afternoon from 1:30 p.m. in the Music room. Kylie will forward home her contact details next week for anyone else who may be interested in receiving instrumental tuition. 

OLOL Race Day 

Fingers crossed for our upcoming major fundraiser, the biannual OLOL Race Day at Clifford Park Racecourse on Saturday 13th March. Ticket sales have been running hot and there are only 37 tickets remaining. To avoid disappointment, get in quick. Tickets available through www.trybooking.com 

Race Day Raffle

We are also seeking donations for the multi-draw raffle. All donated items will be greatly appreciated and acknowledged on the day. If you are able to donate, please drop prizes into the office at you earliest convenience. Thank you in anticipation of your support.  

Welcome BBQ & Disco 

Our traditional beginning of the year social evening for all families will be held on Friday 19th February from 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm This is always a popular evening for the kids and a great opportunity for a social meet and greet for parents. The sausage sizzle & disco are complimentary. Cold drinks will be on sale and a bar will be operating during the night. Your co-operation in maintaining COVID safe practices such as social distancing between adults and hand sanitizing will be greatly appreciated. As we already have families details there will be no requirement to sign in or out of the function. Please note that all children need to be accompanied by at least one adult.  I look forward to catching up with as many of you as possible on the night. 

Once again, welcome back. It’s great to see all the smiling faces and to witness the children’s eagerness to settle into their new classes. Please take the time to read through the newsletter and upcoming dates there is plenty happening this term. Just in case some families have not yet provided an email address or downloaded the Schoolzine App, a hard copy has been provided for your convenience. I certainly wish all our families a fabulous year and I look forward to catching up with you all soon. 

Thanks for reading…

Chris