Volume 94 No 11 • 23 August 2017

Prayer Lord, make me an instrument of your peace Amen.

Elizabeth Hanney Principal

From the Principal What talent! What pride and joy! Congratulations to the

incredible cast and crew of Hairspray. All students brought

commitment, skill and passion to their particular role both on

and off stage. Just as importantly, they each brought a spirit

of friendship and encouragement to one another. The result

was a team of students who made the work of the staff team

infinitely easier.

I take this opportunity to publicly acclaim everyone involved in

the great success of our 2017 College Production. In this I

include the many parents who supported and extended words

of encouragement, thanks and appreciation. No doubt you

join with me in being exceedingly proud of our young women.

Included in this edition is the full listing of the Creative

Production Team, the supporting staff and all students; we

thank each of them.

Fr Bill Attard As a community which has enjoyed the steadfast support and

firm faith leadership of Fr Bill Attard, we extend our deepest

appreciation and best wishes as he prepares to take a period

of ministerial leave from the priesthood. Fr Bill has been the

President of the Delegated Canonical Administrators of Ave

Maria College since 2015. Despite many other responsibilities,

he has brought to our community commitment, insight,

generosity and great allegiance. As Principal I have been most

grateful for his integrity and faith filled leadership. We wish

him a wonderful period of rest and renewal.

A reminder that the College will be closed

on Friday, 25 August 2017

Term Dates 2017

Term 1 - Thursday, 2 February - Friday, 31 March Term 2 –Tuesday, 18 April - Friday, 30 June Term 3 - Monday, 17 July - Friday, 22 September Term 4 - Monday, 9 October - Thursday, 7 December

Deputy Principal Leadership & Learning As we continue the journey of growing the learning

opportunities for our students, those who have been

members of the Ave Maria College community for a number

of years have come to know that we are a strategically

focused College. This strategic focus is informed by a wide

range of data sources of which feedback is a major

component. Guided by our School Improvement and Annual

Action Plans, Ave Maria College places great emphasis on the

development of our learning culture and the growth mindset

within our school. The Strategic and Annual Action Plans are

informed by our Mission Statement and feedback gathered

from the community. This data is sourced from students,

parents and staff in a range of forums across the year.

Annually, Insight SRC and the Catholic Education Office

Melbourne support schools to conduct the School

Improvement Survey (SIS) which forms a major component of

our feedback data. The SIS aims to identify the factors that

contribute to the organisational health of our school and

provide valuable information about what is going well and

where our opportunities for improvement lay. This week all

students and staff participated in the SIS.

Parental participation in the SIS also forms an important

component of our feedback and accordingly we strongly

encourage all parents to add their voice to this feedback

which will help shape the ongoing improvement of our

school. We can proudly say that parent participation in the

SIS has consistently been very high adding enormously to the

reliability of our feedback data. We very much look forward to

this continuing in 2017.

The SIS survey packs have been distributed to families this

week via the eldest daughter in each family. The pack

contains a hardcopy of the survey with a return envelope and,

for those who would prefer to complete the survey online,

access details for the website. Please note that all hardcopy

surveys are to be returned to the College in the reply

envelope. The survey period closes Friday, 8 September 2017

and complete instructions are included in the survey packs.

2018 marks the year of our whole school review and the

renewal of our Strategic Improvement Plan for the next four

years. We look forward to receiving your feedback in this

process and the subsequent learning this will bring as we

strive for improved learning outcomes for the students of Ave

Maria College.

Phillip Tascone Deputy Principal Leadership and Learning

Heads of School Student Leadership Team 2018 Last week the application process for the 2018 College

Student Leadership opened. Current Year 11 students are

eligible to apply for leadership positions, including: College

Captains; Faith and Social Justice Captains; College

Academic Captain and House Captains. All position

descriptions can be found in Learning on Ave Space. All Year

11 students are encouraged to apply, but should note that

applications are due by Thursday, 24 August 2017.

Student Arrival to College Students and parents should note that as of Monday, 21

August 2017 the Central Front Gate (adjacent to the

basketball courts) will be locked from 8.40am to 3.20pm.

Students arriving late to the College should enter the school

through the gate outside the Clydebank building and must

proceed to Student Services to sign in.

VCE Units 3 and 4 Trial Examination Period Parents of students undertaking a VCE Units 3 and 4 study

are advised that trial examinations for these studies will

occur from Tuesday, 3 October to Monday, 9 October 2017

inclusive. These trial examinations are a compulsory part of

the College VCE program and students undertaking them

should arrive at least 20 minutes prior to the scheduled

starting time. All students completing these examinations

must be dressed in their College uniform. The VCE Trial

Examination timetable will be made available in the coming

days.

Years 7 to 10 Parent Teacher Students

Interviews (PTS) Parents of students in Years 7 to 10 at the College are

advised that Parent-Teacher-Student interviews will occur

between 1.30pm to 8.00pm on Wednesday, 13 September

2017. Parents are encouraged to meet with all their

daughter’s teachers to gain a better insight into how they are

progressing with their studies.

Parents and students are also advised that there will be NO

CLASSES for students on Wednesday, 13 September 2017,

due to these interviews.

Jo Hammer Head of School Years 7-9

Matthew Smith Head of School Years 10-12

Important Dates Thursday, 24 August Year 7 Immunisations and Year 11 Meningococcal ACWY Immunisations

Friday, 25 August Student Free Day - College Closed

Friday, 1 September Year 7 Elders Mass

Tuesday, 5 September Father’s Day Breakfast

Wednesday, 6 September - Friday, 8 September Year 10 Outdoor Education Camp

Friday, 8 September Year 9 Faith Formation Day

Wednesday, 13 September Year 7 - 10 Parent Teacher Student Interviews 1.30pm - 8.00pm

Wednesday, 13 September Student Free Day

Teaching and Learning Leader Supporting Students with Home Study As we are now past the half way point of this term students

will by now have a number of assessments underway.

Managing their time and maximising their learning

outcomes remains a challenge for a number of students

and as we move towards preparing for examinations next

term, the busyness of home study and assessments will

continue. There are a number of programs in place to help

support your daughter in her learning. I would encourage

you to discuss with her potentially attending some or all of

these sessions.

Home Study Club: Each afternoon from 3.30pm to

4.30pm in the Helene Library a Learning Support Officer

facilitates a home study session. It is an opportunity for

your daughter to access help over a range of subject areas

and build her time management skills to meet task

deadlines.

Absolute Maximums: Running each Monday after school

from 3.35pm to 5.00pm in the Helene Library this Maths

Help session is facilitated by two maths teachers and

offered to support students from Years 7 – 12.

Science Help: Students requiring some extra help with

their Science studies are encouraged to attend Science

Help in the Helene Library on Tuesday afternoons from

3.30pm to 4.40pm.

Peer Study Support: A new initiative this term, the Peer

Study Support program has been developed to allow our

senior students in Years 10 and 11 to support their peers in

the junior levels with their learning. Research has shown

that peer learning activities typically yield the following

results for both tutor and tutee: team-building spirit and

more supportive relationships; greater psychological

well-being, social competence, communication skills and

self-esteem; and higher achievement and greater

productivity in terms of enhanced learning outcomes. This

program will run on Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes and I

thank in advance our senior students who have committed

their time.

Jessica Hall

Teaching and Learning Leader

Faith and Religious Education Melbourne Period Project From Friday, 4 August to Friday, 11 August 2017, sanitary items were collected in support of the Melbourne Period Project, an organisation that donates sanitary items to homeless women in Melbourne. I think it all hit close to home for all students, thinking about how hard it must be to deal with periods as a person experiencing homelessness, with no access to clean sanitary items or toilets when needed. In bringing awareness to homelessness in Australia, especially women, we were able to collect an overwhelming amount of items throughout the week. This initiative allowed us all to think in the shoes of those less fortunate than us, and to do our little part to help women out in the streets of Melbourne. Clare Shu 12A

Ave Maria Day Sr Heather Weedon FMM helped to set the scene for Ave

Maria Day by sharing her personal experiences of Ave Maria

when she was studying. She also powerfully shared her faith

in Mary with the College community. Ave Maria Day was

celebrated formally with a whole school Mass in Francis Hall

led by Bishop Terry Curtin. The bishop’s homily was very

much at the students’ level, about wrestling between good

and evil, as well as being people of hope. Ciara Browne,

Year 12 and Mariam Touma, Year 8 shared their

observations about ‘what Ave means to me’. The Venilale

pilgrims who travel to Timor-Leste during these term

holidays, were blessed by the bishop.

Patrick Jurd

Director of Faith and Religious Education

Mrs Elizabeth Hanney, Ms Deb Coyne, Isabella Fabiani, Genevieve Iudica, Serena Mezzadra,

Bianca Sprague, Joanna Ckuj and Mr Robert Martini

Student Counsellor Wellbeing Contributes to Academic

Performance

Research is finally catching up, providing evidence for what

has long been intuitively known: that poor social and

emotional wellbeing inhibits academic performance. New

research from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

(MCRI) has done a number of studies in this area. One such

study was a survey of 965 Australian primary school children,

which found that those who had experienced bullying

performed worse in the NAPLAN tests. Overall the impact was

greater for girls than boys. Those children who had been

physically victimised were found to be about 6 to 9 months

behind their peers on measures of academic performance.

Around 1 in 4 children reported being bullied in this

survey – a devastating figure that equates to 25% of Australian

primary school children, and indicates that this wellbeing issue

is having a big impact on learning outcomes in schools

throughout Australia. Both verbal and physical bullying were

looked at in the study, and it targeted the middle to upper

primary year levels, a time when bullying is at its peak and also

a time when students may begin to disengage from school.

The MCRI suggests such bullying can affect long term

outcomes regarding student engagement in high school, it can

lead to dropping out of school, it can inhibit academic

achievement in the long term, and it affects mental health. It

is research that is useful to keep in mind for all parents and

teachers of high school students, as we grow to recognise that

student wellbeing is an area that concerns everyone. We want

our students at Ave will to enjoy their learning, strive for their

academic goals, and fulfil their dreams. Should there be social

or emotional wellbeing issues that inhibit their success in

learning, then taking some action to help them find the right

support to move through their difficulty is needed.

Ave Maria College has a wonderful wellbeing program

designed and facilitated by the Year Level Team Leaders who

are at the forefront of Wellbeing at the College. The Team

Leaders from each Year Level work incredibly hard to promote

wellbeing, providing early intervention programs, promoting

positive peer relations, and striving to ensure every Ave Maria

College student has an enjoyable and successful time at high

school. They astutely pick up when students look to be

struggling, and liaise with the counselling service regularly to

ensure wellbeing needs are met. If you have any concerns

about your daughter’s wellbeing, please get in touch with your

daughter’s Year Level Team Leader, or contact student

counselling if you want further information on what the

service offers. For more information on the MCRI study

Ceci Tankey

Student Counsellor

Careers Pathways News The Fourth Industrial Revolution Australia is transforming from a commodity economy to a

smart economy where workers are seen as providing skills and

brainpower rather than labour. Universities are becoming

more involved with industry. Victoria leads Australia’s

biotechnology sector, with particular strengths in

pharmaceuticals and medical technologies. On Sunday, 20

August 2017 I visited the Medicines Manufacturing

Innovations Centre based at the Monash Parkville campus. I

witnessed how the centre provides critical support to the

pharmaceutical manufacturing industry by assisting industry

partners to develop new products, remain globally

competitive and use world’s best practice. Monash is helping

longstanding pharmaceutical manufacturers to find more

affordable ways to expand their product lines. New products

require innovation and problem solving skills that test

materials science, chemical transformation and drug delivery

systems. The Centre is an interface for engagement between

academia and industry and students gain the experience and

skills they need to enter the work force and support the

industry into the future.

Helen Aliaga

Careers Pathways Co-ordinator

Library News Young Adult Literature Award The Centre for Youth Literature at State Library Victoria

recently announced the shortlisted books for the 2017 Inky

Awards for young adult literature.

The Inky Awards shortlist includes five Australian and five

international books in young adult literature. The titles have

been selected by teen’s judges as the most worthy entries.

Encourage your daughter to get involved and have a say on

who wins this year by voting. The Helene Library has nine of

the ten books available in hard copy or eBook to borrow.

Laura Pugliese

Helene Library Team Leader

Other News

Mathematical Association of Victoria (MAV) Year 8 Maths Games Day On Wednesday, 2 August 2017, eight students from Year 8

represented our school at the Mathematics Games Day at

Penleigh & Essendon Grammar. It was a day full of Maths

problems and puzzles. We enjoyed getting to solve all the

questions and the thrill of the competition. It was great to be

able to meet new people and compete with Year 8 students

from other schools.

The day involved many maths activities that were completed

both in groups and individually. First, we completed puzzles

in groups of 4 and we had to complete as many puzzles as we

could in 40 minutes. Next, we played 3 maths games against

3 other people from different schools, this was done

individually but was scored as a team and lastly, we had to

use our problem solving skills, in groups of 4 again, to solve

different problems.

Throughout the day, we learnt the important skill of

teamwork since working together was a vital part of the

competition. We enjoyed being able to work with new

people and even though we didn’t win, we had a blast!

Karen Habashy and Kaveesha Jayaweera Year 8D

St Vinnies Winter Sleepout On any given night, 1 in 200 Australians experience

homelessness.

On Friday, 11 August 2017, 17 students and 4 teachers braved the

averagely cold Melbournian night to raise money and support the

St Vinnies Winter Sleepout. The night began with dinner of soup

and bread, special thanks to the Arnold family, Mrs Lisa Moran

and Mrs Vivian Saad. In order to support this cause, students and

staff, slept out on cardboard boxes with only a sleeping bag or

blanket to shield us from the wind and cold, and I’m sure we were

happy to go back to our warm homes and beds in the

morning. This experience was gratifying in the sense that we

were able to experience for one night what many Australians

experience every day. One thing that surprised us, was that more

than one third of homeless Australians are young people, just like

us. This gave me an overwhelming sense of gratitude for

everything I have, my family, my education and a warm home.

We were able to raise $585 to donate to young Australians

experiencing homeless, to help fund practical TAFE courses,

meals and shelter for a night at crisis accommodation services as

well as a large number of blankets.

Clare Shu and Tara Lesnjak Year 12

From Left: Year 8 Students: Abbey Nagle, Jessica Lam, Karen Habashy and

Amanda Nguyen

From Left: Year 8 Students Lauren Tenace, Kaveesha Jayaweera, Karen Ha-

bashy, Mia Sciberras, and Samantha Comito

From Left: Clare Shu receives the donated bread from Ella-Grace and Cherie Arnold

Students preparing for the cold night ahead in St Vinnies Winter Sleepout.

St Vincent de Paul Thank you Our Lady of the Nativity and St Vincent de Paul Conference most sincerely thank, students, staff and families for their kind donations to the St Vinnies Winter Appeal. All items will be greatly appreciated by those in need.

St Vincent de Paul

Year 9 Wellbeing Day On Friday, 4 August 2017 the Year 9 cohort had “Free Your

Mind Friday.” This day was organised and designed to focus

on promoting positive mental health. The first session run by

Batyr, a mental health organisation that encourages young

people to ‘talk about the elephant in the room’ and seek help

when they are experiencing anxiety or depression. We heard

from some brave presenters who shared their story of

struggling with their mental health and how they reached out

for support during their most difficult times. This was followed

by a workshop where students could select an activity that

could be used to improve low mood. This included guided or

muscle mediation and dance or art therapy.

The final session was a workshop with psych dramatist Sharni

Page. She spoke to students about having a positive body

image. She used drama to visually show us what happens

inside our heads when we give and receive negative

comments. It was clear to see how easy it is for us to always

think of the negatives before the positives and to be critical of

ourselves and others. By the end of presentation, the

students eyes were opened, realising as young women we

have the power to spread positivity not only within ourselves,

but amongst others.

Ultimately, “Free Your Mind Friday” was a day where eyes

were opened and perspectives were changed regarding

mental health and how we see ourselves. The key message

students took away was that even though we can have down

days or even though we see the negative in situations or our-

selves, as young people, we have the support, power and

capability of changing, for the better.

Sara Hinton Year 9

Upcoming Events

Back to Ave Day

Sunday, 10 September 2017 2.00pm—4.00pm

Celebrating 5,10,20,30,40 and 50 years of Ave Maria College

Book Now

2017