It was wonderful to be able to gather on Friday for our Opening School Mass and Acknowledgement of Student Leaders with our Year 12’s and Student Representative Council members. Bishop Paul led a lovely Mass formed around our 2022 College theme – “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit.” It was a great acknowledgement of our Colleges Student Leaders for 2022. We extend our appreciation to Angela Carr and Tony Haintz for their preparation of the Mass and Maria Russell and the choir for their joyus contribution. I also thank and acknowledge our IT and Maintenance teams and all who supported the liturgy preparation.

Tomorrow evening (Thursday 17th), there will be an information evening for families of VCAL and VCE students. Both events will be live-streamed, beginning with VCAL at 6:00pm, followed by VCE at 7:00pm. If you have a student in VCE or VCAL, you are strongly encouraged to attend these events. More information can be found here.

All students by now should have received their next box of 5 Rapid Antigen Tests that will see them through the final two weeks of the Victorian Governments Return to School Plan. We are unsure at this stage if this initiative will continue beyond these two weeks, but we will certainly keep you updated on developments.

It has been great to get out to Log Cabin Camp at Creswick this week to see our Year 7 McAuley and Xavier students. Rice and St Martin students head out today and tomorrow, and I look forward to seeing them. It is a very busy two days for our youngest students. They all appear to be having a fantastic time with their new classmates. I thank Ann and Brendan Bawden and the House Leaders and teachers for facilitating this opportunity.

Year 7 students will be undertaking their PAT Reading and Writing assessments in the Damascus Events Centre throughout this week. These assessments are intended to support the learning and teaching process by providing insights into student progress through standardised tools.

Next Monday evening from 5:00pm (21/02/22), we are conducting the Academic Assembly for 2021 VCAL and Unit 3/4 students in the Damascus Events Centre. Senior VCE and VCAL students who achieved outstanding results in both programs will be recognised and celebrated, and we will record key elements to share with students at other levels.

Catchup student photos will run on Wednesday, 23rd February, for any students who could not attend the first photo session at the beginning of the year. Students must be in summer uniform with blazers, and they will be called to the Damascus Event Centre at the beginning of the day.

Next Thursday, 24^th February, will be the annual House Swimming carnival. This carnival will be conducted at the Eureka Swimming Pool. Students must wear their PE uniform to school but may wear an appropriate House coloured top, supporting their House. Students will travel by bus to and from the venue; however, to alleviate the pressure on buses, students will have the opportunity to make their own way to Eureka Pool. This will need to be recorded when you complete the PAM permission that will be sent to families shortly. As with every school day, the Swimming Carnival is a compulsory activity for all students and provides an excellent opportunity for students to be their best! Not everyone is a talented swimmer, but there are a diverse range of activities to encourage student participation. We remind families that the College encourages students to be SunSmart for this event, in that they wear a hat and use and reapply sunscreen throughout the day. We would encourage families to reiterate the message with their students on the day.

It is not uncommon for students to pressure parents and guardians not to attend school on sports days, but it is imperative that parents stand firm and point out that community events are an important opportunity to learn and build both team and school spirit. Our focus throughout our sports program across the College is on participation. The team with the greatest level of participation has invariably been recognised as the overall winner at the carnival. Students who do not attend school on Thursday without a legitimate reason will not be eligible to attend college formals or extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, due to social distancing requirements, we are unable to have parents attend the event. If parents would like their student to be dismissed from the pool, they must tick the box in the PAM permission form to indicate this; otherwise, students will be brought back to school for regular dismissal.

As announced last week, Damascus College will be participating in the Enhancing Catholic School Identity Project (ESCIP). ESCIP offers a tool to help us understand Catholic culture of our College. More information on ECSIP can be found here in the lead up to the release of the survey to families.

It has been a big week in rowing with our girls performing well on the Barwon River in Geelong. Our boys also experienced some strong results at the Victorian School Boy Championships on Lake Wendouree; both events were held on Saturday. Thank you to Paul Blanchfield, Georgia O’Leary, Hamish Walsh, Claudia Griffin, coaches and families who volunteered their time over the weekend to support our crews.

We keep the Watts family in our thoughts and prayers on the passing of their Grandfather over the weekend; Current student Phoebe (Year 9) and former students Trent, Zoe and Skye. May he rest in peace.

Until next week…Chris