What Stories do I want Parents to tell about Holy Name?

Dear Valued Reader,

What Stories do I want Parents to tell about Holy Name?

A great question and one that has sat in my reflection box since the start of the year.  But as Term Two comes to a blistering conclusion, it is an opportune time to revisit whilst reflecting on the diverse learning experiences students have had this term and how this has enabled our school mission to come alive.

Belonging – Learning - Serving

What have we done in Term Two?

The Festival of Athletics, Young Writer’s Workshops, Choir Performances, NAIDOC Week, Mother’s Day, Disco, Performing Arts, Confirmation and hundreds of high-quality teaching and learning experiences. 

Impressive.

As a staff, we also reflected on the term and shared personal moments of success.  Some highlights include:

• Contacted parents when children are away to check in on them and let the parent and child know they were missed that day. 
• Sat and listened to what was important to the child. No judgement, just relationships. 
• Not rushing students when they need more time.
• Carrying an extra load when my co-teacher needed a break.

So, back to the question.  What Stories do I want Parents to tell about Holy Name?

Events are important, and they bring us together.  But it’s the micro-moments in the events, during the day to day teaching, that are the stories I want told.  I want stories about teachers who care.  Stories of human connection.  Stories about learning that comes from the heart first and head second.  These are the stories that I want parents to tell.  And I hope that these are the stories you share with one another. 

As we journey together in Term Three, I look forward to creating new stories that celebrate your child’s learning.

Ben Doyle
Principal

Dear Families,

I hope your children enjoy the Winter break and they can reset and recharge. I also hope that you get to spend some time together. It has been another huge Term and a break is well deserved. As well as a break from school, the teachers will be planning for your child's learning in Term 3. Let's hope we get some lovely Winter weather so we can enjoy the wonderful environment in which we live.

Term 3 Major Events

PB4L

Our PB4L focus for weeks 7 & 8 was I Can Follow the Rules. Our Award winners were:

Kind Regards,

Kyla Loring

Assistant Principal

HNS Forster

Celebrating Prayer and Liturgy in Term 2

As we come to the end of Term 2, we take a moment to reflect and give thanks for the many special prayer and liturgy celebrations we've shared as a school community. We've experienced so many meaningful “God moments” in the way we connect with each other and help our students grow in God’s grace.

Thank you for your continued support and presence at these celebrations — we know how busy family life can be and truly appreciate you making time to join us. Your involvement shows how much you value these moments for your children (and yourselves) to grow closer to Jesus through scripture, prayer, reflection, and song.

Looking ahead to Term 3, we’ll celebrate several important occasions: the Feast Day of Mary MacKillop (our Patron Saint) alongside our pantry drive, Grandparents Day, and Father’s Day. Our Year 6 students will also begin preparing for their Religious Literacy Assessment.

Please note there will be no Friday Parish Masses during Term 3 while Fr John Vo Vien is on leave. Enrolments for the Sacrament of Eucharist will open toward the end of the term, with preparations beginning in Term 4.

Choir Sing At Sunrise Village

Last week, our school choir hopped on the bus and made their way across the beautiful Forster-Tuncurry Bridge to perform for the residents of Sunrise Village.

They were warmly welcomed by an audience of grandparents, parents, and friends of Holy Name. It was hard to tell who was more excited — the students or the residents! The room lit up with joy as the children sang their selection of songs, and the atmosphere became even more special when Miss Reynolds handed out lyrics so everyone could sing along to two of the tunes.

Our choir sang beautifully and represented our school with pride. More importantly, this visit helped our students understand what it truly means to serve others. At Holy Name, we teach the values of the Catholic Social Teachings, and this experience brought the idea of “Dignity of the Person” to life through real connection with members of our local community.

A big thank you and congratulations to Miss Reynolds and our wonderful Holy Name Choir!

St Clare's Year 11 Visit

We were pleased to welcome Year 11 students from St Clare’s as part of their Catholic Thought studies. They led small, engaging workshops on the Trinity for our Year 6 students, helping to build stronger connections between our primary school and the high school. This experience gave our students a clearer sense of what learning in high school can look like.

Thank you to St Clare’s for leading the day, and well done to our Year 6 students for their positive participation!

Mini Vinnies

Thank you to you all for supporting our Mini Vinnies in their efforts for Term 2!

Term 3, Week 1 - Students will receive their badges at Friday Assembly. 

Parents are welcome to attend. 

Miss Laura Flannery

Religious Education Professional Learning Day

At Holy Name, our staff are continuing to grow in how we bring Catholic Social Teaching to life in our school. Guided by Mrs Ann Thurgate and Mr Adam Frost, teachers spent time reflecting on why we teach these important values, what they mean for our students, and how we can help students take meaningful action to live them out.

We’re now focusing on linking these teachings to real-life opportunities for students to grow in faith and make a difference in our school and wider community through student formation opportunities (retreat experiences). 

Family Parish Mass

This term, we were blessed to celebrate a special Sunday Mass here at Holy Name School, bringing together our school and parish community in prayer. This Family Parish Mass was a beautiful way to connect our students, families, and parishioners from Forster Tuncurry, with Fr John leading the celebration.

It was wonderful to see so many of our students and families involved. John and Juliette Andary warmly welcomed everyone, supported by Mrs Monks, Miss Frost, and parishioners Mr and Mrs Evans. Nanma Joy, Jax Tull, Charbel and Eddie Andary read the scripture and prayers, while the Matlawski family presented the Offertory Gifts. Our school choir, together with Mrs Quilter and parish musicians Ken and Kerry Heffernan, led the singing and helped create a joyful and prayerful atmosphere.

A heartfelt thank you to all the families and choir members who attended and helped make the Mass so special. We look forward to celebrating our next Family Parish Mass in Term 4!

Happy holidays, 

Mrs Genevieve Williamson

Religious Education Coordinator

Term Two has been full of rich learning and fun in all classes within our school! We wanted to capture some of the highlights from each grade and some fun end of term photos to make you smile!

Kindergarten Term 2 Highlights 

1. The Kinder students have loved our weekly art lessons. They were focussing on their favourite book, ‘Big Rain Coming’, By Bronwyn Bancroft and completed 2 painting activities based on the illustrations in the book.
2. The students also loved their Science lessons in particular making a bird feeder which they were able to test out. This was made extra special with their big buddies helping with the construction on their bird feeder design.
   
   
   
   

Year One Term 2 Highlights

1. The Year One students loved the Science unit on Materials where they were able to manipulate materials into different shapes.
2. The Year One students have also loved using the ipads to show their learning on Seesaw and other platforms.
3. As you can see from the photos following instructions to make a pizza was also a fun way to end the term for our Year One friends.
4. The students also spoke excitedly about the fun they had at the Infant's Athletics Carnival this term. The 3-legged race was a hit!
   
   
   
   

Year Two Term 2 Highlights

1. The Year Two students have loved Trivia Fridays where Mrs Tull and Mrs Loring create Trivia Questions based on the learning they have covered over the past fortnight and Comprehension Quest.
2. The students also enjoyed writing and editing their persuasive texts on ‘Pencils are better than textas' and 'Students should wear school uniform'.
3. It was a unanimous vote that art lessons were a top highlight of the term in particular the line artworks they have created.
4. We loved making Ooblek which was exploring mixing different ingredients to see what time happen.
   
   

Year Three Term 2 Highlights

1. The students have loved planning and creating their own narratives that they were able to read to their classmates.
2. Fun Maths challenges were also a highlight, in particular 99 Maths which had the students really thinking!
3. The Year Three students loved the digital art unit where used various art applications to present their work.
   
   

Year Four Term 2 Highlights

1. Year 4 have really enjoyed their daily wordle challenges.
2. Shoes off Friday and dancing out the door each day came in at a close second.
3. Spending time with their teachers was a very popular response as was playing with their friends.
4. The students have a chance to say what they are grateful for each Friday which has helped them to appreciate the blessings in their life.
   
   

 Year Five Term 2 Highlights

1. Year 5 have really enjoyed completing their gratitude diaries which has been a calming experience for them.
2. The Year 5 students have loved being part of Mini Vinnies in particular planning well being week and running the 'Biggest Morning Tea' at the Infants and Primary Athletics Carnival!
   
   

Year Six Term 2 Highlights

1. 6S loved having Miss O’Brien teach them while she was on her final teaching practicum.
2. Art was another stand out with 6M creating carnival games and 6S creating underwater collages.
3. The students excitedly explained to me that ‘Unfair Games’ is a highlight of their week.
   
   

I hope you all have a wonderful Winter Break with your families.

 Mrs Suzie Monks

Primary Co-ordinator

HOLY NAME SCHOOL GARDEN NEWS

Hello everyone and welcome to the HNS garden.

With the emergence of winter crops, including dwarf beans and dwarf sugar snap peas, there has been much cause for happiness, excitement, interest, curiosity and physical activity in the garden. 

This germination stage of seeds has also instigated the garden chore of threading string through garden stakes, from one end of a garden bed to the other end of a garden bed.  This will ensure that the bean and pea plants can entwine themselves around the string and climb, growing tall and strong as they reach for the warm sunlight to produce a bountiful harvest.  Their growth is monitored daily, under the watchful eyes of the HNS “Garden Curators”.

Collecting nasturtium seeds is always a great treasure hunt. The students are very excited to take the seeds home with them to plant in their own gardens, knowing that once they plant one seed, they will always have these plants.

The students constantly search for snails and other garden bugs, even in the compost bins. This activity creates a wonderful social opportunity for many conversations with like-minded friends.

Planting lettuce seeds to stagger our crop of a fresh harvest for the Forster Community Kitchen has been a new and interesting activity for the students to participate in. 

The students are also improving their method of planting seedlings into a garden bed, especially how to dig a hole for them - not too deep, not too wide.  They are also learning how to gently place soil and mulch around a seedling - just like a cosy warm blanket. 

As it always is in our garden, the same questions are frequently asked concerning the plants - “How long before the plants will grow?”, “How long before they grow beans or peas?”, “How long before we can harvest them?”  and “Can we harvest something to take over to the Community Kitchen today?”  The garden is a great teacher of patience!

… And so it was when the students planted more silverbeet seedlings, just in time before the seedlings were watered with an afternoon shower of light rain. 

The students still enjoy distributing coffee grinds and eggshells around the plants so that they will grow to produce a bountiful harvest. Thank you for sending these into our garden. We all appreciate your concern shown for our garden.

When the sun is shining and warm, with no cold southerly wind blowing and the students are attending to their plants, the garden is especially peaceful and calm, echoing only tones of friendship and happy vibes. These are the days when the garden is an even more special place, where everyone and everything thrives in the stillness and beauty of its sanctuary.

Until we meet next time in the garden, stay warm and well, remembering “A garden is a friend you can visit anytime.”

Kind regards,

Mrs Jackie Amato

Learning Support Assistant/Garden Supervisor