Dear Parents & Carers

We had a very smooth start to the school year last week, with over 850 students now at Holy Spirit from Preschool to Year 6. Thank you to those families who sent their children to school wearing the correct school uniform. Please remember earrings should be plain studs, and sleepers only with medical advice. Sports shoes should be predominately white and school shoes should be traditional leather school shoes. 

It was also great to see so many parents at the Meet & Greet and Kinder Parent Information Night on Tuesday.

CATALYST - HIGH IMPACT TEACHING PRACTICES

As part of the Catalyst Initiative I mentioned last week, Holy Spirit Nicholls, St Michael’s, Kaleen and St Thomas the Apostle, Kambah have been selected to be part of a Pilot Program to further develop High Impact Teaching Practice for all teachers. We will be receiving coaching in Explicit Direct Instruction from Dr Lorraine Hammond AM. Dr Hammond will be visiting us from Perth this term to work with teachers in K-2. This is an exceptional opportunity for us that has grown out of evidence based research into the best pedagogy teachers can utilise to support student progress. The Pilot involves multiple forms of Professional Learning and I thank the teachers for their commitment and enthusiasm. This is a very exciting time in Education, and we are excited to be at the forefront of this Pilot.

If you would like to know more about ‘Catalyst’, it is explained in depth on the CECG website. Click on this link to reach it

MARYMEAD IMPACT PROGRAM

This year Holy Spirit is also excited to be a pilot school for a new counselling program.  

Marymead’s IMPACT program is school counselling, with a twist! Alongside traditional school counselling, IMPACT will also provide holistic family support and contribute to broader student wellbeing initiatives, customised to meet the needs of the Holy Spirit school community. The flexible service model can include the following components:

• Individual short-term counselling (both alone with children and/or with parents/teachers present);
• Parental support and interventions;
• Family support;
• Supported referral to external services;
• Therapeutic group sessions – Ddrumbeat, RAGE, Seasons for Growth;
• Teacher in-service and support;
• Participation in case meetings and pastoral care reviews.

Referrals are available from the Front Office.

The IMPACT program will evolve over the coming weeks, as the practitioners get to know the needs of the school community. Your feedback is welcome! Feedback can be directed to Anna Rawlings, wellbeing counsellor or to the IMPACT program Manager, Lauren Meischke  lauren.meischke@marymead.org.au or via school staff.

SENDING MONEY INTO SCHOOL

A reminder to please place any money for the Front Office in a clip lock bag that is clearly labelled who is it if from and what it is for.

TOYS

We ask you to support us in not allowing your child to bring toys to school. Invariably they are damaged, lost or are the cause of social issues. Balls for sport are allowed at the moment, but we will be monitoring this closely. Something special for news in the junior grades is allowed, but students will be asked to keep it in their school bag for the remainder of the day. Staff are currently developing different game boxes and lunchtime clubs for students to access at break times.

EMAIL ETIQUETTE

As you would be well aware, we welcome email communication between home and school. A staff member's email is firstname.surname@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Please note that Karen Hughes is karen.gaffey@....  and Anna Kelly is anna.kelly2@....

Communication via email is an excellent way for parents and teachers to correspond, however, it is essential that appropriate email etiquette is observed by all users. The correct use of email enables parents and teachers to give and receive information, arrange appointment times and also resolve small issues quickly. When used in this way it is an effective communication tool between school and home.

It is important to remember that due to the nature of teaching, teachers will only check their emails before or after school. Teachers aim to reply to emails within 24 hours. Any urgent message should be communicated to the Front Office.

If a parent is concerned or upset about an issue, it is preferable to speak to the teacher face to face. An email to a teacher to organise a meeting produces a far better outcome in these situations. Good and effective communication between home and school is of paramount importance to us here at Holy Spirit. We embrace email as an effective communication tool and we aim to ensure that we all use it in a courteous and respectful way.

Have a good week.

Brad Gaynor

Principal

brad.gaynor@cg.catholic.edu.au

Whole School Focus

This year our Whole School Focus theme is ‘Alive with the spirit of faith’. Throughout the year our students will explore the first of our four keystones, the keystone of faith.  

We acknowledge faith is deeply personal. Each individual has their own personal understanding of faith and expresses it in their own unique way. Different members of our community come from different faith backgrounds and we acknowledge, respect, share and celebrate these.  It is important, however, for all members to understand the Catholic faith as it is the foundation upon which our school is built. 

Term one will see us explore what it means to be Catholic. The students will:

• discuss the importance of living in welcoming community inspired by the life of Jesus;
• describe ways we sense God’s presence in all we see and do; and
• examine symbols used by the Catholic Church and important beliefs expressed by Catholics.

Confirmation

Thank you to all families who have returned the slip indicating your child will/will not be participating in the Confirmation program. 

Next Tuesday 16 February the Confirmation program will begin with the Parent/Child Information Sessions. The information sessions will be held at the Holy Spirit Parish Church in Amaroo. We are offering two times, 1pm and 6.15pm. Due to Covid we are restricted to one parent and one child attending. If you are unable to attend one of these information sessions, but would like your child to participate in the program please contact me via phone or email as soon as possible (Catherine.Doig@cg.catholic.edu.au). We need definite numbers to move forward with our planning. 

 It is essential you book for the session you will be attending.

Please click https://www.trybooking.com/BOOXT to book.

Volunteer Sewers: Thank you for the amazing response I received when a request for volunteer sewers was sent out to help sew the Confirmation stoles. I was overwhelmed by the number of emails I received offering to help. A wonderful reminder of what an incredibly supportive community we belong to.

Upcoming Confirmation Dates:

Tuesday 16 February

Parent Information Sessions (1pm and 6.15pm). Families choose one of the sessions (only one parent and one child to attend). Please book for this session at https://www.trybooking.com/BOOXT 

Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st February

Confirmation Commitment Masses (Saturday 5pm and Sunday at 8am and 9.30am). Families choose one of the weekend parish masses to come along to and enrol in the program.

Opening School Mass

On Wednesday Fr Mark joined our community and resided over our opening school mass in the hall. Our entire school gathered together to celebrate our faith. During mass we acknowledged our new staff and students and a special blessing was prayed over our entire community. Thank you to all staff and students involved in making our first mass of the year a special one. 

Ash Wednesday

Just a reminder that our school will celebrate Ash Wednesday next week on 17th February. Special classroom liturgies will be held throughout the day, acknowledging the beginning of the 40 days of Lent.  

Please note there will be two Parish masses held at the church if you would like your family to attend mass. One will be held at 7am and the other at 7pm. 

Have a wonderful week

Catherine Doig - REC

This year Holy Spirit is also excited to be a pilot school for a new counselling program.  

Marymead’s IMPACT program is school counselling, with a twist! Alongside traditional school counselling, IMPACT will also provide holistic family support and contribute to broader student wellbeing initiatives, customised to meet the needs of the Holy Spirit school community. The flexible service model can include the following components:

• Individual short-term counselling (both alone with children and/or with parents/teachers present);
• Parental support and interventions;
• Family support;
• Supported referral to external services;
• Therapeutic group sessions – Drumbeat, RAGE, Seasons for Growth;
• Teacher in-service and support;
• Participation in case meetings and pastoral care reviews.

Referrals are available from the Front Office or please contact Anna Rawlings, our wellbeing counsellor at anna.rawlings@marymead.org.au

Please find attached the Swimming Carnival Permission Note for Years 3-6.

Forms are due back by Friday 19th February.

We will have limited capacity for parent attendance on the day. We will be able to have a small number of parent volunteers on the day, however, we will not be able to have parents spectating due to COVID restrictions in place. We thank you for your understanding and adherence to these restrictions.

Permission Note

To ease traffic congestion in the mornings and afternoons, we ask parents to remain in their car. In the mornings, students should be able to get out of the car by themselves! In the afternoon if using Drive Thru, students should be able to get in the car and do up their own seatbelt. If they can't 'Park & Collect' instead. Thank you.

JPC Key Dates – 2021

The Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment (AGDESE) will collect student residential address for all non-government schools from 15 February. This is part of the AGDESE’s requirement to provide additional information which includes the name and residential address of parents and/or carers ie the persons responsible for students at a school.

Please note that student names will be de-identified, however, parent/guardian names will be included.

Please refer to the attached document that provides further information and please ensure the school has your current residential address if you have moved recently.

Collection Notice for Parents