Welcome back to Term 4, I hope you have had a restful break and had an opportunity to enjoy the warmer weather and the many sporting finals that have occurred over the past fortnight. There is so much we can learn from the finals in sport and the skills we teach through social and emotional learning. Our students can learn perseverance, organisation, resilience and calculated risk taking. Players who participated in the finals over the weekend demonstrated that a commitment to our passion and craft leads to improvement, through tenacity and hard work and even grit, we can achieve many goals. But not being the ultimate premiers does not mean failure. Getting to the premiership is success.

In many ways the AFL Grand Final comes at an opportune time for our senior students, it demonstrates that through hard work, commitment and habits so much can be achieved. Creating regular routines and rituals enables one to perform to their optimum. As we enter the final term, l ask that you work with our learners to provide routine, nourishment and a steady study routine to enable all students to achieve their goals. It only takes six weeks to improve performance. If we all start today, we will be ready for our examinations and assessment cycles.

Next week we will begin to formally acknowledge our Year 12 students who conclude their 13 years of education and their six years at Damascus College. We are incredibly proud of our students and their ability to face challenges, work hard and to reflect on their learning. Our final Year 12 assembly will occur on Wednesday 18 October 2023 and an invitation has been sent out to our Year 12 families.

On Tuesday 17 October we look forward to opening our College for Prospective Families. We have planned an exciting evening where our families will be able to hear from members of the College Leadership Team, to view key learning areas of the College through student lead tours, student wellbeing practices and faith experiences. I encourage you invite prospective families to register for the evening by visiting our website.

I wish to farewell:

• Ash Brown who will commence parental leave in the next few weeks, we wish Ash and her family well for the safe arrival of their second child. We are thankful for Ash’s contribution to the College in our Re-engagement Program, Pride Group and as an excellent classroom practitioner.
• Jason Carey will be finishing this week in the Marketing and Alumni Team, we thank Jason for his contributions to our social media space.

I wish to welcome:

• Geraldine Ewing who will take on Ash Brown’s classes for Term 4.
• Jas Beaumont who has replaced Trish Rowe.
• Misty Duncan who is joining us for Term 4 as a school counsellor.
• Linda Skidmore who has joined us a Assistant Rowing Coordinator for the 2023/2024 rowing season.
• Emma Coulter in Accounts Payable
• Eloise McGuifford as Learning Support Officer
• Megan O’Beirne - Performing Arts Administrator
• Jess Jones - Education Administration Officer

We pray for the Jans Family for the recent passing of Josephina Jans, mother-in-law to – Michelle (First Aid Officer) and Dominque (Maths Intervention) and mother to Paul Jans former Business Leader.