Welcome to Term 4. I hope everyone had a restful break. Staff spent the first day back developing a new Wellbeing Framework, fine tuning teaching and learning expectations, looking at the new RE courses and completing their mandatory training for CPR and asthma.

One of the topics for the first day back was also the development of a new student awards system. You will read more about this in Mrs McInerney’s section in this newsletter. We will trial this process in Term 4 and seek feedback from students, staff and parents then formally launch it in 2021. The concept is to reward student’s efforts and achievements across a broad range of areas and to have a levelled  system for students to work towards higher stages of attainment.

Even though the HSC exams don’t start until next Tuesday, there has been a steady stream of Year 12 students attending study sessions this week. I am hearing stories of students working hard over the holidays and sending lots of sample answers to teachers to check and provide feedback for. Hennessy is very fortunate to have such dedicated and generous teachers to help students to achieve the best possible outcomes possible.

On Tuesday we were very privileged to have our two new priests visit - Father Jiss Sunny and Father Yofeph Neonbasu. Father Joseph has been working in Darwin and Father Jiss comes from Gungahlin. They are both very keen to meet the students and to become a big part of the Hennessy community. On Tuesday they will be concelebrating the Leadership Mass for our new student leaders and we are looking forward to getting to know them better and for their ongoing spiritual guidance.

A group of Year 10 students have been involved in interviews for peer support this week and will commence training in Week 3. The Peer Support Program will officially begin next year. Year 10 students will work with groups of Year 7 students on a variety of activities and programs. This program is an excellent opportunity for leadership for Year 10 students and to assist new Year 7 students as they settle into high school. A big thank you to Miss Lucy Woods and Mr Simon Quin for taking responsibility for this program.

Due to COVID restrictions we are still unable to have a face to face Community Council Open Forum. We are currently planning a virtual Open Forum on Tuesday, October 27 with a guest speaker who specialises in mental health - we will send out more details next week.

Updated COVID restrictions have not changed a lot since Term 3. We are still not able to have adults on site when students are present unless this is considered essential. Students and staff are not to attend school if they are sick and need to provide a negative result before returning to school. We will be allowed to have Year 7 orientation days after November 12.

It is so refreshing to see such abundant rainfall, we continue to pray that the weather is kind to us as we move into harvest and fruit picking times.

Please do not hesitate to phone or email me if you have any questions or concerns about your child’s education or wellbeing.