Dear parents and carers,

We made it to the end of yet another busy term!

I hope all our mums and carers liked their well-deserved Mother's Day gifts. It was lovely to watch students carefully choosing gifts for their loved ones at our stall.

It's dad's turn soon. Please keep an eye out for news of our Father's Day Stall on Facebook and in your child's communication book. If you can help out on the day, please let me know!

The P&C proudly supported Sydney Zoo's visit this term too. From all reports, the students - and staff! - loved seeing the animals up close.

A reminder that representatives from the Community Migrant Resource Centre and NDIS are in the Community Hub every Thursday during school terms. They can help you with a wide range of services. It's also a great opportunity to meet new people and learn different skills.

Mark your diaries. Our next P&C meeting will be at 9.30am, Wednesday, 2 August, in the Community Hub. All parents and carers are welcome and encouraged to attend our monthly meetings. They provide an invaluable opportunity to learn what is happening at school and to connect with fellow parents.

As winter is now upon us, please look after yourselves. Keep your children at home if they are feeling unwell or have flu-like symptoms. Let's work together to keep our Holroyd community safe and well.

Enjoy the winter break!

Until next time,

Liz Brannon

President

How long have you worked at Holroyd School?

Seven years.

What is your all-time favourite TV show?

The Office.

If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?

A new, bigger home.

If you could witness any historical event, what would you want to see?

The building of the pyramids in Egypt.

If you could meet anyone from history, who would it be?

Cleopatra - I am obsessed with Ancient Egypt.

If you won a dream holiday to anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Europe, especially Italy and France.

If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Thai food - Hokkien noodles with chicken.

What is the last movie you saw?

A Man Called Otto.

Do you keep your tomato sauce in the fridge or the pantry?

In the fridge.

What is your favourite song to sing along to?

Dancing Queen by ABBA.

6 months.

What is your all-time favourite TV show?

I have a few - The Sopranos and Young and the Restless.

If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?

A holiday home.

If you could witness any historical event, what would you want to see?

The Pope's visit to Australia in 1970.

If you could meet anyone from history, who would it be?

Princess Diana.

If you won adream holiday to anywhere in the world, where would you go?

To Lebanon and Italy. I would love for my children to see their grandparents' countries of birth, visit family and experience the culture first-hand.

If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Pasta.

What is the last movie you saw?

The Pope's Exorcist.

Do you keep your tomato sauce in the fridge or the pantry?

In the fridge.

What is your favourite song to sing along to?

Proud Mary by Elvis Presley.

We've had a wonderful time running intensive literacy groups for the past 18 months. These lessons were programmed for students who were ready to learn phonics, and develop their reading and comprehension skills. The 30 minute sessions ran twice a week in the literacy room where students were placed in small ability groups. Working alongside peers from other classes gave students an opportunity to expand their social and conversational skills through interaction and discussion.

During literacy lessons students were explicitly taught phonics skills and decoding strategies to improve reading comprehension. Our students had the opportunity to practice these skills through a range of fun activities and games.

Level 1 students focused on developing their phonics skills and participated in activities such as:

- Basic phonological awareness activities, including syllable claps, listening to sounds in spoken words and the environment.

- Listening to and talking about stories read by the teacher.

- Recognising, saying and blending focus sounds, eg s a t p i n 

- Playing literacy games using spy torches, magnifying glasses and sound swats to identify and blend sounds.

- Fine motor activities to strengthen fingers for pencil control.

- Mark making and tracing.

Students working beyond Level 1 focused on developing their reading and comprehension skills and participated in activities such as:

- Comprehension passages.

- Blending and segmenting focus sounds to read and write 3-5 letter words.

- Reading leveled decodable readers.

- Discussing the story and answering simple comprehension activities.

- Discussing texts and relating to their prior knowledge and past experiences.

- Dictation and writing activities.

We had great fun in our lessons! Our students looked forward to seeing the text they would be reading next and what their favourite characters had been up to. They were always excited to use our new phonics resources to read words with spy torches and phoneme phones; to hunt for letters with magnifying glasses; and to squash sounds with fly swats. We are grateful to Club Merrylands for a generous grant last year to purchase these wonderful resources which made lessons fun and motivating. 

Michelle and Kylie

By Stephan Le, School Psychologist

Children with Autism can have unique ways of engaging with the people and world around them. Their parents often have many great stories, ideas or resources to share to help other parents of children with Autism.

The Autism Community Network (ACN) was setup in 2011 to help parents and families on the same journey to find and connect with each other. They aim to end the self-imposed isolation that so many families experience. It is a non-profit volunteer group that organises activities such as walking groups for carers, family days, carer support meetings and various other events listed below.

Here is a link to the ACN's calendar of upcoming events: https://acnaustralia.org.au/calendar/

For more information about ACN, how to contact them and register for events, just visit acnaustralia.org.au

The School Dental Health Van will be at Holroyd School early next term.

Students will receive a full dental check-up at school. If your child needs further treatment, you will be called for a follow-up appointment.

There are no out-of-pocket costs as Medicare will cover these expenses for eligible students. If your child is not Medicare eligible, the school dentist will provide your child with a free dental health screening.

It's not too late to return your child's consent forms, if you have not already done so.

Please contact the school office if you require another copy.

It was stacks of fun for our S24 seniors at work experience this term. Thank you David Morgan Packaging for this important learning opportunity.

Former Olympian Nicole from Limitless Gymnastics was back this term to teach students fundamental skills. It has been wonderful to see all our gymnasts grow in confidence and independence with every lesson. Nicole's classes were a lot of fun! 

Five senior classes (S21, S22, S24, S29 and S30) danced the day away recently at a children's disco held at the John Edmondson Memorial Club in Liverpool.

Students had a wonderful time listening to music, meeting local police and re-fuelling with fairy bread, chips and drinks at the disco, hosted by children's charity Variety.

Take a look at these photo highlights.

Sydney Zoo popped into Holroyd School this term too!

Our junior and middle school students enjoyed close encounters with a range of fascinating animals, including lizards, turtles and stick insects.

Thank you to our wonderful P&C, who's generosity helped to support this informative incursion.

We love birthdays here at Holroyd School! Here are a few of our recent class celebrations.

Wishing all our staff, students and families a safe and happy holiday.

The last day for Term 2 is this Friday, 30 June, 2023.

Term 3 begins for students on Tuesday, 18 July, 2023.

Don't forget to 'like' Holroyd School on Facebook!

Follow Holroyd School on Facebook to keep up-to-date with messages from our Principal and P&C, school news, upcoming events, class highlights and community news.