Dear Parents and Friends of Holy Cross,

As we come to the end of a great term, we wish everyone a restful and safe term break. I thank our teachers and staff for the immense commitment and joy they bring to their profession, and to their teaching and genuine care of our students, your children! 

It’s timely too, to reflect and be grateful for the many ways in which our school’s mission to LOVE, LEARN and LIVE have been visible and actioned:

• LOVE & LOVE ~ Our students, staff and parents have had a range of faith
  
  filled encounters through prayer, masses, preparation for First Holy Communion, and social justice initiatives this week with our huge Mini Vinnies group running a Cake Bake and Pyjama Day SVDP Winter Appeal Drive;
• LEARN ~ Our students have completed a semester of learning, reflected in their progress reports, and the feedback you as parents are receiving during interviews. Many of our classes have attended excursions connected with their learning, and some have had the opportunity to access pathways across a range of sports and academic pursuits. Our staff have been developing deep knowledge of mathematical teaching content and building upon their classroom differentiated teaching programs and assessment practices through four ½ day, collaborative learning and planning sessions, alongside this Friday’s Staff Development Day, which also will touch on aspects of English. I hope you enjoy some of the mathematics learning captured across classes and shared in this newsletter’s “Spotlight on Learning” 

Next term, we will celebrate our school’s Feast Day (Friday 12 September, Week 8) and relaunch an updated version of our school song, which Tim Hart has helped to reword to reflect our revised Vision and Mission. 

IMPORTANT DATES FOR TERM 3

The first day of Term 3 for students will be MONDAY 21st JULY

A Term 3 printable Parent Planner has been linked and shared. This is a handy two page parent calendar for your fridge or home noticeboard! Simply print and and have it handy for your day to day reference. Any updates and changes will be posted either via Compass, the website calendar or as reminders on our weekly Infographic posted on our school’s Facebook page. All dates can also be found on the Parent online Calendar accessed also on our school’s website. 

Term 3 has a number of important whole school masses, Fathers Day, our school’s Feast Day and Gala Days falling on Fridays. This presents a clash with our weekly Sport, Music/Drama and Library learning programs for your children, as well as the mandated teacher release time that this program provides. In planning ahead to ensure that our students access their weekly Sport, Music/Drama and Library lessons, there will be a day change in some weeks from FRIDAY to THURSDAY. These are all clearly highlighted on the parent Calendar, will be on our google calendar, and reminders will be posted weekly via our compass and facebook weekly infographic. 

Annual Improvement Priority: 

Students will report increased levels of engagement and achieve personal learning growth in Mathematics and Reading.

• Semester 1- A Maths focus has been ongoing, with Teacher Professional Learning and planning sessions supported by our Instructional Coach and Leadership Team
• Gathering student perception data about how they can identify and talk about their own engagement in their learning of maths, and more broadly. We will hold a Parent  information forum in Term 3 to share some of the insights gathered!

The Cyclic Inquiry recommendations further informed our School Strategic Improvement Plan 2024-2027, with three Priority Areas :

1. Living Our Catholic Identity: By 2027 our community will deepen their knowledge of the Catholic faith and appreciate the meaningful role it can play in our lives today.

• In Semester 1 of 2025: 

• • Revised Vision & Mission - We have renewed our school song (same tune, updated wording to reflect our Vision, Mission and values) to be launched on our school’s Feast Day celebrations.

• • Faith formation plan aligned to the Vision and Mission - Year of Jubilee and notion of “pilgrimage” is being developed.

2. Student Centred Learning and Wellbeing; By 2027 students are agents of their own learning and wellbeing.

• In Semester 1 of 2025:

• • An increased active voice of students through our SRC, with actions reflected on decisions related to their playground and lunch time clubs, Semester 2 will see a second round of SRC student nominations 

• • Student voice sought around how their voice and action can look and be seen at Holy Cross

• • around how they identify and talk about how engaged they feel when learning. This in turn has informed a staff drafted “Student Engagement Continuum” 

• • All staff engaged in professional learning and applying strategies from the Berry St Education Model  Module 1 (Body – How to help students to regulate their stress response, de-escalate in school and classroom contexts and provide strategies for increased focus). A Parent Information session will be held in Term 3.

3. Excellence in Teaching: By 2027 all students will be engaged, challenged and have maximised their learning growth.

• In 2025, Teachers are experts in the English and Mathematics syllabus documents.

• • Our teachers have been developing deep knowledge of mathematical teaching content and building upon their classroom differentiated teaching programs and assessment practices through four ½ day, collaborative learning and planning sessions.

• • Our teachers are in the process of reflecting upon and developing a school wide Vision for Learning. This is informed by our system’s release of the “Faith, Learning and Wellbeing Vision for Learning Framework.  

TEACHER PROFESSIONALISM

Our school’s Annual Improvement Plan’s impact on improving students’ faith, learning and wellbeing is highly dependent upon the ongoing professional learning and capacity building of our staff. The professional learning opportunities and official events that staff have engaged with the last two weeks: 

May the peace of Christ be with you,

Milena Colussi
Principal