Dear Parents and Friends of Holy Cross,

Welcome back to a new term full of fun, wonder, learning at Holy Cross! We are still very much in the midst of winter flu and illness, so I encourage you to keep healthy, and be mindful of symptoms your child may present with when feeling unwell. Help us to keep our school community well by ensuring your child remains home and recovers before returning to school. Returning to regular home routines after holiday breaks also helps your child settle back into their daily learning routines at school. Sara, our school counsellor provides some great parent tips around the importance of routines in this newsletter edition.

We have the following events to look forward  to including Book Week, Fathers’ Day celebrations, our school and parish feast day and special masses, the first of these being the Feast of Saint Mary MacKillop. 

 Friday 8th August

 K-6 Mass @ 9:15am

 Parents warmly welcome!             

As a school with a strong Josephite history and charism, the Feast of Mary MacKillop is a special liturgical mass we celebrate every year on the 8th of August, honouring Australia's first saint and her significant contributions to education and social justice. The Feast of Mary MacKillop is a significant occasion that celebrates her life, encourages acts of kindness and service, and promotes the values she stood for throughout her life.

The Feast of Saint Mary MacKillop commemorates her life and legacy as a pioneer in education and a champion for the marginalized in society. Mary MacKillop, who lived from 1842 to 1909, co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph and dedicated her life to providing education to children in rural and impoverished communities across Australia. Her motto, "Never see a need without doing something about it," reflects her commitment to social justice and compassion. 

Mary MacKillop's legacy continues to inspire many, and her feast day serves as a reminder of the importance of education, compassion, and social justice. The Sisters of St Joseph, which she founded, continue to operate schools and support services that align with her mission. 

Enjoy this beautiful story with your children:

St Mary MacKillop- Beneath a Cross of Stars Picture Book-

by Andrew Chinn and Sr Jill McLoughlin RSJ

I wonder if your child can name why St Mary MacKillop is important to Holy Cross Helensburgh? 

2025 NAPLAN RESULTS

2025 NAPLAN results were received and sent home to Year 3 and 5 parents this week. Our students achieved fantastic results. Holy Cross performed either at or above the State, National and Diocesan averages in every domain in both Year 3 and Year 5 tests. 

• • READING: 86% of our Year 3 and 89% of our Year 5 students performed at either the strong or exceeding levels, and were above the diocesan and national mean (average).
    
    • Nationally, the average proportion of students who achieved at “Exceeding” and “Strong” levels in 2025 was 68.2% (Years 3 and 5 average).
      
  • WRITING: 97% of our Year 3 and 84% of our Year 5 students performed at either the strong or exceeding levels, and were above the diocesan and national mean (average)
    
  • SPELLING: 76% of our Year 3 and 84% of our Year 5 students performed at either the strong or exceeding levels, and were above the national mean (average)
    
  • GRAMMAR & PUNCTUATION: 69% of our Year 3 and 79% of our Year 5 students performed at either the strong or exceeding levels, and were above the diocesan and national mean (average)
    
  • NUMERACY: 76% of our Year 3 and 68% of our Year 5 students performed at either the strong or exceeding levels, with Year 3 above the diocesan and national mean (average)
    
    • Nationally, the average proportion of students who achieved at “Exceeding” and “Strong” levels in 2025 was 66.8%  (Years 3 and 5 average)
      

Commenting on the latest NAPLAN National Results, ACARA CEO, Stephen Gniel, said: “The 2025 results across all domains and year groups are broadly stable, with 2 out of 3 students at the “Strong” or “Exceeding” proficiency level for their reading, numeracy and writing skills”. (Acara Media Release, 30/7/25)

Exceeding: the student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing.

Strong: the student’s result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing.

We celebrate our Reading and Writing results, but know that we have areas of focused improvement to engage with. At a school leadership team and teacher level, we have already analysed aspects of this year’s NAPLAN achievement and growth levels, and the trend data since 2023, to identify areas of ongoing focus (Numeracy) and future areas to identify improvement strategies (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation). The detailed data  allows schools and teachers to evaluate the impact of our teaching and professional learning, and also identifies additional support or challenges we can plan for to meet the learning needs of our students.

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