A Game or Two and a Kangaroo… Holy Cross College Celebrates WA HASS Week 2018

Throughout Week 3, students from across the College participated in a range of activities and competitions to celebrate WA HASS Week 2018. On Monday, the week began with students from Pre-Primary to Year 12 invited to taste test some traditional Indigenous foods, including damper prepared by students in Year 5 and 6 and kangaroo, emu and crocodile sausages. Students were also given the opportunity to have a go at some dot painting while listening to some indigenous music and watching some animated Dreaming stories.

On Tuesday, the focus turned to Civics and Citizenship, with our Senior School mock trial team performing a mock trial for a student audience in the New Norcia building. Wednesday saw students come in out of the cold at lunchtime to play a range of HASS games including Australian animal etchings, grid-referencing battleship and the Stock Market Game. On Thursday, students were treated to the opportunity to compete in a grid-referencing orienteering challenge around the College, while Junior students were invited to play some Geography games in Fitzroy. The week’s activities ended with a Horrible Histories Film Festival in Subiaco where students could spend their lunchtime enjoying the film while munching on some popcorn. 

As part of HASS Week 2018, students from Holy Cross College were invited to take part in the Student Voicecomponent of the WA HASS Week Conference. Grace Beasley, Alex Rankin, John Topliss, Logan Chilman, Zoe Watts and Tiara D’Lima presented at the State Library Theatre on the Year 9 City Project. They described the range of big questions they have engaged with over the past three years and the different highlights of the week outside of the classroom, engaging with all areas of the HASS Curriculum.

Throughout HASS Week, House Tutor groups competed in daily quizzes with McCormack House being especially successful. A big thank you to all staff and students who participated in HASS Week. We look forward to an even bigger HASS Week next year!

Ms K Taylor

Learning Area Coordinator – Humanities and Social Sciences

5 August 2018

HCC Bands Rock the CPA

Another busy week for HCC at the 2018 Catholic Performing Arts Festival wrapped on Friday night as our three College bands took to the stage at Corpus Christi College for the Contemporary Bands category. The Junior Band, Middle/Senior Band and Streetlights all looked the part as one of the most relaxed and fun categories of the festival kicked off.

The Junior Band, comprising of students in Years 5 and 6 followed a band from Mercedes College, performing an uplifting version of 'Best Day of My Life' by American Authors. For many of the band members it was their first performance and an amazing effort to perform in front of a large audience with many only beginning to learn their instruments at the beginning of this year. They got a taste of the big stage and were encouraged by the adjudicator Shaun Street to keep working hard and having fun!

The Middle and Senior Band took to the stage with contrasting songs 'Do I Wanna Know' by the Arctic Monkeys' and 'Seven Nation Army' by the White Stripes and produced an energy filled performance with plenty of character and incredible talent, particularly from our up and coming Middle School performers and led by some veteran and new face Senior School students. The band left the stage energised and eager for more!

Our top Senior Band and veteran line up Streetlights returned to a familiar stage and were on song from the moment they stepped out. Tackling the challenging 'Hysteria' by Muse and 'New York' by Eskimo Joe, the incredibly talented outfit impressed both audience members and staff from other schools with their electric performance, incredible stage presence and impressive instrumental skills.

A big thank you to Mr Gareth Elliott for his work with Streetlights and Ms Anne Mariner and Miss Laura Goodwin for their efforts with the Junior Band.

This night proved that the band culture at HCC is growing and getting stronger by the year! We can't wait to see what next year will bring!

Mr Chris McRae
Learning Area Coordinator (The Arts)

Spirit Filled Christian Dance at Catholic Performing Arts

After many afternoons of rehearsing and hours of choreography and planning our Junior, Middle and Senior School Liturgical Dancers travelled to Mercy College this week for the Christian Dance category of the Performing Arts Festival for Catholic Schools and Colleges. The Junior Dance, entitled 'The Way of the Cross' linked to the Christian Drama from earlier in the week as it focused on the fourteenth station of the cross, Jesus is Buried. The dance captured the emptiness that is ultimately fulfilled through the resurrection as Jesus conquers the grave. These talented Junior School dancers gave a graceful and reverent performance and it marked HCC's first ever Junior Dance entry in this category of the festival of which they should all be particularly proud.

The Middle and Senior School dance reflected pilgrimage, a key aspect in the charism of Holy Cross. The dance symbolised a journey to lead to God as it pointed us towards Him in our lives' own pilgrimage. Our dancers beautifully captured the essence of something which is so important to our College culture as it lead gracefully to the symbolic presentation and passing of the scallop shell and a gesture to the cross.

A huge congratulations must go to all the students from Junior, Middle and Senior School who have worked so hard over the past couple of terms to present these beautiful, reflective pieces. It could not have been done without the tireless energy of our talented Dance teacher Miss Georgina Pratt who has put in an incredible amount of work to get these dancers prepared for performance. Big thanks must also go to Miss Sharna Gregson for her invaluable assistance with the Middle and Senior piece, Miss Aoife Hickey for her amazing assistance with the Junior Dance and Mr Ryan Shelton for his support with the faith aspects of both performances.

We are excited with the journey Dance is on at HCC and look forward to seeing it showcased once again at Carnevale in Week 9 along with our Arts Showcase in Week 10.

Mr Chris McRae
Learning Area Coordinator (The Arts)

Sacrament of Confirmation

Enrolment Mass

Last weekend, 71 students from across the parish enroled in the Sacrament of Confirmation. Of this, 29 are students at Holy Cross College across Years 6 - 8. Please keep these children in your prayers as they prepare for this very special milestone in their faith journey. 

Parent - Child Interactive Workshop

Next Wednesday, 8 August 2018, students enroled in the Sacrament of Confirmation, along with their parents, are required to attend an interactive workshop. Sponsors are also invited to attend. These sessions are being held here at Holy Cross College at 4pm or 6pm. Please refer to your email from the Parish Sacramental Coordinator, Mrs Claire Merry for further details.

Mrs Kylie Day
Assistant Principal, Junior School

   

Christian Drama Success at CPA

We are into our busiest week at the Catholic Performing Arts Festival this week with Christian Drama, Christian Dance, Vocal Solo and Contemporary Bands all taking place over the next four days.

The week began on a big high as a group of 17 Middle and Senior School Drama students travelled to Mercy College to perform in Christian Drama. This category is one which Holy Cross claimed the shield for in 2017 for the Story of Oscar Romero. This year, we presented a re-worked version of the Way of the Cross Pilgrimage presented for the College community before Easter. It was a prayerful journey with James Evans representing Jesus in each station along with the voices of those who encountered him along his road to the ultimate sacrifice. The performance was prayerful and focused and received the highest rankings of 'Excellent' in every category, a real achievement for the students involved!

We now look forward to our Junior and Middle/School Christian Dance which will be performed, also at Mercy College on Thursday. A huge thanks to Miss Pratt who has put in a large amount of time and effort into choreographing these and to Year 11 student Amelie Ladyman who has assisted with the Junior School dance. Thank you also to Mr Shelton and Ms Connor who have supported our Christian Drama and Dance events this week.

Thursday will also see Year 7 student Leo Sladen Mottram participate in Vocal Solo and on Friday night, our three HCC bands will take to the stage at Corpus Christi College for one of the most fun nights of the festival, the Contemporary Band section. We wish students involved all the best for these performances!

Mr Chris McRae
Learning Area Coordinator (The Arts)

YCW Social Night

The Young Christian Workers (YCW) is an international movement run for, by and with young people. This movement uses the see, judge, act model in addressing current issues that people are facing in their lives.

Soloists in the Spotlight- Catholic Performing Arts Week 2

After a successful start to our 2018 Performing Arts Festival with Bible Reading, Gospel Drama and the Opening Mass last week, Week 2 of the festival saw our Primary Piano Soloists take to the stage at Zenith Music in Claremont. Three of our Year 4 and 5 girls performed exceptionally well and represented the College with pride. Congratulations goes to Kiera Perks (Year 5), Addison Delauney (Year 5) and Lindy Papenfus (Year 4) who all played beautifully. Next week sees the busiest week of our 2018 Festival Calendar with Christian Drama and Christian Dance taking place at Mercy College, Vocal Solo at Zenith Music and Contemporary Bands at Corpus Christi College.

Mr Chris McRae
Learning Area Coordinator (The Arts)

Junior School Update

Kindergarten

The Kindergarten children have begun Winter Term in a positive way. Everyone came back refreshed and ready to learn and play surrounded by friends. We were so lucky to receive an abundance of new learning games and activities over the holidays which the children have thoroughly enjoyed. They especially loved coming back to school to realise the classrooms had been transformed into a supermarket and a space station. Lots of new provocations and play experiences have been set up for the children to learn, discover, investigate and experiment. We look forward to watching the children progress over the coming semester. It sure is going to be busy!

Mrs Jo Borg and Mrs Natalie Pecherczyk
Kindergarten Teachers

Friends of Holy Cross Quiz Night

Book Week Parade