Dear Parents and Caregivers

Welcome back, and a special welcome to several new families who have joined Holy Name in Term Two.  In addition to welcoming new families, I am pleased to introduce Mrs Alexandra King, who has been appointed to the Kinder classroom.  Mrs King brings a wealth of experience, and Holy Name is extremely fortunate to have her.

I had some wisdom to share as Term Two began, but then a seven-year-old provided greater wisdom.  “Mr Doyle,” she said, “your hair is scruffy.”

I thanked her for her honesty.

And that is school.  Schools are full of things that we can improve on.  People make mistakes, we wear the wrong uniform, we lose our temper, we hurt people, we don’t have shade at sports carnivals, and we have scruffy hair. 

Conflict in schools is normal.  With 350 students, 48 staff members, and over 180 families, things inevitably go wrong.  But what’s important is that, like my 7-year-old friend, we be honest, respectful and work with those impacted to find a solution. 

As we continue our journey together, I encourage families to continue supporting and working collaboratively with staff.  The children at Holy Name are our common focus.  Working in partnership ensures we can improve, celebrate successes, and develop a culture where all students belong, learn, and serve. 

In other news, this Friday, students will receive their Confirmation, the final sacrament of initiation into the Catholic Church.  As a community, we pray for these students as they continue their faith journey. 

And finally, we are reviewing the school calendar and exploring replacement days for the events and carnivals that have recently been cancelled.  Once known, these will be shared to ensure your involvement. 

Ben Doyle
Principal

PB4L

We have been working on realigning our PB4L behaviours to our School Vision Statement of Belonging, Learning and Serving in His Holy Name. The first 2 weeks were focused on Belonging – making others feel like they belong at HNS and showing that we belong to HNS by following the rules. This week, we began our focus on Learning and students have been awarded tokens for displaying good learning behaviours such as focus, organisation and task completion.

Uniform

We will transition into Winter uniform over the next week.

Girls: Tartan culottes or long pants, school shirt long or short sleeve, school jumper or jacket and school hat.

Boys: Grey shorts or long pants, school shirt long or short sleeve, school jumper or jacket and school hat.

All students are to wear plain black socks (not ankle socks) and a plain black leather joggers.

Jewellery should be kept to a minimum with plain studs or sleepers in ears, a watch and a signet ring. Hair accessories to be plain or in the school colours. Makeup is not allowed and any extra clothing (e.g. a scarf) must be in the school colours.

Absences

If your child/ren are going to be absent from school or are sick, it is imperative the school is notified. This can be done by using the Compass app or by phoning or emailing the school office.

PIVOT

Primary students will be completing the PIVOT Wellbeing survey online over the next couple of weeks. This survey gives us valuable data around how the students feel about their learning and their environment.

Pope Leo XIV

Cardinal Robert Rrevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was elected pope on 8 May, becomming the first US-born and second American pope. He brings a background of study in Rome, years of ministry in Peru, where he is a naturalised citizen, and leadership in the Augustinian Order. A mulilingual cannon lawyer and mathematician, he supports synodality and has served communities on the margins.

His chosen name reflects a committment to Catholic social justice, and his public support for margins, climate action, and abuse survivors signals a continued focus on key global issues. In his first messagem he called the Church to move forward united, without fear, guided by Christ.

The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle joins the global Catholic community in welcoming Pope Leo XIV. 

Bishop Michael Kennedy said the election of a new Pope is always a moment of great significance and hope for Catholics and people of good will around the world. 

“We give thanks to God for guiding the Church through this time of transition, and we place our trust in the Holy Spirit and the conclave’s decision,” Bishop Kennedy said.  

“We look forward with confidence to his leadership and the ways in which he will be witness to the Gospel in today’s world. Leading the universal Church is an immense responsibility and as a Diocese, we pray he is given wisdom, courage and grace as he navigates the path ahead.”  

Read a prayer for Pope Leo XIV below.

Biggest Morning Tea

Holy Name strives to serve its community. One of our Mini Vinnie initiatives is to raise money for the Cancer Council's Biggest Morning Tea. Our Year 5 Mini Vinnies canvassed in classrooms and whole school assemblies, created posters that were displayed on school playground walls and made a canva invitation for the school community posted on our School Facebook Page and Compass Platform. They raised $276.40. Thankyou to all families who donated baked goods for our Biggest Morning Tea at last week's Athletics Carnival. Below are our Mini Vinnies serve in action. 

Catholic Schools Week 

From 2 to 6 June, we celebrate Catholic Schools Week—a time to honour the vibrant communities within our Catholic schools in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. This week highlights the dedication of staff, the growth of students, and the shared mission to nurture each child spiritually, intellectually, socially, and physically. Catholic education is about helping every student flourish and become the person God calls them to be, through learning that inspires both the heart and mind. 

We have much to be proud of in our endeavours to provide our young people with a well-rounded education that meets their needs today and for their future. We are deeply grateful for our thriving community, where teachers, parents and parish come together in unparalleled levels of care providing safe, supportive and inclusive surroundings which nurture students’ wellbeing, confidence and hope for themselves. 

In this Jubilee Year, we are blessed with opportunities to share the love of Jesus Christ and remind ourselves that growing in faith builds firm trust in God’s promises. It is our trust in God’s promises that fills us with hope—even in our darkest moments, God's faithfulness never fades. May this week inspire us to live each day with joyful hearts and steadfast hope in the Lord. 

We pray together: 

 Loving God, 

May the God of hope fill us with joy and peace 

as together we guide and nurture the minds and hearts of the young. 

May the God of hope grant us wisdom to live with truth, patience to lead with compassion, and faith to inspire with love. 

May we always find strength in the mission to reflect Christ’s light in our days, and may our work bear lasting fruit in the lives of those we love and serve. 

Amen. 

Classes attending Friday Parish Mass

Term 2 saw the return to classes celebrating mass on a Friday morning. Year 3 attended mass in Week 1 and Year 4 today. Fr John includes the children in this mass by inviting them to read the Universal Prayers and bring up the Offertory.

Caritas - Project Compassion

Our classes during the season of Lent were called on by Mini Vinnies to stand in solidarity with vulnerable communities around the world, joining together to Unite Against Poverty. Listening to this call, Mila Laraghy in Yr3 during her holidays made and sold braclets and raised at total of $70. She has donated this money to Caritas, who can make a real difference where it's needed most. Thank you Mila!

Parish News

Confirmation

The Sacrament of Confirmation preparation began three weeks ago led by Mrs Williamson and ladies who are part of the SRE Program in state schools. During their preparation the children have come to understand the connection of symbols, scripture and rituals of Baptism and Confirmation. The sixteen children have each chosen a confirmation name and can explain their reasons for chooosing a holy saint as their confirmation name. Bishop Michael will be confirming the following students on Friday 16th May at 6pm: Charbel Andary, John Andary, Enrico Azzopardi, Christopher Azzopardi, Oliver Quilter, Mackenzie Quilter, Emmanual Shibu, Franky Wall, Isabella Marchett Caberlon, Lika Zic, Elise Matlawski, Gracie Johson, Summer-Rose Jinks.

Congratulations to all. Please keep them in your prayers.

Term 2 Parish Mass at Holy Name School

As an initiative with Parish and School to further build our connections with one another the Sunday Parish Mass on Sunday 22nd June will be celebrated in our school hall at 9:30am. All families are welcome to join us at this mass. Celebrated by Fr John Vo Vien, our school student leaders and choir will lead us through the mass.

God bless,

Genevieve Williamson

Religious Education Coordinator

Harmony Day

Appologies to Mrs Morse and our community for this article being ommitted from our last newsletter.

On Friday the 21st of March, 2025, Holy Name families came together to celebrate Harmony Day.  The students were dressed in clothing from countries of their family’s heritage as well as orange to represent peace and diversity. The sense of belonging felt by the children was evident throughout the day as they sang, danced, listened, read, coloured, and played with one another in such a respectful and happy way.   

Our day began with a whole school Harmony Day Assembly in St. Mary MacKillop Hall.  Everybody participated in the theme of EVERYONE BELONGS as they sang songs about diversity, danced to an Irish Folk song, and listened to the names of the many different countries our students at Holy Name School came from. We shared the story "All People are Beautiful" by Vincent Kelly. It was very powerful to hear about all the different ways we live, work, move, look and have fun together. The message of inclusivity and acceptance was loud and clear. The assembly concluded with the EALD children thanking their families and friends for attending.

During the middle session everyone worked hard on the final touches to their Harmony Day artwork preparing it for judging by the Yr 6 EALD children.  At second lunch break every student was provided with some fruit, a cupcake and a zooper doper ice block. Thank you to Tuncurry Woolworths, Forster Coles and our parents for their generous donations to our students for their Harmony Day afternoon tea.  

Throughout the last session of the day, the class winners of the colouring in competition were announced.  Each class winner received a book award for their superb artwork. The winners were: KM Piper Rice, KP Ella Tickle, 1M Tegann Nadin, 1N Olyvia Wylie, 2L Quinn Blissett, 2T Rocco Rettke, 3M Remi Tull, 3W Jarley Went, 4H Anna Brooks, 4Q Sophia Clifton, 5L Astyn Rettke, 5F Edie Loy, 6M Dakota Bowen and 6S Haya Hamdy. A great day was had by all!

Thank you to everyone for joining in the celebration of Harmony Day at Holy Name ?

Bronwyn Morse

EALD Teacher

Well we managed to get most of our Primary Athletics Carnival in last Thursday before the heavens opened! Congratulations to all the students who took part, you can be very proud of yourselves and the sportsmanship you showed to your fellow competitors. The grounds were a sea of red, yellow, blue and green, it was fantastic to see and really made it a fun day. A huge thank you to the parents and community members who volunteered their time on the day, whether it be for assisting at events, cheering on your children, or a very soggy pack up! The students and teachers alike were disappointed the March Past couldn’t go ahead, especially as everyone had practiced beautifully in the lead up to the carnival. Likewise for our hotly anticipated 100m finals and 4 x 100m relays. Times from the heats will be used to determine who competes at Regional this year. I will run the 800m at Lake Street as soon as this current weather system clears, exact date to be confirmed. The date for the Regional Carnival is Thursday 26th June and it will be held at the same venue, Tuncurry oval. 

This Thursday saw some truly wild weather that unfortunately necessitated the postponement of the Infants Carnival. Infants will definitely get their turn for some colour-filled fun soon. Year 6 are excited to be taking a leadership role at this carnival and have been taking the time to practice so they are well prepared. Thank you for your leadership, drive and dedication Year 6. Once again, I will advise a new date as soon as possible. 

The Diocesan Cross Country was another victim of the elements this week. It is set to run next Tuesday 20th May at Maitland Touch Fields. All other details remain the same. We wish all our runners the best of luck for Tuesday and fingers crossed for fine weather! Parents, please keep an eye on the CSNSW website for up-to-date information regarding ground closures. Should the event need to be postponed again, a notification will be published at 9am Monday morning. 

Northern NSW Football has set a new date for the much-anticipated Soccer Gala Day that was postponed last term. It will now take place on Wednesday 28th May. Mrs Rose Loring and Miss Nolan will provide further details as the day approaches and the numbers are re-finalised.  

Have a safe and dry weekend! 

Michelle Quilter