As Mrs Stephens enjoys some well earned long service leave, I am acting in the Principal role for 2 weeks. I hope the past fortnight has seen everyone healthy and happy. We have had a big couple of weeks at Holy Name with many different learnings, celebrations and achievements. Our P&F have organised a movie night for families on Friday, September 1st in the Mary Mackillop Hall - see flyer in this newsletter.

SPORT

Diocesan Athletics

The Diocesan Athletics Primary Carnival was held at Glendale on August 2nd. Despite a rainy start, the weather cleared up, providing a great day for sports. Their were quite a few newcomer students to this level and it was great to see them showcasing their potential. 

Once again, our relay teams demonstrated teamwork and determination. Four students - Mackenzie Allen, Harrison Mills, Patrick Sky, and Noah Portelli, our first Discus competitor - excelled and advanced to the Polding level. 

It was heartwarming to see so many parents drive down to support their children. 

Additionally, please note that this was the last time we will be hiring a bus for the Dio carnival.  For those who would like to train - The School swimming carnival will be held in the last week of term 4 this year.

Soccer Gala Day

Next Friday, August 18^th, our Year 3 and Year 5 students will travel to Bulahdelah to participate in the Manning Region Soccer Gala Day. The bus will leave school at 8.40 and return in time for afternoon pickup.

MacKillop Cup

The annual basketball competition between our Year 6 students and teachers was contested yesterday. The match was a lively affair and the crowd could be heard for blocks around HNS. The students came out firing and it was a close game for the first 2 quarters. However, the teachers came back and showed their superiority and skill in the latter parts of the game.

Tae Kwon Do

Grand Master faye Shacklock is conducting a Tae Kwon Do class at HNS after school on Thursdays. The class is very well supported and the children can gain valuable skills. Faye also works with a group of Year 3 students in the afternoon session on Thursdays and these boys are getting a lot out of the lessons such as gaining confidence, building self control and being healthy and strong.

Netball

One of our Year 6 students, Mackenzie Allen won a very special award. Mackenzie won the Under 12 Great Lakes Netball Representative "Shannon Rankin Inspirational Sports Person" trophy. This was awarded at the GLNC presentation night on Saturday 15/7 at Club Forster.

The young lady pictured with her is her coach, Sophie Hokin (also a former Holy Name student) and coach Denise Hurst.

Staffing

Mrs Williamson is taking some well-deserved Long Service Leave from Week 8 this Term. Miss Jourdann Frost will be teaching 3W in her absence. Jourdann has been a member of our HNS staff for a couple of years now and is very excited about taking on the class in a full-time capacity. A thank you also to Mrs Quilter, who has agreed to move from 3W on Wednesdays to teach 2S in place of Miss Frost. We will announce our replacement Religious Education coordinator as soon as we can.

PBL

Our PBL focus for Weeks 1 & 2 of this Term was keeping our Environment Clean and Tidy. We chose this to work on keeping our brand new play spaces clean.

The winners of the class awards in Week 2 were:

The following students received Principal’s Awards:

 The focus for the past fortnight has been Using Kind Words and Manners. The Class Award winners for Week 4 were:

The following students received Principal’s Awards:

Eloise Todd

Alexander Naughton

Scarlett Simcoe

Ezra Lea

Aaron Huynh

Angel Oliver

Arielle Bergagnin

Emmanuel Shibu

Mila Newman

Piper Webb

The focus for the coming fortnight (weeks 5 & 6) will be Listening to the Teachers. We constantly struggle with getting students to settle to listen to instructions or settle quietly as a group. The students will participate in some learning in their classes around this skill and will receive surfboards when they are “caught” displaying this behaviour. 

ICAS

ICAS testing began this week. Students took part in the ICAS Digital Technologies test on Thursday and the Writing test today. The rest of the tests will be conducted over the next fortnight. 

Safety

Last week we had a visit from some of the Road Safety team from Mid Coast Council. They were out in Carawa street to remind parents about the Kiss and Ride zone. The Rules of the Kiss and Ride Zone mean that you cannot stop for more than 2 minutes and you must stay within 3m of the car. Most of our families were very aware of the rules and this kept the traffic flowing at morning drop off time. Just a reminder that we encourage Carawa street as the preferred street for dropping off and picking children up each day.

The National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence will be acknowledged on Friday, August 18^th. As we have several students out of school that day we will highlight the Day on the Monday of Week 6. The children will talk about bullying and strategies to help if you are being bullied, safe places and people and keeping safe online. The Office of the eSafety Commissioner has some fabulous resources if you would like to follow up with your children.

ATSI Children’s Day

Last Friday, I was fortunate to be able to attend the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) Children’s Day at the Tobwabba Medical centre. I was accompanied by the Infants Aboriginal students and our Aboriginal Education workers Crystal Simon and Madi Williams. The children had a wonderful time engaing with their peers and elders in the community. They enjoyed all the activities on affer as well including the Reptile Show, painting clapping sticks, Having their face painted and creating cup cakes. We all shared a BBQ lunch and then walked back to school.

Book Week

HNS will celebrate Book Week in Week 6. This year's theme is Read, Grow, Inspire. The Scholastic Book Fair will be set up in the library from Monday 21/8 until Wednesday 23/8 at second lunch and after school. Our Book Week Parade will take place at 10.30 on Thursday 24/8 and all families are welcome! 

Mary MacKillop Feast Day

Mary MacKillop is Australia’s first saint. She was canonised in 2010. Also named Mary of the Cross. Mary founded the St Josephite order of nuns. The Diocese of Maitland Newcastle have a close connection with Mary’s Josephite order, as a branch from her order in Penola, South Australia, settled in Lochinvar, opening schools to educate the poor. All Manning primary schools, apart from Holy Name, were called St Joseph’s as the Josephite sisters founded these schools. The Josephite nuns Sisters Francesca, Hilda and Florence Mary commenced a school of 30 pupils in the Church at Forster in 1958. The new Holy Name School building for 150 enrolments, was opened and blessed by His Lordship Bishop John Toohey on 1 January 1961.

Mary MacKillop is Holy Name’s charism. We follow in her footsteps by Belonging, Learning and Serving In His Holy Name, by her example, “Showing Concern for Others” and living her motto for mission and justice “Never see a need without doing something about it.”

We celebrated the Feast of Mary MacKillop on Tuesday 8^th August with our parish in the Holy Name of Jesus Church, led by Fr Peter Street, our parish priest. This was a beautiful mass. It was wonderful to see a sea of maroon seated in the church amongst parishioners, actively listening and participating in prayer and song for Mary MacKillop. Our School Captains Ashton Robertson, Sienna Cooper and Jackson Paine read the readings of the day with confidence and commitment to their faith. During reflection after communion, our school choir sang the song “My Lighthouse”. Congratulations to our choir for the living the spirit of Mary Mackillop through song, sharing God’s love to all in the Church. Thank you, Mrs Clifton our Choir Master, for fostering a positive energy and purpose of pride in our students, to serve in their community.

Assumption of Mary

Next Tuesday, we celebrate the Assumption of Mary at 9:30am in the Holy Name of Jesus Church. The Assumption of Mary is a day where we are reminded to contemplate Mary’s beautiful example of fulfilling God’s Will in her life.

We will hear in the words of God about the life of Mother Mary, Jesus’ mother. Her choice to become the mother of God at The Annunciation, and joy of the Nativity, Resurrection, Ascension and her Assumption into heaven body and soul.

Fr Peter will be celebrating this mass. All parents and carers are welcome to join our school and parish communities celebrate this holy day of obligation.

Welcome Ceremony

Mrs Rose Loring was welcomed into the church last Sunday. Mrs Loring received the final 2 sacraments of initiation: Confirmation and Eucharist in front of family, friends and parish. Congratulations Mrs Loring.

Mission and Justice

Catholic Care Pantry Item Collection

Holy Name would like to support the Catholic Care Food Program. Food support big or small, really does make a difference and Catholic Care would certainly be very grateful to receive a food donation from our school community. All we ask of you to support this initiative is to send in to school from today, any of the following items, to make a difference in our local community.

Please find the following suggested pantry items. The kitchen will use these items to prepare meals or package them into food hampers, to feed the most vulnerable in our community.

• Canned sliced beetroot
• Canned corn kernels
• Canned mixed vegetables
• 2-minute noodles
• Wheet bix
• UHT Milk
• Canned peas, corn, and carrots
• Canned tiny taters
• Tinned two fruits
• Tinned baked beans
• Tinned spaghetti
• Tinned Ham
• Tinned Tuna
• UHT custard
• Fruit mince pies
• Christmas fruit cake
• Pasta Rice
• Assorted confectionary
• Assorted biscuits

Staff developing a Student Social Justice K-6 Program

Over the past two staff meetings, Holy Name Staff have participated in professional learning to build their capacity of understanding about the 7 Catholic Social Teachings with the purpose of designing a Call to Service Action Plan to then enact across all grades in 2024.

Teachers in the first week, aligned Unit Outcomes, Learning Intentions and Religious Literacy of their grade’s Values or Justice RE unit with the Catholic Social Teaching’s (CST) that were being taught. From this a K-6 Concept Plan was created.

This week, staff used the model of EXPLORE, REFLECT, PLAN and ACT:

• to create opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of a CST, to create for students’ ways to participate in reflection activities.
• to create a list of opportunities where the students can make a difference.
• to plan learning service and mission activities for justice in our school, parish, and wider community,
• to set dates in our school calendar over the year to action these plans of justice and mission.

See below, the K-6 Catholic Social teaching Concept Plan

                               Mission and Justice K-6 CONCEPT PLAN

                              with themes & CST that link to these units

Public Speaking Finals

On Thursday we held the Holy Name Public Speaking Finals. Our students from Kindergarten to Stage 3 displayed their fantastic speaking talents, addressing topics specific to their age groups.

Early Stage 1: All About Me

Our youngest speakers took the stage with smiles and giggles, talking about their favourite things. It was a heartwarming moment as they introduced themselves and shared some of their preferences, giving us a glimpse into their personalities.

Stage 1: My Town

In the Stage 1 segment, students talked about their hometown, highlighting what makes our community special. It was wonderful to see their pride in describing our local area with a big focus on our beautiful waterways and events that hold significance in their lives.

Stage 2: My Favorite Place

For Stage 2, students shared their favourite spots and what makes those places so special to them. This included Hawaii, school and even the speaker’s own imagination!

Stage 3: If I Ruled the World

Our Stage 3 speakers wrapped up the event by discussing their ideas for a better world. They also tackled an impromptu challenge – preparing a 1-minute speech in 5 minutes about who they'd invite to dinner. Their thoughtful insights and confident delivery were truly commendable.

Additionally, Stage 2 and 3 were given the opportunity to present a 1 minute impromptu speech. With just 5 minutes to prepare, they spoke about who they would invite to dinner if given the chance. It was impressive to see their quick thinking and speaking skills.

We were very lucky to have Mrs Gooley and Mrs Armitage as our special guest adjudicators for this event. These very knowledgeable teachers shared great feedback with our finalists and had a tough time scoring such amazing speeches!

Congratulations to our Stage winners:

Early Stage 1: Rudy Bergagnin

Stage 1: Anna Brooks

Stage 2: Nanma Joy

Stage 3: Chase Brooks

We want to express our gratitude to the teachers and parents who supported these young public speakers, their growth and confidence were evident on the stage. Stay tuned for more updates from the Regional Public Speaking Finals which will be held at St Joseph’s Taree next Thursday 17^th August.

100 Days of Kindergarten

This Friday our Kindergarten students celebrated ‘100 Days of Kindergarten’. As a grade we have been adding a sticker to our tens frames each day to work out how many days we have 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! To make the day even more special the students all dressed up as 100 year olds which prompted quite a giggle from the rest of the school! Check out some of the photos of the different outfits!

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?’. It has been wonderful over the past 2 weeks to see that the students in Kindergarten working hard on their counting skills to prove that each collection of items had 100 in them. Check out these photos of our awesome mathematicians in action!

The highlight for most of the Kindergarten students was being able to decorate one of the 100 cupcakes with their Year 6 buddies. The bond our Kinder students have with their buddies is so very special and it was nice that they were able to celebrate with us today. We were able to have a lovely morning tea with our Kinder parents who were excited to join the celebration with their children. The day was a huge success and was only made possible due to the wonderful support from lots of our Year 5 Mini Vinnies team who gave up their time to join in the fun and help run activities.

Mrs Suzie Monks

Primary Coordinator