Last night we had the College Board meeting, and our Board Chair Brendan Maher led us with a beautiful reflection by Sr Redempta Twomey published in the July edition of the Far East in 2011. Brendan pointed to the many challenges in our world currently, but that as a Christian community, we are people of hope. I share a condensed version of the reflection.

“Every Year without fail, in the cold dark days of August, a quiet Miracle takes place. In our gardens, at the foot of tall trees or in forgotten corners, a small white flower emerges from the wet and sodden earth. Like a secret long hidden in the dark, the snowdrop emerges without fuss or fanfare; a little white flower whose presence in these wintry days draws ‘Aah’ from even the bleakest soul.

Shortly afterwards come the jonquil, then daffodil and then all of the wonderful flowers of spring. But it is this little snowdrop that first breaches the bleakness. That gently and silently hints at something or someone beyond the deepest darkness. “I shall give you treasures from dark vaults, and hoards form secret places …”(Isa 45:3)

Who would have thought so delicate a and seemingly frail a flower, with her bowed head on so slender a stem could withstand the cold of August? Who could have imagined that Darkness held so precious a treasure?

The nurturing power of darkness is a great gift from God. But how hard it is for us to believe this! How difficult for us to wait with patience, with acceptance, for the creative of God to bring us through. “On those who lived in a land of death, a light has dawned’ (Isa 9:2).

Seasons of growth take time. No one becomes fully human in an instant. We do not lose hope in the darkness, nor do we give up the struggle. We trust as we reach out to and work with our compassionate Creator. We can be certain that no matter how terrible things may seem, God will, in God’s own time, fill us with light. Then our life, like the snowdrop, will reflect even more strongly God’s beauty.”

I found great joy in our young people’s production of The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which concluded last Thursday evening. The resilience and optimism of all involved allowed for a wonderful life-giving production that we were able to record for sharing with families and the broader community. I congratulate the cast, crew, and staff, Nicole Burness, Maria Russell and Andrew Seeary, on an amazing performance.

This week is Science week. And the theme is Food by Design! Our Science team have done a lot of work to mark the week here at Damascus. The periodic table challenge is again a significant component of our week, where young people are challenged to recall all the elements of the periodic table. Thank you to Science Learning Area Leader, Ivanka Saric and all who have a role to play in Science week.

Yesterday a number of students were awarded Endeavour and Academic class awards in their Teacher Advisor period. We congratulate all of these students for their hard work and study habits in Semester 1. You can find the list of students and their recorded awards here.

BAS Sport will resume this week. We must ask that our community members comply with the stricter conditions put in place to enable competition to resume in as safe a manner as possible. We are only allowed to have the minimum number of people required to run a sport (competitors, coaches, and umpires); therefore, no spectators are allowed at any venue. If this is not adhered to, we run the risk of jeopardising our ability to compete in BAS sport for the remainder of the year.

Events that bring multiple schools together to compete at one venue, indoors or outdoors, are either cancelled or postponed. This means that there won’t be a BAS Table Tennis competition, so instead, we will run our own in-house competition here at Damascus. Details of this will be provided to students who have previously expressed interest. The BAS Athletics that was rescheduled is now cancelled, and the Lake/Cross Country Lap is postponed.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support of BAS sport moving forward. We are grateful to be given this opportunity to participate and see our students represent Damascus College with pride. I thank Damascus Sports Coordinator Nikki Hexter for her work in this space and Ballarat Associated Schools Executive Officer Sharyn Canny for her work rearranging fixtures.

Today our Indonesian students are taking part in an Indonesian Immersion program here on site. I thank Brendan Bawden for his work preparing this opportunity for students and Languages Learning Area Leader Alysoun Smalley for her support.

South Street competitions have commenced in Ballarat; can I please remind families that if your student/s are competing, could you please advise absences@damascus.vic.edu.au of the time they will be absent from the College.

Yesterday we celebrated Rice House Day. We could not proceed with our regular school assembly, but the Rice team moved their celebration online, which was enjoyed in the different TA’s across the school. The role of Blessed Edmond Rice was a focus of the time and student achievements of Rice House. Thank you to House Leaders David Myers and Matthew Edwards for your facilitation and to the Rice student Leaders for their efforts.

On Friday, it was fantastic to conduct mock interviews with our Year 12 VCAL students. I was so impressed by how our senior students were optimising their time in class to refine their interview skills, resumes and general communication capabilities. I was proud of the achievements of these young women and men who demonstrated that they are ready to take the leap into life beyond secondary school. The engagement of our senior VCAL students reflects the engagement of our entire student community. Students across all year levels are trying their hardest to maintain engagement with their learning. Our amazing teaching and support staff are doing great work to support students. I thank families for your support of students as we continue this journey of learning in these unusual times.

The Year 10 immunisations have been rescheduled for next Thursday, August 26, Periods 2 and 3. These immunisations will take place in the Damascus Events Centre.

The Damascus community congratulates staff member Ashleigh Brown and her husband Dale, on the safe arrival of Maggie Alexander born Sunday. We congratulate Ash and Dale on this exciting news.

Until next week…

MATT