Principal's Report
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Covid-19 Lockdown
As you are aware, we have been informed by the Victorian Government that schools are to close as part of a 7 day lockdown. Children of authorised workers and those who are deemed vulnerable can attend the College once permission is granted from the Principal. This permission can be sought by contacting the College Registrar registrar@aquinas.vic.edu.au. Aquinas will implement its Continuing Learning Plan and we have created a page on the Aquinas website that we will endeavour to keep updated so that you have the most current information as it becomes available: /latest-covid-19-update.
200 Years of Catholic Education in Australia
This week in dioceses across Australia, communities gathered to celebrate the anniversary of 200 years of Catholic education in Australia. The bicentenary commemorates the anniversary of the first official Catholic school in Australia, founded in October 1820 by Irish Catholic priest Fr John Therry. This school, which Catholic historians believe was located on Hunter Street in Parramatta, taught 31 students. Archbishop Comensoli offered mass on Monday to over 600 staff and students representing the oldest and newest schools from the Melbourne Archdiocese, St Mary鈥檚 School Williamstown (1842) and St Joseph鈥檚 Catholic Primary School, Werribee (2021). Prime Minister, Hon Scott Morrison MP, offered this acknowledging the important role that Catholic education has played in Australia.
The Long Walk at Aquinas and College Assembly
On Tuesday we were planning to continue our tradition of joining together on the 鈥淟ong Walk鈥 at Aquinas to raise awareness of the issues faced by indigenous communities. A powerful symbolic gesture, our long walk mimics the initial Long Walk by ex-AFL Footballer, Mr Michael Long, who walked to Canberra in an effort to get indigenous issues 鈥渂ack on the national agenda鈥. The Aquinas Long Walk is a key event in our reconciliation week activities and, amongst all of the demands on their time next week, we were privileged that Mr Long and Ms Peris continue to make 黑料社区 a priority. Unfortunately, our hope to have Mr Long and Olympic medallist and former Australian Senator, Ms Nova Peris OAM, present to lead our walk has been thwarted by the lockdown. Thank you to AP Mission, Tania Grace, and our student FIRE (Friends Igniting Reconciliation through Education) Carriers for the planning that went into this event.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN testing is now complete for another year and I wish to thank coordinator Mrs Rachel Crawley, Mrs Heather Neil and the teachers at Year 7 and Year 9 who administered the tests, for ensuring the process ran as smoothly as possible. Our highly responsive IT Team was also on hand to quickly resolve technical issues if they arose and this made a difference to the participants. NAPLAN provides feedback about student progress that complements the various other assessment tools at our disposal. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), who have responsibility for overseeing NAPLAN, believe that the 2021 tests may be more important than other years given that there were no tests in 2020 and each state jurisdiction had quite different Covid-19 lockdown experiences. They hope to be able to analyse results at the systems level to ascertain if Victorian students, who had a more prolonged lockdown to others, progressed at the same rate as cohorts in other states. ACARA also wants to be able to identify if there is a difference between school sectors in this data. This information will then be presented to the Australian and State Government Education Ministers to help inform policy. ACARA have also commenced a process of consultation regarding a review of the Australian curriculum and the public consultation window is currently open should you be interested in participating:
Performing Arts at Aquinas
Those who had the privilege to experience our Not Just Jazz evening last Friday will agree that it was a wonderful showcase of both student and staff musical talent and creativity. To a packed O鈥橠riscoll Room of parents and friends, the students performed in ensembles and showed the growth in confidence and competence that comes with commitment and opportunity. Thank you to Jared Campbell, Music Program Coordinator and the other music staff for preparing the students for this event. A big thank you to FOAM (Friends of Aquinas Music) who provided the volunteer labour and enthusiasm to stage another successful night. On the previous evening our Spotlight on Dance provided opportunities for senior Dance students to showcase their creativity through movement and I want to thank Ms Claire Travers for preparing the students for this event.
Student Free Day - June 9
A reminder that Wednesday week is a Student Free Day. The only students required to attend are those who are undertaking a Year 12 subject and therefore need to sit the General Achievement Test (GAT).
Darren Atkinson
Principal