From the Principal
12 October By Mr. Matthew Byrne, Principal
It has been life-giving to be at school this week, with some normality returning to everyone’s life. The presence of face masks and social distancing are stark reminders of the time in which we live, but the resilience of the Damascus community members in their positivity at being back together has been heart warning. I thank families for your enormous efforts throughout remote learning and for having students appropriately attired and supported to return to school this week. I congratulate our amazing students and staff on the spirit with which they have embraced the return to onsite learning.
As families, it is important that we continue to remember the volume of change 2020 has thrust upon us. Returning to school, and concentrating on our relationships and our learning requires a building up again of our social/emotional stamina. Be prepared for young people to display different expressions of fatigue as they readjust to life at school. As parents, it is very easy for us to respond to the presenting behaviour of adolescents but try to dig deeper (I am much better at giving this advice than practising it!). If we can display calm and reinforce our love and affection as a constant, to counter the other changes taking place in their lives, we will provide valuable support in another time of change. Remember also, that the Damascus staff team are here to help, and if your young person is finding the return to school difficult, please talk to us, and we will see if we can make this current change easier.
Our amazing Year 12 cohort now enter a very important time in their final year of school and their lives. This is a time of extraordinary pressure for them in a year like no other. Their teachers have worked tirelessly to ensure constant support and students have responded to this well. The graduation class of 2020 has experienced a final year of secondary education like no other, with the constant uncertainty of what is to happen next. Their ability to continue to reinvent Year 12 in 2020 has been admirable.
In their final month as students attending our College, let us all keep them in our daily prayer. I pray that they find the calmness and confidence to focus on completing their VCE exam preparation and VCAL concluding requirements and that their resilience and strength will support them to achieve that of which they are capable. I pray that their Year 12 experience will be the pathway to their dream and that it will continue to help them grow, achieve and serve the world. I pray that each of them will impact our society for the better, and they find a genuine vocation within it. The Year 12 students have been working hard on their final assembly, which will be conducted remotely on the afternoon of Friday 30th October. Families of Year 12’s will receive communication, including details of this remote event over the coming week.
With staff, our leadership team has been revising our calendar for the rest of the year. There are still a number of events that we are unable to provide certainty on, but I can communicate the following.
Our learning and teaching program for semester two will go through until Tuesday, 24th November, for all year levels. The student free day for staff professional practice, currently scheduled for Wednesday 18th November will be pushed back to Wednesday 25thNovember. Our Early Start program to embark on the 2021 academic year will commence on Thursday 26thNovember. In 2020 our Early Start program will only run for five days, as opposed to the usual ten-day program.
We are still planning for a student-free day to support the orientation and transition of the 2021 Year 7 cohort on Tuesday 1stDecember. At this stage, we are unsure as to how that day will proceed for our new cohort.
The final day for students will be Friday 4thDecember. Due to COVID restrictions, we will not proceed with our annual Awards and Achievements evening scheduled for the evening of 2nd December. The celebration of student achievement will form a key component of the students’ final day on 4th December.
Our Year 9 camp, we hope to run more locally and for a reduced time during the week of 9th – 14th November. Year 10 students will go out for a single retreat day to introduce the CPDA program on November 9thor 10th.
I have published in recent newsletters the date changes for; the AFL public holiday; the move of Ballarat Show day to the Melbourne Cup public holiday; and changed TA interview dates.
Students have been issued this week with a student identification or ID card. Practically, this card enables them to use the school-based photocopiers and printers. The card also doubles as their ID card for student purposes. These cards are issued every three years, however, if lost, replacements can be purchased for $5 through the College office.
For those families seeking a 2022 enrolment at Damascus College, the second and final of our information evenings will take place next Tuesday from 6:30pm–8:00pm. More information can be found here.
Across the College next week the St Martin’s Resource Centre is leading the celebration of Book Week. This has been delayed to enable it to occur while we are all onsite and we look forward to some of the exciting activities that they have planned.
Alongside our prayers for our Year 12’s we also extend our prayers to Brooke (Year 9) and Tara (Year 11) Gannon and their parents Melissa and Steve on the loss of a loved parent and grandparent. May the peace of God’s love be with them at this time.
We also pray for continued low levels of COVID-19 in the Victorian community to enable greater normality of life for everyone.
It is great to have everyone back! Until next week…
MATT