Officer Campus – 4 April 2019

Uniform Shop – School Holidays Hours

Click here to view the School Holiday Hours for our College Uniform Shop.

An Easter Message of Hope – Come Lord Jesus

During our Minute of Gratitude, we have used silence to reflect on all the things we have to be thankful for. Whilst Buddhists make use of mantras, there is a Christian meditation mantra that has been used for a very long time by the early monks. It is the mantra, Maranatha. The word Maranatha is the final instruction of Saint Paul’s teachings to the Corinthians, and it is Saint John’s final instruction in the Book of Revelations. Thus, the last word, the final teaching of the entire Christian Bible is Maranatha, which is Aramaic and means, Come Lord Jesus.

Come, Lord Jesus is a leap into the kind of freedom and surrender that is rightly called the virtue of hope. The theological virtue of hope is the patient and trustful willingness to live without closure, without resolution. We are able to trust that Jesus will come again, just has Jesus has come in our past, into our private dilemmas and into our suffering world. Our Christian past then becomes our Christian prologue, and Come, Lord Jesus is not a cry of desperation, but an assured shout of cosmic hope.

As we await the joy and celebration of Easter, we look forward with hope to the promise of the resurrection.

In the silence of our Minute of Gratitude, and after listening to a guest speaker David Vincent Nyuol, I have reflected on the difficult circumstances some people face throughout their life. Amongst the stress of these circumstances, there is always light at the end of the tunnel; there is hope. In Australian we should be grateful for everything we have. We have an opportunity to help those who are less fortunate. As David said, Australia is a beautiful country. Everyone in Australia, at Officer Campus, has a story.

I encourage all students to tell their story, it does not need to be dramatic, but it does need to be honest. You will find the stories of many in our community at Officer Campus in our newsletter. I hope you enjoy reading about our successes in the classroom and beyond.

Project Compassion 

During the Schneider House Assembly, I shared a story from a visit I took to Bangladesh with Caritas Australia. During that Immersion Program, I met Aziz, a young man who had just completed the equivalent of his VCE scoring a 96 out of a possible 100. Aziz completed all his exams without extra time and without extra assistance. Incredibly, he wrote all his responses with his pen in his mouth.

Aziz highlights the importance of adopting a positive mindset for success. Aziz had a disability that meant her could not walk but he was always on time for his classes. His father helped him to get on the bus each day and was there when he got home. The bus trip took an hour and a half each way. Aziz accepted the challenge of his learning and was appreciative of his teachers for all they had taught him. Aziz was an inspiring example of the support Caritas Australia provides for people in developing countries. As many of our students have done during this Lenten season, I challenged our students to take on some of Aziz’s approach to learning:

• To turn up for classes on time, with the right materials, ready to learn;
• To treat peers and teachers with unconditional respect;
• To wear the College uniform with pride; and
• To never give up, persist with your learning.

Officer Campus’ first Girls Intermediate Volleyball Victory

From the start, it was clear that the calibre of talent trying out for Intermediate Girls Volleyball was high. No one really knew what was in store for them, having only played Volleyball in Physical Education or having never played at all, but I knew the skills these girls had from other sports would help us throughout the term.

After requesting the girls to YouTube some volleyball games so they had a rough idea on how to play, they were thrown into game one and came out with their first win against St Peter’s East Cranbourne. Game two wasn’t as kind, we did blame our loss against Padua Tyabb on the long bus ride, but it did give the girls some areas to work on for our next game.

Our third game took us to St John’s where we were victorious once again! The fourth and final game was at home. The girls knew that if we could score a win against the undefeated Casey Grammar, we would come away with a flag. Charlotte Semple and Elise were unstoppable, scoring continuous points with each serve. Tylah Burn and Aman put their bodies on the line to get all the low balls across the court. Simran Sandhu, Laura Wookey and Aweng used their height throughout the court to slam any balls back over the net and Tylah and Charli darted around the court to ensure no balls hit the ground.

Their skills shone through and Tianna Scamporlino almost couldn’t keep up with the scoring. Our team won the final two sets which resulted in an overall win for the game and us taking home the flag! Congratulations to the team for taking away Officer Campus’ first Girls Intermediate Volleyball victory!

Emily Roberts (Intermediate Girls Volleyball Coach)

Year 9 Inquiry Based Learning

On 29 March, David Vincent Nyuol visited the Year 9 Inquiry Based Learning students to speak on the topic of resilience and being a refugee in Australia. Our students were captivated as David told his story of leaving Sudan and being separated from his parents. The students loved hearing about some of the things which surprised David when he arrived in Australia; such as baggage carousels, automatic doors and the Melbourne weather in August! Students were given the opportunity to ask David questions about his life in Australia, his work in South Sudan and reunions he has with family and friends. In answer to one question David advised, I’ve never let anyone make me feel that I’m not Australian. David left a strong message with our students to make the most of all life’s experiences and challenged students to share their stories with one another.

Emma Notman

Schneider Assembly Speech – We’re All in This Together

As a school community, we strive to welcome new students to Officer Campus. Being together or working together increases productivity and ideas developing. Together we can support each other in completing challenging tasks. Everyone in this room has unique talents, skills, and experiences you bring to the Campus. Your unique talents and skills enable us to grow together as a community.

So many experiences at St Francis Xavier show that we are all in this together. These opportunities have enabled Officer Campus to become a strong and close-knit community where people learn and grow into amazing human beings. Officer Campus produces students who go out into the world – achieving great things.

All it takes is participation and persistence we are all on this journey through high school together even though we are all different or are in different year levels we experience the similar things. We all experience the stress and pressure that school brings. We have all experienced pain. We have all had bad days. Sometimes things get tough. Sometimes you may want to give up but we are all in this together.

Mary Wijewardene and Santoro Kep – Officer Campus Captains

Student Leadership Seminar – Student Executive Team

The Student Leadership Seminar was engaging and interesting. It allowed the Executive Team to discuss new initiatives that we could implement to help support the theme We Grow Together this year. I enjoyed the seminar and thought that it was the perfect way to discuss important issues and topics that needed addressing.

Ashreena Arul Daas

I really enjoyed the Student Leadership Seminar as it was a great way to discuss issues and hear other people’s opinions. Having these meetings enables us to discuss important topics that will help our school grow together.

Olivia Kruger

The Student Leadership Seminar was not only a great opportunity to express our opinions and thoughts, but it was great to come together with our Executive Team and get to know each other a little better.

Mary Wijewardene

The Student Leadership Seminar was amazing. We got to know more about each other and learn in depth about the College’s rules and expectations. It was truly a fun time with our Executive Team.

Santoro Kep

The Student Leadership Seminar was helpful because it gave us a chance to really discuss the issues that have come up during the term.

Osanda Wewalwala

Careers at Officer Campus

In Term 2, Ms Siobhan Thomas will be coming across to Officer Campus from Beaconsfield Campus to talk to our students about their subject selection and to provide support in choosing subjects based on future work choices. Ms Thomas will also talk about pathway options and work experience for the following year. If your son or daughter needs support with resume writing and interview tips, Ms Thomas will provide mentoring support and tuition with these tasks.

The Learning Resource Centre at Officer

The Learning Resource Centre at Officer has started the school year off with a positive buzz. Students are enjoying the space to explore their interests including; reading books, playing games, coding with scratch and sometimes just having a chat! Mrs Murphy and Mrs Lewis have been grateful to the students who have been helping make poppies for the ANZAC Day display – we are looking forward to the end result. What a great Term 1 it has been! Happy Easter to all!

Lauren Murphy

Bike Security

Bicycles are a common target for thieves. Make sure your bike is still there for your ride home – always lock it up!

To help prevent your bike being stolen, follow these bike safety tips:

• Use a ‘D’ shaped style hardened steel lock to secure your bike. Chain locks can be broken far too easily with tools;
• Secure your bike on designated bike racks only;
• Do not leave your bike attached to railings at building entrances or chained to fire stairs;
• Do not leave your bike unlocked;
• Keep details of your bike handy, including: make, model number, colour, serial number, plus a photo. This will make it easier to return a bike to its owner if it is recovered.

House Cross Country – Congratulations Schneider House

Officer House Cross Country was run and won in perfect conditions. Coming into the event, all Houses prepared somewhat differently. Gallagher House were expected to perform well having won the past three House Cross Country events – team captain Mr Clint Broadhurst was supremely confident that the event would see them reach four wins in succession and create a running dynasty.

Schneider House had seen a renewed enthusiasm for distance running within their group, having a record number of entrants across all age groups.

Burgess House continued their low-key approach to big events by letting their running do the talking. Mr Matthew Burke’s pep talk in the lead up, was sure to pay dividends.

Under the watchful captaincy of Miss Shauna Furlong, Thomas House always perform well, whatever the occasion. With two students guaranteeing victory, would 2019 be their year?

As for Synan, White, McKenna and McDonagh, they had all just tried to keep things ‘business as usual’ in the lead up. Synan were the big improvers at the House Swimming Carnival, McDonagh are a perennial running powerhouse, McKenna have been a surprise packet in recent carnivals while White, were looking to continue working their way up under the watchful eye of Mr Joseph Kan.

As the races began, Gallagher and Burgess showed the depth of runners in their respective teams by racing out to an early lead. Thankfully some good performances from the Schneider and Synan Year 7 students, kept them within striking distance. After the Year 8 races, and some exceptional running from a pumped-up Schneider squad, it looked to be a two-horse race with only Burgess appearing likely to snatch the win. But nobody told Thomas House. They ran the final two events like they were their last, recording two wins and a strong showing from the rest of their squad – but would it be enough?

In the end, it was Schneider House recording their first cross country win at the Officer Campus. In scenes not too different from an Olympic Games, the elation on team captain, Emma Notman’s, face was evident for all to see. Clearly, the hard work preparing her team for today had paid off. Just missing out on the ultimate accolade, Burgess were serviceable in second place, Gallagher eased their way into third, while Thomas took out fourth on the back of some elite running by their Year 9 runners. Our final places were filled by McDonagh, Synan, White and McKenna.

Thank you to all students who participated today. It was great to have so many keen runners arriving to be a part of the event. Until next time, keep running.

Darren Thomas