Officer Campus – 13 February 2020

Welcome – Be the Hands and Heart of God 

Happy New Year to all members of our Officer Campus community, particularly to the families of our new Year 7 students. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a relaxing holiday during the extended summer period. 

The beginning of the school year can be an emotional time for teachers, parents/guardians and our young men and women. For many students, the return to school is a time of great change. The new school year brings new routines, teachers, friendships, transport, and new expectations and responsibilities.  

Whilst, some students will thrive and enjoy these added responsibilities others may feel that they’re not ready to live up to the expectations and demands of school. It is our role to support you through this transition, to reassure you and the young men and women in our care, and to help you feel safe and secure.  

Many of you have probably received communication from the College welcoming you to the school and providing you with a little information on what to expect. Please contact your son and/or daughter’s Care Group Teacher should you require support with their learning program. 

Welcome Year 7 students 

What a great start the Year 7 students have made. Here are some photos we took from their first day of secondary school. I hope you have a wonderful time on Year 7 Camp next week – no doubt you will have a wonderful time together. 

“Never regularly do for a child the things a child can do for him or herself” 

Goal: Independence 

This is perhaps the original parenting-for-independence manifesto, and it’s a philosophy that guides many teachers and parents today. In effect, this sentence means that wherever possible we give children the skills and competencies to look after themselves physically and emotionally. It requires a great deal of patience, time and courage from parents and teachers as the sentence is easier to say than put to put into practice. But it’s a worthy guiding principle that leads to self-sufficiency in children, and ultimately redundancy as parents. 

“Is this something you can do?” 

Goal: Self-help 

Independence takes many forms but perhaps the most common is the development of self-help skills. The confidence, pride and, for most, sheer pleasure that kids doing the simple things for themselves such a toddler tying his shoelaces or a child making his own lunch is immeasurable. Yet it is so easily denied by well-meaning parents and adults who see it as their job to do everything for children. Independence begins at home with the development of self-help skills. 

SunSmart App 

SunSmart has an app, see UV, which uses augmented reality to depict what your skin could look like if you don’t protect it in the sun. We actively encourage all within our community to use a combination of sun protection measures during the daily sun protection times and remind everyone of the need to slip, slop, slap, seek and slide. 

Sod Turning Ceremony 

“Ground-breaking, also known as?sod-turning,?turning the first sod?or a?sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional?ceremony?in many cultures that celebrates the first day of?construction?for a?building?or other project.” 

The ceremony was attended by our College Principal, Mr Vin Feeney, and Campus Captains, Brady Hill and Claudia Poblete-Bustos. Following our sod-turning ceremony on Friday 7 February, construction has commenced on our new GPFLA Building. What an exciting time for the Campus. 

Introducing our Campus Captains 

Brady Hill – Campus Captain – Officer 

Claudia Poblete Bustos – Campus Captain – Officer 

As a part of the Year 9 – 12 Student Leadership Seminar, our student leaders created models that represented the goals for this year. Claudia and Brady wrote, “On the bridge there are many different colours that represent different challenges throughout the year to come. The water and creatures represent the many different fears and challenges we will face throughout the year, which the Positive Learning Partnerships will help us to get us over.” 

Year 9 – 12 Student Leadership Seminar 

The Year 9 – 12 Student Leadership Seminar sought to bring together the Year 9 – 12 student leaders across the College to explore how they will promote and enact Positive Learning Partnerships, and the College theme in 2020. 

Congratulations to our Officer Campus Student Leaders 

• Claudia Poblete Bustos, Campus Captain 
• Brady Hill, Campus Captain
• Dehara Geekiyanage, Liturgy Captain
• Sean Olvina, Liturgy Captain
• Linuki Herath, Justice Captain
• James Abrehart, Justice Captain
• Mary O’Loughlin, Sports Captain
• Brody Paterson, Sports Captain
• Abbey Young, Art/Performance Captain
• Mitchell Rook, Art/Performance Captain
• Tayvlin Hannaford, Burgess House Captain
• Kye De Jong, Burgess House Captain
• Olivia Turner, Burgess SRC
• Ethan Norbury, Burgess SRC
• Skye Ferguson, Gallagher House Captain
• Nick Orford, Gallagher House Captain
• Eshara Gajadeera-Arachchige, Gallagher SRC
• Tammy Ngo, Gallagher SRC
• Maddison Kelly, McDonagh House Captain
• Kade De La Rue , McDonagh House Captain
• Phoebe Woods, McDonagh SRC
• Aleks Feher, McDonagh SRC
• Jayda Hudman, McKenna House Captain
• Lachlan Watson, McKenna House Captain
• Neomi Gestano, McKennaSRC
• Daniel Zammit, McKennaSRC
• Kira Stevenson, Schneider House Captain
• Ace SimpsonBraden, Schneider House Captain
• McKenna O’Reilly, Schneider SRC
• Alex Williams, Schneider SRC
• Ally Williams, Synan House Captain
• Kyle Villanueva, Synan House Captain
• Kate Casiple, Synan SRC
• Jeoff Ramos, Synan SRC
• Linda Nielo, Thomas House Captain
• Daniel Cross, Thomas House Captain
• Cienna Jones, Thomas SRC
• Muhammadah Kashif, Thomas SRC
• Era Tiburcio, White House Captain
• Mark Obsioma, White House Captain
• Ella Edwards, White SRC
• Jashan Kaur, White SRC
• Carline Tuazama, LRCC Captain
• Dehara Geekiyanage, LRCC Vice Captain
• Ally Williams, Debating Captain

Lisa Harkin

Deputy Principal–Head of Campus – Officer

Child Protection

At St Francis Xavier College, we have zero tolerance for child abuse and we are committed to acting in children’s best interests and keeping them safe from harm. The College regards its child protection responsibilities with the utmost importance and as such, is committed to providing the necessary resources to ensure compliance with all relevant child protection laws and regulations and maintain a child safe culture. We aim to create a child safe and child friendly environment where students feel safe and are free to enjoy life to the full without any concern for their safety.

St Francis Xavier commits to providing a safe and nurturing culture for all children and young people through:

1. Upholding the primacy of the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.
2. Empowering families, children, young people and staff to have a voice and raise concerns.
3. Implementing rigorous risk-management and employment practices.

Our Child Protection Officers can assist you with any questions that you may have about our Child Protection program. If you have any further questions about our Child Protection Program, please do not hesitate to contact one of our Child Protection Officers.

For further information about our Child Safety program and to view our policies please visit our website. Click here: Child Safety