The Way Weekly Recap I Wednesday 15 September 2021

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From the Principal
Principal Ross Whelan

We may well look back at the lockdown term with a sense of achievement in a few years’ time. 

With every best effort, we have been able to not just survive a different 10 weeks of learning; for nearly every person, staff, student and parent, we’ve learnt new skills and knowledge. Well done Thomas Hassall members.

Were you able to join in on THACTV last night for the Family Fun Night? It was a great occasion with lots of laughs. Thanks to all those who competed; and others who sent through their photos; a special thanks to our production team; director for the night, Carmen Pasapera, and our wonderful hosts, Annabelle Wood and Stuart McCormack who were brilliant in their adaption and wit during throughout the evening. 

Family FUn Night

The final assemblies for the Term occur tomorrow Thursday at 11.00am for Junior School and 1.00pm for Senior School. Again the assemblies will be shown on THACTV and parents are most welcome to login and enjoy a reflection and celebration of the term.

Year 12 students begin their final phase of learning towards the HSC which will test out their resilience and motivation. Teachers are reaching out to them as well and we wish them well.

With the Premier moving the State towards return to school from October 25 the College has a committee in place to plan for students to be back on site. While we are still 6 weeks away, and a lot of change is still to occur, there will be questions for you and your family about the plan.

We will come to you at the start of Term 4 with clear set of points for your information including notices about bus travel arrangements and entry and exit from College each day for every person. Please also take note of the announcements about education from the authorities.

For the next 2 weeks it is time to take a break; to reflect on the last few weeks and to take care of one another in your family setting. 

The term will resume remotely on Wednesday 6 October 2021 with our Blended Learning Online Program. 

Thanks again for your support during this very different term – Term 3 2021; a term to remember.

‘We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.’ 1 Thessalonians 1:3

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

It is going to be a term we will always remember isn’t it?

I am guessing that it will be a term that College students, families and staff will be relieved to have coming to an end. But it is also a term where much has been achieved to be proud of. 

Having our Senior Students undertake their exams from home has been a big logistical endeavour and students have really done well in meeting the requirements to take part. A huge thank you to the staff involved in making this possible, in particular Megan Bennett, our Director of ICT, who has played an integral role in making this possible.

More generally, I think we can be proud as a community who have come together and made the best of a difficult situation. Our students have become more self-reliant and responsible in navigating their learning. They have mostly done an excellent job in remaining connected with their support networks through this time of isolation. College families have juggled all of the different needs of the family members in their homes which I am sure, like with my own family, has proven to be quite challenging at times.

Thomas Hassall teachers and staff have provided and supported quality learning experiences for the students despite the remote conditions. To manage to do this and consistently seek opportunities to be positive, has been a credit to our community. Regular messages from students and families have been a wonderful encouragement to our staff and regular class zooms, Year Meetings, chapels and special assemblies have been an opportunity for staff to encourage students for all the hard work they have been doing.

Thanks so much for the part you have played in making this term possible despite its limitations. There is more uncertainty ahead, but I am confident we can continue to make the best of it together.

Mr David Butler
Deputy Principal - Senior School Learning
From the Junior School Director of Teaching & Learning

What have we learnt about our students, and what have our parents learnt about their children?

In The Way at the end of Week 3, I asked this question of our teachers and parents. As we near the end of the term, there are many more questions to ask, as we collect more and more information about the students in our College.

During our Wellbeing Check-ins, we are giving the students the opportunity to answer some questions themselves:

⇒ How do you feel about Blended Learning Online?

⇒ What have you enjoyed? Can you think why you enjoyed them?

⇒ What have you found hard? Why do you think you found this hard?

⇒ What would you like to get better at next term?

I can do it

Rather than focusing on what students may have lost during the Blended Learning Online timeframe, we want to consider the gains that the students have made and celebrate these with their parents.

In the communication we have had during the term, we realise that some students have been learning how to structure their time during the day, ensuring they give themselves chances to stand up and move around, exactly as they would do at College.

Parents have told classroom teachers that their children are beginning to manage their distractions more efficiently by setting themselves goals of completing certain tasks before getting a snack, or running around in the backyard. Many parents are fascinated by how much their children are learning about technology, organisation and routine. They have been learning and practising new skills all through lockdown.

If you want to help your children by developing more of these behaviours, here are some ideas:

⇒ Set a timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, your child can get up and do some star jumps or other activities for the House Challenge. Extend the timer a few minutes every few days to extend their perseverance.

⇒ Think about the noise around your child when they are on Zooms. If possible, help them focus by sitting them in a place where they can’t see or hear their siblings or pets. Then when they finish, allow them time to spend with the family.

⇒ Encourage your child to start their day’s work with a task they will enjoy, then move to one they may find more challenging. Then change to a more enjoyable one again. They do not have to do everything in the same order as set. 

Lisa Photo

During spring, let us encourage our children to learn to appreciate the small things around them – sitting in the sun with their family, looking for new flowers, listening for birds, caring for their parents and pets.

There are things to celebrate. Thank you for all you are doing to help your children learn during this time.

Ms Lisa Hansford
Director of Teaching and Learning
From the Chaplain
Denis Oliver

God is in control

Over the last couple of months, life has felt out of control. COVID laws restricted my actions and crushed my routines. Commercial and social media have unsettled my heart with their dramatics making a tough situation seem worse. On top of that, people do what they want and this results in extending lockdown periods!! In a strange way, I thank God for all this.

I thank God because I am reminded I am not in control. Therefore the next question to ask is, if I am not in control then who is? You know the answer the chaplain is going to give. God is in control.

Everything on earth has its own time and its own season… God makes everything happen at the right time.Yet none of us can ever fully understand all he has done, and he puts questions in our minds about the past and the future. Ecclesiastes 3:1,11

On realising that a good God has both good and evil orchestrated for his good purposes, I can relax. I relax because I am not called to be in control but simply to be responsible with my time. Please join me as I explore the ancient teaching of Ecclesiastes 3

Reverend Denis Oliver
College Chaplain
Family Fun Night

Thanks to everyone who joined in.

We had such a fun night together playing Musical Bingo with all the classic Disney hits.  

Thanks to everyone behind the scenes who made this event happen, all the organisers and the crew, our hosts extraordinaire, Mrs Wood and Mr McCormack and most of all our audience.  

It was great to be able to end the term with a positive community event and have a laugh. Here are a few photos from the night.

Family Fun Night

 
It's Whisk-ie Business in the Kitchen

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Year 4 Cooking

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Year 4 Cooking

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Year 4 Cooking

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Year 4 Cooking

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Year 4 Cooking

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Year 4 Cooking

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Year 4 Cooking

Year 4 is zooming for a weekly cooking segment.

As a fun way to end the week, Year 4 and their families are getting Whisk-ie in the kitchen. We Zoom together, have some fun and make two delicious recipes - no baking and no knives needed.

Students and families are given a list of ingredients. At the beginning of the Zoom, we guess what we are going to be cooking before we get started.

Last week was our first week and we had so much fun making Oreo Balls and Pick Up Trucks.

If you would like to be involved in Whisk-ie Business, but you aren't in Year 4, send an email to [email protected] and we will send you the ingredient list and the Zoom link. 

Ashleigh Hackfath
Stage 1 Assistant Coordinator- Year 1A
Junior Choir

Soothing for the Soul

Junior Choir have been gathering on Thursday afternoons this term on Zoom to continue singing and practising together. They have continued to work hard developing their vocal skills and have been able to focus and develop their individual performance skills through the recording of their parts. 

Music making exercises the brain as well as the body, but singing is particularly beneficial for improving breathing, posture and muscle tension.  The choir is working on putting together a virtual choir item to showcase their efforts and 'virtual unity' while working from home. 

We commend all the students on their continued commitment during this term. 

Miss Simone Rapisarda
Senior School Teacher - Creative Arts
Junior Assembly Performances

Music Concerts at Home

Whilst our online assemblies continue to take place, we are excited to introduce live music again to these events – although this time, just a bit different. Select students perform a piece from their home, and send this through to be streamed during the assembly. This weeks’ special guests featured one student each from Grades 3-6.

Annabelle Y (Yr3) performing on violin; Daniel B (Yr4) performing on cello; Anvesh S (Yr5) performing on flute; and Tamara A (Yr6) on trumpet. All four students performed beautifully, even introducing the names of their pieces before playing. Warm congratulations to Annabelle, Daniel, Anvesh and Tamara for their fantastic performances, and please watch these in the videos below in case you missed it in the online assembly last week. Also, if you’re able to tune into the P-6 assembly on Thursday this week, you will have the opportunity to see the students featured in this event too!

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles

 
Year 10 Elective Music

Taking the everyday, making it extra special in Music

Year 10 Music have been experimenting with sampled sounds – that is, recording everyday sounds from around their homes and using these as the basis for composition. We discovered that sampled sounds that had a strong sense of rhythm made for the best starting point. Students were given the option to record additional layers using instruments they had at home, or make use of pre-recorded loops. It is interesting to hear how vastly different each composition is and how highly creative the students are.

Tom S recorded the coffee machine from his kitchen and then created an entire piece out of that sound using Cakewalk software. Tom recorded each individual track on this recording using instruments from home. It is titled ‘The Coffee Song’. 

 

Rashmi L recorded her printer, a microwave and a pencil case as her sample and she played the keyboard part. Rashmi used the program BandLab to create her piece. 

 

Petar L enjoys playing golf, so he recorded himself in the backyard bouncing a golf ball with a golf club – seeing how long he could keep the ball bouncing. This made an interesting rhythm which became the basis for his composition. Petar improvised with his saxophone to create a melody and also added synth to his piece. It is titled ‘Smooth Swings’. His whole piece lasts for 6 minutes - this is a 2 minute excerpt.

 

Josh C used the clicking of a ballpoint pen as the rhythmic basis for his composition. He then added a rubber band as well as other instrumental layers. Josh used his guitar to improvise over the top of these layers.

 

We hope you enjoy listening to these compositions. Well done students for thinking ‘out of the box’ for this creative composition activity!

Mrs Elizabeth Ford
Music Teacher - Creative Arts
House Sport Challenge - Week 9 Update

Some fantastic results were recorded in Week 9 of our House Sport Challenge.

LIDDELL house is now leading the College point score in the House Sport Challenge.

After results were calculated for Week 9, LIDDELL house has jumped into the lead, after some amazing performances in the House Sport Challenge.

To view the results and also submit your entries, visit the House Sport Challenge home page - https://sites.google.com/thac.nsw.edu.au/housesportchallenge/home

Remember, you can submit your best entry for all 7 challenges for your year group.  Make sure you include the video of you participating in the Challenge.

Junior School are also running a Class Challenge and currently 1D are leading the way, with students gaining valuable points in the Accumulation Challenge.  It has been lovely to see our Prep - Year 6 students walking or riding each day with their family, to earn points for their house.

Entries for the final week of this term have closed and results will be announced at College Assemblies Tomorrow.

 

Week 9 points

1st  -   Liddell - 957.92 points
2nd -   Lewis - 906.95 points
3rd -   Wilberforce - 902.82 points
4th-     Carmichael - 844.18 points


Mr Michael Fox and Mrs Sharon Evans
Sport Coordinators
Cook with MRK

Our MRK staff are back for another week of Cook with MRK! 

This week's recipe is an chicken and vegetable rice.


Read the full recipe on our website
Resources for Raising Resilience

The Raising Resilience Course is a brand new resource designed to be the reset that so many families need with their teens.

Parents can register to take the course and join thousands of other families in a nationwide launch on 1st October for Mental Health Month. From the 1st October, the course will start by inviting parents to watch a short 3-4 minute video, and take the daily action step. We’ve called these action steps the “daily challenge” and it’s a really practical step toward positive change. The course is 10 Days, 10 Steps.

Sessions include: 

⇒ The #1 way to build a strong mind

⇒ How to break through quitting points

⇒ The power of a Screen Detox

⇒ Moving from weaknesses to strengths

+ more! 

By the end: Parents and students will have done something positive and developed new skills and strategies for anxious thoughts and facing hardship. 

Click here for more information  

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Are you juggling life in lockdown with being a parent, homeschooling, or working from home? If yes, you may find some helpful links in this 'where to' guide, when you can’t go anywhere. Here you will find a list of resources, groups, and activities that you can participate in both online and offline from home or in your neighbourhood.

We hope they bring inspiration and fun to the day for you and your family.

Mrs Donna Schatzman 
Junior School Director of Operations & Welfare 
Welcome to the New Babies in Town

Congratulations to the Rimmer, Howard and Robinson families!

Congratulations to Luke ( Productions & Creative and Performing Arts Coordinator) & Michelle Robinson (Junior School Teacher) who welcomed their gorgeous baby boy, Hamish James on Thursday 19 August 2021 

We are thrilled with this news and praise God for the safe arrival of precious little Hamish.  Big brother Charlie is absolutely smitten.

Congratulations also to Lizzie (HSIE Teacher & Year 12 Advisor) & Joel Howard, who welcomed their precious baby girl Savanna Grace (who is a cousin to Charlie & Hamish) on Thursday 9 September 2021.  We are very excited for Lizzie and Joel, and little Savanna and Mum are doing very well.

Congratulations also to Jose (Senior School Administration Assistant) & Lachlan Rimmer who welcomed their sweet baby boy, Josiah William on Wednesday 8 September 2021.  Lachlan and Jose are very excited to welcome their bundle of joy to their family.  

We rejoice with these families and congratulate them all from our Thomas Hassall community.  

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow."