Holy Cross Happenings 

ANZAC Day 

We gathered as a school community to commemorate ANZAC Day at the back of our vineyard, where we are lucky enough to have our own lone pine tree. Our school captains raised the flag and our Year 6 children and Mrs Peake led the service. 

The children listened to the significance of the Lone Pine tree, a powerful symbol of resilience, sacrifice, and remembrance associated with ANZAC Day. Tracing back to the Gallipoli Peninsula during World War I, where amidst the chaos of battle, this solitary pine stood as a beacon of hope for soldiers. Despite the devastation of war, it endured, becoming a symbol of hope and endurance in adversity. 

In 2014, inspired by the book “The Lone Pine,” children from Holy Cross wrote to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, because they wanted to plant a tree in remembrance of the courage and sacrifice of those who served.

To their great pride and surprise, a sapling that was propagated from seeds collected from the original lone pine arrived. It was cared for in a pot by the children until it was large enough to be planted in front of a flagpole at school.  It is now a focal point and a living memorial to honour the fallen. 

Listening to the last post is always a moving experience and the respect our children 

showed during the service was to be commended. 

Our school captains also laid at wreath at the Gisborne service on ANZAC Day. Thank you to the children who put on their school uniform to represent our school at this community event. Again, we were very proud of the way the children marched in the parade and conducted themselves with respect and understanding the significance of the day. Thank you also to Louise for attending with the children, and to the families for supporting the children attending this service. 

Working Bee 

Thank you to the staff and families for attending our working bees, we were able to reorganise our resource room, prune some of our vines, whipper snip the vineyard and remove some of our Autumn weeds! Thank you to Belinda Briganti, Matt Szostak, Ruth Malaspina, the Fairmaid family and our crew of staff members. 

News from our School Captains

Athletics Day

On April 17th we had a whole school athletics day. The Preps- 2’s had lots of fun with their tabloid sports. They took part in various sports and activities whilst the Year 3 to 6’s competed in athletics. They competed in many different events such as a 100m sprint, hurdles, 800m, 200m, shot put, discus, vortex, long jump, triple jump and high jump. Everyone tried their best and did really well with some of the children in Year 3-6  advancing to district athletics which will be held in August. Everyone had a really fun day and a big thank you to Casey, staff and parents that helped out on the day. Our house winner was MacKillop! Congratulations!

Grade 5 Sacred Heart Visit

On the 1st of May the Grade 5’s visited Sacred Heart for a School tour. The day started off with a visit to the school chapel to get a briefing from the Principal, Dr Darren Egberts. We then took part in some classes to get an idea of what life is like in Secondary School. Some of these classes included Drama, Cooking, History, Japanese and Science. After that, sports activities were enjoyed outside in the yard. The college provided a tasty lunch and we were allowed to explore the grounds during  lunch time. The day ended off with a fun bottle flipping contest against Saint Mary’s. It was a really fun experience and overall we all had an amazing day.

Prep-2 excursion

On Thursday 2nd of May, our Prep to 2’s went on an excursion to the Romsey Ecotherapy Park, Kyneton Botanical Gardens and the Woodend Children's Park. The idea of the trip was to be aware and experience places in our community that allow us to relax, have fun and that are good for our wellbeing. All 3 parks are in our local community and have different features to be enjoyed. The children had heaps of fun playing with each other and experiencing these wonderful unique spaces. Thank you to the teachers, and parent helpers for organising the day.

Written by Rose, Ethan, Alex and Charlotte