18th July, 2017 Reflection An alternate Lord's Prayer for NAIDOC Week Great Spirit, Creator of all, From the stars to all the earth, Loved and respected be your name, may it happen that all should live your way, following your purpose for all creation. Enable us to find what we need for today’s journey. Forgive us when we go wrong as we forgive those who wrong us. Have compassion on us when we are being tested, do not abandon us to fear and evil. Our hope is in your new community. You are the one who can transform all creation, making everything new, now and for all eternity. AMEN (Rev Tim Matton-Johnson)
Dear Parents and Students, Welcome back to all families for the start of Term 3. We welcome 4 new staff members to our CRC Melton family. Ms Amanda Lemos, who will work in the Office; Ms Alyce Galea, who joins us as our second student psychologist; Ms Canzu Ucarli, who replaces Mrs Lydia Fus whilst she is on maternity leave and Mrs Meryem McLeod, who replaces Mrs Karen Hunter whilst she is on Long Service Leave. We look forward to their contributions to the College and our students. Whilst Mrs Fus is away Mr David Arthurson will be Acting Year 10 Year Level Coordinator and Ms Laura Grech Acting Assistant. Last Sunday afternoon a Mass was held in honour of Fr John O’Reilly who retires in early August. Archbishop Denis Hart was joined by two Bishops and twelve Priests . Fr O’Reilly started his priestly duties at St Albans in 1968, and in 1973 was appointed as Parish Priest. In 1978 the first Catholic secondary school in the area, namely CRC St Albans opened. Since then CRC Colleges have opened at Melton (est.1980), Sydenham (1982) North Keilor (1984) and in more recent times Caroline Springs (2006). Fr O’Reilly has been the Canonical Administrator for these five Catholic Secondary Colleges, and three Catholic Primary schools , namely Sacred Heart (est 1954), Emmaus (1997) and Cana (2004). Congratulations Fr John and best wishes on the next part of your life’s journey. I attended a Catholic Secondary Schools Principals conference in Queenstown, New Zealand during the school holidays. Some 15 Principals from Victoria joined with over 100 other delegates from Australia and New Zealand in 'Whitiwhiti Korero'- creating conversations and connections with other school leaders. The welcome and Mass on Saturday night was a highlight of the conference and set the scene for the ensuing three days. It was enlightening to see all NZ leaders, use both Maori and English languages in their greetings and prayers. All delegates proceeded to the front of the gathering for a traditional Maori greeting, the Hongi, by pressing our nose and forehead together with the local leaders, including the Bishop! The conference was structured around 24 workshops with Principals sharing best practice in Catholic secondary schools in NZ and Australia. Maintenance work completed during the holiday break included: Concreting for Basketball court adjacent Glowrey building; Painting of entrance to the new Principal's office; All heaters in class rooms have been checked; Hand rails have been installed near Admin car park and the PAC to comply with OHS requirements; Defects work in Gadal building; Soil tests in preparation for the new Wood technology building being sited at the back of Osma building; Painting of external seats. Thanks to our maintenance staff - Noel, Sam and John for their work in these areas. The oval works are near completion with topsoil spread and fertiliser applied this week. While the strong northern winds were a problem last week, I hope that the oval will be laser levelled within the next week. I can also report that the tender process for the Multi-Purpose Hall reached a significant step last Wednesday when tenders from 6 builders were opened. The lowest tender came in at $5.9m which was a good result. Construction should start in a few weeks’ time - the timeline for construction is estimated at 190 working days. Mark Sheehan Principal