Hello families and friends of Holy Cross,

It's lovely to be back together for 2023. We welcome our Prep children, who have made themselves well and truly at home in our spaces, along with our two new children in Year One and Year Three, Eleanor and Chelsea. Our five new staff; Jodie, Kate M, Cailin, Louise and Pat have also settled right in, we hope you will all be very happy at our school.

Parent/Teacher chats

We are looking forward to welcoming you to our Parent/Teacher chats on the 13th/14th February. Please check Operoo for booking details. The meetings are taking place onsite, however if your family would like to arrange an online meeting instead, please contact your child's class teacher directly. The children will take part in various activities led by our Specialist teacher and leaders in the afternoon session so that teachers can meet with families.

Welcome picnic & Welcome to Country - Friday 10th Feb 5:30pm

We warmly invite you to join us for our welcome picnic next Friday. Uncle Bill Nicholson will be leading us in a Welcome to Country and a smoking ceremony. This is a special opportunity to be part of a sacred ritual on the traditional lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people. Please bring along a picnic and chair/rug. Our PFA will be providing a sausage in bread please RSVP via this link https://forms.gle/sdXzY7vkX1ZGs2GdA so they can organise supplies.

Swimming trials

Some of our Year 3-6 children will be participating in swimming trials on Thursday 16th Feb. Permission forms were sent out via Operoo. Please contact our Interschool Sports co-ordinator Casey Gaunt if you have any questions about the event: cgaunt@hcnewgisborne.catholic.edu.au

Assembly/Prayer Gathering

Our first assembly of the term will take place next Friday 10th Feb at 3 pm. Our Year Six school leaders will be presented with their badges and we will welcome our new children and staff.

Wine

Our Media leaders will soon begin to design our wine labels for our 2016 Pinot which was made at Wombat Forest Winery. Having had a quick taste when we bottled it in December I can safely say it's a delicious drop - we're looking forward to seeing this available for sale soon!

Staff and School Captains commissioning Mass/St Brigid's Feast Day

This Sunday, 5th Feb, we will be joining St Brigid's Primary School to celebrate our Parish Feast Day. Mass will take place at St Patrick's in Mount Macedon at 10:30 am. You are all warmly invited to join us for Mass and a community celebration afterwards - see the Parish News tab for more details.

Private music lessons

We are also excited to welcome Ranges Music Network to Holy Cross. Ranges music offers opportunities to learn a wide variety of instruments, including vocal lessons. Little Groovin' Guitars will continue to offer specialised guitar lessons for any interested children. Further information on Ranges Music Network and Little Groovin' Guitars can be found on our community news page.

Staff first day of 2023

Last Friday we gathered as a whole staff to begin preparing for our year together. We started the day at Mount Macedon Memorial Cross where we prayed the Stations of the Cross for our times. We took time to reflect on how each station relates to our world today and were challenged to take action in support of others. Following this we visited Major Mitchell Lookout and stopped off to discuss the significance of the geographical cairn on Mount Macedon. A quick trip to Hanging Rock Winery was next on our list. We met with Ruth Ellis who ran through the wine making process with us. Ruth paid particular attention to how to care for pinot grapes which is the variety we grow here at Holy Cross. On our return to school we used a thinking tool to discuss how our staff would challenge and support one another, how we could be 'way markers' for one another. We committed to our staff way markers, the values and behaviours that 'lead us to God's mountain', by building our own cairn facing Mount Macedon. We named the values and behaviours we seek to live out as we placed our stones on the cairn. Staff also brainstormed ways in which our children will experience learning from the land this year. Each year level has committed to a mini project throughout the year.

We are excited by the possibilities of the year ahead and look forward to being with you as we work together for our children.

Aoife

Holy Cross News

3rd February, 2023 · 03 Feb 2023

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