Dear Parents and Friends of Holy Cross,

Our School Fete was a wonderful event shining a light on the strong spirit of community at Holy Cross! Everyone’s time, effort, organisation, service, enjoyment and fun was seen everywhere throughout the day! There are many to thank but I especially wish to thank Jenny Amadio our Fete Coordinator, the Fete team, our P&F for all their hard work and many hours over many months in the lead up canvassing for sponsors, donations and the many prizes for the chocolate wheel and raffle!  A very grateful thank you to all of our parents who hosted and worked throughout the day on various stalls, assisted with the preparation for the day and very efficient clean up at the end of it all! A well oiled machine indeed, and, as noted in our P&F’s Fete Wrap up… it takes a village…. And what a wonderful village we have at Holy Cross!  Our P&F have provided a great summary of the day in this newsletter. 

NAPLAN 2025  

Congratulations to all of our Year 3 and 5 students who sat NAPLAN this year in the past two weeks. We are extremely proud of you for showing a calm, positive and confident approach. 

We thank Mr Bõdy and Mr Burns for the coordination of NAPLAN, and to Mrs Rowles and Mrs Brannon for the supportive preparation of their Year 3 and Year 5 classes this year.

STUDENT VOICE AND ENGAGEMENT AT HOLY CROSS

I encourage you to read the range of newsletter items in our newsletters, centred around our students, including  Student Learning Spotlight, SRC, Mini Vinnies, WEN’s Term 1 Environmental Highlights, Library Warriors and Sport sections. These are wonderful opportunities for our students to share their voice, show us their passions and interests, live their faith and proudly share their learning achievements. 

ENROLMENTS FOR 2026 ARE OPEN

Enrolment Interviews will commence from next week! The online application form is accessible from the home page of our school website. https://www.hchdow.catholic.edu.au/enrol/

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: 

Attendance Matters

The attendance record previously known as “Extended Leave”, is now referred to as Extended Absence, and there have been some changes to the process.

Exciting Update to the Parent Experience: Streamlined Notification of Extended Absence form

What's New?

We're thrilled to announce the launch of our new online Notification of Extended Absence form. This user-friendly form simplifies the process for parents, eliminating the need for printing or downloading documents. Now, parents can conveniently complete the application entirely online.

Parents can also notify multiple schools simultaneously with a single upload of supporting documents. Parents are also required to notify your school if their student has siblings attending other CEDoW schools.

How This Benefits Parents

Accessing the application form is now easier than ever with the form working on both mobile and desktop platforms. Parents can complete the application electronically and can also send the application for multiple students across CEDoW schools.

Access to the New Form

When parents attempt to enter an absence note exceeding five days in the Compass portal, you will be directed to the parent attendance information document that has a link to the online form. 

You may also access the URL for the new online form here:  https://forms.dow.catholic.edu.au/to/yVv9DA.

May the peace of Christ be with you,

Milena Colussi
Principal