Dear Parents and Carers,

Our playground was the target of vandalism

As we arrived at school on Tuesday morning, we were shocked to learn that the school playground had been vandalised over the weekend. It is extremely disappointing that there are people who would wilfully damage a children’s play area.

Damage occurred to the climbing equipment, new soccer goal posts, artificial grass area, newly planted bottlebrush plants, vegepods and the bubbler on the lower playground.

This type of behaviour not only affects the children at Holy Family who use the playground but also creates a substantial cost for the school to rectify the damage.

A police report has been lodged with Chatswood police in the hope of finding the vandals.

Thank you to the wonderful parents who reached out with their offer of support to clean the playground.

Grandparents Mass, Morning Tea, Book Fair and Open Classrooms

Thank you to all the Grandparents, parents and visitors that attended our Grandparents celebrations today. It is always so good to see grandmothers and grandfathers visiting and sharing part of the day with us.

Thank you to all the children and grandparents involved in our liturgy and to Father Colin for his inspiring homily. A special thank you to the wonderful parents who volunteered to assist with the delicious morning tea. Thank you is also extended to Mrs Stella, Mrs Gray and the Parents & Friends Committee for the organisation of all of today’s events and to the teachers for opening up the classrooms for visitors. Thank you to Mrs Overton and Year 5 and 6 setting up the MacKillop Hall and the Book Fair.

I wish to extend our best wishes to all the grandmothers and grandfathers and pray that the family will continue to respect and honour them for the important place they hold in the family.

Athletics Carnival Awards Assembly

Parents are warmly welcome to attend the Holy Family Athletics Carnival Awards assembly will be held on Friday 23rd June at 2.30pm in Mackillop Hall.

Parent and Teacher Interviews

During Weeks 9 and 10 ( Monday June 19 - Thursday June 29) teachers will be undertaking teacher/parent interviews. This is an ‘official meeting time’ set aside for you to discuss your child’s progress with the class teacher. At this meeting the teacher will also explain your child’s half yearly report and how the grades are determined based on work samples and assessments. Of course, parents are always welcome to make an appointment at any time throughout the year to meet with the class teacher/s, just as teachers can contact parents to organize meetings.

It is important, when attending these meetings, to remember that each child develops at his/her own rate and in his/her own way. Children do not all walk and talk at the same age and accordingly each child moves along the learning continuum at their own pace. Some children arrive at school already reading and writing while others master these skills a little later. The role of parents and teachers is to acknowledge and build on each child’s strengths and at the same time help our children to work on achieving in areas that they find challenging.

Please note that you will be booking into a 15 minute time slot, however the interviews will be for 10 minutes. The additional five minutes is to allow for parents to make their way from room to room if having multiple interviews. Interviews will take place in your child's classroom except on Wednesday, 21 June, they will be held in Mackillop Hall.

School Wellbeing Counselling Service

The wellbeing of children and young people in Holy Family is of paramount importance. A sense of well-being and connectedness in school promotes optimal development of the person and contributes to academic success. Access to Catholic Care counselling services can be made by contacting your child's classroom teacher who will then put forward a referral. We will then contact you for further information.

Attendance

As you are aware, every day of attendance at school adds to your child’s chances of success and achievement from Kindergarten and through to high school. Parents play a key role in making sure their child attends school every day. Through our system, Catholic Schools Broken Bay (CSBB), is well equipped to track children’s attendance and this data enables the school to alert parents to their child’s attendance level. This information can sometimes be surprising to parents who may not realise that the attendance of their child is getting to an undesirable level. Even the odd day here and there eg a total of 10 days a term, is equal to a day a week.

We fully understand that some absences are unavoidable due to health problems or other circumstances however we also know that when students miss too much school, no matter the reason, it can cause them to fall behind academically.

In an effort to keep parents informed of their child’s attendance data, a letter will be sent home when a child’s attendance percentage falls below 90%. This will include children whose absence is due to illness or leave for example. This information is for your attention as a way to assist you to monitor attendance levels. The only exceptions to this rule will be if there has been significant consultation with the school regarding attendance, be it health matters or other circumstances and in these circumstances other support or accommodations have been implemented. In this way the school is keeping open communication with families.

Kindergarten Enrolments for 2024

We encourage parents to organise a time to tour our wonderful school to see "Learning In Action" and our "Point of Difference".

All children must be in compulsory schooling by their 6th birthday.
Children can start Kindergarten at the beginning of the school year if they turn 5 on or before 31 July that year.
Students should start at the beginning of the year.
Contact the school office to discuss enrolment procedures.

We encourage any family who is currently connected to Holy Family school who have a child who is coming to school in 2024 to complete and lodge an enrolment form as soon as possible to ensure a place for the new school year. Please contact the school office 9416 7200 or via info@holyfamily.nsw.edu.au

Coles Development Update

A forecast for works onsite this week include:

Continue with bulk excavation and truck load out
Continue with detailed excavation, trimming and shotcrete to walls
Sewer diversion works will be completed with a nightshift crew starting on Pacific Hwy tonight

This team will be ongoing for the next 2 weeks (Sunday – Thursday, 10pm-5am).

Continue with foundation piling and footing works - Formwork, Reinforcement and Concrete
Continue with inground plumbing services to basement level
Complete the installation of sliding gates to site perimeter fencing
The Crane is now in operation

God bless you and your family.

Pauline Dinale

Principal

Parish School Connection