The start of Advent

As you drive around Perth you will notice the Jacaranda trees are in bloom with their stunning blue/purple flowers. This flowering of the Jacaranda calls us to a time of reflective preparation, not a penitential purple as in Lent, but nevertheless reflective. 

As has been a tradition at Holy Cross College, we start showing the symbols of Advent and Christmas from this weekend on. The altar cloths in classrooms and Da Vinci spaces have changed to purple and each of the Da Vinci spaces will start to have Christmas trees appearing, as well as Advent wreaths. The front office has an Advent wreath along with a wooden scene of the Holy Family and those that visited them after the birth of Jesus. The Christmas scene was purchased in New Norcia from one of the local artists. 

Advent is the time of preparation where we reflect on the true story of Christmas. The birth of a child who had and continues to have a profound effect on the world 2000 years later. 

We must also think of those who are finding it difficult at Christmas. This could be members of our community who have lost someone special during the last year, those who have lost an income and therefore will be finding it hard to buy the usual special things that make Christmas special. Let us keep these members of the community in our thoughts and prayers.

We started our annual St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal at the start of the term and the response from all families has been absolutely amazing. If anyone wishes to see how generous our families have been this year then please visit the front office on Wednesday as the St Vincent de Paul Society will be picking up those baskets of grocery items so that they have plenty of time to distribute them for Christmas. I hope that you will be able to see Geraldine and Mary through the mountain of goods.

The Giving Tree will be up in the front foyer on Monday. This tree will have tags on it for you to pick from the tree. The tag will have the description of an individual for whom we would like you to buy a present for. Please do not wrap these presents but if you wish to add wrapping paper to them then please do. For the adults, a voucher card from Coles/Woolies etc. will give them a great opportunity to have a choice of what they would love to buy for themselves. The tree ill be moving down into the Undercroft on the evening of the Christmas Carols for you to bring in the items to be placed under the tree. The items can be placed under the tree at any time during the next two weeks as well.

I am looking forward to a wonderful start to the season of the Jacaranda Tree and the symbolism it brings to Nature in the lead up to Christmas.

Junior School Update - Year Tw

What a busy time we have had in Year Two this term! 

In Big Ideas we have been investigating Sun Safe playgrounds. The students were given a design brief and they had to incorporate the six factors of sun protection into their playground:  Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek, Slide and Sip.

They designed the playground, planned how they were going to build it and then built it. One of the questions the students had to explore was how can I get the equipment to stand up without lots of sticky tape? They discovered that we can use an A-Frame support. They discovered that the poles push on each other and it helps them to stand. Some of the students even discovered that this is using the force of push and pull. 

Our playgrounds look amazing and the students have all had a lot of fun creating them. In the words of one of the students, ‘I didn’t know it was going to be so fun!’

We have also embarked on an Advent project with Mrs Boylen’s Year Seven Religious Education class. With buddies, we are exploring the idea of Advent, the symbols of Advent and Christmas, why it is important to the Church and we are creating a bell for the Christmas tree that represents some of our learning as well as an eBook.  The students in Year Two have been very excited and look forward to each visit from the Year Sevens. 

Mrs Orilee Ryan

Year Two Teacher

Junior School Update - Pre-Kindergarten

We are nearing the end of the term and it has been go, go, go! The children have settled very well and it has been wonderful to see them form friendships, solve problems with their peers and display such an enthusiastic approach to school and learning. 

Throughout the year the children have been provided with a range of opportunities to develop their fine motor skills and hand strength in preparation for writing. They loved the scissors being brought out last week and happily snipped away at strips of paper and then put the scraps in our new class recycling bin. 

We are also very busy preparing for the Pre-Kindergarten Christmas concerts which will be happening in Week 8 on Monday and/or Friday afternoon (depending on your child's day of attendance). 

With the warmer weather setting in, could I please remind you to apply sunscreen in the morning before school and this will then be re-applied during the day. The children will also be participating in regular water play, therefore we require some spare clothes to be packed in case the children need to get changed. A reminder that all belongings need to be labelled with your child's name.  

I look forward to a fantastic second half of the term. 

Mrs Fretwell 

Pre-Kindergarten Teacher 

VacSwim Summer 2017

Junior School Update

2017 Transition

This morning the Kindergarten to Year 5 students participated in a Transition Morning, where they met their 2017 teachers and new classmates. It was a wonderful session with all children excitedly anticipating the start of 2017. We are pleased to announce the following staffing allocations.

• Pre Kindergarten - Mrs. Jacinta Tucker
• Kindergarten H - Miss Emma Pritchard
• Kindergarten C - Mrs. Jo Borg
• PrePrimary H - Mrs. Dorota Fretwell and Mrs. Jacinta Tucker
• PrePrimary C - Miss. Abbey Rowlands
• Year 1H - Miss Hannah Sibbald
• Year 1C - Miss Aisling Keating
• Year 2 - Mrs. Hayley Sheppard
• Year 3 - Miss. Antonia Ravenscroft
• Year 4 - Mrs. Pieta Bolxsom
• Year 5 - Miss Jessica Armenti
• Year 6 - Miss Aofie Hickey

Miss Kylie Henderson and Mrs. Vanja Basell
Assistant Principals, Junior School

Kindergarten C

Spring Term is always such a fun and exciting time in Kindergarten as we continue to learn through play, whilst also thinking about what next year will bring when we move into Pre-Primary!

    

This term our Big Ideas question is, ‘How do things work?’ We have been very busy using tools such as spanners, hammers, nails and screwdrivers to construct and deconstruct various items. There was a lot of noise outside while the children learned how to carefully hammer bottle tops to wood offcuts using nails. The following day, we were amazed to find hundreds of different items inside toys and computer equipment when we pulled them apart.

We can’t wait to discover more about how things work!

Mrs. Jo Borg
Kindergarten Teacher

Year 4

The first half of Spring Term has been extremely busy for our Year Four class. From creating marble runs, to boarding a ship to a new planet, we have lots to share!

In Week Two, we began planning and sourcing materials for our very own marble runs. Students were required to bring in recyclable materials from home, which would assist them in getting their marble from A to B. The task appeared simple at first, until we put in place some boundaries around how fast or slow the marbles needed to travel. After the first test, we reflected on the challenges and successes before making some changes to our designs.

This term, we have been exploring the difference between rules and laws as part of our Big Ideas Unit, “Hey! Who makes the rules around here?” Last week, we boarded a ship to Uptown, PlanetZOG. Here, we found that there were no laws in place and as a result, the city was in turmoil! We quickly got to work introducing speed limits, zebra crossings and a variety of other traffic laws. We then used the Explain Everything app on our iPads, to rationalise our decisions and inform citizens of potential infringements. We are glad there are so many laws here on Planet Earth!

In Mathematics, we have moved on to a new topic which focuses on comparing different units of measurement. We created our own square metres out of newspaper and were surprised to see how large this particular unit is. We were able to answer the following questions:

• How many students can stand on one square metre?
• How many students can sit on one square metre?
• How many school bags does it take to cover one square metre?
• How many books does it take to cover one square metre?

We are looking forward to the remainder of Spring Term and the excitement it will bring!

Miss George and Team 32
Year 4 Teacher

Friends of Holy Cross Events

Remembrance Day at HCC

The College held its own Liturgy for Remembrance Day today around 11.00am. 2016 is the 98th Anniversary of the Armistice. The College also stopped to remember 13 Western Australian Aboriginal soldiers who went to fight for Australia during the First World War. We need to remember that at this time these soldiers didn't have the right to vote or have the status of being a citizen of Australia. Their names were all read out and their fascinating stories can be downloaded in the Resource at the following site. They Served With Honour

College Tours this Thurs 10 November

IGNITE LIVE

Salesians Camp for Year 6 students