28th October 2022
Acting Principal News
Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Ms Evelyn Covita, our Teacher Librarian and Mrs Nicola Matheson, our Learning Support Teacher for being appointed as permanent members of our Abermain staff. Both teachers are assets to our staff and we congratulate them on their appointments.
Next week we welcome back Ms Murphy and Mrs Shakespeare. We look forward to hearing about their travels.
Leading Learning Collaborative
In 2020 the staff of Holy Spirit Infants Abermain joined several other Catholic schools in Maitland and Newcastle for a project known as the Leading Learning Collaborative. For the last three years our staff have engaged in multiple professional development sessions to improve our classroom practice. Most recently we have focused upon the improvement of the “third teacher” in our classrooms. The “third teacher” refers to the displays and charts on the walls of the classroom that assist our students with their learning. Some of these displays include:
Tricky Word Walls – a display of words that cannot be sounded out.
Anchor Charts – charts that help students to remember important content.
Bump It Up Walls – a chart outlining steps students can take to make their writing better.
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria – a chart outlining what students are learning and why.
On Wednesday we had visiting teachers from the Catholic Schools Office as well as other schools involved in the project to tour our classrooms and view the “third teacher”. The other teachers were able to give us valuable feedback to affirm our hard work.
Grandparents Day
Tomorrow, Friday 28th October, we will be celebrating Grandparents Day! From 1:00 our Grandparents are invited to attend a special liturgy in the Church followed by afternoon tea.
It’s a special occasion that celebrates Grandparents, grand-friends, relatives, and those who generally take on the role of a Grandparent within their family or community. It’s a beautiful time to celebrate those older members of the family for all that they do. And they do so much.
Grandparents Day gives us a chance to make a special effort in letting our older relatives know just how much they mean to us. It’s that moment to take a pause and give thanks for the contributions these wonderful family members make to our lives, our families, and our communities.
Transition to School for 2023
Kindergarten 2023
Our final Kinder 2023 transition visit is on Monday 7th November from 9:30-11:00. On this day, the children will meet their special Year 2 2023 Buddy. They will have the opportunity to spend some time in the classrooms and on the playground getting to know their buddy. Parents and Carers are asked to meet in the hall for a Parent Information Session.
Year 3 2023
The date for Year 2 transitioning to Year 3 is Tuesday 22nd November. The Year 2 students will travel by bus to and from Abermain within normal school hours. A reminder to please send any outstanding enrolment forms to Abermain as soon as possible.
The fee clearance statements required for enrolment will be sent directly to Kurri on your behalf.
Kind regards,
Rebecca Kearns
Acting Assistant Principal News
Term 4 has lived up to its promise of being busy and very lively. All our students are settling into their last term of learning. Home readers are continuing to go home, with a huge thankyou to families that are spending that precious ten to twenty minutes a day reading aloud together or listening to some improved reading.
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.
When PBL is implemented well, teachers and students have more time to focus on relationships and classroom instruction. Students and staff benefit from:
- reduced problem behaviour
- increased time focused on instruction
- improved social-emotional wellbeing
- positive and respectful relationships among students and staff
- support for teachers to teach, model and respond effectively to student need
- a predictable learning environment where staff and students know what is expected to deliver effective practices that can be sustained over time.
This fortnight we are focusing on being a learner, this morning at the awards assembly the school discussed what a learner looks and sounds like. We decided that a learner is: -
- Engaged in their lessons focused with their bodies and their minds.
- On task, calm and sitting at their desk or in their groups.
- Able to discuss learning that is about to happen or happening in their classrooms
- Sitting and using the 6L’s to guide whole body listening.
This term we are very lucky to have specialist gymnastic instructors for sport, although we will miss this week we catch up with an extra week added at the end. I am sure that all class teachers will share some amazing photos with you as our students participate and grow in confidence.
As the pedagogical mentor I attended some special professional learning last week ready for the implementation of the new Maths and English Syllabi in 2023. For the rest of the term, I will work with teachers and the executive staff to share my knowledge and develop engaging, exciting and challenging learning opportunities for all classes.
Thank you
Heather Porter
Acting Assistant Principal / Pedagogical Mentor
Sharing Our Faith
Year 2 Parish Mass
Last Friday, our Year 2 students were invited to join the parish in their weekday mass. The students were very respectful and reverent on the day and they enjoyed a great discussion during the homily from Fr James about their Catholic Mission fundraiser and how important it is to help those who are less fortunate than us.
Catholic Mission Fundraiser
Last Friday 21st October, we had our Soctober Fundraiser for Catholic Mission. It was great to see everyone’s crazy socks on the day! The students listened to a presentation from our visitor Ren from Catholic Mission who informed the students what the organisation does, the work they do and where their money will be going. Then we got to have our coin line under the COLA which was a lot of fun!
We raised $742.90 which is an amazing amount for our school and will go to support Catholic Mission’s work in Ethiopia. It will provide them with resources for a goat farm which will allow those in the community to get the essential nutrients that they need to survive.
1 Blue took out the longest line on the day and K White took out the most expensive line, just winning by $2, with $135.90 raised. Both classes enjoyed a lollipop prize this week.
Thank you again to everyone for their support.
Grandparents Day
A reminder that our Grandparent's Day liturgy is on this Friday. We will meet in the church at 1pm for our liturgy then follow on with a shared afternoon tea with scones and tea/coffee for the adults in the school grounds. We look forward to seeing you all and celebrating the special grandparents in our lives.
Family Mass
Date for your diary - Sunday 20th November will be our next Family Mass where we will join together the school community and parish community to celebrate mass. We would love to see lots of families and have our students involved in various ministries. We had a great time last term and look forward to having it again. Notes will go out next week calling for RSVP's and volunteers.
Parish Mass Times
Saturday 29th October
9:00am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
6:00pm Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
Sunday 30th October
8:30am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
10:30am Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
4:30pm Liturgy of the Word - St. Francis Xavier's, Abermain
4:30pm Mass - Wollombi
Saturday 5th November
9:00am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
6:00pm Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
Sunday 6th November
8:30am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
10:30am Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
4:30pm Mass - St. Francis Xavier's, Abermain
Garage Sale
Please support our Parish:
School Fee Information Form 2023
Parents of students in current Kinder and Year 1 are requested to complete the form below and return it to Holy Spirit Infants by the end of November 2022; this will be required for billing in 2023. Future Kinder parents will also be required to return this form; it will be included in their information pack.
Student Travel - plan ahead for 2023
Awards Congratulations to:
Dates for your Diary
28th October - Grandparents Day Liturgy and Celebrations 1:00 pm
4th November - Kinder assembly in the hall from 2:00 pm. All welcome.
7th November - Kindergarten 2023 Transition 4 9:30-11:00
11th November - Year 1 assembly in the hall from 2:00 pm. All welcome.
14th November - Pupil Free Day - Staff Development Day to Focus on New English Syllabus
22nd November - Year 2 transition to Kurri morning at Holy Spirit Primary School 9:00 - 11:00
25th November - Year 2 assembly in the hall from 2:00 pm. All welcome.
Community News
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Kurri Kurri Library will be hosting this year's Halloween Spooky Storytime on Monday 31st October - a not-too-spooky night of stories, songs, craft, and a ghost hunt (inside the library!)
