Year Seven Big Ideas: The Flour Baby Project!

This term, the Year Sevens will be exploring the 6 C's with the question 'What's Your Secret Identity?' This project will enable the students to discover their own 'superpowers' in the areas of Citizenship, Communication, Collaboration, Character, Creativity and Critical Thinking. These core skills will provide a basis for the students' education at Holy Cross College and enable them to unearth their particular talents and skills in each of these areas.

The Year Sevens began their Big Ideas project with a crash course in parenthood! As an introduction to the 6 C's and to focus on 'Citizenship,' the students made a 'flour baby' and created a diary of the baby's life for the week.

The students were required to keep the baby with them at all time, to book them into the 'creche' when taking P.E classes and to record their baby's experiences in their 'baby book.'

The students discovered that being constantly responsible for the safety and wellbeing of someone else was more challenging than expected! Most of the Year Sevens embraced the task and the babies found themselves transported to all manner or activities, meeting extended family and friends and being transported in ever more elaborate baby carriages! 

It was very enjoyable to watch the Year Sevens come to terms with their sudden increase in responsibilities and overall, they handled it very well. I hope that they will bring similar enthusiasm and energy to the remainder of the project!

Miss Emilie Reynolds

Year 7 Innovator.

SaveSave

Salvado Feast Day

Last Wednesday, Salvado House celebrated the life and triumphs of our patron Dom Salvado. The day saw all members of the House come to the College in their green shirts, reminding us of the olive trees found in New Norcia. At the beginning of the day, students from Pre-Primary to Year Twelve gathered at the Church to give thanks for our individual gifts and show gratitude to God. We then came together for a pizza feast, music and great conversation under our House tent.

 

It was wonderful to see all Salvado students having the opportunity to gather together and celebrate; a big thanks should be extended to all students who helped with the distribution of lunch and those who participated in an extraordinary way at our Mass.

A fantastic day and a great team spirit!

Shrove Tuesday

Today is Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday originated during the Middle Ages. As in contemporary times, food items like meats, fats, eggs, milk, and fish were regarded as restricted during Lent. To keep such food from being wasted, many families would have big feasts on Shrove Tuesday in order to consume those items that would inevitably become spoiled during the next forty days. The English tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday came about as a way to use as much milk, fats, and eggs as possible before Ash Wednesday began. In France, the consumption of all fats and fatty foods on this day coined the name "Fat Tuesday" or Mardi Gras.

Carnival became associated with Shrove Tuesday, in part from the Spring Equinox celebrations that were practiced by the Romans and the ancient tribes of Europe. The word "carnival" comes from the Latin carnem levare, meaning "to take away the flesh”.

The days leading up to Ash Wednesday are therefore your last chance to have a frivolous, carefree life because after this we go into the seriousness of Lent where we fast on Ash Wednesday and each Friday by not eating meat.

 Prayer for Shrove Tuesday

God of feasting,
we give you thanks
for the richness of life.
As Jesus turned water
into wine at Cana,
we think of your desire for
all your people to celebrate life.
Bless us as we celebrate the joy
of being your people.
Send your Spirit to dance
and sing with us.
As we enter the Season of Lent,
may it, too, be a celebration of life:
of an inward journey of contemplation and wondering,
of learning and exploring.
And in all of this,
may we grow closer to Jesus,
to one another, and to you.
We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
 

Year 9 Big Ideas Summer Term Project

Year 9s are up and running with their Summer Term project investigating the big question: "The Chosen Ones: Why Will I Be on the LIFE Boat?" Making connections to the Summer Term study of identity in English and the Religious Education program centred on the human search for truth, the project invites students to undertake a deep investigation of the various elements that make up human character including the physical, intellectual, spiritual, social and emotional. Students have been busy undertaking workshops with Big Ideas staff to begin exploring each of these aspects and refer to research and theories to help the students unlock each of these aspects of themselves. The symbol of a "lifeboat" serves as a backdrop to the project, allowing students to make connections between their various aspects of human character and the development of these aspects through all pillars of the LIFE curriculum.

As the term progresses, students will begin to articulate their own character elements to be presented to an authentic audience towards the end of the term.

Ms Karen Taylor
Year 9 Learning Innovator
26 February 2017

Year 9 HASS Bread Tasting Experience

In Year 9 Humanities and Social Sciences, students have begun a study of Australia's economic system and are beginning to explore the global interconnections, through trade, that Australia shares with other countries around the world. This week, students began an exploration of the economics of the Australian wheat industry through a bread tasting experience. Students assumed the role of consumers and tasted and rated five different sandwich breads. Students then considered the criteria against which they made their consumer preferences and explored the supply and demand factors that impacted the different prices of the bread samples.

Ms Karen Taylor
Learning Area Coordinator - Humanities and Social Sciences
26 February 2017

Swimming Carnival Y4 to Yr 7

Reconciliation

Enrolment Mass (25 and 26 February).

This weekend, enrolment for the Sacrament of Reconciliation will be held at the St. Helena's of the Holy Cross Parish. Children wishing to undertake this Sacrament must attend one of the following Masses.

Saturday 25 February, 6pm
Sunday 26 February, 9:30am
Sunday 26 February, 5:45pm

They will be required to complete an enrolment form and have their Baptismal certificate sighted.

Forms are available from the Front Office if required.

Reconciliation Retreat (29 March).

As part of the preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, all Year 3 students, along with students preparing through catechesis classes, will participate in a retreat day on Wednesday 29 March. This will be facilitated by Sr. Kathleen Hitchcock. If you are interested in assisting on this day, please contact Miss Kylie Henderson through Direct Message.

Kylie Henderson
Assistant Principal, Junior School

Junior School Update

Year 1

We have had a busy few weeks in Year 1! In Big Ideas, we have been exploring the question, 'Where are we going? This has helped us learn about different occupations that may interest us when we grow up. This week we investigated what is would be like to be an artist! We enjoyed being a sculptor, using plasticine; a painter, with finger paints and water paint; as well as an illustrator on drawing boards. Our favourite activities, however, were drawing with chalk outside on the endless canvas of bricks, and creating crafty ideas at the craft station.

In Mathematics, we have been learning to count to fifty. We have been writing the numbers and placing them on a number line. To help us with our counting we have played lots of games using number lines, counters and dice. In Mental Mathematics we have been learning about Friends of Ten. We have enjoyed using the Friends of Ten app on our new iPads! This is something we can keep using at home and at school.



Miss Hannah Sibbald and Miss Aisling Keating
Year 1 Teachers.

                 

Kindergarten

In Kindergarten children are 'Belonging, Being and Becoming'.

“Belonging, being and becoming are integral parts of identity. Children learn about themselves and construct their own identity within the contexts of their family and communities. This includes their relationships with people, places and things and the actions and responses of others. Identity is shaped by experiences.” (EYLF p.20).

The children have blasted off into Kindergarten! They have painted, laughed, played, made new friends and danced together. We are beginning to learn our new routines around sitting on the mat, sharing with friends and reading our names.

The students have begun learning about shapes in their environment. They have been immersed with shape songs, participated in shape hunts and created paintings with different shapes. 

In our Kindergarten Ice-cream Parlour, the children have been learning to take turns and identify different colours. They have shown curiosity when learning how to take photographs with the Green Screen. They are loving learning new things through play!




Mrs. Emma Pring and Mrs. Jo Borg
Kindergarten Teachers