Junior School Update

Pre-Kindergarten

Welcome back to another term in Pre-Kindergarten and a very warm welcome to our new families. We had a wonderful (and busy) first day back! The children all settled very quickly and got straight into exploring the learning environments and playing with their friends. 

This term, our focus will continue to be on the children feeling comfortable and safe at school, getting to know their peers and teachers and feeling safe to 'have a go' at new things. The first part of the term will see us exploring our wider community and how there are people, such as Community Helpers, that help to keep us safe and healthy. 

We are very excited to be hosting our first Mothers' Day mornings in Pre-Kindergarten next week. A reminder that these are happening on Monday, 2 May and Friday, 6 May from 9:00-11:00am. This will be a wonderful opportunity to spend some time together, get pampered a little and share some morning tea together. We look forward to seeing you then!

Mrs Fretwell

Pre-Kindergarten Teacher

Pre-Primary H

Welcome back to Autumn Term!

The Pre-Primary students have begun the term by learning about the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC).

The students attended a post memorial in the morning and then continued to learn about the history in class. The students reflected on the ceremonies shared around the world on April 25th. The students were given a red poppy to proudly wear and an ANZAC biscuit to commemorate the occasion. The main focus was on the courageous ANZAC soldiers who fought to protect their loved ones back at home. The students wrote their opinion on the purpose of a soldier and practised their cutting skills when creating a soldier craft piece. The students also discussed the innocent animals involved during the war.

I will finish with this quote; At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.

Miss Pritchard

Pre-Primary H Teacher

Year Three

The Year 3’s have hit the ground running this term with learning about multiplication. We used blocks to model number stories involving 'groups of' and we have looked at different strategies to determine the total. We have also have incorporated music and a variety of games to practise the recall of our ten times table. Students have really enjoyed competing against one another in the ‘around the world’ challenge to develop automatic recall of these important number facts. 

At the end of last term we made our models to represent our learning of day and night. Students had to plan, design, make and appraise their models. They had some very creative ideas and students worked exceptionally well on their projects. They also enjoyed the opportunity of sharing their Big Ideas learning and projects with their Year Five buddies. They are on display in the Tui Paris Building for another week if you would like to visit our displays.

We have lots of interesting topics being investigated this term so stay tuned for further updates.

Miss Ravenscroft

Year Three Teacher

KidSport

KidSport enables Western Australian children to participate in community sport and recreation, no matter their financial circumstances. Eligible youth aged 5–18 years can apply for financial assistance to contribute towards club fees. The fees will go directly to the registered KidSport clubs through their participating local government. 

While the primary objective of KidSport is to ensure all Western Australian children can participate in sport and recreation clubs, its secondary objective is to engage these children and their families in the community.

Holy Cross College is a registered referral agent through Mrs Christina Davini or Mrs Fiona de Courcier.

For more information please visit the following website:

http://www.dsr.wa.gov.au/funding/individuals/kidsport

Mrs Christina Davini
Frayne House Coordinator

Senior School Exams

Senior School exams will take place during weeks 4 and 5 of Autumn Term (16-27 May) for all Year 10-12 students. This year the exam period will include mandatory assessments for Year 12 General courses as well as ATAR course exams. The General assessments are part of the new WACE rules for 2016 and are written by the School Curriculum & Standards Authority. The General assessments will be 60 minutes in length. The schedule for exams will be published to students and parents in the first week of Autumn term.

Mr Paul Murphy
Deputy Principal
18 April 2016

Combined School Anzac Service

On Wednesday April 6, the Year 9 Students, our College Captains and Bianca Sumich attended the Combined Schools Anzac Day Service at Woodlake.

As a College we attend this event every year. It’s a great opportunity for our students to learn about the legacy of the ANZACS and also to experience the ceremony of such a very important formal occasion.

This year Bianca gave the address from Holy Cross College as our representative. Having visited the shores of Gallipoli last April as a part of the 100^th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, her remarks were very powerful and very meaningful for the audience gathered.

Below is an excerpt from Bianca’s speech.

“One thing I will never forget about the experience was the day that we attended the Dawn Service on Anzac Cove. The complete serenity that engulfed the whole peninsula, harshly contrasted with the events that had occurred there 100 years ago. A calm, fluttering breeze replaced the bitter and icy winds that had been endured by our troops, accentuating the harshness of the terrain the Anzacs and Turks fought in. It was remarkable to sit fully awake and absorb the peace of the environment, as it served as a sign of just how far we have come as a unified and accepting nation in the past 100 years.”

Thanks to the Year 9’s for the beautiful way you participated in this event. You were a credit to the College.

Ms O’Donohue

Uniform Shop Extended Trading Hours

Junior School Update

Religious Education in Year 5

In Religious Education we have been learning about the Easter Story and Lent. We have been recording our learning using the Explain Everything app on our iPads. We have learnt about the temptation of Jesus during his journey through the desert and how he chose to be more powerful than Satan and follow in God’s word. We also learnt that Jesus washed his friend’s feet (the disciples) and he didn’t really care; he just wanted to do something nice and show that he would take care of them. Jesus was betrayed by Judas so Jesus told him to go away. Jesus died on the cross for all of us and three days later he rose from the dead and went to his disciples to help them. A man told the disciple where to fish because they were not getting any. When they trusted the man on the shore they caught fish. The disciples then realised it was Jesus and they jumped off the boat and swam to him. We want to be more like Jesus by helping people we care about and by making good choices.

By Daniel and Geah

Year 5 Students

Learning in Year Two

The story of Holy Week has been a major focus within Religious Education lessons this month. We explored the symbols of Easter and what they mean as well as words that are associated with Easter. We investigated the meanings behind why Jesus gave his life for us as well and also created word clouds with words associated with Easter. 

In Science, we are learning about how scientists use the skills of predicting and observing. We have investigated using our senses, the differences between how water and oil smell, feel, taste and look. We discovered that water and oil don’t mix, but the oil sits on the top of the water. None of us predicted that would happen! Most of us thought the water would turn yellow. We then observed the effect of dish liquid being mixed into the oil and water. None of us thought that it would start to mix together! 

Our class has been working together with the Year One class to create musical instruments for a band. We are going to prepare our own song identifying beat and rhythm and then film it for a class website. We have found this to be challenging and fun!

Mrs Ryan

Year Two Teacher