Tomorrow is St Patrick’s Day, a day within the Catholic tradition full of fun, friendship and lots of Irish music, dance, literature, drama, food and more.

I credit the finding of the following little Irish blessing to Matthew Byrne, which marks the day and celebrates the humble gratitude of the Irish this St. Patrick’s Day.

May there always be work for your hands to do, May your purse always hold a coin or two. May the sun always shine warm on your windowpane, May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of a friend always be near you, And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

In line with the Damascus College Strategic Plan 2021-2025, staff have been supporting students to manage their wellbeing through the development of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). We are calling on parents and guardians of our students to support this wellbeing initiative by focusing on these skills at home.

Please view the SEL information video below, which outlines how Damascus is embedding the SELs into the academic and pastoral lives of students and our community. We look forward to working together in building the skills of SEL to help all nurture a positive sense of self, promote respectful relationships and build capacity to manage emotions, behaviours and interactions with others.

Social and Emotional skills are essential in enabling students to understand themselves and others and manage their relationships, lives, work and learning more effectively. These skills involve students learning to recognise and regulate emotions, develop empathy for others and understand relationships, establish and build a framework for positive relationships, work effectively in teams and develop leadership skills, and handle challenging situations constructively. At Damascus College, we are working with students to develop these skills to improve wellbeing and student outcomes. They are intended to provide feedback on strengths and opportunities for growth. As we navigate a complex world, acquiring these skills is critical.

The Video can be found here. Social and Emotional Skills at Damascus

Today we send off those students who experienced success in their races at the recent House Swimming carnival to the Ballarat Associated Schools Swimming Carnival at the Eureka Pool. I thank Sports Coordinator Nikki Hexter and the staff who support her in preparing for these carnivals in such quick succession.

I remind families that the Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) survey is open and ready to accept your responses. Families have received an email from the College with information on how to access the survey, including login details and an information sheet. The College is very appreciative of the time that you are committing to complete the survey. Your responses, along with the responses of students and staff, play a vital role in our self-understanding as a Catholic Education provider. For more information, please click here.

On Sunday, four current and three past Damascus College students were part of the successful Ballarat Bolts First XI cricket team, defeating Holy Trinity Cricket Club. The match was the 2021/2022 season final of the Cricket Victoria Northwest A-grade One-day Women’s Competition, held at the Eastern Oval, Ballarat. As an added surprise, former Australian Cricket Captain Steve Waugh arrived at the match in time to chat to the players and present the trophy. We congratulate Megan O’Beirne (Yr 12), Ella Young (Yr 11), Jensen Hoare (Yr 11), Freya Palmer (Yr 10) and past students Emily McNeight, Nicole Edwards and Lillee Barendsen on their cricketing success.

We ask that you please keep Tricia Brown (Staff) and her family in your thoughts and prayers – Tricia lost her much loved Mother on Monday evening – May she rest in peace.

Until next week…Chris

How can you support our Catholic College? Complete our ECSI survey. The tool is ready for your response. We need 75 families for a full sample. We still have 30 to go!

The Enhancing Catholic School Identity Project (ESCIP) offers a tool to help us understand the Catholic culture of our college.

Thanks to the forty plus families that have already begun completing the survey. Those who have started the survey but still need to complete it are asked to do so soon. If you have not yet begun, this is a good time. Please make time as soon as possible to complete the survey and contribute to our understanding of Catholic identity.

If you no longer have the email from Wednesday 23^rd February please contact Assistant Principal for Catholic Culture, Tony Haintz t.haintz@damascus.vic.edu.au, who can provide the details.

Damascus College is busy supporting Project Compassion, the Lenten fundraising effort for Caritas Australia.

This week through Project Compassion we learn about Biru who lives in a rural village in India’s east. He lost mobility in one of his legs, after contracting polio as a child. Biru worked as a shepherd, looking after other people’s cattle, to support his wife and four daughters. Keeping up with the cattle was a challenge.

Biru taught himself how to repair bicycles by watching other people, but he never dreamed of using those skills to start his own business. With your generous support, Biru was able to access an entrepreneurship and livelihoods training program, run by Caritas Australia’s partner, Caritas India. He gained the support and skills he needed to start his own bicycle repair business. Now, Biru earns enough money to support his family.

Watch a short film about Biru’s story here.

Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au or send money to school through you TA.

On Friday 11^th March, the students celebrated their Year Level Mass in the Damascus Events Centre (DEC).

This is the first time in two years that we have been able to celebrate year level Masses, so it was wonderful to welcome both Fr Eladio Lizada and Fr Jorge De Chavez onto campus to lead the year levels in celebrating the Eucharist.

Both Masses focused on our school Gospel verse, Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit (John 15:5). Both Fr Eladio and Fr Jorge reflected that though our positive connections with each other we are abiding in God’s love. Though our participation in the Mass, our connection to God grows stronger. And that by living a good life, where our connections are strong, we can bear the fruit we need to show love and be loved. Love keeps us connected as we abide together, just like the fruit is connected on the vine via the branches.

A big thank you to all involved, especially the students who had particular roles to play, such as readings and processions, who help to make the Mass a community event where we are all connected, and thus abide in God’s love.

Below are the criteria used to determine a stud ent’s eligibility for the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF).

Criteria 1 – General eligibility

To be eligible for the fund, a parent or carer of a student attending a registered Government or non-government Victorian primary or secondary school must:

• on the first day of Term one
• on the first day of Term two

For the list of eligible financially-means tested cards refer to the CSEF Policy:

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund/policy

Parents who receive a Carer Allowance on behalf of a child, or any other benefit or allowance not income tested by Centrelink, are not eligible for the CSEF unless they also comply with the above.

Criteria 2 - Be of school age and attend school in Victoria

For the purposes of CSEF, students may be eligible for assistance if they attend a Victorian registered primary or secondary school. CSEF is not payable to students attending pre-scho ol, kindergarten, home schooled, or TAFE.

Special Consideration

A special consideration category exists for

• Families on a bridging visa, temporary protection visa, in community detention or are asylum seeker families
• Student’s in temporary out of home care arrangements, including statutory kinship care

For more information, see https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund/guidance/eligibility

Eligibility Date

For concession card holders CSEF eligibility will be subject to the parent/carer concession card being validated successfully with Centrelink on the first day of either term one (31 January 2022) or term two (26 April 2022).

PAYMENT AMOUNTS

CSEF payment amount

The CSEF is an annual payment to the school to be used towards camps, sports and/or excursion expenses for the ben efit of the eligible stud ent.

• Primary school student rate: $125 per year.
• Secondary school student rate: $225 per year.

The CSEF is paid directly to your child’s school and will be allocated by the school towards camps, sports and/or excursion costs for your child.

For ungraded students, the rate payable is determined by the student’s date of birth. For more information, see: www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/csef.aspx

HOW TO COMPLETE THE APPLICATION FORM

NOTE: ALL SECTIONS MUST BE COMPLETED BY PARENT/LEGAL GUARDIAN

1. Complete the PARENT/CARER DETAILS section.

Make sure that the Surname, First Name, and Customer Reference Number (CRN) details match those on your concession card. You will also need to provide your concession card to the school.

If you are claiming as a temporary Foster Parent or a Veteran Affairs Pensioner, you will need to provide a copy of documentation confirming your status as a temporary Foster Parent or provide your Veterans Affairs Pensioner Gold card to the school.

If you are seeking special consideration, mark this in the form and provide a copy of the relevant documentation.

2. Complete the STUDENT/S DETAILS section for students at this school.

3. Sign and date the form and return it to the school office as soon as possible. The CSEF program for 2022 closes on the 24 June 2022.

Forms are available through the front office or online Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) application form (education.vic.gov.au)

Conveyance Allowance

To be eligible for a conveyance allowance, individual students will be assessed under the following criteria:

1. Attend a school/campus located outside the metropolitan conveyance allowance boundary
2. Attend the closest appropriate school/campus at which admission is permissible
3. For students attending specialist schools, this will be determined by the specialist school’s Designated Transport Area (DTA) in which the student resides
4. For students attending government schools, this will be the closest school/campus appropriate to the age and gender of the student (e.g. primary, secondary, single sex)
5. For students attending non-government schools, this will be the closest school/campus of the recognised denomination for conveyance allowance purposes.
6. Reside 4.8km or more from the school/campus (shortest practicable route calculated by the school attended at the time of application from the student’s home to the school/campus)
7. Be of school age (between five and 18-years-old at the time of application), and a resident of Victoria
8. Be enrolled and travelling to school three or more days per week.

Students’ circumstances can change during their school years (e.g. moving residence or changing schools/campuses). Change of circumstances affects eligibility and a new application must be submitted with each change of circumstance.

Private car
A private car conveyance allowance is not available if the journey could have been made using a public transport service or free school bus.

• Where there is more than one student in the vehicle, there are two rates claimable: ‘furthermost’ and ‘additional.’
• Where there is more than one student in a vehicle, and they attend different schools, the amount claimable is based on the distance travelled to school by each student. That is each student must be the subject of a separate application and the student attending the furthermost school is identified as the ‘furthermost’ student; each of the other students must be claimed as ‘additional’.
• Rates are calculated according to the distance (measured in kilometres) from home to the campus attended using the Department’s standard measurement method; for details of the rates claimable, refer to Appendix 1 Conveyance Allowance Rates
• It is assumed that all students from the same family will travel in one car therefore only one family member may claim furthermost student allowance.

Pro-rata adjustment of reimbursement (time fraction)

Where students change school, transport mode and/or address that affect the payment of conveyance allowance, pro-rata payments are made, having regard to the number of days of actual attendance. It is the responsibility of each school to report any mid-semester student changes and the required pro-rata adjustments that are required.

Late payments
Late (past year) applications cannot be accepted or paid.

Any inquiries relating to this allowance or to any bus travel matter may be directed to Tracey Williams at the College office Phone: 5337 2222.

** FAMILIES ARE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT A NEW CLAIM FORM EACH YEAR** FORMS ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE FRONT OFFICE