Dear Families,

This Friday we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At the end of her life, Jesus took Mary body and soul to heaven where she cares for us while we live on earth. The church teaches us that Mary is the greatest saint of all. She is the patron Saint of Australia. Christians have always loved and honoured Mary, they have prayed to her as a true model of discipleship within our Church.

In celebrating Mary’s assumption into heaven we do not celebrate something which places Mary apart from us. Rather we celebrate something which places Mary among us as the first to receive the gift of salvation in all its fullness, a gift which the Lord also holds out to us. May this woman, given to us by Christ as our mother, be our companion on our journey of faith. May she, through her prayers and her presence in our lives, accompany us until we share with her the joy of salvation, body and soul, in the glory of heaven.

School Closure Day

A reminder to all families that next Friday 22nd August is a school closure day. TheirCare will be running a full day service for those who require care for their children. Please book through https://theircare.com.au/

Holy Trinity Achieves Its Best Ever NAPLAN Scores

Congratulations to our Year 3 & 5 students, and all the teachers who have taught these children as a cohort in previous years for achieving these exemplary overall NAPLAN scores.

It is a team effort that comes through a lot of hard work both at home and at school to achieve all ten areas of English and Maths (5 areas for Year 3 and 5 areas for Year 5) in the GREEN and above the Victorian averages. It is reported that in 2025 Victorian scores were the best in Australia.

We are very proud to announce our scores for 2025, our best achievement post the covid lockdown / remote learning period.

We have been working as a school for the last 5 years on lifting our literacy results by focusing on a Science of Reading/Learning approach to teaching our literacy program. This has required a major shift in the way we teach, but through the great professional development and curriculum leadership by our leadership team, this is becoming embedded as part of our daily practice and is one of our strongest areas.

We have been building strong foundations in spelling in Prep to Year Two with our reading, writing and spelling linked to the sounds the children have learnt. In Grade Three & Four the students participate in a spelling program three times a week. Both programs use direct explicit teaching where the teachers follow a script to ensure the students are all learning the same content. In Grade 5 & 6 spelling is taught with reading and writing and the students learn about word origin.

When we changed our Literacy we also made changes to the way we teach Maths. Our teachers are great at giving new initiatives a go and then making changes to fit the needs of our students. For all number topics there is a quick pre-test to find out what the students know, this assists our planning to know who to extend and who to support. In Maths all classes do a daily review of previously taught content to help move the learning into students' long term memories. We do daily fluency including aspects like rote counting and times tables. Our teachers teach the students explicitly and then the students have lots of time to practice new skills. They use concrete materials and games to develop understanding. All of this leads to being able to apply the skills to problem solve.

Our reading and spelling intervention program changed dramatically and we are again following a scripted program to teach and reinforce the concepts. Previously we found a high percentage of students required intervention in Grade 5. Since the introduction of these programs the number of students requiring intervention has dropped.

Our commitment to explicit direct instruction and the science of reading has been instrumental in this progress. By focusing on evidence-based teaching strategies, we have enhanced our students' literacy and numeracy skills, leading to improved outcomes in the NAPLAN assessments.

Our core subjects at Holy Trinity are English and Maths which is why such a high percentage of the teaching week is devoted to these two areas. These two core subject areas set up our students for life. Our school community should be so happy and proud of our 2025 NAPLAN achievements.

Peek into Prep

This year, we are launching our Peek into Prep Program for 3 & 4 year old children. This program is running over five weeks in Term 3 and will provide opportunities for Kinder aged children and their parents to experience school life at Holy Trinity. Each session will run for 40 minutes and focus on a different subject area each week. Please feel free to pass the attached flyer onto any parents of 3 & 4 year old children.

This Thursday! Interrelate - Human Sexuality sessions for students in Years 3- 6

In partnership with St Jude’s Primary School, we will once again be offering two optional sessions for families to attend on Thursday 14th August, 2025:

Session 1: Where did I come from? (Year 3/4) 6pm
Session 2: Preparing for puberty (Year 5/6) 7.15pm

Book your tickets here: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1443220, cost will be $25 per family (inclusive of both sessions)

More information about each session can be found further in the newsletter, including details on how to book.

Book Week

We are celebrating Book Week next week. We have a range of activities planned to make sure the children have fun engaging with books.

The costume parade is on Monday 18th August, just after 9am. Please don't feel any pressure to buy a new costume, there are a lot of costumes in boxes at the front of the school. Thank you to all of the families who generously donated used costumes. If your child hates dressing up, they can wear casual clothes and name a character they could be - Ella from the Ella diaries, Andy/ Terry from the Tree house books.

The Indigenous Book Swap is being held on Wednesday. Please send in any books you are happy to donate and don't forget a gold coin on Wednesday.

Four Weeks to Go – School Concert Countdown!

‘Magia del Circo’ – The Magic of the Circus

With just four weeks to go, excitement is building for our much-anticipated whole-school concert, Magia del Circo – The Magic of the Circus. This special event is a wonderful opportunity for our students to showcase their talents, build confidence, and shine on stage in front of our school community.

A heartfelt thank you to Signora Formicelli, who has been working tirelessly, day and night, to bring this production to life. Her enthusiasm and dedication have inspired students from Prep to Year 6, and we are incredibly grateful for the energy and creativity she brings to every rehearsal.

Ticket sales are currently open and are selling fast! We will close ticket sales on 24th August, review available seats, then notify families if there are extra tickets available..

Please refer to the School Production section of this newsletter for full booking details. For any ticketing enquiries, feel free to contact the school office.

We look forward to sharing this magical evening with you!

Concert DVD's

Concert DVD's can now be pre-ordered. Click on the link to find out about the Early Bird prices. https://www.modevideo.com.au/product-page/htsw2025

Planning for 2026

Towards the end of term we will begin some interim planning for the 2026 school year. This includes finalising our Prep 2026 enrolments and conducting staff annual review meetings. To assist with our planning, please let us know as soon as possible if you will not be returning to Holy Trinity in 2026. This will greatly assist our formulation of class groupings and allocation of staff early next term. Please email principal@htws.catholic.edu.au if you will not be returning in 2026.

PA Trivia Night

Our Holy Trinity & St Mary’s Trivia Night is fast approaching, it’s only 10 days away, so be sure to organise your table of 10 quickly. If you don’t have a group of 10, no worries at all! You can buy individual tickets, and we’ll ensure you have a spot at our walk-up and sit tables. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and enjoy the event. See further in the newsletter for more details and booking information.

Supporting the Combined Catholic Parishes Raffle

St Jude’s Parish is part of the Combined Catholic Parishes and are running their annual raffle with some wonderful prizes up for grabs. Each family has been allocated 1 ticket book to sell to friends / family / neighbours over the coming weeks. We ask that all tickets, sold or unsold, are returned to the school office by Wednesday 27th August. Thank you for your continued support and generosity. Together, we can continue to nurture our vibrant parish and provide for the many needs of our growing community.

Joke of the Week

Two friends are talking, one says: “Man, I fell off a thirty-foot long ladder yesterday.”

“Oh no, dude, are you alright?!” inquires the other one, shocked.

“Yeah, I’m OK, I was only on the second rung then.”

Final Thoughts ~ Unplugging Childhood

No child needs to have access to all of the apps on a smartphone and they don't need to be using any form of social media before the age of 14. By this age, they are usually ready to deal with the barrage of information, influencers and media, associated with these apps.

Dr Justin Coulson suggests that smart parents give children a dumb phone, a phone that can only make phone calls or send text messages. For more tips on how to deal with managing your child's use of devices, please read this article and follow his podcast or blog.

https://happyfamilies.com.au/articles/unplugging-parenthood

Kind regards,

Steve Evans

Principal

Holy Trinity's Great Book Swap