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A Simple Prayer
Lord,
May the day go gently.
May the events of life not overwhelm me.
My anxiety not determine my mood or spirit.
May tasks be done without stress or hurry.
May most expectations be fulfilled by this never to be repeated day.
And may today be a simple and pleasant day;
Free from complexities or dramas, and filled with peace and joy.
For each day, Lord, brings with it the promise of Your support in all that we do.
Amen (Prayers 4 Gatherings)
Mother’s Day
On Sunday we honour all mothers and all who mother with love, patience, strength, kindness and wisdom. Say a prayer for the mother who laughs and cries with you, who loves you unconditionally, who has taught you valuable life lessons.
May all mums in our community know that their unconditional love, support and all that they do for us are very much appreciated, even though we may not say this often enough! I am really looking forward to catching up with a number of mums at this morning’s annual Mothers’ Day Breakfast. As with all things this year, it will certainly be different as we get together on Google Meet. Thank you to the staff and student leaders who have worked hard to take this event online.
Newsletter Take Over!
To help us stay in touch and to see what others are doing whilst in isolation, this edition of our newsletter has been prepared by the Student Leaders. The focus is on wellbeing. From tips on managing Learning from Home to Isolation Bingo, there are many valuable hints and I thank Ms Cioccia and the leaders for all their work. Enjoy.
Wellbeing Day: Tuesday 19 May
As we finish Week 4 of Learning from Home, I’d like to thank students, staff and families for all you’ve done in Learning from Home. In this time we have certainly learnt that whilst technology is amazing and allows us to do many things, it is not the same as going to school. Everything takes so much longer to explain / ask / grasp when we do it remotely.
Students and staff are finding online learning and teaching to be quite intense. The hours of screen time are tiring. Many are working late at night and finding it hard to ‘switch off’. There is always one more email to read, one more task to do and the boundary between work / school and home has become blurred. I imagine that it is the same for many parents / carers who are working from home.
As we approach the mid-point of the term, we’ve decided that Tuesday 19 May (Week 6) will be a Wellbeing Day for students and staff.
On this day, there will be no online learning/teaching, no classes for students who are coming to school and no expectation that students/ staff are catching up on work. It is a day to get away from screens. Time to just be, to rest and recharge; time to get outside and/or to pursue non screen activities.
Newsletter
This term our newsletter will be published online only. Families will receive an sms with a link to the newsletter, and students will receive the newsletter by email.
Newsletter Days for Term 2 2020:
Fridays: 22 May 05 June 19 June
The newsletter can always be accessed on the College website at http://www.crcstalbans.catholic.edu.au
May is Mary’s Month
The month of May is Mary’s month. The year 9 students are currently exploring the role of Mary in the bible and what they see Mary in society today.
Here is are some responses from Year 9 Barton.
"Mary impacts my faith life because I see her as an example for all mothers in the world. I believe that she gave birth to Jesus and raised him up to be a good person, as all mothers do with their child. She is the best example of all mothers in the world."
"I consider Mary as a role model; not necessarily to be a mother, but as a model of the Catholic Church. She demonstrates the mission of the Church. For example, she agreed to God's will to give birth to Jesus and supported her faith to her son throughout his lifetime."
Hail Mary
The term Hail Mary is often used in mainstream society when a person is having a last attempt and hoping for a miracle. For Chrisitians the term Hail Mary comes from the Gospel of Luke.
In the Gospel of Luke, we find the two principal verses that make up the frequently used "Hail Mary" prayer. The first part of the prayer is derived from the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel greeted Mary by saying "hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28)
The next part of the prayer is taken from the Visitation, when Elizabeth greeted Mary with the words, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (Luke 1:42)
Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women
Blessed is the fruit of your womb
Holy Mary mother of God
Pray for our sinners now and at the hour of death
Amen
Caritas Helps Communities Survive Pandemic
As Australia responds to the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19, Caritas Australia is urging thousands of school children, teachers, church and community leaders across Australia to support its work with vulnerable communities facing the pandemic.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is amplified for those who are in communities already vulnerable to poverty, disease and malnutrition. Caritas Australia works, across 23 countries and with 1.52 million people worldwide.
“You know how you feel when you see supermarkets running out of things on their shelves?” asked Caroline Preston, Caritas Australia’s Head of International Programs.
“Well, imagine how you would feel if you were running out of clean drinking water. Yet for people in the communities we work with around the world this is a daily reality.”
“In refugee camps in places such as Cox’s Bazar… the impact of this epidemic is likely to be catastrophic for communites who lack access to proper sanitary living conditions and health systems.”
How to support Caritas Australia
Your donation to Caritas Australia, along with your support of the Project Compassion annual Lenten Fundraiser, can help protect communities through emergency food and medical supplies. Please bank your Project Compassion boxes via online transfer, or at a branch. Call (toll free) 1800 024 413 or visit caritas.org.au
Caritas is always ready to assist you at 1800 024 413.
As we’re all going through these challenging times, it’s important to stay healthy and take care of ourselves, especially our mental health. The separation that we’ve all experienced is not an easy one and we should not let these difficult circumstances control our lives negatively.
We must stay active, exercise, meditate, eat well and maintain our routine. It’s also extremely important to talk about our feelings, communicate and reach out to someone if we’re not feeling great. This is a tough time, so it’s normal to feel down, demotivated or anxious sometimes. But remember that it’s temporary and it’ll be over soon.
The new online learning system helps students stay connected and engaged throughout the day. Teachers, students and staff are all working together to cope with this situation and provide support to others.
This lockdown is definitely something we’ve never experienced before. However, if we look at the bright side of things, it could also be an opportunity to explore ourselves, learn new things, and realise how lucky we are to be safe and alive.
Hopefully, we will get through this and look back on it as a memory or even a lesson in life.
- Jude Sef, College Captain
Here are my top 10 tips for learning from home....Sonany Istaifo, College Captian
-
- Take short breaks between each period
- Have a good working and learning space
- Create a list of what needs to be done
- Focus on what you can do during that period
- Stay connected with friends and teachers
- Go for a walk during lunchtime
- Do meditation
- Notify your teachers if something is happening
- Talk to/email Ms Sharika if you need emotional support
- Be kind to yourself
Bingo boards are one of the latest viral trends. People use a Bingo template image as the base for their social media story, then tick off each one of the items that apply to them. Then they tag friends to challenge them to post the same story.
So, we challenge you to dowload and screenshot this Isolation Bingo template, then share it with your friends!
Year 7 Snowy and Year 8 Orifici were set the challenge of creating a collage that represents their life in isolation. Click through the gallery of images below.
In 7 Avoca, we all took some time during Pastoral Care to write a short journal entry to capture our thoughts and feelings in relation to COVID 19 and Remote, Online Learning. Our aim is making a small book with all our responses that we can keep to show future family, friends and generations what 2020 felt like for us.
Here are a few of our responses:
When I heard about Covid-19 (Coronavirus), I thought it wasn’t that serious because it was in China. But the more I heard about it I knew it was getting even more serious. I tried not to worry about it because I trusted that God would take care of it. Online learning is a bit challenging because you don't have teachers or your friends helping you. It's also a bit annoying because I don't have social media to talk to my friends. But since we are at home I can have some more quality family time.
Eteshet Anteneh
This Pandemic has made a huge and shocking impact on the whole world. Covid-19 made history. When I first heard about it, I personally did not care because back then it wasn’t a huge thing. After hearing people talk about the virus, I became curious and started listening to the news. At first, I was amazed because we never had a virus that went viral in the media like this. It has really changed my life. It will forever change everything. Just knowing and experiencing what it feels like to live in a world with a pandemic will change the way I see life. Once the virus has gone, I will remember what it did to many people all around the world. Currently, online learning has been alright. I personally like going to school because it is much easier and convenient learning wise. But learning at home is fine with me and has gone really well. Spending time with my family is already fun for me, however, spending extra time with my siblings and parents makes it even more fun. The only stress and fear I have at the moment is more people having the Coronavirus, spreading the virus and the virus sadly taking more lives. It really hurts to hear and see people’s grief for their loved ones. I am communicating with my extended family relatives by facetiming and calling them. Though I cannot see or touch them physically, it still makes me happy to see and hear their beautiful faces and voices through the camera.
Janelle Lawang
When I heard that we were going to do school online because of COVID-19, I didn’t believe it because I thought it wasn’t that bad. It turned out to be really bad and many people are getting infected because they aren’t social distancing. My life hasn’t changed that much, although I have to stay at home 24/ 7 which is really boring. Online school for me is harder than I expected because I thought it was going to be a few worksheets and since it’s the internet, you wouldn’t get confused - I was wrong because it has been hard and very confusing, it hurts my eyes because I have to stare at the screen for the entire session for some of my classes. I am keeping myself amused by talking to friends and family on social media and playing games on my devices because I have nothing better to do. I am really stressed because there is so much work and it is difficult to keep up because my eyes hurt and I’m scared if anyone gets coronavirus in our surroundings. It’s been easy to talk to my family these days because I’m not at school and my friends can’t talk to me anytime they wish. The difficult things are when you go grocery shopping, you have to be really aware of germs.
Anna Vu
COVID 19 has affected my life big time.
My routine has changed completely. I don't get to go out anymore, go grocery shopping with my parents, visit my extended family, do many things, including going to school. Back when we did have school, when we heard about the Coronavirus, everyone decided to make fun of it but then it became serious and people didn't make fun of it like they used to. Now I feel stressed and worried when my parents have to go buy groceries. There’s a chance of them getting it and you never know when. Then instead of going to school, I have to do online learning which is much harder than I thought. When everyone found out we were doing online learning, people were like ‘ YAY!!! I GET TO STAY HOME AND BE IN MY PJS!!’ But now that we are actually at home and doing online learning, everyone is always talking about not being able to go to school and not being able to see their friends. Now everyone knows that COVID 19 is not a joke and that you shouldn’t make fun of it. On the other hand, I'm also happy because I can call some of my friends and families and keep in touch with them. Calling my family and friends makes it much better for me when I'm staying at home, sometimes, talking to no one and being lonely.
Emily Nguyen
As adolescents, one of the important things for you would be the friendships shared amongst your school mates. In these times of forced isolation, the physical distance we are currently experiencing could be used as a moment to ponder what we are learning in the process; about ourselves and the life we once knew; this is a great time for pause and reflection.
Some of the questions we could ask ourselves are: What am I learning about myself each day? What are the things that are in my control? What can’t I control? How am I managing my school work? What are my study patterns? Am I employing appropriate communication skills whilst talking to my friends? How often do I feel like I need to be in contact with my friends? – If it is a lot (a.k.a all the time) – why do I feel this way? Have I been a good friend to others and have my friends respected my boundaries and treated me respectfully? What can I do differently?
As much as we enjoy connection and being in touch with people we care about, it is also healthy for ourselves to have space. Since “space” is forced at the moment, at least in the physical sense, we can use the free time we have to build upon other areas of our lives (many suggestions provided in this newsletter) and then share those experiences and knowledge in our conversations with our friends when we do make the time to connect with them.
Miss Sharika, College Counsellor
This morning, our Mother's Day Breakfast may have looked a little different from previous years, however, its purpose was the same. Thirty five mums, our student Leaders and staff came together to celebrate and acknowledge the important women in our community.
Our College Captains Jude, Sonany, Nhi and Loang hosted the online event. They created a very welcoming space by greeting families as they joined in on the Google Meet, and conducted a heartfelt Q and A session with our guest speaker Jennie Wetzler. She shared her personal story with us; one full of challenges, inspiration, resilience, resourcefulness, and courage. Thank you Jennie for taking the time to remind us to be kind to ourselves and to look for those silver linings.
Our social distancing rules may have prevented a gathering in the College library today, however, we were able to sit together on-screen while enjoying our hand-delivered breakfast boxes and feel connected to the CRC 'sisterhood'.
Thank you to the many staff and students who worked collaboratively to make this morning a success.
Mr Quinn and Ms Cioccia
Please watch Jennie Wetzler's video shown at this morning's Mother's Day Breakfast. There are links below for Arabic and Vietnamese.
Click here for Arabic:
Click here for Vietnamese:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUVCbpObBeU&t=15s
Thank you to Caelen Khoo (yr 8 SRC) who put together this Mother's Day Slideshow also shown at this morning's event.
The Sport Health and Physical Education (SHAPE) Team have set a series of challenges for our students (and families) to complete while learning from home.
Students are encouraged to complete a minimum of 5 activities each week. Those who meet the challenge guidelines, will receive a Subway voucher electronically, thanks to the generosity of Subway Delahey. Students will also gain House points towards Williams Cup for successfully participating in the SHAPE Challenge each week.
Take care and stay active!
Mr Dale Marshall
Health and PE Leader
House Points for SHAPE CHALLENGE so far......
Well done to the following students who successfully completed at least 5 of the CRC SHAPE Challenge activities in weeks 2 and 3. These students have collected points for their houses.
WEEK 2:
| Year 7 |
Year 8 |
Year 9 | Year 10 |
|
Emily Nguyen Janelle Lawang Jimmy Tran Jeesika AlQasspitrus Maya Pion Roger Louis Sierra Lynch Vicky huynh Charlie Ferdinand |
Nyariak Neyol Brandan Radolovic Isam Shakoori Jamie Fernando |
Jesse Renda Sacreana Ulugia-Sa'ena Dustin Nguyen Maryam Jabreta Victor Smith Akuet Kuol Hinh Ho Matthew Youssif Nikola Markic Roaa Aluoka Vincent Nguyen Hiltin Tran Jana Mikela Jacob Kevin Pham Loard AlShabee Sami Basra |
Aroal Kur Angel Catayong Monika Konc |
Week 3
| Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10 |
|
Emily Quach Kayla Lay Tristan Wolfe Olivar Zghar Mirai Ataalah Janelle Lawang |
John Bryton Santiago Fadi Makdessijarjis |
Matthew Youssif Roaa Aluoka Hinh Ho Nikola Markic Vincent Nguyen Julie Phan James Hoang Dustin Nguyen |
The points tally for the SHAPE Challenge, are below:
| GUELEN - 14 pts | CORBETT - 14 pts | O'REILLY - 7 pts | REIS - 14 pts |
NEW BOOKS - JUST ADDED TO THE EPLATFORM
Superman Dawnbreaker by Matt De La Pena
Clark Kent has always been faster, stronger, better than everyone around him. He knows drawing attention to himself could be dangerous but lately it's difficult to stay in the shadows. A dark secret is lurking in Smallville and he's not the only one hiding something. With his best friend, Lana Lang, at his side, Clark is determined to discover what evil lies below the surface of their small town. But there are secrets in Clark's past that threaten to destroy the future Man of Steel. Before he can save the world, he must save Smallville.
Change of Heart by Darren Goth
Since the sudden death of his younger sister, Munro Maddux has been stuck. Flashbacks. Anger. Chest pains. And a voice – taunting, barking, biting – that his counsellor calls ‘the Coyote’. Munro knows a student exchange will not be the stuff of Disney movies. But in Australia he intends to move beyond his troubled past.
Forced by his new school to join a volunteer program, Munro discovers the Coyote is silenced in one place: Fair Go, an assisted living residence in Brisbane’s west, where Munro gets to know his team of residents: dogged designer Bernie; sleeping refugee Shah; comic creator Iggy; and self-defence tutor Florence. As this unlikely group shows Munro the sights, Munro’s notion of what it means to be a big brother begins to change. But the burden Munro carries is not so easily cast aside, and unexpected developments at Fair Go prompt a devastating flashback that threatens to end the student exchange.
Other new titles added to the platform last month:
Black by Fleur Ferris
Inside the Tiger by Hayley Lawrence
Never Say Die by Anthony Horowitz
Nightshade by Anthony Horowitz
One of Us Is Lying: the bestselling thriller by Karen McManus
Secret Weapon by Anthony Horowitz
Soldier Boy by Anthony Hill
Special by Georgia Blain
Tales of the Peculiar by Ranson Riggs
The Conference of the Birds: Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
FALLING LEAVES - CRC ePLATFORM NEWSLETTER
During the week, the library emailed every student its 'Falling Leaves' newsletter.
In this issue:
- How to use the eplatform Library
- How to get the most out of the eplatform
- What's new
- Suggested reads
- Quick reads
- Readers book review
- Readers' Cup Ladder
'CRC Twig' - Library Makerspace Activities
Another publication that students received this week, is the 'CRC Twig'. This is full of activites, mindful colouring in, interactive puzzles etc.
A printer is not needed, and all instructions are included to complete the activities on screen.
If you missed it, check your emails or ask Ms Robinson to email you a copy; arobinson@crcstalbans.com.au
READERS' CUP LADDER
The top 8 readers on the eplatform for April are:
