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Jesus Calms The Storm Painting - Calming The Storm by Tigran Ghulyan
Companion of the companionless
let my day not go by without remembering
the sixty-five million forced from their homelands
due to poverty, crime and political conflict.
Home of the homeless
gather the shawl of your compassion
around those with nowhere to live,
nowhere to call home, nowhere to work.
Nurturer of the impoverished
turn the attention of political leaders
towards systems that cause oppression;
urge them to open doors to refugees.
Refuge of the lost
protect those who are tossed upon the seas
be near those who are thirsting in the deserts
and roaming dangerous city streets.
Hope for the hopeless
lift up the heavy hearts of families
who have lived for years in camps
do not let their hope slip away.
Justice bringer: Bother us. Keep after us. Open our eyes.
Widen our hearts. Change our judgements. Urge us.
Change us. Badger us until we act on behalf of sixty-five
million people whose tears fall on foreign soil.
Joyce Rupp (Prayer of Boundless Compassion)
Thank You
As we draw to the end of what has been an action packed 10 weeks, I would like to thank students, staff and families for all your work and support throughout the term. As we look back over the first semester, we can feel well pleased with all we’ve done and achieved. I am continually amazed by everyone’s generosity, openness and willingness to help in any way they can. We look forward to an equally good second semester.
I am sure that everyone is looking forward to the break and the chance to spend time with family and friends. Enjoy every minute, and come back refreshed and ready for a big Term 3.
Refugee Week
This week marks Refugee Week across Australia. In our community many people have experienced displacement due to war or persecution, whether this be in post war Europe or, as a result, of more recent conflicts in Vietnam, on the African continent, in the Middle East, or in South America.
Too often, when we think about migration, refugees, international students and asylum seekers we think about the cost, the burden, and about what we are called to give or give up. However, we forget about what all these people bring to our communities. We forget that at some time most of us, or our families, have also come from somewhere else. Migrants and refugees do not come empty handed. They come to us with an abundance of gifts, experiences and wisdom. Imagine our country without the rich influences of people who have come here from all parts of the world.
Refugee Week is an opportunity to give thanks for the many different cultures that make up our Australian community. In our own school: staff, students and their families come from over thirty different cultural and ethnic groups. We are indeed a richer and luckier school community because of this. It is also a chance to pause and reflect on how well we, as individuals, as local and parish communities and as a nation, welcome strangers. Do we open the door when they knock? Do we reach out or are we indifferent to their plight? Do we stand in solidarity or run in fear? Do we recognise Christ in the strangers we meet?
Farewell and Welcome
This week we farewell Ms Gabi Bond who leaves us to prepare for the birth of her second child in a few weeks. We wish Gabi and her husband, Jarryd, all the best at this very exciting time.
Ms Lin Lin will replace Gabi in teaching the Academic English program. We are delighted to welcome Lin back. Many students will know Lin as she worked at the College last year.
Middle Eastern Cultural Night
Two weeks ago, we enjoyed a terrific night of food, music and dancing with our Iraqi and Syrian families. Close to 200 people joined us for the Hafla (party) organised by students and families. It was lots of fun and a great opportunity to learn about the Iraqi and Syrian culture. Thank you to our hosts, to the mums who prepared the food, to Ms Carmel Kelly and the Intensive English class who did much of the planning for the night, and to Ms Laura Cioccia and Ms Louna Ghawi who worked tirelessly in the background to draw the night together.
Year 7 Premier League
This term Year 7 students have been participating in Premier League. Congratulations to all teams on the terrific school spirit and fine sportsmanship you have shown. Each team can boast that they did their absolute best and that they continually improved throughout the season. Thank you to all staff who have taken training and accompanied the teams each week.
Years 9 and 10 Exams
I would like to congratulate students in Years 9 and 10 on their excellent approach to the recent exams. They were well prepared and managed themselves in a mature and responsible manner throughout the week.
With each experience of exams, students develop better approaches to their studies. As we look forward and begin to prepare for Semester 2, it is important to remember that the best preparation for exams begins in the first lesson of the semester, not the night before the exam!
Later in the newsletter, you will find Speech Box, a news item from our speech pathologists. In this edition, they present information about RIDER (Read, Image, Describe, Evaluate and Repeat) which is a great technique for remembering. Students and families may wish to add this to their study tool box.
End of Term 2
Term 2 will end on Friday 28 June. Classes will finish at 3.05pm. Students in Years 7 – 9 will have normal classes and Year 10 students will be visiting a range of Tertiary institutions, in preparation for Years 11 and 12 course planning which happens in the first half of Term 3.
Start of Term 3
Term 3 will commence on Tuesday 16 July 2019. Please note this will be Day 2 of the Semester 2 timetable.
There will be a new timetable in Semester 2. Students can access their new timetable through the SIMON Learning Management System in the second week of the school holidays.
Save the Dates:
Year 10 Families
In the early part of Term 3 Year 10 students will be selecting their courses for Year 11. This brings to a conclusion much of the planning and preparation that they have already done in the Chrysalis program and in their preparation for Work Experience.
Year 10 families need to be aware of some key dates related to course planning for Years 11 and 12. Each activity is designed to support students in planning for the next two years and in their transition to CRC Sydenham. It is very important that Year 10 students and their families attend all activities. Please note these in your diary.
Wednesday 31 July:
Sydenham Open Evening and Careers Expo
Tuesday 13 August:
Course Planning Day at CRC St Albans
Since our last newsletter…..
Over and above the day to day activities of the school since our last newsletter students, families and staff have participated in the following:
- Trinity community service
- Years 9 and 10 exams
- Year 7 swimming.
- Year 7 Visual Arts excursion
- Trinity Performing Arts rotations
- Year 10 Drama / Music Night
- Rehearsals for the school production
- STEM Club
- Health and Fitness Club
- Volleyball Club
- Titration Stakes
- Otaku Club
I am sure that students and their families are very appreciative of all these opportunities and the time and energy that staff put into organising and offering these experiences.
Reports will be available to view and download through the PAM portal from Friday 19th July.
A letter will be sent home with students on Tuesday 16th July outlining information about accessing the reports and booking Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews.
Student Parent Teacher Interviews
Student Parent Teacher interviews will be held in the third week of Term 3 on Thursday 1st August. An interview with the Pastoral Care teacher needs to be booked online through the PAM portal by Wednesday 24th July. Parent Teacher Interview Online Booking will be open from Tuesday 16th July.
Early Dismissal on Thursday 1st August
As Student Parent Teacher interviews begin at 1:30pm
on Thursday 1st August, students will be dismissed at 12:40pm, the end of period 4.
Where is God today?
Year 8 classes have been discussing how God is revealed in the four sources of revelation; scripture, creation, tradition and human experience. In a reflection activity this week, 8 Hollows students wrote a reflection on where God has been revealed to them.
The range of responses varied and within Human Experiences, students discussed that God was with them through difficult times, such as war and was with them as they traveled to safety. They were happy that God was with them in their new beginnings.
Some students felt it was through liturgies and prayer that God was revealed to them. Some felt God was revealed in silence, and in times of thinking about problems and solutions. Still other students found that readings or hearing particular stories from the bible was where God was revealed to them.
Currently students are exploring where they find God in others and in society today.
Australian Catholic Youth Festival
The Australian Catholic Youth Festival is a national gathering of Catholic young people established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. It exists to provide young people with opportunities to:
deepen their relationship with Jesus;
be empowered to be disciples in the world today, and
encounter and celebrate the vitality of the Church in Australia.
The Festival was first held in 2013 in the Archdiocese of Melbourne and in 2015 in the Archdiocese of Adelaide. Over 3300 attended each event establishing the Festival as the largest and most diverse national event for catholic young people in Australia. This year the event will be held in Perth and Catholic Regional College will be sending students to participate in the festival. Currently eleven Yr 9 & Yr 10 students have applied. We wish them well with their applications and preparations for the festival.
The newsletter is published fortnightly and distributed on Day 10.
Students will have a chance to read it before taking it home to families that evening.
Newsletter Days for Term 3 2019:
Friday: 26 July 9 August 23 August 6 September 20 September
The newsletter can also be accessed via the school app or on the College website at http://www.crcstalbans.catholic.edu.au
WINNERS OF THE READERS’ CUP
Congratulations to the following students who enjoyed a pizza lunch on Tuesday:
Brandon Wolfe
Sasha Bangit
Marsel Eshaq
Tommy Pham
Francees Alhadaya
Maddison Mavrogenis
GregoryEstepa
Athraa Matti
Claretta Rock
Randee Attallah
Narmin Atallah
Venus Sario
Yousif Alkateb
Ghandi Matti
Phillip Nguyen
Nibras Al-Rammo
Malak Ayshoa
Fadi Makdessijarjis
Anmar Zakar
Malak Haddad
Madyan Tamoz
Arasema Teshome
Zakariya Zakariya
Victoria Olatunbosun
Marsil Yalda
WHAT'S ON WHEN . . .
MILO MORNINGS EVERY TUESDAY FROM 8.00AM
MINI BREAKFAST EVERY THURSDAY MORNING FROM 8.00AM
NEW BOOKS....CHESS ANYONE?
Try one of our new titles...
A to Z Chess Tactics Play chess? This is an essential book for anyone looking to improve their game.
HAFLA!
By Fadi Makdessijarjis
Last week we went to the Hafla. It was an Arabic cultural party celebrating the Arabic people at CRC St Albans. The word Hafla means a social gathering of family, friend’s guests, drinking, eating and entertaining by dancing and singing.
When I arrived to the Hafla everyone was seated and they were waiting for the first activity, which was Jude who was playing the ‘oud’ which is an Arabic instrument but before that we had to say a prayer before we started the Hafla.
After that it was time for dinner. There was a lot of food like Dolma or Chicken Bryany and Kosy. Everybody had to sit up and walk to where the food was and grab a paper plate and a spoon or a fork to eat with.
Later after everybody had finished their food it was time for the intensive English language class to do the Gobari dance which was our class. The first group of people had stood up and they were ready to start the dance, at that time my heart started pounding! My exhilaration level was so high and I was feeling agitated because it was my turn to join the dance! After a while I was calm and not nervous not even a bit because I got used to it overtime especially when everybody joined in.
Eventually the Gobari song ended and the DJ started playing different songs to which we joined in with more dancing and having the time of our lives meaning having a lot of fun.
After all the dancing and fun it was time for dessert which everyone had brought to share. Everything was very appetizing / delicious and the teachers made coffee and tea for the adults.
In conclusion we are very grateful for Ms Utri for letting us have the amazing time at the Hafla and I hope next year we would have an astonishing time just like this year.
I’d also like to thank all the teachers who helped make this such a fantastic night for us kids and our parents.
Hafla recount...
By Malak Ayshoa
1- On Thursday night we had a party called Hafla .The party was just for iraq people and for teachers and their families too.
2- At the party there was about 200 people who all had a fantastic time.
3- At the party was a boy playing guitar and the other one was singing a beautiful iraqi song.
4- Finally when the two boys finished singing and playing with the guitar,and now it was dinner time and the food it was beautiful and it was very delicious and every single word that is nice for this iraqi food.
5- It was time for my class and I to dance a beautiful dance and a beautiful iraqi song too.
6- We started dancing by ourselves like 10 or 15 minutes and then the girls said our families will join in with the dancing and they will make it better with us.
7- We finished the three dances with our families and then the D.J said I will put some other music on for you to dance on your own and with your own movements.
8- When I finished dancing with my friends I went to change my iraqi dress for another beautiful iraqi dress.
9- We danced a little bit more and the D.J said please go and relax and eat some sweets.
10- The party finished and the principal said a big thanks to all the teachers and the families and the students too,Then Sami said to everybody in my classroom to take a picture for Ms.Carmel because Ms.Carmel wasn’t here she was in Darwin and she would have loved our wonderful celebration.
Term 3 2019
Monday 15 July:
Staff Professional Learning Day (students not required)
Tuesday 16 July:
Students return to school for Term 3
(Day 2 of Sem 2 timetable)
22 July – 26 July:
Year 10 Work Experience
Wednesday 31 July:
Sydenham Open Evening and Careers Expo (Year 10 families)
Thursday 1 August:
Student / Parent / Teacher interviews
- students finish at 12.40pm
Tuesday 13 August:
Year 11 Course Planning Day (Year 10 students)
Year 10 Social
Wed 14 August:
Staff Professional Learning Day
(students not required at school)
Thursday 15 August:
School Production: Turn Back Time
Friday 16 August:
School Production: Turn Back Time
Monday 2 September:
SACCSS Interschool Athletics
Tuesday 3 September:
Immersion Day
18 September – 20 September:
Year 9 Camp
Friday 20 September:
Final day Term 3.
Retaining information:
When you read a passage of text it is useful to employ visualisation to help you retain the information. A strategy for this process is the RIDER strategy.
Read the passage
Image – create an image in your mind to represent the key points of the passage
Describe – your images
Evaluate – have you covered the key points
Repeat – read, image and describe it again to ensure the information is retained.
Formulating a picture in your mind about the information provides you with an additional prompt for the information you have read.
Describing the information ensures you have remembered the information.
Evaluating and Repeating the task encourages you to check in with what you have recorded. Have you got all the key points? Did you need to add anything to your image? This type of checking in is a great learning strategy.