Cultivating Character: Reflections on Virtue and Growth

As we return from our Year 12 Retreat, it’s fitting to pause and reflect on the values that underpin our journey as a Catholic secondary school community. At the heart of our mission lie the virtues of kindness, compassion, honesty, and integrity, which are not just lofty ideals but practical guides for daily living, essential for personal growth and development.

During our recent retreats, I was deeply moved by the exemplary behaviour and actions demonstrated by our students. Throughout the retreat, they exhibited remarkable kindness towards one another, showing compassion and support in moments of vulnerability and reflection. Their honesty in sharing their thoughts and feelings created an atmosphere of trust and openness, fostering deeper connections and understanding among peers. I am proud of our students for embodying these virtues and their actions serve as a testament to the character and integrity that we strive to instill in all our students here at the College. I would also like to thank all the dedicated staff who accompanied our students on this retreat. Your presence and involvement enriched the experience for our students and contributed to the overall success of the retreat.

As we continue to reflect on the values of kindness, compassion, honesty, and integrity, it is important to recognise that our journey of personal growth extends beyond experiences such as retreat. With upcoming subject selection on the horizon, students are presented with an opportunity to pursue their passions and are encouraged to approach subject selection with careful consideration and openness to new opportunities.

In the weeks ahead, I encourage all students to actively engage in the subject selection process, taking advantage of every opportunity to gather information and explore their options. Students should attend information sessions, seek advice from teachers, and reflect on their interests, strengths, and long-term goals.

Together, let us continue to uphold the values of character and virtue that define our Catholic school community, both in our interactions with one another and in our pursuit of academic excellence. May the virtues of kindness, compassion, honesty, and integrity guide us as we embark on this journey of subject selection and personal growth, ensuring that every choice we make reflects our commitment to becoming the best versions of ourselves.

- Laura Ruddick, Acting Principal

The first day of term provided staff with a professional development day on data in the areas of Learning and Teaching, Faith, and Wellbeing. It was a great opportunity to learn, share and look at the various data sets and how we can utilise them to support our students throughout the term.

Our Year 12 students had their three-day Retreat which was overwhelmingly a positive experience for both the staff and students that attended. They look forward to their formal later this term.

In week 5 your child will receive a progress report. If your child receives three or more ‘Needs Improvement’ results across three or more subjects, communication with you and your child will occur. Please take the time to review your child’s progress with them. The College and families need to work together to ensure that each child reaches their full academic potential.

At the end of 2023 the college was successful and securing a grant to be a part of a Refugee Education Support Program, which will assist us to further support our students and families from refugee backgrounds. The program will allow us to respond to the needs of refugee students and families in relation to teaching and learning practices, school policies and processes. It will give us opportunity to also continue the professional learning that we do, increase staff knowledge and skills to be confident and to be reflective. This program will run for two years and will allow us the opportunity to implement a funded project in its second year. The action team are excited by how this work will have a positive impact on all in our community. Stay tuned for updates.

Providing a place for connection, understanding and support for families at our college, helps continually build the important partnership between home and school. Last week members from the Family Partnerships Team facilitated a community session lead by our college counsellor focusing on wellbeing support. This first session provided information to families about how the teenage brain works. As we continue with this program over the coming weeks, families will be provided with the tools to better understand their teens while finding support from one another and the college. Keep an eye for opportunities like this where you can engage with the school in workshops that will help you to support your young person.

We look forward to the many events throughout this term including the Vinnies Winter Sleepout, The Year 12 Formal and Sacred Heart Day.

May we continue to work together to provide our young people the opportunity to flourish.

Stephanie Banks 

Deputy Principal (Student Wellbeing)

Engaging families in Learning and Teaching at the College

The College believes that engaging families is one the best ways we can support our students with their learning journey. It is widely accepted that parental involvement correlates with higher academic achievement, improved student behaviour, and an increased motivation to learn. By actively involving families in their child’s learning, the College aims to create a supportive learning community for our young people. With this in mind, the College has organised several key Learning and Teaching initiatives throughout Term 2 to provide families with the opportunity to be involved in their child's learning and future pathways. We hope to see you to participate in and attend the following key events:

On Friday, 10 May, parents and carers will be provided with their child’s Term 2, Week 4 Progress Reports. These reports aim to provide feedback to families on the work habits their student is demonstrating in the classroom. The College encourages families to carefully read these reports and have meaningful conversations with their children at home about their learning. Work habits awarded ‘Always’ should be celebrated, whilst work habits listed as ‘Needs Improvement’ should spark a conversation about what they could do better in, in the classroom. Research consistently reveals that students who apply themselves in the classroom by being organised, asking questions and acting on feedback have higher academic outcomes than those who choose not to engage in classroom activities.

Following the distribution of Progress Reports, the College is hosting the Term 2 Subject Conferences on Wednesday, May 15. These conferences give parents and carers the opportunity to discuss their child's learning with subject teachers. Families are encouraged to book appointments with subject teachers using Compass and to use this evening as an opportunity to build relationships with subject teachers as well as ask questions about how their child can improve in the classroom. Parents/carers are especially encouraged to book appointments with subject teachers who have assigned ‘Needs Improvement’ on the recent Progress Reports so that they can discuss ways in which they can support improvements in the classroom.

Lastly, on Thursday, 23 May, our Senior Pathways Course Selection Evening will be held at the College. This evening is designed to give our Year 9 and 10 students and their families critical information about the learning programs we offer at the College in Years 10, 11 and 12. Families will attend a 30 minute presentation about the various Year 10, VCE, VET and VCE VM pathways available at the College and will then have the opportunity to explore our Subject Expo where the College’s Heads of Learning have set up stands to showcase the subjects on offer. Members of the Learning and Teaching team as well as VCE teachers will be available on the evening to provide personalised information about the different subjects and pathways available at the College.

We look forward to seeing and speaking with many of you over the coming weeks and trust that Term 2 will be time to collaborate with you all.

Lauren Markovic

Acting Deputy Principal (Learning & Teaching)

The Faith and Mission team of the college would like to wish all members of our community a happy and blessed Easter. In the coming days we acknowledge our Orthodox Christian brothers and sisters will be celebrating Easter too, and that in recent months our Muslim brothers and sisters have finished their Ramadan observance and celebrated Eid al-Fitr. It has truly been a busy time from a faith perspective in our community.

In recent weeks our Year 12 students have completed their Year 12 Retreat. Every year we create a unique community experience for them away from the busyness of VCE studies and family pressures to reconnect with themselves, their friends and God. Over those days and nights we engaged in prayer, games, discussions, walks and adventures, and deep sharing. In their own words it was a time of reflecting and opening up, their highlights included:

“The time given to open and understand what your peers are going through. It gives you a different perspective of others and a sense of maturity. You come to the realization that you should genuinely just live your life whilst trusting God. Everyone has their own personal problems and there's always someone going through worse than you. If they can push that aside and thrive through their days, so can you.”

“Seeing everyone be themselves. There’s always this social pressure in high school that expects us to act or present ourselves a certain way. However, in retreat, it was very refreshing to see everyone as their true and raw selves. I felt more comfortable being around my peers.”

“Hearing the different stories from my peers and teachers really changed how I viewed them. I feel like hearing their experiences made me recognise my own experiences and emotions.”

The Year 12 retreat represents the pinnacle of our reflection day program across years 7-12 and has gifted our senior students a time of quietness and happiness together, and in the words of one astute year 12 student the year level feels a lot kinder now.

This kindness and charity towards one another has also been expressed tangibly through our recent fundraising campaigns. In Term 1 our Vinnies Social Justice Committee led the college in the Caritas Project Compassion appeal. During this time we raised over $4,500 for local and international aid and development programs. This year marks the 60^th anniversary of Caritas’ work in the world, to celebrate they have asked us to share this opportunity with you:

To mark the 60^th anniversary of Caritas Australia, we have compiled a selection of our favourite 60 photos. Vote for your favourite photo to go into the draw to win a beautiful Indigenous Australian artwork from Djilpin Arts, our First Australian partner in the Northern Territory. The artwork is a painting by Harry Malibirr which depicts five dreaming stories. Simply visit their website caritas.org.au/faces-of-caritas-australia-60th-anniversary, choose a photo from the gallery and vote via the online form (entries close 30 June 2024).

Looking forward to the remainder of the term our Christian community will celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit. This also marks a return to ordinary time, which feels apt as we focus our energies on returning to the normal rhythms and routines of a school year. Term 1 was punctuated with the mourning for our late principal Robert Brennan and the reflective period of Lent and Easter. May our Term 2 efforts reflect the optimism and resilience that is so natural to our community as we strive in the light of the Easter promise to live new lives of hope, joy and love.

Tristan O'Brien

Deputy Principal (Faith and Mission)

Year 12 Retreats

The Year 12 Retreats are always a highlight for our students in their final year with us at 4C. This year we had locations in Anglesea and Marysville. 

ANZAC Day at 4C

While students had the day off on the 25th to join the Australian Community in a public holiday for ANZAC day, we also joined together in an ANZAC ceremony on the 23rd.

Students lay wreaths, heard the ANZAC story and joined in prayer and silent reflection during the service to remember the sacrifices our service men and women have made.

Incursion - Year 7 and 8 Mime

Some of our junior students had the exciting opportunity to participate in a traditional mime and magic performance. Students were asked to get up and try some of the methods used, including magic tricks and their own mime performances. 

Incursion - Author Talk by Maxine Beneba Clarke

A local poet and author, Maxine Beneba Clarke ran writing workshops for our Year 7's. 

She was incredibly interesting, and had some fantastic stories to tell, as well as being generous enough to sign a few copies of her recent work for our students. 

Careers Week

This week was Careers Week at 4C!
Students were encouraged to explore, learn and discover more about what their career options are, post-school, as well as learn some practical skills around careers, including sessions on Tax File Numbers for our Year 9's, and Career Action plans for some of our Year 7 and 8 students.

Our Careers expo was hugely popular, with Year 10 students having an optional session to speak to the representatives from a number of industries and universities, and our Year 11 and 12 students enthusiastically entering competitions, taking free goodies provided by the exhibitors and engaging with their possible futures.

Year 9 Science and Humanities Excursion

Students spent time on the 29th of April at the Royal Botanical Gardens to discover the impacts of a changing climate on species survival. they then attended a multitude of sites throughout the CBD relevant to their history and government classes. 

Parent Information Session

Parents of VM students were recently invited to a Parent Information Session, to help families better understand the VM program, work placements, and how they can help support their child to be successful in this program.

Unit 1&2 Food Studies

Our Unit 1&2 food studies class with Mr Pham recently had an incursion with Mabu Mabu, looking at Indigenous ingredietns and how they can be used in cooking. 

10/05/2024 - Mother's Day Mass and Breakfast

Our annual Mother's Day Mass and Breakfast is fast approaching! If you haven't yet registered, there's still time - head to the link below to join us.
https://events.humanitix.com/m...

19/05/2024 - Open Day

Our College Open Day is busily being coordinated behind the scenes, so if you've not yet signed up to attend, you can do so here:
https://www.cccc.vic.edu.au/op...

15/05/2024 - Subject Conferences

23/05/2024 - Senior Pathways Course Selection Evening

10/06/2024 - Kings Birthday Public Holiday

11/06/2024 - Winter Music Concert

11/06/2024 - One-year reunion

28/06/2024 - Sacred Heart Day Mass, Talent Quest and Fair and End of Term 2

Gracious God,

With gratitude in our hearts for the gift of each new day;

Looking around and listening now, in appreciation for this particular moment;

We offer this prayer for the grace to live each day with kindness in our words and gestures.

May those we meet, in whatever way, feel respected and loved;

May the intentions we shape be good and generous, spreading an infectious optimism into the term ahead.

May this renewal of our hope as one human family through the gift of Easter take us deeper into why you say: “Look, I make all things new”.

For we are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song! Amen