Ave Maria Day

On Friday 11 August we celebrated Ave Maria Day and continued the celebrations for our 60th Anniversary. Starting the day with the Talent Quest, we celebrated our students’ talents as they sang, drummed, played the guitar, danced and tapped! We celebrated mass together and our 60th Anniversary pins were blessed before being distributed to students. Apart from the food trucks at lunchtime, which was a highlight, every student received a cupcake as the day was really a birthday party celebration. SPEC SPEC is our traditional finish for the day and this year was the best one yet. Every student was able to participate and join in the fun. We ended with a whole school dance for all staff and students. Most impactful was being part of a community that is joyful, connected and engaged. Our students were amazing in their encouragement of each other, their reverence during mass and their gratitude for the event.

National Child Protection Week

The important issue of Child Safeguarding is highlighted nationally from 3 September to 9 September. This year’s theme is “Where we start matters”. This fits under a broader theme of “Every child in every community needs a fair go”. This year we focus on where we start in our lives in terms of where we live, our resources, and the opportunities available to us. We will have a range of activities and communications that highlight this theme throughout the week focusing on both our local community and also other communities where there are different needs.

Father’s Day Breakfast

On Thursday 24 August we will be holding our annual Father’s Day breakfast for our students and the fathers or father figures in their lives. We honour these very special roles in our students’ lives and we look forward to seeing our students with their fathers or father figures.

We are very pleased to have Dr David Collins speaking about the relationship between girls and their fathers. David is a very well-known psychologist in Melbourne with an expertise in the wellbeing of young people. He is a research fellow at the University of Melbourne and regularly gives presentations on the development of young people’s brains.

Further details, including ticket information, will be released shortly.

ACE Awards

We recently acknowledge the growth, achievements and contributions of our students in Semester 1 in the inaugural ACE Awards. These awards are named after our Ave Charter for Education that highlights the attributes that provide the best foundations for students. More than 350 students were acknowledged for their work in Semester 1. The Engage Award was given to the highest achievement in each class. The Thrive Award was given to the student who had demonstrated the most growth and the Belong Award was provided to a student from each Mentor Group who had demonstrated the values of the College.

We encourage all of our students to take note of the diverse range of students who received an award. All students can demonstrate the skills of curiosity, compassion, respect, resilience, independence and critical thinking that are essential to their continued academic and personal development.

Mentor Period

Mentor Period this term has been largely focused on preparing for SPEC SPEC. In the final two Mentor Periods we will be doing a range of activities. On 23 August Year 7 and 8 will engage in some activities around cyber safety and online activities. Year 10 students will be visited by Elephant Education to participate in workshops about the laws regarding consent. As always, students are taught this important information in the Catholic context with a focus on the dignity and sacredness of the individual. Year 9 students will participate in a workshop on managing conflict and friendships. Our Year 11 and 12 students will be introduced to tapping – a contemporary emotional regulation technique that will help them manage exam stress and anxiety.

In the second last week of term Year 9 students will participate in a workshop from Toolbox Education. ‘Mental Movies’ will help students understand the role of mindset in more depth. Our Year 12 students will participate in a workshop from Felstead Education called ‘Study Calm’. This will support their emotional regulation as they prepare for their VCE exams.

MACSSIS

Families and students should expect to receive a link to the School Improvement survey from Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools. This survey supports our ongoing engagement with our community and our continual improvement as a College. The link will be sent out from 23 August and we encourage all students and families to complete the survey. This will provide us with valuable information as we continue to focus on improvement and providing the best environment and experience for our students.