Welcome to the 2023 school year. The year has had a busy but positive start. We have welcomed many new students, particularly from Years 7 and 11. Already new friendships have been made. Our ‘old’ Hennessy students are to be commended for making the new students feel welcome.

On Tuesday night we hosted our new Year 7 families in our annual Meet and Greet. Parents had the opportunity to meet staff, hear about Year 7 curriculum and pastoral care and enjoy catching up with drinks and nibbles on the Parish Lawn afterward. It was wonderful to see so many parents, carers and staff in attendance which made this is a strong example of the welcoming and friendly nature of the Hennessy community.

This year we welcome three new staff:

• Mr Andrew Morton is our new Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning. Mr Morton joins us from Trinity Catholic College, Goulburn.
• Mrs Jane Morgan is teaching HSIE, English and Studies of Religion. Mrs Morgan joins us from Yanco Agricultural College.
• Nik Nur Shuhaimi is joining Bek Shealy as our second Catholic Care counsellor so we are now able to offer counselling nine days per fortnight.

Our theme for 2023 is’ Walking Together’. This is also the archdiocesan theme for 2023. At Hennessy we will strive to walk together to support each other and to encourage each other to grow in faith and learning.

There is a vacancy on the Community for a parent representative. This is an opportunity to be a representative voice for the parent community. The role of the community council is outlined in its constitution as follows:

6.1 The Council provides the opportunity for members of the school, parish and Archdiocesan communities to support the mission of Catholic education in the school. Working with the Principal, Parish Priest and staff, the members of the Council and its committees provide leadership to the wider school community. 

6.2 The Council has a decision-making role in certain policy areas and an advisory role in others. The policies of the school are always set within the mission of Catholic education. In the areas where it has responsibility for the development and monitoring of school policy, the Council operates within the policies and procedures determined by the CEC and the CEO. 

6.3 The Principal has responsibility for the day-to-day leadership and management of the school. 

If you are interested in nominating for this role, please email me at kathy.holding@cg.catholic.edu.au depending on the number of nominations we may need to go to a ballot.

This year we are focusing on Student Voice. Already students have been involved in providing input regarding the uniform. Further opportunities for student voice are also being provided by the opportunities for students from Years 7 - 10 to become Year Level Captains. More details are provided in this newsletter.

Tomorrow is our annual swimming carnival and it looks like the weather will be perfect! Parents are very welcome to attend and support our students. I know the Houses are each becoming very enthusiastic (and competitive) so it should be a great day.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or any staff member if you have any queries or concerns.

Kathy Holding 
Principal 

Welcome back to all for the 2023 school year. A quick introduction of myself being new to the role. I have been Assistant Principal at St Francis De Sales Leeton and most recently Trinity Catholic College Goulburn. Before that I was PDHPE Coordinator at Kildare Catholic College in Wagga Wagga. I look forward to working with students and parents and being involved in the Hennessy community.

Subject changes - Year 9, 10 and 11 have been busy making changes to their pattern of study. A reminder that they may change subjects up until the end of week 3 this term where availability exists in that class. Students need to collect a form from my office and have it signed by the relevant KLA Leaders and their parents. Once done this needs to be handed to me personally and I will make the change as soon as I can. All students are to stay in their Compass class until the new class appears. 

A reminder that our Assessment policies and procedures can be found on the College website. I will be meeting with Year 11 and their Parents next Tuesday, 14 February to go over the senior assessment policy.

Afternoon study commences in Week 3 from 3.30-4.30 every Wednesday afternoon and Maths support is available during this time. 

Thanks to the College students and staff for a warm welcome in what has already been a busy few weeks. I wish all students, especially year 12 a successful year and my door is open if anyone has any questions or concerns.

Andrew Morton 
Assistant Principal - Teaching & Learning

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF STUDIES

COMPASS PARENT PORTAL 

Parents! Are you on Compass yet? The Compass parent portal is the central way for you to keep in touch with school for day-to-day news, absence notes, student timetables and semester  reports via a smartphone app or website. Login reminders were emailed out last week. Please contact the Hennessy office if you need help accessing Compass.

Ian Mergard
Director of Studies

Welcome back to our College community for 2023 and a special welcome to our new Year 7’s, 11’s and many students joining us from Years 8 to 10, we are so pleased to have you as a part of our College. This year we have set the bar high for achieving in so many aspects of our College life. This year’s theme is “Walking Together”, as directed by the Archbishop, and we have embraced the idea of walking together through our College Vision statement to Live Spiritually, Learn Dynamically, Act Just… inspiring futures of hope.

In the short two weeks that we have been at the College for 2023 I have already seen the fantastic care and community that our students show each other. I have been lucky enough to be involved with the Year 7 and 11 orientation days and watch the leadership occuring with the Year 10 Peer Support Leaders and their Year 7 groups. 

As our focus on the wellbeing of students continues, we are specifically addressing Student Voice within our wellbeing program. This year, after a successful consultation around some of our policies last year, we have launched Year Level Captains. Two Year Level Captains will be voted for by their peers in upcoming weeks to be their representative voices to the Student Leadership Team and the College Executive. We have already had a great response from the Year 9 and 10 students who will be making their speeches and begin the voting process next week, and will be followed by the Year 7 and 8 students in Week 4. I am looking forward to working closely with this team of students, and I encourage any students who have yet to nominate themselves to please do so on Compass. 

Our Pastoral Program focus this year is to ensure that our students have high expectations both in the classroom, on the College Campus and in the community. Each Year Level has a pastoral program focus, ensuring that the aspects of leadership, community and healthy relationships as well as faith are addressed throughout the year. Pastoral programs can be found in every classroom in the College and will be released on Compass in the near future. 

As a College we know the pride that students have in wearing the College uniform and understand that the uniform provides a level playing field in allowing students to demonstrate their academic, sporting, musical and community values. Last year, after a successful consultation process, a Uniform review was held and the revised Uniform policy (available on Compass) was released at the end of last year. A process has also been developed for the policy that involves:

First infringement: Warning - PC Teacher records on Compass

Second infringement: Detention - PC Teacher sends an email to parents/ caregivers

Third infringement: Detention - House Leader sends an email to parents/ caregivers

Fourth infringement: Detention - House Leader calls parents/ caregivers

Fifth infringement: Full day withdrawal - Director of Students/ Assistant Principal calls parents/ caregivers.

We understand that there are times when there may be issues with uniform that can not be avoided. Please contact your students PC teacher with details in this case.

This year we are also focussing on Child Safety, each classroom has displayed the below poster to encourage students to speak out when they see or are feeling that they are not in a safe position. As the Child Safe Advocate for the College, I take this role very seriously as the safety and wellbeing of children is the College’s number one priority.

As the year continues to progress I wish all families the very best for 2023 and may we continue to Walk Together on our journey at Hennessy Catholic College.

Mary Wright
Assistant Principal - Mission & Ministry 

Hennessy Catholic College swimming carnival will take place tomorrow Friday 10th February, 2023 at the Young Aquatic Centre.

All children are expected to attend the carnival and are encouraged to participate in either swimming events or through House support on the day. Please note that there will be no unstructured swimming (free swimming) at the carnival. The carnival is a compulsory school day. Students who do not attend the carnival will have to bring a note explaining their absence on the first day of their return to school. 

Students can arrive directly at the pool at 8:45am and be collected at 3:10pm from the pool (a note must be given to House Leaders before the carnival). Alternatively, they will be walked by staff to and from the College to the Pool if they catch the bus as per a normal school day.

There is no cost for students to get into the pool.

A canteen will be available on the day for students to purchase a variety of food. Students are encouraged to bring plenty of water, sunscreen and a hat.

Once again this year students have the opportunity to earn points for their House, whilst also accruing points for themselves in the following areas:

• Living Spiritually - involvement in liturgies and masses, demonstrating leadership and school spirit.
• Learning Dynamically - participating and excelling in sports carnivals, trials, teams and activities, improving and excelling in class tasks and academic competitions, and involvement in arts, drama and music. 
• Acting Justly - displaying kindness by helping others in a range of areas.

There are 4 levels of achievement for students to work towards:

Level 1 - House Award (3 House Points with at least 1 in each area)

Level 2 - Bronze Award (10 House Points with at least 2 in each area)

Level 3 - Silver Award (30 House Points with at least 3 in each area)

Level 4 - Gold Award (50 House Points with at least 5 in each area)

 
Past House Cup champions include McAuley in 2020, Gallagher in 2021 and Nagle in 2022. 

Welcome back to Term 1 2023 and our first Leaders Lounge Article. We hope all our new students have started to settle in nicely and are starting to get more comfortable with our school environment and routines. We also welcome back our students from last year, we hope you are getting in the groove of school again. Our Student Leadership Team wishes all students the best of luck this year with their studies. 

With the Swimming Carnival on Friday, we are both so excited to see a fun day full of lots of sun and swimming! Each house group has a different theme for Friday, with Gallagher “Going for Gold”, Nagle “Going Green”, and McAuley doing “All Things Blue” and Rice's “The Beach”. We can’t wait to see who takes out the win!

We also have nominations coming up for our Year Captains and Year 11 Vice Captains, if interested please fill out the forms on the compass page. 

We have seen Peer Support in full swing with our Year 10 Peer Support Leaders working with our new Year 7 students. It has been so great to see the fun they are having together and allowing our Year 7’s to get familiar with their new school. 

We wish luck to Year 11 who will be going on their retreat and to our Year 7’s going on their excursion next week. We hope both year groups have a great time and make new connections with those in their year. 

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Leaders Lounge!” We are looking forward to all these upcoming activities and we hope you have a lovely week!

                                                       

Tay Butcher                                                                                 Tayla Collins

Gallagher House Captain and Nagle House Captain

Today Hennessy students had a visit from Fiona Douglas, the Chair of the Young Local Health Advisory Committee (LHAC) regarding the current Mental Health Project, Head to Health silicone wristbands.

The Young LHAC under the guidance of Headspace, Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network and Murrumbidgee Local Health District have produced a wristband aimed at school aged children, specifically years 7 and 8. The wrist bands have a QR code which when scanned takes the user to the ‘Head to Health’ website (https://www.headtohealth.gov.au) operated by the Federal Department of Health and the words ‘Head Here for Help’. This website is bright and engaging and easily navigated by the user.

Head to Health can help those in need find digital mental health services from some of Australia’s most trusted mental health organisations.

Head to Health brings together apps, online programs, online forums, and phone services, as well as a range of digital information resources.

Whether trying to improve your own sense of wellbeing, looking for help with something that is bothering you, or helping someone you care about—Head to Health is a good place to start.

All students will be given a silcone wristband which contains a QR code which takes the user to the Head to Health website. It is hoped the wristbands will
empower young people to access information and support when they need it.

Year 12 Construction

Jack Anderson, Cooper Wells and Adam Galvin

Using the Automatic Levels to conduct  two peg test, which is a method of testing the accuracy and precision of the levelling equipment.

Today the Year 10 boys completed their third and final day of the Man Cave program. 

Over the past six months the boys have explored their values, relationships and identity. 

3 x 3 Basketball Comp:

Young Basketball Association is running a 3x3 competition for all school-age students, 11-18 years.
Comp will run for 8 weeks starting Wednesday 15th February, with a focus on developing skills and gameplay.For more info on the 3x3 comp and to register go to:  https://websites.mygameday.app/assoc_page.cgi?c=0-10621-0-0-0&sID=422252 or email youngpacers.basketball@gmail.com