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Dear Parents and Carers,
Although Wellbeing Week didn't entirely go to plan, it was a great example of the high level of support and collaboration that exists between our families and our staff. The work that our teachers and clerical staff have done over the last 12 months to make sure that most parents and carers are accessing the Diocesan Student Information System called Compass, helped to streamline the consistent communication that wass needed to effectively evacuate and update our families throughout this week. Families receive the alerts they need when using the Compass App by making sure that 'notifications' are turned 'on' in the settings of the App. If you don't or can't access the App, you receive an email to your inbox with the same information. As one family pointed out to me this week, without the notifications turned on, they didn't look at Compass and didn't check their emails, so weren't alerted to the situation. We found there were two solutions to this, of which both are now in place - turn notifications 'on' in the settings of the App and the school can and did start to send an sms to alert parents of the need to check Compass or email. This message is at a cost of $30 which I think is reasonable when the message is a priority. We also supported a few families who had forgotten their usernames and passwords, this is an easy thing to do and no trouble, so if you're having problems accessing Compass, please contact the school and we will do our best to support you. Thank you for working with us to continually improve what we do to connect with our families. If you would like support to access the Compass System, please contact the school.
For the entire time I've been following the government's 'Return to School Roadmap', I have been uncertain as to how schools were going to manage during Term 4, in settings that have greater exposure to the virus due to the easing of restrictions with approximately 10% of people vaccinated (mainly the teachers). There are all sorts of strategies in place to support us, such increased handwashing and hygiene, limiting the mixing of groups, increased cleaning of surfaces, social distancing, wearing of masks and increased ventilation, however, these don't account for the movement of staff between classes, the challenges of communicating with young people while wearing a mask, the shared amenity spaces, outside play, bus travel and the practicalities of student arrival and dismissal procedures that require students to group together. I cannot see how the events of this week will not be repeated consistently and will therefore be discussing with staff how we can minimise the number of students and families impacted each time. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them - brooke.stephens@mn.catholic.edu.au.
Our school will open this Monday for staff and students who are able to return under the guidelines of NSW Health. A member of staff will monitor the entry of students to ensure that all families received the correct messages on Thursday and Friday. Any student who attends school and should be home isolating will be sent home. Any student with symptoms of COVID-19 will be sent home. We will isolate the student and supervise them until a parent or carer can pick them up. We have had to make some changes to staffing to cover the isolation periods of some staff but will have all options covered for our students.
Some classes will be learning from home and others at school. There are some students whose teacher and most of the class will be working from home. We will provide supervision for any student who was not a close contact to complete their 'learning from home' at school. Our canteen will operate as normal this week as the Cooper family have been able to manage the isolation requirements following the NSW Health advice.
The school events for the remainder of the year are consistently being adjusted to reflect the changes and periods of isolation. Please be sure to check Compass for any changes that may impact your family.
Classes for 2022
Over the last two weeks, our staff developed the first draft of the class lists for 2022. It's not too late to send an email to admin@forster.catholic.edu.au if you have something you would like considered as part of your child's journey. All students have also participated in some form of testing that gives us information about the growth and/or needs of individual and groups of students. Our teachers are already using this information to provide support for students, and our teachers will continue to use this information next year to guide their planning.
We were saddened to hear this week that Jye Bowen, our new Kindergarten teacher for 2022 has been offered, and has accepted an appointment closer to his home in Newcastle. It is always hard to entice the young staff north from their homes in the bigger cities and we understand that Jye was finding it difficult to find somewhere to live up here. We wish Jye well and will now return to focus on the appointment of a new member of our team.
Tell Them From Me Survey
Although the last 12 months have not been ideal for the normal functioning of schools, I do believe the circumstances have resulted in some positive changes for Holy Name and opportunities for constructive feedback. I would therefore appreciate as many families as possible completing the Tell Them From Me annual school survey. The information we gained last year from our current parent group informed our planning and the changes made for this year. You can access the survey using the link below and can do so until Friday 17th November. The Catholic Schools Office recognised the challenges of this year and extended the date in the hope of capturing more parent responses. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.
www.tellthemfromme.com/holyname2021
Parents & Friends Meeting
This Tuesday at 6pm we will meet online at 6pm for our final P&F Meeting for the year. If you would like to join this meeting, please make contact with the school and have oyur name added to the list of invitations.
I am thinking of all those families affected by the virus and will look forward to having our community return to regular operation as soon as possible.
Take care,
Principal
Brooke Stephens
Wishing our Yr 12 students at St Clare's and Great Lakes College all the best over the coming weeks. This newsletter from St Clare's high school includes some Year 12 videos created by Year 12 student Patrick Guthridge and Creative Arts Teacher Callam Howard. Hope you enjoy.
Holy Name Garden and Catholic Care Community Kitchen Partnership News
During lunch these past few weeks, our Garden Club have been busy preparing the beds for planting. New seedlings are now planted across all the beds and are awaiting the coming rain to give them a boost of growth. We have planted cucumber, an assortment of lettuce, rainbow shard, sorrel and basil, with marigolds as the companion plants between them.
Each Monday produce is harvested and eggs are collected. We donate these to our Catholic Care Community Kitchen partners to feed the needy in our community.
Year 2 have been planting their beans grown from seed. You can see how proud they are of their green thumbs. This produce grown will also be harvested to share with the Catholic Care Community Kitchen, what a beautiful way to show our school motto, "Concern for Others." Thank you Year 2 for helping to make a difference in our community.
SRC
Year 6 students meet as an SRC each Tuesday to continue to make a difference through good leadership and action at Holy Name. This week our School Leaders are preparing to share their ideas of ways to reduce the number of plastics brought to school. They wish to present this in our next newsletter and to also speak to all classes about what students can do to help reduce waste at school. The Social Justice Group are designing Christmas cards for people in our community who will share Christmas lunch with the parish and Catholic Care Kitchen helpers. Newly purchased basketballs will be pumped up, labelled and will be brought into circulation by the Sports Committee. The group will ask Mr Peninton to put up the infants basketball rings. Our Environment Group will be painting the remainder of the white planter pots, ready for Mrs Banham to outline next week, with our key words BELONG, LEARN, SERVE and our PBL action words RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, RESILIENCE. The IT group are finalising putting together their resource boxes to construct things and also plan STEM activities that the whole school will participate in, later this term. The Arts Group will be designing posters for the yellow and red bins with what foods should go into them along with slogan posters around the school reminding students to keep our school tidy and rubbish free. They are also making a video to teach students to follow rules at school.
ICAS Testing
The English and Maths ICAS Tests have now been completed. Over the next two weeks, children who nominated for the Science and Spelling Bee will sit these tests. We wish the following students good luck:Byron Donegan, Riley Kinkade, Nash Syron, Abby Moelker, Tara Isbel, Macey Millington, Ellie Goodin, Kim Tulio, Isaac Adamson, Jade Thacker, Levi Van Haren, Aston Hodges, Marley Donegan, Myra Gupta, Madeline Todd, Matthew Goodin, Grace Zarate, Joshua Matta, Christian Botros, Marcus Kim, Max Isbel, Zia Singh, Eamonn Donegan, Simarpreet Singh Dhaliwal, Mackenzie Quilter, Aubrie Jimenez, Nanma Joy, Harrison Naughton.
Acting Assistant Principal
Genevieve Williamson
There have been many events over the past fortnight to report on, with each student’s faith being actively lived out through social justice initiatives, through prayer, as well as engaging in the Sacramental life of the Church.
Socktober
At the end of Week 4, our whole school engaged in Socktober Day. It was wonderful to witness the excitement and enjoyment amongst the children as they used their recyclable materials to first of all create their soccer ball, then to use it in a game situation. There was great learnings that happened in the classrooms in the lead up to this day, and the students have a deeper understanding of how fortunate they are compared to many other children around the world.
Christmas Hampers
Our Christmas Hamper initiative is well underway. Thank you to all the families who have contributed so far. Over the coming weeks, I will be placing baskets in the Year 3 and 4 classrooms for students to bring in non-perishable items that can be put together to give to a family who would benefit from this support during the festive season. The generosity in this giving is an opportunity for students to actively live out our school motto of demonstrating ‘Concern for Others’.
All Saints Day
Last Monday, all classes celebrated All Saints Day with a liturgy in their classrooms, while on Tuesday the Stage 3 classes celebrated All Souls Day in a liturgy led by our Parish Priest, Fr Peter Street. Both All Saints Day and All Souls Day are significant days in our Catholic Church as we pray for those who have gone before us that their souls may rest in peace. Across the school, the students were extremely respectful and reverent engaging in both of these Feast Days.
First Holy Communion
Last weekend, we had students receive Communion for the first time and received the Sacrament of Eucharist. This is an important step in these children’s faith journey. Congratulations to Lincoln Atkinson, Nakoda Ryan, Lilah Gibson, Harley Van Haren. Caleb Younani, Max Isbel and Jayden Bowie will receive this Sacrament in the coming weeks.
Gary Pomplun
Acting Religious Education Coordinator.
Wellbeing Week
Each wellbeing week I share some clips with the staff and students that aim to promote wellbeing and mindfulness. Here are a couple that you may like to share with your families. Wellbeing Week clip…. A Moment of Peace. This video explains how to find some calm and peace in difficult moments. It can help you find a sense of peace when your world seems overwhelming or when things are getting you down. You might like to share this clip with your family today and after the video, pause to think about your moments of peace, joy and gratitude.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQdM_Cku9pA
Mindfulness allows us to see our thoughts and feelings as they really are, freeing us from old ways of thinking. How Mindfulness Empowers Us:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzKryaN44ss&t=56s
UNICEF World Children’s Day
On Friday November 19 we will support UNICEF World Children’s Day. It is a day for children around the globe to celebrate the rights of children everywhere. Our Mini Vinnies team are working toward sharing some young peoples stories with our school community. These young people have made a difference in the world and continue to inspire and empower others. We have made a RAP and you can see it if you head over to our HNS Facebook page. We had lots of fun in our Friday meeting.
Mini Vinnies have been actioning their service to others in making dream pillows, filled with lavender to promote a restful night’s sleep for our new transitioning Kindergarten cohort for 2022. The Mini Vinnies team are becoming quite clever at stitching and I love seeing how proud they are to have mastered a new skill.
I’m grateful to be continually surrounded by so many students think of others and live our school motto “Concern for Others.”
Kristie Banham
Pastoral Care Worker
David McGovern from Catholic Missions dropped into school to thank Mr Pomplun and our school community for the work we do in raising funds for Catholic Missions. Thanks for thinking of us David!
Holy Name Cheerleading Team News
Last weekend the Holy Name Cheer team joined the rest of the Glamily in a SHOWCASE weekend. They had so much fun team bonding, training and performing for the first time for friends and family in their uniforms. We have attached some photos and a video for your enjoyment and encourage any interested families to make contact with Dani at Great Lakes Cheerleading on 0417 889 837. Our team trains on a Friday morning from 8am -9am. This team have achieved goals beyond our dreams especially in their first year and we are excited to see them compete in December.