黄色十大软件

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the first edition of The Lighthouse for 2022 and, in so doing, celebrate the commencement of another school year at 黄色十大软件. We commence the year with an enrolment of just over 1700 students including 19 students from St Mary鈥檚 College for the deaf. We also employ over 240 staff. Of course, we welcome most heartily all students new to Aquinas, especially those who join Aquinas for the first time in Year 7. It has been wonderful to see so many happy smiling faces and hear such excitement as their secondary schooling begins. I look forward to keeping you up to date with news from the College each fortnight via The Lighthouse.

College Leaders

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with our College Student Leaders earlier this week and hear about the exciting plans they have for the year ahead. For the families who may be reading Lighthouse for the first time, let me introduce our College Student Leaders for 2022. Our Captains are Levi Mugamu and Bailey Leatch. Vice Captains are Dylan Tudor and Georga Carusi. The Advisory Council Representative is Ben Beattie. The Student Ambassador is Patrick Romijn and the College Ambassador is Ann Marian Joseph. 

CovidSafe Return to School

It is pleasing to be able to commence the 2022 year with schooling face to face, albeit at a time when COVID-19 is quite prevalent in the community. It is understandable that there may be heightened anxiety about the return to school and the College will be implementing our CovidSafe Plan which is continually under review in accordance with the public health advice. The key protective measure remains to stay away from school if showing the and seek medical advice as necessary. Students who normally show symptoms of allergies and hayfever do not need to remain at home unless the symptoms seem unusual or more severe than normal. 

To ensure that we minimise risk, Aquinas students are required to adhere to the following expectations:

• Students should maintain good hand hygiene and clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol based rub regularly.
• Wear a mask at all times when indoors and on public transport. Masks are not required outdoors except when social distancing is not possible.
• Undertake rapid antigen testing twice per week, especially if asymptomatic, and isolate for 7 days if there is a positive result.

The College is maximising ventilation indoors by ensuring that windows and doors are open whenever possible. Air purifiers have been provided by the Victorian Government and have been deployed to areas of reduced ventilation and higher risk. We are also assessing large gatherings and determining whether they can safely proceed. Where possible, we will plan to gather outdoors.

Rapid Antigen Tests

Rapid Antigen Tests have been provided for all students and staff to use as part of a surveillance strategy to help avoid asymptomatic students and staff bringing COVID-19 into the College. Tests are to be taken twice per week and we are recommending Monday and Thursday. A positive result should be reported to the and to Dr Rodezno at the College: deputyprincipal@aquinas.vic.edu.au. The College will notify the relevant cohort of our community when a positive case has come onsite.

ICON Update

As part of our transition to the ICON Enterprise Administration and Finance System we have been required to establish a new pathway to our Community/Parent Portal to allow access for you to update details and organise fee payments. Unfortunately, we are experiencing some delays and this functionality is yet to 鈥済o live鈥�. We will inform you when it is ready to be accessed and apologise for the delay.

College Opening Mass and Opening Assembly

Due to Covid-19 area density guidelines our Opening Mass and Opening Assembly will be student only events this year and therefore will be conducted during the school day. Both will occur on the morning of Tuesday, March 1. 

Celebrate Excellence @Aquinas

We will gather as a community and recognise those who achieved excellence in 2021 on Monday, February 28 at 7.30pm. This year the students who excelled at Year 12 will also be invited to return and be acknowledged as part of this ceremony. Invitations for participants and guardians will be available over the coming days. The event will need to be conducted outdoors in accordance with our CovidSafe plan for large gatherings. More information, including ticketing, will be made available over the coming days.

Post School Offers

In January, 175* Year 12 graduates received a First Round Offer with 85% receiving their first or second preference. This is an excellent outcome for our graduates who wish to pursue tertiary studies and there is great diversity in their areas of interest, highlighting again, the opportunities that exist for graduates to pursue their passions. We have also had many students secure full apprenticeships and other traineeships. We wish all of our graduates great success in the next stage of their education. *Nb. Students can refuse permission for publication of their offer.

Parents and Friends Network

The P&F Network provides valuable feedback to the College leadership and gives a 鈥減arent鈥檚 perspective鈥� on life at Aquinas.  They also help us welcome families to the community and show the Aquinas hospitality of which we are so proud. The committee is looking for new membership as a number of current members finish their association with Aquinas with their child鈥檚 graduation. Meetings are held on the first Monday of the month. Should you wish to find out more please contact Dr Nap Rodezno on deputyprincipal@aquinas.vic.edu.au.

Darren Atkinson
Principal

Welcome back!

I hope that your family managed to rest and enjoy the good weather that we were all blessed with during the holidays. Despite the uncertainties we face as we enter a third year under the COVID-19 cloud, I am hopeful that this year will be one with greater face to face learning opportunities and engagement for all students. 

As outlined by Mr Atkinson in his welcome email to families, it is important to be familiar with our COVIDSafe plan and the reliance on all our members of the community as we aim to keep the community safe. I recently wrote to all our students, welcoming them back and highlighting a few points to them.

Understanding that the news has reported recent rises in COVID-19 cases and that this is likely to lead to uncomfortable measures at the College to enhance their safety, I reiterate that it is definitely not the start that we were all looking forward to, fortunately we are in a position to contribute to our collective safety so that we all remain healthy and well. 

Our COVID-Safe strategies communicated to your child includes:

• Wearing of Face Masks 
• No eating in buildings 
• Maintaining Hygiene 
• Social distancing
• Staying home when unwell and getting tested 
• Adhering to ventilation strategies 
• Using rapid antigen tests as recommended by the Victorian Government

I encourage you to discuss this with your child on an ongoing basis and to notify the College if they receive a positive test result or become close contacts. If your child tests positive, or is a household close contact requiring isolation, please notify the deputyprincipal@aquinas.vic.edu.au email address to inform the College so that support and work is made available.

Reading for Meaning

During the holidays, I was fortunate to read many books, most of which allowed me to reflect on the experiences of 2020 and 2021 in ways that highlighted not the setbacks but rather the progress made under very challenging circumstances. I was able to read for meaning in a time when I needed a boost after what had been a long year. 

As I reflect, I consider that our Class of 2021 achieved amazing results and every student in the College was eventually able to return to the school and give it life. Our staff finished the year well and although tired, achieved many things. It was a tiring end to the year but optimism was relatively high. The Omicron wave has again given our community a sense of despair but I remain confident that we will have a much better educational experience in 2022 through physical face to face learning than what we experienced in the last two years. 

For me, the best book was How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division, by Elif Shafak. The book is an extended essay in which Shakaf reflects on the current world situation and highlights the challenges that COVID-19 has imposed on our global thinking. For Shakaf, humanity has an opportunity to implement positive change. The pandemic has taught us that we are vulnerable but equally, that life is precious. We have learnt that we are part of nature and that we have the power to be of good not just to those we love but the rest of the communities we belong to. We have also learnt to be, at times, selfish and drawn into shallow and restricting perspectives on our purpose through the irresponsible use of voice. Shakaf says "In a world that is profoundly complex and challenging, group narcissism has become a compensation for our personal frustrations, flaws and failures. But above all, it provides a counterbalance to two troubling feelings: disillusionment and bewilderment". 

More than ever, human beings are well connected through the use of sophisticated communication. Social media provides that platform. Unfortunately, our perspectives on life, on our own security and thirst for comfort and appreciation for what we have has also limited our ability to see beyond the immediate. Shakaf outlines that: "The moment we stop listening to diverse opinions is also when we stop learning. Because the truth is, we don鈥檛 learn much from sameness and monotony. We usually learn from differences". 

This statement leads me to question how schools can better educate students on the importance of having a voice by learning not just from each other at the College but from the greater community. In our society, we often hear about the voiceless in our communities; the marginalised, vulnerable, those at the margins, and some of us assume responsibility to help through different acts of compassion. We aim to bring about action as a way to enhance equity and change. Yet, we also fail to listen to what the marginalised and vulnerable actually need. We tend to assume what we need to do because we are often drawn to it from a view based on our own experiences. I realise that if we are going to empower our young to lead change, it must be done with the ability to listen and engage in discourse that is informed, respectful and compassionate. But having a voice has a large degree of responsibility attached to it. 

Living in our current world is significantly different to living in the world of our parents and grandparents. Shakif states that today, social media and digital communication have both accelerated and heightened group narcissism. Stuck in our whispering galleries we have become bad listeners and even worse learners. Having a voice is not just about being able to tell what we think but also having the ability to listen to what others have to say. Having a voice is not just about posting a nasty statement as a way to offend someone, or make fun of a person to humiliate them publicly because we don鈥檛 agree with them. This is a great challenge, because we see this act displayed each day in the media, where it is easier to blame, to single out and to highlight negatives without having to listen to a response. It is our communal responsibility to ensure that we engage in discourse and that we appreciate others鈥� points of view, as ridiculous or unclear as they may be to us. Understanding that someone else鈥檚 reality is different to ours is the first step.

Teaching children to be responsible users of social media, to voice their opinions responsibly and to listen to others are keys for their success at school. I encourage you to discuss this with your child and to look at the available for families.

I was also encouraged to read The Secrets to a Happy Life, a Harvard University study conducted by Anahad O'Connor. In his article, Anahad explores the meaning of what does it take to live a good life? Although this was not one of the top texts I read, it was a significant reminder of the purpose I mentioned before. 

Anahad concludes that success and purpose underpin the living of a good life, but questions what success and purpose actually mean? Some people believe that accumulating wealth, fame and living the successes attached to this are keys to a happy life. However, research has demonstrated that the most important predictors of living a long and prosperous life (and a happy one) are connected to long-term health and wellbeing, underpinned by the strength of your relationships with family and friends.

A longitudinal Harvard study into life expectancy and happiness, which commenced in 1938, closely studied the life experiences of more than 700 men (and in some cases their spouses, we did live in a more sexist world back then). The study revealed factors that may determine happiness and health amongst the men, equally highlighting the offset of loneliness, sickness, and mental decline in old age. It is clear that the more meaningful human connections we experience, the greater quality of life we can achieve. 

Through the course of 2022, we will continue to introduce some initiatives to assist our support for student learning. The College has created specific roles for key staff to oversee  our Student Services within counselling and health support for all students. Following a thorough review, the IMPACT Team was created, as a way to improve and enhance pathways education and support for our students as they progress through school. More information about these services will be provided in future editions of this newsletter. 

Please do not park at Great Ryrie Primary School

The College was notified by Great Ryrie Primary School across the road that their school grounds have been used by parents and students for parking. I ask that you please do not use car park spaces at the school as they are needed for their community. I appreciate your support in this matter.

I wish you all the very best for the year ahead and I look forward to seeing our students make the most of their time at Aquinas in a safe, respectful, compassionate, liberating and educating environment. 

Dr Napoleon Rodezno
Deputy Principal

It is the new school year. We are looking forward to the freshness a new year brings, a chance to take advantage of being back at the beginning with everyone else, ready to learn. School, for young people, has many things to deal with, like schoolwork, relationships, life outside school, expectations. I don鈥檛 want to offer some slick advice about how to negotiate all of these things because they are different for all of us. I do think there are two simple facts that can help students at the beginning of the year.

Fact 1: The year has started, what are you waiting for?

Very often students have, let鈥檚 call it, a gradual approach to the start of school. But February and March are the high intensity months where we can get organised, develop better habits or continue the great ones we already have, and keep up. The weather is good, classmates are enthusiastic, teachers are fresh. Assessment is often a few weeks away, so this time can be spent on focused learning. Now is when the opportunities to get better can be grasped. 

Which leads to...

Fact 2: (And I am quoting from a text I have referred to before) 鈥淟earning is deeper and more durable when it鈥檚 effortful. Learning that鈥檚 easy is like writing in sand, here today and gone tomorrow.鈥� 

Our job early in the year is not to find the easiest way to do things, it is to find ways to generate the effort to do things that are difficult, because in doing things that are difficult we grow, we improve and we learn things which are worthwhile.

Both of these things are simple but not easy. The starting gun has fired, let鈥檚 not look for the shortest race but the one that makes us the fittest.

Welcome to the 2022 school year. A great opportunity to meet our goals.

Michael Box
Deputy Principal Learning

Welcome back to our students, staff and families for 2022. I hope that you all had an enjoyable Christmas and had a relaxing break with family and friends. I spent a week camping with my family and a group of friends celebrating our 11th year holidaying together. It certainly was a welcome 鈥渃hange of scenery鈥� from being at home for long periods once again throughout 2021.

The beginning of the school year always has a mixture of emotions: excitement, nervousness, uncertainty. Be assured that the staff at Aquinas have been working hard over the break and in particular the past few weeks, meeting and preparing class materials and ensuring our grounds and facilities are ready for students. Welcome back to all our students - new and returning.

I also extend a warm welcome to the new staff commencing at Aquinas in 2022. 

I will introduce them in more detail in future editions of the 鈥淟ighthouse鈥�, however, you will find names and a photo of new staff here.

Gina Goss
Assistant Principal - Staff

New Beginnings

As we begin a new year, we experience a range of emotions. Like all new beginnings we have excitement and anticipation at the promise of something new and at the same time wariness and nervousness as to what this new day will bring. For each of us the focus of these feelings can be different and yet we are all experiencing a new start, fresh opportunities to explore and succeed.

Jesus was a new beginning, changing our mindset on God from punishing and scary to that of a loving father. A change from waiting for heaven to taking action to create heaven on earth. The love of God shown to us through Jesus, demonstrates that we can always seek a new beginning. When we stray, we can return; if we fail in ourselves we can seek forgiveness and renew our relationship with God and others. The prodigal son is a parable Jesus uses to remind us that we can begin again.

At the start of this year, our staff and our Year 12 students both held liturgies around our Chorus Luminis sculpture, a fire burning brightly, sending the warmth of God鈥檚 love into our hearts and minds as we look forward to a new year. 

During this liturgy we reflected on a poem by John O鈥橠onohue:

Wishing you all a wonderful new beginning.
God Bless

Tania Grace
Assistant Principal - Mission

Senior Years Report

Welcome back to the College. I trust that you have had a time to enjoy with your family and friends during the school summer break. The new year brings various changes; managing RAT testing, movement of teachers and re-locations of offices in the school.

We warmly welcome the Year 10 students into the building and are confident that they will quickly familiarise themselves with the classrooms and facilities. As students return to, they will notice the Careers and Pathways offices have moved to a more central location of the school.

Fran Jennings, Career Counsellor; Anne McLaughlin, Pathways Coordinator and Meredith Greenwood, Student Programs Coordinator now have their offices in the Aquinas Resource Centre (ARC). A key function of school is to prepare students for their future career pathways. Placing these services at the centre of the school ensures it remains an integral part of the whole school.

Save the date: Senior Years Parent Information evening will take place on Tuesday 15th February, 7,30pm. This will be an online event hosted by your child鈥檚 Mentor teacher. An invitation to the evening will be sent to parent email addresses provided on PAM and will contain the Google Meet link. Please save the date and look out for invitations arriving soon.

Rachel Crawley
Head Senior Years

Middle Years Report

We know it can be very easy for students at the start of the school year to 'go through the motions' somewhat. After a holiday break, it can be hard to have motivation and they can just want to get through to the next break without much thought of what they want to achieve.

To help students focus on the first few weeks of school, we are introducing an 鈥楨ntry Form鈥� into Middle Years. Each student will fill out a form which will endeavour to get them thinking about the expectations they have for themselves this year, and how they can bring life to the Aquinas community. This form, and the level of detail provided by the student, will assist myself and their Homeroom Teachers by being a reference point in regard to their focus and expectations for the year ahead, it is not intended to be a means of 'tripping them up if they don鈥檛 succeed'.

This is an opportunity for them to share with their teachers and peers, and more importantly themselves, what they want to make the most of in 2022 at Aquinas. The expectations that they have for themselves in 2022 could be in regard to their school work, attitude, resilience, behaviour, organisation or how they can interact with their peers.

We think that trying to bring life in a positive way to whatever one does is great for the individual but importantly, also helps lift others. Examples of ways to do this could be around:

• Answering questions in class
• Including, supporting, encouraging and looking out for others (that aren't necessarily their best friends)
• Taking positive risks socially and with their learning
• Giving others permission to try new things, to shine and to be themselves
• Using Social media in a positive way, to boost others, to educate, to support one another
• Valuing their peers, teachers, school.

We also look forward to hearing ideas on how the students can endeavour to bring to life the Core Value for their year level being:

Year 7: Belonging
Year 8: Stewardship
Year 9: Perseverance

Considered and detailed information on these forms is encouraged, if a student does not answer with much detail or responds with 鈥榠dk鈥� (that鈥檚 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know鈥� for those that aren鈥檛 up with the modern-day abbreviated teenage vernacular!) this will highlight the opportunity to discuss focus and expectations further with that student. Students will get time to think about and draft their responses and of course, we would love these to be a discussion point with parents at home.

Phil Box
Head Middle Years

Welcome back to our new school year. I hope everyone was able to get and enjoy some relaxing time in nature at the beach, rivers, mountains and bush environments. A heartfelt thank you to maintenance and our staff who came in during the holiday period to care for the chickens. The chickens loved hanging out in the garden and getting spoilt with treats from Maryanne Leavey, Caitlin Stewart, Craig Cleeland, Ping Drew, Shelia Bolton and Sharni.

Do it for your future...

The start of the year is a great time to review your home recycling. Scrape food bits into the rubbish bin. Rinse out bottles, jars and cans before putting them into the recycling bin. Glass, some metal items and paper items can all be recycled in your kerbside collection.

Need some inspiration? Check out Jimmy Rees and his alter ego the packaging guy 鈥楯ason鈥�

Plastic reminders

• Only rigid plastic bottles and containers can go in your recycling bin.
• Flexible, soft plastics such as plastic bags or cling wrap can鈥檛 go in your recycle bin.
• Lids must be removed.
• Empty rigid plastic bottles and containers from your kitchen, bathroom and laundry can go in your blue lidded recycle bin (Maroondah residents). This covers items such as biscuit trays (not the outer wrapper), yoghurt containers, soft drink bottles, fruit punnets and sauce bottles.

Need some more details? Simply click here;

Karyn Myers
Environment & Sustainability Coordinator

This year Aquinas will be involved in a variety of different EISM Sports across the year levels in Term 1. For the Senior Students in Years 10 to 12, EISM weekly sport commences on Wednesday 16th February for the summer season. The sports that the students will be playing are:

• CRICKET, BASKETBALL (BOYS), NETBALL (GIRLS), SOFTBALL, ULTIMATE FRISBEE, SOCCER (GIRLS), HOCKEY (BOYS), TENNIS, and BADMINTON

The Grand finals will be held on Wednesday 6th April.

For the Year 9 EISM students, their season starts on Thursday 17th February for the summer season. The sports that the students will be playing are:

• BASKETBALL, TOUCH FOOTBALL, SOFTBALL, INDOOR SOCCER and TENNIS.

The semi finals will be held on 19th May and the Grand finals will be on the 26th May.

At both levels the students will be playing against Donvale Christian College, Emmaus College, Luther College, Mt Lilydale Mercy College, Mt Scopus College, Tintern Grammar.

Year 8 Sport will operate in Term 1 and they will play: 

• BASKETBALL, HOCKEY (BOYS), SOCCER (GIRLS), SOFTBALL and TABLE TENNIS.

Other important dates for this term are:

• Aquinas Year 7-9 Athletics carnival will be held on Friday 11th March at the College
• EISM Interschool Division 1 Swim carnival at MSAC on Tuesday 14th March in the evening
• EISM Interschool Champions Swim carnival at MSAC on Monday 24th March in the evening
• The EISM Swim squad will commence training next week. They will be training on Tuesdays in the morning from 7am and Fridays from 7.30am up until the carnival in March.

Later in the year there will be:

• EISM Interschool Division1 Athletics carnival at Lakeside Stadium on Thursday 5th May during the day
• EISM Interschool Champions Athletics carnival at Lakeside Stadium on Tuesday 24th May in the afternoon from 2pm
• EISM Cross Country carnival at Ruffey Lake Park on Wednesday 7th September during the day.
• The Year 7-9 Cross Country carnival will be held in late term 2 at school and the swimming carnival in mid November at Aquanation.

Bernie Brummell
Sports Co-ordinator

The new school year has launched and we are eagerly anticipating the joy of making music. As this is my fifth year at Aquinas I am again very excited and enthusiastic about leading a program with such passionate staff and students into the future.  Thank you in advance to all our music families for your support and particularly for encouraging your child to continue his or her study of music at Aquinas. 

Students have been informed that instrumental lessons and ensemble rehearsals will begin on the 7th of February.  Students have been asked to check the music notice board for their lesson times with timetables for Term 1 up by the end of this week.  The instrumental music teachers will email timetables to students and always attempt to minimize the disruptions by regularly rotating their student鈥檚 times over periods, days, and weeks. However, as I am sure you can understand, this becomes a very complicated process allowing for such things as double periods, part-time staff and other timetabling matters.

One of the most important aspects of the successful instrumental, choir, and band participation is the element of home practice. By taking a few minutes each and every night, students can reinforce the musical material learned in the day's lessons and rehearsal. They can work on various technical aspects at their own pace and continue to refine their skills and improve their technique and musical tone quality. Students who practice regularly at home tend to get the most pleasure out of group participation. They look forward to rehearsals and performances and take a great deal of pride in performing to the best of their abilities. These students help to ensure that the Aquinas music program will continue its tradition of excellence.

Students are highly recommended, as part of instrumental and voice lessons, to become a member of the varied College ensembles.  Ensemble rehearsals are held before and after school, most days, in addition to some lunchtimes and students will be invited to participate in performance opportunities such as major and minor College events, local community performances and representing the school at state and national festivals/competitions.   

Due to Covid-19 restrictions our regular 鈥業nstrumental Recruitment Night鈥� will be cancelled for 2022.  However, alternative arrangements have been made with all Year 7 students experiencing trials starting next week during the timetable.  Teachers will be meeting and working with all our year seven students to select the best and most appropriate instrument for them to select in 2022. 

It is important that students strive for excellence in all their endeavours. As students play their instruments better, they seem to gain more from the musical experience. The feeling of accomplishment through musical performance directly increases their sense of self-worth. It is always amazing to see how this improvement is reflected in better attitudes, better grades and a brighter outlook on life.

One of the most important ways to improve as a musician is through private lessons. There is no substitute for weekly sessions of individualized instruction by an instrument specialist. Private lesson instructors serve as the ideal models and mentor to assist in your child's improvement in the areas of tone, technique, and general musicianship. The helpful hints or minor adjustments suggested by the instructor can greatly improve your child's playing ability. 

If parents or students would like more information about enrolling in instrumental lessons and have not yet completed the online enrolment, which is available on PAM, please feel free to contact any instrumental staff member directly or contact myself or Trish Thompson, our Music Secretary. With spots filling up quickly across the program we are looking for recruits to join our amazing beginner ensembles for fun and exciting opportunities.  There is still time, but be quick!

Jared Campbell
Music Programs Coordinator

Homework and Learning Strategies (with a focus on effort, growth and strong learning relationships)

Welcome to 2022! We encourage all students to focus on effort and growth and also to build a strong learning relationship with their classroom teacher and peers. In relation to 鈥榚ffort鈥�, setting aside structured time beyond the classroom to complete required homework/cycle planner tasks is a very important starting point as effort precedes improvement/growth. To use a sporting analogy, most students that play a sport have a regular training schedule and then a game on the weekend. Meeting the sporting commitment usually involves a significant amount of effort from the parent(s) in terms of the drop-offs and pick-ups and also going to watch the game, and potentially even giving your child feedback about their performance and suggestions for improvement. Obviously the coach will also provide feedback about performance and then implement specific training drills to assist with growth and development. This is where the structured Maths homework comes in. Setting aside specific times across the week where Maths homework/cycle planner tasks are completed provides the framework for where the required effort happens.

As students鈥� progress through each year level the amount of time spent completing homework generally increases incrementally. Setting aside four blocks where Maths homework will be completed across the week is a good framework for all year levels, and the time spent in each of these blocks builds as each year passes. For example: at Year 7 setting aside 4 x 20 to 25 minutes would be a great start. Note that ideally one of the four sessions is dedicated to 鈥楥losing the Gaps鈥� (discussed in more detail below). By Year 12 setting aside 4 x 45 to 60 minutes is more likely to be the required amount. Setting the homework framework at Year 7 will provide the required routine and this framework remains with a gradual build in required effort. Of course, there is no time like the start of a new school year to make a fresh start. If past efforts haven鈥檛 been ideal then jump into this routine/strategy and set new work habits.

Collaboration and 鈥楥losing the Gaps鈥� assists with maximising growth opportunities and building strong learning relationships. Students are encouraged to discuss strategies with their peer group and of course their teacher as required. For example, if a particular homework task is challenging, then reaching out to peers for assistance is often a good starting point. It鈥檚 not about asking for 鈥榯he answer鈥� but more importantly the strategies that demonstrate the correct process. If students can set up a collaborative peer group that has 4 to 6 members this provides a richness of input and hopefully at least one of the members will be available when someone reaches out for assistance with appropriate strategies that do lead to correct understanding. 鈥楥losing the Gaps鈥� relates to setting aside the time to look back on items that were challenging the first time around, this might be a homework question or might be something on an assessment task that was challenging. The main idea here is that students鈥� dedicate some time to reviewing these items until they feel confident about their ability to successfully hurdle the content. 

鈥楥losing The Gaps鈥� - So what does this look like in practical terms? During a particular week a student completing a series of Maths questions might identify that eight of the questions were not correctly answered under their own steam. The student would identify these by marking a yellow highlighter next to each of these eight questions. At this point the student then proceeds to the collaboration stage and reaches out for assistance from their peer group/teacher for these items. About one week later it is recommended that the student uses one of the four homework sessions to circle back and 鈥楥lose the Gaps鈥� on these eight questions by having another go at these items. Second time around the student is hopefully able to do some/all of these items on their own. For the tasks that can successfully be done upon this reattempt stage the student uses a green highlighter to mark over the yellow as a means of identifying growth has occurred. The student continues to circle back on the yellow items and works towards turning as many of them into green as possible. Dedicating time and effort to 鈥楥losing the Gaps鈥� seeks to maximise growth opportunities. Seeking support from peers and teachers with 鈥楥losing the Gaps鈥� will build strong learning relationships. A win-win.

Gary Kenworthy
Mathematics Learning Area Leader 

On Thursday the budding scientists of Year 7 Maroon made slime in their Science class. As the ingredients and scientific reactions came together to make the slime - with some successful results, and some results not quite as expected - the room was filled with the sound of "ewwwws" and "wow" and "look at this one". It was a great way to introduce the Year 7 students to a learning area that can be so engaging.

During this semester students are completing the 鈥楤eing a Scientist鈥� unit of work. In this unit they will be making predictions and observations and explore the world of Science. Students thoroughly enjoyed making slime and exploring what the texture was like. Students are looking forward to further their understanding in undertaking practical investigations this term.

Until recently, choosing subjects was a fairly straight forward matter. Indeed go further back and subject selection was very prescriptive and dictated what options were available (or not!) post-secondary education. Obviously, that situation has drastically changed. We have students who for any number of reasons complete their studies over longer time periods; we have those who undertake subjects at other providers like the Victorian School of Languages or Virtual School (erstwhile Distance Education) in conjunction with Aquinas. The way VCAL is being delivered is changing and there are growing numbers of students who complete what is colloquially referred to as an unscored VCE. Some undertake university subjects

As the Student Programs Coordinator, I will be working with all students on subject selection, not just those whose program is idiosyncratic. I will be available to discuss both short and longer term subject or course changes, additions, variations and modifications with students and parents. I am contactable via email or telephone; my new office is located within the ARC.

Obviously I will not be working in a vacuum. Anne McLaughlin, Pathways Coordinator, will continue to take responsibility for working closely and monitoring identified students until they complete Year 12 or equivalent or transition to an alternative setting or the workplace. Fran Jennings, the Careers Counsellor will also continue her work, helping mainstream students make decisions about future careers and life beyond school. As a team we will also be regularly meeting with Michael O鈥橦alloran, VCAL coordinator, Ebony Monteau, VET coordinator, Pam Ryan, Curriculum Coordinator and the relevant Heads and Year Level/Team Leaders.  

Put simply: I am responsible for assisting with subject choices and courses for students enrolled at secondary school; Anne is responsible for assisting students find their direction both within and post Aquinas; Fran assists students with their options post school.

Meredith Greenwood
Student Programs Coordinator