National Sorry Day and National Reconciliation Week

National Sorry Day 2023 this year falls tomorrow, Friday 26th May and is a day when we pause to remember the Stolen Generations of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  

It leads us into the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation and National Reconciliation Week which is held each year between 27th May and 3rd June.   

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2023 is Be A Voice for Future Generations. Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

For the Catholic Church in Australia, this week offers us a time to be fully the Church that God dreams for us - a Church in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples make their own unique contribution and that contribution is joyfully received by others.

On Wednesday 31 May, our school will be celebrating National Reconciliation Week with learning activities, a yarn at our Yarning Circle and prayer. This special day will also be a Mufti Day - Wearing the colours red, yellow and black or if students have an Indigenous jersey.

Welcome Mrs Feil

We are thrilled to welcome Mrs Kat Feil to our Holy Cross Community. Mrs Feil will teach Music, Dance and Drama each Friday. Mrs Feil is an accomplished musician and an exemplary teacher and we are very fortunate to have her as part of our team. 

 
NAPLAN

NESA has informed schools that from this year they are changing the way they report NAPLAN results. Numerical bands will be replaced with: Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs Additional Support. Schools will receive school-based results towards the end of this term. It is expected that NESA will send reports that we make available to parents and carers in early Term 3.

Assemblies

Our next school Assembly will be held on Wednesday 31 May at 2.20pm. This assembly will include Principal Awards and Years 3 & 4 showcasing their learning. 

Professional Learning

Recent Staff Professional Learning

Research tells us that the quality of the teacher is the greatest in-school influence on student achievement. Therefore high quality professional learning for teachers must be a priority to ensure improved teacher practice that leads to improved student growth. Recent professional learning undertaken by our staff this fortnight includes:

11 May 2023 - Diverse Learning Network

Mrs Mitrevski

17-18 May 2023  - Learning Collaborative Meeting

Mrs Mitrevski

17-19 May 2023 - Australian Catholic School Principals Conference

Mrs Duffin

22 May 2023 - Mathematics Collaborative Inquiry Planning

Mrs N Baker, Mr Whitehall & Miss Costello

24 May 2023 - System Professional Learning day

Mrs Duffin & Miss Costello

25 May 2023 - System Professional Learning day

Mrs Duffin & Mrs Jennett

Upcoming TERM 2 Dates

Please find pertinent dates for Term 2. All pertinent dates can be found on our Parent Calendar… https://www.hchdow.catholic.edu.au/news-and-events/events/ 

31 May - Reconciliation Week Celebrations. Mufti Day - students wear Red, Black, Yellow or Indigenous jerseys etc

5 June - World Environment Day

8 June - Year 2 Excursion

8 June - Year 6 and Year 1 attending Parish Mass

12 June - Public Holiday King’s Birthday

16 June - Whole School Mass

18 June - First Holy Communion 

20 June - Netball Gala Day

23 June - School Cyclic Inquiry - Day 1

29 June - School Cyclic Inquiry - Day 2

30 June - NAIDOC Week celebrations

30 June - Last Day of Term 2

Students return to school in Term 3 - Monday 17 July

The Da Vinci Decathlon 

By Mattia, Amelia and Maya

The Da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition for schools in the Illawarra region.  Our school entered two teams from Stage 3.

Year 6: Mia. A, Mia. G, Joseph, Bella. A, Oliver R, Keira, Alice and Qilqa.

Year 5: Amelia, Maya, Mattia, James, Amos, Emma. M, Lee and Mollyrose. In the decathlon, there were 10 disciplines that we competed in.

The Disciplines:

1. Cartography: Studying and identifying maps
2. Maths: Solving challenging word problems
3. English: Comprehending and responding to a set text and identifying different literary techniques
4. Engineering: Designing and building a roller coaster to specific dimensions  for a ping pong ball to successfully complete the run
5. Creative Producers: Planning a detailed dramatic act to present in front of a panel of  judges
6. Ideation: Identifying and developing prototypes to try to eliminate problems caused by war
7. Science: Identifying different types of biodegradable plastics and converting various sources of energy
8. Code Breaking: Solving and creating tricky puzzles to crack the codes
9. Legacy:  Identifying significant people in the world, chaotic events and sharing knowledge about Leonardo Da Vinci’s life
10. Art and Poetry: Creating a piece of poetry and a matching artwork.

There were 20 schools and around 320 students there.  The Da Vinci Decathlon was held at the Illawarra Christian School which is a huge school. There are many hills and stairs to get to the hall where the competition was being held. On the day we felt extremely excited and a little bit nervous. We all woke up super early and were extremely tired by the end of the day, as the tasks were very difficult and we had to do a lot of thinking. We were all so excited to be selected for this academic competition. The best scoring tasks for Year 5 were Art and Poetry, Maths and Engineering as we placed 4th. Year Six’s best score was Art and Poetry and Cartography, placing 4th as well.

Overall Yr 5 placed 7th and Year 6 placed 6th. We are all so proud of our efforts. The experience was incredible and we had extreme fun. We are looking forward to next year's decathlon.