Our Lady of Lourdes is a Catholic primary school offering a comprehensive and innovative learning program, including Religious Education for students from Kindergarten to Year 6.

Founded in 1963 by the Sisters of St Joseph, we have a long tradition of providing quality Catholic education in the Seven Hills parish which includes the suburbs of Seven Hills, Lalor Park, Prospect, Kings Langley, South Blacktown, Toongabbie and Girraween.

We have strong networks with our secondary schools - Patrician Brothers, Blacktown (boys), Nagle College, South Blacktown (girls) and St Andrew’s College, Marayong (co-ed), ensuring continuous K-12 education.

During 2009 and 2010 Our Lady of Lourdes school refurbished all learning spaces, built a new library and outdoor learning environment that was funded by the Australian Government’s Building Education Revolution initiative. This significant refurbishment and construction has provided Our Lady of Lourdes school with learning environments that are ideal for 21st century learning and teaching.

In subsequent years significant improvements have been made to the outside learning environment including resurfacing the large playground area with synthetic turf, the construction of a covered outdoor learning area and the provision of playground equipment which has enhanced the overall learning environment.

Our Lady of Lourdes
...innovative learning in a changing world

7 Grantham Road
Seven Hills NSW 2147

PO Box 673
Seven Hills 1730

Ph: (02) 8869 6800

Website: www.ololshills.catholic.edu.au
Email: ololshills@parra.catholic.edu.au

Principal:  Keiran Byrnes
Parish Priest:  Father Henry Duc
Parish Office Ph:  (02) 9622 2920

Parent group contacts
President: Michelle Georgis
Vice President: Anna Joannou

Outside of School Hours Care (OOSH)
Ph: (02) 9676 7293
Before school: 6.30am–8.30 am
After school: 3.00pm–6.00 pm
Contact: Ben Irmisch
(6.30am–9.30 am and 2.30–6.15 pm)

Vision

Our vision for Our Lady of Lourdes school is to be a Christ-centred community involved in an active partnership of education.

Mission

Our mission is to provide our children with a strong spiritual and educational foundation on which to develop and build their lives.

Beliefs

We believe that:

• the Catholic faith provides the basis for a meaningful partnership of parish, school and family
• values of honesty, respect, love, openness and care are the basis for our growth as a community
• parents are the prime educators and share responsibility for their child’s learning
• education is a life-long interactive process involving teachers, parents and children
• children should be encouraged to achieve their personal best
• each child has individual educational needs which must be addressed
• clear, open communication is essential to our partnership

At Our Lady of Lourdes we live our Catholic faith through learning and celebration.

The Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese syllabus forms the basis of our Religious Education program, and Catholic values are integrated into all units of study.

Religious Education is in partnership with our parish community, which is enhanced by regular classroom visits from our parish priest Father Henry Duc and the school’s involvement in the parish pastoral council and sacramental programs.

We have a rich prayer and liturgical life evident in our school celebrations and gatherings. Our liturgies are enhanced by music, choir, drama, dance and art and we encourage the involvement of our families and the parish community.

At Our Lady of Lourdes we foster a great sense of social justice through many different fundraising and awareness-raising activities. On both the Feast of the Sacred Heart and at Christmas, our community donates hampers to the St Vincent de Paul Society. During Lent and Advent, we focus on the work of organisations such as Caritas (Project Compassion) and Mamre House and participate in other specific local and global initiatives each year. The great response to these initiatives shows the generosity and commitment of our school community.

This school exists as one of the ministries of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. As a Catholic school we seek to support parents in the faith development of their children. This includes formal Religious Education lessons using the diocesan curriculum. It also includes our informal Religious Education program which is best expressed through our inclusive practices and quality relationships.

Preparing children for the Sacraments

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish follows the Parramatta Diocesan policy regarding the Sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation and Penance. The parish where families worship is the parish where children will receive their Sacraments. In the Diocese of Parramatta, Sacramental programs are parish-based and family-centred. While our school supports these programs, the Parish Sacramental team is responsible for the preparation of the children. Sacramental preparation takes place in the parish and involves the family of the child.

Father Henry can be contacted at the Parish Office on 9622 2920 to discuss these programs with you.

Preparation for a Changing World

At Our Lady of Lourdes we equip the children with a variety of skills to prepare them to be successful members of society. In doing so we encourage the children to become responsible for their own learning and foster the desire to become lifelong learners.

Innovative learning

Our Lady of Lourdes school follows the Board of Studies approved curriculum for Kindergarten – Year 6 in the Key Learning Areas of English, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Human Society and It Environment, Creative and Practical Arts, Personal Development, Health and Physical Education.

Learning and teaching is founded on current education research to ensure learning is personalised for the individual and diverse needs of our students.

We encourage our students to own and drive their own learning and provide specific programs for both gifted and talented students and students with special learning needs to enhance their studies and ensure they are supported in the most beneficial way.

Our Learning Support Team works closely with classroom teachers to enhance student’s learning with a strong focus on literacy and numeracy.

At Our Lady of Lourdes, our philosophy that underpins all of our relationships is the 3 Rs of Respect, Responsibility and Readiness to Learn. We encourage our students to make positive choices about their behaviour in both the playground and the classroom to help create a safe, happy and healthy environment.

At Our Lady of Lourdes the learning environment is based on mutual respect. The relationship between the teacher and student and the student and their peers is key to student management. As a school we support positive behaviour strategies. We believe that by promoting positive behaviour management practices children can learn to take responsibility for their own actions and to make informed choices. This is supported through our  Term 1 relationship unit. 

Throughout the school, the first teaching unit for each year is about ‘Relationships’, which incorporates protective behaviours. The purpose of this unit is for the classroom community to create shared understandings and beliefs around personal, social and environment in order to create a harmonious learning community. The classroom community investigates and discusses individual, group, class and playground routines, roles and expectations. Some classes use peer tutoring as a strategy and individual programs are developed for children with specific needs.

Our Pastoral Care and Student Management Policy clearly outlines the procedures followed at the school including various levels of student management:

• Class rules and award systems

• Celebrating student achievements

• Student Leadership

• Self management strategies e.g. timeout, reflection

• Interviews with coordinators, Assistant Principal and/or Principal including parental involvement

• Individual behaviour contracts

A copy of our Pastoral Care and Student Management Policy is available on request from the school office.

At Our Lady of Lourdes Primary we foster the individual gifts and talents of the children.

The students have the opportunity to be involved in a wide variety of stimulating learning experiences such as, Dance Fever, the Maths Olympiad and various inter-school competitions. Traditionally, our school performs well at the Diocesan public speaking competition, The Voice of Youth. Every two years we have a major performance for our older students to develop their talents.

At Our Lady of Lourdes school information and communication technologies are used to enhance and support the learning of all our children and is integrated across all learning areas. All children have access to the latest technologies via mobile technology units and wireless internet access.

The school currently has a 1 to 1 Chromebook laptop to child ratio from Years 3-6. K-2 have a class set of iPads per grade as well as 15 iPads in all other classes from 3-6. Every learning space has an Apple TV for teachers and students to project their work to the large TV screen. At Our Lady of Lourdes we  provide children with the tools to enable them to express their learning in a variety of ways. We currently use Google Classroom and many Google Workspace Apps for students to create and access their work. Students in K-4 use Seesaw to complete learning activities and share their learning at school and at home. Years 5 & 6 use Google Sites to create and share their own Digital Portfolios with their teachers and parents. 

Our Lady of Lourdes Parent Group works closely with staff in ensuring the best educational setting for all children.

The Parent Group values and plans for:

• social activities which promote a cooperative spirit among parents, teachers and student

• discussions on matters affecting the students’ faith and development

• opportunities to inform parents of current developments in education generally and Catholic education in particular

The Parent Group meets on  a Tuesday evening. This occurs twice in Term 1 and Term 2 during week 3 and Week 7 and once in Term 2 and Term 3 in Week 5. Meetings run from 7:00 - 8:00pm. Membership is open to all parents and guardians of children attending our school.

Parents are encouraged and welcome to assist teachers in classrooms with reading, writing, Mathematics, computers and art and craft. To assist parents wishing to help in the classroom, a compulsory training course, ‘Parents as Educators’, is offered each year. 

There are many other opportunities to help, such as excursions, carnivals and in the library. If you can spare some time to help us, please contact your child’s teacher.

At 8:10 am Playground supervision begins. Please arrange for children to arrive after 8:10am. Alternatively, they can attend the before-school care (OOSH) centre – call Ben on 9676 7293.

  8:40 am - School begins
10:40 am - Recess
11:00 am - Classes
 1:00 pm - Lunch
 1:50 pm  - Classes
 2:50 pm  - School finishes

Supervision ends at 3:20 pm, please collect children before that time or arrange for them to attend the after-school care (OOSH) centre – call Ben on 9676 7293.

Monday to Friday: 8:30 am - 3:30 pm

Any enquiries please phone the School Office on (02) 8869 6800.

Kindergarten children are placed with their class teachers after the first few weeks of school. At the end of each year, all other children are regrouped into their new classes for the following year and meet their new teacher during the last week of the school year.

At Our Lady of Lourdes school we understand that starting school can be a challenging and anxious time for some children and their families.

We have developed a program to help make that transition as smooth as possible for our Kindergarten families. The program involves:

• Preschool visitation for children identified as requiring support during the interview process

• Orientation morning for children and parents in November after enrolment is accepted

• Children beginning school in small groups and not being placed in classes until the third week of school

• During these three weeks, children are observed/assessed academically, socially and behaviourally. The program includes activities similar to those experienced in the pre-school environment to assist the children in feeling comfortable in their new setting.

• Assigning Kindergarten children a Year 6 “buddy” student to help them settle into school

• Supporting Kindergarten children in their transition to the playground at morning tea and lunch

• Kindergarten parents have the opportunity to gather in the first week to share experiences over morning tea

Our main form of communication between home and school is the fortnightly Electronic Newsletter, sent out on Wednesdays via Email, Website and on Compass.  Other notes are sent home on Mondays and Wednesdays.

All information, notices and notes are sent via push notification and email through Compass. We also share information and photos from school events via our school Facebook page and on our Website. 

From time to time, you may wish to speak with your child’s teacher. Please make an appointment to ensure you have enough time to discuss the relevant matters. Appointments are made either before or after school so as not to interrupt your child’s class learning time. Please contact the school office so that a suitable time may be made.

At the beginning of each year, parent–teacher interviews are held so you and your child’s teacher can discuss any matters you think will help your child settle into the new class. Also, at the end of Term 2, parent–teacher–child interviews are held to discuss your child’s progress. A written report is sent to you at the end of Terms 2 and 4.

• If your child is away for more than two days, please phone the office on 8869 6800. When your child returns to school, please send a written note to confirm the information given on the phone.

• If you need to collect your child before the end of classes, please call personally at the office to collect your child. If you have advanced notice please inform the teacher in writing.

• If you need to change the usual home-time procedures, please notify teachers in writing.

• If an emergency arises which affects your plans to pick up your child, a message can be phoned through to the office who will pass the information on to the teacher and your child.

• All extended absences for various reasons other than sickness require the Principal’s approval.

If the family moves during the year, please give your new address and telephone number to the office staff.

If you are moving out of the area and need to send your child to another school please let the principal know, in writing. One term’s notice is required to allow time for the relevant records to be completed. Failure to give the require notice may result in the full term’s fees being charged.

The school requires an emergency contact number in case your child becomes ill or has an accident and you cannot be reached. Please advise us immediately if you change emergency contact numbers. Each year, we ask you to fill in a ‘student update form’. This ensures the school has up-to-date home and work contact phone numbers.

Staff will attend to minor injuries at school. In the event of an accident or injury, every effort will be made to contact you or the emergency contact number provided. In serious cases if the school cannot reach anyone nominated by you, appropriate action will be taken to look after your child – e.g. emergency hospital care.

MEDICATION POLICY

Responsibilities of parents

Parents are responsible for:

• Obtaining the relevant medication forms from the school and arranging for their completion and return
• Providing the medication in the original labeled container to the nominated staff member
• Ensuring the medication is not out of date and has an original pharmacy label with the student’s name, dosage and time to be taken
• Providing a request by parents and written instructions from a medical practitioner for medication that is not obtained on prescription, indicating:
  • Name of student
  • Condition for which the medication is required
  • Guidelines for administration

Please seek medical advice if you suspect your child has an infectious disease. Many infectious diseases require your child to stay at home for specific lengths of time. Ring the school office to check if you will need a medical certificate.

It is the responsibility of the parent to notify the school that their child is at risk of an anaphylactic reaction either at the time of enrolment, or if the student is enrolled, as soon after diagnosis as possible. As with other health conditions, Our Lady of Lourdes school provides support to assist parents in management of their child’s health through the collaborative development with medical advice of a medical response plan.

Our Lady of Lourdes adheres to the CSPD Managing Complaints Policy. This a process for staff, students, parents and members of the wider community to raise a complaint. This policy outlines options available to the persons with complaints, the intake process, addressing complaints and the appeal process. Please refer to the CSPD Managing Complaints Policy.

School COVID-19 Drop Off and Pick UP Arrangements

Kindergarten to Year 2 students are eligible for free school Opal travel regardless of distance travelled. However the Department of School Education specifies that Years 3-6 children must live outside a 1.6 km radius of the school to be eligible. Please explain safe bus conduct to your child and, if possible, travel to and from school with your child during the first few days of school. Information and applications for Opal travel passes are available on http://transportnsw.info/school-students

Please observe road safety when dropping off and picking up your children. In the morning, children are to be dropped off at the school’s kiss and drop zone outside the parish/school hall. Please note that parents are not permitted to drive into the bottom car park between 8.00am and 9.00am.

 Pick up Procedures

Afternoon Pick Up at 2:50 pm

Due to the easing of COVID restrictions, we now longer have Car Pick up in the afternoons. The school gates are opened from 2:40 p.m. and parents are welcome to wait in the school playground to pick up their children. 

At 2:50 p.m. when the bell goes Kindergarten and Year 1 parents can collect their children from their classrooms. Children from Years 2-6 will make their way to the COLA area and parents can collect their children from the COLA. Parents are enccouraged to bring their name sign to hold up to make it easier for children to find their parents and the teacher on duty will call out the names for the children. At 3 p.m. Kindergarten and Year 1 students who have not been collected are taken to the COLA to wait for their parents. 

Children who go to OOSH are supervised until 3 p.m. when the OOSH Carers pick them up. 

Children who walk or catch the bus make their own way to either the Grantham Road or Olive Street Gate. 

We ask that children wear full school uniform at all times and we ask for parents' support in ensuring appropriate haircuts (no coloured hair) and wearing of limited jewellery (one pair of studs or sleeper earrings only, no bangles, etc).

OLOL Seven Hills Uniform Shop is run online by Oz Fashions.  Orders are to be placed on the ‘QKR’ app by MasterCard.

Please follow all instructions on the attached flyer to download the app and set up your account. No phone orders or messages will be accepted!

Delivery to the school is every Thursday during the school term free of charge and orders must be placed by 4pm Tuesday for delivery on Thursday.

Please choose carefully as we do not refund if you simply change your mind or make a wrong selection, however, we gladly exchange within 14 days.

Returned merchandise MUST be in its original condition with all tags still attached and accompanied by proof of purchase otherwise the exchange will not be honoured. Any item that has been worn will not be able to be exchanged.

Please email all exchanges to elle@ozfashions.com.au

Please note that Oz Fashions warehouse in Granville DOES NOT sell the OLOL Seven Hills Uniform in store.

If you have any enquires please contact Elle elle@ozfashions.com.au or 0421 216 414

Please place your uniform order as soon as possible to ensure you will be able to exchange uniform sizing if necessary and to guarantee students receive a uniform to start school. Please note: all orders for 2021 new students need to be placed before Tuesday 24th November 2020 to ensure delivery before the end of the school year. The last delivery for OLOL Seven Hills uniform orders is Thursday 26th November 2020. Please see size guide attached for an approximate sizing of uniform items.

Thank you

Uniform Size Chart

Download QKR App Instructions

To protect the children from ultra-violet rays, it is compulsory for children to wear a school hat in the playground at all times during the year, and to and from school. The school has a ‘no hat, no play’ policy.

Students have the opportunity to be involved in a wide variety of co-curricular activities, including:

• Maths Olympiad

• Dance Fever

• Drama

• Voice of Youth public speaking

• Wakakiri Dance and Music performance

• Entertainment Showcase/Busking

• Science projects

• Excursions & incursions

• Representative sport - swimming, athletics, cross country, soccer, gymnastics, cricket, rugby league, touch and netball at

• a school/diocesan level

• Sports clinics – rugby league, cricket, netball and Australian Rules

Our Catholic learning community has in place a range of policies that set our direction and address the rights and responsibilities of its members.

Our policies are available via www.parra.catholic.edu.au. Alternatively please ask school staff for assistance.

We recommend that you familiarise yourself with the following:

• Enrolment Policy

• Enrolment Procedures

• Student Attendance Exemption Guidelines

• Student Anti-bullying Policy

• Responsible Use of ICT and Social Media Student – Guidelines

• Complaint Handling Procedures and Guidelines

• Countering Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying Procedures and Guidelines

• Procedural Fairness Guidelines

School attendance plays a critical role in enhancing the lives of students in schools. Every day of attendance adds to a student's achievement and success at school. Schools in partnership with parents are responsible for promoting the regular attendance of students.

There are three levels of annual fees, billed in instalments during Terms 1, 2 and 3:

• Annual Diocesan Tuition Fees set by the Catholic Education Office
• Diocesan Building Levy set by the Catholic Education Office
• School-based fees.

Discounts on Fees

Catholic schools in the Diocese of Parramatta are committed to providing an affordable quality Catholic education for families. We understand the financial demands placed on families and seek to keep the fees as low as possible. No child who meets the enrolment criteria will be refused enrolment or disadvantaged because of a family's financial circumstances.

There are very significant discounts for the second (25% reduction) and third (50% reduction) children enrolled from the one family. There are no fees for the fourth and subsequent children.

For full information concerning the school fees payable at Our Lady of Lourdes Primary please see the 'School Fees' page under Enrolment.

No child will be refused enrolment from a Catholic school because of a family's inability to pay school fees

Any parents or guardians who are under financial stress and are not able to pay the various fees should contact the Principal. You will be treated with care and concern and an appropriate arrangement will be made so your children can continue with their education at Our Lady of Lourdes. Weekly, fortnightly and monthly arrangement can be organised.

Our Lady of Lourdes follows the guidelines set out by the Catholic Education Parramatta Diocese.

Enrolment to schools within Catholic Education, Parramatta Diocese (CSPD) must be consistent with our commitment to the integration of faith and life, treating diversity as the norm, and the inherent dignity of all students.

CSPD schools:

• welcome students with additional needs, and their families

• engage in sincere dialogue with parents/carers through and beyond the enrolment process

• aim to provide appropriate educational opportunities and support for students with additional needs

• evaluate their existing staffing, facilities and support to determine whether they may provide the services necessary to accommodate additional needs according to each particular set of circumstances.

For further information please see the Catholic Education Parramatta Diocese guidelines for enrolment of students with additional needs.