Nobody saw it coming.

It changed everything.

All those things that once seemed important,

Suddenly weren’t.

We began to realise what was.

People,

keeping safe,

being happy,

doing our bit for the good of others,

little things.

May we always remember

how it feels,

when the unimportant important things come crashing down.

Yet with them the really important things.

Like …

the laughter of a game played with friends,

catching up with family,

celebrations (in real life, not online),

going out,

saying hello and goodbye with hugs and handshakes.

And when we emerge, once again,

Instead of going back to normal,

May we go ahead, remembering what we really missed,

and what we didn’t.

(Voices out of lockdown, Liz Delafield)

Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

Over the past 18 months we have learnt to expect the unexpected but the speed at which our circumstances changed last week was still a surprise. One minute we were enjoying a very ‘normal’ return to school and a few hours later we were once again cocooned in the safety of our homes.

I thank all students, families and staff for the resilience, positivity and grit that you continue to show in the face of the unexpected. The transition to Learning from Home has once again been seamless. Attendance and student engagement are strong. However, I know that ensuring a ‘seamless’ transition between onsite and offsite learning, requires much from students, staff and families. Thank you.

In this newsletter, we have included a short article by Professor Lea Water on COVID fatigue and the role that practising gratitude has in alleviating the impact of stress and uncertainty. Practising gratitude is a key component of the GEM (Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness) program that students learn about in Pastoral Care.

Hopefully, Lockdown 5.0 will finish on Tuesday and we will all be back onsite on Wednesday. Stay safe and take care.

Tokyo Olympics: Thomas Deng

For many lockdown will seem a little easier once the Olympics start at the weekend. We are delighted that Thomas Deng (Year 10 2012) has been selected as captain of the Olyroos for the upcoming Olympics. He is very worthy of this honour and we wish him and the team all the best as they pursue their Olympic dream.

Changes to eligibility for onsite learning

In extending the lockdown, the Victorian Government announced a change in the eligibility for onsite learning. Supervision is also available for students where a parent/carer indicates that a student with a disability is vulnerable because they cannot learn from home or informs the school the student is vulnerable due to family stress. Families are asked to contact the school if this is the case.

Semester 1 Reports

These are available to families through the Parent Access Module from today, Friday 23 July. Students can access reports through SIMON, the student learning management system. Congratulations to all students who have achieved their personal best in Semester 1.

Student Parent Teacher Conferences

Due to COVID, the student, parent and teacher conferences will once again be online this term. This week all families received a letter (mail) with their PAM access code and instructions on how to book the S/P/T conference on PAM. Bookings need to be completed by Tuesday 27/7/21.

If you did not receive the letter, please contact the College and we will provide the details.

Newsletter

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

Newsletter Days for Term 3 2021:             

Fridays:    06 August,     20 August,     03 September,     17 September      

The newsletter can also be accessed on the College website at http://www.crcstalbans.catholic.edu.au

Listening to the Cry of the Earth

Our school theme this year at Catholic Regional College St Albans, is to listen to the cry of the earth and listen to the cry of the poor. At our Social Justice council meeting this week we explored how we as a school community can listen to the cry of the earth and how our individual actions impact on our school systems. The issue we identified as having the greatest impact was litter. When students drop litter in the yard this blows into our pond in the Jubilee garden and affects the habitat of our fish. Currently very little of our school litter is recycled and much of the waste will also make its way into landfill. In Term 3 our Social Justice Team is introducing a zero litter strategy on the school grounds of Catholic Regional College St Albans. This will involve an education campaign run by the Social Justice Council which includes clearly labelled recycle bins in the school yard.

Other changes that will be occurring in our school yard during Term 3, is a painted mural. The Arts staff and students worked with a mural artist to develop an artwork design that represents the cultural diversity of our school. The mural which will be painted onto the wall of the main stage, will contain flora and fauna of the 44 countries represented in our school. There will be olive tree branches threaded through the mural, connecting the flowers and animals. Olive trees are grown on all continents. It is universal. The mural will include a quote from Genesis `And God saw that it was good’.

September marks the beginning of the season of creation where as a school we will familiarise ourselves with Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si’. The following is a excert from the encyclical and prayer which the Social Justice leaders plan to share at the school assembly this term:

Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth. #92

Creator God, 

You fill the earth with life, lead us to live in harmony with the earth you have created. May we respect all life from the smallest of plants to the tallest of trees, the vastness of the oceans to the majesty of mountains and the tiniest insects to the wildest beasts.

The first semester reports will be available through the Parent Access Module at http://www.crcstalbans.catholic.edu.au/ from Friday 23rd July. (PAM can also be accessed via the SIMON Everywhere app.)  Students will also have access to their reports through the Learning Management System.

In Pastoral Care, students will be given the opportunity to reflect on their report and identify their strengths and areas for development.  At the parent/teacher/student interviews, they will share their self-evaluation and reflection on what they have achieved and what they have recognised about themselves as learners.

Student/Parent/Teacher Interviews 4^th and 5^th August 2021

Due to the COVID-19 situation, the interviews will take place via the online platform, Whereby, on Wednesday 4^th August from 5pm – 7:30pm and Thursday 5^th August from 12pm – 7pm. There will be no classes on Thursday 5^th August.

Students will be provided with the link to join parents/carers with their Pastoral Care teachers for the student led conferences.  It is expected that the interviews will run for approximately 20 minutes.  

Families are asked to complete the online booking through the Parent Access Module by Tuesday 27^th July.

HOW TO BOOK P/T/S INTERVIEWS ON PAM

Year 9 Families - Year 10 2022 Q & A - VCE and VET Subject Offerings webinar

CRC Sydenham will be running an information webinar for current Year 9 families.

The purpose of this webinar is to provide families with subject and course information that will assist in decisions about Year 10 VET and VCE options at CRC Sydenham in 2022. We encourage all families to join us online.

When: Monday 2 August

Time:  6:00pm - 7:00pm

Where: Online (link below)

Webinar link: https://crcs-vic-edu-au.zoom.us/j/98075583349

On the last day of Term 2, Thursday 24th June 2021, 12 of our students from Years 7-10 took part in an online community SACCSS Chess tournament against CRC Melton.

Students used this opportunity to ‘train’ for the SACCSS Chess Tournament (which will be held sometime this term, just awaiting confirmation on a date due to lockdown). It also allowed students to earn some handy ranking points in the process.

All students participating put in a solid effort and the competition was successful in completing 4 rounds. We would like to congratulate the following students who did exceptionally well, taking out the 3 podium finishes.

I’m happy and proud to announce that our Health Club team started Term 3 off with a BANG!!!! 

Both our Tuesday & Thursday sessions were at full capacity with our awesome team of students commiting to setting, achieving and smashing our new fitness goals for Term 3.

Unfortunately, weeks two & three have been postponed due to the lockdown, however we are keen to get back on track as soon as possible when back at school. 

Watch this space!

The Olympic Games like any other event provides a great opportunity for us all to reminisce of our past Olympic Games experiences, share these with our kids and create new memories with our loved ones.

I myself remember being a young boy watching the opening ceremony with my family. We would all be gathered in our lounge room watching the television and in awe of the spectacle that was taking place on screen. Our favourite Olympic sport to watch was the track and field and we would hold our breath every time an Australian athlete competed. It still is my favourite sport to watch today. I am excited that my two girls (Jasmine and Olivia) are old enough now to watch the Olympics with me and celebrate what the games are truly about, which is to promote peace and unity within the international community.

I encourage our school community to have these conversations with one another around your memories watching past Olympic games and maybe even sharing your favourite Olympic moment. Please feel free to share your Olympic Games Memories with me by emailing: dmarshall@crcstalbans.com.au, as I would love to hear them and share in our next Newsletter.

During the Olympic Games we will be providing opportunities for our students, staff and our wider school community to participate in activities both at home, online and at school. Please checkout our Daily Bulletin for further information and Health and PE teachers will also set activities for our students.

Connect with the Olympic Movement

Tune-in to the Olympics Unleashed TV 

Great things happen when you #HaveAGo

Aussies love to 'have a go', so we're encouraging people of all ages to #HaveAGo at an Olympic sport. See the website for further information:

Enjoy and Go Aussies!!!

Mr. Dale Marshall

You see, I was on a recent walk with a close friend of mine and this topic came up. It’s because we noticed that our kids seemed to be tired all the time. I don’t know about you, but for me and my kids, tiredness means negativity has crept in. And this negativity has a name… 

It’s called COVID fatigue.

That’s the name that psychologists have coined for what a lot of us are feeling. And it’s that deep weariness arising from more than a year of life in a global pandemic.

Unfortunately, it’s hitting us in many ways. It’s especially true for our children. In our home, it’s been harder for us to stay positive compared to this time last year. This is understandable because COVID-19 seems to drag on.  In my home town of Melbourne, we’ve had 4 rounds of hard lockdown - curfews, remote learning for my 2 kids, working from home for me and my hubby, only being allowed out of the house for 1 hour per day etc…  It’s been a very long and painful journey for so many of us across the globe. But if you think about it, it’s ironic to feel so negative at this point.

Why?

The world is showing signs of moving forward.

Large-scale vaccination programs are happening all over the world. People are getting inoculated and can now freely move outside. Children are starting to go back to school. In some countries, they already have zero cases (but my heart goes to those countries who still have high rates). So, why is there still a drop in positivity? Maybe it's because we’re too tired to have the energy needed to get past the negativity. And if we can’t recover from that, how can we move forward? What can we do to help our children stay positive and energized?

Practice gratitude.

Part of positive psychology, which is the field I specialise in as a registered psychologist and a university researcher, is focusing on gratitude. It’s an essential cog of our ‘orienting system’ that can help us recover from loss and trauma - just like what the pandemic caused us. In fact, I recently published an article in the Journal of Positive Psychology with a team of global psychologists where we discussed the power of gratitude as one of the key ways to deal with COVID fatigue. Gratitude plays an important role in helping children cope with the stress that they are going through.

By teaching your children the value of gratitude, it can help them keep their focus on the positives around them. It can also help them maintain hope and remain as happy as possible despite what’s happening.

Gratitude gives us the energy we need to see past the negativity we’re feeling because of COVID fatigue.

(Professor Lea Waters)

The disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic continues, with the scale of its impact dependent on geography. Families in the nation’s two most populated states are no strangers to lockdowns and the disturbance they bring to normal life. Regardless of where you live, the sense of the pandemic is always present, ready to disrupt daily life at short notice. 

The following article written by Michael Grose, a parenting educator, provides some insights and strategies to help families maintain a sense of normality within our homes.

Join one of our free webinars for parents and carers.

These live webinars explore the latest research and they are a great way to learn how you can help your child develop the skills to be safer online. 

All sessions are delivered by eSafety's expert education and training team.

eSafety’s parent  guide to  online sexual harassment and image-based abuse

1 in 3 young women and 1 in 5 young men have experienced online sexual harassment. When young people experience this type of online harassment and abuse it can have serious impacts. This webinar is designed for parents and young people to attend together to learn how to report and where to go for support.

It is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 13-18.

Dates:

Wednesday 28 July 12.30 to 1.30 pm

Thursday 29 July 7.30 to 8.30 pm

Tuesday 10 August 7.30 to 8.30 pm

Tuesday 24 August 12.30 to 1.30 pm

eSafety’s parent guide to  popular apps

Understand the risks when using apps like Tik Tok, Snap Chat, YouTube and Instagram. This webinar also covers strategies for staying safer on social media and how to report if something goes wrong. 

This webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 8-13.

Dates:

Monday 16 August 12.30 to 1.30 pm 

Tuesday 31 August 7.30 to 8.30 pm

To register for either of these sessions, click here: