Dear Parent/Carers,

I hope you and your families are safe and well. It has certainly been a very challenging and difficult time for the Caroline Springs and surrounding local communities over the past few weeks, with many exposure sites at CS Square and other close by locations. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all affected families within the Caroline Springs community.

Please see the Principals Video Message below:

I would like to inform you that presently there are still no confirmed COVID cases at our College.

The Victorian Government has released an updated list of exposure sites in Caroline Springs and surrounding suburbs (see link below). Please note that the list of exposure sites, dates and times at CS Square and Taylors Hill locations are regularly updated and now includes additional shops and CS Square in general during the last two weeks. If you, your child, or a family member were at any of these sites at the times and dates listed, you will need to contact the College and follow the formal Government health advice, depending on the relevant exposure site tier level.

For the full list of regularly updated exposure sites, and tier level exposure site advice visit the Government website at the link below:

https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites

Essential workers and onsite learners

If parents meet either Criteria A or B criteria of an essential worker, or if their child meet the vulnerable category, then they must complete the onsite supervision form, in the link below, by 5:00pm Friday 20 August.

Application for Onsite Supervision (19 August)

Category A

Children where both parents and or carers are considered authorised workers who cannot work from home, work for an essential provider and where no other supervision arrangements can be made:

• Where there are two parents/carers, both must be essential workers, working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision
• For single parents/carers, the essential worker must be working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision

Category B

Children experiencing vulnerability, including:

• In out-of-home care deemed vulnerable by a government agency, funded family or family violence service, and assessed as requiring education and care outside the family home

• Identified by a school or early childhood service as vulnerable, (including via referral from a government agency, or funded family or family violence service, homeless or youth justice service or mental health or other health service)

Please contact the College if you have any concerns for your child, or if you have any questions regarding eligibility for onsite learners.

‘Wellness Day’ Thursday 26 August

I am sure you will agree that Term 3 has been challenging for all of us. Staff and students have generally coped well under very difficult circumstances and have worked diligently to ensure remote learning has been a success. However, current studies are showing that moving in and out of remote learning has also been very demanding and tiring for families. The reliance on technology and being ‘online’ all day is not good for young people as we know. There always needs to be a balance in life to promote mental health and personal wellbeing. We are in our second full week of remote learning and there are two more weeks ahead of us after this one. If we return to school by the scheduled 3 September, that will have been six out of eight weeks juggling home life with online learning.

As you may know, numerous schools are balancing the extended remote learning period by choosing to give staff and students an opportunity to take some additional time to focus on their overall ‘Wellness’.

Therefore, a ‘Wellness’ tech-free day has been scheduled for next week on Thursday 26 August. There will be no scheduled remote learning classes. Students and staff will not be required to log-on for the day. This day will provide an opportunity for students and staff to rest, refresh and re-energise for the next period of remote learning. The College office will also be closed for the day. Remote learning classes will resume on Friday 27 August.

We have achieved outstanding attendance rates, 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 to continue to attend all scheduled lessons this week and to ensure all set work is completed. However, if your child is experiencing difficulties with workload or mental health, please contact a teacher, Year Level Leader or someone from the Wellbeing Leadership Team.

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.

A reminder of the following College arrangements that are in place as part of the recent state-wide lockdown for Victoria:

• From Monday 16 August to Thursday 2 September, homeroom will be conducted on MS Teams and classes will be conducted remotely, which may include a combination of Microsoft Teams and SEQTA coursework (this information will be communicated by the subject teacher)
• From Monday 22 August the College offices and reception will be operating from 8:30am to 3:30pm each day
• A ‘Wellness’ tech-free day has been scheduled for next week on Thursday 26 August. There will be no scheduled remote learning classes
• Students can access the Remote Learning Guidelines & Microsoft Teams instructions through the Student Portal on SEQTA
• At this stage it is anticipated that all students will return onsite Friday 3 September. However, further information and updates will be provided next week.

Please contact the College if you have any concerns for your child. Thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to navigate through this period of change.

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Pope Francis, on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, referred to the day when man set foot on the moon, saying phrase that became famous, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. He went on to explain that in essence, humanity had reached a historical goal. However, Pope Francis explained that in Mary’s Assumption into Heaven, we celebrate an infinitely greater conquest.

"The Madonna has set foot in paradise: she went there not only in spirit, but with her body as well, with all of herself. This step of the lowly Virgin of Nazareth was the huge leap forward for humanity". Pope Francis

He further explained that, "With God, nothing is lost! In Mary, the goal has been reached and we have before our eyes the reasons why we journey - not to gain the things here below, which vanish, but to achieve the homeland above, which is forever. And Our Lady is the star that guides us. She went there first. She, as the Council teaches, shines “as a sign of sure hope and solace to the People of God during its sojourn on earth” (Lumen gentium, 68).

In the Gospel the first thing Mary says is, “My soul magnifies the Lord” (Lk 1:46). We have often become used to hearing these words, and we possibly, no longer pay close attention to their meaning. Pope Francis says, "To 'magnify' literally means 'to make great', to enlarge. Mary 'aggrandises' the Lord, (not problems, which she did not lack at the time). How often, instead, we let ourselves be overwhelmed by difficulties and absorbed by fears! Our Lady does not, because she puts God as the first greatness of life. From here the Magnificat springs forth, from here joy is born not from the absence of problems, which come sooner or later, but joy is born from the presence of God who helps us, who is near us. Because God is great and above all, God looks on the lowly ones. We are His weakness of love, God looks on and love the lowly".

During these current challenging times of COVID-19, we are reminded in Pope Francis words to ask ourselves - do we remember to praise God? Do we thank Him for the great things He does for us? For every day that He gives us, because He always loves us and forgives us, for His tenderness?

Pope Francis further explained that, if we forget the good, our hearts shrink. However, if like Mary, we remember the great things that the Lord does at least once a day by 'magnifying' Him, then we would take a great step forward. He reminds us to at least one time during the day to say, “I praise the Lord”, to say, “Blessed be the Lord”, which is a short prayer of praise. This is praising God. With this short prayer, our hearts will expand, joy will increase. Let us ask Our Lady, the Gate of Heaven, for the grace to begin each day by raising our eyes to Heaven, toward God, to say to Him, "Thank you!”.

Let us invoke Mary's intercession for all the situations in the world that are most in need of hope for peace and justice, and for the courage to live a dignified life.

Feast of the Assumption of Mary - Placing our trust in God

Last Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. The Assumption commemorates Mary being assumed into heaven, body and soul. Sometimes we forget that Mary was as much of a human as we are. She had a heart like ours and experienced suffering and tears just as we do. Mary is our model and proof that if we open our hearts fully and place our trust in God, we too can experience the joy of heaven.

With the Coronavirus being so close to our community, it is more important than ever to take time for prayer, contemplation and to look out for those who are most vulnerable. Last year Pope Francis on a Sunday called for all Christians to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic, “with the universality of prayer, of compassion, of tenderness”, adding, “Let us remain united. Let us make our closeness felt toward those persons who are the most lonely and tried”.

As a Catholic community let us give our distresses to the Lord and remember the power of His loving embrace just as Mary did. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13)

I invite all families and their children to access the following resource Faith and Spirituality in the home, which may be of assistance to your personal and family prayer life.

National Vocations Awareness Week

During National Vocations Awareness Week, we held a vocations workshop and or usual ‘Ask A Priest’ session. The workshop was an opportunity for our students to begin to discern about who God is calling them to be through discussion, hearing about people’s vocation stories and creating a plan of discernment for their life. Fr Marcus Goulding (Assistant Priest St Bernard’s, Bacchus March) joined us for our ‘Ask A Priest’ session. Fr Marcus responded to many questions about the faith from the students that attended and shared his own personal story that led him to the priesthood.

“Joining the ‘Vocations Workshop’ and ‘Ask A Priest Session’ gave me a better vision of myself and a better understanding of what I am going to do in the future.” Ryan Vella 9CO

Gospel Reflection

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B

John 6:60-69

During this challenging time, our young adults are becoming global citizens, more aware of the wider world and their place in it. What better way to explore this than through the study of a Language?

At Catholic Regional College Caroline Springs, our students are encouraged to study a language throughout their secondary education with the understanding that languages can make our students more informed, literate and compassionate young people.

Our current Year 9 Italian students recently participated in the Dante Alighieri Poetry Competition virtually. They recited a poem through zoom and then participated in a variety of activities to further develop their language skills, their communication skills and team building opportunities.

It was a wonderful experience for the staff and students involved.

We strongly encourage our students to continue with their studies in either Italian or Japanese. Please feel free to contact your child’s Italian or Japanese teacher for more information. Thank you!

After all the interruptions to school term, Year 8 Art students have finally started the creation of their pinch pottery fish designs. It is great for the students to be engaged with a hands-on creative task that gives them a break from screen time.

Ceramics is introduced to students in Year 8 and continues through in Years 9 and 10 Visual Art elective classes.

All life is created in the image and likeness of God, this is referred to as ‘Imago Dei’. A simple yet very fundamental core of what we, the Social Justice team embrace while sharing our gifts and talents with our CRCCS community. The parable of the goat and sheep reminds us of this, “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did not do for me” Matthew 25:31-46. It leaves us with the concept that everyone is our neighbour and where we see or feel a need, we must act.

For this edition of the Newsletter, team members were asked to share their view on what Social Justice means to them. Please enjoy what these young inspirational students had to say:

Social Justice, at least to me, is our way of carrying out what Jesus taught, “Love thy neighbour as thyself,” (Matthew 22:39). We as a community are blessed with the privileges and opportunities to be able to do things of great help for our brothers and sisters who may be less fortunate. Through our work as a Social Justice team, we’ve been able to do just that. I find great happiness in knowing all our hard work, passion and commitment go towards doing something wonderful for the sake of others.  Angel 9MW

Social Justice is for everybody and can be interpreted differently.  To me, at its most basic definition is that every single human being’s rights are upheld and respected. Humans are made in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, the human person has dignity that must be respected. Social justice is based upon rights, access and participation. Each human being must have access to opportunities and equality in order for our world to be just. The world needs social justice at its core so we can live in peace, tranquillity and equality. Rosabeth Moss Kanter said, “It takes COURAGE to SPEAK UP against complacency and injustice while others remain silent, but that’s what leadership is.” Suzy Kassem said, “SPEAK UP, STAND UP, and keep correcting the false perceptions. STAY TRUE to your heart’s views and keep chanting for PEACE and JUSTICE.” Ivanka Portelli 9MW

To me, Social Justice is more than a Catholic group. It’s a group that dedicates their time to helping others and strives for a community where everyone has what they need. I have enjoyed working towards this goal as a member of the team this year. Alexandra 10BU

Social justice to me is a necessity so that people are treated with equity to be able to help themselves and others. Maria 10MK

To me, Social Justice means fighting for everyone's rights and making sure that people who can't fight for themselves still get a fair say in what they want. Our job in the Social Justice team is to help people in need and support everyone in our community. I really enjoy working in the team and it is a great experience for anyone who joins. Ava 9CO

Being part of the Social Justice team has always allowed me to help give back to the community through being kind and sharing different things. It has taught me many things, but most importantly to help others in need. The past years have been tough on everyone, and everyone has struggled in a different way, but the team has always been there to give back help those affected by COVID. I enjoy it and I am proud to be part of the 2021 Social Justice team. Christina 9WO

Thank you for taking the time out to reflect on what this means to you!

National Health and Physical Education Day will be held on 1 September 2021, with the theme of Good for Children, Good for Schools and Good for Communities. This initiative aims to:

1. Promote the importance of learning in HPE

2. Make a positive difference to students and their lifelong participation in physical activity

3. Improve health outcomes

We all know how important physical activity is for our health, but unfortunately many of our children are not meeting the recommended Australian 24-hour Movement Guidelines (60 minutes of physical activity/day). Children are leading sedentary lifestyles, which has an impact on health and wellbeing. Australian children rank among the worst in the world for overall physical activity levels (according to 2014, 2016 and 2018 Active Healthy Kids Active Report Card), with “8 in 10 children and young people not active enough for good heart health” (Blueprint for an Active Australia – Heart Foundation).

As part of the National Health and Physical Education Day initiative and campaign, suggestions for how parents and caregivers can get involved and make a difference include:

• Set aside time to be active as a family

• Use active modes of travel – walk, ride

• Visit a local club and play organised sport

• Teach your children fundamental movement skills

• Walk the walk by being a positive role model

• Unplug the technology and play

In the weeks following National Health and PE day, here at the College, we are very excited to be celebrating our annual Health and PE Week. This will be held during the final week of term, beginning September 13, through to September 17.

We look forward to everyone getting involved in the fun-filled, action-packed activities as we work together to raise awareness about the importance of learning in Health and Physical Education. Hopefully you will hear lots about the great activities your child has participated in, and the positive influence these experiences will have on participation in physical activity and health.

For more information about National Health and PE Day, visit the website:
www.hpeday.com.au

The Athlete’s Foot Taylors Lakes is partnering with Catholic Regional College Caroline Springs to donate $5 back to the College every time you buy a pair of shoes. This applies to the whole family across a wide range of shoes from school, sports, work to casual shoes.

Click here for more information

Click here to read more information about the survey.