The Way Weekly Recap I Friday 6 November 2020

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From the Principal
Principal Ross Whelan

Last night we held our final Parent Teacher night for 2020. 

This was again held on Zoom.  It has been an interesting concept to introduce throughout this year and we have found it to work quite well.  We will be examining ways moving forward to continue incorporating the various online platforms when delivering information.  We have found that it has been convenient and given options for many parents over this time. 

COVID-19 continues to be on our minds particularly with our local area continuing as a hotspot.  Here at the College we remain vigilant with our processes but remain thankful that we have not had a case.  The HSC Examinations will conclude on Wednesday and these have run smoothly with no major disruptions.  We look forward to celebrating with the Class of 2020 next Thursday at their graduation.  Monday is a pupil free day, staff will be onsite working on reports and spending time planning for 2021. 

With so many cancellations and restrictions regarding events and programs across the College this year, we are very excited to introduce Illuminate Online, a wonderful new website that our talented Thomas Hassall team have been working on in the background. This website beautifully presents our Year 12 Major Works, which is the culmination of 12 to 18 months of research, skill development and production, in a range of disciplines across the HSC landscape. These subjects include: Music, Drama, Art, Industrial Technology Timber, Design & Technology, English Extension 2 and History Extension. All of these subjects require a practical project that typically involves many numbers of hours and a great deal of skill to develop and create. This new website allows you to access the individual work of students, their performances or final major work for you to enjoy.  A special thankyou to Mr Michael Clisdell, Mr Peter Ford, Miss Lara Popovic, and Mr Domenic Stambe for their courage and skill at taking on such a project amidst a very busy schedule of activities.  We will launch the site on Wednesday.  Please make sure you visit the virtual rooms and get a glimpse of the student's hard work.

"I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High."
Psalm 9:1-2

Mr Ross Whelan
Principal
From the Deputy Principal - Senior School Development
Roger Young

This week I caught a look at Jenny Brockie’s SBS Show ‘Insight’, her last offering as she moves into retirement.

I have a deep respect for Ms Brockie and the way in which she has presents and explores complex community issues. This episode focused on the ‘food crisis’ that families are currently facing as they struggle to supply the basic needs on limited budgets. My heart went out as I heard people’s stories. The stories were real and the people genuine. This caused me to reflect on the importance of our current focus on Compassion, one of our Graduate Aims, a virtue, identified as being of high importance, in our community.  

I regularly speak of compassion in terms of ‘a response to a need’, or expressed in another way as, ‘love in action’. When someone falls down you help them up. When someone is hurting you reach out and provide a comforting word. This is compassion expressed in a practical and authentic way; more recently, this is what has been reflected through the generous contribution of families to things like Operation Christmas Child, the NSW Rural Fire Service fundraiser, and the current project putting together Christmas food hampers for churches. Thank you for your support as we work towards supporting charities and work for those in need.

The biggest difference, however, is when each one of us respond to the day to day needs of those people we are in regular relationship with: our spouse, our family, our friends, our colleagues and peers. There is no doubt that ‘love in action’ will improve the quality of our relationships in all cases.

Please pray for us as we move towards Christmas and a busy end of a difficult year. Take the time to ‘love well’ and be mindful of one another.

God is Love - 1 John 4:7-9 - 'Dear Friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.'

Mr Roger Young
Deputy Principal - Senior School Student Development
From the Director of Junior School Teaching & Learning

Coding is a form of literacy

“Very few people grow up to be professional writers, but we teach everyone to write because it’s a way of communicating with others—of organizing your thoughts and expressing your ideas. I think the reasons for learning to code are the same as the reasons for learning to write. When we learn to write, we are learning how to organize, express, and share ideas. And when we learn to code, we are learning how to organize, express, and share ideas in new ways, in a new medium.” (Mitch Resnick, one of the creators of Scratch, 2017)

Next week, all our students from Kindergarten to Year 6 will have the opportunity to organise, express and share their ideas in new ways during our inaugural Coding Week. The brainchild of Miss Donaldson, every teacher and student will be exploring the wonderful coding resources we have in the College, and working collaboratively to understand these digital technologies.

Each student and teacher will have a day to seek challenges, take risks, make mistakes and learn through this experience. Ask your child what they learned and make sure you read ‘The Way’ next Friday to read the results.

Ms Lisa Hansford
P-6 Director of Teaching and Learning

 

Term 4 Important Dates

9 November

Monday

Mid Term Break (Students Only)

12 November ThursdayClass of 2020 Graduation
17 NovemberTuesdayYear 12 Formal
30 NovemberMondayYear 10 Formal
2 DecemberWednesdayYear 6 Dinner
8 DecemberTuesdayJunior School Virtual Celebration
9 DecemberWednesday

Senior School Virtual Celebration

Last day of Term 4 & College year 

 

Year 4 Band Program

One of the unique opportunities for Junior students at Thomas Hassall is in Year 4, where every child is able to experience playing music for a year on a Concert Band instrument, including flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, baritone, euphonium and percussion.

For some students, this is their very first musical experience. After a great start to the year, the program shifted online, where the instrumental tutors would film weekly lessons for the students to watch whilst at home. When restrictions were eased at the beginning of Term 4, it was great to be able to finally play music again with all the Year 4 students. Despite the interruptions from COVID, the students have done very well this year and performed for the FIRST TIME this week to Year 3 students, who will participate in the program next year. It was a fantastic concert, which was also filmed, and parents will have the opportunity to see this later in the term. In the meantime, please enjoy these photos from the concert, and well done to all students. Thanks to parents for supporting this program during this challenging year.

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles

Year 1 & 2 Strings

One of the most exciting music programs in the College is the Year 1 & 2 Strings Program.

It is fantastic for students to have the opportunity to commence learning violin from a young age, and despite the interruptions from Covid, the students have done very well this year. They participated in online group Zoom lessons during the Blended learning time with their teacher, Mr Ibrahim, and have progressed well on the violin.

They will celebrate their hard work this year with a small performance to their peers later this term, which they are all looking forward to very much! If your child would like to be involved in the Year 1 & 2 Strings Program next year, please email Mrs Hobbins at: [email protected] to request an application form.

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles

Amazing Me

Last week, Years 5 and 6 parents and students took part in the ‘Amazing Me’ program.

Amazing Me is a program that specialises in providing primary aged children, parents, and educators with positive and empowering information. Amazing Me presents programs to children and adults every year and has done so for over 25 years. The presenter, Rowena Thomas, is a trained primary school teacher and her strengths lie in facilitating an informative program that aims to strengthen family relationships.

Our first session was held via Zoom and was a parent only event. In this session, Rowena explored some of the challenges that parents face when approaching conversations about sex and puberty. The second session was also held via Zoom and provided an opportunity for parents and students to sit together to discuss child protection, reproduction and birth, the changes both physical, social and emotional that can be expected while going through puberty. Our final session was held at the College for our Year 6 students. This session provided students with the knowledge and values and attitudes that contribute to the formation of their identity and personal development during their journey through puberty.

These sessions were highly valuable for parents and students and we thank Rowena for sharing her knowledge with our students and parents.

Mrs Lianne Brown
Assistant Stage 3 Coordinator - Year 6B

History Extension Seminar

The students of the new History Extension class engaged in an online seminar from the State Library of NSW & Sydney Living Museums.

As part of the day, students learned how to undertake their major projects and gained insight and advice from contemporary Australian historians. The group also were provided a lecture by Dr Stephen Gapps on his ground-breaking new research on the ‘Sydney Wars’ in colonial Australia and had the opportunity to ask questions about the newly uncovered military history of colonial Sydney. 

PRIMARY ICAS Competition Update

Pep B (Year 5) was unable to sit our original test dates for the ICAS Assessments and has since completed these, achieving awards in every test.

English: Merit

Science: Credit

Maths: Distinction

Congratulations again to all of our award winners and a big thank you to all who entered the Assessments this year.

 

Lost Property!

REMINDER

Please note that all student’s property needs to be labelled clearly.

Recently, we have had an overabundance of lost property and unfortunately we are unable to return as it has no name.  

Thanks for your cooperation with this.