From the Principal

Last night I attended a joyous celebration at St Patrick’s Cathedral in East Melbourne. The Cathedral was overflowing with people who had gathered to welcome our new Archbishop, Most Reverend Peter A Comensoli (Ninth Archbishop of Melbourne) at the Liturgical Reception and Solemn Mass. The Mass was a wonderfully uplifting Eucharistic celebration and a very warm welcome for Archbishop Comensoli as he began his ministry in the Melbourne Archdiocese. He succeeds Archbishop Denis Hart who was Archbishop from 2001 to 2018.

On behalf of our College community, I express our gratitude and best wishes to Archbishop Emeritus Denis Hart for his dedicated leadership and service to the Archdiocese of Melbourne and wish him every blessing for his retirement.

I welcome Archbishop Comensoli and look forward to when he can visit our College. I wish him all the best for his new role as a shepherd of God’s people for our diocese. Archbishop Comensoli has asked us to pray for him, and the prayer card provided at the end of the Mass at the Cathedral had the following beautiful prayer of St Ignatius of Loyola.

Suscipe

Receive

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

my memory, my understanding,

and my entire will,

All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.

To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

Give me only your love and your grace,

that is enough for me.

St Ignatius of Loyola

You can find more information about Archbishop Comensoli at the following webpage: www.cam.org.au

Construction of the new Geelong Tech School well underway

Travelling along La Trobe Terrace in Geelong you may have noticed building works at the Gordon site. The Gordon’s city campus has some landmark buildings that signal you have arrived at central Geelong and here is the city location of Geelong’s well-known longstanding TAFE provider. Some of these buildings are being refurbished and will result in an enhanced landmark statement about the Gordon’s presence as a significant Geelong education provider. The State Government has provided funding towards this “City Campus Rejuvenation Project.”

Another significant and welcome addition to the Gordon’s site will be Geelong’s new state-of-the-art Tech School (building image in the Gallery in this article) that Geelong’s secondary schools will be able to access to support their Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teaching and learning programs. Like nearly every other Geelong secondary school, Saint Ignatius College Geelong is a ‘partner school’, and we look forward to our involvement with this exciting facility. The Geelong Tech School is one of ten being built across the state as part of the State Government’s $128 million Tech School initiative. The Tech School is being hosted by the Gordon and is also currently under construction and will be ready for opening later this year. The Tech School’s striking facade will also have a noticeable presence at the corner of Little Malop Street and La Trobe Terrace and add to Geelong’s reputation as having a strong education sector.

The Geelong Tech School will focus on supporting Geelong secondary schools with developing their students’ STEM skills. Ensuring students have the opportunity to develop their STEM skills is very important because many of the “jobs of the future” will rely on workers possessing these skills. In this context, the focus of STEM includes learning skills such as being able to think critically, communicate clearly, work collaboratively and embrace technology.

The programs will be aligned with industries that are predicted to experience strong economic and employment growth in our region and include:

• Scientific and technical services;
• Health and social assistance; and
• Design aspects in construction and transport.

The Geelong Tech School has a web page on The Gordon website and can be viewed at www.geelongtechschool.vic.edu.au

At Saint Ignatius College, we are considering how we can use the facilities of the Tech School to enhance our student’s STEM skills. I represent the Geelong Catholic Secondary College Principals on the Committee of Management of the Tech School. One of our Science Teachers, Mr Michael Brown, is a member of the Curriculum Committee. Planning is underway for how our students’ learning in the STEM area could be enhanced by accessing the Tech School.

One example that is currently being developed as a trial program involves two of our Yr 8 DigiTech classes. Mr Brown is working with Barwon Water and the Geelong Tech School to design a project that requires robot design and construction to solve a real-life problem such as the unblocking of a drainage pipe. The two classes will be involved in this pilot program in term four. Also in term 4, all Yr 7 will undertake a day excursion to visit the new Tech School as part of their DigiTech subject. We look forward to further developing our involvement with the Geelong tech school for next year.

Mr Michael Exton Principal