21st February, 2017 Reflection 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)
Dear Parents and Students, Term One happenings Our Year 9’s headed off to their ‘Rite Journey’ Camp on Monday and the Year 8’s will follow next week as they journey down to Anglesea. Our Year 7’s are settling in well - their camp is later in the term I hope the weather improves from the 13 degrees last Sunday for these activities!
Below are excerpts from Father Patrick Boland’s Homily at the College opening Mass Throughout this year, every student here will be given the opportunity to learn across all the disciplines. Statistics, Calculus, Science, English, Geography, Agriculture and Religion. Students will be tested, and encouraged to excel, to do your best, to improve your results, to make the most of the opportunities that you have here. And that’s very important, because we need the knowledge. Some schools will stop right there, and place all their emphasis on knowledge, on academic results. But CRC is not like other schools, CRC is a Catholic School, in name and in identity, and what makes us different from other schools is that we’re not only concerned with knowledge, we’re also interested in the heart. Not about what we know, but who we love, who we care about and who we have been created to worship. We are called as teachers and leaders and priests not just to focus on knowledge and information, but to bring the head and the heart together as one, as Jesus’ sacred heart burned with love, and his soul overflowed with the love for his Father, the Holy Spirit, and man and woman who were created in their image. This was a truth that Adam and Eve tragically missed, because their head and their hearts were disconnected. They didn’t know who God really was, and they didn’t have that deep trust and friendship with him, so they chose death instead of life. They wanted to keep the little they had, and so they missed the abundance that God wanted to bestow. My prayer for each one of you today is that you will know what it means to be truly free, to choose good, to choose life at every moment, so that your life will stand for something. So the school motto would become a statement about your life: “In all things let God be glorified”. Mark Sheehan Principal
Parents & Friends Our first meeting for 2017 is tomorrow, Wednesday February 22nd starting at 7.30pm. All welcome, especially parents new to the school.
News from the Director of Learning
The ATAR or Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank is the number that determines a Year 12 student’s entry into university. Students who complete scored VCE studies will receive their ATAR (out of 100) in the December of their Year 12 study. Speaking in very rough terms, the ATAR number scored by a student is the percentage of students that they did better than in the state. For example, if a student got an ATAR score of 90, it roughly means they did better than 90% of the students in the state. So how do students get the best ATAR score that they can? The achievement of an ATAR that reflects the student’s best effort is the result of many things- careful preparation for their Year 12 year starting in Year 7, choosing the correct course and subjects, academic talent, work ethic, home study and a consistent program of regular revision throughout the year. Students must take advantage of every learning opportunity at CRC Melton and plan to develop the skills they require to cope with the academic rigour of a scored VCE pathway starting at Year 7. Upon speaking with Year 12 high achievers over the years, it is always apparent how important regular revision and home study has been in the achievement of their success. It is an expectation of the College that students complete the following amount of home study: Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12
45 minutes (5 evenings per week) 60 minutes (5 evenings per week) 75 minutes (5 evenings per week) 90 minutes (6 evenings per week) 120 to 150 minutes (6 evenings per week) at least 150 to 180 minutes (6 evenings per week)
So how does at home study relate to the ATAR? At home study is where students consolidate their learning; embedding the skills and knowledge learnt in class that day and relating this knowledge to the assessment in that subject. It is where students make study notes, memorise facts, read texts, complete exercises and past exam questions and compile lists of queries to ask their teachers. VCE high achievers around the state are always the students who have a program of regular revision. It is generally accepted that the relationship between the ATAR score a student achieves and the hours of home study they complete in Year 12 follows the rough pattern:
1 hour of home study per night will provide possibility for the student to score an ATAR of about 20. 1.5 hours of home study per night will provide possibility for the student to score an ATAR of about 30. 2 hours of home study per night will provide possibility for the student to score an ATAR of about 40. 2.5 hours of home study per night will provide possibility for the student to score an ATAR of between 50 and 60. 3 hours of home study per night will provide possibility for the student to score an ATAR of about 70. 3.5 hours of home study per night will provide possibility for the student to score an ATAR of 80 or above.
I encourage all parents and guardians to speak with their student about their ATAR goal. Are they meeting the home study requirement in the year level they are currently in? Is their home study honest preparation for the hours required in Year 12? Are they choosing subjects that are realistic for their academic ability? Narelle Layton Director of Learning
Deputy Principal - Student Welfare
PAM-Parent Access Module All parents and guardians have access to their son/daughter’s student profile through the Parent Access Module-PAM through your username and password. Please keep this in a secure and safe place. PAM provides you with access to your child’s timetable, attendance, homework and assessment tasks and reports. Now that we are into the third week of the school term, many students would have submitted and completed the first set of assessment tasks. Teachers will have marked these and loaded the results for each student onto their PAM profile. These results will now start appearing on your child’s assessment profile. It is critically important for you check your child’s profile on a regular basis. In the past your child may have received an unsatisfactory letter for incomplete or poor quality work, these are no longer being sent by email but uploaded onto your child’s profile. New families to the College will receive their PAM user name and password by the end of next week. Students Arriving Late The School requires regular and punctual attendance at school and to all classes. Students must be at school throughout the hours of a normal school day, this includes Homeroom at the start of the school day. Attendance enables proper continuity of programs, development of understanding, completion of work in class and dissemination of information. Students with a pattern of lateness will receive discipline points and a possible after school detention. We are asking for your support to ensure your son/daughter is arriving to school on time and ready for Homeroom at 8.48am. If a student arrives after the start of the first period they must report to the Main Office to have their name marked on the roll. If they fail to do so you will receive an SMS message asking for an explanation of why your child is not at school. Australian Catholic University-Faculty of Health Sciences School of Psychology webinar series Want to learn more about adolescent issues? The School of Psychology is hosting four webinars that will benefit both school teachers and parents. They will be presented by ACU’s Counselling and Psychology staff, who are all practitioners and clinicians actively involved in the field. Time: 6.30 pm – 7.30 pm Dates and topics: · · · ·
15 May – Development issues 19 June – Cyberbullying 24 July – Body image and weight 13 September – Career planning panel
To be added to the email list to receive further details about the webinars, please email fhsrsvp@acu.edu.au Uniform It is very encouraging to see the number of students wearing their cap for PE. Students who don’t have a CRC cap, are provided with an old cap to wear. CRC sport socks and caps should be arriving this week and can be purchased from the Office or Uniform shop. A reminder Winter Uniform fitting is tomorrow, 22nd February 12.00 - 2.00pm and 5.00pm - 8.00pm. Rob Blackley Deputy Principal – Student Welfare
From the Deputy Principal (Staff)
We are into another busy week with Year 9 RITE Journey Camps along with many excursions. It is important that parents / guardians ensure that CareMonkey details and other medical information is up to date, so that we can ensure student safety and be able to contact parents / guardians when needed. Next week our Year 8 students will attend Camp: 8A & C Monday / Tuesday 8B & M Tuesday / Wednesday 8R Wednesday / Thursday 8D & O Thursday / Friday. Information Evenings Tonight, our Year 12 Information evening takes place with separate sessions being held for our Vincit/VCAL and VCE Students. John Christie Deputy Principal (Staff) Languages News Welcome back to a new and fun filled year in Languages. We are excited to announce that Liam Martin (Year 12, 2016) is the first student at CRC, Melton, to obtain a VCE (Baccalaureate) Certificate for his studies in languages (Indonesian) and Mathematical Methods. We have two students this year who will be eligible to obtain the VCE (Baccalaureate) if they successfully complete their course in Languages, English and Maths Methods/Specialist Maths. We have plenty of stimulating activities planned for our students this year which include excursions to the Calabria Club, Lygon Street and incursions with comedians. We also expect our students to excel in their academic work, hence, homework tasks will be displayed in the parent portal. Education Perfect will need to be embraced once again by all students studying Indonesian or Italian from Year 7 to 11. Education Perfect is an educational app used in language classes to enhance the students' learning of languages and also to consolidate their learning. Many students are enthusiastic and look forward to using this highly interactive and enjoyable app. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me or your child's Languages Teacher. Tanti saluti, Claudia Russo - Languages Coordinator Unit 1-2 Legal Studies Barwon Prison Excursion On February 15, the Unit 1 Legal Studies class travelled to Barwon Prison in Lara. Barwon is one of Victoria’s maximum security male prisons. We travelled by bus to the prison. 38 students were very excited to be visiting the prison as it really is a “once in a life time experience”. Students had the opportunity to meet with 4 prisoners and ask them questions and listen to their stories. Students heard about their childhoods, what crime they committed, their addictions, why they committed the crime, how they felt towards their victims, their families, their plans for the future, their life in prison and what it was like to be a parent and a prisoner. There were many other topics covered through our educational session. The students had a fantastic day. Staff at the prison congratulated the students on their behaviour and said that the school should be very proud of them. We are! We look forward to our upcoming year in the Legal Studies class as we further explore issues surrounding justice in Victoria. Mrs Harrington Legal Studies Teacher Humanities Domain Leader
Showcase 2017 Ticket Sales are Open
Showcase 2017 promises to be a fun-filled night of entertainment. A night of two acts, the first half is a one act play called Drop Dead Juliet - a classic tale with a comic twist that follows Juliet's attempts to re-write her destiny in future performances. The second half features a Sea Spectacular filled with a variety of dance and movement pieces along with a performance from our vocal Ensemble. Ticket sales are now open and are accessible via the link https://www.trybooking.com/OXZA or https:// www.trybooking.com/262262. All tickets are $10. The performances are on Thursday March 16th and Friday March 17th at 7pm in the CRC Performing Arts Centre. Canteen
If you are able to help out in the canteen please email jk.honey@bigpond.com the following information Name; Phone No.; Childs name; Homeroom; Frequency: Weekly Fortnightly Monthly Per Term Day: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Relay for Life
Please note that this event is run by an outside organisation and is not an event run by the College. Relay For Life is a fun and moving overnight experience that raises vital funds for the Cancer Council’s research, prevention, information and support services. Relay for Life is a chance for the Melton Community to recognise and celebrate local cancer survivors, patients and patients’ carers while also honouring and remembering loved ones lost to cancer. The event begins at 3:45pm on Saturday 25th with the opening ceremony and will conclude at 9:45am on Sunday 26th February. This will be followed by the closing ceremony, which should finish by 10.15am. It is so good to see many students getting involved and donating towards Relay For Life. Cancer will touch everyone in their life at some stage and in doing the Relay, it helps to spread the word of cancer and raise those vital funds to help save many more lives. Some Year 10, 11 and 12 students will be participating in the Relay and it is great to have their support. This event WILL NOT be supervised by the school, so all students MUST be supervised by their parents. If your child is attending they are advised to bring: Comfortable walking shoes or runners; Different layers of clothing to cater to all weather conditions; Hat, sunglasses and sunscreen; Food and drink (no glass permitted); Water bottle, mug and cutlery; Torch and spare batteries; Money (for additional food or merchandise); Toiletries (if staying overnight); Sleeping bag and pillow (if staying overnight); Camera and Folding chairs. If you would like more information please visit (www.relayforlife.org.au) or see the below details. Matthew Spiteri, 12C and Elise Nowak Sports Captain and Student Leadership Coordinator
Uniform
Calendar 2017
2017
Term 1
Term 1
February
February
21st 22nd 23rd 24th 27th 28th
VCE Year 12/VCAL Information Evening 7.00pm, Vincit Information Evening 7.30pm Year 9 RITE Journey Camps Year 12 2016 BBQ 5.30pm P & F Meeting 7.30pm Year 9 RITE Journey Camps Year 9 RITE Journey Camps Senior Cricket Year 8 Camps SACCSS Golf Year 8 Camps
March 1st 2nd 3rd 7th 8th 9th 10th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 28th 29th
30th 31st
Wednesday 22nd Winter Uniform Fitting 12.00pm - 2.00pm A. Vranesic
5.00pm - 8.00pm K. Vella
M. Wilkin
E. Flanigan
March Wednesday 1st
Year 8 Camps Senior Cricket Year 8 Camps Year 8 Camps Full on Theatre Workshop Year 11 Tertiary Orientation Day Units 1 & 3 Outdoor Education Camps SACCSS Senior Day Units 1 & 3 Outdoor Education Camps Units 1 & 2 Outdoor Education Camps Full on Theatre Workshop Senior Cricket Labour Day Holiday Federation Mass Day (No classes) Italy/France Trip meeting Showcase Performance Showcase Performance Year 7 Camps Year 7 Camps Year 7 Camps Year 7 Camps Year 7 Camps Full on Theatre Workshop Year 11 Reflection Day SACCSS Swimming Full on Theatre Student Performance Senior Cricket Grand Final Europe Trip leaves Full on Theatre Family Performance PST Interviews PST Interviews (No classes) Term 1 concludes
C. Grambau
6.30pm - 7.30pm
F. Conway Wednesday 8th
1.00pm - 2.00pm
C. Grambau
Wednesday 15th 6.30pm - 7.30pm Wednesday 22nd 1.00pm - 2.00pm
Mass Times Parish of Melton Parish Priest : Fr Michael Moody Assistant Priest: Fr Geoffrey Mcilroy Weekend Mass times: St Catherine of Siena Church Bulmans Rd, Melton West Saturday: 6.00pm Sunday: 9.00am & 11.00am Sunday: 5.00pm St Bernard’s Parish Parish Priest: Fr. Fabian Smith Assistant Priest: Fr John Paul Mount Fr Patrick Boland 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 Mount Fr Patrick Boland Weekend Mass times: Saturday: 5.30pm Sunday: 8.30am & 10.30am