SECONDARY NEWS 

From the Assistant Principal 

Week 10

The Secondary is relatively quiet this week, as many students are involved in out-of-school activities. Some Year 10 students are completing their first Work Experience session for 2025. Most of the students are placed locally, and we thank the business community for their support in providing work placements.

Both Year 9 and Year 8 students are on excursions in Sydney and at The Great Aussie Bush Camp at Lake Macquarie, respectively. 

Thank you to our staff who organise, supervise, and attend our excursions. Your hard work behind the scenes creates fantastic opportunities for our students. We appreciate everything you do. 

Thanks to Mrs McLachlan, Mr East, Mr Uebergang, and Mrs McCosker for accompanying Year 9, and to Mrs Taylor, Miss Majetic, Mr Muggleton, and Mr White for attending the Year 8 excursion. 

Celebrating a Major Milestone: Year 11 Complete Their Preliminary Studies!

Congratulations to our Year 11 students, who have officially finished their end-of-year examinations! This marks the completion of their Preliminary studies, and next term, they take an exciting leap forward as our school's inaugural Year 12 HSC cohort.

To help prepare for this final chapter, our Year 11s will be visiting the Year 12 end-of-year celebrations at Trinity Catholic College, Lismore, and St John's College, Woodlawn. Accompanied by Mrs Rainger, Mrs Guest, and Mr Baldwin, students will get a firsthand look at their graduation traditions, reflect on Year 12 leadership responsibilities, and gather inspiration to design their own memorable HSC celebrations for 2027.

Year 11 Family Conferences

Year 11 End-of-Course Family Conferences will be held early in Term 4.

Year 6 to 7 Transition

Today, Year 6 students had a day in the Secondary. They had their lessons in Secondary classrooms, with a mix of regular lessons and some specialist classes. We provided experiences in Maths, English, Visual Arts, Science and Geography. We also welcomed new students who will be joining our school community in 2027. The transition process will continue next term.

Elective Information Evening

Year 8 and Year 9 students have received a link to the Stage 5 Elective Handbook, which is now online only. This is a guide to the elective courses of study available to Year 9 and Year 10 in 2027. 

Stage 5 Elective Choices

An Elective Information Evening will be held in Week 2, Term 4 in the Hall. Parents and students will have the opportunity to meet with staff to discuss elective study options for 2027. 

We look forward to meeting as many parents as possible next term. If you are unable to attend and require some assistance, please get in touch with Miss Bailey at school.

More details will be available early next term.

Year 11 2027 Pattern of Study Family Conferences

Thank you to all the Year 10 families who have already met with us for our 2027 Year 11 Pattern of Study Family Conferences. It has been valuable to connect with around 32 families so far and engage in positive, meaningful discussions about the varied learning pathways and subject options available for 2027.

As a reminder, these conferences are a compulsory part of each student's transition into Senior School. If you haven't booked a session yet, don't worry - additional appointment times will be made available early next term. We look forward to speaking with the rest of our Year 10 families soon.

Outstanding Student Service at the ACS Primary Gala Day

Congratulations to our Secondary students who stepped up to officiate matches and volunteer in the canteen at the ACS Primary Netball and Soccer Gala Day in Inverell last Friday.

Their hard work, sportsmanship, and helpfulness made a fantastic impression, earning numerous compliments throughout the day. These students were a true credit to Holy Trinity, and we are incredibly proud of how they represented our school community. Thank you for your leadership and service.

Congratulations, Layla Mair!

Congratulations to Layla for proudly representing our school at the Rotary Public Speaking Competition last week. She delivered a fantastic speech and received great feedback from the judges.

We wish Layla all the best as she progresses to the next round of the competition. Best of luck in the next stage, Layla!

Year 9/10 Visual Arts 

In Years 9 and 10 Visual Arts, students have been diving into the world of contemporary street art, exploring the origins of graffiti and analysing the iconic stencil work of Banksy. Putting theory into practice, each artist conceptualised and hand-cut their own custom stencils to spray-paint unique, striking designs directly onto skateboard decks. The resulting collection showcases incredible creativity, precision, and personal expression. These skateboard decks are currently on display in the Library. 

Legacy Poster Competition 

Inverell Legacy is a wonderful community initiative run by a team of volunteers. They aim to help enhance the lives of families of veterans who have served in the war, peacekeeping, and humanitarian missions. 

Annually, Legacy runs an art competition for posters, and I would like to congratulate the following students who entered their artwork into this year's competition. These three students have shown support and community engagement whilst demonstrating an outstanding creative and artistic ability. 

Well done, Zalie Borrowdale, Jannat Dogra and Lizelin Jomy. 

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

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 check in with the students in their classes 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.