LIFE Summer Term Week Five

Mon 4 March Labour Day Public Holiday – College Closed
Tue 5 March Home Study Day – College and Uniform Shop Closed
NEAS to be rescheduled
Shrove Tuesday
Wed 6 March Ash Wednesday
NEAS Yr 10 to Yr 12 vs La Salle
OLNA Writing - First Round
Thu 7 March NEAS Swim Meet at La Salle
 2:00pm to 5:00pm
OLNA Writing - First Round

Parents please use Parent Coneqt for SEQTA Engage via this link for current letters and excursion information. SEQTA Engage


Student Safety - Pick up and Drop-off around the College

New Parking Bays – Coolamon Drive
The College enrolments have continued to grow and in 2017 there is more than 860 students enrolled. Consequently, there is considerable demand for parking spaces and pressure at peak times of student movement at the beginning and end of the school day. We must expect to change our habits to accommodate the growth in the College and, especially, to ensure the safety for our students.

As part of the most recent building program, the car park off Coolamon Drive has been extended to include more that 50 bays. Students can access the College grounds via the pathway leading past the courts and the New Norcia building. 

Parents are asked to consider using this car park to relieve pressure on the main car park off Strathmore Parkway.

Westgrove Drive Car Park
Most Middle and Senior School students begin the day in their House Tutor Groups in the Paris/Dublin and Trayning/Subiaco buildings, which are best accessed via the car park off Westgrove Drive. Additionally, students' lockers are housed in these buildings. Parents/Guardians are encouraged to drop-off and pick-up students from the car park off Westgrove Drive. 

Note that this area is not marked for Kiss and Drive. To maintain safety parents must stop in a parking bay before students enter or leave the vehicle. Instances of cars stopping in the middle of the drive have presented a safety hazard.

Also, please do not drive through to the car park near the Maintenance sheds, as these bays are reserved for service vehicles and staff.

Drive through Kiss and Drive – off Strathmore Parkway

Key aspects of this procedure include the following:

  • The Kiss and Drive doubles as an undercover area for students during the day. So:
    • gates to the Kiss and Drive will be open in the morning from 8.10am and close at 8.40am.
    • gates will reopen in the afternoon from 2.40pm and close at 3.30pm
  • Student drop-off and pick-up will only be permitted in the drive through area in the front car park (see the attached diagram). This is not a parking zone.
  • Students must wait in this area until their parents enter the drop-off/pick-up zone before alighting from the car or getting into the car.
  • Where students are not present to be picked up parents will be required to immediately drive off and re-join the queue. This will ensure an orderly flow of traffic.
  • There is considerable street-side parking a short walk from the school. Parents are encouraged to utilise these spaces.
  • Where parents have found a parking space or are parked in the surrounding streets students will be permitted to walk to meet their parents. Students will not be permitted to be picked unless parents are parked in designated parking spaces.
  • Come 10-15 minutes later, once the traffic has eased.
  • Do not double park or block driveways.
  • Drivers must not park and alight from your vehicle in the Kiss and Drive area.
  • Do not overtake in the Kiss and Drive area, but wait for the traffic to move forward.


We take our responsibility for the safety of your children very seriously. Your support and cooperation is sincerely appreciated.

Peter Collins
Vice Principal

A visit by Fablice Manirakiza and Paulie Stewart

Resilience and strength of character are two special qualities that influence our capacity to meet the challenges of life and overcome adversity. Fablice Manirakiza has both of these attributes in spades.

A refugee from Burundi in central Africa, Fablice arrived in Australia in 2007 at the age of 16 with his sister and two nephews, unable to speak English and with little more knowledge of Australia than the picture of a kangaroo on a box of matches. Through his faith and tenacity, Fablice has established himself as a creator of influence in the Australian arts scene, working as a rapper, MC, Dancer, Festival Producer and curator. He was awarded the first-ever Refugee Scholarship Award from Multicultural Arts Victoria and was selected to be an advisor on the Melbourne Festival Youth Board. Fablice received the Victorian Young Achiever of the Year in 2016. He is an icon amongst local indigenous youth and has performed workshops for remote Aboriginal communities. Fablice has released a single featuring iconic Australian songwriter Paul Kelly.

At the age of eight, Fablice and his family found themselves in the midst of a bloody civil war, which saw the genocide of more than one million people within a matter of weeks. Soon after, his parents were killed and he fled to neighbouring Rwanda, where life became even more difficult. At the age of eleven, he returned to Burundi only to be kidnapped and forced to be a child soldier. Eventually, Fablice escaped and made his way to a refugee camp in Tanzania, where his sister had taken refuge. After three years of hunger and deprivation Fablice, his sister and two nephews were granted humanitarian visas to travel to Australia.

Fablice credits his parents with instilling in him a sound set of values and a strength of faith that has enabled him to overcome the many challenges he has endured. Among his busy schedule, Fablice visits schools to share his story and, hopefully, inspire young people to believe that they have the capacity to change the world and make it a better and more inclusive place. He quotes Pope Francis, who called for young people to “get up off the couch” and make a difference.

Fablice encourages his audience to embrace the three things that have guided his life and empowered him to confront challenges and “live life to the full”. These three things include his faith in God; belief in the power of education to lift people from poverty and oppression; and the humanitarian values gifted by his parents.

While at Holy Cross College, Fablice spoke to Senior School students and performed a lunchtime concert. Students were inspired by his story and achievements. The feeling of students was best summed up by one student who, through her tears, remarked, “this is the best day of my life and the best thing the school has done for us”.

Accompanying Fablice was Paulie Stewart, front man of the Australian Punk Rock Group, Painters and Dockers, whose own life story is also inspirational. Paulie had a liver transplant a few years ago and now spends much of his time working with the Jesuits in Melbourne, undertaking considerable community service work, especially in Timor-Leste, where his brother Tony was one of the Balibo 5 executed by Indonesian soldiers in 1975. Paulie is a great supporter of Fablice and travels with him around Australia visiting schools.

While somewhat of a silhouette, the video below shows the fun and spirit of the lunchtime concert.





You can hear Fablice’s story by viewing his TEDx Talk presentation at St Kilda, Melbourne.



Mr Peter Collins
Vice Principal


Junior School Inter-House Dance-Off

And the winners are.... OZANAM!

Congratulations to the Junior School Ozanam dance group for winning the Dance-Off today. 

Frayne did an amazing job to come in a close second, followed by an equally fabulous tie between McCormack and Salvado for third. 

Well done to all and thank you to the HCC student community for supporting all of the students who participated.

Catholic School Youth Summit

On Tuesday six Year 10 and 11 students attended the Catholic School Youth Summit at the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle. This was a great opportunity for these students to reflect on the theme #getoffthecouch to become proactive Catholic leaders. The theme was centred around Pope Francis' call out to young people at last year's World Youth Day to be people of action. The highlight of the day for the students was hearing the story of Fablice of flybz, an African refugee and now rapper where he challenge the students to never give up in their endeavours.