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Dear Parents and Carers,
By now, most of our families would know of the change to my appointment as principal of St Joseph's Taree for the 2024 school year. In the letter sent out via Compass on Wednesday 13th December, the Head of Catholic Schools, Mr Steven Lemos, announced that a new model of leadership would be in place across our region for the next twelve months. As Executive Principal of both Holy Name Forster and St Joseph's Taree in 2024, I will be supported by my Assistant Principals, Mrs Kyla Loring and Mrs Kia Wall, who will be released from their teaching responsibilities to ensure that each school has a senior leader available at the school at all times.
I enjoy innovation in the education space and am keen to make sure that the service we provide for our families continues to improve each year. As with all changes, I expect that feedback from staff, students and families will be an important part of the journey and welcome your thoughts to ensure our continued success. I know that Mrs Loring is enthusiastic about her new role too and is also looking forward to the benefits the change may bring for our school. As the detail around the role becomes clearer, I will share this with you all so you know exactly how it is working and on what days each week I will be at Holy Name. I am now able to see a few things through to completion here at Holy Name and am grateful for your continued support.
Over the last week or so, I have been part of the many traditions we have in place for Year 6. I have been so impressed with this group of young people and the way they have held themselves during what is such a fun and busy time. We are so proud of the 2023 Year 6 group and are keen to hear of their successes during their years in high school. I wish them every blessing as they begin this new and exciting time of their lives. In one of the fun teacher v student challenges we occasionally hold, it was great to play a game of football against them today. Although an opportunity for fun and community building, it was also an opportunity for the Holy Heroes (our school staff six-a-side team) to train. This fabulous group of staff had their first win last night 1-0 and what a momentus aoccasion it was! Today a special trophy was presented to Mrs Lupton for her 'golden boot.'
Well - where did that year go? I know they say it comes with age, however, each year seems to go by faster than the one before.
We have had another wonderful and busy year at Holy Name School with much learning, friendship, well being, faith and sport. There are some changes afoot for for 2024, which you would all know about, and I am excited and humbled by the leadership opportunity I have been tasked with next year. I will continue to lead at HNS with faith, empathy, knowledge, passion and authenticity under the over arching leadership and guidance of Brooke.
Wishing all our families a most Happy Christmas and health and prosperity in the New Year.
PBL
Our last PBL focus for 2023 has been Keeping our Environment Clean and Tidy.
Principal Award Winners
Jarmani Davis |
1N |
20 Surfboards |
Eamonn Donegan |
4L |
20 Surfboards |
Ruby Garrard |
1N |
40 Surfboards |
Jaxson Treasure |
1N |
40 Surfboards |
Vince Wieckowski |
2L |
40 Surfboards |
James Chisholm |
2L |
40 Surfboards |
Ryan Simpson |
2L |
40 Surfboards |
Samuel Martin |
2L |
40 Surfboards |
Samuel Oake |
2L |
40 Surfboards |
Grace Zarate |
6M |
40 Surfboards |
Ashton Robertson |
6M |
40 Surfboards |
Kyesha Pucci |
4L |
40 Surfboards |
Bridie Smith |
6M |
40 Surfboards |
Sienna Cooper |
6M |
40 Surfboards |
Nakoda Ryan |
6M |
40 Surfboards |
Joshua Mathews |
3W |
60 Surfboards |
Astyn Rettke |
3W |
60 Surfboards |
Class Award Winners
PBL AWARDS | ||
KM | Vinnie Croad | Robyn Wyldman |
KP | Lola Crozier | Hudson Bennett |
1N | Evelyn Hughes | Abbie Keegan |
1M | Rocco Lambkin | Jaxson Treasure |
2S | Lenix Hodgess | Oliver Hayes |
2L | Dorian Doherty | Sam Martin |
3M | Ruby Trunley | Emmanuel Shibu |
3W | Stevie Hallam | Joshua Mathews |
4H | Sasha Dempsey | Levi Miller |
4L | Tarnaya Coleman | Alessandra Devescovi |
5F | Brady Clarke | Kaige Letcher |
6M | Christian Botros | Nakoda Ryan |
6R | Ivy Baker | Isaac Grehan |
Rocco Lambkin in 1N received 80 surfboards and chose to have Morning Tea with me as his reward. Rocco enjoyed a Cookie Monster cupcake and juice will I enjoyed a nice cup of tea.
Sport
HNS Swimming
Hamish Success
Hamish has been competing all week at the NSW Senior State Championships in Sydney - mixing with some of the top swimmers in Australia including several Olympians (including Cody Simpson, Bronte Campbell and Matthew Wilson!). He has qualified in seven events with the breast stroke being his best. Hamish had an amazing start to the week in the 12 yrs 100 breast where he qualified for the final and then achieved an amazing personal best time in the final to win the silver medal. He also finished 6th in 200 breast and 16th in 100 back. He still has several events to swim and his other favourite - the 50 breast - is his last event on Saturday where he is hoping to finish top ten for the 12 yrs age group. Hamish has been training very hard in the lead up to the championships and is looking forward to a well deserved break over Christmas before hitting the pool again in early January ahead of the NSW Country Championships in February where he has so far qualified for eight events .
Term 1, 2024 Key Dates |
|
Tuesday, January 30th |
Staff return |
Thursday, February 1st |
1-6 students return |
Monday, February 5th |
Kinder students commence |
Thursday, February 8th |
Regional Swimming @ Gloucester |
Christmas Concert
It was an absolute delight to see so many families join us for our Christmas Concert last week. After a couple of years off site it was great to welcome everyone back to Holy Name to share in our celebration. Each Year performed beautifully! Lots of children were a little nervous about standing in front of such a big audience, but they all were so excited and proud after performing their songs, and are looking forward to next year already!
Year 5 did a splendid job performing their play of the Nativity, and continue to step forward into the more involved role that comes with becoming the new school leaders.
Year 6 wowed us all with their incredible performance. The effort they put in was clear to see upon the stage, and really showcased their talents and humour. They put on a live performance for Years K-5 this week, and were rewarded with lots of cheers and applause.
Year 6 Graduation Liturgy
This week we celebrated the journey of our Year 6 students with their Graduation Liturgy. It’s always a bittersweet moment, as despite our pride in all their accomplishments, our excitement for them as they take a big step forward into their next adventure and our appreciation for how they’ve represented our school community we are of course sad to see them go. It’s a particularly big year for families leaving our school community this year, as we have a lot of youngest children moving on to high school to join their older siblings. It’s going to take a long time to get used to not seeing the same familiar faces around our school. We wish you all the best for the future. If you ever want to drop in and tell us how you’re going you’ll find you’re always welcome!
Father Peter Farewell
We are also sad to farewell Father Peter from our Parish, and he leaves to prepare for his big move to Canada to study Canon Law for Bishop Kennedy. Father Peter came to our Parish during the COVID years, a difficult time for all communities but managed to form close bonds and relationships with the community despite the distance and challenges that we faced in those times.
Father Peter was a frequent and welcome visitor to our school. He treated with our students with humour, patience and kindness, and had a real knack for engaging the students in the Church. In particular, I can think of the time when we asked if Year 1 could visit the church to look around and ask questions about what they saw. The children would have stayed all morning if they could have! They were always glad to see Father Peter whenever they saw him, which I think speaks to the man he is.
Personally, as someone keeping the REC seat warm for Mrs W while she gallivants around Europe, I want to thank Father Peter for his guidance (and patience!), a sentiment I know that the rest of the teaching faculty shares. I know Canada is a long way away, but always feel welcome to pop in for a cuppa if you’re passing by!
All the best for the future, Father.
Fin MacKay,
Acting Religious Education Coordinator.
Student Highlight Quotes from the 2023 School Year
2023 has been such a great year of learning and fun in all classes within our school! I wanted to capture some of the highlights from each grade along with some fun and silly photos to make you smile!
Kindergarten
Lilly - “I loved being with my teachers and the best bit was going to Billabong Zoo!”.
Vinnie – “My favourite learning activity was making an animal enclosure in Science, for a bird called Harcoo”.
Ernest – “I loved learning about numbers and adding numbers together!”
Noah – “I have loved learning how to spell words and write tricky sentences”.
Quinn – “I loved learning how to write and I especially liked sharing my weekend recounts with my class!”
Year One
Tilly – “I loved our science experiments, especially making a water gauge and making ice-cream!”
Arden – “I loved learning how to do hard addition and subtraction problems.”
Oliver – “I loved when we used the heat from the sun to melt freddo frogs during Science!”
Ellie – “I like learning about Jesus. I especially like hearing stories from the bible”.
Hudson – “I loved that when we made mistakes, we now know what to do because Mr Mackay helps us get better.”
Josef – “I have liked practising my reading by timing myself and my partner while we read our fluency passage. I have gotten much faster and clearer with my reading!
Year Two
Tyrese – “I have loved doing art, especially doodles or free drawing when I can draw my pokemon characters!”
James – “I have loved intensive swimming because I can do different dives, flips and survival strategies.”
William D – “I have loved having Mrs Loring as my teacher and spending time with my friends playing soccer and handball.”
Mac – “I have loved our writing lessons, in particular our information reports on different animals!”
Georgia – “My highlight was making gingerbread houses with Miss Spinks”.
Year Three
Olivia – “I liked having Miss Meers as a teacher because she comes up with fun activities that make us smile and laugh – like Bookmas!”
Emmanuel – “I loved when Miss Meers created awesome maths mysteries and reading mysteries to make learning fun!”
Gypsy – “I liked when we did fun writing activities and also Christmas art..that was the best!”
Charlotte – “I loved the maths mysteries because it was like fun detective work. I also liked when we had fun in sport because we got to play the shoot the hoops race verus the other year 3 class”.
Year Four
Felix – “I have liked doing all sorts of mathematical problems and then we work it out in pairs and Mr Hassett gives us feedback on our strategies. I also liked going to Dio for Athletes”.
Tarnaya – “I love free drawing when I can draw stitch from Lilo and Stitch! I also love sport on a Thursday!”
Scarlett – “I have loved when I got PBL surfboard awards, especially when basketball or free computer time comes up!”
Levi – “My highlight was starting here at Holy Name and meeting so many cool friends”.
Year Five
Sara – “Aussie Bush Camp was my highlight! I loved going to the Lost Island.”
Riley – “Aussie Bush Camp was soooo good! It was great to hang out with my friends and go on the giant swing”.
Tyson – “I loved doing sport and our project where we got to plan initiatives that would help kids mental health and well-being.
Year Six
Milly – “This year I have loved learning and solving word problems involving fractions. The lessons have been really challenging but I’m getting better at explaining my thinking!”
Mya – “Going to Canberra was amazing. It was so fun at Questacon and ice-skating. I liked getting to know the teachers better”.
Nevaeh – “I have loved doing art and science lessons!
Best wishes to all of our Holy Name Families, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a relaxing break.
Mrs Suzie Monks
Primary Co-ordinator
As we bid farewell to another school year, heartfelt gratitude goes to our exceptional Mini Vinnies students, whose unwavering dedication and selflessness have left an indelible mark. They embodied our school motto, "Concern for Others," making a positive impact locally and globally. Wrapping numerous gifts for our Wishing Tree, they exemplified the spirit of giving.
A sincere thank you extends to our families and parishioners for steadfastly supporting our fundraising endeavors, from Zooper Dooper Day to the Winter Appeal and our school Wishing Tree. This week, our students shared the holiday spirit by donating gifts to the Forster Neighbourhood Centre and Catholic Care, bringing joy to families in need. Your overwhelming generosity has truly changed lives.
As we approach the holiday season, may you embrace a well-deserved break and experience the merriest Christmas. In this festive time, may you wish upon a star, dance wildly, and find joy in the little moments. May the spirit of kindness dwell in your heart, extending to everyone you know. Wishing you a season filled with love, laughter, and endless possibilities.
Take precious care and have a wonderful holiday season!