Dear Parents and Carers,

I am in the midst of finalising the school budget for 2026.  One of the mindsets I adopt is not just about expenses for the next calendar year, but how these investments can benefit Holy Name in the long term. So, a brief reflection on investments.

As our students begin their two-week spring holiday, I want to share a thought about investment. We often think of investment in terms of money, but the most valuable investments we make are with our time, energy, and presence.

The break offers a wonderful chance to invest in what matters most:

• Health — time outdoors, rest, and unhurried days.
• Relationships — shared meals, conversations, and laughter that children will remember long after the holidays are over.
• Growth — exploring a new place, trying a new activity, or simply encouraging curiosity.
• Presence — setting aside the rush and being fully available to one another.

These are the investments that compound across a lifetime. They strengthen families, build resilience, and create the memories that shape a child’s sense of belonging and joy.

May these holidays be a time of rest, connection, and renewal for your families. Thank you for the investment you continue to make, not only in your children’s education but also in their well-being and character.

See you in around 18 sleeps.

Ben Doyle
Principal

Public Speaking

Anna Brooks from Year 4 and Nanma Joy from Year 6 represented HNS and the Manning region at the Diocesan Public Speaking competition on Monday. The girls gave their all in both their impromptu and prepared speeches. Nanma's topics were Leadership for her impromptu speech and Integrity for her prepared speech. Anna's topics were Responsibility for impromptu and Patience for her prepared speech.

Anna did exceptionally well and was awarded first prize in the Stage 2 division. Anna has a natural talent for Public Speaking and I am sure this skill and talent will serve her well as she moves through her school life and beyond.

Attendance

This week HNS undertook the COSI compliance validation in the areas of enrolment and attendance. There were two areas that stood out: the number of children with unexplained absences and the number of children with partial absences.

Attendance at school is a legal requirement. The school day begins at 8.50 at HNS and the students are expected to be at school, on time. The first lesson of the day in all classes is Reading and students who are repeatedly late for school are missing the most vital lessons of the day.

If your child is unwell or cannot attend school for any reason, you MUST NOTIFY THE SCHOOL OFFICE. This can be done using the Compass app or emailing or calling the school office. If we are not notified of absences within 7 days, they are recorded as unexplained absences and we then must follow procedure by contacting families, following CSO and Government policies, arranging meetings or even mandatory reporting of unexplained absences to DCJ and our Office of Safeguarding.

If you are planning on taking your child out of school for a period of 10 days or more, you must apply for leave using an Extended Leave form at least 4 weeks prior to the absence.

We are tightening up these procedures at school and would appreciate your valued support.

Uniform

Students will return to school in full Summer Uniform. The school hat is a mandatory Uniform item and must be worn by students whenever they are outside. Shoes and socks are to be plain black. Hair below the shoulders is to be always tied back and jewellery is to be kept to a minimum i.e. a watch, plain sleepers or studs and a signet ring. Makeup is not to be worn at school and nails are not to be painted. Please maintain your adherence to our uniform policy as it helps to develop a sense of Belonging and pride in our school.

PB4L

Class Award Winners Term 3 Week 8

Principal Award Winners Term 3 Week 8

 Sport News From Mrs Quilter

Tennis News 

The Todd Woodbridge Cup Regional Playoffs are happening very soon after we return for Term 4. It will be held at Kendall Tennis Club on Monday of Week 2, which is Monday 20th October 2025. Permission notes will go out first day back. There will be a cost associated as we will travel together by minibus. One team of 10 students from Stage 2 will attend and one team of 10 students from Stage 3 will attend with Mrs Quilter and another teacher.  

2026 Swimming Carnival 

As a result of Manning Region and CSO timetabling, our 2026 Swimming Carnival will take place in Term 4 this year. The exact date will be advised closer to the event. 

Yr 6 SRC Student Reports

We would also like to announce that year six will be giving out special surfboards around the playground at lunch time, so keep following the PB4L focus and maybe you’ll get one!"

Grandparents Day Celebrations

Upcoming Term 4 Dates

Friday Parish Mass at 9:30am: 

Week 4 Mission Liturgy 11:30am MacKillop Hall led by Year 3                                  Week 5 Remembrance Day Ceremony 10:30am Kirkangina led by Year 5                  Week 8 Year 6 Graduation Mass 11:30am Kirkangina led by Year 6                          Week 9 Christmas Concert 5:30pm Christmas Concert Kirkangina                               

Sacramental News 

Sacrament of Eucharist

For children in Yr4 (additionally any children in Yr5 or above who missed preparing for the Sacrament of Eucharist), are now invited to enrol in the program. Closing date for enrolment is Friday, 17 October 2025 at 3pm.

Preparation 1: Monday, 3 November 3:30pm-5pm
Preparation 2: Monday, 10 November 3:30pm-5pm
Preparations will be held in Parish Hall

Sacrament of Eucharist with Fr John Vo on Saturday, 15 November at the 5pm
Vigil Mass in the Church.

Enrolment Form: The Sacramental Program enrolment form can be completed online
via the Parish website: www.forstertuncurrycatholic.org.au ‘Sacraments/ Sacramental
Preparation (Enrolment Form)’.

Baptism Certificate
For your child’s preparation, we need a recent copy of their Baptism Certificate.
If your child was baptised in another Parish please contact that Parish to obtain your
child’s baptism certificate then send us the copy of the Baptism Certificate by email to:
forster-tuncurry.parish@mn.catholic.org.au or at our office

Welcome Fr Christogonus Okoro

We welcome Fr Christogonus Okoro ( Fr Christo) from 16th September to 7th October to support our Parish whilst Fr John Vo is on leave.

Eucharist Celebrations for Emmanuel Shibu

Last Friday evening, Emmanuel Shibu (Year 5) celebrated his First Holy Communion with eight fellow candidates at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Taree. The sacrament was celebrated by Fr Joyce (Newcastle), Vicar General of Newcatle Maitland Diocese Fr Greg Barker, and Parish Priest Fr Kevin Corrigan.

Emmanuel is a member of the Syro-Malabar Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome, with roots tracing back to Saint Thomas the Apostle.

Congratulations Emmanuel!

Genevieve Williamson

Religious Education Coordinator

Mathematics In Action @ HNS

As a school, we have been focusing on strengthening the structure of our Mathematics teaching blocks and refining our assessment practices. It has been wonderful to see and hear about the engaging and meaningful learning experiences taking place across all classrooms. Here’s a snapshot of some of the fun!

In Mathematics this week, Kindergarten have been learning about volume, with a focus on describing and comparing the capacity of different containers. Through hands-on exploration, students developed their understanding of the terms empty, half full, and full. Out in the sandpit, they measured and compared the volume of different cups and bowls using a small cup as an informal measuring tool. The children had a wonderful time exploring, comparing, and sharing their discoveries with their peers!

This fortnight in Maths, Year 1 have been busy exploring the world of data. They’ve enjoyed becoming little data detectives, gathering information about cars, favourite sports, and even Smartie colours! Using tally marks to record their findings, they then transformed this data into colourful column and picture graphs. It’s been fantastic to see their enthusiasm grow as they discovered how to represent information in different ways. What a great start to understanding statistics!

Our learning about fractions has now connected to our new focus on measuring time. Just like a shape can be divided into halves and quarters, students are learning that a clock face can also be divided into equal parts. This has helped them understand concepts such as half past and quarter to. Through this learning, it became clear that while many students could work out the steps needed to solve a two-step problem, explaining their thinking and clearly showing their working out was more challenging. As a result, setting personal learning goals around explaining mathematical reasoning has become a key focus in Year 2.

Year 3 – Learning through Minecraft Education

Year 3 have been learning about Area in Maths, so we decided to use Minecraft for Education to do this. Each student went to their own designated build plate, and using square carpet tiles made rectangular carpets. We were then able to calculate the area of our rectangular carpets using the formula Area = length x width. Each student then displayed this information on a sign, which even included the units of measurement.

Year 4 – Maths Learning

Year 4 have been designing sports stadiums in Maths. Utilising skills such as multiplying, addition, area, and problem-solving involving money; students have to design a stadium for a specific sport, calculate how many seats can fit in the stadium then designate ticket prices for seating areas and calculate how much money they would make if the stadium was fully sold out. Students have had fun designing for a range of activities; from Olympic pools to soccer to NRL to concert arenas with a stage and VIP area! This engaging project combined measurement, multiplication, problem-solving, and financial literacy, while encouraging creativity and critical thinking. Year 4 have also been working hard to achieve their individual maths goals. The pictures were from a lesson where small groups completed mini lesson on multi-step problem solving using multiple operations, and rounding to the nearest thousand and tens of thousands.

Today (Wednesday), 2T celebrated our much-anticipated Power Up Day, and what a success it was! Throughout the term, students have been earning Power Up tokens for showing their learning strengths, positive behaviour, resilience.

This morning, students carefully counted their tokens, decided how to spend them, and redeemed reward vouchers. Some vouchers, such as creating a custom bookmark or superhero mask, were used today, while others saved theirs for next term. To celebrate our ‘super strengths’, students enjoyed custom superhero colouring sheets and, in the afternoon, worked on creating personal regulation strategies to support their learning and wellbeing next term.

It was a fantastic day of recognising effort, celebrating growth, and setting ourselves up for continued success!

News from Our Year 6 Students

Year 6 Update - Max Stephenson, Harry Naughton, Liam MacArthur, and Levi Miller

"In Term 3, we have been learning about - 

English: We are writing free verse poems, like in the book "Worse Things" by Sally Murphy. We have also been learning about particular word choices in text and the purpose of using these in poems. 

Science: We have been learning about states of matter. 

Maths: We have been learning about area of shapes, decimal numbers and order of operations. 

Art: We have been doing these amazing skateboards - they look great! See pictures below.

Sport: We have been learning how to play netball. We have been practising our coaching to further our drills and skills in Netball. 

Geography: We are learning about Asian countries and have created Minecraft Education worlds based on our chosen countries." 

Colour Run - Reuben Cassar & Jack Dexter

On Friday Afternoon, Holy name participated in the colour run. The teachers went first! They got sprayed by the fire department, who were spraying us with a hose of water whilst we were crawling under the net. Lots of families gathered to squeeze the colours at us. The tyres were next, they had to put one foot in each tyre, with parents squeezing colours all over them. Next, they ran through this mini dance area for one minute where they were playing dance songs! A huge puddle of water was next, which everyone slid through on their knees and bellies. After that, they ran under a parachute which we had to run out of before it closed on them. 

Miss Meers said that she enjoyed the cool water and getting splashed by it, "It was refreshing.” 

“If I could pick my inflatable, it would've been the unicorn because it was cute” Mrs Tull said. 

“The teachers in the costumes because it brought everyone in joy. I liked the parachute part of the obstacle”  some students said. 

Overall, it was a great day!

Year 6 Cake Stall - Miss Flannery

On Tuesday 23^rd September, Year 6 sold cakes and other sweet treats to raise money for their Graduation. In small groups, students created a food truck with Amy Arrow - which were so creative, colourful and well-designed. We decided to link these to our cake stall and each student was tasked with bringing in a sweet treat based on their food truck theme. There were so many creative ideas and yummy options! 

Students raised a total of $1086 on the day and was a huge success! 

Thank you to parents and Year 6 who were so creative in their fundraising efforts.

I hope all of our families have a happy and safe break. We will see you all in Term 4 for another great term of learning!

Happy learning,

Mrs Suzie Monks

Primary Coordinator

Holiday Fun and Registering for Nippers 2026