Principal's Report
The last few weeks have once again been very busy at OLOR. We’ve had a couple of camps and swimming lessons, as well as our Multicultural Evening, to name just a few of the things going on. There is always so much happening in schools, and I would like to thank all the staff who constantly give up their extra time and energy to help great things happen.
Two weeks ago our Year 4 and year 5 students had their camp at Illawonga Camp near Swan Reach. They got to take part in many adventures, from kayaking, cave exploring and ferry building, to team games and even some fishing. It was a great experience for them all and one full of many memories they will have for years to come. I would like to thank Mr Dunn, Ms Moll-Short and Mel Pfeiler for their support and organisation on the camp.
Our Year 6 students had their Kangaroo Island Camp last week. This was a great adventure for all involved. Experiences included a visit to Clifford’s Honey Farm, going onto the beach at Seal Bay to get an up close look at the wildlife, as well as visits to Admiral’s Arch and Remarkable Rocks. The highlights for lots of students were the bird and reptile shows at Raptor Domain and the sandboarding at Little Sahara. It was a great experience for all of the students and I’d like to again thank Ms Moll-Short and Mel Pfeiler for their organisation and support on the camp.
Our junior classes took part in swimming lessons this week at the Berri pool. Learning how to swim is so important in our region and our country. With water always a danger to those who haven’t learnt the skills to keep themselves safe, we are so pleased that we were once again able to provide this opportunity to our students. We were also very pleased with the weather as well, as more often than not, swimming week is cold, wet and windy.
I would like share some staffing news with our community. Recently, Ms Fiona Moll-Short and Mrs Michelle Williams were successful in winning permanent positions at OLOR. We congratulate them on their positions and look forward to them being part of the OLOR team for years to come. Miss Gemma Stewart will be returning back to OLOR in 2025, after taking a year of leave this year. We will be farewelling Mrs Emma-Lee Schilling and Miss Shyla Lange at the end of the year, as they take up positions at Loxton Lutheran School in 2025. We will also be saying goodbye to Mr Thomas Smart, who is moving to the Adelaide Hills with his partner. We thank them all for their time at OLOR and wish them well in their new roles.
We also have some ESOs who have won permanent positions at OLOR. I congratulate Miss Melody Pfeiler, Miss Kayla Tsorotiotis, Miss Breanna Michalski, Mrs Kirrilly Curyer and Mrs Melinda Halupka who were successful in winning these positions. We farewell Mr Brad Krollig and Miss Alexia Sourbis and thank them for their contributions at OLOR. We also congratulate Ms Karlie Vince and Mrs Julie Slagter, who will share the permanent Front Office position between them.
Our classes and teaching staff next year will therefore be:
Foundation- Miss Tori Martin
Year 1 & Year 2- Mrs Jade Owens and Mr Luke Dunn
Year 2 & Year 3- Miss Gemma Stewart
Year 4 & Year 5- Mrs Michelle Williams
Year 5 & Year 6- Ms Fiona Moll-Short
PE & Science- Mr Luke Dunn
The Arts and Science- Mrs Jade Owens
Leader of Learning- Ms Melanie Steele
APRIM- Mrs Rosie Perre
We will be finalising class lists in the next couple of weeks and hope to hold a transition session with the new class teacher in Week 8 or 9.
A reminder that we have a Student Free Day tomorrow, on Friday 22nd Novemberfor staff professional development. Keeping staff up to date with professional learning around curriculum, wellbeing and good teaching and learning practice, is something that we know will lead to better outcomes for all students. This week we are working on finalising our PBIS plans for 2025, which will be our whole-school Positive Behaviour and Support program. This will be a major focus next year and I thank the staff for their efforts already, as well as the work we will do on Friday to make sure we are ready to go straight away next year.
In a couple of weeks we look forward to our end-of-year concert. Mrs Owens and Miss Natalie from Rosie Clark Dance Studio have been working hard with all classes on their performances and it is coming together well. We look forward to sharing this with our whole community on Thursday evening in Week 8. It promises to be a night of fun!
In Week 8 we also will be sending out End of Year Reports. Teachers have been finalising assessments and preparing reports for all students. I encourage all families to be mindful that grading has changed significantly since we were at school, and a ‘C’ grade means that a student is able to do what is expected of them at their year level. I also encourage families to focus more on the effort grades and comments, as these are a better indication of individual progress and how much a student has lived up to their potential. I thank our teachers for all of the effort that they have put into preparing our reports and all of the learning that has occurred beforehand.
As you can see, Term 4 at OLOR is such a busy time, but also a fun and rewarding time. And there’s still so much to look forward to!
Mr Michael Slagter
Principal