海角大神

There has been a number of significant whole school events since the last edition of The Lighthouse. They have been wonderful celebrations of our identity as a Catholic school and have further developed spirit in our school community. 

Celebrate Excellence Evening

Last Monday evening we gathered as a community to acknowledge students who achieved excellence during 2022. This included those from our graduating class who placed in the top 10 per cent of graduates in Australia; those who excelled in VCAL and VET; and those who received special awards. We also acknowledged student excellence at each year level. It was wonderful to be able to invite parents and guardians to the College to celebrate the success of their young people. Congratulations to the recipients of awards and thank you to those who put in so much work in preparation for this event.

Opening Mass 

The focus of our Opening Mass is to welcome the newest members of our community into their first whole school gathering. Father Dispin John presided and set challenging goals in his homily, encouraging the community to seize upon the opportunities that they are provided. On a warm afternoon, Father Dispin commented on the reverence displayed by the students and thanked them for participating as we gathered as a community in worship. Thank you to the Catholic Life Team, our musicians and Ms Grace in particular for her work to prepare our liturgical celebration.

Opening Assembly

Student voice is a huge element at our assemblies and we have very capable public speakers amongst our student body who benefit from the experience to present to their peers. This was evident in the quality of the presentations from our student leaders. All student leaders were presented to the gathering and given their badges as they made a pledge to serve the community to the best of their ability. Our musicians once again showcased their talents and it was lovely to hear our College song sung once again with such gusto.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday ceremonies were conducted last week to mark the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday. The faithful traditionally receive ashes on their forehead as a visible symbol of penance. Thanks to the students in Year 10 Edge who led our liturgies with thoughtful reflections on the meaning of Lent and applied the ashes to the foreheads of their peers. 海角大神 also marks Lent through our Project Compassion campaign in support of Caritas. A program has commenced in the Homerooms to discuss the works of Caritas and how our donations are used to improve the lives of others.

Year 7 Camps

Our Year 7 Camps occur this week and next and it is a great opportunity for the newest members of our community to meet people and start to build friendships. Thank you to the staff who so generously offer their time so that this sort of experience is available to our students. When I visited Camp Adanac this week, there was a great energy on display on the challenge course and a number of staff commented on how kind and inclusive the students were being with each other, which is lovely to hear.

Absence Notification

It is our Duty of Care to inform you when, according to the class roll mark, your young person has not presented at school as timetabled. At 11am each day, an SMS is generated to inform parents/guardians that there is an unexplained student absence. 

There is no option to 'opt out' of receiving these SMS messages as they are sent to each parent/guardian that is listed on our system. It is not appropriate to ask our staff to remove you from the list, nor to display frustration at receiving these messages, as our system messages all linked parents/guardians by default. 

Notification of absence has been made easier with the SIMON Everywhere app, where absence can be sent via your phone. Alternatively, you can email the appropriate office to inform them of absence - Middle Years: absencemid@aquinas.vic.edu.au and Senior Years: absencesen@aquinas.vic.edu.au

Email @海角大神

Email is an effective and convenient way of communicating and we rely on it heavily. It should come as no surprise to you that email proliferates in a large community like 海角大神 and we are asking staff to schedule send their emails, where possible. We are asking that emails arrive in the recipient鈥檚 Inbox during normal office hours (again, where possible). We want our staff to be able to switch off in the evening, attend to their family and other personal needs, and re-energise ready for the day ahead. You can support us by schedule sending your email (most popular email programs have this function) and expecting that a response may take 24 hours. Matters that are urgent or relate to child safety should not be initially communicated by email and you should phone the College on 9259 3000.

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 enrolment period for the 2025 Year 7 class closes on Friday, August 18, 2023. 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.

Darren Atkinson
Principal

In the modern world, if you have the financial means, it is easy to keep consuming, buying more things. It gets to a point where we need to think about where we are going to put something before we acquire it, thinking about how we make room, and how we find it later to make best use of it. In an information rich world this is also a helpful way to think about learning.

When we feel unprepared for a task a common strategy is to study more, but studying more means inputting more information, rereading texts, getting more notes, making photocopies, downloading files. In our minds more must be better. We are under the misapprehension that we don鈥檛 feel competent because we don鈥檛 have enough. The reality might not be that we haven鈥檛 put enough in, but we have not practised retrieving it well enough. 

In February the students who were Dux of Year 12 and 11, Alex Robinson and Jackson Boundy, spoke to large gatherings of staff, students and parents offering some insights into success. Both were very impressive, showing a real intentionality about study and understanding that school and family support were significant in their success because they made the most of the opportunities their families and teachers offered. Both also talked about organisation. They understood that they would be dealing with an onslaught of information and they needed to keep on top of it. What they were able to do was to recover the most significant information and prepare it for assessment purposes. Organisation is not just folders, highlighters and indexes, it is also knowing how to retrieve the most relevant information.

There鈥檚 some common sense about this idea, too. Forty years ago when people studied they needed library books, photocopies, reserve desks, even microfiche. Compared to today they were resource poor. Learning today is not about getting more information once you get to a certain point, it is about how you can retrieve it and use it for the most appropriate purpose. Getting the information ready is often what we mean by organisation and it is key to successful learning.

You can read more about this in Brown et al Make it Stick (2014), on dedicated to that text and this website.

Michael Box
Deputy Principal Learning

Promoting inclusion and celebrating excellence

The International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated globally on March 8 every year, with the intention to recognise the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day advocates for gender equity in our global context. As parents, I implore you to promote the significance of IWD with your child, outlining the importance of the day to enhance equity in society.

On this day, there is an opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges and inequalities that women face, not just in our society, but around the world. Reflecting on this helps to create an understanding of women's rights and gender equity worldwide, providing a platform to advocate for change and push for policies and initiatives that promote gender equality for all our citizens. We all have a responsibility to promote equity and support for all people, particularly those experiencing any form of discrimination. 

We are fortunate to live in a society that promotes justice and aims to give its citizens a fair go, however, like many other countries, despite the progress we have made in promoting gender equality and women's rights over recent years, there are still ongoing issues related to inequality between genders.

Women in Australia continue to earn less than men, with the gender pay gap currently sitting at around 13.4 per cent on average. It is publicised that many women in Australia still experience workplace harassment and discrimination, including sexual harassment, gender-based discrimination, and restrictions on career opportunities. Violence against women is a major issue in our society, with high rates of domestic violence, sexual assault, and femicide. There is a lack of representation of women in leadership roles, particularly in politics and business. These examples are some of our collective challenges and the problems not of women alone, but of humans which we must address as a collective society. Girls and boys, women and men, must all contribute to a society in which each person is dignified, respected and celebrated for their uniqueness.

As a parent, you can play a role in promoting gender equity and supporting International Women's Day. You can talk to your children about the importance of gender equality, educating them about the challenges that women face, and encouraging them to advocate for change. 

Inequity in our society is real, but our children hold the key to a prosperous future which sees each person as a unique gift from God, celebrated for their contributions and encouraged to achieve their full potential, irrespective of gender, race or socio-economic status. All the best as you celebrate International Women鈥檚 Day.

More information about the day, the initiatives, goals, projects and challenges can be found .

Nap Rodezno
Deputy Principal

Lenten Reflections

This week, I have just started reading Station to Station - An Ignatian Journey through the Stations of the Cross by Gary Jansen. Ignatian spirituality guides people to use their imagination, experiences and memories to connect with scripture stories, Jesus鈥� experiences, as well as contemporary issues. Today I would like to share with you a small snippet of what I have read.

Jansen begins by asking you to imagine the greatest love of your life, your feelings and emotions in knowing this person. He continues to ask you to imagine a life journey with this person - watching them grow, influencing people for the better, gaining a following and making a difference.  Jansen also asks you to imagine this person experiencing hardship, heartbreak, suffering and developing enemies that wish to harm them. All you can do is love and support them yet all the while you feel helpless, like you are just standing by and watching. It is a powerful, emotional thought process.

For me, I thought of my children. Each has experienced great joys and some difficult hardships and will continue to experience both for years to come. I may not have had to watch the extreme suffering Mary was forced to watch, but if the emotions I felt going through this activity was even one tenth of what Mary felt, my heart breaks for not only her, but for anyone going through such an experience.

As we travel through this Lenten season, preparing for the suffering and resurrection of Jesus; may we also pause to remember those who loved him, suffered with him. May we also look today for those around us who are having to watch a loved one suffer and provide them with support so that they know they are not alone.

Tania Grace

Assistant Principal Mission

When we think of 'school' we tend to think that it's simply a place where students learn. Of course, we know it is much more than that. This year at 海角大神 'High Expectations' is one of the spheres of our Annual Action Plan. Excellence is not only something that we ask our students to strive for, but also our teaching and non-teaching staff.

Professional Learning (PL) is an important way for our staff to be upskilled in some areas, for example; classroom practice, development of curriculum, pastoral programs, or assistance with their daily work duties. From time to time in this column, I will include articles from our staff which share their experiences in PL.

This week, Peter Shim (Science Teacher) and Dale Fredericks ( Laboratory Manager) attended the STEM in Space Project. Here are the details of the day:

The school was fortunate enough to receive the 'STEM in Space' Grant offered by MACS and Immersive Education. The PL was held at Thomas Carr College in Tarneit. The 'STEM in Space' project is centred around students designing, building and launching their own rockets. The day was broken into three parts. In the morning, we explored how the project could be placed in the curriculum with strong links to our Year 9 Space Science and Year 10 Fundamental Physics subjects, as well as Year 9/10 Mathematics. The afternoon was much more hands on as we looked at the ins and outs of the project. Dale and I simulated what students could do on the project. We calculated centres of gravity and pressure, made to-scale models of our rockets and built and launched two types of rockets. During the day, we networked with other teachers and shared and discussed ideas as to how we could get the most out of this project.

Gina Goss

Assistant Principal - Staff

Senior Years Report

Let鈥檚 Celebrate - the 2022 Excellence Evening was held last week. The evening recognises achievements across the whole College; across all year levels and learning areas, as well as significant achievements recognised by external institutions. Congratulations to all recipients and their families.

One of the items for the evening was the Excellence Address. Alexander Robinson, the 2022 College Dux, kindly accepted the invitation to share his insights into how he was able to find success throughout his time at 海角大神. Here is an extract from his speech which may provide the right guidance for people searching for ways to improve themselves at school:

鈥�….. over the years I鈥檝e picked up on a few ways of approaching work that have helped me find success. I see excellence as being a little about what you achieve, and a whole lot about how you achieve it; Which I think you can look at in three parts:

Working towards your goals

The strategies you use in working towards your goals are fundamental in how much you can get out of yourself. Find what works for you, give everything a go... Cover your walls in sticky notes, try mindmaps, try flashcards, try studying in the morning, try studying at night. Turn study into a game! Whatever works. Which brings up the topic of motivation.

 I鈥檝e learnt that you can鈥檛 just become motivated by watching motivational videos or pumping the Rocky soundtrack; you have to work and achieve before you can find motivation. Think about it, you don鈥檛 feel good before you go on a run, you feel good after the run. You鈥檙e motivated to keep working harder. When you鈥檙e able to become your own source of motivation, you won鈥檛 only be prepared for what鈥檚 thrown at you, you鈥檒l feel like what you鈥檙e doing is sustainable.

Achieving your goals

Then we move on to tackling the challenge or goal you鈥檝e set yourself. I鈥檝e found, from those that have excelled around me, you have to strike a balance between stress and composure. You should feel a little pressure on your shoulders, whether it be for an exam or a job interview. It helps you take the task seriously. But you should also trust in your own preparation and abilities, keeping yourself from spiralling into panic mode.

And how you react after achieving a target

Eventually, once you鈥檝e faced the task; reflect. A lot of people neglect this part. Use it as your secret weapon, get ahead. Did you get the result you were looking for? Did you achieve your goal? Did you overwork? Did you underwork? Did you get the best value out of your time spent working? 

If there鈥檚 one study hack I can give you, it's to not neglect what I think is the most important resource; your classmates. I know I dragged tons of my friends to the library during exam time, making dates out of marking each other's essays. I know it helped us to stay sane, spiced up our study a little bit, and gave us a chance to see different approaches to the same problems.

Just remember, you don鈥檛 need to study every second of the day to get results. Even with exams, part-time work, sport, I made sure I went out with my friends once or twice a week, for fun this time, just so I wouldn鈥檛 go crazy.

I hope you can take a little something away from tonight. I鈥檓 a firm believer that if you really want something, to achieve excellence, all that鈥檚 stopping you is time and effort. Keep it simple, the only way to excel is to work hard.鈥�

Rachel Crawley

Head Senior Years

Middle Years Report

My school days are so long ago I can鈥檛 remember what our focus on mental health or respectful relationships was like. I think the modern teenager is already way ahead of where we were in this field back in the day, and yet this is something that we want to embed even more in their everyday lives. We want our students to grow into adults with a strong understanding of what respectful relationships are all about, with the ability to cope with the stresses and rigours of life.

As a Maths teacher, I regularly get the 鈥榟ow is this going to help us in the real world?鈥� (Maybe I鈥檒l answer that one in a future Lighthouse, how learning about quadratic trinomials can be of benefit in real life!) I don鈥檛 hear that question when I am teaching my students about respectful relationships or the importance of working on mental health and wellbeing, so I pose it to them. (The response that I look for and then give if no-one says!) is that I can comfortably say it will be useful to them every day of their life and hopefully for the lives of those in their future world. Those that aren鈥檛 even born yet.

As a school, we have agreed on the importance of this and have created an extra period a week to focus on these issues. We cover a great deal of these matters in our Year 7-9 Health classes, however, we have seen the need to incorporate these learnings in all areas of the school curriculum and in particular in our Thursday pastoral periods.

I can鈥檛 remember my school days so well, but I can remember that I wasn鈥檛 equipped in these areas when exiting the bubble that schools can be. We will be making it a focus that the current 海角大神 student leaves with strong emotional literacy, positive coping and problem-solving skills, stress management techniques, help-seeking strategies, and positive gender relationships. These are areas we will work towards every day, along with algebra and trigonometry.

Phil Box
Head Middle Years

This weekend is Clean Up Australia Day on Sunday, March 5. It's an opportunity to join a local event to participate in and undertake some positive environmental action. Small actions make big changes. 

Check the to join a Clean Up event near you.

News from the chook house and veggie garden

The chooks are happier with the cooler weather this week. On very hot days, they stop laying eggs and pant to reduce body heat.  

Two of our beautiful Australorps, Janet and Cluck Norris, are beginning to moult and loose feathers.

The parsley is about to set seed, with stunning seed heads forming, and the carrots are growing out of the ground and turning a purplish colour above ground. Luckily, this hasn鈥檛 affected their crunch or taste.

Karyn Myers

Environment & Sustainability Coordinator

On Monday this week, Year 12 Leaders and Year 10 and 11 Captains attended the Youth Leadership Academy Australia Conference. Throughout the day, over 1400 student leaders and teachers listened to presentations from a diverse array of young adults that have experience in leadership; both formally and informally. These presenters specialised in unique areas, such as the mental health and wellbeing of young women and gender fluid youth, as well as racial minorities, with a common factor being how to advocate for change and be a voice for those that don鈥檛 have one themselves.

CEO Wil Massara is himself only 20-years-old, and took the opportunity to share his three key pieces of advice to the state's young leaders. 

1. Own Your Story - utilise your unique experiences to drive you and influence the way you act as a leader
2. Change Your Environment - whether this be a physical change, social modification, or a shift in mindset and attitude.
3. Your Age Does Not Limit Your Ability To Do Extraordinary Things - young people have the capability to achieve and accomplish noteworthy and inspiring things if they put their mind to it.

The most important takeaway however, was that leadership is a quality that can be harnessed in the most unlikely of situations. Whether it be sticking up for someone, voicing your opinion when others might disagree, or simply showing up and being a role model - the valuable trait of leadership is developed and displayed.

Chloe North-Coombes and Matthew Azzopardi- College Captains

Save the date: Term 2 Parent Forum- Tuesday May. 23. Focus 'Teens, Technology and Tips for Tired Parents'

Congratulations to the 365 students who received commendations this week. We especially acknowledge:

Emily Anderson and Jacob Taylor for helping others, promoting just behaviour and receiving Justice commendations.

Keira Block and Noah Chivers whose work ethic has earnt them both a Perseverance commendation

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

鈥淪pirituality: We nurture a connectedness to God and a Catholic faith that is informed by scripture, tradition and the regional parish communities.鈥�

On Monday, February 20, two enthusiastic and hard working Year 11 students, Connor Haughie and Bella Schneiders, competed in the local final of the Lions Youth of the Year competition. Both students, under the excellent guidance of Pam Ryan, prepared for the all-round competition by reading up on current events, politics, technology and many more topics, as well as reflecting on their achievements in areas such as leadership, academics, sports and community service.

On the afternoon of the event, students took part in a 30 minute interview with judges, based on their application form and general knowledge, and then in the evening took part in a public speaking competition against three students from Yarra Valley Grammar. Each student answered two impromptu questions and delivered a five minute prepared speech on a topic of their choice.

Both students prepared and performed wonderfully. On the night, Bella was awarded the Best Public Speaker - a well deserved win!

Dani Wilson

Learning Enhancement Coordinator

Bella Schneiders

The experience indulged our abilities, stretching us to excel beyond what was expected of us. We had to demonstrate to an audience; the Lion's Club, that the Youth of 海角大神 are well balanced and great leaders. 

For the impromptu speeches, we were bombarded with a statement and then had to speak to it for a whole two minutes. The pressure was on, but walking out and standing behind the lectern, all fears were dismissed when the first question was asked. Thoughts buzzed, but ultimately it was one solid argument about empathy in our world that got me through those two pressurised minutes. 

A huge thank you to all of the people who contributed to helping us prepare, Ms Ryan, and Ms Wilson who drove 鈥淧ERFECTLY!鈥� to our intense interview, but ultimately a huge thank you to my family and friends who supported me and celebrated a fantastic night with Connor and I.

Connor Haughie

Participating in the Lions Youth of the Year competition was a great experience that helped me develop important skills. The competition involved presenting a prepared speech and answering impromptu questions to a supportive audience at the Warrandyte Hotel. This gave me the chance to meet new people and gain a better understanding of the community around us. Overall, the competition helped me improve my public speaking and critical thinking skills, and I am grateful for the opportunity.

From Monday, February 27 to Wednesday, March 1 Dominic Year 7 students embarked on camp at ADANAC in Yarra Junction.

Day time activities included a flying fox, low ropes, hut building, archery, water slide, tread wall, mountain biking and mountain boarding.

In the evenings we competed in a kickball tournament, trivia, minute to win it and a movie night.

All students had an absolute blast on camp! 

鈥�The food was scrumptious and the activities were exciting. Our favourite activity was the water slide and we all competed to see who went the fastest!鈥�

 - Eva Karamanavis & Caitlynn Garner

鈥淐amp was physical, hands on and challenging. It was great to make new friends and it was a fun experience overall. Oh.. and the food was delicious!鈥�

- Lucy Willis & Sharla Young