Principal News

As a Catholic School, we are excited by the appointment of Pope Leo XIV. It is wonderful to hear that he has spent his life working hard to support people on the margins, people who are migrants and people who are refugees. That means he is working for people who represent a large portion of our community. People who have given up a lot, for the support of their children, to give their children greater opportunity. 

School Photos

A reminder about school uniforms next Wednesday. Students should wear full school uniform. Either the new and old tops are acceptable.

Home Reading Information Session

A little plug for the Tuesday afternoon reading session for junior parents. Reading with children at home has significant benefits. But it can be hard. I fall down in it often with the busy schedule. However, the better the routine I establish and the more they see me read, the more my kids want to. Come along and see how you can help your child. 

Traffic

We have already seen a reduction in traffic on Pittosporum Grove. Thanks for that. Some reminders: 

1. Prep to Year 2 students need to be collected from class. Any students left at 3:30pm must be collected from the office
2. A new exit is open of Bottlebrush Drv. You can park on the school side of Bottlebrush. 
3. Please avoid u-turns on Pittosporum Grv. You can use surrounding streets to loop around. 
4. Pick Up Lane is a great option, particularly with those with younger ones. We will bring Prep to Year 2 students up to it. Please stay in cars. 
5. HOLD MY HAND signs have been installed as a great reminder, it is the greatest strategy to keep your children safe. 

Keep every child safe is everyone's responsibility. 

Focused on Effort

I had the great pleasure of taking 11 students to St John's for the Paul Wade Cup. The team made the semi finals, the first time in a long time one of our teams has done this. Writing this, it could be seen as we are focused on achieving the best result. 

That is never the focus. 

The focus is on effort. The focus is on finding our students' strengths. 

Sometimes advocates focus on inclusion being everyone is participating. This is a good thing, everyone should have the chance to have a go at various things. However, inclusion is not about giving everyone an equal go at everything. A student who does not want to play soccer is not benefitted by playing more competitive soccer. Sure, we need to teach physical education, we need to teach fitness and skills, but to going on further, it should be focused on providing a wide range of opportunities that provides opportunities for our students to thrive. 

We have seen some great examples of students thriving in the past week, even if it meant they necessarily didn't win the event. 

We had a senior leader coach a group of her dedicated peers in Netball, and place second at the gala day. 

We had students who had never played AFL place take on new learning to finish second in the AFL 9s. 

We have an incredible dance academy where Prep to 6 students are performing, and where everyone is treated as equal.

We have students who nurture and grow vegetables that could be placed on a supermarket shelf. 

We have students playing chess and developing strategies to win, whilst learning that you don't win every time. 

Inclusion is providing a variety of opportunities so that students can thrive, and I am proud of the range that we offer at Holy Family. Our next focus is how we can showcase these to our families more regularly. 

From Monday week, we will have a level or group present at assembly. We hope this will provide the opportunity for our students to show you what they can do! 

Effort needs to occur with learning. We don't enjoy every part of our job. Musicians don't always write a hit song. Artists create more ordinary art than masterpieces. 

Effort though should be what we praise. The ability to put effort into work they we don't love. Putting effort into a drawing when we are not great at it. Putting effort into a run when we are tired. All we can ever ask for is effort. 

As a school, we will endeavour to focus on rewarding and acknowledging effort. 

I want to highlight Siarra B as a great example. Siarra is an incredible soccer player. She is incredibly determined. She tried out for all captains roles this year and missed out. Rather than drop her bundle, Siarra has persisted and got better. She is now our facilities manager, a role the students created, and she gives effort into her work, even in the subjects she is not so fond of. Siarra won the best female player at the Paul Wade Cup, this should be acknowledged. However, I really want to acknowledge she is a shining example of a student striving to be the best she can be every single day, with an incredibly determined and resilient attitude. That, not the award, will take her a long way in life!