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Welcome to the first of our two cooler terms at school. We have moved into our winter uniform and have started sitting on the paved area for lunch to catch the winter sun. It is also a time when the day starts off cold but warms up. We are noticing that jumpers and jackets are taken off when playing and left around the school as children get too hot to wear them. To help us with this problem, we ask that you clearly label all items of clothing and remind your children that if it's not on them then it should be in their bag. I know I'm preaching to the converted but it's so hard to find the owners when items are lost or damaged as a result of being left around the schoolyard.
This term includes NAPLAN, A Youth Mass on Sunday 19th May and the Semester 1 student Reporting period. At Holy Name, we are also changing over providers for the OOSH service at school. In Week 6, on the 5th June, St Nicholas OOSH Services will transition to provide care for the students at Holy Name. Jo Mathers and her team from Dolphins have been fantastic for our school and I'm positive that St Nicholas will provide the same level of quality care for our families. If you'd like to know more about St Nicholas OOSH or enrol your child, please see the administration staff at school for details.
For those of you who don't know yet, towards the end of last term, I married my partner, Neil and have taken his surname. That's why you may start to notice 'Mrs Stephens' replacing 'Mrs Schumann' on different documents. This process will take a little time to formally change over all platforms.
Thank you to all of the parents and carers who were able to attend the Parent Teacher night at the end of Term 1. There was a great buzz in the hall with the sharing of information between home and school. If you missed out and feel you need to catch up with your child's teacher, please make an appointment to see them by contacting our front office.
On April 25, our school staff and students gathered to march with the community on ANZAC Day. It was awesome to have so many of our students and their families support this special event. I was very proud to sit with our students as they respectfully participated in the service. Thank you for your wonderful support of this event.
It was also fantastic to have so many of our families and members of our community here to commemorate ANZAC Day as a school last Friday. The visitors to our school always enjoy the experience and congratulate our staff and students on the way we prepare and participate in these services. Year 5 students, led by Mr Haire and Mrs Hannigan did a wonderful job in their first week back to school.
This week, our Diocesan Communications team visited and took some photos and footage of 4 of our wonderful volunteers. The footage will be used as part of an advertising campaign across the Diocese to celebrate volunteers throughout May. Holy Name Primary School really appreciates the many volunteers we have that support through their work with the P&F, assisting in the classrooms, library, garden program, Mother's Day, Father's Day & Christmas stalls, the Easter raffle, BBQs, and all other fundraising events throughout the year. Check out the flyer later in the newsletter for an invitation to attend the premiere screening of the movie 'POMS' in Newcastle.
We've had a wonderful response to our invitation to take a bus down to the Aspire performance in Newcastle on Thursday 1st August. With 18 families committing prior to the holidays, we purchased 40 tickets and have only 5 left! If you are interested in the tickets, they can be purchased through our front office.
Please don't forget that this Sunday, Mother's Day, our Parish is farewelling Sr Louise with a Mass at 10 am followed by some light refreshments. We are also encouraging our families to support a community fundraising event at the Lakeside Tavern on Sunday afternoon from 2.30pm for one of our Holy Name families, the Hadenham's who are experiencing hardship at the moment. Belinda Hamence suffered a stroke at the end of last year and we are hoping to raise much-needed funds to help the family during this time. The Holy Name staff and P&F are contributing to prizes and on the day as volunteers. We'd love to see you there!
I hope you enjoy reading each article as they shine a light on the sporting, cultural and academic successes that have been part of our educational plan over the last 5 weeks.
Don't forget that our Pupil Free day this term is coming up. On Tuesday the 11th of June, our school will be closed and teachers will be working on the Social Emotional Learning program that will be introduced later this term.
Students investing in the local environment
Peneton Creek Clean Up
During the last week of Term 1 members of our Student Representative Council took part in a community clean up at Peneton Creek. The creek runs close to Club Forster and the Golf Course and eventually feeds into our glorious Wallis Lake. The children worked with Brian from Hunter Local Land Services and Heidi from Tangaroa Blue, an Australian Marine Debris Initiative.
There was so much rubbish collected from the creek and surrounds! The majority of the rubbish was plastic waste along with some glass and paper waste. The children worked in groups to collect the rubbish (whilst fighting the mozzies) and completed an audit with Heidi to monitor our future work.
We hope to do a community clean up once a term and will work on minimising our school rubbish as well by conducting a Rubbish Audit and using our “Bin Heroes.”
“Bin Heroes”
SRC Representatives in Years 3 and 4 have taken on the job of Bin Heroes. Each break the children take turns in both the Infants and Primary playgrounds to assist the children in putting their rubbish in the correct bins. Interestingly, they believe the Infants are much better at putting their rubbish in the correct bins than the primary students.
NSW PSSA Swimming
During the last week of Term 1, the NSW PSSA Swimming Championships were held at Homebush. Sophie Scislo and Ethan Hudson were representing Polding at the event. Sophie competed in the 50m Butterfly and achieved 25th place. Ethan came 17th in the 200m IM, 7th in the 50m Butterfly and 7th in the 50m breaststroke. This is a fantastic effort by our Holy Name children. Congratulations to you both!
Diocesan Cross Country
On Tuesday, the Diocesan cross Country Championships was held in Maitland. Our team consisted of: Archie Anthony, Levi Van Haren, Aston Hodges, Kannika Broadbent, Bonnie Dempsey, Layla Hickson, Nash Syron, Preston Robertson, Liam Shanahan, Alexis Hudson, Sophie Scislo, Alexis Wakefield, Rohan Dormor, Ethan Hudson, Lylah Darcy, Jocelyn Reardon, Kalani Ryan, Jonathan Botros, Riley Webster, Grace Randall, Nyoka Syron, Indigo Titow.
Mr Mackay travelled to Maitland as the Team Manager and he said that all the children did their very best and represented Holy Name School with pride. Alexis Hudson came 2nd place in the 10 years girls and will go through to the Polding Championships next month. Congratulations Alexis!
Winter Sport Trials
Kalani Ryan and Alexis Hudson travelled to Tamworth last week for the Polding Soccer. The girls played their absolute best and have been chosen to be part of the team for the NSW PSSA Girls football championship at Lismore in Week 4. Again, a huge congratulations to these girls!
Logan Joughin made it to Polding level for Rugby League – another great effort.
HOUSE POINTS
We tallied our House Points at the end of Term 1. These points came from our Swimming and Cross Country carnivals as well as the children being “caught” doing great things around the school and being awarded points.
Dolphins 755 points
Stingrays 668 points
Whales 545 points
Sharks 637 points
Science and Engineering Challenge
Last Friday Year 6 travelled to the Taree Racecourse to compete in the Science and Engineering Challenge. The children worked in small groups to solve a variety of problems, including creating a bionic hand using straws and string, building a bridge using paper that can hold a weight, designing a building that can survive an earthquake, amongst other learning experiences. It was awesome to see how engaged the students were in their learning and how well they collaborated with each other sharing their ideas and possible solutions. A special congratulations must go to Bin Jie Wong, Isabella Trummel, Ethan Hudson, Andrew Miller, Lincoln Dempsey, Manuela Stewart, Rohan Dormor and Oliver Zarate who were announced winners of the competition.
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden
Off to a flying start in the SAKG this term. The garden looks great after some lovely rain over the past few weeks. Years 3 and 4 are in the Kitchen Garden this Term and have been busy learning their knife skills, getting tool licences etc. This fortnight the children have been creating Rice Paper Rolls with delicious fresh produce from the garden as well as a very tasty dipping sauce.
WORKING BEE
We are holding 2 Working Bees in the Kitchen Garden this term.
Monday 20/5 and Monday 3/6
From 3-5 pm
ALL WELCOME!
REFRESHMENTS SUPPLIED!
SAVE THE DATE
HNS BALL – Major Fundraiser for our Kitchen Garden
Club Forster Saturday August 10th
We have been a bit light on in Coding Club this week – I think a few children have forgotten since Term 1.
CODING CLUB is held in the library on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Second Lunch when Mrs Loring is available. During Weeks 3 and 4 Coding will be in the 6L classroom as the library is being used for NAPLAN.
The children who were involved in Coding in 2018 are in the process of building their LEGO Mindstorm robots and will create some code over the next couple of weeks to make them move and follow some challenges. The newer members of the club are working on the online Coding program called SCRATCH to build up their knowledge and to get their little Sprites to follow code commands.