Sunday, 9 November 2014

East Perth Football District – Girls Year 8/9 Lightning Carnival

On Thursday 6 November, a selected number of Year 8/9 students participated in the East Perth Girls AFL Football Lightning Carnival. Football is truly a game for everyone, with 12 different girls teams involved. The carnival was held at Houghton Park in Bayswater.
  
The Year 8/9 Girls Lightning Carnival involved playing local schools within the East Perth Football Club district. These schools included St Andrew’s College, Perth College, Hampton SHS, Aranmore Catholic College, John Forrest College and Ellenbrook Christian College.



Holy Cross College nominated two teams, a Year 8 and a Year 9 team, which were coached by Mrs Davini and Mrs de Courcier. The two teams played extremely well and made huge improvements from last year’s results. The Year 8s managed one win, narrowly missing out on another by one point. The Year 9s won three of their five games.  The students were passionate about their football and their skills and game play were impressive. Well done, girls.
  
Mrs Christina Davini & Mrs Fiona de Courcier
Physical Education Teachers

Saturday, 8 November 2014

Senior School Information Evening

There will be an information evening for Senior School students and their parents on Wednesday 19 November. Information on Year level events and expectations will be part of the presentation.

Year 10 Session 6:00-6:45
Year 11 & 12 Session 6:45-7:30

Paul Murphy
Assistant Deputy Principal
8 November 2014

Saturday, 1 November 2014

The Junior School Week 3 Overview

YEAR ONE

Busy little workers we have been this week. 

The Magic Faraway Tree has been our reading focus this fortnight. The children have loved listening to all the wild and amazing adventures the characters are going on. Our favourite chapter so far has been the Land of Topsy Turvy. We all all giggled when Joe was turned upside down for a day. We have learnt about the author Enid Blyton and looked at images of her. Students have written about their favourite part in the story and they can’t wait to find out what is behind the mysterious door in the coming chapter. 

Within Mathematics we have been looking at the terms ‘possible’ and ‘impossible’. Students developed events that would be likely and unlikely to occur. We have also been describing the duration of familiar situations. Students worked in pairs to sort and order situations according to how long they take, such as sorting the time taken to eat a biscuit, the time taken to travel to school and the time taken between their 6th and 7th birthday. 

We have continued to study the weather each day and compare Perth’s and Bali’s temperatures. Students have been learning about our four seasons as well as plant and animal behaviours during each season. This week we have also looked at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander seasons and compared our four with their six. 

During Mrs Tucker's classes on a Friday the students have been analysing the structure of plants in Science. Last week students used white roses and dye to see the way water goes through the stem of the plant to the flower petals. 

PATHS

In PATHS this term, Year One have looked at the uncomfortable feelings Mad or Angry. Mad and Angry are different words for the same feeling. Mad or Angry is the way we often feel when something hurts us, when we can’t do what we want to do, or when someone is mean to us. 

Miss Behiels 
Class Teacher

Kindergarten

If the College being turned into a semi-permanent home for builders wasn’t enough, the Kindergarten classroom has been turned into a construction zone too! The children have been dressed for work in their fluoro vests, safety hats and goggles ready to build some amazing masterpieces. They have been drawing and writing up their own building plans and have become site foremen, advising the other builders how many blocks are needed to build the tower or bridge. Since the students were insistent that they deserved a coffee break quite frequently during their time on site as builders, we have introduced some clocks into the area to encourage the builders to keep working to avoid building delays.

During the week we read the story, “Who sank the boat?” Some clever children were very quick to identify that there is a question mark in the title of the story and so we have been looking in many different picture books to find question marks. The students came up with many theories as to who sank the boat and were determined to create their own boat that would not sink. We investigated waterproof materials and some of the children then created a boat that would float down the channel of the water pipe in the playground. All the children were very proud that their boats survived the torrent of water that came gushing out of the pipe!

This week we were so excited when Ayla brought in some tadpoles to show the class. They were so tiny that we had to use magnifying glasses to see them up close. Some of the students have been documenting their observations through Book Creator (on the iPads), by drawing diagrams or writing some interesting words. The students were so fascinated by the story of the tadpole that we researched the lifecycle of a frog by reading a book and watching a video clip. Lilly taught us a special song about how tadpoles turn into frogs. We cannot wait to see the changes in our own tadpoles; they are already getting bigger each day.  


Mrs Tucker
Class Teacher



OTHER NEWS

The Pre-Primary and Year One families are invited to the iPad information session on Tuesday 4 November, 5:30pm - 6:30pm in the Learning Resource Centre. If you already have an iPad for your child, you are welcome to bring it along although this is not essential at this time. Information will be provided about the minimum specifications and the use of iPads in the classroom. 

Families with children enrolled in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten in 2015 are invited to attend an information session on Friday 7 November. RSVP with the administration staff.
Kindergarten 9:30am - 11:00am
Pre-Kindergarten 11:15am - 11:45am

Melissa Croswell
Head of Junior School
1 November

WACE Exams

Year 12 ATAR students start their WACE exams this week. Most exams are held at the College. WACE exams are run by the School Curriculum & Standards Authority.

Good luck to all students!

Paul Murphy
Assistant Deputy Principal
1 November 2014

Cricket Clinics - FREE TRY DAYS

WACA Cricket Clinics
The West Australian Cricket Association are holding cricket have a try days to introduce children to the game of cricket. 
If you are interested please check out one of the details below.

T20 Blast (Ages 7-8)
What: T20 Blast Free Come & Try Day
When: Friday October 31st from 5.30pm-6.45pm
Where: Lilac Hill, West Swan Road
Who: All boys & girls aged 7-8
Head to T20Blast.com.au or contact Matt Neves on 0419 856 482 for more information
Check out the T20 Blast Hype Reel: http://www.t20blast.com.au/kids/what-is-milo-t20-blast

In2Cricket (Ages 5-6)
Please have a look at the below table and select the information that is relevant for your closest club & its FREE come and try day:


Club
Date
Time
Place
Contact




Ellenbrook
Saturday November 1st
8am-9.30am
Charlotte’s Vineyard, Brookmount Drive
Matt Neves: 0419 856 482





Swan Valley
Friday November 7th
5pm-6pm
Swan Valley Sporting Club
Matt Neves: 0419 856 482





Melissa Croswell
Head of Junior School
28 October 2014

Sunday, 26 October 2014

From little things big things grow!

Pre-Primary

In Pre-Primary, the children may be little but their brain power is growing bigger all the time! They are now taking home reading books with sight words to learn and applying their knowledge at school. Everyday they are writing sentences and adding it to their Sight Word Wall.

The children have all jumped into the magical world of Australian author Mem Fox. So far they have learnt about Mem Fox’s biography and read her story ‘Koala Lou'. Each week the children will continue to learn about a different Mem Fox story.

The concept of Time, such as Days of the Week, Seasons and Months is being explored. The children have also been building on their addition skills by solving word problems; "Two girls found three boys to play with at the park. How many are there all together?"

I am delighted to report that we have a new addition to our Pre-Primary class, Ella. The Pre-Primary children continue to demonstrate their eagerness to learn and their kindness to each other. 

Miss Pritchard
Class Teacher







Year Two

What a HUGE week we have just had! We are learning lots of really cool things!

In Science we are discovering different life cycles. We have planted sunflower seeds and they are already germinating, which is extremely exciting! We are anxiously awaiting the hatching of our silkworm eggs so we can observe what will happen to them.

On Tuesday some of our parents participated in a workshop with the iPads.  The video promises made will remind us of positive ways to use our devices. We then learnt about cyber safety and what we need to think about when we go online. We are making a 30 second presentation for the Year One and Pre-Primary students to teach them about cyber safety.


In Physical Education we have started a unit on dance with Mrs Davini. She is teaching us about all of the different exercises we can do. Who knew dance would be so tiring!

Mrs Ryan
Class Teacher

OTHER NEWS

Coffee and Conversation Session

Thank you to the mums who attended the first of many Coffee and Conversations with the College Social Worker, Mrs Jo Betti on Friday 24 October. It was an informal morning spent getting to know a little more about each other and discussing ideas for future conversations. Please keep an eye on the Wellbeing Blog for updates and Parentingideas information.

Annual Celebration Evening

Junior School families are not required to attend the Celebration Evening, although are most welcome. Students who are receiving an award have been given a letter of invitation. 


Melissa Croswell
Head of Junior School
26 October 2014


Sunday, 19 October 2014

Return to Spring Term

Week One in Year One

Holidays have been and gone and we’re straight back to business in Year One. 

We have been flat out this week learning about the structure of narratives. The children began by reading a narrative and discussing the characters, setting, problem and resolution. We then worked in groups to create different characters and settings. Following, I modelled how to write a narrative, using all the children's creative ideas. Some of our kind characters included a train called Mat Man, a butterfly called Sparkles and a boy called Jaxon.



Also this week we have linked our Reading and Design Technology programme by looking at the character of Mr McGee. Children have analysed Mr McGee’s features and looked at the high frequency words in the text. The class each stitched a high frequency word. They all did a marvellous job! For Design Technology we have looked closely at his hat. He wears a bowler hat. We studied the history behind the hat and its materials. The bowler hat was then recreated using newspaper and masking tape. They were a little tricky, but we all had fun! 

God’s creation is our Religious Education focus for the next few weeks. The students wondered about the different things in creation which need light to survive. They developed poems in small groups which focused on their favourite colours. 

It has been a fabulous start to the term and the children are all well rested and eager to go. 

I can not believe I only have nine more weeks with this FANTASTIC bunch of kids.

Miss Behiels
Class Teacher

Kindergarten

Welcome to Term 4. It has been so pleasing to see the children’s excited faces upon their return to school. We had lots of fun and fascinating things to share that we did while on our holidays. Since the Kindergarten children are so clever, they wrote about their favourite thing that happened during the break.

This week we have been busily practising for our assembly. Not only have we been “huffing and puffing” with the big bad wolf, we have also been making houses out of bricks, sticks and straw. We hope you enjoy our performance.

On Thursday we launched our new question for “Big Ideas”. We will be investigating the topic, “Can I make a difference?” We hope to immerse the students in a range of activities that will inspire them to think about who makes a difference in their lives and in return how they can make a difference in the lives of others.

Mrs Tucker
Class Teacher

OTHER NEWS

The second stage of the nature playground is complete. The Year One and Two students have spent the first week testing out all of the exciting equipment including the mine shaft, dinobarswhale frame, and much more. 

With the weather warming up ice-cream sales are increasing. To assist with streamlining the purchase of such treats students are asked to include the details on a lunch order bag. Ice-creams will be stored in the ELC freezer until it is time for to eat them.

Families are reminded to apply suncream on their children in the morning before school. Additional suncream is available for the students throughout the day.

The Pre-Primary students have been busy exploring literature. In Week Seven they will be hosting a Book Swap Fundraising event. They are seeking donations of children's story books. Donations can be dropped off in the Early Learning Centre.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Kindergarten students will host their second assembly on Monday 20 October at 2:15pm in the ELC. We look forward to seeing families and friends there.

The Year Two parents have been invited to attend a workshop with their children on Tuesday 21 October at 9:00am. Please see the correspondence from Week One for details.

Mrs Jo Betti, College Social Worker, will be hosting coffee and a chat on Friday 24 October after the Gospel Reflection. Parents are welcome to join us for Gospel before heading to the Cafe.

We look forward to seeing you all in the College this week.

Miss Croswell
Head of Junior School
19 October 2014


Year 10 River Cruise

Year 10 students had their River Cruise last Friday. The ship cruised up and down the Swan River while the students danced the night away! A special thanks to Mrs Pastorelli for organising the evening.



Paul Murphy
Assistant Deputy Principal
19/10/2014

Reports

Year 9 final Reports were published in the Coneqt portal last Friday 17 October. Year 10 and 11 reports will be published on Monday of week 4.

Learning Conversations for Year 10, 11 and 12 (new year levels) will also be happening on Monday of week 4. This will be an opportunity for parents, students and Learning Advisors to have a look at past performance and talk about goals for the new academic year.

Paul Murphy
Assistant Deputy Principal
19/10/2014

Holy Cross Arts Night


 The opening night will be held on Monday, 20 October from 6.00 - 8.15pm in the LRC and all parents/guardians are invited to attend. This year the Arts Showcase has been expanded to integrate all Arts disciplines - Music, Drama, Dance and Visual Arts. The opening night is set to dazzle with a diverse array of colour, texture, shape and pattern in a range of stunning artworks from painting, printmaking, ceramics, textiles and sculpture put together by myself as well as with a night of celebration of our students’ talents through dance routines, music performances, drama monologues arranged by Mr McRae (Music/Drama) and Mrs Davini (Dance). There will also be some work on show from students in the Visual Art Club.

Paul Murphy
Assistant Deputy Principal
19/10/2014