From the Principal

Questions to Melton Council regarding Bridge Road, Cobblebank

Last night, several College staff and parents attended the Melton City Council February Council Meeting.

The College submitted two questions to the Council.

• What is the Mayor prepared to do to support the College until Bridge Road opens if the walking path along Ferris Road from Cobblebank Village does not alleviate the gridlock traffic at school dismissal time at St Francis Catholic College?
• Is the Mayor confident that the walking track along Ferris Road is a safe route to school for our students at St Francis Catholic College given the nearest set of pedestrian lights is still not in operation?

Both questions were answered by the council’s Director City Delivery, Mr Neil Whiteside. Council.

Mr Whiteside said the Council was aware of the disruptions that the failure to open Bridge Road had caused and apologised. He indicated that the road approvals were in the final stages and that he anticipated opening in “a couple of weeks”.

Mr Whiteside is on record as stating that the Council, “will explore further options with the College” and that “council officers will follow up daily”.

The question relating to safety was not answered in any direct way.

It is incredibly frustrating that a completion date could not be provided. Particularly since the College has been advised on numerous occasions over the last 12 months of proposed dates that the road will be opened, which have not eventuated.

I look forward to working with the council officers each day to resolve the unsafe, congested end-of-the-school day pick-up while we again wait for the Bridge Road extension to open.

Thank you to our staff and parents who attended and lodged their questions and to those who attempted to lodge the petition.

We will continue to work with the Council to ensure a safe passage to the College for our students.

Parents and Friends of St Francis Catholic College

This evening, our Parents and Friends Association will meet for the first time in 2025 at Cobblebank Campus. The Association and meetings are open to all parents and guardians.

Each meeting only lasts approximately one hour and is conducted on-site in Terms 1 and 4 and online in Terms 2 and 3.

As Principal, I provide an update on what’s been happening at the College, and it’s also an opportunity for me to seek input from parents on various upcoming decisions or school issues.

In the past, the Parents and Friends Association has had considerable input into the design and development of the new College uniform.

In 2024, our Parents and Friends voted to spend the association’s funds on the installation of shade sails at Cobblebank Campus and a lockdown system at Melton Campus, digital signage at both campuses and a trophy cabinet and outdoor table tennis table at Cobblebank.

We thank our Parents and Friends for these valuable additions to the College and I look forward to meeting current and new members at our meetings in 2025.

If you would like to join, please email our Director of Community Relations Amy Rowley, arowley@sfcc.vic.edu.au for more details.

Gift for our College Dux

This week our 2024 College Dux Kaitlyn Borg will receive a new HP Probook x360 laptop thanks to the generosity of Hewlett Packard.

Thank you to Jaime Vallejo-Rojas our Account Manager at HP, and our Director of ICT Adrian Beale, for organising the laptop.

Looking Ahead - Melton Campus Students

Looking Ahead - Cobblebank Campus Students

From the Deputy Principal Student Wellbeing – Melton Campus

As we begin our third year of implementing phone pouches at the College, I am extremely proud of the progress we have made in fostering a phone-free environment during the school day.

The primary purpose of phone pouches is to highlight our commitment to our students' education and learning spaces. It is essential that students engage fully with the content in each class to ensure they maximise their learning potential.

We want students to continue to develop their social skills, have quality, meaningful conversations with their peers and use respectful dialogue, especially when there are differing opinions on topics.

We believe it is important for students to focus on their studies without the distractions of social media. According to the eSafety Commissioner, teens spend an average of 14.4 hours per week online, with males logging more time (15 hours) than females (13.8 hours), typically across four different social media platforms: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat (2017).

Our data demonstrated that all groups we surveyed at the College - staff, students, and families - acknowledge the necessity of mobile phones for safety during commutes to and from school and also recognise that they can hinder learning when they are freely available.

We are committed to maintaining the use of phone pouches as an integral part of our school system. Students are expected to place their phones in their pouches during Morning Mentor time and store them for the duration of the school day in their lockers.

House Mentors will reach out to families if a student reports not having a mobile phone. Please confirm this information with your child’s House Mentor so it can be accurately recorded during phone pouch checks.

Uniform

Thank you to all families for adhering to the College uniform policy. It is encouraging to see our students proudly wearing their academic uniform, including black leather shoes.

The College blazer must be worn to and from school, with the exception of days when the temperature exceeds 30 degrees, as per our Extreme Weather Policy.

As we transition from summer to autumn, I would like to remind you about the option to wear the long sleeve polo shirt with the PE uniform. For further details, please refer to the Uniform Policy.

Thank you for your continued partnership in ensuring that your child has the best possible learning environment to achieve optimal outcomes.

Late Arrival to School and Extended Absences

A reminder that students need to arrive at school before 8.40am to prepare for the day and morning Mentor time, which runs from 8.45am to 8.55am.

If a student arrives at the College late, during morning mentor time, they should go immediately to their mentor group. Their House Mentor will indicate the time they are late on the attendance roll.

If students arrive after the morning mentor time, they should report to Student Reception (Melton Campus) or Reception (Cobblebank Campus), sign in, and explain why they are late.

If a student is continually late to school, their House Mentor and the House Leader will discuss the issue with them and their parents or guardians.

Absences

The College should be notified of student absence before 8am on a school day.

You can notify the College via the Simon Everywhere app or online via PAM.

You can also phone the College on 8099 6000 and follow the prompts.

The College will notify parents via SMS by 9.30am if students are absent or late without reason.

Students are expected to maintain an attendance rate of 90% or higher throughout every year of school. They are expected to attend all classes to enable the following:

• proper continuity of programs

• development of understanding

• completion of work during the time allocated in class

• completion of practical activities where applicable

• reliable contribution to group work

• authentication of individual work.

A record of class attendance is provided with each report.

If a student needs to leave the College during school hours, they must sign out at reception. A parent or guardian must come into the College reception to collect their child.

Extended absences

Families who plan to take holidays or, due to unforeseen circumstances, may require their child to be absent for an extended period during a term must email the Principal at principal@sfcc.vic.edu.au, providing details of why and when the student will be absent.

These absences may have a detrimental effect on subject areas where sequential learning is essential.

Staff are not required to provide work for students who are absent for an extended period during a term. It is the student's responsibility to arrange alternative dates for completing assessment tasks before their departure.

Our Attendance Policy, along with additional information about holidays during the school term and participation in school events, is available on our website.

Eyes on the Prize: Track and Field Athletes Progress to State Championships

Nine SFCC students have progressed to the 2024/25 State Track and Field Championships in March following success at the Western Metropolitan Region (WMR) Carnival this month.

The conditions were less than ideal at Goldsworthy Reserve in Corio as strong winds increased the difficulty of each event, pushing many competitors to their limits.

But despite the challenges, Melton students Caleb Hurst, Nicholas Ibrahim, Amelia Alford, Asher Bongiorno, Nyandeng Mayan, Lachlan Wall and Cody Wapshott persisted to close the carnival with 18 medals between them.

Cobblebank student Rajkamal Virk achieved outstanding results in the U14 discus and 90m hurdles as well as javelin along with fellow student Chord Wilson.

These students will go on to compete in the State Championships at Casey Fields in Cranbourne on the 8-9 March.

Congratulations also to Melton students Flynn Hurst, Mason Lomani, Chelsea Lomani, Chanelle Cachia, Nyalang Mayan, Thomas Ibrahim and Charli McKinley and Cobblebank students Majok Kooc and Scarlett Johnson who also competed at the WMR Carnival this month.

Western Metropolitan Region (WMR) Carnival results:

Caleb Hurst (U16) - 800m 1st Place, 400m 2nd Place, 200m 2nd Place, Discus 3rd Place

Amelia Alford (U16) - 100m 2nd Place, 200m 2nd Place

Asher Bongiorno (U16) - Long Jump 2nd Place, Triple Jump 3rd Place

Nicholas Ibrahim (U16) - Javelin 1st Place, Shotput 2nd Place, 200m 3rd Place

Nyandeng Mayan (U16) - 200m 1st Place, 400m 1st Place

Lachlan Wall (U15) - Shotput 2nd Place, Discus 2nd Place, 200m 3rd Place

Cody Wapshott (U15) - Javelin 1st Place, 1500m Walk 2nd Place

Swimming Carnival BBQs

Our Social Justice teams will be serving up a bbq lunch at this week’s campus swimming carnivals so get your gold coins ready!

Here’s the menu for this year’s event at Melton Waves:

Sausages in Bread $2

Veggie Burgers $3

Can of soft drink $2

Water $1

Cash only

The Melton Campus carnival will be held this Thursday 27 February (Year 7, 8 and 12 students and SACCSS competitors) and all Cobblebank Campus students will take part in their carnival on Friday 28 February.

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day

Next Tuesday, 4 March, our Faith and Mission team at both campuses will be on breakfast duty, cooking up $1 pancakes from 8am to celebrate Shrove Tuesday.

Thank you to everyone for your generous donations of pancake mixture. All money raised will be donated to our annual Caritas Project Compassion campaign.

Shrove Tuesday is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday.

Remember to look out for more information in the coming weeks regarding Project Compassion initiatives.

Spreading Kindness - Melton Campus Art Club

Year 8 Fibre – Cobblebank

Year 8 Fibre students at Cobblebank have received their initial sewing license and are now fully qualified to operate the sewing machines.

Their next task is to consider how they can use these skills to solve problems for the community.

To start their sewing journey off with a skip in their step, they will learn about the importance of local wildlife rescue centres and the different ways they can help animals in need.

Students will focus on joeys of all shapes and sizes, including baby kangaroos, possums and wombats, which all come under the joey category, even Tasmanian devils!

The students will soon be creating flannelette pouches using the sewing machines. They will then meet real-life joeys during their incursion on 31 March and donate their hand-made pouches. Watch this space for further updates on the incursion day.

From Anthony House - Cobblebank Campus

Anthony House continues to strengthen with the introduction of our new Year 7s. I enjoyed handing out our house badges and seeing them being worn with pride and honour by our students.

The Opening Mass was a great spiritual experience to witness and a great way to kick off the 2025 school year, even though the Cobblebank students had to watch it remotely due to the extreme weather.

The captains receiving their badges was also a highlight of the past three weeks, it was great to see them ready to make an impact on our school community.

I’m excited to see what Anthony House can accomplish in 2025 and I can already tell there will be many positive outcomes. All the best for the upcoming year!

Community Notices

Lunch and Learn

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