Newsletter September 4, 2025

From the Principal

Dear Parents, Staff, Students and Friends of the Our Lady of the Way Community,

Last Sunday’s Gospel challenges us to recognise the difference between self-importance and humility. In Luke’s Gospel story Jesus notices that some people presume to sit in the places of honour. They presume entitlement when maybe they shouldn’t. Our current societal norms promote importance, power and popularity as being the ultimate in importance. However, Luke’s Jesus uses this social dynamic to highlight that humility outweighs self-exaltation: ‘Those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted’.
Pope Leo encourages all of us to be detached from the pursuit of wealth and from forms of favouritism based on money or power. We must remember that, like Jesus, we have been anointed with the Holy Spirit and sent to bring good news to the poor.

We might ask ourselves are we called to rise above others, or to stand with them?
Are we bringers of hope in our own time and place?
Are we Pilgrims of Hope?
Finally, I would like to wish all of our fathers, grand fathers and father figures a very happy Father’s Day for Sunday.

Thank you and best wishes
Terry Cooney, 

Principal

STAFFING CHANGES
I take this opportunity to say thank you and farewell to Mrs Sue Cooney who will be finishing up at Our Lady of the Way at the conclusion of Term 3. Sue has been on staff here as our Library Technician since 2018, when we were hosted by St Patrick’s. She has been instrumental in the growth of resources our Library and school now has to offer staff and students.

Over the years as we have continued to grow in numbers Sue has made sure the needs for extra resourcing have been met, ensuring quality take home readers, class novel sets and teacher resources are always available. I thank Sue for the dedication and commitment she brought to her role here at Our Lady of the Way and wish her all the very best in the next chapter of her life.  Mrs Bernadette Matthews will be taking over the role of Library Technician for Term 4.

2026 ENROLMENTS
I am currently interviewing families with children from Year 1 to 6 who wish to join our school community. We have limited places available in some year levels and many families wishing to join our school. Therefore if your child is not going to be continuing at Our Lady of the Way in 2026, I ask that you let Mrs Jodie Barnes know via the admin email ASAP. We have a waiting list in many levels and this may give the opportunity for another family to join our school community.

IMPORTANT-SICK BAY

We have had an increase in students attending school while unwell. To help prevent the spread of illness and protect the health of our school community, we kindly ask that you keep your child at home if they are unwell.

Even mild symptoms such as a sore throat, cough, runny nose, or fever can spread easily to others.

Thank you for your support in keeping our students and staff safe and healthy.

SUPERVISION TIMES
A reminder to all parents and carers that supervision of children by Our Lady of the Way staff begins from 8:30 each morning. If you need to drop your child off before this time you will need to use the services offered by the OSHC. This also applies for after school supervision which concludes at 3:30pm.

FOOD ALLERGIES

A reminder to all families that we have students in the school with Anaphylaxis. To help keep all students safe, please avoid sending any nut products in your child’s lunchbox.

We appreciate your support and understanding.

LUNCH ORDERS!

All cancellations should come via the office. No contact should be made with the Cafe directly.

Students need a fruit snack and morning tea on days that lunch orders are placed. 

LABELLING UNIFORMS

Please ensure all uniform items are clearly labelled with your child’s name. We’ve been receiving uniforms in the office daily without any identifying labels, and unfortunately, these items cannot be returned to the students without proper identification. Please also check to see if your child has come home with another child's uniform item, and return it to the office if this is the case.

Thank you for your cooperation in helping us keep track of all belongings!

Religious Education-Pilgrims of Hope

Confirmation Blessings

We wish all the students participating in the Sacrament of Confirmation tomorrow night a wonderful and memorable evening. May this special occasion be filled with joy, faith, and the support of family, friends, and our school community.

Just some reminders:

*Confirmation Candidates (Your child) and Sponsor need to arrive between 5:30pm and 5:50pm.

*Stoles will be collected when they arrive.

*Sponsors will be explained their role before the beginning of the ceremony when everyone has arrived.

*The ceremony will begin at 6pm sharp.

*Candidates and sponsors have reserved seating, you may sit anywhere else there is not a reserved sign.

We look forward to a great night.

Regards, Year 6 Team

Wellbeing

Student engagement

R U OK? day- Friday, September 12th

On Friday, 12 September 2025, our school will recognise R U OK? Day — a special day to remind everyone to check in with friends, classmates, and teachers by simply asking, “Are you OK?” It’s a great way to show we care and to help others feel supported. At school, we’ll be learning how to be kind, listen well, and talk to a trusted adult if someone needs help. Let’s all work together to make sure no one feels alone. 

All students can wear a splash of yellow with their uniform. It may be a ribbon, socks, head bands or wristbands!

      Have Your Say – MACSIS Parent Survey Now Open        We invite all parents and carers to take part in the 2025 MACSIS (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys). Your feedback plays a vital role in shaping the direction of our school.

Parents who have received an invitation to participate in the survey can access it using the link provided in the invitation email. Alternatively, parents are welcome to complete the survey onsite on Friday, September 5th, and Friday, September 12th, immediately after Community Prayer. Please sign in at the office, where staff will direct you to the location to complete the survey.

 Annette Moore ~ annette.moore@ourladywallan.catholic.edu.au

Last week we hosted our first Cuppa & Yarn, a relaxed coffee and tea morning designed to connect and strengthen relationships with our Indigenous families, community members and staff. It was a wonderful opportunity to sit together, share stories, and build stronger partnerships between home and school. We are grateful to everyone who joined us and look forward to continuing these gatherings as a way to celebrate culture, foster community, and ensure every voice is heard.

Mrs Mostyn , Mrs Moore & Mrs Bryan

Teaching and Learning

Year 6 Maths Competition

On the 28th of August some of our Year 6’s participated in the MAV (Maths Association of Victoria) maths competition, where we competed against 8 other Catholic schools at Saint Patrick’s Primary School in Kilmore. 

The day was split up into three different categories. The first category was partner activities where we paired up with a different student from one of the 8 other schools and challenge them to 4 different math activities. The second category was a team challenge where we made two teams made up of 4 people from our school and worked together to find out the answers to many problem solving activities. The final event of the day was the math relay race where we had to work together to solve as many math problems as possible in 20 minutes to test our numeracy abilities.

The day was very competitive and involved lots of team work skills.

Although our two teams didn’t win on the day we all had an amazing, fun and mathematical day. The winning team was Appin Park Primary School in Wangaratta. Special thanks to Mr Stoward for organising the day, we had a fun and entertaining day at this Mathematical event.

Book Week!

Book Week is always a highlight of the school year, and this year was no exception! I want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who made it such a special event.
 
First, a big shout-out to Sue Cooney for running the Book Fair all week and to all the families who purchased books. The school receives a percentage of all sales, which we use to buy new books for our library that your children will get to enjoy for years to come.
 
Thank you to the teachers, LSOs, and students for the incredible effort they put into dressing up as their favourite book characters and for completing all the activities related to the shortlisted books. The enthusiasm was contagious! To EVERYONE who dressed up. The creativity and spirit you showed were absolutely amazing! And of course, a special thank you to the parents and carers for helping bring your children's fabulous costumes to life.
 
Book Week wrapped up with a visit from “Tony Bones” who acted out the shortlisted
book “General Waste” for all students.
 
What a week!  I'm already looking forward to and planning next year's Book Week!

Book Week Parade

French Words

Class Information

Music Lessons

Community Events

Beveridge NetSetGo 
Calling all budding netballers aged 5–10!
Join us for a fun and active program where kids can learn new skills, make friends, and fall in love with netball—all in a safe, supportive environment.
 Sessions kick off at 6pm inside the sporting stadium at Beveridge Primary - Ambrosia Campus.
 Register via the link provided. Every sign-up includes a NetSetGo T-shirt and netball - yours to keep! 
We can't wait to see you there