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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03 Aug 2026
From Facebook
Our Infants and Primary teachers had an absolute blast on Friday, just like the students, as they took on the Inflatable Obstacle Course- and yes, the healthy competition was very real. Lots of laughs, lots of cheering, and plenty of impressive moves from our staff. OLA spirit at its best!
03 Aug 2026
From Facebook
What a special few days we’ve had celebrating our OLA Feast Day. Yesterday we were so proud of our captains, Cameron and Sarah, who led the procession so beautifully after Mass. Our Band, Choir and Senior Dance Crew also shone at the Fiesta, sharing their talents and representing OLA with pride. The celebrations ended with a stunning fireworks display that lit up the sky- enjoyed not just by our school and Parish community, but by families all around the neighbourhood. What a joyful way to celebrate OLA!
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03 Aug 2026
From Facebook
Our Infants and Primary teachers had an absolute blast on Friday, just like the students, as they took on the Inflatable Obstacle Course- and yes, the healthy competition was very real. Lots of laughs, lots of cheering, and plenty of impressive moves from our staff. OLA spirit at its best!
03 Aug 2026
From Facebook
What a special few days we’ve had celebrating our OLA Feast Day. Yesterday we were so proud of our captains, Cameron and Sarah, who led the procession so beautifully after Mass. Our Band, Choir and Senior Dance Crew also shone at the Fiesta, sharing their talents and representing OLA with pride. The celebrations ended with a stunning fireworks display that lit up the sky- enjoyed not just by our school and Parish community, but by families all around the neighbourhood. What a joyful way to celebrate OLA!
01 Aug 2026
From Facebook
Our OLA Feast Day celebrations on Friday were a blast! After a beautiful Mass, our students jumped straight into an afternoon of ZING Activ activities- games, teamwork, laughter, and, of course, the crowd favourite, the inflatable obstacle course! Thank you to Miss Grima for her fantastic organisation and to all our teachers who joined in the fun and helped make the day so special. We are very lucky to be at OLA!
01 Aug 2026
From Facebook
01 Aug 2026
From Facebook
What a beautiful day to celebrate our school Feast Day! Look at what’s being set up for our students to enjoy today!!
31 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Today we had a beautiful day celebrating our OLA Feast Day. We started the day with a lovely Whole School Mass where we were reminded that Mary helps us feel safe, loved, and protected, and she is like a gentle mother who watches over everyone.
30 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Yesterday our Kinder students celebrated 100 days of school- 100 days of faith, fun, and learning together at OLA! The day was filled with creative activities based around the number 100- counting, building, crafting, and laughing their way through this special milestone. We have loved watching our littlest learners grow in confidence, curiosity, and friendship. A huge thank you to our amazing Kinder teachers for planning such a joyful celebration, and to our wonderful parent helpers for their support throughout the day. We are so proud of the littlest members of our OLA family. We are grateful for the joy, energy, and smiles our Kinder students bring to our OLA community every single day!
29 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!
27 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!
27 Jul 2026
From Facebook
We can't wait to see you all next weekend at the OLA Family Fiesta!!! Don't forget - Wristband pre-sales are $35.00 each wristband for unlimited rides at the OLA Family Fiesta 2026 ($40.00 if purchased on the day). Presale orders before 5 pm on Friday, 31st July 2026 now via the link: https://forms.gle/1e8LNAWz2qvvtXne9 (Your details will be placed on the pre-sale list for you to collect your ordered wristbands on the day).
