Welcome to Week 6. Today we commemorated Remembrance Day in a modified form due to Covid restrictions and wet weather concerns, however, the significance of this day remains the same. It is important our community continues to remember those who have served and given their lives for their country. The tradition of the Last Post, the recitation of Flanders Fields, and the minute's silence are to me very powerful reminders of selflessness and personal sacrifice. These attributes can also be applied to our everyday lives.

This week our Year 12 cohort finally commenced their HSC exams. I was so impressed when speaking to the Year 12 students by their calm attitude and determination to do their best. The chief supervisor, Mrs Lee Armstrong, commented on how mature and focused they were. We wish them all the best as they continue completing their exams over the coming weeks.

Leadership opportunities are a very important part of the Hennessy experience. Last week training for Peer Support Leaders began. This group of students are currently in Year 9 and have also participated in an application and interview process. They will work closely with the new Year 7 class of 2022. Thank you to Miss Lucy Woods and Mr Simon Quinn and our peer support leaders.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions or concerns.

YEAR 12 2021

Well done Year 12 to a smooth start to your HSC exams. It’s been a long wait but it will go quickly now. Remember that if you have COVID symptoms, are awaiting a COVID test result (and Year 12 students now have access to the rapid antigen testing so do tell the test collector you are doing the HSC exams), are identified as a close contact and ordered to isolate - do not attend. Illness/Misadventure procedures will apply. 

Dates to remember:

• The ATAR’s will be released January 20 and the HSC results January 24. 

YEAR 12 2022

Students are working well and most subjects have their first assessment task due in the weeks before the end of term. It’s important students get into an effective study routine and allocate time to keep up with classwork as well as tackle assessment tasks. As students have study lessons they may not get as much class time as previous to work on assessments so should be using them wisely. 

Remember you need to study smarter, not longer - https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/top-10-tips-study-smarter-not-longer-study-skills

Tips from this article are:

1. Space out your studying
2. Practice, practice, practice!
3. Don’t just reread books and notes
4. Test yourself
5. Mistakes are OK - as long as you learn from them
6. Mix it up
7. Use pictures
8. Find examples
9. Dig deeper
10. Make a plan and stick to it

So use your time effectively. You may also consider how much time you have out of school and during the ‘assessment period’ it’s wise not to overburden yourself with other commitments. If you work, then around 8-10 hours a week or 2 shifts is manageable - remember you can work more in the break. 

  Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning                                             Director of Studies

                      SHARON HIBBERT                                                                      IAN MERGARD 

Student Wellbeing Sessions

Over the next couple of weeks, the College’s Wellbeing Team will continue to plan for 2022. Part of this planning is the finalising of the Student Wellbeing Sessions (SWS).  In the past the SWS has focused on student issues, but also on supporting the new vertical house system and building house spirit and identity from a PC level up. Now that house spirit and rivalry are engrained,  the focus of SWS program will widen. The PC staff will continue working with students to address issues that impact them and explore avenues to support students. The new expanded focus of SWS will use presentations offered at the College such as the Cyber Safety and Choizes Programs to support the College community. The new focus will also look to support students in the classroom with the focus on Academic Wellbeing. The College’s Wellbeing Team would greatly value any parent input/feedback into areas they believe the College may need to address to support students. Please contact any member of the College’s Wellbeing Team with your ideas. As parents are their child’s first and most important teacher the College wants to continue working in partnership with parents.

Movember

The Year 12 are again supporting Movember this year. As always they focus on raising awareness of issues in men’s mental health.

If you are able to donate and support the students please do at https://au.movember.com/team/2408567

Deodorant cans

A reminder that students are not permitted to have spray deodorant cans at the College. Some students and staff can have reactions, including asthma attacks when exposed to spray deodorant. Students are recommended to bring roll-on deodorants to continue to smell “minty fresh” and ensure the wellbeing of everyone in our community. Students found with spray deodorant will have the deodorant confiscated and will be spending Break time with their House Leader.

Face Masks

A reminder that students are required to supply their own face masks for use at the College. Since the return from lockdown, the College has supplied in excess of 1000 masks. While we appreciate that students may forget from time to time we do have some repeat offenders.

As always if you have any concerns please contact your child’s PC teacher, House Leader, or any member of the College’s Wellbeing Team.

Mark Chifley

Assistant Principal

Mission and Student Wellbeing

By Beth Doherty (Religious Education Leader)

Year 9 Youth Ministry students were invited this term to create their own Homily as their final task for the unit.

A Homily is delivered after the Gospel during the Celebration of the Mass, and is generally a reflection on the readings of the day by the priest.

This is the first time that Hennessy Catholic College has offered the Catholic Schools Youth Ministry Australia (CSYMA) Youth Ministry unit to Stage 5 (Year 9 and 10) students and they have enjoyed their journey and learned lots along the way.

During the semester, Ms. Beth Doherty (Religious Education Leader) and Mr. Peter Igoe-Taylor (Rice House Leader) took the students through modules that looked at how students can better understand the work of the Church in the world and engage with their faith in a positive way.

Activities they completed for this unit included writing letters to Pope Francis, designing their own retreat for high school students and learning more about scripture and biblical criticism.

Their Homily task was pitched to them as an opportunity to reflect on the Gospel messages that they often hear at church, but do not always understand.

They were encouraged to make their homilies relevant, entertaining and based on a Gospel narrative.

Year 9 students Cybele Hewitt, Majella McGrath, Bella Cooper, Jack Apps and Logan Apps all achieved an A grade for their task.

Jack Apps gave us a good laugh with his Homily on the Baptism of Jesus (Luke 3:21-22)

“When I was little, my baby sister was getting baptized in late 2009. Halfway through the service, my sister started to cry and I (me being me) said to the reverend, “I don't think she likes that God”. At that exact moment everyone broke out into laughter. I was completely oblivious to the sentence I had just said and my mother remembers me just looking around at all the people laughing and asking her “what are they laughing about”, she said, “one day you will understand”.

Bella Cooper wrote about the Wedding at Cana (John 2:3-10) and saw it as a positive message for life:

“After reading this bible passage and taking some time to understand the message it is trying to convey, I have come to the conclusion that it is a powerful message about how you can live your life. You can live it either positively with a glass half full mindset or negatively with a glass half empty mindset. Just as Jesus has demonstrated by turning the empty jugs of water into rich and delicious wine to keep the wedding attendees happy, which in turn ended up keeping Jesus happy because he cares about us and how we feel.”

Logan Apps chose the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and imagined himself in the scenario:

“If I was laying on the side of the road dying, I would love for somebody to help me even if it is my enemy or a complete stranger from a different religion.”

Cybele applied the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13: 1-9) to modern-day relationships, commenting on superficiality and encouraging her peers to deepen their friendships:

“Firstly, it is said that some of the seed was scattered along the path and was eaten by birds. This seed, indeed, this relationship can be seen as those who follow others and conform with the stereotypes. In our modern context, relationships of convenience or those that arise simply because it’s ‘cool’ or ‘other people are doing it’ never end well. These relationships are often shallow, lacking in sustenance and genuine connection. In the story, the bird eats the seed on the path, simply because it is there.”

Majella spoke about Mary Magdalene seeing Jesus after the resurrection (John 20:11-18) and spoke of inspiring people in her life. She remembered Fr Tom Thornton (former Parish Priest of St Mary’s) as someone special:

“Fr Tom was our priest about three or four years ago and he gave me my first Holy Communion, First Reconciliation and my Confirmation. Mary Magdalene was my chosen confirmation name because of her progressive status and relationship with Jesus as a woman and the world’s first feminist. Fr Tom related his homilies to modern life, he made our faith tangible, it was something we could reach out and touch, he made it real. He was very active in the community and he became a good friend to me and my family. He taught us the life of Jesus in a new light and helped me understand my faith growing up. He was just a normal person who tried to live well and for others.”

The Year 9s have done an excellent job at interpreting the stories from the Gospels and relating them to their own lives.

Our science department has been very busy, take a look at what has been happening in the classroom and out!

Year 8 were creating scaled models of the Earths Structure in their Active Earth unit ? 

Year 7 have been looking at forces in their Physics unit. This week they completed an engineering challenge testing parachutes to investigate the effects of gravity ? 3/5 parachutes safely landed the egg passengers. 

Year 10 hospitality students have been practicing both front and back-of-house duties as they work through the ‘prepare and serve espresso coffee’ unit.

Year 7 were very excited to see the eggs donated by John, hatched 5 chickens. 

The students were also delighted to welcome a duckling and some guinea fowl chickens. 

Year 7 & 8 technology have been busy adding paper into the soil profile to feed the worms. Planting sunflower, corn, and sorghum seeds. 

Last Thursday 27 year 9 students participated in the Peer Support Training Day. In groups, they presented a wide range of activities that they will replicate with their Peer Support group next year with their year 7s. The students showed fantastic enthusiasm and engagement throughout the day and we look forward to them transitioning into Peer Support Leaders and role models for our year 7 students next year. 

Thank you everyone for a successful Melbourne Cup this year.  It was an exciting event for the entire school. Each year group participated with great enthusiasm in the obstacle course during different periods of the day, with house group and individual events being won by a range of students. Melbourne Cup had a variety of activities including physical and mental challenges designed by the leadership team to include as many students as possible. 

Well done to all the students who participated, donated, and engaged in Melbourne Cup activities, this year we raised funds for the St Vincent de Paul’s Christmas appeal.  

Such a success! We raised over $400 that will go towards families in need for Christmas, we will also have another day closer to Christmas to support our local community.  

Congratulations to the best-dressed winners;  

• Sienna Capra 
• Isabella Turner 
• Valerio Carter-Karajcic 
• Ashley Perkins  
• Brianee Taylor 
• Josh Cameron 
• Elliot Paterson 

Our Best-Group was our Year 7 girls closely followed by Year 9 boys! Well done to Steph, Cameron, Arabella, Sasha & Lucy. 

The fastest team for the day was Year 9 McAuley with a time of 6 minutes and 6 seconds as well as being the only team to complete all trivia correctly.   

The fastest student in the College to complete the course was Amelia Rowan.  

Congratulations all again for a very successful day. A big thank you to the Year 12 Student Leaders, the Year 12 SLR class, and all the amazing Year 12 students who gave up their studies to assist with the running of the activities.  

Damon Xia & Sarah Dillon - College Captains

Congratulations, Jorja O'Brien.

Jorja is a top 20 student across Australia for her work in Mathematics.  2021 Transformative 20 Awards!

The award recognises those who strive for impact, work with purpose, focus on continuous improvement, and demonstrate selflessness through their commitment to helping others.

By Beth Doherty, Religious Education Leader

Catholic Mission (www.catholicmission.org.au) is the Australian Church’s agency for the Pontifical Mission Societies, the Vatican agency that oversees works dedicated to sharing the love of Christ in missionary endeavors throughout the world.

Year 8 Religious Education students led by Mrs. Liz Igoe-Taylor engaged in some fun activities to create awareness of Catholic Mission through Socktober, a fundraising initiative that takes place, unsurprisingly, during October, which is also World Mission Month.

Socktober uses the world game of soccer and combines the novelty of wearing funky socks and the creation of soccer balls from recyclables and waste as an activity for schools to better understand the work of missionaries.

Mrs. Igoe-Taylor is a visual artist and teacher and was able to work with the students in her class to recreate some plastic soccer balls and create their own Socktober radio segment, all while doing some good for Catholic Mission.

Millie Davidson, Suzie Tuckfield, and Mackenzie Blake (pictured above) wrote their radio segment using rhetorical questioning and lively banter:

“Why would we be making soccer balls out of recycled materials? We are making them using recycled materials such as foam and netting to show that not everything has to cost money. Making this soccer ball out of rubbish shows how lucky we are to be able to afford sports equipment. The average soccer ball costs around $30 and for some people, $30 can’t be easily spent like that.”

“Is this a worthwhile project? This project is a very important project as all the money raised from this event goes to a certain charity called Catholic Mission. Catholic Mission supports over seventy-three thousand children and is located in forty-three different countries. They support children from disadvantaged backgrounds and help them to create a bright and hopeful future.”

This year, Catholic Mission funds are being directed toward a Mothers and Babies home in Bangkok, Thailand, an initiative that provides education and support to mothers who are doing it tough.

It is still possible to donate to Socktober if you are in a position to do so. All funds go to Catholic Mission: https://www.socktober.org.au/fundraisers/hennessycatholiccollege

Congratulations to Mrs. Igoe-Taylor and the Year 8s for getting involved.