Welcome to Week 6. This week, along with all schools in Australia, we commence NAPLAN testing for Years 7 and 9. The students have been congratulated on their outstanding behaviour and commitment to do their best. It is sometimes hard for students to ‘see the point’ of NAPLAN especially since it takes many months for them to receive their results. We have discussed with the students the reasons to do NAPLAN and to do your best:

• NAPLAN gives students and parents insight into how much the student has grown academically in the past two years in literacy and numeracy.
• NAPLAN gives schools feedback on strengths and areas for improvement for each student as well as for the whole year group

Last Saturday night was our Hennessy Parish Mass, this has become a tradition each term with the Mass being followed by Youth Group. A large number of students attended and it was especially heartening to see so many Year 12 leaders at the Mass. The Hennessy  music and singing added to the mass. A big thank you to Mrs Wright for her organisation of this event.

Ash Wednesday was recognised at Hennessy with a beautiful liturgy in the Hall and ashes were given out by Years 11 and 12 student leaders.  This year, the Project Compassion theme is ‘To unite against poverty this Lent’. Each House is hosting a fundraising event to raise funds for Caritas over the next few weeks.

Last night the School Community Council held its first meeting for 2025. The Council discussed their upcoming movie night which everyone is very welcome to attend. They also agreed to support the school in the purchase of an anonymous anti-bullying app - Stymie.  Stymie will be launched with students and staff at the start of Term 2 and will assist students in having a voice to call out inappropriate behaviour in a non-threatening way. The generosity of the Community Council is much appreciated.

The School Community Council is still looking for new members. Please contact Nadine Woods (secretary) if you are interested in this opportunity.

Year 7 and 8 students are reminded that phones are not permitted at school. If they require a phone before or after school they should leave it in the Front Office during the day.

I am excited for the students to see so many sporting opportunities currently being offered both at school and in the representative arena. Hennessy students in last year’s Tell Them From Me Survey rated higher for participating in sport compared to other students in the survey. The Beyond Blue website https://beyou.edu.au/ describes the value of physical activity for young people:

Physical activity promotes many aspects of child and adolescent development, including social and emotional skills, as well as physical development of motor skills. It also supports mental wellbeing. 

Please continue to keep the Pope in your prayers as his health shows signs of improvement.

NAPLAN 

We commenced NAPLAN this week, I can commend the students on their outstanding behaviour and application in the approach that they have commenced their NAPLAN exams. We will continue NAPLAN next week with the final test for the majority students, for those who have missed a test will have the opportunity to catch up. 

I spoke with the Year 7 and Year 9 students about the reasons behind why schools use national testing and explained how it helps inform us how we are meeting the student's needs, how we are going against other schools with similar demographics and also helps demonstrate growth and student tracking across their years of development. We challenged both year groups to do their personal best and showcase what skills they have. 

YEAR 11 & YEAR 12  ASSESSMENT TASKS

We are now starting to see lots of Assessment Tasks coming in for our Year 11 & Year 12 students. Just a few reminders about expectations around Assessment Tasks; 

• Should a student be absent on the day of an Assessment Task - a parent/caregiver must call the College prior to 8:45am advising the reason for their absence
• On the student's return, they must complete an illness/misadventure form and attach any supporting documentation - this must be submitted to Mrs McInerney
• Should the task that the student was completing be an unseen task - they will be issued an alternative task still meeting the same outcomes
• Partial absences - on the day of Assessment Tasks - students are expected to be present for the whole day - should a task be an in-class task and they are not present prior to that task without explanation they may receive zero for that task

The Stage 6 Assessment Policy is available for all students/parents/caregivers to view. Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions. 

CLASS SPOTLIGHT – YEAR 9 ⭐

This fortnight, there have been so many great lessons I could have written about but, my biggest highlight has been Year 9 and their amazing attitude and application to the Year 9 NAPLAN tests. They have been so engaged and demonstrating their personal bests. 

I challenged Year 9 to grow in all their areas, we are looking forward to seeing their results and if they reflect the approach they have taken to the exams, I am sure that they are going to have some strong results. 

You may even see in the photos, some lolly pops! Congratulations, Year 9 what a great attitude you have shown towards NAPLAN. 

The Year 12 students will be running the Colour Run after the Cross Country. This funds raised will go to their charity Margaret House, a domestic violence shelter here in Young. Students must choose to either participate in the Cross Country or Colour Run event, or are able to do both (but they MUST participate in one). To participate in the Colour Run students must accept the invitation and pay the $8 cost for the event. 

Year 9 Retreat

Year 9 Retreat will be held on the 28th of March. Notification has been sent to all parents on Compass. Students will be permitted to wear sports uniform. This meaningful day has been designed to help students strengthen connections with their peers, explore their personal faith journey, discern whether they would like to lead other students in their faith journey through the CSYMA program and participate in our community's pilgrimage of Hope.