Catholic Education Week

This week marks Catholic Education Week which is usually held in the week of St Patrick’s Day (Sunday); the feast day of the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Melbourne. The week provides a chance to reflect on and to celebrate the fine work being done across our schools. Our fortnightly newsletter gives families a window into the many great things happening in our own school. None of this can be achieved without the great commitment of staff, the support of families and the enthusiasm, interest and involvement of our students. We are blessed in all areas. Thank you.

Year 8 Camp

With much excitement and anticipation our Year 8 students and staff headed off to camp on Wednesday. For some this camp will mark a number of firsts; first time camping out in tents, the first time in the bush around Gembrook and three whole days without technology! I am looking forward to visiting the campers this evening and to hearing about their adventures.

On the behalf of Year 8 students and their families I’d like to thank Ms Alexopoulos (Year 8 Level Leader) for organising the camp, as well as all the staff who attended.

Launch of the Positive School-Wide Behaviour Expectations

In our school we believe that everyone has the right to learn, and to feel comfortable, included and safe. This brings with it certain responsibilities which can be summarised as respect for self, others and the environment, and engagement in learning.

These rights and responsibilities are outlined on page 6 of the student diary.

Since the beginning of the year we have been further unpacking these responsibilities to establish Positive School-Wide Behaviour Expectations.

The process for developing the expectations was led by our Student Leaders. They sought input from all students and staff, asking us to articulate what respect and learning looked like, felt like and sounded like in various settings across the school. The team then worked with this data: sorting and distilling responses; developing a draft; seeking feedback; finalising the document, and developing an implementation plan!

The final draft was presented to the College Leadership Team two weeks ago and has been endorsed. A copy is included with this newsletter for families. It would be interesting for families to have a look at what respect for self, others and the environment, and engagement in learning look like in the context of the home.

I’d like to thank everyone for their input into this document but particularly our student leaders who have done such terrific work in leading the project. It has been hard work but well worth it.

Enhancing Catholic School Identity Surveys

Every four years, in the year prior to the school review, students, staff and parents / guardians are asked to complete the Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) survey. The feedback provided through these surveys is invaluable in developing the next School Improvement Plan.

In the next few days families will receive a letter inviting parents / guardians to complete these surveys. I ask that you read through this information carefully and if at all possible, participate in this process. Our target is at least 59 families.

Inter-house Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to Corbett House on taking out the overall trophy at last week’s inter-house swimming carnival. In the closest result for many years Corbett won by a narrow margin over Reis and Guelen. After a number of lean years all in Corbett were delighted by the win.  Our swimmers were blessed with perfect ‘goldilocks’ weather, not too hot and not too cold. Congratulations to all the students who represented their House and who did their absolute best for their teams. There were some very good team and individual performances. Thank you to all the enthusiastic supporters who cheered for the swimmers all day.

Thank you to Ms Jurcec, Mr Ly, the House Captains and all who assisted them in organising a fine carnival and a very enjoyable day.

On Tuesday 26 March the College swim team will head off to the SACCSS Swimming Carnival at MSAC. We wish all competitors well and hope that each of them is able to achieve a personal best on the day.