4th August 2022
Principals News
"Believe in the whisperings of God to your own heart" St Mary of the Cross MacKillop 1868
"Be calm and full of hope" St Mary of the Cross MacKillop 1871
Dear Families,
It is wonderful to be back and to see how much our students had grown over the holiday break and the past two weeks! They are doing very well and managing the daily changes that we all face at the moment. Families are experiencing prolonged illness, staff and their families have also been unwell and a teacher staff shortage all have an impact to various degrees on our early learners. If their friend is away sick for a few school days this can lead to a sense of unhappiness at the change. If a teacher is sick this also leads to change as the relationship with the replacement teacher will be different and the daily routines will be slightly different. These changes are a part of our lives and our students are managing them as best they can. Change can be difficult for young children who usually respond positively to regular and predictable routines such as a regular bedtime and week night routine. Change can be challenging for us as well with many of us questioning when will things "get back to normal"?
St Mary of the Cross MacKillop is Australia's only saint and we will celebrate her Feast Day on Monday 8th August with a liturgy in the church at 2pm and we welcome all parents. St Mary of the Cross was an educator of the poor, a woman of deep faith and great courage who despite many challenges, wanted to serve God, with the support of Fr Julian Tenneson Woods she founded the order of The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1866. The first school established was St. Joseph’s School in a converted stable in Penola, providing a free education to children from the area. In 1867 MacKillop took vows and became the first mother superior of the sisters. The following year the sisters opened schools in other Australian cities, as well as an orphanage and a refuge for women released from prison. The sisters were devoted to teaching and charity. Our own school was founded in 1908 by the Sisters of St Joseph and so our links to St Mary of the Cross are tangible.
Two of St Mary of the Cross' thoughts shared with us today are above. The first encourages us to be silent and to listen to the whisperings of God in your heart and this can be a challenge for us all in the busyness of the 21st century lives we live. Taking time to pause, to stop and to reflect is important for each one of us. Through prayer we invite God into our hearts and minds and into our daily lives. The second thought that speaks to me is "Be calm and full of hope" which I find is a really poignant reminder that despite all the changes; the challenges; the difficulties we are each facing that we do remain calm and that we do hold a positive hope for the future for as Catholic people we hope for Divine union with God. While faith is a function of the intellect, hope is an act of the will.
Please join with us as we pray to St Mary of the Cross to intercede for our needs as a community.
Student Leaders Breakfast with Kurt Fearnley
On Monday 1st August our six student leaders attended the Cessnock City Council School Leaders Breakfast at Cessnock Performing Arts Centre. The idea is for student leaders across school sin the Cessnock Council area to come together to gain inspiration from a key note speaker and this year it was Kurt Fearnley AO. Kurt is a three time Paralympic Gold Medallist who also has so many other achievements and his can do attitude and passion for life was the theme of his address to the young leaders. Kurt shared with the students parts of his many Paralympic events and when he completed the Kokoda Track on his knees. Kurt narrated exactly how he was feeling at the time and the audience could tangibly feel his pain and exhaustion as much as we could feel his courage and determination. He was truly inspirational and an all round amazing person!
Here's what our Student Leaders thought:
Amalia "I thought that its good to be unique like Kurt is."
Jude "Kurt taught me never to give up! And I liked the story about the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea"
Estelle "He was encouraging and Kurt had lots of information to share"
Travis "I thought that day was very inspiring and that its important to always try your best. My dad said the same".
Macy "Kurt worked really hard because he used so much of his energy when he was on the Kokoda Track and he never gave up."
Aymon "Kurt was amazing. I remember he said that being a school leader is not just a badge."
Our sincere thanks to Mr Koshoorn and Mrs Davey for driving the students to this special event.
Pupil Free Day Monday 15th August
A reminder for parents there is no school on 15th August as it is a Pupil Free Day for the purpose of Professional Development. We were attending a Faith Formation Day with colleagues from other schools but this will now not be possible due to our commitment to restrict the spread of covid 19 across schools. Our staff will be on site.
Dancing and Singing Showcase
We are hoping our dance teacher Montana Doyle will be back on deck next week so we can prepare for our dancing and singing showcase. We have temporarily booked Holy Spirit Kurri Parish Hall for the evening of Tuesday 20th September with a dress rehearsal on Monday 19th Sept. permission notes regarding bus travel to and from Kurri will be sent early next month.
We are committed to ensuring costuming is kept to a minimum this year and the performance will last for approximately one hour. Times will be confirmed next newsletter but please put this date in your diary. We want every child to be included in the presentation as they will each be preparing for the event. The Primary school have their concert the same week, on the Thursday night, so it will be a busy week for many families.
Have a blessed fortnight,
Diane Murphy
Principal
Assistant Principal News
Assistant Principal News
Our second PBL focus for Term 3, is part of the area “I am Safe”:
“I am in the right place at the right time.”
Being in the right place at the right time includes being in the right place in the classroom in order to learn as well as being in the right place on playground in order to be safe.
Please talk to your children about the school rule “I am in the right place at the right time” and what this looks like and means at home. Congratulate him or her when they receive a GOTCHA for demonstrating this behaviour.
Child Protection: Keeping Our Children Safe!
One of the most important things that a parent or teacher can do is to educate their child/ren about their own bodies and how to keep their bodies safe.
This term in Year 2 we began talking about bodies. One of our lessons involved reading the book “Everyone’s Got a Bottom” by Tess Rowley. The story is about Ben, his brother Jack and sister Emma learning and talking together about bodies.
You can watch a YouTube clip of someone reading below.
The story will give parents and carers the opportunity to talk to their children about the private parts of their bodies, appropriate and inappropriate touch and “trusted adults”. It provides a gentle start for conversations with children about self-protection.
Sharing Our Faith
Fruit of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit for the next two weeks is Patience. Patience means to wait calmly and nicely, be understanding of others and trust that God hears our prayers. It is something that our students can show in many different situations whether it be in line at the canteen, waiting your turn in class or at home with their siblings.
Please find below a prayer you can pray to ask for patience in our lives.
Catholic Mission
Each term we have a different focus for our fundraising. Term 3 we focus our fundraising efforts on Catholic Mission. Catholic Mission contributes funding and provides project support to critical church-run initiatives in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America as well as remote dioceses within Australia. Catholic Mission creates opportunities for people to be formed in mission, and respond through prayer, fundraising and action, inspiring them to reach out, and give life—within Australia and around the world. The focus country we will be supporting Catholic Mission with this term is Ethiopia.
At the end of the term, we will have a Mission Day where we will bring our money raised together for a coin line. Each class will line their coins up and there will be prizes for the class with the longest line as well as the most valuable line.
We will continue our support for Catholic Mission into the beginning of Term 4 when we will have a ‘Socktober’ fundraiser.
Feast of St. Mary Mackillop
On Monday 8th August, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Mary of the Cross Mackillop. Mary MacKillop dreamed of being a Sister, she really wanted to help and teach poor children and wanted them to know of God’s love for them.
Together with a young priest Julian Tenison Woods, she began to do something about her dream. They began a congregation called the Sisters of St Joseph. The Sisters went out to isolated bush places to educate the poor children wherever they were. They went across Australia and New Zealand, not only for education but they also cared for the sick, homeless and orphans.
Holy Spirit Infants School Abermain was established by the Sisters of St Joseph.
Mary Mackillop faced many difficulties but through it all she had faith in God and worked to bring God’s word to the poor people. Wherever there were poor children or a need to be met, the Sisters were there for them. Mary believed wherever there was a need you did something about it.
The story of Mary’s life reminds us that there are people throughout our world and in our own community for whom life is not easy.
It also reminds us that taking up the challenge to help others can be difficult, but in helping the disadvantaged, we are following in the footsteps of Jesus. Mary MacKillop was the first Australian to be recognised by the Church as a Saint.
We invite you to join is for a liturgy to commemorate Saint Mary of the Cross Mackillop's feast day on Monday 8th August at 2:00pm, in the Church.
Fathers Day
This term we will be celebrating Father’s Day on Friday 2nd September at Holy Spirit Infants. We would love as many fathers, grandfathers and father figures as possible to attend. What we would like to know is what time of day suits families to attend this event. Whether this be a morning breakfast BBQ and Liturgy, or we have our liturgy and BBQ in the afternoon.
With this in mind, I would please ask families to complete the following survey about what time would suit them for our Father’s Day celebrations. If this could be completed by Wednesday 10th August that would be wonderful and we will then be able to update you on our plans for the day.
https://forms.gle/NJfrUZy9UjStP7JP6
Thank you for your assistance.
Vineyards Region Mass Times
Saturday
9:00am – Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
6:00pm – St Joseph’s, Cessnock
Sunday
8:30am – Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
10:30am – St Joseph’s, Cessnock
4:30pm – St Francis Xavier’s, Abermain
Yours in faith,
Miss Jessica Laczkowski
Religious Education Coordinator
Office News
SCHOOL FEES
Fee statements were sent out via email to all fee payers. Thank you to those families who have paid their fees for 2022. Please note that all excursions and incursions are included in your school fee account.
If you nominated to pay your schools fees in full this payment was due by 30 June 2022. If your school fee account has not yet been finalised, it is considered to be in arrears and the school will be in contact with you.
If paying by instalments, your payments need to be finalised by 30 November 2022. Our preferred method of payment is BPAY.
PLEASE DO NOT PAY BY COMPASS PAY AS HEFTY ADMINISTRATION COSTS ARE INCURRED FOR THE SCHOOL.
For those families experiencing financial hardship, please contact the school office for an appointment with our principal, Ms Murphy, to arrange a mutually agreed payment plan.
CHANGE OF DETAILS
If you have made changes to your address, mobile number, email address or circumstances in general please contact the school office so that your Compass details can be updated.
Kindergarten News
100 Days of Kindergarten
We are coming up to 100 days of Kindergarten for our students and we will be celebrating this occassion on Wednesday 10th August. We have lots of fun activities planned for the day. We would like to invite our Kindergarten students to dress up like they are 100 years old. Get creative with some glasses, grey hair and outfits! Enclosed shoes suitable for school will still need to be worn on this day. We look forward to seeing you all dressed up!
Could parents please send in some pre-packaged party food for your child to share with the class for our party we will have on the day. Thank you.
Kindergarten Excursion
This term, Kindergarten will be going on an excursion to Oakvale Farm on Tuesday 23rd August. On this day students will be travelling by bus to Oakvale Farm in Salt Ash where they will be learning about all of the animals there and their different habitats. They will participate also in a reptile show and tractor ride. This links in with their Science unit from last term on Living Things.
Permission notes will be sent out soon for this day and we would love to have some parent volunteers to join us and help out.
Term 3 Sport - Dance
This Term students are participating in Dance for their sport. Our Kindergarten and Year 1 classes have learnt some bush dancing over the past few weeks. They learnt the 'Heel and Toe Polka' in Weeks One and Two and Kinder Blue challenged themselves and tried out the 'Queensland Backstep' this week. All the students enjoyed participating in the dances and showed great teamwork skills.
Library Borrowing and Home Readers
We have made some changes to our library borrowing and our Home Reader borrowing for Term 3.
Home Readers: Borrowed each Monday and sent home in student folder. Must be read nightly across the week. Return Home Reader in student folder each FRIDAY with Reading Log filled in by Parent/carer plerase. Cycle repeats on Monday.
Library Books: ALL CLASSES will now borrow library books on a Thursday. Library bags with books need to come to school each Thursday. We love our students borrowing and enjoying their library books at home!
Library News
Holy Spirit Infants School will be celebrating our Book Week Parade on Tuesday 16th August- we hope you can all come along. For many children this will be their first Book Week Parade ever! This year’s theme is Dreaming with Eyes Open, and it would be great to see children dress up as their future dream profession -what might they like to be when they grow up?
We understand that finding costumes can be difficult therefore, children will still be able to dress up as their favourite book character but must bring the book that inspired that character with them on the day. We plan to have some students share why they chose a book character/furture career.
We anticipate starting the parade at 12:30 pm followed by lunch where you are welcome to stay with your child. The Book Fair will also be opening its doors if you would like to make any purchases. Student will be able to complete a Wish List on the Friday before the Book Parade. Supporting the Scholastic Bookfair is a great way to purchase books for your child/children and of supporting to grow books in our school library.
It has been fantastic seeing so many children borrow books and appreciate quality literature.
Evelyn Covita, Teacher Librarian
St Nic's OOSH Abermain
OOSH will be open on Monday 15th August (School Pupil Free Day) for anyone requiring this service.
Tips for getting your child ready for school
Getting your child ready for school can be exciting and scary at the same time, especially if you are sending your child to school for the first time.
This transition is a crucial period for your child, in which you can begin building a solid foundation for your child’s schooling life and education outcomes.
Here are useful tips to help you, as a parent, overcome the first few challenges when preparing for this next stage of your bub’s life.
Common materials for school children
- A comfortable schoolbag
- A strong lunch box
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Community News
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CESSNOCK LIBRARY
Here is the link for the Library August newsletter.
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NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA POST FOR DINOSAUR LOVERS
Get your children roaring into the Cretaceous Period, this Australia Post Collecting Month. Please click on the link below to be inspired by the prehistoric creatures.
