21st September 2023
Principal News
END OF TERM PRAYER
We thank you Lord, for this term.
For the challenges, the successes, and the mistakes from which we have learnt.
Be with us as we spend our time with family and friends.
Give us strength and courage to do what is right; to be witnesses of our faith.
Help us to be a practical Christian these holidays, to appreciate what others do for us,
to give time and effort to help others, to be peacemakers in our family.
Keep us safe in our activities; give us good rest and good fun.
Bring us back refreshed and ready for a new term.
We thank you for our classmates, teachers, parents and for our community that cares for us.
May we always be conscious of you in our lives. Amen
Dear Families
It is a valuable life practice to take time to stop and reflect and as teachers this is a practice that is deep within our being. As we look back on what has been a very busy term, there is so much to celebrate as our students show growth and achievement in so many areas of their learning and in their social and emotional development. As the only Infants School in the diocese we are indeed unique and proudly so. Our focus is early learning and we are committed to continual improvement of our teaching pedagogy. This year our particular focus is the teaching of Mathematics as articulated in our School Improvement Plan as well as our focus on Student and Staff Wellbeing and on the Faith formation of our staff, who are educating and supporting all our students on their journey of encountering our catholic faith.
In professional conversations our staff are proud to share the small successes with one another eg when a student improves in their reading; when writing samples reflect the growth in the students' understanding; when students who are learning at a different rate or in a different way are successful and proud of themselves. These are the joyful conversations we share each day. These are the conversations that affirm teachers in their roles. In our Case Management meetings, our teachers also discuss their concerns about particular students who may not have progressed as well as anticipated. These collaborative discussions are about our teachers sharing their collective wisdom and skills with each other and the teachers then agree to trial a new idea/strategy with a particular student and they report back to the following meeting about how that went. Then this process is repeated.
Our teachers have made phone calls to every family to share some of these "good news" stories with you over the past weeks. A reminder that if you have questions about your child's learning or any concerns, please reach out to your child's teacher to either make an appointment to come in for a conversation or to request a phone call. Our teachers are happy to do this - it's what we do as your partner in educating your child.
Our recent Staff Professional Development Days:
On Friday 8th September our staff participated in a professional development day centered around Wellbeing. Our facilitator was Mrs Renee Tryzynski (Education Officer for Wellbeing) and we spent time reflecting on what strategies/programs/processes we use in our school to support student wellbeing. We unpacked the Diocesan Student Wellbeing Framework (see below) which focuses implicitly on the student voice. The exercise where we brian stormed in groups all the things we have happening in our school to support student wellbeing, was a very affirming exercise. Renee congratulated our school on the great work we are doing in this space and for leading the way! The key element of the Wellbeing Framework is the importance of Student Voice. This aligns with our decision as a school to begin using Student Led Conferences as a way to foster confidence in our students, even at this young age, so they can grow and develop into assessment competent learners. The next section of our day was focused on Staff Wellbeing and we used a tool to begin to evaluate our own and collective staff wellbeing for as teachers and support staff working in such a dynamic environment with constant demands placed on us and the shared belief we have that every child can and will learn given the right time and support. The day was very interactive and tailored for our staff. It was very valuable. Renee will continue to support our staff and students in this Wellbeing space.
On Monday 11th September, our second Pupil free day, our staff travelled to the Hunter Valley with many of our colleagues from across the diocese to join with them to attend a Faith Formation Day titled:
Rediscovering Joy: Finding Wonder and Joy In The Word of God. Our Facilitator was Dr Michele Connolly, Associate Professor of Biblical Studies within the Catholic Institute of Sydney and University of Notre Dame Australia. The focus of the day was to examine how rich and life-giving Scripture can be, revealing a God whose story intends to renew our lives and calls us to actively engage with the world.
The day extended staff’s knowledge of sacred Scripture and placed importance on biblical scholarship. It explored and examined how Scripture invites us to enter into a personal relationship with God and how the bible is a means of God’s self-revelation to us. The learning on this day was deeply personal and staff engaged fully with the scripture passages Dr Michele shared with us. The various methods for breaking open the Word of God provided some great ideas which teachers can bring back to try in their Religion lessons.
Both these days align to our 2023 School Improvement Plan as targeted professional learning for our staff. Everything we do is planned to support our staff to be able to assist every child to learn and show growth and achievement.
We have had an amazing term of learning and growing together and we look forward to term 4 after the upcoming two week break.
Thank you for your ongoing support of our school! We are very blessed!
Warm Regards
Diane Murphy
Principal
School TV is coming
Raising confident and happy children in a modern world can be hard work! Often one of the biggest challenges can be sourcing relevant and reliable information that you can draw on to support their wellbeing.
As such, Holy Spirit Infants is excited to announce that we will shortly add an award-winning resource to our school website. The resource, SchoolTV, includes evidenced-based information and practical strategies to build parent, carer and educator knowledge and confidence across a range of mental health and wellbeing topics.
The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is supporting all our catholic Schools to add SchoolTV to our website in response to feedback received from parents and carers who said they are seeking greater support in understanding the challenges their children are experiencing, as well as practical strategies for ways they can assist them.
SchoolTV features interviews with leading wellbeing experts and researchers from around the world, on topics including:
Mental Health (encompassing grief and loss, suicide and self-harm, drug and alcohol use, anxiety, trauma and depression).
Healthy Bodies (including mindfulness, body image, sleep, eating disorders, diet and nutrition, physical activity and exercise).
Cyber Safety (encompassing cyberbullying, digital reputation, internet addiction, online gambling, sexting and managing screen time).
Positive Parenting (including friendship and belonging, blended families, resilience, positive parenting and understanding adolescence).
School Survival (encompassing school refusal, school transitions and exam jitters).
Diversity and Inclusion (including multiculturalism, neurodiversity, respectful relationships, gender diversity and supporting disabled youth).
These topics are presented in a variety of ways including videos, factsheets, podcasts and SchoolTV also includes recommendations for additional resources including books, apps and other websites.
While we will continue to host parent and carer information events as a school, one of the many benefits of SchoolTV is that you can watch it pre-emptively or as the need arises, from the convenience of your own home, either by yourself or, as a family.
From time to time, we may also promote key topics contained in SchoolTV for families either through Compass or our newsletter, when they coincide with student learning and/or matters arising in our school community.
This is a very exciting partnership for parents and staff in our schools. We cannot wait to launch it!
Assistant Principal News
Positive Behaviour for Learning
Our first PBL focus for Term 4 will be from the domain “I am responsible”:
“I care for my belongings”
When we are at school, we need to remember to look after the things that belong to us: our jumper/jacket, hat, drink bottle and lunch box by placing them back in our bags when they are not in use.
Why do we look after our belongings?
- If we leave our things lying around, they could be a safety hazard for other people;
- When we put things where they belong, they are easier to find the next time; and
- From a financial perspective, it’s quite costly for parents and carers to replace these lost items.
We ask parents and carers to check the labels on your child's jumper/jacket, hat, drink bottle, lunch box and crunch and sip containers. Sometimes an item has been inherited from a cousin or family friend or the label has worn off. Please re-label these items if necessary as it makes it easier for teachers to return lost items.
Rebecca Kearns – Assistant Principal
Sharing our Faith
Catholic Mission - Coin Line
A big thank you to our school community for participating in our Catholic Mission fundraiser to support the people of Timor-Leste. As a school we raised a total of $680.05!
Our winners of the longest line AND the most valuable line were Kindergarten White who will be celebrating their achievements with an out of uniform day and pizza party on Thursday this week. Well done KW!
Catholic Mission - Socktober
In October, we will be celebrating Catholic Mission month and their annual Socktober event. Our school leaders will have the opportunity to travel to McDonald Jones Satudium in Newcastle and celebrate the occassion with schools from across our Diocese on the 10th October.
At a Diocesan level, there are some raffles that we can participate in and win prizes. These raffles are open to all families across the many schools in our Diocese.
Adults Raffle
Firstly, the adults raffle (flyer below), has prizes such as a coporate box at a Jets game (including food and beverage) as well as a dinner for 2 at Rustica in Newcastle up for grabs! The QR code takes you directly to the Maitland-Newcastle Socktober fundraising page. Each $10 sponsorship receives one ticket in the raffle.
Students Raffle
Secondly, we will have a raffle for the students across the Diocese (flyer below). This will be done via cash at school.
Prizes include a signed Jets Jersey and a Socktober Soccer Ball. Students who would like to buy a ticket need to bring in 50c for 1 ticket or $1 for 3 tickets. This will also be drawn at the event on the 10th October and prizes that are won will be brought back to school for students.
Parish Mass Times
Saturday 23rd September
9:00am Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
6:00pm Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
Sunday 24th September
8:30am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
10:30am Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
4:30pm Mass - St. Francis Xavier's, Abermain
Saturday 30th September
9:00am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
6:00pm Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
Sunday 1st October
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
Bush Dance Family Evening 20th October
It's time to grab your bush dance outfit, drag on those boots and cowboy hats ready for our school's Bush Dance Family Evening in the school grounds.
Please keep Friday 20th October free! We plan to start 5pm - 7.30pm.
All our families are invited to attend a School Bush Dance outdoors. Each grade will present two bush dances that they have been learning with Mrs Edwards across term 3 and we hope to make it a social event for our families. We hope every child will attend as they are needed to dance with their partners.
We plan to kick off with a sausage sizzle/drink combo for students and families which can be pre-ordered on Qkr at the start of term 4. Other families may like to bring their own picnic tea and a picnic blanket to share together before the dancing begins.
We are waiting confirmation about a Bush Band otherwise we will use Bushwackers Band recordings which talk us through the steps for each dance.
We hope you can come along and join in the fun!
Kindergarten Excursion
Last Thursday, our Kindergarten classes went on their first excursion! They travelled by bus to the Hunter Valley Wildlife Park at Nulkaba which for some was their first ever bus trip which made it exciting.
When we arrived we got to meet and hold a Shingleback Lizard - we were so brave! We even got a photo that we got to take home of this.
We got to explore the park and see so many different animals such as Giraffes, Lions, Zebras, Meerkats and goats. The Zoo Keepers told us information about some of the animals and we watched them get fed too. After this, we got to feed the baby goats and deers, as well as feed some kangaroos. One kangaroo had a white joey in her pouch.
Thank you to our students for representing the school so well on the day. Our thanks to Miss L, Miss Pryor, Mrs Focic, Miss Reid, Mrs Fredsall and Ms Murphy for accompanying us. It was a wonderful first excursion!
EALD Students visit the Hunter Valley Wildlife ParkLast Thursday our amazing EALD students were lucky enough to accompany Kindergarten on their excursion to Hunter Valley Wildlife Park. This was a chance for our students to observe and learn about a wide variety of animals from all over the world. With the guidance of the knowledgeable zookeepers and teachers, the students engaged in discussions about animals' habitats, behaviours and adaptations. The students were encouraged to ask questions and interact with the zookeeper, fostering language development in an immersive environment.
We were blessed with a lovely warm day, and all activities were approached with considerable enthusiasm.
EALD student snapshot of their favourite part of the day!"I liked feeding the goats and the sheep" - Athen Paul (Year 2) "I liked it when we saw the Koalas, Kangaroos and Cheetahs". - Kayla Daoud (Year 2)"I liked it when we got to feed the goats and hold the Shingleback Lizard" - Anna Joseph (Year 2)"I liked how we got to collect all of the animal stamps" - Vivian Nguyen (Year 1)"I love the big fat green bird sitting down in the tree" - An Su (Kinder)"I liked the Spider Monkeys the best because they were funny" - Lawrence Daoud (Kinder)"My favourite things were the Monkeys and the Kangaroos; I also liked it when I got my photo taken with the lizard" - Theanna Kiyega (Kinder)"I liked it when the lion jumped up against the fence" - Caleb Hernandez (Kinder)
Nikki Fredsall (EALD Teacher)
Library News
A very big thank you to all our school community for your incredible support of Book Week 2023. The day was blessed with spring sunshine and certainly added warmth and light to the READ, GROW, INSPIRE theme. Many thanks to the parents and carers who helped create and dress their children in outstanding and quite inspirational costumes. This certainly added to the vibrancy and colour of our Book Parade. Thank you to all our staff, our teachers and support staff for dressing up and adding lots of fun to the day with their Little Miss/ Mr Men costumes and the Dr Seuss inspired Fish costumes.
The Scholastic Book Fair was a tremendous success again and I thank you for supporting this fundraiser for our library. We raised over $1000 in sale commissions, and I look forward to buying more resources to expand our collection.
I wish to extend my gratitude to those families that donated funds towards the Book Fair so that other students whose parents/carers could not attend on the day, were able to take a book home and did not miss out.
Lastly, congratulations to our raffle winners. May they continue to grow and be inspired through the art of reading.
Many thanks,
Evelyn Covita
Teacher Librarian
Fruit and Veg Week
This week we have been celebrating Fruit and Veg week and have been enjoying all the activities we got up to. On Monday students were able to try lots of different fruits; with some classes even getting to try dragon fruit and blood oranges. Thank you to all our families for sending in some interesting fruits for everyone to enjoy!
Tuesday saw us experimenting with how to preserve fruits best. Wednesday saw students sharing some recipes with their classes and today we got to try some new veggies! It was so much fun! Tomorrow to finish off the day we will be doing some Fruit & Veg artwork.
I hope that through the week students may have found a new fruit or veggie that they didn't know they liked and that they want to eat these healthy foods more often!
Award Winners- We are proud of You!
Canteen News
Our last canteen day for the term will be tomorrow. Thank you to our co-ordinators and volunteers for a wonderful term. The families have all appreciated the efforts of our volunteers to keep our canteen open and operating. It is a wonderful service. Last Friday's Burger Meal Deal was a terrific success! Thank you to our cooks and volunteers. Canteen will resume on Friday 13th October.
St Nic's Abermain Vacation Care
We wanted to remind families that St Nicholas OOSH Spring Vacation programs are available now online for the upcoming holiday period.
The program is packed with some great excursions and incursions across the holidays including a Carnival Days, Space Day and an adventure to the Australian Reptile Park.
Click on the website link to book your child’s place today https://stnicholasoosh.org.au/vacation-care.
Dates for your Diary
Community News
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