This morning, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced a plan for a gradual return to face-to-face teaching for our students. This is welcome news.

Year 11 and 12 VCE and VCAL students will recommence on Tuesday 26 May. Year 7 to 10 students will recommence on Tuesday 9 June.

The small number of students who are currently attending school will continue to do so and be supervised in the library.

Further details of this gradual return to school will be sent to parents via CareMonkey soon.

The last few weeks of flexible and remote learning have been challenging for everyone in education.

It has been a difficult period for teachers, students and families as we have all adjusted to new ways of learning and teaching.

The transition has not been an easy one at times for families or teachers. The success to date has been due to the tremendous support and partnering in learning of parents and guardians. This partnership has resulted in a continuation of learning and positive progress for our students.

On behalf of the College and our teaching staff, I’d like to thank parents and guardians for the support they have provided during this time.

I have been inspired by the commitment and energy shown by parents and teachers. This is reflected in the innovative and creative ways we have come together to ensure continuity of education. I believe that meeting this challenge together has strengthened the partnership between Catholic Regional College Melton and our community and has sustained us through Distance Learning Mode.

This partnership is, and will continue to be, the foundation of high-quality Catholic education.

A thought for mothers

Growing up, my mum was always against Mother’s Day. She argued that I should be nice to her all year round not just when the shops told me to.

As I have grown in maturity, I can see the wisdom in her thinking, but I now also see the second Sunday in May as a reminder to stop and take time to appreciate all that our mothers have given us.

Saving a date in what is usually a busy time of the year prompts us to stop and reflect and to give thanks for the unconditional love of our mothers.

While this year was very different because we were physically separated, it was still an opportunity to connect and show how much our mothers are appreciated.

I hope all our mothers had a wonderful day on Sunday and may you be truly appreciated and valued for the wonderful women that you are all year round. I’d like to share this prayer with you:

Loving God, we pray:

for new mothers, coming to terms with new responsibility;
for expectant mothers, wondering and waiting;
for those mothers who are tired, stressed or depressed;
for those who struggle to balance the tasks of work and family;
for those who are unable to feed their children due to poverty;
for those whose children have physical, mental or emotional disabilities;
for those who raise children on their own;
for those who have lost a child;
for those who care for the children of others;
for those whose children have left home;
and for those whose desire to be a mother has not been fulfilled.

Bless all mothers with the love of good partners and thankful children.

Bless all mothers, that their love may be deep and tender,
and that they may lead their children to know and do what is good.

Bless all mothers that they, too, enjoy the goodness of life which they give to others.

Amen.

Vocations Sunday

Last Sunday week was the 57th World Day of Prayer for vocations. On Good Shepherd Sunday the community is asked to promote and pray for vocations. I invite us all to pray for the young men and women of our community who may feel called to Ministry.

We pray that they are courageous in saying “yes” to this calling to be witness to the love of Christ and a positive presence in our world.

We are blessed at the College to have Sister Mary Sarah Galbraith as part of our staff. I asked Sister Mary to write about her vocation as a Dominican Sister.

“I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. I am one of five children. My parents practised their faith and were interested in growing and learning more about their faith, but religion was not something we talked a lot about in our house. It was just something we did; it was part of life.

I did not think about being a sister when I was young. I was around 19 when I started to think that being a sister might be what God was asking me to do. Needless to say, I was very surprised! My family and friends were surprised, too.

I did not know a lot about what a sister’s life was like, so I decided to visit different communities to see what they did. In the back of my mind, I thought, “I will go visit these sisters, find out that it is not for me and then get married”. Clearly, God had other plans!

I visited the Dominican Sisters in Nashville, Tennessee, one bright blue day in May and almost immediately knew I had found my home. The sisters were kind, friendly and a lot of fun. I entered three months later with 14 other sisters.

That was 30 years ago, and I can say that without a doubt, it was the right decision. Not only did I find a place that was truly home, but I have also been lucky to spend most of the last 30 years with young people who are always a source of energy and joy.

The word vocation comes from vocare, which means “to call”. Everyone receives a vocation from God. It is like a special mission for a person’s life, how they serve God through married life, religious life, priesthood or single life.

God has a plan for each of us, something very special in mind for our lives. God’s ways are not our ways, so sometimes these plans are surprising. But they are also the pathway to peace and much happiness when we trust God’s vocation for our lives and open our hearts to the plans He has for us, plans that are so much greater than ours.”

To learn more about the Dominican Sisters, visit: www.nashvilledominican.org or contact: melbourne@op-tn.org

Learning at home and learning at school are connected - this is reflected in the Catholic Education Melbourne document Our School and Parents as Partners in Learning and further highlighted during our time in Distance Learning Mode. Below are some of the key points from this document that I would like to share with you. It is important that:

• Teachers and parents have an understanding that children ‘learn everywhere’ and there are important overlaps between home, school and the community;
• Teachers and parents have an understanding of the benefits that come from effective partnerships – for children’s learning and outcomes, and parents and teachers themselves;
• Families are informed about and understand their child’s progress and feel confident to work with teachers in the educational decision-making affecting their child.
• Schools acknowledge, value and support the home learning that children bring to school.

We continue to work with parents and families to ensure equality and delivery of engaging curriculum to our students during distance learning.

For this partnership to flourish, we encourage parents and guardians to discuss, with their child, the progress they are making each day in their lessons. The following questions may be helpful:

• What lessons did you have today?
• Name two new things you learnt from each lesson?
• What did you find difficult and what did you find easy today?
• What does your Teams class page look like?
• Show me the lesson plan you are working on. Are all tasks complete?
• Can you show me your progress in assignments, projects or class tasks using Teams?

All formal assessment tasks for Semester One will be in SIMON in Learning Areas, and parents can access this via PAM. Results and due dates are available.

Essential class tasks may also be added to SIMON, Learning Areas under Classwork or be in Teams.

Parents are encouraged to check regularly for progress. When a student is not submitting regular tasks, parents will be notified by the subject teacher via email and if there is no change, via an Unsatisfactory Progress Letter. If you are concerned about your child’s progress, please contact the relevant subject teacher.

After a fantastic response to the Active April Challenge, we have begun Move in May, which will run for three weeks until 1 June.

Like Active April, the challenges in the coming weeks consist of one simple and achievable task a day.

Move in May has been created for all year levels and is a great way to stay active and healthy throughout this term of distance learning.

There will also be new bonus challenges that will earn extra points for your house.

We would love to see new faces join this month’s challenge and remember you can win house points throughout the three-weeks.

If you would like to join, email Ms Pandi npandi@sfcc.vic.edu.au. A full list of this week's activities and bonus challenges is attached below.

Let the fun and challenge begin!

Members of our Student Representative Council for 2020 have been selected, and this week we introduce our Year 8 representatives:

Apajok Kon, Austin Thorneycroft, Elesha Gruis and Rose D’Arienzo.

The students were asked to answer the following question:

What advice can you give your fellow students regarding learning from home?

“The advice I would give to my fellow students regarding learning from home is to imagine you are at school. Even though we can’t see the staff and students, we’re all in this together, and all we can do is encourage each other and look at the positives. Try your best to adjust to learning from home and continue to improve in your studies.” Elesha

“My advice would be, no matter where you are, you can still strive to be the best you can. I know it might be harder as you can’t interact with your friends and teachers, but you can still do work. You might be focusing more or not focusing at all, but at least try your best and keep on improving. Good luck!” Austin

“Don’t worry, and don’t stress. We are all in this together. Make sure you do your work and submit it on the day it’s due. Take breaks. For example, go for a walk, do some exercise or be active. This is something new that hasn’t happened before, so we need to think of the positives during this experience.” Apajok

“We are all going through a tough time right now with distance learning, and even though it is challenging, you can all still try as hard as you can and make the most of the time we have. Our teachers will always be here to help us with our learning and will offer as much support as they can to help us cope.” Rose

Nirasha Pandi

Student Leadership Coordinator

We had an overwhelming number of entries to our College Positivity and Gratitude Initiative this week with winners in every year level and among our teachers and staff.

In this time of social distancing, falling into a negative mindset and focussing on what is missing from our lives can happen easily.

To combat this, the Social Justice team has challenged staff and students to participate in the Positivity and Gratitude Initiative.

The initiative will run all term, and each week one or two people at each year level will receive house points for the most positive contribution to their homeroom Teams page.

Last week’s entries included thanks to the essential workers and parents/family members, the beauty in nature, as well as gratitude for a roof over our head and food and water every day. A selection of images are pictured below.

The winners for last week were:

Year 7 - Hasna Massa and Lana Lewis

Year 8 - Thinh Nguyen

Year 9 - Ella Gallager and Ophelia Fernando

Year 10 - Sam Beckett

Year 11 - Steve Teves

Year 12 - Shara Richards and Marius Prundus

Staff - Mr McDougall, Ms Lillington, Ms Hume and Mrs Griffin.

House tally

Daffey - 50 points

Glasheen - 30 points

Reed - 30 points

Fitzgerald - 20 points

Madlen Hill

Social Justice Captain

Distance Learning in the VCAL and Vincit classes has been in full swing this term and has presented some exciting challenges.

In a typical VCAL and Vincit classroom, the underlying skills we develop in our students relate to employability.

These skills will enable them to be successful in the workplace and are often taken for granted. For example, respect, maturity in all situations, punctuality and preparedness to work, communication skills, teamwork, critical thinking skills and commitment and perseverance.

During Distance Learning Mode, many of our VCAL and Vincit students have developed these skills in leaps and bounds, and I congratulate them on their efforts so far.

COVID-19 data analysis

One of our Foundation VCAL Numeracy classes has completed an analysis of the occurrence of COVID-19 in Australia.

The statistical analysis involved looking at data collected from the Australian Government Department of Health website, then interpreting the data to make a recommendation to our Premier on what his advice about school closures in Victoria should be. Here are two of the responses.

“The information in relation to COVID-19 received on 27 April drastically changed overnight because of the social distancing limitation put in place by the Victorian Government. On 28 April, we got another update to the COVID-19 data, and this new information told us that social distancing and self-quarantine dramatically decreased the amount of Victorian citizens being contaminated or presenting with COVID-19 like symptoms. I would to recommend to Daniel Andrews to continue the school closure as we are limiting the number of Victorian students, teachers and potentially families being infected by the Coronavirus.” Achai Yel

“Mr Andrews should not allow schools in Victoria to open. We are moving into winter, and people are going to start getting sick, and students will start to ‘let loose’ and (have) fun - it can’t be all work and no play. If schools go back, sports clubs are going to force their hand and start up again, so the benefits of the isolation will be lost. This will happen as students begin to get sick with colds which may create chaos in schools as the numbers of COVID-19 may also increase. Students won’t be able to social distance and stay 1.5 metres away from each, and teachers won’t be able to make us. All it takes is for one person to get COVID-19, and then we are all at risk, including our families. We need to stop the reopening of schools talk.” Jackson Vella

Travel Expo

As winter looms, it’s timely to reflect on a VCAL project completed by Year 11 students earlier this term.

The Travel Expo asked students to create the holiday of their dreams with a generous budget of $20,000. Trips to faraway beach getaways, tropical islands, boat cruises, snow fields and road trips around Australia were included with a variety of activities like sky diving, snorkelling and hiking on many itineraries. Students were shocked at the cost of flying first class, hiring luxury charter flights and booking the penthouse room at a hotel.

Pictured below is the work of Haley Spiteri who created a fantastic all-inclusive overseas adventure consisting of flights, accommodation and activities. Her luxury hotel stay was a standout and a sure-fire cure for the winter blues.

Hannah Ciappara, whose work is also pictured below, organised a holiday tour of Australia. Although she stayed closer to home than others, her trip was full of adventure and luxury.

Narelle Layton

VCAL/Vincit Domain Leader

Year 7 Design and Technologies Wood students have been learning about sustainability and the importance of native birds.

Environmental sustainability is a key knowledge area within this subject. Students were challenged to identify native birds in the local area such as the Long-Billed Corella, Coot, Red Wattlebird. Some took photos in their gardens or while they were walking. Others collected pictures from the Internet. The next task was to research the type of food the different birds ate and the nests they built.

Native birds are often preyed upon or hustled out of their native habitat by introduced species such as Pigeons, Starlings, Common Myna birds and Sparrows. It was important for students to understand this and resist the temptation to feed these birds with food scraps at school because it encourages them to multiply at the expense of our beautiful native birds.

Once their research was complete, the students drew pictures of six native birds found in the local area and then chose one preferred design option. The design was drawn as large as possible on A3 paper, or cardboard then cut out and coloured-in to match the colours of the native bird.

Research about the bird’s eating and nesting habits was written up, and the student’s work was put up in a local park or in their garden to help educate other people about our fabulous wildlife (see pictures below).

Robin Panousieris

Design and Technologies Wood Teacher

Students in Year 10 to 12 completing Vocational Education Training (VET) or a School Based Apprenticeship/Traineeship (SBAT) have been working hard during Distance Learning Mode (DLM) learning new skills and applications and completing tasks from home.

Our 108 VET and SBAT students have faced some challenges during DLM because their subjects are usually delivered in a hands-on learning environment.

However, the implementation of online lessons provides students with the opportunity to focus on the theory components of the course and complete some practical tasks at home. Some of their work is pictured below.

VET and SBAT’s are delivered by the College, CRC Sydenham, institutions within the Western Edge Cluster, Victoria University Polytechnic (Sunshine), Apprenticeships Group Australia, TMG and U-Train (City), Mambourin (Derrimut) and Kangan Tafe (City, Richmond and Broadmeadows).

If schools do not resume as usual during Term 3, there may be a gradual introduction of face-face learning. VET and SBAT providers may invite students to participate in practical lessons in smaller numbers to ensure physical distancing measure can be maintained. All providers continue to ensure the health of their trainers and implement stringent cleaning practices.

Bianca Mifsud

VET Coordinator

Congratulations to our eReader of the week, Maryam Matti, 8O, who has been keeping up with her Reading for Enjoyment, Encouragement and Development (REED) program expectations with regular borrowing of e-books from Wheelers ePlatform. You can too by using this link to borrow an e-book. Wheelers ePlatform.

Be the first to read these e-book titles recently added to Wheelers ePlatform.

Black – Fleur Ferris

Exchange of Heart – Darren Growth

Inside The Tiger - Hayley Lawrence

Never Say Die – Anthony Horowitz

Nightshade - Anthony Horowitz

One Of Us Is Lying – Karen McManus

If you are looking for extra resources to help better understand the topics you are studying, have a look at the material available in Pathfinders on the CRC Library web page. A variety of resources across year levels and subjects are provided to support your understanding of the curriculum.

Michael Hill

Teacher Librarian

Free online courses

Melton City Council is running a series of free online programs delivered by local Community Centre tutors. The programs are lighthearted and fun to encourage the community to get creative and try new things while they’re at home.

Kids crafts, cheese making, drawing and sketching, yoga and five-ingredient cooking are among the programs on offer. To find out more follow this link www.meltonlearning.com.au