19th October 2023
Principal News
Peace Prayer - St Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen
PLEASE PRAY FOR PEACE
Dear Families,
Bishop Michael Kennedy has asked us to pray for Peace and Justice as a prayer response to the escalation of war and conflict across the world. As a staff we gathered and prayed the Prayer for Peace given to us by St Francis of Assisi.
We encourage parents to be ever mindful of the images that stream into your home via the television or via You Tube on ipads and devices, as these images of war are extremely disturbing for young children. They are harrowing for adults to see. Perhaps your family may like to light a candle for the innocent people of Gaza and Israel caught up in this escalating situation and pray together a prayer for peace.
If your child is worried or anxious about world events, it is likely it is because they do not understand and feel frightened things may happen to them too. It is important to "tune in" to how your child is feeling and to encourage them to share those feelings with you, their parent. Every child will react to the news in their own way, so think about what would be most helpful to them. Take time to highlight the people who are supporting those in need. This can help give your child a hopeful and positive message. Try pointing out acts of kindness on TV. It could be things that individual people have done, or how different organisations are helping. This can help to reassure your child.
If your child wants to do something to help, explore some ideas with them. Keep things simple and achievable and include prayer as a way to ask God for help. Where possible, keep your family routines the same as they usually are. Routine is a way for children to be able to predict what’s coming next. It can help to give them a feeling of safety and security. When they seem comfortable to move onto something else, let the subject go. Try to do something nice afterwards to help them manage their feelings and move on. I do hope these ideas may be helpful and I do encourage you to pray together for peace.
Kinder Transition Visits
We have warmly welcomed many of our new Kindergarten students and their families to Holy Spirit over the past two weeks. The children have eagerly spent a morning in the playground exploring all the different activities and equipment we have to offer and this week they played inside the Kinder classrooms and explored the special Kinder play space. Every child left with a big smile, a hand made puppet and a promise to come back next week! We are delighted with how well they are becoming familiar with their new school. We have two more transition visits - next Tuesday 24th October and then Tuesday 7th November.
Celebrating Children's Week
Next week from 21st October to 28th October is Children's Week. The theme for 2023 is :
Children have the right to relax, play and to join in a wide range of leisure activities.
This theme is based on article #31 from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It highlights that all children and young people can participate in and make a valuable contribution to their society. We encourage all families to embrace Children's Week at your place. We have some simple activities planned across the week.
https://www.nswchildrensweek.org.au/ideas-for-adults
Family Bush Dance Fun Event
We are excited about our family fun evening as we gather for our Bush Dance in the school grounds on Friday evening. Every class has prepared two Bush Dances that they have learnt in their dance lessons across term 3 and we are eager to share them with you. Dressing up in your cowboy/cowgirl hats and boots is an option, but if you cant find anything - just come along! We have a fun night planned with The Bushwackers Band playing their fabulous music and calling the dance steps for us. We hope to see parents and siblings joining in and having fun!
We've had a wonderful response to our BBQ and orders are now closed - so bring along a picnic tea and a rug to sit on the grass. We will eat from 5-5.45pm and we hope the dances will begin at 5.45pm as the children showcase what they have learnt. This is meant to be a family social evening, a reminder we cannot have smoking, vaping or alcohol consumed on our school grounds. We are a small school and our staff are working hard to host the event - if anyone can assist with the BBQ or serving drinks in the canteen for a while that night, please contact the school. We would really appreciate any assistance. See you there!
Thank you to Kurri Pet and Produce for their generousity in supplying hay bales for the event. Please support them if you can. They are located at 9/63 Northcote St, Kurri Kurri NSW 2327 PH 4937 1692
Attendance
Last Friday we had a lot of students being collected early and who left school part way through the day's lessons. I am not meaning those students who had to go home due to illness but those who left without a valid reason. This is a reminder that taking children out of school early is an issue as your child is then not present for the learning that is taking place. Our curriculum is very crowded and teachers plan for every minute of the day. Please ensure your child attends school for the full school day - this is a legal requirement.
When we have events at school, such as the upcoming Grandparents Day, children need to remain at school after the morning tea. This is not a day when they can leave early. Spending time with grandparents is very special, but it shouldn't happen in place of learning at school.
Lessons will resume at 11.40am for every class.
We can build resilience in the children by ensuring they know that after an event, the visitors leave and continue their day just as the children go back to class, and finish their day of learning.
Your support for this request for children to remain at school is appreciated.
PEG Meeting renamed
Our Parent Engagement Meeting has a new name. Its now called FACE - Family and Community Engagement. It is next Tuesday evening, 24th October at 6pm at Holy Spirit Infants Abermain. You are all warmly welcome to come along. The educative component for this meeting is about the new RE syllabus which have been written and implemented in our schools. The new syllabus uses a "Pedagogy of Encounter" and both our Kinder and Year 1 classes are engaging with these new syllabus documents and Jessica Laczkowski will talk about that. Then Phoebe Spencer the REC at Kurri will talk about the Year 3 RE syllabus that they have trialled this year. The REC's may also share some insights from their recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land and to World Youth Day in Lisbon if time permits. We hope you can join us. If Tuesday evenings are not suitable, please email/call the office and make a suggestion for a time that may suit you better.
School Fees
Our sincere thank you to all our families who have either paid their fees in full for the year or who are following a payment plan to reduce the fees. Honouring your fee commitments enables us to provide all that we do for the students in our school. A reminder that if you are in need of support or are experiencing difficulties, please reach out to me and we can have a confidential discussion about payments and create an agreement.
World Teacher's Day 27th October
This special day is a chance to recognise and celebrate the teachers who are making, or have made, an impact in our lives. We are truly blessed to have the staff we have at our beautiful school. Their love, compassion, creativity, dedication and commitment to being the best teachers that they can be for your children make them an incredible team! Wishing each of our teachers a very Happy Teacher's Day! Please remind your children to say Thank you to their teacher.
Go gently everyone,
Diane Murphy
Principal
Assistant Principal News
Our PBL focus for Week 3 and 4 this term is from the domain “I am safe”:
“I am Sun Smart!”
With the weather warming up it is more important now to be Sun Smart. The Cancer Council of NSW states that “Babies and children are at particular risk of sunburn and skin damage because of their delicate skin. Exposure to UV radiation during the first 15 years of life greatly increases the risk of developing skin cancer later in life.”
At Holy Spirit Infants School, we encourage our students to be Sun Smart by wearing their hats when outside. If a student does not have a hat they must play in the shade under the COLA. On particularly hot days, students are reminded to drink more water and given the option of playing inside a specified classroom or in the shade.
Rebecca Kearns – Assistant Principal
Sharing Our Faith
Catholic Mission Update
On Tuesday 10th October, our school leaders travelled to McDonald Jones Stadium to participate in a special Soctober event for Catholic Mission. During Term 3 and the first week of Term 4 as a school we have been supporting Catholic Mission and their work in Timor-Leste through our coin line, Diocesan raffle and crazy sock day.
We are so proud of how generous our students have been, thinking about how to give back to those who are less fortunate than us. We have made a tremendous effort to "Sock it" to Poverty this year.
An update on our fundraising efforts:
Coin Line - $680.05
Raffle - $79.00
Crazy Socks - $181.25
TOTAL = $940.30!!!
So that means we have raised enough money to help those in Timor-Leste get a nurse for the children, to have healthy meals for them and for life saving medication. Well done Holy Spirit!
Check out the photos from the day and at school where our students wore their crazy socks!
Parish Mass
On Friday 20th October, our Year 2 students attended parish mass in the morning at St. Francis Xavier’s Abermain. It was a great opportunity for them to experience mass together with the parish community and gain a deeper understanding of the mass.
Grandparents Day
On Friday 27th October we will be celebrating our Grandparents and Grandfriends for Grandparents Day which is celebrated on Sunday 29th October. We will have a liturgy in the Church at 10:00am followed by morning tea with scones and tea/coffee.
Normal class lessons will resume at 11.40am so we ask that students remain at school for the rest of the day.
An invitation went out on Compass this week to RSVP for catering purposes. Please complete this by Monday 23rd October. We look forward to celebrating with you all!
St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal
During Term 4 we focus our fundraising on St. Vincent de Paul and their Christmas appeal. We are supporting families who are struggling in the cost of living crisis to have some joy this Chrismas season through donating items for Christmas hampers. These hampers will include non-perishable food items that will allow these families to experience a Christmas meal that they wouldn't have otherwise.
Over the term, each grade is asked to bring in different items outlined below which we will then donate to the Cessnock Vinnies Conference in December.
Thank you for your support!
Parish Mass Times
Saturday 21st October
9:00am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
6:00pm Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
Sunday 22nd October
8:30am Mass - Holy Spirit, Kurri Kurri
10:30am Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
4:30pm Mass - St. Francis Xavier's, Abermain
Saturday 28th October
9:00am Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
6:00pm Mass - St. Joseph's, Cessnock
Sunday 29th October
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
Pedagogical Mentor News
This term our teachers are continuing to engage in professional learning to strengthen the teaching and learning of Mathematics in our school. Our specific goal is to enhance our students’ knowledge and skills in place value.
What is Place Value?
In mathematics, every digit in a number has a place value. Place value can be defined as the value represented by a digit in a number based on its position in the number.
For example, the place value of 7 in 3 743 is 7 hundred or 700. However, the place value of 7 in 7 432 is 7 thousand or 7 000. Here, we can see that even though the digits are the same in both numbers, their place value changes with the change in its position.
Why is place value important?
Place value is the foundation for many other number concepts for example addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions.
Our teachers use base 10 blocks, counters, cubes, place value charts, counting games and problem-solving questions to support the learning of this important concept.
Rebecca Kearns – Pedagogical Mentor
Gifted Education Mentor Report
My role as the Gifted Education Mentor is to assist teaching staff at Holy Spirit Infants to identify students as gifted or talented. The identification process is done via teacher checklists, data analysis or completed reports and diagnostic assessments from external providers.
Part of my role is working with students from kindergarten. On Thursdays I meet with students, and we read predicable texts thus extending their vocabulary, and comprehension skills. In Year 1, I meet with students to complete activities from chapter books, these activities focus on inferential comprehension skills. This simply means that we read between the lines, thinking about why a character may act or make certain decisions. For maths I work with both Year 1 and Year 2 students to strengthen and extend their understanding of place value. Week 10 last term we worked with money, completing rigorous open-end tasks that created some anxious moments. After the initial ‘How can I do that?’, students settled in and enjoyed the challenge of making amounts of money with different denominations.
Heather Porter-Kay, GEM
Office News
Hats and Library Bags
Hats and library bags are always available for purchase at the office. Hats are $14 and library bags are $12. You can also purchase these items on the QKR app.
School Fees
Prompt payment of school fees is expected and appreciated. Fees for 2023 are to be finalised by 30th November, 2023. BPAY is the preferred method of payment. If you are having difficulty meeting your school fee commitment, please contact the office so that payment options can be discussed.
Updating your Information
If you have changed your details, address, phone etc please advise us admin@abermain.catholic.edu.au so that we can update your information on Compass.
School Opal Card Information
2024 school travel applications are now open
Library News
Book Club
Issue 7 of book club will close on Thursday 26th October. All orders must be placed online ONLY through Scholastic LOOP.
Canteen News
Canteen is now open for iceblock sales on Wednesdays at lunch time for the remainder of Term 4.
Canteen will be closed on Friday 27th October, due to Grandparents Day.
Canteen Meal Deal (Pizza) - available soon on QKR - cost is $7 and will be served on Friday 17th November the same day as our Colour Fun Run. No other canteen items will be available on that day. Thank you to our volunteers who give generously of their time to provide this service for the children.
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.
