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Dear Friends,
Yesterday we all celebrated in differing ways- a Mass or prayer celebration- the beginning of Lent, with Ash Wednesday. We will be dedicating time in RE lessons discussing ways in which we can live like Jesus throughout the Season of Lent and always. We will also be encouraging children to contribute to the Lenten Project Compassion Appeal. All classes will also begin next week daily Christian meditation after lunch.
Last night our School Board met for the first time this year. Next week's newsletter will begin with a report from Scott Pearsall about this meeting and differing topics discussed that are important to our community. One of the topic raised, is concern around ICT use and safety at both school and home. Thus we will be adding to our newsletter each week differing articles, resources and information to help support our students, families and staff navigate this sometimes tricky, but also incredibly effective, mode of communication and learning tool. Please see below some webinars available for parents to help support with cyberbullying and issues related to this:
eSafety Webinars for Parents and Carers:
The esafety commission is running free webinars for parents and carers at lunchtimes (12:30-1:30pm) and in the evenings 7:30-8.30pm on various dates. Currently running: “Parents guide to cyberbullying and online drama”
For available dates and to register go to https:/wwwwesafetyy.gov.au/parents/webinars
Year 2- 6 Swimming Carnival
ust a few reminders for our upcoming Swimming Carnival this Friday for all students in Year 2-6!
Volunteers & Spectators
Due to restrictions, we are unable to have any spectators at the pool. Parents who are volunteering will need to sign in at the front desk and ensure they have their WWVPP card with them.
What to wear
All students will need to wear their swimmers underneath their clothes and are encouraged to come dressed in their house colour. Please no zinc, face paint or hair spray. Also, students will need to wear shoes with a back (no thongs).
What to bring
Please pack a healthy lunch with plenty of water. The canteen will not be available to students.
Buses
The buses will be leaving school at 9:15am and will return to school by 2:30pm.
Year K-1 Water Fun Experience
Tomorrow our Kinder and Year 1 students will also have some fun activities at school with water! A message outlining details for this day have been communicated through Szapp.
For those who may have missed our Parent information Session posted last week in our newsletter, the link is below. You will also be receiving Interim Reports in Week 5, except for Year 5 and 6 who will be on camp. They will be coming home with their Interim reports in Week 6. Thank you again for your participation in the Parent Partnership meetings that have been continuing this week.
Introductory Parent Information Session 2021 Video
Below is an article from Cath Day who will be finishing as President of the P and F at our AGM next Wednesday night. On behalf of all our staff and community I would like to sincerely thank Cath so, so much for all she has given to Holy Trinity over the last two years. Her warmth, generosity, care, organisation and commitment to everyone in our community is so appreciated. Thank you Cath!
Congratulations to the Butt family on the arrival of their daughter yesterday! (Sophie Year 2 and George ELC) .
With every best wish for a holy and peace-filled week ahead with your beautiful families,
Philippa
Philippa Brearley
Email: philippa.brearley@cg.catholic.edu.au
Dear Families,
Welcome to Term 1 Week 3! It’s been so lovely getting back into the school routine and seeing many of you around our beautiful school. I extend a very warm and friendly welcome to any new families who have joined us this year.
When a flower doesn’t bloom,
You fix the environment in which it grows,
Not the flower. (Alexander Den Heijer)
This will be my first and last Newsletter this year as P&F President as I am standing aside from the President role. I always thought two years was a good stint before new people with fresh ideas take over. Given the strange year we had last year, I did consider another year, but I may have too much happening this year to fully commit to being your P&F President. I have really enjoyed being a part of the school P&F, and I thank you all very much for supporting me throughout the last two years. I am very proud of what we, as a parent group achieved. Most of all, I have enjoyed getting to know families and working with our amazing children on different things. To Phil and the teachers and staff of Holy Trinity, thank you! You all are the base of our community and I would not have enjoyed my last two years as much without you.
Mark Bauer has also decided to step down from the Vice President role after many dedicated years. Mark, as you know, is a huge asset to our school and has done an enormous amount for the P&F, mostly behind the scenes. I can’t thank Mark enough for his support and contribution, but most of all his friendship. Please now enjoy some rest!
P&F President, Vice President and Assistant Treasurer
If there is anyone interested in volunteering for either the President or Vice President roles, can you please email through your interest to philippa.brearley@cg.catholic.edu.au. You will need to be available for the AGM next week (6pm) and the first P&F meeting for the year will be held straight after.
If you would like to chat to me about what the roles entail, please feel free to email me at htpspfpresident@gmail.com.
Thank you to Paul Osborne who has agreed to another year as P&F Secretary, and to Annette Cannell who will do her last year as Treasurer. If anyone is interested in an Assistant Treasurer role this year, with the intention of taking over as Treasurer next year, can you please email Annette at htpspftreasurer@gmail.com.
P&F Annual General Meeting – next Wednesday 24 February at 6.00pm in the library
You are all welcome to the P&F AGM next Wednesday night. It will give you a really good introduction to the year ahead and it’s where a calendar of events is discussed and finalised. The three central focuses for the P&F are Community, Charities and Fundraising. I am sure the new Committee will continue the good work the Holy Trinity family have built up over many, many years.
A quick rundown on the P&F (for newbies)
The four positions above are the minimum official roles we must fill. We have many, equally as important roles that make up the P&F. We couldn’t do what we do without many wonderful people throughout the year (Jenny, Cheryl, Mark and Rach, Lisa, Kim, Rowena, Niki, and many more volunteers).
We have three things we like to focus on in the P&F: Community; Charities, and Fundraising.
Community – There will be a number of community based services and activities throughout the year that we would love to see as many of our families participate in. For example, we have our wonderful uniform shop, our fabulous tuckshop, there’s BBQs, vacuuming of the school by parents (that actually saves the school thousands of dollars each year), Mother’s Day and Father’s Day stalls and breakfasts, a parents revue night (fun and laughter in Term 3), and a casserole bank (provides home cooked meals for families that could do with a helping hand).
The P&F have also established a Facebook page (Holy Trinity Community). This is a closed group only for Holy Trinity parents and teachers, and offers another avenue for communication.
Charities – The P&F supports two charities throughout the year. Our local charity is L’Arche who offers supported living in community households together with a rich social and cultural life, for adults living with intellectual disability. Our International charity is a sponsor child, Lydia, through Global School Partners.
Fundraising – Throughout the year the P&F hold various fundraising events and activities to contribute to our charities, but also support some school improvements. Have you noticed the out door learning area at the end of the Kitchen Garden (outside the Kindy rooms)? OK, so we didn’t pay for all of it, but we contributed a large sum towards the works.
Again I thank you for allowing me the privilege of holding the position of P&F President for two wonderful years. I still look forward to meeting and chatting with as many of you as I can, just in the role of parent. I wish the new look P&F committee much success. Here’s cheers to a wonderful school year. I think I’ve said enough, and for the last time, thanks so much for reading!
Cath Day
P&F President
Cath Day
Email: htpspfpresident@gmail.com
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. This is a period of preparation in the Church’s Liturgical Year that orients the community towards Holy Week and the Season of Easter. It’s a time for Catholics to slow down their lives and focus on prayer, fasting and good works. During Lent, students are invited to give up or take up something that will benefit the lives of others and positively enhance their relationships. We invite students to make age-appropriate decisions; this could be emptying the dishwasher (without complaint or without being asked!) or reducing time spent playing video games.
The Season of Lent also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allows Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to alleviate poverty, hunger, oppression and injustice. Each year we raise student awareness of people around the world who need support and encourage giving to this cause. Your child can take donations to school at any time throughout Lent and place it in the donation box in their class.
Journey with Jesus Retreat
On Tuesday our Year 6 Leaders participated in our CSYMA Journey With Jesus Retreat. The day focused around equipping each child with a metaphorical “backpack of faith” to take with them on the journey of life. Inside this backpack they were introduced to some helpful tools that can pull out for the journey’s ups and downs, life’s new beginnings and changes like starting high school.
Grace our Youth Minster and her team lead the students through the retreat engaging them in games, inspiring talks and small group discussions. At the end of the retreat an invitation was extended to ALL Year 5 and 6 students to join the Holy Trinity Youth Ministry Team for 2021.
First Reconciliation
Thank you to the parents who attended our Reconciliation Parent Information night via zoom on Tuesday evening.
Some important reminders for parents and carers of children making the Sacrament:
- Enrolment is due by this Friday. Please follow the instructions below to enrol.
- Click here to select a home group that works for you. Please remember to add your name, your child’s name and email address to your chosen group.
- If you were unable to attend the information session last night, please send me an email and I can pass on the relevent information.
How to enrol for Reconciliation via Qkr
- Download or open the Qkr app on your phone or device
- Sign up or Login
- Tap the search icon and type in ‘Transfiguration’
- Select North Woden Transfiguration Parish (you may need to follow the prompts to add a profile)
- Select parish payments and sacraments
- Select sacraments
- Select Reconciliation (please note that the due date listed is Feb 12th, but this has been extended to February 19th)
- Complete the enrolment
Evaland Hekima Update
Emily Capper
Religious Education Coordinator
Drop off and pick up in the ELC
This week we had an incident in the ELC where a preschooler was inadvertantly let out of the gate at pick up time without his parent. Please be vigilant when arriving and departing the ELC to ensure you are only allowing your child in/out of the gate.
Stay and Play
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.
Message from Departmant of Education Skills and Employment
As part of Child Care Subsidy balancing families need to confirm their income.
For the 2018–19 financial year families need to do this by 31 March 2021.
We extended this deadline from 30 June 2020 to 31 March 2021 because of COVID-19.
Services Australia is sending letters to families this week reminding them to confirm their 2018-2019 income.
Many families may be unfamiliar with this process.
If they don’t confirm their income by 31 March 2021 their CCS will stop. This means you’ll need to charge them full fees when they use child care.
If families confirm their income after 31 March, their CCS can start again but it won’t be back paid.
The P&F are delighted to announce the launch of the Holy Trinity Major Raffle!
Raffle ticket booklets will be sent home with the eldest child from each family on Monday 22nd February.
The theme of the raffle is 'Win your dream birthday party' - there will be 5 major prize winners and each can choose any party package up to the retail value of $500 from one of our terrific local business partners including:
- Lollipops - Play Centre
- Peli & Co - Craft Party
- Bricks 4 Kidz - Lego Party
- Jelly Bean Street - Art Party
- Dance Central - Dance Party
- Little Sandpipers - Play Centre
- Limelight Cinema - Movie Party
- Kingpin - Hero Party
- ClubLime - Pool Party
- Reptile Zoo - Reptile Party
- Petting Zoo - Animal Party
- Inflatable World - Play Centre
- Quizzic Alley - Harry Potter Party
- Lucy Sparkles & Friends - Children's Entertainment
- Tiny Creatures & Co - Sleepover Teepee Party
- Weston Indoor Sports - Sports Party
- Weston Indoor Sports - Nerf Battle Party
Tickets are $5 each and every family will be asked to sell a book of 10 tickets. We ask that monies collected be transferred to the school through QKR and sold books should be returned to classroom teachers.
There is also a prize for the family who sells the most tickets - a 12 month subscription to Disney Plus!!!
A comprehensive list of FAQs will also be sent home with your raffle ticket booklet on Monday but if you have any additional questions please get in touch at htpspffundraising@gmail.com
Rowena Gribble
Raffle Coordinator
Seven ways to be a positive influence on children and young people
Parents and teachers influence children most during their first twelve years of life. We have less influence over teens as they become increasingly independent and look to their peers for guidance and approval.
The following strategies will help ensure that you have a positive influence on children at any age.
1.Be available
Nothing says “You matter” more than a busy parent giving a child undivided attention. Research has established that children whose parents are emotionally present for their kids have better social, academic, and wellbeing outcomes than those whose parents aren’t available.
2. Be warm
Sometimes we can forget that our children are people too – particularly when they’re irritable, tired and obnoxious. By responding to kids warmly (even when you don’t feel like it), you show that you value them as people. A gentle touch, a smile, or soft words bring warmth to a relationship, and increase the likelihood that you’ll be listened to and be a positive influence on their lives.
3. Listen, but don’t fix
Parents can fix sore knees, broken hearts, messy friendships, and even some difficult homework projects. But kids generally don’t need adults to fix them. They just want us to ‘get’ what they’re going through. When you see the world through their eyes, you are more understanding – and more likely to be listened to when they need us.
4. Set limits
Nothing says “I love you” more than a firm and clear “No!” from mum or dad.
“No, you can’t say that to your sister. How can you make things right?”
“No, it’s not ok for you to stay out until midnight. You’re 14.”
“No, I don’t feel right about you having your smartphone/tablet/laptop in your bedroom. Ever!”
Children and young people will often argue with you, but setting limits means that you are having a positive influence on your children. The trick is to not become too authoritarian or you’ll simply drive unwanted behaviour underground.
5. Play
Playing games and laughing together binds us close to our kids. Through play you build a relationship of trust with that facilitates our ongoing positive influence.
6. Be grateful
Grateful people are happier, healthier, have better relationships, sleep better, have more income, are less materialistic, achieve better academic outcomes and are more energetic. By being grateful you’ll be a positive influence in the lives of your children. Say thanks often – and mean it.
7. Love them and show it every day
We’re always correcting our kids or telling them what to do. Pick this up, put that away, get off the computer, pack your bag, tidy up your room, and so on… and that’s before 7.30 in the morning! Our ratio of negative to positive statements can often be the wrong way round. So find opportunities to tell your kids such things as:
- “You really make a positive difference around here.”
- “I am amazed at the exceptional effort you make at…”
- “I love you – no matter what.”
Your time with kids is short. By setting a positive example, you can be a positive and lasting influence in your children’s lives.
(Source: Parentingideas.com.au)
Heidi White
Email: Heidi.white@cg.catholic.edu.au
Welcome to 2021. I hope you had a lovely break and are ready for a big and busy year full of lots of good books and exciting adventures.
Just a few things to get the year started…
- Library lessons are once a week. Please take note of your child or children’s library day and send them in with a library bag and books to return.
- Simon Bugden will be again joining us in the library this year. He is going to be working with the 5/6 classes on a Monday.
- The Library is open every day during the 2nd half of lunch. Please remind your children to come as it is a great place to read, sit, draw, talk quietly or play a game.
|
Monday |
All 5/6 Classes (with Mr. Bugden) |
|
Tuesday |
Year 2 White and Green Kinder 3/4 White |
|
Wednesday |
3/4 Blue & Green Year 1 ELC |
|
Thursday |
Year 2 Red 3/4 Red |
|
Friday |
Library Administration Day |
- Each year, I look for parent volunteers to act as “Book Coverers”. If you have a spare hour, I will send home a bag of 10 books, per volunteer, per term. It’s not a hard job and I try to match the books to your family. If you feel up to thechallenge, please email me at kate.mertz@cg.catholic.edu.au or send a note via your child.
Happy Reading,
Kate Mertz
Librarian
Kate Mertz
Email: kate.mertz@cg.catholic.edu.au
SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS WILL BE TAKEN ON:
Thursday 18 March 2021 and Monday 22 March 2021
School photographs are scheduled to be taken by advancedlife. As a school all ordering will need to be completed online to reduce administration and potential security issues related to the return of cash and envelopes on photo day.
Orders for packages and sibling photographs can be placed securely online at www.advancedlife.com.au using our school’s unique 9 digit advancedorder code. Portrait and group package orders are due by photography day.
Should you wish to purchase a sibling photograph online, the order must be placed no later than the day before photography day. Sibling photographs will only be taken if an order has been placed.
Should you have any queries concerning school photographs or online ordering, please contact us at www.advancedlife.com.au/contact
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Students celebrating their birthdays this week: Adrin S, Liam P, Samuel G, Angel A, Gabriella J, Mrs Green and Mrs B-W |
NOTICEBOARD