Dear Friends,

Last weekend's Gospel and all readings focussed on the light:

" I am the light of the world, says the Lord;  the person who follows me will have the light of life." (jn8:12)

"You light will rise in the darkness'. Isaiah 58:9)

"You are the light of the world." Matt 5:14). 

Often when we see the light outside it can embrace us on the inside and enlighten each of us.  Jesus calls us to be the light for each other, and through our love and Christian concern, we can be the salt for the earth and a light for the world. I feel privileged to work in an environment where I see our community daily being the light for each other. 

This week we welcome three new students and their families to our Holy Trinity School: The Alan family (Sara Year 2), and the Dorji family (Karma Tobgay Year 1, Karma Yoezer Year 3). 

We also look forward to welcoming all families at the P and F BBQ tomorrow afternoon 5-7pm on the Basketball courts.  The P&F will provide a FREE sausage sizzle to all students and families. Please BYO other food, all drinks, picnic chairs, blankets.

To help with catering please rsvp here: https://formsglee/myHU71nn6kuPQzbQ9
 
We really hope you can come along to a wonderful social gathering to start the school year.  If you d not know many people the P and F  have you covered - our year coordinators will be in touch to suggest a meeting point so that you can meet other families in your year group.

Tomorrow via Compass, each year group will also be sending their first Teaching and Learning Overview for the year.  This will also include a detailed document about all things that are important for each differing Year group e.g. Homework expectations, camp dates, assemblies etc.  Below is other generic information that is important for all families in our community.

Communication

We value positive relationships with all in our community and effective communication is a central key to ensuring this.  Compass is our main portal where all communication is sent from. Seesaw is the other main communication platform used from ELC to Year 6 to share learning with parents. 

When parents/carers need to contact their child's teacher, to provide non-urgent information, or have a question to ask, the best way to do this is via email.  Please know that teachers do not often have time to check  school email accounts during the day; however, they are normally able to reply within 24 hours or by Monday, if they are emailed on a Friday. All teachers will provide their email addresses on the overviews being sent home tomorrow via Compass. If you have an urgent message to pass on to us, please contact the Front Office on 62814811.  

School Uniform Expectation: 

Black leather school shoes are to be worn with the school uniform. Joggers are only permitted with the sports uniform. School hats must be worn before and after school and during playtimes. Watches and stud/sleeper earrings are the only jewellery allowed. Long hair needs to be tied up at all times for hygiene reasons. Hair ties and clips should be in school colours. Sports Uniform will be worn on Wednesday and Friday for every student. Please click here for our full uniform policy  on our website. 

 Absences

Explanations for absences are a legal requirement. Please ensure that you notify us via Compass of your child’s absence, to explain the reason why your child has missed a day. Students must be signed in and out of the front office if they leave during the day or arrive after 9.20am; this is also a legal requirement. 

Fruit Break

We allow for students to have a ‘fruit break’ during the morning session. This should be fresh fruit/vegetables or a small container of cut up fruit/vegetables. No messy pieces of fruit/vegetable please, as students may be eating this whilst continuing on with their work. They also need to bring a water bottle full of water to school each day and these can be refilled as needed. 

Allergy Aware School

Holy Trinity is an allergy aware school. We aim to provide as safe an environment as possible and minimise exposure to students with specific medical conditions, Ie. Anaphylaxis,  where a student can experience a life-threatening allergic reaction to certain allergens. To this end students are asked to not bring any food products that have nuts to school, including birthday food to share with class.  We also have an egg allergy, which involves a reaction to cooked or raw eggs. e.g. scrambled egg sandwich. Thank you very much for your assistance in this important matter as together we care for your children.

Medication

Any medication for students needs to be dropped off at the Front Office labelled with student name and details provided on how it is to be administered.

Awards

In 2023 our awards system will continue to be on a nominated day at 9:15am in weeks 5 and 10. Each class teacher will choose three students to receive the following awards:

1. Faith, Hope and Love award 
2. Academic Achievement 
3. Academic Effort 

Parents will be notified via email the week before, if your child will be receiving an award. Names will be published in the newsletter the following week.

Toys:

Toys are strictly not allowed at school as children become very upset if these items become lost or damaged. This does not include items that are brought to school to share in class for Topic Talk. 

Dogs/Pets: 

Unfortunately dogs and other pets are not permitted on school grounds whilst students are present, particularly at drop off and pick up time. 

Carpark and Church grounds: 

Currently the carpark is under a bit of strain due to building site workers coming and going. The ring road at the front of the school may be used also to park and drop off or pick up. (allowing the space for the disabled park).   Please note that children are only to be picked up from the car park area- special arrangements to meet in other areas are unsafe, particularly with such dense traffic.   Parent/carers must park and come around to meet the students, as the car park area is a supervised and safe area.  The front of the Church9not the road are) is not an area for parking and pick up for school students.  Visibility is difficult because of the slope, and Fr John has requested that cars do not park there.  Thank you for helping us to continue to keep our community safe.  

Volunteers

Holy Trinity values the partnership between parents, carers and staff as they work together to give students opportunities to be engaged in their learning. We are grateful for the willingness of members of our school community, such as parents, grandparents and carers to support staff in the classrooms and in other programs and activities such as sport carnivals and excursions. We are also excited that we no longer have COVID restrictions around our volunteer access to the school. 

Pre COVID our school developed a new Volunteer Policy that was edited and accepted by our School Board, and is available on our website.  Please click here to read this.  We would particularly welcome two parents/carers in both Year 1 and Kindergarten to help in the library for one hour or so.  K and 1 teachers will further explain this in their correspondence. 

School Events: 

Please refer to our school newsletter and calendar on our website for school events. The newsletter is sent via Compass each week on Thursday.

Student and Family Counsellor: Kate Worthington

We are very blessed to have Kate working with our community on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday each week.  Kate has a background in Psychology and Social Work and has been working with children, young people and their parent/carers for over 20 years. Kate has predominantly worked in the field of child protection, early intervention as well as the homelessness sectors.

Kate is passionate about working with children and young people and feels privileged to assist them and their family in experiencing positive life outcomes.

Please contact myself (Philippa)  at Holy Trinity if you would like to access counselling for your child or complete the online referral link

httpss:/catholiccaree.forcecomm/housing/s/school-referral-form

Kate looks forward to working with the students, families and staff at Holy Trinity in 2023.

Please keep Fr John in your prayers as he recovers from a hip operation.  We welcome Fr Greg Beath for our opening school Mass tomorrow at 12pm.  During this Mass, our Year 6 leaders will participate in a leadership ceremony and be presented with their blessed school leadership badges.  We look forward to welcoming our Year 6 parents and carers also to this special ceremony tomorrow. 

Have a wonderful weekend and a peace-filled week ahead with your beautiful families. I look forward to seeing many of you at our P and F Welcome BBQ tomorrow night 5pm and at school next week for our Parent/Carers Partnership Meetings. 

Philippa