18th march, 2014

18th March, 2014 Reflection Christ our Morning Star O Christ, our Morning Star, Splendour of Light Eternal, shining with the glory of the rainbow, come and waken us from the greyness of our apathy, and renew in us your gift of hope.

Amen.

(Bede the Venerable)

Term Dates

IT Survey

There are lots of events occurring during the final 3 weeks of Term 1. This Thursday sees our last College Assembly for Term 1 with many items and awards to be presented. Our CRC Melton Careers Expo takes place on Tuesday, March 25 with numerous Tertiary, TAFE and Employment providers present for our Senior School students to talk to. SACCSS Swimming is on Wednesday, March 26 and our College House Athletics at Werribee on Thursday, March 27 (no classes will operate this day). Some of our staff and students depart for Kenya on Friday, March 28. Finally our last week of Term 1 involves our annual Stations of the Cross Performances on Tuesday, April 1, Year 7—11 student classes finish on Wednesday, April 2 and our Parent-Student-Teacher Interviews will be on Wednesday (4pm to 7pm) and on Thursday, April 3 (1pm to 7.30pm). Staff and students attending the Indonesian trip also leave on Thursday, April 3. Friday, April 4 is a Staff Professional Learning day that will concentrate on Assessment and Feedback techniques.

Classes will finish at the normal time of 3.20pm on Wednesday, April 2 and therefore all buses will run to schedule.

Term 2 begins on Tuesday, April 22.

A reminder that the IT survey emailed home to parents last week needs to be completed by this Friday - thanks to all parents who have completed it and also those who emailed extra feedback.

Trade Training Centre Tour—Parents and Friends Meeting A reminder that a tour of TTC will be held on Wednesday March 26 at 6.30pm. Following this tour will be the next meeting of the P & F at 7.00pm.

Term 1 Reports and Parent-Student-Teacher Interviews Interim Reports will be available at the end of term through our Parent Portal. As part of the report, a recommendation of attendance at our first ParentStudent-Teacher interviews will be included. As mentioned above these take place on April 2 & 3.

Mail out As part of our end of term communication process, we will mail out information to families next week. The mail out will contain information on how to access reports, how to book Parent-Student-Teacher interviews and a copy of the newsletter incorporating Term 2 information and uniform expectations.

John Christie Deputy Principal (Staff)

March 21 National Day of Action against bullying and violence The National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence is an opportunity for students, teachers, parents and the whole community to take a stand together against bullying and violence. This annual day provides a focus for schools who want to say Bullying. No way! and to strengthen their everyday messages that bullying and violence at school are not okay at any time. Access the following website for further information http://bullyingnoway.gov.au Bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological behaviour that is harmful and involves the misuse of power by an individual or group towards one or more persons. It can have long-term effects on those involved.

CRC Federation Day Staff were impressed and proud of the great singing provided by the Liturgical Ensemble last Tuesday. The group led the congregation of teachers from the 5 CRC campuses in singing at St Catherine's Church. We greatly appreciated them giving up their day off for this important occasion. Thanks to Ms Falzon and staff members who joined in to support the ensemble on the day.

The students who performed at Federation Mass were back row L-R: Tegan Lafranchi, Emilie Henderson, Madison Giese, Nadia Blanco, Rebecca Chin, Grace Mann front row L-R: Jarrad Dik, Renee Lancaster, Nicole Mercieca, Montana Djatschenko, Jacinta Sciusco, Phoebe Arthur, Chloe Laurel, James Shelly-Robbins.

Bullying can happen:  face-to-face (e.g. pushing, tripping, name-calling)  at a distance (e.g. spreading rumours, excluding someone)  through information and communications technologies (e.g. use of SMS, email, chat rooms).

Some conflicts between children are a normal part of growing up and are to be expected. These conflicts or fights between equals and single incidents are not considered bullying, even though they may be upsetting and need to be resolved.

Identifying bullying can sometimes be difficult. Bullying is often conducted out of sight of teachers and children may be reluctant to report bullying.

Posted on SIMON are a number of websites available to students, parents and staff providing information, advice and strategies to deal with bullying. Take the opportunity to check out the sites, these can be accessed through PAM-Parent Access Module and when the student logs onto the intranet.

Rob Blackley Deputy Principal – Student Welfare Uniform Shop News Winter uniform orders will be available for pickup Wednesday 2nd April between 1.00pm - 2.00pm or 6.00pm - 7.30pm.

Year 7 Swimming and Water Safety program Last week Year 7 homerooms attended Melton Waves for a 3 hour Swimming and Water Safety program. The aim of the program was to help improve our knowledge and skills on water safety. It didn't matter what our swimming ability was as we had Gold, Silver and Bronze groups which met all of our different skill levels.

Some of the activities we participated in were life saving rescue skills where we had to choose one item, throw it into the water and save another person in our group. We then got to wear life jackets and pretend we were in the middle of the ocean and huddle together and work as a team to get to the other side of the pool. After all the different water safety activities we got to play some fun swimming games together .

On behalf of all Year 7, I would like to say thank you to our PE teachers for organising and supporting us in this program. It was a fun day where we all improved our water safety skills.

By Natasha Belcher and Taylah Farr

Thank you - Kenya Fundraising

Holocaust Museum Excursion

On behalf of the CRC Kenya Immersion group we would like to thank Father Brian and the parishioners from St Bernards for their support and generosity for our fundraising for the Brother Beausang school in Embulbul, Kenya. Our cake stall held on Sunday 2 March raised over $800, and the special collection at last weekend’s masses raised $735.15. This is an amazing amount and we are very grateful for the financial support. We were also very much heartened by the many parishioners who took the time to stop and offer us their personal support, prayers and best wishes.

On Monday 17th March, 48 students from Year 10 went on an excursion to the Jewish Holocaust Museum to help with further understanding the events that occurred during WWII, which is being taught in their History classes.

It was an emotionally packed day with the students attending a Seminar, hearing a story from a survivor and having a guided tour through the museum. The tour guides were so impressed with the behaviour and respect shown by the students that they would be more than happy for us to visit again.

Keep up the great work History students.

Anna Harrison and Mikaylah Perry Parents & Friends

Miss Hughes and Mr DeWit History Teachers

Payment for Parents & Friends is now overdue. The fee is $15 per family if you have completed 5 hours voluntary work last year. New families and families who have not completed 5 hours voluntary work are required to pay $115.

Cultural Excursion – Les Miserables The Performing Arts department at CRC Melton have 16 tickets remaining for Les Miserables at 1pm on Wednesday 24th September, 2014. Tickets are $50 each.

The performance will take place at Her Majesty’s Theatre, 219 Exhibition St, Melbourne. This date is the first week of the September school holidays. Ticket permission forms are open to students in Years 7 – 12 and are available from Ms. O’Sullivan.

Students will be required to make their own way into the city on the day of performance and to meet Ms O’Sullivan outside the theatre in Exhibition Street by 12.30pm. Students are also required to make their own way home via public transport or parent pick up, at the conclusion of the performance. Any student not confident in making their own way to the performance is able to negotiate other travel plans with myself.

Payment plans for student tickets are available, please discuss with Ms O’Sullivan.

All permission forms are to be handed to Ms O’Sullivan no later than March 31st.

Parents are encouraged to contact me with any queries regarding this excursion.

Clare O'Sullivan cosullivan@crcmelton.com.au

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross will be performed on Tuesday April 1st by the Year 9 drama class. Parents, grandparents, relatives and friends of the cast are most welcome to attend. There will be 4 performances during class time, each performance to be viewed by a different year level. The performance times are: 10.45am, 11.20am, 12.05pm & 12.40pm The Year 9 drama class would appreciate an audience to acknowledge and appreciate the fruits of their dramatic labour. If you are interested in attending any of the performance times listed above, please phone Samantha Frazzetto in the College office on 9743 6522 to RSVP, no later than Monday 31st March. On the day of the performance, please make your way to the main office, where student ushers will greet upon arrival.

Clare O'Sullivan cosullivan@crcmelton.com.au

2014 structure and role descriptions in IT area This year we have restructured our ICT department, existing roles have been modified with increased responsibilities.

A new role has been created with the responsibility of ICT management and strategic direction, plus Server and Network administration, systems design, and network architecture.

Students and families are advised that the new levels are: First/Second level support  First point of contact for day to day support  IPad and Tablet hardware support  Laptop support  Desktop support The person currently in this role is Mr Chris Butcher and he deals with all student issues..

Second/Third level support  Day to day technical support duties  Simon and Pam administration The person currently in this role is Mr Charlie Schembri and he will assist with student issues when Mr Butcher is not available.

ICT Management and strategic direction, plus Server support, and Infrastructure design and management  Provide leadership and direction in the use of learning technologies throughout the College.  Oversee the work of the ICT support staff.

Person currently in this role is Mr James Williams. Mr Williams is the point of contact for parents who have any ICT concerns with College devices.

Student Exchange Australia New Zealand FREE LIVE ONLINE INFORMATION SESSION Hear from our experienced staff, find out more about discounts and scholarships available and ask questions.

Thursday, 20th March 7.30pm (AEST) REGISTER NOW www.studentexchange.org.au 1300 135 331 (cost of local call)

Head Lice There have been a couple of cases of head lice reported at the College recently.

If a student has head lice we ask parents to inform the College and take the appropriate action.

Further information can be obtained on www.dhs.vic.gov.au/phd/headlice

Uniform

Calendar 2014

2014

March

Term 1

19th Catholic Education week Year 10 VINCIT Work Experience 20th Catholic Education week Year 10 VINCIT Work Experience Indonesian trip Information evening 7.30pm 21st Catholic Education week Year 10 VINCIT Work Experience Year 10 –12 Drama Excursion 25th CRC Melton Careers Expo 26th SACCSS Swimming P & F Meeting 7.00pm 27th College Athletics 28th Kenya trip departs SACCSS Cricket 31st Cross Country trials Year 7—10

March

April

K. Vella

2nd 3rd 4th

Term 1 classes conclude for Year 7—11 Parent/Student/Teacher interviews 4.00pm 7.00pm Indonesian trip departs Parent/Student/Teacher interviews 1.00pm 7.30pm Staff Professional Learning day

Wednesday 19th T. Davine Wednesday 26th S. Phelps

1.00 pm - 2.00pm N. McLeod 6.30pm - 7.30pm M. Bastiaan

April Wednesday 2nd

Winter Uniform Pickup

1.00pm - 2.00pm L. Vella

M. Tadros

6.30pm - 7.30pm G. Mercieca

R. McDonald

Canteen 2014

Homework Club Homework club will run from Wednesday 12th February 2014 until 26th March, 2014 from 3.30pm to 4.30pm in the library

Mass Times Parish of Melton Parish Priest : Fr Michael Moody Weekend Mass times: St Catherine of Siena Church Bulmans Rd, Melton West 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

Term 1 March Wednesday 19th Donna Robinson Friday 21st Jo Ince Monday 24th Tuesday 25th Friday 28th

Karen Normoyle Fiona Craig Rachel Cousins Robyn Dodd

Monday 31st

Catherine Hayward

April Monday 1st Tuesday 2nd

Diane Cadman Suzanne Smith