Berwick Campus – 23 August 2018

Uniform Shop Holiday Hours

The uniform shop will be closed from Monday 24th September and reopen on Tuesday 2nd October.

St Francis Xavier Day

It was amazing to see the whole college get together at the State Basketball Centre to celebrate the feast day of the Assumption as well as recognise and celebrate St. Francis Xavier day. Whole college events like these are really important in the bonding and building of school spirit and identity and the students at Berwick supported the day accordingly.

After Mass, it was onto the festivities back at the Berwick Campus where all students were treated to some exciting activities such as the giant inflatable slide, bungee challenge and obstacle run. In addition to this there was some really delicious treats on offer. Student behaviour on the day was exemplary.

A special thank you to Year 7 students; Josh Davis, Trent Taylor, Jackson Adlam, Bailey Wishart, Toby Helliar, Archer McMenamin and Matt Shaw who ran a special sweet stall to raise $387.00 for cancer research on the day – thanks boys

Hope Express

All Year 7/8 students were inspired and motivated by Glen Gerreyn recently who spoke at length about the power of purpose and the value of hope in goal setting. Below are some of his key points as retained by students;

The Power of Purpose – 7 August 2018

1. Plant your talent or gift in good soil – eg. have it nurtured, plant it with good coaches/teachers.
2. Water the seed! Train and practise your talent.
   Grass is not greener on the other side; it is green where you water it. Don’t compare yourself to others – you will end up comparing and then despairing!
3. Weed it out!
   Don’t let your negative thoughts squash your dream. Always live curiously, live to learn as much as you can.
4. Seasons – Your life will always be full of ebbs and flows, too many young people give up in the dark season. If there is a season, it will end … that means there is hope in the future.
5. Enjoy it! Enjoy your success.
   Never stop believing in yourself. You can’t succumb to what others think of you.

Believing in your dream…

If you actually believe you can be something, you can make your parents believe too. You have to practise, train, study and rehearse your dream. If you do this, your parents will eventually believe in your dream too.

Vision

The act of power of perceiving what is not actually present to the eye, whether by some supernatural endowment or by natural intellectual acuteness.

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

You can’t get by on your talent, you have to work hard… don’t give up stuff just because you found it hard! Don’t quit when it gets hard. Don’t be the person who gave up simply when you had to work hard.

Berwick Campus Read-A-Thon

Congratulations to Anne Fuller, the LRC staff and all participating students that have currently raised in excess of $3000 dollars to help raise funds for the Reuben Centre Appeal.

The library at the school in Nairobi, Kenya have purchased e-readers with the funds raised last year. The e-readers have made learning more interesting for the students. The school has a population of 3,000 students, and in one class there 100+ students.

They still need more resources and we at St Francis Xavier College are helping.

If you would like to make a donation on behalf of your family, please follow this link: https://give.everydayhero.com/au/team-berwick-2018

Smiling Mind Parent Evening

St Francis Xavier is continuing to implement a mindfulness program. One in seven primary aged children and one in four secondary aged children are experiencing mental health problems. Society is experiencing major and rapid changes, and this is having an impact on the wellbeing of students. Wellbeing and learning can’t be separated. One supports the other. Wellbeing underpins the way children feel about themselves and how they relate to others.

Wellbeing affects how children think, learn and engage. Mindfulness can help with wellbeing, bringing about strong improvements in attention.

As part of the introduction to mindfulness parents are invited to attend an information evening with Smiling Mind to assist parents in supporting their child’s mindfulness practice at home.

4 September, 7 – 8pm at the Beaconsfield Campus

http://bit.ly/smilingminds

Private Tutoring

At this time of the year some parents / guardians may be considering seeking support for their child from private tutors.

As the College Child Protection Officer, I would like to remind parents of the following Child Protection questions that they should ask of any individual or tutoring organisation before the engage their services.

Private Tutors
Always ask to see the tutors Victorian Institute of Teaching Card (VIT) or Working with Children Card (WWCC) and check that it is current. Those holding a VIT or WWCC card have been checked by government authorities and been found suitable to work with children. I would recommend that parents / guardians do not employ a tutor that does not have a VIT or WWCC card.

Companies providing tutoring
In addition to all staff employed by a tutoring company requiring their staff to hold a VIT or WWCC these companies are now also required to have developed Child Protection policies similar to what we have at the College. These policies should be available on their Web Site. If the private tutoring company does not have these policies I again recommend that parents / guardians do not employ a tutor from that organisation.

Finally, please consider where the tutoring is going to take place. I would advise that any tutoring occur in public areas of the house such as the kitchen or dining room table rather than bedrooms or a private study.

If you have any concerns with regard to a tutoring service I would be more than happy to assist. Please contact me via email jfazzino@sfx.vic.edu.au or by calling the College on (03) 9707 3111.

Religious Education Department News

What a productive number of weeks we are having in the faith life of our College in the second half of term three. We have had the Gold Remar group complete their final retreat, we have celebrated a powerful Assumption Mass all together at the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna. Six of our Year 11’s and five of our Year 9’s brought energy, insight and great role modelling to the annual CEO Sale Justice and Leadership camp. Over the next few weeks we will host our first Mini-Vinnies cluster meeting, we will have nine Year 9’s form each campus visit St Mary’s Cathedral for the annual Year 9 Day, staff will take part in the second Staff Catholic Identity Retreat Day, with Sam Clear the guest speaker, a series of accreditation and life-giving workshop opportunities, and Mass with Fr John Prest, the beginning of the Ruben Centre appeal to complete the term, and of course the Soup van continues to serve local people.

In all this great work we believe the Jesus walks in front of us, with us and behind us in all our endeavours to make a difference to our community and world. Jesus’ presence with us helps us to find the energy to continue, the compassion to meet each other in a space of human dignity, and the courage to continually look beyond ourselves and share in God’s great work of offering liberation and compassion. I am continually grateful for and amazed by the energy and commitment of our students and staff to work in this space.

This space was evident clearly at our St Francis Xavier Day Assumption Mass. To see students bringing forward their original country’s flags with a sense of pride and belonging, to hear Cantabile sing with passion about God’s love and forgiveness, to take in the scene of our unique, extensive and positive community gathered as one and working so well together, to hear Principal Vin Feeney’s inspirational naming of all the ‘yes’’ that had led us to this special moment in our history, and finally to be encouraged and challenged by Fr Brendan to be vulnerable and united as a community clearly demonstrated our community as unique, united and welcoming.

Let us pray for all those in the world facing natural disasters – fire, flood and earthquake. May God’s presence in those who are struggling and in those who help ease the pain and bring comfort and hope. Amen.