Weekly Reflection

Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship)

A new papal encyclical published on 4 October 2020 is inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi and proposes a way of life marked by the flavour of the Gospel.

The encyclical aims to promote a universal aspiration toward fraternity and social friendship.

In the background of the encyclical is the COVID-19 pandemic which, Pope Francis reveals, “unexpectedly erupted” as he “was writing this letter”. But the global health emergency has helped demonstrate that “no one can face life in isolation” and that the time has truly come to “dream, then, as a single human family” in which we are “brothers and sisters all”.

Pope Francis also calls for the end of all wars – today we can no longer think, as in the past, of the possibility of a “just war”, but we must vehemently reaffirm: “Never again war!”

This ecumenical prayer for all Christians is from Fratelli Tutti.

O God, Trinity of love, from the profound communion of your divine life, pour out upon us a torrent of fraternal love.

Grant us the love reflected in the actions of Jesus, in his family of Nazareth, and in the early Christian community.

Grant that we Christians may live the Gospel, discovering Christ in each human being,

recognizing him crucified in the sufferings of the abandoned and forgotten of our world and risen in each brother or sister who makes a new start.

Come, Holy Spirit, show us your beauty, reflected in all the peoples of the earth,

so that we may discover anew that all are important, and all are necessary,

different faces of the one humanity that God so loves. 

Amen.

Shaun Coates

Director of Catholic Identity

From the Principal

How wonderful it has been this past week to welcome our students back on site.

The laughter of Year 7 students is great to hear and the joy of our seniors has been evident. As I walked around at recess, almost all the students were happy to be back at school. Some spoke happily about seeing friends again while others were enjoying the face to face conversations with their teachers.

We look forward to welcoming our Year 8 to 10 students back on-site next week.

Active faith

At Mass this Sunday we heard from a letter of Paul to the people of Thessalonica.

"We remember before our God and Father how active is the faith, how unsparing the love, how persevering the hope which you have from our Lord Jesus Christ." First Thessalonians 1:1-5

This letter which is written to inspire and encourage the people of Thessalonica resonates with our situation today.

We are called to persevere in hope through what many see as a prolonged return to a COVID normal. While we endure this slow return, we are called to continue to be unsparing in our love.

Each of us has been affected differently by the lockdown. Some have lost parents, and many have found, through no fault of their own, that they are unemployed or underemployed. Some are struggling to pay their bills and longing to see family. We are encouraged by this reading to continue to love all those whom we encounter. To be unsparing in our love despite the circumstances.

Active in our faith is also an interesting thought. What might an active faith response look like as we return to school?

The work of our Year Level coordinators and homeroom teachers is just one example. Together with teachers, the team has been working to re-engage each student in the life of the College. Taking time to find out how each student is feeling and working to reconnect and re-establish relationships is faith in action. Being conscious of the dignity of each student and honouring the needs of all in our care also answers this call.

Teaching is a vocation – the work of staff in providing for our students every day is our response to faith in action.

Below is an excellent email I received from a Year 7 student. The eloquently expressed gratitude makes the vocation of teaching so much more enjoyable.

Marlene Jorgensen
Principal

To My Dear Teachers,

As part of our RE assignment, we were asked to do a ‘Shout Out’ to one of our teachers in gratitude of the past few months of learning online.

I couldn’t choose just one of you, because you have all been too awesome and I don’t think that it would have been fair to just choose one teacher.

So, I’m sending this to you all.

I really want to thank you for ALL that you have done. My Mum and Dad are also teachers, so I know how hard teachers work. I also know from their schools and some of their friends schools, that others schools have done things differently, some a lot and some not so much. We have done so much at CRC, much more than all others that I know of.

Thank you for answering my questions, sometimes after school, on weekends and in the holidays.

Thank you for the hard work that you’ve done to learn new things to help us more.

Thank you for not dumbing it down, you continued to push us, so that we improved and continued with our curriculum.

Thank you for working so hard everyday to make our lessons fun and engaging.

Thank you for marking our work and giving us feedback.

Thank you for logging on every lesson - that made a big difference.

Thank you for listening when we gave feedback that the workload was too big - changing the length of the lessons and the unstructured lesson was great and needed.

Thank you for welcoming us back to school with such big smiles and happiness.

Thank you for being there for us and staying connected with assemblies and SRC meetings.

It was really tough and the struggle was real for us learning at home, but we learnt a lot.

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING, BUT MOSTLY THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU!

Isabella - Year 7 Anthony

Looking Ahead

Dates to remember

Friday 23 OctoberGrand Final public holiday - College closed
Monday 26 October Year 8, 9 and 10 students return to on-site classes
Wednesday 28 OctoberParents and Friends Meeting
Thursday 29 OctoberLast Year 12 VCE, VET and VCAL classes
Friday 30 OctoberLast day for Year 12 students
Monday 2 NovemberStudent free day
Tuesday 3 NovemberMelbourne Cup Day public holiday – College closed
Friday 6 NovemberLast day of Year 11 classes

From the Deputy Principal Learning and Teaching

As we move through Week 3 our Year 7, 11 and 12 students continue learning on-site. Our Year 8, 9 and 10 students complete their final week in Distance Learning Mode (DLM) and are expected to return on Monday 26 October.

Importance of safety protocols

While we understand that wearing a mask both in and out of class and having to sanitise hands regularly when entering rooms can be annoying, we encourage parents to discuss the importance of this with their children.

Remaining safe and well will allow everyone to have a better summer holiday break at the end of the year. Remember to keep your child at home if they are unwell. They can catch up on their lesson tasks once in good health. In line with Government educational guidelines, unless a student falls under the immune-compromised category and must remain at home, teachers are unable to provide remote learning if students are expected to be on site. Teachers may provide access to the lesson plan for the students to undertake self-directed learning.

Revision for VCE Unit 3/4 students

After a week of practice exams, our VCE Unit 3/4 students begin their revision in preparation for the end of year Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority exams.

The valuable lessons gained through this experience and the feedback they receive from their teachers will help with the successful completion of the final exams. Many thanks to Mrs Carissa Lock, Mrs Karina Dunne and their team for a smooth and positive approach to the practice exams.

VET and VCE/VET classes continue to run as the students work towards completing their certificates.

Year 10 and 11 exams

Year 11 students will undertake exams in Week 6, from 9 to 17 November. Students will receive an exam timetable this week. Due to the impact of distance learning and to support completion of the Victorian Curriculum, Year 10 examinations will occur for Mathematics and English only. The examination dates are 16 and 17 November. Further information will be made available next week. Students are advised to start thinking about and planning for their exams. Beginning revision early leads to better outcomes.



Jumpstart Year 11 and 12 2021

This year the Jumpstart Program for Year 11 and 12 2021 will be held from 18 to 27 November. The program is compulsory for students as they begin their 2021 curriculum.

All VCAL students will undertake a VCAL Jumpstart Program from 23 to 27 November. The work tasks and modules completed will allow students to access their work placements early in Term 1.


As we move closer to the return of all students, we thank our parents and guardians for the support they have provided during DLM. We intend to build on the successful partnership between families and the College established during this time.

Joanne Holmes

Deputy Principal Learning and Teaching

From the Deputy Principal Students

Pick up and drop off

With students returning to on-site classes, many parents and guardians are taking serious risks during school drop off and pick up times, driving in an unacceptable manner putting themselves and others in danger.

The volume of traffic along Bulmans Rd has increased significantly. Therefore, children must be dropped off and collected from school safely.

Dangerous practices include dropping off and picking up children whilst stationary at a school crossing, parking illegally, performing u-turns in front of oncoming traffic and blocking private driveways.

Please take greater care in and around school zones. If you are dropping off or collecting children, please leave yourself adequate time to find a park and safely attend to your children.

Over the coming weeks, police will patrol these areas and show zero tolerance to any offenders. Penalties can range from $826 to loss of licence.

Wear masks

As directed by the Victorian Government, the Chief Health Officer and Catholic Education, Melbourne all students and staff returning to school must wear a mask, unless legal exemptions apply.

Masks can only be removed when eating or drinking, or if engaging in intensive physical activity, for example during PE class or running around on the oval/soccer field or basketball courts during lunchtime.

Bandanas and scarfs are not permitted. We ask students to follow all directions and instructions given by staff as this is a significant health and safety issue.

Elevate Education Reminder

CRC Melton parents and guardians have access to Elevate Education’s Parent Webinar Series Empowering Parents to Reinforce Study Skills at Home.

Below is a list of the topics included in the series.

  • Wednesday 21 October – Independent Learning: How to know that your child is focusing on the right kind of work that gets top marks.
  • Wednesday 4 November – Stress & Wellbeing: Understanding your child’s stress triggers, symptoms, and a toolkit for stabilising during tough periods.
  • Wednesday 18 November – Exam Preparation: Developing a pre-exam roadmap with your child to maximise their chances of success and keep overwhelm at bay.
  • Wednesday 2 December – Technology: Understanding the impact of technology on your child’s habits and how to develop techniques for responsible device use.

The live webinars run online from 6pm to 7pm and include time for parents to ask questions so they get the specific tools they need.

Follow this link to register

You can contact Elevate on 1300 667 945 or via email on auscoaching@elevateeducation.com. For more information visit www.elevateeducation.com

Rob Blackley

Deputy Principal Students

Parents and Friends

The next Parents and Friends Association meeting will be held on Wednesday 28 October at 7pm.

After the Principal’s report, our Deputy Principal of Students Rob Blackley will provide an overview of the return to on-site classes and the feedback from students, staff and parents on Distance Learning Mode.

Due to COVID-19, meetings are currently held remotely through the Microsoft Teams platform. If you did not attend the last meeting but would like to be part of the next one, please email kmatthews@sfcc.vic.edu.au to receive the information required to join the meeting.

Kerrie-Ann Matthews

Director of Community Relations

Year 7 Design and Technology

Year 7 Design and Technology students began to put theory into practice last week after many months of distance learning.

During their first time in the Design and Technology classroom, the Year 7 students demonstrated that they were independent, confident problem solvers who had learnt so much from their theory work during online classes.

The class is making catapults that use STEM theories related to physics, engineering, and technologies.

Students are working in teams to make a quality product that will launch bouncy balls on the oval. It is a fun project and words like fulcrum, load, kinetic and potential energy make sense to them now – it’s been a great way to start in this subject.

Robin Panousieris

Design and Technology teacher

Social Justice Initiatives

Polished man

October is Polished Man month. Polished Man is an organisation that supports trauma prevention and trauma recovery programs for children who are at risk of, or who have suffered violence.

Next Tuesday 27 October our Social Justice Team will raise money for Polished Man by encouraging the College community to paint a single fingernail blue.

A stand will be set up in the courtyard outside the canteen where students and staff can have their nail painted for a gold coin donation.

To find out more about Polished Man and the campaign to end violence against children visit www.polishedman.com

Bandana day

Over the years, our school community has been affected many times by cancer and this year has been no exception.

On Thursday 29 October and Friday 30 October the Social Justice team will sell bandanas in the courtyard outside the canteen to raise money for Canteen – an organisation that helps people impacted by cancer get access to programs, counselling, and peer support.

Staff and students are encouraged to wear their bandana on Friday 30 October to show their support for the cause. Bandanas cost between $5 and $15 depending on the pattern and material.

Clare Hume

Social Justice Coordinator

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