Drama Monologue Showcase - 28 October

Monday, 28 October will see characters come to life as Holy Cross College presents its very first Drama Monologue Showcase. 

The Year 9, 10 and 11 Drama students will tackle one of the most challenging forms of solo performance presenting scripted and original monologues. The night will feature originals from the Year 9's along with both scripted and original solo productions from our Senior School students. 

The showcase will commence at 6:30pm in Da Vinci Space 2 and will include a short interval with refreshments available. 

We hope to see you there to witness some of the wonderful dramatic talent we have at the COllege.

Mr McRae

Drama Teacher

Year 9 Mountain Biking Expedition

Year 9 Mountain Biking Expedition - Camel Farm, Kalamunda by Jo-Anna Maynard (Year 9)

On Wednesday, 18 September the Year 9 Outdoor Education class and teachers, Mrs Davini and Mr Elliott went to Kalamunda Camel Farm to participate in a mountain bike expedition as part of our Outdoor Education course. The bus arrived at the College where we then loaded all the mountain bikes into a trailer and made our way up the hill to Kalamunda. After arriving, we were met by Mark and Peter from Rock ’n Roll Mountain Biking who were our guides and coaches for the day. Mark had also previously taken our class for a few mountain biking skills sessions earlier in the term back at school.

We were then spilt up into two groups and given number plates for our bikes, which enabled Mark and Peter to easily identify us. Once the number plates were on our bikes we were given a briefing of the challenges we were up against. Peter took my group around a beginner course, which many of us thought was challenging at the start, but as we got more confident it became less frightening. Peter then took our group around the same course but this time we had the chance to tackle a few more of the difficult jumps, corners and rocky surfaces. 

As the day went on Peter challenged a few of our balancing skills, like crossing skinny planks and going over "camel humps". Here I had a funny stack as I came off the plank and went over the handlebars straight into a tree. The “camel humps” needed to be attacked with some speed and some of the group found that out the hard way!

The highlight, as many of us know, was the long tree trunk that we had to cycle across. This was definitely the most challenging part of the day, as over half the boys were too frightened to cycle across the tree. Maybe it was because Mr Elliot and I had a very funny but painful fall!

We had a few mechanical glitches and unfortunately the weather wasn't kind to us, though at times it was a cool relief. All in all, we enjoyed the day and returned back to school - a little late - but in one piece. 

Children, Family and Community ‘Care package task’

As part of the curriculum for Stage 1B Children, Family & Community the students were asked to investigate local agencies who care for young families within the local area. Students were then asked to create their own care package to donate to a local family through St Vincent De Paul. The students worked for 10 weeks creating a hand made item. The items that were made included teddy bears, blankets, height charts and family notice boards. 

The students then raised money by putting on a bake sale and selling soft drinks so that they could purchase additional items to include in their care packages. The students have done a magnificent job of preparing the packages which are on display in the College Office. Many thanks to all the students for all their hard work on this task.

Mrs Brown

Teacher

Year 10/11 Food Science Technology Dinner

On Thursday, 12 September the Year 10/11 Food Science Technolgy class put on a three course dinner for invited parents and staff members. The theme of the evening was ‘red and black’ which was shown through the setup of the College Cafe and table settings. The students made a magnificent menu consisting of aranchini balls, spring rolls and antipasto for the entree, parmigiana, teriyaki beef with soba noodles, spinach and ricotta cannelloni for mains and chocolate trifle, profiteroles, and home made rocky road icecream sandwiches for dessert.

The students were assessed on the night on their service skills and also their cooking, cleaning and occupational health and safety procedures. 

It was a fantastic night and the students did a great job. Well done to the students involved and many thanks to the guests who joined us.

Mrs Brown

Food Science Technology Teacher

Year 10 Curriculum Enrichment Week

Curriculum Enrichment Week this year saw Year 10 very much out and about. Our focus was two fold, with a future focus on pathways, but also time spent on social Justice.

Monday and Tuesday were Christian Service Learning days. Students were in various placements around the Valley and in the City completing hours towards their Curriculum Council endorsed unit. The feedback from staff who visited, and from placement providers was wholly positive. From placements in elderly care homes to soup kitchens, to Vinnies stores, students certainly gave back to their community. 

I am reminded of Frederick Ozanam’s phrase ‘to do a little good’ and I am certain that this is what happened during these two days. 

On Wednesday, we participated in a reflection day at school run by Caritas Australia. Students were given some time to reflect on the issues of social justice in our world at large. Students created crosses that will be used at our Feast Day Mass tomorrow. We have some beautiful, creative crosses as a result. It was particularly relevant to spend time reflecting on justice and what it means for us directly after their Christian Service placements. Thanks must go to Moira Staunton for running our day. 

The remainder of the week was spent with a focus on the future for our Year 10’s. We travelled to various university and tafe campuses and explored what life might be like as a student at a post school destination. We travelled from Curtin University of technology, to Notre Dame in Fremantle, to Central Tafe in the city. Much was learnt and it certainly gave students an insight as to what options they have post school.

Thanks to Mr Gray, Mr Chinnock and Mrs Hope for all their work over Curriculum Enrichment Week. Another great week was had by all.

Mrs Walmsley
Year 10 Team Leader

Curriculum Enrichment Week - Year 7's

During Curriculum Enrichment Week the Year 7's got out and about in Ellenbrook and surrounding areas to explore 'what water is worth?'

The week involved a Swan Valley tour on Monday followed by a lunch and visit to Edgecombe Brothers winery to hear first hand how important water is.  

Tuesday was based at school with Art and  Science learning opportunities as well as some biking and walking to local bodies of water and, with the help from the City of Swan, we learnt what water is used for in Ellenbrook. 


Wednesday and Thursday saw adventure to both Mundaring Weir and Bell's Rapids where they tested water, gained an appreciation for the landscape and nature around water, hiked and learnt the history behind Mundaring Weir.  


To finish the week off in style the students participated in a dress up  and reflection day where they had the opportunity to share some important water messages with our families and friends after a well deserved lunch BBQ.

It was a week of action-packed adventure, fun, laughter and precipitation, snakes and sore legs, but most importantly our students having a hands on week out in our surrounding areas to not only consolidate learning so far but to gain more of an understanding and appreciation of how precious our water is. 

Apple Education Tour

A group of educators visited our school today from local, interstate and international schools. We were also fortunate to have Daryl Hawes from Apple Worldwide education take part in the tour. Daryl works out of London with many European schools to enhance education with digital devices. Our guests were presented with a presentation on the schools digital journey to date and an inspirational presentation by Ms Irene Louden on digital learning in the Big Ideas program and the Year 7 program.


The highlight for our guests was talking with the students in Year 8 Big Ideas about how they use their iPads to enhance their learning. A selection of Year 9 students also prepared presentations for our visitors based on their work from Curriculum Enrichment week. The students did an impressive job when talking about their learning and are to be congratulated.

Mr Paul Murphy
Assistant Deputy Principal

Tournament of Minds

On Saturday, 31 August two teams of students from the College participated in the Tournament of Minds held at Newman College. Tournament of Minds is a competition that measures critical thinking ability, creativity and teamwork. The College teams entered the competition under the 'Language and Literacy' strand which required them to complete both a prepared and a spontaneous challenge. The prepared challenge revolved around the area of picture books. The teams had to choose two characters from a list of texts and use these characters to create an original story. They then had to present their story using presentation skills such as drama, puppetry, costuming and soundscapes. They had to prepare their picture book and presentation using only basic materials such as cardboard and without any help from teachers. The spontaneous challenge was undertaken on the day without any prior knowledge of what the task would be.

The College teams comprised of students from Years 7, 8 and 9 with seven students on each team. Both teams decided to use characters from Fox and The Hunger Games. HCC Team Orange presented their story using a dramatisation while HCC Team Blue performed a puppet show using a theatre they had made themselves. In the spontaneous challenge the teams were asked to look at an image and to explain what the people or animals in the image were doing and whether they were successful. The image in question was one of donkeys entangled in rope and both teams came up with ingenious explanations of what was taking place!

The preparation and the tournament day were both enjoyable and successful and the teams demonstrated wonderful creativity and some excellent cooperative skills. They also received some wonderful feedback from the Tournament judges. All the students involved should be very proud of their accomplishments and we look forward to entering the Tournament of Minds again in 2014.

Miss Reynolds and Miss Hodgson