Last week was a time of farewells and new beginnings. On Friday night I had the privilege of joining the CRC Sydenham community for the Year 12 Graduation mass. Held at St Patrick’s Cathedral, it was a wonderful celebration of 13 years of education.

As a school community we can be very proud of these young people, and all they’ve achieved, not only at CRC but from those very first days when they started in Foundation. I am sure that it seems only yesterday that they arrived at school for the first time, wide eyed and nervous but keen to explore all that their new world offered.

Thank you to all the staff, both here and at Sydenham, who’ve worked with them and supported them to this point.

The Year 12 students are now fully focussed on their final exams which began with English on Tuesday. I ask that you keep them and their teachers in your thoughts and prayers at this very important time.

Saturday was a change of pace as we welcomed Year 7 2026 students to the College to participate in the academic testing program. They were an impressive group of young people; courteous, friendly and keen to do well. We look forward to working with them next year.

Images 2025 Arts and Technology Exhibition

Preparations are well under way for the annual Images exhibition which will be held next week. We look forward to families and friends joining us for the opening on Thursday night.

Inter-house Swimming Carnival

Families are reminded that the annual Interhouse Swimming Carnival will be held at Oak Park Swimming Centre on Friday 31 October 2025.

Please note:

ALL students are required to attend. Families are asked to ensure that they have completed permission forms on PAM, and that students only remain at home if they are unwell.

Students will have period 1 classes and leave for the pool after a short recess.

Cup Weekend

Families are reminded that there are no classes on Monday 03 November or Tuesday 04 November due to the Cup weekend.

Mid Term

Cup Weekend marks the mid-point of Term 4. Once we return on Wednesday, Years 9 and 10 students have only a short time until their exams and all year levels will have a range of learning and assessment tasks due.

At this time of the year, it is important that students remain focused on their studies and that they do all the small things consistently well. This includes being on time, doing all your homework, putting aside extra time for revision, asking questions, catching up with teachers for extra help,  being in uniform and looking at every aspect of your work to see where you might need help and what you might need to do better.

Sun Smart

The College Sun Smart policy is available on the website.

As we are now well into spring, forecasts of UV levels are predicted to reach three or higher during the period from now to the end of April. UV radiation is a major cause of skin cancer, and UV damage accumulated during childhood and adolescence is strongly associated with the risk of skin cancer later in life. We encourage families to speak with their child about ensuring they are Sun Smart during this time, including:

• wearing appropriate clothing
• wearing a broad brimmed, bucket or legionnaire hat while outside
• applying SPF30 or higher broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen approximately 20 minutes prior to going outside and re-applying every two hours while outside, or immediately after physical activity and swimming
• remaining in the shade during times when you are not involved in a specific outdoor activity, or if you are unable to follow the above recommendations

We also encourage all adults, including parents/carers, to adopt a SunSmart approach for themselves, not only to protect themselves from the dangers of UV radiation, but to also act as role models for our students.

For more information on sun protection, please go to the SunSmart website:  https://www.sunsmart.com.au/

Enrolment for 2026

Enrolment at the College continues automatically from year to year. However, if a student in Years 7, 8 or 9 is not returning in 2026, we ask that families notify us as soon as possible. Please email jneves@crcstalbans.com.au or ring Jackie Neves on 9366 2544 with this information.

Your assistance with this is much appreciated as we have an extensive waiting list at most levels and would like to let these families know sooner, rather than later.

Term 4 Uniform

Families are reminded that Weeks 1 – 4 are a transition period for uniform. Students can wear either full summer or full winter uniform but not a mix and match of both.

Following the Cup Weekend, from Wednesday 05 November all students will need to be in full summer uniform.

The holidays may be a good time to check that students have all that is required.

Newsletter

The newsletter is published fortnightly and available online on Day 10 (Friday Week 2).

Newsletter Days for Term 4 2025:           

Fridays:  07 November, 21 November, 15 December