3 May 2024

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

What better way to begin the first newsletter of Term 2 than with a rainbow arching its way over our new (indestructible!) school sign. Wishing everyone in the school community all the best for the term ahead and thanks Mrs Sevenoaks for snapping this photo.

River Griggs was the recipient of the Mary Help of Christians Good Sport award today. Mr Warnes spoke of a fair-minded young man who encourages others and always gives his best.

Thank you to the families who were able to come along and help with the marching, drumming or singing on ANZAC day. The board members of the RSL Club have asked that I extend their gratitude to you all as well. 

We say a warm MHOC welcome to the Singh and Boundy families who have joined the school community this term.

Warm Regards,

Liz

UPCOMING EVENTS

Term 2

• Wednesday 1st May  - 2025 Kindergarten Enrolment period opens
• Wednesday 8th May - AXIOS Youth Group resumes for Term 2
• Friday 10th May - Mothers’ Day Liturgy and Morning Tea 8.45am
• Tuesday 14th May - Parent/Teacher Interviews K-6
• Friday 17th May - 2025 Kindergarten Enrolment period closes
• Sunday 19th May - Parish Mass and Morning tea for the birth of the Church (Pentecost)
  
• Tuesday 21st May - Diocesan Cross Country, Grafton
• Wednesday 22nd May - MHOC Athletics Carnival, Coffs Harbour
• Friday 24th May - MHOC Feast Day celebrations
• Sunday 26th May - Parish Feast Day Picnic 
• Monday 27th May - Monday 3rd June- National Reconciliation Week
• Thursday 30th May - Staff Development Day (pupil-free day)
• Monday 10th June - Public Holiday - King's Birthday
• Thursday 20th June - Wildfire visit
• Monday 24th June - MHOC inaugral Rubik's Cube tournament
• Monday 1st July - NAIDOC Week commences
• Friday 5th July - Term awards
• Friday 5th July - Semester 1 Reports go home
• Friday 5th July - Last day Term 2

Term 3

• Friday 26th July - Grandparents’ Day - Save the date

WHAT'S THE BUZZ?

Mother’s Day Video

For our Mother’s Day Liturgy next Friday we will be playing a short video of the wonderful mothers and grandmothers in our school community. We invite you to email a photo of you with your children so it can be included in the video. Please email your photo to mhocsawtell@lism.catholic.edu.au before next Wednesday 8th May.

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Parents, you are invited to make an appointment to meet with your child's teacher on Tuesday 14th May between 3pm and 5:30pm.

If this time doesn't work for  you, or no appointments are available, please email your child's teacher to plan for a mutually suitable time. These meetings may take the form of a phone call if that suits you best

Please note, if you have recently had a meeting with your child's teacher as a PP or DCLP meeting, there is no need to make an appointment at this time.

To book, please go to the Compass app and follow the directions.

Applications for Kindergarten 2025

The enrolment period for Kindergarten 2025 is now officially open.

Existing families, please be aware that this year, there is a CLOSING DATE for applications due to unprecedented demand for places.

Jump onto our website asap to complete your application.

Grandparents’ Day - Save the Date

Our annual Grandparents Day will be held this year on Friday 26th July.

LOVING LEARNING

Year 5 English

In Year 5 this term, we have begun an exciting topic on Argument and Authority in English. We have been reading  One Small Island by Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch.  This text presents a story about this remote and precious World Heritage site and the battle to save it from environmental destruction. The students have begun to learn the skill of note-taking and summarising this week to start the unit. We are looking forward to presenting some arguments about whether or not Macquarie Island is a place that needs to remain protected.

FROM THE MISSION DESK

Mothers' Day Liturgy & Morning Tea

Our families are all warmly invited to our MHOC Mother’s Day Liturgy and morning tea next Friday 10th May. 8.45am in the school hall.

Term 2 Class Masses

All parents are welcome to attend our weekly Tuesday Mass at 9:30am. These class Masses are held at MHOC Church Sawtell. Please see the timetable below for Term One.

Tuesday 7th May - Year 4 

Tuesday 14th May - Year 3

Tuesday 21st May - No Mass. Liturgy on Friday 24th May MHOC Feast Day

Tuesday 28th May - Year 5

Tuesday 4th June - Year 2

Tuesday 11th June - Year 1

Tuesday 18th June - Kinder and Year 6

Tuesday 25th June - Year 4

SENSEI'S CORNER

Unicycle Club

Years 3-6 students... Have you been brave enough to try unicyling on Wednesdays at Recess yet? 

Bring your own safety gear, or use ours. We even have an adult sized bike.  If you think you might like to check it out, get this note signed and come down to the padded Gaga pit and watch until you feel brave enough to give it a go.  Sensei will guide you through the safety steps.  Please complete this form if you would like to join.

Gambatte kudasai (Good luck).

Also please note that the Japanese Children’s festival at the Coffs Botanical Gardens has been postponed but will be a fun event to keep your eye out for. 

MHOC PARENT FORUM

Mothers' Day Stall 

Don't forget to order your Mothers' Day presents.  Orders close at 3pm, Wednedsay 8th May.

Parent Assembly Annual Conference

This conference has reached capacity, however, if you would like to be placed on a waitlist click here

Bingo

The rostered teams for the next few weeks' Bingo are:

• Thursday 9th May- team no. 4 (Donna's team)
• Thursday 16th May- team no. 5 (Meg's team)
• Thursday 23rd May - team no. 1 (Gemma's team)

SPORT NEWS

Cross Country

The rain stayed away and the sun shone brightly over Team MHOC at the Zone Cross Country carnival in Junction Hill on Tuesday. We had some standout performances, especially in the 11 Year Girls’ race where we had 4 girls in the top 8 placings, with Lacey van Hoeck powering to the finish line in first place and ending the day as 11 Year Girls Champion.

A special congratulations goes to the following students, who will represent Clarence Zone at the Diocesan carnival on 21st May:

Easton Fargher, Lachlan Herbert, Eli Fernie, Luke Doust, River Griggs, Laila Summers, Sophie van Hock, Charlee Stevens, Victoria Jones, Lacey van Hoeck, Andi Dennis, Layla Verbruggen, Ella Duncan, Ruby Culverwell, Piper O’Sullivan.

Athletics Carnival

The students have been receiving coaching ahead of the MHOC Athletics Carnival at the C.ex International Stadium on Wednesday 22nd May. The athletics carnival is always a fun day, with students all running in the 50m (Kinder & Year 1) or 100m sprints (Year 2-6), field relays and games and optional 200m and 1500m races for students turning 8 or older in 2024.

The 1500m race is held at 8am by prior nomination only and students will need to be dropped at the stadium by parents. If your child would like to compete in the 1500m race, please complete this form.

Another highlight of the day is the Parent v Captains v Teachers sprint, which takes place at the beginning of the day. Please complete this form if you would like to be part of a parent team.

As always, we need helpers for timing races and helping to run the shot put and long jump. Please complete this volunteer form if you can help on the day (lunch is provided for helpers).

Paul Kelly Cup

On Tuesday, 3 teams from Year 5 and 6 will compete at the local round of the Paul Kelly Cup. The Cup is a modified rules AFL gala day, with the winners progressing to the regional round; however it is mainly a “come and try” day with a lot of fun to be had. Our very own resident ex-AFL player, Mr Terry Cahill, will be head coach on the day.

School Sports Pathways

As we are currently in the midst of our Cross Country pathway we thought it would be timely to provide families with a reminder of how progressions through the school sporting pathways work so we can all understand how impressive our little people are when they achieve at different levels in sport. 

The pathway for Swimming, Cross Country, Winter Sports (Rugby League, Rugby Union, Netball, Hockey, Soccer), Summer Sports (Basketball, Cricket, Touch Football, Softball, Tennis) and Athletics is as follows: 

• School level
• Zone level (Clarence Zone)
• Diocesan level
• Polding level
• State level
• National level

When representing MHOC at a Zone level, there is every chance that your child could progress through further levels in these pathways. It is very important to note that if competing at a Zone level, there is an expectation of availability at further levels. Parents and students should be mindful that, if students compete at any level but then choose to withdraw (except due to illness or injury) at a higher level, they are denying another student the opportunity to participate and progress as far along the pathways as they can.

HABITS OF MINDS AWARDS

Term 2, Week 1

CANTEEN NEWS

Canteen Roster

Parent and grandparent volunteers are always needed and welcome. Please phone the school or complete this form if you can spare some time in the canteen.

Monday 6th May
Kath Rallings

Tuesday 7th May
Cheryl Jones

Wednesday 8th May

Thursday 9th May

Friday 10th May
Liz Jackson

LIBRARY WHISPERS

If the rest of Term 2 is anything like this week, there’s going to be a lot of reading happening. The children have come back from holidays very keen to borrow books and I’ve had lots of them telling me what they’ve been reading and requests for new books. It was also really great to hear of how many of them have visited the new library in town…Coffs is really lucky to have such a wonderful public library! 

Year 4 got the choice of either listening to a story or telling the class about a book they’ve been reading. Mackenzie gave us such a wonderful recount of James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, at least half the class wanted to read a Roald Dahl book when it came time to choose a book!

OSHC

This week we have spent our time discussing the school holidays, exploring the new equipment and engaging in a variety of art experiences. The MHOC OSHC Team are always blown away with the amazing skills the children possess whether that’s from a creative avenue like art, dance and music or sporting avenue like soccer or basketball. We are excited to continue to support the OSHC children as they explore various experiences and games in the morning or they relax after school.

MHOC Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) wishes to highlight the critical importance of notifying our Service of any intended absence of your child or children from our care. This notification is vital for ensuring the safety and well-being of all children under our supervision.Please note that while we collaborate closely with the school, we operate as separate entities and do not automatically share information about individual children.

If you have any queries or inquiries regarding the service please contact us via email sawp-oshc@lism.catholic.edu.au

NEWS FROM OUR PARISH

AXIOS

Welcome back for Term 2. We will have our first gathering next Wednesday 8th May. If your child would like to join us please complete this online registration form.

Sacraments

Confirmation for our parish will be celebrated on Friday evening, 2nd August with Bishop Greg. Families of children in Group 24 will receive email communication from Carolyn in the coming weeks with more details. If you are not already registered and wish to be included please contact Carolyn directly at the parish office 66583544 or via email  pastoral@sawtellcatholicchurch.com.au.

Please keep an eye out for messages on parish media, school bulletin, emails and sms. If you feel you are missing messages please contact Carolyn.

Baptism

The Sacrament of Baptism is available to those requesting it. Please ring Jennifer at the Parish Office (66583544) or talk to Amber Biddle, Liz Watts or Margaret Ryan at school if you have any questions.  Alternatively, if you wish to register for Baptism, there is now the option of an  online request form .

Parish Website , E-bulletin & Facebook Page

For all the latest news from our parish, check out the Parish website or subscribe to our  new e-bulletin which can be sent directly to your inbox each week. Why not sign up today by entering your details in the sign up box on the Homepage or Contact page of the website!

And don’t forget to check out our FaceBook page

COMMUNITY NEWS