Hello, Holy Family Community

With great sadness, I commence this week’s newsletter after the unexpected passing of Aanaya’s baby sister. Please keep the Uniyal family in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time as they try to process the tragic loss of baby Aana.

Principal Appointment Process Update

I am pleased to announce that I have been asked to remain in the Acting Principal role at the commencement of the 2023 school year. Unfortunately, the Principal Appointment Process will need to be undertaken again early next year. Please see the below statement from Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) regarding this.

The Principal Appointment Process for Holy Family School has been postponed until Term 1, 2023. The current teacher shortage has impacted our MACS schools and their appointment processes. You will be notified when the process will recommence. Thank you for your understanding and prayers.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS)

Sun Smart

There is currently a considerable number of students coming to school without a hat. As part of the school's Sun Safe Policy, all students must wear a hat outside in Terms 1 and 4. This includes playtimes and outdoor learning activities, including Physical Education. Please ensure your child has a hat with them each day at school. Please ensure that the hat is clearly labelled with your child’s name.

Prep Orientation

Our next Prep Transition session will be held next Wednesday, 16 November: 10 am-11 am.

This is an excellent opportunity for all our new Prep students and their families to get to know one another and learn how to navigate their new school environment.

Our Patch

Unfortunately, Our Patch has still not commenced After School Care this term. Our Patch is currently experiencing staff shortages, and with only a small number of students using the service, we cannot find the required staff to run the program. I will keep you updated on this situation, but it is likely that Our Patch will not be returning to Holy Family.

Prize Giving

You are all warmly invited to attend our end-of-year prizegiving celebration, which will be held on Monday 12 December from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm. This evening is for all community members to celebrate the 2022 school year. It provides an opportunity to gather and enjoy one another's company over a shared meal whilst recognising the achievements of our students. The evening will start with a BBQ, Christmas carols on our school oval, and a short prizegiving presentation.

The prizegiving format has changed this year to align with what we are doing in Challenging Learning. There will only be ONE award presented per class (5 awards in total). The award will be presented to the student in each class who has made the most growth and progress in their learning over the year.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Year 6 Graduation

The Year 6 Graduation Ceremony will take place on Wednesday, 14 December.

To farewell our Year 6 students, Fr John Prince will commence celebrations by saying the Graduation Mass for our entire school community at 12:00 pm. This will be followed by a shared, catered lunch for the Year 6 students, their families and teachers in our school library.

I wish our Year 6 students well as they spend their last few weeks as primary school students preparing for the next chapter in their lives.

Community Hub

Our new Hub Leader, Glenis, has done an excellent job transforming our Hub over the last few weeks. She is enthusiastic about making the Hub a place in our school community where everyone feels welcome. She would love to get your ideas on what activities we could run through our Hub to get more people coming in to visit.

If you have a spare couple of minutes, it would be appreciated if you could please complete our online survey: https://forms.gle/dpJLSfDNWiNJATv9A

Congratulations

We congratulate Miss Marnie Newbound on her upcoming wedding at the end of this month. Miss Newbound will be on leave in Weeks 8 and 9 as she celebrates this beautiful milestone. During these two weeks, Miss Taline Apoyan will replace Miss Newbound as the Prep teacher. We wish Marnie and her fiance Nick all the best as they celebrate their wedding nuptials on the 26 November.

Have a fantastic fortnight, and God Bless

Pauline Moran

Acting Principal