Welcome to Week 4. Congratulations to our Year 12 students who completed their last HSC exam yesterday (Physics). We are very proud of their positive attitude during the exams and all the hard work they have done in preparing for the final exams. HSC exam results and ATAR results are available to students on December 15. The Year 12 Mass and Graduation Dinner is next Friday, November 10, commencing with the Mass in St Mary’s Church at 5:00 pm, all members of the Hennessy community are very welcome to join us at the Mass in farewelling the Class of 2023.

This is our first week of the expectation that either the new hat or current College cap is worn when on the oval and for all outdoor practical classes. Students are responding very positively to this initiative, please remember that hats can be purchased on Qkr or at the Front Office.

I am sure that, like me, you find the current situation in Israel and Gaza to be very sad and concerning. Last Friday this prayer was shared in PC classes:

We need to be aware of those students who are strongly affected by the images found on TV and social media. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s House Leader if you are concerned about their wellbeing in this area.

A reminder as we move into Term 4, of the importance of a high level of attendance to maximise learning and progress. At this time of year we remind families that there is no such thing as ‘Harvest Leave’. Whilst we understand why families may seek to have their children assist with this, the College has to comply with CE Attendance Policy and the NSW Department of Education Guidelines. Therefore absences for this reason will need to be recorded as unapproved leave.

The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is a very special one. I enjoyed meeting many grandparents at this mornings Mass and barbeque.

Over the past 4 weeks both Mrs McInerney and I have had the opportunity to work with the 2023/ 2024 Student Leadership Team. We have been extremely pleased with their organisation and effort in establishing themselves as leaders for the College and appreciate their honest and fruitful meetings. On our retreat earlier this term, our student leaders went through a discernment process to present three focus areas during their leadership. These areas are Wellbeing (physical, mental, social, environmental and spiritual), School Spirit and Community Action.

In the Wellbeing space the student leaders would like to see some holistic education for the College community. In light of this focus I would like the College Community to be aware that there are two counsellors that the College facilitates through Mary Meade/ CatholicCare. Students may see the counsellors for a variety of reasons from time management, stress, anxiety and any other issue. All counselling appointments are confidential and are communicated to students through their email and appear on their Compass as an appointment. Bek Sheely is based on the School ground for 7 days a fortnight and provides a face to face counselling service located in A Block. Laura Hazelwood is available each week on Thursday and Friday and is based online through TeleHealth, which is a great preference for students who do not feel so comfortable with face to face. Both counsellors are available for appointments until the end of the year. If you are interested in more information please feel free to contact laura.hazelwood@mccg.org.au or contact me on mary.wright@cg.catholic.edu.au

This weekend is the Hennessy Parish Mass followed by Parish Youth Group. We would love to see as many students and families as possible attend Mass. Students will also receive a House Point for participation. Youth Group is a fun hour and a half after mass where students from Year 7 to 12 have the opportunity to share in food, fun and faith.

On Tuesday 7 November, Hennessy staff and students will celebrate Melbourne Cup by dressing up as movie characters, having fashions and activities for gold coin donations. All monies raised will go to the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal.

Each house will be raising money for the cause by holding stalls.

GALLAGHER

McAULEY

This Melbourne Cup - Tuesday 7th November McAuley House will be offering the viral Tik Tok trend of Strawberry Chocolate Cups. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc7xhd_fmmWx8NtfsQARNn1B17cj1qq5QzkiAXNFrI1VthTcA/viewform?usp=sf_link

NAGLE

RICE 

Welcome back to the second instalment of the leaders lounge brought to you by the leaders of the best house, Paul and Fraser. 

With a great start to the first half of term 4 Hennessy has had an amazing week, with Socktober giving students the opportunity to get involved with the school community. During Socktober each PC had the opportunity to personalise and design their own pair of socks. Then Tuesday morning, PC representatives prepared their amazing modelling skills to wow the judges with their crazy socks and present them to the whole school, each pair showing amazing creativity and innovation. Donations collected during PC and from the wild soccer shootout, carried out by our captains, went towards Catholic Mission to help in assisting underdeveloped communities that lack resources. 

Over the weekend Hennessy also helped facilitate the Community Spring Fair which a whopping 20 students came and helped with on the day, from cooking up some of Mrs Wright's A-grade chips to painting the faces of many kids (and James Payne the Gallagher Lion). The fair was a major success thanks to the help from Hennessy students, the community coming together and the many talented performers. 

Coming up, Melbourne Cup Day! This Tuesday Hennessy will take part in the Melbourne Cup, with stalls during breaks 1 and 2, minute to win it challenges, and fashions on the field with the theme ‘Movies’. Stalls for breaks 1 and 2 will consist of drinks, chocolate dipped strawberries, a BBQ and cakes which will raise money to go towards St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. Progressing on to activities students will be able to take to the stage for fashions on the field and show their school spirit in the challenges that the school captains have cooked up along with movie and Melbourne Cup themed trivias. With Tuesday nearing we can't wait to see what everyone has planned for their dress-ups for Melbourne Cup, I know we sure can't wait to show off ours! 

Don't forget to keep involved during PC there will be plenty of opportunities to get involved and gain some points for your house. With the Parish mass this Saturday and plenty of help needed running stalls for Melbourne Cup there are tonnes of opportunities to get involved and win the House Cup. Overall it has been an amazing first half to term 4 with many more amazing weeks to come!

Thanks for tuning into this week's edition of “The Leaders Lounge!” 

Keep on carrying the boats, 

Paul Barrett and Fraser Johnson 
Gallager House Captains 

Congratulations to Sarah McDonald who had a very successful Dancing weekend with great results, placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd & HC's. What an amazing achievement!

Congratulations to the following students who have recently gained some exciting news;

Sarah McDonald has been invited to a workshop/audition at the Lee Academy of Dance in February next year. If Sarah is accepted she will study a Diploma of Professional Dance (Elite Performance) in 2025 and pursue her dream to become a professional dancer

Lily Murphy who has been accepted, along with 60 other students from across NSW and the ACT, into the Engineering Summer school in week 9 this term. Lily will travel to Sydney for 5 days and experience some wonderful opportunities and experiences including visits to the engineering faculties of USYD, UOW, UNSW, Macquarie and UTS. She will also be visiting
▪ RAAF Richmond (Defence/mechanical/electrical/aerospace/aeronautical/software/systems)
▪ BlueScope Steel in Wollongong (materials/structural/mechanical/chemical)
▪ WestConnex (electrical/mechanical/software/systems/civil/structural)
▪ ANSTO (Nuclear/chemical/medical/mechanical/software/materials)
▪ Cochlear (biomedical/mechanical/software/electrical/mechatronics/materials)
The 5-day program is recognised by NSW Universities and serves to support students’ application into Engineering Degree courses in 2025.

Will Glover and Jaydon Millar who will be undertaking a work trial to possibly secure an apprenticeship with former HCC ex student Blake McGrath who now runs his own construction company called City to Country Carpentry

Ashley Langfield who is going to the ANU School of Music for work experience in week 8 but has been especially asked to assist the Canberra Symphony Orchestra with a performance they have scheduled during that time. They have invited Ashley to take a tour their offices and facilities in central Canberra before the concert.

Last week the Hennessy Catholic College Cricket team from Years 7, 8 and 9 played round 1 of the Berg Shield against Trinity Catholic College Goulburn. Whilst today was not their day on the pitch all played with great sportsmanship and enthusiasm.

Yesterday our open boys played Mater Dei Wagga in the Downie Trophy cricket competition, unfortunately the boys were defeated in a very good game of cricket. Batting first Hennessy scored 166 from their 40 overs. Top scorers Jack Woods 47, Oscar Roberts 35 and James Payne 27. In reply the Wagga team chased down our total in 37 overs. Best bowling figures goes to James Payne 2 for 44. 

Hennessy Agricultre students have once again excelled as they won Champion Lamb on the Hook, at Bribbaree show out of 36 lambs!

Thank you Adele for attending the awards night on behalf of the students.

This morning Hennessy students had the opportunity to recognise their grandparents by attending Mass and breakfast. 

It was wonderful to see so many students, parents, grandparents, and all those who are special in our lives attend today. 

The Year 12 IT class have been learning about computer Operating System and software installation, configuration, optimisation and troubleshooting. Here are some tips that you may find useful:

“If you have a problem, turn it off and on again.” - Zac (Thank you Zac..)

“Always backup your devices - to either the cloud or an external storage device such as a usb or an SD card” - Kirby 

“Don’t install programs or apps you don’t know about.” - Louis

“Use common sense when downloading things off the internet” - Willem

“Don’t use or give your friends passwords even if they say they need it.”- Louis

“Don't use the same password for everything” - Kirby

“Don't let your laptop go flat before charging it” - Kirby

How to check your battery saver settings;

Battery icon

Mac - top right, battery preferences

Windows - bottom right, battery saver

How to get to settings in Chrome and how to activate memory & battery saver for windows: 

1. Go into chrome 
2. Find the three dots next to profile click on them and go down to settings and open it 
3. Whilst in settings go to performance to see memory saver and energy saver 
4. Click on memory saver to activate it and then chrome will use less memory
5. Repeat process and click on memory saver again to deactivate it if wanted or if the tab is still in the top bar go to the tab and click on memory saver to deactivate it if wanted 

You could add google.com to keep sites active if you find Google Workspace slow

More info at - Personalise Chrome performance

Websites

Windows News

Windows Support site

Apple News

Apple Support site