Dear Holy Cross Parents and Carers,

My Grandmother was an avid reader and captivating storyteller. From Shakespeare’s sonnets to Dickens’ dramas and the timeless tales of the Brothers Grimm, she had a gift for bringing stories to life. So, when I returned to school after the holidays sporting a broken ankle and foot, I decided to channel her storytelling spirit and share a tale of my own. It went something like this:

During the holidays, an unexpected visitor took up residence under my bed - a mutant aardvark who had, rather dramatically, escaped from the zoo. On the final morning of the holiday, I leapt out of bed with the enthusiasm only a teacher can muster at the thought of school starting the next day. In my excitement, I failed to notice the aardvark’s large tail poking out from beneath the bed, and I jumped on it. Startled, the aardvark whipped around, his long snout catching me squarely and sending me flying. The result…one broken ankle, one broken foot, and one very confused zoo escapee. The rest, as they say, is painful history…

I was very proud of my dramatic fabricated recount, but sadly, none of the students believed me. Clearly, I’ve inherited my grandmother’s love of storytelling but not quite her talent.

Two people who certainly weren’t lacking in storytelling talent were the Brothers Grimm. For over 200 years, the tales of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm have enchanted children and adults alike. Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel… the list goes on. But one lesser-known gem is The Moon, a short tale later adapted into an opera by German composer Carl Orff.

It’s a curious and thought-provoking story. Four rowdy lads live in a land of complete darkness – no sun by day, no moon or stars by night. One day, they stumble upon a land where the moon hangs from a tree (as you do), and they decide to steal it and bring it home. They charge people for moonlight – a bit cheeky, yes, but enterprising! Eventually, they grow old and die, and with each passing, a piece of the moon is buried with them. The light disappears… until Petrus, ruler of the sky, descends to the dead, retrieves the moon’s pieces, and hangs them back in the sky for all to enjoy.

Beyond the fairy tale, there’s a deeper message here, one that resonates with Christian symbolism. Light, in many traditions, represents hope, truth, and love. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12). And later, “You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14). Just like Petrus restored the moonlight, we too are called to bring light into the lives of others through kindness, compassion, and service.

It’s easy to slip into criticism, complaint, or judgement; we all do it especially when the kettle’s empty or someone’s left crumbs in the butter, but when we choose patience, understanding, and generosity, we reflect something far greater. We become the light in someone else’s story.

And just like those four lads who lost their way, we too might stumble but for the beauty of life and faith. We can always retrieve the ‘pieces’, hang them back in the sky, and shine again.

So, as we turn the pages of our own stories – sometimes filled with laughter, sometimes with aardvarks – let’s remember the power we have to be light-bearers in the lives of our children and our community. Read with them, laugh with them, share your stories (even the embarrassing ones), and help them discover the joy of storytelling, not just in books, but in the way we live, love, and learn.

So go on, embrace the challenge and make your life a story worth telling, and help your children do the same.

Fondest regards,

Sarah

"This week for Science Week Year 5 had the exciting opportunity to meet the author and illustrator of the new book 'Peculiar Parents' through a Q&A set up by the National Library of Australia. This book is about 60 Australian animals focusing on all things family from picking a mate, making a home, having babies, finding food and looking after one another. We got to meet an ecologist from Wildbark Learning Centre at Mulligans Flat where we learnt about the New Holland mouse, and how when they give birth, their babies are the size of a grain of rice!  During the session with author Stephanie Owen Reeder and illustrator Ingrid Bartkowiak, we also learnt how to draw a realistic cockatoo like they have in the book! Peculiar Parents is a great book because it teaches you all about the many different Australian animal species and their weird and wonderful ways of living!" - Chanya & Jooah 5S.

"Tomatoes for our tuckshop! It’s the season to enjoy the fruits of Garden Gang's labour in the Kitchen Garden. This Service and Outreach group’s hard work in looking after the space and creating nourishing compost is being seen in all the beautiful vegetables, fruits and herbs that are growing at the moment. Sustainability Superstars!"

"The Reef Guardians have been working tirelessly all year to reduce waste entering our waterways. Each Friday, members of the Reef Guardian Service Group roll up their sleeves to collect, wash, sort, and recycle used poppers, milk and juice bottles, and cans. It’s not always the cleanest job, but their dedication is making a real difference to our school’s commitment as a proud Reef Guardian school and stewards of this land. Along the way, students learn practical ways to protect marine life such as cutting the plastic rings from bottles to prevent them from becoming dangerous traps for animals. Beyond their weekly recycling efforts, the Reef Guardians are also active educators. Through posters and other creative resources, they raise awareness and help the Containers for Change program run smoothly for our whole school community."

BOOK WEEK @ HOLY CROSS IN 2025

One glorius week of the year!

Week 7: Monday 25th August to Friday 29th August

Reading opens so many different avenues and opportunities. We love Book Week and highlighting the importance of reading at Holy Cross! It’s a time to share our enthusiasm for reading, literature, books, authors and illustrators. At Holy Cross, we believe reading is so important that it is our compulsory home learning activity across all year levels.

THE GREAT BOOK SWAP

The Year 5 Community Crew and the Library Team will be working together to facilitate ‘The Great Book Swap’. This social justice project celebrates reading and raises much-needed funds to buy books for remote Australian communities. This year we will be supporting ROOP (Reading Out Of Poverty). All funds raised will help our local Yarrabah community with 5 pop-up libraries and 2,500 culturally inclusive books to support Indigenous children with stories that reflect their identity and empower families to build strong reading cultures at home.

How does it work?

STEP 1: Collection Phase (Week 7) - bring in a pre-loved book

In Week 7 during Book Week, children bring in a pre-loved book in good condition with a gold coin donation to the library before school. The Community Crew will be there to look after the collection. All money raised will go directly to ROOP. Children get to enjoy the gift of giving, helping others and experience stewardship.

STEP 2: Swap Phase (Week 8) - choose one pre-loved book

All children who have donated a book with a gold coin donation, will get to choose a book from the swap table of pre-loved books for their personal library on Week 8 Friday 5th September. Books bring such joy, anticipation and excitement as you will see in the video below.

STEP 3: Reading Phase - read, read, read!

Click on the link below to view one of our previous Great Book Swaps.

BOOK WEEK DRESS UP DAY - Friday 29th August

Dress up either as your favourite BOOK character and bring the book
OR
Dress in the 2025 theme “Book an Adventure”

Click on the link below to see travel pics of our staff on their adventures because reading takes you places.

We will celebrate the end of the week with our Book Week Assembly and all things books. We strongly encourage all students to participate. It is a truly fun day. We would love families to be creative and sustainable with their dress up ideas. I know for some families Book Week costume design is an exciting family activity.

Please note for safety reasons, students are required to wear closed in shoes and sun safe clothing. They will need to wear their school hat at play time.

Families are encouraged to come and watch the Assembly. Alternatively, join our webinar to see all of the fabulous dress ups. There will be many photos taken and shared with families.

Remember, Reading is Awesome!!

Jo Neil
Teacher Librarian

UPCYCLING OLD SCHOOL UNIFORMS - (UPPAREL)

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As part of the stewardship charism that we practice at Holy Cross, the year 6 leadersare looking to upcycle old school uniforms. We have teamed up with the recycling company Upparel to help us repurpose and reuse our old school uniforms. Upparel is a company who supports schools with less opportunity to have uniforms. By collecting all these uniforms, we’ll be sustainable and working as a community to reuse, repurpose and recycle. Upparel reuse clothes for Australian charities and not-for-profits, they also breakdown old materials to create new fibre used in packaging, homewares and more. The year 6 leaders are hosting this donation and we urge you to gather any old uniforms and drop them off to the school office for collection.

Click on the link below for more information or to register:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars 

Click on the link below to access to view the videos:

https://cspqld.schoolzineplus.com/newsletter/article/52

Catholic Education in the Diocese of Cairns is committed to developing an educational and organizational culture based on mutual trust and respect. At Holy Cross School, we are committed to providing a safe and supportive working and learning environment for all employees and students. We acknowledge that employees, students and parents may sometimes have a complaint about a decision, behaviour, act or omission that they feel is unacceptable. While most issues can be resolved through direct discussion between the parties concerned, there may be instances in which this is not possible.

2025

TERM 3

AUG 17 - First Eucharist - 10:00am - Holy Cross Church

AUG 21 - Cairns Museum Incursion - Year 2

AUG 22 - Fowlers Cup Netball Carnival

AUG 25 - Cairns Aquarium, Museum, St Monica's Cathedral Excursion - Year 3

AUG 25-29 - Book Week

AUG 29 - Book Week Assembly

AUG 29 - OSHC Re-enrolments close (existing families + siblings)

SEP 1 - OSHC Enrolments open (New families 2026)

SEP 1-4 - Year 6 Camp - Tinaroo Environmental Education Centre

SEP 4 - Chess - 2025 Far North Queensland Inter-School Competition

SEP 5 - Dad's Day Out

SEP 8-11 - Year 3 to Year 6 Swimming

SEP 12 - Holy Cross Day

SEP 15-18 - Year 3 to Year 6 Swimming

SEP 19 - Mary Mills Cup Netball Carnival

SEP 19 - Last Day Term 3

Position vacant
Casual School Crossing Supervisor

A position exists for a Casual School Crossing Supervisor at Holy Cross School.

• A School Crossing Supervisor must be able to work in all-weather conditions.
• Morning and afternoon shifts (on a rostered basis).
• Relief opportunities on your rostered days off.
• Pay Rate $37.10 per hour.

Commencement of employment for the successful applicant is dependent on:

• The favourable outcome of a health assessment.
• A Positive Notice Blue Card (you do not need to have a blue card to apply for the position).

Please call Kim at Transport and Main Roads for an application package on 0428 964 745.

Not every survey is a load of rubbish!

Cairns Regional Council is developing a new three year waste strategy and we want to hear from you!

We want to know how you deal with your household waste – and give you the chance to WIN one of four $250 VISA cards in the process.

Simply complete the quick survey on how you dispose of household rubbish and you can go into the draw to win one of four prepaid VISA cards.

It will only take 10 minutes to help us understand where we can do better together.

From the reef to the rainforest, let’s keep Cairns beautiful.

Feast of the Assumption

We want to honour our parents.  You saw (and hopefully still see) that desire in the eyes of your young children, as they looked to you with such trust, offering the flower, the shell or the picture they drew.  As we grow older, conflicts can arise with our own parents but the deep-seated urge is still there, which is why such conflict is so painful.

Jesus honoured his parents – both God his Father and Mary his human mother.  Even beyond death he honoured her.  This Friday is the Feast of the Assumption in which we recall and celebrate that Mary’s body, after death, was taken to heaven to be with Jesus in his risen and glorious state.  Our heads find it hard to get around the meaning of this Feast but our hearts understand:  Jesus wants to continue to honour his mother, who had shown him such honour here on earth.  This glory that he gives to her is a sign to us of the ultimate glory he wishes to give us.  We are made for glory, we are made to give and receive honour.

Aside from Jesus and Mary, there is no perfect parent-child relationship but the desire for a deep, rich and trusting relationship with our parents remains with us.  Let us pray to Jesus and Mary, that through the maze of life, we may find, in the coming days, ways honour and love our parents. And, if we are parents, may we love our children in a way that draws out their honour.

Loving Father, as we celebrate the honour Jesus gave to Mary his mother, show us how we can celebrate and honour each other within our families.  We ask this in his name, confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris osb