Saint Ignatius College Geelong
Last week of Term
You will undoubtedly agree that term two has been another hectic and challenging time for teachers, education support staff members and families. Despite the higher than usual level of absences, the onset of a cold and wet start to winter, continuing need to adopt COVID safe practices, and many other challenges, we have worked together to maintain on-site working and learning as well as provide camps, excursions and other activities which have led to our students being provided with enriching learning opportunities throughout the semester.
It was timely that we farewelled our students for the coming holidays on Wednesday afternoon, before the end of the term, to make some time for our dedicated and hardworking staff to plan, prepare, and undertake some professional learning.
Over the last while, our students have been very busy completing and then submitting final pieces of work for the semester. I am sure they have been looking forward to the break over the next two weeks. Teachers have also been very busy correcting and providing feedback about student progress. This feedback and the Semester One Statement of Results will be available online through the parent portal from June 30 2022. As usual, we do not have scheduled Parent/Students/Teacher Conferences to follow up on these reports. However, parents are most welcome to contact teachers early next term to make a time to discuss student progress during Semester One.
I wish all students a restful break and encourage them to spend some time revising and preparing for the next term. In particular, VCE students should be using some of this time to review the work covered to date, preview and prepare for the work ahead and complete any set work given by teachers.
Please note that classes resume for term three on Monday, 11th July 2022. (Yr 12 VCE students will complete a mid-year English exam at the College on this day between 9 am and 11: 30 am.) .
Staff changes next term
Some staff members will be taking long service leave next term. On behalf of our school community I wish them a very relaxing and enjoyable time.
While Mr Michael Timms is away, Ms Kirsty Allan will be the Acting Deputy Principal – Students.
Ms Rosalind Willshire will be teaching Mr David Alexander’s classes.
Ms Martina Gulino will be teaching the classes currently taken by Mrs Jane Alexander.
Mr Laurence Johnston will be teaching the classes currently taken by Ms Kirsty Allan and Mr Michael Timms.
And the classes currently taken by Mr Anthony Gravener will be covered as follows: most of his classes by Mr Ken Stewart, Yr 10 Mathematics by Ms Rosalind Willshire and Yr 9 Physical Education by Mr Greg Fisher.
COVID-19 update
As you would be aware, following advice from the Acting Chief Health Officer, the Victorian Government recently announced changes to the pandemic orders.
There will no longer be a mandated vaccination requirement for staff working in mainstream schools. This change will come in from 11.59pm Friday 24 June, so in effect from the start of Term 3 2022. With almost 100% of school staff now vaccinated across Victoria, this will cause little change to our school.
As part of the changes, from 11.59pm Friday 24 June 2022, parents and carers who have COVID-19 can transport their non-COVID-19 children via private vehicle to their primary or secondary school when an alternative person is not available to assist. This will include school holiday programs held on school grounds. This means that parents and carers will be able to leave COVID self-isolation to take their non-COVID-19 child to school or school holiday programs via a private vehicle. The parent or carer must travel directly to and from the school only. They must remain in the vehicle at all times, unless it is reasonably necessary to leave the vehicle to walk the child to and from the entrance of the school safely. They must wear a face mask at all times. At our College, the best place for parents to drop off their daughter or son is our front driveway off Peninsula Drive.
Family members are asked to continue reporting positive COVID-19 cases to both the Department of Health and our own testing portal.
You must also let the school know if your child is a close contact. Students who are close contacts and want to attend school should still take 5 RATs over 7 days and wear a face mask whilst indoors if they are aged 8 years or over.
Students should continue to stay home if they are unwell, even if they test negative on a RAT.
Thank you for your support as we continue to make these adjustments.
Access to & communication with the College during the holidays
We will use the opportunity of the Term Two holidays to conduct a necessary relocation of all of our major services to prepare for the construction of our new Senior Centre. This will impact the availability of our ICT infrastructure. Therefore the ‘Xuno’ Parent Portal will not be available from Mon. 27 June to Wed. 29 June 2022. I ask parents and students to avoid contacting or coming to the College during these times. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Best wishes for the school holidays,
Michael Exton | Principal
Men and women for others, whole persons of solidarity
Empowering young people to become leaders in service, building a more just, humane world
Seek to find God in all things
Magis …. more …. continuous improvement
Cura personalis – care for the individual person. A hallmark of Ignatian spirituality and therefore of Jesuit education where the teacher establishes a personal relationship with students, listens to them in the process of teaching and draws them toward personal intiative and responsibility for learning
Create critical awareness
Freedom, discernment, responsible action
“we must sow justice in our world, substitute love for self-interest as the driving force of society.” Arrupe
Ignatian (Jesuit) pedagogy/education is: instrumental, student centred, structured, flexible, eclectic and personal.
To develop women and men of competence, conscience and compasison.
Welcoming, discerning, inspiring, equality, reflection, authentic, take opportunities (or find them), compassionate, take initiative, optimistic, courageous, passion.
A.M.D.G. – Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. “For the greater glory of God” (Jesuit motto)
Ignatian – aspects of spirituality that derive from Ignatius the lay person
Jesuit - aspects of spirituality that derive from the later Ignatius and his religious order – the Jesuits
IHS – the first three letters, in Greek, of the name of Jesus. They appear as a symbol on the official seal of the Society of Jesus, also known as, the Jesuits
(source: “An Ignatian Spirituality Reader” G. Traub)
Paul Lewis | Deputy Principal - Staff, Identity and Operations
Year 9 - 11 examinations
The semester examinations have concluded and congratulations to all students on the way they conducted themselves. We hope that they have done a lot of learning, not only about content in the subject but exam preparation and the process of undertaking examinations. All exam results are now available on Canvas. Exam papers will be returned in the first week of Term 3, apart from semester units.
Semester One Statement of Results
Semester One reports will be available from next Thursday via Xuno. We apologise for the delay but we will have some power outages that affect our ability to publish and upload prior to next Thursday. Parents and students should already be aware of the assessment results via Canvas. However, can we draw your attention to the SELF report for your child in each subject. Please take the opportunity of discussing how they have progressed in Semester One according to the SELF criteria and what goals they have for Semester Two.
Holiday Reading
We encourage our students to continue reading over the term break, particularly any text that they will be studying in Term 3. The expectation is that students will return to school having read their particular text.
2023 Subject Selection
We commence the 2023 subject selection process in Term 3. Please see the attached flyer for the Senior Pathways Information evening which will take place virtually on Monday 25 July.
Thank you
Thank you to parents and carers for your continued support this term. It has been a challenging term with the amount of sickness and absences. Thank you to the staff who continue to do an outstanding job for all of our students. I wish you all a restful break.
Bernadette Donnelly | Deputy Principal Learning and Teaching
Faith Matters – Healing
As the Semester concludes our community is celebrating ‘Refugee Week’ over the final week of school. Refugee Week is an important aspect of our calendar and worldview. Advocacy for refugees is at the heart of the Gospel and a core tenet of Catholic Social Teaching. Through education and activities such as The Cage and the Silent Protest the College offers our students the opportunity to care for ‘the least of these’ and be empowered as active members of the broader Catholic and Ignatian community.
I offer you an article prepared by our friend Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ to illuminate how the advocacy and love offered by our community may help heal refugees and lead our students to a life-long desire to care for the marginalised. As you read this piece, I encourage you to reflect upon the people in Ukraine in particular who continue to suffer at this time even though the media focus has shifted over the last month or so. Currently five million Ukrainians have left their country due to the invasion, with a further eight million internally displaced. Do not forget these people or the suffering and trauma they have, and continue to experience.
Yours in Christ,
Brendan Nicholls | Liturgy Coordinator
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The theme of Refugee Week this year is healing. Refugees need healing themselves and their healing in turn depends on wider healing in the world.
To be a refugee is to have suffered trauma. We can see it in the eyes of people who have fled from Ukraine and Afghanistan. They have suddenly lost home, lost security, lost employment, lost neighbourhood. Many have also suffered from physical and mental illness as a result of this trauma and because of harsh treatment in the nations in which they have sought protection.
Trauma results from abruptly broken connections. Healing comes from the gentle re-making of connections. For refugees it comes from hospitality, from welcome, from friendship, from assurance of food, housing and medical care, from the possibility of return to one’s home or to find a new home, from the possibility of beginning a new life. Trauma arises when we are treated as things of no value, fit only to be broken and discarded. Healing comes when we are treated as persons with a unique value, as brothers and sisters.
For refugees to find healing they must find hospitality in the places to which they flee. Unfortunately they often meet further trauma. Those who have come to Australia in recent years to seek protection are not seen as refugees but as criminals and are treated so by our governments. They have languished in gaols for years, have been dumped off-shore, moved around the nation like chess pieces, have been left resourceless in the community and denied the permanent protection that they need to build a new life. Like eagles pinned to the fences of ignorant farmers they have been made an example of so that their treatment might deter others.
Many other nations have been equally cruel to refugees. They have built walls and fences to keep them out, imprisoned them and put them in squalid camps if they find their way in and even followed the Australian example of deporting them to nations with a history of discrimination against strangers.
If refugees are to find healing in such a world, it also needs healing. Our own nation must recognise refugees as human beings like ourselves, as brothers and sisters, as people who have much to offer to our society. For that to happen attitudes that are sick need to be healed.
In Australia the soil in which a better response to refugees will grow needs careful tending. Plants do not grow if sown in stone. We need to hoe and fertilise the ground through compassion and conversation.
We can do that by coming to know refugees and sharing their life stories with our friends, by questioning the sad and politically motivated arguments for locking them up and removing from them access to the rule of law. We can write to our politicians to demand a better policy and support candidates who advocate for refugees. CAPSA brings together people who want to make a difference to Australian policy.
If we do these things we can be part of the healing for refugees and for our society. We can build hope that the hearts and minds of our people will change and that eventually the world will move to prevent the making of refugees and to care for people who need protection. Like all world celebrations International Refugee Week begins at home.
Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ
On Wednesday 22nd June, 120 Year 12 students from Saint Ignatius College joined with other Year 12 students from the other Geelong Catholic Schools to celebrate the Year 12 Winter Charity Ball. This evening was organised by student leaders from the four Catholic Colleges.
Club Italia was full of energy and brightly coloured dresses as students gathered to raise funds for the Barwon Health Foundation supported by All in One.
Students excitedly arrived on the red carpet at 7pm and danced the night away until 10pm.
Congratulations to our Leaders, Emily Green, Sam Hines, Toby Mew and Audrey Hughan who worked closely with the other schools to organise this successful night.
Special thanks to all the staff that attended and supported this evening that could not have happened without their dedication to our students.
Ms Kristin Williamson | Year 12 Coordinator
Term 2 had the ILC embracing the House Spirit with House Competitions! Firstly, the House Uno Competition. It was house players against each other in some hard fought matches. The Grand Final, with 1 player from each house, was a best of 5 games match. After 5 hard fought games we had a draw between 2 players. A final game between Felix and Owen had spectators on the edge of their seats. The ultimate winner was Owen Galbraith from Cuthbert House.
Secondly, the House Chess Competition. This was played in a round robin knockout style competition. The concentration and strategic moves were out and about in the games. The Grand Final came down to James (Bradman) and Thomas (Elliot). After a hard fought strategic games James Schreuder from Bradman was declared the winner. A great effort by all players.
The ILC look forward to bringing more House Competitions in Term 3.
School Holiday Reading Recommendations from the ILC.
The ILC staff would like to wish all our College families a restful and fun-filled break. We have enjoyed sharing our love of information and research, books and reading with your sons/daughters.
If you find you/your child doesn’t have a book for the break, remember our library website has resources that are available to you 24/7.
We look forward to Semester 2 especially with highlights such as Book Week, Year 7 Author Visits, Readathon as well as our usual lunchtime activities.
The ILC Team.
The Saint Ignatius College Parents and Friends Association proudly presents 'Minions : The Rise of Gru,' on Wednesday the 13th of July at 6pm, at Village Cinemas, Geelong.
Tickets are limited, and are inclusive of a drink and small popcorn with all profits going towards student resources at the College.
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Many parents worry when their child is shy, quieter than others or not the outgoing type. The thought that their child may be a loner turns parents into social organisers who arrange playdates and parties or friendship coaches. They may upskill their kids to start conversations, manage conflict and play with others. This flurry of activity can be exhausting, and they cause a great deal of angst for kids. However, it may be that their child is introverted by nature, and they are trying to make them fit the extrovert mould.
It’s genetic
Introverts are wired differently to extroverts. Introverts have closer links to the para-sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for calm and relaxation, so they feel more at home in quieter, less stimulating environments.
Extroverts, on the other hand, are more closely aligned with the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for high arousal levels, so they seek stimulating environments to keep their energy levels high. Extroverts work hard to get their dopamine hits, those little shots of happiness the brain releases to reward behaviour and keep them coming back for more. Introverts, on the other hand, who only have to read a book to get a dopamine hit, feel more comfortable in low stimulus environments.
Birth order plays a role
While nature plays a huge part in temperament development, genetics can’t claim all the credit for creating introverts and extroverts. In birth order studies, eldest borns repeatedly score higher on introversion than children in other birth order positions, while later-borns consistently lean towards extroversion. Being born last in a family usually means time alone is a rarity, while eldest children usually spend a great deal of time in their own company in the early formative years when personality is being shaped.
The world is skewed toward extroverts, so knowing how to raise introverts means that you may need to discard many parenting rules of thumb you’ve taken for granted. Here are some parenting ideas to get you started.
Welcome introspection
Introverts like to go within to process daily events and find solutions to their problems. In an era when we encourage kids to discuss rather than bottle problems up, introspection can be disconcerting for parents. But giving introverts space to think through adverse events before they seek help, enables them to get their thoughts in order and feel more in control of their lives. Welcome quiet times and remember that introverts need time to refresh and replenish away from the hustle and bustle of school and family life.
Provide silence and solitude
Extroverts like to keep company of others, while introverts like to keep their own company, or keep friendship circles small. Introverted kids appreciate quiet time and spaces away from others to recharge, reconnect and relax. This may seem strange to extroverted parents, or siblings who want to hang out or play with their siblings. Giving kids permission to seek solitude, balanced with activity to prevent brooding, is an introvert-friendly family habit.
Use stepladders not escalators
Extroverts tend to jump boots and all into new social situations. School camp coming up. “Great. It’ll be fun.” Family holiday approaching.
“Terrific! I hope we go where there’s heaps of other kids.” Joining a new sports team. “I can’t wait. I bet I’ll know heaps of kids already.” Introverts, on the other hand, are more tentative entering new social situations. School camp. “I hope some of my friends are going.” Family holiday. “Who else will be there?” Joining a new sports team. “Will I know anyone?”
Give introverts plenty of information about new situations and don’t expect them to immediately embrace the whole scenario. Give them time to make new friends and become comfortable in social situations.
Quietly celebrate quiet achievers
Introverts can easily feel that something is wrong with them. Mainstream entertainment and social media celebrates extroverts in all walks of life. Brain surgeons don’t receive standing ovations, yet they do their best work on their own. When introverts do well in any field shout it out (but quietly!) as they need someone to aspire to as much as extroverts.
Chess anyone? Help your introverted child discover their strengths and interests and resist pushing them down common leisure paths such as sport or drama that may not hold strong appeal. When they join clubs and groups they may be really interested in, such as chess, crafts or reading, they will more than likely form friendships with like-minded souls... as birds of a feather really do flock together.
It’s a balancing act
Too much solitude can lead to depression so introverted children and teenagers need to be challenged at times to leave the comfort of their own company and spend time with friends, or even the rest of the family. Firm but gentle persuasion and nudging works better with introverts than heavy-handedness so work on your persuasion skills to ensure your introvert lives a socially balanced life.
In closing
Parenting introverts can be a challenge particularly if you are an extrovert yourself. Adopt the mindset that introversion is normal, indeed a strength, and put steps in place to help an introverted child feel both comfortable in their own skin and confident navigating the world at large.
Michael Grose | founder of Parenting Ideas
Please find attached the Regional Parenting Service Calendar of parenting events for the Barwon South West Region for Term 3, 2022.
Please also find attached a poster for an upcoming screening of ‘Angst – Raising Awareness around Anxiety’, see the poster for how to book.
Regional Parenting Service Administration
Community Life
City of Greater Geelong
W/C 11/7/2022 | ||
11th | B.Brinfield, B.Rees. | |
12th | M.Hiemstra, M.Dunstan, D.Powell. | |
13th | M.Jackson, K.Button. | |
14th | E.Carpenter, B.Collins | |
15th | L.Taylor, J.Peters. | |
W/C 18/7/2022 | ||
18th | E.Dear, L.Mew. | |
19th | S.Twaits, K.James, S.Peters. | |
20th | C.Ford. NEEDED | |
21st | M.Hiemstra, M.White. | |
22nd | E.Stokie, B.Allen. |
If you are able to assist on the above mentioned dates, please contact Canteen Manager Mrs. Sandra Woodall on woodalls@ignatius.vic.edu.au
Volunteers must hold a current WWCC.
Mrs. Sandra Woodall.
Canteen Manager.