OLSH Newsletter

OLSH College Bentleigh We Believe! We Achieve!

111 Jasper Road, BENTLEIGH 3204 Ph (03) 8520 9200 Fax (03) 8520 9299 Absence Line (03) 8520 9250 Email: office@olsh.vic.edu.au website: www.olsh.vic.edu.au

Dear Family and Friends of OLSH College Bentleigh,

As we begin our final term for the year I would like to warmly welcome new staff members Francesca Conte (Administration), David Formosa (Director of Development), John Oien (Music) and Jenny Wilson (Library) to our community. We wish you every blessing for your journey with us. This front page today shares with our community the recent celebrations for our Handover of Student Leadership Ceremony. As we acknowledge and give thanks for the wonderful leadership of the Class of 2014 we also welcome and congratulate the new leaders from the Class of 2015. We do all of this as part of our OLSH College story and that story is founded in the spirit of Jules Chevalier msc. We are the Chevalier family and yes we are blessed!

Anne O’Loughlin Principal

NEWSLETTER

Volume 43, Number 16 Friday October 17 2014

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Wednesday was a very special day for us at the College as we remembered the anniversary of Fr. Jules Chevalier’s death and took time to reflect on all he did to bring God’s love to our world. As part of our celebration, we also witnessed the investiture of our Year 12 student leaders for 2015.

Fr. Jules Chevalier’s life had an enormous impact and we only exist as an OLSH community because of his life. His dream was that every person would know the depths of God’s love for them; he wanted every person to know they were loved absolutely and unconditionally by God. Fr. Chevalier believed that when a person knew deep love, their world could be transformed.

Our OLSH Proclamation reads:

Like Fr. Jules Chevalier, we commit ourselves to walking in the footsteps of Jesus. Blessings and peace on you and yours, Sr. Megan Donohue fdnsc

Faith & Mission

We pray for the repose of the souls of Bentleigh OLSH sisters:

Sr Therese Marie Hillas

and

Sr Margaret Fahey

May Our Lady of the Sacred Heart hold them gently in her care and may their souls rest in peace.

Fr Jules Chevalier msc

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Congratulations to Alyssa Jopling (Year 12) and Sasha Hermosa ( Year 11) who were awarded first place in the state for their original speech and poem, respectively.

Alyssa’s speech focused on the controversial issue of Australia’s position on asylum seekers and Sasha’s poem was a tribute to the life of Nelson Mandela.

The girls and their families attended the official awards ceremony at the University of Melbourne on Friday September 12.

The students’ achievements are a testament to their innate affinity for language learning.

Mrs Anna Riviello Head of Department - Languages

College News

Sasha Hermosa, left and Alyssa Jopling, right, pictured with their State Awards.

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Some simple strategies to consider… (adapted from http://www.vcehelp.com.au/last-minute-vce-exam-strategies-95/)

1. Get a good night’s sleep……Memory consolidation occurs during deep sleep at night. A minimum of 8 hours is best to minimise lethargy and stress. 2. Get active……If you have time go for a 15 minutes brisk walk in the morning to get the blood pumping. The cold morning makes you more alert. If you can’t, try a slightly colder shower in the morning. Not only will this kick start your morning but also make sure that you don’t waste too much water. 3. Have a healthy, nutritious breakfast……Breakfast is such an important meal to set you up for a big day. Look for some fruit and yoghurt or breakfast cereal. This will give you the long lasting energy you need to perform well in the exams. 4. Drink at least 500ml first thing in the morning……Dehydration is one of the most easily avoided concentration killers. Stay hydrated during the exam by taking small sips of water from your transparent drink bottle (with no label of course). 5. Check that you have all of your materials the night before the exams…..Make sure that you have also included plenty of comfortable writing pens, pencils, erasers, calculator, spare batteries, ruler etc. 6. Decide what your pre-exam strategy will be….Are you going to spend time with friends to de-stress or will that stress you out even more? Do you like to spend some time alone reading over notes? The decision is yours. 7. Use reading time to develop your writing strategy…..Use the time given to you to do the following:

A: Check the stability of the desk and chair. B: Take some deep breaths and a sip of water before you start to read through the paper. C: Read through the exam ensuring that you start thinking through some possible answers.

8. During writing time, read, underline or highlight the keywords in the question before you start writing. 9. Before you answer the tough questions ask yourself “what is this question asking of me?”……Doing so will help you ‘tap in’ to your memory stores to access this important information to answer the question. 10. Give it your best……Attempt everything (you may score yourself a mark or two in the process). If you can’t remember something try closing your eyes and visualising the information to recall the topic area. Whether you are in VCE or Year 9 and 10, we wish you all the best of luck and good preparation for the upcoming exams.

Ms Lynn Egan

Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching

Students notebook reimaging will begin on Monday October 27, starting with Year 8 / Year 10 / Year 11 / Issoudun. Reimaging is the process of removing all information from your computer and updating it with the latest versions of all programs. Reimaging will also help speed up your computer. All computers need to be reimaged periodically to ensure optimal performance. This process will get all students and teachers on the same footing with the most current computer updates.

Students in each year level will be required to bring their computers to room LG1 on the specified dates. Students must backup all their files and documents.

The schedule is as follows:

· Year 8 Friday October 24

· Year 10 Thursday October 30

· Year 11 Monday November 10

· Issoudun Friday November 17 Mrs Jo Bradley

Head of Department - Mathematics & eLearning Coordinator

Curriculum Matters

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Punctuality is an important habit for all students to get into. It has a positive impact on individual learning and at the same time ensures that classes are not unnecessarily interrupted.

All students are required to be at school by 8.35am so that they are ready for morning homeroom at 8.40am. Students who are late to school must sign in at Student Reception and have a valid reason supported by a note or phone call from a parent. If your daughter is late on three occasions and the school has not received any formal notification she will be asked to remain after school on a Thursday from 3.30-4.30pm. Parents will receive an email at such time.

All students are reminded that the following dates are days where full school uniform including blazers are required. If students have PE or Dance on these days they will be required to change into their PE uniform at school.

Please note the following dates in your calendars:

OLSH Bentleigh had the pleasure of hosting sessions run by Live No Fear for our Year 8 students. Our girls found the sessions engaging and the presenters easy to relate to. Many expressed that it was interesting to listen to their journey and the important life messages that they had. In this reactionary world that we live in, it so important for our young people to take the time to reflect before acting and to make positive life choices.

Our thanks to Elizabeth Miller MP for providing our girls with this opportunity.

Glen Eira Youth Services is hosting a Moving Up with Parents Information Night on the topic of transitioning from primary to secondary schooling on Wednesday October 22 from 7.00pm to 8.30pm with guest speaker Judith Locke.

Judith has extensive national and international experience in teaching, workplace training and psychology working with adults, children and families alike. Her most recent position was as a Senior Trainer for Triple P - Positive Parenting Program. Judith founded the Confident and Capable training company which provide psychological solutions for parents, employees, managers, children and adults experiencing difficulty.

Her work has been featured in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Telegraph and national magazines including Australian Good Taste and NW Magazine. She has also provided psychological comment on issues for syndicated Australian and New Zealand radio programs including John Laws’ show and on local stations in Sydney, Queensland and South Australia including ABC radio.

Ms Dina Oro

Assistant Principal Student Wellbeing

Student Wellbeing News

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On Thursday, September 11, the Year 10 Chinese class went to Melbourne Town Hall to participate in the China Cultural Day hosted by The Confucius Institute and the Chinese Language Teachers' Association of Victoria.

This event gathered approximately 1,700 students from many schools within Victoria. Some government representatives and past language students gave speeches and talked about the importance of understanding Chinese language and culture. The event consisted of many traditional Chinese performances such as lion dance, martial art, fan dance, a Chinese Orchestra, singing, and quizzes which challenged our language ability. It was an enlightening experience which broadened our understanding of Chinese culture and language. It also deepens our understanding of how this language studies will provide us with more opportunities in future. We were greatly encouraged to continue studying Chinese into our VCE.

After the event we headed to The Peking Duck restaurant in China Town. There we had a delicious Peking duck banquet. Different from the normal Chinese take-away, we learnt how to serve ourselves with the duck meat wrapped in a pancake. For a lot of girls this was their first experience trying this dish, and certainly some of us were faced with the difficult challenge of using chopsticks, but we fully enjoyed the food.

Overall it was a wonderful day. We also had Lidia, from OLSH Kensington with us. Our whole class felt that was important to continue our Chinese Studies, as we now know the great opportunities that come with learning such a universal language.

Elaine Liu, Georgie Sturt, Stephanie Ziada Year 10

Recently, in our regular PE class, Jayden and Jess from Dream Tyme Cheer came to give our class - Issoudun Gold - a few tips on cheerleading. In this ‘master class’ we learned new jumps, formations and how to improve our stunts, making them as safe and spectacular as possible.

We have been working on cheer routines in our PE practical classes this term and we will be incorporating some of the moves that they taught us into our routines which will be presented early in Term 4.

Priscilla and Sevi Issoudun Gold

College News

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Music is a way of life at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College. It resonates across the College from our assemblies, our celebrations, our liturgies, and our classrooms. We believe in the ability of music to nurture the body, mind and spirit.

Learning a musical instrument requires practice, support, understanding and encouragement – a journey we believe to be worthwhile for both students and parents.

Instruments currently taught are: piano, guitar, drums, violin, viola, clarinet and flute. Students are also able to undertake singing tuition, to learn and develop vocal skills.

Tuition is available on either an individual or group basis (groups of two only). Please note that piano is on an individual basis only.

The college encourages girls to be involved in music, not only as a creative outlet, but also to enhance their academic and social development, as well as improve their confidence.

Students undertaking instrumental/vocal tuition are also encouraged to participate in college ensembles and choirs, with a variety of performance opportunities.

At the end of each semester all students receive a written report detailing their progress, both technically and musically.

For 2015 enrolment application and tuition fee details please follow http://www.olsh.vic.edu.au/_uploads/rsfil/00597.pdf If you have any queries please contact Michelle Fenton - Performing Arts Coordinator on 8520 9200.

Mrs Michelle Fenton Performing Arts Coordinator

College News

Parents dropping off and picking up their daughters outside the College on Jasper Road and Robert Street are asked to be mindful of how and where they park, including leaving the driveways of our surrounding residents clear. In the interests of the safety of all our girls, please do not stop in front of the crossing flag on Jasper Rd or across the main exit driveways in Robert Street. It is also important that all road rules and parking restrictions in the area are observed, including not making u-turns during school hours in Jasper Rd and Robert St.

Your assistance and cooperation is much appreciated.

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College News