End of Week 3, Winter Term

Dear Parent/Guardian

Thank You

It has been a terrific privilege to fulfil the Acting Principal role in Ms Mandy Connor’s absence over the past three weeks. I have had a wonderful time and have been made to feel very welcome by staff, students and parents. I thank the Holy Cross College Community for their support  - I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this excellent school.

We look forward to Ms Connor returning to us from her well-earned Long Service Leave on Monday next week.

Feast of St Mary MacKillop

On Thursday, 8 August we gathered together as a community to celebrate the Feast Day of St. Mary MacKillop. We thank Mr Muller and students Sarah Reyes, Danika Vallelonga, Laura Evans, Bor Dau and Angela Gethin for organising a beautiful liturgy that reminded us of the incredible contribution that Mary MacKillop made to Australian society.

St. Mary MacKillop is Australia’s first Saint whose focus was to build a religious community devoted to the education of young people. She had great vision, courage, determination and compassion and devoted her life to the service of others.

St Mary MacKillop’s message of “Doing all you can with the means at your disposal and calmly leave the rest to God” encourages us to utilise our God-given talents and have faith that He will support us in our work. This message supports our own College philosophy of living life to the full where we look to encourage our students to be ‘the best that they can be’ so that they can grow into people who can positively impact our society and uphold the respect and dignity of all.

St. Mary MacKillop calls us to action when she asks us to consider ‘what situation in my life is calling me to roll up my sleeves and do something about it?’

Performing Arts Festival for Catholic Schools and Colleges

The Performing Arts festival continued this week. We are proud to announce that Year 7 students Chardonnay Mitchell and Abbey'Lee Quantock were awarded a Certificate of Merit for their vocal duet performance of 'You've Got A Friend in Me'. This marked the College's first ever Certificate of Merit in a Solo/Duet category. Congratulations to Chardonnay and Abbey’Lee.

We also were proudly represented by students from the College Production of 'Peter Pan' which was entered into the Musicals section. The adjudicators were particularly impressed by the quality of the ensemble singing, backdrops, costumes and energy displayed by the students. Congratulations to all of the students involved.

State Representation

Congratulations to Jo-Anna Maynard who has recently been selected to represent Western Australia in the 2013 State Orienteering Team. The team will be competing at the National Schools Championship in Canberra in late September, early October this year. We wish Jo-Anna all the very best for the Championship.

Friends of Holy Cross

Thank you to the parents and guardians who braved the wintery weather to attend the Friends of the Holy Cross meeting on Monday. It is wonderful to have such great support from members of the community. Some terrific discussion took place and some great ideas generated. We encourage all our parents and guardians to attend future Friends of the Holy Cross meetings and look forward to many more fruitful discussions.

The Angelico Exhibition

The College is proud to announce that a number of our Art students are exhibiting their work at this year’s Angelico Art Exhibition.  This prestigious annual event celebrates its 20^th anniversary in 2013.  The Angelico Exhibition was named after Blessed Fra Angelico, Patron before God of Artists and provides a forum through which Catholic secondary students throughout Western Australia are able to exhibit their dynamic artistic talent.

This year’s exhibition is being held from Monday, 12 August through to Friday, 23 August at Central Park, 152 - 158 St Georges Terrace Perth. Viewing times are between 9.00am and 5.00pm.

Congratulations to the following students who are having their work exhibited this year:

Individual Entries:

Kamilla Kajcsa                                Tie-dyed/lino printed cushion

Bianca Sumich                                Landscape painting

Sally Reyes                                       Landscape painting

Jarryd Dalley                                    Personal identity bust

Clandy Dada                                     Personal identity bust

Caleb Portelli                                   Fantasy chair sculpture

               Group Entry:                                                    

Alyssa Kinkaid, Keely Prasalowski and Nayan Kerai - Anthropomorphic totem pole

WAMSE

Many thanks to Mr Wilson and College staff for overseeing the WAMSE process this week. Students concerned completed the testing with good rigour and enthusiasm. It was pleasing to see them approach the process in an organised and dedicated fashion.

Life Link Sleep Out

Best wishes to all of our dedicated staff and students who have taken up the challenge to be involved in the College’s annual Life Link Sleep Out next Thursday night.  Many thanks to Mrs Walmsley and to the large number of staff and students who have been working very hard in preparation for the event. It is terrific to see so many students giving up their time and comfort in looking to raise the profile and funds for homelessness in Australia.

Curriculum Enrichment Week

As per a recent email that I sent out to families this week, all students will be involved in Curriculum Enrichment Week activities from 26 - 30 August and it is an expectation that students will attend all activities/excursions that are planned. These activities give students an opportunity to connect their learning to real life contexts. 

Thanks to College staff who are currently planning for the event. The range of activities on offer certainly looks very exciting and will strongly complement the excellent learning opportunities available for students at the College.

Best wishes

Jeff Allen

Acting Principal