24th August 2023
Principal's News
We have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must
integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the
earth and the cry of the poor.
Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ n49
Dear Families
The Season of Creation is the annual Christian celebration to pray
and respond together to the cry of Creation: the ecumenical family
around the world unites to listen and care for our common home, the
Oikos of God.
The Season “Celebration” begins 1 September, the Day of Prayer for
Creation, and ends 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the
patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations
Each year, the Season of Creation Ecumenical Steering Committee proposes a theme for the Season of Creation. The theme for 2023 is “Let Justice and Peace Flow” and the symbol is “A Mighty River".
We are invited to join the river of justice and Peace through our prayers, our individual and collective actions. As a school community we will share with the students the importance of taking action to appreciate creation and to do all we can to look after the incredible world God made for us.
This video link gives an overview of the call from Pope Francis for each one of us to care for our earth.
Prophet Amos cries out “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5: 24) and so we are called to join the river of justice and peace, to take up climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most impacted by climate injustice and the loss of biodiversity. Our prayers, sermons and liturgies must call for justice not only for humans but for all creation. Justice, allied with peace, calls us to repent of our ecological sins and to change our attitudes and actions. Righteousness demands that we live in peace, not conflict with our human neighbours, and building right relationships with all of creation. ‘Peace’ (shalom) involves not only the absence of conflict but positive, live-giving relationships with God, ourselves, our human neighbours, and all creation.
Those Indigenous communities that recognize the sacredness of natural elements and so live as an embodiment of an interconnected way of life, expressing a partnership between people and the life of the Earth, have much to teach the rest of the world.
We are invited to join the river of justice and peace on behalf of all Creation and to converge our individual identities, of name, family or faith community, in this greater movement for justice, just like tributaries come together to form a mighty river. As the people of God, we must work together on behalf of all Creation, as part of that mighty river of peace and justice.
Through prayer, practical advocacy, and sustainable actions, this 2023 Season of Creation can renew our ecumenical unity and care for our common home. We invite you to join this special season and be part of this mighty movement for justice and peace. May we journey together in communion as the People of God to let justice and peace flow!
We will explore our school motto of Justice and Peace and its implications when viewed through the ecological lens. Students will participate in lessons that encourage them to experience an encounter with creation and to learn to value and care for God's creation. This work is another way in which we are continually teaching our students the importance of recycling and making good choices about sustainability.
We recently planted three mandarin trees in our playground with thanks to Mr Sharkey who generously donated the trees and prepared the garden beds. Each grade is responsible for the watering and care for their grade tree. As this will be a long term process, we hope our current kindergarten students will be able to enjoy the first mandarin fruit in two years time. The students had their gardening gear on and were keen to assist to plant their trees. We are very grateful to Mr Sharkey who is a long time volunteer and helper around our little school, for his kindness in supporting our wish to plant these fruit trees for future students to enjoy!
Mandarine Tree Planting with Mr Sharkey
P.E.G. Meeting Minutes
On Tuesday evening 22nd August we held our PEG meeting at Abermain in the school library. Our educational component focus was on "How do we teach phonics?" K-2 and "How do we teach reading?" Yr 3-6. Mr O'Heir, Principal at Holy Spirit Kurri; Mrs Angela Waters Assistant Principal at Kurri, Mrs Rebecca Kearns Assistnt Principal at Abermain and I facilitated the meeting. Our thanks to those parents who were in attendance and who by coming along are engaging in some great discussion with the executive team sof both schools. The link to the two video presentations by Mrs Kearns are below as is the handout from Mrs Waters.
The P.E.G is the forum for parents and staff to come together and we would truly love to be able to hear from more parents in this forum. Our next meeting will be in week 3 next term, Tuesday 24th October at Kurri School and we are excited to invite our Religious Education Coordinators from both schools to share with the group the new RE syllabus which is currently taught in Kinder and Year 1 and is being trialled at Kurri in Year 3. We hope to see you there.
Holy Spirit Infants Public Speaking Competition
On Thursday 17th August we held our School Public Speaking Competition in the hall and every class attended as the audience. Public Speaking skills such as creating eye contact with the audience; having a loud voice (as the competition does not allow the use of a microphone) and using gesture or facial expression, are all skills taught in classrooms in the lead up to the competition. Our 15 finalists from across the six classes did an excellent job as they shared with the audience their prepared speeches. My congratulations to every student for their amazing efforts today and to their teachers for their dedication and hard work to support the children to this level of Public Speaking. Thank you also to the parents and grandparents who came along to listen and support the speakers. We loved having you with us!
Our Early Stage 1 Finalists:
Congratulations to: Zoe, Carter, River, Kru and Riley! The topic they spoke about was: Food.
1st Place: Riley; 2nd Place: Zoe and 3rd Place: Carter We are so proud of all of you!
Our Stage 1 Finalists:
Congratulations to: Sophia, Annie, Amelie, Alexxis, Charlotte, Vinnie, Evie, Evelyn, Piper and Maxi-Rae
1st Place: Charlotte; 2nd Place: Sophia and 3rd Place: Evelyn. An incredible effort by each speaker! Wow!
As the winner of Stage 1 event, we congratulate Charlotte Chappel who will represent our school in the Lower Hunter Regional Public Speaking event. Congratulations to all! What a great school we have!
Lower Hunter Regional Public Speaking Competition
On Tuesday 22nd August our school was brimming with visitors as we welcomed the 30 finalists from across our region (which incorporates eleven catholic primary schools) to participate in the Lower Hunter Regional Public Speaking Competition for Primary Schools. Each of the visiting students was accompanied by their very proud parents and/or grandparents who came to eagerly encourage and support the students. They proudly wore their school uniform and were made to feel welcome by our friendly students and our amazing staff. Our school was proud to host the event. The calibre of the speakers this year was excellent, and all the students were able to participate so confidently and competently in the competition.
Providing our students with this opportunity to shine in what is essentially a cultural activity, is an opportunity every school will continue to support. Seeing the emotions of the students and their families yesterday, not to mention their proud principals, was priceless!
Our very own Charlotte was the only Year 1 student competing against Year 2 students in the Stage One grouping. Charlotte spoke from the heart on the topic of Gratefulness and made referenece to her parents and family as people she is so grateful for. We are so very proud of Charlotte and her confidence and competence to compete at this level when only in her second year of school. We congratulate Xanthie from Kurri as she was placed third in the Stage 2 competition. Every speech was different, interesting and engaging for the audience. Oue students were all able to be part of the audience for a series of speeches and we received so many positive and affirming comments about the respectful behaviour of our Holy Spirit Infants students who were a little bit in awe of some of the very tall Stage 3 students on stage.
The next level competition for Public Speaking is the Diocesan Competition on 7th September.
Office of Safeguarding School Audit
Last week our school was audited by the Office of Safeguarding as part of our cycle of compliance and school improvement. Staff compliance with the completion of mandatory training was checked as were several of our processes such as how we engage casual teachers and staff, how we process volunteers and contractors (including External Providers/Therapists who see students at school) and how we report and monitor Child Protection issues. The Safeguarding information in our Staff Handbook and Parent Handbook were checked for accuracy and staff and some students were invited to provide feedback around aspects of safeguarding. The students were asked questions about safety at school, boundaries within the playground, who they can go to talk to if they aren't feeling safe, stranger danger check ins and if they knew what our school rules are. We can hold our head high as we performed very well!
Father's Day Breakfast and Activities:
Further in this newsletter are details regarding our upcoming celebrations for Fathers Day where we celebrate our dad's, Stepdads, granddads and those who are like a dad to us. These community events are a great opportunity to come and catch up or meet new parents and we would love to see you there!
We are hosting a Fathers Day Gift Stall next week. The stall is an opportunity for a child to purchase a token gift of their choosing to give to Dad. Information is available on Qkr. We are hoping to have some parent helpers to prepare some of the gifts by wrapping ribbon on them early next week and for helpers to operate the stall on Thursday 31st August. Please contact Dot or Bonney in the office if you can spare an hour or two. Details in Dates for your Diary.
Wishing all our Dads a Happy Father's Day on Sunday 3rd September! You sure have great kids!
Student Led Conferences Feedback Survey
We have been running an online survey where we sought your feedback about our Student Led Conferences which were a new way of reporting by putting each child at the centre of the conference. Here is what you said:
As a staff we will review the data and the longer responses from parents together and this will help inform our processes moving forward. We thank you for taking the time to provide us with feedback. It was very encouraging!
A reminder to all our parents and carers that if you are concerned about your child's learning/behaviour/progress at school or you wish to check in/inform your child's teacher about something, this can happen at any time throughout the year by making an appointment to discuss things either on the phone or in person. We encourage regular contact with your child's teacher as they are more than willing to work together with you to support your child's learning.
Enjoy the coming week
Diane Murphy
Assistant Principal News
Positive Behaviour for Learning
Our PBL focus for the next two weeks of this term will be from the domain “I am responsible”:
“I am responsible in the toilets.”
The toilets can be a place where some students engage in undesirable behaviour. Due to the private nature of going to the toilet, students aren’t as closely supervised as they are in other parts of the school. We introduced this specific focus on responsible toilet behaviour this year. Students are given very clear and simple instructions on how they should behave in the toilets here at school.
- Only one person is in a cubicle at a time.
- We flush the toilet when we've finished.
- We use one pump of soap to wash our hands.
- We dry our hands.
- We play on the playground, not in the toilet.
- I use the toilet before school, lunch and recess. If I need to go to the toilet during class, I ask the teacher.
Following these very clear and simple rules will ensure our students are responsible and safe when using the toilets.
Rebecca Kearns – Assistant Principal
Sharing our Faith
The reason for the coins - Catholic Mission!
Each term we have a different focus for our fundraising. Term 3 we focus our fundraising efforts on Catholic Mission. Catholic Mission contributes funding and provides project support to critical church-run initiatives in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America as well as remote dioceses within Australia. Catholic Mission creates opportunities for people to be formed in mission, and respond through prayer, fundraising and action, inspiring them to reach out, and give life—within Australia and around the world. The focus country we will be supporting Catholic Mission with this term is Timor Leste.
During the term, students have been asked to bring in any loose change in the form of coins which will be collated in classes. So far Kinder White are in the lead and they are already on their second tub! So keep on bringing those coins in.
At the end of the term, we will have a Mission Day where we will bring our money raised together for a coin line. Each class will line their coins up and there will be prizes for the class with the longest line as well as the most valuable line. The students enjoyed participating in this last year and we look forward to some even longer lines this year!
We will continue our support for Catholic Mission into the beginning of Term 4 when we will have a ‘Socktober’ fundraiser.
Parish Mass Times
Saturday 26th August
9:00am Mass – St Joseph’s Cessnock
6:00pm Mass - St Joseph’s Cessnock
Sunday 27th August
8:30am Mass – Holy Spirit Kurri Kurri
10:30am Mass – St Joseph’s Cessnock
4:30pm Mass – St Francis Xavier’s Abermain
Saturday 2nd September
9:00am Mass – Holy Spirit Kurri Kurri
6:00pm Mass – St. Joseph’s Cessnock
Sunday 3rd September
8:30am Mass – Holy Spirit Kurri Kurri
10:30am Mass – St Joseph’s Cessnock
4:30pm Mass – St Francis Xavier’s Abermain
Fathers Day Celebrations
Available now on the QKR app is Father's Day gift vouchers. There is a limit of 1 voucher per student and there are some grandfather gift vouchers available for purchase as well. The vouchers are $5 each and the students will select their gifts from the stall which will be held on Thursday 31st August. Orders need to be placed by Tuesday 29th August at midnight.
Father' Day Breakfast (dad's eat free) will be held on Monday 4th September commencing at 7:30 am. Please order your breakfast via the QKR app for your bacon and egg roll with popper drink. Additional orders will cost $5 each and orders need to be in by Monday 28th August midnight. If it's only dad that is ordering (at no cost), you still need to put your order in on QKR so we know how much to cater for. We do need volunteers to assist us with our Father's Day celebrations. Contact Dot or Bonney in the office.
Both items can be found under the "Events" tab on QKR.
Office News
SCHOOL FEES
Fee statements are sent out monthly to all fee payers. Thank you to those families who have paid their fees for 2023. Please note that all excursions and incursions are included in your school fee account.
If paying by instalments, your payments need to be finalised by 30 November 2023. 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 have set up a periodic payment arrangement, 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 the principal as soon as possible please.
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.
COMPASS ACCESS
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.
ATTENDANCE REMINDER
Library News
Last week, Tuesday 15th August, Sandra Ryan from Cessnock City Library visited our school and explored some of the shortlisted books in a fun and engaging way. Students were picked to help perform a short scene based on the story ‘Frank’s Red Hat’ by Sean E Avery. This wonderful story covers themes about risk taking, difference and perseverance.
Holy Spirit’s Book Parade
Every year the CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) select the best 6 books for different age groups. This year’s theme is ‘Read, Grow, Inspire’. The books chosen promote quality literature for young Australians, support and encourage a wide range of Australian writers and illustrators of books and celebrate the contributions to Australian children’s literature.
To celebrate these wonderful stories, we will be having visiting performers and of course the much-anticipated Book Parade.
On Monday 4th September, the students will once again be entertained by a short performance from Meerkat Productions in school. They will be delighting us with this year’s CBCA Shortlisted picture book ‘Frank’s Red Hat’. Students will be asked to bring their favourite beanie or hat to the show to show their support.
To end the celebration of books, on Wednesday 13th September, we will have our fabulous Book Parade and Book Fair. Students will be asked to dress up as either their favourite book character or as someone that inspires them to be their best.
On this day books from Scholastic will be available to be purchased from the library. This is a great fund-raising opportunity for the library to expand our collection and make sure students have a varied selection of books to fulfill their interests.
Due to having our Book Fair next month we will not be doing issue 6 of Book Club.
Happy Reading,
Miss Covita, Teacher Librarian
Canteen News
We have a new product available - Nacho Dippers. They are gluten free, served heated and are $3.75. Available now on the QKR app.
Canteen Burger Meal Deal will be served on Friday 15th September. Make sure you get your order in via the QKR app by 7th September. No other canteen items will be available for sale on Meal Deal day. The cost of the meal deal is $7.
Awards: Congratulations to...
Dates for your Diary
Community News
Unless otherwise stated, the advertisements placed in this newsletter are placed by independent third parties who have no legal relationship with the Diocese. The activities or services of the advertisers are not supervised or controlled in any way by the Diocese. The Diocese is not in a position to endorse the advertisers or the services provided and makes no representation about those matters. Accordingly, the Diocese cannot accept any responsibility for the advertisers or the activities or services that are the subject of these advertisements.
Cessnock Basketball’s Summer Comp – Nominations are now open!
Please click here for info:
https://www.cessnockbasketball.com.au/summer-comp/
Now with Mixed Comps and All Girls Competitions
Primary School, High School and Adult competitions
Classes for Preschool Children through to High School
You can nominate as a whole team (7 players recommended)
Or You can nominate as an individual or with friends.
Please contact Daniel 0405 023 123 for more info:
Competitions@cessnockbasketball.com.au
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.