Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 2 at Holy Name! We have many exciting events on this term for students and families. This week we had the Mother's Day Stall and breakfast and in a couple of weeks have the P&F Trivia night that should be loads of fun. We have the Diocesan Cross Country Carnival, our Athletics Carnival and a stack of winter sports opportunities. Our students are engaging in academic competitions (Spelling & Maths Bees, Kids Lit Quiz), and our Yr 2 and 4 students will participate in CogAT (a group cognitive ability test) to help us understand the way students learn. Students are preparing for Confirmation and at the end of Catholic Schools Week, the initial enrolment applications will close and decisions commence about the first round offers for a place in the Kinder 2025 class. We will also acknowledge National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week, and in the final week of Term, celebrate NAIDOC Week by hosting a 'Cultural Fair'  for students and alunch and assembly for families and community members. We will finish the term with our Semester 1 Student Reports shared with families, including the feedback on student goals from our Term 1 Goal Setting Conversations. Keep your eye on the calendar so you don't miss any important updates!

As we commence Term 2 and the cooler months of the year it is time for students to transition to the winter school uniform. The only real changes are that the girls cullottes and pants are made in a thicker and darker tartan fabric, and the options for both boys and girls include longer shirts and pants, jumpers and/or jackets. Please be sure to have your child's name on everything and to support your child in developing a good habit to have their school hat in their bag each day. The uniform challenges we face at school include the wearing of hats, black socks and black joggers. Our policy is that the hat, socks and joggers should not have any other marking on them in any other colour. It is a simple request and one we hope our families can continue to support us with. The wearing of brands takes away from the reason for having a uniform in the first place and parents can support us by helping their children understanding this concept.

We have started to receive some information back about how our Yr 3 and Yr 5 students went in NAPLAN, and over the coming weeks our families will receive the Student Reports. Together with the Progressive Achievement Tests we conduct each year and the assessments that form part of our regular assessment schedule at school, we will use this information to inform our teaching practice. 

The Leadership Team have been busy interviewing families who submitted an application for the Kinder 2025 class in preparation for the prioritisation process that will occur after the closing date for enrolments of May 24. The cut-off for Round 1 applications is fast approaching and I encourage anyone who would like to be considered in the first round to submit an application prior to this date.

Over the coming weeks, staff, students and parents will be surveyed as part of a biannual process called, 'Tell Them From Me'. This important survey captures the voices of all groups within our community and I will be asking our teachers to try to get as many parent voices as possible to be involved. Without your voice, we can only guess your thinking, but with your voice, your thoughts and ideas can be included in our planning. Please look out for this survey and take the time to complete it when it comes. It only happens every two years and is an important part of future planning for Holy Name School. 

Our first P&F Meeting for Term 2 is next Tuesday at 5:30pm in the staffroom. No doubt we will be chatting about the organisation for the Trivia Night among other things. If you'd like to get involved, please come along.

This weekend we celebrate 'mothers' and I wish all of our mothers a very special day! I will visualise women all around the world kicking back with their feet up on a moderately warm sunny day reading their favourite book and keep my fingers crossed!

I will also say a prayer for the mothers who are no longer with us and for the mothers who are impacted by violence, whether this violence occurs in the home or because of war. May peace become part of their homes and spread across the world.

Yours sincerely,

Brooke Stephens

ANZAC Day

Thankyou to all the students who participated in the Town March and Community Ceremony during the school holidays. HNS had the largest school contingent by far and I am always immensely proud of our community at this event. The children were reverent and respestful and have a real sense of the importance of commemorating our history and remembering the fallen.

PBL

Our PBL focus for the past fortnight has been Using Kind Words. Students have been given surfboard tokens when they have been caught displaying this target behaviour.

This focus is in line with our school motto Concern For Others and is a very important skill for the children to learn. 

Class Award winners for this fortnight are:

These children received Principal Awards and silver badges this morning:

Drinks

It has been bought to my attention that some children are bringing cordial, fizzy drinks and energy drinks to school. These drinks have adverse effects on children's health and well being and their ability to concentrate. Please ensure children are bringing water to drink at school.

Safety

Students are not to leave the school until they are officially dismissed. Please do not encourage your child/ren to leave from the Kirkangina prior to this time. If children need to leave early, you must sign them out at the office.

A reminder that official supervision time for students is 8.30am. If you need to leave students prior to  this time, OOSH is available in the school hall.

Carawa street is the preferred street for morning drop off and afternoon pick up. The Kiss and Ride zone operates in the mornings where you can pull up and drop off your students. In the afternoon there is plenty of parking in both Carawa street and Manila street and you can come to the back gate to collect students. Children catching buses and walking or riding leave via the front gate.

Kid's Lit Quiz

Today, myself and Mr Isbel transported 8 of our Stage 3 students to Manning Christian College to  take part in the Kids Lit Quiz. Team 1 members were: Max Isbel, Zia Singh, Sara Uprety and Eamonn Donegan and Team 2 members were: Jax Tull, Eli Lea, Reuben Cassar and Felix Yeates.

All the children came away with a novel each and our Team 1 came in 4th position.

Attendance

Student attendance continues to be an issue for some families. Students are expected to be at school ready to learn at 8.50 EVERY day unless they are unwell or you have applied for leave. You can mark your child sick through COMPASS or ring the office and the admin staff can do it for you. Absences need to be explained within 7 days or the student is  recorded as Absent with no reason - this cannot be changed after the 7 days. If the student arrives late, they need to be signed in at the office.

Families of students with a history of non attendance will be asked to provide medical certificates when their child/ren are absent.

Garden

Our school garden looks fantastic at the moment! Thanks to the trireless work of Mrs Amato and her small band of gardeners we have sent 2 lots of leafy green produce to our Parish Community Kitchen this term. If you have any seedlings in your garden at home, we would love to include them in our garden. We are also after egg shells and coffee grinds. Any donations can be bought to the School Office.

1. Verbal Battery: Assesses students' ability to reason with words and concepts, crucial for reading comprehension, critical thinking, writing, and verbal learning tasks. 
2. Quantitative Battery: Measures students' ability to reason with quantitative symbols and concepts, which are vital for problem-solving in mathematics and other disciplines. 
3. Nonverbal Battery: Evaluates students' ability to reason with geometric shapes and figures, requiring them to implement strategies for solving novel problems. 

WE CELEBRATED MOTHER’S DAY WITH THE SPECIAL WOMEN IN OUR LIVES

It was wonderful to see so many of our mothers, grandmothers, mother- figures and carers, early Thursday morning for the Mother’s Day breakfast which was cooked and served by the Holy Name Staff. Following this, we joined together in prayer, for the beautiful Mother’s Liturgy led by Yr1. Miss Nolan and Miss Meers looked on proudly as their students sang a very meaningful song by Taylor Swift called “The Best Day”. And for our finale of praise for our mums, the school choir made up of Yr. 3 and Yr. 4 students took to the stage. It was their first public performance for the year, and they had been practicing so hard for this occasion. There were not many dry eyes in the hall, after our school choir sang “It’s All Yellow” by Coldplay to our mums.

SAVE THE DATE

HELP US CELEBRATE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK AT HOLY NAME.

DATE: THURSDAY 23 MAY AT 12 NOON IN MACKILLOP HALL LED BY YEAR 5.

In Week 3, Holy Name’s School Captains, Sophia Miotto-Whithouse and Zac Te Raki- Pitfield with Mrs. Banham and Mrs. Williamson, will join other school representatives in Newcastle’s Sacred Heart Cathedral to launch Catholic School’s Week for 2024. Bishop Michael will be celebrating this Mass.

Following this, in Week 4, our school will celebrate the contribution that Catholic schools make to the lives of students and families around Australia. Catholic schools educate over 805,000 students (one in five Australian students) and employ over 109,000 staff. For over 200 years, Catholic schools in Australia have provided a choice to Australian families for the education of their children, that reflects their own beliefs and values. 

Diocesan theme for Catholic Schools Week this year is “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19). In this story from the Gospel of Mathew, Jesus invites Simon, Peter and Andrew to place their trust and confidence in Him and to follow Him on a journey as His disciples (followers or students). For disciples, to ‘follow-me’ meant that they became like an apprentice to Jesus, to learn His ways, to love like He does, and to serve the poor and outsider like He does. To ‘be’ Good news to all the earth! 

This invitation continues to this day as Catholic schools help fulfill the mission given by Jesus, to “Follow me!” Working alongside our parishes and other agencies to love and serve those in our communities. This attitude of service and caring for the whole person, flavours our Catholic schools’ approach to everything! From striving for excellence in learning, to dedicated pastoral care and wellbeing, to faith formation opportunities for every child, we work hard to help each child to flourish in life. 

Thank you for trusting our Catholic school with the care and education of your child.              

We hope to see as many of our families as possible, at the liturgy on Thursday’ 27 May, to unite with us and celebrate all that is good about Catholic Schools. 

CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE

The staff of Holy Name have a whole school approach to social justice. Our goal is for students from Kindergarten to Year 6 to be immersed in an authentic culture of justice, that reflects the school’s mission and values to enhance our Catholic identity.

The focus of our last two staff meetings has been for teachers to reflect and refine their current Religious Education unit for the term, to explicitly embed opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of their Catholic social justice skill. Teachers will help their students connect what they understand about their social skill to the why they are learning about it. Moving then to the reflection stage, children will be told selected scripture passages that teach this value they are called by Jesus to follow inn their daily lives.

Jesus calls us to action and so then next phase is for the children to plan an action of service and then as a grade enact this in the term.

Year 5 students, many who are our Mini Vinnies, on Wednesday showed actions of service towards the mums, grandmothers, mother-figures, and carers of our school community. Humility is when you make space for others. When you make room for people and make them feel valued, you are being hospitable. Jesus said” Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me” Mark 9:35.

Our Yr. 5 children in preparation for the Mother’s Day Breakfast and Liturgy set up the hall, with tables and chairs. They decorated the table clothes with welcoming messages and made posters of gratefulness. It was heartening to hear many, many of our mums say how grateful they were to be made feel so important, and how valued they feel in our school community. 

PARISH NEWS

The Sacraments of Initiation

The parish prepare the following sacraments over the year.

Confirmation: Term 2

Eucharist: Term 3

The other sacrament students can prepare for is Reconciliation in Term 4. This is offered to Yr 2 to receive and then as they move into the primary years, will next receive Confirmation and Eucharist (their First Communion).

CONFIRMATION PREPARATION BEGINS

The preparation for the sacrament of Confirmation begins next Monday 13 May. Mrs Williamson will walk the 25 students to the parish hall and after a bite to eat, at

3:30pm will begin their lessons on Our Baptism and Keeping Promises. The lesson finishes at 5pm.

Children preparing need to begin thinking of a Confirmation name they would like to take and be able to tell Mrs Williamson who their Confirmation sponsor will be.

The next preparation meeting is Monday 27 May.

Any parents who have not registered their child for Confirmation and who is Baptised,

can still join the group. You can register from the parish website

www.forstertuncurrycatholic.org.au

1. Click on the left side of the screen where there are 3 lines.
2. Click on the Sacramental Preparation (Enrollment Form) and fill out the fields displayed. You will need to present your child’s baptismal certificate if she/he/ was baptised in another parish, city or state.

Regards,

Genevieve Wiliamson

Religious Education Coordinator.

Great Learning Happening in Year Three!

Year Three have started the term excited and keen to engage in new learning! The students were excited to explain to me what a KWL chart was as they have been using this tool in their English lessons. A KWL Chart is a way for the classto collaboratively identify what students Know about a topic, What they want to know and finally at the conclusion of a sequence of lessons what they have Learnt about the topic. The Year classes have used this tool to discuss reading comprehension skills.

The classes have jumped straight back into Reading lessons and using Reciprocal Reading Groups to unpack their learning about new texts. During these groups, students have been reading a vary of texts and taking on different roles to get a deep understanding of what the text is about. The roles include: leader, predictor, clarifier, questioner and summariser. Students take turns changing to different roles so that they learn to analyse texts through a variety of different lenses.

Each week as part of their reading lesson, Year 3 are introduced to new vocabulary which is pulled from their shared text. These words are analysed with a focus on definition, morphology and examples and non-examples identified. Focus words are added to the class learning wall for students to refer back to and use in their writing and in their oral language.

In writing, Year 3 have learning about the purpose of persuasive texts. The students have been building the skills necessary to write an effective persuasive text to convince the reader to agree with their point of view. Each class has worked on co-constructing a success criteria so that students can refer it when editing their persuasive text to ensure that it contains the language features they have been learning to use. They have started developing their ideas and have now written their first introduction using some of the skills that they have been introduced to.

In Maths, Year Three has been focusing on Measurement in particular directions, turns and symmetry. Students will combine investigative skills and geometry to design their own set of clues to work their way through a grid map. Last week students were provided with an evacuation plan for the school (that had a grid on it). In partners students took turns providing each other with directions to different parts of the school from different starting positions.  The students had so much fun engaging in this lesson! They will be learning all of the necessary measurement skills to engage in a Maths Investigations titled ‘Follow Freddy’.

This term in History, Year 3 have been learning about our local community, how it has changed over the years and who contributed to its development over time. Students are beginning to undertake the historical inquiry process to investigate the developments, events and people that have shaped our Forster/Tuncurry community. The students have enjoyed comparing photos of the buildings, people, clothes, surrounds, environment in the Forster area from 1800’s to now. They discussed how and why it has it changed and how this has that affected lifestyle of people in local area. The Year Three teachers were so impressed with the comparisons and reasoning for change that the students gave.

 Amazing work Year Three, you have had a great start to the term!

Mrs Suzie Monks

Primary Coordinator