10th August, 2023

Principal's News

Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop

August 8th 

God of all blessings, you revealed in Mary MacKillop a sensitivity to the rights and dignity of every person, regardless of race or creed. May we learn from her to overcome the obstacles of prejudice and fear. Help us to value the goodness of each person and all the blessings of unity in diversity.
We ask this through the depth and unity of you, our bountiful God, who hold all things in being.    Amen

Dear Parents/Carers,

We gathered as a community of students and parents, grandparents and staff to celebrate a Liturgy of the Word for the Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Year 1W and Mrs Porter-Kay, Mrs Edwards and Mrs Bolam assisted the students who read with confidence; sang with terrific gusto and who reverently listened as we recounted some aspects of Mary's life. As Australia's first saint, a teacher and someone who truly cared for the poor and marginalised, St Mary of the Cross is a Saint close to many of the students' hearts. St Mary of the Cross MacKillop travelled far and wide across Australia in the later part of the 19th century, by horse and buggy. She established an order of the Sisters of St Joseph and along with Fr Julian Tenison Woods, established schools across three states. Mary believed that an education would lead to better outcomes for every child and help them rise out of poverty by giving them greater hope for a brighter future. Mary built communities of Sisters who ministered to all, often experiencing great hardship themselves in their lives lived in sacrifice for the love of God and love of others. They showed their commitment to their faith through prayer, worship and action. 

Our students can relate to St Mary of the Cross because she lived in our great land. She had her challenges with the bishop and was excommunicated at one difficult time, however she was emboldened by her passion for "Never seeing a need without doing something about it".  Mary was a courageous leader of her time and we can draw strength from her deep sense of servant leadership - putting others first and serving them with love and compassion. 

Our thanks to Year 1W students for their prayerful Liturgy of the Word and for their artworks which decorated the rear of the church. Thank you to our parents/carers and grandparents who were able to join us. Of note was the beautiful display in the church to honour St Mary of the Cross MacKillop created by Lorraine Wilks (Parishioner). 

Safeguarding in Diocesan Schools

The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has an absolute and abiding commitment to promote the safeguarding of children. In 2019, as a part of that commitment, our Bishop, Bill Wright, articulated his expectations of all those who work for the Diocese. “I expect you to place the safety, welfare and wellbeing of every child and vulnerable adult at the centre of everything you do in the name of our Church,” he said.

Bishop Wright established the Office of Safeguarding, whose director answers to the Bishop’s Office and is charged to oversee the whole of the Diocese’s safeguarding of children, including the students in our system of schools.

As a parent sending your child to a diocesan school, you are expected to be an active participant in safeguarding your child’s wellbeing. To do so, it’s important that you have the best information available to you. The Office of Safeguarding website offers comprehensive details of the Diocese’s approach to safeguarding children. You are also encouraged to be an active participant in the life of your school.

As a parent of a diocesan school student, if you are concerned for:

· the safety, welfare or wellbeing of one or more children in the school

· the conduct of a member of staff, a volunteer, contractor or other adult associated with the school

… you are able to:

· discuss your concerns with a teacher, assistant principal or principal

· talk to an investigator at the Office of Safeguarding (ph 4979 1390, during office hours)

· report your concerns to the Department of Communities and Justice’s (DCJ) Child Protection Helpline (ph 132 111, 24 hrs/7 days) if your concerns constitute a risk of significant harm

· report to NSW Police if you believe a crime has been committed.

CONTINUUIM OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT (COSI) VALIDATION 14th August 2023

SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT – CHILD PROTECTION

Each systemic school of the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Schools Office (CSO) participates in the Continuum of School Improvement (COSI) validation process. The validation is assessed against the expectations of the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), government and sector authorities as well as the diocesan standards. COSI is designed to assist schools to review and reflect on its current practices, engage with internal and external stakeholders and set goals to achieve identified areas for improvement.

This year our school is participating in the COSI validation for Safe and Supportive Environment – Child Protection. This validation will be conducted by the diocese’s Office of Safeguarding (OOSG). The OOSG is responsible for overseeing the safeguarding of all children and vulnerable adults who participate in the life of the Diocese.  More information about the OOSG and the work it undertakes may be found at the site below.

The OOSG validator has asked to speak with a select group of students to inform the validation. The group conversation with the OOSG validator will be informal and aimed at understanding a student’s day to day experiences at the school.  Several students have taken home a note to show their parents and an overview of some of the questions the OOSG validator may ask. 

Please advise the school in writing should you not wish for your child to participate in the validation.

It is recognised that issues that relate to safeguarding can be difficult and if you or your child requires wellbeing support please contact the OOSG on 02 4979 1390.

Student Led Conferences - Feedback Request 
At the end of Semester One we embraced having our Student Led Conferences as a part of our Semester One reporting period. We are seeking your feedback about the process so we can work to improve it in the future. As teachers we were very proud of the way the students were placed at the centre of the information sharing. Our aim is guiding them and helping them learn from the beginning of their school life that they are responsible for their own learning at school. 
The survey is short and we value your feedback and any ideas you wish to share. We will keep the survey open for 5 more days. Thank you to those parents who have already responded! 
Please click on the link below:

Dio Athletics

Last Wednesday 2nd August Evie represented the Lower Hunter Region in the Diocesan Primary Schools Athletics Carnival. Evie ran in her 8yr old 100m heat and qualified for the final. In the final event Evie was 6th place, meaning she was the 6th fastest runner in her age group across the diocese! We are very proud of Evie. Her classmates made a video to encourage Evie which we shared with her prior to her race. 

School Leaders Morning Tea 

On Wednesday 9th August we attended the School Leaders Morning Tea at the Performing Arts Centre at Cessnock. Four of our school leadership team Sara, Evie, Jett and Jake attended with Mrs Shakespeare and Ms Murphy and we listened to a motivational guest speaker Elanna Withall. Elanna has an incredibly positive outlook on life and has suffered some incomprehensible injuries in her athletic career in her quest to be an Olympian. Elanna's speech was truly motivational and aspirational. Our students were very well mannered and enjoyed the outing to represent our school. 

WHS Near Miss!!!! 

Parents and Carers are again reminded to NOT park in the church carpark.

It is too dangerous for our young children who use the footpath.

Last week we had a "near miss" when children walked across the drive way in the church carpark, and did not look/see the vehicle that was leaving the space. The vehicle SHOULD NOT have been in that space and trying to leave when so many parents are walking with their children, is hard to believe.  

Parents must follow school agreements and Parish expectations to NOT to use the church carpark, you are putting children at unnecessary and unacceptable risk. This must stop now.  Parents are responsible for where they park - not the innocent children who are walking past. 

If a grandparent is collecting your child, please notify them of the no parking area. 

There is a Disabled Car Park that is also being misused at times. 

Lets ALL do the right thing - and thereby keep all our children safe. 

P.E.G Meeting  (Parent Engagement Meeting) 

Our next PEG will be held on Tuesday evening, 15th August at 6pm at Holy Spirit Infants School Abermain. Parents of children at Holy Spirit Primary are encouraged to attend. 

Our Educational Focus is: Teaching Phonics and Spelling

This meeting will be chaired by Mrs Kearns (AP Abermain) and Mrs Waters (AP Kurri) 

We truly hope you can join us! Come and tell us your great ideas about how we can make our good school even better. 

School Public Speaking Finals

Every class has been using the past four weeks to prepare the students' skills and knowledge about public speaking. They have all written a prepared speech and understand the importance of the skills of public speaking.  Public Speaking can be an anxiety invoking situation, however our skilled staff are there to support every student in whatever way the child needs. It may be that the child needs to deliver their speech just to their teacher rather than to the whole class. It may be that your child has some difficulties with articulation, but again, our skilled staff are ever ready to pre-empt and support. 

Our school final will be held on Thursday 17th August in the school hall and rather than overwhelm the candidates, only those children who have been successful in gaining entry to the co petition will have their parents notified in the event they may like to attend. 

The Regional Public Speaking event is being hosted by Abermain on Tuesday 22nd August.

The Diocesan Public Speaking will take place at the Catholic Schools Office on Tuesday 29th August and parents will need to transport their child to and from the venue. 

Prac Teacher on 1W 

We welcome Mrs Heather Clack who is a university student completing her practicum with us at Holy Spirit Infants. Heather will be working on Year 1W class and has already spent some time meeting the class. We hope you enjoy your four weeks with us Heather. Thanks to Mrs Porter-Kay for being her mentor. 

Assistant Principal News

Positive Behaviour for Learning  

Our PBL focus for the next two weeks of the term has been from the domain “I am safe”: 

“I am in the right place at the right time.” 

This is an important rule for our students before and after school, while eating recess and lunch, at playtime and in the classroom. This rule means that we are properly supervised by teachers and able to listen to important information. Please support us in teaching this important rule by asking your children: 

• Where do you line up at the end of lunch and recess? 
• Where do you sit to eat your lunch and recess? 
• Where are the safe places to play on the playground? 
• Where do you sit in the classroom to learn and complete your work? 

Rebecca Kearns – Assistant Principal 

Sharing Our Faith

Snippets of Faith - The Trinity of God

Many of you would believe that we have one God, but did you know that our one God is made up of three parts? 

God is not just God the Father

God is not just God the Son - Jesus

God is not just the Holy Spirit

We still have one God but all of these are God. 

We acknowledge the trinity of God every time we make the sign of the cross and say "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...".

In our Kindergarten Religion Curriculum, each term they learn about one aspect of God. Term 1, the learnt about God the Father, Term 2, they learnt about God the Son - Jesus and this Term, Term 3, they are learning about God the Holy Spirit.

St. Mary of the Cross Mackillop Liturgy

On Tuesday 8th August, we held our Liturgy for Saint Mary of the Cross Mackillop’s Feast Day. It was a beautiful celebration where the students learnt about and reflected on the life of Mary Mackillop. Thank you to Year 1 White for leading us in this liturgy and for the amazing way our students participated. 

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Book Swap!

Thank you to all those who participated in our Book Swap this week. The students enjoyed coming into the hall to choose a new book to enjoy reading. The students thoroughly enjoyed being able to "swap" something old for soemthimng new to them and some classes went outside and enjoyed reading theit new book in the sunshine. Thank you to our parents and carers for supporting this initiative. 
As we mentioned before, we hope to create a book exchange out the front of our school as another way to encourage our students to recycle. When we have this set up, you will be able to bring in a book and swap it anytime! 

We think Mary MacKillop would think this is a great idea! 

Parish Mass Times

Saturday 12th August

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

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

Sunday 13th August

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 - St. Michael the Archangel, Wollombi

Saturday 19th August

9:00am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri

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

Sunday 20th August

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

Year 1 News

1 White

A warm welcome back to school, what an amazing term we have had already. In the four short weeks we have been back at school we have worked very hard and had so many extraordinary learning opportunities. We have been working very hard on writing and delivering short 1-minute speeches, the growth that the students have experienced is sensational.

We worked very hard to prepare our liturgy focusing on Saint Mary of the cross MacKillop, the church looked spectacular, and our paintings of Mary were a delightful touch. Congratulations Year 1 on your beautiful reading at the liturgy.

In mathematics we have finished our unit on ‘equivalence’ and balanced number sentences and have begun a ‘data’ unit focusing on collecting information (data) to include in a graph. In science we have been very busy making our own playdough,  highlighting our understanding of how materials can be manipulated and changed through, bending, twisting and stretching.

1 White we are so proud of you, keep working hard! 

Mrs Porter-Kay & Mrs Edwards

1 White

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1 Blue

In 1Blue, this term we have been practicing writing and presenting a speech for our School Public Speaking Competition. We focused on how to use eye contact, face the audience, use a loud and clear voice and stand still when presenting the speech. We composed sizzling starts to make how speeches more descriptive and exciting. Some topics we wrote about included the importance of team sports, our favourite games, our favourite pets, games, and kindness. Using palm cards, we organised our ideas and used them to present in front of the class.

We have learnt so much about public speaking! Good luck to all of our finalists.

In Maths we have been learning about equivalence and balance.   We have been using concrete materials to experiment with different items to create equal number combinations.  In Maths we have also been learning about 2D shapes. We used different 2D shapes to create squares and hexagons and show a line of symmetry. 

1 Blue and Miss Elias

My New Gallery

Attendance - Every day counts

School Attendance Rate - The number of full-time days your students have attended as a percentage of the total number of possible student-days.

School Attendance Level - The proportion of full-time students whose attendance rate is equal to or greater than 90%.

As we begin the new term, this is the ideal time to remind families and the community of the importance of school attendance.

Father's Day Celebrations

It's our turn to host our Father's Day breakfast and challenge events after Father's Day this year as Holy Spirit Primary Kurri will host their event before Father's Day. 

We will have a Father's Day Stall on Thursday 31st September. As always, we have a need for parent/grandparent helpers to wrap some gifts for the stall so if you are available at any time from Monday 21st - Friday 25th August, kindly contact the office as we would LOVE to have your assistance. 

If you can spare an hour or two on 31st August to help with the stall, again, please contact the office to leave your name. The gifts will be open for sale on the Qkr app next week. 

Our Father's  Day  Breakfast will be from 7:30 am on Monday morning 4th September. Again we will need some volunteer support to prepare/serve breakfast. We will have another challenge for our dads, step dads and grandads this year! A liturgy of the Word will follow in the church at 9:30am where we can come together to praise and thank God for our fathers and those like a father to us. 

Playgroup starting soon

Our Playgroups are about to take place where we will have an informal gathering for all our preschool friends coming to Holy Spirit Kinder in 2024. These Playgroups are an opportunity to get to know each other.   We look forward to seeing all our new students and their parents/carers then. 

Second Hand Uniforms

All our 2nd hand uniforms can now be purchased for a nomional donation from:

Kurri Kurri St Vincent de Paul Society Shop

127 Lang Street

Kurri Kurri NSW 2327

Phone: 4937 4940

If you have any uniforms you want to donate please drop them to the shop.

Going Green - 100% GreenPower

We're proud to announce that from July 2023 all of our Catholic Schools Office sites, including Holy Spirit Infants, Abermain, are powered by GreenPower – 100% clean renewable energy.

Run by the NSW Office of Energy and Climate Change, GreenPower is the only government accreditation program that guarantees electricity use is matched with power from renewable electricity sources.

The purchase of GreenPower guarantees the electricity is coming from renewable energy sources that meet strict environmental criteria. This ensures that the grid electricity we use has net-zero emissions.

The transition to GreenPower is just one of the actions Catholic Schools Maitland-Newcastle is undertaking as part of the Diocesan Sustainability Plan 2022-2025, to positively influence sustainability across our region. Another is to reduce electricity consumption across schools. New LED lighting is progressively being installed in all schools and at one primary school alone, there has been a 26% reduction in electricity.

With 58 schools, the impact of the lighting project is quite significant and combined with the installation of PV solar across all Catholic Diocese schools, further efficiencies will be gained. Reducing our demand on the grid is good for the environment but helps students too, with potential reduced operating cost savings being channelled to additional programs.

Road Safety

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Cost? FREE - Snap Send Solve is the free app that simplifies the reporting of community issues across Australia and New Zealand.

We’ve made reporting quick and easy which means when you see an issue while you’re out, you can let the responsible authority know with only a few taps. Become a community legend and download Snap Send Solve today. Simply download the app from the App store or google play store 

Crash lab reveals importance of installing car seats correctly

They're our most precious and most vulnerable cargo and if our children aren't strapped into their car seats correctly, their lives are at serious risk.

Car accidents are the leading cause of death for kids aged 1-14, prompting experts to use the lead up to Road Safety Week to remind parents to get car seats checked.

It can be a complicated and stressful task for new parents, so it is recommended they get their installation checked by a trained eye at every milestone.

Which car restraint is best for my child? 

Awards: Congratulations to.....

Canteen News

Would you like to help out in the canteen?   If you are already rostered for the canteen perhaps you might like to add a day or alter your availablity.    Please refer to the form attached. 

Muffins and buns are supplied by Thompson's and are delivered regularly to our school.   The muffins are put into the freezer as soon as they arrive.  The use by date is no longer applicable in this instance.   Our canteen is operational,at this stage, on Fridays so freezing the muffins, buns etc is essential for our supplies.

Thank you to Paige, Sharna and Tarsha for volunteering to organise and coordinate our canteen so that the children can continue to enjoy the experience of ordering their lunch and purchasing an iceblock from the canteen.

Dates for your Diary

St Nicholas OOSH Abermain

Community News