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Hasn't the sunshine been fabulous! We've had our fair share of rain and tough weather conditions over the last couple of weeks and I imagine many of our farming families have been comparing the stark difference between the droughts and fires, and the flooding rains of recent times. I hope everyone has managed okay during these times and would like to remind our families that you are part of our community and can lean on us during tough times. Please make contact if you need our support.
During the chaos of last week, our amazing athletes, Sophie Scislo and Hamish Carmichael, and their parents (who got them to Sydney in all that rain), represented our Maitland Newcastle Diocese as they competed in Sydney at the NSW Catholic Schools Polding Swimming Carnival. Our students back at school or from home were able to watch via a live stream to see both Sophie and Hamish qualify for the State swimming event. This is an outstanding achievement and we are so very proud of both of you. Congratulations on this awesome result!
Last week, we tested out our NAPLAN procedures and provided the opportunity for the Yr 3 & Yr 5 students to practice the type of conditions they will be under during the upcoming NAPLAN tests. All ran smoothly and our students will continue to prepare for NAPLAN by learning about the 'how to' of taking tests in the online platform and continue to develop their literacy and numeracy skills to demonstrate what they know and can do. If your child is in Year 3 and Year 5, there are plenty of options for you to check out what can be expected on the NAPLAN site.
The school canteen service has been going well and we thank you for your support. Unfortunately, the canteen service will not operate this week due to prior commitments, however, don't forget to get your access to the Qkr! App to order online from the menu from the start of Term 2 or to drop your orders into the office by 8.45am. When ordering online, it is important to tick whether you want the order at lunch 1 or lunch 2.
Don't forget to get onboard with the Diocesan P&F Cybersafety free workshop. We continue to have so many concerns about what our students are engaging with online and encourage our families to keep up to date with how they can help their children navigate through these issues and be safe.
I would also like to flag with families that Thursday 6th May we are planning a Staff Development day as we pause to look at our pedagogy in writing. We will use the gradual release of responsibility model that we use in reading to apply to the teaching of writing. This will also support our work in making learning visible to students and engaging them in the ownership of their learning growth.
I am looking forward to your feedback following the Student Led Conferences and hope that you are beginning to notice the impact of our work on your child's capacity to talk about what they are learning, why they are learning it, how they are going, where they can go for help and where they can improve.
I hope your Easter and school holiday break is a joyful time.
Brooke Stephens
Sport
Polding Swimming
As mentioned in the Principal’s report, HNS swimmers had great success at the Polding Swimming Carnival last week.
Sophie Scislo came 1st place in the senior girls 50m Butterfly and 3rd in the 50m Freestyle. Hamish Carmichael came 3rd in the Junior boys breaststroke. This is a phenomenal achievement by these students!! Both Sophie and Hamish will return to the Olympic Pool at Homebush this week to compete against the cream of the crop in the NSW State Swimming Championships.
We can watch the children live online and I am sure that the Year 4 and Year 6 students will be particularly interested on how our own Madam Butterfly and Superfish swim! Good luck children and we hope that all your hard work and dedication (and your parent’s) pays off.
Winter Trials
Over the past week or so, several children travelled to Newcastle for Winter sports Trials. Levi Van Haren and Charlie Gibson (5/6P) were successful in making it through to Polding trials in Soccer. Liam Shanahan and Isabel Allport will travel to Polding trials for Hockey next term.
Cross Country
Diocesan Cross Country is to be held on April 27th at Maitland. The children will get their information and permission notes tomorrow. As there is inadequate parking at the venue, this will be a parent free event and children will travel to Maitland on a Regional Bus.
ICAS
Early next term, I will send out information about the annual University of NSW ICAS assessments. These assessments will be available in Writing, Digital Technologies, English, Science, Spelling and Mathematics. The assessments take place at school using an online platform and the tests can be paid for online through the ICAS portal.
Here’s hoping you have a beautiful Easter with those you love. Stay safe and we will see you back at school on Monday, April 19th.
The NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely.
If you would like your child to enter in the 2021 Premier’s Reading Challenge please send an email to our Teacher librarian Mrs Arrow to request an account – amy.mcgarry@mn.catholic.edu.au
This is a great way to support our whole school focus on reading!
Unfortunately due to prior commitments, Gordon and Niki are unable to provide a canteen service this week. They would like to thank our staff and families for their support so far and look forward to getting things up and running again from Day 1 next term.
It is great to see our students featuring in the St Clare's Newsletter! Close to 40 of our students participated in the Creative Arts workshops under the tutorlage of the ASPIRE Team. We are very grateful for these opportunities provided by our Catholic Schools Office and St Clare's High School.
On Monday the 22nd of March the beautiful children of Holy Name came to school dressed in orange to celebrate Harmony Day. Harmony Day is a special day where our community comes together to share the message that EVERYONE BELONGS in our great country.
The day began with all children gathering to hear the messages of Harmony Day. Representatives from each class spoke to the school community about the importance of living in peace and harmony with one another and recognising that everyone has unique gifts and talents. The children spoke about all the different cultural backgrounds and countries around the world that our families come from as well as showing where they are located on the world map. Our assembly concluded with the EAL/D (English as an Additional Language/Dialect) students leading the school in the song “Everyone Belongs”.
In the morning session, the EAL/D pupils collected family donations of fruit with origins from countries around the world. There were oranges (Asia, grapes (The Mediterranean), apples (Kazakhstan), pineapples (South America), mangoes (India, strawberries (France), bananas (The Philippines) and blueberries (North America) just to name a few! Thank you for your generous donations of fruit pieces and fruit platters. A special thanks to Benjamin Cooper, Indy from 1W's dad, who brought in a donation of fruit from Woolworths at Forster. All children enjoyed a fruit cup at lunch time that was prepared for them by the EAL/D students.
In the middle session, each class showed off their artistic prowess by giving their best effort in the Harmony Day colouring in competition. The EAL/D students along with Mrs Morse, judged the competitions and presented the class winners with a book award before home time.
Thank you to everyone for joining in the celebration of Harmony Day at Holy Name where EVERYONE BELONGS!
Mrs Bronwyn Morse
EALD Teacher
This week our school psychologist, Larissa Collins, has shared some tips with us about how to give kids effective instructions:
The first step to harmony is teaching your child to listen and follow directions.
One of the most important keys to minimizing problem behaviour is making sure that kids are getting the message you’re trying to send. When it comes to parenting, sometimes the way instructions are given can be just as important as what you’re trying to communicate.
Here are ways to present information to your children to make it more likely that they’ll hear you, and comply:
· Be direct. Make statements rather than asking questions: “Please sit down,” as opposed to “Are you ready to get out your homework?”
· Be close. Give instructions when you are near the child, rather than calling out from across the room.
· Use clear and specific commands. Instead of “Go ahead,” say, “Please go start your reading assignment.” · Give age-appropriate instructions. Speak to your child at a level he will understand. If your child is younger, keep things simple and use words you know he knows: “Please pick up the ball.” With older children, who are so often keenly aware of not being “babies anymore” it’s important to be clear without being patronizing.
· Give instructions one at a time. Especially for kids who have attention challenges, try to avoid giving a series of instructions: “Please put on your sneakers, get your lunch off the kitchen counter, and meet me in the front hall.”
· Keep explanations simple. Giving a rationale can increase the likelihood children will listen to a command, but not if the commands gets lost in it. For instance: “Go get your coat on because it’s raining and I don’t want you to catch a cold.” Instead, try: “It’s raining and I don’t want you to catch a cold. Go get your coat on.”
· Give kids time to process. After you give an instruction, wait a few seconds, without repeating what you said. Children then learn to listen to calm instructions given once rather than learning that they don’t need to listen because the instructions will be repeated. Watching and waiting also helps keep adults from doing what we’ve requested of our kids for them.
For more information please go to www.childmind.org
Wishing everyone a happy and safe Easter holiday break,
Kind regards
Simone Maloney
Learning Support Coordinator
The Federal Government's Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) provides eligigble kids with $1013 worth of free dental treatments. These benefits can be used on selected children's services over a 2 calendar year period and cover services like consultations, X-rays, teeth cleaning, fillings, fissure sealing, root canal and tooth extractions.
To be eligible for the CDBS, children must be aged between 2 and 17 and eligible for Medicare. The family must also be receiving Family Tax Benefit Part A or a relevant Australian Government Payment.
Visit this website to find out more about how you can take advantage of these funds for your child.