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- Principal's Message - Paul O'Heir
- Assistant Principal- Angela Waters
- Religious Education - Phoebe Spencer
- Class Awards - Term 1 Week 4
- PBL Awards T1 Week 4
- Change of Address and Contact Details Form
- Year 3 2025 enrolments
- Year 7 enrolments 2025 All Saint's College St Peter's Campus
- Canteen Volunteers Needed - Copy
- School Fee Accounts - Copy
- Easter Raffle 2024
- Calendar Dates
Principal's Message - Paul O'Heir
Dear Families
As we move into Week 7 life at Holy Spirit Primary is very settled and calm thanks to Year 6 who are having a significant impact on the tone of the school. Year 6 are wonderful role models and are demonstrating the importance of co-operation and responsibility to the other students. Thankyou Year 6 for your leadership.
During this term we have had a number of visitors and casual teachers to the school who have made comment about the courtesy and friendliness of students. The common remark was that the school is very welcoming and students are so polite. It makes me very proud to receive this feedback and that our school is recognised in such a positive way.
Welcome Mrs Gibbs and Ms Hughes
I am pleased to welcome Mrs Gibbs as our Teacher Librarian. Mrs Gibbs is an experienced TL and has been working in our diocese for over 20 years. We would also like to welcome Ms Annabelle Hughes who will be Miss Spencer's REC Release teacher. We wish both teachers a long and happy association with our school community.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN (Years 3&5) will be held from Wednesday 13 March to Friday 22 March. A timetable will be devised so that students will complete NAPALN during this period. Tests will cover Literacy (Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar/Punctuation) and Numeracy. NAPLAN is one aspect of our school assessment and reporting process and provides teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.
PEG (Parent Engagement Group)
The next PEG meeting will be held on Tuesday 12 March 6.00 pm at Holy Spirit Infants Abermain. The educative component will be regarding the new Maths syllabus and school goals. Please confirm your attendance by Monday 11th March 2024 by NO LATER than 3.00 pm. Please call the school on 49372165 to advise attendance.
Playground Safety
We take the safety of students whilst playing very seriously and we remind students regularly to be aware of how they are playing and to consider others in their games. Please assist us and remind your child to play safely especially, when on the fixed equipment (monkey bars) and while playing touch football. Games at school are for FUN!
School Attendance
Maintaining consistent school attendance has been shown to contribute to student success. Thank you for ensuring your child arrives on time for school and is well prepared for the day. Regular attendance habits are critical for now and in the future. Please continue to ensure your child maintains a regular attendance pattern. First Bell is 8.55 am -Dismissal Bell is 3.05 pm.
Peace and Best Wishes
Mr. Paul O'Heir
Principal
Assistant Principal- Angela Waters
NAPLAN
Students in Years 3 & 5 will participate in NAPLAN in Weeks 7 & 8 (13th-22nd March). The school is beginning preparations in order to effectively administer the assessments. This involves technical elements around devices and internet access, installing the lock down browser and ensuring all students have access to a device. NAPLAN utilises a specialised browser that ensures students cannot access other platforms during the assessment ie google. These are installed at school and have no impact on devices outside of NAPLAN.
Part of this preparation also includes preparing the children for completing an online assessment. For our Year 3 students, this will be a new experience. For our Year 5 students, this will be their first time participating in the Writing assessment online. Our Year 3 and 5 teachers are giving the students lots of opportunities to become more familiar with the layout and tools used in the online assessments. If you would like to give your child more exposure to the online platform, below is a link to some practice tests that your child might like to complete at home. After accessing the link, scroll down and click on the appropriate school year for your child.
I have also included links to some documents that give further information about the purpose, benefits and structure of the NAPLAN assessments. Please remember that NAPLAN is a snapshot of your child’s educational growth.
Since 2019 Education Ministers have been considering a range of changes to NAPLAN. These changes include bringing forward the testing. As of 2023, tests are now undertaken in March instead of May.
Now that the tests are undertaken fully online, reporting can be done earlier in the year with parents and schools scheduled to receive individualised reports in July 2024. Benchmarks will be more meaningful and clearer to reflect the personalised online tests that students undertake. They will be set against a challenging but reasonable standard of literacy and numeracy expected for the child at the time of testing.
Education ministers agreed in 2019 to set proficiency standards for numeracy and literacy assessed by NAPLAN.
These new standards will give teachers and parents better information about what a student can do. The names of the new standards are based on advice from ACARA’s First Nations Australians Advisory Group and parent bodies. They are Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs additional support. These will be accompanied by detailed descriptions that are useful for teachers and families. The descriptions will be developed by a panel of teachers. They will simplify reporting, replacing the current 10 NAPLAN bands and national minimum standard, allowing parents and carers to know at-a-glance whether their child is where they need to be in literacy and numeracy, which are skills that underpin all other learning.
These will provide parents and schools with easy-to-read information about what they mean for a student’s strength in literacy and numeracy. The statistical benchmarks for the new categories of achievement will also be confirmed by teachers with relevant experience.
Religious Education - Phoebe Spencer
RE NEWS:
Foyer Display
Thank you to Year Four for their class artworks which link to their English and History units on Aboriginal Culture and way of life before European colonisation.
Opening School Mass
On Thursday 22nd February, we held our Opening School Mass in the Church. It was a wonderful opportunity to welcome in the new school year and to commission our school leaders in their various roles. Thank you so much to Fr James for presiding and to our families for joining us.
Congratulations to the following students:
School Captains
Malia Collingwood and Eden Koreth
Vice Captains
Dakota Simmons and Chaz Sharpe
Sports Captains- Marian
Jessica Hughes and Levi Currie
Sports Captains- Patrick
Bayley Swain and Callum Martin
Sports Captains- Joseph
Ivy Kosiek and Leon Plessiet
Sports Captains- Francis
Gracee Hellyer and Jesse Wile
Mini Vinnie Leaders
Fifunmi Fawehinmi, Leon Plessiet, Eden Koreth, Logan James-Percival, Halle Hassett, Mary Therese Demech.
Congratulations again to all our leaders
Lent
We are well into the church season of Lent. It is a time in which Christians are supposed to be quiet and thoughtful, preparing themselves for Easter. During Lent we often pray, donate to charities and fast from food or give up some of the things we like to do. This is in memory of Jesus who fasted in the desert for 40 days.
Throughout Lent we are encouraged to reflect upon our lives and our actions. We are called to fast from qualities of anger, selfishness and insincerity but to instead feast on being patient, compassionate and truthful. The colour associated with lent is purple and is represented in our sacred spaces in the classroom. During Lent, people often create Lenten promises which they hope to keep for the 40 days. This can include choosing to give something up or including acts of kindness.
Project Compassion
Throughout Lent we participate in the almsgiving initiative of Project Compassion run by charity organisation Caritas Australia.
The funds raised in Project Compassion is utilized by Caritas Australia to help alleviate poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity in the most vulnerable and marginalised communities in the world.
This is a friendly reminder to all families of this year’s Project Compassion initiative that occurs during Lent. The theme is “For All Future Generations”. One box per family was sent home the first week of Lent. There’s plenty of information on the Caritas Australia website if you would like to read up about the feel-good case studies that our money goes to help. Read their inspiring tales and see how your generosity makes a difference.
Thank you in advance to all those that generously give what they can to this great cause. The Caritas website has more information about Project Compassion and stories of people living in vulnerable communities.
Boxes may be returned to the office labelled with the student’s name and class by the last week of term.
Here's a link to have a look at some of the faces of the people who are helped through Project Compassion. This story is about Ronita from Phillippines. After the birth of her children, 22-year-old Ronita was at risk of having to leave school permanently. But with the support of Caritas Australia’s partners in the Philippines, she resumed her studies and now has a job to support her family.
https://www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/ronita-story/
Sacramental News- Reconciliation
The Sacramental program for Reconciliation has begun! Students have already participated in session one and two. Thank you to Mrs Catherine Crowley for leading these sessions.
Remaining details of Reconciliation 2024:
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If for any reason you can not make a date you will need to let Catherine know at the session or contact Monique at the Parish Office Tuesday- Friday 49 901 551 or email monique.mesina@mn.catholic.org.au.
Holy Week
During Week 9 (25th to 28th March), students will be acknowledging and celebrating Holy Week. Each day students will gather to recall the events of Holy Week including Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, the Garden of Gethsemane, and Good Friday.
Holy Week is the time to stop and remember Jesus. We gather together in memory of Jesus to share again the story of His life and death. We gather to remember, to love one another, and to give thanks.
The school will celebrate Holy Week with a dramatisation each day on the basketball court/under the COLA (depending on the weather) or in the Church (Thursday’s performance only). Celebrating this as a whole school community is important so thank you to all teachers and classes in advance for preparing for their parts. Holy Week is an important event in our Church’s liturgical calendar.
Information about the dramatisation of Holy Week:
Monday 25th March – Palm Sunday Year 3 will present at 2:40 pm basketball court/COLA weather depending |
Tuesday 26th March – Holy Thursday Year 4 will present at 2:30 pm basketball court/COLA weather depending |
Wednesday 27th March – Garden of Gethsemane Year 5 will present at 2:00 pm basketball court/COLA weather depending to allow for the Easter Egg raffle afterwards. |
Thursday 28th March – Good Friday Year 6 will present at 2:30 pm in the church. |
Parents are invited to come watch their child’s grade performance and celebrate Holy Week with us.
Have a great fortnight,
Miss Phoebe Spencer
Religious Co-ordinator
3W- Mrs Walters |
Eleanor Wanless Evie Schmiedel Alexander Doyle Matilda Heinrich Chaz Simmons |
4B- Miss Williams |
Caleb Magyar Layla Ozimek Emma Dow Max Shone Mia Morgan-Moore |
4W- Mrs York/ Mr Lannen |
Benjamin Carson Milla Swain |
5B- Mrs Kuterovac |
Pypah Truebody Ella Radford Kaitlin Taggart Edmund Hawkins Grayson Cain |
5W- Mrs Korsman |
Cruz Cresswell Mikayla O'Brien Lyla Schoupp Aiden Pedersen Xanthie Smith |
6B- Mrs McFarlane |
Braxton Zaichenko Mary Therese Demech Liam Ozimek Audrey Masters Logan James Percival |
6W- Miss Spencer |
Leon Plessiet Kohan Truebody Brandon Wu Peyton Davies Jessica Hughes |
STUDENT |
CLASS |
Jack Davies | 3B |
Jake Neale | 3B |
Milla Swain | 4W |
Edmund Hawkins | 5B |
Molly Hunt | 6W |
Imogen Taggart | 6B |
Dear Parents and Carers,
If you have a child enrolling in Year 3 2025 and you would like to enrol them at Holy Spirit Primary School the enrolment packs will be available for collection from the office on Friday 1st March 2024.
The process for new enrolments has changed and families wishing to enrol their child at Holy Spirit Primary School need to have the enrolment form and all required documentation returned to the office at Holy Spirit Primary School NO LATER than Friday 24th May 2024.
Year 7 enrolments 2025 All Saint's College St Peter's Campus
Dear Parents and Carers
For those families that would like to complete an application form for their child to enrol at All Saints College St Peter's Campus for Year 7 2025, the enrolment packs will be available from Friday 1st March 2024.
These need to be collected from the main office at St Peter's Campus.
The enrolment period is from 1st March 2024 and closes on 24th May 2024.
Please ensure you return your application and all required documentation to the office at All Saint's College St Peter's Campus before the closing date 24th May 2024.
Canteen Volunteers Needed - Copy
Canteen Volunteers
We would love to be able to open our canteen again this year on a Friday.
Unfortunately at this stage, we do not have enough volunteers to be able to operate the canteen.
If there are any parents or grandparents that would be willing to volunteer their time please complete the below Volunteer registration. Once you have been cleared by the Catholic schools Office please contact the school to advise your availability.
School Fees
School Fees comprise of a Resource, Tuition, and Diocesan School Building Levy and are the responsibility of parent/guardians of students enrolled at the school. The collection of all school fees is to ensure the best possible learning environment for your child.
2024 payments can be made from now however, all payments must commence by 31st March 2024.
You will receive a statement via email each month.
Fee Concession/Financial Hardship
The Catholic Schools Office declares that genuine inability to meet tuition and other fees does not exclude access to a school within the system for a child of a family genuinely committed to Catholic faith and practice.
For families experiencing financial hardship please contact the school to arrange a meeting with Mr O'Heir.
A Fee Concession form needs to be completed and returned with supporting documents.
These arrangements and concessions are only valid for each calendar year and should be arranged as early as possible to ensure the School Fee Management Process does not action unnecessarily.
Health Care and Pension Card Concession Applications for 2024 School Fees
If you have a current Health Card or Pension Card and you have not lodged the paperwork for processing please complete the attached forms and return them with a copy of the FRONT and BACK of the current concession card ASAP.
Statements
Changes have occurred for the 2024 school fee statements. Fee statements are becoming an automatic process being actioned at the beginning of each month. Statements will come from a no-reply email address. Please check your junk mail folders in case this is missed in early March.
All school fee payments are to commence by 31st March 2024 and finalised by 30th November 2024 if paying by instalments and annual payments are to be paid in full by 30th June 2024.
BPAY is the preferred method of payment, however, payment can be made via Cash, Credit/Debit Card or Centrepay.
Please DO NOT pay school fee payments via COMPASS this method incurs bank merchant fees.
Regards,
Jodie Jordan
Dear Parents and Carers
We will be holding our Easter Raffle on Wednesday 27th March 2024.
All raffle tickets can be purchased via the QKR APP they are $1.00 each. There will be NO CASH raffle tickets sold.
We are asking for Easter Raffle prizes to be donated, these can be left at the front office. Prize donations need to be received by Tuesday 25th March 2024.
Please ensure you update your QKR APP to ensure you have selected the correct class and year for your child.
Calendar Dates
March |
2024 |
12th | Parent Engagement Group (PEG) 6 pm @ Abermain |
13th-22nd | NAPLAN (Year 3 and 5) |
25th | Holy Week |
29th | Good Friday |
April |
2024 |
1st | Easter Monday |
12th | End of Term 1 |
29th | Term 2 Commences |