Dear Friends,

Today at Holy Trinity we acknowledged and celebrated Harmony Day.  The Gospel above  from last Sunday and the image of the fig tree may seem an odd symbol to focus on for Harmony Day.  However, in the time of Jesus, and even today, such trees are an important food source and form a rich part of many cultures. If they do not produce fruit, they are little more than decorative, if not productive, they are cut down.

Jesus in the above Gospel is saying something similar to us today. If we claim to be inclusive and welcoming and wanting a harmonious world, then we need to match some words with actions, that is, bear some fruit. Jesus also through the parable, gives us HOPE. We may not have it right yet, but we may have another chance- let's dig around and show great care and empathy, so that we may grow a fruitful and harmonious world. 

Library News…

 The library was recently gifted a giant green crocodile. The crocodile’s job is to watch over the library and to lay on the ground out in the corridor - to let the children know when the library is open – this usually occurs at 11.20am every day. 

The new crocodile needed a name, so we had the ‘The Great HT Crocodile Naming Competition’. Each class was invited to select their top three names and pop them into a box in the library. There was lots of discussions and some very interesting names entered.

Last Thursday, at morning announcements, Mrs. Brearley was given the honor of selecting the winning entry..

Congratulations to 2W and Miss Hart.

The winning name was ‘Little Legs’ (very apt) ?

God Bless,

Kate M x

Dear Holy Trinity Families,

It is my great pleasure to provide my first newsletter contribution as newly appointed Chair of the Holy Trinity School Board. I would like to thank Scott Pearsall for his enormous efforts in this position over the past years and express my gratitude for his continued support as an ongoing member of the board. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest board members Cath Day (Deputy Chair), Jane Baseby (Shadow Treasurer), Michelle Cains and Josh Hogan (Parent Representatives). Thank you to Lucy Vincent who has taken on the position of Secretary and to Tracey Hanlon for filling in for Emily Capper as REC.

The board discussed a school environment audit around playground safety and is committed to the safety and well being of all individuals in our school environment. We are looking into additional measures to continually monitor and improve the physical safety of the school grounds. This will include reviewing compliance of all playground equipment and rectifying any potential hazards.

I would like to acknowledge all of Philippa Brearley’s dedication and hard work in successfully securing a building grant for the Stage 2 of the building project. Construction work is well under way and we hope to see this completed by the beginning of Term 4. We are looking forward to seeing the new space with increased facilities for our children.

As Covid restrictions slowly begin to ease and opportunities to gather as a community come back on the horizon I look forward to meeting with you all in person again.

Andrew

Andrew Peereboom
School Board Chair

Harmony Day

Today our school celebrated Harmony Day, a day dedicated to celebrating the cultural diversity within our community. Our Year 6 Service Leaders engaged each class across the school in activities that promoted inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging. It was amazing to see the diversity among the traditional cultural dress in our community, along with the sea of orange throughout the school. Thank you to everyone for their participation and support of our Harmony Day activities.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Congratulations to all candidates who attended one of the Reconciliation Presentation Masses last weekend. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all, particularly as you celebrate your Sacrament of Reconciliation over the coming weeks.

If you were unable to attend one of the Presentation Masses due to illness, you can attend one of the Parish masses this weekend. Please let Fr John know that you are in attendance so that your child can be presented to the Church community.

Reconciliation Retreat Day

Tomorrow, all Year 3 students and Reconciliation candidates will be participating in our Reconciliation Retreat Day. Students are invited to wear free clothes in exchange for a gold coin donation, which will be donated to Project Compassion. Students are asked to bring their recess, water bottle and their school hat. A pizza lunch will be supplied on the day.

Holy Week Prayer Celebrations

Due to Covid restrictions, we will be live streaming all Holy Week Prayer Celebrations to each of the classes and to the parents of the class presenting. If you are joining in one of the Holy Week Prayer Celebrations virtually, we kindly ask that you place your microphone on mute for the entire prayer celebration.

Easter Raffle

Thank you to the 3/4 families who have already donated Easter items for our upcoming Easter Raffle. Please continue to send any donations in with your child, to place in their class donation basket.

Tickets for our Annual Easter Raffle will be on sale from this coming Monday, 28th March. 

Rapid Antigen Tests Distribution

The ACT Government is making some changes to the way rapid antigen tests (RATs) are distributed to ACT school communities for the remainder of Term 1. RATs will continue to be available through our ELC but will be provided to staff and children on an as-needed basis - or in response to increased cases as necessary. If you require additional RATs please contact cushla.sheehan@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Parent Partnerships

As we approach the end of Term One we would like to invite our ELC families to meet with their child's teacher to share learning and re-visit goals. Please click here to book a time with your child's teacher in Week 9, (28 March - 1 April).

We value partnerships with families and are always available to meet to discuss your child's needs or progress.

Covid Update

A reminder for families that if you have a COVID-19 case in your family, to please notify me via email  - cushla.sheehan@cg.catholic.edu.au

School Holiday Program

Preschool finishes on Friday 8 April 2022 and will resume on WEDNESDAY 27 APRIL (due to ANZAC Day Public Holiday 25 April, Staff Professional Learning day Tuesday 26 April) but the ELC will remain open for the School Holiday Program on 11-26 April.

The aim is to provide a relaxed atmosphere where the children will be able to play, participate in a variety of fun activities and interact with their peers in a safe and supportive environment. The holiday program will operate from the ELC but also make use of our local environment too.

Bookings must be made before the ELC office by Wednesday 6 April. Cost is $110 per day. Children will need to bring morning tea, lunch, hat and water. The ELC will provide afternoon tea. The ELC opens 8am-5.45pm in school holidays.

Spaces are limited and priority is given to current ELC families, please book early to avoid missing out.

If you would like to book your Preschooler, Kinder or Year One child please click here.

The ACT Government is making some changes to the way rapid antigen tests (RATs) are distributed to ACT school communities for the remainder of Term 1. RATs will continue to be available through our school but will be provided to staff and students on an as-needed basis, due to symptoms or close exposure - or in response to increased cases as necessary. If you require additional RATs please contact me on philippa.brearley@cg.catholic.edu.au and I will send a test home in your child's bag. 

Our daily COVID reporting is as follows: 

The 2022 online school directory is live!

If you provided contact information in Week 2/3, then you should now have access to the online school directory.

If you were a user last year (and did not change your email address) then your login should continue to work uninterrupted.

If you are a new user (or changed your email address from last year) then you will receive an invitation from 'Directory Spot' to create an account. You need to:

1. Follow the link in the email invitation (remember to check your junk box if you cannot find the email).
2. Follow the prompts to create an account on the 'Directory Spot' website. 
3. Close the website.
4. Download the 'Directory Spot' app (which is free).
5. Use the account login you just created to access the directory. Helpfully, the app will remember your password if you tap the toggle 'save password' under the login field.

If you did not provide contact information in Week 2/3 but you would like to be able to view the online school directory, then please email htpsschooldirectory@gmail.com and we will create a user account for you. To do this, you will need to provide an email address but this will not be seen by other users.

Please contact us at htpsschooldirectory@gmail.com if there is a problem such as:

• Your information is incorrect
• Your child appears in the wrong class list
• Your family is not properly grouped as a single unit
• Your details are completely missing
• You do not receive an invitation to create an account on 'Directory Spot'
• You cannot login 

We are working with a huge volume of data and we have done our best to ensure accuracy but inevitably, there will be some errors. We apologise if we have made a mistake with your details and if you send us an email we would be pleased to correct it for you.

Thank you to all the families who provided contact information for this year's online school directory, I hope it serves you well through the rest of the year!

Jenny Van de Meeberg
School Directory Co-ordinator