You’re invited to come along to our special Grandparents day in the Junior School at the College on Friday 27 October. 

Join us for refreshments from 10.30am. There will be a concert at 11.00am then followed by classroom visits. 

There will be a book fair open throughout the day at the Junior School Library.

Register for the event online www.thac.nsw.edu.au/book 

At Thomas Hassall we proactively seek to empower our students to speak up about any concerns they may have. Students have concerns about all sorts of things: friends, family, staff, facilities, and learning.

Student safety is our top priority. We strive to provide a safe environment for all our students to learn and thrive. Listening to our students is the key to understanding their thoughts and experiences. When students feel heard and valued on all matters, small or large, it creates an environment of trust. This creates a child-safe culture, so when significant issues arise, students feel safe to talk about what has happened.

We want to partner with our parents and carers to make sure your child knows how to speak up if they have any concerns.

Sometimes students have concerns but are too afraid to speak up. They might worry they’ll be picked on or there might be repercussions from complaining. Students might have issues that really bother them, but it might seem trivial to other people. An anonymous way to give feedback can help students to raise these issues.

At Thomas Hassall we have 2 anonymous ways for students to raise concerns at the College.

• A letterbox in the Junior School Library
• Online “THAC Cares” - accessed from the Student Dashboard – available Term 4 2023 for Year 7-12 and Term 1 2024 for Year 5-6.

Students can choose to be anonymous or to include their details when raising concerns. Where a concern is raised anonymously, it might prevent the College from fully investigating or reporting findings back to the student.

At Thomas Hassall we are committed to best practice, ensuring students are heard and taken seriously. While it may not be easy to deal with anonymous complaints, the College is committed to giving students a way of making anonymous complaints as part of our broader College ecosystem of student complaint options.

Talking to your children about how they can raise concerns at school, empowers your children to speak up, and helps to embed our child-safe culture.

Winners of our recent writing competition had the privilege of taking part in a writer’s workshop, run by published author, Lesley Gibbs. The students learnt about connecting with their audience through the 5 senses and setting the scene by describing a natural landscape compared to a cityscape. They were engaged and wrote wonderful descriptions or story starts. We thank Lesley for sharing her time and her gifts with us.

Here are some samples of work from the writer’s workshop:

I could hear the taxis, beeping their horns like they were carrying the king, people talking so loudly that the wind rustling the leaves seemed silent. I saw cars, units and Big Ben. It felt like the giant clock was just staring, lonely and quiet. I could taste the smoky air of cars back firing, pushing at the clear, perfect air. – Hannah Year 3

I scrape my hands against the irregular shaped leaves. The leaves are painted sage green with dark tipped ends. I feel a small, sharp pain as the jagged edges stab me. The leaves rustle in the cold night breeze. The moon illuminates the dark, abandoned forest. This is where I belong.  – Ava Year 6

I see a koala in the green leafy tree. The rocks under my feet crack as I walk. I hear a lizard scurrying in the bush. I feel wet little rain drops and smell the breeze in the air as I walk home.  – Evie Year 1

The sound of leaves rustled and echoed throughout the forest. Smells of nostalgia flowed by…. The smell of nature. The enveloping smell of leaves continue to scent the forest. Wind blowing, soft and hard make the leaves brush my face, tickling me in the process. Bitter dusk rests on my tongue. Ebube – Year 6

Mrs Alex Saville
Gifted and Talented Liaison for the Junior School

On Tuesday night, our Junior Ensembles took to the stage to entertain and wow their audience.

150 students from our Intermediate Stage Band, Junior Choir, Junior Drum Circle, Junior Concert Band, Intermediate Concert Band and Junior Strings Orchestra performed a wide range of repertoire including Jazz, funk, folk, pop, movie themes and gospel.

All the students have been working hard throughout the year on their ensemble skills and provided a great night of music and song. We would like to congratulate all the students for a fantastic performance, with many students also featuring in more than one ensemble.

I would also like to thank all of the Creative Arts team for the dedication to teaching our students, as well as the support of the College for providing opportunities for our students to learn and grow their passion for music.

Thank you to all the parents for supporting and encouraging their children to learn music, and we look forward to more events in the future.

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles

There were lots of smiles this week at our Prep to Year 2 tabloid carnivals that were on this week.

They had fun participating in various activities run by our Year 9 and 10 Physical Activity and Sport Studies (PASS) classes. They particularly enjoyed being able to try and beat their parents in tug-o-war!

Mrs Sharon Evans
P-6 Sports Coordinator

Last term the Junior Library held a 'Hunt for a Golden Ticket' competition. Based on the novel 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' by Roald Dahl, ten golden tickets were hidden in the barcodes of ten different books in the Library, if a student borrowed one of those books they would win a wonderful prize. Students eagerly borrowed each week hoping that they would find a Golden Ticket, and by the end of the competition all ten had been found!

The following students were the lucky finders of a golden ticket:

Shrisha K. - Kindy

Ameilia M.  - Year 2

Jonathan B. - Year 3

Alessio M. - Year 4

Ira S. - Year 4

Sophia K. - Year 4

Zen K. - Year 5

Cinzia S. - Year 6

Lilianna T. - Year 6

Jana S. - Year 6

Each student has won a brand new book of their choice!

Congratulations to all the winners!

Mrs Arabella Issa & Mr Michael Smith
Junior IRC Library Team