Good afternoon Holy Cross families,

Does time go faster at Holy Cross, or is it just me?! We've had another two weeks full of happenings around our school:

Rafts are moving into the production stage

Year One and Year Two had some special visitors in their classes

Book Week has been in full swing

Some of our children have been out and about exploring the world around us

First Eucharist has been celebrated, with more celebrations to come

Athletics events took place

Father's Day has been acknowledged

The list could go on so I better stop here!

Potholes/Water

Please continue to be cautious as you drive through, being particularly mindful of the safety of pedestrians. Some saw cutting has taken place on the driveway in preparation for repairs over the holidays. I can safely say that we're all looking forward to potholes being filled and the path replaced, please bear with us for just two more weeks!

We are continuing to experience plenty of wet weather at the moment. You might like to consider sending a spare pair of shorts/tracksuit pants and socks to school with your child in case they get damp/muddy.

Father's Day event

It was fantastic to have so many dads and grandads with us this morning. A huge thank you to our PFA and parent helpers for manning the BBQs. Everyone had a warm start to the days with bacon and eggs rolls and tasty coffee to fuel us through the morning. Year 1A led us in a Father's Day blessing which had all the ingredients needed to show our fathers how much they mean to us.

Book Week

Thank you to our families for supporting the Book Fair and for entering into the spirit of Book Week and helping children with costumes. We know that this can be a challenge at times but there was so much joy in the room this morning as children shared their love of books/book characters. We celebrated activities in our House groups and shared some cake too.

SRC

Our SRC team will be working on creating a child friendly version of our Child Safe policy over the coming weeks. We will also be seeking input from small groups of children so that we can ensure we are meeting the needs of our school community.

Athletics

Well done to the children who participated in the Macedon Ranges athletics carnival this week. We are very proud of you all for giving it your best shot. We have 14 children who are moving through to the next round - best wishes from all of us.

Year One and Year Two visitors

Maree and Doug Scale, current Holy Cross grandparents, came to talk to the Year Ones about life and school in the past as part of their inquiry unit. The children had prepared a variety of wonderings and were very relieved to hear that lollies did exist 'in the olden days'.

Troy Lovett came to visit our Year Two children today to speak about his past history acting in Australian television shows, including Neighbours, Blue Heelers and Saddle Club. He is currently involved in The Block tv show, the children had wonderings about TV shows in the past and ones today.

Thank you to Maree, Doug and Troy for being guest speakers for our children.

Year Six Exploration Series

We are keen to provide a wide variety of experiences for our children, last week we kicked off the first of three days out. Our Year 6 children travelled via public transport to Footscray market. We explored the many food options on offer and the children chose a wide variety of fruit to try, the main criteria being that it had to be something that they had never tasted before. It was fantastic to see everyone digging into the fruit platter back at school, though a few children were surprised to discover that grapefruit does not in fact taste like grapes! From the market we travelled to Quang Minh Buddhist temple in Braybrook. We met with the Venerable Phuoc Tan Thich who showed us around the temple and answered questions about the many things on display. Our next day of exploration will take us to Bendigo, with the final day being designed by the children themselves. We have no idea where they will choose to go and what they will choose to see. They will need to plan the day around public transport so there will be lots of discussion, research and negotiation involved amongst the Year Six children. Lisa, Nat and I can't wait to see where we end up for the day!

Have a happy weekend spending time with Dads, Grandads, Father figures and in remembering fathers who have gone before us.

Aoife

*NAPLAN results were delivered late this afternoon. These will be sent home on Monday to Year 3 and Year 5 families. We will place them in a sealed envelope, please do not hesitate to contact your child's class teacher if you have any queries.

Schools Out

Before and After school care