Aoife's Message
Good afternoon Holy Cross families,
It was lovely to see so many people join us for our Welcome Picnic last Friday. Thank you to our PFA for organising and running the sausage sizzle for the afternoon, it was very much appreciated by our community. We have a long version of the newsletter this week with our mini newsletter being published next week, we will then be on a fortnightly cycle of long/mini newsletter communication.
Gis Bus
We have been notified that there are proposed changes to the Gis Bus route which currently services Holy Cross. If the changes go ahead the children will still be able to get the bus and alight at the train station, then walk to school, crossing at the pedestrian crossing which is supervised by council. However, I believe that if the bus route continued on for a further block it would result in Holy Cross and Gisborne Montessori (now called Global Village Learning) being serviced, along with all of the other local schools. Further it would give public transport access to the new Sports Precinct.
Summary of the proposed changes to the Gisborne Town School Special
They are proposing to:
- Integrate the Gisborne Town School Special into a two-way public transport loop service.
- Accommodate students travelling to all schools in Gisborne south of the Railway Station, including New Gisborne Primary School, Willowbank Primary School, Gisborne Primary School and Gisborne Secondary College.
- At this time, no other bus services have been proposed to accommodate students attending schools north of the train line, including Holy Cross Catholic Primary School and Gisborne Montessori School.
- Remove bus bookings to create a more equitable service.
- Coordinate the proposed two-way loop service to school bell times, where possible.
Please see the more detailed proposal below, I strongly encourage families to have a say throughout the consultation phase. Here is a link to the survey: https://engage.vic.gov.au/gisborne-bus
School Photos Monday 25th March
School photos will be taken on Monday 25th March, which is the last week of this term. Details for ordering photographs will be shared with families in the coming weeks.
Assembly - Friday 23rd February at 3pm
Our first student led assembly of the year will be held next Friday, 23rd Feb. Year 1 families are invited to run an afternoon tea stall after assembly. See our PFA page for more details.
NCCD
Each year all schools are mandated to share certain data sets with the government. One of which is the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) on School Students with Disability. Please see below for an information sheet with further details.
Parent / Teacher chats
Thank you for joining us in person or via phone call for our parent/teacher chats. I cannot emphasise enough to both families and staff how vital it is to be in regular, ongoing contact with one another throughout the year. Parents, you are always welcome to email, make a meeting time or call our teachers to discuss any concerns that you may have. Equally you are most welcome to share any successes, joys or milestones that your child or your family are celebrating.
Parent webinar - 'Managing Big Feelings'
As part of our partnership with Inform and Empower we invite interested families to register for a webinar presented by Carley McGauran. The content is tailored to parents/carers with lower primary school-aged children (Prep, Year 1 and Year 2)
Date: Thursday 7 March
Time: 7.30pm (75 min)
Here is the link to register: bit.ly/bigfeelings2024 This webinar is free for Holy Cross families, I warmly invite you to join the session, see the flyer below for further details.
It has been another eventful week, full of experiences and learning for both children and staff. Check out our Learning & Teaching and Holy Cross Happenings pages for more detail.
Have a peaceful weekend,
Aoife