Officer Campus – 6 September 2018

Period 5 Friday Afternoon @ Officer Campus

Recently I went for a walk around the Officer Campus on a sunny Friday afternoon, about 2.45pm, and was so heartened to see so much happening around the campus.

In the Learning Resource Centre, Year 7 students were having a storybook artist incursion with Amanda Cooper, who brought many of her original works to share with the students, not just visually but also explaining the story behind the creation of the artwork.

In the classroom adjacent, Mr Steven Medorini was offering his Year 9 Japanese students the opportunity to travel around Japan via Virtual Reality technology. They were able to view streets of Tokyo as well as head south towards Hiroshima.

As I was heading up towards the GPFLA Building, there was two young ladies respectfully removing the Australian flag for the end of the day.

In the GPFLA Building, there was a hive of activity inside and outside. Our Tournament of Minds teams were completing their final preparations for the following day’s regional finals at Churchill.

In the outdoor breakout spaces, two Year 8 classes were working collaboratively in small groups on a geography, being supported by their teachers who were able to move freely between the groups.

However, in the building math classes were working also in small groups.

Down in the Food Technology classrooms, Year 9 students were enjoying their chocolate filled croissants that they had just prepared in class. The Year 9 students this day also spent the morning preparing for Outward Bound by participating in the Wear Your Outward Bound Clothes to school day. There was plenty of flannelette shirts to be seen around this day.

Tim O’meara

Wetlands

In preparation for an upcoming excursion, Year 8 classes ventured down to the wetlands at the lower reaches of the campus recently to practise their recording and observational skills in the field.

Our wetlands are a great resource, which are being utilised by an increasingly growing number of classes for a variety of reasons, and this shift in using outside space, further demonstrates that the physical structure and constraints of the classroom of the past are being broken down.

Tournament of Minds (TOM)

Congratulations to the two Officer Campus TOM teams who competed at the regional finals at Federation University, Churchill. Both teams came away successful and are now completing their final preparations for the State finals this weekend at La Trobe University.

Congratulations

Congratulations to the Officer debating team of Lauren Symmons, Alyanna Trajano, Holly Dyason and Emily Orford who have qualified for the semi-finals of the SIS Debating this weekend.

Congratulations to the Intermediate SIS Football team (girls) on their thumping victory last week in their final game. The came away winners 60 – 9. They have come a long way this year under the guidance of Miss Cumper having not experienced successful prior to this year.

Our other SIS teams; softball, touch rugby, soccer and netball, had successful and rewarding seasons too.

Outward Bound

Finally, the big week is almost upon us. Next Monday we will see off our Year 9 students to Outward Bound. Much time and energy has been put into the planning and preparation to run a successful camp program and we thank all the students and their families who have embraced the program and its necessary requirements.

It is also appropriate to appreciate the goodwill that so many staff have shown in attending Outward Bound with our students. They put their own lives on hold for the week and place their usual responsibilities upon someone else in their absence. The success of the program depends on these people. They have been wonderfully supported by Miss Emily Roberts who has the role of leading the program for the College and have been ably supported by Miss Shiona Dickson and Mrs Natalie Lubin.

We look forward to hearing about the defining moments of the camps upon the return of the students.

Student Profile Questionnaire

In coming weeks, students across the College will be given a Student Profile survey to complete within an allocated Caregroup time. The purpose of the survey is to gather information about individual students’ language, literacy and cultural backgrounds, as well as their education experience. The aim is for subject teachers to have access to this information so that they may more effectively support their students in accessing, comprehending and using English (Standard Australian English) within their classrooms. The College will only use this information internally.

Given students’ oral language skills develop far more quickly than their reading and writing skills the need to develop a profile of their linguistic backgrounds is imperative to teachers’ ability to address individual learning needs. Information collected will be used to facilitate the identification of practical teaching and learning strategies.

This information will be collected in accordance with the College Privacy Policy and will not be shared with any third party. If you have any questions with regard to the College Privacy Policy, please contact the Deputy Principal: Mission – Mr John Fazzino at the College. You can find a copy of our Privacy Policy on the College Website.

Kind Regards,

Diana Di Conza.

National Child Protection week (2-8 September 2018) – preventing child abuse and neglect 

The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a central and fundamental responsibility of Catholic education. At St Francis Xavier we have a zero tolerance for child abuse and 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. St. Francis Xavier College is please to support the National Child Prevention week in its efforts to build a Culture of Child Protection in our community. 

National Child Protection Week will run from Fathers’ Day Sunday 2 September to 8 September with a range of campaigns, events, and announcements to support the prevention of child abuse and neglect, and remind us that protecting children is everyone’s business. 

NAPCAN Deputy CEO, Leesa Water, urges Australians to start thinking about child abuse as something that can be prevented rather than a problem to be fixed after the fact. 

“Most people are surprised the learn that approximately 1 in 32 children are the victims of substantiated child abuse each year in Australia. 

“And these are just the ones that are severe enough to reach the high threshold required to be picked up by the statutory child protection system. Hundreds of thousands more children have less than optimal lives but are not counted in these alarming statistics. 

“However, we know that these rates of abuse are not inevitable. There is clear evidence that much of this abuse is preventable. 

“Children thrive when their families have the support they need, and are part of strong connected communities. 

“Our aim is to encourage governments, service providers, and the broader community to direct resources and efforts into prevention, so that all children are?valued, nurtured and able to live free from violence, abuse and neglect.” 

Importantly, we need to remember that the little things we do every day can help to create safer environments for children. For instance: 

• Be kind to children and parents 
• Be a good role model around children 
• Get involved in your local community, say ‘hi’ to neighbours 
• Look out for signs of abuse or neglect; if you suspect something is wrong talk to an expert 
• Always take reports of abuse seriously 
• Avoid blame and do not judge; instead, ask yourself what you can do to help 
• Listen to the needs of children and spend time with them 

National Child Protection Week will include the presentation of NAPCAN’s Play Your Part Awards which honour individuals, communities and organisations that carry out inspiring and effective actions promoting child safety and wellbeing across the country, from rural communities to inner cities, from our suburbs to the outback. 

If any member of the St. Francis Xavier College Community would like more information on the College’s Child Protection System please contact John Fazzino – DP Mission jfazzino@sfx.vic.edu.au