Dear Parents and Carers,

As we progress through Term 4, I am delighted to share some highlights from our recent activities and events.

Aspire in the Manning Performance

We are incredibly proud of the 21 students who participated in the Aspire in the Manning performance. These talented students took on various roles, including singing, acting, dancing, music, art, and props. Their dedication and hard work were evident as they planned and rehearsed over just four days, culminating in both a polished matinee and an evening performance. Students from Years 2 to 6 attended as the audience and were thrilled by the outstanding show put on by their peers. It was a truly memorable experience for everyone involved.

Kindergarten Transition

Our Kindergarten students had their final transition event with a delightful Teddy Bear's Picnic, joined by their families and buddies. This special occasion marked an important step as we look forward to welcoming these young learners to Holy Name Primary School in 2025. We are excited to see them grow and thrive in our school community.

Thank you to all students, parents, and staff for your ongoing dedication and support. Your contributions make our school a vibrant and nurturing place for learning and growth.

Stage 3 Debate Success

Our Stage 3 students, under the guidance of Mrs Marzol and Mrs Abbott, prepared diligently for an afternoon debate. Holy Name won the argument that "Theatre is better than the screen" and will represent the Manning region at the grand final in Singleton tomorrow. We wish Amna, Sara, Eden, and Haya a fantastic day of learning and debating.

Year 6 Canberra Excursion

Week 6 has been a busy week with Year 6 visiting Canberra on their school excursion. The nation's capital offers many interesting and educational sites, including government buildings, historical landmarks, foreign consulates, and more. Our Year 6 students had a wonderful time, and their excellent participation and behaviour made us very proud. Special thanks to Mrs Loring and Ms McKinnon for giving up their precious family time to supervise the trip and make it a memorable experience for our students.

Heart to Heart Program

The Heart-to-Heart program had its presentation on Thursday, with parents and friends attending to congratulate the boys who participated. Their artworks are amazing, and the conversations and reflections during the program have had a positive impact on them individually and as a group. A big thank you to their art teachers, Kristie Banham and Lara Went, as well as Steve, Koran and Miss Macyand Catholic Care for their assistance. Mulga, the artist who inspired their work, will be in Forster this weekend conducting workshops. I encourage students to participate by contacting the library to register for the session.

Road Safety

Thank you to Mrs Quilter and Year 4 for organising such an important event and providing a very well-run bike safety day for our Infant’s students. Road safety is indeed crucial, especially for young riders. Teaching them the necessary skills and providing valuable advice can make a big difference in their safety and confidence on the roads.

Upcoming Events and Leadership

This week, I will be away from school from Tuesday for Diocesan Debating, a Primary Principals meeting, Mass and Dinner, and a Virtual Academy presentation. I will be back on Friday to hear our Year 5 Leadership speeches and participate in the voting. Year 5 students spent today in leadership workshops, learning about the qualities of leaders and exploring ways to demonstrate leadership. They have self-nominated or been nominated for positions such as school leader, SRC, or sport captain. These nominations have been narrowed down to the top 18, and these students will present their speeches on Friday before Years 2-5 vote on the 2025 leaders. We have moved away from the traditional 2 boy, 2 girl captain/vice-captain structure to a more merit-based selection process. Leaders will be chosen based on their capability, not their gender. Students will indicate their role preferences, and depending on the votes, they will be assigned one of their preferred roles.

Year 5 Excursion and Room Refurbishments

Week 8 will see Year 5 going to the Great Aussie Bush Camp for their excursion. Many thanks to teachers Mrs Sheppard and Mr Hassett for supervising this camp. Students will find out the results of the school leadership elections after the camp on Thursday morning, and the current school captains will hand over their blazers as part of the Graduation Mass on this day.

Room refurbishments are ongoing, with Year 1 almost complete and Kindergarten and Year 5H underway. We are very grateful to the Diocesan DFSBL fund for this upgrade. We look forward to the St Nicholas Early Learning Centre building project getting underway soon.

Have a wonderful Week 7.

God Bless,

Niamh Marzol

Principal, Holy Name Primary School

Some special Awards were given out at assembly this morning. Year 6 students received Participation certifiactes for the Year 6 Religious Education Literacy test.

Harrison Mills and Scarlett Garrad from Year 5 and Charlotte Allen from Year 4 received certificates for competing at Polding Athletics.

Tarickai Smith received a medal for his achievemnet of being part of the Diocesan Rugby leage team that competed at Polding level.

ASPIRE

Congratulations to Nanma Joy in Year 5, who has been selected to perform in the 2025 ASPIRE production. Nanma was also acknowleged by the CSO with a certificate of Appreciation for her work in this year's performance in the ASPIRE production of Disconnected.

PB4L

Our PB4L awards for Week 6 will be given out at this Friday's assembly. Winners wil be posted in the Week 8 newsletter.

Our focus at HNS for the next fortnight will be Using Kind Words. 

This week I am meeting with a signwriter and liaising with our Comms team at the CSO to plan for PB4L signage around our school.

Canberra Excursion

Last week myself and Ms McKinnon accompanied our Year 6 students to Canberra for the annual excursion. We visited Geoscience, the Australian Institute of Sport, Parliament House, the Museum of Australian Democracy, the Australian Electoral Commision, Deep Space Centre, National Gallery of Australia, the National Zoo, Ice Skating, the CSIRO Discovery centre, the Australian War Memorial and Questacon. It was a very busy, interesting and fun week and all the students represented HNS with pride and learned a lot about how our nation's capital and our parliament worked.

School Garden

Our beautiful garden is in full Summer bloom! Our garden helpers, guided by our resident Green Thumb, Mrs Amato, have been planting, caring for and harvesting fruit and vegies for our Parish Community Kitchen. The produce is taken over each week and the parish volunteers are always grateful for our donation.

Remembrance Day

Together our school community remembered and honoured those who served and sacrificed for our country. Year 5 led our solemn Remembrance Day gathering for reflection, unity and gratitude. Thank you to the families who joined us, the families who provided flowers for our students to lay in our memorial garden, the catafalque party, Mr Hassett and all our Year 5 students for their preparation and readings in the ceremony.

Year 6 Graduation Mass

As our year quickly draws to an end, we prepare as a whole school to celebrate our graduating Year 6 students through ritual, prayer and blessings. Please join us on Thursday 5^th December under Kirkangina at 12 noon.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation

On Wednesday afternoon the following children received the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a ceremony with Fr John and the candidates families: Dakota Bowen, Summer-Rose Dalton, Sophia Sleiman, Jasper Waters, Matthew Malferrari, Kirra Nadin, Michael Aldo, Alessandra Devescovi, Sienna Sorbello.

Kindergarten 2025 Transition Program Wrap-Up

Our Kindergarten Transition Program has come to an end, and what a wonderful journey it has been for our soon-to-be Kinders! Over the past five weeks, they’ve spent 2.5 hours each session getting to know their new school, bonding with their Year 5 buddies, and learning to navigate the school environment with confidence and excitement.

In Week 3, we were fortunate to have Mrs Went, our Aboriginal Education Teacher, lead an engaging lesson about one of our favourite sea creatures, the guparr (dolphin). Mrs Went shared the cultural significance of the guparr and taught the children a special guparr dance. Tyrese Simon from Year 3 provided the rhythm with clapping sticks, helping us keep the beat. After the dance, the children created beautiful guparr artwork using paint and vibrant colours.

Week 4 brought the opportunity to meet Miss Johnston, who will be known as Mrs. A after her wedding early next year! She will be teaching KM and KP in 2024 and loved spending time with our new Kinders. This session was all about creativity, as the Year 5 buddies helped the Kinders make name flowers. Using the letters in their names, the children designed stunning flower crafts, showcasing their creativity and growing confidence.

Our final session in Week 5 was a highlight—a Teddy Bears’ Picnic! Children brought along their soft, furry friends to enjoy a fun-filled morning with their Year 5 buddies, parents, and teachers. We shared cookies and juice, played games in the sunshine, and ended the session by crafting adorable teddy bear masks, much to the delight of parents at pick-up time.

As a farewell, each Kinder received a special gift bag filled with items to help them feel happy and calm as they begin their big school journey. We hope this program has given them a joyful introduction to school life, and we can’t wait to see their bright smiles when they officially join us next year!

A big thank you to everyone who made this program so memorable, especially our Year 5 buddies and dedicated staff. 

Mrs Suzie Monks

Primary Coordinator

Last week, Year 5 student Eamonn Donegan, attended the first Virtual Academy Showcase at NUSpace in Newcastle. This Semester, he studied the Patterns unit where he had to choose a problem in line with his interests and provide an inventive solution to mitigate the issue. Eamonn worked so hard on his project and was a high contender for one of the best designs of the day. We are very proud of you, Eamonn! 

Please see below for an explanation of Eamonn's project. 

Problem:  My name is Eamonn Donegan and I am here outside Holy Name School, Forster where a serious safety concern is putting the lives of young students at risk. Despite clear signage and flashing school zone warnings, drivers continue to speed through this area to beat the traffic lights just metres away.

In New South Wales, school zones are meant to protect children during high-risk times. Yet, in 2022 alone, over 12,000 drivers were caught speeding through school zones. Research shows that a car traveling at just 50 kilometres per hour has nearly double the stopping distance of a car traveling at the school zone speed limit of 40 kilometres per hour.

After interviewing a concerned parent, they said: "It’s terrifying. Every morning, I hold my breath when we cross the road. Some drivers don’t even slow down—they’re just trying to make the green light."

After interviewing the Crossing Guard, he said: "I’ve seen too many close calls. People don’t seem to realise that these are kids we’re talking about. A few seconds saved isn’t worth a life lost."

Statistics from Transport for NSW reveal that speeding contributes to approximately 40% of road fatalities in the state. Even low-speed collisions in school zones can lead to severe injuries or death, especially for young children who are more vulnerable due to their size and inability to judge car speeds accurately.

The proximity of traffic lights to our school zone compounds the danger. Drivers are tempted to accelerate to beat the red light, putting children at even greater risk.

After interviewing a Traffic Safety Expert, I found that speeding in school zones isn’t just reckless—it’s deadly. Studies show that reducing vehicle speed from 50 to 40 kilometres per hour reduces the likelihood of a fatal collision by up to 75%. However, enforcement alone isn’t enough. Addressing poor urban design, like placing traffic lights close to school zones, and introducing deterrents like speed cameras and physical road calming measures, is essential for long-term safety.

Parents, teachers, and students are calling for immediate change. Whether it’s redesigning road layouts, installing more speed cameras, or increasing police patrols, the message is clear: action is needed now.

We should not wait for another tragic statistic. Let’s make school zones like this one outside Holy Name truly safe for the most vulnerable members of our community.

My solution:

Speeding in school zones is a significant safety issue, and I have included various problem-solving inventions and strategies to address it.

1. Radar Speed Cameras: These detect the speed of approaching vehicles, alerting drivers when they're exceeding the limit by transmitting a message alert through the speeding driver’s radio. This will be effective in reducing speed as they provide real-time feedback. 

2. Raised Crosswalks: Dual-purpose structures that function as both pedestrian crossings and speed bumps.

3. License Plate Readers: These systems can alert law enforcement in real time about speeding vehicles in school zones.

4. Colour-Coded Pavement: Brightly coloured speed humps (e.g., red) around school zones to alert drivers visually. 

Combining these inventions with strict enforcement and educational campaigns can create safer school zones and significantly reduce speeding incidents.

We are thrilled to share that St Nicholas Early Education, an agency of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle and a trusted name in early childhood education across the Newcastle, Hunter, and Manning regions, is expanding its services in the Forster community with the construction of a new, purpose-built early education centre next to Holy Name Primary School.

In addition to the well-established out-of-school hours (OOSH) service onsite at Holy Name, this new early education centre will further St Nicholas’ commitment to providing high-quality education and care for families in the region. Designed with thoughtfully crafted indoor and outdoor spaces, the new centre will offer children a welcoming and enriching environment to learn, play, and grow.

Construction will continue through 2025, with minimal anticipated disruption to Holy Name’s daily activities. We look forward to sharing further updates as the build progresses, including when enrolment expressions of interest open.

This week saw all of our infants classes take part in a Bike Safety Talk with Ben Trautsch and Aleisha Garner from NSW Police. A great time was had by all involved. Students listened carefully as Ben and Aleisha spoke about bike safety, road rules, road signs, and general safe riding practices. There was lots of fun and laughter to be heard as well! The students and Officers then enjoyed riding laps together around a track that has been created on the primary playground. 

A big thank you to 4Q for your hard work on the day, making the road signs and even pretending to be wildlife crossing the road and construction workers doing roadworks! You really made the experience fun and interactive for our infants students. 

A big thank you also to all our infants parents for allowing the students to bring their bikes and scooters to school, for delivering and picking up bikes throughout the day ensuring the students could participate. 

With the overwhelmingly positive support and feedback we received from all involved, we look forward to making this a yearly event. 

Michelle Quilter

Classroom Teacher