Our Lady of Good Counsel Primary School

It has been a truly positive start to the school year and we are grateful to all of our staff, parents, and children for embracing the many events that have taken place over the past two weeks.  The beginning of the year has provided us with the opportunity to re-establish relationships as a community, and for the teachers to reaffirm expectations regarding student behaviour, so we can create learning environments that are safe, welcoming, and focused on achieving excellence for all.

It was wonderful to celebrate our Opening of School Year Mass on Friday, 9 February.  We are grateful to Father Hoang for leading the Mass so gently, and being a support in the planning of these special times of celebration.  We were excited to acknowledge and bless our new school leaders and present them with their badges for each of their leadership roles and responsibilities for the year ahead!  It was also very special to present our Foundation students and our new staff to our school also. 

We enjoyed celebrating Shrove Tuesday as a school community in the Church this year due to the inclement weather.  Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday is the last chance for a spot of indulgence before 40 days of fasting, and also an opportunity to use up food that couldn’t be eaten during Lent.  We welcomed Father Brendan to join us to burn the Palms from last year’s Palm Sunday Mass, in preparation for our Ash Wednesday Mass and all classes celebrated eating pancakes throughout the course of the day.

As a school, we are in the midst of planning for Lent and brainstorming some fundraising events for Project Compassion. We look forward to informing you of these events in future publications.

We welcome parents next week to our Parent Information evenings outlining the curriculum to be taught for each year level and welcoming the opportunities for parent and teacher ‘chats’ (Meet ‘n’ Greet) the following week. 

At OLGC we acknowledge the importance of teacher and parent involvement and working in partnership with all carers to ensure the success of  each child in our care.

By Julie McIntyre

Published: 16 February 2024