10 May 2024
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Star of the Sea.
Queen of Peace.
Mother of Mercy.
Help of Christians.
These are some of the better-known titles for Mary, but my favourite by far is the little-known Mary, Undoer of Knots. (Look out! I might change the name of the school!)
Mary is the mother who patiently and lovingly brings us to God whose grace can untangle many of the challenges and difficulties in our lives. Don’t forget to call on her next time things get into a tangle.
Mary, Undoer of Knots…pray for us.
How blessed we are to have the inspiration of Mary who, as the mother of Jesus, knew first-hand the joys and sufferings of motherhood. Thank you to all of our MHOC mothers, grandmothers and mother figures for the love you shower on your children every day.
It was lovely to see so many at our liturgy and morning tea today.
Happy Mothers’ day.
Warm Regards,
Liz
Liz Watts
Principal
UPCOMING EVENTS
Term 2
- Tuesday 14th May- Parent teacher Interviews
- 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 K-6
- 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?
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.
Parents, if your children need to accompany you for parent teacher interviews, please drop them off and pick them up from the top pebbled area where Mrs Watts and Mrs Biddle will be providing supervision.
Tell Them From me Parent Survey
We would like to invite you to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at Mary Help of Christian’s Primary School.
The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. You are able to access the parent survey on your computer or mobile device by using the URL below:
www.tellthemfromme.com/http://tellthemfromme.com/g9z5d
Grandparents’ Day - Save the Date
Our annual Grandparents Day will be held this year on Friday 26th July.
Kindergarten 2025 Enrolment Period
Please access the link on our school website. Our enrolment period has a closing date this year: Friday 17th May. Please remind familiy and friends to submit their application before next Friday.
Year 7 2025 Enrolment Period - Saint John Paul College
Please access the link to the online application via the SJPC website. Any questions or assistance please contact the College office on 6653 3155 or email cofhs-enrolments@lism.
LOVING LEARNING
Year 1 English
In Year 1 English we have been learning to understand how real and imagined characters can be represented differently. We have enjoyed comparing different representations of characters, specifically ants! We loved reading a range of texts to gather information to create our own informative texts. Below we have included some of our work. Grownups: over the weekend please have a look at our great work on Seesaw.
Visitors
We had 25 visitors from the Catholic Education Office and other diocesan schools spend the morning with us on Tuesday. We received this special thank you from the Assistant Director:
A sincere thankyou for the fabulous day at your beautiful school. It is a joy and a privilege to be in the school and to be welcomed by the staff and students so warmly.
Your learning journey certainly demonstrates a great curiosity and passion for always moving forward based on new learning and changing curriculum.
Margaret Ryan
Assistant Principal
Learning & Teaching
FROM THE MISSION DESK
Happy Mother's Day!
May God bless you and give you health and happiness, so that you may be a blessing to your family and to all who are in your care.
May Jesus, the Son of Mary, be your protector to give you strength and health and peace, so that you may be a refuge and haven for your family.
Thank you to everyone that could make it to our Mother’s Day Liturgy this morning; it was a wonderful way to celebrate as a community. Mothers are our greatest strength and our greatest comfort. They show us something of what the heart of God must be like, unconditional, tender love. May those little rays of sunshine (your children) spoil you all this Sunday. Happy Mother’s Day to all!
What’s been happening in Religious Education in Year 1?
During Religious Education, students in Year 1 have been learning all about the Ascension.
We learnt that Jesus went up to Heaven 40 days after he rose from the dead.
We enjoyed using our crafting skills to make Jesus rise up into Heaven (see pictures below) and explored how Jesus is with us through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
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 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
Save the date - School Feast day and Colour Fun Run on May 24th
Our school feast day is fast approaching and we will be celebrating with classroom activities, a school Liturgy and a Colour Fun Run. Watch this space for more information in the coming weeks.
Amber Biddle
Assistant Principal
Mission
Toni Fletcher
Leader of
Catechesis
MHOC SCHOOL COMMUNITY FORUM
Forum Meeting
The Forum met on Tuesday evening and welcomed new treasurer, Mr Nathan Trezise.
All committee representatives presented reports.
Name Change
We will be undergoing a name change to align with the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools Ltd. Goodbye MHOC Parent Forum. Hello MHOC School Community Forum!
BINGO
There have been huge crowds at Bingo over the last months as the jackpot remained stubbornly unattainable. The teachers’ team were on duty last night when the $1200 jackpot went off. If you would like to join one of our Bingo teams, please contact the school and they will put you in touch with the wonderful Gemma Pither.
Stage 2 Playground Redevelopment
The forum looked at a few options for the re-development of the Stage 2 playground equipment and have committed to funding the final choice. Once we’ve consulted with the Stage 2 children and school leaders, we’ll share the initial concepts and the fundraising targets.
Bunnings Cake Stall Save the Date
Speaking of fundraising… Sunday 23rd June has been locked in for our next Bunnings Cake stall. We raised close to $1K at the last one so thank you to all of the bakers and sellers. We’ll be calling for volunteers again soon so keep an eye out. Our previous volunteers said that manning the stall was a fun parent/child activity. an hour of your time will be very much appreciated.
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 16th May- team no. 5 (Meg's team)
- Thursday 23rd May - team no. 1 (Gemma's team)
- Thursday 30th May - team no. 2 (Kelly's team)
Jo Melinz
PSF President
SPORT NEWS
Athletics Carnival
Our students are practising hard for the athletics carnival on Wednesday 22nd May. If only the rain didn’t keep washing the sand out of the long jump pit!
Does your child want to nominate for the 1500m race? It is held at 8am and students will need to be dropped at the stadium by parents. Nomination is required for the 1500m, so please complete this form.
Feel free to nominate for the Parents v Teachers v Captains sprint via this form. Beware, we have 2 resident Ironmen on staff!
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
Unfortunately, Tuesday’s AFL gala day was cancelled due to the weather. The new date is Monday 27th May. The synthetic fields have been booked as a backup in case of field closure, so the event will go ahead, even if it is raining. If your child is attending and you would like to help on the day, please contact Mrs Bennett (bec.bennett@lism.catholic.edu.au).
Rebecca Bennett
Leader of PDHPE
Geraldine Hourigan
Sports Administrator
HABITS OF MINDS AWARDS
Term 2, Week 2
Kinder | Arlo Stevenson, Liam Collin, Isabella Fox |
Year 1 | Gurwaris Singh, Harrison Duggan, Samuel McPherson, Sage Mergulhao, Franklin Chambers, Kamiyah Geary Roff |
Year 2 | Nikita Bruce, Alexa Wills, Addison Mendoza |
Year 3 | Cooper Woods, Benjamin McPherson, Charlotte Miller, Kenny Falkiner, Joshua Hiller, Henry Jones |
Year 4 | Alyssa Chapman, Ada Prowse, William Fox, Noah Meehan, Eli Fernie |
Year 5 | Zara Pinder, Ivy Meehan, Asha Cook, Lacey Van Hoeck, Miles Thompson |
Year 6 | Mila White, Lawson Baz, Thomas Snow |
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 13th May
Kath Rallings
Tuesday 14th May
Hannah Cook
Wednesday 15th May
Thursday 16th May
Carmel Maione
Friday 17th May
Meba Winter
Lisa Mangan
LIBRARY WHISPERS
We’ve got some wonderful new books in the library for the start of term. I always try to get books that will cater to a range of tastes, and so I’m really pleased with the haul of books I’ve got this time. They get borrowed as soon as I put them out, so I made sure to quickly take a photo of some of them before they left the library!
The rainy weather has made the library the place to be at recess and lunch…the girls were so engrossed in their books that they didn’t notice me taking their photo!
Rachael Hewitt
Librarian
OSHC
This week at MHOC OSHC, our children embraced a wet and wild week sparking creativity in our games and activities to keep them active after spending the day indoors. We also celebrated the special women in our lives with beautiful Mother's/Mother Figures' artworks and creations, Learning Outcome 1.1, 4.1, 5.1.
To all the mothers, stepmothers, and motherly figures, the MHOC OSHC Team wishes you a wonderful Mother's Day this Sunday!
Please be aware that we have limited casual bookings available for Before School Care (BSC) and After School Care (ASC). Families can contact us in writing at sawp-oshc@lism.catholic.edu.au for any booking requests.
Laura McDiarmid
MHOC OSHC Coordinator
NEWS FROM OUR PARISH
Celebrating the birthday of the Church
This was our first week back at AXIOS. We spent most of our time creating something special for our mums . Shhhh! During our weekly prayer time, I am so inspired by and grateful for the thoughtful ideas and questions from the children as we reflect on the Gospel and connect it to our lives.
If your child is in Years 4-6 and is interested in coming along, please complete the form via this link.
If you are an adult interested in helping out with this group (afternoon tea and/or activity support) please contact Carolyn at the parish office. We are always in need of extra helpers to keep this group going.
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
Carolyn Tumminello
Pastoral Associate
COMMUNITY NEWS
