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
Junior School Learning Conversations
A reminder that the Junior School Learning Conversations will be taking place on Wednesday and Thursday of Week 10.
Students in Junior School will finish school at 12.00pm on THURSDAY, 21 September.
Bookings will be available for Wednesday, 20 September from 3pm and on Thursday, 21 September from 12.30pm - 7.30pm. Booking information will be communicated next week.
Students in Junior School will finish school at 12.00pm on THURSDAY, 21 September.
Bookings will be available for Wednesday, 20 September from 3pm and on Thursday, 21 September from 12.30pm - 7.30pm. Booking information will be communicated next week.
Refurbishing City Streets in Year 9 Big Ideas
During Winter Term, Year 9 students have been exploring the big question: 'How can cities preserve migrant legacies?' Throughout LIFE Week, students explored either Perth or Melbourne and Canberra and gained a range of ideas about the important legacies and contributions of migrant groups to Australian cities. During the last few weeks of term, students have been designing a refurbishment of a street or public space in a city to better celebrate these legacies.
Students are producing a virtual tour of their refurbishment idea and preparing to present their work to an audience of invited guests and parents during the Transition Weeks next term.
Ms K Taylor
Year 9 Learning Innovator
Students are producing a virtual tour of their refurbishment idea and preparing to present their work to an audience of invited guests and parents during the Transition Weeks next term.
Ms K Taylor
Year 9 Learning Innovator
ARTS SHOWCASE
The opening night of the Arts Showcase will be held on Monday, 18 September from 6.00 – 8.15pm in the New Norcia Performing Arts Building and all parents/guardians are invited to attend. This year the Arts Showcase has expanded to integrate both Arts and Technologies disciplines including:· Visual Arts and Photography exhibitions
· Fashion Parade (Senior School Textiles garments)
· Dance items
· Musical performances
· Drama act
· Short film
· Woodwork/Metalwork/Jewellery
This exciting event will be a celebration of The Arts and the talents of our students, with the Art and Photography Exhibitions remaining on show until Friday, 22 September.
Miss Sara O'Neill
Visual Arts Teacher
Year 6 Confirmation Retreat
With less than two weeks until some of our Year 6 students receive the Sacrament of Confirmation we joined with St Helena's and other members of the Parish to reflect on what Confirmation means to us.
Led by the team from Faith Retreats, the Year 6s were provided with opportunities to recognise the Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit that dwell within them through this empowering Sacrament.
The students are to be commended on the way in which they threw themselves into the day, the activities and the reflecting.
Led by the team from Faith Retreats, the Year 6s were provided with opportunities to recognise the Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit that dwell within them through this empowering Sacrament.
The students are to be commended on the way in which they threw themselves into the day, the activities and the reflecting.
Miss Aoife Hickey
Year 6 Teacher
ACC Athletics Carnival
Monday September 4 saw the ACC Athletics Team for 2017 represent the College in the G Division ACC Athletics Carnival.
This was the culmination of an 8 week preparation phase that saw students commit to training sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. The effort and dedication from the team of just under 100 students was fantastic and with the guidance of the equally committed coaches the team made some great progress before final spots were selected.
The team, led by Athletics Captains Caitlyn McKenzie and Matt Hatch (for the second year in a row) arrived at the WA Athletics Stadium in fresh conditions, ready for a big day. We were quietly optimistic but knew some great challenges awaited us.
The students represented the College brilliantly as we experienced a fantastic range of excellent performances, resilience, team work, sacrifice and genuine joy for the success of all members within the team.
Throughout the day we spent some time at the top of the leaderboard and as we entered the all-important relays (worth double points) we found ourselves 61 points behind first place. We crossed the line first in 5 of the 8 relays races in what was a fantastic effort from our relay teams.
Unfortunately we fell 30 points shy of first place but for the second successive year, we leave the ACC Athletics Carnival proud of our team and having taken another step towards sustainable improvement and performance.
Special mention to Senior Boys who won the Shield for their category, a brilliant effort with a high number of Year 10 students supporting our Year 11 and 12's in this category.
I would like to extend my thanks to Marnie Barrett, Simon Falcone, Jarrad Pisano, Brendan Buckley, Ian Wilson and Ryan Shelton for their expertise and time during the training phase and the Carnival itself. The students are extremely lucky to have your skills available to them and their performance on the day was testament to this.
Another thank you to Kristina Croxford for coordinating our catering responsbilities at the Carnival also.
We look forward to 2018 and continuing our journey towards sustainable success.
2017 Catholic Performing Arts Festival Concert (Perth Concert Hall)
For the first time, Holy Cross College will be represented at the 2017 Performing Arts Festival Concert which will be held at the Perth Concert Hall on Monday 11 September at 7:00pm. The Middle and Senior School Drama Students were selected as overall winners of the Christian Drama section for the dramatisation of 'The Story of Oscar Romero'. Staff and a student representative will be attending to accept the Ron Dullard Perpetual Shield for Christian Drama. The Holy Cross students will not be performing on the night but the Concert will feature the best of Dance, Music and Drama from across the Festival and is set to be a fantastic night of entertainment.
If you wish to attend, tickets can be purchased from the Concert Hall website at
https://www.perthconcerthall.com.au/events/event/Catholic-performing-arts-festival-2017
We are very much looking forward to celebrating this significant achievement for the College at this event!
Mr Chris McRae
Performing Arts Teacher
Project SOS: Year 7 Life Week Saves Our Surroundings!!!
LIFE Week was an exciting adventure for the Year Seven students as they explored their local environments and discovered ways to become more conscious and citizens and consumers.
On Monday, the students walked the Camino Salvado from Maylands to Guildford, stopping along the way to remove more than five thousand pieces of rubbish from the environment.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the students split into house groups and departed for their first Project SOS excursions - to Red Hill Waste Management Centre to Save Our Scrap and to Whiteman Park to Save Our Scrub. At Red Hill, students took a tour at the facility and were astonished at the amount of landfill waste produced by the local area in only one morning. They undertook a range of activities, including repurposing recycled material to create magnets and using iPad microscopes to examine the lively inhabitants of a compost heap!
At Whitman Park, students discovered the danger of the Dieback disease threatening certain species of local plants. Several students had the opportunity to inoculate trees with a protective serum to assist them in fighting the disease, and there was fierce competition to see which house could plant the most new trees! All the students had the opportunity to meet a Stimpson python and a bobtailed lizard - Mrs Rosman was particularly keen to adopt a pet snake!
In the afternoons, the students rotated through four workshop activities - Save Our Skin, Save Our Selves, Save Our SCOBY and Save Our Style. In Save Our Skin, the students investigated the chemical used in commercial body products and created a natural body scrub. In Save Our Selves, the students were taught about the dangers of sugar and had the opportunity to make a chia pudding and some yummy trail mix! In Save Our SCOBY, Mr Hughes and Mrs Barrett discussed the importance of good bacteria and taught the students to make sauerkraut - the Year Sevens particularly enjoyed tasting some kimchi! In Save Our Style, Miss Lester led an investigation into the world of fast fashion and the students turned an old t shirt into a tote bag.
On Thursday, the group met Felicia, an expert in wetlands ecosystem. They enjoyed learning about swamp plants and examining the different bugs found in water from Bibra Lake. The students experienced a documentary screening of the recent ABC program 'The War on Waste' and indulged in snacks from a zero waste popcorn bar! The students also strengthen their skill set with a First Aid course from St John Ambulance.
On Friday, the students rounded out the week with a water filtration challenge and a visit from Lindsay Miles, a local activist in the Zero Waste movement. She taught the students different methods for reducing their waste output and helped them to explore factors to consider as current and future consumers.
Throughout the week, the students were challenged to a 'Zero Waste Week,' bringing no single-use disposable items in their bags or lunch boxes. The majority of the group did a great job undertaking the challenge and we hope that they will continue with this habit as they become more aware of their impact on the local environment.
Throughout the week, the students reflected on the different environmental and health concerns facing the local area. Project SOS: Save Our Surroundings has given the students an overview of a number of issues and they will now choose one of these issues on which to base their platform for our upcoming 'election' for the City Of Swan.
The work undertaken by the Year Sevens so far has been outstanding and their participation and engagement with their activities in LIFE Week was wonderful to witness. We look forward to seeing their work at the end of the term!
Miss Emilie Reynolds
Year 7 Innovator
On Monday, the students walked the Camino Salvado from Maylands to Guildford, stopping along the way to remove more than five thousand pieces of rubbish from the environment.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the students split into house groups and departed for their first Project SOS excursions - to Red Hill Waste Management Centre to Save Our Scrap and to Whiteman Park to Save Our Scrub. At Red Hill, students took a tour at the facility and were astonished at the amount of landfill waste produced by the local area in only one morning. They undertook a range of activities, including repurposing recycled material to create magnets and using iPad microscopes to examine the lively inhabitants of a compost heap!
At Whitman Park, students discovered the danger of the Dieback disease threatening certain species of local plants. Several students had the opportunity to inoculate trees with a protective serum to assist them in fighting the disease, and there was fierce competition to see which house could plant the most new trees! All the students had the opportunity to meet a Stimpson python and a bobtailed lizard - Mrs Rosman was particularly keen to adopt a pet snake!
In the afternoons, the students rotated through four workshop activities - Save Our Skin, Save Our Selves, Save Our SCOBY and Save Our Style. In Save Our Skin, the students investigated the chemical used in commercial body products and created a natural body scrub. In Save Our Selves, the students were taught about the dangers of sugar and had the opportunity to make a chia pudding and some yummy trail mix! In Save Our SCOBY, Mr Hughes and Mrs Barrett discussed the importance of good bacteria and taught the students to make sauerkraut - the Year Sevens particularly enjoyed tasting some kimchi! In Save Our Style, Miss Lester led an investigation into the world of fast fashion and the students turned an old t shirt into a tote bag.
On Thursday, the group met Felicia, an expert in wetlands ecosystem. They enjoyed learning about swamp plants and examining the different bugs found in water from Bibra Lake. The students experienced a documentary screening of the recent ABC program 'The War on Waste' and indulged in snacks from a zero waste popcorn bar! The students also strengthen their skill set with a First Aid course from St John Ambulance.
On Friday, the students rounded out the week with a water filtration challenge and a visit from Lindsay Miles, a local activist in the Zero Waste movement. She taught the students different methods for reducing their waste output and helped them to explore factors to consider as current and future consumers.
Throughout the week, the students were challenged to a 'Zero Waste Week,' bringing no single-use disposable items in their bags or lunch boxes. The majority of the group did a great job undertaking the challenge and we hope that they will continue with this habit as they become more aware of their impact on the local environment.
Throughout the week, the students reflected on the different environmental and health concerns facing the local area. Project SOS: Save Our Surroundings has given the students an overview of a number of issues and they will now choose one of these issues on which to base their platform for our upcoming 'election' for the City Of Swan.
The work undertaken by the Year Sevens so far has been outstanding and their participation and engagement with their activities in LIFE Week was wonderful to witness. We look forward to seeing their work at the end of the term!
Miss Emilie Reynolds
Year 7 Innovator
Junior School Update
LIFE Week in Pre-Primary was a fantastic week! We started on Monday with our first excursion to Caversham Wildlife Park. This was a fantastic opportunity to meet and feed a large number of Australian wildlife. The students loved feeding the kangaroos, holding a snake and watching Mrs. Fretwell crack a whip at the Farm Show. After the excursion, the children created a diorama of their favourite animal’s habitat. This experience allowed the students to investigate living things and their basic needs. 
We continued exploring the concept of living things and basic needs throughout the week by creating a new Pre-Primary vegetable garden for the children to maintain. We also looked at the needs of human beings with healthy food and exercise. Our busy week ended with our Rosendo Salvado Pilgrimage. As we walked around the College, the children explored the life of Salvado and his presence amongst our school. After our Pilgrimage, we gathered together to celebrate a gratitude and stewardship liturgy.
We would like to thank all of our wonderful families for their support and organisation during LIFE week. We hope you had as much fun as we did!
Mrs. Dorota Fretwell, Miss Abbey Rowlands and Mrs. Natalie Pecherczyk.
Pre-Primary Teachers
Year 9 LIFE Week Perth City
During LIFE Week, Year 9 students visited the cities of Fremantle and Perth. Students engaged in a wide range of activities that were based on the broad theme of Expanding Horizons and related to various aspects of the LIFE Curriculum. Each day, students met teachers at the Perth Train Station. This meant early starts for many students and was an opportunity for students to develop their independence. On Monday, all staff and students then travelled by train to Fremantle where students explored the wealth of information about Western Australian migration at the Maritime Museum and explored the cultural heritage of Fremantle on a walking tour.
Over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, the students’ attention was turned towards the Perth CBD. Students visited key venues around the city including the Bell Tower and Parliament House, with some lucky students even visiting Premier Mark McGowan’s office! Students also explored Perth’s culture and diversity through food and street art walking tours.
Thursday saw students take part in Living City Classrooms where a particular street or public space became their classroom for the morning. Students undertook surveys, observations and photographs to determine how the space is being used by people and to identify a need to improve the area. This activity gave students the opportunity to consider the information needed to develop a refurbishment proposal, which will form a major component of the relevant Big Ideas project. On Thursday afternoon, students selected from different venues to visit including the WACA, Kings Park, the Perth Mint and the Art Gallery of Western Australia.
Friday saw students bringing together their learning with time to complete tasks at the State Library before attending Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral and Italian Lunch and bocce at the Perth Italian Club.
Ms Karen Taylor
Year 9 Learning Innovator
29 August 2017
Year 8 LIFE week - students enjoy the landscapes of New Norcia.
Last Monday, 115 excited year 8 students boarded three buses, heading for New Norcia. The Year 8 students have a focus on 'stewardship of our gifts.' New Norcia is Australia's only monastic town. It was originally set up by Dom Salvado, who was seen as a friend to the Aboriginal people of the area.
This year, the year 8 students were to answer the question, 'How do we create our own landscapes?' All students completed seven workshops while at New Norcia. They were encouraged to take photographs as evidence to use in their movies, which would be created back at school in Big Ideas.
One of the rotation activities was Aboriginal tool making and Maya-Maya building. The students learned how the local Aboriginal population sustainably used the landscape of the area. They were then able to create their own Maya-Mayas.
Students also learned about the symbolism in Aboriginal dot paintings. They were asked to paint a boomerang, as long as it told a story using the symbols they had just been shown.
Students also completed a graveyard study, an art and architecture tour and a heritage town tour of New Norcia. We were lucky enough to find out about the European Space Agency's work also.
On Thursday and Friday of LIFE week, Year 8 students completed a retreat at school and walked a section of the Camino Salvado, from Bells Rapids to Shady Hills. Students are to be commended on their attitude and behaviour throughout LIFE week.
This year, the year 8 students were to answer the question, 'How do we create our own landscapes?' All students completed seven workshops while at New Norcia. They were encouraged to take photographs as evidence to use in their movies, which would be created back at school in Big Ideas.
Students also learned about the symbolism in Aboriginal dot paintings. They were asked to paint a boomerang, as long as it told a story using the symbols they had just been shown.
Students also completed a graveyard study, an art and architecture tour and a heritage town tour of New Norcia. We were lucky enough to find out about the European Space Agency's work also.
On Thursday and Friday of LIFE week, Year 8 students completed a retreat at school and walked a section of the Camino Salvado, from Bells Rapids to Shady Hills. Students are to be commended on their attitude and behaviour throughout LIFE week.