On Thursday, 29 February 2024 students will attend the annual House Swimming carnival which will be held at the Eureka Swimming Pool. Students must wear their PE uniform to school but may wear an appropriate House coloured top, supporting their House. All students will travel by bus to and from the venue, with no students permitted to arrive at the pool or leave from the pool (other than those leaving for their VET course at lunchtime).

As with every school day, the Swimming Carnival is a compulsory activity for all students and provides an excellent opportunity for students to Be.Their.Best! Not everyone is a talented swimmer, but there are a diverse range of activities to encourage student participation. We remind families that the College encourages students to be SunSmart for this event, in that they wear a hat and use and reapply sunscreen throughout the day. We would encourage families to reiterate the message with their students on the day.

It is not uncommon for students to pressure parents and carers not to attend school on sports days, but it is imperative that parents/carers stand firm and point out that community events are an important opportunity to learn and build both team and school spirit. Our focus throughout our sports program across the College is on participation. The team with the greatest level of participation has invariably been recognised as the overall winner at the carnival. Students who do not attend school on Thursday without a legitimate reason will not be eligible to attend College formals or extracurricular activities.

Following the con conclusion of the carnival, announcements will be made back at school of the Age group champions and the winning House.

Next Friday, 8 March 2024 is International Women's Day; it's a global day celebrating women's social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. We acknowledge that there is still work to be done in achieving equality and safety for women in our global community. We have been fortunate to have so many women work to progress our community and society, and we acknowledge those who came before us, those amongst us and those in the future. The College will acknowledge International Women’s Day next Friday, with a breakfast and guest speakers. More details will be communicated in the coming days.

We extend a prayer of gratitude for all the women in our lives, for their strength, courage and inspiration, and we pray that we can continue to develop as a society with just and safe equality for all.

Our young Damascus rowers proudly represented their College in the Head of the Lake Regatta on Sunday. Students got off the water proud of their best effort, each acknowledging that they had done their best. Rowing Coordinator, Paul Blanchfield, Assistant Rowing Coordinator Linda Skidmore, College Staff member Claudia Griffin and the exceptional team of Damascus coaches continue to build on a culture of students doing and being their best, which was very evident on Sunday. Congratulations to all rowers, coaches, support staff and volunteers for their enormous efforts, not only on Sunday but their entire 2023/2024 season to date.

There are a diverse range of excursions to support classroom learning taking place over the next week, and I encourage families to check PAM permissions and take a look at your student's progress while there.

The new Senior Learning Building comprising of 23 classrooms over three levels is progressing very well, with the basement level foundations complete, and now developing the supporting structures for the ground level concrete pour. It is exciting to see this building project progress through its stages.