16 September 2015

Newsletter Articles

"The best and surest way to learn the love of Jesus
is through the family."
Mother Teresa

From the Principal

Parents,

As I write this week, I am conscious that the news that I will be leaving Holy Cross at the end of this year is still fresh in the minds of parents, staff and students. My decision to accept another appointment and move across to Western Australia with my husband and away from Holy Cross has been a challenging one personally. I am confident though, that this very special place is very much a result of a collaborative team effort by all those previous, current and future individuals. The true culture of Holy Cross, or indeed any school, is simply safeguarded and honoured and continues to be shaped by a Principal during their time. I do hope that during my time here at Holy Cross, I have been successful in continuing to hold onto the distinctive elements here at Holy Cross which make it unique, whilst openly embracing the opportunities which have come along to make appropriate changes as required. As a school, we are always on a journey and right now, the Holy Cross journey is a wonderfully strong one! There is much happening; we have been steadily growing and we have a truly wonderful team of dedicated staff who will continue to lead Holy Cross positively. For now though, as we close Term 3 at the end of this week, there is still much to be done to finalise our 2015 school year during Term 4; staffing to finalise, budgets to set in place and be approved, strategic planning to be completed and of course much learning and teaching still to take place in classrooms. To assist with the necessary transition required for the new Holy Cross Principal and to undertake some preparations of my own for my move and my new role, I will be taking some leave mid-way through Term 4, however I will definitely be back for our last week of school, so I can be a part of our end of year celebrations…I will leave goodbyes until then!

As we celebrated Holy Cross Day this week we were so very fortunate to have both Bishop Foley and Father Neil with us to celebrate our Mass. Our students sang up so beautifully!! Thank you once again to Mrs Roberts for her preparations and gentle guidance of our students to prepare for today and thank you especially to those students who participated in special roles during our mass.

On Monday our staff and students were also treated with a performance by Monica Brown who is very well known both nationally and internationally within the Catholic community for her work on Liturgy and Spiritual Formation. Monica is a personal icon of mine who was a regular voice during liturgy and prayer with my own students when I was a beginning classroom teacher many years ago! To have Monica in our school performing to our students and presenting to our teachers is truly a special treat!

At the end of this week we farewell Mrs Daysh as she heads off on her long service leave. We send our blessings with her. We look forward to welcoming Ms Sarah Green at the beginning of Term 4 to teach 2S for the remainder of the year.

Blessings
Enjoy your week
Wendy Manners
Principal

The Hard Truth

There is no Christianity without a cross. And if we want to follow, we have to take up the cross. That's the hard truth.

Taking up the cross doesn't mean coping well with sickness or bad luck. We take up the cross when we choose sacrifice when we could avoid in order to help others.

Here's a brief story.

Mark was a volunteer when our school helped house homeless families for a week. We needed volunteers to come Sunday morning to help serve breakfast. Mark came early, even though Saturday night had been a big night for him with mates. Mark was the only student to show up. He was tired. But he chose to sacrifice. And homeless families had a better day because of it.

Living as a Christian means choosing little sacrifices like Mark's on a daily basis. Taking up the cross means giving up your life each day in little ways. You take up your cross when you help someone without having to be asked. You take up your cross when you reach out to the unpopular kid in the yard. You take up your cross when you sacrifice time with friends for time at the soup kitchen or homeless shelter.

Like Peter, each day we must decide who we think Jesus is. We show that he is our Messiah (the one who came to save us) when we choose to sacrifice for others. Oddly enough, it is through those little sacrifices that we really save our own lives – and add to the lives of others.

When have you chosen a sacrifice – taken up a cross – that has shown others who Jesus is to you?

GPBS.com

APRE News

FEAST DAY CELEBRATIONS

I write this as we begin Week 10, with our school Feast Day. It is a great day to celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross, as well as our celebrating our school and parish. We had Bishop James presiding over Mass on Monday morning, group activities in the middle session and Monica Brown gave a concert Monday afternoon.

THE COLOUR RUN IS ON (WEATHER PERMITTING)

Thank you to all who sent money for the Colour Run. Unfortunately we couldn't go ahead on Monday due to the weather. It has been rescheduled for this THURSDAY 17th SEPTEMBER, from 12:00pm onwards. Students will go out as a class or year level to complete the obstacle course/run and get sprayed.

Students will come to school dressed in their normal school uniform in the morning, but will bring a light coloured shirt that can be sprayed and some old shorts. The shirt does not have to be new, it may even be the same one as last year.

Thank you for helping to support our parish and celebrate Holy Cross Day.

Triumph of the Cross, or Exaltation of the Cross is a feast that has been around for a very long time. The symbol of the cross is a sign of suffering, but also, through the resurrection of Jesus, a sign of triumph and victory. As it is also a sign of God, it can be seen a symbol of love. What a wonderful symbol to have for our school.

LITURGICAL LIFE OF THE SCHOOL

It has been great to be part of some wonderful liturgies this term, across all levels. The students have been great models of respect and reverence, especially when buddied up with a student from another class. The students have taken on various roles in those liturgies: reader, offertory procession, entrance procession, choir singer, music maestro, computer operator, Gospel actor, altar server and even artwork creator. It is great to see students engaged in liturgy in a very real way.

One of the themes of level Masses this term was all about spreading the Good News of the gospel. It is what we are called to do as baptised Catholics. It also makes great sense when living in a community.

Together at One Altar is an excellent resource for teachers and students. It covers all the elements, traditions and meanings of the Mass. It explains gospel teachings in this way:

"The gospels leave us in no doubt as to the centrality of love and harmony in Jesus' teaching. We believe that each member of our community is loved by God, and therefore deserving of respect and kindness. By promoting and aspiring towards the values implicit in the gospels, we are striving to live as Jesus did.

The scriptures are a constant reminder that we should try to live our lives as Jesus taught us."

http://www.togetheratonealtar.catholic.edu.au National Catholic Education Commission

One great message we can all live by is to, "Treat others as you would like them to treat you", otherwise known as the golden rule.

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM

Congratulations to all the Years 3, 4 and 5 students who received Reconciliation for the first time. This is the first of many opportunities for confession that these children will undertake in their lives. Thank you also to the families who helped prepare the students and to the Year 3 teachers and students for helping to celebrate the Sacrament last week, by attending the service.

PRAYER FOCUS FOR THE WEEK:

O cross, you are the glorious sign of victory.
Through your power may we share in the triumph of Christ Jesus.

Parish Mass Times

Saturday

Holy Cross, Trinity Park 6:00pm

Sunday

Sacred Heart, Freshwater 7:00am

Holy Cross, Trinity Park 8:30am

St Augustine's, Stratford 10:30am

All Saints Chapel, St Andrew's Redlynch 5:30pm

Jacinta Roberts
APRE Holy Cross
jroberts1@cns.catholic.edu.au

APA News

HAPPY HOLY CROSS DAY!

Term 3 Week 10

Another Term is fast winding to an end. Monday was a great celebration for Holy Cross day with a beautiful Mass led by Bishop James. The students sang the roof the church. The day was followed with a number of activities and despite our colour run being postponed a great time was had by all. The finishing concert was spectacular.

Term 4 will begin with a number of activities but before then it's time to enjoy a break with family and a well-earned rest.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews took place at Holy Cross in week 9. This was a great opportunity for you and your child's teacher to make contact to ensure a smooth and productive end of year for all students and families. I heard many valuable stories from both teachers and parents from these meetings. If you happened to miss a time, we encourage you to make contact with your child's teacher and book a time.

Special Group Photos

Last week NQ Photos visited Holy Cross to take the 2015 special group photos, including the Year 6 Graduation photo. Enveloped and online order form details were handed out to students on this day, a reminder that all orders are due back this Friday, before the semester break. If you have missed out on information there are some spares that can be collected from the front office.

Hero Time Friday

Last week we introduced Holy Cross Hero Time on Friday afternoons. This time is a reward and incentive time in line with our Positive School Behaviour Framework. Students who are successful in the week will enjoy an extra 15 minutes of lunch with their class groups. Students negotiate with their teachers a fun activity to do as a class in this time, could be a game, a story under a tree, a class activity etc. This time is promoted as a class reward time (inclusive of the classroom teacher) that promotes the bonding of the class and rewards their efforts for the week.

In line with our Behaviour Framework, students can miss out on this time should they receive three or more times in notified behaviour (Level 2) in a week for Year Prep -2, and two or more times for Years 3-6. For a child to miss out this would mean that you as a parent would have received a reflection sheet for an incident or a phone call/ conversation from the classroom teacher and/or administration on two or three occasion (dependent on year level) within the same week. The third notification would include missing out of this reward time as part of the consequence. Should you have any questions regarding this activity please feel free to come and have a conversation with your classroom teacher or myself. We thank you for your continued support in supporting our students to make great choices at school.

Term 4 Swimming P-3

October 19th – November 27th. Mark the dates on your calendars. Whilst there is still plenty of time between now and October please be aware that our Prep – Year 3 classes will have swimming lessons, once a week for six weeks. Now would be a great time to be checking that you have the appropriate clothing and it all still fits for the incoming warmer weather.

HOLY CROSS SCHOOL SWIMMING TIMETABLE
TERM 4, 2015

Swimming is a recognized part of the curriculum offered at Holy Cross. It is expected that all students in Years Prep-3 will participate in this program during Weeks 3-8 of Term 3.

• Students must wear hats and shoes when walking to the pool, and they must wear a shirt with sleeves when swimming. It would be great if students had sun-block at school so that they could apply it before walking to the pool.
• Long hair must be tied back.
• The instructors have asked that each child wears goggles for their lessons. These are available for $10 from the pool, as a 'school special'.

Students who are well enough but are not swimming will walk to the pool and read quietly while the class is swimming. Those who are not well enough to walk over to the pool probably aren't well enough to be at school either.

	MONDAY (3 instructors)	TUESDAY (3 instructors)	WEDNESDAY (3 instructors)	THURSDAY (3 instructors)
9:00 – 10:00	Year 2H	Year 1H	Prep OH	Year 3S
10:00 – 11:00	Year 2C	Year 1C	Prep OC	Year 3C
11:00 – 12:00	Year 2S	Year 1S	Prep OS	Year 3H

Parent helpers are required to walk to and from the pool with EVERY CLASS. If you're available, could you please contact your class' teacher as soon as possible. It would be greatly appreciated!

Congratulations to Week 8 & 9 Holy Cross Heroes:

POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR FOCUS
Week 9 – Play Safely
- Hands and Feet
- Equipment
- Balls
- Tag and Running
Week 10 – Play Safely – Be a Leader

Prep	Annie, Jedda, Ashton, Brooklyn
Year 1	Jemma, Madelyn, Jarvis, Terrell, Shakira
Year 2	Jed, James & Rhianna, Tylah, Lily, Ruby, Bree, Violette
Year 3	Grace, Gwyneth, Aaron, Kate
Year 4	Josh T, Taaj, Charlie R
Year 5	William, Aaliyah, Abriel, Trinity W, Sean, April
Year 6	Caden, Jaslyn, Ben
"We were all caught PLAYING SAFELY."

Congratulations to JULY's Holy Cross Super Hero: Oisin (Prep 0C)

KEY DATES
Friday 18th September	Year 6 Sports Gala Day – Netball and Rugby League
Friday 18th September	Last Day of Term 3
Monday 5th October	PUBLIC HOLIDAY
Tuesday 6th October	First Day Term 4
Saturday 14th November	Christmas Fair

Many blessings for the week

Brad Henry
Assistant Principal – Administration
bhenry2@cns.catholic.edu.au

School Notices

2015 Exiting Student Enrolments

Prep -Year 5 Exiting Enrolments – We understand this is very early in the year but as we are beginning preparations for 2016 we ask that those families who are aware that they are you are relocating or moving your child to another school please notify the office as soon as possible. We understand families may be unsure at this stage but ask that when you have received notification that you advise the school. As we currently have a waitlist for most year levels for 2016, we want to confirm our existing enrolments.

GOTCHA Points

Congratulations to Petersen House who were the Week 9 Gotcha Point winners.

TERM 3	DILLON	MALLON	PETERSEN	ROBINSON
WEEK 9	231	230	279	270

P & F News

Tuckshop News

TUCKSHOP ROSTER
TERM 3 WEEK 10		PARENT HELPERS	SLINKY HELPERS
WED	16th September	HELP REQUIRED	Matthew F & Ashlyn S 4H
THU	17th September	Karen Hepburn 12.00 – 13.30pm	Jordan H & Matthew F 4H
FRI	18th September	Lisa Ponds - cashier	Hannah C & Chloe M 5S
		Janelle Bradridge 8.30 -11.30am
		HELP REQUIRED 11.30 until close
TERM 4 WEEK 1
WED		HELP REQUIRED	Bella W & Keely 4H
THU		HELP REQUIRED	Hannah C & Chloe M 5S
FRI		Jo Comper - cashier	Bella Y & Holly 4H
		8.30 – 11.30am (TBA)
		HELP REQUIRED 11.30 until close

Secondhand Uniforms

Secondhand uniforms and green jumpers are available for purchase at the tuckshop for $5.00 each.

If you can assist in the tuckshop we would love to hear from you. Please contact the Tuckshop Convenor, Kylie Gowlett on 0439 933 980, email: kgowlett@cns.catholic.edu.au or leave your number at the office.

The Arts News

Dance Drama Music (DDM)

PERCUSSION PERFORMANCE – FANTASTIC SHOW!

Well done to all of Ms Jen Fengler's percussion students for last week's assembly performance. It was a great way for students to put all their practice to good use and gave us a great show. Excellent work!

ARTS ALIVE!

I hope you have enjoyed reading our first four profiles on Ms Neil (Curriculum Support Teacher), Ms Stanley (OC Prep Teacher), Caitlin (6C) and Jazz (5H). They are all enthusiastic dancers and great supporters of The Arts in our school. I would like to base this section on visual arts in our school community next term. If you know of students, parents and teachers who are dabbling in drawing, painting, sculpting or craft, I would love to interview them for this section. Please email me, cwight@cns.catholic.edu.au , if you know someone who would like to be interviewed for the school newsletter!

CONGRATULATIONS!

• The winners of the Safety Hero Design competition! We had Andrew L 3C, Ruby H 6C and Samara W 6H who drew winning designs for the child protection educational activities packages. They attended the winners' ceremony last week and received their award and their published artwork.
• Well done to the students who participated in the Musician of the Year competition recently. Mrs Russell was extremely proud of all students and was particularly pleased with how well Holy Cross did at taking out many of the placings in the competition.

Please let Mrs Wight know of any people in our community who are achieving in the Arts!

CHOIR UPDATE

The General and Liturgy choirs have all sung so well this term. We have had regular attendance and our numbers have stabilised at 30 students in the General choir and 10 students in the liturgy choir. We have 15 students on the waiting list.

The next big event that the choirs are rehearsing towards is the Christmas Fair and end of year Christmas Concert. We are planning to have longer programs of at least 30 minutes at each event for the choirs to sing up a storm!

We will have more information for parents about the dates and times of these performances closer to the time. These events are outside school hours and will require parents to drop students off and pick them up at certain times.

DDM LESSON UPDATE

Prep- "Nursery Rhymes" – Students have been experimenting with pitch and dynamics of sound through singing the nursery rhymes "Sally Goes Round the Moon." They have enjoyed playing different tuned and un-tuned percussion instruments in time with the beat of these songs, singing and dancing as part of the musical games of the unit.

Years 1/2 - "Lonesome Boatman" – Students have been listening to a piece of instrumental Irish folk music called, "The Lonesome Boatman." Students have completed their digital soundscapes and are now onto making their own ocean soundscapes with instruments in the music room, including their own home made instruments. They are writing their soundscape using created sound and movement symbols to tell a story of the Lonesome Boatman's experience out on the ocean one day. We are hoping that the year 1 students can perform some of their soundscapes for the school community early next term as they haven't had their turn on assembly yet.

Years 3/4 - "Calypso Rounds and Sounds." - Students have become quite enthusiastic about their music playing lately. We recently had a go at syncopated rhythms using clave sticks and have begun to rehearse five different parts of a musical piece in order to bring it all together in one big performance of the Calypso song. Once each class as perfected this performance, they will go on to create their own syncopated rhythms and songs.

Years 5/6 – "Local Community Music" – Students have been introduced to their music webquest activity where they will work through a list of websites to gather information that will help them in their final assessment. They are to create small groups and pretend to be a typical Cairns band who are entering a song competition. Students are also working on playing the "Lion Sleeps Tonight" on the Ukuleles. If any students own a ukulele at home, please bring it in on Wednesday's for your music lessons.

THE ARTS GALLERY

A big part of the teaching of The Arts is performing and taking photos of students interacting in their lessons. I have included photos of the digital soundscapes year 1 and 2 have recorded recently.

I hope you enjoy viewing these images as much as we have enjoyed making them!

Thank you for all your support! God bless!

Christina Wight
Dance Drama Music Specialist Teacher

Instrumental Music

YOUNG MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR – SOLO COMPETITION

Holy Cross students should be praised for their efforts in the St Andrew's run "Young Musician of the Year" solo competition! All 28 of Miss Russell's Woodwind, Brass & Percussion students travelled to St Andrew's to perform solos in front of a large audience. Students performed in the novice, junior & middle school sections of the competition, against a large field of young musicians from St Andrew's.

Below are the results from "Young Musician of the Year":

Brass Year 5 and below (1)

2nd Place - Liam S 4S
3rd Place - Mathew C 4C

Brass Year 5 and below (2)

1st Place - Tyler F 5S
2nd Place - Taaj T 4S

Novice Clarinet Year 5 and below

1st Place - Olivia B 3S

Percussion Year 5 and below

2nd Place - Thomas C 4H
Percussion Year 6 to 9
3rd Place - Harry M 6S

Novice Flute & Saxophone Year 5 and below

1st Place - Nakiso N 3C
3rd Place - Charleigh W 4H

It was great to see everyone getting up and having a go in such a friendly, nurturing environment. It is a brave thing to get up in front of an audience and perform a solo, and I am extremely proud of every single student who gave it a go, for there courage & effort!

HOLY CROSS BAND – CHANGE OF TIME

Starting in term 4, the Holy Cross band's rehearsal time will change.

Rehearsals will commence in week 1 of term 4,
Tuesdays - 7:45am to 8:30am
Instrumental Music Room

Parents of students affected by this change will receive a letter with more specific details.

DATE CLAIMER

Term 4 is our biggest term as far as performances go! The Holy Cross band have three performances planned, so please save the dates & more details will follow closer to the time.

• Saturday 14th November - Holy Cross Christmas Fair Band Performance (approx. 4pm)
• Tuesday 17th November – Holy Cross Band's End of Year Concert & award giving (approx. 9:30am)
• Thursday 26th November – Band performance at the Holy Cross Whole School Christmas Concert (approx. 5pm)

Julia Russell
Instrumental Music Teacher

Music Tuition

Brass/Woodwind

If you are interested in learning a brass or woodwind instrument (including trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet or saxophone), please contact Julia Russell via email: julia.russell@standrewscc.qld.edu.au

A reminder that instrumental tuition & hire contract agreements state a 4 week's written notice period is required if your child wishes to cease lessons. In the event of cancellation the full amount of the term fee will remain due and payable for that notice period. All instrumental fees should remain paid in advance.

Drums/Percussion

Are you interested in playing the drums or learning a percussion instrument?

For more information contact our friendly drum/percussion instructor Jen Fengler on ph: 0431461812 or email: jenfengler@hotmail.com

Piano

If you are interested in piano lessons please contact: Paul Brimstone on ph: 40551105

Guitar

If you are interested in guitar lessons please contact: Peter Drazic on email: pjd.guitar@bigpond.com

Sports Notices

Term 4 Netball (NETFUN Program)

Cairns Netball Association will once again be offering this skill based netball program for 5 – 10 year olds commencing Thursday 22nd October from 3.10pm-4.10pm.

Anyone interested in participating in this program please click on the link below and complete the registration form and return to netsetgo@cairnsnetball.net.au

Sport and Recreation Services Get Started Vouchers

Round 6 of the Sport and Recreation Services Get Started Vouchers Program is now open. Under this program vouchers of up to $150.00 are provided to eligible children to help pay for the cost of sport or recreation club membership and or participation fees through registered clubs. Please click on the link below for the parent fact sheet for further information and eligibility requirements.

Community Notices

Parent Seminars

The Young Company

TYC Drama Classes for 5yrs - 11yrs

Spin along to TYC for our Spring Drama School (5yrs - 12yrs) Holiday Programs. In week one we see scientists hunters and palaeontologists seek to overtake the genetically modified dinosaurs in Jurassic Island: The Chase Begins 22/9 - 25/9, 9am - 3pm, Cairns City) with special guest costume artist Hayley Gillespie. In the second week we step back in time with Medieval Mayhem: The Age of Conquests (28/9 - 2/10, 9am – 3pm, Cairns City). Come along and explore acting, costumes, lighting, sound and multimedia elements, finishing with a creative performance on the final afternoon. Learn the essentials of stage performance through improvisation, role-play and characterization activities and then perform in front of a live audience with costumes, sets, props, sound effects, live projections and theatrical lighting!! For more information phone 40414066, email info@theyoungcompany.com.au or visit our website www.theyoungcompany.com.au . Book now to receive an early bird saving!

Girl Guides

Interested in your child being part of Girl Guides please click on the link below for more information.