May the strength of God pilot us, may the wisdom of God instruct us, may the hand of God protect us, may the word of God direct us. Be always ours this day and for evermore.

St Patrick

Dear Parents and Friends,

Our School Fete was a wonderful community event which demonstrated the true spirit of working together for the benefit of all. The time, effort, organisation, show of service, genuine enjoyment and fun was very visible on the faces of parents, staff and students. Despite some drizzly and gusty weather, our many families and visitors enjoyed the rides, entertainment, food and gifts on offer. It was lovely to have our local Helensburgh RFS and local community stallholders with us to add variety to the day too. There are many photos of the day posted on our facebook page for you to enjoy!

Diocesan Education Mass 

Last week,  I had the honour of attending the Diocesan Education Mass with our staff and senior student leaders Isabella Eyles and Amelia Richards accompanied by Amelia’s mother Laura. This Mass is a very special opportunity for all 38 schools in the Diocese of Wollongong and CEDoW staff to celebrate everything that is special about quality Catholic education in the Diocese of Wollongong. During this mass, I was commissioned to be Principal by Bishop Brian Mascord. Whilst I am not new to the role, my welcome to both the diocese and here at Holy Cross has by far been one of the most humbling and touching of my leadership journey. I love teaching and leading, and it is truly one of the richest and most rewarding of vocations to be called to. I am deeply grateful to you, the Holy Cross Community, for your welcome and support. 

2024 Annual School Improvement Plan 

Our improvement focus and actions in the past two weeks have continued to be 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.

• Our teachers have all engaged in collaborative conversation meetings around their student assessment and observation of learning data. This has helped to identify where they can further plan their teaching in English and/or Mathematics, to meet the varying needs of students in their class, and what further screening, adjustments, differentiation and support can be actioned. This work reflects our goal around alignment.
• Our ‘Learning Walks’  for the writing component of the English Block in K-6 has provided evidence and affirmation of past teacher professional learning being maintained and embedded in classroom practice. Examples of these:
• 100% of students who were asked during the Learning Walks “How are you going with your writing?” and “Where do you go for help with your writing?” could answer these questions, stating that the classroom “Bump it up Walls” help them to improve their writing. “It helps me choose great words which make my narrative more exciting to read”  or “... to convince the reader”
• The older students we asked (Yr 2 and up) were able to talk about what they were learning about  and why, and how/ what they may improve. “We are learning to write Persuasive texts so that we can convince others to do or think about something”
• The Learning Walks also identified strategies to further refine the way we continue to support student learning. For example, further modelling the use of evaluative words which students can use to describe how they know they are going well, linking back more explicitly to our visible learning intentions and success criteria.
• Our leadership team staff have attended significant professional learning days around the Primary English and Mathematics syllabus in the past two weeks. These are informing the design of our Staff Development Days for Mathematics (coming up 2nd April- Pupil Free Day) and English (Term 2) as well as the focus for collaborative learning and planning which our teachers will all receive system funded release time for the implementation of the English and Mathematics Syllabus over the next few terms.
  
  

Help with K-2 Readers Book Covering

We sincerely thank the parents who have picked up our newest sets of reading books to be covered. We are well on the way, and still have sets ready for pick up from the office! If you have time, and would prefer to cover some in the company of another parent, our Library space is free to use on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (mornings or last hour of the day). Just bring a coffee and see us at the office! 

Emergency Lockdown & Evacuation Drills

As part of every school’s Work Health and Safety procedures, we conduct evacuation and lockdown practice drills.Today we practised a lockdown, and next Thursday we will practise an evacuation practice. We encourage you to speak with your child about the importance of these practices in keeping them and us all knowledgeable and safe, should a real life event occur.

Homework Review

Thank you to the many parents who, via the Meet & Greet “Getting to know your child” surveys, commented on the Homework question. We had 120 returned! This was valuable information for teachers, as well as a great reflective way for you as parents to think about your child and their learning. 

There were a wide variety of parental viewpoints around the place of, need for and nature of homework:

• Daily reading of books K-6 was seen as very important. As educators, we agree! This practice and expectation will continue.
• Many of you stated that homework is a great way to see what your child is learning about, to see their abilities and growth over time.
• Many parents recognised the importance of homework helping students, over time and depending on age, to establish a routine, good study habits, and a positive learning mind sets (perseverance, time management and preparation for highschool to enable greater independence and self responsibility for our older students)
• The need to keep things simple and balanced (again, dependant on age), have the essentials in place (Reading, some opportunity to be able to either revise, consolidate as needed, or for some as a choice, a challenge).  
• It can be, for many families, a challenge for a variety of reasons- the preference for family time, working parent commitments, after school activities, and being able to support their child when there is reluctance) 
• Some parents commented on flexibility in completing homework

Next step? These comments, along with staff feedback, will inform an update on the school’s Homework Policy (last reviewed 2022) and communicated in the coming week via COMPASS. 

See Saw Use update

This is a wonderful tool through which you as parents can see an aspect of your child’s and their class’s learning each week. Many of you commented on the value of this tool in our recent Meet & Greet “Getting to know your child” surveys. Of course, teaching and learning in our classrooms is our key focus, and the use of See Saw will always be balanced. So that we as teachers, and for you as parents, are on the same page around the expected use of See Saw, we share these key guidelines:

Seesaw K-6 Practices-   

• All of our classes use a class Seesaw page. Year Six may use Google Classroom as a way to share their learnings.
• The learning captured will be a mix around English, Mathematics, and other focus areas the class is learning that week.
• Teachers, and our students as they learn how to,  can share English/ Mathematics learning tasks and other items relating to current learning. A weekly post is usual, sometimes a couple extra may be shared. 
• A description of the photo/ work will accompany the file uploaded, whether it be a recording or written description by the teacher or student
• Capturing what the students are proud of is paramount
• Provide a variety of Seesaw options for sharing ie. photo or work, recording, text, videos

• Teachers will only use the message box to communicate whole class messages to parents, eg, reminders to bring/wear something, about a class event. 

Parent Use Guidelines : Importantly, please note the expectations for parent use of See Saw:

• Parents are invited and encouraged to comment on their child’s work samples
• Parents should not contact their child’s teacher via seesaw messages about an individual student matter relating to health, wellbeing or questions about learning or progress etc. 
• Any important information or a request to speak or meet with should be communicated via the office email or if urgent, phonecall.

If you need to communicate a message or speak to your child’s teacher, we ask that you do this by:

• phoning the school office and asking that your child's teacher return your call; or
• contacting the teacher via our school office email at info@hchdow.catholic.edu.au  to arrange a time to talk, or to have a message passed on to them.

If the matter is urgent please contact the school office on (02) 4294 1588.

We ask for your patience in response to your request as schools are busy places and the main priority and responsibility of staff is the education, safety and wellbeing of the students in their care during school hours. Requests by parents for information and meetings will be responded to as quickly as possible.

Information for Parents and Families - Parent Talk Newsletter

Parent Talk newsletter aims to provide parents and carers with relevant and timely information about parenting, education, wellbeing, upcoming Council of Catholic School Parents (CCSP) events and webinars for parents, and significant Catholic news and events.

The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT represents all parents and carers of students in our Catholic schools. We value and promote the critical role that parents play in the education of their children, and provide leadership, advocacy and support for parents and carers of children in almost 600 Catholic schools. Parents and carers are invited to subscribe to CCSP’s Parent Talk newsletter to receive future editions and keep up to date with how our Council supports Catholic school parents to support their children’s wellbeing, faith journey and academic outcomes. Click here to subscribe.

The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT Survey

The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT is conducting a survey to gauge parental involvement in their child's school including their learning. They are looking to receive feedback on areas that are really important to parents. Participants have the option to receive a 2024 Faith Diary as a token of appreciation by providing their name, address, and mobile phone number at the end of the survey. The survey link is provided: CCSP Survey.

Every blessing,

Milena Colussi
Principal

Project Compassion 2024

Thank you for your generous donations and continued support of Project Compassion. Caritas Australia’s annual fundraiser raises funds for the world’s poorest communities. This week as a school community we focussed on the story of Memory. As the eldest child in a low-income farming family, Memory faced many barriers to her education. But with the support of Caritas Australia and CADECOM, she enrolled in a technical school and became the first female carpenter in her village. More information can be found at https://www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/memory-story/

Project Compassion Mufti Day - FRIDAY 22 March

As part of our work on student engagement we asked our Mini Vinnies group for some ideas on fundraising for Project Compassion - They decided a mufti day would be a way to engage all students at Holy Cross. Students can wear mufti clothes to school for a gold coin donation on Friday 22 March.. The mini vinnies will be involved with promoting this event with the school community. Students will be engaged in learning about the important work of Caritas Australia in class on this day.

Reconciliation

This Thursday evening our Year Three students will continue the sacramental journey for their Reconciliation. Over the next few weeks as they prepare we will keep these students in our prayers as they learn the importance of acknowledging errors but that God’s love is always there for us. 

Grade Masses

Our Grade Masses continued today with Year 5 and Kindergarten attending the Parish Mass at 9am.

Harmony Week 

Harmony Week is the celebration that recognises our diversity and brings together Australians from all different backgrounds. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.​ We will celebrate Harmony Day on Thursday March 21. We encourage the students to wear something orange with their uniform For e.g. they may wear orange socks, an orange ribbon, an orange bracelet, an orange hat. The students will complete an activity in class to support their understanding of Harmony Day.

Holy Week Prayer Service 

On Thursday 28 March at 11:30am will be commemorating the events of Holy Week through a special prayer service. This prayer service will focus on the major events of Christ’s journey to the cross leading up to the great celebration of Easter. All parents are invited to join us in the Church as we remember Christ’s suffering during the holiest week of the Church year. 

Lenten Prayer:

In Peace,

Mrs Debbie Turton
Religious Education Coordinator

An Invitation to Sunday Mass

Holy Cross Parish would like to extend a warm invitation to all our beloved school families to join us for Mass on Sunday mornings at 8:30am. 

Attending Mass as a family is not only a wonderful opportunity to strengthen and nurture our faith but also a chance to deepen the bonds that unite us as a parish, school and a wider community. 

Some things you may not know:

• Sunday Mass goes for one hour, 8:30 - 9:30am. 
• We regularly gather for morning tea and a catch up afterwards. 
• Every second week we have a children's liturgy which enables our kids to build some great friendships and learn about their faith.

We look forward to welcoming you and your family at our next Mass as we come together to celebrate the gift of faith and the joy of community.

Lunch Time Clubs

On most days, our Library is transformed into a variety of Lunch time activities during LUNCH 1. The activities can change, informed by student voice. This term, students of all year levels are able to visit to engage with:

Games  (Chess, Lego, building blocks, card games) 

Crochet 

Coding 

New this term - Crochet Club

NAPLAN

This week and next, our Year 3 and Year 5 children participate in NAPLAN testing.  These tests provide the school with great data that support us in tracking long term growth. For families it provides you with a snapshot of how your child is progressing in areas of English and Mathematics. These tests are just a sample of your child’s capabilities and should always be compared with other work samples and school based assessments when wanting to truly see how your child is going. NAPLAN is not something that should cause a great deal of stress for students. Students are encouraged to do their best and know that they will have lots of opportunities to learn, practice and show their capabilities throughout the year.

The following NAPLAN TESTS will be conducted on these dates:

WEEK 7: 

WEDNESDAY 13/3 - ENGLISH - WRITING

WEEK 8: 

MONDAY 18/3 - ENGLISH - READING, LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

TUESDAY  19/3 - NUMERACY - MATHS 

Education Mass for New Teachers and Principals 

On the 5th of March, we attended a mass with Mrs Colussi. The mass was to recognise all the new teachers and principals in the Wollongong Diocese. Bishop Brian led the mass, giving a special blessing to all the new teachers and principals to our diocese. We saw Mrs Duffin & Miss Costello, our ex teachers from Holy Cross and it was a delight to see them again. The new principals received a scripture passage 

called ‘The Sower and the Seed’. We both felt extremely happy for Mrs Colussi, receiving this special blessing. The mass was beautifully led, and it was nice to meet lots of new faces.

Crochet Club!

Our school has introduced a new lunchtime club on Wednesday… CROCHET CLUB! Come join us in the library at lunch one to learn the basics of crocheting and the fun you will have! You have great leaders to teach basic skills and at the end of the term, everyone will have a well created project to take home. Each week we will learn something new to continue in the life of crochet. Many leaders are ready to help assist crochet beginners to lead them into the life of creativity. If anyone is interested in giving crocheting a go, everyone is very welcome to join the crochet club with Amelia, Bella, Josie, and Maya and many more leaders to come.

- Bella and Amelia Year 6 

Cross Country 

This year our cross country carnival was at Rex Jackson oval.

Students had the chance to encourage and cheer for their fellow students in their house colour. The winning team was Green House, better known as MacKillop house. 

On the day it was a difficult race, because it was really hot! But the best part was at the end because we got to have icy cold snow cones.

Enrolment for 2025

Enrolments for Kindergarten 2025 are now open. If you have a child attending

Kindergarten next year or you know of anyone who is thinking of enrolling their child, please encourage them to contact the school, or commence an application. Enrolment is now online, and can be accessed via our school website. 

School Website

Holy Cross Facebook

If you have not yet followed us, please do! We aim to post photos of student learning and events. We also post a “Next Week at Holy Cross” weekly diary of reminders. 

Professional Learning

Recent professional learning undertaken or other professional commitments by our staff this fortnight includes:

Assemblies, Term 1

Tuesday 19 March at 2:30pm- Awards and Year 3 Sharing Learning 

Tuesday 9 April at 2:30pm- Principal Awards (Students receiving these will be communicated to parents by Monday 8 April)

New Active and Creative Kids vouchers

The new Active and Creative Kids voucher is now available, helping to make activities more affordable for eligible NSW families. Parents, guardians and carers of eligible school-aged children will be able to use two $50 vouchers per calendar year.

About the new program:

• Vouchers are available to those receiving Family Tax Benefit Part A, or Family Tax Benefit Part B, or both
• Vouchers can be downloaded as a QR code and used toward either an eligible physical or creative activity
• The $50 vouchers will be issued in school term 1 and school term 3.
  Vouchers must be redeemed before their expiry date

See here for more information: Active and Creative Kids

Cybersafety webinar run by the eSafety Commissioner

As parents you may have questions about managing your child’s access to online environments, about parental controls for devices and parental involvement in their child’s online profile. The eSafety Commissioner is running a seminar which addresses this for you. This 30 minute session provides an overview of different types of parental controls and how to set them on smart devices and computers, in apps and on gaming platforms for your child’s safety. It's suitable for parents and carers of children and young people in primary school. 

Click here to register.

Indulging in an Ethical Easter in 2024

Join with the one billion responsible ‘indulgers’ this Easter and watch what chocolate you eat. 

Much of the world’s chocolate, including that sold in Australian shops and supermarkets, is produced using cocoa beans harvested by child labourers, many of whom endure enslavement and poor, sometimes dangerous, working conditions. Most are deprived of an education.

This Easter and beyond, you are invited to indulge responsibly, select ethically sourced chocolate, and support companies working to eliminate slavery from their supply chains.

“Every person ought to have the awareness that purchasing is always a moral – and not simply an economic – act.” Pope Francis

Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH) is once again encouraging Australians to join the campaign for Slavery Free Easter eggs and Chocolate. Click on the links for tips and further information -

It’s chocolate, so Indulge Responsibly
How Sweet Is My Chocolate?

Download the How to Be a Good Egg poster

Also, consider not buying something that is overly packaged. Lots of Easter eggs come encased in several layers of foil, cardboard and plastic - each of which come with an environmental and often human cost of their own. Remember to recycle your foil…

Library News

Premier’s Reading Challenge 2024 – WE HAVE OUR FIRST PRC CHAMPS!

With the Challenge only being open a couple of weeks, we already have our first two champions – both from Year 5! Congratulations to Lee and Zeike.

Just a reminder of the requirements…

K-2: 30 books – teachers read Challenge books to students and reading records are entered by me.

Year 3-6: 20 books – students complete and enter their own reading records. Each student records their own Reading Log where they enter ALL books they read – this includes: Library books (both school and public Library), books from home, and books their teachers read to them. At the end of Term 2, there is a dedicated Library lesson on entering their Reading Logs.

The Challenge ends Friday, 23 August 2024.

***Stay tuned to see who completes the Challenge next!***

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB ISSUE 2 NOW OPEN

Book Club Issue 2 catalogues were sent home last Friday. These orders are due by 29 March 2024.

How to order:

• jump online to order: https://bookclubs.scholastic.com.au/
• if your order is a gift, you can nominate it online as ‘gift’.
• once the orders arrive, all parents are given a courtesy call.

PLEASE NOTE: all orders are done online, the school does not collect cash or cheques.

BOOK COVERERS update!

A HUGE ‘thank you’ to the parents who responded to the call – I am very grateful for your assistance.

If you enjoy covering books in contact (or find it therapeutic), there is still time to join the team.

I am compiling an email list of parents who can cover books in contact and/or plastic. If you are able to assist, please email me at hchlibrary@dow.catholic.edu.au .

Any assistance in this area is very much appreciated – it enables us to get Library Books and Readers to our students quickly.

LIBRARY WARRIORS

An Interview With…Dominic (Year 4)

Note from Mrs Murray: Dom has been a Library Warrior since it started in 2022 and has never missed a Friday. He collects books in the morning before school and gives up his Lunch 2 to put books away. He and Jake are our 'Fiction team extraordinaires'.

What section are you responsible for?

Fiction and Fiction series (with Jake)

What is your favourite book?

The Minecraft books.

What do you love about being a Library Warrior?

Helping Mrs Murray with everything.

What is your favourite Library task?

Putting the books away – I always find something I want to borrow.

Happy reading everyone!

Sue Murray
Library Coordinator

Lunch orders and over the counter service for Lunch 1 –  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

No breakfasts or lunch 2 on a Friday

Please see the attached amended menu, as there have been a few changes

Amended_Term_1_Menu_2024_1_.pdf

Amended_Term_1_Menu_2024_1 pdf 217.76 KB

Online Ordering.pdf

Online Ordering _pdf 249.70 KB

The Family Fun Day festivities for 2024 have now come to an end and WOW what a day it was! The weather started off a little bit misty but managed to hold for the majority of the event. It was great to see the return of the children’s performance to get the day rolling. Many prizes were won on the Chocolate Wheel and the Fairy Floss and Snow Cones machines got a good workout and the team down at the BBQ filled our bellies with delicious food.

I would like to thank each and every person who contributed to our successful day - volunteering on a stall, baking and buying cakes, entering the raffle and even donating items to our Chocolate Wheel and Chocolate Toss - without you this day would not happen.

A big shout out to all our amazing stall coordinators who once again made each stall fun for all our patrons. To Michael and Kerry Halloran from our Holy Cross Parish who looked after all the money (there was lots of it!!) and made the books balance by the end of the day. Also to our lovely Plant Ladies (Merilyn, Pauline and Sally) who lovingly looked after all our plants, and to our awesome teaching and support staff who sold you the winning Chocolate Wheel tickets.

To all the businesses who made donations of prizes and our sponsors Peabody, Raine & Horne Helensburgh, Ray White Helensburgh (Ron & Chris Kissell), Ebop Building, Tip Top Tree Services, Mathew Faulkner Accountancy - your generosity was unbelievable.

At the end of the day we managed to raise a little over $20k and this will be put towards improvements and resources at the school - so I look forward to seeing you at the next P&F meeting to join in discussion as to where this money is best spent.

Thank you all once again, and I look forward to supporting our new team of coordinators for the 2025 Family Fun Day!

Allison Wallace
Family Fun Day Coordinator