Dear Parents and Carers,

It was great to have a mini break over the Easter weekend and enjoy some of our last daylight saving hours and the warmer weather. This is our final newsletter for Term 1 and next week, on Friday 12th April, we move to our mid-semester break. We will return to school on Monday 29th April.

This Tuesday we are hoping to hold our Cross Country Carnival over at Pebbly Beach to round out a very successful term of sport. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms McKinnon for her coordination of our sport, that has so far included the organisation of school and regional swimming carnivals, winter sports trials, school sport options, resource purchasing and the upcoming Cross Country day. Next term we will commence our preparations of the Athletics Carnival later in the term. 

I would also like to thank Mrs Morse for her organisation of the celebration of diversity across our school community for Harmony Day. Our growing number of students from diverse backgrounds makes for a rich school culture and we appreciate the work that Mrs Morse and our students did to ensure this time in our school calendar was acknowledged.

Goal Setting Conversations

All classes held Goal Setting Conversations with students and parents and it's now time to make sure we have your feedback to keep improving what we do. With only 8 surveys received from across our parent community, we are hoping more families will complete the short survey before Sunday 14th April.

Goal Setting Conversation Survey.

Pupil Free Days

We have three Pupil Free Days for this year and have confirmed the dates for two of them. The first will be Tuesday 11th June, the day after the long weekend in Week 7 of Term 2, and the second day is Monday 22nd July, the first day of Term 3. Our final day is yet to be planned as we plan to work with staff using the current system led Michael McDowell professional learning and need more time to plan our day. We will let parents know as soon as a decision is made. 

NEW PROCEDURE for 2025 Kinder Enrolments 

The 2025 Enrolment period opened on March 1st and will close on May 24th. Our Diocese has been promoting a new Enrolment Policy and Procedure, and this year we are guided by these documents. It is very important that anyone wishing to enrol a child to Holy Name for Kinder 2025 returns an enrolment application before the close of this period on May 24th. Mrs Loring and I have started to meet with families who have submitted enrolment applications and between May 24th and June 14 will apply the Diocesan prioritisation guidelines to make a decision about who will be offered a place in the first round of enrolments. We have received a significant number of applications already and are confident of our two classes for 2025, taking Holy Name to a two-stream school. 

Enrolment Application timeline for 2024
1 March 2024 – Enrolment period opens
24 May 2024 – Enrolment period closes: All completed enrolment applications due
14 June 2024 - Letters of Enrolment Offers sent
1 July 2024 - Enrolment Offer Acceptance due

School TV resource - Body Image

This week I have chosen to highlight a topic in the School TV subscription for our Holy Name families on 'Body Image'. I had a conversation with a parent recently regarding some reading material provided by our school for our young readers to practise their early reading skills. It referenced a child as 'fat' and the conversation with the parent was around what message this is sending to our students. I am grateful for the voice of our parents as I too believe that we need to support our students to develop a positive body image. This article and the additional resources are available to support our staff and students to build their understanding of the current research in this area.

School TV: Body Image

In Term 2 we welcome Mrs Skye Reynolds back as our Music and Drama teacher for two days each week and are fortunate that Mrs Clifton will continue to support her on the Wednesday. I really feel like we've hit the jackpot with these two creative souls as part of our staff team and cannot express how much I appreciate their work with our students. When Mrs Clifton takes leave, Ms Shannon will take her role for the remainder of the year. 

During Term 2, our Parents and Friends Association are planning a fun Trivia night and as soon as we have the details, we will pass them on.  

Thank you your positive participation in the life of Holy Name this term.

Yours sincerely,

Brooke Stephens

Wow, what a weather blast we have had today! I hope you stay dry and safe over the weekend.

Positive Behaviour for Learning

Our PBL focus for the past fortnight has been "I Can keep my Environment Clean and Tidy."

The Class Award winners were:

 Principal's Awards

Sport

Diocesan Winter Trials

Some of our Year 6 students attended Dio sport trials recently. Sophia Whitehouse- Miotto and Sophie Andrews trialled for netball and Tarickai Smith and Zac Te Raki-Pitfield trialled for rugby League. The boys made it to tye next level of the selection process and will travel to Tammworth in the near future.

Rugby League

Yesterday, Mr Hassett took 3 teams of primary students to compete in the Buderus 7's Rugby League Gala Day. The children had a great day, even though they got very wet in the afternoon! A big thank you to Mr Hassett for taking the children and to Mrs Lupton and Miss Jasmine for their support.

Cross Country

Our Holy Name Cross Country will be held on Tuesday, April 9th, at Pebbly Beach. If you have some time to help out, Ms McKinnon would appreciate some adults to supervise around the track. We will head over straight after the rolls are marked on Tuesday morning.

Tae Kwon Do

Grandmaster Fay Shacklock continues working with her martial arts group on a Thursday afternoon at school. The children are very enthusiastic and looking forward to a local competition in May.

Garden

Our school garden is really looking great at the moment thanks to the hard work of Mrs Amato and her garden helpers! They have been busy weeding, tidying, planting and maintaining the space. A special mention must go to Sam Oake and Mac Lambkin in 3W for their tireless eforts in the garden, even in the hot weather.

Catholic Social Justice is Alive at Holy Name

Year 2 Lemonade Stand in Week 8

Year 2 children have been learning about Care for the Common Good. Children understand ways that people are less fortunate than themselves. After watching and discussing the CARITAS videos that promoted Project Compassion, the children created ways that they could make a difference to these people. Small choices when combined make for a big difference. Their small choices were to go without a treat, but use this money to buy the groceries they needed to host a lemonade stall at lunch time in Week 8. The two classes brought to school the ingredients to make lemonade and sell a cup for 50c. Children were also asked to bring their own cup so we are reducing our use of single use plastics. Here is what their proud teachers have said....

"Mrs Loring, Miss Spinks and Mrs Howarth stood back in wonderment as Year 2 worked together to set up their stalls, fill all jugs, pour all drinks and serve students happily with a smile. The team work, dedication and skills shown by students were something to behold. Year 2’s excitement to contribute as a community and raise funds for Project Compassion was extremely evident through their efforts. Well done, Year 2!"

Project Compassion

The total raised by the whole school for Project Compassion this year was $518. Over $250 was raised alone by Year 2. This is a mammoth effort Holy Name, Congratulations! The children understand that their money may go towards: $250 providing a handwashing sink to a household in Samoa so that cleaniness and hygienne is accessable to a family.$100 can support local health workers in running a small pharmacy that administers essential medicine to the community in the Philippines, $150 can provide a family with a safe toilet to help eliminate cholera during rainy months and cyclone season in Malawi.

Bishop Michael's Visit

Parish Sacramental Program

The Parish Sacraments of Initiation Program will be run this year. In the Maitland Newcastle Diocese, the order children prepare and receive the sacraments after Baptism are Confirmation then Eucharist. 

Registration is now open for baptised catholic students who would like to prepare and receive the Sacrament of Confirmation who are in Years 3, 4, 5 or 6. The program runs for 4 weeks, prior to receiving the sacrament from Bishop Michael on Friday 7th June at 6pm in the Holy Name of Jesus Church Forster. 
 
The program will run differently this year. Children will prepare after school on a Monday. I will walk the children from school to the Church Hall. Children will have some afternoon tea before beginning the preparation lesson. Parents can pick their child up at the end of the session. 
 
During the weeks preparing for Confirmation, children and their families are invited to celebrate mass with the parish on 2 or more weekends either on Saturday 5pm, Sunday 8am or 10am. 
 
The Sacrament program will be led by myself. The dates for the two preparation lessons are: 
 

Preparation 1- Monday 13th May between 3:15-5pm in the Church Hall. 
Our Baptismal Call / Keeping Promises.  
 

Preparation 2-Monday 27th May between 3:15-5pm in the Church Hall. 
Hands and Oil/ The Gift of the Spirit. 
 
Practice for the Confirmation Ceremony follows the Preparation 2 session on Monday 27th May. This is between 5-5:30pm in the Church with Fr John and Mrs Williamson. Children will move from the hall to the church. Each student preparing will need a parent or carer to be at this practice to run through the ceremony for the following week. 

 
To register go to the parish website: 
www.forstertuncurrycatholic.org.au 
-Click on the left side of screen where there are 3 lines. 
-Click on Sacramental Preparation (Enrolment Form) and fill out the field displayed. You will need to present your child's baptismal certificate if he/she was baptised in another parish, city or state. 

-This enrolment form is for the sacraments of Initiation (Confirmation -first), and then Eucharist later in the year.) 

 
If you have any questions, please contact the parish office and speak to Danielle or Theresa on 047524269 or email me on genevieve.wiliamson@mn.catholic.edu.au 
 
Kind regards, 
Genevieve Williamson 

Religious Education Coordinator. 

Great Learning Happening in Year Two!

Each fortnight we like to put a spotlight on the great learning happening in a particular grade in our school. In this report the spotlight is on Year 2.

The Year 2 students have really enjoyed the introduction of daily small group reading sessions. The structure and consistency of the sessions has meant that each group can be targeted to the needs of the students, and the complexity of the texts only increase when the students are displaying the required skills to move on. This has enabled student learning growth can be monitored closely and the feedback from teachers, learning support assistants and students has been really positive. Each session the students work through speed sounds, heart word drills where their fluency is measured, guided reading with comprehension questions and finishes with dictation and a spelling focus. Check out these photos of this learning in action!

In writing, Year 2 have been learning to write fairy tale narrative texts that are intended to entertain the reader. Students have being learning how to ‘Dress up Sentences for Writing!’ The students have been learning that it is important to use describing words (adjectives and adverbs) when writing stories. The students told me that this makes a story more interesting and exciting for a reader. Students have been following their co-created success criteria to ensure their writing includes all of the elements to be successful. This has helped promote effective self assessment in writing. Next term the Year 2 teachers will teach the students how to do effective peer assessment as well which helps create assessment capable students!

In Maths, Year Two has been focusing on Measurement strategies. The students have learning to investigate mass using an equal-arm balance. Students have learnt to place objects on either side of an equal-arm balance to obtain a level balance, use an equal-arm balance to compare the masses of two objects and record, which is heavier or lighter and, predict the action of an equal-arm balance before placing particular objects in each pan. The students have worked in groups to compare and order the masses of two or more objects by hefting, and checking their measuring using an equal-arm balance.  Check out these photos are of Year 2 students hard at work in their maths lesson.

In Science, Year 2 students have been exploring stationary objects that are subjected to pushes and pulls. They investigated how the different strengths of pushes and pulls affect the movement of objects. The students were introduced to the concept of gravity and considered the effects of objects being pulled towards the Earth. They enjoyed exploring the way objects move on land, through water and in the air. As a final assessment students had to design and make a boat that would float and withstand being pushed along with wind. Check out some of these cleverly created boats!

Well done Year Two students and teachers keep up the awesome work!

Mrs Suzie Monks

Primary Coordinator

On Tuesday 26th March, 2024, Holy Name families came together to celebrate Harmony Day. The students were dressed in clothing from countries of their family’s heritage as well as orange to represent peace and diversity. The sense of belonging felt by the children was evident throughout the day as they sang, listened, read, coloured, ate and played with one another in such a respectful and happy way.

Our day began with a whole school Harmony Day Assembly in St. Mary MacKillop Hall. Everybody participated in the theme of EVERYONE BELONGS as they sang songs about diversity, listened to the names of the many different countries our students at Holy Name School came from and heard the special names of some of the children’s traditional clothing. We shared the story "What Makes Us Unique" by Dr Jillian Roberts. It was very powerful to hear about all the different ways we live, work, move, look and have fun together. The message of inclusivity and acceptance was loud and clear. The assembly concluded with the EALD children presenting Mrs Williamson with a book for the school library.

During the middle session everyone worked hard on the final touches to their Harmony Day artwork preparing it for judging by the EALD children. At second lunch break every student was provided with a bag of fruit, cookies and a cupcake. Thank you to Tuncurry Woolworths, Forster Woolworths and Forster Coles for their generous donations to our students for their Harmony Day afternoon tea.

Throughout the last session of the day, the class winners of the colouring in competition were announced. Each class winner received a book award for their superb artwork. The winners were: KM Skylar Hassett, KT Lenni Arrow, 1M Amena Eldieb, 1N Lilah Jha, 2L Johnny Black, 2S Josef Janse Van Rensburg, 3M Elina Bakhiet, 3W Kirra Nadin, 4H Mila Newman, 4Q Jasper Waters 5H Makayla Bowie, 5S Haya Hamdy, and 6M Caleb Younani. A great day was had by all!

Thank you to everyone for joining in the celebration of Harmony Day at Holy Name!

Bronwyn Morse

EALD Teacher