Dear Parents and Friends,

Our Opening School Mass and presentation of Year Six leaders  last Thursday morning was a wonderful opportunity for us all to celebrate the start to our school year. As students, parents, families, staff and parishioners, the strong connections which bind and weave across generations over many years is what characterises a thriving and flourishing community.

Later that day, Mrs Turton and myself had the privilege of attending the Wollongong Diocesan Pastoral Works Dinner where new staff across Education and the Bishops office were warmly welcomed. Bishop Brian Mascord shared an inspiring message of hope and gratitude with us. He referenced the gospel reading 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 in which Paul emphasizes the idea that we, as the church, are one but also many, and that social diversity is an illustration of a body and the use of spiritual gifts. It is like the local soccer, basketball or footy team you or your children may be part of, each bringing a unique skill set but together, you are a team. Or a mosaic, many colourful tiles coming together to make a beautiful image, or many individual threads of colour coming together to create an extraordinarily intricate work of tapestry. Each of us are called to build connections with each other and others, and through the events and opportunities we have had to date, we do just this very thing every time we connect in small or larger ways such as recent Meet & Greets, Masses and our Open School Twilight.

In another wonderful illustration of this idea of the scriptural concept of ‘many parts-one body’, our Fete committee has been working hard behind the scenes to bring the many different aspects of the day together for this Saturday’s annual Holy Cross Family Fun Day/Fete! Two more sleeps to go! See you here on Saturday:

• 9:40am- Students are asked to arrive by this time

• 9:45am- Welcome; K-6 Dance performances

• 10-2pm HCH Family Fun Day 

2024 ANNUAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN Update

Our improvement focus to date has been centred around Goal 3:

Excellence in Teaching: By 2027 all students will be engaged, challenged and have maximised their learning growth.

In 2024, we will develop alignment between curriculum teaching, learning and assessment in English and Mathematics.

• Students in Years 1-6 have in the past weeks completed the Maths and Reading Progressive Achievement Tests, as well as a spelling assessment. This assessment data will be used to identify starting points for learning, target teaching and monitor student learning growth this year.
• Our leadership team are in the process of conducting  ‘Learning Walks’ during the writing and reading components of the English Block in K-6 classrooms to collect data on how students are understanding their learnings. This engagement and inclusion of student voice is also contributing towards our 2nd goal - developing a shared understanding of what student voice and agency is. A number of students in each class were asked the following questions:
• What are you learning? Why?
• How are you going?
• How do you know?
• How can you improve?
• Where do you go if you need help?   

This data will inform future professional learning sessions so that teacher practice is explicit and students are supported.

THE PLACE OF 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. Our staff, as part of Catholic EducationDiocese of  Wollongong, engage in a range of contemporary, challenging and rigorous professional learning. Research tells us that teacher quality is the biggest in-school factor responsible for improved student outcomes, so professional learning is very much an integral part of any school’s improvement agenda. When we invest in teacher professionalism, we invest in every child’s learning. 

Our school’s professional learning plan for our teachers includes staff meetings before and after  school, Staff Development Days, onsite professional learning (half days and whole days) as well as offsite professional learning days. Some of these will require teachers to be given time away from face to face teaching. I am very mindful of ensuring a balance around these, and our professional teachers are very conscious of ensuring that continuity of learning for their class of students remains regardless of who is teaching them. When teachers attend professional learning, they plan the day's work and communicate with the casual teacher regarding the needs of students. 

The professional learning opportunities that staff attend willI be included in each fortnightly newsletter. 

SPORTING PATHWAYS and TEACHERS

The sporting pathway opportunities which some of our students access require school staffing support. From time to time, some of our staff will be required to attend to supervise or officiate. 

P&F AGM

Last Monday evening (19th February), our 2024 Annual General Meeting P&F meeting was held. Thank you to the parents who attended. At this meeting, the 2023 P&F Executive Committee members were voted in. I am very grateful to these parents for their willingness to support our school in these capacities:.

President: Melissa McCallum

Vice President: Kathy Godfrey

Treasurer: Anthony Muscat

Secretary: Meryn Murray

Communicating with your child’s teacher

We value our partnership with you in supporting your child’s faith, learning and wellbeing. Respectful, informed and open communication is vital in our work together, and can be both formal and informal throughout the year. Generally, at Holy Cross, communication looks like this:

• Meet & Greet- this is a formal scheduled opportunity for you as parents to talk about your child’s strengths, needs, interests and your aspirations for their learning.
• Parent Teacher Interviews- this is a formal scheduled time mid year to discuss and share your child’s learning successes and growth.  
• See Saw or google classroom- these platforms are used by our teachers to predominantly share learning and key messages about classroom events. We will share a guidleine around the do's and don'ts of See Saw use soon.

We also want to ensure that our teaching time with your children is maximised during the day, and so:

• To request a time to meet with your child’s teacher, please email or call the school office. This will be passed on to the teacher, and a mutually suitable time will be made.
• To communicate non urgent matters, please email or call the school office, and it will be passed on and responded to in a timely manner.
• An urgent matter- please call the school office.

Please note that messaging teachers via See Saw is not monitored or responded to by our teachers. 

Every blessing,

Milena Colussi