From the Principal

Dear Saint Ignatius College community members,

Reminder: Mosaic 2025 – A Celebration of Our College Community

Join us for our annual Mosaic Evening—a wonderful celebration of our students and the Saint Ignatius College community!

Venue: Costa Hall, Deakin Waterfront Campus (Brougham St, Geelong)
Date: Thursday, 20th November 2025
Art & Technology Display: 6:00 p.m. (Costa Hall foyer)
Celebration Evening: 7:00–9:30 p.m. (Main auditorium)

All Year 7 and 8 students are required to attend, and we warmly encourage Years 9–12 to join us as well. Parents are asked to arrange transport to and from Costa Hall.

Mosaic is one of our most uplifting traditions—celebrating student achievement, our shared values, and the strong sense of belonging that defines our College. Families, grandparents, and friends are all welcome to be part of this special evening.

Tickets are free but required for entry (students do not need a ticket). Please book at: https://www.trybooking.com/DFPOV.

Please save the date and come together to celebrate another inspiring year at Saint Ignatius College.
Students are to wear full school uniform with blazer.

Partnering with you on digital safety: Understanding the new social media age rules

We are committed to fostering a safe and supportive learning environment at Saint Ignatius College, and this extends to our students' digital lives. As you may be aware, new legislation is being introduced that will impact how young people under 16 years old can use certain social media platforms.

Our schools is taking proactive steps to understand these changes and, most importantly, partner with our families to help our students to navigate them successfully.

Why the changes? Protecting younger teens

The new laws are designed to safeguard our younger students (under-16s) from pressures and risks often built into social media platform design.

These features include:

• Excessive screen time: Design elements like ‘streaks’, endless notifications, and alerts that intentionally encourage prolonged and addictive use, often reducing time for sleep, study, face-to-face socialising and other activities.

• Exposure to harmful content: Algorithms that increase the likelihood of students being served negative, upsetting, or manipulative content in their feeds.

Research has found that these features are linked to real consequences and can impact wellbeing, including increased stress, disrupted sleep, and reduced concentration – elements that are all vital for success in secondary school.

Our approach: education and resilience

While the responsibility for enforcement rests with the platforms themselves, we believe this presents a significant opportunity to support our students. The delay in account access for under-16s gives our students time to:

• Learn to navigate the digital landscape: Truly understand the benefits, risks, and complexities of social media

• Build essential skills: Develop the digital, social, and emotional resilience needed to handle the pressures of online interaction

• Know when and how to seek help: Understand the importance of reaching out to a trusted adult, counsellor, or external service if things go wrong.

As partners in your child's education, we can all contribute by focusing on clear communication, effective digital citizenship education, and by modelling safe, positive online behaviours.

We acknowledge that the timing of the legislative change will have an impact on students during the Christmas, New Year, and summer period. For some individuals, this may represent their primary mode of communication and social engagement. We encourage families to proactively discuss how they will navigate this transition and explore ways to support their young person in maintaining meaningful connections with peers.

Key information for your family from the eSafety Commissioner

The new age restrictions are focused on protecting younger users, but they impact how all families manage technology at home.

The eSafety Commissioner’s Social Media Age Restrictions Hub is the go-to spot to find information about the upcoming legislation. The hub is regularly updated with resources, videos, guides and FAQs to help young people, families and educators prepare.

Quick facts about the legislation

We encourage you to use this opportunity to have an open conversation with your child about their current online habits and the boundaries that work best for your family. We will continue to incorporate digital citizenship and wellbeing into our curriculum.

For further guidance, please refer to the school's ICT Acceptable Usage Policy or contact your child's Year Level Coordinator (Yrs 7-9) or Head of House (Yrs 10-12) if you have specific concerns.

Working together, we can ensure our students are safe and thriving in the digital world.

Thank you to our PFA members

We have a positive, enthusiastic, and committed group of parents who are members of our College’s PFA. Last night, the Annual General Meeting was held. As usual, nominations for the Office Bearer Positions in 2026 were called for. All current holders were reappointed. On behalf of the College, I thank them for their contributions this year and for continuing in 2026.

President - Julie Castle.

Vice President - Warren Littlewood.

Treasurer - Julie Castle.

Secretary - Nicole Mayne.

Fundraising Lead - Julie Penfold.

It was wonderful to see some new faces at Wednesday night’s meeting, and I encourage all parents to think about joining the PFA. In addition to working on both friend and fund raising, the meetings offer a valuable chance for senior College Leaders to inform and discuss initiatives with parents.

2026 Student Leaders Investiture Assembly

The school community gathered in the College’s Companions Centre on Thursday, 6 November, to celebrate the new 2026 student leaders. Fr Gerry Healy SJ and many parents attended the event.

The incoming College Captains and Vice-Captains delivered their inaugural speeches. Judging by their impressive presentations, our college community is indeed maintaining strong student leadership for 2026.

Some students also entertained the audience with their musical performances.

And Ms Robyn Frigo, the Student Leader Development Coordinator, provided an insightful reflection on Ignatian leadership.

Congratulations to all students appointed to leadership positions for next year:

College Captains: Hannah Dreise & Owen McCoughtry

College Vice-Captains: Sarah Tolan & Hamish Dallman

Portfolio Captains:

Academic Captain: Ava Burke

Arts Captain: Heidi Bush

Environment Captain: Zoe Furber

Justice Captain: Samantha Nyatsanga

Ministry Captain: Emily Neicho

Sport Captain: Addison Lewis

Wellbeing Captain: Reuben Cook

Arrupe Leaders: Gabriela Fernandes, Willow Dunne, Jeeann Tinij, Flynn Higgins, Sarah Smith, Ashlyn Pitts, Mariella Vallente, Imogen Payne, Tess Cirillo, Jessica Reynolds, Phoebe Zahl, Natalia Eyck

FIRE Carriers: Hamish Dallman, Ella Dowling, Hannah Dreise, Ruby Richie, Bas Gee, Willow Annand, Millie Tognan, Harriet Stepto, Gabriela Fernandes, Willow Dunne, Xavier Cunningham

House Leaders:

Glowrey Captains: Ava Guarnaccia and Mitchell Payne

Glowrey Vice Captains: Lucian Joyce and William Bosman

MacKillop Captains: Chelsea Hanks and Aiden Fitzgerald

MacKillop Vice Captains: Chloe Van Den Bosch and Archie Underwood

Ricci Captains: Arabella Gruar and Sam Fenton

Ricci Vice Captains: Jaya Newton and Luke McTaggart

Xavier Captains: Ella Dowling and Will Allan

Xavier Vice Captains: Heidi Connor and Addison Fowler

SRC Representatives:

Year 7 SRC Representatives: TBC in 2026

Year 8 SRC Representatives: Eliza Wood and Bas Gee

Year 9 SRC Representatives: Amelia Andrews and George Pacitto

Year 10 SRC Representatives: Charlotte Carlson and Ziggy Newman

Year 11 SRC Representatives: Jasmine Halliwell and Murphy Lougheed

Year 12 SRC Representatives: Sarah Manzl and Molly Wray

Portfolio Mentors:

Academic: Owen McCoughtry

Arts: Sienna Davidson

Environment: Nikita Smith

Justice: Sarah Tolan

Ministry: Arabella Gruar

Sport: Phoebe Zahl

Wellbeing: Sarah Manzl

Saint Ignatius. Inspiring me to be a leader.

Congratulations Deacon Rhys Lowther

On behalf of the College, I congratulate 2017 Alumnus Rhys Lowther on his ordination to the transitional diaconate on Saturday, 1st November, at St Anthony's Catholic Church in Lara.

Bishop Martin Ashe ordained Rhys on the feast of All Saints, surrounded by family, friends, fellow parishioners, seminarians, and clergy.

As a Catholic community, we give thanks and celebrate that Melbourne's newest deacon said “yes" to God and a life modelled in Jesus Christ. We pray for Rhys as he continues his journey to the priesthood.

Yr 12 exams and pathways

Year 12 VCE students across the state are well and truly into their exam period. Many of our students undertaking these major assessments have sat two or more exams since Tuesday last week, with this week being especially busy. Please keep these students in your thoughts and prayers so they can revise effectively and demonstrate their learning to the best of their abilities.

Our Year 12 VM students have wrapped up their classes for the year, and I wish them all the best as they take their next steps toward employment or further study. I know some have already started apprenticeships, while others are enrolling in vocational courses for the coming year. Let's keep them in our thoughts and prayers as they make this important transition from secondary school.

Our Work and Further Education Staff Team has helped many VM and VCE students and parents explore possible pathways. The team remains available throughout the rest of the school year and into the next if any student or parent needs support or information about pathways, courses, or employment. A team member can be contacted by phone at our office.

Remembrance Day

As you know, next Tuesday is Remembrance Day. We will hold a short memorial service for students and staff in their classes.

The College will be called to attention at the start of Lesson Three (just after 11 a.m.). Under the teacher's supervision, students are to remain in their classrooms and give their full attention to the ceremony, which will be broadcast via a video played in each classroom.

Best wishes for the next fortnight,

Michael Exton | Principal