Congratulations to Paul Blanchfield and the many coaches who assisted with the Damascus Rowing Crew at Sunday’s Head of the Lake. The Head of the Lake is an esteemed event emersed in the tradition of many schools in Ballarat. While Damascus College is relatively new to rowing in Ballarat, we can be immensely proud of our crew and their eager competitiveness. I was also incredibly proud of the large number of support crew of students that made their way to Lake Wendouree on Sunday. We had over 100 Year 12 students officially register for the official support squad with many other students arriving on the day. As Mr Grant pointed out, one of the neat features of our squad is the acknowledgement they offer other schools applauding the victors of all races. As I have noted many times before, the engagement of young people in sport enables them to develop social and emotional awareness and skills which are clearly linked to improved student holistic outcomes. I look forward to fantastic student participation in the upcoming swimming sports and thank Mr Webb for the enormous amount of work that goes into preparing these events.

Ashwin Pillai, Assistant Principal -Teaching and Learning, and I often come together in our respective portfolio to examine how we can continue to develop the holistic growth of young people in our College community. This week our attention was drawn to a research paper from Melbourne University titled Future Proofing Our Students: What they need to know and how educators can assess and credential them. While the paper acknowledged that there is a need to continue to develop “the basics of literacy, numeracy and the use of information and communication technology” there is clearly a need to integrate the broader capabilities of communication, collaboration persistence, creativity and the capacity to use feedback in all teaching and learning programs. Damascus College has long held that the development of social and emotional learning is the foundation of not only student wellbeing but also a significant contributor for students to thrive in their teaching and learning. Furthermore, the article explains that in order to upskill learners and to future-proof them, we need to assess these capabilities, offer feedback on how they are performing and report their progress to external stakeholders, such as parents and potential employers. As you unpack student’s assessment and school reports I encourage you to recognise not only the final grade that your student has achieved but also acknowledge the social and emotional competencies that are becoming equally regarded in universities and the work place. These are continually evaluated by staff and recognised on school reports and awards and achievement nights.

Finally I offer my prayers and thoughts to our community as they experience the threat of bushfires on or around their properties. Please ensure you have downloaded the Vic Emergency app and follow the advice given.