Dear parents and families,

Thank you to our parents who attended Parent-Teacher interviews this week. The opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher to discuss their academic report is just one of the avenues for communication. Please do not wait for these formal opportunities to discuss your child’s progress or raise concerns. Teachers are only too happy to meet with parents throughout the year, for it is when we work together that we achieve the best education for our children. 

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our teachers and support staff for their ongoing commitment to providing quality Catholic education at Holy Cross. This term, we have undertaken significant professional learning, particularly in the areas of collaborative professionalism, reading and writing and we are very excited and proud of the changes to teaching practice that are leading to growth in student achievement. This work however, requires passion and commitment and I am both proud of, and grateful to our staff for their work.

I would also like to acknowledge the frustration in having to resort back to stricter COVID restrictions with only two days of the term remaining. I appreciate the understanding and support of students and parents when directives from NSW Health, Catholic Schools NSW and CEDoW must be followed. The decision to postpone the Dance-A-Thon and Crazy Hair day was based on these directives. As soon as these restrictions are eased, we will hold this event.

I thank all of our students and families for their support this term and wish you all a safe and enjoyable holiday break.

Mrs Kaylene Duffin
Principal

First Holy Communion

Last Sunday, students from Year 3 came together with their family and friends to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion for the first time. The word ‘communion’ means 'to be united with'. As Catholics, we believe that in Holy Communion we are united in a special way with Jesus Christ. At his last supper united with his followers, Jesus said, “Take and eat, this is my body.” When we receive Holy Communion, we as Catholics believe that in a mysterious way we are sharing in the body and blood of Christ.

First Holy Communion is a special occasion as it is a step further in becoming one with Christ. The celebration last Sunday was so special to our students, their families and the Parish community.  Congratulations to all the students who enjoyed this special day and may you continue to be in communion with our Parish and faith community. 

A special thank you to Miss Facci for all her work in preparing the children so that they had a deep understanding of the sacrament, and to Father Paul for his leadership and guidance of the students and families throughout this sacrament.

Stella Shares Her Insights Of SCHOOL

Playground Update

Construction of our new Adventure Playground on the top playground has begun! This is exciting news. Hopefully it will be completed early Term 3, ready for some serious play action

Thank You to our P&F

We are so fortunate to have such a supportive parent body and a dynamic P&F committee. This term, other than the generous donation towards our new playground, we were able to purchase a number of literacy resources and sporting equipment for our students’ benefit. A huge thank you from all of us!!

• New iPads for Year 2
• School Magazines for Years 2-6
• Portable Basketball Hoops
• New basketballs and all purpose balls
• 2021 Short listed books for our upcoming Book Week
• Paying for buses to transport students to the netball and soccer (Term 3) gala days.

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.

15 June - Religious Education Coordinator Network Meeting

Miss Costello

16 June - Teaching Reading Strategies in Years 3-6, Half Day Planning 

Miss Costello, Mrs Barbuto

22 June - Learning Management System Update PD

Mrs Bartholomeusz & Mrs Mapp

23 June - Teaching in the Library PD 

Mrs Barbuto

NAIDOC Week

NAIDOC Week is celebrated nationally in the first week of July. The theme for this year is 'Heal Country, Heal our Nation.' NAIDOC week is a time to celebrate 65,000 years of history, culture and achievements. At Holy Cross, we will be celebrating NAIDOC Week on Thursday 22 July with a day of special activities. It will be a mufti day where students will be invited to wear a sporting jersey of their choice, shorts and joggers.

Our School Assemblies for Term 3 will be held every second Tuesday afternoon at 2:40pm. The schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, 20 July 2:40pm

Tuesday, 3 August 2:40pm - Principal Awards

Tuesday, 17 August 2:40pm - Year 2 Class Sharing

Tuesday, 31 August 2:40pm - Principal Awards & Year 1 Class Sharing

Tuesday, 14 September 2:40pm

National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD)

The National Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) takes place every year. The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. Further information is attached.

Soccer Gala Day - Friday 23 July

The South Coast Soccer Gala Day will be held early next term. Parents/Carers of students in Years 3-6 would have received electronic information about this day via Compass. We will be taking ALL students and their teachers from Year 3-6 to this enjoyable day of non-competitive soccer. Please remember to allow consent for your child - there is no cost for families.

Lawn Bowls - Sporting Schools Grant

We applied for and received a Sporting Schools Grant for Term 3. We were able to run two one hour Lawn Bowls sessions for our students on Wednesday 16 & 23 June. We thank Reuben from Engadine Bowling Club who provided coaching for these sessions. The students had a fabulous time during their Lawn Bowls sessions.

Library News

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR – SAVE THE DATE!

Every second year, Holy Cross hold the Scholastic Book Fair – and this is the year! The Book Fair is a great way to purchase titles that students are interested in, which of course, encourages reading! It is also a great way to do some present shopping as there is always loads to choose from.

This year, we will be holding the Book Fair from 23-27 August (Term 3, Week 7). During this week, we will have our popular Book Parade as well as other fantastic activities…more will be revealed next term, so watch this space!

Premier’s Reading Challenge – More Supa-stars Revealed!

Our students are well underway in getting the challenge completed.

Congratulations goes to:

Year 6 - Kai, Mia, Will, Liam, Isabelle, Harry, Muireann, Kym, and Kitty

Year 5 - Matilda

Year 4 – Mia A, Tom, Ella, Mia G, Leni, Annabel, James, Darcy, Anna, Pippa, Nevra, Oliver M, Stella, Qilqa, and Oliver R.

Keep on reading Holy Cross! I can’t wait to see and share with you who our next PRC Supa-Stars will be! 

Mrs Sue Murray, Library

Gardening Club

Year 1 – Flour + Water = Mess???

In our quest to discover what happens when different materials are combined, Year 1 investigated what happens when you add flour and water together – of course, you get glue! And what better way to use this new material than to make paper mache masks! So Year 1 ‘took over’ the wet area and proceeded in pairs to rip paper and glue it to their assigned balloon. There was lots of good discussion to be heard and of course much laughter – this proved to be a very popular activity that demonstrated just how much can be learnt from one activity that covered areas in science, art, literacy (procedures) and maths!!! Can’t wait to see the finished masks! And yes, there was some mess – but luckily we had the assistance of Mrs Timmins and Mrs Attenborough on hand – thank you ladies for all your help with the activity, it was very much appreciated!

Lunchtime Gardening Club – Does Thursday stand for ‘Rainday’?

Once again, rain stopped us from going into ‘The Patch’ but it didn’t stop Gardening Club! Our rainy day home, aka the Music Room, was packed with eager gardeners and the suggestion for a new activity. Members suggested that we implement a ‘suggestion box’ which should always be at Gardening Club. Club members write down something they would like to know more about and it goes in the Suggestion Box. Then, when there is a wet weather day, a ‘suggestion’ is pulled from the box and a film clip is found, (Gardening Australia is a wonderful resource for this). After the clip, we discuss if it is something we can implement in our school garden. Members took a whole lunchtime to write their initial suggestions – Rod and I didn’t realise just how much they wanted to know! Macie’s suggestion was the first to be drawn out of the box – she wanted to know how to set up a worm farm. Gardening Australia did not disappoint and had a fantastic clip – you could have heard a pin drop! Then after much discussion, it was decided that this was definitely something that we can implement based on what we learnt. Bring on the sunshine!

Stay tuned to see what we get up to next.

Mrs Sue Murray, Gardening Club

School Term Dates - 2021 

• Term 3 – Monday 12 July - Thursday 16 September  (Friday 17 September is a pupil free day)

• Term 4 – Tuesday 5 October - Wednesday 15 December (Thursday 16 & Friday 17 December are pupil free days)
  
  

Confirmed Pupil Free Dates - 2021

Term 3 - Friday, 17 September

Term 4 - Thursday & Friday, 16 & 17 December

Students are looking very smart in their winter uniform. Please note, girls may have the option of wearing short white socks (same as summer uniform) instead of tights.