Ever loving God,

we, your children,

always grateful for your gift

of family,

thank you for the holiness

of our homes.

Graced by your abiding presence,

may we appreciate your gifts,

experience your joy,

endure our messiness and

remain hopeful during difficulties.

May all of us,

whoever we are,

never forget that you

are at the heart

of all the love that we share.

Amen.

Monday marks the start of Family Week across Catholic schools and parishes in Melbourne. This is an opportunity to celebrate families in all their diversity and richness. Each family is unique but whatever its structure, it’s where people find love, support and unity; experience a deep sense of belonging, are able to be themselves and first learn to appreciate difference as a gift. Families help us to ride through difficult times and it is within our family that we first learn about the presence of God in our lives.

Our opening reflection is a prayer for families. We pray for all families in our school community. The prayer is quite short and simple – you might like to pray it together as a family over the coming week.

Mother’s Day

We wish all mothers in our school community a very happy Mother’s Day for Sunday. We remember also the mums who are no longer with us. May all mums know that their unconditional love, support and all that they do for us are very much appreciated, even though we not always put our thanks into words.

On Monday, we will have our annual Mothers’ Day breakfast. It is great that quite a number of mums, carers and grandmothers will be joining us. We really look forward to sharing this.

Farewell

Last week we farewelled our College receptionist, Lisa Grech who is taking up a position as a Personal Assistant in another school. Lisa’s bright and bubbly presence, professionalism, superb organizational skills and caring support of families, students and staff will be missed. For many, she was the first person we saw in the morning and our ‘go to’ when we didn’t know something. We thank Lisa for all she contributed to the school community and wish her well in her new role.

Design and Technology Centre

After much planning, construction of the new Design and Technology Centre will start in a few weeks. The new centre will provide five contemporary learning spaces, incorporating Food Technology, STEM, Materials, Visual Arts and Visual Communication and Design.

Our current Wood Technology room was built in the early 1960’s and started life as the YCW (Young Christian Workers) Hall. It was used by Sacred Heart Parish and Primary school as a gathering space for school assemblies, parish functions, YCW dances, first communion breakfasts and much, much more. When the College took over the site in 1978, the Hall was converted into a Wood Technology room, canteen and storage space. For some time it also housed a photography studio.

Whilst the space has served us well for over 40 years, it is past its use by date and we are looking forward to the addition of these new learning spaces.

Work on the new centre begins in early June and will be completed by mid 2023.

Staff Professional Practice Day

We remind families that students are not required at school on Monday 09 May 2022 as staff have a Professional Practice Day. 

SACCSS Cross Country and Year 7 Premier League

Term 2 is a busy time for interschool sport. Year 7 students are currently participating in Premier League and selection processes are in place for a number of events.

Congratulations to all the students who represented the College at Tuesday’s SACCSS Cross Country. They displayed fine sportsmanship, achieved some very good personal best performances and were a credit to themselves, their families and the College. Thank you to the staff who organised the training sessions and supported the team on the day.

NAPLAN Tests

All Year 7 and 9 students will sit the NAPLAN online tests from Tuesday 10 May to Friday 20 May. Information about the online tests was forwarded to all families earlier this week.

The College uses a range of data to evaluate the teaching program, and to identify students who would benefit from additional assistance or extension. NAPLAN data is one data that informs these decisions. 

School Advisory Council: Final Call

Thank you to the parents / carers / alumni who have expressed interest in being part of the inaugural School Advisory Council. There is still one position available.

If you are interested in serving our school community in this way, please email me at principal@crcstalbans.catholic.edu.au.

COVID Safe Practices

Further Rapid Antigen Tests were sent home with students this week. We thank students and families for continuing with this testing.

As we approach winter, it is important that students who are ill with cold and flu-like symptoms remain at home, even if they have a negative Rapid Antigen Test.

Williams Cup Update

As we start Term 2, Corbett has a small lead over O’Reilly in the 2022 Williams Cup.

1. Corbett               27 points
2. O’Reilly               22 points
3. Guelen                15 points
4. Reis                     11 points

 Uniform 

All students should now be in full winter uniform. This includes wearing the blazer to homeroom each morning, and the wearing of the school tie for both boys and girls. The uniform policy and requirements are in the Student Diary.

Newsletter

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

Newsletter Days for Term 1 2022:           

Fridays:               20 May,     03 June,     17 June

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

Year 10 RE Excursion | One God Three Religions

On the 28th of April the Year 10 students visited the Islamic Museum Australia and the Jewish Museum as part of their `One God three Religions’ unit they are studying this term. 

The students had the opportunity to learn about the nine aspects of religion, which included areas such as religious rituals, sacred stories, law and experience, for both Islam and Judaism. 

The day gives students an opportunity to experience many areas focused on in the unit.

At the Jewish Museum students participated in the Jewish Shabbat and consumed both the grape juice and  the challah bread. At the Islamic Museum students had the opportunity to participate in discussion with other Muslims who shared how they experience faith.

The feedback was positive from both the Islamic museum  and the Jewish museum staff on the respect and engagement of our students on the day. I would like to thank both staff and students for making the excursion a success. 

Knowing how to learn is essential for effective learning

 In learning and teaching, we are focusing on strengthening the skills of metacognition.  Put simply, metacognition is described as ‘thinking about one’s thinking’.   Through metacognitive strategies, students increase both their awareness of the learning process and the level of control over their learning.

There are three phases of the metacognitive process:  planning, monitoring and evaluating.

There are a number of AMAZING events for Young People happening at Brimbank Libraries during May!

You Can Podcast!

Saturday 14 May, 10am-4pm @ Sunshine Library

Learn how to create and share your own podcast with Making Media professionals in this one day workshop... with lunch included! 

For 12-25 year olds. 

Bookings essential. Book online at brimbanklibraries.vic.gov.au

Your Say Day with Music Performance

Wednesday 18 May, 4pm-5.30pm @ Sunshine Library

Thursday 19 May, 4pm-5pm @ St Albans Library

Music! Food! Feedback!
Enjoy live music, have a snack, and tell us what you really think about your libraries.

Provide feedback and go in the draw for a $30 Voucher! For Young People 12-15 years old. 

Your Say Day! Online

Month of May

Tell us what you'd like to see more of at the library in this super short, anonymous survey for young people aged 12-25, and go in the draw for a $30 Voucher! 

Fill in the survey at brimbanklibraries.vic.gov.au

Many Thanks,

The Young People Focus Team (SarahP, Anna-Marie, Chelsea, Effie, KatZ, Shane)