From the Principal

This week we offer a special prayer for all those mothers, grandmothers and those who have chosen to take on the role of a mother in their families.

God of holy people, of Sarah, Ruth, Rebekah;

God of Elizabeth, mother of John,

God of Mary, Mother of Jesus, bless the mothers of our families.

Bless them with the strength of your spirit, the mothers who taught us to stand and walk and who continue to be our strength as we walk the journey of life. 

St Joseph’s Port Melbourne, Parish Bulletin

Year 9 camp

It was lovely to spend time this week with our students in Year 9 on their Rite Journey Departure camp at Grantville.

Their warmth and welcome, enthusiasm and willingness to participate in all the activities were wonderful to see. The camaraderie and team spirit developed during the time away will set the students in good stead as they continue their studies this year and beyond. You can read the full story and enjoy pictures from the camp in today’s newsletter. Click here

By all accounts, the students in Year 9 who travelled to Roses Gap for their camp found it equally as rewarding. 

Looking Ahead

View the full College Calendar

40th Anniversary Open Day

From the Deputy Principal Learning and Teaching

As we begin NAPLAN this week, we encourage you to talk to your child and reassure them that they do not need to stress or get anxious about these tests.

However, it is also important to encourage your child to complete each one to the best of their ability.

The College uses data from NAPLAN testing to help inform its learning and teaching practices, support and extend students in the classroom, and provide evidence of the suitability of subject and pathway choices in senior years.

Students are required to bring a pen and pencil to all tests and their calculator for the numeracy tests.

You will have received a copy of the parent fact sheet explaining NAPLAN and it is also available here. NAPLAN Information for Parents and Carers

Please take time to read the fact sheet. It provides details about the National Assessment Program and consideration for students with a disability and those who have recently arrived in Australia and have a non-English speaking background. This also explains parental responsibility where a child is withdrawn from the testing regime.

If you have further questions please contact our Learning Diversity Leaders, Sue Kro (Year 7), Sharon Cody (Year 9), EAL Coordinator (Maria Krajina), relevant Year Level Coordinator or myself at the College on 8099 6000.

Subject changes Year 9-11

The Semester 2 change of subject process will open soon for Year 9 electives and Year 10 and 11 subjects.

Students must complete the Change of Subject form and obtain all required signatures, including parents/guardians, before it is processed.

There are strict deadlines for this process and changes are only possible if class numbers and the timetable enable the change. Families are responsible for obtaining all requirements (e.g. texts, stationery, Edrolo) for the new subject. These should be finalised for the beginning of Semester 2.

Students in Year 10 and 11 will soon begin preparing for examinations. The Year Level Coordinators will send out information to students and families towards the end of the month.

Students can begin studying by revising Term 1 work at home and staying on top of the current topics and units of work in Term 2.

Top tips for teenagers and sleep from The Better Health Channel

The typical teenage brain wants to go to bed late and sleep late the following morning, which is usually hard to manage.

You may be able to adjust your body clock but it takes time. Suggestions include:

• Choose a relaxing bedtime routine; for example, have a bath and a hot milky drink before bed, or use meditation or mindfulness activities. Gentle yoga may also help.
• Avoid screens such as computers, TV or smart phones, loud music, homework or any other activity that gets your mind racing for at least an hour before bedtime.
• Avoid stimulants in the evening like coffee, tea, soft drinks and energy drinks.
• Keep your bedroom dark at night. Your brain’s sleep-wake cycle is largely set by light received through the eyes. Try to avoid watching television or using smartphones right before bed. In the morning, expose your eyes to lots of light to help wake up your brain.
• Do the same bedtime routine every night for at least four weeks to make your brain associate this routine with going to sleep.
• Start your bedtime routine a little earlier than usual (for example, 10 minutes) after four weeks. Do this for one week.
• Add an extra 10 minutes every week until you have reached your desired bedtime.
• Get active during the day, so you are more physically tired at night.
• Set up a comfortable sleep environment.
• Set up a regular wake-up time.
• Avoid staying up late on the weekends. Late nights will undo your hard work.
• Remember that even 30 minutes of extra sleep each night on a regular basis makes a big difference. However, it may take about six weeks of getting extra sleep before you feel the benefits.

For further tips and advice to get the best nights sleep, follow this link www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au

Connected Parenting Workshop

Parents and guardians are invited to join us at the College on Wednesday 26 May for the Connected Parenting Workshop.

The workshop offers a valuable set of tools for parents aiming to raise children through positive connections and communication.

In this 90 minute workshop, Lael Stone will provide parents and guardians with:

• Strategies to help their children become resilient adults.
• Ways to build stronger connections with their children.
• Ideas to support their children when they are frustrated or going through challenging situations.
• Simple ways to create co-operation.
• A better understanding of big emotions and feelings and ways to help their children become emotionally resilient.

Lael Stone is an author, TEDx speaker, counsellor and parenting educator who specialises in navigating trauma and disconnection in families.

She has spent the last 17 years working with families, as well as running programs in secondary schools for teens on relationships and wellbeing. She is a mother of three grown up children and the co-founder of Woodline Primary School - a new innovative school focused on supporting emotional intelligence in children.

More information about the workshop and Lael Stone is available here. Connected Parenting Workshop

You can register your attendance for this event using the booking form below. If you have any questions please email me at cbullen@sfcc.vic.edu.au

Students Consider Climate Change

For the past two weeks, a group of CRC Melton students has taken part in the Climate Resilient Landscape Forum run by the Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria and partners Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools and Environment Education Victoria.

At the beginning of the excursion, we were asked three questions:

1. What is climate change?
2. What is mitigation and adaptation?
3. How does climate change affect trees?

These questions may seem simple to some, but the answers were a little more complicated.

Educators from Royal Botanical Gardens helped us work through the answers while we explored the various environments at both gardens. One main focus of the program was trees. Unlike other living things, trees cannot move and therefore are greatly affected by climate change.

Throughout the excursions, we were shown different ways to help reduce climate change and ways to help trees live longer. For example, creating microclimates to suit their preferred or most comfortable temperature.

The hands-on experience got all of us involved. We even witnessed an ecological burn during our time at the Melton Botanical Gardens. Overall it was a fun way to learn about climate resilience and the positive impact that growing the right trees can have on the environment.

Sports News

Intermediate girls AFL

Last Thursday (6 May), 18 of our Year 10 students participated in the Intermediate Girls Football Carnival at Royal Park in Parkville. All the students participated in the day and displayed excellent sportsmanship in all five matches, which ran back-to-back, giving them little rest in between.

Even though CRC only managed to win one out of the five close-scoring games, the girls were competitive from start to finish.

Special mentions to Tahni Turner and Arok Deng for getting on the goalkickers list, Chloe Walker for being a ball magnet all day, and Charlize Sygidus for attacking the footy hard. What do you think about this??

Well done girls (and Flynn Pettitt our student helper) - you were excellent ambassadors for our College. Ian Box - AFL Coach

Senior AFL

Our senior boys played their second football game at Keilor Park Football Ground against CRC Sydenham on Monday 3 May. It was a tough game, and despite their best efforts, the boys lost on the day. They will now have a week off while our senior girls play their second game this week.

Premier League

Last Wednesday (5 May) our Year 7 students travelled to Mackillop College for Round 3 of Premier League.

Five out of seven teams managed to come home with a win. Our girls’ soccer team had a week off and will play against Emmanuel College this week.

Girls Netball: Lost 42-9

Boys Basketball: Won 51-61

Girls Basketball: Won 16-39

Boys Volleyball: Won 1-3

Girls Volleyball: Won 2-3

Boys Soccer: Won 1-2

Boys AFL: Lost 66-26

Year 7 Science

Year 7 Science students recently completed a unit investigating how to separate mixtures. Students learnt how and why techniques such as evaporation, distillation and filtration are used to separate mixtures of various substances.

As an assessment, students were tasked with separating a mixture of salt, sand and pins. Here is a summary of the filtration component of this task written by student Abbey Vallence.

The filtration task was a way to demonstrate how a mixture can be separated into two parts; the filtrate and residue. The mixture was separated into the saltwater (filtrate) and sand (the residue). The filtrate is what passes through the filter paper that has minuscule holes in it. The residue is what is left in the filter paper.

Italian Club

Our first Italian Club session kicked off on Monday 3 May and our students learned a new skill.

Thanks to Mrs Vono, students were taught how to play a popular Italian card game called Scopa. It required them to use their numeracy and Italian speaking skills.

We look forward to seeing many more students enjoying other activities at the Italian Club sessions in the coming weeks, such as playing Tombola, bocce and watching an Italian film. 

The next session will be held on Monday 24 May.

Year 9 Rite Journey Young Women’s Camp

Grantville Lodge provided the perfect backdrop for a Year 9 Rite Journey camp.

The 100 students and 11 teachers who took part were blessed with perfect weather in the low 20s for the three-day camp.

Grantville Lodge is in an idyllic spot area with sweeping hills and views of Westernport Bay. The property has resident wildlife, including kangaroos, sheep, horses and miniature horses, who we were advised not to get too close to as they like to nibble on your fingers if provoked.

Home for the three days were delightful cabin spaces and, of course, the heart of the venue, the dining hall with lovely staff who kept us sustained.

Upon arrival, there was a quick cabin allocation and orientation then, with little time to spare, the students moved off to their first activities. Among these were low ropes, high ropes, canoeing, bracelet making, card making and the giant swing.

Led by the wonderful staff at Grantville, the students explored camaraderie, teamwork, strengths, weaknesses and sometimes a boatload of fears. Many knees were knocking at the height of the giant swing!

The support and professionalism of the Grantville staff in all activities were commendable. Still, a special mention goes to Paul on this activity who cajoled our students into trying their best and, even if they just put the harness on, told them they had succeeded.

The highlight of the evening activities was the very entertaining and well-run trivia night.

Students had an absolute ball competing for the prizes, claimed during the next evening’s movie night.

Some of the greatest moments of the trip came from the lip-sync competition between the groups. It was wonderful to see competition dispelled when the whole cohort jumped up to dance and sing with a peer who had braved the stage accompanied only by a teacher. Friendship ruled over competition and the camaraderie and contribution all the students made in this moment was palpable.

I’d like to thank Miss Hughes and Miss Attard for creating this opportunity for our students through this activity. A big thank you also goes to Mrs Carey who enabled students to make Mother’s Day or Significant Person Day cards and we hope our Year 9 families enjoyed receiving them.

We truly appreciate everything our teachers contributed in the lead up to, and execution of this wonderful event for our students. My thanks goes to the Year 9 Coordinators Mr Jason Rowley, and Miss Hollie Whitlock, and our Rite Journey teachers (not already mentioned above) Miss Clare Hume, Mrs Simone Taylor, Miss Shanelle Sertic, Miss Stephanie Kljajic, Mrs Lynette McGuinness, Miss Emma van Wees and former student Laura McIntyre.

We hope that the connections made this week continue to shine through in the year ahead.

Volleyball Victoria Schools Cup

On Friday, the College senior boys volleyball team travelled to Dandenong to compete in the Volleyball Victoria Schools Cup. The team faced a challenging task - our mix of Year 10, 11 and 12 boys were up against bigger, stronger teams almost exclusively comprised of powerful Year 12 students.

Our first game was against Kew High School, who, later that day, would play off in the grand final. Kew were too strong and the result seemed to unsettle our team who played again immediately against Eltham High School, losing the first set but recovering to level up in the second set.

In our game against Templestowe High School, we lost the first set by just two points before dominating the second set. A comfortable straight-set win against St Monica’s saw us up against Maribyrnong Secondary College for a top 10 finish in the State.

In a close final, Melton won the opening set 25 to 18, before holding on to draw the second set 23 all as time expired, confirming a position in the top ten for CRC Melton.

Congratulations to all team members on an outstanding performance.

Theology and Ethics Competition

In the Religious Education Domain, we encourage students to learn about the content we teach through experience, problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity.

“A Catholic pedagogy which enables such learning is one that empowers learners to seek truth, and to question and critique the prevailing cultural, political and philosophical ideas within the world around them.” (Foundation Statement: pedagogy in a Catholic School, Catholic Education Melbourne 2016).

This year, students are invited to participate in a Theology and Ethics writing competition. They are encouraged to choose a statement assigned to their year level from one of three categories, theology, philosophy or religion, and write a response.

The junior division is for students in Year 7 to 9 and the senior division for students in Year 10 to 12. The statements to choose from in each division are below:

Junior category

Entries must be a minimum of 500 words

Theology
“There are differences between the birth stories of Jesus in the Gospels.” (Matt 1:1- 2:23, Mark 1:1-2:52, Not in Luke or John). Discuss.

Philosophy
“We should not always save human life.” Do you agree? Show that you have considered both sides of the argument.

Religion
“We should only worship in a religious building.” Do you agree? Show that you have considered both sides of the argument.

Senior Category

Entries must be a minimum of 1000 words

Theology
“The story of Noah’s ark is a metaphor.” (Gen 6:1- 8:19) Discuss.

Philosophy
“The nature and purpose of human life is to reach eternal life/heaven.” Discuss.

Religion
“Meditation and prayer are just as effective as each other.” Do you agree? Show that you have considered all sides of the argument.

Entries will be judged by a team of our Religious Education staff and must be submitted by Friday 28 May.

First prize in both divisions is a $50 Woodgrove Shopping Centre voucher. Second prize is a $30 canteen voucher and the third prize, a $15 canteen voucher.

Year 7 EAL students reflect on their start to secondary school

Beginning secondary school is a huge transition for all students. It can be a time of fun, enjoyment, and new encounters but also challenging and distressing for many children. It is a change from the familiar to the unknown, with a completely new approach to doing things.

At CRC Melton, we strive to support all our students transitioning from primary to secondary education.

Our Year 7 students have settled in well and made positive strides in their learning.

We asked some of our EAL students to share their stories about starting Year 7 at the College and how they have been supported with their learning.

“It’s been great since starting at CRC. It is not much different to being in Year 6. There is more homework, and we need to pay more attention. Teachers have helped me by explaining things, giving me extra time to do my work and being really nice and positive about teaching.” Faris, 7M

“We do more subjects at high school and get to meet new teachers. Teachers encourage me to do better because they know I like the subject. I learn new words by using a glossary so that I can use those words in my work.” Dut, 7M

“High school is good. We get a computer to take home and do homework with. We learn more subjects, which is good. Teachers help me to learn when they use presentations because I can write things down in my book, so I don’t forget.” Kon, 7M

“High school is bigger and there are more subjects that I like, such as cooking. Teachers explain the definition of words and use photos and pictures of things to help me understand. They use examples to help me learn.” Pasan, 7M

“I am enjoying high school. It is different to primary school and is much bigger. Teachers help me by sending emails to ask if I need help and to make sure I understand the work. They give me sentence starters so that I can continue the words and ideas. Teachers have helped build my confidence to ask questions in class.” Marla, 7D

“High school is a little more difficult than primary school. Teachers expect us to be more independent. There are more subjects such as science and woodwork which I am enjoying. Teachers at CRC have helped me by explaining things in a different way and sitting with me to give examples.” Nyibol, 7D

“At the start of high school, it was hard to fit in because I didn’t know everyone. I am enjoying the subjects at CRC. Teachers help me to understand new words and let me practise language through activities like Education Perfect. They also show me the steps of how to work things out.” Nyankiir, 7D

Supporting study skills at home

The Junior Study Skills and Media Presentation held at the College last week last week gave parents and guardians of students in Year 7 to 9 practical tips on how to support their children’s study routines and create boundaries around social media at home.

Guest speaker Darren Periera delivered an engaging and enjoyable presentation. Some of the key messages were:

• A child’s learning is a partnership between the school, child and parents/guardians.
• Time management is important. Students should write down their tasks, prioritise, chunk, allocate times to complete and then reward themselves with something they want to do.
• The study environment should be a consistent place free of distractions.
• Students need 9.2 hours of sleep each night to operate at optimum levels.
• Boundaries are needed for games, social media and television.
• Take phones away from your child at night and be friends with them on social media.
• Watch the documentary The Social Dilemma on Netflix for more insight.
• Visit Darren’s website: www.successintegrated.com/tools for study plan templates and more information.

New games in Health and Physical Education

Our Health and Physical Education teachers were put through their paces last week during a practical workshop that introduced them to new ideas, games and activities for students.

The team participated in fun and exciting warm-up fitness and game-sense activities. All games are designed to maximise student participation and be used across various Health and Physical Education units and for different ability levels.

The aim was to improve the games offered to students and ensure they are inclusive, engaging and easy to set up. They also need to be modifiable to suit our students’ needs and motivate them to pursue studies in Health and Physical Education.

NCCD Information For Parents and Guardians

An information sheet for parents and guardians about the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) On School Students with Disability is available below.

Community Notices

Learning for Earning

Tuning Into Teens Program

A free six-week program to help parents and guardians teach their teenage children to control, understand and express their emotions in healthy and positive ways will be run by headspace Melton beginning on Tuesday 25 May. 

The Tuning into Teens Program also helps parents and guardians recognise, understand and respond to their teens emotions, which in turn helps their child manage their own emotions.

You can can register your interest by contacting headspace Melton’s reception team on 8065 5600 or via email info-headspacemelton@orygen.org.au

Community Road Safety Forum

On Thursday 20 May, the City of Melton will host a Community Road Safety Forum, targeting new or younger drivers between the age of 16 – 21 and their parent and guardians.

The forum will include guest speakers from Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and the Road Trauma Support Services who will talk about the rules of the road, and share some life experiences about being involved in, or responding to traffic accidents.

Every young driver who attends will go in the draw to win free driving lessons and other prizes.

Community Road Safety Forum

Young Women in Leadership

Kurunjang Community Hub – Term 2 Program

Kurunjang Community Hub Term 2 2021 Program

Yoga for Tweens

Useful Links

Keep up to date with College events, procedures, resources and information via the links below.

PAM – Parent Portal

Parent Handbook

Events

Enrolment

Bulmans Road Upgrade

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