Edition 12, 2015 (August 21) Reflecting on our faith … At this weekend’s Mass, we will hear in the readings… Many people left Jesus and walked no more with him. These are perhaps some of the saddest words ever written: people turn away from the Lord of life. At the Last Supper, I wonder if the penny dropped for the apostles when they recalled Jesus’ words, “This is my body, my blood” and realised this was what he meant. Once, at the consecration, a priest said, “Do this and remember me” and it sounded more human than “in commemoration of me” for someone facing death. Life can be a paradox and full of confusion, but who else offers what Jesus offers and, indeed, where else would we go? Over the years we hang in there, remembering St Patrick’s hymn: “Christ my light and only way. Christ my lantern night and day. Christ be my unchanging friend, guide and shepherd to the end.” www.pray.com.au FROM THE PRINCIPAL Re-enrolment for 2016: As indicated in the last newsletter, planning for next year has commenced which extends to student re-enrolment for 2016. Please look out for your re-enrolment forms which will be forwarded in early September. In preparation, I also ask that families ensure their commitment to Parish Thanksgiving is up to date. The additional support we receive from parish communities helps keep our fee increases to a minimum. Overdue School Fees: It is not often that I appeal to parents to bring their accounts up to date. At present the College has a large percentage of school fees still to be paid. I thank those who have already paid their fees and levies for the year, and I understand that we have many families have ongoing payment plans, however, there are some families who have not yet made any payments at all this year. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13 IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR 7 September: Father’s Day Breakfast (7.30am) 11 September: Student-free day (Staff PD) College Office closed all day 15 September: PTS Interviews: 3.30 – 8.30pm 2.30pm dismissal for students 16 September: PTS Interviews: 12.00 – 6.00pm Student-free day 18 September: Last day of Term 3, normal dismissal time 5 October: Term 4 commences ALSO IN THIS EDITION … Click on the links below) Subject selection for Yr 9, 2016 now open Important items for you to action ... Homebase 2016 requests now due Permission Forms now due P&F News What students have been up to ...
Transcript
Edition 12, 2015 (August 21)
Reflecting on our faith …
At this weekend’s Mass, we will hear in the readings…
Many people left Jesus and walked no more with him.
These are perhaps some of the saddest words ever written: people turn
away from the Lord of life. At the Last Supper, I wonder if the penny
dropped for the apostles when they recalled Jesus’ words, “This is my
body, my blood” and realised this was what he meant. Once, at the
consecration, a priest said, “Do this and remember me” and it sounded
more human than “in commemoration of me” for someone facing death.
Life can be a paradox and full of confusion, but who else offers what Jesus offers and, indeed, where else would we
go? Over the years we hang in there, remembering St Patrick’s hymn: “Christ my light and only way. Christ my
lantern night and day. Christ be my unchanging friend, guide and shepherd to the end.”
www.pray.com.au
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Re-enrolment for 2016: As indicated in the last newsletter, planning for next year has commenced which extends to student re-enrolment for 2016. Please look out for your re-enrolment forms which will be forwarded in early September. In preparation, I also ask that families ensure their commitment to Parish Thanksgiving is up to date. The additional support we receive from parish communities helps keep our fee increases to a minimum.
Overdue School Fees: It is not often that I appeal to parents to bring their accounts up to date. At present the College has a large percentage of school fees still to be paid. I thank those who have already paid their fees and levies for the year, and I understand that we have many families have ongoing payment plans, however, there are some families who have not yet made any payments at all this year.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13
IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR
7 September: Father’s Day Breakfast (7.30am)
11 September: Student-free day (Staff PD)
College Office closed all day
15 September: PTS Interviews: 3.30 – 8.30pm
2.30pm dismissal for students
16 September: PTS Interviews: 12.00 – 6.00pm
Student-free day
18 September: Last day of Term 3, normal dismissal time
The College, like any other business, has commitments it must meet and we therefore need everyone who is able to meet their responsibilities in this regard. Of course where there will be those who have genuine reasons as to why they find themselves behind in their payments. I ask that those in such a position contact the College Bursar, Cathy Smith (Mondays – Wednesdays) or her assistant Pam McLaughlin (Wednesdays – Fridays) to discuss your situation.
Directory of Catholic Education Victoria: Parents please note that the previously printed Directory of Catholic Education Victoria has been replaced by a new online directory, which can be accessed at: http://directory.vic.catholic.edu.au. Being online, the new directory is available via desktop, smartphones and tablets and is also compatible with mobile devices; allowing quick and easy access to up-to-date school details, including the following:
Search function for schools or select a list of primary, secondary or special schools from the menus offered under each diocese.
Organisational chart for each Victorian diocesan office, with a list of services provided to schools by each of them and Catholic Education Melbourne
Individual school profiles, which include the principal’s name, contact information, address details, parish details and an interactive map showing the location of the school.
Reminder: Student-Free Day on 11 September: As indicated in the previous newsletter, on Friday, 11 September staff will be involved in a number Professional Development workshops. The College, including the Front Office, will be closed all day.
Chess Tournament – 20 August: Congratulations to the students who represented the College at the SACCSS Chess Tournament on Thursday. Their coach, Irena Grbesic, reports that although they did not make the finals they all competed well and enjoyed the experience
Please pray for … Our deepest sympathy to the following families whose loved one has passed away recently. Please remember them in your thoughts and prayers.
The Italiano Family: Bianca’s (9D) grandfather, Joseph Farrugia
The Keating Family: Amy Hempel’s (CRCNK Teacher) grandmother, Joan Keating
Mr Greg Wade, Principal
TEACHING & LEARNING MATTERS
Year 8, 2015 into Year 9, 2016 Subject Selection: Wednesday, 19 August: Students should have received their elective booklet and be discussing choices with their parents/guardians. Students are to complete their elective sheet at home online by 26 August. Wednesday, 26 August: This is the last day for students to enter their Subjects Choices online and submit their Subject Selection Form to their Homebase Teacher.
Reminder: Homebase Group requests for 2016: A reminder that requests for Homebase in 2016 need to be put in writing to your son or daughter’s current Year Level Coordinator (see list below) by 11 September outlining the reasons for your request. Year 7: Mr Justin Botha [email protected] Year 8: Mr Brendan Hallinan [email protected] Year 9: Miss Kiera McNally [email protected] Please note that whilst all requests will be considered, it is not always possible to accommodate them.
Mr John Coshan, Deputy Principal – Student Wellbeing
FAITH DEVELOPMENT MATTERS
Year 9 Reflection Days: The first of these took place yesterday at the Craigieburn Functions Centre and were facilitated by the NET team. The focus of the day was Social Justice – What is my responsibility? Over the next two cycles, the other four Homebases will be participating in a similar day. This ties in very closely with the work that the Year 9s are doing in the Audeamus Program, which will culminate in group presentations entitled “How Can I Make a Difference?”
Ignite 2015: The trip to Brisbane for the Ignite Conference is drawing closer and the students who are attending have been meeting with Mel de Sieno and Robert Herrera to prepare for this Conference.
Australian Catholic Youth Festival: 3-5 December in Adelaide: We are also investigating whether there is interest from students to attend the Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Adelaide in from 3-5 December 2015. On Wednesday, 26 August there will be a meeting in the Chapel at lunchtime to discuss this festival with interested students. The festival will be hosted by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and is expected to draw more than 4,000 participants. Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, the Bishops’ Delegate for Youth, said “I invite all young people and their teachers and youth ministers from around Australia to make the pilgrimage to Adelaide.” The theme of the Festival is ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ (Mt 5:8). This is also the theme chosen for 2015 diocesan celebrations in advance of World Youth Day 2016.
Mrs Theresa Stephenson, Faith Development Coordinator
Reminder: Next P&F Meeting – 1 September: If you’re interested in joining an enthusiastic, fun, caring and helpful team, you can attend our next meeting on Tuesday, 1 September at 7.30pm in the Sr Veronica Lonergan Learning Centre. All are welcome, especially the new parents.
Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough: Baking fresh cookies and biscuits doesn’t get any easier than Billy’s Cookie Dough. We encourage all parents to have a go at selling Cookie Dough to their family and friends. Forms will be sent home next week.
Reminder: P&F Christmas Raffle Donations gratefully accepted: If you can donate items or you have suggestions as to companies to approach, please provide contact details to the College Office. All donations and ideas will be gratefully received.
On behalf of the P&F Association, Lorraine Malkoun – President
Important information for action / noting
PERMISSION FORMS NOW DUE:
YEAR 7 ART GALLERY EXCURSIONS: 7N & 7OR – 26 AUGUST, PERMISSION FORMS DUE 20 AUGUST; 7D & 7G – 28
AUGUST, PERMISSIONS FORMS DUE 21 AUGUST
ALL YEAR 9 STUDENTS – AUDEAMUS – VARIOUS DATES: FORMS DUE BY 17 AUGUST TO THE HOMEBASE TEACHER ALL YEAR 10 STUDENTS – YEAR 10 DINNER ON 11 SEPTEMBER – FORMS DUE ON 24 AUGUST. EVEN IF NOT
ATTENDING, FORM MUST BE RETURNED
COLLEGE CAPTAINS – STUDENT LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM ON 25 AUGUST : FORMS DUE ON 21 AUGUST TO MR COSHAN
SACCSS ATHLETICS ON 1 SEPTEMBER – SELECTED STUDENTS: FORMS DUE BY 26 AUGUST TO THE SPORTS BOX
SACCSS TENNIS TRIALS ON 27 AUGUST – SELECTED STUDENTS – FORMS DUE TO MR FRANCO ON THE DAY
SACCSS REPRESENTATIVE TOP ORDER FORMS – FORMS AND PAYMENT OF $28 DUE BY 28 AUGUST
VET DANCE STUDENTS FOR VET DANCE WORKSHOP ON 27 AUGUST – FORMS DUE TO MR DAYNES BY 25 AUGUST
Homework Club schedule: These homework sessions are optional and are supervised by teaching staff
in the Sr Veronica Learning Centre.
Day Date Time Subjects covered
Tuesday 25 August 8.00am – 8.40am Maths and Science
Wednesday 26 August 3.15pm – 4.15pm Maths and Science
Thursday 27 August 8.00am – 8.40am Maths and Science
Tuesday 1 September 8.00am – 8.40am Maths and Science
Wednesday 2 September 3.15pm – 4.15pm Maths and Science
Thursday 3 September 8.00am – 8.40am Maths and Science
Mrs Nella Sharp, Domain Leader – Mathematics
College Fee Voucher due dates August 28 September 11
September 25 October 9
October 23 November 6
Reminder: Year 7, 8 and 9 Laptop accounts due by 10 September: Parents should have received their invoice by now. Please note it will be the final payment for current Year 9 students.
Start time is 10.30am. Please sign in at the College Office upon arrival. If you can spare a couple of hours to help out in the Canteen please contact Marree or Randa on 9361 5900 or via email at [email protected]. Thanks!
Mrs Marree McSweeney, Canteen Manager
WOOLWORTH'S EARN & LEARN
Don’t forget to bring your stickers and or sticker cards to the College Office
and place them in the box provided. Alternatively, you can drop your sticker
sheets into the box at Woolworth's Taylors Lakes. Sticker sheets are available
from the College Office. Promotion ends on 9 September. Thank you for your
support.
Dante Alighieri Competition – Results are in!
Congratulations to all our finalists but a special mention to Gabriella Biturku and Anthony Vescio who both achieved second place in their respective categories. What a great effort! These two students have been invited to attend the awards evening and our sincere congratulations to both of them.
Ms Maria Michieli, Domain Leader – LOTE
Refugee Week at CRCNK July 2015 blessed CRC North Keilor with our first ever Refugee Week where we ‘celebrated our cultural diversity.’ Staff and students experienced wonderful presentations, music, dance, food, art and culturally expressive activities. Our College was honoured to welcome artists Abe Nouk, Abdi Aden, Craig Smith and the Asanti Performance Group. The school community had a wonderful experience across the week and were allowed valuable insight into the issues facing asylum seekers and refugees. An enormous thank you to all the staff, students and parents who helped to make the week a success! I am pleased to report that $750 was raised, which will be donated to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. We look forward to another rewarding cultural experience next year! For more photos of the week-long celebration of all things multicultural, please log on to the Parent Portal and go to the Photo Gallery. Please note: This platform is closed to public viewing and can only be accessed by parents within our College community via secure login.
Every year Aurecon runs a bridge building competition at Scienceworks to see how budding young engineers design and construct bridges out of balsa wood and cardboard. This year, Brandon Cassar, Tristan Borg and Benjamin Davoli from Year 9 decided to undertake the challenge and formed a team called the “CRC Crushers”. After investigating different bridges they came up with a design. It’s not easy to design a bridge 75cm long when the materials you have been given are only 65 cm long. After many hours work the bridge was constructed. At Scienceworks there were about 50 schools from around Victoria competing and there was quite a variety in design. When it came to testing our bridge there was a problem trying to accommodate the test jig so instead of being on the lower stage of the bridge it was put on the top. This resulted in the top part of the bridge collapsing after 3.7 kg was applied. Later, when the bottom part of the bridge was tested, it collapsed after 30 kg of force was applied. This overall was a great effort by the team. A team from Kaniva in Western Victoria had a bridge that held 149.1 kgs. The CRC Crushers learnt quite a bit about how engineers need to read plans and apply it to their constructions and I commend Brandon, Tristan and Benjamin for the way in which they applied themselves and for the way they conducted themselves at the competition.
Mr Frank Bieshaar, Domain Leader – Technology
Champion School of Victoria Tournament (McDonald's Cup) For several weeks year 7, 8, 9 and 10 Students have been coming to school at 7.30am to train for the McDonalds Championship in Basketball. Despite all the training and the potential to do well the Yr. 9 and 10 Boys team missed out on selection. The Junior Girls and boys team were selected to compete. Each training morning was spent developing the team into a cohesive unit that had plays that would allow them to compete against other teams. Despite leaving at 7.30am on the day of competition the traffic delay caused by a disabled crane caused the bus to arrive 10 minutes late for the first game. The boys team were first up, but because of the delay it meant that the opposition were given a 10 point head start. To make matters worse they were up against Maribyrnong Secondary College Jets where there is an intensive sports program which gave them a distinct advantage. The team worked very hard but succumbed to better opposition. The girls had time to settle so they started of very well against Genazzano College. Unfortunately due to some unforced errors Genazzano were able to take the
Edition 12, 2015 (21 August) Page 7 | 7
lead defeating the girls by 6 points. The Boys team was then up against St Joseph’s College and Kardinia Secondary College. In each game there were some very good plays but yet again the team was overcome by faster and taller players. The boy’s team is to be commended for their fighting spirit and not giving up when faced with formidable opposition. The girls then had to face St Margaret’s College from Berwick. It was a difficult contest as the team was faced with two opposition players over 190cm tall. Despite their valiant efforts the height factor was to have a major result on the final score. The girls should also be commended on their efforts. Like the boys they never gave up. Both teams put on a great show, executed their plays to the best of their ability but unfortunately both teams encountered superior opposition. Walking away from MSAC both teams conceded that they still had a lot to learn and are looking forward to improving their position next year.
Miss Jess Baddeley and Mr Frank Bieshaar, Coaches
PALMS Australia Overseas Volunteering Communities in East Timor, PNG, Kenya, Kiribati, Samoa and elsewhere are asking for teachers, health and community development workers, administrators, agricultural workers and others to assist to mentor local workers and so assist in poverty reduction. They believe this approach promotes self-reliant and sustainable development. Want to know more? An information Session will be held on Saturday, 22 August at 11.30am at Ross House (247 Flinders Lane). Or you can contact Joey on (02) 9518 9551 or via email at [email protected]
If overseas travel isn’t right for you, why not host?
A WEP student exchange allows teenagers to exchange their school, culture, family and possibly language for a selected time period in another country. It is far more rewarding than simply being a tourist, as students live like locals and acquire knowledge not available to the general traveller. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel and study at an overseas school with the support of a volunteer host family. Hear from one of our returned students:“Honestly, choosing to go on exchange is one of the best decisions I have ever made. You experience so many different aspects living in a different culture for a couple of months that you would never experience any other way. I have made so many memories with my host family, friends and improved my French so much that I wouldn't change this experience for anything. I will truly miss everyone I have met!”
-Sophie, France
Find out more on WEP’s social media pages!
WEP Student Exchange
Request A Free Information Pack
Find Us On Instagram: @wepaustralia Facebook: WEP Australia YouTube: wepaustralia
Gain longlasting friendships Experience another culture
Rediscover your backyard Most importantly, have loads of fun!
WEP Student Hosting
“Our hosting experience exceeded expectations. Seb was an absolute delight to
have in our home for three short months.” Kaye, Melbourne
Interested in becoming a WEP Australia exchange student? Read on to find out how!
We are now looking for volunteer host families for our exchange students arriving in February. Open your hearts and home to an overseas student and benefit from the following:
