23rd March 2023
Principal News
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Dear Parents and Carers
We have had a terrific week celebrating St Patrick's Day; St Joseph's day; a Family Mass and Harmony Day at our school. Thank you for supporting your child's involvement in these special days where the lives of these Saints inspire our own lives and where the values of acceptance, understanding, appreciation, hope and harmony can be shared through joyous celebrations like Harmony day. Special thanks to Mrs Fredsall (EALD Teacher) who organised the wonderful activities for our Harmony Day celebrations. There were big smiles and laughter as the children really enjoyed the activities and they looked fabulous in their orange and rainbow clothes!
On Saturday 25th March, it is the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord where the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would be the Mother of God. The Hail Mary is a prayer the students will pray at our morning prayer on Friday and we encourage our parents to pray with your children this traditional and powerful prayer.
On St Patrick's Day I was invited to attend the Installation of our newly appointed ninth bishop of the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese, Bishop Michael Kennedy at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. It was a privilege to represent our school community and the celebration was attended by many bishops from across Australia as well as many priests from our diocese, many of whom have chosen to make our diocese their home after coming from overseas. The cathedral was bursting with the faithful as well as invited guests including leaders from other faith denominations. The mass was filled with ritual, symbolism and the chosen music played by gifted musicians coupled with the sounds of the amazing choir, made the experience very moving. Our own parishioners from Vineyards Parish also attended and there was a collegial supper afterwards. Bishop Michael expressed his desire to meet the people of the diocese, and we do hope he will soon come to visit our school and Parish community. Please pray for our new bishop as he begins his important ministry.
Family Mass
Thank you to our families who were able to come along to join in the Family Mass at St Francis Xavier Church last Sunday, the Feast of St Joseph. Our sincere thanks to Miss Laczkowski our REC, for her preparation of the children as readers and singers and to the Parish for their kind gesture of sharing a few delicious snacks after mass which the children all enjoyed. In addition to witnessing by the way we live our daily lives, we are called to explicitly share our faith and invite others to "come and see" Christ for themselves. When families come together at Mass, we are one in Christ and the sense of belonging grows. Everyone is welcome.
P.E.G. Update
On 14th March we held the first Parent Engagement Group gathering at Holy Spirit Infants and we are very grateful to the parents who attended. The PEG differs from the P&F model in that there is an educative component to each meeting and this is based on the requests/needs of the parents. At the recent meeting each school (Holy Spirit Infants and Holy Spirit Primary) shared their School Improvement Plans for the 2023 school year. For Infants the focus is Liturgy and Prayer; Mathematics and Wellbeing of our community. For the Primary school the focus is Faith Formation and English. The meeting went for about an hour and the group determined that at the next P.E.G. which will be held on 9th May at Holy Spirit Kurri, and the educational component will be about "How do teachers teach Subtraction?" This topic may be of interest to you and whether your child is in Kinder or Year 6, teachers will share the teaching methods used. Please put the date in your diary - we would love to hear your ideas too.
Parent Classroom helpers
Our Year 1 classes have been enjoying having parent helpers assist with reading group games and activities each morning. Thank you for generously giving of your time to help our students enjoy their learning and to have fun! They love having you visit!
If you would like to volunteer to assist in the classroom with reading or maths, please email your child's teacher. Kinder will be able to welcome parent helpers from next term.
Easter Egg raffle prizes
Thank you parents for your generous donations towards the raffle. If any parents can spare an hour or two to drop in to the school and help wrap some Easter Eggs as prizes for the upcoming easter raffle, we would sincerely appreciate the help. Why not volunteer with a friend and come along together. Any day next week at any time that suits you, would be wonderful. Thank you!
Best Wishes
This week we say a farewell to Milly in Year 1 and her family who are moving from the area. Milly has been a vibrant and bubbly member of the school community and her parents a wonderful support for the school. We wish Milly and her family all the very best in their new home. God bless!
Uniform Reminder
Parents as children continually grow, at times a uniform that fitted well at the start of the year may soon become a wee bit small or tight and then uncomfortable. We do have some second hand uniform items available and Dot and Bonney can assist families when requests are made. If you would like support with a uniform or elements of the uniform, please contact our office and we will do all we can to help. As your own child grows, any uniform items in good condition can be donated to the school.
Thank you for supporting our school rule to "Wear the uniform with pride". A reminder that boys shirts may be worn out and do not need to be tucked in and socks are to be grey please. The children looked their very best on Monday for our photos- thank you!
Have a great fortnight and we will soon be celebrating Easter,
God Bless You
Diane Murphy
Principal
Assistant Principal News
Assistant Principal News
Positive Behaviour for Learning
Our PBL focus for the last three weeks of Term 1 is part of “I am Respectful”:
“I am kind and honest.”
This week our students participated in a PBL lesson all about showing kindness and honesty on the playground and in the classroom. The lesson focused upon the situations they may encounter at school where they will need to show kindness towards someone as well as times when they need to be honest (even when it is difficult). We spoke about what kindness and honesty looks like, feels like and sounds like. Students may receive GOTCHAS when they include other students.
Zones of Regulation
Last week as part of our Personal Development Lessons we introduced the Zones of Regulation to our students from Kindergarten to Year 2. The Zones of Regulation will teach our students to identify their feelings/level of alertness, understand how their behaviour impacts outcomes, problem solve conflict and learn what tools they can use to regulate their Zones.
This term we are learning to recognise the four different zones:
THE FOUR ZONES: OUR FEELINGS & STATES DETERMINE OUR ZONE
The Red Zone is used to describe extremely heightened states of alertness and intense emotions. A person may be elated or experiencing anger, rage, devastation, or terror when in the Red Zone.
The Yellow Zone is also used to describe a heightened state of alertness and elevated emotions, however one has more control when they are in the Yellow Zone. A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, the wiggles, or nervousness when in the Yellow Zone.
The Green Zone is used to describe a calm state of alertness. A person may be described as happy, focused, content, or ready to learn when in the Green Zone. This is the zone where optimal learning occurs.
The Blue Zone is used to describe low states of alertness and down feelings such as when one feels sad, tired, sick, or bored.
In the next few weeks, teachers will be sending home a copy of the four Zones of Regulation for each family to be placed on the fridge. Please begin discussing the feeling that your child may be experiencing and naming the coloured zone that the feeling falls into.
If you would like to learn more about the Zones of Regulation, please go to:
https://www.zonesofregulation.com/index.html
Rebecca Kearns – Assistant Principal
Sharing Our Faith
Family Mass
Thank you to all those who joined us for our family mass on Sunday 19th March at St Francis Xavier’s. We had a lovely turn out of students and their families come and participate and help lead our mass. Students learnt during the Gospel about the story of the blind man and through the homily came to appreciate the beauty of God’s creation and how amazing it was that Jesus was able to help this man come to see this again. After mass the parish put on some nibble's of green cordial and snakes to remember St Patrick’s Day which was celebrated last Friday.
Family Mass
St Joseph’s Day Liturgy
On Monday, we celebrated the feast of St. Joseph, a very special Saint for our school. In the afternoon Year 2 Blue led us in a beautiful liturgy where we found out more about who St. Joseph is and his important role in Jesus' life.
A little bit about St. Joseph:
Saint Joseph was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus. He was a very good and patient man. Even though he never speaks in the Bible, Saint Joseph was a man of action. When God told him in a dream that it was okay to marry Mary, and when God told him to go to Egypt to save Jesus from Herod, Saint Joseph listened. He always obeyed God even though he did not always understand.
Through his love and care for Jesus and Mary, Saint Joseph showed his love for God. Because he trusted God, Saint Joseph allowed Him to work in his life. Trusting God can be very hard, especially when we cannot see how our story will end or why God is asking us to do something. We can pray to Saint Joseph to help us trust God just as he did.
(Reference: My Catholic Kids, 2023)
St Joseph's Day Liturgy
A Prayer for St. Joseph...
Holy Week Reminder
Families and parishioners are invited to attend our schools Holy Week liturgy on Thursday 6th April (Last day of Term) at 12:30 pm at St. Francis Xavier’s Church, Abermain.
The students will be listening to bible stories and learning about the events of Holy Week within their Religion lessons. Kindergarten will re-enact the events of Palm Sunday; Year 2 Blue The Last Supper on Holy Thursday and Year 2 White The Crucifixion on Good Friday. Year 1 classes will re-enact Easter Sunday and the resurrection when we return to school in Term 2.
Project Compassion Reminder
Thank you to those students and their families who have continued throughout the Lenten Season to gather donations for our Caritas Project Compassion fundraiser. I see students each week putting their change from the canteen into their class boxes, bringing in spare change throughout the week, I have heard of some families putting their box in their workplace and I have seen some of our families donate via the QKR app. It has been a blessing to see the generosity of our school community to help those who are less fortunate than us. With less than two weeks remaining, let’s keep up the great effort you are already doing. Any project compassion boxes may be returned to school by the end of Term to be added to our contributions that we will send to Caritas.
Parish Mass Times
Saturday 25th March
9:00am Mass - St Joseph's, Cessnock
6:00pm Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
Sunday 26th March
8:30am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
10:30am Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
4:30pm Mass - St Francis Xavier, Abermain
Saturday 1st April
9:00am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
6:00pm Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
Sunday 2nd April
8:30am Palm Sunday Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
10:30am Palm Sunday Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
4:30pm Mass - St. Francis Xavier, Abermain
Your in faith,
Miss Jessica Laczkowski
Religious Education Coordinator
Harmony Day 21st March 2023
On Tuesday, Holy Spirit Infants participated in an action-packed day to celebrate Harmony Day 2023. We embraced the theme 'Everyone Belongs' with a range of activities that highlighted the importance of inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians regardless of cultural or linguistic backgrounds.
The day began with literacy activities which focused on the meaning and awareness of Harmony Day. After lunch the students participated in a series of activities, which allowed them to gain exposure to games and dances performed in different countries around the world. These included: Bollywood Dancing, African Dancing, Spanish Language Lesson (Gracias Miss Covita), Hopscotch, Freeze and What's the Time Mr Wolf.
In the afternoon the students were very industrious and completed craft activities, many of which turned into wearable art. I hope these made it home for you all to see.
It was so lovely to see all the students in their bright rainbow-coloured clothes and even brighter smiles. Harmony Day is special celebration for Holy Spirit Infants as it represents the inclusive nature of our school and the values that we live by each and every day.
Nikki Fredsall
EALD Teacher
Year 2 News
Welcome to Year 2! We have had a wonderful start to the year and are enjoying a variety of different learning opportunities.
Preparing for Holy Week
Year 2 is busy preparing for our Holy Week re-enactment that will take place on the last day of this term (6th of April). 2 Blue is preparing a re-enactment that will show what Jesus did on Holy Thursday whilst 2 White are preparing to tell the story of Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified. Each student has a key role reenacting the story of Jesus’ last week on Earth.
Living in Harmony
During our Harmony Day celebrations, Year 2 created vibrant, colourful posters that focused on the theme ‘Living in Harmony.’ There are some fantastic artists in Year 2 who were able to use a combination of paint, pastel and pencil to create wonderful posters. Students also participated in craft activities and game rotations which included Hopscotch, Bollywood dancing, African dancing, ‘Stuck in the Mud’ and ‘What’s the Time Mr Wolf.’ It was a wonderful day!
English
During our morning Literacy block of learning, 2 White and 2 Blue have been joining together to participate in Reading Group rotations. This has allowed students to meet together with a Teacher more regularly throughout the week and in smaller groups. We are very lucky in Year 2 to have the support of Miss Stollard, Mrs Edwards, Mrs Grey and Mrs Shakespeare during our reading group rotations as well as Mrs Kreutzer, Mrs Kearns and Mr Flynn. The learning that happens during these rotations is focused, dynamic and fun!
Maths
In Maths this term, Year 2 has been focusing on patterns and measurement. They have been engaging in ‘Maths Warmups’ which focus on number and place value revision using our wonderful new white board tables and mini whiteboards. Students have enjoyed being outside in the playground using tape measures and rulers to learn about formal measurement and ‘metres.’ Year 2 has also started to introduce ‘Kahoot!’ as a learning tool for number concepts and most importantly computer literacy. Year 2 will continue to engage in hands on and fun activities throughout the year to reinforce mathematical concepts.
Science
In Science this term we have been focusing on the unit of work ‘Living Things.’ We have explored the life cycles of humans, plants and some animals too! Both Year 2 classes planted beans at the beginning of the term and have been monitoring their growth. 2 Blue had lots of success with their bean plants whereas 2 White didn’t get much growth. We concluded that this was due to the sun and the position of the different classrooms- a very interesting learning opportunity!
Sport
This term Holy Spirit were lucky to have Max from Fit4Kids teaching Athletics skills. Year 2 has had a wonderful time engaging in these lessons focusing on the Fundamental Movement Skills running, jumping, hopping, throwing and catching. They even had the opportunity to join in with a large ‘Ring Toss’ game, it was so much fun!
Wellbeing Week
During week 7, Year 2 enjoyed participating in the activities set up to focus on their wellbeing. Students engaged in ‘Recycled Art,’ ‘Sand Pit Treasure Hunts,’ Yoga and an out of uniform day. It was a week full of fun learning experiences and smiles!
Easter Hat Parade Easter Raffle
Raffle tickets can be purchased on QKR! and can be found under the ‘Special Events Tab’. Thank you to everyone who has already sent in Easter Eggs for the raffle, we really appreciate your support.
Our Easter Hat parade will begin at 1.45pm on 5th April. Our students make their own hats in class that day. Parent helpers may like to come along at 12.30pm to assist in classrooms - please contact your child's teacher via email and all volunteers do need to have a clearance to be in classrooms. Preschoolers are also welcome to make a hat at home and wear it in the parade. Aspect students will also join in the fun. This will be followed by the Easter Egg raffle - an exciting event on our school calendar. Tickets available on Qkr app.
Remember that when parking, please ensure you avoid parking across driveways as we are in a residential area and follow the road signage. We hope you can join us.
Cross Country Tuesday 28th March
Our school cross country will take place here at school on Tuesday 28th March from 9.45am. The students have been training (when its not too hot) to increase their fitness and distance. Our school cross country will be run on site with Year 1 and Year 2 students running outside the school for a part of the course. Our Kinder students will run within the school grounds. We will need about ten/twelve parent helpers situated around the course to encourage, support and guide the students as teachers will be supervising the groups. We believe the event will take about 1.5hrs. Can you help? If so, please call Dot/Bonney in the office.
It is only a competitive event for our 8yr olds. If students can run specific distances within a specific time, the first three runners who meet this criteria will progress to the Diocesan Cross Country at Maitland Park on 10th May 2023.
For girls it is 2km within 13 minutes and for boys, 2 km under 11 minutes. Our students younger than 8 yrs will all run and be able to receive a place ribbon (Top 3) but sport events at regional or diocesan level are only open to 8 yr olds and over.
We hope that this can be a fun event for our school community! Parents/Carers are welcome to come along and support the students. If you are available to help, you'll need to be on our volunteers list.
A gentle reminder that students' learning will continue that day after the lunch break and we ask that parents let their child remain at school after the event please. There will be lots of things to discuss after the event in our classrooms. Thank you.
Gymnastics Success Chloe Wile
Congratulations to our very own Chloe Wile who competed in her first Women’s Artistic Gymnastics competition the Ice Breaker in Level 1 which was held at the PCYC in Campbelltown on Sunday.
Chloe won a whopping 4 ribbons, placing 2nd in Vault and Floor routine and 3rd in gymnastics beam and bar.
We are so proud of you Chloe and your impressive achievements. Your Holy Spirit family will continue to cheer you on.
Awards
Weeks 8 and 9 Awards
Dates for your Diary
Community News
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Daylight Saving 2023
Daylight saving ends in New South Wales on Sunday 2nd April 2023, when clocks will be put back one hour.