Filter Content
- Principal's message
- Assistant Principal News
- Primary Coordinator Report
- NAPLAN 2022 - Year 3 and Year 5
- Religious Education Coordinator's Report
- Harmony Day News
- Pastoral Care News
- Easter Raffle
- Forster Tuncurry Community Kitchen
- St Clare's Newsletter
- ASPIRE Song Writing Competition
- Hang Out Forster
- Taree Basketball Camp
Dear Parents and Carers,
With one more week to go I would like to acknowledge the calm way our families have supported us this term through the many disruptions to our regular learning patterns as a result of the pandemic and teacher shortage. Your support goes along way to maintaining our staff wellbeing and the resilience of your children to adapt in changing environments - thank you. Our Catholic Schools Office Human Resource and Leadership Team are supporting us in many ways to make sure we maintain our high standards for our students. We are in the process of employing two full-time casual teachers across the Manning Region to support our schools to manage during this difficult period.
Having said that, it has been great to welcome our families back onto the school site to attend events, meetings and to support in areas needed. We have had some great feedback from parents who are using their experiences and knowledge to support our school to continue to grow. In our last P&F meeting, we spoke about how the partnerships between home and school have been affected by the pandemic. In some ways, we have missed out on opportunities to connect, and in other ways, our parents have had the opportunity to observe our teachers in action online and to have access to more information about what students are learning. We are looking forward to building on this strength throughout the year.
As the term draws to a close, I would like to acknowledge the work of our Acting Assistant Principal, Mrs Williamson, who has been in this role for Term 4 of 2021 and Term 1 of 2022. Mrs Willaimson built upon some great work in the area of Student Leadership to ensure our Student Leaders are active and visible in the community. The positive impact of this work will be continue into the future. I know the students are really leading because I hear and see them being challenged to do things that are not always easy...one important part of being a leader.
In her role as Acting Assistant Principal, Mrs Williamson has also transformed the garden space to once again be a shining light in our school, a place where produce is planted and grown to share with the Forster-Tuncurry Community Kitchen. The garden is also a space where Mrs Williamson works alongside students who require time for conversation and reflection with an adult. This time with students to talk about their choices and the impact of their words and actions on others bears fruit both figuratively and literally. Collaborating with Mrs Monks to pull together our Positive Behaviour for Learning strategy has allowed our school to make great progress in this work for our students.
In Term 2, Mrs Williamson will return to her role as Religious Education Coordinator and I know will take some of the experiences from the last 6 months with her and continue them into the future.
I would also like to acknowledge the great job Mr Mackay has done this term in the role of Acting Religious Education Coordinator. Mr Mackay works alongside our Parish Priest, Fr Peter Street, and with our Leadership Team, staff and students, to ensure our Catholic Identity is developed and promoted each week. Listening to Mr Mackay talk with the students on a Monday morning at assembly about Sunday's Gospel is a pleasure as he relates the story with the experiences of children. You could hear a pin drop when he is speaking with them. The Fridays for Floods, his work with launching Project Compassion and the liturgies or Masses he has prepared for our community have all been wonderful experiences. Thank you for sharing your gifts within your leadership role with us Mr Mackay!
Mrs Loring will return in Term 2 as Assistant Principal and we look forward to having Mrs Loring back on staff full-time. Her dedication to her role of Senior Leadership has been evident over the last few weeks as she has started to join us for some meetings and co-teach some classes to gain currency of knowledge about our current initiatives.
Next week, we are interviewing for Mrs Arrow's Teacher Librarian position for the remainder of the year. Mrs Arrow finished up this week as her family prepare for the arrival of a sibling for Lenni. We wish the Arrow family every blessing for the birth of their second child. We will also interview for a teacher 2 days each week in Yr 2S. This position commences halfway through Term 2, when Mrs Kelso takes leave in readiness for the birth of their second child.
I wish all of our families a happy and safe holiday and look forward to seeing you all at the Student Led Conferences next Tuesday anytime between 3.30pm and 5.30pm.
With regards,
Brooke Stephens
As Term 1 quickly draws to an end, so too ends my time as Acting Assistant Principal of Holy Name. I'm thankful for the staff, student and parental support given to me whilst I have been in this position for the past 6 months. My focus in this time was to develop and enact the Student Leadership Election process in Term 4, to create and lead the Yr 5 Leadership Retreat Day, to then introduce the new 2022 Student Representative Council to the Holy Name Community, working with them and the Yr 6 cohort weekly. In these SRC meetings, our School Captains Marley and Charlie, have overseen the 5 leadership teams- Social Justice, Environmental, Information Technology, Sport and the Arts, to go about doing "good works" in our community and wider community. In each newletter this term, the Captains have included a Captains Report to share their good news with the school community. Our SRC are very proud to see their initiatives turned into actions. Amazing things happen when we work together for a greater good.
I also have worked alongside Mrs Suzie Monks, to develop Holy Name's Positive Behaviour Policy, rewriting the Well Being and Pastoral Care Policy and creating a framework for our school to explicity teach positive social skills, under the 3 pillars of respect, responsibility and resilience. In collaboration with the Holy Name Staff, positive learning behaviours have been collated to reflect these pillars on Compass and support Holy Name's Behaviour Policy.
Lastly, working with students, who in a school day have required a pastoral approach to behaviour management has been a privilege. Shared conversations have led to restorative justice in relationships with others, mirroring the teachings of Jesus, of love and forgiveness.
Wishing you a happy, safe and peaceful holiday, and may the easter blessings of new life and new beginnings be upon you and your family.
Mrs Genevieve Williamson
It has been pleasing to reflect on the first term of 2022 and think about all of the wonderful events and programs we have been able to run. How wonderful is it that Covid restrictions have eased enough for parents to be invited back onsite and welcomed to whole school gatherings such as Ash Wednesday and Harmony Day. I think our school community should be extremely proud of how we managed to navigate our way through the past 2 years, in the midst of the pandemic. We are a resilient school community and we deserve to enjoy the newfound opportunities to come together to celebrate and highlight the achievements and talents of our wonderful students.
School Uniform Policy
Our school Leadership team believe it is important that we remind parents and students of our school uniform policy, as we have been noticing that a number of students are regularly coming to school in incorrect uniform.
Students are required to wear the correct school uniform as outlined in this policy. If a child cannot wear the full school uniform, a note of explanation from a parent must be given to the class teacher. This note should include the date and the parent’s signature.
The correct uniform is as follows:
Girls Summer:
Maroon polo shirt with maroon and white checked skort.
Black joggers with short black socks.
Girls Winter:
Maroon check culottes or Maroon check trousers.
Maroon polo shirt with school logo – short or long sleeved.
Maroon microfibre jacket.
Maroon polar fleece vest.
Black joggers with short black socks or black tights.
Girls Sport:
Maroon sport shorts.
Maroon and gold polo shirt with school logo.
Black joggers and short black socks.
Boys Summer:
Grey – traditional style – mid length shorts.
Maroon Polo Shirt with school logo.
Black joggers with short black socks.
Boys Winter:
Grey – traditional style – long school trousers or shorts as for Summer.
Maroon Polo Shirt with school logo.
Maroon microfibre jacket.
Maroon polar fleece vest.
Black joggers with short black socks.
Boys Sport:
Maroon sports shorts.
Maroon and gold polo with school logo.
Black joggers and short black socks.
School Hat:
The school hat is a compulsory part of our school uniform.
Please support your child in ensuring that they where the correct uniform everyday. We particularly ask that your child wear plain black socks with no logos on them eg. Santa Cruz, Nike etc. We also ask that you ensure your child wears black jogger type shoes each day, that are leather and polishable with no white soles or meshing.
Also, a reminder that ribbons, scrunchies and scarves etc must be either maroon or gold or in material to match the summer skort or winter culottes. Jewellery should be limited to a wristwatch and small earrings. No bright coloured bracelets and bangles should be worn.
Students wearing incorrect uniform will be given a gentle reminder and if no change is made a uniform slip will be sent home to parents to sign and return to school. We have a strict uniform policy so that there is no competition around trendy brand names and students do not feel pressure to look a certain way. We want students to wear their Holy Name school uniform with pride at school as well as out in our local community. People often comment on how polite and respectful our students are when they see them in community, how our student’s present themselves in their uniform definitely impacts this impression.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful break and enjoy special Easter celebrations.
Mrs Suzie Monks
Primary Coordinator
NAPLAN 2022 - Year 3 and Year 5
In Term 2, between 10th-20th May, our Yr 3 and Yr 5 students will sit the NAPLAN tests. This is a National Literacy and Numeracy Assessment that provides useful information for our school about the areas our students are performing well in and our areas for improvement. We use the individual student data at times to compare to the regular data we collect about student achievement, however, the most useful information comes from the trends across the different year groups, in different areas of the tests over time. We use this information to develop professional learning for staff as part of our school improvement plans. With most of the tests online, schools receive the information about student performance faster than we did in the past. This helps their current teachers to focus on aspects of student learning that need attention.
The attached information is a great resource for our parents as we prepare for NAPLAN 2022. During the testing period, we ask for your support by making sure students are well rested, are organised in the morning without too much fuss and are feeling as relaxed as possible. We encourage students to do their best, however, we use the lens that the tests are actually for our teachers to know what they need to focus on, rather than testing them. We say this so that students don't feel too much pressure. Having said that, we do everything in our control to ensure students are prepared and understand what the tests are assessing and how to navigate the testing platform. One important apsect of the online testing process, is that the tests will branch to higher or lower levels of questions, depending on how students respond. It is important that students understand that they will receive a message after a set number of questions, letting them know that after that question, branching will occur. This is important because this should prompt students to go back at this point and check their answers as they won't get another opportunity to do this, and if they made simple errors, the next set of questions will be impacted by this. Students at Holy Name will practise navigating the testing environment. If you would like to see what this looks like, you can ask your child to go to the NAPLAN demonstration site and show you. The more students can successfully work their way around the different ways to respond to questions in the online platform, the better prepared they will be to show what they know and can do.
In 2023, NAPLAN is planned for March and will therefore occur in Term 1 instead of Term 2.
Religious Education Coordinator's Report
Sacraments of Initiation
It was delightful to see the students and their families at Mass last Sunday preparing to embark on the Sacraments of Initiation, and joining the Sacramental Team and Father Peter for an introduction to the program. Father Peter welcomed them warmly and talked with them about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The first preparation session for Reconciliation will be on Sunday 1st May, and the second on the 8th. For both of these, families will attend the 10am Mass and then head to the church hall afterwards for the preparation session. If you haven't already enrolled your child in the program (Yr 3, 4, 5 & 6) and wish to do so please go to the Parish website at https://forstertuncurrycatholic.org.au/, select the 'Sacraments' tab and then select 'Sacramental Preparation (Enrolment Form)'. If you are not Catholic but wish to find more please contact the parish and make an appointment with Father Peter to have a conversation about what would be required.
Holy Week Liturgy
As Holy Week falls in the school holidays this year we shall be celebrating our Holy Week Liturgy on Wednesday the 6th April, at 11.30am. Please feel free to come along and join in our celebration.
ANZAC Day March
On Monday 25th April the Anzac March will assemble in Parkes Street, Tuncurry at 10.15 am and step off marching at 10.30 am, arriving at the Lone Pine Memory Park for a Memorial service commencing at 11.00 am. Holy Name Primary School will be part of the March, and all students are invited to participate. We ask that any families who are taking part bring their children to the gathering point at 10 am, in full school uniform. We hope to see you there.
Fundraising Fridays
Thank you so much for all your support over the past few weeks as we have raised money for those stricken by the floods in Lismore. Our hearts and prayers go out to them as we see that those communities are once more beset by even more rain and flooding. Once our final tally for Friday is in, I imagine that we will have raised over $1000 dollars for Lismore - we are already close to that figure! For a school our size that is an amazing effort, and we truly thank and appreciate all our families and students who helped. When we work together as a community we can achieve great things. We talk to our student body often about our school motto of 'Concern for Others', and the words of Mary MacKillop, "Never see a need without doing something about it". It is inspiring to see our students not only saying the words but living them.
Acting Religious Education Coordinator
Fin MacKay
On Monday the 21st of March the wonderful 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 here in Australia.
The day began with the whole school singing a traditional Torres Strait Island Harmony Day song lead by Miss Reynolds. Following this, the children gathered in their cohorts to hear the messages of Harmony Day. Our EAL/D (English as an Additional Language/Dialect) students lead the school performing “Everyone Belongs” to commence our assembly. Representatives from each Stage 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 Mem Fox’s story “I’m Australian Too” and reflections from our students.
Mrs Bronwyn Morse
As this term draws to an end, I would like to commend our Mini Vinnies helpers who continually show up to help at Breakfast Club. Every Monday morning these children make toast, milo and serve other students. They serve around 60 cups of milo and multiple loaves of toast to our students. It really is a beautiful way for our students to commence their week. The students then wash, wipe, and help clean up before going off to class.
We run several Wellbeing Programs over the course of each year at Holy Name and many students are invited to participate in small groups. Next term Seasons for Growth will run with our family ministries coordinator Mrs. Loretta Heffernan who has a wealth of experience facilitating this wonderful program. The Seasons for Growth Children and Young People's Program strengthens the social and emotional wellbeing of children and young people (aged 6-18 years) who have experienced significant change or loss in their lives. The program provides a safe learning environment for children and young people where they can give voice to their experiences, understand, and befriend their feelings, learn skills that help them adapt, develop friendships, and recognise ‘I’m not the only one’. It helps build and up skill the emotional competencies of the children participating. You can find out more about the program by following the link, https://www.goodgrief.org.au/seasons-for-growth
In Art Club we have been making poppies for Anzac Day. We will keep some at school for our school commemorations, we have also been making them to deliver to Stockland Shopping Centre as a part of a community collaborative to commemorate Anzac Day. The students have enjoyed making them and knowing that they will be on display at Stockland over the holidays, makes them feel proud to be able to show respect for the Anzacs in this way.
My Easter wish for you and those you love……
May your enjoy some down time over the Easter break.
May this time be filled with family and friends.
May you take a moment to sit in awe and wonder as we live in such peaceful and beautiful surrounds.
May you enjoy some time in nature or at the beach or reading to your children.
May you find gratitude daily.
Take gentle care,
Kristie Banham
Holy Name's annual Easter Egg Raffle will be drawn at assembly on Wednesday 6th April. Please return to the office, all raffle tickets sold or unsold, no later than Tuesday 5th April. Any donations of easter eggs for prizes are still appreciated and can be handed to Mrs Bowie at our school office.
Holy Name P and F
Forster Tuncurry Community Kitchen
The Forster Tuncurry Community Kitchen is now operating 4 days each week, providing meals and produce for those who need this support. The kitchen is coordinated by Catholic Care and is a joint project with the Catholic Parish of Forster Tuncurry and Holy Name Primary School. It is a well organised service and is calling for additional volunteers to help out. If you can support, please contact the Parish Office on 6554 6401 to find out more information.
Thank you Mrs Avery, Assistant Principal from St Clare's who visited our school last week to speak with our students and parents. If you missed out, you can pick up enrolment information from our school and make contact with St Clare's to make sure you receive information about any other opportunities for enrolment conversations or transition visits to the school. Reading their newsletter is also a great way to get a sense of the educational environment offered at St Clare's and what you can expect when your child moves on to High School. You can connect with the St Clare's newsletter here.
ASPIRE Song Writing Competition
The ASPIRE team offers many opportunities our creative students to engage in experiences that shine a light on their talents and support their learning growth. Information about the opportunities that ASPIRE offers can be found on their website here and an opportunity to participate in the ASPIRE Song Writing Competition is outlined in the attached flyer. It would be great to have some of our students take part.
? The Hangout Forster ?Casual Employment Opportunity- A new kids indoor play area- Open weekdays during school hours + weekends & school holidays- Located in Boona Street, Forster- Opening from Start - Mid April- Looking for staff confident in: front desk, cafe/barista &/or casual play supervisingTaking applications until April 3rd 2022, please click the link and complete the application form to be considered.RegardsDanielle Jimenez0404851849
Hello Schools,
North Coast Basketball will be hosting a Basketball Holiday Camp Tuesday 19th of April at Saxby's Stadium, Taree. If your students are wanting something to do this school holiday break, then North Coast Basketball has them covered. Please see camp details below:
Taree Under 13's Skills Camp
Date: Tuesday 19th April
Time: 9:30am - 2:30pm
Location: Saxby's Stadium, Taree
Cost: $55
Register here: https://northcoastbasketball.com.au/product/taree-holiday-skills-camp-13-years-under/
For any further information, please email; northcoastbasketball@outlook.com
Regards,
Robert Linton
Port Macquarie Basketball
0411587917