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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26 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Congratulations to our talented Stage 3 Senior Dance Crew on their outstanding achievement at the Ryde Eisteddfod today, where they competed against 13 schools from across Sydney. The students were awarded an incredible 3rd place with a fantastic score of 91/100. After weeks of dedicated rehearsals and many lunch times spent practising, the girls took to the stage with confidence, energy and beautiful facial expressions, delivering a performance they should be incredibly proud of. What made us most proud, however, was the way they represented our school. They displayed exceptional sportsmanship throughout the day, enthusiastically cheering on and congratulating students from other schools. Their respect, kindness and encouragement reflected our school values beautifully. Congratulations to our Senior Dance Crew on this wonderful achievement. We are incredibly proud of you! A big thank you to Miss Hogan and Mrs Hodgess for your time and dedication to these students, and to all of our parents and teachers, Mrs Gow and Mr Calabria, who came to support and cheer us on!
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26 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Congratulations to our talented Stage 3 Senior Dance Crew on their outstanding achievement at the Ryde Eisteddfod today, where they competed against 13 schools from across Sydney. The students were awarded an incredible 3rd place with a fantastic score of 91/100. After weeks of dedicated rehearsals and many lunch times spent practising, the girls took to the stage with confidence, energy and beautiful facial expressions, delivering a performance they should be incredibly proud of. What made us most proud, however, was the way they represented our school. They displayed exceptional sportsmanship throughout the day, enthusiastically cheering on and congratulating students from other schools. Their respect, kindness and encouragement reflected our school values beautifully. Congratulations to our Senior Dance Crew on this wonderful achievement. We are incredibly proud of you! A big thank you to Miss Hogan and Mrs Hodgess for your time and dedication to these students, and to all of our parents and teachers, Mrs Gow and Mr Calabria, who came to support and cheer us on!
26 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Congratulations to our Outstanding Achievement and St Francis award recipients for Week 1!
26 Jul 2026
From Facebook
On Friday, Year 4 completed many practical activities to consider the changes that took place throughout the world during the Age of Exploration. Students searched the oval as explorers trying to find the Great Southern Land. They searched for a new tropical paradise (with their eyes closed!) using newly developed technologies like the astrolabe to help them find their way. This helped them to realise how hard it was for the explorers. They also compared the journeys of Captain James Cook and Captain Matthew Flinders. It was a big day full of excitement and games!
23 Jul 2026
From Facebook
* OLA Fiesta – Raffle Tickets – Now due to be returned Raffle ticket books need to be returned by this Friday, 24 July 2026. Any unsold books/tickets must also be returned, as they need to be accounted for by the Parish as part of their accountability for the NSW Raffle Rules. Payment for the tickets can also be made by BPoint using the link: https://www.bpoint.com.au/pay/olotangelsparish/?billercode=2059327 Families that return their Ticket Books by this Friday will go into the draw to win a $100 Wish Gift Card (max 1 entry per family). * OLA Fiesta- Volunteers With the Fiesta almost upon us, we would appreciate additional volunteers. If you are able to volunteer for an hour to assist on the day, could you please register your availability via https://forms.gle/BUdJaCuuUWg6f6U27 Your generosity is very much appreciated to help share the load so that everyone can enjoy the Fiesta and make it a successful day.
22 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Our Wacky Wager video!! And then there were 2 more buckets left over, so Mr Calabria was slimed even more!!
22 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Today, Mr Calabria and Mr Cauchi settled their fun Wacky Wager, much to the delight of our students! Buckets of bright pink slime sealed the deal for 2026, creating a moment of pure joy for the students and teachers! It was definitely a day filled with faith, FUN, and learning at OLA. A huge thank you to Mr Calabria and Mr Cauchi for making our school not only an outstanding place to learn, but a place where memories are made- memories our students will carry with them forever!
21 Jul 2026
From Facebook
The first Sunday of the school holidays called for a little friendly OLA footy rivalry! Mr Calabria and Mr Cauchi headed along to the Parramatta Eels vs Manly Sea Eagles clash to cheer on their teams. Let's just say... Mr Cauchi walked away the happier of the two! Now all eyes are on tomorrow, when our wacky wager will be settled!
19 Jul 2026
From Facebook
17 Jul 2026
What's It Really Like to Send Your Kid to a Catholic School?
If you've ever assumed that attending a Catholic school means you have to be Catholic and that the fees are expensive, you're not alone. It's a common perception, but for many families, the reality looks quite different.
15 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Holiday time means extra reading time- the school holidays are the perfect chance for our OLA readers to make progress on the Premier’s Reading Challenge! There's not long to go until it closes. With a little extra time to unwind and get lost in a book, it’s a great opportunity to tick off a few more titles from your list. We love seeing these familiar faces soaking up quiet reading moments these holidays- proof that reading can happen anywhere, anytime. We hope these photos make you smile! At OLA, we 'READ TO SUCCEED'!