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Dear Parents and Carers,
Our Bookweek and Grandparents Day celebration was a wonderful reflection of the supportive and engaged community that we are fortunate to be a part of here at Holy Name. Thank you for your support of this day to make it even more enjoyable for your children and grandchildren. We know that many of our parents and carers are not able to leave work to attend and hope you find the information we share via Compass, SeeSaw or Facebook helpful in feeling connected. I appreciate the effort that our teachers made to open their classrooms and prepare the students, and Mrs Loring and Mrs Williamson for leading the organisation of the event.
We've also had some wonderful opportunities for students this week as part of Wellbeing Week and I am grateful for Mrs Banham who leads our community in this space. The SRC Pyjama Day on Friday was a great student-led initiative that shines a light on the importance of rest and relaxation to our overall well-being. Next week, two of our staff will train as facilitators for the Heart to Heart program, and we are excited as to how we will be able to use this program in future well-being initiatives for our students.
Reconciliation Action Plan
The Diocese of Maitland Newcastle established a Reconciliation Action Plan group in 2021 with the support of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, clergy and laity in parishes and agencies. Their job was to develop the first Reconciliation Action Plan for submission to Reconciliation Australia on behalf of the Diocese.
Last week, I attended the launch of the 'Reflect' DoMN Reconciliation Action Plan' and was so impressed with the document and the planned actions in place to achieve our goals. The plan aligns with the work we do at Holy Name to ensure our parents and students have a voice in decisions, and we are building relationships within our Worimi community and working alongside the Department schools as part of the local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group. Our school was gifted with the book, 'Spirit of Place' by Warren Taggart, a collection of stories and images of cave shelters, rock engravings and landmarks of significant cultural importance for the Wonnarua people and the people of the surrounding lands: the Darkinjung, Worimi, Awabakal and Dharug.
At Holy Name, we are also following up our staff Learning for Justice day at the end of last term, with a professional learning day for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff across the Manning Catholic schools to build relationships with and among this team and to unpack the priority areas for change in our schools. We are also continuing our invitation to parents to gather at least once a term to capture their voices in the work of our school.
Next week, two members of our staff will attend the training for the Heart to Heart program and we hope to have some groups operating in Term 4.
I have included a copy of the DoMN Reconciliation Action Plan at the end of this newsletter.
Coming events
School Photos
On Monday and Tuesday, 29th and 30th August (this coming week), MSP Photography will be here for the class, family and representative photos. My understanding is that class photos will be held on Monday. It's always nice for students to be in full uniform for these photos.
P & F Meeting and Parent Workshop - Teaching and Learning
Tuesday evening is our second Term 3 P&F Meeting in the staffroom at 6pm, and on Wednesday morning at 9am, we are looking forward to our Parent Workshop in the Music room. Focused on sharing information about Teaching & Learning, we plan to cover the following topics:
- The daily schedule and timetabling
- Key Learning Areas - stage statements, content, and skills
- School Improvement focus areas
- Assessment & Reporting
We will also make a presentation available online as a recording to view at your leisure. If you would like to attend the workshop on the day or receive a recording, please contact the school office on 6554 6504 or admin@forster.catholic.edu.au.
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Parent meeting
On Thursday, 1st September at 2pm (change from 1.30pm), we plan to meet with our Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Parents and Carers to update families on staffing, discuss the Term 3 program of learning, look at an Early Years Foundations For Learning resource, to plan ahead for Term 4, and to engage in a feedback discussion about our work so far this year.
Father's Day Stall and Breakfast
On Tuesday 30th August, our P&F Association are hosting a Father's Day stall at school, providing an option for students to purchase a small surprise for their fathers. It is always a great way for children to have a say in what they think their father would like, and the gifts are genuinely a really big surprise! Gifts range in price from $1 - $10.
To end the week, our staff will host a Father's Day breakfast in Mackillop Hall from 7.30-8.30am. Fathers can enjoy a bacon and egg roll and a cuppa or juice, while students will have the option of toast and juice. A little different from previous years, there will be some chairs around and fathers will be encouraged to join their students on the playground for a game after breakfast.
Student Led Conferences
Don't forget to keep the afternoon of Tuesday 20th September free to join your child in their classroom for the Student Led Conference. The classrooms will be open from 3.30 - 5.30pm for your child to lead you through their learning and progress so far this year. This is a great opportunity to hear from your child's reflections on their learning.
Yours sincerely
Brooke Stephens
Book Week
Our Book Week/Grandparent’s Day celebrations were wonderful on Monday. It was fantastic to see so many parents and grandparents at school for the first time in a long time. Families and students enjoyed the staff performance of Nick Bland’s short-listed book “Walk of the Whales.” A huge thank you to Mrs Kristie Banham for creating our whale costumes and for her never ending support, commitment, and enthusiasm in her role at Holy Name.
After the book character parade, which was enjoyed by all, grandparents and parents were able to visit the classrooms of their children and grandchildren. Many students presented their grandparents with a piece of art and some kind words. The adults were then treated to a cuppa and scone in the hall.
During Week 5, all students were given the opportunity to vote for their favourite short-listed book in 3 different categories. The idea was to see if our votes at HNS matched the votes by the members of the Children’s Book Council of Australia.
Results
Category | CBCA Winner | HNS Vote |
Book of the Year Early Childhood | Jetty Jumping by Andrea Rowe and Hannah Sommerville | Walk of the Whales by Nick Bland |
Picture Book of the Year | Iceberg by Claire Saxby and Jess Racklyeft | Graeat White Shark by Claire Saxby and Cindy Lane |
Best New Illustrator | The Boy Who Tried to Shrink his Name by Sandhya Parappukkaran and Michelle Pereira | Stellarphant by James Foley |
These books will now be available to borrow from our school library.
National Child Protection Week
During Week 9, 4-10 September, we will acknowledge and recognise Child Protection Week across Australia. The theme is “Every Child in Every Community Needs a Fair Go.” The CSO is running a competition to decorate the school gate during this week. Mrs Banham is supporting the students to create an eye catching display at the front of the school. I have also registered our classes for Australia's Biggest Child Safety Lesson organised by the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.
Follow the link for some great resources
https://www.napcan.org.au/napcan-brochures/
SPORT
Our senior boys relay team have been training rigorously with Mrs Ann Evans for the Polding Athletics carnival. Ann has been offering the team lots of wonderful advice on baton changes and the finer points of relay racing. The boys travel to the Polding carnival on September 9th and we wish them the very best of luck. Also wishing Levi and Ashton good luck in their 100m and 200m events.
PBL
Our Positive Behaviour for Learning focus for the past fortnight has been being settled and ready to learn. Children are so busy these days and often come into their learning spaces in a heightened state. For real learning to occur, students need to be able to bring themselves down after play breaks and be calm and ready to learn during classroom sessions. Our focus for weeks 7 and 8 will be using kind words to each other.
SRC
Today, our SRC planted out our garden beds with fabulous spring and summer crops. This produce will be donated to our parish Community Kitchen as it becomes available for harvest. Other projects that the children are working on are:
Sports Leaders - New sport shed roster and cleaning up Sport Shed
Technology Leaders - Creating a scope of SCRATCH coding lessons for lunchtime learning
Arts Leaders - Painting large outdoor garden pots
Social Justice Leaders - Child Protection Week posters
Environment Group - Garden planting Spring crops
ICAS
Some students have been participating in ICAS testing over the past few weeks. These tests are set by the University of NSW and supervised at school. Children will receive certificates and detailed results of how they fare in the exams.
Holy Name Public Speaking
For the past few weeks, our students have had the opportunity to practise their public speaking skills with their classmates. They are now ready to use these skills in order to be selected as their class representative at the Holy Name Public Speaking Finals on Thursday, 15th September. Further details about this event will appear in the Week 8 newsletter.
Lynn Redding
Great Learning Happening in Year 6!
Each fortnight I like to put a spotlight on the great learning happening in a particular grade or class in our school. In this report the spotlight is on 6M. During reading sessions Year 6 have focusing on information texts where they can identify structure, audience influence and justify the purpose of the text. The theme that Year 6 have been focusing on has been Survival which has led them to engage with factual accounts of the Thai Cave Rescue, backpacker survival guides and survival recounts of individuals that have come close to death. These texts have really engaged the students and promoted great discussion and further research.
In writing, Year 6 have been learning to write informative texts on topics that interest them. Students have been focusing on using structural elements to organise their texts, including vivid vocabulary and using a range of different types of sentences for effect. I was impressed to see some of the students completed information reports where use of the learnt strategies was evident. Students recently received formal feedback from Miss McKinnon based on a marking rubric which matched the writing success criteria. It was pleasing to see students using their teacher feedback to go back and improve their writing. I was particularly proud to see how eager students were to share their information report projects with me and the mature way they could articulate the structure and purpose of their text.
In Maths, Year 6 has been focusing on Decimals. Students have been comparing and ordering decimals. The students have also been engaging in a range of activities working with the multiplication and division of decimals. It is great to hear that students are able to create their own word problems using unit rates. Some students were even beginning to notice decimals in their every day life, which has created great discussion! Today the students were engaging in a lesson on enlargement where they had to increase the size of a model dinosaur by 400%. Check out the photos of this awesome lesson!
In Creative Arts students have been looking at the artist Harara Textiles and working on steps to create their own cake sculpture!
Well done Year 6 students and teachers keep up the awesome work!
Kindergarten Transition
Transition for our Kinder 2023 students is fast approaching! If you or something you know would like to enrol their child into Kindergarten for next year please contact the office for an enrolment pack. Please see the dates below of our Kindergarten Transition Timeline.
Mrs Suzie Monks
Primary Coordinator
Mary MacKillop Feast Day
Holy Name joined with our parish community to celebrate Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day on Monday 8th August in the Holy Name of Jesus Church. Our children were helped by Fr Peter to understand the deep concern Mary MacKillop had for people who were poor and struggling. They heard how Mary MacKillop worked tirelessly to provide children with the opportunity for an education.
MacKillop Cup
Wednesday afternoon Year 6 took to the basketball court after some warmup exercises, expecting that this year would be the year, they would defeat the Holy Name teachers. It began as a close contest but as the whistle blew to end the game the score was 13 to 5 to the teachers.
WHO WAS ST MARY OF THE CROSS MACKILLOP?
She was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne, in 1842, the eldest child of Scottish immigrants. In 1861 she moved to the small town of Penola in South Australia, where she met Fr Julian Tenison Woods. Together they established Australia’s first free Catholic school. In 1866 she co-founded Australia’s first religious order, the Sisters of St Joseph, and took a vow of poverty. Soon there were 17 schools under her care, but Mary’s refusal to abide by the rules of the Bishop in Adelaide led to her excommunication from the church. She was accepted back a year later and eventually shown respect by the Bishops for her work with the poor. Mary was beatified by Pope John Paul ll in 1995, as a result of a woman who was cured of leukaemia in 1961 after a group offered prayers to Sister Mary. She was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI on 17 October 2010 and is now known as St Mary of the Cross.
Assumption of Mary
Holy Name students listened as Fr Peter refered to the Assumption of Mary as the third most important church celebration in the liturgical calendar. First Easter Sunday the celebration of Jesus rising from the dead, the second, Christmas Day celebrating the birth of Christ and the third, the Assumption of Mary, where Mary was taken body and soul to heaven to be seated beside God the Father as he promised. Our children participated more during the mass by saying The Gloria and the Apostles Creed.
Sacrament Preparation
The family is where faith is learned and lived. Parents are the first educators of their children, share with them the catholic faith and the experience of belonging to the Church. The Catholic school provides education about the sacraments through the years of schooling and offers the experience of celebrating the liturgy in the religious life of the school. The parish is responsible for establishing and running programs for sacramental preparation and for the celebration of the sacraments. If you are wishing your child to be enrolled in the sacramental program to receive Reconciliation, Confirmation or Eucharist, please contact the Parish Office and speak with Danielle on 65546401 or enrol via the Parish website www.catholicparishofforstertuncurry.org.au
Sacrament of Confirmation
Confirmation is the second step in the process of Christian initiation. It comes between Baptism and Eucharist and is intimately related to them. Confirmation involves revisiting the experience of a child’s Baptism and building upon it. The child’s baptismal promises are renewed; Children are invited to take a “Confirmation name” and where possible, a baptismal godparent serves as the sponsor for Confirmation. Confirmation emphasises that we live out our baptismal commitment under the power of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit.
Students from Holy Name and schools in our local community have been preparing for Confirmation for a month. On Friday evening Fr Greg as Administrator of the Diocese will confirm these candidates. We congratulate these students. Please keep the confirmation candidates in your prayers by praying the following prayer:
A Prayer for Confirmation Candidates
Lord, You send out Your Spirit to touch the hearts of all people, so that they may believe in You and in Jesus whom You sent.
Look kindly on all candidates for Confirmation as they listen to Your voice. Open their hearts to Your Spirit and bring to fulfilment the good work that You have begun in them.
Amen
Catholic Care Hampers
The Social Jusitce leaders of our school presented Catholic Care representative , Mrs Michelle Robinson with 7 baskets filled with hamper items. These items will be distributed to those in our community who are in need. Thank you Holy Name for your remarkable generousity in giving to those in need.
The Order of The Mass
At Holy Name we celebrate the Mass at school as well as in our parish Church. Recently the whole school has celebrated the Mass of the Assumption and the Feast of Mary MacKillop. To be more active participants, we are supporting the children by displaying the words to the Gloria and the Apostles Creed for the children to read with the celebrating community.
As part of the Year 3-unit “Forms of Prayer”, teachers unpack the four Parts of the Mass with the students and learn which prayers are said in each part and why. Attached is a copy of what these four parts are, and the names of the prayers said. In our next newsletter I will include the words to these prayers to support you and your family in understanding the mass that much more.
Father’s Day
Holy Name warmly invite all fathers and father figures to Holy Name School's annual Father's Day Breakfast on Friday, 2 September.
We will be serving bacon and egg rolls to our dad's and toast with a spread to our students from 7:30am till 8:30am out of MacKillop Hall, along with tea, coffee, and juice.Dads are invited to stay onwards after breakfast to play a game of handball, cricket, basketball or touch footy with their son/daughter and their friends and dads.
If you have been unwell and are recovering from sickness could you please wear a mask to the breakfast.
Kind regards,
Genevieve Williamson
Religious Education Coordinator
Mini Vinnies
Our Mini Vinnies team have continued to be busy with doing ‘good works’ delivering appreciation gifts to our staff this week for Wellbeing Week. They also enjoyed Flash Mobbing on Friday, it's always fun to have a dance at lunchtime but even more fun in our PJ’s.
Thank you to everyone who has been sending in 5 5cents for our 5c Fridays, we have already raised $440 which is an outstanding effort. We have to thank the wonderful parishioners who have been supporting this and sending their spare change over to us as well.
Wellbeing in Art Club and Zen Zone
Our Art Club friends have enjoyed collaboratively painting our word wings this week for all students to share in and some of our teachers have grown wings! Other students have loved painting using different mediums, lots of paint and calico artworks have been created this week.
A new space we introduced as part of Wellbeing Week has been the Zen Zone. It has been a quiet chill out zone for students to come make kindness cards and mandalas and listen to relaxing quiet music. We had lots and lots of students visit this space and make beautiful heartfelt messages of kindness.
Playgroup
Our HNS playgroup is open to all families with children being transition to school. It is held in the school hall every Thursday from 9-10am. It’s a lovely, gentle way for our early learners to become familiar with Holy Name. There are a variety of play areas, art/craft, a story and a dance. Parents and grandparents are most welcome, morning tea and a cuppa is provided.
Tobwabba Breakfast Club
Shout out to Manning-Great Lakes Police and Catholic Care for a wonderful initiative hosting breakfast club at Tobwabba Medical Centre. The breakfast encourages community to come together and enjoy a hot breakfast while providing children a healthy packed school lunch. Everyone is welcome and Miss Redding and I were blessed to be able to go along and help. Tobwabba Breakfast Club is on again Friday September 2, 7.30-8.30am.
Kristie Banham
Pastoral Care Worker
ASPIRE CREATIVE ARTS HOLIDAY WORKSHOPS FOR STUDENTS
Students in Years 4 -7 who are interested in dance, drama, or singing, and students of any age who are confident in playing a musical instrument would be crazy not to take up one or more of the following ASPIRE opportunities in the coming holidays.
This first flyer outlines two workshops, run by the talented ASPIRE team crew members. The first is a Creative Choreography workshop where students learn to choreograph their own dance pieces and connect with like-minded creative young people. The second workshop, Play in a Day, provides an opportunity for students interested in drama to work together to create an original story to be performed at the end of the day.
In the second flyer, you will find information about the Find Your Voice workshop, designed to support students to learn strategies and techniques to develop their singing ability. The final workshop offer is the Open Jam Session, where students of any age who are confident and willing to improvise using their instrument are invited to jam with other students and develop their skills in ensemble playing and improvisation within different music genres.
Keeping your children safe online
New learning resources to help your family stay safe online
eSafety has released new resources to help parents and carers from all backgrounds protect their families online.
The new videos and advice sheets from the Online Safety for Every Family suite of resources covers how to:
- get started with social media
- enjoy safer online gaming
- help your child if they are bullied online.
To make sure more families can start a conversation with their children about online safety, the information comes in multiple languages - English, Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Tamil and Dari.
Free webinar designed for parents and carers of young people aged 11 to 18 years old