SCHOOL NEWS
PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning)
Over the last few weeks, we have been focusing on safe and positive play
On our playground and in our classrooms we...
~ Be respectful to all in word and action.
~ Learn about and give to Catholic organisations including Vinnies, Caritas and Catholic Mission
AWARD ASSEMBLIES IN TERM 3
Our school assemblies in Term 3 will again be held fortnightly on even week Tuesday afternoons beginning at 2:30pm. Our cancelled awards of this week, will be presented next term in Week 2 (Tuesday 29th July). Any change to the time will be communicated to parents via Compass.
Dates for Term 3:
Week 2 Tuesday 29th July (this will include Principal awards from cancelled Term 2 Week 10 assembly)
Week 4: 12 August (Year 2 sharing learning)
Week 6: 26 August (inc Principal Awards)
Week 8: 9 Sept (Year 1 sharing learning)
Week 10: 23 Sept (inc Principal Awards)
Term 2 Environmental Highlights
Term 2’s environmental initiatives got off to a wonderful start under the guidance of Mr Scott Chrystal, our Ecologist. who is funded by Peabody mines. Mr Chrystal kicked off the planting season with new plant structures, being constructed in our Veggie Patch for our new seedlings to grow and flourish.
A big THANK YOU goes to Mr Chrystal for sharing his gardening knowledge, sourcing equipment and providing great gardening tasks for wet weather days, such as striking new plants and flower pressing. Wonderful outdoor learning experiences certainly occurring at Holy Cross.
We also thank Mr Chrystal and Mrs Attenborough for their dedication and supervision 
of the Gardening Club and WEN students who give up their lunchtimes to maintain our veggie patches.Thank you to these wonderful students for being ‘stewards of the earth’.
Garden Updates
Harvesting
This term the students harvested beetroots, rocket,baby spinach,carrots and snow
peas. Some of the beetroots harvested weren’t as big as we hoped,however, the students always found it very exciting pulling vegetables out of the ground.
Sharing harvest produce
Harvesting lavender blooms for propagating, making bouquets for prayer tables and for parents to take home at afternoon dismissal.
Propagating New Cuttings
The students were tasked with a new activity of striking and potting new plants.
They collected cuttings of plants from our existing gardens to propagate, which involved taking a stem or leaf from a parent plant and encouraging it to grow roots. The students trialled water and soil propagation methods.The students will share their propagation findings once their cuttings develop roots. Then the cuttings can be potted into new containers with soil.Water propagation is a common method for starting this process, but some plants root better directly in soil. We will find out what propagation method worked best in Term 3.
Nurturing New Plants
Our students certainly know how to nurture new plants.
Like nurturing anything in its early stages, the team knows that new plants require consistent care and attention to detail. This includes providing adequate water, sunlight, and nutrients, as well as protecting it from pests and harsh conditions. Our gardeners know that tending to their plants also involves understanding the specific needs of what is being cared for and adapting their nurturing approach accordingly.
Making great use of the gardening equipment purchased with previous Grant money
Fogo Bins, Composting and Earthworms
The large compost bin and subpods have been topped up with
daily Fogo bin food waste scraps. The contents of our composting system are rotated on a regular basis to improve aeration, distribute moisture, and evenly distribute heat, which speeds up the decomposition process and helps create a more consistent finished product.Turning also prevents the compost pile from becoming too compacted, which can hinder decomposition by reducing oxygen availability. Our composting systems were also replenished with new earthworms. Once our food scraps are fully decomposed, the compost will be used to enrich and improve our garden soil.
Planting Lemon Trees
Once our two potted lemon trees finished fruiting, the team decided to plant them in the ground as they were not happy in their waterlogged pots. For successful planting, we decided we needed to dig two sizable holes in the lawn and then mulched the beds around the trees. We certainly built up muscle power digging these holes.
Happy Planters
Pressing issues… Pressing Flowers
This term the Gardening Club students had some pressing issues. Pressing flowers that is!
A great,fun activity for our students on wet weather days was pressing flowers 
collected from our school gardens. The students repurposed old books to press their flowers on the pages inside. If you have any unwanted flower presses that you would like to donate to the Gardening Club please contact the office to let them know.
Stay tuned for what the students create with their pressed flowers.
WEN Student Updates
The WEN students also meet each week to communicate and plan new green initiatives,environmental liturgies as well as discuss troubleshooting concerns, such as cross contamination of bins or other environmental matters that need to be addressed.
Being Proactive by Recycling with SIMPLY CUPS
As you know Holy Cross is now a proud Simply Cups participant and encourages paper cup recycling at school. As the weather became cooler,our canteen once again commenced to sell Hot Chocolate beverages in disposable paper cups. So the Primary WEN students were tasked with a clever way to promote the correct usage of the Simpy Cup
Collection units. They decided to create a little teaching video for their fellow students.
The purpose of the video clip was to explicitly teach the correct usage of these collection units. The students shared this clip with classes and clarified any questions or concerns other students raised with them.
Even though the WEN team felt like the SImply Cups recycling program was a great initiative,they still were proactive in promoting that we all should use Keepcups to reduce waste created by the disposable cups.
Paper cups heading for the Simpy Cup Collection units located at 7-Eleven Australia stores.
Don’t forget that we have reusable limited edition Holy Cross Keep Cups ($10 
each) and Sticky Beak Lunch Order Wallets ($13 each) for sale through the office
Laudato Si' Week 16th -24th of May
Responding to Pope Francis’ Laudato Sí to Care for our Common Home
This year marks 10 years since the Late Pope Francis released this landmark encyclical. The WEN team took the opportunity in this Jubilee Year to celebrate and continue to be people of hope, working towards ecological conversion and caring for our planet.
During Laudato Si' Week, the Primary WEN team encouraged their fellow students to continue to keep the late Pope Francis Laudato Sí mission alive by always promoting ecological conversion throughout our school as we strive as a community to care for our common home.
A reflective quote from Laudato Si’.
“Let us sing as we go. May our struggles and our concern for this planet never take away the joy of our hope.”
(Laudato Si’ 244)
May we all continue to keep the late Pope Francis Laudato Sí mission alive by always promoting ecological conversion throughout our school as we strive to care for our common home.
The WEN student team feeling proud after presenting Laudato Si' themed prayer at Morning Assembly.
Creating Mini Environmental Video Clips
Throughout the term the team have been tasked with creating mini environmental video clips. The purpose of creating these clips was to teach other students about our environmental actions or on how to correctly use our Waste Management collection units.
Return and Earn Pilot Program - Repurposing and Relabeled Blue Bins
With previous Grant money we purchased Blue Wheelie Garbage Bins for REDcycle
Soft Plastics. This REDcycle program is now defunct and these bins were sitting idle in the shed.
So, in the true spirit of reusing, recycling, and reducing, we decided to repurpose and relabel our old blue bins, ready for trialling our Return and Earn Pilot program before the official pilot program commences. This presented opportunities for the WEN students to initiate explicit teaching of the Return and Earn program and troubleshoot, especially in light of bin cross-contamination.
The WEN students have been educating fellow students on what 
containers can be collected in these blue bins (not purple for now) for a 10c refund. Funds collected will be used for Eco-Club purchases or charity purposes.
Our Waste Management Bin System
Stay tuned for our new green action that we have planned for Holy Cross over the next two years.
Thank you for supporting our ecological conversion journey, as well as any new green initiatives planned for HCH this year and continuing to promote ecological conversion by your actions.
"You are never too young or old to make a difference!”
Mrs Barbuto
and the Primary Student WEN Team