Motto	Truth, Knowledge, Faith
Address	Reed Road, TRINITY PARK QLD 4879
Postal Address	PO Box 1026, SMITHFIELD QLD 4878
Phone Number	(07) 4057 6920
Fax Number	(07) 4057 8183
Email Address	secretary.trinitypk@cns.catholic.edu.au
Web Site	http://www.holycross.qld.edu.au
Total Enrolments	526
Year Levels Offered	P-6
Student Population	Co-Educational
Principal	Mrs Sarah Hamilton
Parish Priest	Fr Neil Muir PP
Parish Number	(07) 4057 6055

About our School

Holy Cross School is an integral part of the Northern Beaches Parish of Cairns, and came into being because of the desire of the parishioners to have access to an education that nurtured the faith life of their children. Built on a site which was once a sugar cane farm, the school was formally opened in 1987.

As the most northerly located Catholic Primary School in the city of Cairns, Holy Cross School proudly serves the families with an educational program which is both pastorally and academically attentive to the needs of its students. The school is equipped with well-maintained classrooms, expansive sporting facilities, a modern well-equipped library, and large administration facilities. Annual programmed maintenance complements a full-time Caretaker / Groundsman to ensure facilities are beautifully maintained.

The Holy Cross School Charism, referred to as The Holy Cross Way', is embedded into all facets of school life, and is lived, modelled and articulated by every member of the school community. The school's motto, 'Truth, Knowledge, Faith' fosters the balanced development and integrity of each individual student through teaching programs which support their spiritual and academic growth.

Characteristics of Student Body

• Student Enrolment: 526 (279 Boys and 247 Girls)
• Class Structure: 3 streams
• Verified students: 28
• Indigenous: 27
• EAL/D: 18
• NCCD: 74
• Catholicity: Students = 59.8%, Staff = 53.1%, Parents = 49.7%
• Attendance: 93.7%

Cultural Diversity

• Indigenous Australia - Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and/or both
• Papua New Guinea
• Philippines
• Malaysia
• Thailand
• Vietnam
• India
• China
• Japan
• Korea
• Indonesia
• Nepal
• Croatia
• Slovakia
• Russia
• Italy
• Greece
• France
• Poland
• Germany
• England
• Scotland
• Ireland
• Zimbabwe
• Columbia
• Ecuador
• South Africa
• Canada
• United States of America
• New Zealand

School Annual Improvement

In 2018, our School Annual Improvement Plan (SAIP) was built around two priority areas, School Community Partnerships and Differentiated Teaching and Learning. Our improvement priorities and strategies to ensure success were as follows:

SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS FRAMEWORK DIMENSION: School Community Partnerships

1.    Increase opportunities to authentically engage parents in their child / children's learning journey

Parent Engagement

• Introduction of Student Learning Journals to share each child's learning journey
• Introduction of 3 Way Conferencing in place of Parent Teacher Interviews
• Continuation and expansion of P&F community building programs and initiatives
• Involvement and contribution to the new Year 5 and 6 Service and Outreach Initiative
• Improved methods of communication including school-wide use of the Seesaw App
• Termly parental wellbeing / mental health Professional Development (PD) in response to identified needs

2.    Foster student participation in the Church's mission particularly in the areas of service and outreach

Catholic Identity

• Introduction of Year 5 and 6 Service and Outreach Initiative

3.    Create supportive partnerships with parents, staff, students and the wider community to enhance well-being for all

Personal Well Being

• Continuation of the roll-out of the Holy Cross Positive Behaviour Framework 
• Full implementation of the Second Step school-wide SEL program

4.    Establish and strengthen connections with the history, heritage and local indigenous links of significance to The Holy Cross Story

The Holy Cross Story

• Community connection with the traditional custodians of the land Holy Cross is built upon
• Commencement of a research project into the Dillon, Petersen, Mallon and Robinson families, and creation of House logos, mottos and mascots

SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS FRAMEWORK DIMENSION: Differentiated teaching and Learning

1.    Differentiated teaching and learning focus within the Holy Cross Professional Learning Communities, and review / refine school-wide data use to improve standards in Literacy

Professional Learning Communities

• Differentiation and age-appropriate pedagogy focus for all Professional Learning Teams
• Formalisation of school-wide data collection and analysis processes and procedures
• Student Learning Journals to inform curriculum planning and PD opportunities

2.    Prioritise opportunities for significant curriculum adjustment to engage, challenge, enrich and support all students

Religious Education Teaching, Learning and Assessment

• Investigation of effective tools to assess learning within the Religious Education curriculum
• Continuation of the embedding of the Holy Cross charism, 'The Holy Cross Way',  into every facet of life at Holy Cross

Assessment

• Research assessment tools to better inform teaching and learning

Curriculum Planning

• Continue to develop authentic and engaging units of work to ensure success for all
• Introduction of Student Learning Journals to assist with the setting and tracking of individual learning goals

Pedagogy

• Investigate latest age-appropriate pedagogy for implementation throughout the school

Enrichment

• Develop a better understanding of the diverse needs of learners and enrichment initiatives
• Enrichment Support Teacher to work collaboratively with teachers and students to enhance learning

Learning Spaces

• Review of learning spaces with a view to reflect engaging, fun and student-centred environments

3.    Increase knowledge and understanding of the effective practices and integration of digital technologies, in order to promote successful student learning

Digital Learning / eLearning

• Continue to build confidence and understanding of one-to-one devices as learning tools
• Investigate the use of digital technologies and STEM for student enrichment

Distinctive Curriculum Offerings

Holy Cross School offers a curriculum consistent with the Australian Curriculum, Version 8.1 for all Learning Areas (LA). As a Catholic School community, Religious Education (RE) is an integral and important component of weekly learning. Staff at Holy Cross School teach RE using a programme mandated by the Bishop. Whole school liturgical and prayer celebrations are a significant element of our RE programme.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is a high priority at Holy Cross School and is explicitly taught using the Second Step program. The Second Step suite provides a fully integrated framework designed to teach protective behaviour, social and emotional learning, bullying prevention and child protection, creating a cohesive foundation for a safe and protective school. In addition, daily meditation is undertaken in all classes to assist children to understand the importance of emotional relaxation and to connect with their God.

Some areas of specific and significant importance at Holy Cross include:

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

As 21^st Century Learners in the digital world, Holy Cross School aims to provide a personalised learning environment where students are partners, demonstrating independence, self-regulation and reflection. The Holy Cross School e-Learning vision is to enable students to have opportunities for richer learning. All good teaching research and pedagogy states that students express their knowledge in different and multiple ways. Appropriate use of technology opens doors for students, enabling success for all, creating an effective individualised student-centred learning environment.

E-Learning at Holy Cross is enhanced by:

• an eHub that all students visit, containing an open space for the delivery of the STEM, Digital Technologies and Design curriculum, including coding and robotics;
• interactive screens and projectors  in all learning spaces;
• school-wide  access to banks of laptop computers and  iPads; and,
• a school wide network (LAN) featuring a fibre optic backbone with wireless networking allowing  access to the network server, the internet, the school intranet and printers from anywhere in the school.   

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

A full-time Health and Physical Education (HPE) teacher is employed at Holy Cross School teaching all students from Prep to Year 6. In addition to their weekly Physical Education (PE) lesson, students in Prep and Year 1 take part in a perceptual Motor Programme (PMP) developing the fundamental elements of their physical development. As a recognised Sporting School, the Holy Cross School HPE teacher can accesses federal funding and assistance to enable outside organisations to supplement PE classes.

Holy Cross School extra-curricular sports opportunities are available for a large number of sports including: Tennis, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Australian Rules, Netball and Futsal. In addition, community sporting organisations and academies utilise Holy Cross School facilities for before and after school coaching and participation.

SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES

As a Reef Guardian School, Holy Cross School takes great pride in adopting many environmental initiatives. These include recycling, earthworm farming, composting, energy reduction, solar panels, vegetable and herb gardening, a frog pond, biodiversity and litter reduction. All teachers and students take part in these initiatives. Teachers allow time in their daily programs for these activities, and roster children to assist with recycling, gardening and worm farming activities. Many businesses in the community have also contributed to the gardens.

Our goals within these programmes are to:

• encourage an environmentally aware community;
• reduce litter and contribute in our way to  'War on Rubbish';
• minimize water usage;
• minimize power usage; and,
• enhance biodiversity.

Extra Curricular Activities

At Holy Cross School, students are encouraged to participate in a variety of extra-curricular activities including:

• instrumental tuition (piano, guitar, woodwind, drums and vocals);
• Cairns Junior Eisteddfod (choir, public speaking and literature);
• School Choir, Liturgical Choir and Holy Cross Band;
• school based and public speaking competitions;
• learning area competitions such as Readers Cup, Spelling Bee, drone workshops, robotics, and language competitions;
• sporting representation including futsal, netball, rugby league, tennis, athletics and cross country; and,
• initiatives to enhance a global perspective (sustainability, indigenous perspectives, and international students).

Social Climate

Holy Cross School has a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Families choose Holy Cross School because they wish for their children to have a strong Catholic education where the central work of all teachers is to model and teach the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. The Parish Priest is involved in all school faith-related activities and is a strong presence in the school community.

Holy Cross School follows the Holy Cross School Positive Behaviour Plan, created in consultation with the school community, clearly outlining school rules and expectations. Teachers are invited to commit to regular classroom profiling as a way of promoting and enriching positive classroom environments.

Student and staff well-being is carefully and consistently monitored by the Diverse Learners Team and Student Well-Being Team. This ensures the pastoral needs of all are met and managed, and issues relating to inappropriate interactions addressed in a timely and consistent manner.

Holy Cross School utilizes the expert knowledge of two Learning Support Teachers and a full-time Student Counsellor to provide guidance and support for students operating within the Care Team Framework.

The Holy Cross School community actively and generously participates in annual community assistance and fund-raising events e.g. Caritas, Catholic Mission, St Vincent de Paul Christmas appeal, Relay for Life, Day for Daniel, Walk / Ride to School Days.

Parent Engagement

As a Catholic community, parent engagement and community partnership is deep-rooted and firmly embedded in our identity and mission. Throughout 2018, it has been an ongoing topic of conversation amongst staff seeking better mediums in which to connect parents with their child's learning journey. Committed to the development of a life-long 3-way connection and partnership with students, parents and the students themselves, we provide a variety of ways that parents and carers can become actively involved and engaged with their child's education:

• regular use of the Seesaw App, bringing classroom learning to the dinner table and beyond;
• carefully crafted and organised Parent Portal to ensure all families are up to date with events and news;
• a new format for our newsletter, now delivered weekly with a reduced content and clearer focus on engagement;
• 3-Way Conferences in place of Parent Teacher Interviews;
• Whole School Meet and Greet in place of Parent Information Evenings;
• Parents and Friends (P&F) community events e.g. Movie Night, Disco, Christmas Fair, Trivia Night;
• whole school events e.g. sports carnivals, School Masses / Liturgies, Mother and Father's Day activities, Christmas Concert, Walk to School Day, Book Week, ANZAC parade;
• year level events e.g. culminating activities, excursions, camps, daily reading; and,
• specific activities / tasks e.g. Tuckshop helper, Library assistance

In addition, feedback on school policies and curriculum implementation is welcomed and encouraged

Parent Satisfaction

At Holy Cross School, there is a continued aim to improve the quality of education it provides. It is a place of learning in a Catholic environment, where parents feel assured that the school is providing a high quality of education for their children. The grounds and classrooms are well presented and maintained.

Teachers at this school are respectful, caring and supportive, and there is good two-way communication between the staff and parents. Parents feel comfortable about approaching the staff at the school with any concerns they might have. Parents believe that the children's teachers take the time to understand their points of view and take parent concerns seriously.

The staff at Holy Cross School are committed to school improvement and student learning. They encourage children to persist with their learning when it is difficult. There is a strong focus on creating strong positive relationships and culture for learning.

This school has strong community spirit and an obvious connection with the Catholic Church. The charism of Holy Cross, 'The Holy Cross Way', is articulated clearly and enacted. Justice, compassion and service are important to the community.

Data Last Updated Wed 22 May 2019