Principal's Desk

Dear Parents,

In this final newsletter for the term, I would like to commend our students for their hard work and continued efforts to improve all aspects of their learning. As Principal I had the pleasure of reading all school reports. It was pleasing to note the progress of students and the areas for improvement. I would encourage all parents to acknowledge and celebrate your child's achievements by finding time to read and discuss their semester report. EVERY child has the potential to improve so it is extremely important to acknowledge their successes, not just the next step in learning.

Our school focus is always on improving student outcomes and I can confidently say, based on our observations and various assessments, that all students at Holy Trinity and St Mary’s are provided with every opportunity to learn, grow and to reach their full potential. I would also like to equally commend our hard working staff; school leaders, classroom teachers, classroom support and administration staff, for  their commitment to ongoing professional learning for the benefit of our students. As Principal I am particularly grateful for the dedication of our staff to their profession and incredibly proud of our students and their many achievements. 

Student Learning Conferences (Parent / Teacher Interviews)

As part of the reporting process we invite parents to attend a Parent Teacher Interview following receipt of the school report. At Holy Trinity we encourage students to also attend this meeting to support a learning conversation that involves affirmation for student progress and `next steps’ for learning. Bookings are open in SIMON / PAM.

Tuesday 25th June - 3.30pm - 7pm

Thursday 27th June - 3.30-6 pm 

School Reports

Students' Semester One reports will be available for parents to view via the SIMON platform on Friday 21 June.  To access these reports you can do the following .... 

1) Login to SIMON Everywhere or to pam.htws.catholic.edu.au 

2) Click on the Home option 

3) Click on your child's name (where their photo is located)

4) Click on the Profile Menu and scroll down to the Assessment Reports option as per the screenshot.

5) Your child's semester 1 report will be available here once it is published on Friday 21 June. We expect reports to be published after school concludes on this day.

Please spend some time looking at this report with your child/ren prior to the student learning conferences that will take place next week. You can access your times for these meetings in the Parent Teacher Interview link in SIMON Everywhere or by visiting pam.htws.catholic.edu.au.   If you have not booked a meeting time as yet, please book via SIMON as soon as possible.

Any questions please don't hesitate to contact Shannon Mullavey (smullavey@htws.catholic.edu.au)

Staff  News

It is with sadness that we farewell Mrs Charmila Gunawardena, Learning Support Officer (LSO) in our Junior area, at the end of the school term.  Charmila has been a valued staff member for the past 3 years and is leaving HT to work in the finance industry, a career path prior to working at HT. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Charmila for her dedication to supporting our students and staff at HT and SMC. We will miss Charmila’s warm smile and genuine care for our students. 

Last week we farewelled Mrs Louise McEwan, 5/6 Blue classroom teacher. Louise commenced her maternity leave in readiness for the birth of her second child. We look forward in anticipation for some exciting news. We wish Lousie, her husband Chris and daughter Evie our best wishes at this exciting time in their lives.

We have welcomed back Mrs Laura Crowe to replace Louise in 5/6 Blue. Laura (Wed-Fri) will work in partnership with Mrs Anne Cochrane (Mon-Tues) as Year 5/6 Blue classroom teachers. We are extremely fortunate to welcome Laura back to our community, having worked part time in Year 3/4 in 2023 prior to the birth of her third child Grace in December. 

Regional Cross Country

A huge congratulations to Avery W,  Brodie R and Owen V for their awesome effort in representing HT at the Regional Cross Country last week. This event included students from all schools in the Eastern Region of Melbourne. They competed with skill and determination on an extremely challenging course in Yarra Glen. We are extremely proud of our super athletes - well done!

Emergency Drill - discreet lockdown

Last week we conducted an emergency drill in the form of a discreet lockdown. This required staff and students to assemble inside the locked building out of view from a possible external threat. The drill was successful, with staff and students responding efficiently to the discreet announcement and procedures. As a compliance measure, we are required to conduct an emergency drill each term, including both evacuations and lockdowns, both discreet and non-discreet.

The Music Bus 

The Music Bus runs lessons each Friday afternoon on the basketball court.  

Lessons are available in:

· Keyboard (Prep - 6)

· Ukulele  (Prep - 6)

· Drums (Year 1 - 6)

· Guitar (Year 2 - 6)

If you wish to register an interest to join please complete the following online form:

Music Bus enrolment form          www.themusicbus.com.au 

End of School Term -  Friday 28th June - 1 pm finish

The school day will finish at 1pm on the last day of each school term to provide Time in Lieu for staff. We acknowledge the early finish time does impact some families so we will therefore offer supervision of students until 3.30pm if required. Please indicate below if your child needs to remain at school following the 1pm finish time.

If you have more than one child please provide the name of each child below. For planning purposes please complete the form before Tuesday 25th June at 12pm.

Supervision after 1pm - Friday 28th June

We will conclude the term with an assembly at 12.30pm to announce the TORCH Bearer of the Term Awards at 12.30pm. Parents are most welcome to attend.

Emergency Contact Details - IMPORTANT - SIMON / PAM

There are still a large percentage of parents that have not provided Emergency Contact details via the SIMON Everywhere APP. These emergency contact details (other than parents) are extremely important as they will be used in the event that we cannot get in contact with a parent.

Could ALL parents please do the following:

• Access the SIMON Everywhere App on your device
• Select the `HOME’ icon
• Select a child (if you have more than one child)
• Under the profile menu, select the `Medical Profile’ drop down option
• Select `Edit Details’
• Under `Medical Contacts’ select `add contact’
• Under `Contact Type’ select `Emergency’
• Add the contact details of all Emergency Contacts (other than parents)
• Please update any other relevant medical details at any time

If you need to update additional details such as home address, email address or phone number, please provide this information via the following link. This information will be updated by our school admin staff. This form is available in PAM.  SIMON / PAM update details

Mini Vinnies - thank you!

Please check out the `Mini Vinnies' page of the newsletter - thank you all for your generosity in supporting the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal.  An amazing response!

School Closure Day - Friday 2nd August

We can now confirm that our School Closure Day for Term Three will take place on Friday 2nd August (3rd week of Term Three).

Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF)

Applications for the CSEF fund are still open.  If you hold a valid, means-tested concession card or are a temporrary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF.  If you are the holder of a concession card and would like to apply please click below to obtain a CSEF application form and hand it in to the school office for processing no later than Monday 24th June, 2024.

Please see the Community News Section of the Newsletter for more information.  

School Blog - check it out!

I would like to continue to encourage parents to access our school blog to see what’s happening around our school, particularly specialist classes and extracurricular activities. Our students contribute to the posts on a regular basis - I strongly encourage you to `like’ a post of leave a comment. The students get a real buzz to know that parents are appreciating their posts!

http://blog.htws.catholic.edu.au/ 

Wishing you all a safe and relaxing school holiday break.

Warm Regards.

Adrian Scutt

Principal

Time to eXcel