Feast of All Saints and All Souls
This Sunday 1 November is the feast of All Saints and on this day, we are asked to reflect on the lives of the saints. We can often think of saints as perfect people, but their greatest witness is how they coped with the ordinary difficulties of their life, and how they courageously showed the love of God to others.
We also remember and pray for all those who have died, on the feast of All Souls day on Monday 2 November. Some of these people may only be known to God. Others are people whose love, sacrifice and fidelity we have seen for ourselves and who have inspired us. They saw God in this world and are now fully alive to him in the next.
Conclusion of Remote Learning
Wow… what a year it has been! As a community, we have certainly navigated our way through unprecedented, challenging, and unique times. However, thankfully we have done so in a beautifully calm, united, and connected way. For that, I thank and congratulate the entire CRC Caroline Springs community of staff, students, parents/carers and families.
“The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy” – Martin Luther King Jnr
The recent challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent extended period of forced remote learning have certainly not been times of comfort and convenience, but rather times of challenge and controversy. Again, I would like to congratulate all students for standing tall and successfully completing another period of remote learning. A truly remarkable effort, one of which the entire CRC Caroline Springs community is extremely proud.
Mostly, students remained engaged, connected and involved in their learning throughout this unprecedented period. A big thank you also to parents/carers and families who have supported the students through this unusual learning journey this year.
I would also like to express my thanks and gratitude to our teaching staff, who have gone above and beyond this year to ensure students had a positive remote learning experience. They have worked long hours and have tirelessly re-written curriculum, course outlines and assessment tasks to accommodate remote learning. They have also undertaken various new and contemporary modes of pedagogical delivery, including the use of flipped learning, video conferencing and MS teams throughout this period, to enhance the students remote learning experiences. These key learnings will benefit the ultimately have long term benefits for college and will enhance future learning and teaching experiences.
We also thank the College ICT, Maintenance, Grounds, Counselling, Learning Diversity, Library, Education Support, Administration and Finance teams who have been actively working on-site throughout this year. They have done an exceptional job and have also been actively, preparing the College for the return to on-site learning.
Year 8, 9 and 10 Return to Onsite Learning Monday 26 October
We were all very excited and overjoyed to welcome back our Year 8, 9 and 10 students to on-site learning on Monday. They joined our Year 7 students who successfully returned on-site two weeks ago. Therefore, as per the Victorian Government and the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) guidelines the remote learning program has now ended. This means if you choose to keep your child/children home after this date, that we can no longer continue the remote learning program as teachers will be teaching their timetabled lessons in the classroom.
As the main risk of introducing COVID-19 to the school environment is from adults, proximity between adult members of the school community should be avoided, particularly during school drop-off and pick-up. Access to the school site is restricted for anyone other than immediate school staff and students. Parents should only enter the College grounds when essential, having contacted the school by phone or email prior to entering.
Staggered finish times
To lessen congestion of student traffic at the front gate, a staggered finish time will continue to be implemented for the end of the day.
- Year 7s and 8s will be dismissed at 3:05pm
- Year 9s and 10s will be dismissed at 3:15pm
- Staggered arrival times are not required as this occurs naturally in the mornings.
Where siblings have different dismissal times, the older child may leave at 3:05pm provided the College has been notified of parent permission. This permission will appear on the class roll also, so that teachers are aware.
Cafeteria
The Cafeteria will be open for service and for lunch orders. The dining area will remain closed for the remainder of the term. Please note the following:
- Students are encouraged to pre-order lunches and other items from the canteen using the QKR App, or order at the window before Homeroom to avoid congesting the canteen.
- If pre-ordering is not possible, families are encouraged to provide students with cashless purchasing capability to reduce the need for physical contact during transactions.
- Students should use the entry and exit doors for pick-up of lunch orders
- Food and drinks should not be shared.
- Students should not make purchases for others.
More information about the return to school and coronavirus (COVID-19) can be found on the CECV website, which will continue to be updated: www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/Coron... 12 Final Classes CRC Sydenham
On Friday 30 October Year 12 students finished their formal classes. These students have had to undertake their final year of studies in such challenging, difficult, and unique circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What they have been able to achieve through their resilience, persistence, and dedication through the extended period of remote learning has been nothing short of amazing. As a school community we can be very proud of these young people and all they have achieved throughout their time at Catholic Regional College. Thank you to all the staff, both here and at Sydenham, who have worked with them and supported them to this point. The students are now fully focused on preparing for their final exams, which begin on Tuesday 10 November. I ask that you keep them and their teachers in your thoughts and prayers at this very important time.
Future Directions
As part of our vision and mission, we aim to provide excellence in learning. This is supported by ongoing development and upgrading of College buildings, grounds and facilities.
Some exciting news is that work is continuing on the new Year 9 Learning Centre. This center will be a great inclusion for our community and students will reap the rewards of this state-of-the-art facility. This building will locate nine homerooms, as well as two large collaborative learning spaces and numerous staff offices. The building and other new facilities recently opened at the College provide a rich and stimulating learning environment for all our students to flourish and reach their full potential. The Year 9 Learning Centre should be completed ready for the start of the 2021 school year.
Melbourne Cup Weekend
Families are reminded that there are no classes on Monday 2 November or Tuesday 3 November. The break provides students with the opportunity to prepare for the final weeks of Term 4. It is a good time to catch up on work and to do some revision.