Welcome back to Term 4. I hope you were able to spend some quality time with your family and friends over the past two weeks. Holidays or term breaks provide a wonderful opportunity to be still with our families and to find quiet moments of peace.

Over the holidays, l had some time to read on the life of Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, by Sister Madeleine Duckett. In one of the reflections written by Madeleine about Catherine, she explores Catherine McAuley as a woman who would be quite at home in our times and in the busyness of life. Catherine was many things to many people, and her efforts to bring relief to the poor constantly presented her with challenges. As students approach this coming term of consolidation of their learning and multiple assessments, it is valuable to remind them that we have a glimpse in Catherine's words of some of the anxieties she experienced and her ability to quieten her fears with an ever-growing trust in divine providence. Catherine wrote, "We have one solid comfort amidst this little tripping about, our hearts can always be in the same place centred in God. For whom alone we go forward or stay back. Oh, may God look on us with love and pity and then we shall be able to do anything God wishes us to do, no matter how difficult to accomplish or painful to our feelings.

We pray for our young people and ourselves that we can quieten our anxieties with a trust in divine providence and a constant sense of hope and gratitude this term.

This morning l had the pleasure of attending the Bright Futures Breakfast, where we heard from Sam Rizzo, Alumni of Damascus College. Sam shared his inspirational and motivational personal journey from being born with the congenital condition Spina Bifida to representing Australia as a world-class T54 Para-athlete and the impact his Damascus College education made on his life. Sam's message of perseverance and tenacity was well received by our community, and he highlighted that through personal challenges, we can become strengthened and can grow even stronger. I thank the many families who kindly donated their time and money towards our Breakfast which will support a young person in need to be provided with the best gift – an education.

While classes have not taken place over the past two weeks, there has been plenty of activity around the College. Senior students have been in regular attendance for trial exams and revision classes. I congratulate those who have engaged with this process and encourage them to continue to seek the support of their teachers in the build-up to the exams.

I thank VCE Coordinator Matt Hallowell and VCE Administrator Maddie Fry for their facilitation of the VCE trial exam period over the holidays. These trial exams provide a genuine opportunity for senior students to experience the exam conditions while gaining invaluable feedback on their revision and progress to date.

Families of Year 12 students should have received an invitation to the formal assembly on Wednesday, 19^th October, from 11:30am. If you have not, could you please contact the administration office.

Fourth term is a busy time. At Damascus, we work hard to ensure students have the optimal learning experience and a feature of this is our Early Start Program which is undertaken in the last two weeks of the year. The goals of the program are;

• To improve the continuity of learning from one calendar year to the next

• To optimise valuable learning time

• To increase organisational efficiency

From the student's perspective, they will commence their next year level for the last two weeks, and this will be built upon once they return in 2023.

In the meantime, there is a lot to be done; please support your student by logging into the Parent Access Module (PAM) to check assessment dates and engage with teacher feedback. This will support your student on their learning journey.

In the last two days, we have had an experience of diverse weather. Students are permitted to wear their summer or winter uniform for the first two weeks of this term, so if you feel that the weather is decisively cold, encourage them that it is OK to wear their winter uniform.

On the uniform front, please do not allow your student to come to school in the wrong uniform. It is time consuming to follow up and creates the potential for conflict, all of which distract from learning and teaching. We go to significant lengths to be explicit about uniform and need families' support. Of particular concern this week has been the wearing of black socks by some students and summer dresses that are too short. Could I ask for family support, please.

We remember all those who are in need at this time.

Until next week …

Steven