Last Sunday’s Gospel...

Jesus spoke to His disciples about being the Good Shepherd. That means he truly cares for each one of his sheep and know them – He doesn’t just look after them for the money. How do we know if we are one of His sheep? We just need to listen to Him and be guided by His voice. That can be hard to do and hard to remember sometimes, but He always calls to us and knows us even when we stray.

Did you know...

Shepherds in biblical times used to shelter together with other shepherds and their sheep for safety at night. In the morning when it was time to find grazing for them, shepherds called to their own sheep from the large herd and the sheep did indeed respond to their own shepherd’s voice and literally follow him.

From the Principal...

It’s lovely to see everyone back again after the Easter break! Mrs Smith and I have been very busy conducting Kindergarten interviews this week. There will be a lot of new families to welcome into our community next year. If you have a child that you want to enroll for next year, please do so as soon as possible. You are not guaranteed of a place for a sibling once we have sent out offers so please fill in and submit a form if you haven’t already.

We were very pleased to be able to have parents at our ANZAC Day morning Assembly on Monday. It has been very strange without you. We will be doing the same now for Friday assemblies. Parents and visitors will need to enter via to Koala Park gate and sign in as per Covid regulations using the QR code that will be there. Please sit on the silver benches behind the students. If we have to move into the hall due to rain, we will send a Compass notification to you. We still can’t have parents in the hall due to the 2square metre rule. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us!

The P&F are able to hold the Mother’s Day stall again. You will receive more information about this separately. We know the students love buying presents for their Mums and I thank the P&F for continuing to provide this special service.

As you are aware, Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 participate in a swimming program in Term 4 of each year. It has been conducted daily with students walking to and from the pool at Macquarie Fields.  I am proposing two changes to this. Firstly, I want to book the lessons for once a week. A longer time will give the students a chance to sustain new skills and reduce missing lessons if they are sick. It is also less disruptive to learning. Secondly, and of more significance, is my decision to transport the students by bus rather than having them walk. I am not comfortable with the students crossing a very busy multi lane road. There is also the chance of hot or wet weather but, my priority is safety with which I believe the majority of you will agree. It does come at a cost though. We are working out prices with the bus company and are looking at reducing the number of lessons to help keeps costs down, but I wanted to give you notice that I expect at least a $50 - $100 increase. For some families this will be acceptable but I know that some are still struggling with the effects of Covid on incomes for example.  We are applying for a sport grant which may subsidise these costs and the P&F are also considering whether it is suitable to provide a grant to needy families this year as a one off to assist with the transition. Should this go ahead, it will be to families who already have a fee arrangement in place with me and the P&F will only know how many families, not who they are.  As you can see I am still in the planning stage for this and welcome any feedback or ideas from you, either to me or a member of the P&F. I am confident we will have a safe and reasonably priced swimming program.

Student uniform continues to be of a high standard – thank you! Either full summer or full winter uniform may be worn until Mother’s Day when full winter uniform is to be worn. Please don’t mix them or add skivvies or tights to the summer uniform. The school uniform shop seems to be running smoothly – please let us know how you think it is working for you.

God Bless,

Michelle Rolfe

Principal

Our current fortnightly focus has been how students can be safe, respectful and responsible when using the Toilets. 

 You may have noticed that posters have been displayed around the school on each playground. The posters have ‘I can’ statements and outline to students what they are able to play or do on each playground. These posters are aligned with our school rules.

Uniform

Just a reminder that earrings can only be a silver/gold ball stud (no stones) or sleeper/hoop earrings that can be rotated through the ear. Please see the image below.

Please give our school Facebook page a like. We regularly upload photos of students through this platform and would love to keep our school community updated. Select the link for Holy Family, Ingleburn Facebook page. 

Regards, 

Alana Stroligo

Swimming

On Monday 22nd March, Sean Sullivan represented the Wollongong Diocese at the MacKillop Swimming Trials.      

Sean competed in multiple events: 50m Butterfly, 200m Medley, 50m Breastroke and 50m Freestyle. Sean placed 3rd in 50m Butterfly and 200m Medley. We would like to congratulate Sean for his achievements as he was successful in representing MacKillop at PSSA for 50m Butterfly and 200m Medley on Wednesday 31st March. 

Cross Country

On Tuesday 27th of April, 19 students represented Holy Family at the Diocesean Regional Cross Country in Nowra. We would like to congratulate each student on their efforts in each of their races. We also congratulate Hudson Prenter as he was successful in making it through to the next round, placing in the top 8 students for the Under 12 Boys race. 

The University of Wollongong invites all of our students to LITTLE and EARLY LEARNING LABS, an academic and creative arts enrichment holiday program.

We are targeting students from Year 1 to 6 who are passionate, self-motivated and curious learners.

Dates:         Little Learning Labs (Years 1 and 2): 28^th – 30^th June 2021

                     Early Learning Labs (Years 3 to 6): 6^th - 8^th July 2021

Venue:        University of Wollongong (Wollongong campus only)

Applications close:     Wednesday, 26^th May 2021

• LITTLE AND EARLY LEARNING LABS program 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 please supply them with a Teacher Nomination Letter
• Parents/Guardians visit our website and read the full list of workshops available by scrolling to the “Workshop Descriptions” section.
• Parents/Guardians (or school if parent/guardian is unable to) fill out the online application form.
• This is an academic and creative arts 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.
• Learning Labs is registered as COVID-Safe and follows the guidelines set out by the NSW Government here.

Please know that workshops fill very quickly.

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

We thank you for your continued support of Learning Labs and we hope to share our passion for providing further opportunities to your students!

Yours sincerely,

Sarah Smith and Lily Sheridan