19th April, 2016 Reflection Holy Spirit and Seat of Wisdom Holy Spirit and Seat of Wisdom, help us all to proclaim Christ and reveal the power of God and the wisdom of God hidden in His Cross. How greatly I desire to entrust to You all the difficult problems of the societies, systems, and states — problems that cannot be solved with hatred, war, and self-destruction, but only by peace, justice, and respect for the rights of people and nations. Amen.
Dear Parents and students, "If you have nothing nice to say about someone, then don't say anything at all!" Parents may remember this ‘age-old’ advice from their parents as they headed off to Primary school for the first time. The wisdom of the elders would run something like this: seek out and nurture a close set of friends at school. You won’t be friends with everyone, so understand that. Don’t say or do anything in the playground that will antagonize others who are not your close friends. I think parents today need to reinforce these eternal words of wisdom for all year levels in our school and indeed it needs to be reinforced in our community at large. Our guest speakers yesterday from Project Rockit spoke about teenagers being like ’Jekyll and Hyde’ when it comes to the use of smartphones, iPads and desktop computers. Kids are putting things in word and pictures on Social Media that they wouldn’t do in person. I would like to propose that this upcoming weekend, including Anzac Day, parents tell their children that they can only use Social Media to communicate with five close friends - not large numbers of people that they don’t really know. And as an ongoing strategy, can I suggest that students should NEVER post negative comments about other people, whether they be CRC students or members of the public. It’s not right, it’s contrary to the values of this Catholic school, and it’s, at times, illegal in Victoria. Perhaps, students could focus on their homework this weekend. Mark Sheehan Principal Parents & Friends The Parents & Friends AGM will be held on Wednesday 27th April at 7.30pm
From the Deputy Principal (Staff) The first week of Term 2 went very quickly and smoothly, students are to be congratulated on their positive transition from holiday mode to learning mode. As mentioned last week, staff will undertake Class Learning surveys over the next 2 weeks. They are now a regular feature of our teaching practice and will provide feedback to staff on how their students are learning and can highlight areas of student affirmation and concern. Staff will then use this to adjust their teaching where necessary to improve learning across the class. Athletics A reminder that this Thursday, April 21 is our College Athletics Carnival. Students will come to school as normal and then be transported to the Newport Athletics track for the day, returning in time for normal College dismissal time. Please refer to Ms Brown’s information regarding the day, especially regarding transport, clothing and food requirements. Emergency Response Drill Following on from our successful Evacuation Drill in Term 1, we will be practicing a ‘low-level’ lockdown drill this Friday morning. Students will be required to stay in class during the drill but may continue with their normal lesson. PE classes will be required to move indoors during this scenario. In Terms 3 & 4 we will practice other types of responses in ensuring the College is best prepared for any real situations should they arise. ANZAC Day As you are aware Monday, April 25 is the ANZAC day holiday and thus the College will be closed this. We will be having an ANZAC reflection assembly on Friday for the College Community to commemorate this major event. John Christie Deputy Principal (Staff) Social Media The allure of anonymity On Tuesday all Year 8 students participated in a DOTCOM Cyberbullying workshop presented by the team from Project Rockit. The focus for students was to develop awareness and empathy for targets of cyberbullying, empowering students to take ownership over core material and create a supportive online culture. Behaving differently when no one else is watching is nothing new to the digital age, just more pronounced. It's an extension of the "what would you do if you were invisible?" question, as there are opportunities for you to be somewhat invisible over the internet. A lot of the time this happens outside of school hours in the privacy of their own home. The fallout then comes into the school yard and classroom. The link below contains valuable information on the various social apps people can use to bully individuals online, post photos and make comments whilst in many cases remaining anonymous. https://www.esafety.gov.au/esafety-information/games-apps-and-social-networking Headspace recently launched a new technology to help prevent online bullying, the tool- reword is the first technology of its kind in Australia. It works by identifying cruel or intimidating words in real time to prompt online users to reword their message or post. Similar to spellcheck functionality, a red line appears through words to highlight bullying behaviour, encouraging online users to reconsider their choice of words. Encourage your son/daughter to download the link http://www.reword.it to their phone. The school is planning to download the link onto student iPads.
Parent Information Evening-Strategies for Teenage Success We are offering a parent evening with Darren Pereira, Tuesday April 26, 7pm in the Performing Arts Centre. You will find the evening enlightening, inspiring and practical. His program has been specifically geared for parents with teenagers, therefore applicable to all Year levels and concentrates on how you as a parent can:
build your child’s self confidence so that they reach their fullest potential motivate your child to achieve both academically & in life communicate effectively so that you can understand your child & develop a close, positive relationship discover & develop your child’s talents toward a meaningful pathway
If you are planning to attend, please complete the Care Monkey invitation. Rob Blackley Deputy Principal (Students) Languages News Welcome back to our Indonesian travellers who had a wonderful time overseas. Also, this term the Languages Team will hold lunchtime tutorials every Tuesday Day 7 to assist students who would like further help with their language studies at the College. Please encourage your children to attend if they need any assistance with their work. Claudia Russo Head of Languages Have You Been Confirmed? Fr Fabian and Fr John-Paul of St Anthony’s Parish are willing to prepare any of our students for this special sacrament of initiation over the coming months. The sessions (4 or 5) will all be held at the College, some at lunchtime some immediately after school, and likely will begin around the end of May. Students from other parishes are welcome and they will then be able to receive this sacrament when it is next celebrated at their parish. If you wish your son or daughter to be part of preparation for confirmation please contact me. Shaun Coates Religious Education & Faith Development Coordinator Email: scoates@crcmelton.com.au Phone (direct): 8099-6031 Combined Catholic Parishes Raffle Raffle tickets for the Combined Catholic Parishes Raffle are available to purchase at the School Office. Tickets are $2.00 each. 1st Prize: 2nd & 3rd Prizes: 4th & 5th Prizes: 6th - 14th Prizes:
Toyota Corolla Ascent Sports 5 door auto hatch valued at $26990 Toyota Yaris valued at $22,000 Coles/Myer Gift Cards each to the value of $1,000 Coles/Myer Gift Cards each to the value of $500
Social Justice news Year 9 Community Service This year all Year 9 students will be participating in some community service. A small group will go out each week into the community to visit either a primary school for tutoring, the Melton food bank, the St. Vincent De Paul op shop or Cooper’s Animal refuge. The philosophy behind this new initiative is that we are called by God to do service for others, especially in this, the Year of Mercy. We should try to show compassion and to act mercifully towards others. On Wednesday April 14th Megan, Chantel, Eden and Curtis went to St. Catherine’s primary school to tutor the grade ones. We read with the students and helped then to understand the books along with learning new words. Some of the strategies we were taught to use included, breaking the words down and sounding them out, looking at the pictures and asking questions throughout our time with them. During our time at the school we discovered the students all had different personalities; some were very quiet which made it more difficult to read with them. Others were very enthusiastic and wanted to stay and read another book with us. Unfortunately we had to say no. It was a great learning experience for all of us, seeing how to teach others to read and we had fun interacting with the younger children which some of us had never experienced. Megan Baselmans 9 Dominic
This is Lesley who volunteers for St. Vincent De Paul, making sandwiches at the Footscray centre. She was very grateful for the sandwiches that the girls made. Each Rite Journey group will make 15 loaves of sandwiches once during the year. The sandwiches are given out that night by volunteers of the soup van. Many of the clients accessing the van are either families or single people who are struggling to cover all their bills, suffer with a mental health issue or are homeless. The sandwiches provide a means to create friendships while having a chat. I look forward to sharing more of the stories from the Year 9s community service experience during the year. This week the group will also be doing tutoring at Wedge Park Primary. Margaret Rowe-Watts Social Justice Co-ordinator
Athletics Carnival 2016 The College Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday 21st April. Students are to arrive at school by 8:25am for homeroom and will be transported to Newport Athletics track via Bacchus Marsh Coaches. Year 7-11 students are to come dressed in full PE uniform and Year 12 students are encouraged to come in costumes supporting their house. It is recommended all students bring a hat and sunscreen as well as warm clothes and a waterproof jacket as the track is quite open and the weather could go either way. Students will be able to purchase sausages and drinks at the track but should also bring along a water bottle and additional food to get them through the day. All students will return to school via bus and be supervised in homeroom until 3:20pm dismissal. Depending on traffic we may arrive back at school before 3:20pm. We encourage parents not to pick up students early as the front office staff are unable to leave the office unmanned to go in search of students. Year 12s will be permitted to sign themselves out upon arrival back at school. Parents are very welcome to attend to either assist or spectate on the day. Lolly bags will be on sale for $2.00. Individual packets of chips and popcorn will also be for sale. Money will go towards student sponsorship at Br. Beausang in Kenya. Athletics Carnival 2016 – General Information Event: Date: Arrival: Dismissal: Venue: Uniform:
CRC Melton Athletics Carnival Thursday 21st April CRC Melton at 8.25am From CRC Melton at 3.20 pm Newport Athletics Track, Cnr of North Road and The Strand, Newport Park, Newport, VIC 3015. Full College PE uniform. Running shorts permitted for racing only. House colours/costumes for Year12s only Meals: BYO lunch or BBQ and drinks for sale Transport: Bacchus Marsh Coaches Attendance: Compulsory Items to Bring: Sunscreen (will also be available in different locations on the day), hat, sunglasses drink bottle, warm clothing, picnic rug (if the ground is wet) Explanatory Notes: Uniform:
Students not wearing appropriate attire for the day will be sent home. Light, clearing showers are forecast so a rain jacket and warm clothes are advised.
Attendance:
Attendance is compulsory and students who do not attend will be expected to provide a written explanation or doctors certificate by the following Monday.
Transport:
Students must be in homeroom on time to prepare for the boarding of busses. 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.
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 wear a name tag provided, then also sign out before departing. We also strongly encourage visitors to avoid signing out students before the official carnival closing. Awards & Recognition: Medals will be awarded to 1 student from each house deemed to be the best representative of the house based on participation, team spirit and support for the College ethos. These awards will be judged by house captains on the day. Athletics Age Champions will be announced after the SACCSS Athletics competition.
Uniform
Calendar 2016
2016
Term 2
Term 2
April
April
20th 21st 25th 26th 27th
29th
Year 7 Premier League Round 1 Senior AFL & Netball Year 10 History Excursion College Athletics Carnival ANZAC Day - no classes Year 11 Reflection day Parent Information evening - Strategies for Teenage Success Year 7 Premier League Round 2 Year 9 Forensics day Year 10 Drama Performance P & F Annual General Meeting - 7.30pm SRC Conference
5th 6th
Wednesday 27th 1.00pm - 2.00pm C. Arthur C. Grambou May Wednesday 4th T. Hehir
6.30pm - 7.30pm M. D’Sousa
Wednesday 11th 1.00pm - 2.00pm M. Muse L. Vella Wednesday 18th 6.30pm - 7.30pm F. Conway L. Holt
May 2nd 3rd 4th
Wednesday 20th 6.30pm - 7.30pm S. De Courcy G. Mercieca
Year 7 MASP Excursion Cross Country Social Justice Conference Year 7 Premier League Round 3 Senior AFL & Netball Year 12 Studio Arts Excursions
Homework Club Homework Club will run every Wednesday from 20th April from 3.30pm to 4.30pm until Wednesday 22nd June in the Library .
Wednesday 25th 1.00pm - 2.00pm J. Johnson June Wednesday 1st A Salmon
6.30pm - 7.30pm
Wednesday 8th M. Mullan
1.00pm - 2.00pm
Wednesday 15th 6.30pm - 7.30pm E. Flanagan Wednesday 22nd 1.00pm - 2.00pm K. Vella
Mass Times Parish of Melton Parish Priest : Fr Michael Moody Assistant Priest: Fr Charles Balnaves Weekend Mass times: St Catherine of Siena Church Bulmans Rd, Melton West Saturday: 6.00pm Sunday: 9.00am & 11.00am St Dominic’s Church Sunday: 5.00pm 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 Assistant Priest: Fr John Paul Weekend Mass times: Saturday: 5.30pm Sunday: 8.30am & 10.30am