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Dear Parents and Carers,
I am so excited that the plans for the refurbishment of Block A classrooms are almost ready to go to tender. The changes will make the current classrooms almost unrecognisable from their current design. The front view of the school will also change dramatically as we extend the spaces to include outdoor learning options along the southern side. Everything about Block A will be different and will align with current teaching practices to support student engagement. The money our families contribute each year through the DFSBL fees allow projects like this to occur in schools across the Diocese in need of refurbishment.
Today was the final day for NAPLAN, with catch-up tests taking place for students who were unable to participate on the day. Our Year 3 and Year 5 teachers have prepared and supported the students through this process with a high level of professionalism and collaboration. Under the guidance of Miss Meers, the team of teachers were in early each morning of the tests checking the technology to ensure a smooth process for students. The students were calm and approached the tests just like it was any other day. Thank you for your support in ensuring the students were here on time and well rested.
When you receive this newsletter, I will be on leave for the week. I will return to school on Monday 30th May to participate in the External Review of our school following the three year strategic development period. If you can make yourself available to chat with the External Review panel on Monday 30th at 2.30pm or Tuesday 31st at 8.30am for about 20mins, please send an email to admin@forster.catholic.edu.au. We would love to have a selection of parents to meet with the review team.
Next week is a big one for our school community. Under the leadership of Mrs Loring, Mrs Williamson and Mrs Monks, our school will celebrate Catholic Schools Week. This week marks the traditional opening of enrolments for the following year and we will acknowledge this special time in our calendar with the following events.
On Monday, our students will participate in a Catholic Schools Week liturgy. Thursday is Sorry Day and the commencement of Reconciliation Week, a very special day and time for our country, acknowledging the history and hurts of the past and how we can move forward in healing. Our staff are planning to acknowledge Sorry Day at the commencement of our Athletics Carnival (that falls on the same day), by paying tribute to the 50th Anniversary of the Tent Embassy. We will share information with our students the following day and commence construction of a Museum at school to highlight the theme for Reconciliation Week - Be Brave. Make Change. This will become the focus of a piece of writing that we will ask each child to create. There will be more information about the Tent Embassy Museum at school to come, however, you will be welcome to visit and join in our acknowledgement of this time. We are so blessed to have over 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students as part of our school community and it is important that we contribute to building the understanding of our students, staff and families in knowing the truth and being part of the healing. Thank you to Miss Spinks, Mrs Loring and Mrs Banham for your support of these days.
Our Kinder classes for 2023 are already looking strong in numbers with 21 families already enrolling or taking enrolment forms to return. If you know anyone thinking of enrolling their child to Holy Name for 2023, please let them know that it is best to get the enrolment forms in early. They are available online or from the office.
I look forward to sharing the stories of the Athletics Carnival and Sorry Day, and to participating in the Reconciliation Week activities when I return.
Take care,
Brooke Stephens
I love the change of seasons and it certainly has been nice to have a bit of dry weather over the past fortnight. The cool mornings and nights invite us to spend more time with each other as well.
Sorry day and National Reconciliation Week 2022.
As Mrs Stephens mentioned in her report, Next Thursday is Sorry Day which leads into National Reconciliation Week in Australia. We recognise and acknowledge the amazing culture of the Aboriginal people as often as we can at HNS and thankfully we are now beginning to understand some of what happened to our First Nations People after white settlement. As part of our recognition of these important events, I have registered for HNS to take part in the Wear it Yellow Fundraiser. This is part of the Children’s Ground Initiative to financially assist aboriginal children in Central Australia.
The charity describe themselves as “A bold not-for-profit organisation creating a different future with First Nations children, families and communities experiencing the greatest levels of disadvantage. When you donate, you are funding our community-led approach to changing the future for First Nations children. This is not a one-size-fits-all approach. We work with each child in every community to develop personal learning, health and cultural development plans. We support the families that wrap around that child through flexible employment and community development initiatives. Your donation will enable these First Nations communities to become places of safety, hope and opportunity. Children's Ground works with First Nations communities across Central Australia, and use a First Nations, family-centred education approach.”
HNS would like to get involved and raise awareness in our community. We would ask that the children wear something yellow, on Wednesday, June 1st. They can either contribute to the cause with a gold coin donation, or, alternatively, families can donate to our school team online at https://wearityellow.org.au/t/kyla-lorings-team
Sport
Next Thursday, May 26th, we will hold our school Athletics Carnival at Tuncurry Oval. It will be great to have a school carnival with parents and families able to attend. A note has gone home and many families have sent back permission and money for the bus and canteen. If you haven’t done this, can you please return as a matter of urgency?
We love having volunteers at carnivals, however, to volunteer at HNS, you must complete the Diocesan Volunteer pack available at https://www.mn.catholic.org.au/people/volunteer/ or come in and get a pack from Luisa or Kerry in the office. The P&F would like helpers for the BBQ.
Please ensure that your children have plenty of food and water for the day and they may dress in their House colours.
Sharks – Blue
Whales – Yellow
Dolphins – Red
Stingrays – Green
We will hold the March Past at around 10.30 and officially open the Carnival and Acknowledge Sorry day.
SRC
The SRC regrouped last Friday after Mrs Williamson has been leading the group in my absence. We discussed our plan for moving forward for the rest of the year. I spoke to the children about Student Voice. This is a framework developed by the Diocese to support Student Wellbeing.
Students should FEEL safe, supported and included at school as well as BEING creative, connected and engaged learners who CAN learn, lead and thrive. We discussed how we could encourage Student Voice with our Team as well as all HNS students. The children came up with some wonderful ideas in this area and this will form the basis of our ongoing work.
With restrictions easing we would like to reconnect with some community initiatives such and Landcare and Take 3 for the Sea. The students will connect with the other classes to hear their voices and report back to the Team. Next week, our Social Justice Group will be promoting the Wear it Yellow fundraiser. The Environment group will continue to support our partnership with the Community Kitchen, our Technology group is going to work towards setting up Coding Club and our Arts Group will work with others on creating some anti-bullying videos. The Sports group will assist Ms McKinnon next week in preparing for the Athletics Carnival.
We will also be working on Leadership Skills over the course of the year by using some team building activities and learning how to speak confidently to a group.
PBL
Our PBL focus for the next fortnight will be wearing the correct uniform. Children will be given surfboard rewards when they are “caught” wearing the correct school uniform. With the cooler weather now here, it is important that students still wear the correct uniform. Any extras, such as beanies and scarves must be in our school colours. School jumpers and jackets are the only acceptable outerwear – if children are cold they can wear layers under their school uniform.
All socks should be PLAIN black without logos and all shoes should be a black leather jogger. Please support us to ensure that the correct uniform is worn each day to school.
When children are given the tokens they give them to their class teacher who records how many surfboards each child has received. When they reach certain levels they can chose a reward from our Surfboard menu.
ICAS
The 2022 ICAS portal is now open. ICAS are assessments offered by the University of NSW across several subject areas.
Parents can enter their child into the competitions through the portal https://www.icasassessments.com/portals/
Religious Education Coordinator News
Catholic Schools Week
During the week of the 23-27 May 2022, we celebrate Catholic Schools Week across the many schools in our diocese. As an annual event, it is a time where we celebrate the remarkable work, passion, and enthusiasm our Catholic schools exhibit daily. We recognise these places as learning communities who are committed to excellence through the education of the ‘whole child,’ providing an all-round education that nurtures each student spiritually, intellectually, socially, and physically. It is this education that enables all students to flourish and become the best versions of themselves.
This year our Catholic Schools Week theme is “Fully Alive,” which reminds us that we are most alive when we are in touch with our inner selves and can acknowledge deep connections between ourselves, God, others, and creation. As communities of faith, we are called to grow inawareness of the life in and around us, to live more fully and not to “settle for a bland and mediocre existence” (Pope Francis, Gaudete Et Exsultate). In a world that is unconsciously losing touch with this inner awareness, our theme encourages us to live in harmony with all of creation, to cultivate a Sacramental Imagination that enables us to recognise the beauty of God in all things.
As we embark on this significant occasion for all our schools, may we truly honour the privileged gift of Catholic education and for all those who contribute to its vitality and spirit. May we too celebrate our young people, who are formed to be good citizens of the world, who love God and neighbour, and who enrich our society by living out the call of the Gospel.
May we all strive to live in active service of Jesus and His mission as we celebrate together during Catholic Schools Week and always.
Term 2 Religious Education Units
The following religious education units will be taught in Term 2:
Grade | Week 1-5 | Week 6-10 |
Kindergarten | Knowing God the Son | Knowing God the Son |
Year 1 | Sacrament of Baptism | Hebrew Scriptures |
Year 2 | Sacrament of Reconciliation | Mary and the Saints |
Year 3 | Sacrament of Confirmation | History of the Church in Australia |
Year 4 | Sacrament of Eucharist | History of the Church in Australia |
Year 5 | Prayer | Values |
Year 6 | Prayer | Values |
Sacrament of Reconciliation
For the past month, children from Holy Name and from other schools in our parish, have been preparing for Reconciliation and this week received the sacrament for the first time. Congratulations to the following children: Marcus Kim, Xavier Laurie, Isabella and Olivia Sleiman, Makayla Bowie, Zarah Clark and Harrison Naughton.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a sacrament like Eucharist, that can be received again and again. This prayer ritual has four steps:
1) Examination of Conscience- bringing to mind what you are asking forgiveness for.
2) Welcome and Confession of the sins you ask to have forgiven.
3) Penance- prayers said and actions to go out of the church to do.
4) Act of Contrition (A prayer of gratitude for being given forgivemess) and Satisfaction (knowing you have been forgiven and are ready to start afresh in your relationships with family, friends and neighbours).
The Act of Contrition Prayer
O my God, I am very sorry
that I have sinned against you,
because you are so good.
And with your help,
I will not sin again.
Amen.
Kind regards,
Genevieve Williamson
Religious Education Coordinator
Over the past few weeks it has been great to see and hear about the wonderful learning that has been happening in every classroom within our school! We are particularly proud of our Year 3 and Year 5 students who were mature and calm in the way they approached and completed their NAPLAN tests.
Great Learning Happening in Year One!
Each fortnight I would like to put a spotlight on the great learning happening in a particular grade in our school. In this report the spotlight is on Year One.
Year One have been focussing on the Big Ideas in reading and Writing. In particular, ‘Why do we need to read?’ and ‘Why do we need to know how to write?’ Take a look at the awesome answers the 1N students came up with. It so empowering for students when they have a sense of purpose and a reason for why their learning is so important. When students can connect the skills they are learning in the classroom with how it will help them in their lives in the future, it builds positive engagement.
Year One classes have been focussing on reading informative texts and have been learning about how to identify the difference between a fact and an opinion. The students have been learning the purpose of informative texts and have had a go writing their own informative text about different houses and a fun writing piece on the recipe for a potion! During spelling the students have been engaging in hands on and interactive activities where they are segmenting and blending words that contain consonant digraphs such as: bl, cl, fl, pl and sl. Such clever cookies and their teachers are reporting lots of light bulb moments when the students unlock a new skill or become more confident spelling more challenging words.
In Maths, Year One has been focussing on the Big Idea ‘Combining and Separating Quantities’. The learning this week has been on learning ‘friends of 10’, combinations to 20, doubles and near doubles. These counting strategies help our students develop efficient ways to answer problem solving questions and help develop mathematical automaticity. Check out the photos of the students displaying their quick recall of number facts using dice.
There has also been lots of fun happening in Science! The unit focus is called ‘How Materials Change.’ This unit involves lots of investigations regarding how materials move and their ability to move, stretch and serve different purposes. This week the Year One were instructed to use foil to create a unique structure. I was impressed to see lots of creative structures including a pregnant mother, a butterfly and even a large fish!
Well done Year One students and teachers keep up the awesome work!
Kindergarten Student led Conferences
Last Wednesday Kindergarten held their student led conferences. This was a wonderful experience for the students, parents and teachers. It was so nice to see how excited the Kinder students were to share their work with their parents and we were impressed with how confidently they could talk about what they have been learning. I would like to thank the parents for taking the time to come and celebrate their child’s progress and also for the patience and enthusiasm they showed when listening to their child talk. It made us smile when we saw mums and dads down on the ground engaging with maths activities and playing in our creative space. We can’t wait to repeat this experience in Term 3.
Mrs Suzie Monks
Primary Coordinator
This coming weekend, the 21st/22nd of May the Catholic Parish of Forster Tuncurry will be taking part in the Cancer Council’s Biggest Morning Tea after each of the weekend Masses. If you would like to support this event please register your attendance with the Parish office by 12 midday on the 20th of May. Please take food along to share with the Parish and wider community.
In the holidays all of our Anzac Day poppies were proudly on display at Stockland Forster. Many students helped create these poppies in Art Club, it was a sea of poppies a lovely way to pay respect to our Anzacs at Stockland and I hope that you may have seen the beautiful display from Holy Name School.
In coming weeks we will start paper plate weaving in Art Club if anyone has any wool at home they no longer need or use we’d love to have it and would appreciate any donations. The students love this activity and it not only promotes fine motor skills, it promotes mindfulness and calm.
Kristie Banham
Pastoral Care Worker
It has been very busy in the Learning Hub so far this Term. All Infants classes visit the Learning Hub for a 45 minute lesson each week In Kinder and Year 1 we learn History and for Years 2-6 we learn geographical concepts and skills. There is an emphasis on using technology.
This Term, Kinder have been learning about their own personal histories, while Year 1 are learning about the concept of time and how we measure it.
Year 2 have looked at continents, countries, states, cities, suburbs and towns and even designed their own suburb.
The Stage 2 and 3 classes are all learning about what factors influence why people live where they do. Stage 3 students are scripting a Reality TV show to showcase the benefits of living in particular places.
Each class is able to borrow from the library on Wednesdays with Mrs Harris. Each week Mrs Harris showcases the new library books in the shelf just inside the library door. These are then available for borrowing the following week. Libraries are wonderful places and books open up a world of imagination – as well as encouraging our children to read. Please encourage your children to take advantage of this wonderful resource in our school – where else can you get hours of entertainment and wonder for free?
Next Wednesday some classes will take part in the National Simultaneous Story time.
This year’s book is “Family Tree” by Josh Pyke and Ronojoy Ghosh. This is a wonderful story about ancestry and how we all forge our own future. The children will participate in the online session and then work on some literacy and visual art activities around the stories.
Next week, students will also participate in some Author visits as part of the Great Lakes Book Fair. On Wednesday, May 25th, the Primary students will hear a presentation from Adrian Beck. Adrian is a children’s author and TV producer. He is the author of the Derek Dool series, the Champion Charlies series, plus Alien Zoo 1 and 2 and he is the co-author of the Little Legends series with Nicole Hayes plus the Kick it to Nick series with AFL hall-of-famer Shane Crawford. As well as being an author, Adrian is a TV producer and a lover of very bad ‘dad jokes’. Together with Sally Rippin, Adrian edited the Total Quack Up! & Total Quack Up Again! books which contain an awesome line-up of writers who each provided hilarious short stories to raise money for Dymocks Children’s Charities! Adrian draws on his showbiz roots to create engaging, interactive school presentations and is passionate about fostering a love of reading amongst the next generation.
On Friday, May 27th at 9.30, the Infants children will listen to Australian author/illustrator Nicki Greenburg. Nicki Greenberg is a writer and illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. Her first books, The Digits series, were published when she was fifteen years old. They sold more than 380,000 copies in Australia and New Zealand.
These visits are great for motivating students to write as well as allowing them to gain an insight into what writers do.
The Premier’s Reading Challenge is open until August. You can still register your children by emailing me kyla.loring@mn.catholic.edu.au or the children can see Mrs Harris in the library.
Book Week will be coming up next Term – WATCH THIS SPACE FOR UPDATES.