It has been my pleasure to experience our College on full display in the last fortnight with the many opportunities provided to our students. Last week, the Year 10 CSYMA class provided another retreat experience for the Year 4 students of St Mary’s Primary School as well as those from the parish community. In this experience students focussed on the sacrament that the Year 4’s were about to make, but were also inclusive of all students who attended the retreat which was titled “A Place at the Table”. A big thankyou to all students who were involved in Year 10 and Year 4, to the teachers of St Mary’s Mrs Sullivan and Mrs Gorman, and to Jessica Buchanan in organising the retreat. 

As we end the term, parents and students are reminded of the importance of attendance. Every day counts at Hennessy, and to ensure that your student is meeting the requirements to achieve their Stage outcomes at Hennessy it is imperative that parents inform the College of absences that students have upcoming due to illness or other reasons. This includes students who are arriving late or leaving before the end of the school day. Please notify an absence through Compass or by contacting the front office. Parents may have already received emails to notify of unexplained absences and are asked to follow up on these. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s House Leader.

Term 2 and 3 are Winter Uniform months. There are some students who are struggling to arrive at school in the appropriate uniform. A reminder that the College uniform is a representation of the pride that we have in our school and our connection to it. Wearing our full College uniform demonstrates our respect to our community. If you have any questions or are having any issues accessing uniform items, please contact your child’s House Leader or myself who will be able to assist. Please see below for the process of the College Uniform Policy:

Hennessy Catholic College has a clear process for managing uniform infringements:

Staff will ask students to rectify an incorrect uniform item immediately (removal of extra earring, tying hair up). 

1. 1st infringement: Students receive a warning from the PC teacher or teacher and record this on Compass.
2. 2nd infringement: PC teacher or teacher records the infringement on Compass. Students will have a detention outside the House Leaders for break 1 and the teacher will email parents.
3. 3rd infringement: PC teacher or teacher records the infringement on Compass. Students will have a detention outside the House Leaders for break 1 and the House Leader will email parents.
4. 4th infringement: PC teacher or teacher records the infringement on Compass. Students will have a detention outside the House Leaders for break 1 and the House Leader will call parents.
5. 5th infringement: PC teacher or teacher records the infringement on Compass. Students will be withdrawn from class for the full day. The Director of Students or the Assistant Principal Mission and Ministry will contact parents.

If a student is unable to wear the correct uniform, the school should be informed via a note, email or phone call to the student's Pastoral Care Teacher. A time frame as to when the uniform will be corrected should also be included. The process will reset each term.

Next week I will travel with the Year 10’s to their Ski Excursion. This is a momentous occasion for our Year 10 students who have not yet been able to attend an overnight excursion with the College due to COVID restrictions of the previous years. For some, this will be their first time seeing snow, and for others (like me) this will be the first time skiing. I look forward to sharing this important time with the Year 10 students. 

St Mary’s Parish Youth Group will be occurring on the last Saturday of every month - this month - it will be on Saturday the 24th of June. This is a great time to spend enjoying each others presence and to continue our faith journey. Youth group is held directly after the parish mass (Mass begins at 6pm) and ends at 8.30pm. Dinner is provided and there is no cost. Please email me on mary.wright@cg.catholic.edu.au for catering purposes by the 22nd of June if you would like to attend.