Welcome to Week 8. On Wednesday and yesterday, we had the great pleasure of hosting 79 Year 6 students who will be our new Year 7, 2025. We have students from St Mary’s Young, St Joseph’s Boorowa, St Joseph’s Grenfell, Trinity Murrumburrah, Young Public, Young North, Murringo Public and Greenethorpe Public. The three orientation days are a great opportunity for the students to meet their new classmates and teachers and participate in many subject activities. 

On Tuesday,  Hennessy and St Mary’s participated in a beautiful mass to celebrate the Nativity of Mary. Father Jiss and Deacon Mark commented on the reverence and behaviour of these students and the excellent readers and talented musicians.

Year 11 will begin their End of Course exams tomorrow. We wish them all the best. This is their first opportunity to be part of the formal examination process. Many students will also use this opportunity to make decisions about which subjects to take into Year 12.

Hennessy is always proud to offer a wide range of experiences that allow students to develop their individual talents. We were very proud of our Senior Lawn Bowls Team who won the 2024 Inter-Schools Challenge State Finals in Sydney yesterday. This is a remarkable achievement and a big recognition must go to Mr Watson for his work developing this new sport at Hennessy this year.

You may have been following Pope Francis’s tour through Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and Singapore. It is reassuring to see the large crowds who are turning out to see him. It is worth considering his message that the Church needs ‘to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor’. He emphasises that the Church needs to be a listening church attuned to the current times to better proclaim the Gospel message to each new generation.

Just a reminder that the last day of term, September 27, and the first day of next term, October 14, are Pupil Free Days.