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Paul Murphy
Deputy Principal

31 July 2017

Romeo and Juliet Rewind (Bell Shakespeare Incursion)

Year 10 English and Senior School Drama Students were lucky enough to have The Players from the Bell Shakespeare Company visit the College today for a performance incursion. The three very talented performers presented a version of 'Romeo and Juliet Rewind', a 50 minute version of the famous Shakespearean tragedy told in reverse and intertwined with the actors questioning the idea of 'who was to blame' for the famous tragic end. They presented the performance in a very engaging and highly entertaining manner with audience interaction, highly physical characterisation and an incredible knowledge of Shakespeare's famous text.

Students gave feedback throughout the performance, acting as the 'Citizens of Verona' and Mr McRae was called on for a cameo as The Prince. This was a fantastic opportunity for all involved and we look forward to some more involvement with the Bell Shakespeare Company in the future.

Holy Cross College English and Performing Arts Departments

Junior School Update

Pre-Primary

It has been another wonderful start to the term! We have welcomed Mrs. Pecherczyk into the team and we are straight back into the swing of things. This term promises to be a busy one as usual, with the PPH assembly, Book Week, LIFE Week, College Feast Day and much more. Please keep an eye out on the College website as well as communication from the College regarding the events. 

The children were super excited that News finally commenced this term and have been proudly sharing in front of their peers. They have also been enjoying our Guided Reading sessions and it has been amazing to see them reading, blending words to sound them out and identifying sight words in the texts. 

As usual, we have our rosters up on the door and would love to see as many parents and grandparents on the roster. This term we will be asking parents to listen to a small group of children read in the mornings. If you aren't available to stay the whole morning block but are available just for the morning reading, please let us know. 

Looking forward to a wonderful Winter Term.

Miss Abbey Rowlands, Mrs. Natalie Pecherczyk and Mrs. Dorota Fretwell 

Pre-Primary Teachers 

Year 4

This term, Year 4 were given an opportunity to have their work submitted to the Western Australian Newspaper.

Students were asked 2 questions and a representative from the Western Australian chose which answers were to be printed.

Question 1: Where would you love to tour on a bike?

These were our answers…

   

Question 2: If you could volunteer your time what would you do?

These were our answers …

Well done to the students whose answers were chosen. Superstars!

Mrs. Pieta Bloxsom

Year 4 Teacher

Catholic Performing Arts Update (Week 2 Winter Term)

The 2017 Festival for Catholic Schools and Colleges is underway and already, Holy Cross College has been particularly busy with participation in Drama Production, Christian Drama and Primary Piano already taking place.

DRAMA PRODUCTION: An Unspeakable Triumph of Supreme Brilliance 
(New Norcia Building, Holy Cross College)

In Week 9 last term, adjudicators from Catholic Arts travelled to Holy Cross College to view the Senior Production of 'An Unspeakable Triumph of Supreme Brilliance' as part of the Drama Production category. Adjudicator Rosalind Jennings described the production as "a great night's entertainment" and applauded the timing, pace and energy of the performance. Congratulations to Calvin Thiel (Bob), Zoe Paluszak (Svetlana) and John Botha (Samson) who were considered stand out performers.

Overall Ratings: Choice of Script (Very Good), Staging/Blocking/Direction (Excellent), Teamwork/Communication/Focus (Excellent), Characterisation/Physicality (Excellent), Vocal Projection and Clarity of Speech (Very Good), Timing/Pacing/Energy (Excellent), Costumes/Make Up (Very Good), Set Design (Very Good) and Lighting/Special Effects (Very Good)

CHRISTIAN DRAMA: The Story of Oscar Romero
(Chapel of St Brigid, Mercy College)

Using the Romero liturgy tableaux's as a starting point, students and staff further developed the story of College patron Oscar Romero into a scripted Drama for performance at Mercy College. They presented a very moving performance on the day and in a first for a Holy Cross College group, they swept Excellent rankings in every category! Adjudicator Kaye Hurd described the performance as "strong, compelling and passionate". Huge congratulations to the students involved.

Overall Ratings: Suitability for age level and maturity of performers (Excellent), Variety of Presentation (Excellent), Clarity of Presentation (Excellent), Dramatic Interpretation (Excellent), Suitability for didactic/liturgical use (Excellent), Appropriateness of Music to Drama (Excellent)

PRIMARY PIANO PERFORMANCE
(Zenith Music, Claremont)

The first of our Junior School performances took place in Week 2 with Kiera Perks (Year 5), Sylvester Thaung (Year 4), Erin Butterworth (Year 4) and Sienna Lonergan-Smith (Year 6) taking part in the Primary Piano Solo and Duet category at Zenith Music in Claremont. All students did Holy Cross College proud and achieved some excellent feedback which will assist them in developing their musical skills.

UP NEXT

Friday 4 August 6:30pm: Junior Band and Senior Band (Contemporary Band Section- Corpus Christi College, Bateman)
Tuesday 8 August 10:00am: Zophia Paluszak and Abbey'Lee Quantock (Secondary Monologue Section- Chisholm College, Bedford)
Wednesday 9 August 1:00pm: Junior Choir (Primary Sacred Choral Section- St Benedict's Church, Ardross)

Success in the Australian Geography competition!

A few months ago, students from years 8 to 12 tested their geographical skills and knowledge against students from all around Australia in the 2017 Australian Geography Competition.

I have recently received the results, and I am really pleased with how the students have performed.

We have a number of student geographers at our school who performed to a very high level in the Competition this year with Ethan Smith in the top 1% of Year Eight students across Australia, 6 students gaining high distinctions, 5 gaining distinctions and 10 gaining credits.

Special mention must also go to Cameron Peachey, Joshua McKenzie, Alex Rankin, Jayden Minus, Nicolas Baxter and Nicholas Vagg, who all achieved results in the top 10% of their respective year levels.

Over 700,000 students from 743 schools across Australia entered the Australian Geography Competition, so these students should be incredibly proud of their results.

Book Fair

Volunteers Wanted!

Please support our Literacy Resources Fundraiser

This year’s theme is Reading Rainforest.  Go Wild for Books!

The Holy Cross College Book Fair starts in Week 3! 

The 2017 Book Fair will be running every morning from Thursday, 3 August until Wednesday, 9 August in San Salvador (the LRC).  This event is our main literacy resources fundraiser; last year we raised over $7000 with 60 books donated – a terrific result!  We want to better that this year!

Book Fair opening hours are:

Thursday, 3 August Rainforest Reading Adventures Family Night	5.00pm – 7.00pm
Friday, 4 August – Tuesday, 8 August	8.15am – 9.00am 2.30pm – 4.00pm
Wednesday 10, August	8.15am – 9.00am

We will be seeling books, stationery and posters.  Books will include ‘mature readers’ which are aimed at children aged 12+.

The “Rainforest Reading Adventures” on Thursday, 3 August from 5.00 – 7.00pm is a pyjama night.  Families are invited to come along and enjoy some hands on activities, including story telling, and a light supper.

Each class will create a ‘Wishlist’ of books they would like for their classroom, these can be purchased and donated at the Book Fair.  Students will also have the opportunity during class time on Thursday, 3 August to complete their personal ‘wishlists’ to take home prior to the pyjama night.

Help Wanted

The Friends of Holy Cross (along with Mrs Colleen Azzopardi) will be running the Book Fair and we need your help!

Decorating Items:

We will be decorating the LRC (San Salvador) in a Rainforest theme.  If you have any of the following items you would be happy to lend us, plese make sure they are labeled with your child’s name and class and give them to Mrs Azzopardi in the LRC. 

-        Rainforest animal toys eg: toucans, colourful birds, frogs, snakes, monkeys, lizards, lemurs, butterflies, crocodiles, sloths etc

-        Artificial leaves or plants or real potted plants that would suit a ‘Rainforest’ theme. 

We will return them at the end of the Book Fair.

Set Up, Run and Pack Down:

We also need parent volunteers to help us set up, run and pack down the Book Fair.  The dates and times we need helpers are as follows:

Date	Times	Activities
Wed, 2 Aug	8.30+	Set Up
Thurs, 3 Aug	From 9.00am	Complete set up and help with ‘wishlist’ creation
Thurs, 3 Aug	5.00pm – 6.00pm OR 6.00pm – 7.00pm	Pyjama Night We would ideally like to have 3 volunteers for each time slot
Fri, 4 Aug Mon, 7 Aug Tues, 8 Aug	8.15am – 9.00am and 2.30pm – 4.00pm	Book Fair Stand
Wed, 9 Aug	8.15am – 9.00am 9.00am+	Book Fair Stand Pack Down
A parent volunteer is also requested to dress up as ‘Cranky Bear’.  The volunteer needs to be quite tall and we provide the costume.
We will also be looking for volunteers to help with covering any books purchased for the College.

The Book Fair is a wonderful opportunity to instil and encourage a love of reading in our children but we cannot do this without your help.  Please join us in helping make this a wonderful event for our children.

Please contact Jo Davies on 0430 220 095 or jo.davies@westnet.com.au if you can help with any of these. 

Thank you.