END OF TERM

On Monday night we held a wonderful end of year celebration with our Carols by Candlelight.  Thanks to Friends of Holy Cross College and staff for their work in coordinating this wonderful community event.  The festive spirit was a reminder that now we are in Advent, this is the time of preparation for Christmas, which is just over two weeks away.  As we prepare for Christmas let us remember that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and make this part of our celebrations.  We celebrated our Gratitude Mass on Wednesday and Christmas should be about gratitude too – remembering all the good that has come into our world as a result of that first Christmas in the stable in Bethlehem.

 

Thank you to all families for their generous donations to the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal.  These gifts will help someone who may have little to know that someone cares enough to help them celebrate the Christmas season.

 

I am also delighted to tell you the wonderful news that we have secured funding to build a sports centre which include a double gymnasium.  We will commence building this state of the art sports facility in the middle of next year.  

 

I am pleased to let you know that Holy Cross College has once again been awarded as an Apple Distinguished School in recognition of innovation  in learning, teaching and the school environment.

 

One of the hard things at the end of each year is saying goodbye to people who are part of our College community and who will be moving on to new opportunities.   I wish students and families who will be leaving Holy Cross us all the best for the future.

 

Some of our staff will also be leaving Holy Cross, some on a temporary basis and some to move on to the next stage of their journey :

 

Mrs Lowe will be commencing maternity leave today.  We will miss her wonderful spirit of innovation as she takes some time to have her first child and wish her well at this very special time.

 

Mr Anthony Davis will be taking Long Service Leave and we wish him a well-earned break.

 

Mrs Wright has created a wonderful atmosphere of learning for the students in the Pre-primary and has made a valued contribution as the Junior School Literacy Leader.   Mrs Wright  is returning to Kalgoorlie in 2019.

 

Miss Lester has been with us just over a year, replacing staff who are on leave.  Miss Lester has brought her creative energy to all of the areas in which she has worked - English, Drama and Technology. She played a key role in the College production. 

 

Mrs Croxford  has also been with us for just over12 months replacing staff on leave.  Her students have provided many delicious treats for us and given us great service as part of their hospitality courses. 

 

Miss Armenti commenced at Holy Cross College in 2016 as a graduate teacher and our very first Year 5 teacher. She has also been the Frayne Junior School House Representative.  Mrs Armenti has brough a great deal of positive energy and commitment to the early years of the Junior School and will be greatly missed.

 

Mr Buckley joined the College 5 years ago and has taught Physical Education and Maths.  For the last two years he has taken on the role of Sports Coordinator.   He has fostered strong relationships with his students and will be missed.

 

Miss O’Neill joined the College  has established an outstanding Visual Arts Programme across the K – 12 College.  In addition to teaching Art, she established a very popular art club and introduced an excellent annual art exhibition. Miss O’Neill will leave a legacy of student art work displayed around the College, including the Stations of the Cross and the colourfully painted pipes in the New Norcia playground.

 

Mrs Pastorelli took on the role of Mathematics teacher and McCormack House Coordinator in 2014 and this term has done an ourstanding job as Assistant Deputy Principal.  She has played a key role in developing Mathematics courses through to the Senior School and developed a strong and proud spirit in McCormack House.  Mrs Pastorelli had developed as an outstanding leader at Holy Cross College and will take these skills into her new role as Leader of Wellbeing at Newman College.

 

Ms O’Donohue will leave the Holy Cross at the end of this year to take on the role of Deputy Principal at Kolbe Catholic  College.  Ms O’Donohue  was a member of the foundation staff and it is hard to imagine Holy Cross without her.  She has played a key role in the development of this College and has had a very significant impact in all areas of LIFE.  She worked with a small team from the very beginning to establish a strong culture of rigorous contemporary learning. Words cannot express my gratitude to Ms O’Donohue for her support, initiative and innovation and her unstinting commitment to Holy Cross College.  She has been a wonderful member of the College Leadership Team  and a proud member of Ozanam House. She has truly left a legacy at Holy Cross.  At last week’s alumni event it was very evident just how much students who had been taught by Miss O’Donohue appreciate all she had done for them. Kolbe College will very fortunate to have such a passionate, capable and committed Deputy Principal.

I am appreciative of the work of each of these staff members for the key roles they have played in our growing College and wish them well for the next stage of their journeys.  I am deeply grateful to all staff for their generous commitment to Holy Cross College this year.  Thanks to the College Board, the Friends of Holy Cross and all parents who have enriched our community in 2018.  Thanks to our student leaders who have made a great start in their leadership roles and to all students in the College for your contribution to HCC this year.  I wish all families a blessed Christmas and a great holiday and I look forward to seeing you in the new year.

 

A PICTURE PAINTS A THOUSAND WORDS ...

The pictures below  portray the spirit of the many events which have taken place in the last couple of weeks.  Year 6 students marked their transition from Junior to Middle Schools by gathering   together with their families and teachers to celebrate Mass.  Pre-Kindergarten students won the hearts of the audience with their singing and accompanying actions at their Christmas concert.  Middle and Senior School students dived into the pool to compete for their Houses In a carnival which ended with McCormack House winning the shield.  Year 7 students held a Big Ideas exhibition for their parents and other visitors during which they displayed their learning  and spoke eloquently about their Passion Project.  Past students gathered for our first Alumni event - a very special  evening during  which many stories were shared.  It was wonderfull to catch up with students from the classes of 2014 - 2018 and to hear about their journeys in the time since they left school.

DA VINCI PROGRAMME

Students in the Da Vinci programme celebrated their learning for the year with a presentation for their parents.  The DaVinci programme gives students with high academic potential an opportunity to engage in specialist  activities in Science, Maths and Technology.  Each Thursday morning Year 5 and 6 students from St Helena’s Catholic Primary School, Good Shepherd Catholic School, Mary MacKillop Catholic Community Primary School, St Anthony’s School and St Brigid’s School participate in the Da Vinci programme at HCC.   At the Da Vinci Learning journey parents and school principals had an opportunity to view the robots the students had built and programmed.  It was great to see their enjoyment at the opportunity to create, to solve problems and to work as teams.     Thanks to Mrs Joanne Dipino for  her work in providing the students with challenging and stimulating learning experiences. 

CHRISTMAS CAROLS

I am looking forward to our annual  Christmas Carols gathering on Monday evening.  It always a wonderful festive event to celebrate the Christmas season end the  end of the academic year as a community.  Details can be found at https://www.holycross.wa.edu.au/news/lifeblog.php

END OF TERM

Classes finish on Friday 7 December at the usual time.