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- Principal's Corner
- FROM THE APA
- APRE News
- Interschool Swimming Squad
- INSTRUMENTAL SALE
- School Routines & Procedures
- Tuckshop News
- Defence
- Breakfast Program
- Date Claimers
- Administration of Medication to Students at School
- Term Dates
- Uniform Supplies
- Absent from School
- Assembly and Bell Times
- Saver Plus Assistance with School Costs
- Our Mission Statement
Welcome to the 2020 school year! I hope you enjoyed some time with your family out of the routine of work and school.
On Thursday afternoon many families took the opportunity to meet the class teacher and deliver students’ books to the classroom. Thank you to our teachers for providing this opportunity, it is a relaxed way to commence the new school year which can create some anxiety, especially for parents who are trying to juggle the first day of school and work commitments.
Thank you to Madison Harris our CAFE (Community and Friends Engagement) who was on hand to meet parents and hand out super doopers! Our first CAFE meeting is in the staff room at 6.30 pm on Monday, 3 February, all are welcome.
Around our school grounds you will notice the new Year 5 and Year 6 classrooms and our mural on the Prep Climbing Wall. The classrooms are almost ready for handover and as soon as the furniture arrives students will move into their rooms.
Last week during the staff professional learning sessions we discussed ‘we have to’ versus ‘we get to’. It is a great way to reflect on our attitude - we have to go to school/work/ versus - we get to go to school/work/. Many who are unemployed or uneducated would relish the advantage of education or employment.
I look forward to working with you this year as we ’get to’ be a part of the Holy Spirit School community.
Staffing
Welcome to our new staff, Mrs Kathleen Campbell, 1D Class Teacher, Miss Rachel Houlahan, 4B Class Teacher, Miss Emma Yearwood, 4C Class Teacher, Miss Eileen Brown, 5A Class Teacher and Indigenous Education, Mr Brenton Place, PE Teacher, Mr Jack A’herne, Technology technician and welcome back to Mrs Kerry Donlan, Pastoral Chaplain who returns from leave.
Prep Parent Information Session
On Thursday at 2.15 pm there will be a parent information session for prep parents. The session will involve tips for parents to assist children starting prep as well as tips for supporting literacy and numeracy. The sessions will be held in the Lynch Family Hall.
Car Park Courtesy
Dropping off and collecting children can be problematic with almost 680 students arriving and departing each day. Please be patient and exercise courtesy, it is a great opportunity to teach children values such as respect, patience and courtesy. Teachers are on duty to assist with the flow of traffic, please follow their directions for the safety of all students.
God Bless,
Geraldine
Welcome to the new school year. Who would have thought we would start another year with rain. Thank you to the many families who have taken the time to assist their young person with books, uniforms and keeping to a routine so as to settle into another year at Holy Spirit.
Students arriving at school in the mornings should move to the Tuckshop for Year 4, 5 and 6 and to Bibi Goo Yumba for Year 1, 2 and 3. Teachers are on duty from 8am.
No student should be arriving before 8am.
Pick up areas are Hatchett Street, the Church carpark, Albert St (waiting in the Gazebo) from 2.50 - 3.10pm. Any student still waiting will need to be picked up from the administration block.
Please be aware that after reviewing our WPHS routines, we would ask that adults NOT play handball, ball games before school with the students. Accidents and near misses of clashes between adults and young students are common when this happens. Thanks for looking out for our students safety.
Our new classrooms for Year 5 and 6 are close to completion. We are just waiting on the finishing touches and to have all the boxes ticked before our students arrive in the rooms. Stay tuned as we are close.
Looking forward to another successful year at Holy Spirit.
Happy Days
Paul
Welcome back to the 2020 school year. It was lovely to see so many smiling faces yesterday as our families returned to school. A special welcome to those families and students that are new to our school. Each year, our school focuses on a Holy Spirit Value each week and this week we commence the school year with the Value of Mercy. The Founder of the Sisters of Mercy, The Venerable Mother Catherine McAuley, is displayed prominently on the side of the Lynch Family Hall. She was a guiding light with her testimony of faith, holiness and hope as she ministered to the poor and disadvantaged. Our school was joined by the Sisters of Mercy in 1971 and their charism of mercy and justice is just as important to us today. Pope Francis said: ‘People today…need us to bear witness to the mercy and tenderness of the Lord which warms the heart, rekindles hope, and attracts people towards the good.’
Our senior leaders will be involved in leadership activities this week to determine how they can be shining witnesses of God’s love and mercy in the way they lead in our school during the coming year. They will be identifying the values and factors that will enable them to be good role models in their leadership role. I look forward to working closely with students chosen to represent our school as leaders.
Next Wednesday morning, our school community will gather for our Opening Mass. In addition to celebrating the beginning of a new school year, we will commission our student leaders at the end of the Mass. Our Year Six students have a very important role in developing school spirit as leaders and role models to the younger students. The Opening School Mass will commence at 9am in the Lynch Family Hall. Everyone is welcome to join us for the Mass as well as a cuppa after the Mass. I look forward to seeing you all there.
SAINT JOHN BOSCO is the patron saint of apprentices, editors and publishers, schoolchildren, magicians, and juvenile delinquents. His feast day is this Friday – January 31. He was born in Piedmont, Italy and grew up in extreme poverty. After ordination, he devoted his whole life to educating young people, especially the poor. He founded the Salesians, men and women who continue this work with youth throughout the world.
I hope you all have a lovely start to the school year.
God bless
Caroline Fuller
A limited number of pre-loved violins, cellos, flutes, clarinets, saxophones and trumpets are for sale until Friday 31st January. Please go to Mrs Laing's room after lunch times on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 1.40pm - 2.50pm if you wish to purchase these instruments.
Supervision of Students Before and After School
Out of Hours School Care is provided for children arriving at school before 8.00am and unaccompanied by an adult. The safety of our students is paramount and we ask all parents to co-operate with ensuring children do not arrive at school prior to 8.00am and are collected by 3.10pm.
Beginning of School Day
The following supervision is provided from 8am.
|
|
Years 1-3 |
Bibi Goo Yumba (the under cover adjacent to the library)
|
Years 4-6 |
the Tuckshop shed
|
Prep students |
supervised by parents
|
End of School Day
There are three supervised waiting areas:
Lynch Family Hall for children collected from Hatchett St.
Church grounds for Children collected form the Holy Spirit Church car park
Gazebo on the back oval - Albert Street access.
With the exception of OHSC students, all students are to be collected by 3.10pm.
Emails
Email is a wonderful means of communication allowing parents and teachers to communicate. We live in a world where information can be instant, unfortunately this is not always possible in schools. Teachers will endeavour to answer your email, however, expectations need to be reasonable. Staff members are not expected to respond to emails sent after 5pm until at least the following day. There are times when teachers need to seek information and clarification before making a response.
Communication
The school newsletter is our main means of communication. Be informed by reading the weekly newsletter to subscribe to receive the newsletter please click this LINK
Information is also sent out via Facebook and Compass to help keep families informed.
Do you have someone in the family who does not speak English? Our school newsletter is available in a wide range of languages. On the first page you will find Translate just under the Subscribe to the Newsletter icon, choose a language and keep up with what all that is happening at Holy Spirit.
Students Sign-in Sign-out Register
Please note: Any student who is late for school must be signed in by their parent/carer at the office and collect an arrival pass to take to the class teacher.
If a student needs to leave the school during the school day their parent/carer must
1. |
Attend the office and request to pick up the child. |
2. |
Office staff will call the classroom and request for the child to come to the office. |
3. |
Child is signed out via the compass kiosk in the office. |
This means parents must not go straight to classrooms to pick up students during the school day.
If parents do need to collect a student during school hours please go to the office to sign them out and wait while office staff call the classroom.
Make sure you give yourself sufficient time when collecting your child/children as it can take a few minutes to locate a student due to factors such as the class may be out at sport or in a specialist lesson.
If a student is returning to school after an appointment they must be signed back in at the office and collect a slip to take to the class teacher.
Holy Spirit Catholic School uses Flexischools ordering system. To register, login or to place orders, please click this link:
Tuckshop welcomes all new and old parents to 2020. We are looking forward to a great year. Notes will be coming home asking for Volunteers for tuckshop and cake/fruit & veg rosters. Please feel free to drop in and ask any questions you might have. If you have been on one of our rosters before and wish to continue you can just send an email if that is easier.
Please find 2020 Menu and roster forms on the school’s website:
https://www.hsstsv.catholic.edu.au/about/tuckshop/
Welcome to the Holy Spirit School Community
We would like to introduce ourselves, Kerry Donlan and Haylie Stanhope, as the Defence School Transition Aides here at Holy Spirit Catholic School. This position has been created to support students of Defence families, enrolling in or transferring to new schools, during deployments and Defence separations. We also have both experienced the unsettling nature of mobility, deployment and Defence seperation and know how stressful if can be on all members of the family.
Our breakfast program will commence next week starting February 4th.
We are open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8am-8.25am at the Tuckshop.
Your support with donations of spreads (not nut based) would be appreciated. Donations can be dropped off at Tuckshop.
Date |
Event |
January |
30.01.20 |
Prep Info Session PM |
Date |
Event |
February |
03.02.20 |
CAFE AGM |
05.02.20 |
Opening School Mass |
07.02.20 |
CCC Meeting |
Administration of Medication to Students at School
MEDICATION
Administration of Medication to Students During School Hours
Should your child be prescribed by their medical practitioner to take medication while at school, we wish to inform you of the current Diocese of Townsville regulations with respect to this matter.
The parent or caregiver must complete the school’s medication form which is available from the office and on the school’s website www.hsstsv.catholic.edu.au/Students tab/ School Forms and also on the Newsletter’s front page in the Forms & Documents column and follow the guidelines below.
Please Note: This form must be completed each year even if there is no change to the child’s medication.
Medication |
Instructions/Forms |
Administration |
Ongoing medication - Asthma/Anaphylactic other ongoing medication |
Must have both an up to date school medication form & an action plan from the relevant doctor. |
Will be administered by the school office staff. |
Event medication - Prescribed by doctor for short term use e.g. antibiotics, prescribed eye/ear drops |
Parent must complete the school’s medication form.
|
Will be administered by the school office staff. |
Non-prescription medications Paracetomol (e.g. Panadol, Herron, Panamax) cough medicines or ear/eye drops |
Must be labelled with the student’s name by the pharmacist or accompanied by notification by a doctor.
|
Will be administered in by office staff in accordance with the dosage written on the container from the pharmacist or notification by the doctor. |
NB: Non-prescribed medication which has not been labelled by the pharmacist or accompanied by notification by a doctor will not be administered. |
Term Dates 2020 |
||
Term 1 |
Tuesday 28 January 2020 |
Friday 3 April 2020 |
Term 2 |
Monday 20 April 2020 |
Friday 26 June 2020 |
Term 3 |
Monday 13 July 2020 |
Friday 18 September 2020 |
Term 4 |
Tuesday 6 October 2020 |
Friday 4 December 2020 |
Pupil Free Day: Friday 4 September 2020 |
All uniform supplies are available at The School Locker, Domain Central (close to Bunnings).
Phone 1800 826 155
Uniform days for students:
Monday and Wednesday - Formal uniform
Tuesday and Thursday - Sports uniform
Friday - own choice
Senior shirts may be worn on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
If your child is going to be absent, please enter the details through Compass, as this is the most efficient way to inform the school.
Wednesday Assemblies |
|
Prep – Year 2 |
8.40am |
Years 3 – 6 |
2.10pm |
Whole School Assemblies |
8.45am |
Daily Bell Times |
|
8.15 am |
Students are allowed to move to class |
8.30 am |
School day commences |
10.30 am |
Morning tea bell |
10.55 am |
Five minute warning bell |
11.00 am |
School day resumes |
1.00 pm |
Lunch bell |
1.30 pm |
Five minute warning bell |
1.35 pm |
School day resumes. |
2.50 pm |
School day concludes |