Holy Spirit, open my eyes and calm my mind. Give me the recollection of the Father’s love, of the Son’s unceasing prayer, of the world as God’s world and of your own presence within me.

Holy Spirit, give me Faith. Holy Spirit, reveal to me the truth of the Father’s unfailing purposes, of the Son’s victory and risen presence; the truth about myself – sinner yet child beloved of God.

Holy Spirit, give me Hope. Holy Spirit, give me Peace; peace with God and peace with people. Kindle my desire for you. Strengthen my will to live and serve. Teach me and lead me where you will.

Holy Spirit, Give me love. Amen

Dear Friends,

This week we celebrated our Opening School Mass, with the presentation of our Year 6 School leaders for 2021.  At Mass we focused on our community growing together in 2021 in faith, hope and love.  In faith we experience that life has meaning and purpose as children of God.  In hope, we lay claim to the promises of God and to the life that God has for us.  In love, we enter into the very life of God, love directly links us with God.

Parent Information Video

Due to indoor COVID restrictions, we are unable to present our Parent Information Night in the hall.  Instead we have produced a video (see link below) outlining all the necessary information families need to know, presented by Executive staff, School Board and P and F.  I encourage you to listen to this video, which will be also available on our website, and to familiarise yourself with the following policies (as discussed in the video) :

Uniform Policy

Volunteer  Policy

Pastoral Care and Well Being Policy

Other important information for the beginning of the school year not addressed in the video is as follows: 

Change of address and contact details:

Today we will send home our “Get it Back Green” notes. For those new to the school, these are printed records of the current information we hold in our database in relation to your family. All families need to read through the information and make any necessary changes to the information on the sheets and return them to the school by the due date at the bottom of the sheet please. With our main communication platform being our SZapp app, we rarely send home paper copies, however, our database does not allow us to email the data that we need be reviewed, therefore this still comes home as a "Get it Back Green".  

Signing in late or Signing our early:

Please remember that all visitors to the school whether collecting, dropping off, volunteering or visiting classrooms, need to present to the Front Office prior to entering the school. All volunteers must sign in on the iPad at the front counter upon arrival and sign out as they leave.

 Working With Vulnerable People:

If you are intending to volunteer within the school or at a school event, please remember that you are required by law to have been granted a Working With Vulnerable People card (WWVP). To apply for a WWVP, visit  www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au  and remember it is free for volunteers. Once you have obtained this card, please bring it to the Front Office so that a copy can be kept on file (this is also a legal requirement for the school). All WWVP cards have an expiry of 3 years and when you renew your card, the school needs a copy of your new card if you are intending to continue volunteering at the school.

Absentees:

If your child is absent from school, an absentee form, which is found on the SZapp app, needs to be completed. Please remember that absentees should not be emailed to teachers but sent to through the correct channels on SZapp.

Can I also please stress again the importance of safety around our car pick up and drop off zone.  We have in the middle of this area a clearly marked crossing to enable safe transition from the school are into the car park. 

I look forward to seeing many of you at our welcome BYO picnic tomorrow afternoon from 5pm.  Please note, when coming to the school for this event, please come around the back of the school grounds, not through the school building.  There will be the Canberra check in posters around the outside for families to sign in.  If there is a possibility of rain or storms, we will cancel the event via Schoolzine message before the end of the school day tomorrow. 

With every best wish for a holy and peace-filled week ahead with your beautiful families,

Philippa

Opening Mass

On Tuesday we celebrated our Opening School Mass and Leadership Ceremony for 2020. Congratulations to our Year 6 students who lead us in Mass and received their leadership badges! We wish you all the best in your last year of Primary School and we look forward to watching you flourish as our student leaders for 2021. 

Reconciliation

Registration is now open for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Students in Year 3 and above who have been baptised are invited to register. Enrolments close Friday 19th February, 2021. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be celebrated in the Parish of the Transfiguration, North Woden on Saturday evenings commencing Saturday 27th March.  

Please click here to read a letter regarding Reconciliation from Fr John.

To enrol your child, please access or download the Qkr! App.

• Search ‘North Woden Transfiguration’
• Click 'Parish Payments and Sacraments' 
• At the top click 'Sacrament'
• First Eucharist 

Dates for Reconciliation                

Journey With Jesus Retreat 

JWJ_Retreat_1_.pdf

Emily Capper

Religious Education Coordinator

Welcome Picnic

The Holy Trinity School community invites all families to attend a welcome picnic on Friday 12 February from 5pm. It is a BYO picnic with the P&F will providing ice blocks for the children. The ELC families will congregate directly below the ELC building and between the 'top' playground in the primary school. All families are requested to sign in using the Check In CBR app, and maintain physical distancing. We hope to have many of our new and returning ELC families attend.

Stay and Play - IS BACK!

Playgroup for pre-preschoolers and their families. Wednesday mornings from 9am-10.30am in the ELC Playground (weather permitting). Parents, grandparents, carers and children are all very welcome. Please sign in using the Check in CBR app.

Before and After School Bookings 2021

The ELC have both casual and permanent places in Before and After School Care for students attending Preschool, Kindergarten and Year One in 2021. The ELC provides a warm, relaxing and fun environment for 4-7 year olds from 7.30am-9am and 3.10pm-5.45pm, as well as a school holiday program during the school term breaks. 

The After School Hours Care enrolment form can be found here. Please return to the ELC office. For further information contact the ELC Office Ph 6281 7428.

Helping your child become the best student they can be

Your School Counselling Service:

Hello, my name is Kate Dean and I work for CatholicCare in Canberra, in the Student and Family Counselling Unit. We provide short term counselling for many of Canberra’s Catholic schools as part of the school’s pastoral care program.

I have a master of social work and have many years’ experience working with families and children. I also have three children of my own, aged 10, 14 and 18.

My role is to support the emotional and social wellbeing of students and their families. I offer a professional service and provide a safe space to talk about any issues your child is experiencing.

We see children with difficulties which are just part of normal growing up, as well as issues of concern for either the school, or the family, or the child themselves. It doesn’t have to be a big problem, it is better to get help sooner rather than later. Typical concerns can be fears, anger, relationships with peers, grief, family relationships and family difficulties including parental separation, stress, or anything that is perceived to affect student’s learning or their general well-being.

As well as individual sessions with students during school time I work with families, consult with parents, carers and teachers and may carry out some group work. I may also refer students and families to specialist services and professionals when appropriate.

You can refer your child for counselling by filling in a referral form available on Catholic Care’s website or via a link provided by the school. Or you can follow this link:

https://catholiccare.force.com/housing/s/school-referral-form

After you have filled out the referral form you will automatically be sent an email requesting your consent for your child to access our service. In the case of families where parents are separated we normally require the consent of both parents. If this is difficult for you please feel free to discuss with me.

I will be at Holy Trinity every Wednesday and alternate Mondays on odd weeks. If you would like to talk to me, please feel welcome to contact me directly through the school when I am attending.  

I look forward to working with your child and wish you all a happy and peaceful year.

Kate Dean

School Counsellor

Catholic Care

The Australian Government Department of Education and Training (AGDET) will collect student residential addresses for all non-government schools between 15 February to 12 March 2021.

Similar information was collected in March 2020, as part of AGDESE's requirement to provide additional information which includes the names and residential addresses of parents and/or guardians (i.e. the persons responsible for students at a school).

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

For further information, please click here

As previously advertised, we are still looking for volunteers for vacuuming.  It is really effective to be able to have at least teams of 4 people to make the job easier.  if we are unable to get more volunteers, we may need to go to a fortnightly roster, or engage the school cleaner, which raises school costs. 

Please click here to volunteer for school vacuuming. Otherwise you can send me an SMS on 0407519473

If you ask ANY of our experienced school parents, vacuuming is clearly THE most fun voluntary task you will do all year, allowing you to contribute to the school's health and get fit at the same time.

My aim is to put together 13 teams of five or six people each, which would mean your effort is only needed three times over the whole school year.

Vacuuming is done on a Wednesday night during school term. Each team has a leader whose responsibility is to set a time for cleaning (usually between 6 and 8pm), ensure everyone is available and check that the job is completed.

It is a great opportunity to contribute to the school and foster friendships. So please consider doing your bit and keep your eye out for the online volunteer form.

Thanks,

Paul Osborne

(Vacuum Coordinator and Year 5 Dad.)

It is time to submit your contact information for the 2021 School Directory.

Holy Trinity P&F manages the online School Directory through the app "Directory Spot".

For those new to our community, the School Directory contains class lists and family contact information that can be used for organising playdates, birthday parties, sport, or social activities for the children of our community. Only parents/guardians from Holy Trinity are given log-in access to view the School Directory information - it is not in the public domain.

No details in this directory are to be used for any unsolicited purposes and unauthorised use, including for commercial purposes, is strictly prohibited and will result in user access being revoked.

As with every year it is up to each individual family if they chose to be in the directory. If you would like your family's details to be included in this year's School Directory please complete the form by clicking here.

Please note that if you do not supply your details before Friday 19th Feb, your details will not be included in this year's School Directory.

Regards,
Jenny Van De Meeberg
School Directory Coordinator

Call out for more netballers from Years 3, 5 and 6!

We need a few more netballers from these year groups to complete teams!

Please register interest with Rhiana Webb rdepaoli1@hotmail.com or click here.

Beginners / players of all levels of experience welcomed!

Lost proprty is already overflowing with jumpers and numerous other items.

One item of note is an Android Tablet. If your child has lost their Android Tablet whilst at school, please contact the Front Office to see if this is yours. We will need the brand of the Tablet and a discription of the cover that it is in for proof of ownership.

Merici College Enrolling Information

Tae Kwon Do

Soccer

Irish Dancing Classes

Irish dancing is fun, a great way to keep fit, and make new friends. It also assists with coordination and gross motor skills. The sequences and patterns of the moves make it spectacular to watch.

Anne-Marie Dimmock, is a qualified Irish dancing teacher registered with the Coimision in Dublin Ireland. Anne-Marie competed for many years in local and National competitions with excellent results.

If your child is interested in learning Irish dancing or you would like more information please ring Anne-Marie on

0418 626 911  after 3pm.

Positive Partnerships

Australian Girls Choir

The Australian Girls Choir is holding an Open Day on Saturday February 20 and we would love to invite the girls at your school to come along. Thank you for speaking with an AGC representative recently and agreeing to place some information in your newsletter. 

Our Open Day gives girls the opportunity to try a fun complimentary class, and for parents to attend an information session to find out more about the Australian Girls Choir.

Please see below for a short blurb that you can place in your newsletter regarding the Open Day. There is also a PDF flyer attached to this email which you are welcome to use.

Australian Girls Choir Open Day

Look no further than the Australian Girls Choir (AGC) because we encourage, challenge and inspire girls as they learn to sing, dance and perform. School aged girls are invited to come along to our Open Day on Saturday February 20 to try our fun and inclusive classes and learn more about being part of the AGC! Please visit our website to register to attend our free Open Day: https://ausgirlschoir.com.au/febopenday/

Thank you again for your continued support of the Australian Girls Choir. Should you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact agcinfo@aspagroup.com.au.