Officer News – 28 June 2018

As we come to the end of term 2, I want to congratulate all our students on their efforts, their personal and collaborative perseverance to achieve their best and be a better version of self. At the start of term, I invited our students to be the voice. The voice that celebrates diversity, the voice that accepts all, and the voice of love. It takes great perseverance to achieve this. So far this term our students have stepped up to many opportunities to demonstrate and share this within our Campus and College community, and with the wider local community.

Some of these opportunities include:

• Welcoming parents into our classrooms to see learning in action on our parent learning walk;
• We had an open day on last Saturday where 60 students offered their time to come in and share with prospective parents strengths of our College;
• We have had many learning programs implemented this term that support the diverse way our students learn;
• Students were involved in a range of enrichment programs including Illuminate Next Gen Challenge and Da Vinci Decathlon;
• We have had St Clare Primary School students visit us to see our learning in action as participants in fitness programs and as an audience for our Yr 9 Drama performances;
• We had students undertake a kindness walk down at Arena shopping centre and saw kindness being contagious;
• We celebrated students art, textiles and technology skills and talents last week with our Officer Campus exhibition;
• This term in particular students have come forward and shared wonderful ideas and projects for implementation at our Campus;
• We had a Curriculum Review where the outcomes celebrate and embrace diversity in learning;
• We had house masses last week where community love was evident;

and this list goes on.

Positive Relationships

Our college has a commitment to developing positive relationships.  This term at the Officer campus we have provided a number of opportunities for our students to engage in information sessions and workshops to help them increase their skills in managing themselves, develop communication skills to enrich harmonious interactions, and to enhance student understanding of the Catholic Social Teaching of dignity for the human person.   We have been fortunate to have Cardinia Police Youth Resource Officer, Catherine Emmett, speak to all our students at different times throughout the term, inviting our students to deepen their understanding of the legal system, and explore key areas for youths including cyberbullying, sexting, incitement, assaults, affray and stalking.  We have also had presenters from BullyZero foundation speak to our students about cyberbullying and provided strategies to support students interactions online.  This week our Heads of House and Wellbeing team built upon all of this and ran workshops that focused on the student Global footprint, Respect, and Communication.  Topics that were covered in these workshops included online behaviours,  decision making, differences between verbal and non-verbal cues and the impact of perceptions in their day-to-day relationships and communication.  Core to all these presentations and workshops has been a focus on respect, helping our students understand that respect is Responsibility, Equality, Safety, Permission, Expression, Collaboration and Trust.  In developing students understanding of what respect sounds like, looks like, and feels like, we are building student capacity to enhance positive relationships in their real and online world.

Our St Francis Xavier Officer Campus community is thriving, and it is a great privilege to lead this Campus. I wish all our students, staff and families a safe holiday break and look forward to seeing students continuing to persevere to exceed their potential in their studies, to have voice, and to be the light of the world.

Congratulations

We congratulate all students who have been awarded with courage and courtesy awards this term. In particular, we acknowledge students who have been awarded colours as a result:

We congratulate our Gold recipient:

Alyanna Trajano

We congratulate our Silver recipients:

Rory Jaremczuk
Darcy Paterson
Santoro Kep
Annabella Gridley

We congratulate our Bronze recipients:

Tayla Ferguson
Kayla Jaremczuk
Erin Byrne
Kaitlin Byrne
Riley Macleod
Charlotte Semple
Abbey Seuren
Rebecca Chol
Jordan Sanders
Alannah Auld
Tahlia Simmons
Mitchell Rook
Alexandra Williams
Kyna Marsiglio
Jasmyn Ellis
Paris La’Brooy
Chinmay Savanth
Holly Dyason

Student of the term

We congratulate St Francis Xavier Officer Campus Students of the term:

Year 7 – Claudia Poblete Bustos
Year 7 – Daniel Dee
Year 8 – Allanah Auld
Year 8 – Kyan Stellato
Year 9 – Paris La’Brooy
Year 9 – Jack Vasilik

Art & Technology Exhibition

On 21 June, Officer Campus showcased the work of our students at the recent Art & Technology Exhibition. On display was a range of creations from Year 7 – 9 students in Electronics, Wood, Textiles, Visual Communication and Design, and Art. Many students and their families came to view the exhibition on Thursday and also prospective families at the Open Day on Saturday. All were impressed and inspired by the wonderful work created by our students. A special thank you to all the Art and Technology staff who organised this, as well as the students for sharing your creations.

Student Sport Achievement

Year 7 student Eliza Molino has been selected to represent School Sport Victoria (SSV) at the School Sport Australia 12 Years and Under Netball Championship.

Eliza will be travelling to Darwin from 15 to 21 September to compete. Well done!

Year 9 student Elizabeth Lawless has been selected to participate in the Callisthenics Victoria Intermediate State Team as a soloist.
They are due to compete in Canberra in the Term Holidays. Great work Elizabeth, we wish you all the best!

Religious Education Department

We have concluded the semester with two significant faith events that have enabled the building of empathy and community. On 22 June, each of our Houses united as one in various parishes around the area. The day is designed to bring together two important aspects of our school life – our House system and our parishes. Both of these are places where every person is known, the parish welcomes all and walks with us through the significant moments in our life. The parish provides a place to gather and worship, a place to care for the world and without our parishes our school would not exist. Our Houses also provide our students with a place where they are known and cared for in their six years at the College. It is the basis of our community life, a place to say hello each day, a place to pray, and place to be supported in learning. Our priests welcomed our students to their parishes of Cranbourne, Narre Warren, Berwick, Pakenham, Koo Wee Rup and Warragul. Staff and students enjoyed meeting again their students who had moved to the Beaconsfield Campus. The day was joyful, students were very positive about the experience, and it brought us closer as a community. We thank God for our parishes, knowing that beyond school it is a place where all of us can go to find belonging, peace and inspiration.

From 27 – 29 June, Year 11 Houses have been on retreat at various locations around our area. I have observed a House whose members have shown empathy for each other. They have listened to each other’s stories with respect, they have welcomed and delighted in the opportunity to get to know their peers more. They have taken part in prayer, servant leadership games, reflected and shared significant life moments, and grown closer as a House. On Thursday night the students led a liturgy around a camp fire. I was moved by their willingness to pray for each other, to listen deeply, and to participate willingly in this moment. Our Catholic faith informs the aims of our retreat. The unconditional love of God is available to us at all moments in our lives. Living in tune with this beautiful song brings hope and vision for a life that is fulfilled, resilient and caring of others. If the students know that we can depend on God and this promise of love they can walk a little lighter in this world and make a difference. The Year 11 students will begin discerning what 2019 leadership roles they can apply for when they return in term three. I can say that I have observed potential leaders in action at the retreat, and this would have been evident around all the Houses.

We pray for a restful, peaceful and safe school holiday.