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Phone: (03) 8099 6000
Email:info@sfcc.vic.edu.au
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Homelessness Week is an annual awareness-raising week to highlight the 116,000 Australians who are homeless on any given night.
Follow this link to the Vinnie's Winter Appeal
We Pray
God of Compassion,
inspire us to act in justice, by all means at our disposal, to right the wrongs of peoples who are suffering the deprivations of homelessness, and to see in them the dignity of a brother and sister redeemed by Jesus Christ.
Let us have the commitment, as people of the Gospel, to be ever mindful of our obligations we have to the poor and marginalised, to work in your name, O God, to turn sorrow into joy and to bring all those who live in darkness into your own wonderful light.
Right now, we offer this prayer for the homeless, poor and hungry. We pray that you will bless all men, women and children who may be without shelter across the globe.
We pray that your Holy Spirit will move us to action and provide them with warmth, security, protection and strength in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Last Sunday (1 August) 50 of our Year 7 students completed the sacrament of Confirmation.
It was wonderful to see our young men and women renew their baptismal commitments and accept this adult sacrament in the beautiful St Catherine’s Church. As the name suggests Confirmation is a confirmation of our baptismal promise.
At Baptism, parents and godparents make baptismal promises on behalf of the young person.
Preparation for Confirmation commenced in Grade 6 with primary teachers from St Dominic’s and St Catherine’s working with students to help them understand the commitment they were about to undertake.
Just as our students have grown physically so too has their spiritual understanding. Speaking to students about their chosen saints, I have no doubt that each student understands the sacrament that was bestowed upon them on Sunday.
At Confirmation, our students are making choices for themselves as young adults.
They proclaim during the ceremony that they believe in some key ideas of the Catholic Church:
Confirmation completes the process of initiation into the Catholic community.
But this is not the end of a person’s faith journey. Psychologist and theologian James Fowler speaks of six stages of faith development. His analogy to the growth rings of a tree emphasises the need to nourish a tree consistently for it to grow.
In years of drought, the rings are close together. In good years the tree expands and has wider growth rings. The more nourishment the wider the growth rings.
I pray that each of our students who participated on Sunday and indeed all of our students and families continue to grow and deepen their faith through prayer, outreach and use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
| Dates to remember | |
| Thursday 12 August | General Achievement Test (GAT) - VCE Unit 3/4 students |
| Friday 20 August | Staff Service Day - Student home study day |
| Year 7 2023 enrolment applications due |
View the full College Calendar
Our Year 9 students are being asked to begin choosing their senior pathways at the College with Year 10 2022 subject selection well underway.
This week, we asked two of our senior students to reflect on their experiences from Year 9 to Year 12 and offer some timely advice for students considering what to study and where to seek advice.
When Year 12 VCAL student Madilynn Augoustakis began Year 9, she was keen to pursue a career as a dancer.
“I really wanted to become a professional dancer, but as time passed my ideas changed and I decided I wanted to study childcare or aged care. I was always stuck between the two, so I spoke to my teachers in Year 10 to see what I should study in Year 11.
“I did my first year of Allied Health and now in Year 12 I have transferred into the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care and I am loving it.”
Madilynn said the guidance of her teachers helped steer her in the right direction along with advice from Pathways Coordinator Mrs Sasha Dickson and her year level coordinator at the time, Mr David Arthurson.
“All this happened by just talking to the teachers I trust.”
“My dad also played a big part in helping me choose my subjects. He told me to follow my heart and do what I love doing most.”
And her advice to Year 9 student beginning the task of subject selection?
“Don’t stay quiet, always speak up. If you don’t speak up now and ask questions about what you want to do in the future, you may not reach (your goals) in the timeframe you have.
"Enjoy school and do the subjects you know you like and already succeed in. If you are unsure about subjects talk to a trusted teacher or even reach out and email to make a careers appointment with our careers staff.
“If you are still stuck try asking if there is a senior student you could talk to, to maybe see the insides of a subject you are sitting on the fence about. Just never sit back, keep your head up and look forward.”
Year 9 opened many new doors for Year 12 student and College Captain Raphael Hadfield, while a love of sport and overcoming personal injury helped shape his career aspirations.
“In Year 9, I particularly enjoyed the creative aspect of Visual Communication, as well as sport related subjects like Health and Physical Education and Sport and Leadership as they fitted with my sport outside of school.
“After learning about the different branches of science in Year 9, I chose to study biology and physics because I found the concepts fascinating and hoped they would open up more opportunities for the career paths I was considering at the time.”
Raphael admits that during primary school, he wanted to pursue architecture, but also considered the medical field as most of his family work in the industry.
“After completing work experience with an architect, my preferences began to broaden. I reflected on the future of each industry I was considering, as well as what I would value the most.
“I bounced back and forth from different types of engineering and biomedical sciences, however, after many years of sport and experiencing injury myself, I started to take more interest in injury prevention and rehabilitation.
“I am now looking to pursue physiotherapy. My personal experiences have helped me understand the value of feeling strong and a sense accomplishment after bouncing back from a significant injury.”
Drawing on advice from careers staff, family and industry professionals, Raphael began to set his long-term goals.
“It was important for me to understand the nature of each profession I was considering as the last thing I want is to dislike my job. My parents played a significant part in my career choices as I learned a lot about the medical field from them.
“I asked many architects, physiotherapists, engineers, and those studying in the field about what the profession encompassed and what they enjoyed the most. This ended up being the most valuable source of advice for me. People working in your chosen industry or studying to enter the industry will provide the most authentic advice and experiences.”
Presentations and expos hosted by the College and university open days also helped Raphael gain a broad understanding of the many courses available to him.
“The careers staff at the College provided invaluable information regarding the process of university courses and were also able to tell me about the pathways that past students have followed.
“Throughout the subject selection process, the subject teachers provided important information about what each subject encompasses, however, I found the experiences of older students studying the subject to be more valuable as we were following their paths.
As he begins his final semester at the College and VCE exams loom, Raphael said the best advice he could give Year 9 students would be to pursue the subjects they enjoy the most.
“This is more important than forcing yourself to push through subjects simply because they are a prerequisite/bonus to a desired course. Your career choice can change, and you can grow tired of it. If you pursue the subjects you enjoy, it will lead to a course and ultimately a career that is enjoyable and that you won’t consider just a ‘job’ or ‘work’.”
Parents and guardians have exclusive access to Elevate Education’s Parent Webinar Series for Term 3, 2021. Elevate works with our students, delivering workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation.
Elevate’s webinar series can help you learn how to better support your child at home by reinforcing the skills they learn at school.
The next webinar, Technology devices and how to stay focused and balanced, will run live online from 7pm to 8pm tomorrow, Wednesday 4 August. Registration is essential and is free for CRC Melton parents and guardians. It includes a live question and answer session so you can ask the presenter questions directly.
You can register for one or all of the free webinars using the link below.
Other webinars in the series include:
Wednesday 18 August, 7pm - Note taking skills to help your child deepen their revision.
Wednesday 1 September, 7pm - Exam home stretch and how to support your child in the final weeks.
Writing a book can take years but three teams of students believe they can produce one in 12 hours and raise funds for a great cause in the process!
The College has entered the Write a Book in a Day competition with more than 20 students signing up for the challenge.
Students will be given a brief and within 12 hours they will write, illustrate, and submit a storybook targeted to a youth audience. Teams will also be assigned five random words that must be included in the story.
Completed books are uploaded to an online library accessed by children undergoing treatment in hospitals across the country. Winning entries are announced in November.
Year 8 student Diana Taylor is part of Junior Team 2 and said although she was interested in taking part, it was encouragement from her English teacher that motivated her to sign up.
She thinks the most difficult part of the challenge will be to create an engaging plot.
“I think the hardest part of writing a book is to have one concept or idea that can go a few chapters. Anyone can write for 12 hours … but to write a book it needs to make sense and there needs to be an idea that can run the distance.”
Bringing a wealth of creative writing experience to the Senior Team is Year 11 student Nathan Furtado.
A writer, illustrator, designer and storyboard artist, Nathan has worked on screenplays, short stories and novels. He especially enjoys writing science fiction stories and is a fan of screenwriters such as Steven Spielberg, Taika Waititi, Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
“Analysing how films are written and developed has really helped me improve forming stories and bringing concepts to life,” he said.
Yesterday (2 August) at the College Assembly, Nathan was announced the winner of the 2021 Hildegard Literary Award (CRC Melton Writing Competition) which he enters every year. He was shortlisted as a finalist in the Victorian Insight Writing Competition in 2019 and his stories and artwork also appear in the annual Shared Stories Anthology.
It is both the writing challenge and the cause that prompted him to take part in the competition.
“I believe this is a really good cause. The Kids Cancer Project not only help find a cure, but also work to find preventative measures and support for cancer patients. Every donation helps thousands of children diagnosed with cancer every year.”
Nathan believes the key to success on the day is to have a strategy and draw on the talents of each team member.
“Everyone in the team knows each other and we've already discussed some strategies for working efficiently on the day. Our senior team has a good mix of illustrators, writers and storyboard artists, and we should be able to keep a good pace.
“The most difficult part will be managing the flow of ideas. Everyone in the group is a great writer on their own. I hope we can decide on a narrative that plays to everyone's strengths. We are limited by the prompts of the competition so working around the rules might be a challenge but will help us think outside of the box.”
Year 11 student Isaac Dalumpines thinks the biggest challenge the senior team will face is bringing together a story that flows from start to finish.
“Creating a story with a proper start, middle, climax and ending within the first draft will probably be the hardest part of the challenge. Since we have multiple members, cohesion between the pages they each write will take time to patch up during editing, he said.
Isaac’s favourite author is Lincoln Pierce of the Big Nate series, and he hopes to draw inspiration from the illustrations and four-panel comic format. A creative writer, he also brings skills in illustration, design and editing to the team.
“My friends and I decided it would be fun to collaborate on a time constricted project such as this one. Writing a novel within a 12-hour time limit also allows us to exercise fields of the creative process that each of us would be versed in.”
Although most of Isaacs writing has been for school assessment tasks, he has written scripts for short media films and manuscripts for comics and he is looking forward to the competition.
“We need to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and preface everyone’s roles once we know the prompts. Each member will probably have to work in parallel according to their roles to meet the deadline.”
You can support our Write a Book in Day teams by sponsoring them and raising money towards much needed childhood cancer research through the Kids’ Cancer Project.
Junior Team 1
Erin Johnstone, Malachi Fox, Max Barton, Hazel Buyuksu, Elyse Stancic, Sneha Sharma, Amelia Horne.
Junior Team 2
Diana Taylor, Olivia Falzon, Layla Moore, Alexa Borg, Ruby Barnett-Tonna, Mia Grainger.
Senior Team
Anne Lazaro, Darcy Makin, Nathan Furtado, Samantha Merin, Olivia Kastoriadis, Cate Cimarelli, Isaac Dalumpines, Samuel Gordon, Xavier Millan, Ashlea Bartlett-Barker.
Last Friday (30 July) the College celebrated National Tree Day for Schools. A small team of staff and students planted more than 150 trees as a way of giving back to the community and the land.
National Tree Day for Schools is a call to action for all Australians to get their hands dirty and do their bit for the environment.
We would like to thank the students and teachers who came down to help and a big thank you to the gardeners who helped make this planting possible.
Disposable masks are part of everyday life in Victoria and keep us safe from infection. However, they have a negative impact on the environment when they are not disposed of appropriately and make their way into habitats, especially our oceans.
Did you know disposable masks are made from cotton and a type of plastic which makes them incredibly difficult to decompose? It takes a single face mask more than 450 years to break down in our environment.
A study in early 2021 showed that more than 1.5 billion masks had entered our oceans - which means we have more disposable face masks in our oceans than we do jelly fish!
So what can we do about it?
Mass has resumed at St Catherine of Siena Church with limited numbers. Book in and join our celebration for this weekend, 7 and 8 August 2021.
Bookings can be made by following this link. Mass bookings 7 and 8 August 2021
Keep up to date with College events, procedures, resources and information via the links below.
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