Dear Parents and Friends of Holy Cross,

As we navigate through the school year, we're all focusing on helping our students build strong character and emotional resilience. At our Book Week parade, our teachers joyfully presented a story of Alice’s Adventures through Wonderland, meeting many different and unique characters who each were able to reinforce positive values and virtues such as kindness, care, bravery, loyalty, confidence, patience and resilience. 

One of the most important values we can instill in our children is forgiveness. It can be challenging to teach, but it's a vital skill for navigating relationships and resolving conflicts. We see small conflicts happen every day on the playground and in the classroom. For example, a student might accidentally knock over another student's block tower. The immediate reaction is often frustration or anger. In these moments, we can guide our children to see the situation from a different perspective and understand that forgiveness isn't about excusing bad behavior; it's about releasing the negative feelings that hold us back. It’s a gift they give themselves so they can move on and rebuild friendships.

You can help reinforce this value at home. When your child comes home upset because a friend said something unkind or didn't share a toy, instead of jumping to anger, use it as a teaching moment. Talk to them about how it felt to be on the receiving end, and then help them consider how their friend might have been feeling. Encourage them to find a way to talk to their friend and work through the issue together. Remind them that just as they want to be forgiven for their mistakes, others do too. By teaching our children to forgive, we're not just resolving a single conflict—we're equipping them with the tools to build lasting friendships, show empathy, and become compassionate, well-rounded individuals.

Feast Day on FRIDAY 12th SEPTEMBER

Together we will celebrate our school’s and parish's Feast Day with Mass at 9:15am, acknowledging our school’s revitalised Vision and Mission.  

Our school song has been reworked, and Tim Hart, once an REC here at Holy Cross, recently returned to record our choir singing the backing track. He will also be our special guest musician at our Feast Day Mass, joining Mr Body and our choir.  

Our students have been practising all term, and we will be singing our updated school song at our next Awards Assembly in Week 8!

Grandparents Morning Tea- Traditionally here at Holy Cross, we also celebrate the

special place grandparents have in our lives with a morning tea after our Feast Day Mass, and classroom visits to make special crosses together.

Catering RSVP: Please complete by Friday 5th September  RSVP MORNING TEA LINK 

We also invite parents to send a plate of pre sliced cake, cookies or cupcakes on Friday morning (drop off before school/mass) to supplement school catering.

Parent Helpers- if you can assist in the set up, serving or clean up of morning tea, we would really appreciate a few helpers. 

JUBILEE YEAR EVENTS

I encourage you to keep an eye out for diocesan Year of Jubilee pilgrimage events  such as this one coming up next month:

Rosemeadow Jubilee Pilgrimage Day Saturday 6 September 2025. The Parish of Our Lady Help of Christians, Rosemeadow invites everyone to a Jubilee Pilgrimage Day where we will uncover the profound meaning, history and significance of the Year of Jubilee and how we can continue living it out in our pilgrimage of life towards Christ. The day begins with Mass at 10:00am, followed by a catechesis led by Elise Duval, a time of Eucharistic Adoration with opportunity for confession, and concludes with Benediction at 3:00pm. Please BYO lunch. Come and be renewed in God’s mercy!

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: 

May the peace of Christ be with you,

Milena Colussi
Principal

Fathers’ Day Liturgy - 12:30-1:00pm

We welcome all to attend our Fathers’ Day Liturgy from 12:30-1:00pm on Friday 5th September.

BBQ Lunch - 1:00-1:45pm

A BBQ sausage sizzle lunch will be provided for all our visiting Dad’s after the liturgy at 1-1:45pm on Friday 5th September.

Stall - Thursday 4th September

Students are to bring $10 on Thursday 4th September to purchase a gift from the Fathers’ Day stall. We thank all our parent volunteers who are assisting in the organisation of the stall.

ONLINE PARENT COURSES

Parent courses are also available through OnLine Training for parents seeking information or support around understanding ADHD and Autism and can be accessed via the OLT website.

Short courses are self-paced (approximately 2 hours) and include a variety of topics, with parents only able to enrol in only one course at a time.

Term 3 Monday Morning Prayer 8:50-9am - If you have the time, we warmly welcome you, our parents, to join us every Monday morning on the Top Plaground COLA, as we gather to start the week and pray together. 

Parish Masses - As a parish catholic school, we seek to enable opportunities for our community to encounter the mass. Each term, our classes attend a weekday parish mash, as well as whole school masses for important Feast days. Parents are always welcome to attend. :

Sunday Parish Mass - Families are of course always welcome to attend the Holy Cross Parish Sunday Masses. 

Next Friday we celebrate Father’s Day at Holy Cross. Let us take this opportunity to pray for all fathers and father figures in our lives. 

Lord, Heavenly Father,

You entrusted your Son Jesus,

the child of Mary,

to the care of Joseph, an earthly father.

Bless all fathers

As they care for their families.

Give them strength and wisdom,

tenderness and patience:

Support them in the work they have to do,

Protecting those who look to them,

As we look to you for love and salvation

Through Jesus Christ our rock and defender,

Amen

Holy Cross Feast Day/Grandparents Day Celebrations:

Friday 12 September

Our Holy Cross Feast Day/Grandparents Day Celebrations will be held on Friday 12 September.  

• We will begin with Mass at 9:15 in the Church. 
• Then, our grandparents and visitors will be invited to the school grounds for a morning tea with students from 10:30-11:15am. 
• From 11:20-11:50am we will have open classrooms for our grandparents to visit and complete a Holy Cross Craft activity. 

Throughout the remainder of the day the students will be involved in some activities to celebrate our Feast day in class including some faith and music workshops with Mr Tim Hart to celebrate the revised version of our school song.

Staff Faith Formation

On Monday the staff were involved in our annual Spirituality Day at the Hermitage in Mittagong. We were joined by Father Paul and Mr Matthew Turner (Catholic Education Office Wollongong) to complete a module of the “Educating with a Mission Lens Faith Formation Program.” Our retreat challenged us to reflect on our school’s vision and mission and our vocation as Catholic educators. We had an opportunity to focus on various Scripture related to mission. Father Paul spoke to us about encounter, worship and mission and celebrated a beautiful Mass in the Chapel at the Hermitage. 

Year 6 Students: Confirmation Sunday 14 September 2025 10am

Workshop Dates:

Thursdays, 6.30pm in the Parish Hall, 28th August & 11th September

Retreat Day: Wednesday 10 September 9-3 pm Parish Hall

In Peace,

Mrs Debbie Turton
Religious Education Coordinator

PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning)

Our schoolwide focus for PB4L this week and next week include these  expectations:

VALUES IN ACTION @ Holy Cross Hope  Persevere and persist when things seem difficult Justice  Have a waste free lunchbox Recycle by using the correct waste collection and FOGO bins

AWARD ASSEMBLIES IN TERM 3

Our school assemblies in Term 3 will again be held fortnightly on even week Tuesday afternoons beginning at 2:30pm. Any change to the time will be communicated to parents via Compass. 

Dates for Term 3:

Week 8:  Tuesday 9th September from 2:30pm (Year 2 sharing learning)

Week 10: Tuesday 23rd September from 2.20pm (Tournament of the Minds team presenting and Principal Awards)

IMPORTANT DATE CHANGES IN TERM 3 (SPORT/LIBRARY/MUSIC DAYS)

A number of important whole school masses, Fathers Day, our school’s Feast Day and Gala Days falling on Fridays has required some swapping of days to ensure your children do not miss out on their weekly Sport, Music/Drama and Library learning programs for your children.

Changes have been clearly highlighted on the Parent Calendar, our google parent calendar, and reminders will be posted weekly via our compass and facebook weekly infographic. 

Changes coming up:

Week 7: 

Thursday 4th September    LIBRARY/ SPORT/ Music& Drama lessons today SPORT UNIFORM 

Friday 5th September         Normal School Uniform Day (Fathers Day Celebrations)

Week 8: 

Thursday 11th September    LIBRARY/ SPORT/ Music& Drama lessons today SPORT UNIFORM 

Friday 12th September         Normal School Uniform Day (Holy Cross Feast Day 

                                                                                                     & Grandparents Morning Tea)

Please note the next PUPIL FREE DAY :

TERM 3 PUPIL FREE DAYS

WEEK 10, FRIDAY 26 SEPTEMBER. Focus Area ~ Student Engagement and Wellbeing- Berry St Education Model. Module 2 Relationship – Positive relational classroom management strategies that promote on-task learning.

Year 5 Excursion - The Rocks, China Town and Chinese Gardens

Year 5 enjoyed travelling through time into Sydney’s early history, learning about people and life in the Rocks in the past through artefacts and the archeological remains @ The Big Dig! Bernard was their knowledgeable guide and story teller! They also visited China Town and the Chinese Gardens, learning all about the early years of migration during the 1850’s Gold Rush, and using the clues their guide Ritzy gave, enjoyed a treasure hunt throughout the Chinese Gardens! Did you know that the Rocks area in Sydney was known as the first China Town back then? The Haymarket area later became the centre of Chinese culture as families moved to settle and start market gardens in the area. Did you know that Helensburgh once had a market garden in the gully behind our school many many years ago?

HOLY CROSS SPELLING BEE 2025

Yesterday we gathered for the fun of our Infants Holy Cross Spelling Bee. Each class held their own spelling bee heats and the worthy finalists competed today for the honour of being the Spelling Champion for their Stage. We are very proud of all of our Stage Finalists.

And a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to our Infants Champions for 2025!

EStg1 (Kinder) Lucas

Stg1 (Years 1 and 2) Riley

Bernadette Baker
Spelling Bee Co-ordinator
Learning Support

Book Week Parade Celebration- Tuesday 26th August

To wrap up our fantastic Book Week celebrations for 2025, our school community embarked on a magical journey to Wonderland! The excitement was in the air as students, teachers, and staff came together to celebrate the joy of reading and imagination. The school grounds were filled with smiles, laughter, and a vibrant sea of colourful costumes as everyone dressed up as their favourite book characters.

The fun didn’t stop there – the Holy Cross staff treated us to a hilarious and heartwarming play that brought to life Alice’s thrilling adventure into Wonderland. The performance was filled with surprises and had everyone laughing along with Alice and her quirky friends!

After the play, it was time for the highly anticipated costume parade! Each class proudly strutted their stuff, showcasing their creative outfits, with everyone looking absolutely fantastic in their costumes. The parade was a wonderful display of imagination, creativity, and the magic of books.

Here’s what some of the students had to say about the celebration:

Billy Bennett- “I enjoyed dressing up as Amelia Earhart and showing my costume to everyone”.

Adele Murray- “I loved that everyone was creative with their costumes”. 

Ella Griffiths-Roach- “The teachers did a great job acting and performing”.

Sienna Harding- “I liked watching all the teachers tell the story of Alice in Wonderland”. 

This Book Week has been a wonderful reminder of how stories can transport us to incredible worlds and inspire us to dream big. A huge thank you to everyone who participated and made this celebration so special!

Miss Elise Facci
Year 1 Teacher

Stage 2 Science Incursion

On Wednesday, the 27th, we had a science incursion day. The science directors were Ranger Cam and Ranger Edie.

We started the day with Year 3 and 4 together in the library. Ranger Cam was teaching us about matter—solids, liquids, gases, and non-Newtonian fluids. We also learned about what can mix and different chemical reactions and what causes them.

We did four experiments throughout the day, two with Ranger Cam and two with Ranger Edie. One of the experiments was making oobleck with cornflour and water. It was super sticky and messy, but very fun! 

At the end of the day, Ranger Cam and Ranger Edie made a huge explosion. There were around 100 balls that came out of the barrel. That was everyone's favourite! 

BOOK WEEK – BOOK AN ADVENTURE TRIVIA TOURNAMENT

Last Thursday, as a school we hosted the Book An Adventure Trivia Tournament. In Week 2, each class was given a CBCA Shortlist picture book to become familiar with for the event.

The scene was set with items ‘one must have’ for an adventure, the prizes were on display (thanks Mr Burns), our hosts, Miss Facci and myself, donned our top hat and goggles, and we were ready for our students.

Students were placed into mixed grade groups, teachers were armed with much needed sustenance for the event (lollies) to hand out to students for teamwork and our adjudicators, Mrs Maher, Miss Young and Mr Body, were seated - we were ready to start!

There was an atmosphere of excitement throughout the tournament - students went through three rounds of questions and competition was fierce. Games of ‘Heads or Tails’ and ‘guess the adventure equipment’ were played in between rounds for bonus points - even Mr Burns favourite picture book ‘The Highway Rat’ was a surprise bonus point opportunity for the groups!

In the end, the winners were announced and there was only a half point between first and second – showing how tight the competition was. I think it is fair to say, our Trivia Tournament proved to be a great success with everyone, both staff and students, having a wonderful time as a school community.

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE (PRC) UPDATE – WE’VE DONE IT!

This fortnight heralds the completion of the PRC for Holy Cross – and ahead of time too! Our infants have enjoyed over the last two terms their PRC picture books and primary are now complete! Completion certificates are sent to the school in the latter half of Term 4.

Our final Champions for this fortnight are:

Year 3 – Vinnie, Hunter

Year 4 – Emily, Abi, William, Gabriela

Congratulations to the above students!

CBCA Shortlist Books

This newsletter, we are highlighting our final section - the New Illustrators books that made the shortlist that we have purchased for our Library. All the Shortlist books are now available for students to borrow.

Shortlisted New Illustrator Books:

• A Teaspoon of Light, Nisaluk Chantanakom (Dirt Lane Press)
• Digger Digs Down, Huni Melissa Bolliger (University of Queensland Press)
• Grow Big, Little Seed, Sarah Capon (Bright Light)
• Peek-a-Boo Lottie, Kristen Willis (Five Mile Books)
• Raymaŋgirrbuy dhäwu, When I was a little girl, Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr (Magabala Books)
• The Land Recalls You, David Cragg & Noni Cragg (Scholastic Australia)
  
  

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB ISSUE 6

Book Club Issue 6 catalogues were sent home last week.  These orders are due by 12 September 2025.

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.

Happy reading everyone!

Sue Murray
Library Coordinator

Helping Your Child with Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is the influence children may feel from their friends or classmates to behave in certain ways, whether it’s trying something new, following trends, or making choices they might not be comfortable with. While some peer influence can be positive, encouraging cooperation or trying healthy activities, negative peer pressure can lead children to take risks, go against their values, or feel anxious about fitting in. It’s important for children to learn how to recognise and respond to peer pressure so they can make decisions that feel right for them, rather than just trying to please others. Supporting children in building confidence, setting personal boundaries, and practicing assertive communication helps them navigate social situations with resilience and stay true to themselves.

Signs your child may be experiencing peer pressure:  

Sudden Changes in Behaviour – Your child may start acting out of character by becoming more withdrawn, anxious, secretive, or rebellious.

Changes in Friend Groups – They might start spending time with new friends and distancing themselves from long-time friendships or supportive peers.

Avoiding Conversations – If your child avoids talking about their day, acts defensive, or hides certain behaviours, they may be facing pressure to do things they’re unsure about.

Loss of Confidence – A drop in self-esteem or constant self-doubt may signal that your child is struggling to fit in or feeling judged by peers.

Reluctance to Go to School or Activities – If they suddenly don't want to attend school, sports, or social gatherings, it could be a sign of social pressure or fear of judgment.

Here are some tips on helping your child deal with peer pressure:  

Keep Open, Non-Judgmental Communication – Make it safe for your child to talk about their friends and experiences without fear of punishment or criticism. Ask open-ended questions like, “What’s been happening with your friends lately?”

Teach Assertiveness Skills – Help your child practice saying “no” in firm but respectful ways. Role-play different scenarios so they feel more prepared.

Build Their Confidence – Help your child engage in hobbies or interests where they feel competent and accepted, which strengthens self-esteem and reduces the need to seek approval.

Talk About Real-Life Examples – Use age-appropriate stories, news, or shows to discuss peer pressure and healthy choices. Ask them what they would do in a similar situation.           Know Their Friends and Social Circles – Get to know who your child spends time with and encourage positive friendships. Trusted friends can also help your child resist negative pressure.

Sara Ljuboja

School Counsellor

The Holy Cross Parish Bulletin is emailed to our families via COMPASS, but it is easily accessible on the Parish website: https://www.helensburghcatholic.org.au/bulletins

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. 

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.