As we move into the final days of Term 3 and celebrate Damascus Day remotely today, it is important to acknowledge the achievements of this community through one of the most extraordinary periods of recent social history.

Today through a short address, I took the opportunity to remind students and staff all that they have achieved over the last six months. So often the focus of 2020 has been what we haven’t done or what we are missing out on, but I took the opportunity to celebrate today what our community has achieved. I admire that students and staff have grown as learners – demonstrating a profound ability to adapt and change and develop skills that will equip our young people extraordinarily for life beyond school. Our young people have all grown in their knowledge and skills with technology. Each member of this community has had to accept far great responsibility for their learning, ultimately moving towards independent enquiring minds and creative hearts. These are wonderful achievements and should not go unacknowledged.

Our staff team have been committed and hardworking to scaffold this different learning platform for our students, and I thank them for their continued work and reassurance. Families have played a special part right throughout the history of Damascus College, working with the school in the early days to establish facilities and grounds, to today partnering with us in progressing learning in ways no-one anticipated. I extend the deepest gratitude from the staff team to Damascus families for your support. Our student population are to be commended most strongly, and I congratulate them on their achievements and the learning and skills being acquired. As a family, in the spirit of Damascus Day, make sure you acknowledge and celebrate all that has been achieved this year as Term 3 comes to a close. Our theme this year has been “Live Justice, Love Kindness and Walk Humbly with God”, and this Damascus day we acknowledge our human frailty humbly in light of a global pandemic, but we justly celebrate our response and the spirit of kindness that reaches across our community in achieving that.

One of the great traditions of our Damascus Day is the announcement of our College Captains for the next school year. Our 2020 School Captains, Hannah Mroczkowski and William Smith, have been wonderful role models and ambassadors for the College. Again this year there was an extraordinarily talented group of young leaders who expressed interest in this role. I thank all candidates for having the courage to put their hand up to lead – each of their contributions will be invaluable to the future growth of our school community. Today, I congratulate our 2021 Captains elect; Maya Tolliday and Shaun Leonard.

We look forward to Hannah and Will handing over to Shaun and Maya throughout Term 4. House Captain selection processes continue this week, and we look forward to celebrating all those who seek that role over the coming weeks.

Below is a short video shown during TA this morning for Damascus Day:-

In the spirit of our theme; Live Justice, Love Kindness and Walk Humbly with God, our Year 12 VCAL students conducted a COVID safe Ice Bucket Challenge here at school on Monday. The students carefully designed this event in conjunction with their teachers as a means of safely demonstrating their outcomes for their VCAL certificate. I affirm the work of the VCAL team in creatively developing a school-based means of competency recognition. Students set out to raise $500 for Motor Neurone Disease research, and they will have raised over $2,500 by the completion of this project. What a lovely expression of our theme. Neale Daniher has been a wonderful supporter of our project, and I think he will be pleased with the students’ recognition of his school mate, Mr Martin Ryan!! Thank you to everyone within the community who supported this project and thank you to Applied Learning Leader, Belinda Dwyer for all the lead-up work.

The State Government have indicated that all schools in regional Victoria will return to onsite learning by the 16^th October. We have considered our approach, and we will bring Year 7 students and Year 11 and 12 students and those Yr 10 students scheduled for a VCE class on that day - back to school on Monday 12^thOctober. All students will be onsite on Tuesday 13^th. Remote learning will continue for Year 8 to 10 students on Monday 12^th. All of society have had an incredibly disjointed year, but we are concerned about our Year 7 students who have had a very difficult transition to secondary school. The two-day staggered return allows them to bring equipment back to their lockers and has only half the student population on site for the day to re-familiarise them with school routines. We will work with staff to provide avenues of support to students if they are feeling anxious as they return onsite.

Our Year 12 students are working through a heavy assessment period currently, exacerbated by the remote nature of their learning. The holiday period provides an opportunity for them to catch their breath and consolidate their learning and continue revision. The College has made available to students a range of resources to support revision, and there is a practice English/ Language/Literature exam to be conducted on Friday 25^th September remotely.

As the term draws to a close, I want to thank and acknowledge Sports Coordinator, Nicole Hexter, who facilitated the Great Aussie Adventure. The 11-day activity engaged 538 members of this community to walk, run or ride just over 15,000 kms. Students and staff recognised the importance of putting aside their devices over this period and getting active. I congratulate Xavier House on their achievement with the greatest number of participants and the largest distance travelled. A summary of the event by TA and House can be found below:-

In our Teacher Advisor lesson yesterday, we surveyed students again about their experience of remote learning this term and possible support they may need as they return onsite. We hope to be able to provide some of the insights gleaned from this feedback early next term.

We are still awaiting government advice on activities that we have planned for Term 4, but there are a number of calendar changes that I have flagged within recent newsletters.

The College Administration Office will be closed from Wednesday September 23rd through to Friday September 25th. If you need to contact the office, please call and leave a message and this will be followed up. During the 2nd week of the holidays, payments can be made over the phone and questions answered as per usual by calling 5337 2222. The office will remain running remotely for Week 1 of Term 4 however will be back on campus from 8am Monday October 12.

As we return for Term 4, students will transition to the summer uniform. We typically have a two week period where students can wear summer or winter uniform to accommodate the variability of spring weather in Ballarat. Traditionally, Year 12’s have been able to wear winter uniform until they finish and while they will be at school until later this year, we will allow some flexibility in wearing either the summer or winter uniform until 30^th October. Year 12 students can wear their Hoodie in Term 4, except when representing the College.

Thank you, everyone, for your continued efforts, keep up the awesome work. The easing of restrictions are joyfully received by regional Victorians, and we keep metropolitan Victorians in our thoughts and prayers. Enjoy your holidays, everyone. God bless!

Until next term …

MATT

In 2020 as a consequence of COVID restrictions we celebrate Damascus Day differently, as we cannot gather together as a school community.

Damascus Day is an important day in the life of our college. It is a day where we celebrate our identity as a Catholic, co-educational secondary school. It is a day where we recognise those who had the foresight and who laboured to provide us the opportunity and facilities that exist - parents, parishioners, priests, religious brothers and sisters that created the buoyant community that is Damascus College in 2020.

We also wish to introduce the 2021 College Captains, Maya Tolliday and Shaun Leonard. Congratulations to you both.

As part of Remote Learning 2.0, there are so many students and staff doing amazing things to help each other through this difficult time.

Today we hear from Year 8 student Emmerson McHenry as she shares with our Damascus community, her Remote Learning Hero.

Big thanks to Emmerson and staff member, Keran Mewett for getting involved in this.

It is our pleasure to introduce to our community our 2021 College Captains, Maya Tolliday and Shaun Leonard.

Both Maya and Shaun are exceptional young individuals, whom demonstrate dedication, determination and diligence, and will be wonderful student leaders, as they embark on this new challenge and act as a key voice and representation of our student population, next year.

Good luck to you both, and we look forward to seeing you grow throughout the journey.

Please see below a link to important information sent to Unit 3/4 Students and Families last week from Mr. Matthew Hallowell VCE Coordinator.

2020 Unit 3 4 VCE and VCE VET update September

At Damascus College we are blessed to have a huge range of Extra-curricular groups and activities for our students to engage and learn with. The Sustainable Racing Team (SRT) are a group of enthusiastic students and teachers who are interested in vehicles, mechanics and science.

SRT members Lucas, Dylan and Madison shared some of their experiences both on and off the track.

Lucas, now in Year 8 joined as soon as he could and plans to participate until he is in year 12. Lucas said "We do many things at SRT. We build highly competitive racing vehicles, we train to get physically fit, we practise riding the trikes on tracks, and we work together as a team."

Dylan Year 8 was proud to be the first year 7 to join last year. He joined on the very first night after the information session led by Alan Strange and Rachael Beardall (SRT Co-ordinators). Dylan said that being in remote learning has been challenging as he enjoys the practical aspects of SRT; the welding and grinding. But is especially proud of the new seat they are working on which has more than 100 hours invested in its design and construction.

While in remote learning and not on campus, SRT members receive weekly newsletters, and also communicate via Microsoft Teams. Some members have also found ways to be productive while in iso. SRT member Juan has been using his 3D printer to produce components that will be used as soon as work can take place in the SRT Shed again.

For more information about SRT and how you can join, visit https://www.damascus.vic.edu.au/life-damascus-sustainable-racing-team

#ImPartOfSomethingGreater

Letters Against ISO (LAISO) was started way back in February 2020. Hannah Senior who is the Social Service Captain at The Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School began by calling up aged-cares across Victoria and finding a small group of students who were interested in writing to them. The first aim of this organisation was to help bridge the gap between young people and the elderly, building connections via pen and paper. This idea has gained momentum. http://lettersagainstiso.com/

At the acknowledgements of Damascus Day in TA time on Wednesdday the Damascus College captains invited our community to become a part of the challenge. This is a student-based initiative in association with the Justice Action Group. We join with many school across Victoria. The hope is that many students will become a part of this rewarding work for social justice. It flows out of our Christian commitment to all people in need and represents a positive response to the directive of the fourth commandment: Honour your father and your mother.

Families are asked to encourage their family members to join and be active in supporting those in aged-care in this simple and effective way. As school Captain and LAISO Ambassador Hannah Mroczkowski says “We hope that you will take this opportunity to spread some joy in the community and continue to live in the Mercy tradition.”

The Ballarat Lawn Tennis Club is currently looking for junior players to form teams to enter in the Buninyong and District Tennis Association, Saturday morning tennis competition.

Of course, this is dependent on Government COVID restrictions. If you have any children interested please contact Denis Day by email at denisdaywb@dodo.com.au

Click here to join.

This week, we're staying put in Ethiopia, but moving south to the region of Hawassa (also spelled Awasa) on the shores of the lake of the same name (can you find it on the map and track your way there?) In this place, only 3% of the population is Catholic, with over half professing a Protestant faith. This week we will learn about an order of Catholic Sisters who have saved countless lives through their nutrition programs. We'll learn their story and see how one family's life has changed dramatically over the years. As we go, think about how nutrition is important in your daily life.

Please find below the latest edition of the Career Tools News:-

Career Tools News 02 Sep 2020

Recently it was R U OK Day.

It’s our national day of action when we remind Australians that every day is the day to ask, “Are you OK?” if someone in your world is struggling with life’s ups and downs. In asking RU OK it is important that we provide our students with the 4 steps that guide them in this conversation.