Our Lady Of Good Counsel Forestville in Sydney, Australia | Primary School

Our Lady Of Good Counsel Forestville

Locality: Sydney, Australia

Phone: +61 2 9972 7311

Address: 11 Currie Road Forestville 2087 Sydney, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.olgcdbb.catholic.edu.au

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25.01.2022 LIBRARY LESSONS In Library, Year 1-1H read Wilam: A Birrarung Story by Aunty Joy Murphy and Andrew Kelly. This beautiful picture book tells the indigenous and geographical story of Melbournes Yarra River, from its source to its mouth; from its prehistory to the present day. The story is full of rich indigenous language. Year 1 created a word wall in the library sharing the meaning of the indigenous words in the story.

25.01.2022 YEAR 2 INDONESIAN Year 2 have been learning about binatang (animals) di peternakan (on the farm) in their Indonesian lessons. Our students brought Ibu (Mrs) McDonald and Pak (Mr) McDonald to life and wrote about the animals on their farm. The students showed their love of language learning through their work.

24.01.2022 BUSKING DAY At OLGC our annual Busking Day has long been a way for our talented musicians to further gain performance experience. On Friday at lunchtime the children were entertained and appreciated the individual performances of many of our performance and training band members. ... After lunch, year 2 and year 3 also enjoyed a sneaky performance from the entire performance band. Thank you to the band members and staff who have worked hard in a year of much change and uncertainty. The sound of music was joyous to have in the playground and how nice it was to have you all share your musical gifts with the school .

23.01.2022 Class Masses- Our children will begin to attend Class Masses this year, outside of Parish Mass times following COVID safe protocols. We are excited for this opportunity to come together as community in faith, listening to Gods Word, sharing in prayer and developing relationship with Jesus.

23.01.2022 FAREWELL YEAR 6 Today we bid farewell to Year 6. At the end of the day the students across the years stood outside their classroom and cheered Year 6 as they left the playground. There was an incredible energy in the air with so many cheers and waves. ... We wish all the students in Year 6 every success in their future adventures at high school. All the very best for Year 7 and beyond. We hope you continue to let your light shine throughout your lives.

23.01.2022 HANDBALL COMPETITION FINALISTS The OLGC Handball Competition has been taking place at OLGC for the best part of this whole term and now it has drawn to an end. Over the past few weeks, the children utilised every available space in the school playground to play handball. The competition was a series of doubles knockouts between grades, culminating in a different grade final each day, over the past week.... Great sportsmanship was demonstrated by all and it was wonderful to see the strong OLGC spirit and comradery around the courts. Congratulations to all the participants, with a special mention to our finalists below. We look forward to an encore of this event next year.

23.01.2022 FAREWELL MRS TOMKINS & MRS CHYLEWSKA This week we have sadly said goodbye to our much loved Principals Mrs Meredith Tomkins and Mrs Marta Chylewska. Mrs Tomkins is retiring after nearly 10 years of leadership in our school. Mrs Chylewska has accepted the role of Principal at St Cecilia’s Wyong. Both Meredith and Marta have worked together in various schools for 15 years. Meredith and Marta are an amazing team. In their time working together at OLGC they have displayed excep...tional leadership to the teaching staff, they have worked with the teaching team to implement inquiry based learning in our school, driven the need for technological advancements and introduced language to the curriculum amongst many other achievements. Together they have helped to foster a wonderful community spirit amongst the many school families. We wish both Meredith and Marta all the very best for the future. We will certainly miss you both. Thank you for all your hard work and devotion to our school over the years.

22.01.2022 Like all mothers, Mary and Elizabeth felt the pangs of childbirth. As we focus tomorrow on Mary being taken up to heaven, her Son is presented as the Risen One, handing over the kingdom to God. We learn that God is working in us for our good and the good of the human family. With Mary we have our history, our strengths and weaknesses; like Mary we experience doubt and fear: Mary, we shout with joy as you are taken up with the angels to heaven. Sing with us each day the joy of belonging in God.

22.01.2022 HAPPY FRIDAY! It’s hard to believe it’s over 4 weeks since we cheered & farewelled the Year 6 Class of 2020 - For all of the students entering Year 7, 2021 we wish you the very best as you venture into the next chapter in your life. Remember to let your light shine in your new school!

22.01.2022 HAPPY BOXING DAY! We hope you had a relaxing day today after the Christmas build up. Something light to brighten the mood...This was a photo taken when the OLGC staff surprised Mrs Meredith Tomkins ( the school Principal) with matching Darling T-shirts at morning tea in her last week at the school as she was preparing to finish up for her well earned retirement. ... It was such a lovely surprise for Meredith and a delightful chuckle for all the staff as we all know how the word Darling is Meredith’s favourite word! Thank you to Mrs Chylewska for organising such a creative & fun surprise.

22.01.2022 OLGC ROCK BAND On December 2, the students of OLGC were entertained at lunch time by our very own school rock band - The Black Dot Bandits. The band performed Maps by Maroon 5. Enjoy watching the short video of the performance. It was a sensational effort and certainly well received by all the children and staff. Well done boys. We look forward to hearing more performances in 2021.

21.01.2022 ATHLETICS CARNIVAL The children will no doubt sleep well tonight after the fun and active day that was had at our modified Athletics carnival. They had the opportunity to be involved in grade based races, relays, ball games, tug-o-war and even some high jump. The children earned many points for participation for their house colour and also for the place in their race. Bass were the overall house point winners for the day, however Tasman were a close 14points behind. ... The day could not have been possible without Mr Coppings and Mrs Thompsons coordination. Many thanks to them and the teachers for making this day still happen in the current restrictive climate. There was definitely a positive energy to the day.

21.01.2022 WELLBEING WEEK What a fun way to wrap up wellbeing week with our fun sock Friday! We had a lovely week of recharging and connecting with nature, our inner self, classmates and our families.

21.01.2022 Wishing you all a happy and safe holiday break. We look forward to welcoming you back to OLGC in 2021.

20.01.2022 A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM BISHOP ANTHONY Bishop Anthony has released his Christmas message for 2020. This message comes amidst some uncertainties about how we might celebrate Christmas due to the pandemic. ... Bishop Anthony encourages us to look for the opportunities amongst the difficulties, to come back to the basics anew the person of Jesus Christ, our beginning and end. https://youtu.be/Y9M2KkUY8t4

20.01.2022 This week OLGC are participating in an initiative known as the Bedtime Stories Challenge. It involves joining the Common Ground team for a week of storytelling, and to learn from First Nations people. Common Ground is an Aboriginal-led organisation that shares First Nations stories, culture & history. Common Ground believes that knowledge and understanding of different cultures creates respect and friendship between people. Common Ground has been working with First Nations... storytellers and filmmakers to create five unique bedtime stories. Presented in short films, they are 4-5 minutes long. Monday’s story: The Lost Joey View here: https://www.firstnationsbedtimestories.com/story1-thelostjo This is a story from Robin Japanangka Granites. At the beginning of the story, Robin shares that he is a Warlpiri ("wawl-puh-ree") man from Yuendumu ("yun-du-mu"). He gives an Acknowledgement of Country to the Arrernte ("Uh-rrahn-da") people of Mparntwe (mm-barndoo- uh) (Alice Springs) where this story is filmed. The story shared by Robin Granites shares lessons about the importance of family and knowing your Country and your connection to place. Robin also shares a song in Warlpiri, that tells of the travelling kangaroo as he looks for his mother and tries to comprehend his connection to Country to allow him to get back to his mother. Year 5/6 E created a dot painting to show the moral/lesson of the story.

20.01.2022 PUBLIC SPEAKING FINALS Congratulations to all our stage finalists and winners. Weve had another successful year of public speaking at OLGC. Kindergarten taught us about many different types of animals and a very significant young man B in someones life. ... Stage one informed us about Minecraft, women of the future, elon musk rocket, the farm and interesting facts about animals. Stage two spoke convincingly on one selected quality humans need more of and why and they also tried to get the audience to relate to plants having feelings too. The content and delivery of all the speeches was of such high caliber. We are very proud of Everly childs personal efforts and achievements. In modified attempt to still present our annual public speaking finalist assembly, we will be filming all our public speaking winners and their speech to share via a video assembly with our whole school community. Watch this space...

20.01.2022 DESIGN THINKING IN YEAR ONE Year one observed a map of Australia that featured Australian animals in their natural habitats. To help the children conceptualise the different types of animal habitats (forest, arid, ocean) they followed the design thinking process to create their own dioramas of what specific animal habitats may look like. They had so much fun ideating and creating their prototype habitats and shared all their learning with Kindegarten as they are also learning about animals around the world.

19.01.2022 Lets LEAP into Learning- Our Lady of Good Counsel, Primary School would like to invite you and your child to the Learning-Exploring-Active-Play (L-E-A-P) sessions. The purpose of the L-E-A-P program is for children to engage in play-based activities and make connections with both enrolled families and those who may be considering our school as an option for their child in 2021. The dates for our sessions are:... Session 1: Wednesday 26th August 9:30 10:30 Session 2: Wednesday 9th September 9:30 10:30 Session 3: Wednesday 16th September 9:30 10:30 Session 4: Wednesday 23rd September 9:30 10:30 Session 5: Wednesday 30th September 9:30 10:30 Please find the link for further details and for the online registration form: https://www.olgcdbb.catholic.edu.au/is-your-child-ready-fo/

19.01.2022 Australia My Country Competition- Congratulations to all the children who took part in the Australia My Country Competition. This competition is designed to enhance the sense of pride and patriotism of participants, commemorated through writing and art. This years theme was They had no choice- Animals in Australias Conflicts. Check out some of our amazing entrants.

19.01.2022 Teacher CPR training - All our teachers and support staff took part in our annual training on how to perform CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) should it ever be required.

19.01.2022 DIVERSE LEARNERS UPDATE The Diverse Learners Co-Ordinator Mrs Janet Agostino has been working with the year 3 English cluster group, the Waffles, who have been studying the novel Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Murpurgo this term. The group have been very inspired by this wonderful book and the students have been working in groups to explore different aspects of the novel.... ‘The Survivors’ examine and evaluate different methods for survival on a remote island; the Geographers have charted the course of the sailing vessel and have drawn a map of the island; the Communicators are examining the extraordinarily rich language and imagery in the book. Together, the group post ideas and wonderings on the Learning tree. It has been an enjoyable exercise for all of the children and Mrs Agostino says "It’s such an inspiration to work with these clever and creative children!"

18.01.2022 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT & HEALTH Year 3 engaged in some thinking tasks about the word Respect and what it means. This helped them develop an understanding of what it means to build positive relationships with others. They watched a YouTube clip which showed peoples understanding of the word, and then they made their own video showing their understandings.

18.01.2022 OUR LOCAL HISTORY Stage three created a sacred space for the Aboriginal people of Forestville area. Our educational consultants from CSO, John Hession and Dave Ella visited the children to enhance their learning about the local Aboriginal people (Guringai people).

18.01.2022 WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD The school community generously gave to the Vinnie’s Christmas appeal. At the end of year liturgy the OLGC concert band performed What a wonderful world to the whole school. It was an exceptional performance. Well done to all the band members. Special thanks to Mrs Fyfe for the performance preparation and to Mrs Webster who stepped in to the role of band conductor on the day in Mrs Fyfe’s absence.

17.01.2022 DISCO LIVES - OLGC PERFORMANCE BAND On Thursday, at our end of year celebration the OLGC very talented band performed Disco Lives, as a special farewell gift to our much loved retiring Principal Mrs Meredith Tomkins. Thanks to Mrs Janella Fyfe for preparing the piece and the band for the performance. Special thanks to Mrs Sarah Webster who stepped in on the day to lead the band to perform so beautifully. It was an extraordinary display of musical talent and entertainment. Watch and enjoy! It will certainly brighten your day.

17.01.2022 Merit Awards - Week 4 Congratulations to this group of responsible, respectful and safe learners who all earned a well deserved merit award this week. Keep up those fantastic efforts.

17.01.2022 DESIGN THINKING IN YEAR ONE Last week year one engaged in a design thinking task within their inquiry unit on How has Technology Changed our Lives? The children were given the opportunity to design a new desk for all OLGC students. They discussed the different functions a desk could have such as; casters on the legs so they can be moved easily, pop up tilted desks, pop up iPads and many more. With the help of 5/6E the children used the online, 3D design tool called Tinkercad to reimagine and redesign their current desks. The children were so excited and totally enthralled with this mini design project. Our school 3D printer will assist in creating some smaller scale sized prototypes of the designs which the children came up with.

17.01.2022 HAPPY FATHERS DAY Wishing all our dads, grandads, great grandads, step dads and carers the sunniest day, happiest moments, longest sleep in and a yummy breakfast in bed, which I know Year 2 have already prepared for their fathers. May you be basked in love, kisses and squishes. ... ENJOY the viewing! https://vimeo.com/453519884

16.01.2022 ADVENT Tomorrow marks the beginning of Advent and 1-2WK have been preparing their own class Advent calendar to count down the days till Christmas. Under each post it note every child contributed their own idea of how we can all be like Jesus,... by giving to others and helping our family and community. The children are excited about being able to reflect and act on bringing hope, peace, joy and love to our community during this special time of the Liturgical calendar.

15.01.2022 HAPPY READING! We are looking forward to welcoming our new Kindergarten 2021 class next year. We are delighted to hear that many of our future students are enjoying reading the book that was provided in the orientation pack. It is a useful tool to ensure the children can visualise the school and become familiar prior to arriving on the first day of school.

15.01.2022 PARTNERSHIPS WITH ST PAULs MANLY Today the STEAM committee met via Zoom with the Year 10 boys from St Pauls at Manly. This is part of a collaboration between the two schools assisting each other in purposeful sharing, designing and creating of resources. The year 10 boys have already begun production on storage units which we will utilise for storing equipment in our STEAM lab.

15.01.2022 INDONESIAN - Year 2 During Indonesian the children in year 2 designed their own Hopscotch games in class using Indonesian colours, numbers and verbs. This week it was time to complete their project outside with chalk.

15.01.2022 Yr 4 CLASS LITURGY Year four were sad to have their class mass cancelled due to new COVID restrictions but that didnt stop them from connecting with Christ in nature with their own co-constructed class liturgy.

14.01.2022 PREMIERs READING CHALLENGE Once again, the 2020 Premiers Reading Challenge Wall of Fame is up in the Library. Well done to all our keen readers from Kindy to Year 6 who have completed all their entries for the year. What a great achievement!

14.01.2022 CHRISTMAS EVE When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Matthew 2:10 As we are busy preparing for our Christmas celebration take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. ... Meanwhile, as Santa is busy packing up his sleigh, enjoy watching his brief recent visit to OLGC.

13.01.2022 MERIT AWARD WINNERS CONGRATULATIONS to our deserving merit award winners of this week. We are super proud of you all!

13.01.2022 SHARING OUR WORK ON SEESAW In Kindergarten the children share their learning experiences with their families via the Seesaw app. This week we read the book Snarlyhissoups and created our own creatures. The children also learnt how to present their work through the app. We are getting so tech savvy in Kindy and proud of our technological abilities!

13.01.2022 ST VINCENT DE PAUL NAPPY APPEAL Many thanks were passed on from the President of Forestville St Vincent de Paul conference (El Herlianto) as she filled a boot load of donated nappies from our OLGC community. These nappies will be packed in hampers for several hundred families from the Forest and Northern Beaches area. St Vincent De Paul are continuing to provide assistance to people experiencing hardship and disadvantage during this difficult time of COVID and hampers can be... picked up daily between 10-12 from Northside. Thank you so much OLGC community for your continuous generosity and ongoing support to such a worthy service.

13.01.2022 FIRE DRILL To ensure the safety of our staff and children at OLGC, the Early Learning Centre and our Aspect Vern Barnett satellite class, altogether we regularly rehearse how to carry out a fire drill. These rehearsals will help everyone know what to do and what not to do during a fire. It will also help us fully grasp the escape routes of the school building and the instructions that need to be followed that will ensure that everyone gets out quickly.

13.01.2022 WEEK 7 MERIT AWARD WINNERS Every week our class teachers and specialist teachers acknowledge students who have followed our Positive Behaviour for Learning rules of being Respectful, Responsible and Safe learners. This week these unique individuals were recognised and their achievements celebrated. Congratulations to all the recipients of this weeks merit awards.

13.01.2022 MERIT AWARD WINNERS WEEK 8 You shining stars OLGC cherubs! You did your school proud with your responsible, respectful and safe behaviour this week. Congratulations.

12.01.2022 We hope your 2020 Christmas celebrations have been enjoyable despite the Covid restrictions.

11.01.2022 Code 4 Fun- Is your child interested in taking their coding skills to the next level. A shout out to all Year 2 to Year 6 children who are interested in this STEM focused program- developing critical thinking and problem solving skills before school. For more information contact [email protected] or call 0452 525 453

10.01.2022 PHOTOGRAPHY IN CREATIVE ARTS Enjoy these stunning images taken by the children of 5/6E. They have been exploring the different editing tools on the iPad and exploring how they can enhance the photos in nature which they took.

10.01.2022 CELEBRATING SHROVE TUESDAY Today the students of OLGC celebrated Shrove Tuesday learning about the significance of the day in the lead up to the start of Lent tomorrow. The students enjoyed eating pikelets and honey in their classrooms.

10.01.2022 QR CODES IN EDUCATION The modern day version of a barcode, that secretly stores a lot more information and is used in a variety of ways in our OLGC classrooms. Teachers are connecting students with a wide range of relevant materials like audio, texts, PDFs, website links and other educational resources by embedding the resource in a QR code.

09.01.2022 MERIT AWARD RECIPIENTS WEEK 6 So many OLGC shining stars this week! Congratulations to you all. Each one of you has followed our Positive Behaviour for Learning rules of being Respectful, Responsible and Safe Learners.

09.01.2022 MATHEMATICAL APPLICATION TO REAL LIFE During Mathematics 5-1G have been measuring the basketball court to construct a proposed scaled plan for a painter to follow. The children always relish the opportunity to work collaboratively. They also enjoyed the creative side of working in a team, the intellectual challenge and the fact that their work had meaning.

09.01.2022 STAGE 3 PUBLIC SPEAKING FINALS Congratulations to our Stage three public speaking finalists and place getters; Ailee, Naoise & Sofia. Special commendations were also made for the standard of thought provoking and engaging content presented by Eimear in her speech. All the speakers captivated the audience with the delivery of their speeches and the content was varied in humour, informative facts and/or imaginative storylines. ... Congratulations to all our children who prepared for the annual public speaking competition. The standard just keeps getting higher and higher each year.

08.01.2022 MERIT AWARDS WEEK 7, TERM 4 Congratulations to our deserving merit award recipients this week. Thank you all for being responsible, respectful and safe learners.

08.01.2022 DIVERSE LEARNERS Year one students doing paired and small group work with Mrs Agostino. Several times every week, the children enthusiastically hone in on their literacy skills as a team and share their decoding successes. Today a reader, tomorrow a leader. Margaret Fuller

08.01.2022 VIRTUAL REALITY Today a group of Year 6s got the chance to take a virtual tour of Anne Franks house to support their novel study of The Diary of Anne Frank. This has helped to further develop their understanding of the difficult times Anne and her family found themselves in.

07.01.2022 INTRODUCING OUR NEW 2021 OLGC PRINCIPAL MRS FIONA DIGNAN In this brief video Mrs Fiona Dignan introduces herself to the community of Our Lady of Good Counsel Primary School.

07.01.2022 We have received a message from the Sweetman Family. Willow (Punyal, ELC), little sister of Kaius (K1TB), has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. The tumour was detected because it began causing up to 20 epileptic seizures a day. The Sweetman Family are grateful for the enormous support from the school community describing it as an unexpected blessing. So many families have asked how they can help. The Cure Brain Cancer Foundation is having their annual walkathon to raise ...money for brain cancer research this weekend. Like many things, it has gone virtual this year. Mums have been coming out and walking with me each Sunday. It's been wonderful to have that time together that we've all missed at the school gate. I am truly grateful. If you would like to support the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, please visit Willow's page https://my.walk4braincancer.com.au//jordana-mcloone-sweetm Can you all keep the Sweetman family in your thoughts and prayers during this extremely challenging time in their lives.

07.01.2022 MERIT AWARD WINNERS WEEK 10 So many OLGC shining stars this week! Congratulations to you all. All the merit award winners have followed our Positive Behaviour for Learning rules of being Respectful, Responsible and Safe Learners.

07.01.2022 ABORIGINAL ART Year one have been exploring symbols in Aboriginal Art as part of their unit of work on Bible stories- People of the Old Testament. They discussed the different ways people tell stories and explored the Aboriginal aspect of storytelling.

06.01.2022 MERIT AWARDS WEEK 9, TERM 3 The responsible, respectful and safe behaviour of these children did not go unnoticed this week. Congratulations to all!

06.01.2022 SWIMMING CARNIVAL 2021 We were delighted to be able to hold our swimming carnival today. Despite having to make some adjustments to ensure the day was run in accordance with NSW Health Guidelines. The colour house winner was not announced today as the calculations will be confirmed in the next day or so.... Congratulations to Flinders (yellow) who were the winners of the war dance, which was put in place instead of the war cry, a Covid style adjustment. A special thank you to Mr Copping who coordinated the day with the help of all the staff and parent volunteers. It was a great day! Congratulations to all the students who participated today.

05.01.2022 CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2O21 LEADERS. On Wednesday after our end of year liturgy the school leaders for 2021 were announced. Congratulations to Adelaide P and Baxter H who are our 2021 School Captains. ... House Captains were also announced: Tasman - Sofia L & Hugo V Bass - Sage M & Luca K Flinders - Malia C & Bailey H Damper - Ella F & Jayden G Choir Leaders: Virginia S & Liam B Band Leaders: Brigitta P & Elizabeth P Well done to you all. Enjoy your leadership experience in 2021. Click the link below to the OLGC website gallery for photos. https://www.olgcdbb.catholic.edu.au//2021-school-leaders-/

04.01.2022 IRISH BLESSING Mrs Carolyn Curtin worked at OLGC in a temporary role for 6 months as the Religious Education Coordinator. Mrs Curtin did a wonderful job whilst in the role. We wish her well in her new position at St Agatha’s, Pennant Hills. Mrs Curtin has the most beautiful singing voice. We were all treated to a magnificent rendition of the Irish Blessing which Carolyn performed accompanied by Mrs Janet Agostino on guitar. The performance was a farewell gift to retiring OLGC Principal Mrs Meredith Tomkins at the final school assembly last year. Such a touching tribute to our much loved Mrs Tomkins.

04.01.2022 AN UPDATE BY 3-1B 3-1B would like to share some of our recent learning experiences. MATHEMATICS: We are learning to measure volume and capacity by creating homemade Lava Lamps.... ENGLISH: We are learning to create Fractured-Fairy Tales. RELIGION: Father Jose visited us to congratulate and discuss our first Holy Communion. INQUIRY: We had a special guest, Dr. S, discuss what maintains a healthy body. ART: We are creating artworks based off our creative artist, Keith Haring. REMEMBRANCE DAY: We created Poppies and showed our respect at Remembrance Day. BASKETBALL WORKSHOPS: We are challenging ourselves in team Basketball. NAIDOC WEEK: We have really enjoyed learning about our Indigenous Australians through artworks, songs and stories.

02.01.2022 A VISIT FROM MR FORESTO Today we had a very exciting visit from Mr Steve Foresto. Mr Foresto delivered some ice blocks for his students. His ongoing medical treatments are going well. We don’t know who was more excited by his visit - the children, the staff or Steve himself! It was like a rockstar welcome when Mr Foresto entered the playground. The roar of the children was electric!

01.01.2022 HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

01.01.2022 Jesus said Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. - Mt.19:14 Year 3 were due to attend parish mass this week. Due to covid restrictions they participated in a grade liturgy at Daniels Walk. They read the readings that they would have read if they attended mass and wrote their own prayers of the faithful, many of which were for the much loved Mr Foresto. We were so proud of how engaged the children were in their class liturgy, the presence of the Spirit was definitely felt by all.