Forgiving God, your mercy and compassion brings freedom and hope to our world.  In this season of Lent turn our hearts to you.  Lift us up when we fall.  Restore our broken, fragile world, and give us confidence to live and love again.  Amen. 

We cannot use our faith as an excuse to be uninvolved in our world. Where am I challenged to assist those in need?

Dear Friends,

It was wonderful to celebrate our first awards Assembly for 2021, with parents of recipients present for the first time in 12 months.  Children from Kinder to Year 6 were recognised during the assembly for showing acts of faith, hope and love, academic effort and for high academic achievement. We also congratulated the age champions from our Swimming Carnival in Week 3. 

 Swimming Age Champions

Each year our staff  spend time reviewing our Pastoral Care and Well Being Policy and classroom and playground behaviour expectations. 

Part of this review looks at agreed practices across the school, to enable consistency in our approach to pastoral care of all students and to ensure restorative practices are used across the school for students to better understand and learn from their behaviour.  Holy Trinity staff will ensure this school wide approach occurs by:

• Consistently applying positive school wide behaviour practices throughout the school 
• The implementation and employment of whole school strategies for Behaviour Management 
• Embedding restorative practices when helping students, parents and teachers to resolve issues with relational conflict
• Collaboratively developing action plans to support positive educational and behavioural outcomes 
• Developing essential agreements, collaboratively establishing a whole school and classroom agreements outlining responsibilities that align with the IB Learner Profile 

The consistent procedures being used across the school (included in the policy)  are outlined in the following link:

Behaviour Support procedures

One strategy we have noticed that some students use when questioned about negative behaviour, is that of denial or blaming others.  It is really important that children can own behaviour and be accountable for their actions.  This will then help them learn from their mistakes and take responsibility. 

Welcome to another wonderful year at Holy Trinity! I am delighted to announce the P&F Team for 2021:

As you can see, there are a few key roles that remain vacant – Assistant Secretary, Revue Co-ordinator and Tuckshop Co-ordinator. If you are interested in one of these roles and would like to discuss what might be involved, please get in touch at htpspfpresident@gmail.com

The P&F meets each term on Wednesday of Week 4 and Week 8. All parents are welcome to join these meetings. If you would like to be added to the contact list for these meetings, please get in touch at htpspfpresident@gmail.com

Before delving into the plans for the coming year, I would like to thank the entire P&F team from 2020 for such a terrific effort throughout a very tough year. 2020 was filled with many challenges but despite this, the P&F found creative ways to host a range of wonderful events and continue to fundraise for our school. In 2020, the P&F contributed $50,000 towards building the lovely new ‘Outdoor Learning Area’ in the Kitchen Garden, $4,000 for new readers to support our children’s literacy skills and $10,000 for resources such as lap desks and the ‘Reading Eggs’ subscription. We should all be very proud of this effort.

P&F Activities for Term 1

The P&F has kicked-off both of its key initiatives for Term 1 – the online school directory and the major raffle.

The online school directory, hosted on the ‘Directory Spot’ app, should go live in the coming week and give all parents access to class lists and contact information for families who volunteered their details in the call-to-action during Weeks 2 & 3. The primary purpose of the school directory is to facilitate social interaction for families in the Holy Trinity Community. Log-in details and instructions will be sent shortly. As always, if there is an error with the information in the School Directory or gremlins preventing you from accessing it, please contact us at htpsschooldirectory@gmail.com

The major raffle has also commenced and we can’t wait to see which family will rise to the challenge to sell the most tickets and win the 12 month subscription to Disney Plus! This is a special prize in addition to the raffle draw itself. We are hoping to motivate families to sell more tickets and raise more funds! All families should have received raffle books (they were sent home with the eldest child from each family in Week 4). If you have not received a raffle book or you would like more raffle books, please get in touch at htpspffundraising@gmail.com

The theme of this year’s raffle is 'Win your dream birthday party'. There will be 5 major prize winners and each can choose a party package up to the retail value of $500 from one of our terrific local business partners. Please be creative when selling your raffle tickets, maybe take them to your local sports clubs, dance & music schools, work colleagues, neighbours and extended family. Please return all raffle books to the school by 1^st April (the last day of Term 1). The draw will take place at school on 21^st April.

P&F Activities for Term 2

We are in the early stages of planning fundraising activities for Term 2 – a this stage we hope to host a movie night for the kids, a ‘Parent’s Night Out’ for the grown-ups and operate the ever-popular Mother’s Day Stall. If you would like to be involved with any (or all!) of these activities, please get in touch at htpspffundraising@gmail.com. Each activity has a team of terrific people working on ideas so if you volunteer you will not be alone but working with a small group – many hands make light work!

As part of the ‘Parent’s Night Out’ we intend to host an auction and would love to create a ‘whole-of-school’ artwork to go under the hammer. If there are any creative parents who would like to be part of the team to specifically work on this project, please get in touch at htpspffundraising@gmail.com. The specific medium and design has yet to be decided so volunteers will have plenty of opportunity to express their own creativity in this task.

The P&F will finalise activities for the remainder of the year at the next meeting (24^th March), so all are welcome to come along and contribute ideas.

Ongoing P&F Activities

Lastly, but most importantly, the P&F manages a suite of ongoing services to make day-to-day life easier for parents & students. The P&F co-ordinates the Casserole Bank, Uniform Shop, BBQ Team, Tuckshop Rostering and Vacuuming Rostering.

At this stage, we really need more volunteers for the vacuuming roster. Vacuuming teams meet on Wednesday nights between 6pm-8pm, and each team is rostered approx. 3 times per year. Perhaps you might like to get together with a group of friends and use it as an excuse to meet-up and hang-out with other parents! Ideally, we need to fill 60 positions so please consider signing-up to the vacuuming roster. I would like to encourage parents who are new to the school to consider putting their hand up as this is a great way to meet other families and it is only a very modest time commitment. Please click here to complete the Vacuum Roster Form.

Finally, we are always on the look out for more uniform shop volunteers. If you are available 3pm-4pm on Friday afternoons please text your name and number to Cheryl Hendy 0410 645 482.    

We are very excited about the year ahead and look forward to seeing you at a P&F event in the near future! If you have any questions, comments or concerns, then please feel free to get in touch at htpspfpresident@gmail.com

Jenny Van de Meeberg

P&F President

Project Compassion

As we journey through Lent we are called to have a change of heart and spend more time in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. When we think of almsgiving we often think of giving physically with donations of money or food to those less fortunate than us. As a Holy Trinity community, we are currently raising money for Project Compassion. Project Compassion works with local communities around the world to alleviate poverty, hunger, oppression and injustice. Each classroom has a Project Compassion box in their classroom. 

Parish/School Mass, Presentation of Reconciliation Candidates

On Saturday, 13^th March we will be having our first Parish/School Mass for 2020. During the Mass, the candidates for Reconciliation will be presented to the community. I invite all members of the community to join us at this Mass as we acknowledge these candidates and the progression they’ve made on their faith journey. 

Upcoming Dates

Week 6

• Saturday 13th March: 6pm - Reconciliation Presentation Mass

Week 7

• Monday 15th March: 2:30pm - Class Assesmbly - 3/4 Blue
• Thursday 18th March - Harmony Day
• Friday 19th March: - Reconciliation Retreat - All Year 3 Students

Week 8 

• Saturday 28th March: Sacrament of Reconciliation Commences

Week 9

• Monday 29th March: 2:30pm-  Prayer Celebration Palm Sunday 1 Green
• Wednesday 31st March: 2:10pm-  Prayer Celebration Holy Thursday & Good Friday  2 White & 5/6 Green
• Thursdat 1st April 2:30pm - Prayer Celebration Easter Sunday 1 White

School Holiday Program

The school holidays start on the 2 April, 2021 (Good Friday). The ELC will run a School Holiday Program (SHP) from 6-16 April for preschool, Kinder and Year 1 children. The program will run daily from 8am-5.45pm. Bookings can be made on our booking link here.

School Photos

ELC Children will be included in the school photos on Thursday 18 March and Monday 22 March. Orders will only be taken via the online link. Please refer to this link in the this newsletter.

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.

Supporting boys in upper primary school

Online Safety Basics

Source:  eSafety Commissoner

Help your children safely navigate their digital world and educate them to avoid harmful online experiences. Explore websites, games, apps and social media together and set some rules. 

Your support and guidance can give your children the confidence to make sound decisions online ― and ask for help when they need it. 

Three key strategies

1.  Be engaged, open and supportive

• Get involved. Share online time with your children as part of family life. Play games together. Talk about favourite apps, games or websites.
• Keep lines of communication open. Ask about their online experiences, who they are talking to and whether they are having any issues.
• Reassure your child they can always come to you, no matter what. Let them know you will not cut off internet access if they report feeling uncomfortable or unsafe when online ― this is a real concern that may stop your child from communicating with you openly.
• If you notice a change in behaviour or mood, talk to your child about it. If you are concerned, consider seeking professional help ― from your GP, a psychologist or school counsellor.

2.  Set some rules

• Set age-appropriate rules for devices and online access, with consequences for breaking them.
• Ensure your child’s input — this will help them understand risks. As they get older you can review your rules together. 
• Consider creating a family tech agreement (sometimes called a family media plan or family online safety agreement). A family tech agreement is a set of rules about how devices, like smartphones, tablets, computers, TVs and gaming consoles are used in your home. It is written down and agreed to by all family members and kept in a place where everyone can see it, such as on the fridge.
• Your family tech agreementcould cover the type of websites that can be visited, time spent online and acceptable online behaviour. 
• eSafety has created our own version of a Family Tech Agreement, in collaboration with ABC KIDS, especially designed for families with children under 5. You can download this and fill it in with your family. Another example, from ThinkUKnowAustralia, can also be a good starting point for families with older children.
• The consequences for breaking the rules should be clear. Negotiate these with your child when you create your agreement so they mean something to them — Raising Children Networkhas some useful tips and advice.
• Consider making some ‘rules for parents’ too — and stick to them! Model behaviour that you would like to see.
  
  

3.  Use the available technology

• Get to know the devices you and your children use and set them up for privacy and online safety. Take advantage of parental controls to monitor and control screen time and access to content in ways appropriate to your child’s age and experience. See our guide to taming the technology.
• Choose apps and games carefully, taking age ratings and consumer advice into account. Check the App Store or Google Play, and for games, the Australian Classification Board’s online database. NetAware (UK)has a comprehensive guide to popular social media apps and games. The Australian Council on Children and the Media and Common Sense Media (US) both offer information about apps, games and websites searchable by age.

Follow this link for further information including access to the Family Tech Agreements template: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/skills-advice/online-safety-basics

Campbell Sloane and Camille Gerbich
ICT Coordinators | Classroom Teachers

On Tuesday Mrs Brearley faciliated a literacy parent workshop.

Please click here to access the booklet. 

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

St Clare's Come and Try Day

Plant Sale