On Saturday evening, we gathered together to celebrate our rich and proud 140-year history. It was a beautiful celebration of what has been over our past 140 years, a lovely farewell to the community to our long-standing Principal Mr Matthew Byrne, and a positive introduction to the future with our new governing authority, the Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited (DOBCEL). Showcased on the evening was a thank you video to the Sisters of Mercy and Priests of the Diocese for co-governing Damascus College for the last 27 years since the 1995 amalgamation. Additionally, a further video highlighted our community reflections on the 140-year contribution of our founding colleges to Damascus College.
You are invited to view the two videos at the following links;
It was a lovely evening with great company, great entertainment, great food, and of course, in a beautiful venue! I thank our student and staff performers, Maria Russell and Andrew Seeary, student waitresses and waiters, our IT and Maintenance teams, Damascus staff who assisted and were present on the evening, and of course, our Marketing and Development Team, led by Sarah Boswell who put this evening together - well done, and thank you.
To our community members who joined us in this significant celebration – I sincerely thank you for your attendance and hope you enjoyed your evening.
In our Teacher Advisor lesson yesterday, students were taken through a presentation on the changes to the Mobile Phone policy at the College, beginning in Term 2 this year. Mobile phones brought to school must be switched off and stored securely in student lockers without use during the entire school day.
Our collective aim in enacting this policy is to provide;
- A safe environment to learn without inappropriate mobile phone use (including cyberbullying) or distractions.
- Greater opportunities for engaging relationships with social interaction and physical activity during recess and lunchtimes.
- Improvements in student achievement.
- Increase in student wellbeing and decrease in mental health concerns.
Students have been encouraged to talk with their parents/guardians about these upcoming changes. To enable a smooth transition to the new policy, we kindly ask for your support at home in encouraging students to make appropriate adjustments and choices. Families are invited to view the new mobile phone policy documents by clicking on the links below:-
Mobile Phone Policy
Communication to Parents
We will come together as a whole school community next Thursday, 7th April, for our Easter liturgy. It has been a significant number of days since we have all gathered in the John Shannon Centre, and I am excited that it is in the context of Easter that it will occur next Thursday morning. Contingencies will be put in place, including air purifiers and the encouragement for all students and staff to be wearing masks. I acknowledge the work of our Liturgy Leader, Ms Angela Carr, and Assistant Principal Catholic School Culture, Mr Tony Haintz, for their preparation of our liturgy.
The End of Season Rowing Dinner will take place on Tuesday 5th April, in the Damascus College Events Centre from 6:30pm. Tickets can be purchased through the College office.
As the seasons begin to change and the end of term rapidly approaches, it is timely that I remind parents/guardians of the importance of supporting the school’s uniform policy. While students should be responsible for presenting themselves for the school day, we look towards parents to reinforce uniform standards.
House Leaders and staff have found that when students are wearing their school uniform correctly, there are fewer behavioural issues and greater connectedness to their learning environment. When lines start to be blurred, such as wearing incorrect socks, the incorrect hair ribbon, no blazer and incorrect skirt lengths, students may sense a drop in standards and, in turn, expectations of them. This can then infiltrate into the classroom, where students begin to accept standards that are not reflective of their potential learning ability.
The uniform is the public façade of how the community see our College. Wearing the uniform with pride confirms Damascus is a learning environment that students are proud to be part of and where personal pride and presentation is valued. Damascus College uniform expectations can be found at https://www.damascus.vic.edu.au/enrolment/uniform.
I remind families that next Friday, 8th April is the last day of term, and school will finish at the earlier end of term time of 2.18pm. We will work on an adjusted, shorter lesson timetable throughout the day, with six shorter lessons.
We pray for all those who need our prayer at this time.
Until next week…Chris