Welcome to our first newsletter for Term 3. I hope families had a restful break during the holiday period. Students have returned in a very settled and focused manner. Staff spent their first day back working with Mark Walsh and Eamonn Pollard from the Edmund Rice Foundation. They developed staff knowledge of the Edmund Rice charism and challenged staff to consider ways in which the charism of Edmund Rice is alive in the lived experience of the Hennessy community.

It is with mixed feelings that I announce the resignation of Miss Hayes at the end of the year. Miss Hayes is an outstanding teacher of English and History from Years 7 to 12. Her students have received excellent results and she is much respected and liked as a supportive and caring teacher and colleague. Miss Hayes will be teaching in England which is an amazing opportunity for her. We wish her all the best for her next career step.

Today Year 10 have the opportunity to come to school with their parents for an interview regarding their Year 11 subject selection or work plans. This is a new initiative designed to assist students to make the best possible choices as they complete Year 10. Students are reminded that the NSW law requires them to attend school until they turn 17. With a special exemption they may move to a full-time traineeship or apprenticeship in Year 10 and to work of at least 25 hours per week in Year 11.

On Tuesday night we hosted a subject market and information evening for students entering Year 11 in 2024. This evening was very well attended and it was wonderful to see so many new prospective students from Cootamundra in attendance. A big thank you to Mr Morton, Mr Mergard and all the KLA Leaders for their work in preparing for this evening.

Next Thursday we will be holding our parent/student/teacher interviews both face-to-face and online from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm. Please go to Compass to see details on how to book these interviews. I would encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to be able to discuss their child’s progress with their teacher.

At last night’s Community Council meeting, we discussed how positively the new canteen menu is being received. Students are encouraged to purchase via the app if possible. Hopefully, if all building works have been completed we will return to the canteen rather than the food technology room. The council also finalised the new school/sports hat colours. This will mean revised expectations for our Sun Safe policy, the hats will be available to purchase from the Front Office in Term 4.

During the break, I had the privilege of attending the UK Study Tour with 12 other principals and educators. We visited schools and conferences and listened to speakers during our time, it was evident that the science of learning is very embedded in the English schools (our archdiocese is also embarking on this journey to ensure that evidence-based teaching is happening in classrooms). My three big takeaways from my trip were:

• Students do their best when fully engaged in the classroom, this can be helped by routines and consistent expectations across the school. At Hennessy one of the ways we are doing this is through Daily Review using mini whiteboards in many classes.
• All students need to be given challenging work but with low threat. Teachers need to have high expectations of all students to ensure that each child is making appropriate progress.
• Oracy skills for students are very important and should be explicitly taught because each student has the right to develop their own confident voice. The schools we visited coached students to respond with one-to-one or to a larger group using correct stance, voice level and gestures to improve their communication skills.

Hennessy is still in the early days of their science of learning journey. To date, nearly 20 teachers have been trained in High Impact teaching Practices with more to do the 5-day course next year. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like more information about this initiative.

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Year 10: Subject Selections for next year’s Year 11 2024

Subject Selections for Year 11 2024 have commenced with a Parent Information Session held last Tuesday and students attending a subject market where they spoke with current Year 11 students about their subjects.

Today we held interviews with all current Year 10 Hennessy students and their parents. This was a great opportunity for them to ask questions so that everyone understands all the relevant requirements and pathways of study.

Academic Concerns

As of this term in an effort to increase awareness of how all students are working in all subjects we have added an Academic Concern template in COMPASS for staff to report on any student who is not working to potential or is disrupting the learning of others in the class . Each entry will attract a -1 and if a student gets to -3 an email will be sent to parents and carers to inform them that their child is not working to potential and/or  needs to improve their application in class and maximise their learning without disrupting the learning of others. This email is to start a discussion with your child and also acts to keep parents informed. Classroom teachers will also continue to be in contact with parents if there is an issue in their class. Finally a -4 will result in an interview with myself, student and parents/carers with the aim of working out a plan for the student to achieve their best in all lessons.

Compass points in the academic concern template will be reset at the start of each term allowing for a fresh start.

Homework

There is a bit of a misconception that we do not give homework at Hennessy. Thinking back to when you and I were school students last century, we might remember our teachers setting homework. Sometimes this homework formed parts of the curriculum that were not covered in class. Sometimes, failure to complete the homework resulted in a punishment of some sort. Both of these approaches produced inequity, because it assumed that all students’ homelife was equal. We are aware that in our context, not all students have access to the same amount of time to complete homework. Some of our students spend large amounts of time travelling to and from school. Some students have after-school responsibilities. To navigate these issues, Hennessy encourages students to approach their homework in a way that best suits them. Students should aim to read at home - ideally 20 minutes per day. They can read school texts, or material of their choosing. The library has many books that students can borrow. Students also have access to online learning platforms to help develop their skills: Education Perfect, Stile and Mathspace contain modules that help develop literacy and numeracy skills. For instance, the “Skills” section of Mathspace offers students with questions that adapt to student strengths and weaknesses. So, students are encouraged to view their homework as an opportunity to develop their core skills.

ANDREW MORTON   

Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF STUDIES

SAVE THE DATE

Year 7-11 Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences are in Week 3

When: Thursday 3rd August

• Face-to-face: 8am-1pm Conferences will be available in person at Hennessy.
• Online: 2pm-6pm Conferences will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Links will be posted on the morning of the interviews. 

Bookings open Monday! So, get ready to select a time slot that suits your schedule or preferred mode of communication.

Please note, Year 12 students have normal classes that day and are not expected to make interview bookings, due to the Year 12 conference session that was conducted in May.

IAN MERGARD 
Director of Studies

Over the past two weeks I have had the pleasure of interviewing our 2024 Year 7 students as well as our current Year 10 cohort who will be continuing their studies in year 11. I have been extremely impressed with these aspirational young people who have seen and heard of the amazing work and opportunities provided to students at Hennessy by our current students and families. In particular, parents and students alike have commented on the high standards that Hennessy presents in academic rigour, exceptional pastoral care and presentation of students. In order to maintain our excellent standards, a reminder has been posted on Compass in regards to the expectations for Term 3. Please find below further information.

Students who are late to school need to provide notes from parents/ carers with a reason stating the lateness. Students who provide no reason, or are continually late will receive detentions in the break times.The school day begins at 8.45 am with Pastoral Care, an important time for students to connect with their peers, PC teachers and to prepare for the day with important notices.We understand that sometimes appointments are unavoidable at this time, please supply a note for your child on Compass or to the front office.

Mary Wright 
Assistant Principal - Mission & Ministry 

Welcome back to the first Leaders Lounge article for term 3!

Can you all believe that it is term 3 already! And how amazing has this sunny weather been for our first couple of weeks back at school. For our year 12 cohort it is a time filled with many emotions, from stress to excitement and happiness, our time at Hennessy is drawing closer to the end. Now besides the sadness of year 12 finishing in 8 weeks, year 10 takes a step into the life of year 11, where it is time to begin subject selection, to kick off their senior journey at Hennessy. 

At the end of term 2, a group of 45 Hennessy Students and Teachers set off on an exciting journey to Cambodia, to begin their Immersion program. To say the least, the trip was amazing. It was an opportunity for the students to immerse themselves into both the Cambodian and Vietnamese culture, experiencing new foods, ways of living and the magnificent tourist attractions, like one of the Worlds Seven Wonders, Angkor Wat Temples. For myself, I believe the most valuable experience was the days spent in the local village building and interacting with the locals, and overall experiencing their ways of living and culture. 

Furthermore, on Tuesday this week the students of Hennessy celebrated NAIDOC Week. With the opportunity to experience a smoking ceremony and learn more about our local Wiradjuri area, from one of the amazing elders within our community ‘Aunty Enid’. For the students at Hennessy this was an experience to learn and understand more about the land we live and work on. Further deepening our understanding and respect for the traditional custodians of our land. We would like to thank Aunty Enid for sharing her experience and culture with the students at Hennessy. 

This week we have also celebrated the opening of the new Hiltops Community Library. Which allowed a couple of our Hennessy leaders to explore the new wonderful facilities available on offer for our students and community to use. This facility has allowed our senior students to change up their study environment in preparation for their upcoming Trial HSC exams and later HSC exams. 

Lastly, tonight we will be celebrating Gallagher Dine and Donate and we would love to see as many smiling Ghallager house students supporting this valuable cause. It allows students to give back to our local community in a warm and inviting environment, being able to celebrate this cause with their family and friends. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our article this week. We would like to wish everyone a wonderful and happy term 3 and we look forward to seeing all of the wonderful achievements from our fellow students this term. Just a reminder, year 12 we only have 8 weeks to go, so remember to enjoy it while it lasts. 

Thank you, 

Emily Pratt 
McAuley House Captain

Congratulations to Elisabeth Hall for receiving a Silver Award, by attaining more than 30 House Points, with at least 3 in each area. Elisabeth has consistently demonstrated her commitment to Living Spiritually by her involvement in Parish Masses, Lions Youth of the Year, College Liturgies and Masses and Open Day. Other highlights for Elisabeth include participation in all events at the Swimming, Athletics and Cross Country Carnivals, multiple performances at Variety Night, assisting with a range of charity events and participation in the College Chess Competition.

Congratulations to Nagle House, who were our Term Two CHAMPION HOUSE. Our top 10 students with House Points at the end of Term Two were: James Payne, Eliza Taylor, Jasmine Sullivan, Elisabeth Hall, Hugo Davidson, Jack Murphy, Sonika Brits, Sybella Murphy, Azalea Sullivan and Emily Pratt.

On Tuesday 25^th July, a group of 7-10 students went to Connolly Park Wagga to compete in the Southwest Slopes Rugby 7s Gala Day. This event was rescheduled from term 2 due to wet weather. 

The year 9/10 team was made up of students with new and experienced players. Due to this team being short on numbers TRAC, Junee and Mater Dei lent players to ensure that a full 7 a side game could happen. What a great show of sportsmanship. This team came in 5^th and had a never give up attitude right until the end of the day. An outstanding effort by all with limited experience in playing rugby union.  

The year 7/8 team was an unstoppable force during the pool games, not having a point scored against them all day. In the final match of the game, the girls narrowly went down to Mater Dei 7-15, resulting in us coming 2^nd for the day. These students will progress through to the ACT/SNSW State finals in Canberra on the 16th of August. 

Thankyou to Miss Coffee and Mrs. Cass for taking the girls on the day. 

Our hens and ducks have a new home!