26 August 2021

From the Principal

Article by Mr Michael Exton

From the Principal

Dear Saint Ignatius College Geelong community members,

Catholic School Parents Victoria

Congratulations to the Parents and Friends' Association representative on our College Board, Bernard Lewis. Bernard has been notified that his nomination for a Catholic School Parents Victoria Council member position has been successful. On behalf of our College community, I thank Bernard for putting himself forward as a delegate to represent the parents of children in Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne and across Victoria.

Building program update – Loyola Centre

The builder, Lyons Constructions, had advised that the handover date would be in early November. However, the recent escalation of restrictions has meant that fewer workers can be onsite. This could result in a delay in when we can move into the building. Hopefully, this will not be too long.

Most of the works at the moment are focused on the fitting out of the interior. The building is looking great and, as expected, is an obvious and impressive feature of our school campus.

Senior School building project update

Very positive news – I was very grateful to receive a phone call from the office of Lisa Neville MP to inform me about a $1million Victorian Government Capital Grant towards the funding of the proposed Senior School building project.

A very big well done and thank you to our Business Manager, David Fitzgerald who coordinated and submitted the application.

This is another significant step towards realising this exciting and major project.

The proposed project involves removing the current administration buildings followed by the construction of a state of the art teaching and learning Centre for our senior students. This impressive new building, to be known as the MacKillop Senior Centre, will consist of 16 classrooms, a 400 seat lecture theatre, breakout spaces and student and staff amenities.

I will keep our school community updated about the progress towards getting this project started. The next step is to gain approvals from the appropriate authorities.

Current reviews underway

After the challenges and uncertainties we experienced in 2020 due to the pandemic, we commenced this year intending to move forward with some significant reviews in line with our School Improvement Plan. Currently, these include the following:

  • Review of the House Sports Carnivals (led by Sports Coordinator, Andrew Philp);
  • Integration of the GISSA inter-school sports program into the Years 7 & 8 timetables (led by Deputy Principal, Bernadette Donnelly);
  • Review of the timetable structure (led by Deputy Principal Bernadette Donnelly) that considers whether to change:

       - from a five-day to a ten-day timetable; and

       - the number of single periods for a subject to increase weekly contact time.

  • Review of pastoral structure (led by Deputy Principal, Michael Timms) that considers whether to change:

        - to vertical mentor groups for Years 10 to 12;

        - to house based groups;

        - from Year Level Coordinators to Heads of Houses at Years 10 – 12; and

        - from Homeroom groups to mentor groups where the students remain with the same group during Year 10 to 12

I am pleased that these reviews are well underway. Representative students have been consulted in various ways about these changes, and the PFA will also be included in the consultative processes.

VCE / VCAL and the pandemic restrictions

With these uncertain and challenging times adding to the difficulty for our students in their final years of schooling, I provide parents with the following summary of the recent advice I received from VCAA. I hope this helps you as you support your daughter or son’s VCE or VCAL program for the remainder of the year. Please read Deputy Principal Bernadette Donnelly’s article in this week’s newsletter for more information and notification of our forthcoming Unit 4 Parent and Student Virtual Information session on Wednesday 15 September. Our VCE Coordinator, Michael Brown, will also provide more details and any further updates over the coming weeks.

GAT

Subject to public health advice and epidemiological conditions, the General Achievement Test (GAT) will be held on Thursday 9 September from 10.00 am – 1.15 pm.

VCE examinations

The exam period remains as previously publicised by VCAA. Performance and oral examinations are to begin on Monday 4 October, and written exams commence with English on Wednesday 27 October and run until Wednesday 17 November 2021.

For a complete list of examination dates, see: VCE Examination Timetable at the following link:https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/administration/Key-dates/Pages/VCE-exam-timetable.aspx

Course and examination content

VCAA have advised that although it is understood that the continued disruption during the 2021 school year has impacted the delivery of course content, it is not possible to reduce course or examination content and maintain a level of fairness across all students as schools are at different stages of content delivery in Unit 4.

Consideration of Educational Disadvantage (CED)

VCAA have advised that the CED process will be in place again this year to account for the disruption to student learning caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. VCAA is confident that the CED process will consider the personal impact of coronavirus on each student so that their results will be fair and reliable. The CED process is based on the impact at the student level for each and every student. This is important as it will account for different impacts to individual students in schools that have been harder hit by the pandemic.

2021 Results Release Date

The VCE and VCAL results release date is 16 December 2021.

COVID-19 vaccine eligibility

Saint Ignatius College has received the following information from the Victorian Government regarding vaccinations for students. I encourage you to read this information. Eligible students and their parents or carers should speak to their GP or pharmacist if they have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine and their health.

As part of the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out, all Victorian school students aged 16 years and above are now eligible to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

The Victorian Government aims to vaccinate all final year students by the time they sit their end-of-year exams. Final year students are therefore urged to immediately make an appointment to receive a vaccine by following the instructions under the heading ‘How to book an appointment’ below.

State vaccination centres have recently had their capacity increased to support Victoria’s drive to administer 1 million doses of the vaccine by 19 September.

Students completing their final year are particularly asked to book an appointment as soon as possible to support the safe conduct of examinations. As their parent/guardian, I encourage you to help them to book and if needed, support them to attend their appointment.

Final year students are asked to consider getting their first vaccine before the GAT on 9 September. In addition, it’s recommended not to get the vaccine on the day of an exam, or the day before an exam - to avoid feeling common but mild side effects such as tiredness, headache, muscle pain, fever and chills and/or joint pain during the exam.

Consent

Students can book their own appointment and consent to vaccination themselves if the health professional assesses them to be a mature minor.

Booking an appointment

To book an appointment, visit the coronavirus.vic.gov.au website or contact the Coronavirus hotline by phoning 1800 675 398.

To find a vaccination centre and opening times, visit the coronavirus.vic.gov.au website.

From 30 August, people aged 16-39 can get their COVID-19 vaccine at a doctor’s clinic, pharmacy or community health service.

You can find a participating doctor, pharmacy or community health service through the Australian Government Eligibility Checker. You can book your appointment online or by calling the vaccine provider nearest to you.

More information

For more information about eligibility, visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au or use the Australian Government’s COVID-19 vaccine eligibility checker.

For further assistance, contact:

  • the Department of Health Coronavirus hotline: 1800 675 398
  • the National coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccine helpline: 1800 020 080.

Best wishes,

Michael Exton
Principal

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