Filter Content
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to the first of our fortnightly newsletters for 2022! A special welcome to all of our new families - we hope the events and communication this week between home and school are helping to build your connections with our community.
I would like to welcome Mr Mackay to the position of Religious Education Coordinator for Term 1. Mr Mackay is fulfilling this position as Mrs Willaimson is Acting Assistant Principal in Mrs Loring's absence. I'm sure this will be a great experience for Fin in a leadership position at Holy Name School.
Finishing this week with a fabulous first day for our new Kinder students and a successful swimming carnival was a wonderful reminder of the resilience of our school community. Each of these important events was challenged with changes due to the pandemic and unfortunate weather, but neither stopped the true spirit of Holy Name School from shining through.
There are two groups of people who need to be patting themselves on the back at the moment. The first is you, our parents, who prepared your children well for the start of a new school year. This time of year can be unsettling for some students as they work alongside new peers and with new teachers. I am pleased to say that all students transitioned positively into their new environments.
The second group to be acknowledged are our teachers. Aside from the challenges of the pandemic and the need to demonstrate flexibility as they adapt to consistently changing guidelines and delay in the completion of classroom renovations, our staff began the year grieving alongside one of our much loved colleagues, Mrs Loring, as we farewelled her husband Barry, who passed away just before school went back following a battle with cancer. Please keep Kyla and her family in your thoughts and prayers over the coming weeks and months.
The delay in project work meant there were at least 8 classrooms that had building work going on right until the final days of the holidays. Not the ebst way to start the year, however, our teachers still managed to create amazing learning spaces for students. There is now such a fresh feel to many of our spaces and at the start of the 2022 school year, I am feeling really fortunate to have a leadership role among this community of supportive and clever families and staff.
School Improvement Plans
I am looking forward to a wonderful year of growth across our school in the final year of our current strategic plan focused on Formation, Leading & Learning, and Building Community.
Our current strategic plan challenged us to provide opportunities for students, staff and families to experience faith in action and to build leader, teacher and support staff capacity to guarantee learning growth for all students.
This year, we will continue to focus on the formation of students and staff, beginning with the preparation of meaningful liturgies in our classrooms. We will review the religious units of work in Kindergarten (Early Stage 1) and help to transition our Year 1 units to the new 'encounter' aproach to teaching and learning in Religion. The newly developed model for Student Leadership will be enacted and slight adjustments made to ensure the longevity of this formation opportunity for our students. Our Positive Behaviour for Learning plan will look at the instruction of social and emotional learning and how we reward students for demonstrating the positive behaviours we believe will enhance the culture of our school and community. Look for updates from Mrs Williamson or Mrs Monks regarding some changes in this space.
We will continue to work with schools across our Diocese as part of the Leading Learning Collaborative, and this year will be asked to present a summary of our work in a Learning Fair towards the end of the year. We will continue to overlay our improvement agenda with the work of researcher, Lyn Sharratt, with a particular focus on how quality assessment informs instruction, and the importance of early and ongoing intervention to support student learning growth.
We will again target student outcomes in reading, however, we will continue our work in writing and problem solving in maths as well.
As part of our work with other Manning Region Catholic schools, we will continue to focus on building our collective capacity to guarantee reading growth and achievement of outcomes for our Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander students. We will build the capacity of our Indigenous staff to support our pedagogical choices for students in class and focus our attention on developing a culture among our Regional Catholic schools that celebrates our First Nations peoples as we build culturally sensitive learning environments.
Our Gifted Education Mentor will work at our school on Wednesdays. Mr Pomplun will continue to provide professional learning, coordinate the Virtual Academy students, work with students and teachers in classes or in coaching conversations, and coordinate parent meetings and student plans.
Other areas of exploration this year include the Student Feedback & Reporting process and the use of Digital Technology in our classrooms to improve practice. We are beginning our journey with the 'Become Me' program that provides students the opportunity to explore the world of careers based on their interests. This is the first time our region will use this program in our primary schools to join St Clare's who will continue this journey through the high school years.
The Successful Foundations project will continue to support students transition from Preschool to Yr 2. Our Playgroup will commence in the coming weeks on a Thursday and we look forward to connecting with the children and families who will join our school community in 2023.
Kinder Transition
Mrs Monks, Miss Redding, Mrs Quilter and Mrs Banham did an awesome job in supporting families to prepare for Day 1 of Kindergarten. So many of our new families have commented that the process for enrolemnt, from last year all the way through to the big day this week, was just so thoughtful and helpful in ensuring their child was ready, and that they were ready to make this important step in life's journey with their child.
Mrs Praschinger was really missed by all of us in the preparations for this week but we know she is content with her beautiful new daughter, Sienna Grace Praschinger. Sienna was born on January 5th and Sean and Sarah are over the moon and doing well as they navigate all of the new things that come along with parenting for the first time. Sarah's beautiful words in the days following her birth, "We are just in love with her and can't wait to introduce her to everyone at school." When at work, Sarah always spoiled the staff by baking slices and cookies. You can imagine the smiles on faces when Sean arrived on Day 1 with some baked goods for the staff to enjoy! Thank you Mrs Praschinger.
School Swimming Carnival
Thank you to the parents who registered to volunteer and supported a small number of our staff at the 2022 School Swimming Carnival. We were in desperate need of support and they answered the call! All competitors swam in the spirit of good sportsmanship and it was a wonderful sporting event to kick off our year.
Congratulations to the following students who competed and achieved Age Champions.
Jnr Girls | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
Sophiia Whitehouse-Miotto |
Sara Uprety |
Maddie Keegan Mya McCarthy |
|
Jnr Boys | Chase Brooks | Brabham Cooper |
Reuben Cassar |
11 Yrs Girls | Lilah Gibson |
Adele Whitehouse-Miotto |
Sienna Cooper |
11 Yrs Boys | Hamish Carmichael |
Ashley Allan |
Harley Van Haren |
Snr Girls | Kannika Broadbent |
Tara Isbel |
Layla Hickson |
Snr Boys | Levi Van Haren |
Charlie Gibson |
Mac Randall |
The winning Sports House was Guparr (Dolphins). Congratulations to their Sports Captains, Ethan Cullen and Bonnie Dempsey...a great start to their leadership. I think it was the inspiring video sent in to the Dolphins from home by Bonnie that got them across the line.
Please enjoy some photos of our day.
Building works
We are so lucky to have many projects completed or nearing completion at our school. The learning environments are important to us and help to support the changes in teaching and learning that we are making. The recent building and refurbishment work at school includes the replacement of the carpet and lino in the Year 1 and Year 6 rooms, the Infants and Primary amenities upgrade, synthetic grass for the Infants creative play space, the replacement of the roof along the Lake Street classrooms, the repair of the guttering around the administration block, Kirkangina and hall storeroom, the irrigation of the primary playground, as well as the cleaning of all concrete areas. Some of these works were supported by the Catholic Schools Office through the building fund contributions of families and some were paid for out of the school budget.
Here are some old and some new photos of some of the works.
I have also been informed that we will commence the planning stage for the internal refurbishment of classrooms along Lake Street this year. This will see massive changes to the design of these rooms that are the oldest in the school. The Diocese is also beginning to plan for the St Nicholas Early Childhood Centre on land adjacent to the school and we look forward to watching this project as it develops.
Thank you to everyone who has committed to a positive start to our year together.
Hoping your fortnight is peaceful,
Brooke Stephens
Welcome to Holy Name 2022. A year full of exciting new beginnings, opportunities for learning, wonderings and personal growth. I look forward to sharing updates around Positive Behaviour Learning, The School Garden, projects in action by our Yr6 SRC, Sport, our grade buddy parnterships and Reading and Writing Competions in our fortnightly newsletter.
Postive Behaviour Learning
Holy Name staff have collaborated to develop a new Positive Behaviour for Learning Skills Program (PBL) for our students to build RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY and RESILIENCE. Our previous merit system has now been replaced after trialing the new PBL program in Term 4 last year. Students will continue to receive their Merit and Principal Awards as part of this new process.
Every fortnight a new social and emotional skill will be unpacked and taught explicitly in each class across the school. This skill we believe will have a positive influence on your child’s educational, social, and emotional self.
Students are rewarded once they have received 5 surfboards or any multiple of 5 thereafter. Teachers refer to the Surfboard Menu for student choice of prize.Our senior students worked together with Mrs Williamson and Mrs Monks to create this Surfboard Menu. When a student receives their first 5 surfboards, they can choose from:
- Free Time-10 minutes free time at the end of the day
- Hair day Pass- wear a hair accessory of your choice to school for one day
- Chair Prize- you may sit on a chair for a day when the class is on the floor.
When a student has earnt 20 surfboards, they awarded a Principal Award at Monday morning assembly. A photo will be taken to add to Facebook and the next Newsletter report by the Assistant Principal. These surfboard awards are logged at least fortnightly in Compass by class teachers as multiples of five.
At the end of each year, the class teacher will ensure the correct number of surfboards have been added to Compass for each student in their class. A class Excel list is to be completed at the end of each year so we can see the exact totals each child has attained. Surfboard numbers are rolled over each year and accumulate over the period of enrolment at Holy Name until the student is no longer enrolled at the school.
School Garden
Garden Club and The Environmental Group (SRC) maintain the garden beds, fruit trees and chicken coop to provide produce to the Forster-Tuncurry Community Kitchen. This is a partnership between Forster-Tuncurry Parish, Catholic Care and Holy Name Primary School. There is a plan for planting based on the seasons and terms. The AP along with the REC work directly with these two school groups. Our groundsman supports the garden by pruning the fruit trees, spraying, mowing and turning the two bays of compost.
Teachers can work with their own class or collaborate with a grade or stage partner to tend to a garden bed if they wish.
Garden Club and Environment Group (SRC) are responsible for caring for the garden:
- Prepare the beds
- Planting/ Adding sugar cane mulch
- Watering (by hand from the tanks; groundsman sets the timed watering system for evenings and weekends/holidays)
- Weeding/ Fertilizing
- Harvesting
- Turning the compost and watering it
Garden Club are also responsible for collecting eggs daily, feeding/watering the chickens and caring for the cleanliness of the coop.
The Community Kitchen operates on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Produce is harvested on Monday and/or Tuesday morning between 8am- 9am by AP or REC and is then delivered to the Community Kitchen.
Genevieve Williamson
Acting Assistant Principal
Religious Education Coordinator news
As the new school year begins, I'd like to offer a welcome, both to new families and returning ones. The start of the year is a time of change for both students and families and it has been wonderful to see how well everyone has been settling into their new classes.
For our new families, the REC reports in the newsletter allow you to keep abreast of all the Masses, Liturgies, Sacraments, and other information from our School and Parish.
After COVID restrictions, we are hopeful that we will be able to have each year attend Mass at church once more. We are really looking forward to giving our students, especially our younger ones who may not yet have had the opportunity, the experience of celebrating Mass in God's house. For those new to our school our Parish Priest is Father Peter Street. Fr Peter is a regular visitor in our school and will be visiting each class this term to answer any questions they have about what they are learning during religion lessons, and to share his knowledge and experience with us.
Welcome Mass
Our Welcome Mass will be celebrated by Father Peter Street on Friday 19th February at school. We are hoping to head over to Pebbly Beach for a picnic following the Mass and will update families with details if we can manage to have our families join us. We are also hoping to induct our new leaders and present them with their badges at this time.
Weekend Mass Times
Mass times on the weekend are:
Saturday at 9.30am and 5pm, and on Sunday at 8 and 10 am.
Welcome Mass
Fr Peter and I have discussed the Sacramental Program for the coming year and will present a timeline for the program in the coming weeks.
Fin MacKay
Acting Religious Education Coordinator
First Day Back for Years 1-6
On Tuesday it was so lovely to see our Year 1-6 students enjoy their first day back at school for 2022. The playground was definitely buzzing with excitement before the school day started, as students reunited with their friends and shared holiday stories. Students were also very keen to check out the new Infants and Primary toilet blocks and the refurbishments that had happened within lots of the classrooms over the break. With a large number of new students starting at Holy Name across all grades, it was pleasing to see these children welcomed so warmly by the students and our teachers. Over this week I have had conversations with many of these new students and all had happy stories to share of their first few days at Holy Name. As building a sense of belonging is such an important part of our school mission, I believe our students should be proud of the welcoming and kind way they include the new members of our school community.
First Day of school for Kindergarten and Successful Foundations
On Thursday, we welcomed 39 new Kindergarten students to Holy Name. The weather was not what we were hoping for but the rain certainty did not dampen the excitement of our new Kinder students and their parents. Each family had their own start time for the morning which allowed the Kinder teachers to welcome each child and family individually which is so important on special milestone days like starting Kindergarten. This allows us to make meaningful connections with the new students and their families.
Our Kindergarten students will now continue with their Successful Foundations journey which started during their 5 transition to school visits in term 4 of last year. Over the next 5 weeks the first hour of everyday will be dedicated to Successful Foundations, where we view play as a pedagogy and a rich source of learning. During this time, the children will engage with the play provocations set up inside and outside the classroom. The Successful Foundations project allows our teachers to provide open-ended playful and investigative opportunities that enable children to demonstrate what they know and can do. This encourages the kinder teachers make meaningful and authentic records of children’s knowledge and skills as we observe the students engaging in play experiences.
Successful Foundations provides such a positive transition for students to school life and gives such powerful insights for teachers into individual student’s knowledge and interests because:
- a sense of belonging enables children to more effectively demonstrate their understanding and abilities
- when children feel safe and valued they will more be more likely to take risks and be creative in their responses
- authentic learning and its assessment best happens in interactions and collaboration with others.
I look forward to sharing more photos and learning experiences through Successful Foundations over the next 5 weeks.
Mrs Suzie Monks
Primary Coordinator
Privacy, Cyber Safety, Volunteering & Attendance
At the beginning of each year, schools share information with families about how the school operates and the processes it uses to keep students safe and to ensure we are effectively managing attendance and meeting government regulations.
Standard Collection Notice
As part of processes for governance of the school, we are required to provide our families at the start of each year with some information about how we gather, store and use your personal information. Please find attached a document called the 'Standard Collection Notice' that fulfils this obligation.
Cyber Safety
As we increasingly engage with technology in the learning space, the skills and behaviours of our students to navigate the online environment safely become more important. Over the next couple of weeks, all teachers will walk through the Cyber Safety User Agreement with students following a series of lessons about cyber safety. Students will sign off on this document as a sign of their commitment to abide by the practices we propose to keep them safe. It is important for parents to understand this agreement because if there is ever a breach of the agreement, parents will be contacted as part of the intervention process. If you have any questions about the agreement, please make contact with your child's teacher. Please note that we send this copy home, instead of asking parents to sign and send back in because the process of returning the forms was not successful and we felt that it is a commitment from the students we are after and an awareness of the expectations for parents.
Volunteering at school
Each year, there are opportunities and events that are supported by our parents, carers and friends of Holy Name. If you think you might ever be interested in coming into school as a volunteer, supporting staff on excursions or at sporting carnivals, I recommend completing the Volunteer Registration process using the link below. The process has been simplified and because our Diocese is quite strong on their volunteering regulations, it is quite helpful if people complete this process prior to any opportunity or event they would like to support. Thank you in advance for your help.
Student Attendance
Consistent attendance at school is important. It is one of the factors we consider when reviewing data on student learning growth. There is a correlation between poor attendance and low academic growth. Each morning, our teachers mark a roll on Compass and the percentage rate of each student's attendance is displayed on the screen. There are specific procedures that the principal, teachers and parents must follow in the management of student attendance.
For your reference, the school day commences at 8:45am and finishes at 3:0opm with dismissal at 3:05pm.
Principal
- Ensure that Attendance records are maintained and monitored
- Ensure that Absent notes are kept for 7 years
- Follow the procedures in the documents: Management of Habitual Non Attendance and Guidelines for Management of Student Attendance from the CSO.
- Meet formally with parents/carers following ongoing unexplained absences and partial absences, or lack of cooperation regarding student’s attendance
Teachers
- Marking the roll daily prior to 9.15am using the Compass system. Note that when Compass is not accessible, a formal recording on a class list should be noted
- Contact the parent/carer for an explanation of a student’s absence if an explanation isn’t forthcoming within 1-3 days of their absence
- Maintain a record of all class absent notes and send them to the office for archiving at the completion of the school year
- Bring concerns about the number of absences of a particular child/children to the attention of the Principal. In collaboration with members of the Leadership Team, follow the procedures in the documents: Management of Habitual Non Attendance and Guidelines for Management of Student Attendance from the CSO.
- Recording Absence data to the Student Record Cards in the School Office.
Parents
- Inform the school of their child’s absence and a reason for their absence prior to the start of the day when possible. They can do this in 1 of 4 ways:
-
- Logon to COMPASS and record the absence
- Phone the school office
- Email the Class Teacher / or school office
- Send a note in with the child when they return to school.
- Explain their child’s absence within 7 days.
- Completing a Certificate for Extended Leave (L) – Travel, which is to be approved by the Principal if a child is going to be absent from school for travel for 10 days or more
It is important that we are working together to maximise the attendance and therefore learning growth of students.