Tournament of Minds

We are incredibly proud to announce that our amazing team has achieved Honours in the Social Sciences discipline at the Tournament of Minds! This outstanding achievement reflects countless hours of dedication, teamwork and a passion for problem solving. 

Our Holy Cross team (Sophie A, Sophia A, Florence K, Jenna P, Zoe C, Lee K and Owen L-B) gave up their Sunday on August 24th, to present their long term and spontaneous challenge to a panel of judges. 

They approached these complex challenges with creativity, collaboration and critical thinking. The team crafted innovative props to support their solution to their long term challenge and wrote an informative fun script to address the success criteria. The Spontaneous Challenge showcased their ability to rapidly exchange ideas and work together under pressure.

We are so proud of their effort and success! The team will be presenting their Long Term Challenge to the school in Term 4, Week 2 at our school assembly. 

Owen - Tournament of Minds was fun and it was worth the effort of putting weeks of work in it. Even though we didn’t win, we were very proud of how well we worked together and are so happy we achieved Honours. 

Lee - It was an enjoyable experience.

STEM MAD

Congratulations to our Year 6 STEM MAD participants. This year, our students embraced the challenge to Make A Difference, creating innovative solutions to real-world problems that align with the values of Pope Francis's letter, Laudato Si': On Care for our Common Home.

The students recently showcased their prototypes and research to our primary classes and special guests from the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW). Mr Woods, Mr Flannery and Mr Woolley were impressed by the students' creativity and their meaningful contributions to our community and beyond.

Four teams have been chosen to create videos of their projects for the CEDoW, and we are excited to share that two of these amazing teams will be heading to the University of Wollongong Innovation Campus for the Innovate for Impact Showcase later this term to present to a larger audience of both primary and secondary schools, as well as industry professionals and CEDoW staff.

Video Teams 

• Luke: No Flood Bud
• Luca, Sage, Evie: Fidget Phone Case
• Sophia, Vida, Sadie: Frankie the De-Stress Dog
• Sophie, Florence, Indigo: Anxiety Spray Kit

Innovate for Impact Teams

• Sophia, Vida, Sadie: Frankie the De-Stress Dog
• Sophie, Florence, Indigo: Anxiety Spray Kit

Luke S - My STEM MAD project (No Flood Bud) was an air pressure mechanism designed to lift houses during floods. This will help people affected in flood areas. I made my prototype with a cardboard box, a water gun and a hose to lift a lego house using air pressure.    

Luca G - My group (Sage, Evie and myself) made three different designs of anxiety phone cases. We had poppits, spikes and shells for the person using the phone to calm them down during stressful moments when playing games or other stressful situations.

Public Speaking School Finals

Our annual Public Speaking School Final competition was held on Tuesday, 9 September, with eight finalists from Stage 3 sharing their ideas and engaging the audience on a range of topics. Our school final was a wonderful opportunity for students to showcase their communication skills and build their confidence on the stage.

Each student delivered a captivating and thoughtful speech, making it a very difficult decision for our adjudicators (Mrs Colussin, Mr Burns and Mrs Thomas from the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong.) Congratulations to all our speakers, especially our school winners Sadie K (Yr 5) and Sophie A (Yr 6.) Sadie and Sophie will now move onto the South Eastern Regional Public Speaking Finals in October, representing Holy Cross. This is a fantastic achievement for both students and we wish them the best of luck as they prepare to compete and represent our school.

Sadie K - I felt scared at the beginning and thought I couldn't do it, but I got up and felt the rhythm and felt more confident. I am nervous and excited about the regionals. 

Jenna P - I felt nervous speaking in front of everyone. It was scary, but as I spoke I felt more confident and I enjoyed the opportunity to share my speech to the school

Kindergarten Excursion

On Tuesday the 2nd of September kinder embarked on a wonderful adventure to Calmsley Hill City Farm! They were given the opportunity to milk a cow, see farm dogs at work, see a sheep being sheared and to experience farm life at its best. There was much excitement on the bus on the way, but after a long day of adventure there were lots of tired children on the way home!! It was a day of much learning and fun!

“The best day ever” (according to some of the students!)