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 30^th 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, 24^th November, for all year levels. The student free day for staff professional practice, currently scheduled for Wednesday 18^th November will be pushed back to Wednesday 25^thNovember. Our Early Start program to embark on the 2021 academic year will commence on Thursday 26^thNovember. 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 1^stDecember. 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 4^thDecember. 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 9^th – 14th November. Year 10 students will go out for a single retreat day to introduce the CPDA program on November 9^thor 10^th.

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

This week we welcomed back students as they transitioned back on campus after a second period of remote learning. The sea of yellow worn by staff and the ribbons distributed to our students, was a lovely gesture of welcome, after an extended period of absence.

It was wonderful to have all students back on campus today - all eager to catch up with their friends and teachers. We look forward to supporting each other to ensure that Term 4 2020 is a successful one

Damascus staff started to move back on campus last Friday 9 October, in readiness for the return to onsite learning on Monday 12 October, and staff were greeted with a Care Pack to assist them with their transition back onsite.

To our Damascus staff - Thank you for being there for our students and families during our recent Remote Learning experience.

What we are doing as a Damascus community does make a difference, for now and for the future. We are all part of a large-scale systemic change and are creating history. We are learning new ways of doing our jobs, figuring out how we can be a 'dynamic Christ centred learning community,' both here on site and virtually! It has definitely been a significant team effort this year.

Damascus hopes our staff find the items in this care park helpful over the coming weeks of transition. Our staff are essential to our Damascus team. Take care. Be well. Continue to Be Your Best. Thank-you.

The Damascus Rowing Program started back this week with Rowers from years 7 to 11 hitting the water for some long awaited training on Lake Wendouree! It’s been a very different pre-season for the rowing squad, all the hard work and online fitness sessions have now paid off and they are now able to train and prepare for the Head of the Lake in February next year. The first regatta is scheduled for November 7 here in Ballarat where all crews from Ballarat will have their first hit out for the season.

It’s shaping up to be another fantastic season of rowing for Damascus College with numbers increasing substantially from the previous season, a new focus on learning to row quad sculls and two new racing boats being delivered later this term.

If you are interested in joining the rowing program please contact Paul Blanchfield (p.blanchfield@damascus.vic.edu.au) or Hamish Walsh (h.walsh@damascus.vic.edu.au), we have space in all year levels for new members either returning or new to the sport.

Sporting Colours Casual Day Thursday 22^nd October

We made it! The final week of the Socktober Challenge is here. Week 6 – This week’s theme is Joy

Click here to join.

We hope you have enjoyed learning about our brothers and sisters in India, Ethiopia and Thailand and honing those soccer skills along the way. This week, we end our journey around the world of mission in the heart of Cambodia, the setting for World Mission Month this year.

In the final week of the Socktober Challenge, we hop across the border and into Cambodia, a nation of exquisite culture but one with a dark history. We also collect your generous donation on our Sporting Colours Causal Day for Catholic Mission on Thursday 22^nd October

This week we meet Dara, a young boy whose life was irreversibly changed by a landmine explosion that took his right hand. We'll spend some time at the Arrupe Centre in Battambang, where Dara lives and where he is given opportunities to develop fully despite the challenges of his condition.

Elevate is an award-winning organisation that has been working with your child’s school to help them become more effective learners. We realise that these are uncertain times and how effectively students revise and prepare is key to their success in the next few months.

Join us for an exclusive webinar series where we will show you – as parents – the crucial study skills your child needs to achieve their best and how you can reinforce that at home.

Upcoming Free Parent focused Webinars as below:-

• Wednesday, 21^st October – Effective Independent Learning
• Wednesday, 4^th November – Managing Stress & Wellbeing
• Wednesday, 18^th November – Exam Preparation
• Wednesday, 2^nd December – Responsible Technology Usage

Click here to register to one or all of the series.

#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

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:

• Luka Spoljaric – Year 12
• Ellie Dickson – Year 12
• Georgina Campbell – Year 12
• Patrick Western – Year 12
• Amalee Eden – Year 11
• Tahlia Williams – Year 12
• Tully Heenan – Year 12
• Bailey Wilson – Year 12
• Jai Hillas – Year 12
• Paige Harrington – Year 12
• Hugo Prehn – Year 12
• Nick Yandell

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.

Tired of doing nothing??

Get active.

Come and try tennis. 9:30 Saturday mornings at the Ballarat Lawn Tennis Club, Prince of Wales Park. Racquets available.

Enquiries contact Jenny 0408 735 068

Adult social tennis Tuesday 7:00pm, Wednesday 9:00am and Saturday 1:00pm. Just turn up. All players, all standards welcome.

PLEASE NOTE: The Camps Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) eligibility date to qualify for the CSEF has been extended

Eligibility

The final eligibility date for CSEF in 2020 has been extended from 14 April until 5 October 2020.

Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply. The normal special consideration arrangements continue in addition.

Payments will be made at 50 per cent of the standard per student rates for families eligible between 15 April and 5 October 2020.

Families who have NOT already applied for CSEF in 2020 are asked to do so by November 26, 2020.

Forms can be collected from the College office or downloaded by clicking here.