Last Sunday’s Gospel...

Simeon met the baby Jesus in the temple.

He welcomed Him into the Jewish community but also recognised Him as the promised Messiah.

He recognised that his life’s purpose had been fulfilled and was now happy to die knowing he had seen the Promised One.

We too must find out our purpose so we can feel a similar satisfaction with our lives.

Did you know...

Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple because it was the Jewish custom to do so.

While Jesus was the bringer of Christianity, he grew up in a devout Jewish family and the Jewish tradition is the foundation for our own Catholic faith.

From the Principal...

Welcome to 2020! I am very glad to see everyone safely back at school again and very happy after the Christmas break. I have had a lovely welcome into the community from parents, student and staff. Your children seem to be in very good hands at Holy Family!

We welcomed new families and students this year and some new staff. Mrs Deanna David is teaching Year 6 and is the Religious Education Co-ordinator, Miss Sarina Mignacca is teaching Year 5 and Miss Maryanne Bulfon is on Kindergarten. They are settling in very quickly and I know you will make them feel very welcome too. Ms Margaret Hogan is back after her year of well deserved leave too.  

I have enjoyed seeing many of you as you drop off and pick up your children. The Beginning of the Year Mass will be another opportunity to see you as well. Please come and say hello. It will take a while to learn all your names but at least I will know faces.

You will have the chance to meet your child’s classroom teacher in the coming weeks at the Information Evenings. More details about this will follow.

I am learning about all the rules and procedures at the school. I thought it might be timely to mention in this Newsletter the current school uniform policy and some other relevant items from the School Information Handbook. I believe it is important that we are all consistent with all our policies. If we have a policy that isn’t working for us or is outdated, I am happy to look at changing it so we can be consistent. It saves a great deal of time when we all know where we stand and lets us get on to other things. I thought uniform, attendance, car park safety and the other aspects included would be a good start, seeing as it is the beginning of a fresh school year. Other policies and procedures will be looked at as we work our way through the year.

Please feel free to come and see me at any time. If I am unavailable, the office staff can make an alternative appointment time for you. Holy Family provides the best for your children when we all work together.

God Bless,

Michelle Rolfe

Principal

SCHOOL UNIFORM

At Holy Family School, students wear full school uniform at all times unless designated by the Principal.

The Holy Family School uniform, including the sports uniform, for boys and girls is available at the Lowes store in Minto Marketplace, Minto.

Classroom teachers will monitor the wearing of uniform on a day-to-day basis and inappropriate dress will be brought to the attention of the student. If necessary the Teacher will speak to both the student and parents. If the correct uniform is not worn, a note from parents is required.

To encourage students’ neat appearance in uniform:

HAIR

Students are required to wear their hair in a neat and tidy manner. It is assumed that hair will not be in such a condition as to invite comment.

BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING:

Extreme styles, shaved lines or outlines, bleaching, colouring or dyeing of hair are not permitted.

Boys hair should be kept to a length where it does not touch their collar and nothing shorter than a Number 2 comb is acceptable. 

Hair should not extend to cover the eyes.

Long hair is to be tied back or plaited.  School coloured (royal blue, light blue, white) hair bands and clips should be worn.

JEWELLERY

Jewellery should be kept to a minimum – students are permitted to wear a watch, a  light chain with religious symbols (to be worn under the uniform) for girls one pair small earrings (plain silver or gold studs or fine sleepers) in the ear lobe – no multiple earrings to be worn. Boys are not to wear earrings at school.

SHOES AND SOCKS

Students are required to wear traditional black leather school shoes.

Shoes should be clean and polished.

Sports shoes should be supportive sport shoes.  Canvas ‘Raben’ type shoes are not appropriate for school wear. Sports shoes must be predominantly white.

Sports socks must be white socks that cover the ankle, 'sockettes' are not appropriate for school wear.

HATS AND BAGS

The school hat is to be worn at all times when outside the classroom.  The ‘no hat…no play’ rule is enforced at all times.

The blue school bag with the Holy Family emblem is to be used.

ALL UNIFORM ITEMS MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED WITH THE CHILD’S NAME

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

In accordance with the Education Act 1990

 At Holy Family:

Supervision begins at 8.25am

Monday to Friday                                             8.45am – 2.55pm

Supervision begins                                           8.25am

Morning Tea                                                     10.45 – 11.15am

Lunch                                                              1.15pm – 1.55pm

Dismissal                                                         2.55pm

 The school day begins with certain routines and activities eg. prayer, roll call etc, so it is essential that children arrive at school by 8.45am.  The school grounds are open to pupils from 8.25am each morning and remain open to pupils until 3.10pm each afternoon.  At all times outside these periods on Mondays to Fridays, the school grounds and buildings are out of bounds.

Children are not supervised prior to 8.25am each morning and after 3.10pm.  Parents are requested not to bring children to school prior to 8.25am or pick them up after 3.10pm.  If any parent or care giver has difficulty in ensuring that their child does not attend school until 8.25am and/or ensuring that their child leaves school by 3.10pm, please contact the Principal to discuss alternate arrangements.

OFFICE ADMINISTRATION

To assist with the administration of money matters at school you are asked to support the following procedures.

Where possible send the correct amount

Place payment in an envelope, clearly marked with your child’s name and class/room number, indicating for what the money is intended.

Please remind your child to hand money to the class teacher as soon as they go into class.

CAR PARK SAFETY

Please note that the carpark is not a ‘kiss and drop’ zone.  Parents must park and walk with their children at all times.  All parents are to drive slowly and carefully through the car park.  Where possible reverse into car park spaces to allow for easy vision upon exiting.

ONE-WAY DRIVEWAY ENTRANCE AND EXIT TO SCHOOL AND CHURCH CAR PARK

The Entry driveway to the car park is located on the Cumberland Road side (Railways Station side) of the Church.  The Exit driveway is the driveway closest to Currawong Street.  These are one-way Entry and Exit points for the car park.  Please drive safely through the car park and park in a designated car park space to drop off and collect your children.

PARENTS ARE NOT TO STOP THEIR CARS ON OR NEAR THE PEDESTRIAN CROSSING to let children in or out of the car.  Please park cars in the marked areas and walk your child into the school grounds.  Please give us your full co-operation in this matter.   The safety of the children depends upon your co-operation.

ANAPHYLAXIS POLICY

We have several children in our school who are allergic to nuts and egg.  Their allergies are life threatening so we ask all parents to refrain from sending their children to school with peanuts, peanut butter, peanut products and egg.

NUT FREE SCHOOL POLICY

There is a ‘nut free’ policy at Holy Family Catholic Parish Primary School.  A number of our students have an allergy to nuts and an anaphylactic reaction can be provoked by traces of nuts, coming into contact with the children.  To ensure these children’s safety at school, we are asking your assistance by not sending peanut butter or other particular types of food that may be a source of allergen in any form in lunch boxes and snacks.  Peanut butter sandwiches, nuts, biscuits prepared with nut oils or containing nuts, peanut butter dips, spreads, nutella, muesli bars containing nuts are such products.  Our canteen is also ‘nut free’.

School fees have been invoiced to families and they are available to view in the Compass Parent Portal.  We anticipate that school fee statements will be issued by email within the next 10 days.  We apologise for the delay in distribution of statements, which was unanticipated and due to system issues.  For your information payment requirements are as follows: 

• For families who pay annually, payment in full is due on 28 February 2020. 

• For families that have submitted a Request to Pay by Instalment or who previously had a School Fee Agreement in place, a schedule of the required payments and the due date will be issued with school fee statements.  The first instalment payment will be due on 28 February, 2020.  Parents may commence payments earlier if they wish, however, it is important that any existing regular payment is equal to the instalment amount provided on the schedule and that payment is made on or before the due dates on the schedule.  Reference should be made to the Request to Pay by Instalments on the school’s website for conditions relating to payment in this manner.  

• For families who have a Fee Concession in place, you will be contacted prior to your review date to complete annual documentation and arrange an interview with the Principal.  If you have a current payment plan in place, and you are unable to increase your payments to meet your 2020 school fees, you may continue to make these payments until your next review date. 

• Parents should be aware that our new accounting system will send automatic reminders for overdue payments. 

The following documents are available on the school’s website for the information of families: 

• Diocesan School Fee Management Policy
• Diocesan Frequently Asked Questions
• Diocesan Request to Pay by Instalments
• Information regarding school Fees at our school

It is recommended that parents make themselves aware of the contents of these important Diocesan Policy and Procedures.

For School staff to administer any medication, including ‘over the counter’ medication, authorisation is required from a Medical Practitioner.  A Consent to Dispense Medicine form, available from the School office,  has to be stamped and signed by the prescribing Doctor.

This April school holidays we are excited to announce that the Learning Labs program will be delivered to THREE University of Wollongong campuses.

Our focus is on Batemans Bay and Southern Sydney campuses, with a smaller program in Wollongong. Our larger July school holiday workshops will be back in Wollongong as per normal.

Learning Labs is an academic and creative arts enrichment holiday program. We are targeting students from Year 1 to 6 during 2020, who are passionate, self-motivated and curious learners. Please see the schedule below and follow links to each region’s webpage:

Dates:  Wollongong campus: 14 – 17 April, 2020

Loftus Southern Sydney campus: 15 – 17 April, 2020

Batemans Bay campus: 15 – 16 April, 2020

Venues:  Wollongong campus: Little & Early Learning Labs

Loftus Southern Sydney campus: Early Learning Labs only

Batemans Bay campus: Little and Early Learning Labs

Applications close: 27 February, 2020

Help us spread the word by passing this information on to your students and their families via your school newsletters, website or individual selection process. A link to the April Learning Labs brochure is below:

• Learning Labs Brochure

 APPLICATION PROCESS

• Students can be encouraged to apply by their school, classroom teacher, subject specialist teachers from school or out-of-school or by their parents. If a school-based professional is identifying a potential student they will supply them with a Teacher Nomination Letter (there is a space to write who it is for at the top and to sign at the bottom)
• Parents/Guardians visit our website and select the campus you are interested in and get more information about workshops for that campus, dates and times.
• Parents/Guardians (or school if parent/guardian is unable to) fill out the online application form.
• This is an academic enrichment program designed for students who are motivated and passionate learners and performing excellently in their area of interest. First-time applicants are required to demonstrate their suitability for the program. One piece of supporting documentation is required (see 'Supporting Documentation' section on website). Please note that the Teacher Nomination Letter can be used as a supporting document.

Please know that workshops fill very quickly.

We will also have several sponsorship places available for students who identify as Australian Aboriginal/Torres Strait or students experiencing financial difficulty. 

For further information about workshops and the application process please visit our website, or contact the Learning Labs team via email at learning-labs@uow.edu.au or phone on (02) 4221 5557.