16th April, 2013 Reflection Prayer for Autumn Days God of the seasons, there is a time for everything; there is a time for dying and a time for rising. We need courage to enter into the transformation process. God of autumn, the trees are saying goodbye to their green, letting go of what has been. We, too, have our moments of surrender, with all their insecurity and risk. Help us to let go when we need to do so. God of fallen leaves lying in coloured patterns on the ground, our lives have their own patterns. As we see the patterns of our own growth, may we learn from them. God of misty days and harvest moon nights, there is always the dimension of mystery and wonder in our lives. We always need to recognize your power-filled presence. May we gain strength from this. God of flowers touched with frost and windows wearing white designs, may your love keep our hearts from growing cold in the empty seasons. God of life, you believe in us, you enrich us, you entrust us with the freedom to choose life. For all this, we are grateful. Welcome back to Term 2
Student/Parent/Teacher Interviews
I trust you had time to enjoy the company of your family and friends over the school holidays, and also took the time to reflect on the message of Easter. Easter Sunday is the upmost important day in the Christian Calendar as we celebrate Christ’s resurrection, the cornerstone of our faith. May the peace of Easter morning be with you as we journey throughout the school year.
Student/Parent/Teacher Interviews will take place on 23rd-24th April. Wednesday 24th will be a student free day. We look forward to your presence at the College, supporting the teachers by receiving and giving feedback on your child’s learning.
New Staff Members I would like to warmly welcome the following new staff members to our College: Janelle Waite - IT Facilitator and Sue Davie - Student Receptionist. I would also like to welcome back Carissa Lock, VCE Co-ordinator, who has returned from maternity leave after having her second child, Eli.
Staff Recognition Dinner On Wednesday, April 27, the College held its inaugural Staff Recognition Dinner. At this event staff gather to share a meal and formally acknowledge three of our long serving staff. Terry Quinn (20 years), Michael McGonegal and Karen Hunter (25 years) were added to the College Staff Honour Board and presented with gifts acknowledging their service, skills and commitment to the College. We are indeed fortunate to have staff of their quality within the school.
Holiday Travellers Welcome back to Kerrie-Ann Matthews, Shaun Coates, Nathan Guthridge and Pauline Jakobovic from their overseas travels. Kerrie-Ann and Shaun accompanied 14 students around Italy as part of their LOTE studies. Nathan and Pauline travelled to Kenya along with 7 students in support of our sponsored school Br Beausang.
Mark Sheehan Principal
Winter Uniform Term 2
Canteen News
The CRC uniform is a very smart and attractive uniform when it is worn correctly. The movement from summer to winter uniform can be problematic. Students have a two-week transition period before the wearing of the winter uniform is compulsorily required from Monday April 29. The requirements are set out in the student diary.
The new winter menu is now available to students. A copy of the menu is available on the school intranet. A couple of reminders for students when visiting the canteen: Line up in the correct year level and in an orderly manner Credit is not available from the Canteen Don’t forget your manners Students can only buy for themselves and not for other students Students are strongly encouraged to put in a lunch order at the start of the school day to ensure they receive what they want for lunch. The canteen only caters for a minimum amount of extra lunches. Cost for lunch bag and tomato sauce is to be included with lunch order If the student places a lunch order in the morning it is ready for pickup at the beginning of lunch and there is no need to line up.
Protect yourself online The Department of Justice has recently launched the Protect Yourself Online campaign www.justice.vic.gov.au/ProtectYourselfOnline to provide students with simple and relevant advice on protecting themselves from serious online crimes such as cyberbullying and identify theft. Some important steps students can take include:
Create strong passwords and change them regularly Use an anti-virus program and turn on automatic updates If you don’t know who sent the email, delete it Think before you act online. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is Your personal information is valuable-protect it Don’t respond to a cyberbully if you’re being bullied online. Block the person from contacting you online and report the incident if it continues.
Social media is a very powerful and wide reaching means of communication and for schools and parents it is very challenging to stay ahead of the growing traffic of communication between young people. For many young people they are oblivious and naive of the consequences that can and do emerge if they use the different forms of social media to engage in activities that are offensive and inappropriate. This Thursday Senior Constable, Joanne Mutsaerts from Victoria Police will address all Year 7 and 8 students of the dangers, effects and implications of engaging in such activities through all social media networks. As parents please take the opportunity to discuss with your son or daughter some of the issues and advice that come out of Thursday’s presentation. The website http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/ Parents.aspx is also a valuable resource for you in discussing the issues with your son or daughter.
Robert Blackley Deputy Principal-Students Year 7 Camp Payment for the Year 7 camp is now overdue. Please forward all outstanding payments to the office as soon as possible. Lost Something of value has been found in the car park. Please contact Sam at Reception if you think this item may belong to you.
Term 2
Staff Term 1 Professional Learning Days
Welcome back to all students and families. I hope that the break provided some restful family time for you all. For our VCE students, it was also a time to catch up on and reinforce content from Term 1. Can I also ask that families use the start of term to check that their child / children have a complete set of stationery needs (pens, pencils, etc.)? We are off to a busy start with Year 9 Netball Sports finals, Senior AFL and Netball games and our College Athletics Carnival all this week. Our College Athletics day on Friday is a compulsory day for all students.
Staff spent the last 2 days of Term 1 undertaking Professional Learning sessions. On the Wednesday, an external facilitator, Philip Holmes-Smith presented staff with an analysis of our NAPLAN and other Diagnostic testing data. We covered how different forms of assessment provide information for specific uses. We were able to examine student year level progress between Years 7 and 9 and establish Grade 6 entry level knowledge from our provider Primary Schools. The latter part of the day was spent looking at an analysis of our first Year 12 data. Staff feedback from the day was extremely positive.
Term 1 Reports and Parent-Student-Teacher Interviews Interim Reports are now available through our Parent Portal. Details on how to access this were sent out in last term’s mail out. If you have misplaced your Parent Portal Password, then please contact the College Office. The password is specific to each family and is essential to access the Parent Portal which stores all reports and will also be used as a communication tool more frequently with parents. Please store the password somewhere securely at home. Our Term 2 Parent-Student-Teacher interviews take place on Tuesday April 23 (after school) & Wednesday, April 24 (afternoon / evening). An information sheet on how to book interviews on-line also accompanies this newsletter. Please note that Interview Recommendations are part of the report. They are listed as ‘Welcome’, ‘Recommended’ and ‘Urgent’. We urge all parents to attend Interviews if Urgent or Recommended is listed for any subject reports. Due to the demand for interviews can I ask parents to only use one booking time for each teacher (even if they teach 2 or 3 subjects to your child) unless the report indicates more time will be needed. Please cancel extra bookings as this will then allow other parents to access staff.
On the Thursday, staff attended a choice of sessions following up on the Wednesday presentation. Specific sessions on how to use diagnostic testing and stored student data, as well as sessions on using technology to enhance student learning, were delivered by senior staff within the school. In summary, staff are now more aware of assessment types and assessment data that is available, and should lead to improved targeted learning with our classrooms. John Christie Deputy Principal (Staff)
Event: CRC Melton Athletics Carnival
Transport
Date: Friday 19th April 2013
Students must be in homeroom on time to prepare for the boarding of buses. Parents are asked to avoid bus loading zones during drop off and pick up of students. Late students will be sent to the library and will wait to board the final bus after having their respective rolls amended.
Arrival: CRC Melton at 8.30am Dismissal: From CRC Melton at 3.20 pm Venue: Wyndham Sporting Complex, Hoppers Lane, Werribee Uniform: Full College PE uniform with house coloured top permitted. Running shorts permitted for racing only Meals: BYO lunch – BBQ and drinks provided for fundraising purposes
Parent Attendance Direct family members are welcome at the carnival however there will not be room aboard buses. We ask that all visitors to the carnival ensure they sign in on arrival and then also sign out before departing. We also strongly encourage visitors to avoid signing out students before the official carnival closing.
Transport: Bacchus Marsh Coaches Attendance: Compulsory (TAFE/VET students excepted)
Awards & Recognition
Explanotory Notes:
Medals will be awarded to 3 students from each house deemed to be the best representatives of the house based on participation, team spirit and support for the College Ethos. These awards will be given at Junior, Intermediate and Senior levels as judged by House Captains and staff on the day.
Uniform Students not wearing appropriate attire for the day will be sent home. Although the forecast is clear, students should be prepared for cold weather and possible showers. Year 12 students have permission to wear dress up of an appropriate nature.
Athletics Age Champions will be announced after the SACCSS Athletics competition.
Attendance
Year 9 Premier League Results
Attendance is compulsory and students who do not attend will be expected to provide a written explanation or doctor’s certificate on the following Monday.
Round 6 26th March CRC Mel v CRC CS
Meals
Cricket: Netball: Volleyball:
Sausages and cans of drink will be sold at reasonable prices raising funds for the Br. Beausang Catholic Education centre.
Football/Soccer:
4/131 (20) def 10/89 (15.5) 75 def 4 Boys: 2 (74) def 1 (71) Girls: 2 (69) def 1 (60) Boys: 0 forfeit 3 Girls: 3 def 1
Dear Parents Parent/Teacher/Student interviews will be held between 4.00pm – 7pm on Tuesday 23rd April and 1.00pm – 7.30pm on Wednesday 24th April. You can now book interviews at times that suit YOUR FAMILY BEST. Go to www.schoolinterviews.com.au and follow these simple instructions. BOOKINGS OPEN TUESDAY 2nd of April at 9am BOOKINGS CLOSE TUESDAY 23th of April at 10am
***You can encourage more traffic to your schools website, AND avoid parents typing in the wrong URL, if you ask parents to click on a link on the schools website, instead of giving them our web address – use this link**** http://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/book
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Enter THIS school event code. Then follow the 3 simple steps.
When you click finish, your interview timetable will be emailed to you automatically - check your junk mail folder if you do not receive your email immediately. You can return to www.schoolinterviews.com.au at any time, and change your interviews - until bookings close.
For parents that don’t have access to the internet at home, at work, at a friend’s house or on their phones, computer kiosks will be available in the College Library from the start of Term 2, so that parents can still make their own bookings. Students with written permission from parents may also have access to the kiosk. Interviews are strictly 10mins and spaces are limited. If you require more time, please contact your teacher directly to make alternative arrangements. Parents can change their interview bookings, any time prior to the closing date, by re-visiting the www.schoolinterviews.com.au website, and using the event code. Remember to use the same name and email address, you used when you made your original booking. Parents wishing to change their interview times after the closing date, should contact the school directly on: 9743 6522
Uniform
Calendar 2013 2013 Term 2
Term 2
April
April
15th Term 2 begins 16th Year 11 VCAL Excursion Year 9 Premier League Semi Finals 17th Year 12 Food Technology Excursion 18th SACCSS Senior AFL/Netball Round 1 19th College Athletic Carnival 22nd Year 9 Premier League Grand Final Social Justice Excursion Year 10/11 Legal & Law Excursion 23rd Parent/Student/Teacher interviews 24th Parent/Student/Teacher interviews - No Classes 25th ANZAC day - No Classes 26th VCE Studio Arts Excursion Year 7 & 8 Cross Country Trials
Wednesday 17th 1.00pm—2.00pm J. Antony
D. Taylor
Wednesday 24th 6.30pm—7.30pm D. Shalders
T. Agius
May Wednesday 1st
1.00pm—2.00pm
T. Davine
P. Searle
Wednesday 8th
6.30pm - 7.30pm
S. Woods
M. Salvatore
Canteen Mass Times
2013 Term 2
St. Dominic’s Parish Parish Priest: Fr. Michael Moody Weekend Mass times: Saturday: 6.00pm Sunday: 9.00am & 11.00am St Bernard’s Parish Parish Priest: Fr. Brian Glasheen Weekend Mass times: Saturday: 6.30pm Sunday: 8.30am, 10.00am
St Anthony’s Parish Parish Priest: Fr. Fabian Smith Weekend Mass times: Saturday: 5.30pm Sunday: 8.30am & 10.30am
April Tuesday 16th Cynthia Amor Wednesday 17th Heather Harrison Thursday 18th Maria Zaharogiannis Monday 22nd Tuesday 23rd
Debbi Taylor Johanna Blain
Monday 29th Tuesday 30th
Julie Harkin Heather Breich
May Wednesday 1st Thursday 2nd Friday 3rd
Suzanne Smith Lisa Trethowan Cynthia Amor