From the Principal
14 February By Steven Mifsud, Principal
As a College community, we have been excited to have a full week of learning, faith and wellbeing experiences provided for our young people. Our students have returned both excited and challenged to be part of our Damascus community. We have worked together to provide the foundations of a positive academic year where we have clearly established high expectations about behaviour and learning routines.
Some people believe that once a child enters secondary school, we do not have to be active, watchful or engaged as guides for our people. I would like to challenge this thinking; as an educator and father of two young people, this is far from my reality. Young people in secondary school need their parents and caregivers to be active, alert and engaged in their student's education. I encourage you to take an active part in the education process. Ask your child what they are learning, what has challenged them and what they are working on. Inevitably you will get the grunt of ‘nofin,’ but ask and ask again. Students will rise to high expectations and will value your presence and care.
Life habits take forty days to be developed and formed. The best gift we can provide young people is an education that challenges the growth of the academic, social, physical and faith aspects of ourselves. Each one of us is on a journey of continual growth. I am a strong advocate for partnerships between family and home. l seek your support in helping your young person develop regular routines, study habits, work, sleep and eating habits. As family, we have clear routines, we are all busy, but we need to try to create habits in our home that support our young people to achieve their best. Each year we would revisit study habits, sleep hygiene and eating habits with our sons. We would ensure that they went to school having had breakfast, a healthy lunch and a clean and crisp uniform. Once our boys came home, we established homework or study rituals based around their co-curricular activities or commitments. I found that once these habits were established in term one, the remaining terms were set. I urge you to regularly visit the Parent Access Module (PAM), so you can see what tasks are due and the results of assessment tasks.
The most successful students are those who participate in the fullness of College life. Busy people are the happiest people. At Damascus College, we have a plethora of co-curricular activities, from drama, debating, public speaking, Minecraft, sport and music. Each student should commit to undertaking at least one co-curricular activity each term; it is a wonderful opportunity to meet students in their year level and across the College – it is the best form of peer mentoring. If you have a rostered day off from work, try to get to BAS sport early and watch your child compete or sit down in the back and watch the performance.
This year the College has trialled a week of Year 7 events – we have paused the teaching and learning program and have fully engaged in a transition program. We launched our first retreat at the St Brendan’s site and we are excited to see this space evolve. On Monday evening l had the privilege of attending the Year 7 Rice Camp at Log Cabin Camp in Creswick. Camp provides a wonderful opportunity for our young people to connect with their teachers and new friends. Students who remain at the College are participating in important Reading, Writing and Numeracy assessments that will help inform our learning and pedagogy. Furthermore, students will participate in additional transition activities to ensure a successful entry into College life.
On Tuesday evening, our Leaders hosted a VCE/VM Information night. There have been many changes in this space since last year and these evenings are a fabulous opportunity to help make informed decisions in relation to the best pathway for your student.
Next week we have a number of key events on the College calendar that l extend a warm welcome.
It has been a busy time in our rowing regattas, and many events have been held. I encourage you to come along, support our athletes and register to volunteer to assist at one or some of these events.
Parents and carers are invited to attend our annual Damascus College Opening Mass.
Date: Friday 23 February 2024
Time: 11.15am for an 11.30am start
Venue: Damascus College | John Shannon Centre
If you would like to attend, please RSVP to principal@damascus.vic.edu.au by Thursday 22 February.
Last week each family received a list of our staff, their emails and respective roles. I encourage you to reach out to our staff if you have concerns about your student. Damascus College prides itself on our relationships; please continue to work in partnership with us. We also supplied another document advising key dates; I encourage you to print the handout and place it on your fridge so you can be reminded of our key events.
As we navigate through the challenging second week in the quest to find Samantha Murphy, I ask you to embrace the Murphy family with the strength of your prayers for a positive resolution.
We understand that this is a distressing time for many in our school community and I encourage any family who feels they or their children would benefit from our College support services to contact their student’s Teacher Advisor, House Leader or Counselling Team on 5337 2222.
I would like to acknowledge the staff and community support through ongoing search parties as we hope and pray for a positive outcome.