For our community, Easter is the key celebration within our calendar. Holy Week is the final week of Lent and a time where we recall the events leading to Jesus’ death and resurrection. On Sunday, we will celebrate the story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, where he was welcomed by crowds worshipping him and laying down palm leaves before him. On Easter Thursday, we recall that Jesus was arrested and tried. Jesus shared his Last Supper with his disciples. Jesus was crucified on Friday. He was buried the same day and arose three days later, on Easter Sunday. Our Assistant Principal of Catholic School Culture, Mr Tony Haintz, has written an article about the Passion that leads to Easter and has included Mass times for this year's Holy Week. These details can be found here.

Tomorrow we move into the John Shannon Centre for our Easter Liturgy. It is poignant that it is for Easter that we come back together as an entire school community for prayer and reflection. Additionally, we take this opportunity to farewell a small number of staff who will be leaving us at the end of this term;

Nicole Saleta, who has supported us in Science as a Lab Technician, makes the move to Bacchus Marsh Grammar in a full-time Lab Tech role; Damian Foster, who has been part of the ICT team, and has made the move to the Catholic Education Office – DOBCEL; Learning Support Officer Vicki Williams takes on a new role at Mt Clear College in Student Counselling; Joel Cassidy returns to full-time study to finish off his Music Teaching degree, and finally, Matthew Byrne our Principal of 13 years is finishing up at Damascus College at the end of this week to take up the role of Deputy Director of Catholic Education at Catholic Education Ballarat. Further details of Matt’s time at Damascus and farewell can be found here. We wish our outgoing staff all the best in their next journey ahead.

Assistant Principal of Student Wellbeing, Mr Andrew Robertson, is taking some well deserved Long Service Leave for Term 2. Ms Hannah Keating and Mr Daniel Jans will be filling in as Co-Acting Assistant Principals of Student Wellbeing, along with their current interim role of Assistant Head of Xavier and St Martin Houses, respectively. We wish Andy all the best during this time and look forward to welcoming him back in Term 3.

The College community is currently working together to support Project Compassion, the Catholic aid agency of the Catholic Church. Families are encouraged to support this fundraising activity by equipping students to make a donation on the casual dress day this Friday. Students will work six shortened lessons on Friday before a 2:18pm dismissal.

Term 2 will commence on Tuesday, 26^th April.

I remind families that there will be changes to our Mobile Phone policy at the College, beginning in Term 2. Mobile phones brought to school must be switched off and stored securely in student lockers without use during the entire school day.

Our collective aim in enacting this policy is to provide;

1. A safe environment to learn without inappropriate mobile phone use (including cyberbullying) or distractions.
2. Greater opportunities for engaging relationships with social interaction and physical activity during recess and lunchtimes.
3. Improvements in student achievement.
4. Increase in student wellbeing and decrease in mental health concerns.

Students have been encouraged to talk with their parents/guardians about these upcoming changes. To enable a smooth transition to the new policy, we kindly ask for your support at home in encouraging students to make appropriate adjustments and choices. Families are invited to view the new Mobile Phone policy here.

If you have a child in Year 10 who has work experience next term and the paperwork has not been returned to the College, could you please attend to this as soon as possible. For any student who has not yet secured a place, there will be an expectation of attendance at school for the entire week to undertake virtual work experience opportunities. However, the preference is for all students to source and complete a work placement.

This is just a reminder that Year 7 immunisations will occur in the first week back of term on Wednesday morning, 27th April. Remi, our therapy dog, will be available to support our students throughout the morning. All Year 7 students are to return their immunisation cards to the College, whether they are being immunised or not.

Students will be able to wear Summer or Winter uniform (but not a mixture of both) for the first two weeks of next term. Can I ask families to please get out their Winter uniform now and attend to it if there needs to be some alterations made. As parents, daughters will say to you that no one else has their skirt to knee length – please hold firm in supporting the College requirement and ensuring that it is the required length to avoid unnecessary and embarrassing follow up! There is also a pant option if students are uncomfortable with the skirt or an appropriate length.

You may also be pressured to purchase a rain jacket. This item of uniform was introduced to cover the expensive blazer as students walk to and from school or as they wait at bus stops. It is an optional item of uniform.

Holidays should be holidays, but I encourage families to log onto PAM and ensure that you are up to date with your student’s progress in their respective studies. Holidays may provide an opportunity to catch up on work that has been missed or to create a summary of first term learnings. Year 12 students are now one-third of the way through their learning program, so a comprehensive revision of content to date will be important.

It is quite an exciting time that we can welcome back families onsite to our Mothers Day Liturgy and Breakfast. This event takes place on Thursday, 5th May, from 7:15am. Numbers are limited; however, there are still a small number of tickets available. More information about the event can be found here, and a link to book tickets at https://www.trybooking.com/BYQHO.

We keep the Sisters in our thoughts and prayers as Sr Tricia Vagg of Community South B died peacefully at St John of God Hospital, Ballarat, on Monday. We remember Tricia’s ministry contributions over the years as a dedicated teacher, principal and pastoral worker in Ballarat and the Western District in Victoria. Tricia, a fine woman of Mercy, is now gently held in the loving embrace of her God. May she rest in peace.

I wish everyone well for a blessed Easter and a safe and happy holiday.

Unit next term…Chris

On Tuesday evening in the DEC the College held the End of Season Rowing Dinner. This is a great opportunity for students, staff and families to come together to celebrate the time and commitment of all the rowers, coaches and parents. Rowing captains Morgan McCann and Joshua Matheson showed great leadership and spoke well on the night. All senior rowers were presented with a Rowing Badge that they can wear with pride on their college blazer. These were gifted to the students by Brad Beutel (coach) and will be given to rowers each year in their first year of Senior Rowing.

This year we presented for the first time, the Damascus College Senior Rowing Fellowship. This will be presented annually to a Year 12 senior rower who has rowed for four seasons and excels in all areas of rowing, including behaviour, attendance, attitude, aptitude, on water performance in training and racing and 2000m ergo testing results. The winner of the fellowship receives $800 to cover the cost of one year’s rowing fees. The benefactor of this fellowship is Brad Beutel and inaugural Damascus College Senior Rowing Fellowship was presented to Joshua Matheson. Josh’s attitude to training and support of his fellow crew mates throughout the whole season has been inspirational. He is the only male year 12 rower at Damascus this season and has remained focused on his and his crews goals while leading by example both on and off the water. Congratulations Josh on receiving this award – the smile says it all!

Other award winners for the night included:

This Sunday is the story of the Passion of Jesus according to Luke. Already Luke has shown that in his narrative, Jesus’ death and resurrection were to be his exodus, his journey to freedom as well as the liberation of those who would follow. At the transfiguration scene Luke describes a moment where Moses, Elijah, and Jesus appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (9:31) It is Jesus’ new beginning and ours.

In describing Luke’s passion Rev. Dr. Judith Jones says:

Jesus leads his followers on the journey to freedom. As the embodiment of God’s reign, Jesus gives himself in service to others, using his authority to heal, save, and free. The religious and secular leaders exercise a starkly different authority, the power of darkness that dominates, imprisons, and kills. The whole story emphasizes the dramatic contrast between the kingdom of God and the authorities of this world.

May our Easter be a festival of the light that breaks through, of darkness overcome and of injustice righted.

The local Church celebration around this ancient story are attached. May your week be holy.

The regular Palm Sunday rally will once more occur in Melbourne if you happen to be in the city. Poster attached.

Walk for Justice for Refugees

Sunday 10 April 2.00pm

State Library Swanston Street

Find out more on Facebook

A small group of students represented Damascus College with pride in the BAS Golf Championships on the afternoon of Tuesday 29 March at the Midlands Golf Course.

Congratulations to Keira O’Beirne who played in the 9 hole junior girls competition, winning with a score of 49 and to Rex Hodge, runner up in the junior boys 9 hole competition with a score of 42.

Year 7: Rex Hodge – 2nd (9 holes), Thomas Sheridan – 8th and Xavier Hanrahan – 9th (18 holes)

Year 8: Keira O’Beirne – 1st (9 holes)

Year 9: Jacob Hanrahan – 4th and Jack Sproull – 12th (18 holes)

Year 10: James Gorman – 9th (18 holes)

Well done to all students, top effort!

Please see below three documents that are for the review of Students and Families in relation to the changes coming Term 2.

If you have any questions please reach out to the College and speak with Dan Jan and or Hannah Keating.

The Mobile Phone Policy

Phones Communication to Families

Mobile Phone Communication to Students

Congratulations to Year 8 student Samuel Handreck, as he participated in the CFA State Championships last weekend.

These Championships are based on practical firefighting activities, building fitness, team skills and capabilities while utilising hoses, hydrants and other equipment.

Samuel won a silver medal 🥈 and represented Ballarat (Miners Rest Fire Brigade) well.

Great job Samuel

Recently, Damascus students proudly represented the College, joining together with students from across the region, participating in industry-based STEM activities to strengthen female participation in STEM-related studies and career pathways.

The Ballarat Tech School joined together with industry partners, as students worked through the development and improvement of systems and products.

In the first two days of the program the girls were presented with the challenge to create a new Mars Bar. As you can see the results and their advertising campaigns were impressive.

Students involved were Year 10 students Zoe Newman, Paris Govan, Taya Thiele, Lucy Leviston, Laura McDonald, Year 9 student Haileigh Buttigieg and Year 8 student Sadie Jones.

Keep STEMMING on ladies!

When the Queen's Baton came to Ballarat on Sunday 20 March, the Ballarat YCW Harrier's, Wendouree Eureka Harrier's and Ballarat Little Athletics were given the opportunity to participate with local legend, Steve Monaghetti.

Year 12 Damascus students Samuel Blood and Andrew Wills and Year 9 student Shona Wills had the unique opportunity to run alongside Steve at Lake Wendouree, as the baton bearer.

It was an amazing experience for all involved, and now as a community, we hope to welcome the Commonwealth Games to Ballarat in 2026.

Damascus College wishes to invite students, staff and the significant women in their life to attend our annual Mother’s Day Liturgy and Breakfast, on Thursday 5 May 2021 at 7.20am.

Please book your ticket online by Monday 2 May, at https://www.trybooking.com/BYQHO

Please note that numbers will be limited, so book your ticket/s today. If you are bringing your Damascus student to the breakfast, please ensure you book them a ticket too.

Thanks in advance and we look forward to celebrating Mother’s Day over a lovely liturgy and buffet-breakfast.

Recently Year 9 students have been engaging in their unit called "Hope".

They have been exploring understandings and teachings of the Christian message of Hope, particularly in the context of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Please see some examples below.

Damascus College is excited to be hosting 10 reunions this year, including the rescheduled ones from 2021.

If you graduated from Sacred Heart College, St Paul’s Technical College, St Martin’s in the Pines or Damascus College, in years ending in a 1 or a 2, then good news you can attend your reunion in April and May this year.

Upcoming Reunions (in event date order):

• Class of 2012 - Friday 8 April 2022
• Class of 2002 - Saturday 9 April 2022
• Class of 1992 - Saturday 9 April 2022
• Class of 1972 - Saturday 23 April 2022
• Class of 1971 - Sunday 24 April 2022
• Class of 2011 - Friday 29 April 2022
• Class of 1981 - Saturday 30 April 2022
• Class of 1982 - Saturday 30 April 2022
• Class of 2001 - Saturday 14 May 2022
• Class of 1991 - Saturday 14 May 2022

To find out more and to book your ticket please go to: https://www.damascus.vic.edu.au/community/alumni/alumni-reunions-events

Below are the criteria used to determine a stud ent’s eligibility for the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF).

Criteria 1 – General eligibility

To be eligible for the fund, a parent or carer of a student attending a registered Government or non-government Victorian primary or secondary school must:

• on the first day of Term one
• on the first day of Term two

For the list of eligible financially-means tested cards refer to the CSEF Policy:

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund/policy

Parents who receive a Carer Allowance on behalf of a child, or any other benefit or allowance not income tested by Centrelink, are not eligible for the CSEF unless they also comply with the above.

Criteria 2 - Be of school age and attend school in Victoria

For the purposes of CSEF, students may be eligible for assistance if they attend a Victorian registered primary or secondary school. CSEF is not payable to students attending pre-scho ol, kindergarten, home schooled, or TAFE.

Special Consideration

A special consideration category exists for

• Families on a bridging visa, temporary protection visa, in community detention or are asylum seeker families
• Student’s in temporary out of home care arrangements, including statutory kinship care

For more information, see https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund/guidance/eligibility

Eligibility Date

For concession card holders CSEF eligibility will be subject to the parent/carer concession card being validated successfully with Centrelink on the first day of either term one (31 January 2022) or term two (26 April 2022).

PAYMENT AMOUNTS

CSEF payment amount

The CSEF is an annual payment to the school to be used towards camps, sports and/or excursion expenses for the ben efit of the eligible stud ent.

• Primary school student rate: $125 per year.
• Secondary school student rate: $225 per year.

The CSEF is paid directly to your child’s school and will be allocated by the school towards camps, sports and/or excursion costs for your child.

For ungraded students, the rate payable is determined by the student’s date of birth. For more information, see: www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/csef.aspx

HOW TO COMPLETE THE APPLICATION FORM

NOTE: ALL SECTIONS MUST BE COMPLETED BY PARENT/LEGAL GUARDIAN

1. Complete the PARENT/CARER DETAILS section.

Make sure that the Surname, First Name, and Customer Reference Number (CRN) details match those on your concession card. You will also need to provide your concession card to the school.

If you are claiming as a temporary Foster Parent or a Veteran Affairs Pensioner, you will need to provide a copy of documentation confirming your status as a temporary Foster Parent or provide your Veterans Affairs Pensioner Gold card to the school.

If you are seeking special consideration, mark this in the form and provide a copy of the relevant documentation.

2. Complete the STUDENT/S DETAILS section for students at this school.

3. Sign and date the form and return it to the school office as soon as possible. The CSEF program for 2022 closes on the 24 June 2022.

Forms are available through the front office or online Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) application form (education.vic.gov.au)

Conveyance Allowance

To be eligible for a conveyance allowance, individual students will be assessed under the following criteria:

1. Attend a school/campus located outside the metropolitan conveyance allowance boundary
2. Attend the closest appropriate school/campus at which admission is permissible
3. For students attending specialist schools, this will be determined by the specialist school’s Designated Transport Area (DTA) in which the student resides
4. For students attending government schools, this will be the closest school/campus appropriate to the age and gender of the student (e.g. primary, secondary, single sex)
5. For students attending non-government schools, this will be the closest school/campus of the recognised denomination for conveyance allowance purposes.
6. Reside 4.8km or more from the school/campus (shortest practicable route calculated by the school attended at the time of application from the student’s home to the school/campus)
7. Be of school age (between five and 18-years-old at the time of application), and a resident of Victoria
8. Be enrolled and travelling to school three or more days per week.

Students’ circumstances can change during their school years (e.g. moving residence or changing schools/campuses). Change of circumstances affects eligibility and a new application must be submitted with each change of circumstance.

Private car
A private car conveyance allowance is not available if the journey could have been made using a public transport service or free school bus.

• Where there is more than one student in the vehicle, there are two rates claimable: ‘furthermost’ and ‘additional.’
• Where there is more than one student in a vehicle, and they attend different schools, the amount claimable is based on the distance travelled to school by each student. That is each student must be the subject of a separate application and the student attending the furthermost school is identified as the ‘furthermost’ student; each of the other students must be claimed as ‘additional’.
• Rates are calculated according to the distance (measured in kilometres) from home to the campus attended using the Department’s standard measurement method; for details of the rates claimable, refer to Appendix 1 Conveyance Allowance Rates
• It is assumed that all students from the same family will travel in one car therefore only one family member may claim furthermost student allowance.

Pro-rata adjustment of reimbursement (time fraction)

Where students change school, transport mode and/or address that affect the payment of conveyance allowance, pro-rata payments are made, having regard to the number of days of actual attendance. It is the responsibility of each school to report any mid-semester student changes and the required pro-rata adjustments that are required.

Late payments
Late (past year) applications cannot be accepted or paid.

Any inquiries relating to this allowance or to any bus travel matter may be directed to Tracey Williams at the College office Phone: 5337 2222.

** FAMILIES ARE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT A NEW CLAIM FORM EACH YEAR** FORMS ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE FRONT OFFICE