Principal's Welcome

Welcome to a new school year. A new year, a new beginning and many new opportunities. That is what the new school year brings for each and every one of us. I urge every student to take up the challenge to ‘Soar like an Eagle’ in 2017. This is in fact the College theme for our 35th Anniversary year.

That is correct, this year we celebrate 35 years of senior secondary Catholic coeducational education at Catholic Regional College Sydenham. What an inspired and bold decision it was for Father O’Reilly and the parishioners of the area to establish a school as a part of a Federation of schools in the West of Melbourne. I am not sure that anyone knew the amazing success that Catholic Regional College would become. Today it is the largest Catholic senior secondary College in Australia with an international profile for innovation and excellence in education. With tour groups coming from far and wide, right across the globe to visit and learn from what has been developed at the College, our 35th Anniversary is one worth celebrating.

The real reason to celebrate though is the real success story of the College – the 25,000 graduates who have passed through the College gates to go onto live their lives as contributing members of the wider community. I am constantly meeting people who know of the school, know someone who went to the school or who attended as a student themselves. To mark this milestone, in the middle of the year on Thursday 22nd June we will be having a whole College Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral. His Grace, the Archbishop of Melbourne has kindly agreed to celebrate Mass on the day. I invite all families to join us for this wonderful celebration commencing at 10 am. Please join us and mark this date on the calendar. Students will be transported from the College via buses to the Mass after which we have booked Luna Park for the afternoon. Lunch will also be provided, served at Luna Park.

The year is full of milestone occasions. The Opening Assembly to celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2016 will be held in the College hall on Friday 10th of February at 9 am. The VCE results for the Class of 2016 became the human interest story of the week when results were released. The Dux of the College was responsible. Saad achieved 96.65 having only learnt English for 2 years due to 5 years of interrupted schooling. Having to flee from his home country of Syria with his family because of war, persecution and the very real threat of death, Saad was working at the College as a gardener when we found out he actually wanted the chance to return to school and complete his studies. Catholic Regional College Sydenham is proud of the fact that we provided a place and gave Saad a chance. Living out the catchphrase of Every Student Every Pathway. Saad’s story was not only picked up by the Australian media across the country with every TV news service running the story as well as radio and print media, Saad’s story went viral. More than 2 billion people heard about Catholic Regional College Sydenham  and the 2016 Dux of the College. Fox News across the USA, BBC World across the globe and Chinese TV were just some of the media outlets who arranged to interview Saad so that they could relay the story worldwide.  Please join us for the Opening Assembly as we congratulate Saad and all of the Year 12 achievers from 2016.

Parent information evenings at the start of each school year can be somewhat of a chore for parents at times, especially with multiple children. We have listened and are working to ensure that the administrative  information we share with families on these nights is succinct. We want to provide you the opportunity to meet staff and to ask questions about the year ahead. Most of all though we want to provide you, as parents, with the tools and strategies that can assist you in your role as the primary educator who we work in partnership with during the time your son or daughter undertakes study at the College. To this end, we are very excited that Andrew Fuller, Australia’s most respected Child and Adolescent Psychologist will be our speaker this year on the night of the 23rd of February from 7 pm. Andrew is the best there is so please join us to hear what this expert has to say about parenting today, supporting young people through their teen years and helping Year 11 and 12 students achieve success in the last two years of secondary schooling. This is a night not to be missed, I assure you that you will regret it if you miss this night.

The start of the new year will also see considerable traffic congestion and disruption on the Melton Highway impacting on the turn off into Sydenham Road as the State Government commences the removal works for the level crossing. A fly over will be built over the railway line so that cars will pass over the trains on an elevated road in the future. No more sitting at the boom gates for 15 minutes as three trains go through in various directions. That will be a distant memory but before that there will be a lot of congestion. Please keep appraised of the project as traffic conditions will change dramatically and will impact on travel times to and from the College.

Finally, welcome to the new members of the community. Year 11 students commencing at the College will be finding their way over the next week or so. Parents who need to speak to a staff member about any concerns regarding students should start with the Home Group Tutor and then the Cluster (House) Coordinators for the Cluster that their son / daughter is in. You will have the chance to meet these staff at the Parent Evening and I look forward to welcoming as many families as possible to that night.

May 2017 be a year of hope, prosperity and prayer. Above all else though, may 2017 be the year where you Soar like the Eagle.

God Bless

Brendan J Watson OAM

Principal