Earlier this week we marked Harmony Day. It is a day that promotes respect, fairness and a sense of belonging for all Australians, no matter where they come from. The key message of Harmony Day is that ‘everyone belongs’. This is something that we believe deeply in our school community and try to live out in all that we do. Our school song ‘All are Welcome’ and our new mural certainly pick up this message very well. Here, at CRC St Albans, we work hard to ensure students, staff and families feel included, respected and welcomed.

Orange is the colour associated with Harmony Day and, fittingly, in our community orange is associated with the school value of Equality. Students, families and staff at our school come from many different cultural groups. The number varies but is currently around 50. We are continually working to understand, appreciate and celebrate all cultures, to treat others justly, to give everyone a fair go and to live together in peace and harmony.

Thank you to our student leaders who developed a terrific video reflecting on the meaning of Harmony Day to both raise awareness and to celebrate the rich diversity of our community.

Practicing Kindness

We are more conscious than ever that the pandemic and world events are creating tensions and anxieties for all of us. One antidote to this sense of being unsettled is to find ways of actively practicing kindness. Being kind is good for our own wellbeing and for the wellbeing of others.

Our Year 7 students have been leading the way in practicing kindness. Over the past four weeks, Year 7 classes have been participating in the Kindness Cup. The challenge is designed to foster a supportive and inclusive school community. It aims to catch students in an act of kindness and to nominate them for class points.

Similarly, the College Lenten Calendar provides daily activities that call students to think about others, locally and globally, and to act kindly.

I thank Mr Bain-King, the Year 7 teachers and the Social Justice team for all that they are doing to encourage us to act kindly.

Families may wish to pick up on this focus by encouraging family members to practice kindness with each other and to others, beyond the family.

Year 8 Camp

There is much excitement at Year 8 as students prepare for their camp at Kinglake Forest Adventure Camp next week. With many students missing their Year 6 camp, this time away will be extra special.

Whilst camps are great fun, they also provide an opportunity for students to learn about themselves, particularly their personal strengths, and to gain new skills in leadership, resilience and in working with others. We look forward to their return and to hearing about their adventures.

Best wishes

On Tuesday 29 March the College swim team will head off to the SACCSS Swimming Carnival at MSAC. The team has been preparing over the last few weeks. We wish all competitors well and hope that each of them is able to achieve a personal best on the day.

Clubs and lunchtime activities are back

It has been great to see the return of afterschool activities over the past few weeks. Students are once again enjoying choir, the community garden, futsal, basketball, volleyball club and Premier League training. More will return in the coming weeks. Thank you to all the students and staff involved.

Student led Parent / Teacher conferences

The dates for the Parent / Teacher / Student interviews have changed to Thursday 07 April (4.00 – 8.00pm) and Friday 08 April (9.30 – 3.00pm).

Interviews will again be student led conferences with Pastoral Care teachers and Pastoral Care associates.

Information about booking the Parent / Teacher / Student interviews and the PAM access code was mailed to families earlier this week. If you do not receive this information by mid next week, please contact the College.

Immersion Day: Friday 01 April 2022

Next Friday students are involved in offsite activities / excursions as part of an Immersion Day. Activities are as follows:

Year 7:                Reflection Day

Year 8:                Day 3 of the Year 8 Camp

Year 9:                City Experience

Year 10:              Visit to the Shrine of Remembrance

We remind parents / carers to ensure they have given permission through PAM and checked medical information.

Please note: Students who do not have permission and those not in the correct uniform will be unable to attend.

Final Day: Term 1

Students finish for Term 1 on Thursday 07 April at the normal school finishing time of 3.10pm. Parent / Teacher / Student interviews will take place from 4.00pm and during the day on Friday 08 April.

Newsletter

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

Newsletter Days for Term 1 2022:           

Fridays:  07 April  (Thursday)