May the Gospel teachings about non-judgement resound in your thoughts of others.

May you listen closely to how God invites you to grow spiritually through this Lenten season.

May you slow down and look more intently in order to find God in your life.

May you carry your cross of difficulties with courage, trusting God’s strength to uphold you.

May your service be so intertwined with God that this love overflows from your heart.

May you keep turning your heart toward God and allow this love to be reflected in how you live your life.

May you welcome God’s companionship and guidance as you travel the path of life.

Return with all your heart. Remember the Holy Spirit dwells in you. Be at peace.

(Joyce Rupp, Prayer Seeds)

Wednesday marks the beginning Lent, a season where we are called to a change of heart. Often in Lent we choose simple actions that help us to become more prayerful, to live more simply, and to share what we have with those who are in need. It is a period for taking stock and making room in our lives to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. I wish all in the College community a very fruitful Lenten season.

School Advisory Council (Catholic Regional College St Albans)

In 2021, the Federation of Catholic Regional Colleges established an overarching School Advisory Council for the CRC Colleges. In addition to this, each College will also establish a local School Advisory Council.

School Advisory Councils (SAC) act within the Terms of Reference set out by the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Board.

School_Advisory_Council_Terms_of_Reference_secondary_schools.pdf.

While the School Advisory Council does not have governance responsibility or decision-making authority, it supports principal, priests and leadership team and provides an important connection to the parish.

The membership of the CRC St Albans School Advisory Council will be as follows:

1. the principal (ex officio)
2. a priest nominated to represent the association of canonical administrators (ex officio) (custodian of mission)
3. two - three parents of children attending the school
4. one parishioner
5. another person who in the opinion of the principal has the relevant knowledge, skills, expertise or interest and commitment to the mission of the school to serve a particular need on the council
6. staff member
7. student representative(s)
8. alumni representative

Fr. Gerard Keith (Resurrection Parish) will join the School Advisory Council as custodian of mission and representative of the canonical administrators of the College.

Expressions of interest are now open for the parent and parishioner positions on the School Advisory Council.

While no particular expertise is required, the College seeks people with diverse skill sets and backgrounds, and a strong interest in Catholic education, to be part of this exciting opportunity for parent and community voice to shape the ongoing development of our school.

If you are a member of the parishes associated with the College or have children in the school and wish to be part of the inaugural School Advisory Council, we welcome your expression of interest.

Expressions of interest need only be brief. A few lines about yourself, your connection to the College, involvement in parish life and reasons for your interest in being part of the School Advisory Council.  Please email the expression of interest to principal@crcstalbans.catholic.edu.au by 4.00pm on Tuesday 15 March 2022.

Homework Support

All Year 7 and 8 families have received a letter about the arrangements for Homework Support. Please ensure that you return your reply slip by Friday 11 March.

Masks and Rapid Antigen Tests

Thank you to all families, students and staff for your ongoing support in implementing COVID safety measures. Recent changes / adjustments that apply to schools are:

     1. Masks

It is no longer mandatory that students wear masks at school, however, they are still recommended and students should feel very comfortable to continue wearing them.

     2. Rapid Antigen Tests

Twice weekly Rapid Antigen tests will continue to the end of Term 1. Thank you to all families who have made surveillance testing part of the family routine. We will send home the next rounds of tests early this week.

Year 8 Family Information Night

It was terrific that so many families were able to join us for the Year 8 Information Night last week. Thank you to Ms Alexopoulos, the Year 8 students and the pastoral care teachers for an informative session. From the questions in the Chat, students are very excited about the upcoming camp.

Inter-house Swimming Carnival

Arrangements have been finalised for the 2022 Inter-house swimming carnival that will be held at the Sunshine Pool on Thursday 03 March, 2022. We wish all houses well as this is the first event for the 2022 Williams Cup.

Families are asked to ensure that they have read the excursion letter and completed the permission form on PAM.

Students will be travelling to and from the pool by bus. School will start and finish at the normal times. 

Newsletter

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

Newsletter Days for Term 1 2022:              

Fridays:                 11 March                     25 March          08 April

School ‘drop off’ and ‘pick up’

As is the case with most schools, the streets around the College and Sacred Heart primary school are congested at these times. Our first concern is always everyone’s safety and we ask families to take care when collecting or dropping off students.

Please ensure that your child uses the school crossings and that you do not double park or park in no standing places. Council officers regularly blitz the area around the school. At times, parents parked on the west side of Theodore Street call students to cross the road, rather than using the crossing. This is unsafe.

We would advise families to drop off and pick up on Arthur Street rather than Theodore Street as it is less congested.

Key Dates Term 1 2022

All dates and activities are tentative and a final decision will be might in light of COVID risk assessments.

Hearts Open to the World in Lent

Lent is about taking time out to reflect on how we live our faith, through action.  This year the CRC St Albans school community will look to explore lent through the lense of the Good Samaritan Parable.  The Good Samaritan demonstrates an open heart by connecting with a person he does not know who is also in need. As we progress through Lent we will respond to a challenge question at the beginning of the week and evaluate our progress at the end of the week of how well we are reaching out to our neighbor.  

The Samaritan is on the road with an open heart, Lent will be our community's journey where we are also on a road where we will reflect and challenge ourselves with an open heart.  The Student Leaders presented the story of the Good Samaritan through a series of images, these provided the basis for a great classroom discussion in our religion classes.

Two Catholic Regional College Students will be making their 1st Holy communion this Saturday with Sacred Heart Parish, they are Tony Phung (Year 8) and Marven Zakr (Year 7). If you would like your child to complete their communion with your Parish please contact Jacinta Dykes jdykes@crcstalbans.com.au

On Tuesday the 22nd of February, the year 7s went on an activity day to the YMCA Lake Dewar: 339 Garrards Lane, MYRNIONG. There we had a lot of fun doing activities such as canoeing, archery, lighting a fire, ordering flags in alphabetical order and more. There were 20 activities in total but we didn’t get to do all of them. Each classroom was also split into two groups and the team with the most points won. Canoeing was probably the best and although some people fell in the lake they had life jackets on and sometimes it was funny. The weather was also great which made everything easier. Overall It was super entertaining and fun, the staff were all really kind and the food there was great (We were provided with morning tea and lunch). I especially had fun as we got to know our classmates even more and because it was on my birthday. 

- Stella Mom

On 22/02/2022 The Year 7s went to a camp ‘Lake Dewar Lodge’ . My time at this camp was more joyful than I had thought. I loved the activities as they involved Teamwork, Communication, and Courage helping me interact with people. This camp also helped me overcome my fear of water which was the greatest achievement for me. I cannot wait to be able to go back and experience the excitement and joy that I had that day. 

- Drew Johnson-Falesii

Yr 7 Yarra's responses:

What did you learn about yourself throughout the day’s activities?

• I was a good leader
• I’m good at crawling in the dark
• I'm not that good on the canoe
• That I am not good at group work and need to work on this
• I have a lot of energy
• That I can do more than I think
• That I like archery and that it is not as scary as I thought it would be
• That I good at things I thought I was not.
• That I'm not as shy as I thought because I started talking to some other people that I normally don't.
• Don’t fall into the water
• Trying your best on the activities

What did you learn about the importance of Team Work?

• We need teams to complete all activities
• That all is better as a team
• That it is important to talk to your team mates and make tactics in order to succeed.
• You need it a lot
• That we all believe in each other
• To be talkative to everyone
• Team work makes the dream work
• Team work is important and without team work, we would have not been able to complete the activities.
• Teamwork is very important because you can get things done faster and better.
• To try your best.
• That if we communicate and work together we can achieve what we want. ;-;
• Great teamwork places you be in the top 3
• It is important to help each other out
• It's better being in a team because you can work harder
• Trust each other
• You have to help each other

Now that the Year 7 science students have their Bunsen Burner License, they are enjoying experiment work!

In Extended Pastoral Care and Homeroom, we have been working collectively to create a sense of community and sense of belonging where all students and staff feel safe and students are ‘ready to learn’.

Character Strength of the Week

Social Intelligence (Virtue of Humanity)

Definition: Aware of motives and feelings of others, knows what makes others tick and shows empathy.

Synonyms: sociability, sociability, gregariousness.

Quote: "Grades don't measure intelligence and age doesn't define maturity". (unknown)

How to ignite your Social Intelligence:

• What are the social situations that have had the most positive outcomes for you?
• How do you positively influence interactions with others?
• What other character strengths help you to be more socially intelligent?

Video: Emotional Intelligence

Character Strengths

We believe everyone is unique and have something different to offer. Over the next week students will unpack and share their Character Strengths and celebrate their similarities and differences with one another in Pastoral Care.

What are Character Strengths? They are the qualities that come most natural to you.

• Every individual possesses all 24-character strengths in different degrees, giving each person a unique character or strength profile.
• When you know your strengths, you can improve your life and thrive.
• Research reveals that people who use their strengths a lot are 18 times more likely to be flourishing than those who do not use their strengths.
• Character strengths are a vehicle for improving wellbeing and providing a sense of purpose and hope.

If family members would like to complete the VIA Character Strengths Profile and share and celebrate with your child, you can do so by visiting this website: https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register#youth

Friendly February

Please see attached this month's calendar theme: Friendly February for you to reflect upon with students, family and friends.

How can we have happier relationships?

This month is all about friendship and finding small ways we can stay connected and feel closer to others.

We need each other more than ever right now! This month, let's focus on reaching out to connect with others and do our best to be a good friend/teacher. Our acts of kindness and connection ripple out and impact so many more people than we realise - and they also boost our own happy hormones too! In stressful times people around us may be feeling the strain, so let's try to keep calm, take time to listen and show compassion.

We have mailed out the School Fees statements this week, so all families should receive their school fees by the end of this week or early next week at the latest.

$100 Early Fee Discount per family applies if fees are paid in full on or before 24th June 2022.  Please note if paying by netbanking only reduce the fee total by $100.

For families who are eligible for CSEF, we have not yet credited your account as monies have not been received from the Government.

Contact Ms. Anne Ross if you have any queries or concerns.

PH.93650221

MOB: 0427 036 925