Deep peace, pure gold of the sun to you.
Deep peace, pure white of the moon to you.
Deep peace, pure blue of the sky to you.
Deep peace, pure green of the grass to you.
Deep peace, pure brown of the earth to you.
Deep peace, pure light of the dew to you.
Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the whispering trees to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.

Irish Prayer

Thank You

As this is the final newsletter for Term 3 I’d like to thank students, families and staff for your support, hard work and care that you’ve given so generously over the past 10 weeks.

Without a doubt it has been a very busy term so it’s no surprise that we’re all ready for a break! I hope that everyone enjoys this time with family and friends, and the opportunity to move at a less hectic pace.

Cultural Nights

Over the past two weeks we’ve enjoyed two very successful community events; an African Cultural Night and a Love Asia night. Both were a wonderful celebration of the traditional food, dance, music, stories and culture of our African and Asian communities. Each offered a feast of new experiences, colour and lots of laughter. 

From the beat of the Ghanaian drummers to the fleet of foot bamboo dancers; from moving poetry to ancient stories; from beautiful lantern parades to the joy of the Bari dancers, the nights were not only lots of fun but also an opportunity to learn more about each other’s culture.

Nights such as this are the result of vision and much work. I thank the students involved in the planning, preparing and hosting the nights; Mr Atem George, Mr Tung Phan, Ms Mai Nguyen and Ms Laura Cioccia for all their work in bringing the nights together; the families who brought food and everyone for your willingness to be involved. A special thank you to Trixie May Celestial and her mum Triccia for sharing their musical talents and to the girls involved in BLOOM who have been working for weeks on their dance.

Start of Term 4

Students will return to school on Tuesday 09 October. On the Monday staff will be involved in a whole staff professional learning day. This will be the second of four days, planned over 2018 and 2019, where staff will work with external facilitators to learn about the Berry Street Education Model which focuses on positive education and wellbeing practices that support students’ academic and personal growth.

Term 4 Timetable

There will be some adjustments to the timetable for Term 4. The new timetable will be published on SIMON in the second week of the holidays. We will begin on Week 1 and Day 2 of the timetable.

Catching up with Year 12 students

Last week it was lovely to see our Year 12 students back at the College for an early dinner and the chance to catch up with staff. With less than 6 weeks to the start of exams they’re understandably tired but in good spirits. They enjoyed the downtime and a few enthusiastic games of down ball. Thank you to Hayden O’Doherty and our student leaders for organising and hosting a very successful night.

Please keep our Year 12 students in your thoughts and prayers over the coming weeks as they conclude 13 years of schooling.

Preparing for Term 4

School holidays are certainly a time for rest and recreation, however, the time between Terms 3 and 4 is more like a semi-colon than a full stop. It is a pause in the semester, a chance to catch your breath before the important final term. Some students will have projects or homework to complete over the break. It’s a good idea to get this done earlier, rather than later.

With exams only 7 or 8 weeks away, the holidays are a good time to begin revision of Term 3 work and / or to catch up on any missed work. Those who struggle with organisation might use this time to put some order into folders. Filing old notes and worksheets might be a good start. Ensuring that you have all the stationery you need for Term 4 would help.

If students do little else it would be helpful to find some time to read each day.

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 07 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.

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:

• Author in Residence program
• Year 7 Reptile Encounters incursion
• Reis Week
• Trinity Great Race
• Chinese lunch
• SACCSS Interschool Tennis
• Year 10 Visual Arts MoMa visit
• Year 9 Focus groups
• Year 9 Visual Communications gallery visit
• Year 7 Visual Arts Gallery visit
• Year 8 Premier League
• Year 9 Camp
• Year 8 Reflection Day

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.

In term 3 the Year 7’s are exploring sacred stories. The message of sacred stories are timeless. The following is from an excerpt from HaiAn Vo  of 7 Wimmera Sacred Stories Assessment. In this excerpt HaiAn recontextualises a story from Lukes Gospel to events of today and explores the underlying message of forgiveness.

Sacred stories are fictional or factual text that portrays a specific message or moral which communities tell for many different purposes. In this section of the sacred story, Jesus is brought before pilate in Luke, Jesus was put to death with two other men, both of them criminals. They arrived at the place called the skull which was the location of where Jesus was crucified with two criminals, one on his left, one on his right. Jesus said, “Forgive them, Father! They don’t know what they are doing”. This sacred story portrays that even though man treated Jesus awfully, He still forgave us by sacrificing his life just to reconcile us. If I was being put on the cross to be left to die, I would be angry and feeling nothing but hatred. But Jesus had a great enough heart to have forgiven us for the sins we’ve made and still loved us even though mankind has done evil actions towards Him. This sacred story wants us as to love one another as I have loved you, what Jesus said. Jesus wanted us to love and forgive our neighbours and enemies we may have, to have peace in our hearts.

Pope John Paul II is a perfect example of forgiveness and compassion for others. On May 13, 1981 Pope John Paul II was shot 4 times by Mehmet Ali Ağca, who had escaped from a Turkish prison after receiving a life sentence for murdering a journalist. An Italian court sentenced Ağca to life in prison. The motive for the assassination attempt and its planners remains mysterious — theories and allegations have accused the CIA, the KGB, the Bulgarian government, the Turkish mafia and more.

In 1983, John Paul II visited his would-be assassin. They had a private conversation, and emerged as friends. The pope stayed in touch with Ağca’s family during the latter's incarceration, and in 2000 requested that he be pardoned. The request was granted. Ağca was released and deported to Turkey, where he was imprisoned for the life sentence he had fled decades prior. He converted to Christianity while incarcerated, and was finally released in 2010. In December 2014, he returned to Rome and laid two dozen white roses at the pope’s tomb. Just like how Jesus’ forgave us for our sins, Pope John Paul II forgave the man who wanted to assassinate him and actually helped his life for the better. This sacred story helps us understand that we can make good deeds towards others by forgiveness.

HaiAn Vo 7 Wimmera

Term 3 fees are now overdue. We encourage families that are not on a payment plan to pay their school fees either fortnightly or monthly as there is only 2 months of school left once we come back from holidays.

Net Banking …..

A reminder to families who are using Internet Banking for payment of school fees, that it is important you enter the I.D. number and child’s family name which is located on the bottom right hand corner of your statement as shown below:

For concerns regarding school fees, please Contact Mrs Ross : 9366 2544

Senior Students and the school Community Food Program

Thank you to current year 12 student Antonella Koesoemo for completing her Applied R.E placement in the garden this year. Antonella has worked in the garden once a week since the start of the year and during the school holidays in often cold and frosty conditions. We wish her all the best for her upcoming exams and thank her for her service.

Queen Scout Award

Congratulations to year 12 students Jenia Lai, Alicia Emukule, Michelle Nguyen, Lesli Rena, Madelyn Ruel and Cindy Tran for completing their Queen Scout award, which is the highest achievement in the Venturer scout program. This award has multiple requirements and is highly respected within the scouting community. Over the last 18 months these students have completed a combined 120 hours of community service in the school garden for which we are very grateful. Congratulations again to all involved!

Garden Open times during the school holidays

Students wishing to volunteer during the school holidays in the garden can do so on Wednesday and Thursday of both weeks (the 26^th, 27^th, 3^rd and 4^th) from 10am till 4pm. Please bring a water bottle, hat, snacks and some lunch. Students are welcome to come for all or part of the day.

On the 11th of September, the year 7 students were treated to a science incursion. This incursion was an introduction to our new unit in science; the Animal Classification. The company, Reptile Encounters, came to CRC to display several different reptiles and nocturnal animals.

The presenter informed us about what part of the animal kingdom each animal was from, what their (confusing) latin name was, and what conditions each animal lived in. The animals that we learnt about ranged from owls, to lizards, to snakes, to possums, and many more fascinating creatures. This incursion was not only interesting and informative, but was also interactive, as the year 7s could hold and pat each animal, and ask and answer questions about them.

This incursion left everyone on the edge of their seats, and nobody wanted to leave. This Reptile Encounter taught each and every student about the incredible and diverse world we live in, as well as entertaining and engaging everyone. This incursion was definitely not one to forget!

Maire McEvoy, 7 Wimmera

On the 11th of September we had a year 7 Classification  Incursion. In the incursion we felt, looked, learned and held a lot of animals. We found out that different animals have more than one name depending on the area they live in. They also told us the scientific names of different animals which are accepted all around the world. Some of the animals that we saw and held were crocodile, frog, stick insect, possum, two-headed lizard and a snake.

Alessio Singarella, 7 Snowy

On the 11th of September, we had an opportunity to learn about the wildlife and experience about our next classification unit learning about reptiles, amphibians and different varieties of animals, this gave us a lot of experience with animals not only by how they feel but what about them that makes reptiles or animals endangered or special, lots of animals have different shapes and sizes and we had seen a lot of small to enormous reptiles, we had also had the experience to handle and touch the animals.

In conclusion, it was a good day seeing a lot of unique reptiles including frogs, an owl, a snake and a crocodile! this will give us a great idea and headstart for our next classification.

Vincent Sang-Yum, 7 Yarra     

New In The Library...

Book Review

Every Friday Morning....

Readers' Cup Ladder

Congratulations to 8 Orifici who moved up 3 places and to 10 Little who moved up 1 place.

We still have a term to go...so keep reading!