海角大神

I鈥檓 pleased to report that it has been a very good start to the year. It's great to see our students excited about being back at school and ready to learn. A number of staff members have commented to me that there is a spirit of great optimism at the College, as students seem to have settled quickly into the routine of a new year. I hope you are hearing good news stories at home as well.

Challenge Walks

I had the great pleasure last week of joining the Year 9 Dominic Team on their Challenge Walk as they tested their endurance as an example of our core value 'perseverance'. It was also an opportunity to take time in a beautiful setting on the Yarra River to build on relationships and to reflect on the goals that each student hopes to achieve this year. 

Celebrate Excellence Evening

Our Celebrate Excellence Evening is on Monday evening and invitations have been sent to those who are to be recognised for their excellence in 2022. It is important to acknowledge students who have achieved at the highest academic standards in their level, or excelled in their contribution to the sporting life and spirit of 海角大神. We will showcase this event and award recipients in a future edition of The Lighthouse.

Opening Mass 

Our Opening Mass is on Monday, period 6 and 7, and is a student only event. All students are expected to be in attendance, including those Year 12 students who do not have scheduled classes at this time. This week RE Teachers have been talking to the students about the importance of mass in our faith tradition and the etiquette that we expect of participants. We appreciate that weekend mass attendance is not customary in many families and we will provide guidance during the mass so that students know when and how to respond. We would appreciate your support by emphasising the value of gathering for mass as a College community with your son or daughter and this might also be an opportunity to discuss why you chose a Catholic education for them amongst the many options available.

Opening Assembly

Our Opening Assembly is on Tuesday period 2 and 3 and is a student only event. We will be live streaming this event. Details will be provided to enable you to watch remotely.

Parent Information Nights

Thank you for the excellent turnout to our Parent Information Nights over the last couple of weeks. We hope that you have found them valuable. On these evenings, it is often less about the information sharing and more about putting a face to the names of those who are responsible for the pastoral care of your son or daughter. It is always easier to contact someone should a concern arise if you have established a relationship prior. The last level to meet is Year 8 and this will occur on Wednesday evening.

Open Day 

Advance notice that on Sunday, March 19 we will have our Open Day from 12pm to 3pm.  Tours will be conducted on 20 minute intervals, with the last tour departing at 2.20pm. Bookings are not required. Parents with a child in Grade 5 are reminded that the enrolments for the 2025 Year 7 are now open. Please note that we do not presume that you are enrolling your child at the College and that an application is required. Should you have any questions, please contact College Registrar, Ms Madeleine Kalla on 9259 3008.

海角大神 School Advisory Council

The 海角大神 School Advisory Council will meet for the first time in 2023 next week and it is my pleasure to introduce the members and to advertise that we have a vacancy for a parent/guardian to join our council in the role of Financial Representative. Please contact me on principal@aquinas.vic.edu.au if you are interested in being considered for this vacancy. Should you want more information, the is available on the College website.  

Fr Dispin John- Canonical Administrator

Mr Chris Leahy- Chair

Mr Darren Atkinson- Principal

Mr Rhys Cameron- Student Representative

Ms Sharon Daley- Staff representative

Dr Kerry Elliott- Parent Representative

Mr Dave Mutimer- Primary Principals鈥� Representative

Ms Brodi Stone- Representative of Parents & Friends Committee

Mr Dean Scott- Parent and Representative of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Ringwood

Ms Joanne White- Parent Representative

VACANCY Financial Representative

In attendance:

Mr Paul Benedict- Business Manager

Ms Maddy Kalla- Secretary

Driver Conduct

The College has received complaints from neighbours about motorists ignoring the parking restrictions at drop off and pick up times, and in doing so, exacerbating the problems in our already congested side streets. Could I please request that you obey all signage. I appreciate that the roads around the College are very busy, especially at the two peak times each day, and ask you to consider whether a drop off/pick up point a few streets from the College might make it a lot easier for you, with the added benefit of a little bit of exercise for our young people.

Darren Atkinson
Principal

Those of us who follow education debates understand that the discourse tends to be a continuous conflict between new, possibly disruptive, ideas and those arguing for the tried and true.

The great disruptor in 2022/3 has been the improvement in Artificial Intelligence AI, especially in what is being called natural language processing. This means that instead of typing some key words into a search engine, it is possible to ask a question and follow up questions, or ask the chatbot to undertake a writing task. The request can be really specific, require certain words and concepts and be in a particular style. For some this is further evidence of how technology will improve our lives, for others it is another example that the sky is falling and how technology is ruining our lives.

Some technology is unambiguously good. The washing machine has improved our health and appearance, with no discernible negatives. There seems to be no argument for us to return to the boiler and mangle, or even travelling to the nearest creek to scrub our work shirts.

Other technologies are not so simple. Anything with a screen produces mixed emotions, we love not needing a Melways, a payphone or an encyclopaedia, but we do wish the young person near us would look up and speak.

The job of technology is to use human ingenuity to make our lives easier, and the AI I have talked about above might do that, but it is important to remember that things which bring ease and convenience actually work against learning, which is the ability to put something into our long term memory and be able to retrieve it when required. As Brown et al reminds us in their book Make it Stick, 鈥淟earning is deeper and more durable when it鈥檚 effortful鈥�. The impulse we have with AI is to get it to do our work for us. That might complete the task, but it will not help us to learn. To really learn we need to:

• Set a goal or goals
• Immerse ourselves in the task, make an effort and be in the moment in the task.
• Achieve the goal and feel a sense of success.

Often we just want the task done, and sometimes, such as the washing machine example, this is very good. In other cases, it鈥檚 the effort and the sense of success that the technology denies us.

What AI might be able to do includes finding resources we can use, expanding our vocabulary, listing key ideas, even reinforcing existing knowledge. Most of these things a school can do, but it may allow independence in these pursuits.

What it is unlikely to do, is embed deep knowledge and ensure that someone can retrieve that knowledge, which is essential to learning.

Michael Box
Deputy Principal Learning

Learning with high expectations

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of joining students from the Year 9 Rice House as they experienced their Challenge Walk, walking for approximately 18 kilometres from the Studley Park Boathouse to Federation Square. The walk gives students the opportunity to not only walk as homeroom groups, socialising, encouraging each other and working together, but also enjoying some of the best sights that our Yarra River and surroundings provide. 

The experience is a great example of how our students can set high standards and expectations for themselves. I am certain that some of the students surprised themselves as they walked the distance, not only because of the physical demands that they overcame, but also because they did this as a class group. The students completed some important tasks; writing a letter to themselves, setting goals and eating and drinking responsibly along the way. 

I mention this example of setting up high expectations because this is an important focus for the College in 2023. Our Annual Action Plan, which directs many of the projects and plans for the year, emphasises the importance of high expectations for the enhancement of learning and development. Our students are challenged to set goals, to measure their progress and to meet College expectations each and every day, and this should be a point of discussion for you at home. 

I encourage you to discuss with your child what their expectations are for their learning. What goals have they set up? What do they wish to achieve from their school year? High expectations must start at home and must be a motivating factor in the achievements that are illustrated at school and in extracurricular activities. Every day will bring another opportunity to set goals and to achieve high standards, because the motivation is not what others expect but rather what the student expects of themselves.

I wish you all the best as you discuss with your child what expectations they have of themselves.

Nap Rodezno
Deputy Principal

Opening Mass

Next Monday afternoon our whole college will be gathering to celebrate our Opening Mass. It will be the first event for 2023 that will involve all students together. Our focus is on welcoming the new year, especially our year 7 students who are new to the school. 

The first reading is from St Paul鈥檚 letter to the Romans and was chosen as it is connected to our Year 7 core value focus of belonging. In this reading, Paul reminds us that, like our body is made up of different parts with different roles and purposes so that we can function fully, so is the church made up of different people. The church is the body of Christ, people with different gifts and talents who, when working together, help live out Christ鈥檚 teachings.

The gospel reading for the Opening Mass is from the gospel of Luke and is the story of the Good Samaritan. This reading correlates with our Year 12 core value of Spirituality. The story focuses on an injured man who is ignored by his own people of faith, and yet helped by a stranger. At the end of the tale when it was discovered that the Samaritan, a foreigner, showed mercy; Jesus tells people to 鈥済o and do likewise."

The messages from these two readings are what we pray our students continue to develop across the year and into future years: a desire to use their gifts from God to follow Christ鈥檚 teachings and to show mercy and compassion to anyone in need, even the stranger. 

May we all 鈥済o and do likewise."

Tania Grace
Assistant Principal Mission

Senior Years Report

A priority for the College is high expectations. High expectations in the development of the attributes we hope every young person leaves the College with, regardless of the educational or career pathway they choose to follow.  

Students often confuse having high expectations with only being concerned about high grades and nothing else.  Instead, the high expectations the College has for students is in being health conscious, open minded, considerate, respectful, a constructive contributor to their community and exhibiting the Core Values. These are all teachable attributes, developed across the time of every student while in the home and at school. 

In the life of a student, being health conscious can be taking planned breaks, eating well, getting enough sleep, having stress management and coping skills. These are important life habits not limited to school life. In the senior years, stress management and coping skills through sound study habits are the focus for the start of the year. Students are engaged in a study skills program in pastoral sessions. On Wednesday, Year 11 parents had the opportunity to attend a free Elevate Webinar on motivation and wellbeing.  We hope that you were reassured by the ways you already support your child and are enthused to try something new. Your feedback on this session is most welcome.

Homework Hub sessions have started this week for Year 12 students and are about to begin for Years 10 and 11. Please look out for further information via email and SMS messages to explain how these sessions will work and notify you of requirements. The allocated Hub times are a supportive approach to managing workload and accessing support through teacher availability. We ask for your assistance by ensuring that your child is available to attend when required. If your child believes they have done the work and information is inaccurate on SIMON/PAM please ask them to directly and respectfully communicate with their teacher to solve the work status issue. 

Rachel Crawley

Head Senior Years

Middle Years Report

Over the past few weeks, we have had Year 7 and 9 Parent information evenings (Year 8 is next Wednesday evening.) It has been a great opportunity to be back together as a community and for parents to meet their child鈥檚 homeroom teacher. We understand that those nights can often be an information overload, but we have really appreciated the great turnouts for both evenings.

We talked about stress and anxiety and the fact that these are inevitable in all our lives and that pretending otherwise is folly. I wanted to highlight one slide that we showed at the Year 9 evening that I think is very apt for every young person at 海角大神. It said that:

If we let our students avoid dealing with stress and anxiety, they will get short-term relief. But they鈥檒l potentially have the long-term problem of continuing to avoid stress and anxiety.

We know that great things can come from degrees of stress and anxiety, probably our most memorable accomplishments involved plenty of it. We obviously don鈥檛 advocate remaining in places where harm can be done, we are talking about limited degrees of stress and anxiety. 

If as a school community, we allow those in our care to repeatedly avoid facing those situations of stress and anxiety, not only will there potentially be a lot of opportunities missed at 海角大神, but avoidance may be a habit that is hard to break.

By the time they leave 海角大神 we (as teachers and parents) want our students to be…

• effective communicators by being literate and numerate.
• fluent in 21st-century digital technology by being collaborative, creative, and ethical in their use of ICT. 
• inquirers with a sense of their own spirituality, social attributes and intellect to think critically and contribute in matters of global significance. 
• open-minded, adaptable, and considerate of multiple perspectives. 
• courageous and leave 海角大神 independent, resilient, and ready to participate fully in the world with respect for others.

All those attributes of an 海角大神 student mean facing inevitable stresses and anxieties.

Phil Box
Head Middle Years

As we move further into the school year, we as a community have a number of events to look forward to; these include our Whole School Mass, Excellence Assembly, Opening Assembly and Ash Wednesday, along with many others. These events all help us to engage with college life and enhance school spirit. They are also a great opportunity to welcome the new Year 7s into the College and connect with the wider school community. While these events are all important to celebrate our College and academic achievements, it is also important to celebrate our other achievements, both within the College and the external community. We need to continue with the strong motivation we started this year off with to guarantee another successful year at 海角大神. 

Brooke Tudor and Thomas Scutt- College Vice Captains

The College is excited to announce the impending development of a new covered sporting facility located on Great Ryrie Street in 2023.

The working name for this initiative during the planning and construction stages will be 鈥樅＝谴笊� Sports and Multifunctional Project鈥�, which we鈥檝e abbreviated to 海角大神 SAM Project. A consultation process will be launched closer to the project鈥檚 completion to select an official name for the new multi-functional space.

The 海角大神 SAM Project aims to transform the existing tennis courts into an all-weather sporting facility and whole school community gathering point to be enjoyed by all. The fees and contributions of the 海角大神 community have enabled the College to pursue this exciting project.

The process of concept development, consultation and design involved engaging a select body of interested students who then workshopped design elements with the architects. The results of this process, along with input from other key stakeholders in the 海角大神 community, were utilised by the architects to guide the final designs.

With the design now finalised, we have successfully navigated the process of approval with Maroondah Council and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, as well as Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS).

The College is now entering the tender application process and anticipates that a contactor will be engaged by the end of the school term.

Once a contractor has been appointed, we will rapidly move towards a start date for the construction, as we await the exciting process of seeing the new facility take form.

We will keep you updated via the Lighthouse and the College website as further updates emerge throughout the project.

Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne aim for continuous school improvement. An essential element of this improvement is understanding how students and their families perceive the Catholic identity of our school and what they might like Catholic identity at 海角大神 College to look like in the years ahead.

Students have an important voice in our planning, and so we invite all students in Years 7 to 12 to participate in the Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) Survey. 

In the weeks ahead, each student in Years 7 to 12 will be asked to complete an online survey, access to which is only available through individual user codes and passwords. At no time will students be named or identified in the survey; their responses are guaranteed to be anonymous.

I also write to invite you to participate in the ECSI Survey, which will assist us in better understanding how our Catholic identity is expressed in work and practice here at 海角大神 College.

You are asked to complete the survey online; it may take up to an hour to do so. Try not to get caught up in the questions, simply respond intuitively. 

Keeping a record of your individual user code and password will allow you to complete the survey over two or more sessions.

The survey is only available through the project website; please refer to the .

Your responses to this survey are guaranteed to be kept anonymous.

Tania Grace

Assistant Principal Mission

Congratulations to the 58 students who received commendations this week. 

We especially acknowledge: 

Hanna Koshy and Jude Porter for helping others and receiving Compassion commendations.

Anneka Rasmussen and Eden Smith for excellent team spirit in PE earning them both a Belonging commendation.

The Spirit of 海角大神 section will focus on one core value from our mission statement and the ways this value has been demonstrated at school.

鈥淏elonging: We are mindful of our diverse local and global community; we are culturally inclusive and respect the dignity of each individual.鈥�

The Year 7 Swim Day was held last Friday at Aquanation, after it was rescheduled from the previous Friday at the Croydon Outdoor Pool due to weather.

On a hot day and inside, at least no students ended up sunburnt. The Year 7s had a wonderful day in the water participating in many different activities.

In the morning session, each House group did swim testing which involved floating, treading water, entries into the pool, and swimming for extended periods of time. Each House group also had the opportunity to do some fun games in the pool.

Organising the swim testing schedule and making sure it runs smoothly is a big job and I would like to congratulate Mr Jonathan Lau on his excellent work with the testing. 

In the afternoon, the students had the opportunity to compete in a mini carnival. Students were able to compete in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and relay events. It was great to see so many students involved and enjoying the opportunity to compete for their House.

In the end, Mackillop won the carnival from Rice, followed by Dominic.

Mr Storey (Mackillop House Leader) was ecstatic with the win, and to celebrate, all the Mackillop teachers did some interesting dives into the pool.

The top swimmers from the carnival have been invited to be part of the 海角大神 swim team, which competes in the EISM Division 1 level carnival. 

Thank you to all staff and former students who helped with the carnival and made sure it again was a wonderful experience for the Year 7s.

Bernie Brummell

Sports Coordinator

We were fortunate to take the Year 9 students on the annual Challenge Walk last week. The journey consisted of a 18 kilometre walk along the scenic Yarra Trail, providing an opportunity for students to push through boundaries that may present as either social, physical or mental. 

The focus of the Challenge Walk is to leave behind any preconceptions or difficulties from Year 8 and commence Year 9 with a strong focus on positive relationships and developing a sense of being in a team or community. Perseverance is the key attribute required for students to work through any challenges they face, while developing a sense of self-awareness as to how they personally respond to challenges. 

We encourage the students to adopt a growth mindset through exposing them to opportunities in which they can respond to challenges in a supportive environment. Through approaching life with a growth mindset, students will have the best opportunities to explore their personal potential. Furthermore, to show up and embrace opportunities for personal development as they move towards young adulthood. 

The 2023 Year 9 cohort responded to the challenge with an impressive sense of grit and determination. The overarching feedback from students was that the walk was "not as bad as they expected" and that it was "actually really enjoyable." We hope they can carry this ethos through to the next opportunity that arises and expect the unexpected! 

Renee Johns, Dave Mulholland, Tom Wilson

Year 9 Leaders

Student reflection

Last week we went on the Challenge Walk as a house team. On Wednesday morning we all arrived at school, unsure about what to expect. We got on the buses, travelled to Fairfield Boathouse and got ready to start walking. Mr Atkinson joined my class, 9 Aqua, as we began the long trek. We stopped for short breaks and to do a letter writing activity, where we wrote a letter to our future selves about what we expect to achieve this year. We kept walking and persevering, even when everyone鈥檚 feet were sore and we began to run out of energy. Our class got separated quite a few times due to the different paces set by people, but we always managed to regroup and keep going. 

We stopped after 10 km for lunch at the Kevin Bartlett Sporting Complex, where we were able to sit with our friends and give our bodies a well needed break. After that we kept walking. The next few kilometres were very casual and relaxed as we walked with friends, laughed and sang along to songs. We reached Federation Square where we all sat down and then proceeded to catch the train back. 

Overall, I had a very fun day where I was able to just walk, spend time with my friends and meet new people. As a group, we definitely persevered and we can all proudly say that we walked 18km! 

Ria Jijose

Have you ever played with slime? Well our new Year 7s have!

The school year is off to a great start for the Year 7 students who participated in their first Science practical investigation 'Making Slime.' 

During this semester, students are completing the 'Being Scientists' unit of work. In this unit, they will be making predictions and observations while exploring the world of Science.

They had a great time exploring their slime using curiosity, wonder, and asking questions to understand how the consistency of slime changes and why.

We are looking forward to our students using their new skills in further investigations.

Melissa Campbell

7 Maroon

Plastic waste has become a major environmental concern in recent years. Plastic products, including bottle tops, take hundreds of years to degrade and can harm wildlife, pollute oceans and clog landfill. The problem of plastic waste is further increased by the fact that only a small percentage of plastics are actually recycled. Recycling plastic bottle tops can be a challenging process due to the variety of materials used to make them and the different types of resin codes they contain. Recycling facilities often have a difficult time separating and processing these materials, leading to a low rate of recycling.

We are introducing a new plastics program for students in Year 8 Design and Technology this year. It is an excellent way to raise awareness about the environmental impact of plastic waste and encourage future generations to make more sustainable choices. The program's objectives are to educate the students about the environmental impact of plastic waste and to inspire them to take action to reduce their own plastic use. 

In Design and Technology this year, we are encouraging students to come up with creative solutions to the plastic waste problem by engaging them in hands-on and project-based learning. The program can help to make the issue of plastic waste more tangible and meaningful to students, and inspire them to take action in their own lives and communities. Innovation in plastic recycling has led to new methods of processing and reusing plastic waste. Companies are experimenting with using recycled plastic as a raw material for new products, such as furniture, shopping baskets, packaging and clothing.  

We are starting small with the collection and recycling of plastic bottle tops. We request that for the next semester students begin reserving bottle caps from milk, soft drinks, and other drinks which can then be deposited into a designated collection station in the Middle Years building. This is a house competition, with the house who collects the most bottle tops winning a prize. The collection will help reduce the amount of plastic waste in the environment and give students an opportunity to design and create new, sustainable products. Some meaningful plastic products that we aim to produce from recycled bottle tops are jewellery, keychains, coasters, garden markers and school supplies. Students will also design the products' new sustainable packaging and organise and run a Sustainable Makers鈥� Market. All proceeds made from the market will be donated to a local charity (Caritas).

By designing new meaningful products with plastic bottle tops, we can help to reduce the amount of waste generated, while also creating new and innovative products that are better for the environment. So start saving and collecting those plastic bottle tops and drop them off at the collecting station in the Middle Years Building.

Kathy Thompson

Design and Technology