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- Principal's message
- 60 Years of Service
- Aspire 2019
- SRC
- Semester 2 Investiture Mass
- Confirmation
- 100 Days of Kindergarden
- Writing Competition
- Social and Emotional Learning Program in Week 3 and 4
- National Science Week
- Diocesan Athletics
- Polding Cross Country
- Spring Ball
- Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden
- SAKG
- Special Needs Mass
- Catholic Care 123 Magic Workshop
Welcome back to all families and friends of our Holy Name School community. We’ve had a productive start to the term, with our Investiture Mass for new student leaders, a celebration for the first 100 days of Kinder, Confirmation for our Yr 3 students and our first-ever inclusion of students in the Diocesan Aspire performance. Today, Kinder travelled to the Billabong Zoo for a visit and I can’t wait to hear the stories about their day. The success of these events is attributed to the collaboration between our families, Parish, School and Diocesan staff. I believe this model of 'community' we provide for our students is a testament to the common values and beliefs we share. Great work to all involved!
During the holidays, many of our Yr 6 students were awarded prizes as part of a writing competition. Some of our students were also commended for her illustrations. You’ll catch an article about this later in the newsletter. It is great to see our Yr 6 students extending themselves by entering into competitions and demonstrating their talents at such a young age. We were very proud of the students and commend them for their dedication to learning at this important stage of their journey.
This term, Holy Name School has four different compliance days and each of these requires considerable administration. The days are based on Attendance, Catholic Identity, our Self-Review and Curriculum.
ATTENDANCE
The ‘Attendance’ day was held last week and required evidence of the processes we use to manage student attendance. There was a great deal of learning to come from this day, especially since new procedures have been required as part of the introduction of Compass. The bigger changes that will impact parents include:
- Attendance Reports sent home by teachers after 3 days if an absence has been unexplained. This document needs to be signed and a reason provided and returned to school before 7 days. After 7 days, the unexplained absence remains even if parents provide a reason.
- A series of formal letters will be sent to families when habitual non-attendance becomes a problem.
The following is an excerpt from the Holy Name School Attendance Procedure in the section about the responsibilities of teachers and parents in managing 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:
a) Logon to COMPASS and record the absence
b) Phone the school office
c) Email the Class Teacher / or school office
d) Send a note in with the child when they return to school
2. Explain their child’s absence within 7 days.
3. 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
The Catholic Schools Office follows the government guidelines and we are required to follow very strict rules in managing the attendance of our students. When our school data shows attendance below a certain per cent, the authorities begin to ask questions about our management of the processes. The obvious reason for this is related to both student well-being and achievement, which are both directly impacted by poor attendance.
Take a moment to look at the attendance data for our classes and overall. The aim always is to improve this data.
GRADE | % of Absences | % of Partial Attendance | % of Attended |
Kinder | 7.1% | 1.4% | 91.5% |
1 | 6.3% | 0.6% | 93.1% |
2 | 5.5% | 0.6% | 93.9% |
3 | 6.5% | 0.7% | 92.8% |
4 | 7.7% | 1.1% | 91.2% |
5 | 7.0% | 1.4% | 91.6% |
6 | 8.9% | 1.1% | 90.0% |
CATHOLIC IDENTITY
The second of these compliance days was held today and it was in the area of our school’s Catholic Identity. This is time to reflect on how we are distinctly Catholic and supports us to check-in with the important elements of our school that make us different from the other options for schooling in our community.
This day looks at how we connect with our faith and spiritual formation opportunities for students, staff and families. It is an opportunity to check that our vision and mission are evident in our policies and practices and that our curriculum in Religion provides the knowledge, skills and understandings desired for the development of our young Catholic leaders. There will be more to come about the outcomes from this day in our next newsletter.
SELF-REVIEW
In Week 4, we will present the results of our Self-Review to our Assistant Director. This document is prepared using feedback from all members of our community and the student achievement data available for our school and is used as the basis for planning our 2020-2022 Strategic Plan. The process has revealed valuable insights and direction for the future. Once the Strategic Plan is developed we will share the key areas with the community.
CURRICULUM FOCUS DAY
Later this term, Mrs Loring and Mrs Praschinger will collate class program information in Science & Technology & English and take evidence of the way we plan, implement, assess and record data in these Key Learning Areas. They will share this work with another school and receive feedback on ways we can improve our curriculum planning.
I'm off to see the Aspire Performance tonight and can't wait!
Best wishes for a fabulous fortnight,
Brooke Stephens
You're Invited!
Please join us in a celebration for the Sisters of St Joseph for their 60 years of service to the Catholic People of Forster Tuncurry.
Date: Sunday 11 August
Time: Mass at 10.00 am followed by light refreshments in our Hall. (This will replace 7am & 9am Masses)
Place: 33 Lake Street, Forster
Bring: Plate of food to share
Yesterday, Miss Redding and Mrs Loring took 40 HNS students to the Civic Theatre in Newcastle for the ASPIRE performance. ASPIRE is the Creative Arts arm of the Catholic Schools office led by the talented Anna Kerrigan. This year's performance was titled: 365 Issues, Questions and Good Deeds and had some wonderful messages to take away. The entire performance is done by students across the Diocese from years 5-12 as well as all the sets, lighting and music. The professionalism is amazing and the performance was second to none! It was fabulous to see 2 of our year 5 students in the performance: Tahlia Anthony was in the Singing section and Imogen Baker in the Dancing section. These girls showed amazing talent and I am sure they will continue to flourish in these areas - Well Done girls!
Anna Kerrigan will be at HNS in week 4 to begin working with our Year 6 cohort on their End of Year Performance.
At the end of last Term, the Year 5 and 6 children voted for the SRC Leaders for Semester 2.
These Year 6 children were elected:
Captains: Piper Bowen, Ethan Hudson
Vice Captains: Sophie Pither, Bin Jie Wong
SRC Reps: Sophia Huebner, Jonathan Botros, Isabella Trummel, Rohan Dormor, Nyoka Syron, Declan Cloak
Last week the children gathered in their House groups to elect their House captains:
WHALES: Elsie Duckett, Dylan Kinkade
DOLPHINS: Hannah Carmichael, Will Gibson
STINGRAYS: Charlotte Royal, Oakland Buckshiram
SHARKS: Matilda Dickson, Ben Moelker
The following children were elected as their class representatives:
Year 3: Lacey Hadenham, Aston Hodges, Bonnie Dempsey, Mac Randall
Year 4: Mia Hamilton, Nash Syron, Charlee Pinto, Lorenzo Gray
Year 5: Ruby Machon, Latraye Wilson, Helen Thomas, Ryan McCabe
Congratulations to these students! It is also wonderful to see the diversity of our students represented on the SRC.
I am hoping to hold an SRC Meeting each fortnight this term. We began with our first meeting on Wednesday.
Last Sunday evening the student leaders of our school community were invested into their new leadership roles for Semester 2 2019. Fr Greg called on our students to use the Holy Spirit’s gift of courage to support them in challenging situations and times when it’s not always easy to make the right choice, but as leaders we are expected to make. Our Investiture Mass and Youth Mass were combined so we enjoyed the beautiful music and singing from our Youth Parish band and choir.
For six of our Yr 3 students, last Tuesday evening was very exciting. Archie Anthony, Layla Hickson, Bonnie Dempsey, Charlie Gibson, Nate Siddle and Mac Randall received the Sacrament of Confirmation in front of Bishop Bill, Fr Greg, their families, sponsor and parish community. Bishop Bill asked the children to open the gifts of the Holy Spirit that they were to receive as they were confirmed, and to use them in their relationships with others every day. Congratulations from Holy Name School!
Last Thursday our Kindergarten students celebrated ‘100 Days of Kindergarten’. As a grade, we had been adding a sticker to our tens frames each day to work out how many days we had been at big school. We decided at the beginning of this term that 100 days of learning is a great achievement and deserving of a celebration! The special day was based around the number 100 and students were spilt into groups and rotated around many different activities. These activities included: making 100 paper chains, writing 100 words, making a tower using 100 cups, doing 100 different fitness moves, dot painting and counting different objects to add to the wall titled, ‘What does 100 look like?’.
The highlight for most of the Kindergarten students was being able to decorate one of the 100 cupcakes with their Year 6 buddies. Mrs Nicholls and the Mini Vinnies group very kindly set up and catered a lovely morning tea that meant the Kinder parents could share in the celebration with their children. The day was a huge success and was only made possible due to the wonderful support from lots of parent volunteers who gave up their time to join in the fun and help run activities.
Mrs Monks & Mrs Praschinger
Holy Name Primary School Forster has recently achieved great success in the ‘Tell Me a Story’ writing and illustration competition. In its second year, the competition is coordinated by the Great Lakes Advocate and the Great Lakes Art Society. ‘Tell Me a Story’ is designed to encourage and inspire young writers and artists and present them with the opportunity to creatively express their work to an audience.
Congratulations to the following Holy Name children who received an Excellence Award in the writing competition:
Hannah Atkinson – Depths
Kobi Critchley – Accepted
Hannah Carmichael – The Crash
Andrew Miller, Dylan Kinkade and Jonathan Botros gained Highly Commended awards for the stories.
Hannah Atkinson and Dylan Kinkade also received Excellence Awards in the illustration competition with Taylor Bakewell, Ethan Hudson and Isabella Trummel being Highly Commended.
These winners were excited to receive prizemoney and a reward at the Awards Ceremony held in the holidays. In coming weeks the winning stories will be published in the Great Lakes Advocate newspaper and the winning artworks displayed at the Great Lakes Gallery.
Social and Emotional Learning Program in Week 3 and 4
‘Take turns when you talk ‘! In Weeks 3 and 4 as part of the SISS SEL Social and Emotional Learning Program students from K-6 will focus on learning the skills necessary to take turns when they talk with others. Parents and carers are encouraged to discuss talking and listening skills at home and prompt and praise when students for engaging in reciprocal conversation.
Week 4 is National Science Week and this year the theme is “Destination Moon” with activities centred around the Moon Landing and its 50th Anniversary. There is also celebration around the year of the Periodic table.
We will start the week with a playground surprise and then Mrs Loring will be working with the classes on some “Moon” based activities on Tuesday 13th August.
Next Wednesday, a contingent of students from Holy name School will travel to Newcastle for the Diocesan Athletics Carnival. The children will compete as part of the Manning Region at this event.
The team is made up of:
NAME |
EVENT |
Piper Bowen |
11 yrs Long Jump, Shot Put, 200 m, 11 yrs 100 m |
Kalani Ryan |
11 yrs 800 m, 11 yrs 100 m |
Jocelyn Reardon |
11 yrs Long Jump |
Indigo Titow |
Snr Long Jump, 12 yrs 100 m |
Manuela Stewart |
Snr 200 m, Snr Long Jump, 12 yrs 100 m |
Lylah Darcy |
11 yrs 800 m, 11 yrs 200m, 11 yrs 1500 m |
Alexis Hudson |
Jnr 800 m, Jnr Long Jump, 10 yrs 100 m, Jnr 1500 m |
Colbie McCabe |
8 yrs 100 m |
Mackenzie Allen |
8 yrs 100 m |
Lilah Gibson |
8 yrs 100 m |
Lylah Hickson |
9 yrs 100 m |
Chelsea Price |
9 yrs 100 m |
|
|
Locky Stocker |
Snr Shot Put |
Ashton Robertson |
8 Yrs 100 m |
Ashley Allan |
8 Yrs 100 m |
Rohan Dormor |
11 Yrs 800 m, 11 yrs 1500 m |
Ethan Hudson |
11 yrs 800 m |
Latrelle Wilson |
Snr Long Jump, 13 yrs 100 m |
Riley Paine |
11 yrs 200 m, 11 yrs 100 m |
Jonathan Botros |
Snr 800 m, Snr 200 m, 12 yrs 100 m |
Logan Joughin |
11 yrs Shot Put |
Levi Van Haren |
Jnr 800 m, Jnr 200 m, 9 yrs 100 m |
Lorenzo Gray |
10 yrs 100 m |
Archie Anthony |
Jnr 1500 m |
Nash Syron |
Jnr 1500 m |
Asher Wright |
Snr 1500 m |
|
|
Jnr Boys Relay (Lorenzo Gray, Rhys Shanahan, Ashley Allan, Levi Van Haren) |
Snr Boys Relay (Riley Webster, Riley Paine, Jonathan Botros, Latrelle Wilson) |
|
|
Jnr Girls Relay (Abby Moelker (Absent replaced by Colbie McCabe), Layla Hickson, Alexis Hudson, Aria Tritico) |
Snr Girls Relay (Kalani Ryan, Piper Bowen, Indigo Titow, Manuela Stewart) |
At the end of last term Alexis Hudson competed as part of the Maitland Newcastle team at the Dio Cross Country. Alexis placed 7th in the Under 10 girls division. This is a wonderful effort and Alexis just missed out on making the Polding team by one spot.
Our major fundraiser for our Kitchen Garden is our Spring Ball on Saturday, September 7th at Club Forster.
Tables are starting to sell and we need you to get your crew organised for a great night out!! Tickets are available at the school office for $70.00 which includes a 2-course meal, a drink and entertainment from The Glen Mead trio. Bring some gold coins on the night for raffles, games and the glorious dessert bar being organised by Christeen Matta and Gigi Botros. If you can’t get a group of 10 together, come to the office and the girls will put you on a table.
A huge thank you to these businesses for donating prizes for our Silent Raffle or for cash sponsorship:
Forster Dental Clinic Cash Donation
A & B Dormor Building Cash Donation
Mick Perry Concreting Cash Donation
Natural Waffle ice Creamery Gift Bags and Vouchers
Good Vibes Art (Lara McCarthy) $200.00 Gift Voucher
Gnomes Landscaping
Juju Collection
Face HQ
If you would like to make a donation, contact the school office.
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden
Stage 3 are in the Kitchen Garden this term and over the past fortnight have created Spring Rolls, Fried rice, Asian greens and salad. I was lucky enough to sample the menu this week and it was delicious.