1 August 2025
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Yesterday was the Feast Day of St Ignatius of Loyola’s - a favourite saint of mine. Here at school, we teach the children how to pray St Ignatius’ Examen prayer - a simple way to prayerfully reflect over the day. It’s a beautiful prayer that you might like to pray together with your children before they go to bed.
1. Start by becoming aware of God’s presence.
2. What good things happened today - say ‘Thank you’ to God.
3. What was tricky today? Talk to God about how you are feeling.
4. Choose one feature of the day and pray about it.
5. Look toward tomorrow - ask for God’s help and blessings
It was a beautiful, joy-filled celebration on Tuesday evening when 61 children from MHOC received the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Congratulations to Zoe Rouse who was the recipient of today’s Walk Worthy of God Good Citizen Award. Zoe’s teachers say that she goes out of her way to help others and follows the MHOC Code of Conduct by always being respectful, safe and her best.
Warm regards,
Margaret
Margaret Ryan
Acting Principal
UPCOMING EVENTS
Term 3
- Tuesday 5th August - Parent/Teacher Interviews
- Friday 8th August - Barney Barselaar Cup
- Friday 8th August - Jammies for Joeys Day
- Wednesday 13th August - Spelling Bee Finals
- Friday 22nd August - Book Week Parade
- Sunday 24th August - School-led Parish Mass
- Tuesday 26th August - Netball Schools Cup Regional Final
- Tuesday 26th August - Diocesan Athletics
- Tuesday 26th August - Kinder, Year 1 & 2 Disco
- Wednesday 27th August - Year 3 & 4 Disco
- Wednesday 27th August - Parenting in the age of Distraction Parent Night
- Thursday 28th August - Year 5 & 6 Disco
- Friday 29th August - K-2 Science Fair
- Thursday 4th September - Fathers’ Day Stall
- Friday 5th September - Fathers’ Day Breakfast
- Friday 12th September - Polding Athletics
- Monday 22nd - 23rd September - Year 4 Camp
- Monday 22nd - Wednesday 24th September - Year 5 Camp
- Monday 22nd September - Clarence Public Speaking Competition
- Friday 26th September - last day of Term 3
Term 4
- Monday 13th October - Staff Development Day (pupil-free day)
- Tuesday 14th October - First day of Term 4 for students
WHAT'S THE BUZZ?
Confirmation
A big congratulations to all our Confirmation candidates! What a special night it was, filled with so much joy and celebration. Each student demonstrated great commitment throughout their preparation, and it was lovely to see them take this important step in their spiritual journey. Thank you to Fr Joy, the families, teachers and Parish community members who helped make this evening so wonderful for our candidates!
Jammies for Joeys Day
Mary MacKillop is Australia's first (and so far only) recognised saint and we will be celebrating her Feast Day next Friday 8th August with a whole school liturgy in the hall from 8:50am. Students are also invited to wear their pyjamas to school on this day for Jammies for Joeys Day - named for the Josephite sisters, the order of nuns founded by Mary MacKillop. Students are asked to bring in a gold coin donation for Josephite charities.
Book Week Parade - Change of Date
Book week is fast approaching - note the new date for the Book Week Parade is at 8:50am on Friday 22nd August.
AXIOS Youth Group Meetings – On Hold
AXIOS Youth Group meetings are on hold for now. We’ll keep you updated and let you know as soon as the group is able to resume, though this is unlikely to happen this term. Thanks for your understanding.
LOVING LEARNING
This Week in Kindergarten
In Kindergarten, we’ve been diving into the fascinating world of wombats through informative texts. Students have been learning facts about these unique Australian animals – where they live, what they eat and how they dig their burrows. Through fact filing, drawing, quizzes and fun discussions, we’ve been building vocabulary and practising how to share information. Look at how we are using our Tricky Words and punctuation in our writing.
Ask your child what they found most interesting about wombats!
Parent-Teacher Interviews next week
Next week, we will be holding our parent-teacher interviews on Tuesday, August 5th. This is a great opportunity to meet with your child's classroom teacher to discuss their academic and social progress.
If you have not already done so, please log in to the conference portal on COMPASS to book a time slot before 3pm on Monday.
A friendly reminder that all children on school grounds during the interviews must be under the direct supervision of a parent or carer. Unless they are officially booked into after-school care, children should not be on the playground or around the hall. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.
Newcastle Permanent Mathematics Competition 2025
Our Year 5 and 6 students showcased their mathematical prowess by participating in the challenging Newcastle Permanent Mathematics Competition this week. This annual event encourages critical thinking and problem-solving skills, pushing students to apply their knowledge in unique and creative ways. Our students tackled a variety of complex questions, demonstrating their dedication and hard work throughout the process. We are incredibly proud of their efforts and the enthusiasm they brought to the competition. The results will be announced later in the year.
Number Fluency Program in Action
Children are thoroughly enjoying their daily engagement in the Number Fluency Program. Its a joy witnessing a huge growth in confidence and improvements in mathematical fluency across the school.
Brendan Murphy
Assistant Principal
Learning & Teaching
FROM THE MISSION DESK
What’s been happening in Religious Education in Year 3?
In Year 3 during Religious Education, we have been learning about the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. Many students prepared for the sacrament of Confirmation during this time. We also explored the concept of the Holy Trinity, using a Celtic Knot to represent the three divine persons of the Holy Trinity.
Seasons for Growth is a small group education program that supports children and young people to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to understand and respond well to experiences of change, loss and grief.
This wonderful program supports children and young people who have experienced change and loss, including, although not limited to, family separation; loss or death of someone they care about; living away in out of home care; physical or mental illness; We suggest that children and young people impacted by bereavement wait 6-12 months before participating in a Seasons for Growth program.
We will be offering the next intake for the Seasons program at Mary Help of Christians. If you think that your child would benefit from this program, please fill in this expression of interest form below.
Term 3 Class Mass Roster
All parents and carers are warmly invited to join us for our weekly class Masses at Sawtell Catholic Church at 9:30am. We’d love for you to stay afterwards for a cuppa and some morning tea. It's a great chance to catch up and connect with others in our school community.
Tuesday 5th August - Year 4 and Mini Vinnies Students (Mini Vinnies Commissioning Mass)
Tuesday 12th August - Year 6
Tuesday 19th August - Year 5
Tuesday 26th August - Year 1
Tuesday 2nd September - Year 2
Tuesday 9th September - Year 4
Tuesday 16th September - Year 3
Tuesday 23rd September - Kinder & Year 6
Amber Biddle
Assistant Principal
Mission
Toni Fletcher
Leader of
Catechesis
SPORT NEWS
Barney Barselaar Cup
Our little soccer superstars have been busy trialling and training for the upcoming Barney Barselaar Cup, being held next week. We thank Mr Murphy for his hard work on this and wish this team the best of luck! Standby for results.
Rebecca Bennett
Sports Coordinator
Geraldine Hourigan
Sports Administrator
LIBRARY WHISPERS
And that’s a wrap! The Book Fair is finished and it was a huge success. We raised over $2000 in Rewards Points to spend on books with Scholastic. I’ll be replenishing books that are on their last legs, including a lot of the really popular books such as Weirdo, Bad Guys, Dog Man and Wolf Girl. I’ll also be adding to our Non Fiction collection. A big thank you to my helpers before the Fair, especially Abigail Benton in Year 6, who made sure she came in every day to see what was needed, as well as my Library Monitors, Sahaj and Ry, who were also really helpful. Also a massive thank you to the wonderful ladies who were on the cash desk on Grandparent’s Day, Aunty Kelly and Kate Parkins.
With all the hype from last week with Grandparent’s Day, I forgot to mention the Illustrate a Book Cover competition. I was overwhelmed with how many entries I received! The standard of entries was really high and made the judging quite tough for Mrs Ryan. The winners were:
- Junior - Savannah Murphy
- Middle - Max Kennedy
- Senior - Eva Gould
Our runners up were Betty Moore, Axel Telford, Cliarah Bergs and Savannah Schweitzer.
Winners received a $20 voucher to spend at the Fair and runners-up received a $5 canteen voucher.
Rachael Hewitt
Librarian
SENSEI'S CORNER
High 5 for a White Belt
Year 3 and 4 are working hard on acquiring their white belt level in Japanese reading of hiragana or katakana. This is a team skill where the students become the teachers, and must support each other to learn.
Once ready to test, the student wanting to try for a white belt has to first convince a sponsor that they are truly ready. The sponsor agrees to thoroughly check readiness before allowing the student to take any chances. The sponsor stands behind their student for moral support but no hints allowed.
You can elect to go ‘public’ (in front of the class) for this quick test, or have a private test. Many opt for the public test and, if excitement could be captured in a photograph, the sponsor's face says it all.
CANTEEN NEWS
Poke Bowls
A perfect choice for even the fussiest eaters! Customize your bowl just the way you like it — start with your favorite base, add a protein, and pile on fresh, delicious salad toppings. Simple, satisfying, and made just for you.
NEWS FROM OUR PARISH
Baptism
The Sacrament of Baptism is available to those requesting it. Please ring Jennifer at the Parish Office (66583544) or talk to Amber Biddle 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
MHOC SCHOOL COMMUNITY FORUM
Parenting in the Age of Distraction
We have a wonderful opportunity to take part in a live webinar presented by Angela Lockwood. There are two ways you can take part:
- Join with other MHOC parents to take part in the webinar here at school. You can drop your Year 3 or 4 child at the school disco first and yummy nibbles will be provided or;
- Register and Zoom in from home.
See the flyer below for more details and click on the link to register.
You may also be interested in registering for these webinars:
Jo Melinz
SCF President
COMMUNITY NEWS
FREE ShowerStar Trial
Want to reduce the cost of your water and electricity bill, while helping the environment at the same time? The City of Coffs Harbour is looking for households within the Coffs Harbour Local Government Area (LGA) to trial the ShowerStar for FREE! Learn more here. (Trial the ShowerStar | City of Coffs Harbour)