7 October 2015

Newsletter Articles

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

From the Principal

Parents,

Welcome back. It's great to be back as we head into Term 4!

Term 4 is always a busy one, so please do keep an eye out for emails, App alerts and noticeboard messages which will be circulated to keep families informed about the many events which will be taking place this term.

Our P & F are in full swing with preparations for our Christmas Fair which will take place on November 14th. Please be generous by offering your support in whatever way you can to help make this project a successful one. There will be regular information circulating to request support from all of our families in some way for this event. This year, with funds that were raised at our last fair we have been so very fortunate to have been able to install eating area table and chair settings for our students. This expenditure has been an investment in the comfort and well-being of students during eating time and would not have been possible without the support from the P & F. In addition, P & F funds have also been directed to support the additional staffing required to undertake our SEL Mentoring Program. This year, we have managed to target a record number of students with this small group intervention programme which focuses on building students social and emotional learning capabilities.

On Wednesday afternoon this week from 3.45 – 5.45, our teaching staff will be attending a staff meeting with other teachers from around Cairns Diocese which will be presented by Maggie Dent. The session entitled "Go Slow Childhood" is a topic aimed at assisting teachers to understand ways to reduce stress and anxiety in children. A parent session will also take place at 7pm in the St Joseph's Catholic School Hall 13 Loeven Street Parramatta Park. Parents are encouraged to attend this valuable session.

This week, we will commence staffing interviews to secure our contract teaching positions for 2016. Interviews will also take place in coming weeks to secure the new Principal for Holy Cross who will commence next year. More information announcing the decisions for 2016 staffing will be circulated once these matters are finalised.

As we approach the end of the school year any specific information which will assist in student placement in classes for 2016 can be sent to: mthorpe@cns.catholic.edu.au. Student learning ability, gender equality and social groupings are carefully considered when placing students. Specific teacher allocation is not the highest priority. All requests whilst carefully considered cannot be guaranteed.

As previously mentioned in the last newsletter, I will be taking some Long Service Leave this term to allow the necessary preparations for my families move to Perth next year. I will be away from the school commencing Week 4 for four weeks and will return in Week 8. During this time, I will head to Perth for the final two weeks of my leave to also undertake my Principal Induction and Commissioning Ceremony with Western Australia Catholic Education.

I do hope to see many of you around the school over the next few weeks before I head off on leave.

Blessings
Enjoy your week
Wendy Manners
Principal

Who is the Greatest?

Where can we find good role models in our modern world? Whose words do we admire for their wisdom and hope? Whose actions impress us with their compassion?

These questions were asked of a group of young Catholics attending a retreat. Their replies surprised their teachers, who had been expecting them to focus on Catholic role models. Mother Teresa's name was mentioned and the inspirational work she did in India caring for poor people in the Calcutta slums; also Pope John Paul II, who had faith that young people could play a positive role in Church and society. But many of the names were people who were not Catholic, indeed not even Christian.

For example, they talked of Martin Luther King, the African American Baptist leader prominent in the American civil rights movement. In 1964 he became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his commitment to end racial segregation without using violence. They mentioned Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian Hindu who believed in political change through non-violence; and the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist spiritual leader who promotes peace internationally. Pop stars and actors who support justice campaigns on cancelling international debt, fair trade and climate change also struck a cord with the young people.

The mission of healing and saving humanity and the world is not the sole responsibility of the disciples, or, in today's world, of clergy, or of Catholics. It is a mission that is entrusted to everyone. Jesus does not want to close the circle around him. As long as healing and reconciliation are taking place, Jesus does not draw boundaries. His followers are called to cooperate with all those in the world who are promoting human dignity, assisting those who are vulnerable and taking responsibility for building a more just world.

Jesus asks a lot of us here. Be easy on others, give them the benefit of the doubt, assume that God is working with them. Do not seek the prestige of wealth, possessions and power for yourself and refuse to exploit others. Instead, demand simplicity, honesty and repentance as you push towards spiritual growth. God's Spirit is within our family and neighbours, and perhaps we can learn to recognise the prophets among us and listen to them.

Perhaps too we can begin to recognise the prophet deep inside our own selves that cautions us to be kind and gracious, not to support the waging of war and not to hurt or diminish the least among us

GPBS.com

APRE News

FEAST DAY CELEBRATIONS

Thank you to all for helping to celebrate Holy Cross Day in the last week of Term 3. The students were involved in lots of activities, as seen in the previous newsletter. Our Colour Run had been postponed to later in the week, which meant we had beautiful weather for the day. Our students enjoyed running around and getting sprayed and I think that the parent helpers (and the teachers) especially enjoyed spraying them just as much! Thank you to all of our volunteer sprayers, who turned up on the day to get involved. In total, we raised $1500 which will be our school community's contribution towards the purchase of new projectors and screens for the church.

LITURGICAL LIFE OF THE SCHOOL

Please take note of our liturgical celebrations for this term. We would love to have greater parental involvement in these. If you are unable to attend the weekday Masses due to work commitments, please consider attending our Family Mass later this term. You will receive an invitation for this. If your family intends coming along, please send me an email so that I can attempt to include your child in the special job for the Mass, such as reading a prayer of the faithful, or taking up the gifts. We had a pleasing turnout at our Prep Mass earlier in the year and again hope to see lots of families at this one. There will be morning tea and a cuppa available afterwards for families to stay on and chat. (the cupcakes last time were a hit with the students!)

Upcoming Liturgies and Masses

• Remembrance Day Liturgy on Wednesday 11th of November at 9am in the multi-purpose area.
• Graduation Mass Year 6 Wednesday 2nd of December at 6:30pm
• End of Year Whole School Mass on Friday the 4th of December at 11:00am

FUNDRAISING

Here at Holy Cross, this term is traditionally dedicated to supporting the work of missionaries in our country and around the world, as well as a big focus on the St Vincent De Paul Christmas Appeal.

Socktober

October is World Mission Month. The theme for schools this year is based on the quote from Matthew 25:35, 'I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink'. There is a particular focus at Catholic Mission on helping to support communities such as those in Madagascar, with sanitation, food, education and clean water.

Each year, our school participates in a Crazy Sock Day, to raise awareness and much needed funds. Students are encouraged to bring in a gold coin and wear crazy socks with their normal school uniform. For $55, Catholic Mission could provide 60 school children with a hot nutritious meal for a day, for $325, 6 children could attend school for a year and for $824, one water pump could be installed in a school. Please help us to help those in need.

Mission Australia Safe Haven Program

"The purpose of the Safe Haven Program initiative is to provide culturally appropriate services to respond to the safety needs of children, young people and their families affected by domestic and family violence by providing family support and counselling, youth work (including responses to intoxication) community patrol, brokerage, coordination and community capacity building."

We have been asked to support this program by donating much needed donated clothing for the youth of Mornington Island. A donation box will be set up outside the office for unwanted, out of size clothing and shoes. These much needed items are then provided at a very low cost of $1, $2 or $3, back to families that are in need of such items. This initiative will be a way of supporting a community in need, at no cost to families at Holy Cross, as you would be donating clothing and shoes no longer needed which are in a condition fit for donation and sale.

St Vincent De Paul:

Stay tuned in following newsletters for information about the Christmas Appeal. This will begin Week Five here at Holy Cross.

PRAYER FOCUS FOR THE WEEK:

Lord, as many human hands
transform many grains of wheat
into a loaf of bread,
so may our small sacrifices
help towards the building up
of our human family.
We ask this through Jesus,
who is our brother,
and who fed the hungry.
Amen.

Text - copyright of Brother Nicholas Hutchinson, FSC
©2008 Emmaus Productions

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

Term 4 Week 1

Welcome Back to Term 4. I trust you had a restful and enjoyable term break. Please see information below regarding a number of upcoming events at Holy Cross in the coming weeks.

Term 4 Swimming P-3 – October 19th – November 27th. Mark the dates on your calendars. 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.

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!

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY
	(3 instructors)	(3 instructors)	(3 instructors)	(3 instructors)
9:00 – 10:00	Year 2H	Year 1H	Prep 0H	Year 3S
10:00 – 11:00	Year 2C	Year 1C	Prep 0C	Year 3C
11:00 – 12:00	Year 2S	Year 1S	Prep 0S	Year 3H

POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR FOCUS
Term 4
Week 1 – "I can be a hero, we can be heroes!"
How does this look?
How does this sound?
How does this feel?
Week 2 – Self, Others and Property

KEY DATES
Monday 12th October	Breaka Beach To Bush Presentation Upper Primary
Tuesday 13th October	Braveheart's Presentation Lower Primary
October 19th – November 27th	P – 3 Swimming Lessons
Friday 23rd October	Socktober Crazy Sock Day
Monday 26th October	Book Club Issue 7 Orders Due Back
Wednesday 11th November 9:00am	Remembrance Day Liturgy (multi-purpose area)
Saturday 14th November	Christmas Fair
Wednesday 2nd December 6:30pm	Year 6 Graduation Mass
Friday 4th December 11:00am	End of Year Whole School Mass

Many blessings for the week

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

School Notices

Important Police Message Regarding Traffic Congestion on Reed Road

The school has been advised that the Police will no longer be giving warnings to the traffic lining up on Reed Road in the afternoon.

This term they will be monitoring the traffic and will issue a ticket of $47 without warning for any drivers who are not respecting the road rules.

2015 Exiting Student Enrolments

Prep -Year 5 Exiting Enrolments – As we are beginning preparations for 2016 we ask that those families who are aware that they are relocating or moving your child to another school to please notify the office by Friday 30th October 2015. 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.

Non State Schools Transport Assistance Scheme

The Non State Schools Transport Assistance Scheme (NSSTAS) is of great financial benefit to many school communities, providing financial assistance for students attending non-state schools within Queensland.

The Scheme comprises:

• Bus Fare Assistance Programme – assists families with the cost of transporting their student on an approved bus service to non-state schools located outside the Brisbane City Council boundary, and
• Students With Disabilities – assists families with the cost of transporting their student by means that takes account of their disability to a non-state school.

For more information and eligibility requirements visit:

Year 6 Camp

Fantastic Camp Fun

Apex camp, Lake Tinaroo is an extreme school camp experience. They have loads of water sports and if you want to keep dry they have a range of land activities including orienteering, high ropes, low ropes and archery. It is highly recommended by the students of Holy Cross and the students would all give the camp a thumbs up to the camp. Sleeping is a breeze in the dorms, the meals are delicious and right across the road is a fantastic view.

Water Sports

At Apex camp, they have three main water sports and one of them is raft building. It is a fun outdoor, team activity where you build a raft with a small team and this activity helps you communicate with other people than who you usually talk with. We were all given a lesson in tying knots before we began. Our aim was to build a raft that we could sail on. There is also stand up paddle boarding a much easier activity but if you don't want to stand up you have the option to kneel instead. There is also canoeing, a lot like stand up paddle boarding but you sit down instead.

Land Sports

Archery is a lot of fun with a chance of a small injury from the bow string but a lot of fun, nonetheless. Orienteering was an activity where you go around in a group with a Walkie Talkie, a map and a task Sheet. We had to look around for little pieces of paper then tell a Apex camp worker what number and letter you found, and then answer a question he asks you. High ropes and low ropes are available too. Again it is a lot of fun and a quite simple activity where you walk across a long rope course.

Life In The Dorms

The dorms at Apex camp are cozy and peaceful. The beds inside the dorms are extremely comfortable and give you a good night sleep. The camp provides you with sheets to keep yourself warm. Inside the dorms it can be extremely warm at night so you sometimes don't even need a blanket or sleeping bag. If it's too warm they also have air conditioners.

Meal Times and Views

The food at Apex Camp was delicious and after a day of archery or stand up paddle boarding it feels great to get some food in your belly especially when it tastes so good.

The views at Apex camp are also amazing. The bushland is there to explore and the lake across the road in the morning, with the sun reflecting off it, and the mountains with the sun setting over them, is truly a fantastic view.

Camp Apex at Lake Tinaroo is truly a fantastic experience. The variety of activities meets the needs of children. The camp offers great food, wonderful views and comfortable accommodation.

Colby
Yr 6C

P & F News

Tuckshop News

TUCKSHOP ROSTER
TERM 4 WEEK 1		PARENT HELPERS	SLINKY HELPERS
WED	7/10/15	HELP REQUIRED	Bella W & Keely 4H
THU	8/10/15	HELP REQUIRED	Hannah C & Chloe M 5S
FRI	9/10/15	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

Instrumental Music News

STATE CHAMPIONS!

Last weekend, four students from Holy Cross School travelled to Townsville with Cairns Brass Junior Band to compete in the QLD State Band Championships.

Cairns Brass Junior Band, which is conducted my Miss Russell, is a community brass band, made up of 33 brass & percussion students aged between 9 and 16, who come from 10 different schools around Cairns.

The band performed in five sections over the weekend, including the street march, stage march, hymn tune, own choice test piece & entertainment sections.

The students all performed wonderfully and to an extremely high standard, and won all five sections of the competition, making them the overall QLD junior state champions!!

Please congratulate Kit (6S), Harry (6S), Tyler (5S) & Liam (4S) if you see them around the school, as this is a massive achievement.

HOLY CROSS BAND – Morning Rehearsals

Just a reminder that the Holy Cross band are now rehearsing before school every Tuesday from 7:45am to 8:30am. Thank you to all those students who remembered to arrive early on the very first day of term 4. There was an excellent turn out and Miss Russell was very pleased with both the number of students who arrived on time, and the very productive morning rehearsal that we had. Please keep up the excellent effort, as we have some big performances this term to prepare for.

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

Community Notices

Girl Guides

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