THAC Weekly Recap I Friday 31 July 2020

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From the Principal
Principal Ross Whelan

It’s certainly an interesting time in our world and the College is adapting in many ways.

There is a lot to learn in these times and as the community moves through the ‘new normal’, the College is considering opportunities and perhaps new ways of doing things for the future. 

Zoom, for example, has been a convenient tool for staff, students and families, and has been a great way to stay connected during the pandemic in a safe and efficient manner.  While teachers have missed seeing you onsite, it has certainly been valuable to speak with you face to face, as we did with our Senior Virtual Parent Teacher nights.  They appear to have worked well and I thank you for your participation and willingness to communicate with us this way.

College Photo Week was held this past week.  We were unable to take the group photos this year due to social distancing.  The photography company will still provide some valuable images as a memory for your family in 2020.  It was good to be able to hold the photos with safe measures in place. 

Tomorrow we have another first as we conduct a Principal’s Tour completely online.  It’s great to see the constant innovation.  We have an increasing number of families interested in the College and this will be an exciting new initiative with the safety of our community in mind. 

We are continuing to monitor developments with the COVID-19 virus across the South-West community and will keep you informed as new information comes to hand.

Thanks for your continued support and encouragement of the College.

‘O Lord, our Lord
How majestic is Your name in all the earth.’
Psalm 8:9


 

Mr Ross Whelan
Principal
From the Deputy Principal - Senior School Learning
David Butler

We are continually looking at ways to innovate!

Now that we have returned from the break, we have once again been able to enjoy, celebrate and look forward to learning and life at College.

Congratulations to our Bronze Award recipients at this week’s virtual assembly. Year 12 students have been knuckling down and gleaning their last minute revision materials and tips from their teachers for the HSC Trials beginning next week. College photos were held this week, with Year 12 Graduation photos looking a little different. We continue to look for creative ways to ensure our students can enjoy the best part of their College experience amidst the additional measures in place.

We are mindful of the families experiencing challenges at the moment and have ensured that student work expectations have been placed on Canvas to assist young people working remotely to keep up. The virtual Parent Teacher nights for Years 8 & 10 and Years 7 & 9 were very successful and have given us pause to think about them as a more permanent instalment. Subject selection for Year 8 students has begun and information has been sent home to families to assist with the exciting decisions around electives for the coming years.

We say farewell to Ms Prestwidge who leaves the College at the end of next week to take up an exciting opportunity internationally in her area of expertise and passion, opera singing. We thank her for sharing her amazing gift with the students so ably in her time with us.

Mr David Butler
Deputy Principal - Senior School Learning
From the Deputy Principal & Head of Junior School
Sandy Wheeler

Let’s all play our part

As part of the Thomas Hassall Community we all play our part in providing a safe environment for everyone.

Thank you to families who are adhering to social distancing whether at pick-up, drop-off or accessing College reception. Together we model to the students being responsible citizens by following NSW Health, the Premier and the Chief Medical Officer directives and also creating a calm and caring community.

How you play your part

  • Adults to stand 1.5m apart- use the signage spaced at 1.5m apart on the fence along the Kindy gate or on the pathway at 3-6 pick-up.
     
  • Do not gather with other families at pick-up or drop-off.
     
  • Arrive for pick-up as close to pick-up times as possible as this provides effective flow of traffic and limits adult-to-adult contact.
     
Mrs Sandy Wheeler
Deputy Principal & Head of Junior School
From the Assistant Chaplain
bible

Resilience

In Terms 3 and 4 our Senior School Chapel will be looking at the theme of ‘resilience’.

In this time we will being opening up God’s word to see what He has to say about being resilient. On Wednesday Mrs Howard kicked off the series by looking at the story of Ruth in the Bible. The story of Ruth is a great story of Ruth’s faithfulness in tough times but most importantly we see that no matter what you go through God offers hope.

This topic of resilience has come at a crucial time. As we are growing increasingly aware of the hard times we will have to face in life we can be sure of a God who offers eternal hope through Christ Jesus. Being resilient is key for this world but Christian resilience is one of hope, hope in a God who offers us eternal life free of suffering and sickness.

I would like to encourage you to be like Ruth. Be faithful and bold in tough times, trusting in Jesus and sticking with him knowing that he offers us all sure hope.

Why not spend some time reading the short book of Ruth in your Bible?

God bless

Mr Matthew Richards
Assistant Chaplain
Term 3 Important Dates

3-10 August 2020

Monday - Friday

Year 12 Trial HSC Examinations

31 August 2020

Monday

Mid Term Break – Staff & Students

25 September 2020

Friday

Final Day of Term 3

 

Principals Tour Online

A first at the College - online tours!

This will give interested families safe access to the College with Principal Ross Whelan and Deputy Principals taking them on a tour of the campus - virtually.

There will also be a live Q&A with the leadership team.

This Saturday we will be holding our first-ever online Principal’s Tour. This will give interested families safe access to the College with Principal Ross Whelan and Deputy Principals taking them on a tour of the campus - virtually. There will also be a live Q&A with the leadership team.

Do you know someone who is interested in becoming part of our community? Invite them to register online https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/PrincipalTour

Junior Strings Orchestra

The Junior Strings Orchestra had a successful performance on the virtual assembly last term and have been hard at work on some new repertoire in anticipation of their next performance.

Two new pieces in particular that they have been focusing on is Rustic Dance, which has glimpses of an Irish reel, and the famous Queen song Bohemian Rhapsody.  The Strings orchestra is a hardworking and dedicated team that always bring enthusiasm and fun to their rehearsals.  Each week two students also get to experience leading the orchestra as a conductor and learning the value of keeping time!

Keep up the good work.

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles

Senior Drum Circle

"Whenever people gather to play the drum, the world is a better place" Babatunde Olatunji

A core group of students gather each week on a Wednesday during lunchtime to share in the power and unity that is found in making music together. The Senior Drum Circle are learning rhythms from South America and north west Africa!  They have risen to the challenge of mastering these difficult rhythms on Djembe, Dun duns, and cowbells and garner great satisfaction in the achievement of them.  Some of the Creative Arts staff team even participate in the rehearsals, which is great for our students to see. Alison Hobbins and Simone Rapisarda are regular attendees and also have a great time!  The students enjoy their involvement in the circle and often declare that they wished to have more time in the session. 

We welcome any students who would like to join to meet in M5 during Wednesday lunchtimes.

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles

Engagement Announcements

We rejoice with these couples who recently announced their engagement

Lelah Broadstock - Junior School Teacher got engaged to Andrew 

Anna Mugridge - Secondary School Teacher got engaged to Sanjeeth

We wish these couples well as they plan their upcoming nuptials and lives together.

'God's richest blessings now and always.'

 

New Babies at Thomas Hassall

We welcome 2 new baby boys and a girl!  

Some of our staff have recently welcomed new babies to their families. 

It's been an exciting time and we thank God for their safe arrival.

Hugh and Rebecca Renshaw welcomed a baby boy, James William on Sunday 28 June 2020

Rachel and Adam Thompson welcomed a baby girl, Lalani Lee on Tuesday 21 July 2020.

Jason and Samantha Swan welcomed a baby boy, Levi Thomas on Friday 31 July 2020.

'Praise God from whom all blessings flow'