It has been a great start to 2025!

I hope this newsletter finds you safe and well. As we progress through another exciting start to the year, it is important to reflect on the great achievements of this community in recent times. As we begin 2025, the College continues to celebrate the wonderful achievements of the Class of 24, with our students meeting high expectations and experiencing great academic and holistic success. I look forward to celebrating and recognising the efforts of the students, particularly the Top 20 achievers at the upcoming Assembly on Thursday.

Caroline Chisholm Catholic College continues to be a safe place for learning, thanks to the dedication and hard work of the community. It is important that each student commits to making the most of their opportunities while attending the school, because each day will prepare them for life as adults. During my first week at the College, I asked students to try and do three things each day; to learn something new, to be safe, fair and kind when relating to others, and to grateful to you as their parents for the opportunities they have. I hope that they have taken on this advice.

During the first three weeks of school, the College has come to life with the energy and presence that students have injected. The buildings and great facilities we have only come alive when the students walk through and use them.

In recent weeks, the College celebrated the Commissioning Mass and Assembly, and this was an opportunity to welcome our student leaders into their roles. With leadership comes responsibility and each one of the formal leaders who accepted their badges committed to servant leadership as members of our faith community. I shared with the students the following insight from my experience as an educator:

Our college is built on faith, aspirations, trust, learning, and community because we aim to be a home for growth, discovery, and transformation, where everyone’s minds will be nurtured to become future leaders, guided by the values of faith, acceptance, compassion, and excellence. Today illustrates the commitment by the College to enable this.

In 2007, a while ago from where we are today, Joshua Bell, a Canadian who is known as one of the best concert violinists in the world, played for free, for 45 minutes, using a violin worth 3.5 million dollars, at a subway station in Washington DC.

Over a thousand people passed Bell as he played his violin, and only seven people stopped to listen to him. Only three days earlier, he had played for thousands of people who had paid considerable sums of money for their tickets.

This was an experiment, which was conducted by the Washington Post. So why did so many people not stop and take advantage of the moment by listening to such an artist?

At times, we are so concerned with what the future holds that we may only focus on the immediate thing that we assume is most important at that point in time.

In doing so, we may miss the beautiful gifts of the moments that we therefore ignore, which evolve right in front of us without being truly appreciated. During that morning of the experiment, people walked past Bell and ignored the beautiful sounds made by his art, skill and violin, because they may have been late to catch the train or needed to get to a meeting or to see a friend.

I encourage you to stop and reflect, and in doing so, appreciate the prospects of not just tomorrow but those that may appear in front of you right now. There is beauty all around us, yet we often don’t stop to appreciate this. Learn to appreciate the day ahead by enjoying the moment God has given you now.

I encourage you to support your child in appreciating the moment that they have right in front of them, as they navigate through a stage in life full of opportunities and support which will help overcome their challenges. May you have a great fortnight ahead and thank you for making me feel very welcome.

This is a prayer shared with our staff:

Prayer before Study or Instructions

Almighty God, you are the true fountain of light and the only Author of all knowledge. We pray to you, so that you enlighten our understanding, and remove from us all darkness and ignorance. We pray that we can be testaments of your wisdom as we educate the wonderful children entrusted to us. May your word and wisdom be the light that guides and protects all our students as they learn from us this week.

Amen.

Dr Napoleon Rodezno

Principal

Welcome to the 2025 school year! It has been a fantastic start, with students across all year levels settling into their learning routines. A special mention goes to our Year 7 students, who have transitioned smoothly into secondary school life. The shift from primary to secondary school is a significant one, but with the support of our dedicated teachers and staff, they are already finding their rhythm in their new learning environments.

We are excited to be celebrating academic excellence at our upcoming Top 20 Assembly, where we will recognise the outstanding achievements of our 2024 cohort. This event will also highlight our scholarship award recipients, acknowledging their dedication and commitment to their studies. Academic success is a key focus at the College, and we will continue to strive for excellence in all areas of learning.

As we settle into the term, I would like to remind families of the importance of ensuring students have all the necessary resources for their studies. If you have not yet purchased the required booklist items, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible to support your child’s learning. Additionally, the Year 7 and Year 10 laptop rollout has now been completed, ensuring that all students have access to the digital tools they need to succeed.

This year, we are also working closely with Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) to implement the Vision for Instruction at the College. This initiative will further enhance our teaching and learning practices, ensuring the best possible outcomes for our students.

We look forward to another year of growth, achievement, and success. Thank you for your ongoing support in making this a wonderful learning community.

Warm regards,
Laura Ruddick
Deputy Principal, Learning and Teaching

Dear Families,

Our Year 7 students have settled and well engaged in learning. We had a wonderful meet the learner mentor evening with their parents to build on relationships and offer further support for their young people. Students in Year 8 have commenced their camps, while our 12’s are commencing assessment tasks in their various subject areas. Just some reminders for families as we navigate the year.

Absences and Family Travel

Some important reminders to parents and carers of your duty of care to inform the college if you son or daughter is going to be absent. It is a college requirement as a part of our registration to ensure unexplained absences are accounted for. This can be done via the parent portal on compass on the day, or in advance if you know. See below tutorials.

You can also call reception on 9296 5311 by 9am on the day. Families receive a text message at 9:30am if their child is away. Student Services will then follow up with a phone call following this if we still have unexplained absences for your child. Please support the college with this compliance and inform us of when your child is absent.

Compass Parent Tutorial and guide
Adding a note/approval: Parents are shown the process of adding a note to explain their child’s attendance after their child has been marked NP/U or L/U and also how to add a note in advance for a known upcoming absence.

Guide
https://www.compass.education/guide#section-attendance

Another reminder with regards to absences is family travel. If you are aware that you intend to take your child out of school for family travel, please ensure that their Year level coordinator needs to need informed. When planning family holidays, please consider the impact that this may have on your child’s education.

We are also offering support at the upcoming Learner Mentor Conference with a Compass Café to assist with any queries re the use of Compass.

Medical Information

If your child suffers from a medical condition short or long term. Please ensure that you have made the school aware. If your child is required to take medication whilst at school, you will need to complete a medical management plan and meet with relevant staff. If your child has a medical management plan, please ensure that we have an updated version. This all helps with compliance, as well as allowing us to give your child the best possible care.

Contact Details

Finally, can I ask that families check their address, emails and phone names on compass to ensure we have the most up to date information for being able to communicate with you. Again, this is important for a range of reasons, including medical, and keeping you in the loop with your child’s education.

Education is a three-way partnership between the school, the students, and families. The stronger the relationship the better the outcomes for all involved. Wishing you all well for the year ahead.

Child Safety

At Caroline Chisholm Catholic College we are committed to the care, safety and wellbeing of our students and see this as a central and fundamental responsibility of our college. Please see our commitment to Child Safety here.

God Bless

Stephanie Banks 
Deputy Principal, Student Wellbeing

It is wonderful to be joining the Caroline Chisholm Catholic College community. The College’s connection to work in faith, for justice has been very evident so far this year, with key events already taken place and planning for future projects and occasions well underway.

The College staff started off the year with a Mass at Christ the King church celebrated by Fr Gerald Biñegas, with the hymns led by the staff musicians and singers. Included in the celebration was the blessing of the staff College badges presented to the new staff.

As part of the College’s 5 Year Staff Faith Formation Plan for Mission, the focus this year is on being “Formed in the Sacred Heart of Christ.” This also ties in well with our College theme for 2025 of Set us ablaze with the love of Jesus, based on the passage from the Gospel of Luke 3:16. This was unpacked by staff as part of our start of year preparations, exploring how might the idea of burning with Christ’s love transform our perspectives and/or actions.

Welcoming our new Year 7 students to the College on their first day was obviously an integral milestone in their educational journey. This moment marking a key event in their time here at Caroline Chisholm Catholic College, was observed with a Year 7 parent/carers liturgy held in our Blessed Benedict Daswa Hall. Here family and friends were able to light a prayer candle for our new Year 7 students as they began their secondary schooling.

The whole College community gathered in eucharistic celebration at our Commissioning Mass on Thursday the 6^th of February. It was a wonderful sharing of joy in not only welcoming the new year, but also officially commissioning our new staff, in particular our new principal, Dr Napoleon Rodezno.

Fr Silvio Bezzina was our celebrant for the mass. Following the mass Fr Silvio blessed our staff candles and college student badges, and alongside Tristan O’Brien - Director of Student Engagement, presented our newly appointed student leaders.

I would like to thank all those who assisted in preparing and leading the mass. To our musicians led by Matthew Lorentzen and choir led by Bell Foster. To our readers, altar servers led by Angelo Abela, communion ministers, audio-visual team, maintenance team and all those who contributed.

Social justice is at the heart of our mission to nurture not only the academic growth of our students but also their spiritual and moral development. Through the lens of Catholic teachings, we are reminded that we are all called to be agents of change in the world, striving to bring dignity, equality, and love to all people, especially those who are marginalised.

Although as a school all staff and students are part of our social justice commitments, we have a dedicated team of students and staff who make up our Social Justice committee. This is a group that any staff or student may join to help plan, organise and run events to promote justice and raise awareness to upholding the values of faith, compassion, and service, all of which are integral to our Catholic identity.

Our College also has a committed group of staff and students who run a Sustainability & Ecological Justice committee, dedicated to upholding our Catholic obligation to care for creation. Both groups have been busy in forming meetings, recruiting new members and discussing initiatives for the term and year ahead.

February 20 marks the World Day of Social Justice as part of the United Nations International Observances and this year’s theme is “Strengthening a Just Transition for a Sustainable Future”. Considering this and the efforts our college makes in raising awareness about social issues, the prayer for this newsletter reflects this, tying together with our College theme for 2025.

Michael Chesser
Director of Faith and Mission

Read Your Height Challenge

You might have seen this challenge all over social media, and now we're bringing it to CTK!

📅 How it Works: 

🔹 Read as many books as you can! 

🔹 Come to our Reading Club every week at lunch to record your progress on your Height Chart!

🔹 Watch your reading stack grow taller than YOU!

We have some amazing prizes up for grabs:

 🥇 Top Reader – $50 gift card

🥈 Runner-Up – $25 gift card 

🎉 LM who reads the most – Pizza party at the end of Semester 1

Sign up now – See Ms. Tsoulfidis and Mr Holmes in CK121 during lunch for reading club to get started! Let’s see who can out-read their height!

Important Dates:

20/02 - Top 20 Assembly
04/03 - Shrove Tuesday
05/03 - Ash Wednesday
21/03 - Harmony Day
28/03 - Athletics Day
04/04 - College Assembly and last day of term 

College Commissioning Mass and Assembly

We welcomed our new Year 7 students and our new staff members, as well as blessing our new leadership formally in our 2025 Commissioning Mass, held on the 6th of February.

As a community, coming together to celebrate the newest members and congratulate our newest leaders is an important part of our year, and we're thrilled to have been able to bless all of our new staff and students and wish each of them well for their time at our College!

Science gets started!

Our Science department has been busy in the first three weeks of school, with students already undertaking a number of experiments and hands-on learning across multiple year levels. 

Valentines Day Card Making

Our Student Engagement team have been hard at work coordinating Valentines Day card making for our students across both sites.

The reception was fantastic with over 100 students stopping by over the week to make cards for loved ones. (And starting to rack up those Waa points!)

World Day of Social Justice – 20^th Feb

A Prayer for Social Justice:

Loving and Merciful God,

We come before You with hearts full of gratitude for the many blessings we have received. We thank You for the gift of love, which You have shown us through Your Son, Jesus Christ. As we reflect on the call to justice, we ask that You set us ablaze with the fire of His love, so that we may be true instruments of Your peace and compassion in the world.

Lord, help us to see the needs of our brothers and sisters, especially those who suffer from inequality, poverty, and injustice. Stir in us a deep desire to stand with the oppressed, to speak up for the voiceless, and to act in ways that reflect Your love and mercy. May we never be indifferent to the struggles of others, but always be moved to action in support of dignity and justice for all people.

Through the example of Jesus, who showed us that true greatness lies in serving others, may we be inspired to use our gifts and talents to make a positive impact in our community and in the wider world. Set our hearts on fire with a passion for justice, that we may work tirelessly to build a world where love, equality, and peace prevail.

Bless our College community, Lord, and guide us as we seek to live out our faith through acts of Social Justice. May we be the hands and feet of Christ in this world, bringing hope and light wherever there is darkness.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, who is the embodiment of love and justice.

Amen.