Dear Parents and Caregivers

It’s difficult to believe that we are already half way through the first term already.

The past few weeks have highlighted the diverse learning opportunities being provided to students at Holy Name. In addition to traditional curriculum in literacy and numeracy, students have been exposed to a wide range of events that develop the whole child and encourage life- long learning. 

Swimming carnivals, excursions to Pebbly Beach, NRL Workshops and our Opening School Mass are several examples of the rich learning experiences that have taken place over the past two weeks. 

To be a life-long learner is an essential skill for students in the 21st century. The ability to learn is a powerful skill.  It provides flexibility and agility to adjust to a rapidly changing world. By providing diverse, real world learning experiences, it provides opportunities for students to identify that learning is a natural part of our lives, not something that just happens at school.

As educators and parents, we need to equip children with the essential skills and knowledge required to successfully participate and contribute to a global world. We need effective communicators, critical thinkers, problem solvers and active learners.  Literacy and numeracy will continue to be the foundation of our curriculum whilst teachers extend the boundaries of our learning to encourage students to take risks as self-directed, independent learners. 

As the Term progresses, I look forward to celebrating and sharing more student learning.

With Gratitude

Ben Doyle
Principal

It’s certainly been a jam-packed couple of weeks at Holy Name! The Kinders are settling in beautifully and we are settling the children into the routines of school. There is learning occurring everywhere I look – in classrooms, on verandahs, under COLA’s, on the stage, in the hall and on the playground.

It’s great having Mr Doyle as our new Principal. He has been busy learning about Holy Name and has already shared his wisdom with us around the importance of calm and effective learning spaces. I am sure he will have many more insights to share with us as he leads our wonderful school.

PB4L

Our PB4L focus for weeks 3 & 4 was “I can move around the school calmly.” The children engaged in explicit teaching and practice of this skill – moving to class from breaks, moving to and from the Learning Hub or Hall and entering or leaving the playground. Routines are essential to ensure the safety of our students and staff as well as supporting an effective learning environment. The students were awarded surfboard tokens when they were “caught” displaying this skill.

Week 4 Class Awards

The following students received Principal’s Awards

NAPLAN

NAPLAN testing for students in Years 3 & 5 begins in Week 7, Wednesday, March 12^th.

The schedule is as follows

NAPLAN Timetable 2025 

It is important that students attend school and arrive on time. If your child is sick, please communicate through the usual channels. If you see a problem with attendance on these dates, please speak to your child’s teacher so catch-up testing ca be arranged with the NAPLAN coordinator.

PIVOT

The PIVOT Weel Being program is being used in our Diocesan schools. Students in Years 3-6 complete an online survey each term and a quick catch up each week to gather data around student well being. The surveys will go to our Infants students in Semester 2. This data will be used to implement our teaching and learning programs to promote student well-being, engagement and resilience.

Parent Survey

Thanks to families who have taken the time to complete the online survey regarding communication from school. The survey is accessible here and is open until March 5^th.

Uniform

Please ensure your child has the correct footwear and socks for school. The uniform policy states that a black leather jogger and plain black sock are to be worn each day. Shoes with coloured stripes or laces, boots and other joggers are not appropriate. Thanks for your support in this area.

Welcome and Investiture Mass

On Friday our whole school gathered to welcome our new Principal, Mr Doyle, new staff, students and families to Holy Name School. We also welcomed back all other students and families to 2025, the Year of Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope. Fr John blessed Mr Doyle as he begins his ministry at Holy Name, commissioned our staff and student leaders, and blessed their badges. The students read their commitmment pledges. 

Our mass began with Kinder being led into the Church with their Yr.6 buddies to the school song "One In Your Holy Name". During the mass the students participated in mass, repsonding well to the parishoner responses. Our Student Leaders Scarlett Garrard, Eli Lea, Nanma Joy and Mia Collins read the Prayers of the Faithful and also played a major role during the Investiture Ceremony.

Fr John reminded us in his homily that we can learn a lot from jesus' example. Just like Jesus was called to serve, we are also called to help and care for those around us. Serving others doesn't always mean doing big things; it can be a siple as being kind, sharing, and helping out when someone needs it. Being many parts of the one body, who are focused on our mission, means that we work together as a team, supporting each other and sharing the sam goal of spreading love and kindness. When we serve together, we become pilgrims of hope, bringing light and joy to those around us.

Pancake Tuesday

Familes are invited to Pancake Tuesday, held on the Holy Name grounds and hosted by the Catholic Parish of Tuncurry and Forster.  It commences at 3:30pm on Tuesday 4th March the primary oval. Bring a picnic blanket, what you would like to drink. The pancakes will be served from 3:30pm, a jelly eating contest will begin at 4pm until the jelly runs out. Teachers will support their classes to line up for pancakes. We hope you can join us to enjoy this community event.

Ash Wednesday

Children from Yr 3 to Yr 6 will be joining the parish for the Ash Wednesday Mass on 5th March at 9:30am, parents and carers are welcome to join us. This signifies the begining of the Lent. Children will be signed with ashes, marking a commitiment to turn away from sin and follow the gospels. The message in this season of Lent is to take on acts of kindness, pray more regularly and give to the poor, another name used in this season is almsgiving. A Project Compassion Box will be placed inside each classroom where children donate to the charity CARITAS.  

Infants children Yr 1 and Yr 2 will come together in our hall for a simple liturgical ceremony led by Fr John, where they too will be signed with ashes on their forehead by teachers and our Yr 6 Student Leaders. Fr John will then visit Kindergarten to share a gospel story and a message about how to follow Jesus during Lent.

God Bless,

Mrs Genevieve Williamson

Religious Education Coordinator

Primary Coordinator’s Report

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!

During reading group sessions Year 2 have continued to focus on improving their oral reading which has included self-correctly and rereading to maintain meaning, paying attention to sentence punctuation, reading with expression, fluency and accuracy. In each session students are asked to identify the author’s purpose of a text using the PIE acronym. The students will identify and explain if the author is trying to persuade, inform or entertain the reader. Once a week student’s practice using the 5-finger strategy when retelling the story which is: characters, setting, problem, events and resolution. The students have been working hard to develop the skill of being able to make connections to find ways that students can personally relate to a text.  Text-to-self connections is where we connect the text with our own experiences. 

To foster the students’ love of reading, students take part in ‘Flash-light Friday’. During this time the classroom lights are turned off and students are invited to sit somewhere comfortable with a finger flashlight. This is a time for our Year 2 friends to read their favourite book with a blanket or pillow and enjoy a quiet start to their Friday. This is a highlight of week for most Year 2 students.

In writing, Year 2 have been learning about the structure of narrative texts with the focus on Fairy Tales. They have read Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, The True story of the Three Little Pigs and Rapunzel. These classic fairytales and the twists on the originals have allowed students to understand the need for effective character development, descriptions of setting and overall story structure in creating an entertaining fairytale. Students have started to write their own fairytale and have started with writing a description of their setting using adjectives and the 5 senses to make it engaging for the reader.

In Maths, Year 2 are learning different strategies for 2 digit addition. This fortnight they have been focussing on using the jump strategy on a number-line to solve their addition problems. Students have been supporting each other by reminding their partner to always start with the bigger number and make their jumps of 10 nice and clear before they add their jumps of one. The students enjoyed using their whiteboard to show their working which also enabled some trial and error which is necessary in Maths lessons.

In Science, the Year 2 students have had lots of fun engaging in great hands on experiments and investigations. The unit is titled ‘Forces and Energy’. In this unit students explore stationary objects that are subjected to pushes and pulls. Students are investigating how the different strengths of pushes and pulls affect the movement of objects. The concept of gravity has been introduced this week and students have considered the effects of objects being pulled towards the Earth. In this week’s lesson the students investigated what happens when we change the strength of a force. They worked in groups to create a toy car ramp, the students then predicted what will happen to a toy car when the force to push it is made stronger. The students launched their toy car from the launch different marks to measure the distance it travels. Check out these photos of Science in action!

During Sport lessons, Year 2 students have been focusing on Athletic skill development. This fortnight the focus has been on the correct technique for long jump and effective throwing and catching skills.

 Well done Year Two students, I know your teachers are very proud of you all!

Mrs Suzie Monks

Primary Coordinator

I am excited to be returning to Holy Name as the Gifted Education Mentor Project Officer this year. In this role, I will be supporting teachers, students, and families to enhance learning opportunities for High Potential and Gifted students, ensuring they are challenged, engaged, and able to reach their full potential.

In this role, I will work closely with teachers, students, and families to help identify and support students with high potential. I am passionate about ensuring that all students—including those from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds—have access to the support and opportunities they need to thrive. I also value strong partnerships between schools and families, as working together is key to fostering student success.

I look forward to working in the Holy Name community and working with you to support our High Potential and Gifted students. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to learn more about the programs available.

Looking forward to an exciting year ahead!

Gary Pomplun

Gary.pomplun@mn.catholic.edu.au

This week saw approximately 30 swimmers from Holy Name and our surrounding Catholic schools compete at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival in Newcastle. Forming the Manning Team, they swam against five other Hunter regions. All our students can be very proud of the way they conducted themselves on the day, they swam well, showed good sportsmanship, cheered on their Manning teammates and represented their region with pride. Thank you to our Parents, Grandparents and Carers for taking days off work and organizing lifts etc. ensuring the students could compete. Whilst all the students competed very well on the day, it was a tough, competitive meet with a few Diocesan records broken. A huge congratulations to our Penny Green, who has been invited to represent the Diocese at Polding in the 50m Freestyle. I apologise we didn’t get the chance to snap many photos but please enjoy these few we managed to capture!  

Miss McKinnon, Mr. Doyle and I want to thank all the students for their participation. 

Mrs Michelle Quilter  

Sport Coordinator 

One positive takeaway, other than actually making it to the final, is some of our opposition are joining our team for our next adventure - the Viking Challenge!

• Laura Flannery

A messsage from the Holy Name P&F committee.

We hope you all had a fantastic break and are ready for another exciting year ahead! We have a packed calendar of events planned, and we can’t wait to share all the details with you soon. Be sure to follow the Holy Name Primary School social media channels to stay up to date with important dates for your diaries!

In addition to these events, we are currently working closely with the wonderful staff at Holy Name to finalize the order of some fantastic new school sports equipment in both the primary and infants playgrounds. While we had hoped to secure additional funding to support the design and construction of play equipment in the Primary playground unfortunately, it has fallen through. However, we remain committed to making this a reality and will continue working towards this as our major fundraising goal for the year.

Thank you for your ongoing support—we look forward to a fantastic year ahead!

Harmony Day

SAVE THE DATE ? Harmony Day will be celebrated at Holy Name this year on FRIDAY the 21st of March.  We will have an assembly in the hall at 9:30am.  Children are invited to wear orange OR traditional clothing from countries of their heritage.  Please give your child a gold coin donation for afternoon tea if you are able.

Everyone is welcome to attend Harmony Day!

Regards,

Mrs Bronwyn Morse.

EALD Teacher