Welcome to Week 6! We celebrated Hennessy Day last Friday. The day began with a mass which was both meaningful and engaging for the students. The theme was the challenge of the gospel ‘I was hungry and you fed me, cold and you clothed me ...whenever you did this to the least of my friends, you did it to me’ (Matthew 25:36) Miss Doherty put a lot of effort into the planning of this mass to ensure that this was a memorable and special experience for everyone. It was lovely to see parents and parishioners also able to join us.Father Yoseph showcased his vocal skills and enthusiastically involved the students in singing. We even had a lamb make a brief appearance to highlight the gospel story! Thank you to Miss Doherty and everyone who assisted on the day.

Hennessy Day continued with a pyjama theme, various stalls were operated by the Houses during the break and the afternoon involved PC groups rotating through a variety of activities managed by Year 12 students. Overall PC winners were Rice 3 who were awarded a trophy at assembly on Monday. Days like this showcase the importance of community at Hennessy where students and staff spend time together in a relaxed and fun-filled environment.

Mr Damien Foley will be taking up a new teaching position at St Paul’s Walla Walla before the end of term. Mr Foley is a very talented musician and teacher who joined Hennessy in 2019 and has made a great contribution to the College during his time here and we wish him all the best in his new appointment. Advertising is underway for a new staff member.

We had a film crew here from Catholic Education yesterday to produce footage for their curriculum promotional material. Like many schools across the archdiocese, we are involved in professional learning which is based on evidence on how we can best teach students so that information is retained in their long term memory. All staff are involved in this training but we also have a group of five teachers who are doing more intensive training - Mrs Sharon Hibbert, Mrs Rayleigh Keith, Mr Ian Mergard, Mr Conor Quinn and Miss Jess Buchanan. These teachers were interviewed for the filming and Mrs Hibbert and Miss Buchanan’s lessons were also filmed. The crew commented on how well behaved and mature our students were.

Our annual Open Day will be held next Thursday from 1:30 - 4:00 pm. There will be the opportunity to visit classes, see displays, meet students and staff and be a part of the Hennessy experience. Please encourage anyone you know who would be interested in this event.

Please do not hesitate to contact me by email (kathy.holding@cg.catholic.edu.au) if you have any concerns or queries.

Kathy Holding