Yesterday we celebrated St Martin House and St Martin De Porres. It was a great showcase of student gifts with great performance pieces from all levels of the College. One of the great components of the assembly was the contribution of the following students; Euan MacDonald Adelle Kierce, Isabelle Stevens, Archie Jones who showcased their skills in song, Nikita Goossens, who played violin and James Martin who played saxophone. We also enjoyed listening to Jacob Hanrahan on Drums, Kylan Jans on Piano, Henry Sexton on Guitar and Vocals showcasing their specific skills in their band.

These young people highlighted that we can have strong relationships and friendships through music and finding joy in being creative. I also want to congratulate our St Martin House Leaders, Mackenzie Aspland, Brady Lucas, Mikayla Montgomery, Campbell Palmer and all the St Martin House members on a great event and thank Dan Jans and Karen Goonan for their work with our students.

St Martin’s de Porres was a contemporary religious figure, a person repressed by our Church and society because of his racial difference. Accounts reflect St Martin kept “the other” at the heart of his actions and is a genuine model for Christian living today.

This week l have been meeting with the students in Years 7–10 in formal Year Level Assemblies. I was so impressed to see so many of our students wearing their uniform with pride. Our uniform is what binds us as a community and models to the broader Ballarat community that we belong, and we are proud to be Damascus! I thank the many families who continue to support the College in maintaining our uniform code. I revisited the College’s Social and Emotional Learning Framework and explained that to be successful we need to be resilient, organised, preserve and work respectfully with our peers and teachers. Belonging to a community has both rights and responsibilities.

Yesterday we welcomed back our students from their music camp at Rutherford Park. We thank the staff who organised the event and provided a deep learning experience for our students providing them with an opportunity to enjoy their passion and love. Our most successful students engage in the fullness of College life. Busy kids are happy and organised kids.

We congratulate Eden Willow, Kaitlyn Handreck, Audrey Merlin and Shae Goon who participated in the Frayne Festival hosted by Emmanuel College, Warrnambool and attended by students from eight Victorian Mercy schools, from Mildura to Melbourne. The Frayne Festival is a gathering of students from schools founded in the traditions of Mercy Education. It provides an opportunity for spirited competition in debating, public speaking and voice choir. The festival fosters excellence in speaking and unity across the schools. The festival is named in recognition of Mother Ursula Frayne who opened the first Mercy school in Australia on 2 February 1846.

Next Wednesday our senior students will be participating in the GAT (General Achievement Test). Information has been forwarded to our families via email by Matthew Hallowell (VCE Coordinator).

Can I remind families of the Fathers’ Day Mass and Breakfast that will take place here at school on Thursday 1^st September from 7:30am. We wish all our Father’s and Male mentors a happy Father’s Day.

We keep Isla Hawker (Year 8) and her family in our prayers on the passing of her beloved grandfather last week. May he rest in peace.

With every blessing

Steven

A reminder to families of current Year 7-11 Students that have not already responded regarding re-enrolment for 2023, could you please ensure you log into PAM at Parent Access Module - 3.20.3.3 (damascus.vic.edu.au) and complete by this Friday 9th September 2022.

You can indicate ‘Yes’ (student returning); ‘No’ (student not returning) or ‘Undecided’. The College Registrar – Mrs. Erin Marshall will then contact all ‘undecided’ and ‘not returning’ student families (via email) to obtain further details.

If you have any queries, please contact Erin Marshall 5337 2222 (Option ‘4’) or email e.marshall@damascus.vic.edu.au

On Tuesday, the 16th of August, a group of Year 10 students travelled down the road to Federation University to attend The University of Newcastle Science and Engineering Challenge.

There, they competed against students from 6 other schools in various science and engineering activities, designed to challenge concepts being learned within classes at school. Some of these half-day activities included constructing earthquake-proof houses, coding, designing and building a Mars Rover, providing electricity to buildings within an electrical grid, designing an effective water turbine and building a bionic hand. One group participated in a whole-day challenge where they had to design and construct a bridge to withstand a weighted trolley.

A day full of challenges, learning experiences and fun was enjoyed by all who attended. Paris Govan said “We did some coding, and it was very fun with my team winning this challenge. My team also competed in the back to Mars challenge where we had to build a rover that could carry different weights across bumpy surfaces.” Harrison Kennett said that “It was an enjoyable time where I could learn lots about science and engineering. It was rewarding to see how well our bridge withstood the weight whilst presenting in front of the other teams.” Campbell White and Thomas Hall both agreed that “the bridge activity was engaging and mentally challenging.”

Towards the end of the day, the schools gathered to watch the testing of bridges that had been created. The bridge designed by the Damascus team was successful through all but the last weight, leaving them in 2nd place for this challenge. After all the challenges had been completed, the points were tallied, and Damascus College ended the day in 4th place. Well done to all those involved in the competition.

Congratulations to Year 11 student Bindi Crabtree, who recently won the BFLW Under 18’s Best & Fairest Award at the League Presentation Night.

Bindi plays for Redan and polled an impressive 19 votes to take out the Best & Fairest award – well done Bindi!

Congratulations to the other Damascus students who were named in the BFLW Team of the Year in their respective age groups. What a great achievement to be selected in the Team of the Year across all players in the league, well done!

Year 9 student Kassidy Jewell has recently encountered an array of opportunities towards her country music aspirations.

Kassidy’s talent for singing was showcased at The Man from Snowy River Bush Festival, where she won not only the junior section of the competition but also was awarded the overall major prize, winning a guitar and a 3-hour recording session.

In addition to this amazing achievement, Kassidy came across a rare opportunity while on a family holiday in Tamworth.

Kassidy said it was by chance that she found herself about to experience something surreal after speaking to some Tamworth locals.

“We were in a shop just outside of Tamworth where my parents and I were talking to the mother and daughter working there, and my love for singing country music came up in conversation. The next thing I know, they were writing down the details of a local country singer to contact” she said.

Kassidy was provided with the contact details of the notable country music singer and songwriter Shaza Leigh and her husband Lindsey Butler, who is an award-winning record producer.

Soon to follow, Kassidy visited the Lindsey Butler studio to write and record a development single with Shaza Leigh!

Congratulations on pursing your passion Kassidy, we look forward to hearing your song and following your next steps in your country music pathway.

Congratulations to Year 7 student Mason Sutton, as he was recently selected as part of the U13 Victorian State Hockey Team.

Mason attended the Hockey academy in July which ran for six weeks in Melbourne and was then selected to trial for the state team over several training selections.

Mason will now travel with the Victorian team to Hobart for the National Championships in September and will commence training in Melbourne twice a week with the state team.

Mason said that he is excited to be a part of the state team.

“I am looking forward to going to Hobart with the team for the tournament and excited about what I will learn from other hockey players and coaches from all over the country,” he said.

Mason was one of only three country Victorian players to be selected, from Ballarat, Hamilton and Bendigo, with the rest of the team being Metropolitan players.

Well done and good luck in Tasmania Mason.

This week Religious Education classes have commenced the class activities that lead to Damascus Day Mass to be held in the John Shannon Centre at 10:30 am on 14^th September.

As a community of faith are called to live through the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. In John’s gospel, that will be proclaimed on Damascus Day, we are challenges to be fruitful. It is through the power of prayer and the action of the Spirit that things can be accomplished, changed and renewed. There is always the possibility of life anew if the Spirit is with us. Students have been considering Paul’s advice to the Galatians: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-23

To symbolise our reliance on the God, students are creating a massive vine that will feature the work of every student. Each Teacher Advisor group has been asked to offer a volunteer to support the construction process and become involved directly in aspects of the ceremony.

The Mass will be the central element of a day of celebration.

Please see following information on an upcoming Free Webinar: -

Topic - How to Help You Student Get Ready for the Exam Room

When - Wednesday September 7

Time - 6.30pm

Register - Click here

Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs) provide tangible and substantive benefits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, increasing economic equity and supporting First Nations self-determination. They also provide an opportunity for communities, workplaces, and schools to articulate their own structured response in acknowledging their commitment to reconciliation.

Damascus College has commenced the process of establishing a reconciliation action plan. The first step in creating this plan has been the formation of a working party of key stakeholders who can provide wisdom and input in developing a plan. In our case we have local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members, students, parents, business manager, assistant principals, and school counsellors. The breadth of experience in the working party will allow for a response that is reflective of the vision of the school and the local community. At the second meeting of the group arrived at an agreed vision.

Damascus College is to immerse staff, students, and families in acknowledging and celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture as the oldest living culture in the world.

We will provide a safe environment to learn about the past and present journey that has impacted the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community by committing to all actions of our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

Our RAP will provide us opportunities to listen, learn, and act while we move forward together as a Catholic Education Community and for our student’s voices to be heard.

The meeting also revised slightly the current Acknowledgement of Country in use at the College.

Acknowledgement of Country

In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's spiritual and cultural connection to country, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land from which we all gather today, the Wudawurrung people of the Kulin nation among the First Nations of Australia.

We pay our respects to their elders, past, present, and emerging. We acknowledge that this land was taken from them without consent, without compensation, without treaty, but not without a resistance.

We acknowledge their care of the land and waterways of this country for more than 60,000 years. They hold the memories, traditions, culture and hope of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We pray that the work of truth-telling and reconciliation will finally carry the day in Australia. May we walk gently and respectfully and sustainably upon the land.

The next stage of the RAP will involve our school surveying the current state of reconciliation at Damascus College. This will provide a snapshot of what Damascus College is already doing in acknowledging our commitment to reconciliation as well as opportunities to further demonstrate our growth in our RAP.

The RAP can be completed using the following link.

https://forms.office.com/r/aEV6RyhJdE

The committee is still very keen to have more members. Please contact Andy Robertson a.robertson@damascus.vic.edu.au or Tony Haintz t.haintz@damascus.vic.edu.au if you are interested in the RAP group.

The HoLP team are running a sausage sizzle to raise funds for the Terry Floyd foundation on Friday September 9. For more information please see the flyer below and for more information on the Terry Floyd foundation please click here

There was a hype of Book Week celebrations last week at Damascus!

Students and staff embraced this year’s theme ‘Dreaming With Eyes Open’ with a range of activities throughout the week.

A daily quiz was held, there was an opportunity to vote for the Damascus book of the year, provoking a conversation about different books the students are currently enjoying, and a mood-board competition unpacking favourite books, among other activities and competitions.

Wednesday saw the Damascus Book Club discussing childhood books that sparked ‘dreaming with eyes open’ over a hot chocolate and a biscuit, and staff celebrated over Morning Tea on Thursday with some even dressing up for the occasion!

The busy week of celebrations was concluded with a Big Trivia Quiz, where some students and staff gathered at lunch on Friday to test their knowledge on different books!

Last week Damascus students travelled to Emmanuel College Warrnambool to participate in the Frayne Festival, which is a debating and public speaking competition.

It is the first time in a few years that schools in the Mercy tradition have come together to compete.

Year 11 students, Eden Willow, Kaitlyn Handreck, Audrey Merlin and Shae Goon competed in debating, winning one and losing one against very competitive teams, and Rhyal Williams competed in Oratory.

Well done to all students involved!

Please see following information on the Teach and Trade Experience Day offered by RMIT: -

BUY EARLY SALE NOW ON!

Get ready, the Dobsons annual Buy Early & Save Sale is about to begin! Save on selected uniform items when you shop with Dobsons from September 1st till October 30th, 2022. Beat the back-to-school rush and save on a range of selected items, including:

• Blazers
• Pullovers
• Summer Dresses
• Summer Shirts
• Sportswear
• Socks

With a pain free returns policy, now is the time to plan ahead. Whether your child finds a few extra centimetres over the holiday break or not as many as you’d thought, Dobsons has you covered with a quick and simple returns policy*.

*Terms & Conditions apply. Sale available online and in store from 1st of September until the 30th of October.