This weekend the Universal Church celebrated World Grandparents and the Elderly Day. In our busy lives, it is important to remember our parents and all our elderly and to pay tribute to and respect the many sacrifices and giving we have experienced by the elderly in our lives. Observing my parents, in their role as grandparents, l have learnt so much about unconditional love and acceptance. Grandparents provide the extended love and compassion that is so needed in our world today. I encourage you to acknowledge the elderly and grandparents in your life this week. Let us celebrate and rejoice in the spirit of family.

This week’s gospel reading from Luke explores the theme of prayer and the essence of bread in our lives. Bread is a common theme in our life, as it is the simple source of nourishment and an essential part of daily experience. I know that in my family, the sharing of a fresh loaf of sourdough that is still warm creates instant feelings of connection and conversation. The breaking of bread each night, as we share a family meal, symbolises welcome and inclusion for all who come to our table. The gift of hospitality, welcome and source of nourishment are in our relationships. Families are the most common union, and they too are flawed with anger, love and most importantly, forgiveness. This week, let us not forget to show gratitude to our family – warts and all. The gospel highlights the need for forgiveness and persistence in seeking the goodness in one another. Let us pray gently to our God for our family, grandparents and the elderly.

Last week was a busy week for the Damascus Family; Careers’ Information Night and the College production Clue. The students created a wonderful performance with the support of our talented and dedicated team led by Andrew Seeary and Nicole Burness. Andrew’s work highlights that through hard work, persistence and acceptance, much can be achieved and celebrated. I would like to congratulate our students who had the courage to take risks, share their gifts of acting and transforming the written language into a new medium. The students provided a new interpretation of this classical piece of drama. The students are not only budding actors but role models of tenacity and grit.

The College offers a vast array of co-curricular programs that enable all students to celebrate success and pursue their passion. Young people need you, as their parents, to help them identify their gifts and passion. Young people who actively engage in the co-curricular life of the College build strong friendships, connections and build their self-esteem. I encourage you to talk to your child(ren) about what their passion is and how they can explore this in the life of our College community. We gain so much by giving of ourselves to our community and forming new and different connections.

Thank you to the many families who attended the Teacher Advisor meetings. Active participation in your child’s learning demonstrates to your child that their learning is a partnership with us at Damascus and your family. Let each of us continue challenging our young people to be their Best!

With every blessing.

Congratulations to Damascus College Year 7 students Mitchell Stevens and Mason Sutton who represented Hockey Ballarat in the under 13 Boys at the Junior Country Championship at The State Hockey Centre in May.

They won gold defeating Glenelg 1-0 in the final

What an outstanding effort...Damascus is proud of your achievements!

The Damascus College VCE Australian History class was fortunate to have the opportunity to have guest speaker, Dr Bart Ziino from Deakin University, come to present a seminar about the Australian Home Front during WWI and WWII as part of their Unit 4 Historical Inquiry SAC. Through the use of images, sound, and artefacts, students learned more about the continuities and changes that occurred between WWI and WWII by exploring propaganda, conscription debates, women in the workforce, patriotism and political tensions.

The seminar also highlighted some aspects of the Ballarat Home Front as students analysed data from the conscription votes in Ballarat, heard about the Lucas Girls, and learned about the presence of the Americans in Ballarat in WWII.

Last week students and staff took part in the filming of the next Damascus College TV advertisement.

A big thank you to the students and staff involved in making it such a success over the last two days, as it was full of fun, laughs and excitement, where students enjoyed taking part in a real-life film shoot.

The Damascus campus, bush setting and contemporary facilities looked great, and the weather was kind, allowing our natural environment to shine bright.

We look forward to seeing the finished product!

Thursday July 14 saw the Damascus Cross Country team participate in the BAS Road Relay event on Windmill Drive, Lake Wendouree. This is a 4 person team event, where each member runs a 1.5km lap and ‘tags’ in the next runner. The conditions were perfect and although it wasn’t the warmest, it didn’t rain and the wind wasn’t an issue. Congratulations to Quinn Moore and Lucy Jones (both junior runners) who ran in the intermediate age group alongside Paris Govan and Gretta Ashley and as a team, crossed the line in 2^nd place.

All members of the team should be congratulated on their efforts and we wish them all the best in the next two events. The BAS Cross Country will be held on Wednesday August 3 at Ballarat High School where the Junior/Inter/Senior Girls and Junior Boys run 3km and the Inter/Senior Boys run 5km. The BAS Lap of the Lake is on Wednesday August 24 where Junior Girls and Boys run 4km and the Inter/Senior Girls and Boys run the full 6km. Students who have been a part of the Cross Country team will be communicated to in regards to the remaining two events.

Damascus College wants to inform you of a small, but significant change in the way in which the College manages student absence notifications.

Currently, families can enter absence information into a Student Absence Form on the College Website which then emails that information to the Absence Staff at the College. From this point, it is a manual task to input this information into SIMON.

To enhance the College’s absence process, the ability to enter this information via the form on the College website will no longer be available from Wednesday August 3^rd.

The form will be replaced with a link to log into your PAM account where you can enter an absence for your student(s) which will then automatically create the required approved absence(s) in SIMON.

This can be done for full or part day appointments, absences holidays etc.

The ability to email absences@damascus will remain for Term 3, however this will also be phased out for the beginning of Term 4.

The quickest and easiest way to notify the College of any absence is to enter it via PAM.

If you are unsure of your PAM Account login and or password, please contact Aleceia Gason via email at a.gason@damascus.vic.edu.au.

If you have any questions, please contact the College on 5337 2222.

Please see following some information around Mini Khana:-