Dear Parent/Carers,

I hope you and your families are well.

On Wednesday, the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced an extended state-wide lockdown for Victoria until 11:59pm Thursday 23 September.

This will mean all activities will again be conducted remotely and remote learning will continue as normal for the remainder of Term 3. Students can access their lockers to retrieve necessary materials by using the Church gate entrance. They will need to use the QR code at the gate prior to entering College grounds.

As a result of today’s Government announcement, the following College arrangements have been put in place as part of the updated state-wide lockdown for Victoria:

• From Thursday 2 September to Thursday 16 September (inclusive), homeroom will be conducted on MS Teams and classes will continue to be conducted remotely. This may include a combination of Microsoft Teams and SEQTA coursework (this information will be communicated by the subject teacher)
• Friday 17 September is a staff Professional Learning Day (no scheduled classes)
• The College offices and reception will be operating from 8:30am to 3:30pm each day
• Students can access the Remote Learning Guidelines & Microsoft Teams instructions through the Student Portal on SEQTA
• At this stage, it is anticipated that students will return onsite in some capacity for Term 4. However, further information and updates will be provided when the Government make further decisions.

I would like to congratulate our students who have achieved an outstanding attendance rate, with 95% of students logging in to their scheduled remote learning classes. This is an exceptional result and a credit to our students, staff, and our families. The key now is for students to continue to attend their scheduled lessons and ensure they remain engaged in their learning, completing all set work.

If your child is experiencing difficulties with workload or their mental health, please contact a Teacher, Year Level Leader or a member of the Wellbeing Leadership Team, who will provide support, advice and guidance as required.

Once again, I would like to congratulate our students, staff, and families for the manner in which they have entered into this unique period of time and for their ongoing commitment to remote learning.

Please contact the College if you have any concerns for your child, or if you have any questions regarding eligibility for onsite learners. Thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to navigate through this period of change.

Father’s Day

With Father’s Day occurring this Sunday, I would like to wish all fathers, grandfathers and significant others in the lives of our CRCCS community a Happy Father’s Day.

Being a dad can be difficult at times and I would like to again share an abstract from an article titled ‘A Checklist for Catholic Dad’s' by Randy Hain which you may find useful:

“I have a long way to go, but I believe living up to the expectations below will keep me headed in the right direction:” (Randy Hain)

A Checklist for Catholic Dads

Surrender

We have to surrender on an ongoing basis to Christ for his will to be done in our lives. Guys, we are not in charge… as much as we want to be! St Ignatius of Loyola once said, “Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mould them accordingly.”

Be a Man of Prayer

Our children will be much more likely to pray if we do. Work on developing a daily prayer routine with the goal of at least an hour a day devoted to prayer. Sound difficult? Think about how much TV we watch a day or answering email. Consider how much time we spend in our cars each day and how much time we devote to exercise. We have more than enough time for prayer if we schedule it and integrate it into our day. Also, imagine the powerful influence we can have on our children if they see us on our knees in prayer each night at family prayer time.

Understand Our True Vocation

For those of us blessed to be married and have children, we must recognize that helping our families get to heaven and being good husbands and fathers—not our business careers—is our real vocation. Ask yourself, “Is my work serving my family? Or is my family serving my work?”

Invest Time

Our children need our time. Put down the smartphone, turn off the TV and cancel the golf outing. Let’s spend more time with our kids! In the absence of a father’s time with his family, you can bet there are countless bad influences ready to take his place and guide his children in the wrong direction. I paraphrase author-theologian Scott Hahn, who wrote that in our modern age the father or mother who is willing to walk out of the office after forty hours in order to have more time with his/her family is the real hero.

Be Courageous

Christians are meant to stand out, not blend in. Blending in speaks to conforming so that our faith becomes part of the mainstream… and we need to fight the culture. These are difficult times, and we have a responsibility to love and defend Christ, be great role models for our families and stand up for our faith.

Practice Detachment

Are we too focused on acquiring toys, bigger houses, nicer cars or the next promotion? We need to let go of the things that are in the way of our prayer lives, Mass attendance, charitable giving, volunteering, time with our families and certainly our relationships with Christ.

Love Our Wives

Husbands, we must love and cherish our wives, plain and simple. Our children will learn to love others by how they see Mum and Dad love each other. We need to say, “I love you” to our wives and our children as often as possible. Let’s show our wives respect and cherish the critical role they play in our families. “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” So said Theodore Hesburgh.

Today’s kids face significant challenges and strong fathers, without a doubt, are part of the solution.

Let’s take a few minutes to reflect on how we are doing as fathers and as husbands. Take the results of this reflection to prayer and reconciliation. Most importantly, commit to make the necessary changes.

As Catholic men, we have a responsibility to be strong fathers and husbands, leaders in our parishes, good stewards in our communities and humble followers of Christ.

Let’s look to the inspiring example of St Joseph, patron saint of fathers, workers and the universal Church, for his obedience, humility, selflessness, courage and the love he showed to Mary and Jesus. If we can emulate St Joseph even a little each day, we will be that much closer to becoming the men and fathers we are called to be.

Taken From: MEN OF FAITH, SURRENDER & STRENGTH BY RANDY HAIN
http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2015/05/randy-hain-checklist-for-catholic-dads/