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Dear parents and friends of Holy Cross,
With only one week remaining of the 2022 school year, I would like to thank each student, each staff member and each family for their support, passion and presence this year. I am very proud of what we have achieved together. With the commitment of teachers and the high support and love of their parents, students have experienced individual growth in learning and much success as part of our faith community.
As I conclude my third year as Principal at Holy Cross, I am genuinely grateful for the great privilege to lead such a life-giving community where our students grow and are educated in faith and love. We have much to be proud of as a school community as we remain true to the charism of the Josephite sisters who founded our school 136 years ago.
As a parish school community, we ask that the Lord may keep us safe and provide us with His love over the holiday period. Our school motto reminds us always that peace comes from Christ being in our lives, and so we place our trust in Him as our companion and support over the holiday period, as we look forward in hope for a peaceful and safe break.
Farewells
Firstly, we farewell our Year 6 students. It is always a pull at the heartstrings when students grow in mind, body and spirit over their years at Holy Cross and then leave to take the next steps in their learning journey at high school. Their leadership has focussed on learning to learn, live and love as they have accepted responsibility for their learning, cared for others, shown respect for each other and staff and been the best people they can be. They will be missed. We will celebrate their farewell on Wednesday at the End of Year Mass and Yr 6 Farewell.
Next week we farewell Mrs Dianne Bartholomeusz. Dianne has been a member of the Holy Cross community for the past 12 years with over 23 years of service to CEDoW. Stepping down from her permanent Senior School Support Officer role at the end of 2021, Di has worked in a Personal Assistant role to me this year and I will be forever grateful for her wisdom, professionalism and calm manner. We have all been blessed by having Di in our school community. We wish her well for all that will be in the future for her and her family.
We also farewell Mrs Melissa Sommerville who has accepted a two day/week position teaching Music at St Joseph’s, Bulli. Melissa is well known for her love of the students, her passion for music and her sincere and compassionate nature. She has truly been an inspiration to her our students over the past few years. Thank you Melissa for your dedication to Holy Cross and we wish you every success and happiness in the future.
Mrs Tiana Cardamone will remain at St John’s Dapto on a permanent basis. Her temporary exchange arrangement with Mrs Melissa McEntee this year has been a positive experience for both of these exemplary teachers and we wish Tiana every happiness and success in the future for her and her family.
All of our leaving students, families and staff members will be formally farewelled at our End of Year Mass on Wednesday 14 December.
I take this opportunity to wish you all a healthy, safe and blessed Christmas.
Best Wishes,
Kaylene Duffin
Kindergarten - Mrs Melissa McEntee
Year 1 - Miss Elise Facci
Year 2 - Mrs Tami Henniock
Year 3 - Mrs Anne Rowles
Year 4 - Mr Jeff Body & Mrs Lucia Barbuto (Fridays)
Year 5 - Miss Emily Costello & Mrs Lucia Barbuto (Thursdays)
Year 6 - Mr Chris Whitehall
Instructional Coach - Mrs Natalie Baker (Mon-Wed)
Literacy & Numeracy Support Teacher - Mrs Bernie Baker (Mon-Thurs)
Literacy & Numeracy Support Teacher - Mrs Jenny Mirevski (Tue-Thurs)
Literacy & Numeracy Support Teacher - Mrs Lucia Barbuto (Wed)
PE - Mrs Kate Boyle (Fridays)
Music/Drama - To be advised (Fridays)
TPPT - Mrs Kate Jennett (Fridays)
Senior School Support Officer - Mrs Erin Maguire
School Support Officers: Mrs Jo Carroll, Mrs Sue Mapp, Mrs Sue Murray, Mrs Larissa Timmins, Mrs Kim Attenborough
Thank you to all of the Year 5 students who nominated themselves for the 2023 student leadership positions. After a process of presenting speeches and voting by students, we congratulate those who have been successful and recognised for their leadership by their peers. Thank you also to Miss Costello who supported students and ensured the process was carried out with integrity.
School Captains
Mia G
Joseph F
School Vice-Captains
Isabella A
Oliver R
St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal
A huge thank you to all who have generously donated either presents or food items for the Vinnies Christmas appeals. These donations will go to help so many in our local community have a Christmas filled with joy. Our Mini Vinnies from Year 3, 4 and 5 will take these donations and pack hampers next Thursday so donations are still welcome up till Wednesday.
Advent
Advent is the time to slow down and wait with patience for the coming of Christ at Christmas. Over the four Sundays of Advent we are reminded of the hope, peace, joy and love in our world and are encouraged to continue living our lives as people of mission. On each of the Advent Sundays a candle is lit reminding us all of Jesus - the light of the world who is a guide for us to follow. The evergreen Advent wreath itself is a symbol of growth and life and the circle reminds us that God’s love for us has no beginning and no end.
Miss Costello
Religious Education Co-Ordinator
Professional Learning
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. Recent professional learning undertaken by our staff this fortnight include
14 November 2022
Learning For Leadership course
Miss Costello
1 December 2022
Age Appropriate Pedagogies Planning @ CEDoW
Mrs McEntee
5 & 6 December 2022
Reading Intervention Training
Mrs Jennett
7 December 2022
Age Appropriate Pedagogies Planning @ CEDoW
Mrs McEntee
8 December 2022
Leadership Planning Day
Mrs Duffin, Mrs Jennett, Miss Costello, Mr Body, Mrs N Baker
Maths Olympiad
Maths Olympiad is a competition which allows students to extend their learning and solve challenging maths problems. This year, 18 students completed 5 tests. Each of these tests were quite difficult and the students needed to work with a variety of strategies to solve the questions. Congratulations to the following students on their perseverance when working on these problems.
Congratulations to Nathaniel A who achieved a score in the top 25% of individual student scores and received a patch.
Congratulations to Lee K who performed exceptionally well and achieved a score in the top 10% of individual student scores. Lee received a special trophy, a pin and a patch. Well done on a fantastic achievement!
SPLICED
SPLICED is a gifted education initiative which stands for Strengthening Potential through Learning in Interactive Challenging Environments in the Diocese of Wollongong. This year the topic; Taking Up Space: the Length and Breadth, the Height and the Depth, allowed students to think critically, creatively and reflectively to explore an area of investigation of their choice. Nine students presented work in the categories of: the Arts and Humanities, Human Living, Psychology, Science and Spirituality. These students spend a lot of time working on their areas of investigations, at school and at home and presented a wide variety of literacies. These literacies ranged from hand-drawn animation to meditation to art and poetry to designing tiny homes to stories and recipes to claymation. We are all so proud of everything these students have achieved. They each received an achievement certificate and a book containing their work.
Yesterday, there was an official launch of the SPLICED website which contains all these students' work. Their published work is now accessible to a worldwide audience. Two students from our school, Daniel T and Thomas A, were invited to present students in several categories during the launch as well as speaking a little about themselves. They did a wonderful job and represented our school exceptionally well.
If you get a chance, I would highly encourage you to go to the SPLICED 2023 website and view their amazing work. They have all done a wonderful job. We are all so proud of you.
https://spliced2022.dow.catholic.edu.au/
Mrs Mitrevski
Maths Olympiad and SPLICED Coordinator
Semester 2, 2023 Student Academic Reports for students in years K-6 will be made available to parents via their Compass Parent Portal tomorrow Friday 9 December. Parents of students in Year 6, who are not remaining in the Diocese of Wollongong, are encouraged to print their child’s report (please see the office if you require help with this). Parents will have the option to make an appointment with their child’s teacher to discuss the report during Week 10. Please contact the school office to make the appointment.
Return to School Resources List
Resource lists for 2023 have sent home with students today.
At this busy time of year, we thought it would be helpful to provide you with a schedule of our end of year school events:
Holy Cross End of 2022 Events
|
Date & Time |
Event Details |
|
Friday 9 December |
School Swimming Carnival for students in Yr 1-6 |
|
Friday 9 December |
Semester 2 Reports sent via Compass |
|
Monday 12 December |
8:50am Advent liturgy Stage 2 leading 1:30pm School Talent Quest - students will be notified of the date they are performing |
|
Tuesday 13 December |
1:30pm School Talent Quest - students will be notified of the date they are performing |
|
Wednesday 14 December |
11:30am End of Year School Mass |
|
Thursday 15 December |
10:30am Year 6 Pool |
|
Friday 16 December |
School Christmas Celebration Last day of school for students |
Please find the dates for all pertinent school events on the HCH Parent Calendar
https://www.hchdow.catholic.edu.au/news-and-events/
2023 Return to school dates
| Tuesday 31 January | Year 1-6 students return |
| Tuesday 7 February | Kindergarten students start |
A reminder that if your child has any Library Books, they
need to be returned to the school as soon as possible.
Well, we made it to the end of the school year. Certainly there have been a lot of challenges these last three years of fires, floods, and Covid lockdowns. It's been a lot. If your child is experiencing any stress and anxiety, there is a FREE online course for parents that is quite comprehensive and may provide you with strategies to help your child.
Online parenting course - help kids overcome anxiety | Triple P (triplep-parenting.net.au)
I would like to wish all the children, parents and families a wonderful Christmas and holiday season.
I will look forward to seeing you again next year.
Doreen
