Damascus News - Term 4 Week 3
2020T4W3 - Principal's Update
From the Principal
The role of Principal in 2020 has seen me assume more dress ups and imaginary characters than a typical year would provide! This week I became Professor Dumbledore of Harry Potter ...
2020T4W3 - Tigers VS Cats
College Information & Events
Assistant Principal of Student Welling Mr. Andrew Robertson is a die-hard Tigers Supporter. So when he put his shrine up for his beloved Tigers to take out the Grand Final this wee...
2020T4W3 - Book Week - Harry Potter Reading Chair
College Information & Events
For Book Week, today we welcomed a new addition to the St Martin’s Resource Centre, which is now the proud owner of a Harry Potter themed Reading Chair.To celebrate one might think...
2020T4W3 - 140 Year Anniversary - St Martin's in the Pines
College Information & Events
#DamascusCollege #DamascusPrideIn 2021 Damascus College is proudly celebrating 140 years of Catholic Education. Together, we celebrate our proud history and recognise and celebrate...
2020T4W3 - Enviroweek 2020
College Information & Events
Enviroweek has been somewhat delayed this year, like so many planned activities. This year, it runs from 21st to 27thOctober. The College Green Groupers were welcomed back to campu...
2020T4W3 - 2021 Student Leaders
Student Achievement
Today our 2021 Student Leaders were inducted into their positions through a workshop addressing models of effective leadership. Held within the constraints of Covid guidelines, stu...
2020T4W3 - The Great Damascus Aussie Adventure
Student Achievement
Ned Murnane, Meg Cahir and Evie Marnica with their winningsNed Murnane, Meg Cahir and Evie Marnica each received their $50 Intersport gift card today, along with a water bottle and...
2020T4W2 - Joel and JD on the Beat 92.1
Student Achievement
Year 12 student Jack Davidson is a familiar face to many of us who enjoy the school productions, but it is his voice talents that shine in his latest project, a podcast. Now LIVE! ...
2020T4W3 - Hamper Hug - A Great Success
Student Achievement
Amber Kennett, a Year 11 student at Damascus College was recently awarded the runner-up prize for Division One of the Victorian component of the Plan Your Own Enterprise Competitio...
From the Principal
20 October By Mr. Matthew Byrne, Principal
The role of Principal in 2020 has seen me assume more dress ups and imaginary characters than a typical year would provide! This week I became Professor Dumbledore of Harry Potter fame to herald "Book Week" at Damascus College. The library staff team of the St Martin's Resource Centre (SMRC); Sharon Hayes, Angela Carr, Megan Grant and Liz Sarah created a range of activities for the young people of this community to nurture their love of literature, story-telling and books. A newly acquired story chair has become a feature of the space, and the activities have included treasure hunts, quizzes and prizes. I commend everyone within the community who has engaged with the activities of Book Week, and I thank the SMRC team for their organisation.
It is nice to be able to report some tentative steps towards normality this week, as we are able to plan for a limited return to BAS sport. Students, through their email and daily messages, have been invited to sign up for the following four-week program of afterschool sporting activities.
Mountain Bike Riding – Tuesday (all year levels, co-ed)
Inter Girls Tennis – Tuesday (Year 9/10)
Junior Golf – Wednesday (Year 7-9, co-ed)
Junior Girls Tennis – Wednesday (Year 7/8)
Junior Boys Tennis – Thursday (Year 7/8)
Junior Girls Cricket – Thursday (Year 7/8/9)
2nd XI Boys Cricket – Thursday (Year 9, 10, 11)
All competitions will commence week four and run for four rounds only. If you would like to find out a little more about each sport, head across to the DC Website.
We are also pleased to be able to confirm plans for our Year 9 camp which will take place in the week from the 9th November. We have relocated the camp to Anglesea to reduce the extended time in buses and to reduce bus density. Students in core groups 1-4 will head out for an outdoor activity-based camp from Monday to Wednesday and core groups 5- 8 will undertake the activity from Wednesday to Friday. There will be more information for Year 9 families soon.
Our 2020 graduating cohort will complete their final School Assessed Coursework tasks this week and move strongly into revision as they do so. The students' final day will be Friday 30th October. They will undertake regular classes during lessons 1-4 and will come together in House groups following lunch. They will be joined virtually by the remainder of the school community from 2.20pm for their final assembly. A link and recording of this event will be made available to Year 12 families.
Within the Catholic tradition, October is considered Catholic mission month. Last Sunday (18th October) was World Mission Day. World Mission Day is celebrated every year in every country wherever there are Catholics committed to building a better world for all of God's people, a world where everyone has all they need to live a dignified and fulfilling life. It is the day on which we reflect on the urgency to proclaim the Gospel in our times. Central to our Catholic identity and the education of young people at Damascus is raising their awareness of issues of Social Justice and responding to them. This is the work of mission.
Tomorrow students have a Sporting Colours $2 Casual Clothes Day for Catholic Missions. Students are encouraged to bring $2 and wear sporting colours and support the world's needy through Catholic Mission. The COVID safe collection will happen during morning TA. The Justice Action Group (JAG) are also conducting a Socktober Penalty Shootout. Students are encouraged to pay just $1 for a chance to get the soccer ball past a JAG member and into the net to win prizes.
Pope Francis' encyclical on the care for our common home, Laudato Si states; "The future of humanity does not lie solely in the hands of great leaders, the great powers and the elites. It is fundamentally in the hands of peoples and in their ability to organise. It is in their hands, which can guide with humility and conviction this process of change. I am with you." It is our role as parents and educators to help the next generation see that their hands are God's hands and to help them see that their small actions can bring change and life to the vulnerable of our world.
We welcome Jessica Bartlett and Michael Amhaz who join Damascus College as Pre- Service Teachers this week and wish them well for their experience.
From Wednesday next week, Year 9 students will be required to hand back their device and collect their new device the following day. Correspondence has been sent to families and students are reminded that any personal or general data/work that is not saved in OneDrive for Business will not be backed up by the ICT Department and is solely the responsibility of the student. Payment forms will be forwarded to students that fail to bring in all components issued on hand-back of the devices.
When handing back the device, students need the following:
If there are any queries in the process outlined in the separate correspondence, please do not hesitate to contact Assistant Principal of Learning and Teaching, Ashwin Pillai at a.pillai@damascus.vic.edu.au or helpdesk@damascus.vic.edu.au
The College goes to significant lengths to communicate our uniform requirements. I appreciate that it is an unsettled year, but we do know that upholding regular routines and expectations helps support young people in times of change. I am concerned about students wearing black socks with the PE uniform as well as dress lengths that are far too short. Socks must be the prescribed school sock, and dress lengths are expected to be to the knee. I implore families to please attend to these matters and not wait until the school makes an issue of uniform. It makes relationships between staff and students strained and takes away valuable time from teaching and learning throughout the day.
So in this month, we pray for the impoverished and all those who need our prayer.
Until next week …
MATT
College Information & Events
21 October
Assistant Principal of Student Welling Mr. Andrew Robertson is a die-hard Tigers Supporter.
So when he put his shrine up for his beloved Tigers to take out the Grand Final this weekend a few of the Geelong Supporters decided to take actions into their own hands.
In all seriousness we wish both teams all the very best and lets hope it is a hard fought close game!!! May the best team (Geelong) win!!!
College Information & Events
21 October
For Book Week, today we welcomed a new addition to the St Martin’s Resource Centre, which is now the proud owner of a Harry Potter themed Reading Chair.
To celebrate one might think you had turned up at Hogwarts given the teachers wandering about. Our Principal Matthew Byrne, dressed up as Professor Dumbledore and we said hello to Hagrid, the sorting hat, Professor McGonagall, many other wizards and of course Harry Potter himself.
To add to the festivities, students also participated in a Harry Potter scavenger hunt, which was great fun.
If you sit in the Reading Chair you must be reading or telling a story. We are very happy to be on site celebrating all things books and reading this week.
College Information & Events
20 October
#DamascusCollege #DamascusPride
In 2021 Damascus College is proudly celebrating 140 years of Catholic Education. Together, we celebrate our proud history and recognise and celebrate our foundation schools; Sacred Heart College, St Paul’s Technical College, and St Martin’s in the Pines.
In 1960 Miss Alice Fanning, who was looked after by the Sisters of Mercy for several years, bequeathed her property in Mt Clear to the Sisters of Mercy on her death in February 1960. The land was used by the Sisters to grow vegetables and raise cattle, and following the decision in 1964 to develop the site for the senior school of Sacred Heart College, the foundation stone was laid in 1966. In 1967, a separate campus for Years 11 and 12 girls was developed at Mt Clear to form Sacred Heart Senior College, St Martin's in the Pines. In 1988, this campus became co-educational, with boys mainly from St Paul's College.
Community events planned for next year include a Gala Event as well as a Community Day. Please visit https://www.damascus.vic.edu.au/news-events/140-year-anniversaryto see more details.
#TogetherWeAreDamascus
College Information & Events
21 October
Enviroweek has been somewhat delayed this year, like so many planned activities. This year, it runs from 21st to 27thOctober.
The College Green Groupers were welcomed back to campus at lunchtime on Friday with the planting out of murong. Most of the murnong plants came from our local university and have been entrusted to Damascus College by Federation University as part of their 'Murnong SEED' Citizen Science program. There were also some seedlings that have been raised from seed gathered from the Damascus murnong planted. The Mud Brick House garden and the main vegetable plots now have well-watered new seedlings.
While planting, other topics were discussed, including other activities for Enviro Week.
Earlier this year, Damascus was successful in applying for a grant for the purchase and installation of a greenhouse. This greenhouse will be used to propagate further murnong seedlings from our grounds, as well as other natives that are found here. As we prepare to install the greenhouse, students and staff have been invited to a working bee at lunchtime on Wednesday 21st to help prepare the site with a quick cleanup.
Also from 19th to 25th October the Backyard Bird Count is on. Count and name the birds around your place and help BirdLife Australia in understanding more about the birds that live where people live. You can register at https://aussiebirdcount.org.au/ and there are apps for your Android or iPhone as well.
You might remember an email from late last term, asking you to share your photos of your work for sustainability at home during isolation. The response has been very pleasing and stay tuned to the College’s social media later in the week to see what we have achieved as a community this year.
Student Achievement
21 October
Today our 2021 Student Leaders were inducted into their positions through a workshop addressing models of effective leadership. Held within the constraints of Covid guidelines, students were invited to consider the challenges and rewards associated with leading teams through a series of activities.
Student Achievement
21 October
Ned Murnane, Meg Cahir and Evie Marnica each received their $50 Intersport gift card today, along with a water bottle and a pair of socks for their involvement in the Great Damascus Aussie Adventure. Now that the adventure is over, it would be great to see the Damascus College community get behind the Federation University Run for a Cause, which is going virtual in 2020. Challenge yourself, friends and family to run or walk as far as you can during the month of November and help raise much needed funds for the Ballarat Reads program. Register before November 1 and you can nominate your own registration fee – don’t forget to join the Damascus College team where a collective goal of 2,500km has been set for the month of November and a fundraising goal of $500.
Signup and select Damascus College as the team you want to join: https://run-for-a-cause-virtual.raisely.com/signup
Read more about the Run for a Cause: https://run4ac.org/
Student Achievement
14 October
Year 12 student Jack Davidson is a familiar face to many of us who enjoy the school productions, but it is his voice talents that shine in his latest project, a podcast.
Now LIVE! You can download the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Simplecast, just search for “Joel and JD on the Beat 92.1” or simply follow the link https://joel-jd-on-the-beat-92-1.simplecast.com/episodes/joel-jd-on-the-beat-921?t=0m0s
As part of his VCE Media Studies Jack wore many hats in the creation of his podcast project. He was a Presenter, the Executive Producer, Audio Engineer and Social media Manager. Jack wrote and compiled the entire piece as well as doing all the audio recording and editing of the program content including ads. A MASSIVE undertaking. There was also significant background work and extensive research. Not to mention costs for copyright fees and release forms for all those giving voice input.
Jack enlisted an impressive cast to help with this production:
Jack worked extensively on this project at home as the College was in remote learning. He was only able to spend four hours in the recording studio on campus to record the majority of his podcast. Jack said “Covid made this so much more difficult than it should have been. I had to purchase some equipment to enable me to work effectively from home. I created a mock up studio in my bedroom and spent countless hours recording and editing the audio files meticulously until I was satisfied.” Jack concluded with “I was heavily supported in my endeavours by my Teacher Nick Yandell.
This podcast was created as part of Jack’s VCE Media studies. He won’t be continuing this particular podcast, however he does promise to create others in the future. This production made him realise that the media industry, in particular radio and audio, is where he wants to pursue a career. Jack has already received an offer to attend Swinburne University in Melbourne starting in 2021 and he plans to work in radio production in the future.
Student Achievement
21 October
Amber Kennett, a Year 11 student at Damascus College was recently awarded the runner-up prize for Division One of the Victorian component of the Plan Your Own Enterprise Competition. Amber’s business plan for ‘Hamper Hug’ was developed within her Business Management studies at Damascus and was presented capably before an audience at the competition final. Congratulations Amber on an outstanding effort.
Steven is an innovative and passionate leader and his leadership style is one that is highly relational and visible. His personal educational vision is to work in relationship and in partnership with all members of the community to create a faith learning dynamic that celebrates, affirms, and challenges people to achieve personal excellence.
Damascus College wishes to thank Mr Christopher Grant, Interim Principal for the leadership he has given to the College, since the departure of Mr Matthew Byrne at the end of Term 1 2022.
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