Term 2 I Friday 14 May 2021

From the Principal
Principal Ross Whelan

The Athletics and Cross Country season is well underway and just today over 150 students from Junior and Senior Schools represented the College at the NASSA Cross Country Carnival

It was great to see the competition and several of our students will now proceed to the Combined Independent Schools (CIS) Carnival.  The next levels becoming more difficult; competitors need to be in training and the best performers also really like their sport.  Thanks to the teachers involved and it was great to have lots of our parents at NASSA today held at the Equestrian Centre at Horsley Park.

On Wednesday next week 19 May, we will hold our Junior School Athletics Carnival at the Campbelltown Athletics Complex.  It will be a great day and parents are very welcome to attend.  We will have a COVID Safe Plan in place and you check in at the various points as you arrive.

The Anglican Synod has appointed the new Archbishop of the Sydney Diocese. The Very Rev Kanishka Raffel has been the Dean of St Andrews Cathedral in Sydney, and replaces the Most Rev Dr Glenn Davies.  Kanishka comes to the role with an interesting background, having been born in Britain and with a Buddhist background.  We wish him well and look forward to his leadership, and his inauguration will take place next week.

Thank you to the wonderful group of parents who assisted at the recent Mother’s Day Stalls and wasn’t it disappointing that the Friday Breakfast was cancelled after the COVID restrictions were re-introduced.  The NSW community is still having to manage uncertainty, and we all do well to understand that the uncertainty of 2020 continues to impact.  It’s been interesting to observe that wellbeing issues across the community are more evident.  Please talk to us about the issues that may be impacting your family situation.  Our counsellors and leaders are available for a conversation.  Simply contact the College reception if required.

NAPLAN exams have been held this week for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 & 9, and follow-up tests will occur next week for those who have been absent.  We use the NAPLAN results to observe and analyse the growth and change for groups and individuals over the 2 year period.  Results will be available next term.

The College maintains a strong link with the members of the Hassall Family History Group. Thomas Hassall was the oldest child of 8 to his parents Rowland and Elizabeth, and the Hassall family were one of the earliest families in the colony arriving in 1798.  The Hassall Family Award is presented each year to the Year 12 student who shows excellence in the 3 areas of academic achievement, personal character and service for others.  We welcomed 2 representatives of the Family group this week to talk about new initiatives.  Our Year 2 students study the history of Thomas each year and even visit the Cobbity region to see his surroundings.  We have included a feature of their excursion in this edition of the Way.

Thanks again for your support of the College and our programs.  It’s a thriving place!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil of fade … ! Peter 1:3-4

Mr Ross Whelan
Principal
From the Director of Junior School Operations & Welfare
Kylie

Let me start off by saying Happy Mother’s Day to all our lovely mums for last Sunday.

I hope you were spoilt by your families.

This term in Junior School, we have witnessed many exciting opportunities presented to our students. One of those opportunities is Lunchtime clubs for Years 2 to 6. It is an initiative that aims to support students who struggle to be in the playground both socially and emotionally. Our aim is to encourage, support and give strategies when faced with friendship and game issues, which usually occurs during recess and lunch. So far it has been a great success. Stay tuned for updates.

Our Junior School prefects were invited to the Anglican Schools Corporation Young Leaders Day on Monday, along with five other Anglican Schools. The students spent the day learning about what it means to be a ‘servant leader’ as well as a ‘host leader’. The students worked alongside prefects and teachers, engaging in activities that enabled the group to think about how they could be better leaders and what they could potentially do to encourage our Junior school community, in how they could be a leader within their grade or friendship group without wearing the badge. I must say I was very proud of how our prefects presented themselves throughout the day, engaging in the activities, getting to know other prefects and speaking politely at all times when spoken to.

In the next couple of weeks, Years 3 and 4 will be having a visit from the Liverpool Region Police Liaison officer, to talk about the dangers surrounding social media which include talking to strangers online, giving private information, social bullying and posting photos. Year 5 and 6 will have their session next Friday 21st May. Year 3 and 4 will be on Friday 4th June. The College really encourages you to sit down and have a conversation about what they learn from the Police Officers visits. As you are all very well aware, devices can cause a lot of problems if not guided and monitored.

Thank you for your continued support of the College. We look forward to supporting you in your child's journey in 2021

Mrs Kylie Singles
Director of Operations & Wellbeing – Junior School
From the Assistant Chaplain
bible

This term stage-based chapels have started up in the Junior School.

Chapels are a time where students have the opportunity to pause and reflect on the glory of God as they listen to God’s word (The Bible), sing praises to Him and have a time of prayer.

Chapels have started off with a bang. We are going through the book of Mark and are looking at the questions ‘who is Jesus?’ and ‘what has he come to do?’. Here we see that Jesus proves that he is the Son of God who has come to save us from our sins, with the many miracles that He performs.

This week at the Year 3 and 4 Chapel we had the privilege of the Junior School Chapel band leading us in music. The Chapel Band consists of Year 5 and 6 students who have been practicing every Friday morning.

These are students who have used their gifts to serve everyone at Chapel as we sing praises to God. The Chapel band is led by Mr Howard. He has done a terrific job getting the students ready to serve us at Chapel.  

If you have any questions about Junior School chapel, please feel free to ask Rev Oliver or Mr Richards.

Mr Matthew Richards
Assistant Chaplain
Thomas Hassall Marketplace

Do you have second hand uniforms or school equipment that you want to sell? Are you searching for extra uniforms?

In response to the requests of parents, the College is pleased to provide a marketplace were parents can connect to buy/sell/swap College Uniforms and other school based equipment such as instruments or sports gear. 

Please use this link to our uniform page of our website to access the site. The terms and conditions of use are outlined on the site, please take time to read these before using.

We trust that this will assist families. Should you have any feedback or questions, please contact Mandy Payne

You can also access the Marketplace via our website by going to the 'Current Students' tab and selecting 'Uniforms'.

Once you are on the page, navigate to the 'Second Hand Uniforms Buy and Sell' tab and then press the link 'Visit the Marketplace'.


 

EventsBack to Top

Mother's Day Stall

Our Mother's Day Stall was a great success last week!

The students really enjoyed the opportunity to buy gifts for the special women in their lives.

We would like to thank our Parent Community Network who organised the stall and ran it over the two days. We could not have done it without you!

 

LearningBack to Top

Year 2 Visits Cobbity

On Thursday 29 April, Year 2 went to St Paul’ s Anglican Church at Cobbitty.

We were learning about Thomas Hassall who was born in May 29 1794. We went to Cobbitty to explore where Thomas Hassall chose to build a church. Thomas Hassall wanted to tell people about God on a Sunday and teach children reading, writing and arithmetic during the week. So Heber Chapel was built in 1828.  

They soon needed a big building to worship God and St Paul’s was built on the same property in 1842. Thomas Hassall has a gravestone on the site with his wife Anne Marsden.

This gave the students a deeper understanding as to why our College is named after Thomas Hassall.

He was a man that loved God and valued education.

It was a great day.

Mrs Trudi Woods
Stage 1 Assistant Coordinator- Year 2W

Book Talks in 4S

In 4S we have been preparing and presenting book talks.

Book talks are a small talk about a book that we have been reading recently. We find out the main characters, themes and setting and then we write and practise a presentation at home and show it to the class when we are ready.

We were allowed to bring a copy of the book and show it to the class. We were also allowed to have a theme for our presentation. Some people used puppet shows, interviews with the author, scratch projects and some even pretended to be the main character!

Book talks helped me to understand the book better because it made me slow down and think about the book more instead of just rushing through and reading it.  They have been really helpful at making me a better reader.

Written by Tahlia D - 4S

Junior School CSIRO Bebras Challenge

Towards the end of last term, students in Years 3-6 had the opportunity to participate in the Bebras Challenge.

It is a computational thinking challenge organised by the CSIRO. In order to complete the challenge, students were required to work through a series of steps to solve some tricky, multi-part problems.

150 Junior School students participated in the Challenge and we had some fantastic results. Our students achieved 6 High Distinctions, 21 Distinctions, 33 Credits and 55 Merits. Congratulations to all participants!

Year 3 

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Miss Claire Donaldson
Team Leader - Year 5

Lego Masters

On Thursdays during term 2, Years 3 and 4 have the opportunity to come and join in construction club, which has been dubbed “Lunch Time Lego Masters”.

We meet in the middle of B block and spend our time sharing our Lego building skills and constructing marvelous creations.

The Children’s Wellness Centre in London, recently released a study showing that Lego building has some extremely positive effects on child development, including an increase in Teamwork and Social Skills, improvement of communication and language skills and a better understanding of problem solving, mathematics and spatial awareness. It has also been shown to help improve creativity and experimentation, physical development, self-confidence and the lowering of anxiety and stress. Who knew all of these benefits could come from plastic bricks?

Our first meeting was last week and we all had a fabulous time. Check out all the happy builders.

If your child is keen to join lunchtime construction club. Please come and see Mrs Glendinning.

Mrs Ruth Glendenning
Junior School Teacher - Stage 2 - Year 3G

Performing ArtsBack to Top

Cinco de Mayo

Year 1, 2 and 3 students participated in a Cinco de Mayo Fiesta as part of their Spanish Language Program. 

Cinco de Mayo is an annual celebration held on May 5, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Renowned Mexican artist, Victor Valdes, took our students through a musical journey to Latin America with traditional costumes and a range of instruments including the Mexican harp. Students learned some dances from Mexico and sang along to some famous tunes from Latin America.



In the classroom, students continued to be immersed in Mexican culture by learning the history of this day, making Mexican crafts, learning traditional songs and dances.


Mrs Viviana Morris
Junior School Teacher (Languages)

Junior String Ensemble

Every Wednesday morning, a happy bunch of string players come together to play music.

The ensemble is made up of students from Years 2-6, with most playing violin, and a couple on the cello. The group were very excited to perform at the Mother’s Day event last week which was unfortunately cancelled, however they are always practicing very well and look forward to their next performance opportunity soon. The group is directed by Mr Ehab Ibrahim, and assisted by other professional violinist Miss Bronwyn and Mrs Hobbins on cello.

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles

Junior Concert Band Assembly Performance

They were all very excited to perform 3 pieces at the P-6 assembly last Friday.

With over 50 students in the ensemble now comprising of students in Years 5 & 6, it is the largest ensemble in the College, with all students being successful graduates of the Year 4 Band Program. The 3 pieces they performed were Cayuga Lake Overture, Algo-Rhythms, and the Beach Boys classic hit, Surfin’ USA. In a few weeks’ time, these students will be visiting the Sydney Opera House to enjoy a live music performance as part of the opera house education program.

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensemble

Junior Assembly Performance

In addition to our flourishing ensembles, we are also entertained by soloists and small ensembles at our assemblies. In Week 2, Mia S (Year 5) and Jake L (Year 6) each performed a piano solo at the Junior assembly. Both students are preparing for piano exams later this year, and are tutored by Mrs Susan Yoon, one of the College’s piano tutors. We also have select students sing the Australian National Anthem at our Junior assemblies. Week 2 featured April M (Year 5) and Week 3 Francesca P (Year 4) singing the anthem, and both students did very well!

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles

NSW CIS Primary Netball Gala Day

On Friday 7 May, Ella W represented NASSA Junior schools at the CIS Primary Girls Netball Gala Day.

Ella played well throughout the day, turning over the ball and combining well with other players in NASSA team.  

Ella's performance during the rounds was noticed and she progressed to the final stage of selection, with the top 23 players in the state vying for a position in the State team.

Although Ella was unsuccessful on this occasion, she showed excellent skill and sportsmanship throughout the day.  We look forward to her trialling again for the team next year.

Congratulations Ella!

Mrs Sharon Evans
P-6 Sports Coordinator