Holy Family Catholic Primary School Kelso eNewsletter

SCHOOL CALENDAR

Week 10
30.6.25 - Polding Rugby - Forbes
1.7.25 - K-6 Reports released
1.7.25 - 7.30pm pm P&F Meeting * Note: Meeting postponed until Tue, 22 July (Wk 1, Term 3)
4.7.25 - 2.15pm Special Assembly (Hall) - All welcome

Week 1, Term Three
21.7.25 - Pupil Free Day
22.7.25 - Term 3 Lessons commence
23.7.25 - PSSA Cross Country
24.7.25 - Dio Rugby 10's (New Date) Orange

In 2025 our parents have access to the Google HFS Parent Calendar.
Click on the link below to access the Google Calendar.

Please click here to access our Google Calendar!

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Term 2 Wrap-Up

As Term 2 draws to a close, we pause to reflect on the moments, both big and small, that have stitched us closer together as a community of faith. From the endless string of sporting events (we might have joked, “Another gala day?”) to the quiet moments of support and encouragement, our students have seized every opportunity to grow on and off the field. Through shared triumphs and challenges, they’ve discovered the true meaning of community and what it means to be part of something bigger than themselves.

A shining example of that spirit was seen in our support for Rosie, who cut off her hair as part of the Wigs for Kids fundraiser. We rallied as a community to raise $389 for children experiencing hair loss due to illness. More than a fundraiser, this was a living lesson in solidarity and a reminder of how small acts of kindness can ripple outward with profound effect. Rosie’s courage inspired us, and our response showed just how deeply we care.

Last week, we also turned our focus to the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a celebration of Christ’s boundless love. During this special Mass, we also farewelled Fr Thao as he begins his new ministry in Cowra. His presence among us has been a true gift, from joyful playground races to meaningful homilies. He walked beside us with gentleness, humour, and humility. One quote he often shared, treasured now more than ever, comes from Dr Seuss’ Horton Hatches the Egg: “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful, one hundred per cent!” Fr Thao, you lived those words in every interaction. While we’ll miss you dearly, we know your light will continue to bless others as it did us. As you reminded us, this isn’t goodbye; it's just ‘see you later.’

We know that by this point in the year, many hearts and hands feel weary. The work we do, both at school and at home, is sacred, demanding, and profoundly meaningful. So may your holidays be filled with rest, laughter, and all that matters most.

Mrs Alison Curtin - Principal

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL MESSAGE

Growing, Learning, and Shining Together

As we approach the end of Term 2, we take this opportunity to reflect on the many achievements and moments of growth that have taken place across our school. Our students have worked with determination and joy in their learning, and their Semester One reports are a celebration of their progress, strengths, and continued development.

These reports not only capture academic growth but also highlight the ways our students are growing as kind, respectful, and engaged members of our community. Their positive interactions with peers and staff reflect the nurturing and inclusive environment for which we are so proud.

Inspired by Catherine McAuley’s words, “we should be shining lamps, giving light to all around us,” we celebrate the many ways our students, staff, and families have shared their light throughout the term. Through their learning, kindness, and wholehearted participation in the life of the school, our community has continued to shine brightly, radiating warmth, compassion, and a deep sense of connection.

We also acknowledge and thank our dedicated staff, who work tirelessly not only in classrooms but across all areas of school life. This term has been filled with rich extracurricular experiences, including, most recently, the Infants Athletics Carnival, Soccer Gala Day, and the Chess competition held at Holy Family. These events enrich our students’ school experience and reflect the commitment of our teachers to providing diverse opportunities for all.

As we wrap up the term, we are grateful for the support of our families and the wider community. Together, we continue to foster a vibrant learning environment where every child is known, valued, and encouraged to shine and reach their full potential.

I wish everyone a safe and restful break and look forward to continuing our shared journey of learning and growth in Term 3.

Mrs Amanda McGinnes - Acting Assistant Principal

REC NEWS

Creator God, we give thanks for this land, Australia, and for the First Nations peoples who are its custodians.
We acknowledge the Elders, past and present, who have carried the wisdom and culture of this land for generations.
We give thanks for their strength, their vision, and their enduring legacy.
Bless the young people of today, the next generation, who are rising to lead with strength and vision.
May their hearts be filled with wisdom, their paths be guided by respect, and their futures be filled with hope.
We pray for reconciliation, healing, and a future in which all Australians walk together in unity and understanding.
Help us to listen, learn, and respect the rich cultures and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
May we all work together to build a better future for all Australians, a future where justice, equity, and respect prevail.
We ask this in your name.
Amen.

WINTER APPEAL
Wow…. You are all amazing, so generous, and supportive of those who are a little less fortunate than us. Material donations of food and winter woollies are a wonderful way to support those in need; More than 122,000 people are currently experiencing homelessness in Australia, including 35,000 people in NSW – the most of any state or territory. There’s no one face of homelessness, with people of all ages and backgrounds susceptible to going from stability to precarity in a short span of time. Homelessness could affect a neighbour, a colleague, a relative – it’s never a choice, but sometimes it’s the only option. Children and families may donate non-perishable food items, clothing or linen (doona, blankets….) by this Friday, 4th July.

Confirmation:
It has been wonderful to see many of our children celebrating the Sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation over the past weekends.

Final 2025 dates available for the Sacrament of Confirmation in Bathurst are:

Sat 9th August 5.00pm Cathedral
Sun 10th August 10.00am Cathedral

Please register at the Presbytery with Cathy O’Brien and complete all paperwork and payment required.

Liturgies and Masses on the HFS Calendar for Term 3 - These celebrations will be confirmed when we are notified from the Presbytery of our School Chaplain.

8th August Feast Day St Mary MacKillop
15th August Feast of the Assumption
5th September - Father's Day Celebration at HFS Prayer & Song

Mass Times
For the latest up-to-date Mass times, please click below:

Cathedral Parish Mass Times

Mrs Louise Davies - Acting REC

Sacred Heart Mass

LIBRARY NEWS

It has been another outstanding term of reading across the school. Our Library days are busy, busy, busy, with children selecting one to five books to take home and read! All children have the opportunity to borrow each lesson, even if they have forgotten their books and may have many at home! Reading is a gift, and we encourage all children to take as little as two minutes each day to engage in a wonderful journey through the printed word!

Each term, our students' Renaissance Reading Results continue to amaze me - our children are making tremendous leaps in their reading, and our teachers have been monitoring and encouraging students across Years 3 to 6 to meet their individual goals, especially attaining 85% and above proficiency! Let’s see if we can continue to double our results during Term 3!

Book Week 2025—This year’s theme is "Book an Adventure." We are capturing the Australian spirit of exploration for Book Week this year. Our journey will take us across our amazing country, exploring Australia’s states and territories, favourite holiday spots, and the unique flora and fauna of each region. It’s a fantastic opportunity for students to get creative and dress as something inspired by their Australian travels or discoveries.

We look forward to celebrating Book Week 2025 from 16–23 August and can’t wait to see the imaginative ways our students bring this theme to life!

Our special celebration day at Holy Family School will be Thursday, 21 August. We will begin our day with the book fair, which will open at 8:00 am in the library. Our Book Week Assembly will follow. Each class will have competitions in the weeks leading up to Book Week, and winners will be announced at this assembly. Each class will focus on producing an Australian mural in the weeks leading up to and during Book Week as part of their Creative Arts program, and classes will participate in Book Week class activities throughout the day. Sponsorship of our shortlisted books will also be available and an opportunity to sponsor will be shared in Week One of Term Three.

Our library looks amazing. If you have time, come in and check out the amazing work Mrs Windsor has been doing with our Year 3 to Year 6 students, all based on Australia, utilising our World Book platform and Clickview!

Mrs Louise Davies & Mrs Katrina Windsor - Teacher Librarians

ICAS (University Competitions)

ICAS is an optional online academic competition for children in Years 2-6 that gives students the opportunity to challenge their higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee, and Digital Technologies.

ICAS results are in-depth and meaningful, and ICAS evaluates student performance against other competition entrants across the state and nation. The data reveals student strengths and weaknesses and can help you recognise and support your child's academic journey.

Learn more about ICAS here:  (icasassessments.com/products-icas/).

Below are the sitting dates for each subject. The deadline for online parent payment is Monday, 28th July.

Competition Information - Years 3-6
Digital Technologies Test Date: Thursday, 7 August
Writing Test Date: Thursday, 7 August
English Test Date: Thursday, 14 August
Science Test Date: Thursday, 21 August
Spelling Test Date: Thursday, 21 August
Mathematics Test Date: Thursday, 28 August

Competition Information - Year 2
English Test Date: Thursday, 14 August
Science Test Date: Thursday, 21 August
Mathematics Test Date: Thursday, 28 August

Backup Dates: Will be on the Friday of each Test Week for that subject eg. English backup date is Friday, 15 August.

PAYMENT:
• Parents nominate their child for the tests online with ICAS and then pay online ($20.95 for all subjects except for Writing which is $24.95).
• Prices as listed above (incl GST) - Online payment closes Monday, 28th July (no late entries accepted).
• To confirm your child’s participation, visit the link below and make a direct payment to UNSW Global.
• There are no refunds should your child miss the sitting date or the back up date.
• ICAS Link for payment: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/parent-payment/DCO808
• Our schools unique code for access: DCO808

Privacy collection statement

The following information is a privacy notification about how your child’s data is kept private and secure.

ICAS Assessment is owned by Janison Solutions Pty Ltd (We, Us, Our).

To deliver assessment products, Janison will require your child’s School to obtain your consent to provide Janison with certain personal information of students. Janison will collect, store, use, disclose and otherwise deal with such personal information in accordance with its privacy policy (below). We are aware of our responsibility to protect personal information related to children and students from being disclosed when we deliver an ICAS Assessments product. Unless you, as the child’s legal guardian consents, we will not:

collect any personal information or data of children other than the information we need for the successful completion of an assessment, test, or exam.
transfer any personal information we obtain from a child in the delivery of assessments and tests to any jurisdiction outside of Australia.
share any personal information relating to children with any third parties (except for those third parties necessary for us to carry out our Services or provide our Products e.g., medal engraving).
use any personal information or data relating to children for marketing purposes.

You can view Janison's full privacy policy at https://www.janison.com/privacy-policy/.

Janison may retain personal information and data relevant to a child for their future purposes or for research purposes by Janison for the duration of the school life cycle of the child. However, if you or your child at any time wish to have their personal information or data removed from our systems, they or you may opt out by simply contacting Janison's Privacy Officer at privacy@janison.com or by contacting icasassessments@janison.com.

We are proud to be offering ICAS to our students this year and encourage you to consider entering your child. Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any questions. 

Kind regards,
Alison Curtin - Principal

SCHOOL FEES

Please be advised that the second instalment of School Fees is now overdue.

We appreciate your prompt attention to the school fees.

SPORTS REPORT with Mrs Blaire Clarke

Soccer Gala Day: In Week 8 Holy Family entered 15 teams in the Soccer Gala day which was hosted by Assumption School at Proctor Park. The students enthusiastically represented our school, showcasing great teamwork and sportsmanship. They enjoyed the opportunity to compete against other schools, build skills and for some learn the rules of soccer. Thank you to Mrs Price and Mr Hardy for their work coordinating the teams and to our teachers and parents who coached on the day. Thank you to our parents Mitch Botham and Blair Windsor for their help on the day.

Rugby Polding: The Polding Rugby Trials were held yesterday in Forbes. Congratulations to Jesse, Zane, Charlie, Xavier and Knox who attended these trials. Congratulations on all your efforts boys.

Infants Athletics Carnival: In Week 8, our K-2 students participated in the Infants Athletics Carnival at school. The students participated in many fun activities such as running, quoits, parachuting and an egg and spoon race. The students ended the day on a high with a sausage sizzle. Thank you to the staff and volunteer parents who cooked up the snags. Thank you to our Year 1 teachers, Mrs Bowman, Mrs Price, Miss Calvert and the Year 6 students for coordinating the activities.

Soccer Gala Day

**Rugby Polding Trials - well done boys!**

CLASS IN REVIEW - Kindergarten Blue

Kindergarten Blue has had a wonderful first semester filled with joyful learning, laughter, and exciting new experiences. This term, our little learners have been busy exploring new sounds and beginning to form words, taking their first steps toward reading with growing fluency and confidence. In Mathematics, we’ve been discovering how to share numbers equally. This is an important foundation for future problem-solving. One of the standout highlights was our very first athletics carnival, where the energy was high, the smiles were wide, and the sausage sizzle was yummy. We were very grateful for the helping hands on the day from our amazing Year 6 students. In Creative Arts, the children proudly crafted self-portraits, learning how to include important facial features while expressing their unique personalities. As we head into the holidays, I would like to thank all the Kinder Blue families for their support and wish everyone in the Holy Family community a fun, safe, and restful break.

Mrs Nelson - Kindergarten Blue

COMPASS HOUSEKEEPING

As we near the end of Term 2, we ask parents to submit attendance explanations for days that their child/ren were absent from school. This can be done on the Compass App within 7 days of the absence. If the absence is beyond the 7 days, this will need to be explained via the letter that was sent home yesterday. Please complete the details and return to your child's teacher by this Wednesday, 2 July.

A reminder email has been sent to families who are yet to 'accept' two important agreements - the ICT Student Acceptable Use of Technology Agreement and the Parent Charter. These can be approved via the Compass App or on your computer. We appreciate your attention to these important documents.

ENROL NOW!

CANTEEN

Thank You very much to our Term Two volunteers in the Canteen - Sally Lanagan, Danielle Ballinger, Emma Lewis, Samara Pringle, Taylah Howard, Patrick Arrow, Brooke Moore, Kylie Bromhead, Mel Rutherford and Dominique Windsor.

SUSHI DATES for TERM 3: Sushi is supplied by Sushia and is only available for order via Flexischools (not available over the counter) Orders must be in by 9am on the day (no late orders)

Thursday, 31st July (Week Two)
Thursday, 21st August (Week Five)
Thursday, 25th September (Week Ten)

NEW MENU ITEMS: Hotdogs (Thursdays), Pizza Rounder, Mac and Cheese, and Bag of 5 Nuggets for the lunch menu and also Hash Browns available at Recess which are available over the counter.

LUNCH ORDERS: Download the ‘Flexischools’ app to order your child’s lunch online. Full instructions can be found on our website and are also available via the link below. Please do not forget to order sauce along with the order.

Parents must order online for their child’s lunch order.

Open: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday
Closed: Tuesday & Friday

If you have any queries or would like to Volunteer please phone Vikki on 0439 964 462. (Please note, Marianne no longer works at Holy Family and Vikki is the current contact)

SUPERVISION AND PICK UP REMINDER

Supervision and Pick-Up Reminder

This is a reminder to families that school supervision begins at 8:35 a.m. each morning. Students arriving before this time must remain seated in the courtyard until staff on duty arrive. This is an important part of ensuring student safety.

The school day concludes at 3:15 pm, and there are several options available for student pick-up:

Walkers 1: Students walking home or being collected on foot from the front gate.
Walkers 2: Students collected from the bottom of the hill near the CEDB building (Catholic Education Diocese of Bathurst) are escorted to this designated collection point.
Car Pick-Up: This is a drive-through option. Please note that drivers must remain in their vehicles at all times. In the afternoon, this is especially important as we operate on a 5 cars in, 5 cars out system to ensure safety and efficiency.
Park and Collect: Families may park in the Visitors’ Car Park and collect their child from the Multi-Sports Area.

Staff fully supervise students catching the country bus each afternoon until the last bus departs and all students are safely on board.

Thank you for your cooperation in supporting the safety and well-being of all our students.

MISS PAULA - MUSIC TUITION

Unfortunately there are no vacancies for private instrument tuition, Miss Paula is not taking a waiting list.
Miss Paula’s books are permanently closed.

P & F NEWS

Upcoming Events:
Term 3: Disco
Term 4: Bunnings BBQ (November 9th) and a Colour Fun Run (date TBC)

Next Meeting: Tuesday, 22 July @ 7.30pm (Staffroom) All Welcome. Please note that our July meeting will be held at the start of Term 3.

CONNECT@HOME

Discover Connect@home – A Daily Companion in Faith

Have you heard of Connect@home? Many haven’t – but once discovered, it quickly becomes a treasured part of the day.

One parishioner recently shared:

“I now receive it and read it daily. I am most impressed by the short reflections written by our clergy. They are brief, to the point, and thought‑provoking… Connect@home has been a best‑kept secret – I can't ever recall reading about it in a Church bulletin.”

Connect@home is a daily email from the Diocese of Bathurst offering a short, meaningful reflection written by local clergy. It’s especially appreciated by those who may not be able to attend Mass regularly but still want to stay connected with the faith community.

Whether you're housebound, busy with life, or simply looking for a moment of spiritual reflection – Connect@home is for you.

Sign up today by visiting
https://bathurst.catholic.org.au/connecthome-bringing-scripture-into-the-heart-of-your-day/

Let’s spread the word – it’s time this “best‑kept secret” became well known!

ON-SITE AFTER SCHOOL CARE - Updated contact details!

This is a continuing service available to our families. Care is available from 3.15pm - 6.00pm (or part thereof). Centacare is our provider and you can express interest by contacting:
• Noemi 0481 792 489 (Text until 2pm) and then 0491 147 453 after 2pm
• Email at: holyfamilyoshc@centacarebathurst.com.au
Noemi and the team can answer any questions you may have.

LOST & FOUND

There is a large amount of un-named uniform in our lost property basket. All unclaimed uniform will be washed and put into the clothing pool at the end of term. Named uniform will be returned to the rightful owner in the coming days however please encourage your child to check the basket if they are missing items of clothing.

We have a Belkin tracker tag in the office - please contact the office if you have lost yours (6331 3279).

Please ensure all items are clearly labeled each term.