Dear Lord,
As we step into a new academic year, restore our Spirit, renew our passion for sharing your wisdom and nurture our compassion for those in our care. Open our minds and hearts to the Good news of justice and peace. Help us listen to the Wisdom that calls us to the Kingdom of God.
Holy Trinity, Hear our prayer.
Dear Friends,
Welcome back to Holy Trinity for 2020!! It has been a wonderful start to the year, especially welcoming so many new students, families and staff. There is a lovely feel and exciting buzz around the school, with everyone settling in well. This is particularly important after such a challenging and disruptive holiday break with so much tragedy and sadness. We as a community continue to prayer for those lives who have been horrifically affected by tragedy during the break and also give thanks for how the worst of nature has brought out the best in humanity. We also pray for the Spry family in our ELC (Vinnie) who tragically lost their dad, Simeon, over the Christmas break and for other families who have experienced loss and great sadness leading into the new school year.
Fr John has written a very pertinent article in this month's "Catholic Voice", emphasising that Catholic Schools further the mission of the Church and thus , the mission of Jesus:
"Catholic schools are evangelising communities, founded on Jesus Christ, where faith and a way of life in a Catholic ethos are proclaimed and experienced in the pursuit of educational excellence for the fostering of 'integral human development.'"
Holy Trinity will continue throughout 2020 to ensure our students are given every opportunity in a nurturing Catholic community to be the best they can be, whilst enabling learning experiences to enhance progress and strive for excellence.
Holy Trinity's strategic goals for 2020 and beyond are as follows:
- Improve student outcomes through the effective evidencing of learning
- Empower students to be actively engaged in learning
- Increase student agency to foster life-long learners
These goals will be further explained at our Parent Information Night next Friday night 14th of February, beginning in the school hall at 5:30pm. Please note Kinder parents will meet at 5pm in the Kinder classrooms before joining the rest of the community in the Hall. Staff for 2020 will be introduced, the P and F president, Cath Day, and the School Board Chair, Scott Pearsall will address our community and I will elaborate on the above strategic plan and other initiatives for 2020 and beyond. Child minding will be provided for ELC families, and all other children are invited to join us in the hall. The night will conclude with a Welcome BBQ, hosted by the P and F at 6:30pm.
Safety for our students remains an important focus, with continual monitoring of air quality and of course, bush fire preparation. Our school has prepared a bush fire readiness evacuation plan and an air quality incident action plan, of which all staff are aware of, and which will be discussed with our students.
There has been a few projects happening around our school during the Christmas break (some still continuing) including the following:
- New artwork displayed outside the ELC entrance
- Refurbishment in the 5 /6 area to allow for another classroom, due to increased enrolments
- redesigning of a section of the courtyard area, to allow for an effective outdoor learning space for all students (donated by the P and F and a community grant 2019)
- Minor works in the tuckshop to allow for a new initiative to begin in the following weeks (will be further discussed st the Parent Information Night)
- Car park works
I have had a great deal of positive feed back in regards to the resealing and marking of the car park. This project has also included a new drop off and pick up zone, to separate cars parking and reversing out from the area where children are being dropped off or collected. Currently there are temporary bollards in place until the permanent ones arrive and we are still waiting on some signage. A new concrete path has also been placed on the ring road to enable families to safely move to Theodore st. Please ensure you are not using the sloped garden area to access this street. When driving into the drop off and pick up zone, can I please ask that cars use the left lane, which allows space in the right lane to move over into when leaving, if cars ahead need to stop for a moment.
You will notice in this first newsletter edition, that there are no weekly awards winners published. This is because we will be instigating a new awards system this year, based on continual feedback from parents, staff and students. We will be having an awards assembly in Week 5 and 10 of each term- this will be further explained at the Parent Information night next week.
On Saturday evening at the 6pm Mass, Fr John will be commissioning our school staff for 2020. It is an absolute privilege working with the staff at Holy Trinity. They have been working tirelessly to ensure your children's start to the 2020 school year has been successful. All parents will have an opportunity to speak with each class teacher over the coming weeks at a Parent Partnership Meeting and information about this will be given out at the information night, along with curriculum overviews for Term 1 and other information pertinent to each class.
With every best wish for a holy and peace-filled week ahead with your beautiful families,
Philippa