Dear Parents and Friends,

In this final newsletter for the term, I would like to acknowledge the quality learning experiences and community events that have been a feature of our school year to date. Thank you to each of our hardworking teachers and support staff for their commitment to working in partnership with our parents to benefit everyone and to our parent body for all of their support this term.

The 2024 enrolment period is well underway. It is always a pleasure to meet with prospective families at our Twilight Open Day and school tours as we discuss their reasons for wishing to enrol their child at Holy Cross. A common theme amongst parents is the strong reputation of our school within the wider community. Parents who have a child beginning in Kindergarten next year are asked to ensure they finalise their enrolment application in the first week of Term 2. 2024 enrolment interviews will be held mid Term 2. 

Term 2 will see our school engage in the School Cyclic Inquiry (SCI) process as part of our Diocesan Continuous Catholic School Improvement. The purpose of this process, which usually occurs every four years, is to work in partnership with the broader school community and System to:

1. Celebrate improvement (faith, learning, and wellbeing) at our school community over the past four years
2. Engage in an authentic review involving all stakeholders (Parish, students, staff, and parents) to identify strategic priorities for the next four years. 

An important step within this process is to capture the voice of students, parents, and Parish. Early in Term 2, parents, staff and students in Years 4-6 will have the opportunity to share their thoughts via the 'Tell Them From Me' survey. The survey will provide important information to support us in designing improvement priorities that are responsive to the needs of our school community. Further information regarding our School Cyclic Inquiry will be shared with parents next term.

Wishing each of our families a very happy and holy Easter. May everyone stay safe during the holiday period and be blessed with God’s grace and gladness as we encounter the resurrection of Jesus.

LIGHTING THE WAY 23+

In last fortnight’s newsletter, I began sharing the focus areas that underpin the Diocesan new strategic plan, Lighting the Way 23+ by sharing the focus area, Formation In The Catholic Tradition. Please find an outline of the focus area Student Learning and Wellbeing.

Student Learning and Wellbeing

The aim of this focus area is to ensure the holistic growth of students is optimised by taking an integrated approach to learning and wellbeing, including proactively supporting students to build resilience, confidence and self-efficacy. 

Outcomes and Indicators of Improvement

Students are engaged, safe and well, and have confidence in their ability to navigate challenges

Progress towards this outcome will be measured by:

• The proportion of students achieving 95% attendance
• Students’ social, institutional, and intellectual engagement
• Students’ self-reporting of their sense of resilience and self-efficacy
• The rate of graduates and school leavers accessing higher education, training or work

Schools are providing high quality pedagogy that supports all students to grow in their learning and achieve their academic best

Progress towards this outcome will be measured by:

• Students’ progressive learning growth
• Students achieving expected growth in each of the NAPLAN domains in Years 5, 7 and 9
• The achievement of Bands 5 and 6 in each HSC course 
• HSC students’ comparative learning gain

Lighting the Way 23+ is a strategic plan that Holy Cross is very much aligned with. It will continue to provide guidance and direction for us as we move into the future always with the belief that every student is capable of improving in their learning and wellbeing while growing in their faith.

2023 ANNUAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN Update

Goal 1 Improve  students’ relationship with Jesus through the values of compassion, justice, hope and integrity.

• Co-Teaching Cycle facilitated in Year 6 with the Learning Intention: We are learning to engage deeply with scripture, John 10: 10-14, so that we can make a meanful link between scripture, Catholic values and our lives today.

Goal 2 By the end of 2023, all students will have increased their confidence and engagement in Mathematics so that all students achieve growth

• The Numeracy leading team - Mrs Baker, Mr Body and Mrs McEntee - finalised our strategic plan for the year and conducted a Learning Walk to evaluate the current impact of numeracy teaching
• Collaboratively planning with staff of St Michael’s, Thirroul and CEDoW professional officer, to plan our upcoming Staff Professional Development Day on Monday 24 April, 2023. This day will focus on developing ‘Thinking Classrooms’ through effective pedagogical practices and developing knowledge and understanding of the revised NSW Mathematics Syllabus

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Kaylene Duffin