The Australian Geography Competition

Around 20 students from the Senior School have put their Geographical Knowledge and Skills to the test today, by entering the Australian Geography Competition.
This is the 21st anniversary of the competition, with approximately 75,000 students from all around Australia taking part. It is organised by the Australian Geography Teachers' Association and the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland.
Students who excel in the Australian competition have the chance to represent Australia in the International Geography Olympiad.
We look forward with anticipation to the results being released in June.

The Junior School is 'exploring' Week 8

Pre-Kindergarten 

The past few weeks have seen the children exploring their names. We discussed that there are letters in our names, did a name hunt to find where our names appear in the classroom and talked about how not all of our names are the same. Some of the children could even say the letters in their name! Fine-motor skills were being developed as the children finger-painted the first letter of their name and glued on a variety of art materials to decorate their name. 

We had the pleasure of a visiting Seminarian, Konrad, join us in Pre-Kindergarten for a day. The children loved playing with him and showing him their 'doctor skills' with some rich oral language emerging as they role-played. Apparently I was very sick and needed a lot of fixing up, thank goodness the children were such good doctors and I'm all better now!

The rest of the term will see us exploring Easter with the children doing a range of activities based around this topic. We look forward to a wonderful rest of the term, I can't believe it has flown by so fast! A parent roster will commence next term, now that the children are settled, and we can't wait to see parents engaging in the learning with the children.

Dorota Fretwell

Pre-Kindergarten Teacher

Kindergarten C

The children in Kindergarten C have had a wonderful time continuing on with their alphabet adventures. This week we have been learning all about the letter fF and the sound that it makes. We have painted and planted flowers, observed white roses turn blue with dye, learnt about farm animals and the noises they make, role played fire fighters and wondered about fairies.

Next week we will move onto the letter gG for our final week of term one. There might even be a special visitor come and visit us which will be very exciting!

Jo Borg

Kindergarten C Teacher

Pre-Primary

So much has happened in the last two weeks in Pre-Primary!

First of all, a big congratulations needs to be given to the Pre-Primary students who spoke at our class assembly. They used their 'big' voices to communicate a message, which requires a lot of confidence. In our assembly, the students announced their achievements; Gabby can now walk on the foam feet, Caleb and Dean can write sight words, and Kur, Aiva, Samuel and Caden can read. It is amazing to see their improvements over the term. Please keep in mind that everyone is on his or her own learning journey and progress is being made. Keep it up!

The students are showing growth in their number recognition and letters and words. In the Letters and Words Collage you will see some students searching for words on clipboards, writing their name and copying sight words. On the Number Work Collage you will see students matching numerals to thirty, putting stones over the numerals and recording numerals found in puzzles.

Saint Patrick’s Day was extra special with Mrs Doherty this year. With excitement and awe the students watched Mrs Doherty share photographs and memories of her time in Ireland, such as her Primary School, which was covered in snow and she also explained the amazing work of St Patrick. The students made Shamrocks, watched Irish dancing, explored the slippery, wet, gooey, green slime and developed fine motor skills when they painted a green picture.

Lastly, the students have been learning about new life in the lead up to Easter. The students watched a slideshow of baby animals and took photographs of new life (e.g. budding flowers) around the College.

Emma Pritchard

Pre-Primary Teacher

Year Two

The Year Two class have been busy holding the fort whilst Mrs Ryan has been away sick. They have continued to develop their place value knowledge through games using different quantities and materials. In Religious Education, the students discussed the Easter Story and the events that led up to Jesus' resurrection. 

The students continue to change their reading books and challenge themselves to learn more words and develop their fluency when reading.

We wish Mrs Ryan a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her back next term. 

The Year Two Class

Other News

Learning Conversations are taking place Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Week 9. Students will have an early finish, 12pm, on Wednesday 1 April. Families requiring assistance with supervision of their children are to contact Administration to make arrangements. The Year Two Learning Conversations have been postponed until the first two weeks of Autumn Term.

The Junior School Liturgy scheduled for Wednesday, 1 April has been cancelled due to Mrs Ryan's absence. The Year Two class will have their Liturgy next term. 

The final day of term is Thursday, 2 April. There will be a Holy Thursday Liturgy on this day. Please see the Principal's Blog for details.

The Junior School section of the College Cross Country Carnival will take place on Thursday, 23 April, Week 1 of Autumn Term. The students will be competing in their House groups. Further details will be provided shortly.

Melissa Croswell
Head of Junior School

KidSport

KidSport enables Western Australian children to participate in community sport and recreation, no matter their financial circumstances. Eligible youth aged 5–18 years can apply for financial assistance to contribute towards club fees. The fees will go directly to the registered KidSport clubs through their participating local government. 

While the primary objective of KidSport is to ensure all Western Australian children can participate in sport and recreation clubs, its secondary objective is to engage these children and their families in the community.

Holy Cross College is a registered referral agent through Mrs Christina Davini or Mrs Fiona de Courcier.

For more information please visit the following website:

http://www.dsr.wa.gov.au/funding/individuals/kidsport

Mrs Christina Davini
Frayne House Coordinator 
Health & Physical Education Teacher

NEAS Summer Competition

This year an opportunity has arisen for the College to participate in an inter-school competition Northern Eastern Associated Schools (NEAS) against a number of Associated & Catholic Colleges of WA (ACC) schools in the North Eastern area.

This term four different teams have competed in basketball. The competition is run predominantly on Wednesday for Year 8/9s and Thursday for Year 7s, each having a boys and girls  team. Holy Cross College competed against a number of competitive schools within this Association – La Salle College, Ellenbrook Christian College, Swan Christian College, Helena College and Swan Valley Anglican Community School.

Two teams progressed to the grand finals. The Year 8/9 boys team finished second and played Swan Christian College at Swan Christian. The boys played a very competitive game but unfortunately lost 38-31.  The Year 7 boys finished on top of the ladder, which meant we hosted the grand final against Swan Christian College. It was very close and went into over-time. With 10 minutes to go Holy Cross were leading by 8 points, but unfortunately Swan Christian ran over the top of us, winning 38-34. It was a great performances from both of these teams to reach the grand final in our first year of NEAS competition.

We acknowledge Hayden Baguley and Ben Chapman for their assistance with umpiring over the season. The boys have put in a number of hours officiating over the two days each week and are well on their way to completing their Christian Service time.

Thank you must also go to the coaches, Mrs Fiona de Courcier, Mr Brendan Buckley, Mr Gareth Elliott and Mr Liam Benton, who prepared their teams through training and on game days. I know the students have developed their skills over the season and have achieved some great results.

Term 2, Autumn, NEAS sports are netball for the girls and soccer for the boys. Trials have started for netball and continue next week. Soccer trials will start next week. Students will need to check notices on LifeSupport to find out the days and times of these trials.

Mrs Christina Davini

Frayne House Coordinator

Health & Physical Education Teachers

Learning Conversations

A reminder that Learning Conversations in the Middle School take place on Wednesday of Week 9. Letters have gone home about this and parents have been actively booking appointments via PTO. Thank you very much for this. This is a fantastic chance to chat with your child about their learning with their learning advisor. Students have been setting goals for the Term in all areas of LIFE and will talk you through these goals at this appointment. Whilst waiting for your meeting, there will be chance to view various displays of the work students' have been doing this term. We look forward to seeing you there. Should you require help making your appointment, please call the office.

Anita Walmsley
Assistant Deputy Learning

The Junior School shows off their talent in Week 7!

Kindergarten H

It has been a dddddelightful and eeeeeexciting fortnight in Kindergarten. In honour of St Patrick’s Day we celebrated with a festivity of all things green. Between the two classrooms there was green slime, green play dough, shamrock printing, green painting, shamrock necklaces and even green jelly making. Mrs Doherty came to speak with us and share some photos of her home country, Ireland. We were all in awe of the magnificent castles and the snow.

With our letter Ee adventures this week, we have commenced work on our Easter projects. They are looking “egg-cellent!” With Holy Week nearly upon us, the children have started to learn about the importance of Easter and the events leading up to Jesus’ resurrection. 

Mrs Tucker

Kindergarten H Teacher

Year One

We’ve been busy workers this fortnight!

Within the learning area of English we have continued sorting our spelling words and looking at a range of different sounds. Our book focuses have been ‘The Circus Ship’ and ‘Rose meets Mr Wintergarten’. During the fortnight we have analysed the characters' emotions and described the events in the stories. During our small group activities our focus has been speech marks and adding expression. The students have enjoyed creating a range of PicCollage posters to demonstrate their learning.

During Mathematics we have begun our investigations into measurement. We began by measuring the lengths of different objects within the classroom and DaVinci space. The students have been very careful to measure and count accurately.

PAThS this fortnight has seen us exposed to six new feelings. We have looked at a range of comfortable and uncomfortable feelings. The students created PicCollage posters showing others how they would look if they were feeling happy, sad, private, tired, excited and fine.

Last Wednesday we were privileged to have Sharon from Ellenbrook Library come to talk about the variety of activities on offer at the library. She read a hilarious story titled, ‘The Book with No Pictures’. Sharon used lots of expression to tell the story.

Miss Behiels

Year One Teacher

Year Three

We have had a very busy week in Year 3! On Wednesday, we celebrated our Year 3 Liturgy. Our theme was Strengthened by the Holy Spirit. We explored ways in which the Holy Spirit guides us to make the right choices. We also looked at how the Holy Spirit was present when Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. We completed some beautiful artwork on this Gospel story, which is now on display outside our classroom.

In Health, we have been looking at the importance of staying fit and healthy. We have been exploring the heart and how we can make it stronger through exercise. We learnt that the heart beats 10,000 times each day! We have been doing fitness circuits in PE to help us get our heat pumping. We are seeing an improvement in our fitness already! Below are some photos of us making our heart stronger.

Miss Henderson

Year Three Teacher

Other News

The College will be celebrating the life of Oscar Romero on Tuesday, 24 March, the anniversary of his death, with a Liturgy. 

The Pre-Primary class will be hosting the Junior School Assembly on Tuesday, 24 March at 2.15pm in San Salvador (LRC). We look forward to seeing family and friends attending. 

Thursday, 26 March is the College Open Day. A number of tours are available throughout the day. Interested families are asked to RSVP at Reception.

Learning Conversations are being held for the Junior School students Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Week 9. Parents are reminded to book their appointment through their PTO login details. If assistance is required please contact Reception.

Thank you for the support of families over the past few weeks with the health concerns that have occurred. We remind everyone that the College is an Allergy aware school which includes anaphylaxis, compromised immunity and asthma triggers. 

Parents are reminded to check their Parent Coneqt accounts regularly for information from class teachers. 

Melissa Croswell

Head of Junior School

20 March 2015

ACC Swimming Carnival “F” Division

Congratulations to all students who took part in the ACC 'F' Division Swimming Carnival, Wednesday 18 March. Holy Cross College performed competitively all day in our first year since being promoted from 'G' Division. It was a consistent team performance with only a handful of points separating third through to sixth position.

There were a number of individual performances that we would like to highlight:

Alex Rankin - U14 Runner Up Age Champion

Hannah Schnell - U15 Runner Up Age Champion

Thomas Stewart - U16 Age Champion

Talia Catlin - U16 Runner Up Age Champion

James Evans (Year 12), Alex Rankin (Year 8) and Hannah Schnell (Year 9) are to be commended on their commitment to the team and for their 100% attendance to all training sessions over the term.

James Evans, a Year 12 students at HCC, sets a great example to his peers. James is committed to learning and achieving outstanding results, but he balances this with our Enrichment pillar through the respective ACC teams. James has done this throughout his time at Holy Cross College. Thank you James for leading by example.

Special mention to the following students who swam out of their age group - Isaac Ricketts (Year 7), Grace Beazley (Year 8) and Nayan Kerai (Year 10).

Swim Captains Casey Van Der Merwe and James Evans swam well whilst encouraging and supporting their peers.

I would sincerely like to thank and acknowledge the efforts of our coaches – Mr Gooch and Mrs Doylen.

Mrs Christina Davini
Health & Physical Education
Frayne House Coordinator

Year 7 enjoy some good old fashioned games

As part of their investigation to answer the big question, 'Is I.T. a friend or foe?' last week, all year 7 students had the opportunity to reflect on how I.T. may impact upon their health and fitness. The students had the chance to play games on their iPad, and then to go outside, in small groups to play some 'old fashioned games,' that their grandparents might have played, such as hopscotch, jacks or knucklebones, marbles, elastics and skipping.

When we reviewed the different activities with the students, some of them said that playing games on their iPad wasn't as much fun when they had permission to do so! Most of the students really enjoyed playing the 'old fashioned games' and one said that they hadn't had as much fun in years!

Over the next two weeks, the students will be reviewing their work from the past few weeks to come to an overall conclusion as to whether I.T. is their friend or foe. 

Upcoming Event – Year 10 River Cruise

Year 10 students are eagerly looking forward to their River Cruise on the Crystal Swan glass cube function centre on Friday 27 March 2015. The cube travels around the Swan River from Perth Water to Melville Water leaving at sunset and returning to the sparkling lights of the city skyline. Students will be treated to a light supper and refreshments.

Students will travel by bus to Barrack Square for a night of dancing and fun.

Mrs Kelly Bond

Ozanam House Coordinator

Autumn/Winter Uniform Requirements

Parents are reminded to plan ahead and ensure students have their Autumn/Winter uniform ready for the commencement of the Autumn Term.

Opening times for the Uniform Shop during the school term are:

·       Tuesday          8.00am – 11.00am

·       Thursday         1.00pm – 4.00pm

Winter Uniform requirements are listed below:

JUNIOR SCHOOL – Autumn/Winter

• College Grey Sports Polo Shirt
• Navy College Tracksuit Pants
• Navy College Tracksuit Top
• White College Sports Socks
• Predominantly white sports shoes & white shoelaces

MIDDLE AND SENIOR SCHOOLS – Autumn/Winter

Girls	Boys
·     College winter skirt (skirt length to be at knee) Blue shirt with College logo ·     College jumper ·     College navy tights or College socks ·     College grey scarf (optional) ·     Low-heeled black lace-up school shoes in line with the College Standards of Uniform and Grooming Policy	·     College grey long pants (to be worn at waist) ·     College blue shirt with College logo ·     College navy blue jumper ·     College grey socks ·     Low-heeled black lace-up school shoes in line with the College Standards of Uniform and Grooming Policy

Sports Uniform

Compulsory Items	Optional Items
·     College Grey Sports Polo Shirt ·     Navy College Tracksuit Pants ·     Navy College Tracksuit Top ·     White College Sports Socks ·     Predominantly white sports shoes & white shoelaces	·     Navy College Shorts, ·     Navy College Cap or Bucket Hat ·     Drink bottle

Avoid the queues and get in early.

For full details regarding the College uniform parents and students should refer to the College Standards of Uniform and Grooming Policy located on the College website under Uniform Shop.

Mr P Collins

Vice Principal