9th February 2023

Principals News

A very warm welcome to all our families and to our first newsletter for 2023! Our staff came together to share Eucharist on Friday 27th January when Fr James blessed us and we prayed together for a great year ahead.

It has been delightful catching up with our parents and our Year 1 and 2 students who were quite excited to return to school and begin learning in their new classes with new teacher/s and the promise of new friendships and great things to come. Any worries were quickly replaced with smiles and laughter as the students as the students reconnected at Holy Spirit. Year 1 and 2 have settled marvellously into their new classes. Our student leaders have been busy "on the job" of handing out the sport equipment and will lead our awards assemblies which begin next week. 

Then on Thursday 2nd Feb we welcomed our wonderful new Kinders for 2023 and their families to Holy Spirit. Implementing our belief that positive transitions through play are vital to ensure every child feels they belong, feels safe and feels supported has ensured a smooth beginning to the year for our youngest students. Successful Foundations is our play based approach to support students beginning their school journey with us. It is our fifth year and we are proud to say it is working very well. Our only tears were from toddlers who wanted to stay and play! Year 2 have stepped up wonderfully into their role as a buddy for our new Kindergarten students. We have ensured we congratulated them on the kind, gentle and thoughtful way they have looked after their new buddy. 

There is a lot to learn when Kindergarten begins! Don't be worried if they can't tell you in detail how their day went...that's normal because so many incredible things happen in any one day at school. Its hard to remember it all! Your child will benefit from a regular sleep time; a regular evening meal and bedtime routine and opportunities to just "chill" when their busy day at school ends.   Thank you to all our families for providing children with healthy food choices in their lunch boxes! We are guiding the Kinders and establishing routines for eating and sipping water across the day. Not everything in a lunch box will be eaten as children are always keen to get to the playground even though we provide them with plenty of time to sit and eat.  Please notify your child's teacher if you have a concern. 

Thank you for sending your children looking terrific in their school uniform. The hot weather has made wearing new school shoes a bit tough this week, but the children have all managed very well. A reminder sport uniform is to be worn on a Wednesday. This also allows time for a quick uniform wash midweek should it be needed. 

The playground is a hive of activity as you may well imagine. It certainly is a happy place, and we are able to offer lunch club in the Learning Hub and recess club in the library across the week.

In 2023 we are focussing on explicitly teaching our students the Zones of Regulation to assist with developing ways to self-regulate, which is a skill for life. We utilise the Zones of Regulation and the four colours associated with these zones to help all students begin to learn to identify within themselves how they are feeling at any particular time and then, what strategies or tools they can use themselves to self-regulate.  Identifying a zone can then assist staff and the child to determine what they may need to do next in order to get back to "the Green Zone". This will be explicitly taught K-2 and we will share a graphic with our families to foster that use of consistent language between home and school, which again, supports your child's development. We are also targeting the teaching of social skills through a specific program, called " What's the Buzz" and every class will undertake lessons and activities designed to reinforce concepts such as resilience; turn taking; listening; sharing amongst other things. Again, social skills are life skills and developing a high level of social skills and social competence, can be a predictor of success later in life.  More details to come. 

Our school operating hours are from 8.25am when a teacher is on duty. The morning bell calling students to pack away their equipment and come to assembly is at 8.55am. We pray together as a school each morning and will soon begin our awards and flag raising assemblies next week. Parents/carers are welcome to join us. PLEASE ensure your child is at school before the bell. That way they can independently put their bag in the right place, unpack their crunch and sip and note folders - these are all routines which we establish early on to build your child's independence and sense of responsibility for their belongings. Coming late increases a child's anxiety as they miss out on a message or on the game before school. Thanks for your cooperation. 

HOLIDAY MAINTENANCE THANK YOU

During the break several maintenance jobs were undertaken and we are thrilled by the changes these jobs have made. Our sincere thanks to the families who were able to respond to our call out for helpers in early January to assist shovelling the softfall into to place it under the older play equipment. Thank you Craig, Michael, Stacey, Noah, Billy and Macy as well as Simon, Mrs Focic, myself and our beloved Mr Pat Sharkey! The job was completed (we moved 14 cubic meters in 2 mornings) in no time and the results are terrific. The children love it. Thank you! 

We also renewed the edges of the tall play equipment and again topped up the softfall.  Mr Sharkey upgraded the Fairy Garden rock river which looks really great and the Year 2/Library and KW verandahs were all restained and refreshed. We are trying to grow some grass in that area at the moment. We are also very appreciative of the efforts of Mr Shakespeare and Mr Spencer in ensuring our playground is kept looking great and appealing. 

If parents have any ideas for ways we could improve our play spaces or our playground, I'm keen to hear from you! 

Parent Information Evening 2023

SAVE THE DATE: THURSDAY EVENING 16th February 2023

TIMES: Session 1 5.30-6pm or Session 2: 6.15pm-6.45pm 

Session will be presented at the first time slot 0f 5.30pm and then repeated at 6.15pm. This allows parents with more than one child to attend two information sessions.  We look forward to meeting with you. 

Parent Engagement Group Meeting

We do not have a P&F at Holy Spirit Infants however we will hold a Parent Engagement Group gathering in March. The idea is for parents/carers to attend and for the first one, we will seek your feedback about ideas for what it is that you are most interested in learning about in regard to how your child is being taught/what they may be learning/how you can support them at home. There will also be an opportunity for parents to suggest some fundraising ideas and plot them on a calendar (so we are not asking parents for contributions too often) and then for parents and friends to nominate to undertake organising these fundraisers with the support of myself as the principal.  Our school has not undertaken fundraising for 3 years and we do need to think about what we can/may like to do this year. Details of the planned meeting date and time will be made available shortly. We do encourage you to please come along; meet one another and let's work together to make our community great! Our students deserve it! 

Our Recycling Bottle Top Art Project for 2023 

We are very keen to have another go at teaching our early learners all about the importance of recycling and reusing plastics. Our dream is to be able to collect enough coloured plastic bottle tops to be able to create a wall mural made up of contributions from every child and family. 

Start saving milk bottle tops lids, juice or flavoured milk lids and soft drink lids! In the next fortnight we will have some containers for the children to contribute their collected lids into. Then we will look to sort them into colours and choose a design. Our aim is to get children noticing that this part of the bottle can easily be reused and repurposed into something colourful and eye catching. So, grab a container and see how many lids your family and extended family can collect. This project may take us 6 months or more...but the learning that occurs along the way will be invaluable. 

Please remember I am available should you wish to discuss anything related to our school or our school community. My door is always open, and I love to have a chat. Please contact the office if you'd like to make a special appointment. I do spend time in our classes "catching" the children doing their best, but I am always openly seeking your feedback or suggestions for our gorgeous school. 

Holiday Working Bee

Have a terrific fortnight, 

May God bless you and your family,

Diane Murphy

Assistant Principal News

Positive Behaviour for Learning 

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) is a whole-school framework that promotes positive behaviour across a school and helps schools develop safe and supportive learning environments. PBL is a whole school approach to teaching children positive behaviours to assist them in becoming more successful academically and socially. After all, if a child does not know how to swim or read, we teach them. However, if a child does not know how to behave, should we first teach them or punish them? 

At Holy Spirit Infants Abermain our PBL Framework, seen below, has four main areas:  

I am Safe! 

I am Respectful! 

I am Responsible! 

I am a Learner!  

Under each of these headings are statements about positive behaviours we would like demonstrated by the students at Holy Spirit.  

We take one step at a time! Every 2-3 weeks the staff at Holy Spirit Infants will choose a positive behaviour to focus upon based on the needs of our children. This behaviour will be talked about with children at assemblies, in the classroom and on the playground. Questions such as “What does…. look like?”, “How do you know when you are…?” or “Why should we …?” help children to understand what the positive behaviour looks like and its importance. Children are rewarded with a GOTCHA when they are caught demonstrating this behaviour.  

Our first focus for 2023 is part of “I am Respectful”: 

“I say please and thank you.”   

I asked the Year 1 and 2 students at our Monday morning assembly when they might use “please” and “thank you”. Their answers included: at the canteen, when playing and asking for equipment at the sports shed. All excellent responses!! 

Rebecca Kearns – Assistant Principal 

Sharing our Faith

Welcome to the new school year! I hope you have all settled in well. As the Religious Education Coordinator, I will give updates in each newsletter about upcoming events such as liturgies and masses, what our fruit of the spirit focus is for the fortnight and giving you an insight into what our beautiful students are learning about in their Religion lessons. 

Fruits of Spirit

The Holy Spirit gave us the Fruits of the Spirit that we strive to live out in our day to day lives. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

Each fortnight at Holy Spirit we focus on one of these fruits where students will complete an activity on this and try hard in that fortnight to display this at school. At the end of the fortnight we give one award per class for those who have done well showing this fruit. 

Opening School Liturgy

Next Tuesday 14th February, we will be celebrating our opening school liturgy, with Fr. James joining us for this event.  This will be held in the church (next to the school) at 12:30pm. It is a great way to start our year in faith and pray that the year ahead will be full of many blessings. All parents and family are welcome to attend. 

Welcome to Kindergarten Mass 

Tomorrow we will send out invites to our Kinder families, inviting them to our Welcome to Kinder mass on Sunday 26th February at 4:30pm. This is a great opportunity to come together and join the School and Parish community for mass. The Kinder students will be preparing a song to perform on the evening, and we would love to see as many of you there as possible. We welcome all families, but especially our Kinder families, to join us for this celebration.

New Religion Curriculum - Year One

Following last years successful implementation of the new Religion curriculum for Kindergarten, in 2023 Year One join us in taking on the new curriculum. The infographic below explains the new curriculum which is focused on the 'Pedagogy of Encounter' where students are allowed an opportunity to encounter God, reflecting on their own backgrounds and then building upon where they are at.

Parish Mass Times

Saturday 11th February

9:00am Mass - St Joseph's, Cessnock

6:00pm Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock

Sunday 12th February

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 18th February

9:00am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri

6:00pm Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock

Sunday 19th February

8:30am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri

10:30am Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock

4:30pm Mass - St. Francis Xavier's, Abermain

Yours in faith,

Miss Jessica Laczkowski

Religious Education Coordinator

Meet our Holy Spirit Infants Team

Miss Kristen Pryor - Kindergarten White

Hello, my name is Miss Pryor, and I am lucky enough to be teaching Kindergarten White this year. I have been a Primary School Teacher for six years and absolutely love my job! I like to make learning fun and help my students be the best they can be! 

My favourite Things:  Food: pasta; Colour: violet;  Movie: Lion King;  Season: spring;  Animal: dolphin; Pet:  dog. 

You can contact me via email at kristen.pryor@mn.catholic.edu.au                                                                   

Miss Jessica Laczkowski - Religious Education Coordinator & Kindergarten Blue

My name is Miss Laczkowski or Miss L as most people call me. I am very lucky to be on Kinder Blue again this year. I love our school here at Holy Spirit and look forward to watching you all grow throughout the year. Some of my favourite things include swimming, seafood, dancing and spending time with my family. 

If you need to contact me my email is: jessica.laczkowski@mn.catholic.edu.au 

Miss Helena Elias - Year 1 Blue

My name is Miss Elias, and I am teaching 1Blue. I am very excited for 2023 and getting to know my new class. Here are some of my favourite things:

· Food: Chicken Pasta Bake

· Colour: Pink

· Animal: Turtles and dolphins

· Things to do: Baking, netball and going to the beach.

· Subject: Mathematics

Helena.elias@mn.catholic.edu.au 

Mrs Heather Porter-Kay - Year 1 White & GEM

My name is Mrs. Porter-Kay and I am on Year 1 White 2023. I am so excited for our year together and can’t wait to get to know my class! I have two boys, 21 and 17 years old, I love to travel to Hawaii and different Asian countries and I am deathly afraid of sharks. As well as being on Year 1 White, I am also the Gifted Education Mentor (GEM) for the school which involves mentoring our staff on how to support our gifted students. 

If you need to contact me my email is: heather.porter-kay@mn.catholic.edu.au 

Mrs Rebecca Kearns - Assistant Principal & Year 2 Blue 

My name is Rebecca Kearns and I am the Assistant Principal, Pedagogical Mentor (teacher jargon for “teaching”) and Year 2 Blue teacher from Wednesdays to Fridays. I have been teaching for over 20 years and came to Holy Spirit Infants in 2017. I have a husband, Jason and two boys Noah, four and Izaac, two. On the weekends we love to go for bike rides and walks as well as visit a park. I am thrilled to be teaching year 2 again in 2023!! 

My favourite things: Colour: blue or purple   Food: Pasta  Subject: Maths Pet: none (One day we’d love to get a dog!)  Holiday: Hawaii and Tasmania. I’d like to visit New Zealand one day too.  

Mrs Kate Kreutzer - Year 2 White

Hi! My name is Kate Kreutzer and I am teaching 2 White this year. I am passionate about education in the early years and am excited to embark on my 5th year teaching at Holy Spirit Infants School. I love being a Catholic School Teacher as it allows me to nurture the holistic nature of children in an enviornment that is compassionate, stimulating and full of rich learning opportunities.

Mr Brodie Flynn - Executive Release Year 2 Blue & Kinder Blue

Hi, I’m Mr Brodie Flynn and this year I am teaching 2 Blue on Mondays and Tuesdays. I also teach Kinder Blue on Fridays. I love teaching because I get to share my passion for learning and I get to watch students develop new skills. Some of my interests include: video games, coding, reading, martial arts and going to the beach with my husky. I am looking forward to an excellent year at Holy Spirit!

Mrs Nikki Fredsall - EALD Teacher

My name is Nikki Fredsall I am the EALD ( English as a Second Language and Dialect) teacher at Holy Spirit Infants. I have two children of my own, they are big high school kids, who keep me very busy.  I love to spend time with my family and all of my animals. At  home I have three dogs and two cats, so my house is a bit crazy. When I get a chance I love to go snorkelling, bushwalking and yoga.

Mrs Kath Gray - Learning Support Teacher

Hi! I'm Mrs Gray and I am so excited to be the Learning Support Teacher at Holy Spirit Infants School. I have been teaching for a long time, both on class and as an intervention teacher. You will find me in the Learning Centre, as well as on the playground and in the classroom, so please say 'hello'! I have a husband, 3 children and a dog, and we love going to the beach and doing things outdoors.

If you need to contact me my email is:  kathleen.gray@mn.catholic.edu.au 

Our Learning Support Assistants (LSA's)

Kindergarten Successful Foundations

Kindergarten are off to a wonderful start and have thoroughly enjoyed starting each day with play, spending time with their buddies and making new friends. It has been fantastic to see how independent our Kinder students are already as they walk in by themselves of a morning and unpack their note folders and Crunch n Sip- well done!

Our play each morning is part of the Successful Foundations action research project which supports the positive transition to school of 2023 Kindergarten children and supports system wide implementation of the Early Learning Policy for Catholic schools in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. During this time children have the opportunity to actively demonstrate their knowledge and interests, build relationships and become familiar with the context of the school. Successful Foundations also provides teachers with the time and opportunity to develop meaningful relationships as they observe and interact with the competent, creative and capable child. From the pictures below you would be able to see all the fun that our Kinder students have had throughout their hour of "play" in the morning. We have learnt so much about them as learners, thinkers and creators through this time and look forward to continuing this in the weeks to come.

Kristen Pryor and Jessica Laczkowski

Kindergarten Teachers

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Office News

Office Hours  The office is open from 8:30am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday to assist with all enquiries.   The admin email address is admin@abermain.catholic.edu.au  

Change of Details    If you change your address, mobile number or email address, could you please let us know so we can update your details. It is very important that we are able to contact you in the event of an emergency. 

Compass  access is vital so you can stay informed of happenings at our school.   If you are having difficulty with the app, please contact the school and we will assist you.

Newsletters are also distributed via Compass. If you would like the newsletter to be emailed to you, please ring the school and provide this information. 

If your child is absent from school, you may record this via the Compass app also. Please be mindful of choosing the correct day/date when doing this as you can record an absence from a previous day or for a date in the future.   An alert will be sent to your mobile if your child is not present at school on any day and the absence has not been explained.

At the end of Term 2 and Term 4, school reports are also sent out via Compass. They are not printed off and sent home. Parents/carers will need to do this themselves. 

Hats, library bags and lunch wallets are available for purchase via QKR app and the item can be delivered to your child as required.  These items are always available from the school office.

Label your child's belongings - Please clearly label all of your child's belongings. This helps us to give things back if they've been lost. Thank you.

Finance News

Fee Statements  School fees have been generated and statements will be emailed to each family the first week in March.  Your fee statement will be an annual account.  When you receive your statement, instalment payments can be made either weekly, fortnightly, monthly or per quarter to suit your family budget.   BPAY is the preferred method of fee payment.  The BPAY details are on the upper right hand side of the statement. Please do not use Compass Pay as a method of payment as it attracts hefty administration costs.   If you would like your statement before March, please email admin@abermain.catholic.edu.au and your statement will be sent to you.   

Understanding the payment timeline:

1. For those parents nominating to pay by instalment (being weekly, fortnight or monthly) the first payment must be made by 31 March 2023 with the view to extinguishing debt by the end of November. Our admin staff are able to assist families to calculate an instalment amount to ensure fees are covered by the end of November. 

2. For those parents that have nominated to pay in one instalment this must be received by 30 June and fully extinguish the school fee balance.

3. If your child is in Year 2 and will be leaving Holy Spirit Infants to attend Holy Spirit Primary at Kurri in 2024, please be aware that a fee clearance is now a requirement from our school before offers of placement can be made for Kurri school.  

Health Care/Pension Card  If you are a Healthcare/Pension Card holder and would like to apply for a concession please fill in the forms below and supply a copy of your Health Care Card.   When all forms are returned and checked a discount will be applied to the tuition fee component of your school fees.  Please note that all fee payers who have a current Health Care Card/Pension card need to fill in new forms each year.  

Medications

If your child takes a daily medication, or has had a change to their medication regime, please let us know.  Children taking daily medication are requested to have a Webster Pack for the safe and organised administration of their tablets. 

If your child requires medication for a period of time (and the illness is not contagious) a permission note to provide medication must be completed. Please contact the office for details. 

All students with asthma will need to have an up to date asthma action plan and an in date puffer. Parents/carers are asked to hand this in at the office. 

All students with allergies will need to have the specific medication/cream supplied to school with the child's names and dosage. If your child has an allergy to latex/bandaids etc we also need to know and if you could supply the bandaids that your child can use, we would be most appreciative. 

Any students with Anaphylaxis require their Current Action Plan and an Epipen to be supplied. 

All our medication is kept securely in our Sick Bay. 

Thank you

Dot Seamer, Admin Officer.

Nutrition Snippets

Attendance

Canteen News

Canteen will resume on Friday 17th February!  Please download the QKR app so you can order lunch for your child on this day.   See the guide below for instructions.

Calling all volunteers...we need you! 

Just imagine how great it would be to open the canteen two or more days a week like we did in the past! It's a goal we strive for. 

Our canteen operates as a service to our families and is a very important part of life at Holy Spirit Infants School as our early learners have the opportunity to be responsible for their money and make decisions when purchasing items at the canteen. They love it! Our canteen volunteers are required to be registered as  volunteers for our school.    If you are keen to assist, please click on the link on how to become a volunteer.

Volunteering at our School

Thank you for offering to volunteer at our school.   Please click on the link below to complete the online application.  This only takes about 10 minutes to complete.   Once you submit the form the process should take approximately 5 business days to complete.  When you are approved you will be emailed to say that you are cleared to volunteer at our school!

https://www.mn.catholic.org.au/people/volunteer/ 

Library News

Book Club    Issue 1 of book club closes on Thursday the 16^th February. 

You’ll find award-winning books and bestsellers, as well as old and new favourites. I recommend them because the books span a wide range of children’s reading levels and interests and because they are inexpensive (some books cost as little as $2). 
  
It is easy to order. The Book Club LOOP platform for parents allows you to pay by credit card. Your child’s order is submitted directly to school safe and sound and the books will be delivered to class. You can place your child’s order at scholastic.com.au/LOOP or using the LOOP app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play. 
  
Owning your own books is something special! I hope that you will encourage your child to order books this year. Each order helps earn free books and teaching materials for our classroom, however there is never any obligation to order. I know of no better way to encourage reading than to allow children to choose the books they want to read. 
No money for book club purchases will be accepted at school.

Kay Woods and Janelle Williams , Library Assistants.

Community News

Apply for Premier's Back to School NSW Vouchers

NSW Parents, guardians, carers or students can apply for 3 x $50 vouchers, totalling $150 for each eligible student.

The vouchers can be used:

• towards the cost of school uniforms, shoes, bags, textbooks and stationery
• At a registered business
• For more details visit the  Service NSW website