Rylan, Kenneth, Zac and Nicholas dressed up as convicts for our Colonial Day.
What a start to the term! On our third day back and we hosted Colonial Day.
The purpose of Colonial Day is to come to school dressed up as a convict or colonial person so we could have the experience 'being in their shoes'. You won’t believe what day we had! It was great and everyone had fun.
In the words of of the students:
It was time to discover who we were for the day, so we had to write about when our convict person identifying where they were born, about their job, death and other things as well. After we had written that, we published it onto a piece of paper then we completed our ticket of leave and an envelope. With the ticket, we were sent to a class where the teacher would sign our ticket of leave if they believed we were sorry for our crimes.
I think that we all had a blast and everyone enjoyed it. I think that was one of many memorable moments to come in Year five.
Felicity and Gemma playing quoits.
To end the day, we went outside and did sport. In sports, we played simple school games from those days to see how they entertained themselves. We could play marbles where you had to flick marble see if you could get it to the nearest marble in the middle. There were quoits, hula hoops, sack races, skipping and hopscotch.
Students were blindfolded and cramped into a small room to experience the conditions on the ship.
We started off when we all had to be squashed together and had to experience how hot it would have been at that time. We had to then move into a cramped-up space and shut our eyes and think what it would have been like on the ship. We all listened to these different sounds, in one voice it sounded like a baby crying maybe from starvation, there was another sound that like a person softly screaming the last voice sounded like some person laughing.
We also got sprayed by water that felt like we were getting splashed by the waves. We had a good experience on that activity. As we left the room, we were given different names for the day received a bottle of water for the day and four biscuits each. The bottle of water and the four biscuits were supposed to last the whole day.
Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
www.parra.catholic.edu.au
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20 Feb 2026
From Facebook
What a fantastic evening we had at our Kinder and New Families BBQ last night. It was such a success and a wonderful way to welcome our newest members into the OLA family. A huge thank you to our amazing P&F and parent helpers, our dedicated teachers, and our Year 6 school leaders who helped, played with the students, and made everyone feel so welcome. Events like this give us such a great opportunity to meet new families, connect, and enjoy time together as a community. Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make the night so special.
20 Feb 2026
From Facebook
Congratulations to our Outstanding Achievement and St Francis award recipients for Week 4!
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20 Feb 2026
From Facebook
What a fantastic evening we had at our Kinder and New Families BBQ last night. It was such a success and a wonderful way to welcome our newest members into the OLA family. A huge thank you to our amazing P&F and parent helpers, our dedicated teachers, and our Year 6 school leaders who helped, played with the students, and made everyone feel so welcome. Events like this give us such a great opportunity to meet new families, connect, and enjoy time together as a community. Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make the night so special.
20 Feb 2026
From Facebook
Congratulations to our Outstanding Achievement and St Francis award recipients for Week 4!
18 Feb 2026
From Facebook
Today, our school community came together to mark the beginning of Lent with a reverent and meaningful Ash Wednesday Mass. It was a special time to pause, pray, and reflect as we received the ashes and were reminded of the call to grow in kindness, hope, and love. We are grateful to share these moments as a school family, supporting one another as we begin this Lenten journey together.
17 Feb 2026
From Facebook
Our Kindergarten students have had a wonderful start to Big School. They’ve been learning about how special they are in Religion lessons, using hands‑on maths equipment to count and explore, making new friends on the playground, visiting the library, and spending time with their Year 6 buddies. To finish off the week, the children practised their fine‑motor skills by creating a special artwork for their families, showing just how much they love them “to pieces.” Their smiles said it all. We’re so proud of how confidently they’re settling in and embracing every part of school life!
17 Feb 2026
From Facebook
Yesterday, some of our Stage 3 students took part in an exciting skills workshop with Joash Papalii and Kitione Kautoga from the Parramatta Eels as part of the @nrl Schools Blitz. The boys ran a session encouraging teamwork, wellbeing, and healthy habits, and our students were eager to learn from them. A highlight was the Q&A session, where students asked thoughtful questions about their footy journeys- their playing history, inspirations, and hopes for the future. The players were generous with their stories and advice, and the kids absolutely loved it. We’re so grateful for the visit. Thanks Joash, and Kitione, you brought great energy to OLA yesterday!
17 Feb 2026
From Facebook
Today, we celebrated our new Semester 1 SRC members- students proudly chosen by their peers to represent their classes. A highlight of the morning was seeing families share that special moment on stage as badges were presented. The pride on every face said it all. Congratulations to our Semester 1 2026 SRC team. We can’t wait to see the ideas you bring to our school!
13 Feb 2026
From Facebook
This term in Religious Education, Year 6 has been exploring the concept of Human Dignity- a precious gift from God that calls us to respect and honor the worth of every person. This week, their learning led them to reflect on how God invites us to love one another in the way of Christ each day. With this in mind, they chose tomorrow's upcoming Valentine’s Day- a day that celebrates love in our society- as a special opportunity to put their faith into action by showing kindness and care through their words and deeds!
13 Feb 2026
From Facebook
13 Feb 2026
From Facebook
Congratulations to our first Outstanding Achievement and St Francis award recipients for the year!
13 Feb 2026