ANZAC Day

On ANZAC Day, a group of student leaders joined myself, Miss Sertic and Miss Cassar in the dawn service at the Melton Cenotaph.

There were several schools and community organisations present and Federal member, Brendan O’Connor and Melton Mayor Bob Turner both addressed the gathering.

Swen Anthony lay a wreath on behalf of CRC Melton.

On Friday, we held a full school assembly where we remembered all men and women who sacrificed their lives in service of our country.

Dylan Hassan, our College Captain began our service by reading about our Lone Pine, located at the front of the College. Our Liturgy Captain, Denise D’Souza, then lead us in prayer, which was followed by the poem 'In Flanders Fields' read by Deputy Liturgy Captain, Michelle Tennakoon Arachchige.

An ANZAC Day speech by Corporal Mark Donaldson VC caught my attention last week. In one exercpt, he said:

‘Perhaps, it is the capacity of all ordinary humans to do extraordinary things when coupled with extreme circumstance – to fight harder, to march further, dig deeper, move despite overwhelmingly odds and care for wounded mates, no matter what the personal imposition or risk – even if that risk means death. This is spirit worthy of renown, praise and of striving to achieve. This is a human spirit – the ANZAC spirit.

A Spirit that spans generations, defines what mateship means and drives us to be more than we ever imagined we could be.’

Lest we forget.

ref: https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/speeches/DawnService2019

Staffing

We welcome Mr Joseph Jamisola, Ms Joann Budrys, Mrs Margaret Fury, Ms Damla Osman, and Ms Dhanya Murali who will replace teachers on leave at the start of this term. Mr Robert Johns has moved schools to be closer to home and Mr Martin Attard will take his classes in the interim.

Mrs Bianca Mifsud has been appointed to the role of VCAL Coordinator.

Class Surveys

Please note that staff will undertake Class surveys over the next 2 weeks. These are now a regular feature of our teaching practice and are designed to provide feedback to staff on how their students are learning and can highlight areas of student affirmation and concern. Staff will then use this to adjust their teaching where necessary to improve learning across the class.

Athletics

Our College Athletics Carnival scheduled for this Thursday has been postponed. The weather forecast for the end of this week indicates that we would not have a safe Field Event nor student seating situation. We will notify all families and students of the replacement date once finalised. Normal scheduled classes will run on Thursday.

Premier League

Best of luck to our Year 7 teams as they begin the inter-school SACCSS Premier League sports competition this Wednesday. We will operate an alternative program for students not competing in teams.

Resilience Project Parent Evening - 7th May

We are pleased to announce a Parent Information Evening around the theme of resilience will be held at the College next Tuesday 7 May at 7pm in the Performing Arts Centre. In 2018 we engaged the Resilience Project team to work with our students about how to use evidence based approaches to build resilience, in order to develop mental health.

The evidence suggests 1 in 4 adolescents have a mental illness, 65% of adolescents do not seek help for mental illness and 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys suffer from an anxiety disorder.

We are delighted to have the founder of the Resilience Project, Hugh van Cuylenburg, here next week to present the parent evening. Hugh has worked with over 500 schools, the NRL, Australian Cricket team, Australian Netball team, women’s soccer team and 8 AFL teams. His message is one of gratitude, empathy and mindfulness. Hugh is a most engaging and entertaining presenter.

Teenagers who are resilient have:

• emotional awareness and the ability to regulate their emotions
• control over their impulses
• an optimistic mindset
• flexible and accurate thinking
• empathy towards others
• believe that they can achieve things (self-efficacy)
• a willingness to seek help when needed.

As parents/guardians we want our kids to be resilient and naturally want to protect them both physically and emotionally. However, there are times when our kids don’t let us in or ask for help. Hugh will provide you with very valuable and real strategies to help you, help your child develop and enhance their resilience. A link with information on how to register will be sent via CareMonkey.

School Spirit Award Winners

Congratulations to the following students for being announced as the School Spirit Award for Term 1.

Year 7

Charlotte Boog

Charlotte is a student who is always friendly, optimistic, helpful and studious. She has demonstrated a positive and mature approach to her first term at CRC and works hard in all of her subjects to achieve her best and has met the challenges of year 7 with diligence and a positive attitude. At year 7 camp, she showed her caring nature and leadership skills with her kindness and willingness to help others.

Ryan Drever

Ryan has also made a positive start to the school year through a conscientious and hard-working approach. He always exhibits a positive outlook and attitude and displays compassion, courtesy, respect and cooperation in all that he participates in. He showed an outstanding team spirit at both the swimming carnival and year 7 camp. He is a kind friend who is an excellent role model and valued member of his homeroom 7O.

Year 8

Isabella Borg

Isabella has been described by a number of her teachers as an individual who is always hard working during class time and is very considerate to both students and staff. She wears her uniform with pride, helps her peers, is respectful to everyone, especially her homeroom peers and is always impeccably behaved. A really great homeroom class member of 8A. She has demonstrated maturity and initiative beyond her years by completing an assessment early due to her upcoming absence.

Dave Baracael

Dave has been nominated by a number of staff. During term 1, he displayed a strong work ethic across all of his subjects, which has resulted in some fantastic results, including in drama for the performance. A member of 8R, this individual has also been described as a mature, polite, hardworking and friendly person, who is a valued member of the homeroom amongst his peers.

Year 9

Alyssa Nankervis & Jessica Ribeiro

Alyssa and Jessica are conscientious students who show a strong interest in their learning. They listen attentively, and make solid efforts to improve by paying attention to feedback. They relate well to teachers and classmates by demonstrating strong communication skills, positivity and maturity.

During year 9 Rite journey camp, they both willingly faced all of the new challenges. Their well-developed intrapersonal skills were shown through their ability to appreciate different perspectives and to embrace diversity. They are both wonderful examples of committed learners and responsible young ladies.

Year 10

Ayla Williams

Ayla was recently elected as Reed Student Representative and is involved in the College Production and Ensemble. She is a diligent student and is a positive and cheerful member of each class.

Steve Teves

Steve has a strong work ethic, seeks feedback and is an excellent student. He gets along with his peers and is always willing to lend a hand.

Year 11

Chloe Farley

Chloe is committed and enthusiastic with all of the learning in the VCAL program. She readily volunteers to assist teachers and students in any task that is required in the classroom or during practical classes. Chloe is very kind towards her peers and tries her best all of the time. Chloe always comes to class with a positive attitude and puts in 110% effort.

Chantal Bala

Chantal has demonstrated a commitment to other students and has shown kindness in all of her interactions with fellow students and teachers. Chantal participates in extracurricular activities, especially school productions and always presents the school brilliantly. Chantal has been recognised as a student who lifts herself high above expectations and always with a smile. Finally, Chantal is a student who demonstrates the values of the College and what the School Spirit stands for.

Year 12

Savannah Naumovski

Throughout term 1 Savannah has shown resilience in the face of challenges. She was able to see beyond the bigger picture, focusing on other people’s wellbeing and not just her own. This student is always happy, courteous to both her peers and staff and always works hard in her classes. She is a student who demonstrates the values of the College and what the School Spirit stands for. When faced with her own personal challenges earlier this term, Savannah stated that ‘there are other people much worse off than herself.' She has been a prime example for student resilience this year.

Eden Wright

Eden is a hard and conscientious worker, takes constructive criticism well and works to improve his work. He is a very quiet achiever but remains an active learner throughout the school day. Eden is working incredibly hard across all his subjects and exhibits a positive outlook and attitude both in and outside the classroom, setting an example of excellence in behaviour and diligence. Eden is a student who demonstrates the values of the College and what the School Spirit stands for.

Jack O’Rourke

Jack excelled at the recent SACCSS swimming sports held on Tuesday 26th March. He showed support and encouragement that went beyond any expectations. Jack assisted the multi class swimmer with cerebral palsy to get to the end of the pool and in both of the races, Jack walked alongside the pool deck for the entire length of his races. In addition to this, at a moment where the multi-class swimmer was getting visibly tired, Jack jumped in the pool and swum alongside him to the very end. This act was on Jack’s own behalf. It was a demonstration of sportsmanship, and deserves a high amount of recognition. All who were present said it was heart-warming to watch one young person from a different school truly support another young person.

On Wednesday 3rd April, Project Rockit came to our school to teach us about bullying and how it can affect others. They gave us a better understanding of what bullying is and what emotions are felt because of how cruel people can be. They taught us how you can help a victim or help yourself during this time. They spoke about choosing kindness and gave us a quote, “Do you want to be part of the problem or part of the solution?” to think about.

We learnt a lot of new things in this incursion in an enjoyable and engaging way. Bullying is a serious thing that no one wants to go through, and Project Rockit helped teach us how to avoid or help others during these times. Words and hurting people has a huge impact on how people live their lives and how they think of themselves. Project Rockit helped us get a better understanding of that and we are very grateful they came and taught us so much.

Anna Aguirre and Emma King

Year 7 Students

The Library will run Homework Club again this term, from 1st May – 19th June on Wednesday afternoons, 3:30pm – 4:30pm.

Girltopia #2 By Hilary Rogers

Girltopia, as everyone now calls the city, is in the grip of a strange virus that affects only men and boys. In the race to find a cure for the virus, Clara and her bestie Arabella have a secret to keep. And it is a big secret. When Clara starts receiving strange messages from a mysterious group called The Girlhoods, she needs to make some tough decisions about who to trust, and who to protect. Girltopia is a new world, and Clara is at the centre of it!

Happy Girl Lucky By Holly Smale

Introducing The Valentines. Fame – It Runs in the Family! Sisters Hope, Faith and Mercy have everything: fame, success, money and beauty. But what Hope wants most of all is love, and it doesn't matter how far she has to go to find it. Except real-life isn't like the movies. Even if you're a Valentine . . . Happy Girl Lucky is the first hilarious, heart-warming book in The Valentines series. From the internationally bestselling author of Geek Girl, Holly Smale.

Library Team

Congratulations to Year 12 students Montana Djatschenko and Joshua Porter.

After competing at the Australian Athletics Championships on 1st April, Montana has been selected to represent Australia in the Oceania Area Championships (Athletics) in Townsville in June. It will be a great honour for Montana to represent her country and wear the green and gold which she has been dreaming of since she started the sport as a 5 year old!

Josh has been playing for Victoria in Gridiron and has been selected for the Australian training squad. He is very excited to represent Australia.

Can you help us? In preparation for the celebration of the College’s 40th Anniversary in 2020 we are seeking help from the broader community of ex-students, staff and parents. Part of our celebrations will involve documenting our school history to preserve it for the future and we are currently archiving photographs and artefacts important to understanding the story of the College. If you have stories you’d like to tell, or artefacts you’d consider sharing from your time here, we’d love to hear from you! It could be anything – photographs, reports, school assignments with comments from teachers, newsletters, newspaper clippings. Anything that you feel helps to paint a picture of the life of the College over the years would be gratefully accepted, carefully documented and returned. If you think you might be able to help, or have a story to tell, please get in touch with Kezi Todd via email at ktodd@sfcc.vic.edu.au.

Kezi Todd

Teacher

Teenagers, adults, parents and carers are invited to a night to talk about Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Hear from mental health experts as well as stories from Comedian and radio presenter Em Rusciano and Former AFL star, Heath Black.

See attached flyer for more information and registration details.

Mia Lobé

Healthy Families Officer | Melton City Council

On Thursday 9th May, VCAL Foundation classes will be holding a Mother’s Day stall at recess and lunchtime. Types of gifts available are plants, cards, jewellery, homewares, coffee mugs with chocolates and homemade slices and truffles.

Prices range from $2.00 - $10.00. This project forms part of the VCAL Work Related Skills program.

Margaret Rowe-Watts

VCAL Teacher

As we head into the cooler weather, it is time to change the canteen menu.

New to the menu for this term is:

Pizzas – Margherita, Hawaiian and Ham and Cheese - $4.50

Fish Burger – Fish fillet, lettuce and tartare sauce on a lightly toasted bun - $5.00

Wedges with Sour cream, sweet chilli sauce or tomato sauce - $5.00

Ben & Jerry’s mini tubs, Cookies and Cream flavour - $4.50

Later on in the term we will add some soups and pastas to the menu. Our full menu is available on the CRC website under your PAM account. If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to register for an account with Ultimate Schools for easy online ordering.

2 Cookies Catering

Catholic Regional College Sydenham presents Les Misérables School Edition performed entirely by students. A musical by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg.

See flyer for details.

CRC Sydenham

SACCSS have created a new Facebook page where Students and Parents/Guardians can keep up to date with latest results, event information and photos.

Click here to visit the page.

Jo Lewis & Rebecca Clugston

SACCSS Executive Officers