Welcome to our first newsletter for Term 3. I hope families had a restful break during the holiday period. Students have returned in a very settled and focused manner. Staff spent their first day back working with Mark Walsh and Eamonn Pollard from the Edmund Rice Foundation. They developed staff knowledge of the Edmund Rice charism and challenged staff to consider ways in which the charism of Edmund Rice is alive in the lived experience of the Hennessy community.

It is with mixed feelings that I announce the resignation of Miss Hayes at the end of the year. Miss Hayes is an outstanding teacher of English and History from Years 7 to 12. Her students have received excellent results and she is much respected and liked as a supportive and caring teacher and colleague. Miss Hayes will be teaching in England which is an amazing opportunity for her. We wish her all the best for her next career step.

Today Year 10 have the opportunity to come to school with their parents for an interview regarding their Year 11 subject selection or work plans. This is a new initiative designed to assist students to make the best possible choices as they complete Year 10. Students are reminded that the NSW law requires them to attend school until they turn 17. With a special exemption they may move to a full-time traineeship or apprenticeship in Year 10 and to work of at least 25 hours per week in Year 11.

On Tuesday night we hosted a subject market and information evening for students entering Year 11 in 2024. This evening was very well attended and it was wonderful to see so many new prospective students from Cootamundra in attendance. A big thank you to Mr Morton, Mr Mergard and all the KLA Leaders for their work in preparing for this evening.

Next Thursday we will be holding our parent/student/teacher interviews both face-to-face and online from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm. Please go to Compass to see details on how to book these interviews. I would encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to be able to discuss their child’s progress with their teacher.

At last night’s Community Council meeting, we discussed how positively the new canteen menu is being received. Students are encouraged to purchase via the app if possible. Hopefully, if all building works have been completed we will return to the canteen rather than the food technology room. The council also finalised the new school/sports hat colours. This will mean revised expectations for our Sun Safe policy, the hats will be available to purchase from the Front Office in Term 4.

During the break, I had the privilege of attending the UK Study Tour with 12 other principals and educators. We visited schools and conferences and listened to speakers during our time, it was evident that the science of learning is very embedded in the English schools (our archdiocese is also embarking on this journey to ensure that evidence-based teaching is happening in classrooms). My three big takeaways from my trip were:

• Students do their best when fully engaged in the classroom, this can be helped by routines and consistent expectations across the school. At Hennessy one of the ways we are doing this is through Daily Review using mini whiteboards in many classes.
• All students need to be given challenging work but with low threat. Teachers need to have high expectations of all students to ensure that each child is making appropriate progress.
• Oracy skills for students are very important and should be explicitly taught because each student has the right to develop their own confident voice. The schools we visited coached students to respond with one-to-one or to a larger group using correct stance, voice level and gestures to improve their communication skills.

Hennessy is still in the early days of their science of learning journey. To date, nearly 20 teachers have been trained in High Impact teaching Practices with more to do the 5-day course next year. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like more information about this initiative.