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