Last Sunday I attended mass at St Catherine’s in Melton with the College Leadership Team. We were warmly welcomed by Father Michael and given a blessing to start the 2020 school year. We also each received a Holding Cross made of olive wood by the persecuted Christians of Israel. The message on the Holding Cross reads: “The Holding Cross, fitting comfortably into our hand can bring hope and peace in the midst of suffering in the assurance that we are not alone”.

This assurance that we are not alone is comforting and reminds us that both school and parish are part of the wider universal Church. Both are part of God’s mission and both strive to bring the good news of the Gospel to all they encounter. As a new leader in a Catholic school, I value the support of the parish as I enact my responsibilities of leading a community of faith.

Master plan

This week, together with our Business Manager, I held interviews with several architectural firms in order to engage one for our next master plan. The successful firm was Y2. Matt Dwyer from Y2 will now work with the College community, staff, students and parents to determine the needs of the school over the next five years and beyond. A master plan provides a blueprint for future development at the College and responds to the values and mission of the school.

The master plan will include:

• Modern Pedagogy, to provide opportunity for growth in every student across a range of needs
• Sustainability
• Child Safety
• Collaboration

Year 7 Information Evening

Thank you to parents who were able to make it to our Year 7 Information Evening. It was a pleasure to meet many of you and I look forward to future events. Parent involvement in a student’s education leads to improved educational outcomes. Your willingness to take the time to meet teachers and learn about the programs offered at the College sends a strong message to your children about the value you place on their education. Our guest speaker presented some of the materials that will be delivered to our Year 7 students whilst on camp. This will be reinforced in classes when students return from camp. Having parents and the school both on the same page will strengthen the lessons taught and help students develop the skills required for future academic success. Thank you to Year 7 Coordinator Rebecca Spiteri for planning the evening.

The 2020 school year is off to a good start with learning occurring in all classrooms. At the Year 7 Information evening last week, Brad Felstead presented on the Secrets of Study Success including note taking, organisational skills and prioritising. As an audience we experienced some of the recommended strategies for success and the students will receive the study skills presentation this term.

On Monday John Hattie, Professor of Education, Director of the Melbourne Education Research Centre and author of Visible Learning, presented to a range of educators on the topic of his research - Visible Teaching, Visible Learning.

He suggested parents and guardians rephrase the question ‘what did you do today’ to ‘what was the challenge and what was the struggle in the classroom today?’ This rich dialogue can help students reflect on their learning and identify the support they need in the next class.

Homework Club

Homework Club continues this year on Wednesday from 3.30 - 4.30pm in the Resource Centre (formerly library). For students in Year 7 to 9, Mathematics tutorials will begin on Thursday at lunchtime. Mathematics teachers and student mentors from Year 10 and 11 will be available to provide learning support in the Resource Centre. This is a great initiative and I encourage parents to chat to their child if they feel they would benefit from this extra support. Learning is a partnership between the teacher, the student and their parents/guardians. Positive conversations at home about learning will support the active learning and teaching taking part in our classrooms.

Online Safety

An app called Yubo has been brought to our attention by students and we would like to make parents aware of what it involves. It is pleasing that students have come forward to make us aware of the dangers.

The app, formerly known as Yellow, has been rebranded presumably to distract from its reputation as “Tinder for kids”. Yubo is aimed at young people aged 13 to 17 who are Snapchat users and encourages them to meet “friends” in their area. However, it could equally be used to allow predators to pose as teens and lure children to meet them in person. Like Tinder, the app allows teens and kids to swipe left and right depending on whether they want to connect with strangers or not.

What makes Yubo so concerning is that it embodies one of the most dangerous aspects of social media - it allows teens to easily meet people (strangers) without their parents knowing. If that is not dangerous enough, Yubo matches you with another person geographically near you, facilitating face-to-face meetings.

More information about this app and many others can be found on the eSafety Commissioner website https://www.esafety.gov.au/ The site also provides advice on how to have the conversation with your child.

Uniform

Students are required to wear black leather lace-up school shoes. Boots or black runners are not acceptable.

All students are required to wear their full school uniform to our Opening Mass this Wednesday. Any students not wearing the correct uniform will receive an automatic after-school detention on Thursday.

Information Evenings

The Year 12 Information evening will be held tomorrow (Wednesday 19 February) in the Performing Arts Centre at 7pm. After an initial briefing, families will attend separate sessions being held for our VCAL and VCE students.

Year 9 – 12 Subject Changes

All Year 9 to 12 students should have completed any necessary changes to their subjects and no more will be permitted unless there are exceptional circumstances. Year 9 and 10 students will be able to enquire about changes to their Semester 2 electives closer to the start of Term 3.

The Opening School Mass will be celebrated in the Sheehan Stadium tomorrow, Wednesday 19 February at 12pm. Parents are warmly invited. Please email scoates@sfcc.vic.edu.au if you would like to attend so adequate seating can be provided.

Friday morning mass

For the foreseeable future, the 8am mass held in the Chapel on Fridays will not be celebrated.

The enrolment process for Year 7 2022 is now open and will close on Friday 21st August 2020. Enrolment packs will be delivered to all Year 5 students in our feeder Catholic primary schools and will be available on request to parents from Catholic parishes and other school settings.

Families are welcome and encouraged to become involved in the College community through the Parents and Friends Association. Our first meeting for 2020 is on Wednesday 26 February at 7pm in the Conference room. The meetings are an opportunity to meet other families, hear about what is going on at the College and have a say in new initiatives.

The College Multisport Carnival and annual Swimming Carnival will be held this Thursday 20 February.

By now you will have received a CareMonkey permission request with information about the sport your child will be taking part in and which venue they need to attend.

Swimming Carnival

The Swimming Carnival involves all Year 7, 8 and 12 students and will be held at Melton Waves Leisure Centre. Year 9, 10 and 11 students who have selected to take part in the Swimming Carnival will also attend Melton Waves.

All school buses will drop off students at normal times and pick up as usual at the end of the day. These students will be shuttled to and from Melton Waves by bus.

Students who do not travel to school by bus are required to be at Melton Waves by 8.45am to meet with their homeroom and have their name marked off. They will be dismissed from Melton Waves at 2.45pm.

Students are to wear full PE uniform and Year 12 students are permitted to wear appropriate costumes in their team colours. If students are not swimming, they should wear their school PE polo shirt and hat. Sun cream will be provided on the day at various locations. St John’s Ambulance will also attend to provide First Aid if required.

A sausage sizzle has been organised to raise money for College charities. None of the internal café facilities will be accessible to students. No fast food is to be delivered to students at the venue and as per our school policy, any fast food brought into the venue will be confiscated by staff.

The Swimming Carnival is a calendared event and therefore full attendance is expected. We have tried to include a range of alternative activities to cater for students who are not confident in their swimming ability and hope that this will enable everyone to enjoy the day.

Students will compete to accrue points for their house and individual medals that recognise “house spirit” will be awarded by house captains to one student from each house.

Immediate family are welcome to attend the carnival and must sign in at the gate.

Multisport Carnival – Sheehan Stadium

The Multisport Carnival at Sheehan Stadium involves students from Year 9, 10 and 11 who have chosen to take part in a Basketball E-Sports tournament.

Students will compete to accrue points for their house. Individual medals will be awarded to winning teams in the competitive division.

All students should come to school as normal and will be dismissed at 2.45pm. They should wear their full PE uniform and bring suitable clothing for their sport (ie basketball shorts). Playing jerseys will be provided to students in the competitive division. As some games will be played on outdoor courts, it is recommended that students bring a hat.

If students are not competing, they should wear their school PE polo shirt and their hat. Sun cream will be provided on the day at various locations and St John’s Ambulance will attend to provide first aid in the case of injury.

A sausage sizzle has been organised to raise money for College charities. The canteen will not be open on the day so students should bring a drink bottle, lunch and snacks. No fast food is to be delivered to students at the College and as per our school policy, any fast food brought into the venue will be confiscated by staff.

Immediate family are welcome to attend the Multisport Carnival and must sign in at the front of Sheehan Stadium.

Multisport Carnival – Eagle Stadium

The Multisport Carnival at Eagle Stadium in Werribee involves students from Year 9, 10 and 11 who have chosen to take part in a one-day Volleyball or Netball tournament.

Students will compete to accrue points for their house. Individual medals will be awarded to winning teams in the competitive division.

Students should arrive at school by 8.45am and will be transported by bus to and from Eagle Stadium. They will arrive back at the College by 2pm and will be dismissed or supervised if they need to stay until 3.20pm.

Students should wear their full PE uniform and bring suitable clothing for their sport. Playing jerseys will be provided to students in the competitive division.

Lunch, snacks and water bottles should be brought from home. No fast food is to be delivered to students at the venue and as per our school policy, any fast food brought into the venue will be confiscated by staff.

If you have any questions about the Swimming or Multisport carnivals, please contact the College on 8099 6000.

Dean Henneman

Sports Coordinator

Recognising and celebrating the achievements of Year 8 students whose actions often go unnoticed is the aim of a new awards initiative introduced at CRC Melton this year.

Each term, three students from each homeroom will receive a Domestique Award. Domestique is a cycling term - the domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of his or her team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. For example, they give up their bike for the leader when theirs is broken or carry their teammates' water.

The awards aim to highlight positive student achievements and contributions in three categories – Empathy, Community and Endeavour.

The Domestique Empathy Award will recognise students who have demonstrated respect and support to peers and teachers online and in-person.

The Domestique Community Award will recognise students who demonstrate community spirit in our school and the wider community.

The Domestique Endeavour Award will recognise students who have strived to achieve their best and/or have supported others to improve.

Subject and homeroom teachers and students will submit nominations for each of the categories. Students will then vote, and awards will be presented at the end of each term.

Jordan Reithofer

Year 8 Coordinator

Parents are reminded that external Debutante balls are not considered a school activity. A student who is absent because of this activity will have this recorded against their attendance. As outlined in the VCE/VCAL Handbook, students are required to contact their subject teachers for work missed due to any absence.

David Arthurson

Year 11 Coordinator

A group of 15 senior students are volunteering to help their younger peers with maths at lunch time on Thursdays.

Maths can be a difficult subject to master, especially when students attempt work at home with little or no help available.

Students in Year 7, 8 and 9 who need extra help with their maths homework, clarification on a specific concept or simply want a quiet place to complete their work are invited to come along and meet with our knowledgeable and supportive senior students.

Thanks to Carlo Bonifacio, Lance Cacao, Gloria Halaka, Grace Holt, Andria Jojo, Bagena Malual, Alyanna Manalli, Solomon Miesen, Isaac Peranuma, Natasha Pereria, Lucy Taylor, Steve Teves, Abby Timms, Benjamin Trethowan and Bonnie Wilkie for generously giving up their time to assist our younger students.

Any queries can be emailed to dnguyen@sfcc.vic.edu.au

Doan Nguyen

Head of Mathematics

A group of talented College musicians and vocalists performed at the Melton Library last Friday as part of Valentine’s Day celebrations. The 11 students from Year 9-12 auditioned last year and performed for Melton Library visitors and parents who came along on the day.

A fundraiser to support Wildlife Victoria’s bushfire response was organised last week by College Environment Captain Maddison Fenton with the help of one of the College’s Social Justice captains Sophie Hine.

Supported by Social Justice coordinator Clare Hume, Maddison (pictured right) and Sophie devoted their recess and lunch times to selling ribbons to raise money for the cause.

For those who missed out on donating, boxes have been placed in the canteen and office. To further boost their tally, the students have organised a face painting fundraiser for this week’s Swimming Carnival. All gold coin donations will also go to Wildlife Victoria.

Parents are reminded that the new address for Academy Uniforms is 10/85 Mr Derrimut Road, Deer Park. Phone: 03 8385 9111.

Opening hours are Monday-Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 9am-12pm. There is no longer a uniform shop on site at CRC Sydenham.

To find out more about financial assistance for camps, sports and excursions please see the attached flyer.

Volleyschool returns for 2020

Western Region Volleyball’s Volleyschool will begin this week and is open to students who would like to learn about the game or improve their skills with the aim of participating in Premier League volleyball teams.

The training program will be held every Thursday from 4pm in Sheehan Stadium and is run by State League Coach Sean Dolan.

To join or find out more follow this link https://www.westernregionvolleyball.com.au/junior-programs/

Youth Festival

Rise – Home Awaits is a one-day event for young people seeking to deepen their connection with Christ and celebrate their faith. The event is open to secondary school students and young people up to the age of 25.

Featuring a festival-like atmosphere, the day will include opportunities for young people to experience the arts, live music, prayer, social time, and workshops based on a variety of topics.

Rise – Home Awaits will be held on Saturday 21 March from 10am to 6pm at Emmaus College, 503 Springvale Rd, Vermont South. Guests and speakers will include Fr Rob Galea, Justine Cumbo, Archbishop Peter Comensoli and Bishop Mark Edwards. Early bird tickets are available now for $20 per person. See the attached flyer for how to register.

Please note CRC Melton is not sending a group to this event.

Western Bulldogs players visit

Western Bulldogs players will visit the Melton Recreation Reserve on Monday 24 February from 2-3pm. Join them for a kick, autograph signing and a chat. For more information see the attached flyer.

Sons of the West program

Enrolments are now open for the ever popular and highly successful Sons of the West program.

Sons of the West is a free 10-week program aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of men aged 18 and over.

It includes a one-hour presentation by specialist health organisations relating to men's health followed by one hour of exercise catering for all abilities. This year’s topics include mental health, prostate cancer awareness, exploring diversity, nutrition and cooking.

For more information contact Catrice Lumley, Melton City Council Community Activation & Learning Officer at Melton City Council on 9747 7272 or follow the link below.

Koorie Family Fun Day

See attachment below