Welcome to Week 6. Last Tuesday, the College celebrated the start of the 2023 school year with the Opening College Mass. The mass was a beautiful and reverent celebration of unity and togetherness, with students, staff and parents coming together to pray for the new school year and to reflect on our 2023 theme of ‘Walking Together’. Highlights of the mass were welcoming over new staff and over 100 new students and presenting badges to our new Vice Captains, Year Captains and Peer Support Leaders and also recognising the 2022 College Dux, Damon Xia. Thank you to Father Jiss, Mrs Riordan and her talented singers and musicians and Mr Mitchell and Mrs Wright for their work in making such a memorable occasion. It was wonderful to once again see so many parents and carers attend mass.

The first few weeks have been busier than usual with the lifting of COVID restrictions. This has meant that students have been involved in a wide range of sporting and extra-curricular opportunities. Whilst this means that students do miss classes, it also means they can develop their individual talents and pursue their passions. Hennessy is all about developing well-rounded students who have the opportunity to shine in many areas. It is expected that when students miss classes, they make an effort to catch up on work. Juggling of school and other commitments is what we see many elite athletes do and is part of the commitment required to achieve personal goals.

Next week students in Year 7 and 9 will begin their NAPLAN assessments. NAPLAN is being conducted much earlier this year so schools and families can receive feedback sooner. The NAPLAN reports will also change from 10 Performance Bands to 4 Achievement Bands. NAPLAN is a snapshot of student skills and knowledge at a particular point in time and students are encouraged to do their best. The NAPLAN reports are very useful for schools to know where areas of strength are and where more focused teaching is required.

Next Thursday, we will be holding the first of our Years 7 – 12 parent/student/teacher interviews. Details about the interviews and how to book have been shared on Compass, with families given the choice of either face-to-face interviews or Teams online interviews. If you have any queries regarding the booking process, please contact the front office. Classes will only be held for Year 12 on the day, other students are expected to participate in their interviews in full school uniform and may then either go home or attend supervised study in the Library.

School fees have now been issued. We once again apologise for the lateness with fees due to the migration to our new finance system. Please do not hesitate to contact the Front Office if you have queries about your fees or how to pay them. Thank you for your patience and ongoing support of the College by prompt paying of fees.

As always, we are here to support you every step of the way. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Kathy Holding
Principal 

It has been an incredibly busy two weeks at Hennessy. The Spiritual and Pastoral life of the College has been buzzing with activity and opportunities.

Opening Mass was celebrated last week with a great show of our commitment as a College to celebrating the sacraments together in the Eucharist. Students demonstrated impeccable reverence and joined together for the first time as a College for Mass. Students were also welcomed with the official Badge Ceremony directly following. New House members received their House badges as well as students who had attained leadership roles within the school. Congratulations to the Year 10 Peer Support Leaders, Year Level Captains and House Vice Captains who officially begin their ministry. Thankyou to Mr Mitchell and Mrs Riordan for their organisation and to all the parents and guests who joined us. It was wonderful to celebrate the beginning of the year together again.

Last week we also began our fundraising campaign for CARITAS in Project Compassion. CARITAS is one of the Catholic Organisations that we support within the Archdiocese for the support they offer around the world and in Australia to those less fortunate. Each week students look at stories from around the world to see where their fundraising is going. This year the theme for Project Compassion is “For all the Future Generations”, based on the scripture “And Mary said, “Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed.” Luke 1:48. This year, the theme asks us to think about the great yes that Mary spoke when the angel told her she was to become the mother of Jesus. She freely accepted God’s invitation to take up a unique place in the history of the human family.  The prayer Mary shared with her cousin Elizabeth says, “all generations will call me blessed”. Her yes is for all future generations. May ours be too! For over 55 years, Caritas Australia has worked hand in hand with the most marginalised and remote communities in Australia and overseas to confront the challenges of poverty.  We are incredibly proud of how the Hennessy community embraces Caritas and the importance each House places on fundraising for this worthy charity.

Last week, lead by Mrs McInerney, students began the fundraising drive for the 2023 Cambodia Immersion. Students attending the Immersion do not fundraise for themselves, but for the materials and items needed to build houses for the remote communities which they will be immersed in. Look out for further information on upcoming fundraisers and please support this wonderful program.

We were also visited by Senior Constable Karen Clarke and Constable James, our Police Liaison Officers, who presented to us important information on the use of technology and its impact on students today and into the future. We are so grateful to have active Police Liaison officer who is well loved and trusted within our community.

A reminder to all parents about upcoming events and excursions. All event and excursion consent and information can be accessed through the Compass portal. It is important to note that the enrolment agreement states that events that are directly linked to the curriculum, are low risk and within 3kms of the school do not require individual parent consent. However, with all events occuring at the College, information is always provided through the Events section of the Compass portal.

The last few weeks have been quite busy at Hennessy. Our senior students will start to, or 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. Note, Wednesday afternoon study continues for all students each week.

For Stage 6 students we have processes around illness, misadventure and extension. 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 andrew.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. Remember common tasks are merely a snapshot across multiple classes to look at the student performance of a cohort but again it is important that students do their best work

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

Finally, yesterday was International Women’s Day and a huge thankyou to all the fabulous women who are associated with our College and help make it an outstanding, vibrant community.

Andrew Morton 
Assistant Principal - Teaching & Learning 

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF STUDIES

This coming week sees Hennessy engaging in two important activities.

Firstly, NAPLAN will be run for students in Years 7 and 9. All NAPLAN tests will be conducted online. Therefore, it is important that students come to school with their laptop fully charged. There is no point for a student to use a flat device to get out of NAPLAN, as we have spare devices and can use catch-up NAPLAN sessions to give every student every opportunity to complete their tests. 

Secondly, our Semester 1 Parent-Student-Teacher conferences will be conducted on Thursday. Bookings are made via Compass.

DATE: Thursday 16 March 2023

DURATION: 5 minute interviews

SESSION TIMES:

Interviews will be conducted in two sessions:

Morning session (8AM-1PM) - Teachers are available for face-to-face conferences with parents and students on the Hennessy campus.

Afternoon session (2PM-6PM) - Teachers are available for online conferences. A list of teleconference links will be published prior to the interviews.

NB: Classes for Years 7-11 are Year 12 classes will run as per the timetable on the day of the conferences.

WHO: All students in Years 7-12.

Years 7-11 classes will be cancelled for the day but students are expected to join their parents/carers in Conferences with teachers. Students must wear their uniform  when attending conferences. Students who require supervision may study in the library during school hours.

Year 12 classes will run as per the usual Day 4 timetable and school attendance is mandatory. Year 12 conferences can be booked outside of class time (i.e. breaks, study lessons or before/after school). NB: A standalone Year 12 Conference session will be conducted in Term 2 ahead of HSC Trial exams.

Welcome back to the Leaders Lounge, this addition of the leaders lounge is brought to you by Lukie Jewitt. We’ve had a busy couple of weeks at Hennessey, so let’s get into it.

Firstly, on the 28th of February, we had our Opening School Mass, where new staff and students were announced. We also held the badge ceremony, and presented the new 2023 Vice House Captains, James Payne, Esnia Brits, Lily Boda and Jasmine Sullivan, as well as announcing the 2023 Year Level Captains, which is a new position that we have introduced and we are really looking forward to the opportunity to work with the younger years. Overall, the Opening Mass was a very successful event, and all students were very respectful and reverent in the church.

This week, trials for the Jordan Mclean Cup, which is on Thursday the 30th of March, were held. It’s very exciting that we’ve had large amounts of students trialling for spots in the U13’s, U15’s, and Opens sides, as well as the League Tag teams. We are looking forward to continuing our proud winning streak this year against Young High School. 

Week 5 also marked the start of Lent and our fundraising efforts towards Caritas Australia. Last Friday, Gallagher was first; hosting a very successful drinks stall, which provided very refreshing soft drinks and spiders (popular on a hot day). They raised a total of $352 in just the span of half an hour. Following this, in Week 6, Rice and McAuley came together to cook a BBQ, sell drinks and ice cream. Nagle is fundraising in Week 7 with their “100 Club.” All fundraising has been successful so far and students have enjoyed all of the stalls hosted so far.

On the 18th of March, Hennessy is hosting the Parish Mass. We will be looking for volunteers to help with readings, altar serving, music and participating. All students who participate will also receive House Points…this brings me to my next point. The House Cup is getting heated, with Nagle and Rice battling it out for the first place spot, whilst McAuley and Gallagher are trying to claw their way back to the top.

The in-school Chess Competition is getting more intense as we enter the second round. It’s great seeing students from all year levels competing and getting involved. We would like to thank College Chess Captain Jorja O’Brien for her organisation of the competition as well.

It has also been fantastic to have representatives from Charles Sturt University and the Australian National University visiting the College. Students have loved having great conversations with them especially Year 12 who have handfuls of questions as we head into busy university applications season. 

In Week 8, Year 12 will be embarking on a five day excursion to Sydney, where they will be experiencing all myriad of activities, many built around their chosen courses and what they would like to pursue after high school, as well as competing in the Urban Challenge. It’s great to watch the excitement grow from the year group as we edge closer to the trip. 

The Leadership Team are excited as we have lots of student activities and events in the works particularly Lunch on the Lawns which will be returning after the success of the first one, on the 30th March (more information closer to the event). I would like to encourage students to get involved as much as possible and make the most of opportunities coming up. 

That’s all from me now, I hope that you have a wonderful week!

Signing off, 

Years 9/10 students working hard in both Timber and Metal to complete their projects for the term. Timber will see students complete a hall mirror, whereas Metal will see students walk away with a G -clamp.

Year 7 Science have been enjoying learning how to use a range of scientific equipment this term in their Introduction to Science unit. This week they have been working hard on developing their scientific measuring skills. Looks like we have lots of budding scientists! 

Year 9 science have been studying chemistry throughout term 1. This week they have been learning about different types of chemical reactions and successfully completed combustion reactions with household items.

Year 8 Science have been studying energy transfers in their physics unit this term. This week they created their own water turbines and investigated the energy types involved in making their turbines spin.

The Year 11 Hospitality class created a simulated industry environment last week with some students and teachers joining them from study. The students’ roles were divided with some performing front of house duties such as meeting and directing students to their seats, taking orders and delivering food and beverage items, whereas those performing back of house duties included preparing cold and hot beverages such as berry smoothies, chocolate frappes and lattes, as well as dusting the banana and choc chip muffins with icing sugar before service.

All students did a fabulous job and don’t they look outstanding in their uniforms.

9/10. Busy planting  multi species pasture and oats. 

Construction of a shed, and yard for  the wethers for the weather challenge. 

Archdiocesan Swimming 
Last Monday 26 students travelled to Queanbeyan to compete at the Archdiocesan Swimming Carnival. We have 6 students that have progressed through to the NSWCCC swimming to be held at Homebush on the 31st March. Hugo Davidson was named equal age champion for the 14yr Boys and Chloe Laybutt was runner up Age champion for the 15yr Girls.

Buck, Emily - Female - Age: 14 
Girls 14 50 Back 38.48

Davidson, Hugo - Male - Age: 14 
Boys 14 50 Free 30.95 
Boys 14 50 Fly 33.87 
Boys 14 50 Fly 33.87 
Boys 14 100 Free 1:14.11 
Boys 12-14 100 Fly 1:19.19

Laybutt, Chloe - Female - Age: 15 
Girls 15 50 Free 32.88 
Girls 13 50 Fly 34.89
Girls 15 50 Fly 34.89

Oakley, Michael - Male - Age: 12 
Boys 12 50 Fly 55.28 
Boys 12 50 Back 51.79 

Sumich, Ryan - Male - Age: 12 
Boys 12 50 Breast 54.98

Taylor, Eliza - Female - Age: 16 
Girls 16 50 Free 31.19

Congratulations to all that competed.

Archdiocesan Tennis Championships
On Wednesday Hennessy competed in the Boys and Girls Diocesan Tennis Championships held in Goulburn. The Girls team consisting of Jasmine Sullivan, Sarah Miller, Azalea Sullivan and Mataya Burgess narrowly went down to Carroll College coming 2nd on the day. The boys team consisting of Valerio Carter Karajcic, James Payne, Cadynn Smart and Dieter Dickinon played some tough opposition being beat by Trinity and Carroll College.

Combined Wagga Canberra Goulburn Touch Football
Congratulations to Corey Gale who made the Combined Wagga/ Canberra Goulburn opens touch team. Corey will now compete at the NSC CCC touch carnival in Wagga on the 4th April.