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Transition to classes for 2021
As mentioned in our last newsletter, the classes at Holy Name will look a little different next year. In drafting the class lists, our staff have considered the academic, social and emotional needs of students and are confident that we have the right combination to continue our strategic improvement focus on academic growth. In Week 9, the students will have 2 opportunities to spend time with their 2021 teacher and fellow students. I thank you in advance for supporting the school's decision and welcome your feedback if you think we may have overlooked an important aspect of your child's education.
This week, we can confirm the following teachers will take the 2021 classes.
Kinder M - Mrs Suzie Monks and (interviews this coming week)
Kinder P - Mrs Sarah Praschinger
Year 1W - Mrs Genevieve Williamson and Mrs Emma Russell
Year 1M - Mr Finlay Mackay
Year 2G - Mr Michael Gleeson
Year 2S - Mrs Kellie Spinks and Miss Deidre Nolan
Year 3M - Miss Terri Meers
Year 3/4H - Mr Sean Hassett and (interviews this coming week)
Year 4W - Mrs Kia Wall
Year 5H - Mr Greg Haire
Year 5/6P - Mr Gary Pomplun and Mrs Emma Russell
Year 6L - Mrs Kyla Loring and Mrs Emma Russell
Attendance and COVID Guidelines
I would like to remind our parents and carers that making sure your children are present for the entire school day is extremely important in giving your child the best chance to achieve the educational outcomes set for them by the NSW Education Standards Authority. It is mandatory that our teachers mark the roll and note non-attendance or late arrival due to the significant impact that absenteeism has on a child's education.
Parents and Carers are also reminded that they need to sign their children in at the office if they are late or to use the Compass App or make contact with the school if their child does not attend. Especially during COVID times, it is not okay for parents and carers to attend classrooms or to enter the school without seeking permission.
Parents & Friends
Next Tuesday, 24th November at 6pm will be our final P&F meeting for 2020. I have a list of people who have requested an invitation and will forward the invitation over the next few days. Please contact the school if you would like to have access to this forum. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our P&F, who have been very supportive of our intiatives, continued to provide opportunities for fundraising and have addressed matters that aim to improve the outcomes for students at Holy Name and beyond. As our new president for 2020, Mr David Isbel has led some very productive meetings during what has been a difficult year for our parents to connect with the school community. We are looking forward to using the new shade at our sports events in 2021.
Calendar of events
Over the next few weeks, the end of year events will take place in different formats. For your information, the following event outline will support your participation where possible. We will record the Grad Mass and Awards assemblies and send a link home as the quality of what parents will see and hear will be better if we do this.
23rd - 27th Nov | Yr 6 Incursion |
30th Nov - 2nd Dec | Yr 5 Adventure Camp |
2nd Dec 11:30am | Yr 6 Grad Mass (Recorded with link sent) |
7th Dec 6:00pm | Yr 6 Grad dinner (Family Invites to come) |
8th-9th Dec | K-5 Transition visits |
10th Dec | P&F Christmas Stall |
11th Dec | K-Yr 6 Awards (Recorded and link sent) |
15th Dec | Christmas Concert released |
Have a great weekend!
Brooke Stephens
Our Yr 6 students are in the midst of transitioning to High School and have enjoyed the experience of visiting their new setting. You can learn more about St Clare's High School through subscribing to their newsletter. You can check out this week's newsletter following this link.
Late last term we harvested lavender from our school garden, dried and stripped it to begin making dream pillows. Mini Vinnies students commenced stitching little fabric squares filled with lavender to give to our 2021 Kindergarten friends visiting in Term 4. We stitched before school and had lots of other students who were keen to learn to sew, so they joined us as well. We spent time in the sunshine, stitching and chatting, making lots and lots of dream pillows. We decided that after we’d made enough for our new Kinder friends we decided to embark on a secret mission to stitch even more dream pillows. Our mission was to make a dream pillow for each member of staff at Holy Name for Wellbeing Week. We stitched and stitched and this week we managed to present all the staff with their very own handmade lavender filled dream pillow. They loved them!! And we loved stitching.
Art Club has been a hive of activity over the past two weeks, students have created a collaborative ‘bark art’ wall consisting of over 100 Aboriginal inspired designs and animals for NAIDOC week that are still proudly on display. The students loved exploring and colouring the images on bark. This week we’ve been busy making big, bright and bold artworks to go along with our Wellbeing Wings we painted a few weeks ago. Students and teachers have enjoyed having their photo taken in front of the wings. There have been big smiles all round. We’ve also made some beautiful kindness rocks to send out into the community.
Friday November 20 we celebrated UNICEF World Children’s Day. Our Mini Vinnies team are continuing to raise funds and supporting this day we are celebrating the rights of children around the world.
Kristie Banham
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day, a day Holy Name holds dear, is a time when as a community we stop and remember with gratitude those who fought and died in past wars around the world. Together we prayed for those brave soldiers of war, and for their families they left behind. We will remember and honour them by being peacemakers in our classrooms and on the playground.
Student Representative Council
During 2020, Mrs Williamson and I have been working to revamp our Student Representative Council (SRC). COVID forced us into having one set of School Leaders for the entire year and we are going to continue this in 2020. The SRC will consist of Year 6 students and classes in Years K-5 will have a chance to choose a Class Leader.
In Week 9, we will elect our SRC for next year. On the Monday, the Year 5 children will meet and nominate students to be on the SRC for 2021. From here we will have a vote to narrow the nominees down to 5 boys and 5 girls. On Wednesday of that week, the 10 nominees will present their speeches to the school community and the current Year 5 and Year 4 classes will vote using the preferential voting system. The Leadership Team will count the votes and the Captains and Vice Captains will be announced at the Awards Presentation on Friday December 11th.
During 2021, we will introduce our new SRC model. Briefly, all children in Year 6 will be identified as leaders. During the latter part of Year 5 children will be encouraged to join one of our 4 Leadership Teams: Social Justice, Environment, Technology and The Arts. They will spend some time in each of the groups during the last Term of Year 5 and then choose which they might like to work in. Each of these groups, as well as the Sports House Captains, elect a male and female representative as their group leader. These 10 leaders become the members of the SRC and the children in Years 4 and 5 vote for the School Captains from these leaders. This policy and Procedure is in the process of being ratified for use from 2021-22.
Children will have to fill in a formal nomination form to be considered for School Captain and will also have an interview with the Principal and Assistant Principal to discuss their application and responsibilities.
We are really excited about changes in this area and cannot wait to begin working with our new team in 2020.
No Canberra Excursion this year due to COVID but we have planned a fun and educational week for our year 6 students at school and in the community next week.
Thanks to all parents who have sent back the permission notes and payment. If you haven't done this can you please send into the office on Monday.
In Week 8's Newsletter we will share a full report and photos of our adventures.
We are looking for someone in our community who would be happy to register with the Catholic Schools Office as a casual school cleaner. At the moment, If our cleaner is away, we ask our groundsman to cover but if he is unavailable, we would prefer to have a back-up. There might be only once or twice a year when your services would be required for 4hours each day, usually between 2pm and 6pm but this is negotiable. If you're interested, please contact the school or begin the registration process with the Catholic Schools Office https://www.mn.catholic.edu.au/careers/expression-of-interest-for-casual-employment/ .
2021 Family Discount & Diocesan Pastoral Contribution Form / Direct Debit forms
Luisa Bowie, our Senior Clerical Officer has requested that families who have not returned the 2021 Family Discount & Diocesan Pastoral Contribution Form do so next week so that the information can be included in our planning for next year. Thank you to all of the families who have returned the forms already.
This week Luisa and Kerry sent out Direct Debit forms for 2021. Please be aware that the forms need to be in by next Wednesday 9 December 2020. If forms are not returned we may need to recalculate your amount.