Granville’s native fauna inspires students for special launch
Recognising Granville's rich heritage helped motivate Holy Family Primary East Granville in the creation of their new owl mascot 'Bukbuk', as part of an amazing day of activities to launch the school's Positive Behaviour Support for Learning (PBS4L) program.
In designing Bukbuk, the school community consulted with Catholic Education’s Jarara Indigenous Education Unit in choosing an owl, native to the area, as their school mascot.
Jarara's Julie Waddell and Joshua Sly attended the launch, leading students through a smoking ceremony and working with students to educate them in Aboriginal culture.
There were also plenty of other exciting activities for students to enjoy and to ensure parents and families wouldn't miss out, the school streamed many of the events online.
“Bukbuk is native to our area and the mascot was designed by students and Joshua Sly from Jarara,” said Principal Cheryl Fortini. “Students then engaged in Aboriginal art and sport led by the team from Play On.
They left wearing the owl masks they made after a picnic lunch.”
Cheryl was full of praise for how the students engaged with the day's activities.
"Thank you for representing our school and for being the amazing, kind, caring and innovative individuals that you are, each and everyone of you makes Holy Family what it is," she said.
The day left the students with plenty of enduring positive memories and lessons about the importance of positive behaviour in their education and environment.
It also reinforces the school's key mantra of 'Live Safely, Love Respectfully, Learn Daily'.
View photos from the mascot launch
Find out more about Holy Family Primary East Granville
Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
www.parra.catholic.edu.au
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09 Sep 2026
From Facebook
Year 2 has been exploring time in Maths! ⏰ We looked at clocks 🕰️ learning how to read o'clock, half past, quarter-to, and quarter-past times. 🕘 Halfway through, we switched gears! ⚙️ Now we are looking at the duration of different events ⏱️ and will be exploring a calendar 📅 to countdown to different events... we might start with working out how many school days until the holidays!! 🎒➡️🏖️ 🎭 Year 3 Drama Literacy 🎭 During Drama Literacy, Year 3 explored the idea of accidents through the familiar story of Humpty Dumpty 🥚✨. Students used their bodies to embody different types of accidents, thinking creatively about how each situation might look and feel. They then explored the emotions of shock, determination, terror and pride 😲💪😱🌟, using facial expressions, body movements and poses to communicate each feeling — all without saying a word! 🎭👏06 Sep 2026
From Facebook
Heavenly Father, You entrusted Your Son Jesus to the care of Joseph, an earthly father. Bless all fathers and father figures as they care for their families. Give them strength and wisdom, tenderness and patience. Support them in their daily work, and let Your face shine upon them with grace and peace. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 🙏🏻 Wishing all the special men in the Holy Family community a happy Father’s Day⭐️💙⭐️
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09 Sep 2026
From Facebook
Year 2 has been exploring time in Maths! ⏰ We looked at clocks 🕰️ learning how to read o'clock, half past, quarter-to, and quarter-past times. 🕘 Halfway through, we switched gears! ⚙️ Now we are looking at the duration of different events ⏱️ and will be exploring a calendar 📅 to countdown to different events... we might start with working out how many school days until the holidays!! 🎒➡️🏖️ 🎭 Year 3 Drama Literacy 🎭 During Drama Literacy, Year 3 explored the idea of accidents through the familiar story of Humpty Dumpty 🥚✨. Students used their bodies to embody different types of accidents, thinking creatively about how each situation might look and feel. They then explored the emotions of shock, determination, terror and pride 😲💪😱🌟, using facial expressions, body movements and poses to communicate each feeling — all without saying a word! 🎭👏
06 Sep 2026
From Facebook
Heavenly Father, You entrusted Your Son Jesus to the care of Joseph, an earthly father. Bless all fathers and father figures as they care for their families. Give them strength and wisdom, tenderness and patience. Support them in their daily work, and let Your face shine upon them with grace and peace. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 🙏🏻 Wishing all the special men in the Holy Family community a happy Father’s Day⭐️💙⭐️
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From Facebook
💙 A special morning celebrating all the incredible people who take on the role of a father in our children’s lives! 💙 We started our morning with a delicious Father’s Day Breakfast, bringing our school community together for smiles, laughter and precious moments shared with the special dads, grandfathers, stepdads and father figures who mean so much to our students. 🍳☕️👨👧👦 We then gathered for a beautiful Father’s Day Mass, giving thanks for the love, guidance, support and encouragement our dads and father figures provide each day. 🙏✨ Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make our morning so special. 💙 Happy Father’s Day to all our amazing dads and father figures! 🌟💙 Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
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01 Sep 2026
From Facebook
Celebrating Our School Community, Safely 💙 You may begin to notice some changes in the way we share photos of our students on our public social media pages. We love giving our families a glimpse into school life and celebrating the learning, achievements, friendships, faith experiences and special moments that make our community so wonderful. However, as technology continues to evolve, particularly with the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and the ways images can be accessed, altered and shared online, we are becoming increasingly mindful of how we share identifiable images of our students publicly. Our students’ privacy and online safety must always come first. Don’t worry, our socials aren’t disappearing! We will continue to celebrate all the wonderful things happening across our school, from learning and sporting achievements to liturgies, excursions, performances and special events. You may simply notice fewer full-face or individually identifiable photographs of students appearing on our public social media pages. 📱 Families won’t miss out! More photos and special moments will be shared directly with our families through Compass, providing a more appropriate space for us to celebrate and share our students’ experiences. The way we share may be changing, but there will certainly be no shortage of wonderful things to celebrate. 💙 Thank you for supporting us as we continue to navigate an ever-changing digital world while keeping the safety, privacy and wellbeing of our students at the centre of our decisions. Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
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💛 Support Staff Appreciation Week 💛 Today we celebrated our amazing support staff and the incredible difference they make every day. From supporting learning and navigating big emotions to offering encouragement and care, they are such an important part of our Holy Family community. Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
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🎶📚 A SYMPHONY OF STORIES! 📚🎶 Today, our school was filled with characters, creativity and a whole lot of BOOK WEEK MAGIC! ✨📖🎭 In celebration of Children’s Book Week 2026 and this year’s theme, ‘Symphony of Stories’, our students brought the pages of their favourite books to life! 🌟 Just like a symphony brings together different instruments to create something wonderful, stories bring together different characters, voices, adventures and ideas to create a world of imagination. 🎶📚💫 From magical creatures and courageous heroes to much-loved storybook characters, our school was certainly making some beautiful literary music today! 🧙♀️🦸♂️🐻📚 A huge thank you to our wonderful families and staff for helping make today such a special celebration of the joy of reading. 💛 🎶 Every story has a voice. Every book has an adventure. Together, they create our Symphony of Stories! 📖✨ Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
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In Maths, Year 2 has been learning about 2D shapes 📐. We explored the language of quarter-turns, half-turns and full-turns 🔄. We used the Beebots 🐝 to strengthen our understanding of the language and compared it to the clock ⏰ to discuss clockwise and anticlockwise. Check out our Year 2 mathematicians hard at work! 🗺️ Mapping Our Way! 🧭✨ Year 3 students have been learning how to draw and read maps using legends and symbols! 🌏📍 They have been practising how to use symbols to represent different features and using a legend to work out what each symbol means. 🔎🗺️ They’re becoming confident little mapmakers! 👏✨
23 Aug 2026
From Facebook
📚✨ BOOK WEEK IS HERE! ✨📚 Get ready to celebrate Children’s Book Week 2026 – Symphony of Stories! 🎶📖 We have a fantastic week ahead filled with books, imagination and plenty of fun, including our Book Performance, Book Fair, Author Visit, family picnic and our much-loved Character Parade! 🌟 📅 Thursday 27 August is our BIG celebration! 🧺 1:40pm – Families are invited to bring a picnic blanket or cushions, find a spot on the grass and share a book with your child. 🎭 2:30pm – Stay and enjoy our Character Parade on P2! Students are invited to come dressed as a favourite book character and don’t forget to bring your completed Character Profile with you! We can’t wait to see our school come alive with a Symphony of Stories! 📚🎶✨
20 Aug 2026
From Facebook
Year 1 students have been making their own promises as they begin to explore the meaning of a covenant—a special promise between God and His people. Through their promises, students are learning that covenants are about love, trust and keeping our promises to one another. 💛 Year 5 have been exploring the world of data! 📊 They have been interpreting a range of graphs and writing statements about what they noticed, before collecting their own real-time data by tracking how often they contributed to class discussions. 💬 They will then use their data to create their own graphs and represent their findings visually! 📈📊
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19 Aug 2026
From Facebook
❄ Vinnies Winter Sleepout – Faith in Action ❄ Our students took part in a meaningful evening of prayer, meditation, learning and service as part of our Vinnies Winter Sleepout. Using David’s story and reflected on how quickly and unexpectedly people in our community can be one crisis away from homelessness. Students shared a simple meal of soup, a bread roll, fruit and water, before gathering in our Holy Family Prayer Garden for a Liturgy of the Word, where they led us beautifully in prayer and song. We finished the evening with a team-building challenge, constructing our own shelters. While this was a fun experience for us, it carried an important message, for many people, finding a safe place to sleep is not a game or a choice. It helped our students finish the night with a deeper sense of gratitude, compassion and responsibility to care for others. Through our Faith in Action initiatives, our Holy Family community has raised $1,277 so far to support the vision and mission of the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW and the important work they do supporting people experiencing hardship and homelessness. Thank you to our students, families and staff for continuing to put our faith into action.💙 Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese Vinnies Australia
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🧁 BAKE SALE SUCCESS! 🧁 What a sweet success! 💙 A huge thank you to our generous teachers for donating delicious treats and to our wonderful students for showing up and supporting our Vinnies Bake Sale. Together, we raised an incredible $454 for our Winter Sleepout! 🙏✨ Every cupcake, cookie and donation is helping us shine a light on homelessness and put our faith into action. 🕯️💙 #Vinnies #WinterSleepout #FaithInAction #ShiningALightOnHomelessness Vinnies Australia