Next Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday, and our senior student leaders will travel into St Patrick’s Cathedral to celebrate Mass with Bishop Paul Bird. Our leaders will join Loreto College and St Patrick’s College leaders.

The liturgy on Shrove Tuesday marks the commencement of our community recognition of the season of Lent. Next Wednesday (2nd March) is Ash Wednesday, and globally, the Catholic community are being marked (sprinkled in COVID safe times) with ashes from the earth as a sign of humility. From Ash Wednesday, Lent is the forty days that follow until the blessed celebration of Easter, the zenith of belief for Christian people.

Here at Damascus College, we look to the period of Lent to support the fundraising activity for Project Compassion across the College. Damascus has a wonderful reputation as supporters of social justice. Project Compassion is the annual appeal for Caritas Australia, which is the Catholic Church’s international aid organisation. The community’s support of Project Compassion throughout Lent has been very generous over recent years, and we hope to continue that in 2022.

Lent is a time of preparation for Easter. We encourage our students to reflect on how they can give Time, Talents or Treasure over this period. Time in prayer or personal reflection about their relationship with God, Talents; the sharing of their personal gifts or talents to benefit others; finally, Treasure; charity or almsgiving to support those in need. At home, you may like to engage in the conversation about how this Lent as a family, you may be able to give Time, Treasure or Talents.

The Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) survey that we have been speaking of in recent newsletters is now open and ready to accept your responses. Families would have received an email today from the College with information on how to access the survey, including login details and an information sheet. The College is very appreciative of the time that you are committing to complete the survey. Your responses, along with the responses of Students and Staff, play a vital role in our self-understanding as a Catholic Education provider. For more information please click here.

The Victorian Government have extended their return to school plan until the end of Term 1 and will be providing Rapid Antigen Test kits for all students over the next six week period. We anticipate receiving the required delivery for the next two weeks in the coming days for distribution through TA’s early next week.

An additional announcement was made yesterday regarding masks in indoor settings and, in particular, in secondary schools. Effective from 11:59pm Friday 25th February, in education settings, face masks are no longer mandatory in secondary schools. Whilst this is the government’s stance, the College’s principles of keeping our community safe - the 5 S’s, still remain. Our language around masks will move to ‘highly encouraged’ in classes from Monday. Students and staff are highly encouraged to continue wearing masks indoors to support the safety of all. Students must still wear a mask whilst on public transport, including school busses and those used for school excursions.

The House Swimming Carnival scheduled for tomorrow has now been postponed. We believe that with the information at hand and based on our Risk Assessment (along with that of Ballarat City Council), inclement and unstable weather may likely compromise the safety of all students and staff. The carnival will now be postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, 3^rd March, and we are awaiting confirmation from the pool. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may caused and appreciate your understanding in making the necessary decision with the safety of all in mind. The School day will proceed as normal tomorrow, Thursday 24^th February.

Our Rowers will be out on Lake Wendouree this Sunday for the Head of the Lake Rowing Regatta. There has been much discussion in the news around Spit crews – their attendance, and if they can sing and voice their chants; however, the collective decision between all the schools is that the focus is on the rowers and maintaining a safe environment. There will be no chanting and no big entrances onto the spit; instead, student supporters will be encouraged to cheer on all rowers from all schools as they pass the finish line. Head of Sport, Nicole Hexter, has sent out an expression of interest for students who wish to come and support on Sunday. Student supports in attendance must be wearing a mask and are required to come in full summer uniform. All schools will be positioned on the judge’s box side of the finish line, with all parents and the general public on the Loreto side. We wish all our rowers, coaches and support staff best wishes for this weekend’s Head of the Lake Regatta.

Over the weekend, Year 9 student Armani Anderson competed in the Victorian Track & Field Championships in the 100m. Armani won this event, meaning she is now the quickest U16 female in Victoria with a time of 12:28. Armani will now compete at Nationals in Sydney next month to see if she is the fastest U16 in Australia. Congratulations, Armani, on a fantastic achievement!

We have made minor changes to student traffic flow in the Canteen when ordering food to better support social distancing and the orderly procession of students. By far, the quickest way to order and receive lunch at the Canteen is by ordering online through QuickCliq. Parents, students or staff can visit www.quickcliq.com.au to sign up and register. Students will need to order their lunch by 9:00am daily.

We keep the Sisters of Mercy in our thoughts and prayers on the passing of Sr Anne Forbes. Sister Anne, a Sister of Mercy, came from Bungaree, was an early staff member at St Martin’s in the Pines, and had a powerful sense of social justice. She spent significant time in Timor, during a great time of unrest – and did not want to be moved. She was a fantastic support of the students from Timor that came here and will be forever in our minds. We pray for the Sisters at this time. Additionally, we keep Marian College Ararat in our thoughts and prayers on the passing of a much loved and respected staff member.

Until next week…Chris