Last Sunday’s Gospel

John 6:1-15 recounts the miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand. A crowd followed Jesus because of the miracles He performed on the sick. Jesus, seeing the crowd, asked His disciple Philip where they could buy bread to feed them. Philip replied that even two hundred denarii wouldn't be enough.

Andrew, another disciple, mentioned a boy who had five loaves and two fish, but doubted it would be enough. Jesus had the crowd sit down, took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them along with the fish. Everyone ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples collected twelve baskets of leftovers. The people, amazed by this miracle, declared that Jesus was the Prophet they had been expecting. Sensing they wanted to make Him king, Jesus withdrew to a mountain alone.

John’s Gospel invites us to trust in Jesus, recognise His divinity, and appreciate the spiritual blessings He offers each one of us. It challenges us to bring whatever we have to Jesus, no matter how insignificant it may seem, always trusting in Him. What are you bringing to Jesus this week? 

Welcome Back to Term 3!

Welcome back to school for Term 3. It is wonderful to be back and to see the students are all well rested and ready for a great term of faith and learning ahead. We sent home the term overview at the end of Term 2 so you can have easy access to all of the events and activities that are to take place this term. If you don’t have a copy, please ask the office. It is very handy to use as a reference.

Student Academic Reports

Semester One student reports were sent home at the end of last term and many Parent Teacher Interviews took place. Teachers reported that these meetings were a wonderful opportunity to build even stronger relationships with you all and that they are a valuable opportunity to get to know the students even more, upon hearing your perspectives. I truly thank our teachers for giving up their time for this and to you all for making the time for it. When we work together, outcomes for our students improve greatly.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN results went home last week. As a whole, we were pleased with our results. As you know, we have worked hard, and continue to do so, most specifically in the area of Mathematics and I am happy to report that we performed above both the national and diocesan average in this area. This is something we have worked towards. We are still awaiting the state averages to compare that too. We were above in all NAPLAN domains aside from Year 5 Grammar and Punctuation which is now something we are looking into as a staff.

Tell Them From Me Survey

Thank you to those of you who were able to participate in our Tell Them From Me Survey. The data has been quite helpful to us in identifying areas of strength and areas to turn our attention to, moving forward.

The Tell Them From Me student survey provides school leaders with insights into student engagement, wellbeing and effective teaching practices at their school, from the perspective of students. All students in Years 4 to 6 tookpart. 

Themes that came out of this survey, the first one to ever have been conducted at Holy Family are as follows:

• Overall, 72% of students surveyed reported that they feel accepted and valued by their peers and others at school. The Tell Them From Me Norm average is 71%.

• Overall, 95% of students report that they do not get into trouble at school for inappropriate or disruptive behaviour. The Tell Them From Me Norm average is 88%.

• Overall, 32% of students reported that they have intense feelings of fear, intense anxiety or worry about particular events or social situations. The Tell Them From Me Norm average is 30%.

• In response to the statement, “Prayer and Liturgy experiences at my school help me to reflect upon my life and faith in God”, students reported:

• 41% Strongly Agree

• 35% Agree

• 13% Neither Agree or Disagree

• 3% Disagree

• 8% Strongly Disagree

The staff have begun to unpack this feedback and are working on plans to address themes that have come out of the data. We will continue to keep you informed as to our responses and focus areas and I will also report on the Parent Survey Data in the next newsletter.

Faith Formation

Mr Natoli is starting a Youth Ministry program during lunchtimes at Break 1 on Tuesdays. It is aimed (at this stage) at Year 5 and 6 students and is completely optional. I invite you to speak to your child about this wonderful opportunity to deepen their relationship with Jesus.

Giants AFL 4 Week Afterschool Program

You may have noticed that your child brought home a flyer from the recent Giants AFL Clinic. The Giants would like to offer a 4 week Auskick Program which is a skills based program after school on Wednesdays. While this clinic is to take place at Koala Park, it is completely run by the Giants and there will be no supervision provided by Holy Family staff members. Parents will need to ensure that they pick their children up from classrooms and walk them to Koala Park and remain with them during the session. The gates will be open for students to use the Holy Family School bathrooms for the sessions. If you have any questions, please contact the Giants AFl Representative on the flyer.

Father’s Day Celebrations

Once again, our wonderful P&F are holding a Father’s Day Stall. It will take place next Friday. For those students who are representing the school at the Western Region Athletics Carnival, we will ensure you are able to select a gift at another time. 

Our Father’s Day celebration will take place on Friday. August 30th. Details are as follows:

Father’s Day BBQ from 8:20am - 9am under the shelter area of the school. 

Father’s Day Liturgy in the School Hall commencing at 9:15am (Assembly awards to be given out at the conclusion of the liturgy). 

Open Classrooms from 10am - 10:30am.

Olympic Extravaganza

Our Olympic Extravaganza is to take place on Monday August 12th, commencing at 9am in the hall. As you may know, each grade has been focusing on a country that is competing at this year’s Olympic Games and will perform an item relating to that country. We are looking forward to sharing this with you all.

Canberra Excursion

Our Year 5 students, along with their teachers and myself, attended the Canberra overnight excursion. It was a busy two days and the students learned a great deal about our national capital. Our bus driver and staff members from the accommodation made a point to let me know how wonderful our students are and what a credit they are to you, the parents and to the school, in both behaviour and how they engaged with the excursion. Please see some photographs below.

Book Week Parade

You would recall the Compass notification that was sent out last term that explained this year’s Book Week Parade. Please see below for details, as a reminder:

Book Week Parade will take place on Friday, August 16th, commencing at 11.30am. Our parade will be complemented by a drama based on Mary Poppins' 'pavement art scene'. To support this, each grade is invited to dress up based on the following books:

Kindergarten

‘The Rainbow Fish’ - Marcus Pfister

Year 1

‘Zog’ or ‘Zog and the Flying Doctors’ - Julia Donaldson

Year 2

‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ - Drew Daywalt

 Year 3

‘The Bad Guys’ series - Aaron Blabey

 Year 4

The Treehouse series (ie.’The 13-Storey Treehouse’ etc) - Andy Griffiths

 Year 5

‘Gangsta Granny’ - David Walliams

 Year 6

‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ - Roald Dahl

Please remember that costumes need not be extravagant, many families enjoy making simple costumes using items they have around the house. If the theme is too difficult, children are welcome to select a costume of their own choice.

For all things at Holy Family, give thanks!