Term 1 Week 6 2024
From the Principal
Newsletter Report – Week 6
Last week, I was privileged to attend the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Leadership Forum for Term 1. These days included professional learning for the TCS Principals in Religious Education, Finance and in Teaching and Learning. There were also plenty of opportunities for the Principals to network and support each other. Each term, a different TCS school hosts the Leadership Forum. For our Toowoomba schools, this means that we lead the community in Mass followed by a dinner one evening, and on one of the days, the students from the school lead the Forum in morning prayer. This term, our hosts were Mary MacKillop Catholic College, Highfields. They did a marvellous job and I am looking forward to Term 4 when it is Holy Name School’s turn to shine when we host. My absence from school is only possible due to the wonderful extended leadership team we have at Holy Name School. A huge thank you to Mrs Manthey for deputizing in my absence, ably assisted by Mrs Street and Mrs Elms.
Photo of All the TCS Principals and the Executive Leadership Team
Connection with Holy Name Parish
Each week, classes are taking turns to either visit Holy Name Church for a tour, have a classroom visit from Fr Darrell or attend the Friday morning Mass. Each class will have the opportunity to participate each of these throughout the Semester. We are doing this to actively strengthen our relationship with the parish and to highlight our Catholic Identity as a school. The students have been enjoying their visits, as has Fr Darrell.
Last Friday, our Year 4/5 and 5/6 classes attended the weekly Friday morning Mass. Not only did I hear on Friday how well they had behaved and participated in the Mass from their teachers, but when I went to Mass on Sunday morning, I had a parishioner tell me how beautifully our students had behaved at Mass. Talk about a proud principal moment! I
have since heard another staff member received the same comments at Mass on Saturday night. What wonderful ambassadors for our school our leaders (and future leaders) have been.
Expectations
I have been speaking with the students and staff in the past few weeks about my expectations in a number of areas. The majority of our students meet these expectations every day, however, it is important that we revisit these regularly so that everyone knows what is expected of them.
The following are the behaviour expectations for students at Holy Name School.
- All students will treat others respectfully (including classmates, staff and volunteers).
- All students will keep their hands, feet and objects to themselves.
- All students will speak kindly to each other (offensive and/or abusive language is not okay).
- All students include and extend hospitality to others.
- All students take responsibility for their own actions and accept the consequences of these actions.
- All students will speak-up when they witness someone being bullied – Bullying will NOT be tolerated at Holy Name School.
When everyone follows these behaviour expectations, we are able to focus on our core business as a school – learning. In the coming weeks, students will be hearing more from their teachers and the leadership team about the behaviour expectations for a Holy Name School student. I am looking forward to continuing to see improvements in student behaviour across the term and to have a steady stream of students coming to visit me with their outstanding work.
As the Second Week of Lent comes to a close, I leave you with a prayer for the Lenten Journey from Mercy Partners Australia.
God of the Journey,
may this Lenten season challenge us
to a change of heart:
to live gently,
to love generously,
to count blessings and
to walk paths of peace
and inclusion.
Amen
God Bless
Lisa Cavanagh
Principal
APRE News
Project Compassion 2024
Throughout Lent, we are called to support Project Compassion, an initiative of Caritas Australia. The Mini Vinnies team, led by Mrs Mac and our Social Justice Captains – Anet and Viola, have been sharing with us, the stories of three resilient women, from three different corners of the world. They are facing vastly different challenges, but are all united by one dream: to create a better tomorrow for all future generations.
Ronita from the Philippines - Ronita lives with her husband and two children in a barangay (local district) in Quezon City, which is situated in Metro Manila in the Philippines. She went back to school to finish her education so that she could earn income to support her children.
Leaia from Samoa - Not having access to a reliable source of clean water was very difficult for Leaia and her family. But, with the support of Caritas Australia, a water tank was installed at their home, improving their health and living conditions.
Memory from Malawi - Memory, the eldest daughter from a rural Malawian family, trained to become a carpenter and is now a trailblazer for future generations of women in her village.
Throughout Project Compassion, we will get to know the stories of Ronita, Leaia and Memory and journey with them as they forge a path to a brighter future for all generations.
Please donate to Project Compassion. With your support, Caritas Australia has been able to assist communities around the world through income generation, water and sanitation, food security, education and disaster risk reduction programs. Project Compassion 2024 reminds us that the good we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow.
You can donate through Project Compassion donation boxes in each classroom.
Blessings
Kerri-Ann Manthey
Prayer
God of the Journey,
may this Lenten season challenge us
to a change of heart:
to live gently,
to love generously,
to count blessings and
to walk paths of peace
and inclusion
Curriculum Corner
NAPLAN 2024
NAPLAN is a nationwide assessment administered to students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 across Australia. It assesses students’ proficiency in literacy and numeracy through a series of tests covering reading, writing, language conventions, and numeracy skills. The results provide a snapshot of students’ performance relative to national benchmarks and assist schools in monitoring progress over time. This year the NAPLAN test window will be held over two weeks, from 13-25 March. Attached is the timetable.
As educators, our primary goal is to empower our students to perform to the best of their abilities. Leading up to the NAPLAN assessments, our teachers work diligently to ensure that students are familiar with the format of the tests and have the necessary skills to tackle each component confidently.
We empahise the importance of staying calm, focused, and well-rested on the day of the assessments, reminding students that NAPLAN is just one measure of their academic progress and not a reflection of their worth as individuals.
While NAPLAN is an important tool for assessing student learning, we believe that it is just one aspect of a well-rounded education. Our curriculum is designed to cultivate critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration skills, which are essential for success in the 21st century.
LEARNING MEETINGS
This term Learning Meetings will be held on Tuesday 19 March, 2024 (Week Nine) from 3:00-6:00pm and are booked online via the Parent Portal. Registrations for Learning Meetings will be open from 8:30am on Monday 11 March, 2024 to 3:00pm on Friday 15 March, 2024.
To book an interview please follow the prompts:
Desktop
- Log on to the Parent Portal using your access key
https://sis.twb.catholic.edu.au/auth/portal?action=register - Click on the Learning Meetings tab
- Select the Teacher and Interview Time
Phone
- Log on to the Parent Portal using your access key
https://sis.twb.catholic.edu.au/auth/portal?action=register - Click on the top left Menu tab
- Click on the Learning Meetings tab
- Select the Teacher and Interview Time
If you currently do not have access to Sentral, please contact the office and we can assist you in booking your time and setting up the Parent Portal.
If you have any questions, please contact Mrs Kerri-Ann Manthey APRE/Middle Leader.
Prep Blue
Teacher: Mrs Tennille Kauter, assisted by Mrs Pru Thomas
Prep/1 Gold
Teacher: Mrs Jodie Inskip, assisted by Mrs Jodie Wagstaff
Year 2 Blue
Teacher: Miss Kirralee Bronkhurst
Year 2 Gold
Tacher: Ms Stacy Mills
Year 3 Blue
Teacher: Mrs Sarah McAllister
Year 3 Gold
Teacher: Miss Tilly Hose
Meditative prayer and narrative action paragraph writing
Year 4/5 Blue
Teacher: Miss Danni Canning
Year 5/6 Gold
Sport
Teacher: Mrs Jenna Taylor.
Please save the date! The Holy Name Cross Country is on Wednesday 27th March on the Holy Name Oval
Enrolments being taken for 2025
If you are an existing Holy Name family and are interested in sending your child to Prep in 2025, please complete a online enrolment form, available through the Holy Name website.
Mini Vinies Newsletter Update
Holy Name Primary School - Toowoomba - Caritas | Project Compassion Schools
P&F News
Hello Holy Name Familes,
We hope everyone is settling in to the new school year. The P&F recently had our AGM and a new executive team was elected. We would just like to introduce ourselves and welcome everyone to the school. Between us we currently have 6 students at Holy Name with a few little ones to follow. We have a few exciting events and fundraisers coming up in 2024 and hope that we will be able to get some more parent support to make it happen. Please reach out if you are able to help in some way this year. Don't forget to follow our Facebook page Holy Name P&F Association to keep up to date.
President- Tiani Tattam
Vice President- Brooke Gardner
Secretary- Kellie Miners
Treasurer- Connie Knight
NEXT P&F MEETING: 12 March 5pm