Welcome to Week 5.

I have spent most of this week in Bowral at Principals’ meetings and the annual Principals’ Retreat. Thank you to Mr Andrew Morton who has been Acting Principal in my absence.

Last Thursday was a significant day for our community as we celebrated our Opening College Mass. The mass was a very beautiful event which was a fitting way to officially start our new school year and to congratulate Vice Captains, Year Captains and Peer Support Leaders, to recognise the Dux for 2023 (James Cronin), and to welcome new students and staff. A very big thank you to all those involved, especially Miss Emily Coffee (her first major event as Liturgy and Events Coordinator), Mrs Mary Wright and Mrs Catherine Riordan. It was wonderful to see so many parents, carers and parishioners in attendance.

Pastoral care is a very big part of the Hennessy experience. On Tuesday, Years 7 and 8 then 9 and 10 were entertained and challenged by attending a concert called ‘Mentally Sound’. The big themes of this presentation were that it is okay to not feel okay, keep an eye out for your friends and seek support if needed. It was very fortuitous that we were also able to introduce our new Catholic Care counsellor,  Kristin Morris. Kristin will join Laura our current telehealth counsellor. Kristin will be at Hennessy from Tuesday to Thursday each week. We are very fortunate to have Kristin and Laura supporting our students. It is a very complex world which our students are a part of and it is likely that there will be times when the support of an adult who has expertise in mental health is needed. Please remember that students under the age of 14 need parental permission to attend counselling sessions.

Each of our four Houses are busily involved in fundraising for Caritas as part of our mission to ‘Live Justly’. A big thank you to our families who are supporting these very worthy fundraising efforts.

Academically the year has started very busily at Hennessy. Our senior students have received their assessments for this term. Students will need to ensure they have adequate time to complete tasks to the best of their ability. What they need most of all is time and must balance commitments outside of school and in the classroom, remembering every lesson counts.

For year 10-12  students we have processes around illness, misadventure and extensions. These, as well as appropriate forms,  can be found in the Student handbooks on the College website, their year group Google classroom pages and the Student Drive.

Some important points:

• If a student is absent for a task, they make contact with the College and myself - morton@cg.catholic.edu.au on the morning of the task.
• If a student is sick or unable to attend school on the day of the task, then they can apply for Illness/Misadventure and have the task rescheduled for when they get back. If it’s a hand in and they can still submit this from home on time, no paperwork is required.
• If the task is an in class task it is expected students must be present all day.
• All paperwork is required within 3 days of their return to school.

Extensions are only granted under exceptional circumstances; these need to be discussed with the class teacher first but then the students need to contact me directly to confirm if they have sufficient grounds.

Our ongoing assessment program in Years 7-10 is also well underway and many students have already received their common task for this term.

At the mid point of the term, unfortunately, we also have students starting to acquire negative points in the classroom. Students are reminded that what happens in the classroom is important and our core business as a school. Students should not be denying themselves or others in the class an opportunity to learn. Stay focused and do your best.

Remember, staff are here to help. Early and continual communication allows for collaboration between staff, students and parents and leads to positive outcomes.

Andrew Morton
Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning

Last week, we celebrated the College’s Opening Mass. I would like to thank Emily Coffee, Catherine Riordan and Jessica Buchanan who organised students and the Mass for a wonderful celebration and welcoming of our new students. It was great to see the amount of support from so many of our parents attending with us. It was also pleasing to see how many students took up the many opportunities for leadership at the College as we announced the Peer Support Leaders, the Year Level Captains and the House Vice Captains.

I would also like to acknowledge the many students and their families who attended the Hennessy Parish Mass last weekend. There was a large number of students and their families sharing in this important community celebration.

This year our wellbeing program is focussing around the identified areas of need that our Student Leadership Team has provided us with. This term in particular we are looking at the relationships with our peers as well as mental health. Year 7 to 10 were able to participate in the Mentally Sound concert where students engaged in a musically produced show that highlighted Mental Health and the support that was available.

I would also like to introduce Kristen Morris who is our School Counsellor based here at the College on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Kristin is available to be booked by students for mid term counselling and support, as well as group sessions and other mental health practices. Students Under 14 will need parental permission to see the counsellor on a one on one basis. https://mccg.my.site.com/housing/s/school-referral-form

A reminder about the uniform expectations of the College. I met with the ladies of the College on Wednesday morning to discuss appropriate skirt length (to the knee), jewellery and chewing gum. Please refer to the uniform policy should you have any questions. Chewing gum is not permitted at all at the College.
I would like to personally congratulate the Year Level Captains on their new roles for the Year. This week the Year 9 and Year 10 Year Level Captains have already organised their first event with SWS sports and activities. A great morning was had by all - as the Year 9’s competed against the Year 10’s. The games were recorded and most games ended in a draw, the overall result was an even draw with Year 10’s (McAuley, Gallagher and Rice). winning 3 games and Year 9 Nagle winning 3 games.

Our CARITAS and Project Compassion fundraising has started with a bang. The Year 12’s raised over $100 for Pancake Tuesday and Gallagher over $400 for their cake stall. This week we saw McAuley roll out their Cadbury Chocolate fundraiser - please contact Mrs McGrath if you think you could help out with selling the handful of remaining boxes and next week we will see Nagle’s 100 club fundraiser and their St Patrick’s Day Mufti Day. Rice will round off the fundraising in Week 7.

Welcome back to the 2024 Leadership Team’s second instalment of the Leaders Lounge for this year! This week’s edition will be brought to you by the McAuley House Leaders, Sarah and Oli. 

We have finally reached the halfway point for the first term of 2024 and Hennessy has already had such a busy 5 weeks! To start off, Hennessy celebrated our Opening School Mass for 2024 where we welcomed all the returning members of our school, as well as recognising the new staff and students from Year 7 to 11. We also took the time to announce and present official badges to our Year Level Captains, Peer Support Team and House Vice Captains for Year 11! A special thank you to Ms Coffee, Mrs Wright, Father Jis, Deacon Mark, the music department and volunteers who were involved in putting together such a beautiful opening mass!

Hennessy also joined St Mary’s church in helping celebrate our first Parish Mass for the year, which gave students the opportunity to get involved within the wider community, as well as connecting them to their spiritual faith. It was amazing to see so many students who offered their time to help with either the music, altar serving, reading or just coming down to help support - Mrs Wright and parishioners all greatly appreciated the effort and congratulate the students!

Also, congratulations to all of our students who represented Canberra Goulburn at the U15’s and Opens Touch football in Wagga earlier throughout the term. A special congratulations to 9 of our students who gained selection in the Canberra Goulburn/Wagga combined teams to play at the NSWCCC Championships! Great effort everyone!

Throughout the next couple of weeks, each house will be holding their fundraising events in support of Caritas Australia. Last week, Gallagher held a cake stall with students bringing in a large range of cakes and slices to sell to raise funds for the charity. Currently, McAuley has been fundraising this week, selling boxes of Cadbury chocolates in hopes to raise a large amount of funds. Rice will then follow with their bbq and Nagle with a mufti day event.

During Week 5, Hennessy is also focusing on Mental Health Awareness Week as part of our Student Wellbeing sessions. Students from Years 7-10 have had the opportunity to be involved in the Mentally Sound concert, which focuses on mental health through a musical approach! 

We encourage everyone to keep getting involved during PC and House events and as for our fellow ‘McAuleans’, try your best to involve yourself through PC/House activities because we’ve still got quite a few points to catch up to the rest of our opponents! Thank you to everyone who has contributed to all the events which Hennessy has held over this past term, keep up the great work!

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Leaders Lounge!” 

Until next time,
Sarah McDonald and Oliver Baker
Mcauley House Captains

On Tuesday 23 students travelled to Queanbeyan to compete at the Archdiocesan Swimming championships. The students listed below have qualified to compete at NSWCCC championships to be held in Sydney later this term.

A big congratulations to Hamish Summerfield who came runner up age champion for the 12year Boys.

Buck, Emily - Female - Age: 15 

Pritchard, Zaviar - Male - Age: 14 

Robinson, Harry - Male - Age: 14 

Robinson, Huntah-Max - Male - Age: 15 

Simmons, Emma - Female - Age: 17 

Sumich, Ryan - Male - Age: 13 

Summerfield, Hamish - Male - Age: 12 

Taylor, Eliza - Female - Age: 17 

On Tuesday 27th February 19 students travelled to Wagga Wagga to participate in the Arch Diocesan Touch Football Trials. 

Congratulations to Kobe Owen, Eliza Taylor, Izaiah Carter-Pahulu, Corey Gale, Oscar Roberts, Harry Boxsell, Edward Maloney and Jai Willoughby who gained selection in the Canberra Goulburn/Wagga Wagga combined teams to play at the NSWCCC Championships and trials in Tuggerah on the 9th and 10th of April.

Wednesday 28 February saw Gallagher House kick-starting the annual Caritas: Project Compassion  fund raising for 2024. Many families generously donated all manner of delicious cakes, slices, cupcakes, muffins and much more. These donations resulted in a huge $404 being raised on the day. Thank you to all our students who donated, worked on the stall or bought cakes on the day. Your money goes directly to Caritas Australia who provide support for people living in some of the  most vulnerable communities both here in Australia and across the world.

After an extended break, textiles or sewing has resumed at the college in our rotations for Yr 8 Tech.

Pictured are many of the students beginning the creation of their soft toy - a monster or creature that will be hand sewn and embellished with their own designs.

We eagerly await the finished product!

On Saturday 2nd March Hennessy held its Parish Mass and Youth Group. It was wonderful to see so many from the Hennessy community participating in these events. 

REMINDER - Order lunch through the FlexiSchools App so not to miss out.

 Juicy Lucy’s have supplied a healthy eating menu along with the FlexiSchools APP for easy ordering, less wait time and guaranteed items of your choice.

It is highly recommended students order their lunch for break 1 by 9.30am each day and 12.30pm for break 3. This will guarantee students don’t miss out on their favourite lunch items, you can even build your own burger. There will be limited items to purchase from the canteen windows should you forget to order through the FlexiSchools APP.  

When collecting lunch orders, students present to the nominated window, advise there House and Name to collect. 

Instructions on how to download and register for FlexiSchools is attached.

We remind all students when purchasing items from the canteen, please only those who are purchasing at to be waiting in the lines to be served.