Term 3 : Thursday 6 September 2018

On Wednesday 29 August we had the immense pleasure to have Colleen Hirst come and speak to us regarding a matter that is close to all parents, resilience. Resilience is described as the ability to stick with it despite hardships setbacks. We have a genuine desire to look after and help our students but the information session looked at how we can help children to deal with adversity, how we cope with the day to day challenges of becoming resilient?

Colleen identified what it means to be resilient she stated that resilience is wisdom the ability to cope with a range of circumstances both good and bad. Three areas greatly affected the capacity to cope;

Cohesion – How much family time are we spending together and is this time where we can relate to each other as a family

Flexibility – How does your family approach a change in routine or circumstances?

Communication – Does your family spend time with each other and help children practice basic social skills.

We were also warned of the dangers of helicopter parenting this is where we are living our lives through our children being overly protective of hardship when it comes our children’s way. How can we do this? The first step is to understand that as a parent we model it ourselves 90 per cent of the message that our children receive comes from their observed responses.

What can we do about it? There are three things to think of as we head towards

Have we given hope, meaning and purpose to our children are they able to see the bigger picture not just the ability to pass the test but a deeper sense of meaning

Do our students have someone to believe in us?

Do students have genuine challenges to overcome?  

In the end our challenge as parents is become more aware of how events and circumstances affect us and once we come into that awareness.

In upcoming news we look forward next week on Friday September 7 to welcoming grandparents to our community. Classes are busy with preparing presentations that I am sure will wow and amaze people and the opportunity will be given to Grandparents to buy a book at the bookfare in the Junior School Library.

Mr Luke Sale
Deputy Head of Junior School - Operations 

As this building is named after an Australian Military Hero Rawdon Middleton VC we also had a Senior Officer from the RAAF, Warrant Officer, Glenn Lyons in attendance as well as some representatives of both the Middleton, Hume and Hassall Families.  You can find out more about Rawdon and his story throughout the displays in the foyer of the building.  

The students from Years 4-12, Staff and College Parents were also a part of the celebration!

-- The Building --
The concept for a Physical Education Complex and Sports Field began back in 2013, construction commenced in March 2017 and completed in July 2018. The combined facility is the largest capital works project so far undertaken by the College and we are excited for the students and the broader community into the future as we use these great facilities.  

The building consists of:
Hall of Fame front entry
Sports Hall with a timber sprung floor for three basketball, two netball and one futsal court
Future Gymnastics apparatus and sports equipment storeroom
Change-rooms, toilets and showers
Servery, laundry and sports uniform storeroom
Upstairs staffroom, 4 x classrooms and viewing gallery

Term 3

We love reading and books at Thomas Hassall and had great fun with Book Week.

The students dressed up as their favourite book character.  They brought the book into College and had fun explaining to their friends and teachers why they liked that particular character. I heard lots of great discussion about quality literature as I visited the different rooms. For part of the day, we were joined by our special Japanese visitors from Fukuroi High School (our Sister School in Japan).  They were thoroughly entertained by the sight of the teachers also in dress-up – the teachers dressed as characters from ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and the three Mr Incredibles evoked much hilarity.  One particular highlight for them was when we went into Year 6 where the students have been studying ‘Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes’ by Eleanor Coerr.  The visitors were impressed by the depth of the response that the students had had to this moving book.

We also had a book swap, where we raised money for two charities; ‘Room to Read’ and ‘TEAR Australia: Build a Classroom’. Many students were especially generous and donated their pocket money for these 2 very worthy causes. We raised a grand total of $1354.45  Excellent effort Junior School!

Mrs Emma Harris
Years 1, 2 & 3 Coordinator 

It was a great day, and even though performances were inside as a weather precaution, all items were well attended with healthy and appreciative audiences. Mr Clisdell and Mr Ford did a great job with their tech crew, and all groups sounded fantastic in the space. It was an excellent chance for all our students to showcase all of their hard work and music practice, and thank you to all the parents for their support and encouraging them to continue along with their music journey.

Mr Robinson and Mrs Ford also looked after the solo/small ensemble stage outside of N-Block, and there were many great performances taking place there too.

Well done to all performers, tutors and conductors for supporting our students on this day.

Mr Byron Mark
Manager of Ensembles

2018 Football Development Programs - Kindergarten - Year 8 (afternoon programs)

The College offers Football Development Programs for students in Kinder to Year 8.

The year-long program caters for both boys and girls and will be conducted by our Football Director - Sonny Makko.

The one-hour sessions are designed to improve the skill level of each individual and suited for all abilities.

Students will be involved in fun activities that develop skills and promote understanding of the game.

Students can enrol in more than one day if preferred. The program runs for 35 weeks.

Information flyers and application forms for the 2018 football development programs are available at the College Reception.

Program details:

For further information, please contact Mrs Evans, P-6 Sports Coordinator and TAP Coordinator - [email protected]

THAC TAP Football Jnr 2018 v1.pdf

THAC TAP Football Jnr 2018 v1.pdf

THAC TAP Football Jnr Application Form 2018 v1.pdf

THAC TAP Football Jnr Application Form 2018 v1.pdf

Mrs Sharon Evans

TAP Coordinator 

The NASSA Junior Athletics Carnival was held on Friday 17 August at Campbelltown Athletics Stadium.

Over 70 students from the Junior school attended the day, along with a strong parental support team.  

The team trained in sessions leading up to the carnival and there were many fantastic performance from our students.

As a College we were very proud of the efforts of our team.  They displayed great sportsmanship and encouraged and cheered for our students competing.

Congratulations to all students and to those who have qualified to represent NASSA at the NSW CIS Athletics Championships on Thursday 13 September.

Mrs Sharon Evans
P-6 Sport Coordinator

It has been a great year for the 15 years and Under Secondary Boys Football (Soccer) Program, with participating in a range of competitions;  NASSA Football Gala Day, Bill Turner Cup, MISA Football and also the Wanderers’ Cup.  Earlier in the year some of the boys joined the Opens team at the CIS Football Cup.

Trials for the 2019 Advanced Pathway Program - 15 years and Under Secondary Boys  Football Program will be held this term:

Date:    Tuesday 25 September

Time:    7.00am - 8.30am

Venue:  College oval.  If we have wet weather, trials will be held in the new Sports Complex (joggers to be worn)

Flyers are currently being printed with information regarding the program and an application form. These will be emailed to all eligible students and paper copies will be made available at Student Reception.

All boys who are 15 years and Under in Secondary School  - Years 7 - 10 in 2019 are eligible to trial.

Current Year 6 boys wishing to join the program are also eligible to trial as they will be in Senior School next year.

The 2019 program commences in Term 4, 2018 and continues into Terms 1, 2 and 3, 2019.

For more information about the program, please contact Mrs Evans.

TAP Football Snr 2019 v2.pdf

TAP Football Snr 2019 v2.pdf

TAP Football Snr Form 2019 v1.pdf

TAP Football Snr Form 2019 v1.pdf