Resurrection Power

Since his visit to Australia in July , 2016 I have been following the writings of Fr Ron Rolheiser, an Oblate priest from Canada. As we approach Easter Sunday, I share below with you his writing on ‘Resurrection Power’.

Fr. Ron reminds us that “the Resurrection is something that buoys up every moment of life and every aspect of reality.” The Resurrection is not just something that happened to Jesus 2,000 years ago and will happen to each of us some time in the future after we die when our own bodies will be raised to new life. It is that, but much more.

The Resurrection is something that buoys up every moment of life and every aspect of reality. God is always making new life and undergirding it with a goodness, graciousness, mercy and love that, in the end, heals all wounds, forgives all sins and brings deadness of all kinds to new life.

We feel this resurrecting power in the most ordinary moments of our lives. A sense of the Resurrection, understood in its deepest sense, manifests itself unconsciously in our vitality, in what we call health; the feeling, however dimly it is sensed, that it is good to be alive. The very atomic structure of the cosmos feels and knows that resurrecting power. That is why it (like us, when we are healthy) pushes forward blindly, buoyed up by a hope that it cannot understand.

A friend of mine once sent me an Easter card that ended with the challenge: “May you leave behind you a string of empty tombs!” That is both my Easter wish and my Easter challenge for all of us.

Let our wounded, muted voices begin to sing again:

“Christ is risen! Life is very, very good! Happy Easter!”

CRC Farewells Leanne Ely

Today the CRC staff farewelled Mrs Leanne Ely who has worked in the Student Support Group helping students with special learning needs for over 30 years. As well as her SSG role, Leanne instilled her passion and positive energy to some many school activities including Year 7 Homeroom, Homework club, Swimming team and Theatre Restaurant. Along with Karen Hunter, Mike McGonergal and John McCann who all have recently retired, Leanne was an authentic link to CRC’s rich history in the 1980's.

May you enjoy your retirement Leanne, it is richly deserved!

Best wishes to all CRC families for Easter and the upcoming school holidays

As this is our last Newsletter for the term, I would like to wish all families a safe and restful Easter break. Term 1 always seems short but students have experienced many opportunities for learning and other experiences including Camps, Sports days and various excursions.

End of Term 1 / Start of Term 2

Please note a change for the last day of Term 1, Thursday 29th March. We will now finish classes at 2.30pm not 2.40pm as listed in last weeks newsletter as Melton Secondary College (the Bus coordinating school) has changed to an earlier finish time. All Bacchus Marsh Coaches will arrive basically an hour earlier than Sita Town bus services.

Term 1 Reports and Parent-Student-Teacher Interviews

Interim Reports will open through our Parent Portal (PAM) this Wednesday, 28th March. If you have any difficulty accessing your Portal, then please contact the College office or email itsupport@sfcc.vic.edu.au

Parent-Student-Teacher interviews will also open on Wedneday and can be booked through the Parent Portal (PAM). This year we are trialling two afternoon/evening sessions as families found it difficult to attend day sessions.

· Wednesday, April 18 Interviews: 4pm to 8.30pm.

· Thursday, April 26 Interviews: 4pm to 7pm.

It is expected that students attend interviews with their parents/guardians.

To access P-S-T Bookings:

· Log in to PAM

· At the top you will see the Parent Interviews link (click to enter)

· Then select your child (if you have more than one, each will be listed separately)

· Select the subject

· Choose an available time with that teacher

· Repeat for each class and child as needed.

· Use the print icon to print off your interview times.

Booking close Tuesday, 17th April at 4pm.

Term 2 will begin for all students on Monday, 16th April. This will be Day 6 of our timetable.

School Photos

Full school photos are scheduled for Week 1 Term 2 Thursday, April 19. All students are to be in full winter uniform for the photos. The holiday period will be an opportunity to organise your child’s winter uniform and order photos

As was the case last year ordering of photos is online, http://www.arphotos.com.au/ using the school code: 1804CR238.

Individual class and family photos will be taken on the day. Details as to how to order photos have been given to students and attached with the newsletter.

There is a range of extra products available ONLINE ONLY

A range of payment options are available online, including ZipPay, so you can order now and pay later!

If paying cash on the day of the photos, it must be the correct amount as the photographers or the school don’t provide change.

School Uniform – Term 2

As of the start of Term 2, students are required to be wearing their winter uniform, there is no transition period. The requirements are set out clearly in the student diary. It is clearly stated the College Blazer is the external garment to be worn to and from school. Excuses of leaving the blazer at home or in the locker will not be accepted

The PE uniform is only worn when the student has a timetabled PE or Drama/Dance class, or when otherwise specified by the College Leadership team. The winter PE uniform requires the wearing of the College rugby top or sports jacket as the external garment to school. CRC sport socks are compulsory for all year levels

We look for your support in ensuring your son or daughter is wearing the College uniform correctly to and from school.

Literacy at CRC Melton

In 2018, the College is continuing its effort to improve the literacy of all students. Research shows that students who have strong literacy skills achieve to a higher level than those who struggle to read, comprehend and write.

This year, the College has employed a speech pathologist named Michelle Eddleston who works at the College every Friday. Michelle has spent Term 1 reviewing student reports, NAPLAN results, ACER test results and using teacher recommendations to select students from Year 8 who would benefit most from the support of Michelle. If your Year 8 child has been selected, you will receive a Care Monkey Notification in the coming days.

Reading for Pleasure

An effective way to improve your student’s literacy skills is to encourage reading for pleasure. The Easter break is a great time to visit Melton Library and select a variety of reading materials that students can read as part of their break. We would recommend that every student spend at least 30 minutes each day reading for pleasure.

Have you checked PAM lately?

As we come to the end of Term 1, it is important to ensure that you have checked PAM for any updates on your student’s progress. Parents will find the mid semester report on PAM, results from academic endeavours in Term 1, letters regarding unsatisfactory performance and N Redemption as well as other information. Please ensure you are checking PAM regularly throughout each term.

Narelle Layton

Director of Learning

Cultural diversity week was a huge success last week. Approx. 30 students attended a lunchtime drumming session beating out African sounds and simple songs. On Wednesday we hosted a “Rice around the world” lunch sale – many students and staff came along and purchased the tasty morsels and some sat in the sun while enjoying their lunch. On Thursday there was mask making and on Friday students participated in origami. It was a great week.

Marg Rowe-Watts

Social Justice Coordinator

Be a Good Egg during Easter 2018

Children as young as 12 years old are picking cocoa in West Africa to make the chocolate we eat. Some of these children are trafficked. Most are forced to pick cocoa from an early age for minimal or no wages, for long hours, in dangerous working conditions, without any possibility of attending school.

Most of these children have never tasted chocolate and they never will.

Chocolate eaters around the world have made a difference already. A decade ago, slavery-free chocolate was hard to find in our shops.

Some successes are:

· ALDI stock a wide range of UTZ certified Easter chocolate.

· Cadbury dairy milk chocolate bars made in Australia have been certified Fairtrade.

· All Mars bars made in Australia are now certified RAINFOREST ALLIANCE

· All Nestle chocolate made in Australia and New Zealand is now UTZ certified.

· Haighs source 70% of their cocoa from UTZ certified farms. Their Easter range is 100% certified.

· For more information about slavery-free chocolate landmarks, the slavery-free certification program, the need for a living wage for cocoa farmers and the treatment of children in chocolate production, read A Matter of Taste.

What You Can Do?

Join with millions of people around the world who now buy and eat only slavery-free chocolate. To buy slavery-free Easter chocolate look for any of these certification labels on the wrappers: FAIRTRADE, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ.

Marg Rowe-Watts

Social Justice Coordinators

Last Monday a small group of staff and students were privileged to attend a talk by The Honourable Reverend Tim Costello on the topic of Compassion and Hope. The talk covered many issues around the Education of girls, the need to share our gifts given to us by God and the importance of humanity and respect for all. He also shared with us several stories from his travels around the world as the CEO of World Vision. Each one of us walked away feeling very inspired and motivated.

Tim Costello is an Australian Baptist Minister and was the Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia. In 2008, Tim Costello received an honoray doctorate from Australian Catholic University in recognition of "his contributions to religious life and social justice".

Student thoughts:

“The men had never carried a bucket of water from a well in their lives” emphasised the importance of women in a third world country, particularly in a Patriarchal society, where women’s opinions are not properly valued. The Reverand Tim Costello was telling us this story as a way to explain why societies are often disadvantaged as a result of directions from the men. The wells were put in the wrong place. The charity workers installing the wells should have asked the opinions of the females in the community.

“All the children that were dying in these third world countries were girls, as families prioritised the wellbeing of the boys”

- Isobell Turnbull

“The future of institutions and global wellbeing lies in the responsibility of our generations”

“Females are the “magic bullet” of the future in which we must educate and empower in order to ensure they have an equal and beneficial future”

- Rebecca Chin

“When you give a female a job she puts approximately 90% of her earnings back into the family and community”. Tim Costello was trying to emphasise that educating women is extremely important in reducing poverty in third world countries"

“An educated female is likely to have 1.5 less children than an uneducated female hence education for girls is vital”.

Marg Rowe-Watts

Social Justice Coordinator

This term we learnt about Medieval History. The year 8’s really enjoyed the Kryal Castle trip and it was my favourite part of the unit.

I loved learning about medieval life at Kryal Castle, the medicine used and “The Black Death.” It was enjoyable to learn about jousting, crime and punishment and the lifestyle of people living in medieval times.

I believe it is very important to look back on the past and learn about the past to tell everyone how tough life was back then and how today we get clean water and fresh food. I also believe we should learn about the past life because we could use this information in further times to discover more and more about the medieval times.

Isabella Page

Year 8 Student

On Tuesday 27th March, 43 History students attended an excursion to the Holocaust Museum and HMAS Castlemaine to further extend their study of World War II.

The students were able to meet a survivor, walk through the Museum and were guided through the HMAS Castlemaine.

It was a great day and all staff commented on the respectful behaviour from all students.

Carissa Lock and Ashlee Hughes

History Teachers

CRC Melton recently competed in the SACCSS Senior Sports Day with outstanding results. Many of the girls had been competing successfully for a number of years in various Volleyball teams, including winning a bronze medal in the Volleyball Victoria School Cup in 2016. In 2017, the Senior Girls lost a heartbreaker by one point in the Semi Final. Little did we realise what the motivation of losing that final meant to the team.

In 2018, the girls were drawn in a very tough group, starting with Marymede. After a nervous start, the girls worked their way on top to earn a comfortable win. The girls scored a dominant win in the 2nd round against Emmanuel.

Up against St Monica’s in the 3rd round, the team produced an outstanding win built on a consistently powerful serving game. This led to a final round showdown with Kolbe where the girls played a very solid all round game to finish the round robin tournament on top in their pool.

The girls looked a little tired and flat against the pumped up MacKillop team, but very gradually, picking each other up along the way, the CRC Melton team worked their way to the front and eventually won the semi final by 2 points.

This led to a rematch with St Monica’s in the Grand Final. From the very first point, our girls took charge of the game. Their serving was powerful and their desperation to chase down every ball was team lifting. The many hours of training completed over the years was evident in the high skill level shown by all team members.

CRC Melton were deserving undefeated champions, with fine contributions from all team members. One of our leaders, Cheyenne Llanes, was nominated as player of the Grand Final.

Congratulations to all team members who represented CRC Melton in such a wonderful fashion: Natalie Folker, Imogen Goullet, Raelle Grech, Anglena Koj, Cheyenne Llanes, Amberlynn Menezes, Liv Mifsud, Danielle Sultana.

Michael Hill

Volleyball Coach

Students are invited to express interest in joining VOLLEYSCHOOL on Tuesday nights during Term 2. VOLLEYSCHOOL is a successful development program that is already running at Maribyrnong Secondary College and Braybrook College.

Western Region Volleyball will provide qualified coaches to develop Volleyball skills for players, referees and coaches.

Details will be provided when numbers and other arrangements are in place but the program is likely to run on Tuesday evenings in the CRC Melton College Hall from 5:00pm – 8:00pm. There will likely be two sessions of 90 minutes each.

You do not need to be participating in any of the Premier League teams to join VOLLEYSCHOOL.

If we can generate sufficient numbers of participants we are hopeful of starting a College competition also run by Western Region Volleyball. For this to happen, we need lots of students to get involved.

Please contact Michael Hill at the College (mhill@sfcc.vic.edu.au) to express your interest in being involved in this program.

Michael Hill

Volleyball Coach

Thanks to all staff and students for their support this term. We have had a good uptake of the school community using the online ordering system. It is working well, and we have received lots of positive feedback. If you haven’t logged onto this system yet, you can do so at any time. If ever you have any difficulties either setting up your account or ordering, then contact Ultimate Schools directly on 9020 1473 and they will assist you. Remember, ordering does not have to be done daily, you can pre order your lunches days or weeks ahead!

We will be changing our menu next term to a winter warmer menu. Our most popular lunch items will remain, but we will be introducing some new varieties of foods, such as soups and pastas. So, keep an eye out for these changes.

We are always happy to listen to feedback, so if there are particular menu items that you would like to see added, please feel free to let us know.

Enjoy the holidays and we look forward to seeing you next term.

2 Cookies Catering

CRC Melton is aware that there are a number of students who may wish to be prepared for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Preparation sessions may be held partly within school time and/or immediately after school at the college.

The preparation classes will be run by Parish priests from St Anthony and St Bernards or Srs Mary Rachel & Anastasia. The candidates will have 8 sessions during 2nd and 3rd terms in time for Confirmation in August. If students from Saint Catherines are interested in receiving any of the Sacraments, please contact the parish office.

If you wish for your son or daughter to be prepared for confirmation please contact Shaun Coates.

scoates@sfcc.vic.edu.au or 8099 6045.

Dear Students, Parents and Guardians,

Melton City Council would like to invite you to the Young Minds Matter - Youth Mental Health Forum for young people aged 12+ and the adults in their lives, to encourage families to talk about mental wellbeing at home.

The free forum on Thursday 19th April from 5:00-8:30pm will feature high profile guest speakers, workshops and local service providers, including former AFL star Wayne Schwass, musician Clare Bowditch, Headspace and Beyondblue.

There will also be dinner and an expo of local mental health services.

For more information please see the flyer or visit https://www.trybooking.com/UPJT to register.

Melton City Council

Please see attached information on Teenage Holiday Program run by Melton City Council these Easter School Holidays.

Melton City Council

Join us for an exciting weekend of surfing and coastal fun on Phillip Island with accomplished and experienced surfer and surf coach Jess Laing. Immerse yourself in our chilled beach lifestyle, where catching waves and enjoying the outdoors is a daily necessity!

Over the course of the weekend, you’ll have the opportunity to learn new skills and form close friendships, while having the adventure of a lifetime! We’ll teach you how to surf and stay safe in the water, giving you confidence and knowledge you can apply to other areas of your life.

Our expert coaches will provide you with personalised coaching, whether you are a complete beginner or a surfer with an intermediate level of experience looking for some extra tips.

You’ll stay in comfortable dorm-style accommodation, nestled on the coastal cliffs overlooking our beautiful and protected YCW beach, with private beach access and plenty of local wildlife!

Jai Marchinton

Phillip Island Coastal Discovery Camp