Welcome to Week 8. The gospel reading for Mass this Sunday is a very famous one describing the death and resurrection of Lazareth. This beautiful story shows the very human side of Jesus - ‘and Jesus wept’. This gospel story illustrates the power of faith and prayer, also friendship and the humanity of Jesus. The message I take away is that life is not always happy but we can rely on our faith and the power of prayer when things get tough. Our theme for 2023, ‘Walking Together’ is strongly reflected in this reading .https://catholicreadings.org/fifth-sunday-of-lent-year-a/

Year 12 are currently on their annual Sydney excursion. This excursion is a very busy one involving activities supporting various HSC subjects. THis excursion is also an opportunity for students to familiarise themselves with Sydney and to further develop their friendships as the Class of 2023. Some of the activities so far have been attending Wollongong University for workshops and a campus tour, Gallipoli Mosque in Auburn, St Mary’s Cathedral, Academic Dinner at Sydney University, Taronga Zoo, Australian Museum, Human Disease Museum UNSW, Jewish Museum, Rough Edges, Australian Institue of Music, Allianz Stadium and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation!

A big thank you to those staff who are on this excursion - Mrs Parkman, Miss Hayes, Mrs Hill, Mr Kershaw, Mrs Livolsi, Mrs McCann and Mr Morton.

Many parents, carers and students attended the Parent/Student/Teacher interviews last Thursday either in person or online. This was a great opportunity to receive direct feedback on your child’s progress and to ask any questions you may have about their learning.  If you have any feedback regarding the process please email Mr Ian Metgard, the Director of Students. Please do not hesitate to email your child’s teachers at any time if you have any queries concerning their learning.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all those parents who are working so hard to support our uniform policy. Many visitors commented on how smart our students look in their uniforms. There has also been positive feedback on wearing sports uniforms on Thursdays. Wearing a uniform develops a sense of pride in your school but it also avoids the anxiety of ‘what to wear’ to ensure that students are in the latest brands etc. Students are responding well to the teamwork between home and school.

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 

Parent Student Teacher Conferences thank you

I would like to thank all of our staff for their efforts last week in making the Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences such an enriching and successful experience. The last time that we had hosted face-to-face interviews in person on the campus was in March 2020 just prior to the beginning of COVID-19 restrictions. From a teachers’ perspective, we enjoyed the opportunity to talk with parents and their children about the learning of our students.

The next round of interviews for students in Years 7-11 will be in Term 3 following a similar pattern to that of the interviews just completed. A special round of interviews will be held for Year 12 only, held on 25 May 2023, just after Year 12 Mid Course reports are published.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN 2023 has been completed for our Year 7 and 9 students. I was impressed by both year groups’ positive attitude to the tests. Students were encouraged to ‘do their best’ in every aspect of writing, reading, spelling, punctuation, grammar and numeracy. During the NAPLAN exam period, a representative from CECG visited Hennessy and, on observing our testing room, commended the College for our approach to running NAPLAN. I should also commend Hennessy staff for supporting the students by providing technical support, calm supervision, and an organised exam experience. 

NAPLAN will be held in Term 1 again in 2024. I can’t wait to work with Year 8 next year.

Year 7 about to start their NAPLAN Writing test on Wednesday 15 March

Andrew Morton
Assistant Principal - Teaching & Learning

 

At Hennessy Catholic College, we pride ourselves in our ability to provide excellent opportunities for our students on the sporting field, in the classroom and for their wellbeing, In the upcoming week, our pastoral program will be showcasing the many different aspects of pastoral care here at Hennessy. 

On Wednesday the 29th of March all Year 9 and 10 Ladies will be involved with the Enlighten Education Program. Enlighten Education is an evidence-based program that helps tween and teenage girls decode the mixed messages they receive and help them develop self-esteem and confidence; they are designed to be delivered in schools and are targeted at students aged 10–18. School workshops cover everything from helping young people manage their friendships, to increasing their sense of gratitude, to becoming advocates for social change. Enlighten will encourage students to reach their own conclusions and to know their own minds. Rather than telling young people what to do, we focus on informing, inspiring and empowering them. Enlighten encourages your students to be discerning consumers and critical thinkers and to find their own voice and power in a complex world. Our ladies will then move to PCYC where we will take part in some great team building activities. Further information is available on Compass.

The Year 8 students and Year 10 students will then experience Real Talk on Thursday (for Year 8 and Friday (for Year 10) Real Talk is an organisation that gets REAL on the topics of sex, relationships and personal identity. Based on Catholic values and using personal sharing from our team of presenters, we provide up-to-date resources, presentations and programs on these important topics.

The Catholic Church teaches that when it comes to sexuality, “It is imperative to give suitable and timely instruction to young people...”(CCC Article 1632). Due to the specialised and personal nature of these topics, many schools choose to use specially-trained outside presenters. Real Talk’s ‘Love and Life’ Seminars / Reflection Days are an opportunity for young people to hear from the presenters about the repercussions of poor choices and see the fruits of positive choices. Real Talk’s aim is to empower students to make healthy choices that show respect for themselves and others.

The presentation is targeted at young people in high school, with adjustments made for every presentation to remain consistent with the physical and emotional development of our audience. We use relevant language, discussion, videos, reflection, critical thinking activities and stories to inform, equip and empower students. The sessions include the following topics:

• Media messages / critical thinking
• Sexually transmitted Infections
• Respectful relationships
• The significance of physical intimacy
• The science and meaning of sex
• Consent
• Marriage
• Setting standards

There will also be a men’s and women’s sessions which discuss the topics of character, body image and pornography.

Real Talk appreciates the important role parents have in the sex education of their children, and aims to complement, and not replace, the present instruction of your children (Familiaris Consortio, 37).

On Monday the 3rd of April the Year 9 boys will then begin their journey with the Man Cave program. After the success of last year, the Man Cave program will continue its relationship with Hennessy Catholic College. The Man Cave” will focus on building respectful relationships, and will aim to guide the boys on how to build healthy relationships across all domains of their life. They will explore how to support others, develop empathy, resolve conflict , express their needs, and look at power/privilege and integrity.

We look forward to the fruits of these programs as we end the term and work together to continue the great pastoral work at Hennessy.

Bonjour! Hola! Hej, hallo, ç’kemi, kumusta…Welcome back to the Leaders lounge! What a week it has been already, from sunny weather to raging thunderstorms. Regardless of the weather, this has been a week packed full of fun and adventure from the anticipation of who is to win the next chess semi-finals on Thursday (28th March), to embracing the diversity and cultures within Hennessy for Harmony week. 

Harmony week is a week, where all members of the college come together to embrace our diverse differences. We celebrated this through an array of activities: on Tuesday a touch of orange was added to our uniform; greetings and messages were displayed around the college in different languages; trivia questions were quizzed everyday with a prize for whoever answered it the fastest; and on Thursday touch and basketball games were run. All of these activities were run by our School Vice Captains and Ms Mcinerney, who had to step up whilst our year 12 students were enjoying themselves on a four-day urban challenge excursion in Sydney. They will be returning back this Friday with lots of stories to tell. Here are some of the activities they participated in:

• Participating in workshops at Wollongong University (subject related tours in Sydney too)
• Visit to a Mosque and Cathedral
• They took part in a fancy academic dinner at Sydney University 
• Got to visit the Taronga Zoo
• And joined in on an Escape Room team challenge

Last week, McAuley hosted their Dine and Donate event. Students and their parents cooked a delicious pumpkin risotto together (with the assistance of hospitality students). Dine and Donate is a great time to get to know each other and put your cooking skills to the test, for a good cause too. Everybody involved had a lot of fun! :)

Moreover, on Tuesday, year 11 students from the Earth and Environmental class had an excursion to young high. 

Good luck to our chess competitors:

As well as the open girls, who are participating in league tag on Thursday the 23rd and will be versing the tough competition of surrounding towns: Boorowa Central, Sacred Heart, Young High, and Cootamundra High School. 

Furthermore, congratulations to the amazing students who received house awards, and Nagle for having a steady lead of 347 points. 

And that’s all from us!
Hope you have a lovely week, 

Congratulations to the following students who have attained a House Award for Living Spiritually, Learning Dynamically and Acting Justly:

Year 8 - Liam Payne, Azalea Sullivan, Archie Coble

Year 9 - Shaun McAllister, Sarah Miller, Lillie Gunning

Year 10 - William Murphy

Year 11 - Sarah McDonald, Camden Cummins, Stuart McEvoy, Lily Boda

Year 12 - Oscar Cranny, Sonika Brits

After seven weeks of the House Cup, Nagle House has maintained their solid lead and James Payne has the most individual points. Within each category, Elisabeth Hall is leading the Live Spiritually points, Emily Buck has the most Learn Dynamically points and Corey Gale, James Payne and Sienna Capra have gained the most Act Justly points.

Students in 8.4 are captured busily preparing Hummingbird Muffins. A range of skills were covered such as whisking, sifting, mashing and baking, as well as, washing up and sweeping the floor. A great effort by all students and they were pleasantly surprised by how delicious they were.

The students of Rice have been busy over the past few weeks, they have worked hard in the classroom and with the wide range of extra-curricular activities. 

We would like to thank Milne’s Country Style Meats for their donation which went towards our Caritas BBQ. 

Congratulations to the following students who have received House Awards: Lily Boda, Lillie Gunning, Diesel Hardy, Lillian Williams, Isy Turner, Bella Harrison, Shaun McAllister & Allen Yang.

Cutting techniques for fruit and vegetables can be divided into two categories: precision cutting and rough cutting. Here we have a few of our Year 10 Hospitality students perfecting their precision cuts, in particular julienne, brunoise, macedoine and jardiniere. These ingredients went into a chicken and vegetable tart which sure was tasty.

Year 10 have been learning about different reaction types in Chemistry. This week they performed precipitation reactions and enjoyed learning about the solubility of different chemicals when mixed together. 

Over the past two weeks our senior Legal Studies classes visited the Young Magistrate's Court to see how our local Court functions on a 'List day'. Both Year 11 and Year 12 are currently learning about the role of the Australian Court System in society, and it was a practical way to see our legal system in action. Students were amazed at how busy the Magistrate's Court is on a daily basis. Magistrate McLennan made us feel very welcome and spoke to our students regarding the procedures and processes that guide him when hearing cases. The students were exposed to a variety of offences ranging from drink driving and AVOs to more serious crimes such as assault and murder. The students showed great maturity while at court and have asked a lot of questions relating to this excursion in the recent lessons.

Mr Luke Miller - Legal Studies Teacher

Wethers led by 7.4 Ag students

Registrations are now open for Young Pacers Term 2 basketball Competition!

The competition will be held each Wednesday afternoon starting 26th April at Young PCYC, and is for anyone aged 11 - 18 years.

A skills session will be held before the game for each age group.

Cost is $100 + Basketball NSW registration if you didn’t play in our Term 1 comp.  Don’t forget to apply for your Active Kids voucher. Your voucher can be used on the payment section of the online registration form.

For more information and to register, head to www.young.basketball.net.au