G Day

On Friday the 9th of September, it was G Day (Grandparents and friends day). We started the day with a Mass that was supposed to be on the Basketball Court but it got rained out and so it was moved to the church. This mass was to celebrate all the special people in our lives even if they were't present on the day.


Following the mass the visitors had morning tea while the students had their recess. After morning tea, our visitors got to visit the students in their classrooms and saw what they had been doing this year. The visitors could take them to the book fair and buy them books, stationary and posters. Clifford the big red dog was visiting the classrooms throughout the day, he enjoyed meeting the friendly students of our school.


An assembly was held for all of the special visitors and each grade had to present an item. In the assembly, we shared our talents to our grandparents and friends. The choir also sang after all the grades finished. After the assembly our grandparents and friends were able to take us home.


The year 6 students were a great help on the day, they helped it run smoothly.


Madeline, Holly, Sonia and Brianne Year 6  

Cricket Representation

Wallace Marshall in Year 6 has been selected to represent the Diocese of Wollongong at Pennant Hills on the 13th of September in his chosen sport of Cricket. If Wallace is successful in this game, he will go on to represent New South Wales at a Carnival in Newcastle later this year. We wish Wallace well in the MacKillop trials.

Previously, Wallace has traveled to Lismore and Gosford to represent the Campbelltown and Camden cricket associations in his age group. Wallace has been recognised for his fast bowling ability and aggressive batting style, which have led to some outstanding results, most notably in a recent game, Wallace bowled 4 for 14 and batted 61 not out.

Wallace has aspirations to play for the Australian Cricket team in the future.

Athletics Carnival 2011

The sports carnival was a wonderful day at Campbelltown stadium. Red (Savage) won that day, but we all had a good time. Red came 1^st, Green (Waugh) came 2^nd, Blue (Freeman) came in 3^rd place and finally Gold (Rafter) came in 4^th place. It did not matter who came first or last because we all had a good time. Some people ran the 200m and 800m races that was very fun to watch. During the day we played some activities like parachute, soccer activities, sprints, long jump, skipping and Javelin. We also had a novelty race with the teachers and students from Holy Family and Mt Carmel. In the end it was a very fun day. We give a big thankyou to Mr Hyland, parent helpers and staff. We are very sad that we are leaving Holy Family and this was our last carnival.

Lachlan M & Jeffrey M

School Opening and Blessing

Recently, our school celebrated the opening and blessing of our school refurbishments and new library. Here is a recount of the event from two of our Year Six students, Cain B & Kyle B.

The school gathered in the basketball area in the morning. Mrs Dillon then introduced the VIPs to our school. The special guests included;

• Bishop Peter Ingham, Bishop of the Wollongong Diocese
• Uncle Ivan, an Aboriginal Elder of the Darawal people
• Dr Paul McCann, Acting Director of Schools, Diocese of Wollongong
• Cr Paul Lake - Mayor of Campbelltown
• Mr Laurie Ferguson MP, Electoral Division of Werriwa, NSW.

Bishop Peter then spoke to the school community about the importance of religious education in our schools. He also told a story about a Kindergarten student who went to school on their first day, when he came back, his mum asked him "What did you learn?", he answered, "Not enough, i'll have to come back tomorrow". This joke was to say that we have to learn as much as possible with our time at school. After Bishop Peter had finished speaking to us, we all sang the national anthem.

Uncle Ivan then spoke to our school community. He spoke about the Darawal people's history and how they have changed over time. His role as an Elder in the community is to shared Aboriginal History and knowledge with the current generation.

After Uncle Ivan had finished sharing his knowledge, Father Peter and Bishop Peter moved around the new areas of the school and blessed them with Holy Water. While they were doing this, our school choir sang Hello, Goodbye by Glee Club and Make it Shine by Victoria Justice. They sang beautifully. After this, we sang the Good Samaritan Song as a school community.

After this, the plaque was unveiled by members of the school leadership team. This will be mounted somewhere in the school at a later date.

The Acting Director of Schools then spoke to us about the importance of the BER - Building Education Revolution, and how it helped Australia survive the Global Financial Crisis.

Mrs Dillon then concluded the ceremony, and announced that all the community would be welcome to morning tea in the new library!

Catholic Schools Week Assembly 2011

For Catholic Schools Week at Holy Family, each class did an item in front of the school community.

• Year 1 recited a poem called "The Little Seed" and sang a song called "You And I We Grow".
• Year 3 sang a Mother's Day song
• Year 4 recited two poems "The Ten Commandments or Ten Things Your Parents Will Never Say To You" and "The Ten Commandments or Ten Things Your Teacher Will Never Say To You".
• Year 5 Room 11 recited a poem called "Homework oh Homework sang a song called "Rock A Bye Your Bear"
• Year 6 sang the song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

The school community was very encouraging of our performances and they showed this by making a big noise when they applauded the acts. Year 3 made some of the parents cry when they sang their Mother's Day song.

Julian D and Holly G

Catholic Schools Week

This week our school is celebrating catholic schools week. First and foremost, Catholic Schools Week is about celebration. Our School is celebrating Catholic Schools Week in many ways. Today, we celebrated Mass with Fr Peter and opened our classroom to the parents. This was followed by morning tea with the parents. On Friday, we will be having a whole-school assembly, with each class performing something for the school. For more information about Catholic Schools Week, please view the website here

Over the weekend the parents and Mr Tabone organised a working bee for the parents to come in and do the gardens in preparation for Catholic Schools Week, here are some photos.

Elizabeth W & William M

iPod Touch Learning with Kinder & Year 2

Today the communication and curation team went to kindergarten to teach them about iPod Touches. We showed them a game where they trace across the letters in number order until they make a letter. At first we started with one child each, and then we ended up having two each as we got more familiar with the activity. We took pictures of them smiling and using the iPods. The application they used with the iPods was called i Write Words. The kids found it a bit hard writing with their finger initially, however, got the hang of it after a few practices. Please view a video below of the students interacting with the iPod Touches.

Arvin R Brooke T

Vision Statement

On Monday, 21st of March was the launch of the school's Vision Statement. At the start of the liturgy, we recited the School Prayer, Ms Maloney retold the parable of the Good Samaritan. Mrs Sillis explained that, as a school, we should be more careful about our Catholic image and that we should understand the Vision Statement, which is simply put as this: love each other, accept and include each other and be thankful that you know God. She also spoke about the connection between Sister Bernadette Nichols and Saint Benedict. St Benedict inspired the Good Samaritan Order. Sr Bernadette became the first principal of Holy Family School, our school.

By Geosef and Shannen

Colours For Queensland Day

On Friday the 11^th of February 2011 it was Colours for Queensland Day”. The main idea was to raise money for the Rockhampton & Toowoomba dioceses’ school. That day was also a Mufti Day, when we had to wear clothes of bright casual clothes.

The school pupils wore clothes of bright colours including maroon red. The Liturgy and Social Justice Team gave up their lunchtime and some of their school time to count all the money raised with Ms Maloney. Then the Liturgy and Social Justice Team announced that the school raised a total of $610.05. It was a great accomplishment for the school, as it was the highest amount raised this year so far.

By Geosef E and William T