We have learned the contract will not be renewed by the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle for 2020.
Many of us are upset and frustrated by this decision for a variety of reasons:
- our children enjoy attending Holy Family Oosh and the team does a great job. The diocese's decision is not supported by parents who use the service and even parents who don't as they recognise it's a great asset for the school.
- a local, small business operator will be put out of business just weeks before Christmas and we feel this decision goes against the values of our school community.
- there hasn't been any consultation provided or even a genuine transition period offered between providers. The first that we heard of this was via a 27 October 2019 Newcastle Herald article. We feel this is an example of poor communication and disregard for parents.
- the aforementioned article quotes Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle CEO Sean Scanlon as saying, "Several factors influence the rollout of a St Nicholas OOSH across the diocese, including problems or complaints in relation to an OOSH provider; an existing OOSH provider indicating they are planning to discontinue the service," Mr Scanlon said, as well as a school's wish to establish a service and other "practical" considerations. We would like to know, which of these instances applies to the service at Holy Family Merewether Beach oosh ?
We are unaware of any complaints of Holy Family oosh or being UN willing to discontinue its service or of the school looking to establish its own service.
- the establishment of Holy Family oosh at Holy Family school Merewether was driven by the school's P&F, therefore for any change to occur, consultation with the P&F needs to happen.
12 years ago the P&F and Principal approached Larissa to provide offsite care at no cost to any families in establishing this service.
Over the past 12 years the numbers have grown and so several years ago in consultation with the school and its community we set up a onsite service.
- there hasn't been any details offered around St Nicholas's fees and after some of us looked into the price of St Nicholas's daycare services, we discovered they are much higher than other local providers so we're concerned
For the reasons stated above, we are seeking a reversal of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle's decision and for Holy Family Oosh to be re-instated as the provider of before-school, and after-school services Holy Family Merewether School.
Signed the parents and community of Holy Family School.
Updates
November 27, 2019
The feedback coming in highlights how much this service means to our daily routines and the stability of our children. I am currently working to open a formal dialogue with the diocese so we can address the lack of consultation regarding this transition.
November 27, 2019
Seeing this groundswell of support confirms how vital our service is to the families at Holy Family Merewether. The momentum shows that our community values stability and clear communication above all else.
Reached 100 supporters
November 27, 2019
39 Comments
Really disappointing that we as stakeholders of the Diocese are not even consulted. Having to learn of this via local media is pretty disgusting.
The oosh at Holy Family is very important to me as I don’t have anyone to help me with my son after school, and I need to work.
Very sad for the students and families. The families have built a foundation of trust with current provider - the needs of our children and their families have not been considered in this . Shouldn’t the needs of our children be at forefront of every educational decision ?
My children were so fortunate to have this amazing OOSH. The staff were and still are important positive role models, people they still talk about with love and respect. As a single mother, working full time, Holy Family OOSH kept the part of me that is stressing about what’s happening for my children, completely calm and confident that that was an area I didn’t need to focus on as I tried to wind up my day. These are amazingly competent caring people and the environment is beautiful and safe for our children. Please don’t try to fix something that is not broken
I have had a child at this school for 7 years. We regularly use OOSH and we have never had any issues and are very happy with this service and its providers. I don’t like how the Diocese has made a decision to replace tried and tested and performing providers with an unknown (to the parents) without consultation. Even councils and governments need to consult on big decisions, why is the Diocese above that?
Keep this OOSH program at Holy Family!
Great OOSH program please leave it alone
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We have learned the contract will not be renewed by the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle for 2020.
Many of us are upset and frustrated by this decision for a variety of reasons:
- our children enjoy attending Holy Family Oosh and the team does a great job. The diocese's decision is not supported by parents who use the service and even parents who don't as they recognise it's a great asset for the school.
- a local, small business operator will be put out of business just weeks before Christmas and we feel this decision goes against the values of our school community.
- there hasn't been any consultation provided or even a genuine transition period offered between providers. The first that we heard of this was via a 27 October 2019 Newcastle Herald article. We feel this is an example of poor communication and disregard for parents.
- the aforementioned article quotes Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle CEO Sean Scanlon as saying, "Several factors influence the rollout of a St Nicholas OOSH across the diocese, including problems or complaints in relation to an OOSH provider; an existing OOSH provider indicating they are planning to discontinue the service," Mr Scanlon said, as well as a school's wish to establish a service and other "practical" considerations. We would like to know, which of these instances applies to the service at Holy Family Merewether Beach oosh ?
We are unaware of any complaints of Holy Family oosh or being UN willing to discontinue its service or of the school looking to establish its own service.
- the establishment of Holy Family oosh at Holy Family school Merewether was driven by the school's P&F, therefore for any change to occur, consultation with the P&F needs to happen.
12 years ago the P&F and Principal approached Larissa to provide offsite care at no cost to any families in establishing this service.
Over the past 12 years the numbers have grown and so several years ago in consultation with the school and its community we set up a onsite service.
- there hasn't been any details offered around St Nicholas's fees and after some of us looked into the price of St Nicholas's daycare services, we discovered they are much higher than other local providers so we're concerned
For the reasons stated above, we are seeking a reversal of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle's decision and for Holy Family Oosh to be re-instated as the provider of before-school, and after-school services Holy Family Merewether School.
Signed the parents and community of Holy Family School.
Updates
November 27, 2019
The feedback coming in highlights how much this service means to our daily routines and the stability of our children. I am currently working to open a formal dialogue with the diocese so we can address the lack of consultation regarding this transition.
November 27, 2019
Seeing this groundswell of support confirms how vital our service is to the families at Holy Family Merewether. The momentum shows that our community values stability and clear communication above all else.
Reached 100 supporters
November 27, 2019
39 Comments
I am a student at Holy Family Merewether Beach and attend OOSH every Tuesday afternoon. It is always great fun for everyone, I love to hang out with my friends after school and OOSH is the perfect place for that. Sometimes I even enjoy playing with people that I don’t usually play with. OOSH is awesome and should NOT be shut down.
Really disappointing that we as stakeholders of the Diocese are not even consulted. Having to learn of this via local media is pretty disgusting.
The oosh at Holy Family is very important to me as I don’t have anyone to help me with my son after school, and I need to work.
Very sad for the students and families. The families have built a foundation of trust with current provider - the needs of our children and their families have not been considered in this . Shouldn’t the needs of our children be at forefront of every educational decision ?
My children were so fortunate to have this amazing OOSH. The staff were and still are important positive role models, people they still talk about with love and respect. As a single mother, working full time, Holy Family OOSH kept the part of me that is stressing about what’s happening for my children, completely calm and confident that that was an area I didn’t need to focus on as I tried to wind up my day. These are amazingly competent caring people and the environment is beautiful and safe for our children. Please don’t try to fix something that is not broken
I have had a child at this school for 7 years. We regularly use OOSH and we have never had any issues and are very happy with this service and its providers. I don’t like how the Diocese has made a decision to replace tried and tested and performing providers with an unknown (to the parents) without consultation. Even councils and governments need to consult on big decisions, why is the Diocese above that?
Keep this OOSH program at Holy Family!
Great OOSH program please leave it alone
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I am a student at Holy Family Merewether Beach and attend OOSH every Tuesday afternoon. It is always great fun for everyone, I love to hang out with my friends after school and OOSH is the perfect place for that. Sometimes I even enjoy playing with people that I don’t usually play with. OOSH is awesome and should NOT be shut down.