In the Mercy Administration wing entrance here at school is a carved statuette of the Sacred Heart by renowned Melbourne religious artist, Mrs Leopoldine Mimovich, who passed away during lockdown last year. The Sacred Heart has an important place in the Damascus story. It is the feast day for which one of our buildings is named, and it is the name of one of the founding schools that the Sisters of Mercy nurtured. The Sacred Heart wing is home to the classrooms that most of our senior classes occur within. For 140 years, the Sacred Heart of Jesus has guided the work and activity of this community and has held special significance to our Sisters of Mercy.

This Friday (11th June) is the Feast of the Sacred Heart, and it speaks directly to the Damascus community as a celebration of the living presence of Jesus in our daily lives. The artistic impressions of the Sacred Heart see the heart aflame with the light of Christ. This heart aflame inspires the College motto ‘to live by the light of Christ’, and we are invited to respond to that call in our work as a Christian community.

Staff and students have transitioned back to school positively following this most recent lockdown. I thank families and students for their compliance with mask requirements. We are wearing masks all the time at school, as the social distancing requirements are impractical to monitor. The Chief Health Officer has advised that masks remain a strong barrier against any potential spread of illness, and with the diversity of bugs going around at the moment, the protection is helpful. Masks will no longer be issued to students from the College as of Wednesday June 16.

Many aspects of school life have returned to normal. It is a busy time for staff and students as they prepare to begin exams tomorrow for Year 10 and Year 11. All year levels have assessment tasks due, and the change over to the new semester for Early Start will occur on Monday 21^st June (delayed from Wednesday 16^th June). The end of the semester can be a time of challenge within learning communities as young people grow through submitting work and preparing for tests and exams. Feelings of pressure are not uncommon, and we hope young people recognise that learning to manage their time and implement study routines is all part of the learning experience. If you feel your young person is unduly pressured, please speak with your TA or House Leader regarding strategies for support and growth.

Next Tuesday, 15th June, is a student-free day to support staff in their preparation for the new semester. The College office will be open on Tuesday.

We are again required to limit the number of visitors to the school site. I ask that parents only attend the office when necessary. If you have a query, please call ahead, and our generous administrative team will work with you regarding the necessity to come onsite. If you are required to come onsite for an essential reason (including picking up students), please ensure that you sign in via the QR code that is displayed on each entrance to the Mercy Administration wing.

The current restrictions again require that we postpone or cancel a number of events. The Year 9 and 10 formal was listed to be next Friday, 18^th June. Under the restrictions as they stand, we are planning to postpone the formal until next term. The limitation of visitors to the site and the mask requirements make this activity untenable at the moment. If things change over the next week, we will revisit the decision. A number of students have purchased tickets already, and we will hold these credits and refund if we are not able to proceed.

Our community guest speaker, Luke Kennedy, has also been postponed. While we could proceed with a virtual opportunity, our preference is to try and find ways to bring people together, so we are exploring alternate dates again in Term 3. We are thankful for those families that engaged with the Bright Futures Breakfast with guest speaker Jocelyn Bignold. This event has been moved to Thursday, 19^th August, and we again hope that this important cause can elicit a strong response from our community.

It is pleasing that our VCAL students are returning to work placement today. VET students are being advised by Applied Learning Coordinator, Belinda Dwyer whether classes are back onsite or remote.

At this stage, we have not received any confirmation of a date for the rescheduled General Achievement Test or GAT for students studying a VCE Unit 3/4. As that information becomes available, we will share it with students and families.

We pray for all those who grieve and for those who are isolated by this lockdown and pandemic.

Enjoy your long weekend! Until next week…

MATT

For Reflection Day we went to Garibaldi Hall with our class, Mrs Berens and Mrs Mewett. Throughout the day our class shared individual prayers and took part in many activities to teach us about true Christian faith. We also had a shared morning tea and hung out with friends during recess and lunch. This day taught us what social justice is all about and taught us about essentials and non-essentials throughout life. We also learnt about certain challenges people may face during their life and how some people may feel about not having everything they want.

We played lots of games to teach us more about the challenges faced by different people within society and how we need to be grateful to have the things we have. One of the games that taught us this, was the Auction game that we played. This game showed us what things we need in life and what things we just want. My highlight of our class Reflection Day was getting to know the people in my class that I don’t usually talk to and getting to know my teachers better. Another highlight and something that I learnt was learning how important being a part of a community is and being involved with other people.

At the end of the day, I felt like I had made my part to make the day a safe, warm space for people to feel like they could trust everyone and not feel alone, I did this by just starting conversations and asking questions that sometimes that person doesn’t get asked all the time. I would recommend going to Reflection Day because it makes you feel like a part of a community and makes you realise the things that you may take for granted, and just to take a break from schoolwork and have a great day hanging out with your classmates.

Please see details following in relation to various Webinars.

The Exam Preparation is a replay of a Webinar that took place recently and can be found here.

To register for the Stress and Wellbeing Webinar on June 16 please click here.

Belonging Matters is a Webinar designed to assist with Life after School, please click here to register for it. The Webinar will run on June 15.

Year 8 student, Jacob Hanrahan, recently represented Damascus College at the Victorian Independent Schools State Golf Championships, held at The National Long Island Golf Club in Melbourne, on Monday 24 May.

He also qualified for the State Final after playing 18 holes at the BAS Golf Competition back in March. Jacob is also a member of the WestVic academy for 2021.

Congratulations Jacob and all the best for future competitions.

To celebrate our 140 year anniversary, today students and staff were distributed their 140 year anniversary badge, at TA this morning. It was great to see so many students at recess today, wearing the badges on their blazer with such pride.

We hope that each student and staff member, especially this year, remembers that they are now a unique part of our 140 year tradition to date.

Our new Damascus Events Centre is a beautiful venue to host an event, and we are excited to soon be welcoming guests to our upcoming Bright Futures Breakfast rescheduled to Thursday 19 August, which is open to the public to attend.

Guests will be treated to a tasty sit-down breakfast prepared by caterers in our new purpose-built commercial kitchen, served by our VCAL students, including poached and scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, toast, yoghurt and fruit.

Be sure to enjoy a barista made coffee where you can choose your favourites including lattes, cappuccinos and more, whilst taking in the beautiful bush vistas through the floor to ceiling windows.

Guests will be entertained by Damascus students including the Aca-fellas – an all-male acoustic singing group, as well as live music being played throughout breakfast service from our senior student group that will showcase their talents with various musical instruments.

What better way to spend a cold winters morning, in the warmth and comfort of the DEC whilst networking with local community members for a worthy cause.

Tickets are limited, so please book your ticket now at https://www.trybooking.com/BQGKK

We have recently moved to an Online Enrolment Application system which replaces paper/downloaded enrolment applications.

Benefits of this new system include:

• Easy to use – mobile phone and tablet friendly
• Saves time – the system retains your details for any future applications
• Contact and change of address details can be updated at any time during the enrolment process
• You can pay the enrolment fee online and receive a receipt immediately
• All future communications with regards to the process will be made directly through this system

Access is through the College website: https://enrol.damascus.vic.edu.au/student/enrolment

If your application is for a Year 7 place, we require a copy of your child’s Grade 5 NAPLAN and a Grade 5 Semester School Report, together with their Birth Certificate and (if applicable) Certificate for Sacraments or other Religious Certificates.

Applications for Year 7 2023 close Friday 4^th February 2022.

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**

CSEF eligibility

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

Criteria 1 – Eligibility

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

• on the first day of Term one, or;

• on the first day of Term two;

A third eligibility date has also been added - On the first day of Term three – 12 July

• Be an eligible beneficiary within the meaning of the State Concessions Act 2004, that is, be a holder of Veterans Affairs Gold Card or be an eligible Centrelink Health Care Card (HCC) or Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) holder, OR
• Be a temporary foster parent, and;
• Submit an application to the school by the due date.

* A special consideration eligibility category also exists. For more information, see: www.education.vic.gov.au/csef

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 one of (a) or (b) above.

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

School is compulsory for all Victorian children aged between six and 17 years of age inclusive.

For the purposes of CSEF, students may be eligible for assistance if they attend a Victorian registered primary or secondary school. Typically, these students are aged between five and 18 years inclusive.

CSEF is not payable to students attending pre-school, kindergarten, home schooled, or TAFE.

Eligibility Date

For concession card holders CSEF eligibility will be subject to the parent/legal guardian’s concession card being successfully validated with Centrelink on the first day of either term one (27 January 2021) or term two (19 April 2021).

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 benefit of the eligible student.

• Primary school student rate: $125 per year.

• Secondary school student rate: $225 per year.