4th November 2021
Principal News
Dear Parents and Carers,
All Saints' Day is a holy day of the Catholic Church celebrated annually on November 1. The day is dedicated to the saints of the Church, that is, all those who have attained heaven. Although millions, or even billions of people may already be saints, All Saints' Day observances tend to focus on known saints -that is those recognized in the canon of the saints by the Catholic Church. At our school, our focus is on St Joseph and St Mary of the Cross (MacKillop) whose lives and legacies are linked to our school’s rich Catholic heritage.
All Souls' Day, is observed on November 2, and is dedicated to those who have died and not yet reached heaven. It is a day of prayer and remembrance to give thanks for those whom we love that are now living eternally with our God and to pray for their Souls.
For your own loved ones who have died, Eternal Rest grant unto him O’ Lord and May perpetual Light Shine Upon them. May they rest in Peace. Amen.
Thank you
I would like to thank all our families for the support you have shown in following the Public Health Orders shared with you if your child was considered a Close or Casual contact due to exposure to a positive covid case we were notified of last week. Thank you also to those of you who sent a thank you email to acknowledge the situation and the difficulty it presented. Our staff did all they could and ensured the children left the school very calmy and safely.
A reminder to send a copy of your child’s negative PCR test result to school to the email address admin@abermain.catholic.edu.au so we can keep our records accurate.
Children who were identified as a Casual contact may return to school now once they have had a negative test result and as long as they are not showing any symptoms.
Children who were identified as a Close contact will still be isolating until either midnight on 10th November or, midnight on 11th November – whichever date was indicated on your child’s latest letter. Some children have been able to attend school each day. Given the changes in the weather, if your child does have a cough, the sniffles etc, they MUST not attend school and it is recommended they get tested. Our sincere thanks to our parents who have kept their children at home this week if they have been unwell.
Our new set up at the rear of the hall does not allow for a designated sick bay area and so any child who is unwell, needs to go home. Thanks for your understanding. We are all learning to live in a “new way.” Our school remains a safe place for all children and staff.
Covid Safety Plan and Level 3 Restrictions
I was notified today that as of Monday 8th November our school moves to a Level 3 Restriction which is an easing of our current restrictions and has some significant positive changes for us.
We are excited that our Kinder Transitions in December will now go ahead as planned and parents will be able to attend on site with covid safe check ins and protocols.
An email has been sent to all parents of Kinders for 2022 about our two dates to collect a Welcome to Holy Spirit Infants Pack via Kiss and Ride.
- Monday 15th November from 12.30-1.30pm
- Wednesday 17th November from 3.20-4.20pm
Each Welcome Pack contains a coloured tshirt which we would like the children to wear on their first day of Transition and lots of information for our new families and order forms etc.
If new parents are unable to make these times, please contact the school.
Home Learning will continue next week for students in isolation in K,1 or 2.
My sincere thanks to our teachers for arranging this for the students as well as teaching face to face. If parents need assistance, please email the teacher or call us at school.
Anxiety and Returning after Lockdown
As our students return to school there is likely to be increased anxiety experienced by some after the long lockdown. With the event of last week where students had to go into isolation, that can also bring about anxiety with students feeling scared about the virus and if they may catch it or feeling fearful of the change once again reverting to Home Learning when they had just returned. There are many things parents can look out for in terms of a child’s anxiety and the article below has some simple tips for parents to be able to support their child through this “new normal”. The link mentions:
- Renegotiate Routines
- Allow time for adjustment
- Acknowledge Children’s worries
- Coach Empathy
- Be Optimistic
Hoping this may be of some support for our families.
Building Works
Our building work refurbishment of the administration building is underway and the demolition of walls has already taken place. Soon the entry door will be relocated along the verandah and internal changes are already well underway. Our thanks to John Killealea (Builder) for working in with our school so well to ensure minimum disruption during learning time. The outdoor shade and seating structure for the playground space will be the second phase of this exciting project. The tiered seating area will run parallel to the hall and create a terrific shaded structure for our students.
Administration Refurb
No Parking Reminders
A reminder parents and carers not to park out the front of the double gates as this is a designated BUS Zone each morning and afternoon. Parents who pull up there do risk a traffic infringement and a hefty fine. Please do not park in the Church Carpark at any time. Thank you.
Library Borrowing
Library borrowing continues for Kinder and Year 1 each Friday so please return your library books tomorrow. Library borrowing for Year 2 children takes place each Thursday.
A library bag is important to teach the children how to look after their borrowed items and to be responsible for books that they enjoy, but that do not belong to them. Reading is very important for every child so thank you for encouraging them to borrow their books.
Canteen
Moving forward this term we will not open the school canteen. Things are so changeable that it's best we don’t try and find volunteers to commit themselves in coming weeks. My sincere thanks to Natalie Radford and Lorilee Bliss for their hard work in keeping our canteen operational in such a topsy turvy year! To every one of our terrific volunteers - your patience, your kindness, your generosity of giving your time has been wonderful and every child has enjoyed the opportunity to indepenedently visit our friendly helpers in the canteen. Please accept our heartfelt thanks!
Children will therefore need continue to to bring their lunch and recess each day.
We do plan to host a special lunch at the end of the term which staff will manage.
GOD BLESS all families,
Diane Murphy
Principal
Dates for your Diary
Wednesdays – Sport Day – Gymnastics will start Wednesday 10th November in class groups.
11th November – Remembrance Day Prayer
15th November - Kinder Welcome Pack Distribution via Kiss and Ride 12.30 - 1.30 pm
15th November - Virtual Magic Show incursion for all years via Zoom in the classrooms.
17th November - Kinder Welcome Pack Distribution via Kiss and Ride 3.20 to 4.20 pm
17th November - Crazy Sock Day sport uniform and gold coin donation for the missions.
18th November - Musica Viva Incursion: Music in my Suitcase Virtual Concert
30th November - Photo Day Rescheduled. Sibling photos only if children are at the same school.
1st December - Year 2 Transition to Year 3 Day at Holy Spirit Primary School, Kurri.
6th December - Kinder 2022 Transition Day 1
8th December - Kinder 2022 Transition Day 2
9th December - End of Year Liturgy in the Church details to be advised.
10th December - Awards Celebration in the Church details to be advised.
Semester 2 modified reports (due to lockdown) sent home via Compass
13th December - Kinder 2022 Transition Day 3
14th December - Fun Day Out of Uniform Day
15th December - Last Day for Students and year 2 games day.
16th/17th December - Pupil Free Day
Acting Assistant Principal News
Virtual Magic Tour
On Monday November 15th all students will join a zoom and enter the world of magic! Magician Joel will be joining us virtually for a ‘Virtual Magic Tour’ which will include a live rabbit, audience participation and more fun than you could wave a wand at! We just hope your children don’t disappear! There is no cost for this fun event.
Play
As lockdowns and interruptions of our COVID normal world continue to play havoc, we encourage you to spend time playing with your children and providing regular opportunities for meaningful play. Our school values the importance of play and play is promoted as a way to build relationships, connectedness, resilience and positivity!
Positive Behaviour for Learning
Our school is a Positive Behaviour for Learning school. (PBL) is a whole-school framework that promotes positive behaviour across a school and helps schools develop safe and supportive learning environments. Holy Spirit Infants promotes PBL under 4 categories:
- I am safe
- I am responsible
- I am respectful
- I am a learner
Our school makes sure that all students are explicitly taught the expected behaviours and establish clear and consistent boundaries. Staff take a proactive, preventative approach to ensure all students receive the appropriate level of support to help them to be successful at school. Student outcomes are monitored so identified students can receive additional support when needed, and children who consistently follow the PBL are awarded gotchas.
This week’s PBL is ‘I am sun smart’ which promotes being a safe. This week the children engaged in a lesson where they had to design a new sun smart school hat! Thank you to Khloe and Matilda in KB for sharing their sun smart designs!
A reminder that our school is a SunSmart school and all children are expected to have a hat each day at school as it is an important part of our school uniform. If they forget their hat, they will be asked to play in the shade. School hats should be labelled, and they can be purchased for $12 if your child needs a new one.
Emergency Procedures
Our school is constantly reviewing our Emergency Procedures so that in the event of an emergency, students know what to do to keep safe. The safety and protection of all students is our absolute priority. With the current building refurbishment, these procedures are currently being reviewed.
Emergency drills will be held at random times each year so that everyone knows and understands (and practises) the correct procedures, should an emergency arise at the school. Emergency procedures are designed as a response to a typical emergency and may include bushfire, lockdown, intruders, serious accident, COVID response etc.. Unfortunately, no emergency can be predicted but having clear and explicit procedures in place helps to manage them if they did occur.
Thank you,
Courtney Porter
Acting Assistant Principal
Acting REC News
Let us pray...
Your presence flows throughout all creation as an outpouring of your divine love.
Lead us to behold the connectedness of everything you have made.
Transform our hearts to act with kindness always;
to tread lightly upon the Earth;
and to love as you first loved us.
Amen
Religious Education in the Classroom
Last week to celebrate the Month of the Rosary, Year 2 worked extremely hard to make Rosary Beads. The Rosary is prayed throughout the year but in October the Church celebrates the prayer in a special way.
Social Justice
As our Socktober event could not go ahead as planned it will be rescheduled for Wednesday 17th November. Students will once again be asked to wear crazy socks and bring a gold coin donation as we raise money for Catholic Missions. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Remembrance Day
Next Thursday, 11th November in classrooms we will recognise Remembrance Day. We will pause for a minute silence as we remember all those who fought and died in conflicts. We say thank you to all who have served and think of how we can be peacekeepers.
Parish Mass Times
Saturday 6th November
7.30am Reconciliation Kurri Kurri
8.25am Scripture Rosary Kurri Kurri
9.00am Mass Kurri Kurri
10.00am Exposition Kurri Kurri
10.30am Marion Retreat Day
5.10pm Scripture Rosary Cessnock
6.00pm Mass Cessnock
Sunday 7th November
7.40am Scripture Rosary Kurri Kurri
8.30am Mass Kurri Kurri
9.40am Scripture Rosary Cessnock
10.30am Mass Cessnock
4.30pm Mass Abermain
Office News
Thank you to those families from Kinder and Year 1 who have returned their 2022 School Fee Information Form. Below is the link if you have misplaced your form.
All direct debits for 2022 will need to be recommenced at the start of the new school year. Previously, the Catholic Development Fund were able to suspend payments with an unknown date of recommencement. Unfortunately, this cannot continue and so for those families you will need to set up a new direct debit arrangement in the new year.