From the Principal

Tomorrow we finish the third week of the academic year, and I am glad that overall the school year has commenced very well. We have already held many significant events that have ‘set the scene’ for the new year – promoting our values, our Ignatian Story and sense of community - as well as encouraging students to make the most of their wonderful opportunities at Saint Ignatius to grow and develop themselves.

Themes that have underpinned our encouragement to our students as we begin the new year include: we are grateful for our education and positively and constructively respond to the opportunities and support we have, we have high expectations for our students, we nurture and support a strong learning culture, we are women and men for others - we help each other to build an active school community, and we support those in need in the wider community. These link very well with the theme chosen by the senior student leaders for this year – “Be the difference.”

Visit by Bishop Edwards

We warmly welcomed Bishop Mark Edwards to our College last Friday. This was his second visit to us, and I am grateful he was able to spend most of the day meeting students and staff and in particular, conducting listening sessions with students to provide them with a chance to give input to the Plenary Council. Bishop Edwards is the Auxiliary Bishop of the Western Region of the Melbourne Archdiocese. Bishop Edwards will be back again in late February to meet with students and staff again. Thank you to our RE Coordinator, Mr Brendan Nicholls for coordinating the visit.

House Swimming Carnival

Later in this newsletter, Mr Andrew Philp (Sports Coordinator) has advertised, with more details, the Annual House Swimming Carnival to be held on next Monday (25th February) at Kardinia Pool, Geelong. Parents should have received the usual permission letter with more details about this compulsory College event via ‘Caremonkey.’ All Year 7 – 12 students are required to attend. Can I please reinforce the requirement that all students attend with the intention of participating if they can? Whole school events like this one are important and as a College we have the clear expectation that all students take an appropriately full and active part in our co-curricular programs.

Parent Information Evenings

We have conducted Parent Information Evenings over the last two weeks. I have received very positive feedback from many parents about the evenings, and I thank all parents who were able to attend for their support of our College. We welcome feedback about College events to continually improving what we offer. You can write, ring (Ph. 52511136) or e-mail the college (info@ignatius.vic.edu.au) any constructive comments. Please address the comments to the chief organiser; in the case of the information evenings this would be the relevant Year Level Coordinator (YLC.)

Thank you to the YLCs, Ms Leonie O’Brien (7), Ms Deb Hodge (8), Mr Brendan O’Brien (10), Ms Kristin Williamson (11) and Mr Joe Mclean (12), and their staff teams for providing these evenings.

Beginning of Year Masses

Each Year level has recently attended a Beginning of the Year Mass at St Thomas Church.

These Masses were special opportunities to thank God, pray for God’s blessing on the new school year and encourage students to respond positively to God’s gifts and the opportunities the school year will bring.

Thank you to Fr Gerry Healy and Fr James Puppady and for celebrating Masses for us.

Thank you to Mr Paul Lewis and Mr Brendan Nicholls for their work to organise these Masses.

Thank you also to Mrs Linda Pape, Ms Marina Brown and our choir students and some musicians who led the singing and music for us.

Parents and Friends' Association (PFA)

The PFA is a very positive and vital support for our community. They held their first meeting of the year on Tuesday 12th February. I want to recognise the generous and valuable contribution parents can and do make to our school community through membership of this group. Thank you to all members of this group and in particular the current office bearers:

Ms Rebecca Hay President

Ms Cathy Dykes Secretary

Ms Sandi Clark Treasurer

Please consider coming along to the next PFA meeting on Tuesday 12th March, at 7 pm in the Food Studies Centre.

Many of the members of this group have given generous service to the school community for many years, and it is vital that we have new parents join this group each year to replace those who finish up. So I encourage all parents to please consider joining this group – a strong PFA will strengthen our school community and improve outcomes for all students!

There are a variety of ways parents can help out. The College canteen helpers are vital to helping us provide a canteen service to our students. Many parents and friends of the College have put their name down to assist in the canteen, and I encourage you to consider contacting our Canteen Manager, Mrs Sandra Woodall, to offer your services.

Some of the ways the PFA supports our school community include: running fundraisers and social events, helping out at school functions, organising working bees, encouraging and supporting a sustainable school environment, running a second-hand uniform shop and a second-hand book sale. I ask all parents to please support the PFA where you can, this group’s work benefits all students.

Road Safety

All drivers travelling to and from our College are reminded of the need to adhere to traffic sign requirements at all times.

To promote safety, I remind our community that the speed limit on Andersons Road near the school precinct is 40 km/h and 40 km/h at all times on Peninsula Drive.

Please approach the intersection of Andersons Road and Peninsula Drive with care and in particular when approaching the school crossing near this intersection.

When attending after-hours events at the College, please do not park in the St Thomas Primary School carpark.

Thank you for your support in prioritising the road safety of all those in and around the College.

Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) Survey.

Soon all parents will receive an invitation via email to participate in the ECSI survey which will assist us in better understanding how our Catholic Identity is expressed in work and practice at our College. In a separate email letter, we will also ask you for your consent for your daughter/son to complete this survey. All staff members will be invited to complete the survey as well.

The Catholic University in Leuven was commissioned by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) to design a process and tools, based on sound research, to accomplish the goal of understanding our current Catholic identity and where the school community might like to see itself in the future.

The ECSI survey is a critical element of this process, and we need as many parents as possible to complete this survey. Your responses to this survey are guaranteed to be kept anonymous. Instructions will be provided in the email invitation letter.

If you have any questions, please contact Mr Paul Lewis, Deputy Principal (Identity) through the school office.

Thank you for your consideration of this request and your anticipated participation.

Major Roads Projects Victoria Senior Engagement Adviser, Jessica Taylor provides the following update about the Drysdale Bypass construction.

“As you can see, we’ve been busy over the summer months moving lots of dirt from the high points of the bypass alignment to the new Peninsula Drive alignment and the section between Gillies Road and Peninsula Drive.

We’re making great progress with the road and roundabout taking shape and we’re on track to have the new Peninsula Drive open for term two, 2019.

The school community’s safety has been paramount as we plan and undertake all works in this area. To ensure we’re distinguishing our work zone from the school, we have built a new fence between the bypass and the school precinct. This fence is permanent and will remain in place when the bypass is open and operational.

We’ve got a busy couple of months coming up to ensure we meet our timeframes and we would like to update you on the current changes to traffic conditions:

We have trucks moving dirt from the Andersons Road hill worksite across Gillies Road and into the old Blue Gum plantation area.

While we have traffic management set up for the trucks crossing Gillies Road, we have made a dedicated crossing with a traffic controller at Peninsula Drive, we therefore advise all students to please access the schools via Peninsula Drive, where possible.

For the month of February, we are carting dirt along Princess Street.

We understand students use Princess Street as a school route as both pedestrians and cyclists.

Given Princess Street doesn’t have dedicated footpaths for the entire length, we would advise parents to keep this in mind and where possible use an alternative route for school drop off and pick up.”

Building Program

The Year 9 and Multipurpose Centres ($14M project) are progressing well. We have only lost a few days of construction due to wet weather so, we still expect to commence in these building at the start of term three in mid-July this year.

Over the recent holiday period, the College’s front carpark was extended to provide 17 additional spaces.

Best wishes,

Michael Exton Principal

Privacy and information collection - Saint Ignatius College Geelong is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1998. In relation to health records, the School is also bound by the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic.). A copies of the College’s Privacy Policy and ‘Collection Notice’ that take into account these laws, technology and changes to the School’s operations and practices is available on our website. You can find the link at the bottom of the College’s web page.