Principal's Message
Welcome Back
Welcome back for Semester 2. I trust that everyone enjoyed the break, is well rested and ready for what will be an interesting and productive term.
In the first half of Term 3 students in Years 8, 9 and 10 will be involved in elective selection and course planning for 2024. Apart from many engaging and challenging learning experiences offered in the curriculum, there is much to look forward to with Year 10 Work Experience, the School Production Nightmare on Theodore Street, Immersion Day, Year 9 Camp, SACCSS Interschool Athletics and the Year 10 Social all on the horizon during this term.
Our opening prayer is a reflection on hopes for Semester 2.
SACCSS Interschool Chess
Congratulations to our Chess Team who competed in the SACCSS interschool tournament on Monday. They were terrific ambassadors for our school and each member of the team displayed strong school spirit, sportsmanship and skill.
We are thrilled that our Junior Team are the SACCSS champions for their age group. This is a terrific outcome and they are justifiably very proud of what they have achieved. Thank you to Ms Jurcec and Mr Fernando for accompanying the team.
Reports
Families and students can now access Semester 1 reports through the Parent Access Module (PAM).
Over the next few weeks students will be reviewing their Semester 1 report in Pastoral Care and preparing for the Student Led Conferences with parents / guardians and teachers in Week 5 (7th and 8th August).
World Youth Day
The 16th International World Youth Day (WYD) will take place in Lisbon from 2-6 August 2023. The theme this year is ‘Mary arose and went with haste’ (Lk 1:39). WYD is a week-long event of prayer, festivities and celebration for young people from across the world. More than 1 million people are expected to join Pope Francis for mass on the Sunday. Traditional World Youth Day activities include the Opening Mass, catechesis, Stations of the Cross, a Saturday Night Prayer Vigil where participants sleep out under the stars before the final mass on the Sunday.
Catholic Regional College St Albans will be represented at World Youth Day by Ana Markic. Ana is currently in Year 11 at Sydenham and was College Vice Captain in 2022. Ana goes with our prayers and we look forward to hearing about her experiences on her return.
Updating Family phone and email contacts
At times families change their phone or email contacts and forget to let the school know. In case of emergency, it is very important that these details are always up to date. If your contact details have changed please notify the school.
Year 10 Families
In the next three weeks, Year 10 students will be selecting their courses for Year 11. We encourage all families to ensure that they attend the following activities which support the course planning process:
Wednesday 26 July: Twilight Open Evening CRC Sydenham (5.00 – 8.00pm)
Monday 7 August and Tuesday 8 August: Student Led Conferences / Course Finalisation
Year 10 families have received information from CRC Sydenham regarding the Twilight Open Evening. It is important that a parent / guardian attends with students.
Staff Professional Learning Day: Wednesday 09 August 2023
Wednesday 09 August will be a student free day as staff will work with David Vinegrad on developing an understanding of Restorative Practices, and their place in building strong and healthy relationships with young people, and in constructively solving relational problems.
Newsletter
The newsletter is published fortnightly and available online on Day 10 (Friday Week 2).
Newsletter Days for Term 3 2023:
Fridays: 4 August, 18 August, 01 September, 15 September