Term 3 | The Way Newsletter | Monday 18 September 2023

Congratulations to everyone in our Junior School community on reaching the last week of Term 3, 2023.

Amongst the highlights of this term, our very own Assistant Chaplain Miss Georgia Beikoff travelled to Japan to compete with her team, the CommBank ParraMatildas. The CommBank ParraMatildas are Australia’s first national football team for women and girls with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury and symptoms of stroke. Miss Beikoff and her team were undefeated in their three-match series against Japan. We applaud you Miss Beikoff for your remarkable achievement and for being an inspiration to our students.

Another achievement worth highlighting is that of Samuel in Class 3R who received the 2023 Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Student Achievement Community Languages Schools from the NSW Department of Education. Samuel has been attending the Diglat Assyrian Language school since Kindergarten held every Saturday for 2 hours during the school term. Like many of our students who undertake extra activities on the weekends during school term, it takes determination and commitment to finish the task. We applaud you Samuel for your extraordinary efforts and for receiving high recognition for your learning.

Our Prep and Kindergarten students have also achieved 100 days of schooling. In concurrence with this milestone, the students participated in the annual Teddy Bear’s Picnic. Mr Whelan, Mrs Easton and I had the wonderful opportunity to read a book and bring our own teddy bears with us to the festivities. The children were filled with such delight to hear from us, and we enjoyed sharing our life moments with each of them. A special thank you to our Prep and Kindergarten staff as well as the students for hosting a fun and special occasion.

Our vision at Thomas Hassall is Growing and Nurturing Excellence in Learning, Wisdom, and Service. Term 3 has exemplified each of these components. And the wonderful fact is that this vision is not just limited to our College setting, it can be exuberated in every aspect of our individual lives.

Let me again congratulate each and everyone of our Junior School community members – teachers, support staff, parents, and College families and of course our students. As we finish this term, I wish you all a restful and safe holiday break.  

'Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.' Thessalonians 5:16-18

Last Friday in Week 9, our Year Five students presented their “Passion Projects”  to members of staff, fellow students, parents and other members of the College community. A Passion Project is chosen by each student, based on a topic of interest, and completed at home over a number of weeks. It presents an opportunity to explore and learn something new – perhaps creating a physical object, learning a new skill or designing something original. It was exciting to see the wide range of talents and interests on display this year.
Students began formulating ideas and plans at the beginning of the term and spent many hours at home creating, adapting and refining. Not everything went according to plan, but many challenges were faced and overcome along the journey.

The Year Five staff would like to thank all the parents, friends and family members that have supported, encouraged and guided the children during this process. We trust that you enjoyed seeing your children learning through this experience. And finally, congratulations to all our amazing Year Five students! We hope that you found the project worthwhile and that you will continue to develop your newfound passions in the future.

Mr Peter Butchatsky 
Junior School Teacher - Year 5

It was lovely to be able to host the Winter IPSSO Finals Day at College last Wednesday 6 September.  The Northern pool met the Southern pool in the cross-over games, to crown the overall winners of each Sport.
IPSSO Finals were last contested in 2019, so it was exciting to be able to once again play in the Finals Day.

Thomas Hassall has had a great winter season, with all our teams showing improvement of skills and teamwork.

Congratulations to the 6 teams who competed on Finals Day.  Special mention to our Tee-ball and Softball teams who were victorious and took home the gold medal!

Mrs Sharon Evans
P-6 Sports Coordinator

Netball

The Primary Junior and Senior IPSSO Netball teams enjoyed the winter competition. Both teams trained consistently, developing their skills, teamwork and confidence. We played competitively in every game and I was very proud of the way they conducted themselves throughout the season.

The Junior team progressed to the recent IPSSO finals, held at College last week. The girls all competed exceptionally well, representing THAC with a positive team spirit. On the day, we finished 4th, which was a fantastic achievement!

Congratulations!

Mrs Bronwyn Ferguson 

Tee-ball and Softball

The Tee-ball and Softball teams have improved greatly over the Winter season and it was wonderful that both teams had the opportunity to play in the Finals. The Tee-ball team went through the season undefeated and were dominant with the bat.  Their defence was strong and they worked well as a team. In the Grand Finals they has a convincing win 14-7 against St Marks.

Our Softball team steadily improved during the season and on Finals day faced William Carey who were undefeated.  Our team played brilliantly in the field, pitching well and fielding all balls that came their way.  Showing exceptional teamwork, they proved too strong with the bat and dominated from the outset, winning the game 11-1. Congratulations to both teams on your fine performance over the Winter season.  

Your coaches are very proud of you!

Miss Georgia Beikoff and Miss Breanna Evans

Junior Boys Soccer

The Junior Boys soccer team had an outstanding winter season, making it through to the finals undefeated.

In a tense semi-final against St Gregory’s, the Thomas Hassall team had control for much of the game, defending strongly and launching a number of attacks on goal. The difference proved to be an opportunistic first half goal from Fawzy (Ozzy) A that settled the score at 1-0.

The final was a nail-biting affair against a strong team from Wollondilly Anglican College. In a very even contest, it was Wollondilly who triumphed by a single goal to put to an end our unbeaten run of matches. The team certainly gave everything on the pitch and can be immensely proud of their effort this season to finish in overall second place.

Mr Peter Butchatsky

Newcombe

Our Thomas Hassall Newcombe team showed great team work during the season, especially on finals day. In game one our opponent won the first set, however we came back strong and won the second set and then the third, putting us into the Grand Final. This was a close game, with Thomas Hassall wining the first set, however Wollondilly worked hard to take the win.

Both our Junior Newcombe ball and senior volley ball teams have shown great improvement throughout the season. They worked hard to improve their serving and communication throughout the game and this is something to be extremely proud of.

Miss Ashlea Wotton 

AFL

It's been another fantastic AFL season for both the Junior and Senior teams. It was great to see so many students giving AFL a go for the first time. Our Senior team only just missed out on playing finals. Our Junior team were competitive on Finals Day but ultimately finished 4th overall. Well done to both teams this season! 

Mr David Stroud

Join us for four days of fun and development at the College.

Running from October 3 - 6 from 8.30 - 2.30pm, this is an all-weather program that will take place at the College.

It is open to boys and girls aged 5-13 of all skill levels.

Students will participate in fun activities, game development and learn soccer skills from accredited coaches.

$65 per day or $240 for the week.

Students enrolled in the program are to bring a water bottle. lunch, hat and sunscreen. They are to wear comfortable training attire, football boots and shin pads. All other equipment is provided.

Book online now

Please make sure all of your child’s belongings are clearly labelled with their name.

Any lost property that is not labelled will be placed in the lost property tubs.

Lost property for K-2 can be found outside A block.
Lost property for 3-6 can be found between C and B block.

Lost property for 7-12 can be found at the Senior Hub.

Students are welcome to look for their lost property anytime.
Parents are welcome to come look in the junior school tubs at morning drop off or afternoon pick up times.