26 May 2022
Principal's Message
Creator God,
you reveal your love in all of creation.
Help us to be more aware of your presence and more attentive to your wonder:
in the warmth of the sun, in the colours of our landscapes, in the songs of the birds,
in the smile of a friend.
Generous God,
you know and love each one of us.
Let our hearts overflow with gratitude for every blessing and gift.
Open our hearts to your plan for us so that we may become people who are fully alive
in your amazing grace.
Amen
Theme Prayer "Fully Alive" Catholic Schools Week 2022
A glance at CSW Open Classrooms
Dear Parents and Carers,
During the week of the 23-27th 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 in awareness 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.
It was wonderful to be able to welcome so many parents/carers and grandparents to our CSW Liturgy in the St Francis Xavier Church on Monday. Thank you for coming together and joining with us as we celebrated all that makes us "Fully Alive" at Holy Spirit Infants School. Our students sang with great enthusiasm and our readers were proud to read at church in front of our community. My thanks to Miss Laczkowski for preparing the liturgy and the video reflections capturing the student voice about what our students love about our school. We then were excited to welcome so many visitors into our open classrooms and to share some of the great learning happening across our school. Thank you to the parents who warmly engaged with all our students. The sun came out in time for our picnic afternoon tea and it was again great to see the students and families gathered together across our play spaces enjoying just being together! Our special events when students, parents and staff come together at Holy Spirit Infants are days the students always remember.
Parents and carers are reminded that you are most welcome to stay and join us for morning assembly. Monday morning, we raise the flag, listen to our Positive Behaviours for Learning message and celebrate all the birthdays in the week.
Tuesday mornings we have our award presentations and we "rock" out our school song. You're always welcome.
Athletics Fun Day
Even the ominous clouds and rain couldn't dampen the excitement and enthusiasm shared by all our students at last weeks Athletics Fun Day. Students were wonderfully decked out in their house colours of purple, blue, green and yellow (thank you parents) as were all the staff who went all out to join in the spirit of fun for the day! We enjoyed being able to use our 'almost' completed fabulous new covered walkway and outdoor tiered seating facility.
The Cross Country event was the very first time students were allowed to run outside the fence on the grass and they were very focussed on doing their best! All the lap training paid off. Our 8 year old boys event was exciting to watch with our skilled runners breaking away from the pack early only to get up and run again alongside their friend as a spontaneous gesture of support. That's the Spirit boys well done! From Year 2's to our youngest Kinders, everyone showed that "have a go!" approach which we encourage in everyone at Holy Spirit. The age races were well contested and this year we managed to have finals as well.
Our games events and tabloids had to be held over and will now take place on Monday 6th June when as a school we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. Parents will be welcome to come and join the fun! Congratulations to all the children for their terrific cheering and encouragement of one another. We were able to award students with First, Second and Third Place ribbons on the day to some very proud athletes!
Thanks to all our volunteers who helped us with the Cross Country races; the age races as judges and with the best ever BBQ meal deal (as described by a Kinder child)...who could argue with that!
Athletics Fun Day
National Volunteers Week
With special thanks to all our very generous volunteers especially Mr Pat Sharkey our very talented handy man and gardener and to all our parents and grandparents who donate their time helping with the canteen or assisting with the Easter Raffle, Mothers Day Stall or Athletics Fun Day! We truly appreciate you and the fact that together we can make great things happen with your help and support!
HELP NEEDED: If you have some time and would like to assist us with covering some newly purchased Decodable Readers for Year 1 classes, please contact the school.
Stop Work Action this Friday 27th May
A number of our staff will be participating in Stop Work action this Friday 27th May as part of claims for a new enterprise agreement. There will be no classes at school on this day, however, there will be supervision of students for any families that are unable to make other arrangements.
Please see the attached letter from Gerard Mowbray, Director of the Catholic Schools Office which was shared via Compass on Monday asking parents to keep children at home please.
Assessment and Reporting Semester One
Our teachers are regularly assessing student academic growth across all Key Learning Areas through assessment for, as and of learning. Teachers gather data to assist them make informed decisions in readiness for the formal school report for Semester One which will be shared with parents via Compass in Week 9. Data can take many forms and at our school it may be a work sample, a video recording of a child reading independently, a sound recording of a child's reading fluency, an assessment at the beginning of a unit of work and another at the end to show growth as a result of engaging in learning. Data may be a picture created as a response to a stimulus input such as a book or audio-visual clip with the teacher scribing the words. Data can even be a conversation a teacher has with a child to determine how that child learns best. Data collection is ongoing and a valuable part of our reporting process.
We are now halfway through term 2 and it is timely to remind all parents and carers of the importance of ensuring your child has good attendance at school. Students need to be at school on time each day and a reminder that wherever possible, appointments are made outside of the learning time in the school day please. Learning time is paramount, especially after the last two years where the pandemic has disrupted learning at every stage of schooling.
In the final week of the term, after reports have been received, parents and carers are invited to participate in a Parent Teacher Meeting. This is a part of the reporting process in our school and face to face meetings provide great opportunities for parents and teachers to come together to focus on each early learner. These meetings will be via an appointment which parents will be able to make using the Compass app in coming weeks.
Catholic Secondary Schools in Newcastle transitioning to Years 7 to 12
For your information, a decision has been made that over the next five years, the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is renewing its approach to secondary schooling in Newcastle to ensure it best supports the educational needs and outcomes for its students now, and as we look to the future.
The Trustees of the Diocese have made the decision to transition all secondary schools in Newcastle to Years 7 to 12. The transition will occur in a staged and planned way.
From 2024, Catholic secondary schools in Newcastle will be commencing a staged transition to Year 7 to Year 12 schools, this includes:
- San Clemente High School, Mayfield – with the inclusion of Years 11 and 12
- St Francis Xavier’s College, Hamilton – with the inclusion of Years 7, 8, 9 and 10
- St Pius X High School, Adamstown – with the inclusion of Years 11 and 12
The transition of schools to a full Year 7 to Year 12 complement is expected to be completed no later than 2027. All staff, students, families and the wider community are invited to collaborate on the implementation plan to meet the unique needs of each school.
Wishing all our families a terrific fortnight!
Take Care
Diane Murphy
Acting Assistant Principal News
Welcome to Week 5!
Uniform
What a wet and unsettled start to May we have had! A reminder that students are asked to wear their winter uniform now. The wearing of a school uniform creates a sense of collective and individual pride in our school as well as giving our students a sense of belonging. Equality is fostered by a uniform policy common to all students. We ask that students do not wear a mix of the Summer and Winter Uniform. Thank you.
Safe Travel on the Bus
Families are encouraged to have regular conversations with their children about the importance of travelling to and from school on the bus in a safe manner. Students are reminded to ensure that:
- They always remain seated on the bus and wear seatbelts if fitted.
- They must travel with an Opal card.
- They keep noise to a minimum so that you do not distract the driver.
- They are respectful to each other and the driver – don’t forget our PBL!
Thank you for your support with this. We want all students to travel safely!
PBL
Our school is a Positive Behaviour for Learning School. The PBL framework assists schools to improve social, emotional, behavioural, and academic outcomes for children and young people.
Our Positive Behaviour for learning focus for weeks 5 and 6 is ‘I follow agreements when together in assemblies’ This focus contributes to becoming a respectful learner. We are teaching the children to listen; remain calm during the times we assemble together at school. Agreements will be created by the children to remind them to be respectful during assemblies. Agreements similar to these were made last year when we focused on our assemblies:-
- I pay attention to the speaker.
- I have my voice off during assembly.
- Enter and exit the assembly quickly and quietly.
- Show a calm body.
- Keep hands and feet to myself.
Each Monday weather permitting, the teachers introduce the PBL at morning assembly. In class time we talk about what this focus looks like and how we can show and apply theses skills in different situations across the school. The following Monday a class reinforces this message by role playing the PBL focus.
When children are seen or heard following the PBL, they can receive Gotchas and select children who consistently follow this PBL focus are awarded with merit certificates at assembly.
Sporting Schools: Basketball
A huge thankyou to Sporting Schools Australia, Holy Spirit Infants have been lucky enough to receive grants to fund sports that many students do not get to try or participate in. This term we are all learning basketball skills, students are learning to dribble, bounce, throw and catch a basketball whilst working in pairs and small groups. There is a lot of excitement at sport time, with giggles and truly engaged children eager to participate and learn. Many thanks to Fit4Kids for delivering this program and a special thanks to Stella and Daniel Fischer (Cessnock Basketball) for making our sports lessons fun, invigorating and successful.
Basketball Fun
Sharing our Faith
‘Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.’
Fruit of the Spirit
For the next two weeks our Fruit of the Spirit we are focusing on is Joy. We ask God to help us to find joy and happiness during our days and be thankful. Students will be participating in a lesson that focuses on joy over the next two weeks, so be sure to ask your child how they are showing the Fruit of the Spirit Joy.
Catholic Schools Week Liturgy
On Monday 23rd May we celebrated Catholic Schools Week. We held a liturgy in the Church where we broke open the theme of CSW of 'Fully Alive', reflected on how we are living our lives to the full at Holy Spirit and heard from students about what they enjoyed about being a part of our school.
Following this we had open classrooms and a shared afternoon tea which was a great way to share with our school community all the amazing things we get up to at Holy Spirit.
We will be continuing our celebrations next week with our leaders representing our school at the Diocesan Catholic Schools Week Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newcastle.
Feast of Pentecost
On Sunday 5th June, we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, a day when we focus on the spirit of the Holy Trinity. Pentecost is the Church’s birthday, the day it was gifted with the presence of God through the Holy Spirit. It was the day the Church was given life, the life that is in us as we are entrusted to be the Church today; it is through us that God’s love is distributed throughout the world. The Church is the people of God, united and empowered by God to share God’s love with the world. However, this will occur only if we activate the potential of the Spirit within us. For most people their birthday offers the opportunity to have a think about their life over the past year and maybe set out a few achievement objectives for the coming year. Pentecost, the Church’s birthday, could be a time to have a look at how our life is going spiritually, that is, how the Spirit is active in our life.
Holy Spirit Infants will celebrate the Feast of Pentecost on Monday 6th June. This will be an out of uniform day. Children are encouraged to come dressed in ‘flame colours’ (red, yellow or orange). Please wear sport shoes.
We will be having a liturgy at 12:30pm followed by Pentecost birthday celebrations and our tabloid games which we did not get to on our athletics fun day.
An invite will be sent home on Monday with further information.
Mass Times for Vineyards Region
Saturday 28th May
9am - St. Josephs, Cessnock
Sunday 29th May
8:30am - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
10:30am - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
4:30pm - St. Francis Xavier's, Abermain
Formation Opportunity
The Vineyards Region are advertising a series of talks about living the Christian faith. It started last weekend, however you are able to join in when you are available. It is a free event which children are welcome to come along to as well. Please see details below.
Many Blessings,
Miss Jessica Laczkowski
Religious Education Coordinator
Wellbeing Week
Next Week (Week 6) is Wellbeing Week at Holy Spirit. Here is what we are doing to support the Wellbeing of our students.
From the Office
Hi I’m Bonney Lane, I am an administration officer, you will see me in the office every Friday from 8.30-3.30 to help you with any of your enquiries.
I look forward to building relationships and getting to know all of the children and families at Holy Spirit infant school. Feel free to pop in to introduce yourself and say Hi.
Enrolments 2023
The official enrolment period for Kindergarten 2023 is now open. Please contact Holy Spirit Infants School for your enrolment information pack. Office hours are 8:30am – 3:30pm Monday to Friday. Families will be contacted regarding tours, interview times, playgroup opportunities and Transition to School session dates. Consider starting your child's educational journey with us!
Interviews have commenced for the 2023 intake. Please return applications for enrolment so that interview times can be allocated.
School Fees
Just a reminder that if a fee payment has not yet been received we would appreciate families to notify us of your intention to pay which is a commitment at enrolment. Families who are having difficulty paying their school fees need to make contact with the school office so that payment options can be discussed. The next statement will be emailed to families on Friday 3rd June.
Library News
News from the Library
Wednesday was National Simultaneous Storytime. At 11am we gathered in year groups to join over two million people from around Australia and the world to watch the live reading of the book ‘Family Tree’ by the author Josh Pyke. The students enjoyed listening to the story and will complete an activity in class.
Evelyn Covita, Teacher Librarian
National Simultaneous Storytime
Healthy Habits
Parents and Carers,
In our busy lives it is often easy to grab prepacked snack type foods to put into children's lunchboxes but are we truly thinking about what the ingredients of these foods are and what effect they may be having on our child's health? Many pre packaged snacks are high in sugar/and or fat and are also often high in salt content. If a child is consuming these items 5 days a week - it really is not good for their health and wellbeing. Sure, they may taste great and your child may be telling you they wont eat fruit or vegies, but as the parent/carer its our role to model healthy eating and healthy food choices. The litter that comes from packaged snack items at school would just astound you.
Many lunchboxes at Holy Spirit contain large quantities of these foods daily and hence, four years ago, we made the change to having a designated Crunch and Sip time for fruit and vegies only; to eating lunch first and then having snack foods at recess time which is much later in the day. We are doing all we can at school to encourage healthy eating habits.
Here's some ideas to try this next fortnight:
- Healthy lunches and snacks help children concentrate and play throughout the day.
- Encourage your child to be involved in their own lunch preparation and discuss choices with them.
- Try to include a variety of foods from each of the 5 food groups.
- If making lunches ahead of time, keep them in the fridge until leaving for school or freeze in advance. Thank you for your support.
Canteen News
Parents and Carers - Please update your child's class on the QKR app. It is causing unnecessary confusion for the canteen when students' orders do not correlate to the correct class for 2022. Thanks.
Hot milo is now available on the menu. Thank you to our volunteers who have offered to help out in the canteen this term. If you too would like to assist, please click on the link below to become a volunteer at our school.
This process only takes about 10 minutes to complete. Once you submit the form, and you are appoved the school will be notified. We thank you for offering your valuable time to volunteer at our school, you are welcome and appreciated.
Please click on the link to register: Volunteer Registration Form
Year 1 Excursion - Tocal Homestead
With the sun shining and no threat of rain, Year 1 went on a huge adventure. For many it was their first ever excursion and even the first time on a bus. With lots of squeals, giggles, and a little trepidation we boarded the bus after a unique photo opportunity at school. After a shortish (very long for some) bus ride we arrived at Tocal Homestead. We were greeted by Jackie and William, both dressed in period costume, they lead the children to an undercover area where we stopped for a short fruit break before beginning a walking tour. In two groups, we were guided around this prestigious property. Buildings that were built in the 1800’s stood firm housing both humans and animals. We were guided to see very old gravestones, even older trees, and barracks that once held convicts. Stables now home to sheep, horses and pigs at one stage gave shelter to bushrangers. After our tour, we split into 5 groups and began our historical adventure, taking us back to the 1800’s students collected water, carried the water to washing tubs and used old fashioned washing boards to clean clothes. They discovered an old kitchen and were shown some of the ways people stored and made food in the olden days. Then they were able to dress up in clothes from the 1800’s, and tour the homestead, making sure that all the ladies entered first. The gentlemen had to remove their hats to enter, and everyone had the opportunity to set a table just like we were back in time, back in the 1800’s. For many the best part of the day was playing the ‘old fashioned’ games like rolling a Hulu hoop, tug-of-war and horseshoes. In the afternoon, it was time for a photo in front of the homestead then back on the bus for our trip home. Echoing through the bus, was a chorus of voices discussing our day.
“This is the best day ever!”
“What an amazing day, I loved Harry the Horse.”
“So much fun, this is the best”
“I loved every minute; we need more excursions!”
“Buses are great!”
Tocal Excursion
Awards - Congratulations to:
Dates for Your Diary
Community News
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