Holy Spirit Infants School Abermain eNewsletter

Principal's News

“God our father, we give you thanks and praise for fathers young and old.

We pray for young fathers, newly embracing their vocation; may they find courage and perseverance to balance work, family and faith in joy and sacrifice.

We pray for our own fathers around the world whose children are lost or suffering; may they know that the god of compassion walks with them in their sorrow.

We pray for men who are not fathers but still mentor and guide us with fatherly love and advice.

We remember fathers, grandfather, and great grandfathers who are no longer with us but who live forever in our memory and nourish us with their love. Amen

St Joseph pray for us.”

Wishing all our dads, step dads, grand dads and those who love us like a dad a very Happy Father’s Day!

HAVE YOUR SAY: TELL THEM FROM ME (TTFM®) SURVEY – 5 SEPTEMBER

Dear Parents and Carers,

Last year you may recall parents and staff participating in an online Tell Them From Me (TTFM®) survey. Schools in Australia and around the world have used the TTFM® survey to help them improve.

The data we received provided us with valuable feedback in relation to faith, learning, student engagement and wellbeing and will help to better inform our Diocesan system as well as our own school improvement agenda.

Thanks to input from you and from each of our stakeholders, here are our key learnings and key actions from 2021.

The 2021 TTFM survey told us:

What we learned	What we did
Overall our Parents/carers rated our school well above the average for schools in our region across all aspects of the survey. We were delighted!	This was valuable, affirming feedback and sets the bar high for us to continually strive to match or improve the positive feedback for 2022.
Parents responded they feel informed was up from 6.6 (above Region) in 2020 to 7.9 (well above region) in 2021. We pride ourselves on our efforts across 2021, the second pandemic year and the move to an online learning environment as teachers were very supportive of the efforts of all parents teaching their child through home learning. Our communication with parents was highly regarded.	We have continued our practise of “a positive phone call home” to all parents in term 1 and 3. Our teachers have reported that taking the time to connect with parents and share a good news story was a positive way to get to know parents/carers. We use Compass and Seesaw as well as our fortnightly newsletter to communicate clearly with Parents/carers. Teachers and Admin staff are also in contact via email or phone call.
Parents responded that they felt welcome at the school and that our school was very inclusive.	As a staff team we are always seeking to build positive relationships with our families and to do all we can to make our school a warm and welcoming place for all. Our staff are dedicated to supporting every early learner and their diverse needs.
A model for Parent Committees is needed.	Following two years of covid (resulting in a dissolved P&F across Abermain and Kurri) a new model was proposed. The model was for a P.E.G. however this is not yet established at both schools. We plan to hold our first meeting in Term 4 2022.

Commencing 6th September 2022 (until 3^rd October), you will be given the opportunity to participate in this survey. The survey takes approximately 15–20 minutes to complete.

As parents and carers of students in our school, we deeply value your feedback and encourage you to partner with us and complete this survey. The information we gather is critical to us and allows us to hear directly from you and gain insight into what you think is important about the work we do, how we communicate with you and where you think we need to improve.

As you can see, we use the feedback you provide us to action strategies for improvement.

We want all children in our schools to thrive and we know that working together, listening and sharing ideas helps all students.

If you have questions about this survey, please don’t hesitate to contact us via admin@abermain.catholic.edu.au

We are always looking for ways to improve Holy Spirit Infants - and we value your feedback so may I encourage you to please take the time to give us some feedback. We would like as many responses as possible. The survey tool does not provide a space for written responses. Please know however if a Parent/carer has a particular concern or perceives an aspect of the school in a negative manner, please contact me to discuss your concerns. Communication is important to us.

POSITIVE PHONE CALLS

Across the next two weeks the teachers will be making a phone call to parents to share a positive “good news” message with you. The purpose is to build our Teacher-Parent relationships and for parents to have the opportunity to share any information or concerns or good news they may have. I believe its important that parents hear about the great things your child is achieving at school. This is part of our commitment to building a positive and trusting relationship with parents. You trust us to educate and care for your child and this is a privilege. If we miss you, we will leave a message and encourage you to call the school. Thank you.

NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK

National Child Protection Week will continue to embrace the overarching message that ‘Every child, in every community, needs a fair go’. This year will be shining a light on children growing up safe and supported. National Child Protection Week will be looking at what works to keep children safe and supported… what children are telling us… what families are telling us… what the evidence is telling us… and how to translate this knowledge into action.

We know that too many children are not growing up safe and supported and that Child Protection systems are overloaded. There are many opportunities to change the trajectory for these children. We can stop child abuse and neglect – and reduce its impact – by working together to make sure every child in every community has a fair go.

How does this all fit together? Increasingly, Australians are working together to keep children safe and well. Individuals, organisations and governments across areas as diverse as early childhood education and care, health, mental health, disability, alcohol and other drug treatment and prevention, domestic and family violence, justice, housing and employment.

To celebrate and get involved in this year’s event school communities are invited to decorate their school entrances and we will Decorate our Gate next week to raise awareness.

Students will have specific lessons about identifying 5 adults they trust and can turn to for support; a reminder about Stranger danger; a reminder about cyber safety and a reminder about respecting our bodies. Here is one idea for parents to do at home with their child.

To help facilitate a big conversation about how to create a supportive environment for every child, we are taking inspiration from the ARACY Nest domains. These domains help us to think about the many things that every child and young person needs in order to grow up safe and well. They include:

· feeling loved and safe

· having a positive sense of identity and culture

· having material basics

· being healthy

· learning

· participating.

The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021 – 2031 Safe and Supported, will also help to guide the conversation. The National Framework was developed by the Australian Government, in collaboration with State and Territory Governments, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives and the non-government sector. It provides a framework for how all these groups can come together to make sure that every child in Australia is safe and supported.

We all need to continue to Keep our children safe!

FAMILY MASS THANK YOU

Thank you to the many families who were able to attend our Family Mass last weekend at St Francis Xavier Church. It was a very uplifting celebration and our thanks to the children who came and read and sang so enthusiastically and to their parents for bringing them. My thanks to Miss Laczkowski for her organisation and preparation of the children for a special and uplifting Mass.

VOLUNTEER THANK YOU

Our Father’s Day stall went very well on Wednesday and our sincere thanks to the parents who gave their time to put ribbons on the gifts ready for the children to buy. Thanks to the parents who helped on the stall as well! The gifts this year were chosen by our student leadership team and we have some very interesting gifts for our dads, granddads and people like a dad to enjoy. We also have some parent helpers at our Breakfast on Friday -please accept our thanks in advance.

Happy Father’s Day! We hope that your present and card has been kept a secret!

YEAR 3 ENROLMENT PACKS FOR HOLY SPIRIT KURRI 2023

Students in Year 2 have received their Enrolment Pack for Holy Spirit Kurri Year 3 2023 today. The applications are in a white A4 envelope. We ask that parents please return their application to our school office in the envelope (for privacy) and we will deliver them to Kurri School for you. Please be sure to include ALL of the information required, including a paper copy of your child's last school report which parents access via Compass, to ensure a smooth process.

There will be a transition day/visit arranged for our students attending Holy Spirit Kurri during term 4. Once we receive the date, we will notify Year 2 parents via Compass. Any child who may require additional visits, this can also be arranged as we want every child to feel happy and excitd about beginning Primary School.

We would appreciate all applications be returned by Friday 16th September please.

If your child is NOT going to attend Holy Spirit Kurri, please contact Mrs Seamer or Mrs Lane in the office asap. Thank you.

A FOCUS ON HEALTHY LUNCHBOXES

Packing your child a healthy lunch can at times be a challenge but it is so very important that every child has a healthy lunch to eat at school. We are noticing so many children have lunch boxes filled with pre packaged foods. These types of foods are filled with salt and sugar and therefore are not considered healthy foods.

Whilst these foods are easy to grab and fill up a lunchbox, and even marketed as their purpose, they are not a healthy option for growing children. If your child has a packet of chips/cheezels each day, that’s 5 packets in a week and sometimes children have a plethora of chips/chocolate/sugary foods every single day at school. The more they eat these foods, the more their brain will crave them.

Children’s growing bodies require healthy foods to function well. They also need sleep and daily exercise. School can ensure the daily exercise, but our teaching about healthy food choices is not effective when we see what some students are bringing in their lunchboxes. This also leads to children swapping food (which is not allowed) or children requesting unhealthy snack foods to match what their friend is eating.

We understand that children can be fussy eaters and may refuse healthy food options. As a school we are committed to encouraging every child to eat their lunch before their snack foods, but this is becoming increasingly difficult. Years ago we made lunch the first break so that these young children would eat something nourishing before their recess snack which tends to be salt/sugar filled. This has worked well to get something substantial in each child’s tummy and sustain them for ongoing concentration and learning but there is an alarming trend of packaged foods in our students’ lunchboxes.

Please consider swapping out chips/chocolate on 3 days a week for a healthy alternative. We teach the children about “sometimes foods” due to their salt/sugar or fat content when we speak of the healthy food pyramid but its difficult when they eat these foods all the time. Its important to highlight this to our parents/carers – its something for you to please think about. Thank you.

We are blessed with a vibrant and wonderful community!

Warm regards

Diane Murphy

Assistant Principal News

Talking About School!

‘How was school?’ is a big question. To answer, your child has to sum up a whole day, and that’s hard for children (and even adults!) to do.

A child might really want to say, ‘My day was so jam-packed with ideas and classes and social stuff that I don’t know where to start’. So it’s easier just to say, ‘OK’.

Why talking about school is important

Talking with your child about the school day shows you’re interested in what’s going on in their life. This interest boosts your child’s mental health, happiness and wellbeing. It can also have a very positive effect on your child’s behaviour and achievement. It shows your child that you value school and education, which encourages them to value it too.

Talking together about school also helps you get to know more about what’s expected of your child at school, how they learn and how they handle challenges. It can help you understand when your child is feeling less interested in school or having problems.

When you’re in touch with your child’s feelings about school, you’re more likely to see problems before they get too big. This way you can work on overcoming challenges together.

And talking about school issues – like school projects or friendship problems – is also a great chance for you to express your family values about things like teamwork, respect for self and others, friendships, relationships, problem-solving and so on.

Strategies for talking about school with your child

When your child first gets home from school in the afternoon, they’ll probably be tired and hungry or thinking about other things. So easing the transition from school or after-school activities to home can help your child feel more like talking.

It’s best to avoid asking your child a lot of questions straight away – this can be overwhelming for your child. You can just let your child know that you’re glad to see them, and talk about non-school topics for a while. Younger children will probably also like unpacking their bags and going through any notes before you ask about school.

Saving questions about homework for later on can also take the pressure off!

Every afternoon or evening will be different. Even if your child usually likes to share their day with you, there’ll be days when they don’t want to talk. Sometimes it’s a matter of sensing your child’s mood and picking the right moment. Some days there might not be a right moment at all, and that’s OK.

Simple, positive and specific questions about parts of the day can get your child talking. It’s good to use questions that invite more than a ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘OK’ response. For example:

What’s the news from school today?

What was fun?
What did you like best at school today?
What does your classroom look like at the moment?
What did you do in class after recess?
Who did you hang out with today?

What subjects did you do today?
What topics are you working on in science at the moment?

Tips for talking about school with primary school children

These tips can help you get a conversation going:

Make time to talk. This can often be when you’re doing something with your child. For example, your child might like to talk when you’re walking the dog or preparing dinner together.

Give your child your full attention if they want to talk with you about their day.
Take seriously whatever your child tells you. For example, you can say things like, ‘That’s really interesting. Then what happened?’ or ‘And how do you feel about that?’
Use respectful language when you talk about the school and teachers with or in front of your child. For example, ‘I can see that’s frustrating, but Ms Adams is your teacher and you need to speak respectfully to her’, or ‘Yes, that seems unfair, but perhaps you don’t know the whole story’.
Use  active listening techniques These can help you pick up on your child’s feelings and work out whether they want to talk.

This information was taken directly from the Raising Children Network. An Australian Government site set up to support parents.

Talking about School

Sharing Our Faith

Fruit of the Spirit

The fruit of the spirit for the next fortnight is gentleness. Gentleness helps us to speak kind words, to be humble and to treat others with compassion. In classes students will be looking at ways they can show gentleness in their day to day lives.

Family Mass

Thank you to those families who joined us for our first Family Mass this year. We plan to hold these once a Term as it is a great opportunity to gather and connect with the parish community. The students read and sang beautifully on the day and speaking to parishioners after mass they were so happy to have you all join them. Stay tuned for the date of our next Family Mass in Term 4.

Family Mass

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

Support Staff Appreciation Week

This week was "Support Staff Appreciation Week" and we celebrated the wonderful work of our support staff here at Holy Spirit Infants. We celebrated with a special luncheon with lots of goodies and each of the Support Staff Team were presented with a certificate of appreciation and a lanyard of thanks. They celebrated with some Team Tshirts themed for the event.

We are certainly blessed at Holy Spirit Infants and our sincere thanks to our team:

Mrs Amanda Focic; Mrs Leah Shakespeare; Mrs Lisa Bolam; Mrs Dot Seamer (Pictured) as well as Mrs Janelle Williams; Mrs Kay Woods (library); Mrs Bonney Lane and Mr Trevor Shakespeare (who keeps our school sparkling!) What a Team!!

Sport News

On Saturday the 20^th and Sunday the 21^st of August Mckewan Cunningham (1White) competed in the Australian Jr long track championship in Tamworth.

Mckewan had a wonderful weekend with his friends, winning one of his heats with 2 second places and one third place this put Macca straight through to the final.

The final consisted of 12 competitors from all across the nation aged between 7 to 9 years, we were extremely proud of Macca for even getting himself into the final. The race was restarted 3 times due to a false start and a crash (everyone involved was ok) Macca raced really hard and very deserving he came away with 3^rd place and found himself on the podium.

Congratulations on these great achievements!

School Fee Reminder

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.

Fee Clearance (for Year 3) - As students in Year 2 complete their schooling here at Holy Spirit Infants, they will require a Fee Clearance prior to being accepted for enrolment into Holy Spirit Primary at Kurri. This is bringing both schools in line with the Diocesan Policy that requires students who transition to another Catholic School eg Year 2 to Year 3; Yr 6 to Yr 7; Yr 10 to Yr 11 to have a fee clearance. We appreciate all that families do to honour their fee responsibilities.

If you are on a direct debit system of payments, we are appreciative of your ongoing commitment and ask that you please check the amount remaining and adjust your payments as needed. As always, families who are having difficulty with meeting their fee responsibilities are encouraged to make an appointment with Diane as soon as possible please.

Wellbeing Week

Wellbeing Week for our students was last week in week 6, and students enjoyed participating in a lot of fun activities! On Monday we had our ice cream day, on Wednesday we had a lunchtime disco in the hall and then a crafternoon on Friday. We hope all the students had a fun week!

This week was Science Week and we celebrated this occasion at Holy Spirit on Monday. Students explored this years theme of 'glass' by participating in a variety of experiments such as a marble run, skittles rainbow and exploring the effects on heat and the cold on glass. The students enjoyed the activities and so many already knew how glass was made and that it was made of sand! Well done everyone and big thank you to Mr Flynn for organising a great Science Week for our students.

We were delighted to have the local Fire Brigade representatives come to our school to teach everyone about Fire Safety. The children were taught about the dangers of fire and how to respond in an emergency. You can see them practicing getting down low and go go go! It was a terrific program. Our only issue was the rain dampened the opportunity to turn on the fire hoses but we did get to hear the sirens. The Fire Brigade will return to our school shortly. We appreciate their support to educate all our early learners.

Colours

Kinder B - Red

Kinder W- Yellow

Year 1 B - Green

Year 1 W - Purple

Year 2 B - Orange

Year 2 W - Blue

Staff - Pink

What to wear

Shoes - Runners (Black or White)

Bottoms - Black - (Tights/leggings, jeans, or short)

Top - Plain White T-Shirt

Hair

Girls - High slick ponytail with a hair elastic to match their hair colour.

Boys - Neat/styled

No Make Up

Coloured Accessories

You can purchase these from any local cheap shop, Kmart or Big W

Head Bands

Bows, Ribbon, Hair clip

Coloured Tutu

Hat

Sunglasses

Necklaces and Bracelets

Awards - Congratulations to:

Award Winners

Don'f forget to get your meal deal ordered for the last day of term - all sales are via QKR and there will be no other menu items available for sale on this day - 23rd September.

Orders need to be in by Midnight on Friday 16th September.

Just a reminder for parents to updating your child's class on QKR to the current year if you have not already done so. This causes issues in the canteen for the volunteers trying to sort orders into the correct classes. Its takes a minute for parents to make this change. Thank you.

Dates for your Diary

Community News

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1st September 2022