Dear Families,

Welcome back for Term 3! I hope you had a restful and enjoyable school holiday period and are excited for the term ahead. Term 3 promises to be a vibrant and busy time filled with learning, growth, and community events.

Health & Physical Education (HPE) Update

As you may be aware, our HPE teacher Peter Henson, is on leave as of yesterday (Tuesday July 15) until August 29, the end of Week 7.

During this time, we will have some familiar staff stepping in and teaching our HPE lessons.

Staffing for HPE will be as follows:

• Monday and Tuesday: Erica Rusch, current Year 4-6 Health teacher, will be leading the HPE sessions.
• Wednesday: Alison Jago, a current relief teacher who is familiar to Our Lady Help of Christians, will be taking one day a week.
• Thursday and Friday: Jaimee Hislop, current Leader of Diversity, will take over for the latter part of the week.

We appreciate your understanding and flexibility as we ensure a smooth and engaging HPE experience for all students.

Term 3 Sporting Events

This term brings a range of exciting sporting opportunities within our diocese. Various teachers across the school will be working closely with students to prepare for upcoming competitions. Training sessions will be held during school hours, and we encourage students who are interested to participate to represent our school. These events are a wonderful way to build teamwork, resilience, and school spirit.

The sporting events available to students this term include;

• Cairns Catholic Schools Cricket Cup for Years 4-6 (July 31)
• Cairns Hockey Primary School Competition for Years 4-6 (August 19)
• Fowlers’ Group Marlin Coast Primary Schools Netball Competition for Years 5 & 6 (August 22)
• Jamie Gosling Primary Schools Soccer Cup Years 4-6 (September 3 - Year 4 and September 4 – Years 5 & 6)
• Jim Graham Rugby League Cup, held in Innisfail, for Years 5 & 6 (September 19)
• Mary Mills Netball Competition for Years 5 & 6 (September 19)

Next week we have some students representing Our Lady Help of Christians at TCC Athletics at Barlow Park. We wish them all the best for their events.

A Busy Term Ahead

Term 3 is packed with enriching experiences and celebrations, including:

• Year level excursions across multiple grades
• Prep and Year 1, 100 Days of School celebration
• Catholic Education Week – reflecting on our shared values and mission
• NAIDOC Week – recognising and celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures
• Year 5 Camp and Year 6 Camp
• Grandparents Day – a special time to honour and celebrate our extended family
• Father’s Day – a chance to show appreciation for the dads and father figures in our lives
• Book Week – celebrating the joy of reading
• Parent-Teacher Interviews, scheduled for the end of Term 3 to discuss your child/ren’s academic progress.

We are also excited to have our P&F hosting a school disco next week on Thursday July 24. If you feel you can volunteer some of your time for this event, please register on this link.