I can’t believe it is July already! This crazy year is already halfway over. We have recently had some of the COVID guidelines amended so we can go ahead with three major events for the start of Term 3 - Year 11 Subject Market Day for Year 11 2021, Orientation Day for Year 7 2021 and Year 7 - 11 Parent Teacher Student Interviews.

Catholic Education has advised us that, from July 1, ‘Parent-teacher interviews can resume in a face-to- face format, with physical distancing and hygiene measures in place (i.e. hand sanitiser available on entry/exit).’ Because the Parent Teacher Student Interviews involve adults coming to the school premises, we have several procedures in place to make this a safe event:

• The interviews will occur in A,B, BD, D Block and the Library
• All parents are asked to sign in at D Block before attending their interviews
• Social distancing is expected for all adults
• Hand sanitiser will be available in each room
• There will be no more than 3 teachers in each interview classroom space
• Parents will need to wait outside the classrooms for interviews (you may consider warm clothing for this day)
•  There will be two scheduled break times when cleaners will come around to clean all desks 
• If any parents, for medical reasons, such as immune compromise, cannot attend the interviews we will be able to organise Zoom interviews. Please email your child’s House Leader with these details so they can organise a suitable time.

Year 7 – 11 reports are being posted tomorrow. Please spend some time with your son/daughter reading these reports. They are in a new format through Compass and give feedback on academic achievement, work habits and a pastoral care comment. They are a valuable tool for students to reflect on their learning and areas for future growth. Please bring them along to parent Teacher Student Interviews on July 30.

Monday was a busy day for our Year 9 and 10 students.Year 9 were involved in their annual retreat and Year 10 had a History Incursion. One of our special guests was Brett Hunt (his father’s battalion is made famous in the song “I was only Nineteen”). Brett presented to Year 9  on this year’s retreat theme which was Resilience and to Year 10 History students on his reflections on the Vietnam War. Glen Phillips also engaged Year 10 students with his reflections on World War 1. 

I would like to thank all our families for their support this semester and wish you a safe and happy holiday. I hope you have the opportunity to relax during the school holidays and to enjoy time with your families.

God bless

Kathy

STAGE 5 SUBJECT SELECTION 2021

Congratulations to the students for selecting promptly and returning their receipts to the Front office as required. We are now in the process of drawing the lines up which should be available early next term.

YEAR 11 SELECTIONS

This will be held on Tuesday 28 July here at Hennessy. A decision regarding the Parent evening will be made at the start of next term depending on advice or it may be a video presentation as above.

 We will be joined by Year 10 from Sacred Heart Cootamundra for this as well and looking forward to welcoming them. Selection will go from Tuesday 28^th July to Monday 3^rd August.

TRIAL TIMETABLE

This has been released to students and a note will be sent home about this next term. We will again be running some additional study sessions after school and it’s pleasing to see so many students taking advantage of the free webinars on offer. There are still more for HSC English during the holidays and a flyer has been posted to the Year 12 classroom page.

There have been 2 amendments to the Trial Timetable to note:

• IT Metal now on Friday 28^th August – PM exam
• No Catholic Studies Exam.

All exams are now on Compass.

YEAR 12 TUESDAY 21^ST JULY

Year 12 students will be involved all day in a variety of activities designed to assist them for their last term of school. They will only need pens for the day at this stage but more information will be posted about this during the break.

We wish everyone a restful break and hope for a smooth term ahead. Thank you for your support during this very challenging time.

Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning                                       Director of Studies

SHARON HIBBERT                                                                             ANDREW FOURACRE 

As we draw to the end of a hectic and ever changing semester, I would like to thank you as a community for the trust you placed in the College over the period of learning from home and the subsequent return to learning face to face learning. As an Assistant Principal and parent I am aware of the strain this placed on families and appreciate you working in partnership with the College to ensure the wellbeing of our students.

Positive Behaviours Survey - Bullying follow up and report summary

As part of the Bullying Survey conducted at the College we have started a Student Action Group to obtain their valuable input into how we can ensure that all members of the community feel safe and reduce the incidents of bullying at the College. The survey highlighted the following.

• Almost 90% of the student body said they feel safe at Hennessy Often/always.
• 82% of students said they had never been bullied at Hennessy. 
• The vast majority said that bullying happened during breaks on the playground.  The College also needs to investigate how to break the bullying cycle with student action to support each other on the playground and involve teachers on duty. Verbal bullying was the greatest area of bullying that had been directed at students or they had witnessed. This highlighted the need to empower our students with resilience and to be upstanders and not bystanders. Almost half of the students identified said that they had attempted to stand up for a friend and stop bullying.
• The survey suppourted the findings in the 2019 Mission Australia survey report from 2019, students will go to their parents or friends before they will come to a teacher. With this in mind we need to continue empower parents and friends to make sure they know what to do when their child or friend comes home and reports they are being bullied. The Community Council raised the concern of what a parent can do if their child is identified as a bully. The following links give points on how to deal with these difficult and sometimes confronting situations for both parents and students:

Student - Ive-been-called-a-bully

Parents- helping-your-child-stop-bullying-guide-parents

The College wants to seek parent feedback and was hoping to have a survey for this newsletter but we are still exploring the best options to conduct a parent survey early next term.

College Captains visit to Canberra - Covid 19 Forum

On Tuesday some of the College Captains attended a forum in Canberra to communicate their experiences of Covid 19. They had the opportunity to share their stories and the impact of the pandemic on their education and personal lives. Our students came away surprised that some other Colleges had simply moved to an academic focus during the remote learning period. The Canberra Colleges were very inquisitive and impress by Hennessy’s approach of Academic Wellbeing. They were amazed that every family was contacted. Also that each week there was a year group assembly run by the Captains that included a principals address, birthdays, dance offs, fancy dress and scavenger hunts.

As always the College’s greatest ambassadors are our students and Albie, Sarah, Mia and Bridie did the College proud.

If you have any concerns please contact your child’s PC teacher or any member of the College’s Wellbeing team.

Mark Chifley

Assistant Principal Mission and Wellbeing

OUT OF UNIFORM DAY 

This Friday 3rd July we will be having another out of uniform day for the students, the aim of the day is to allow students to think about others in our community. We will be raising funds to go towards St Vincent de Paul’s winter appeal and to continue the donations from earlier this term. We ask that students out of uniform bring a gold coin towards the out of uniform. 

Did you know? 

Over two million people living below the poverty line in Australia, including over half a million children, your donation allows the St Vincent de Paul Society to provide more than immediate help,

This Winter Vinnies Appeal will provide emergency relief to people at risk and experiencing homelessness. Your donation will help our Vinnies volunteers to rebuild lives.

YEAR 12 JERSEYS 2021

Students have been given a note this week for the Year 12 Jerseys for 2021. The notes and money are due back by 31st July, 2020. 

WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND THE GROUNDS

• Year 7 Science - learning about the Solar System. 
• Year 8 Maths - substitution & tables of values and applying to real events. 
• Year 8 English - drama in English, displaying an understanding through other methods.
• Year 10 English - in English they are developing their communication skills, through their speeches and impromptu debates in class. 

DATES FOR TERM 3 

HOUSE CHALLENGES 

The last fortnight, we have had soccer, netball, school scavenger hunts, belly baseball and basketball challenges as well as a drawing competition and colour in competition. We have had some outstanding participation and engagement with the students. Particularly, some of the excellent pieces handed to us are attached to today’s newsletter. We have a lot of creative talent at Hennessy. 

HOUSE POINTS UPDATE: 

1st - NAGLE 341

2nd - RICE 303

3rd - MCAULEY 291

4th - GALLAGHER 271

Well done to those students who gained House Points in Week 9:

Emily Dillon, Chloe Madgwick, Olivia Doolan, Olivia McLennan, Ella Murphy, Elisabeth Hall, Joy Cass, Reagan Duncan, Emily Dillon, Niobe Webb, Suzanne Tuckfield, Ashley Langfield, Mia Hennock and Joy Cass. 

STUDENT LATENESS/ABSENCES/ILLNESS  

Friendly reminder that students who are late to the College or need to leave early are required to have an explanation for their absence - notes should be provided on arrival. Students who need to attend appointments are also required to have a note/email or information via compass to ensure that we as a College know what is happening with your child. Additionally, if your child is unwell, we ask that they come to the sickbay and be assessed by the team and the front office staff will call you and advise that your child is unwell.  

HOUSE SUMMARIES SEMESTER ONE 

GALLAGHER 

Few could have anticipated or planned for the semester we have just experienced. What has impressed me the most is how we as a Gallagher community have binded together to overcome the multiple challenges which have presented themselves with the forced lockdown of our community. Our PC teachers have done an excellent job in keeping the Gallagher House Spirit alive - their dedication to the students in their care has been evident on a daily basis. The setting up of PC Google pages during lockdown to maintain contact with the students was fantastic. Since we have returned to 'normal' school the PC groups have remained the focus of our House activities due to all House assemblies being put on hold due to social distancing guidelines.

Our students have been fantastic, they have got on with things without any hint of complaint. The mood of our PC classes is one of friendship and support - well done to all our Gallagher students for looking after each other. Extra thanks goes to our House Leaders Bronte and Zach for organising the UNO challenge. Like all competitive sport this important tournament was 'shut down' but resumed in Week 6 with the eventual winners G2 winning the Grand Final and the coveted prize of a pizza lunch. 

As we move forward into Term 3 Gallagher will be organising the annual Social Justice Day in Week 3 of Term 3. The students have settled on raising awareness about people living with Cancer. We will run an activity that will educate the students about this issue as well as show our solidarity as a school for those who are affected. This fits perfectly with our College focus of Acting Justly in 2020.
Mr Luke Miller - Gallagher House Leader

MCAULEY 

Semester 1 has provided a range of new experiences for the students of McAuley, particularly with online learning. As a House we continue to demonstrate respect for each other and solidarity as a team. This was exemplified this semester by continuing our winning streak at community days, taking out the Swimming Carnival in Term 1.

We have been lucky to welcome Two new students – Lily Smith (Year 7) and Leo Song (Year 9) and we look forward to getting to know them.

It has been great to see so many students jump to participate in any opportunity available to gain house points, with some interesting items found in many a scavenger hunt. Here’s to Semester 2 and taking out the House Cup for the fourth year in a row!

Mrs Jorja McGrath - McAuley House Leader

NAGLE 

Go Nagle, we lead the points in the House Cup for term 2. Students have taken on the challenge of upholding our Nagle motto, 'Not Words But Deeds', by participating in numerous activities from academic vigour, art competitions to Acting Justly with Hangout for the Homeless and assisting with Dine and Donate. Participation is at an all time high which demonstrates the resilience the students have shown. I encourage students to enjoy the break with family and friends, take time for themselves and rest. 

Mrs Emily Nowlan 

RICE  

What a semester! From Dine and Donate to winning Art competitions, the students of Rice have had a couple of jammed packed terms. I am encouraged by the Rice House students for their continued strength and resilience in all that they face and the pride in their House that they exemplify daily. As we move into Semester Two, I pray that the students of the Rice House continue to exemplify what it means to Act Justly and make their presence known to the wider Hennessy community.

Ms Marie Payne - Rice House Leader

SUPPORTING YOUR CHILDREN

https://headspace.org.au/young-people/life-issues/

I would like to acknowledge that without the vital partnership of parents/caregivers, then we wouldn’t have been as successful through the COVID period. Through the continued support of our parents/caregivers we have been able to continue to grow and work together to support the students. As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any concerns or would like to have anything followed up. Wishing you a safe and restful holiday. 

Mrs Jessica McInerney 

Director of Students 

Year 8 Science who have built a Rube Goldberg machine in science last week to demonstrate energy transformations.

Our Year 9s had a wonderful day on Monday at their Retreat. We have been getting  lots of positive feedback from both staff and students on the day. Building Bridges with Brett Hunt was a particular highlight. Brett shared stories and songs that showcased the need for storytelling and communication in building positive relationships with each other. Some fantastic teamwork was used to create newspaper knights and ladies, with trains and armor abounding. The weather was gorgeous for our BBQ lunch which was cooked to perfection by some lovely Year 10 volunteers. I would like to thank Year 9 for their positive contributions to the day. 

Year 8 French  were using Minecraft this term to recreate iconic French buildings. Also, Year 7 have integrated iHi and French by labelling their Minecraft worlds built in iHi with French terminology.

Check out what Ms Green Year 8 classes have been up to this term.. Here are some examples of 3D printing that has been designed on the google suit applicaiton of SketchUp.  There are also some examples of the final print products from their vinyl tile carvings.

Very creative Ms Green and Year 8.