I had the privilege of accompanying our Year 12 students to Anglesea for their Retreat experience from Wednesday to Friday of last week. They are a remarkable group of young people who capitalised on this opportunity to strengthen their inter-relationships and explore their personal connection with our loving God. While not perfect, the weather was somewhat suitable for beach time, and the sun shone on the iconic beach photo on Friday morning to conclude what was a fantastic three days away. Our Year 12 Retreat is an experience that many people reflect on post their secondary school with great fondness, and this certainly appeared to be the sentiment of the students of the 2022 cohort. I thank our Retreats Coordinator, Adrian Newman, for his work over the last 12 months in preparation and the support of RE teachers, small group leaders, Martin Ryan, Tony Haintz, Andrew Robertson and former students Tasya Dalem, Daisy Jessup and Asher Kuhn.

There will be a Parent Access Module (PAM) webinar this evening from 6:00pm to 7:00pm, for new families or any families that would like support in accessing the wealth of information available, including providing permission for student activities. The link to the MS Teams meeting can be found here.

Year 7 Camp kicks off next week at the Log Cabin Camp near Creswick. Students will go out in House groups starting with McAuley Monday, Xavier Tuesday, Rice Wednesday, and St Martin Thursday. Families should have all received information regarding the camp; however, do not hesitate to contact the College office if there are any questions. It should be a great week for our newest and youngest students to consolidate friendships within their new House groupings.

Next Thursday (17^th), there will be an information evening for families of VCAL and VCE students. Both events will be live-streamed, beginning with VCAL at 6:00pm, followed by VCE at 7:00pm. If you have a student in VCE or VCAL, you are strongly encouraged to attend these events.

Today we received an additional supply of Rapid Antigen Tests for distribution to students, which will now occur during TA tomorrow morning, to students with multiple Damascus students in their household. We anticipate being in a position on Monday morning to provide to all students and staff one box of 5 RAT's that will be sufficient supply for the final two weeks of the government return to school plan and the four week supply period of Rapid Antigen Tests. We are unsure at this stage if this initiative will continue beyond the next two weeks, but we will certainly keep you updated on developments.

This Friday, the Opening School Mass will occur in the Damascus Events Centre for Year 12 and SRC students commencing at 11:30am. Unfortunately, we can't run this significant event as an entire school community in the JSC, but we appreciate your understanding. COVID safe precautions have been put in place to support social distancing and the safety of all students and staff involved.

The Enhancing Catholic School Identity Project (ESCIP) is coming soon to Damascus College.

The Catholic University in Leuven was commissioned by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) to design a process and tools based on sound research, to accomplish the goal of understanding our current Catholic identity and where the school community might like to see it in the future. It has been four years since we used the tool to understand Catholic identity at Damascus College in this way.

Quite soon, the whole school community will be offered the opportunity to be involved in the process.

There are a number of approaches or scales used to describe Catholic identity in ESCIP. The first compares belief (and non-belief) with how religious belief (or non-belief) is experienced. Does someone believe in God, or not? Is there a transcendent God involved in the structure of someone's philosophy of life? Is religious belief (or non-belief) being processed literally or symbolically? To learn more about this process click here

Other scales will be described in future newsletters. It is an exciting time for us at the College, and I hope you can engage in the ESCIP to support the understanding of our Catholic identity; now and into the future.

The rowing crews represented the College very well over the weekend in quite challenging conditions, both Saturday and Sunday at Lake Wendouree. Our Junior Girls Year 9 Division 1 crew of Jovie Skewes-Clinton, Meg Cahir, Sam Crilly, Bridie Orchard and Emma Bethune won their race. Well done to all competitors, and thank you to Paul Blanchfield, Georgia O'Leary, Hamish Walsh, Claudia Griffin and Nikki Hexter for their support over the weekend, along with Mary Vanderlinden and all parent volunteers who supported the cooking of the BBQ as a fundraiser for Damascus Rowing. We wish our rowers well for the weekend ahead. Our Junior and Intermediate girls will be competing in the Firbank Regatta on the Barwon River, Geelong, whilst our boys will be rowing in the Head of the Schoolboys Regatta on Lake Wendouree; both events will take place on Saturday.

Until next week…Chris

Congratulations to this year's College Captain Megan O'Beirne and last year's College Captain, Maya Tolliday.

These two exceptional young women have been selected to perform their outstanding work from 2021 in the Top Class Drama 2022 Concert, as part of the VCE Season of Excellence.

Maya Tolliday will be performing her solo ‘The International Rescue Team Member’ at Drama Concert 1 at 10am on Monday 28 March.

Megan O'Beirne will be performing her solo ‘The Statue’ at Drama Concert 2 at 2pm on Tuesday 29 March.

Both performances will take place at the Arts Centre Melbourne, and a list of full performers can be found at: www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/seasonofexcellence

Congratulations to Megan and Maya, and good luck for your upcoming performance in March.

Welcome to Damascus College. As new families to our College, you will be using the Parent Access Module (PAM) on a regular basis, as it is the main form of communication between school and families. Last Friday 4th February, you were sent an invitation to the Parent Access Module (PAM) Information Webinar, as per details below:

Date: Wednesday 9th February 2022 (Tonight)

Time: 6pm – 7pm. The Webinar will begin promptly at 6.00pm (meeting lobby will open at 5:50pm)

Accessing the Webinar via Microsoft TEAMS –

• Click on this link: Parent Access Module (PAM) Information Webinar

• You will be guided to the lobby and one of our Damascus Staff will accept you once the webinar begins.

• We encourage Parents/Guardians to use your student’s device as you did for the TA interviews. This will connect you to the Teams app already installed on the device.

• We would ask you make sure you are on MUTE and your camera is OFF until the Q & A section at the end of the event.

• We suggest testing that you can get in 10 mins prior to the webinar start time.

• You may be asked if you are not on the student’s device, to download the Microsoft TEAMS app. There are easy step-by-step instructions to do this when you click on JOIN MEETING.

PAM Coordinator, Aleceia Gason will encourage Parent/Guardian interaction at the end of the meeting when there will be a Q & A section. This will give everyone the opportunity to ask any questions relating to PAM. If you feel more comfortable typing in the chat, you can also do this at this part of the session also.

This webinar will be recorded on to others that may not be able to attend, and so by clicking on the link, you are accept that you approve it being recorded.

We look forward to providing more PAM information at this event, to assist in navigating your Damascus experience. If you have any queries regarding the Webinar, please email Aleceia Gason a.gason@damascus.vic.edu.au

The extraordinary experience that that is the Year 12 Retreat at Anglesea was held once again at Camp Wilkin with 140 students and 21 supporting staff members. Journeying to the coast offers a profound opportunity at the commencement of Year 12 for reflection on life’s journey and to discover the significance of faith in community. A time of reconciliation afforded students a chance to set aside the issues or concerns of the past so that the way forward may be more open - to imagine a better world. The bible was consulted in a small group process that explored the wisdom of the Christian story and the power of the Christian message in people’s lives. There were stories shared of significant life changing moments, moments on insight from which there can be no turning back. There was arm and leg painting of the beatitudes of Jesus as a challenge to live a life that is focused beyond the self and onto the central mysteries of the human encounter with the divine. There was singing, an amazing grace, as well as reflection time and the chance to enjoy the company of friends and ice cream.

The final ceremony held on the beach was a summation of the affirmation that is the Year 12 retreat. The circle on unity expressed the attitude of those gathered as our time concluded in God’s name, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Coming Soon to Damascus

The Catholic University in Leuven, was commissioned by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) to design a process and tools, based on sound research, to accomplish the goal of understanding our current Catholic identity and where the school community might like to see it in the future. It has been four years since we used the tool to understand Catholic identity at Damascus College in this way.

Quite soon the whole school community will be offered the opportunity to be involved in the process. But how is Catholic identity described in the tool?

There are a number of approaches or scales used to describe Catholic identity in ESCIP. The first of these compares belief (and non-belief) with how religious belief (or non-belief) is experienced. Does someone believe in God, or not? Is there a transcendent God involved in the structure of someone’s philosophy of life? Is religious belief (or non-belief) being processed in a literal or symbolical way? There is a short YouTube animation that explains this.

There are other scales that will be described in future newsletters. It is an exciting time for us. I hope that you follow the roll out of ESCIP engaging.

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

We trust you have had a positive start to 2022.

Just getting in contact to remind families that we have our hallmark 140 year anniversary gala coming up on Saturday 26 March, 6pm, in the DEC.

After the last two years, I’m sure many would agree that it will be a welcome change to don your suit and tie or cocktail dress and celebrate what has been a wonderful history of providing Catholic education in the Ballarat Diocese.

This event will be an evening of celebration of our 140-year history, and will also serve as a way for our wider Damascus community to farewell the current Principal, Mr Matthew Byrne.

The evening will be full of entertainment from Damascus students and staff, where guests will be treated to canapes on arrival, a sit-down sumptuous two-course meal including beer, wine and soft drink.

Tickets are limited, be sure to purchase yours today - $80pp. You can also take advantage of reduced ticket prices when purchasing 2 tickets and even more savings for a table of 8.

https://www.trybooking.com/BTQJX

Please note, that if the event doesn’t go ahead, the full ticket price will be refunded.

We look forward to welcoming our community to join us in celebrating our 140-year history.

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)

The Damascus College Rowing Program is now in full swing for the 2022 rowing season! We started the years rowing with a senior & intermediate training camp in Nagambie, unfortunately covid had other plans for a few of our students & staff which meant we had to adapt our plans to suit. Luckily, all students who attended had a wonderful time and responded well to the challenges presented.

Over the camp week the rowers participated in rowing training, stand up paddle boarding & bush walking. A big thank you to Hamish Walsh, Georgia O’Leary & Brad Beutel for your assistance in running this camp, with out your efforts the camp could not have been a success!

Following on from the rowing camp we participated in the Ballarat Regatta held on Lake Wendouree, all crews performed extremely well coming off the back of a hard week of rowing. The intermediate crew (pictured below) won both the Open Schoolgirl Division 2 and the Girls Under 19 Quad Sculls events! Well done!!! The senior rowers competed in single sculls at this event, all scullers rowed very well.

One week later we competed at the Barwon Regatta held on the Barwon River in Geelong. The Senior Girls Four (pictured below) won the Open Schoolgirls Division 2 Sweep Four in an amazing display of great technical rowing! The senior boys four of Cooper Reid, Rohan Shillito, Josh Matheson, Alex Western and Maddie Milikins raced in the Open Schoolboys Division 2 Sweep Four making the A Final but placing second to Caulfield Grammar by 0.43 of a second! It was an amazing race and the result served as inspiration for the crew to train harder in preparation for Head of the Lake.

The Intermediate crews also came together to compete at this regatta, this was their first race back in their selected crews since late last year. All crews performed very well and had some very competitive rows.

This past weekend the entire Damascus College Rowing Squad competed in the Wendouree-Ballarat Regatta held in Ballarat on Lake Wendouree. The Senior crews and Intermediate Division 1 crews raced on Saturday with all other crews racing on Sunday afternoon. A BIG shout out to all the non-rowing teaching staff who came along to support our students! It was fantastic to see you all there.

Daisy Simpson-Kerr raced her single scull in the Open Schoolgirls Division One event and placed 2^nd in the final with her best individual performance yet! Daisy has only recently begun racing the single scull and this is an enormous achievement for her!

On Sunday afternoon the Year 9 Girls 1^st crew won their division with an amazing row! The junior crews on water training sessions have been negatively effected recently by poor weather conditions making it difficult for them to complete their allocated training program. The Year 9 Girls 1^st crew and all other boys and girls Year 9 crews performed very well and have remained resilient through the recent weather challenges. I’m looking forward to seeing the progress that can be made in preparation for Head of the Lake!

UPCOMING REGATTAS & EVENTS:

In 2022 we have our fingers and toes crossed that students will be able to enjoy as many school activities as possible, and one that should not be overlooked is for students to be involved in the after school sports program which is run by the Ballarat Associated Schools (BAS).

BAS strives to provide structured competition for the member schools to maximise the opportunities for students to participate in organised sport.

Sports on offer in Term 1 include baseball, basketball, cricket, golf, tennis, and volleyball. Students can check out the full list on the Student Message board in Simon, along with the sign up sheet. Don’t forget to check out our website for even more information https://www.damascus.vic.edu.au/learning-programs/extra-curricular-activities/sports-program

Please sign up ASAP so that teams can be arranged - round 1 matches begin week 3.