SECONDARY NEWS 

From the Assistant Principal 

Family Conferences

A big thank you to all the families who attended the Family Conferences last Monday. It was fantastic to see such strong collaboration between school and home in supporting our students' learning.

Rugby League Updates

Congratulations to our 13s and 15s boys and 15s girls Rugby League teams who represented us at the Northern NSW Knights Premiership Competition. They were excellent ambassadors for our school and acquitted themselves very well.

Our 16s boys team also travelled to Bathurst last week to contest the state finals of the Small Schools' Rugby League competition, narrowly losing to Junee High School. A huge thank you to Mr Koch, Mr Jeffery, and all the parents who made the trip to support the team.

Chess Finalists

Best of luck to our Chess team as they compete against Farrer in the regional final this Thursday. They will back it up again on Friday to play in the semi-final of the online tournament.

Book Week Parade

The Book Week Parade takes place this Wednesday! We are excited to see the creative costumes from our Secondary students. Students must wear their normal school uniform to and from school, with time allocated to change at recess before the 12:15 PM parade.

Year 11 HSC Study Day

On Wednesday, our Year 11 HMS class will be attending an HSC Study Day at McCarthy Catholic College in Tamworth.

SRC Movie Night

This Thursday at 6:15 PM, the SRC is hosting a movie night in the school hall featuring Happy Gilmore. As this movie requires parental consent, students who express interest will be added to a Compass event where parents can provide approval. Entry is by gold coin donation, and snacks and drinks will be available for purchase.

Year 11 Family Conferences

Year 11 Family Conferences will be held early in Term 4.

Year 11 End-of- Course Examinations

Year 11 End-of-Course Exams will be held from Monday 14 September to Monday 21 September.

The exam timetable is visible on the Curriculum Handbook Site. 

https://sites.google.com/arm.catholic.edu.au/htsstudentcurriculumhandbook/home

Students will also receive paper copies.

The exam procedures and expectations are clearly outlined in the timetable, and students and families are asked to read them carefully and direct any questions to Miss Bailey.

Year 11 2027 Family Meetings

In the coming weeks, Miss Bailey and Mr Baldwin will be holding Stage 6 Family Meetings to discuss Year 10 subject selections and pattern of study for Year 11 in 2027. 

This meeting is an essential opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of the pathways available for senior school. We will cover key information regarding course structures, prerequisites, and how to make informed choices that align with your child's strengths and future aspirations. Mrs Townsend will be available if students have questions about VET subjects.

Meeting times will be 20 minutes and can be booked through Compass. Please access the booking system to secure your preferred slot. If the available times do not suit your family, please contact Miss Bailey, and we will do our best to arrange an alternative. It is important to note that these meetings are in addition to the usual Family Conferences, and we strongly encourage attending the conferences to gauge current progress in all subjects.

Please note that attendance at this meeting is a required step for all students intending to continue into Year 11 in 2027. Your participation is vital in ensuring a smooth and well-informed transition into senior studies.

We look forward to meeting with you and supporting your child through this important decision-making process.

Please contact Miss Bailey if you have any questions or concerns.

A NOTIFICATION WILL BE SENT VIA COMPASS WHEN THE BOOKINGS ARE OPEN.

SAVE THE DATE: SECONDARY PUBLIC SPEAKING FINALS

Date: Monday 31 August

Time: 11.40 am

Venue: Holy Trinity School Hall

Congratulations to the following students who have qualified for the Public Speaking Finals.

Attendance Matters

Research indicates that:

• Regular attendance at school is fundamental to student learning. Students who attend school regularly are more likely to achieve educational success and increase their career and life options.
• Student attendance has been identified as an important aspect of a student’s wellbeing, and failure to receive an education has been identified as a risk of harm factor.
• Poor attendance patterns place students at risk of not achieving their educational, social, and psychological potential and disadvantage them in the quality of choices they can make in later life.
• Communities benefit from students who regularly attend school and are achieving. These benefits include greater student safety, community wellbeing, and a sense of connectedness for all.
• Schools, families, and communities can work together to send a strong collective message about the importance of going to school. 
• Promoting the benefits of regular attendance to students, teachers, early childhood centre staff, parents, and community groups will help create a culture where regular school attendance is the norm.

Whole-day attendance is very important, as is punctuality for school and classes.

GOOGLE CLASSROOM GUARDIAN SUMMARIES

STUDY SKILLS TIP: 

HOW TO STAY POSITIVE ABOUT YOUR SCHOOLWORK

 It can be difficult to stay positive at all times about your schoolwork, particularly if you have challenges, whether they be personal or when you are grappling with something like online learning. When we allow pressure and stress to build, we can get into bad habits and let go of good habits. As a result, students can feel even more drained and exhausted.

The key to being positive and managing negative emotions such as anxiety and feeling down and depressed in any pressure situation, including schoolwork and exams, is to “fuel up”. “Fuelling Up” is about boosting wellbeing factors in your life. You need to boost the wellbeing factors in your BODY, MIND and EMOTIONS.

BODY: Here are some things you can do to boost the energy in your BODY

Get better sleep.

Feeling good all starts with getting the right amount and type of sleep. Start with a good night-time routine. Stop anything that stimulates you, such as caffeine or TV or computer, iPad or phone screens etc. Try a warm drink such as chamomile tea and use essential oils such as lavender oil. Having a soothing bath or shower can also help along with gentle stretching of tight or tense muscles. If you still feel you are not getting a “good” sleep, be sure to see your doctor.

Eat in Moderation

Never skip a meal, especially breakfast. Breakfast replenishes your body and helps you start your day full of energy. Eat three main meals and two to three snack meals a day. Eating five to six times a day keeps your blood sugar levels balanced, giving you an overall sense of well-being needed for focusing on your tasks and responsibilities.

Exercise Regularly

Regular exercise, at least three times per week for a minimum of 30-minute sessions, can virtually “soak up” stress chemicals in your body and help you to relax and even sleep better. Brisk walking, aerobic classes, swimming, bike riding, or jogging are great exercises to release stress buildup and relax your body and mind to either start or end your day right.

MIND: Here are some things you can do to THINK more positive

Change your thinking and perceptions

Write down your top 5 fears and worries. What’s the worst thing that can happen? Then ask yourself, “IS THAT TRUE”? Usually, fears and worries are not based on reality but on imagined scenarios that have little to no evidence. If it’s something that can’t be changed, bring acceptance to it. It is what it is for now!

Change your focus

Have you noticed that what we worry about, we make bigger and keep closer to us by the way we think and focus? Try this…make your fears and worries SMALL in size (5 cm in height), DARK in brightness and as far away as possible in DISTANCE. When we change the size, brightness and distance of the things that upset us in our minds, it reduces the intensity of the emotion.

EMOTIONS: Here are some things you can do to FEEL more positive

Acts of kindness

Make a list of 5 acts of kindness you can do every day. Make them simple acts of kindness that are easy to do, such as saying thank you etc. Do these 5 acts of kindness every day for 6 weeks. The research shows that people that do this and think of 3 good things in their life (as above) have a dramatic positive boost in their mood.

3 good things exercise

Every day at the start and end of your day, think of 3 good things that happened. Write them down. Then think about either WHY those good things happened or how it MADE YOU FEEL when those good things happened.

Start ticking things off your list

Pick something small and achievable to start with that you need to do for school and get it done. You will feel much more positive when you start doing things. Do a few more easy things to get your confidence up, then tackle a more challenging task.

Years 7 - 9 Assessment Handbook

Years 10 - 11 Curriculum Handbook (including Assessment Policy)

Please note this also applies to Year 9 Elective Subjects.

https://sites.google.com/arm.catholic.edu.au/htsstudentcurriculumhandbook/home

Ready2Learn

Pastoral Care teachers will be checking in with the students in their class each morning to ensure that they are Ready2Learn. All students have received the information below and were encouraged to show their families and discuss how to be Ready2Learn each day. Pastoral Care teachers will be able to help students start the day in a positive way. Please ask your child about this and support them to be Ready2Learn.

Students are being asked to ensure that they understand these elements and have all their equipment and uniforms by the start of Week 6. The infographic also outlines what to do if there is a problem with doing this and who you can go to for assistance.

Pastoral Care Teachers

 Year 7:    

7J – Mr Jack Jeffery

7M – Mrs Veronica McCormick

7R – Mrs Katrina Richardson

7W – Miss Lisa Wilson

Year 8:  

8K - Miss Kristina Majetic

8M – Mr Ricky Muggleton 

8T- Mrs Jane Taylor

8W – Mr Sam White 

Year 9:    

9C – Mrs Claudia Marshall

9E – Mr Jeremy East

9G – Miss Lauren Green

9M – Mrs Christine McLachlan

Year 10:  

10E – Mr Peter Ehsman

10G – Mrs Hannah Graham/Mrs Nicole Simpson

10S – Mrs Kristen Smith

10U – Mr Blake Uebergang.

Students and parents are encouraged to approach the relevant Pastoral Care teacher for assistance.

Contacting Staff

We ask that all correspondence with staff is via the Compass portal.

Living Well, Learning Well 

Student Wellbeing

Check In Tuesday with the Pulse Wellbeing App

Pulse is a tool for measuring the week-to-week wellbeing and engagement of all our students. It tracks the wellbeing of an individual so that the school can respond if needed. It also tracks engagement with the school so we can make intervene if necessary.