Last Sunday’s Gospel reading was from Mark 4:35:

That day when evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. There were also other boats with Him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He said to His disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him.

Put yourself imaginatively into the boat with the disciples. Allow yourself to experience the happy anticipation at the start of the voyage and then the terror as the gale sweeps in and suddenly you feel that your life is in danger. In our lives we are often riding the waves of life’s up and downs, and like the disciples we are afraid, and it is difficult to remain calm. Life’s storms often hit us unexpectedly and toss us into a sea of chaos, doubt and anxiety.

In Mark’s Gospel Jesus speaks with authority and immediately calms the wind and the sea. He said to His disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

We too can turn to Jesus in prayer when we are fearful or afraid and ask Him for strength of faith and an inner calm through the trials and tribulations of life. I am reminded in this Gospel reading of an anonymous quote that I often refer to in moments of anxiety or fear and when my own faith needs nurturing:

"Fear knocked on the door, but when Faith opened it there was nobody there." - Author unknown

When the waves of life threaten to swamp our little boat, we need to be aware that we always have Jesus by our side. Let us hear His voice saying: ‘Peace! Be still!

I would like to congratulate all students on the completion of Term 2, which involved a combination of remote and on-site learning. Overwhelmingly, students have been very engaged, connected and involved in their learning throughout this term. A big thank you also to parents/carers and families who have supported the students through this unusual learning journey.

At an address with Italian teachers, parents, educators and students, Pope Francis spoke about the true meaning of schools and education:

“The mission of schools is to develop a sense of truth, of what is good and beautiful. And this occurs through a rich path made up of many ingredients. True education enables us to love life and opens us to the fullness of life.”

At CRC Caroline Springs we are always aspiring to uphold this sense of truth, of what is good and beautiful every day as we seek to live, breathe and enact our College vision of Live Fully Act Justly.

As Semester 1 concludes, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed towards the safety and supportive Catholic Regional College Caroline Springs community.

I continually feel blessed that I work in a school environment where positive relationships are the norm. Walking the school grounds, corridors and classrooms, I witness the animated and enthusiastic conversations and quality learning and teaching that is taking place. I hear the conversation of students working with and for one another, which is truly a privilege.

Wishing everyone a safe and relaxing school holiday.

Refugee Week is Australia's peak annual activity to raise awareness about refugees and to celebrate the contributions made by refugees to Australian society. It was initiated by the Refugee Council of Australia and is held every year in June to coincide with World Refugee Day on 20 June. It continues up until Saturday 26 June.

Why does Refugee Week have a theme?

The Refugee Week theme has several important functions:

• It raises awareness of the issues affecting refugees. The theme aims to highlight aspects of the refugee experience and help the broader community to understand what it is like to be a refugee.
• It helps to make Refugee Week a national celebration. The theme provides a focal point for events across Australia, uniting separate activities into a single nationwide celebration.
• It promotes harmony and togetherness. The theme unites individuals, communities and organisations from many different backgrounds behind a common cause. The common theme is a reminder that, regardless of our differences, we all share a common humanity.
• It broadens the impact of Refugee Week. The theme provides a common, cohesive message which can be promoted across the country, helping to maximise the effectiveness of awareness-raising activities.

2021 Theme – Unity

Unity – The way forward.

The volatility of life in recent times has shown us unequivocally that we need to work together often merely to survive, let alone to thrive and progress. Let us take the opportunity to start afresh and rebuild our lives together. To count our blessings and to put them to work. Existing and emerging communities, working together.

The powerful potential of Unity. The special brew of ideas from all over the world that created our great way of life can continue evolving if we work together. Let us not stop now, let’s move forward unified. In 2021, we are calling on you to help build a more cohesive community during Refugee Week.

Annual Report to the Community

Each year the College is required to produce an Annual Report to the community. The 2020 Annual Report truly encapsulates the enormous amount of growth and development that our College has undergone in all areas. To view the report, please click here.

Staffing News

We wish Lauren Purdey all the best as she begins her Maternity Leave. We also thank the following staff whose replacement contract positions finish at the end of this term:

• Kyleen Popovic
• Janine Kamleh

We thank them for their contribution to the College and wish them all the best.

Start of Term 3 - Tuesday 13 July

Please note that Monday 12 July will be a staff Professional Practice Day (student free day). Students will return to the College on Tuesday 13 July. Please place this student free day date into your calendar.

Silence

The holidays provide opportunity to engage in other activities that we do not have time for in the business of our lives. Many of us will have made plans in advanced to ensure we have something to do for every day. However, how many of us have made time for silence these holidays? In fact, when was the last time we sat in silence or encouraged our children to practice silence?

“Silence is the environmental condition most conducive to contemplation, to listening to God and to meditation. The very fact of enjoying silence and letting ourselves be "filled", so to speak, with silence, disposes us to prayer… God speaks in silence, but we must know how to listen.” (Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, Castel Gandolfo, 2011)

This school holidays let us recognise the importance of silence and take the time to include it in our daily life.

Friday 8:00am Mass

Thank you to all our students, families and staff who joined us for Friday 8:00am Mass this term. All students, families and staff are invited to attend 8:00am Mass when it recommences on the first Friday of Term 3, Friday 16 July.

Sunday Gospel Focus
Seventeenth Sunday Ordinary Time Year B
John 6:1-5

The Semester 1 Report will be released to parents/carers on Friday 16 July through the College Learning Management System, SEQTA Engage. The release date of Semester 1 Reports is later than usual. This slight extension provides students and teachers additional time to complete assessments and examinations up until the last week of Term 2, in response to the recent Stage Four Victorian Lockdown.

Semester Reports are designed to provide students, parents and carers with a clear and concise picture of a student’s level of attainment throughout the semester, whilst noting the remote learning environment that occurred.

Within the Semester Report, the Overall Result is designed to provide students and parents an overall indication of how the student has performed in a subject throughout the semester, as a score out of 100. Student achievement within subjects may have been impacted as a result of the remote learning periods, and parents are asked to be mindful of this when discussing their child’s results.

Glancing specifically at the Learning Area Achievement section of the Semester Report, the unshaded dot represents the last report progress, the shaded dot the current report progress and the shaded band the expected achievement at this report. The unshaded dot will not appear if the Learning Area Achievement was not assessed in the previous reporting cycle.

The work habits on the Semester 1 Report are described in greater detail below:

Demonstrates academic improvement

Applies effort

• Attempts all tasks

• Maintains attention in class

• Participates in class

• Cooperates and collaborates in class

Manages personal learning

• Brings correct materials to class

• Organisation

• Satisfactory completion of set homework, in a timely manner

• Seeks teacher support as required

Demonstrates appropriate behaviour

• Punctuality

• Works respectfully with peers and teachers

If you have any questions about the Semester 1 Reports, please feel free to contact a member of the Learning & Teaching Team at the College.

2021 School Fees

School fees payment arrangements for 2021 are still available. Please download a direct debit form from the link below. Hard copies are also available from the College office.

Direct Debit Form

If you have any concerns with school fees, please contact the Finance Department to discuss.

School Fee Statements

Please note that school fee statements are now being sent out by email. If you require a hard copy, please contact the Finance Department.

CSEF

CSEF applications are closing this month. Final applications are to be submitted to the school by 23 June 2021.

Please complete the application form below and return the completed signed form, along with a copy of your current health care card to the College office as soon as possible.

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/programs/health/CSEF-Application-Form-2020.pdf

Year 8 Camp

Year 8 camp invoices have been sent home with your child and were also emailed to all families. Payment of $360 was due in full by Friday 4 June 2021 and is now overdue.

Cultural Immersion

Cultural immersion invoices have been issued with payment dates due accordingly.

Sydney/ Canberra and Tasmania Immersion payments were due in full by 17 June 2021 and is now overdue.

If you have any questions, please contact the Finance Department.

2022 Year 7 Student MacBook Program

The 2022 Year 7 MacBook Program Portal is now opened for payment plan options.

There are two payment options available to families for the MacBook:

Option 1: Four equal payments, last payment due by 5 November 2021

▪ Payment 1 Due: 6 July 2021

▪ Payment 2 Due: 13 August 2021

▪ Payment 3 Due: 24 September 2021

▪ Payment 4 Due: 5 November 2021

Option 2: Payment in full by 4 November 2021 (this option will be available from 1 October 2021 to 4 November 2021).

Please open the following link in a browser:

https://shop.compnow.com.au/school/crc-portal

If you experience any issues with the online portal, please contact our dedicated CompNow account manager Argie Froutzis by phone on 03 9684 3617 or email argie.froutzis@compnow.com.au

Hello Parents and Carers,

The Year 9 PIN is now online for you to view.

Thank you to all staff who took the time to present information to assist our Year 9 students for 2021.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to direct your inquiries to Ms Dawn Rodgers and Ms Karen Bailey.

The Year 7s were treated to a performance from the Royal Australian Navy Band on Monday 21 June, as part of the launch of the new CRCCS Instrumental Music and Concert Band Program. The Navy Band played a range of music from Jazz through to Rock. They also demonstrated the instruments which are now available through the College’s new Instrumental Music program, including flute, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone, trumpet, trombone and percussion.

Please contact music@crccs.vic.edu.au if you would like to receive a lesson enrolment form for Semester 2, which is when the program starts. Enrolment forms can also be collected from Reception.

The cast have been working hard, and despite a mini lockdown are still on track to deliver an amazing musical week 4 of Term 3. Students are putting in the effort after school, on weekends and will even be in on the school holidays to bring the show to life.

We hope to see the whole school community at one of the 4 shows in early August. Ticket sales open the first day back of Term 3. We hope we can have a full house at each performance! Look out for Social Media updates around ticket sales, we can’t wait to present to you our College Musical ‘Annie’.

This semester the Year 8 Visual Arts students have been learning the art of Lino Printing. Inspired by artist Margaret Preston, students have created individual images of Australian native flora and fauna. They completed the printmaking process in black ink and added some finishing touches with watercolour to create these exciting, bold images!!

During Term 2 our Year 7 students completed a unit focusing on Prayer. Students reflected upon their own relationship with God, investigated the structure of the Mass, gained an insight into Angels & Saints and looked at various ways of how to pray. Student work was completed during class and during the short period of remote learning. Well done to all Year 7 students on their Prayer unit.

Student reflection:

“This term, our Religious Education unit was on Prayer. We learnt about various topics on prayer some included different prayers, the Rosary, Saints and the Mass. When learning about different prayers we studied the types of prayers, like vocal and mental prayers. We also studied the different prayers like the ‘Our Father’ and the ‘Rosary’

We went into depth with the Rosary, and we completed many activities on the Rosary. 

We also learnt about angels and Saints, and we created a prayer card on a particular saint, I chose St Mary Mackillop. We also went in depth with reading scripture passages, and we had to create a little poster with a scripture passage on it.

One of the last topics we learnt about, was the mass and Eucharistic miracles, which was my favourite topic. We were given the chance, to research about Eucharistic miracles and I was very interested in a few cases where a miracle happened.

I really enjoyed the unit of prayer, and I found this unit very interesting and enjoyable.”

Angelina C (7 Coranderrk)

During Term 2 Religious Education Year 8 students focused on the topic 'God & Creation'.

The unit was an in-depth study of the Creation stories in the Book of Genesis.

Students explored the truths that result from God's actions in creation and focused on various topics about stewardship. Being a casual clothes day last Friday, it allowed some classes to complete a seedling planting activity. This allowed for deep reflection on how they can be a steward in our world today by taking care of God’s creation. Well done to all Year 8 students.

Student Reflection:

“This term, Year 8 has been focusing on the school pillar of ‘Stewardship’ and the Book of Genesis from the Bible. Learning about this topic has helped enhance our knowledge about the creation stories, including their truths. This topic features us looking into the Genesis, mainly focusing on the first two chapters. Reading Genesis really helped me to understand deeply about its truths and messages.

Following this, we all worked closer to the theme of stewardship. We all learnt that stewardship could come in many forms, for example, we can all be stewards towards each other. We can also be stewards of God’s creation, which brought us to the recent planting activity. Year 8 classes had the ability to plant beautiful flowers which helped us all to understand that we can be stewards of God’s creation by sustaining and nurturing plants to grow within our environment. I strongly believe that this topic within this term has really enhanced my knowledge on the creation story and knowing what being a true steward really is.” - Natalie D (8 Marin Kurrang)

CREATE Art and Craft Club runs during lunchtimes on Fridays and is open to all students and staff.

Engaging in art and craft activities has been shown to be good for our mental health. When we engage in creative activities, we can focus on the here and now and not be distracted by past events or future worries. We can achieve what psychologists call "flow", which is a sense of being in the zone that creates positive emotions. Additionally, arts and crafts can also help with our stress levels. For example, doing something creative has been shown to reduce stress hormones such as cortisol.

The group provides an opportunity to try new types of craft and tune in to our creative side, meet students from different year levels, and focus on self-expression through art.

This term we have created kindness stones, decorated pot plants for Mother’s Day with nail polish, and focused on pattern drawing on mini canvases.

CRCCS will be launching an exciting new-look Instrumental Music and Concert Band Program in Semester 2. We have been offering tuition on voice, piano, guitar and drums for some years now. This will be expanded to include flute, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone, trumpet, trombone and drums/percussion. We will be only one of two schools in the region offering a comprehensive Concert Band/Instrumental Music Program.

Families with students who are currently having lessons at the College are asked to complete the re-enrolment form which will be sent to you by your child’s Instrumental Music Teacher and return it to the College by Friday 23 July to Reception or via email to music@crccs.vic.edu.au.

A video demonstration of the new instruments on offer is attached to this article, it is recommended that parents watch it with their son or daughter. Students will have the opportunity to try each of the instruments they nominate (3 preferences are required) in the first few weeks of term three to match the instrument best suited (we will try to accommodate their first preference), with COVID-safe protocols around instrument sterilisation.

Students in the new Concert Band Program will receive a weekly small-group lesson, as well as participating in a weekly Beginner Band rehearsal where students start preparing ensemble pieces for performances. All instruments will be available for hire through the College at competitive rates (except for guitar and keyboard). Students will be provided with a Tutor Book and Music Record Book at their first lesson by the College.

Lesson and instrument hire charges for all instruments are outlined below; families will be invoiced for lesson charges by their Instrumental Teacher (initial enrolment is based on a semester). A minimum of 3 weeks’ notice is required for discontinuing lessons (week 8 of a 10-week term) in writing to music@crccs.vic.edu.au.

Parents hiring an instrument will receive a hire agreement with all terms and conditions, which will need to be completed prior to the instrument being released to the student. Hire charges will be placed on your school account.

Parents of new instrumental students in Years 7 to 10 are invited to complete an application form via this link, Families will then receive an enrolment form via email which will need to be completed, sighed and returned to the College to Reception or via return email to music@crccs.vic.edu.au.

Application forms through the link above are due by Friday 16 July, and enrolment/re-enrolment forms are due by Friday 23 July. Applications received after this date will be processed and placed on a waiting list with students commencing as soon as a place becomes available (lesson charged will reflect the starting point in the term).

Lessons are offered on a small group basis in Years 7 to 10 except for voice and piano where only individual lessons are available. Students have the option of changing to individual lessons in Years 8 to 10.

Please contact Dr Chris McGillen, Head of Music Performance, with any questions or queries.

Bowel Cancer Australia has set a day dedicated to raise awareness within the community. Wednesday, 16 June is referred to as ‘Red Apple Day’. On this day, we are encouraged to bring our communities attention to the importance of prevention, rather than treatment.

Displayed above is the logo used to promote the day. The organisation explains that the small hole that appears on the apple can be removed if detected early, hence disabling the worm from affecting the entire apple. This idea stresses the importance of early detection. Moreover, apples are a great source of dietary fibre, which is also ideal in the prevention of this cancer.

1 in 13 Australians develop this deadly disease in their lifetime. Almost 99% of bowel cancer cases can be treated successfully when detected early! It is Australia’s second deadliest disease and takes the lives of 5,336 Australians a year.

Having this in mind, the Social Justice team decided to greet the community with red apples in support of this very special cause. Information was also provided to assist in building awareness.

Please click the link below to find out more information about Bowel Cancer Awareness month and Red Apple Day. 

https://www.bowelcanceraustralia.org/bowel-cancer-awareness-month#RedAppleDay  

God Bless

The Australian Curriculum: public consultation opens

The Foundation to Year 10 Australian Curriculum is our national curriculum which outlines the core content that all young people should be taught regardless of where they live in Australia.

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) reviews the curriculum every six years and has consulted with 360 practising teachers and curriculum specialists to develop the proposed changes.

There are proposed changes across the whole of the curriculum including all eight learning areas with the aim of making the content clearer and better organised. It also more concise, more specific and less cluttered.

The proposals are not final but are now open to public consultation and feedback until 8 July. The feedback will be used to develop final revisions, which will be provided to federal, state and territory education ministers for their consideration.

Visit the public consultation website to have your say:

www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/consultation