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Who is my neighbour?
I’d like to take this opportunity, in our first Newsletter for 2023, to welcome all students, staff and parents to the new school year and to offer everyone my best wishes and sincere hopes for a successful and enjoyable year. I’ve had the wonderful good fortune during my career to work in a number of different schools and to experience the warmth of welcome to a new community. Nowhere has that welcome been warmer or more generous than at St Aloysius Catholic College. I have to say as well that it is a particular treat, coming from Guilford Young College, to be back in a primary and secondary school. As much as I love working with our young adults at GYC, there’s nothing quite like the energy and fun of a primary assembly and a visit to Kindergarten to experience the joy of learning.
In our first week, I had the opportunity to speak to all students at assemblies and welcome everyone back to school. I spoke to the students about what guides me in my job as Principal and my hopes and dreams for everyone at this great and growing school. My lodestar throughout my career as a teacher and Principal is the parable of the Good Samaritan. For me, the parable, and what precedes it – Jesus drawing from the lawyer who is ‘testing’ him a response which is the essence of Christianity – is fundamental to our Mission.
A certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?"
He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself."
Jesus replied, "You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live."
But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbour?"
Jesus replies with the parable of the Good Samaritan - a story so well-known I don’t need re-tell it here, but the Good Samaritan embodies the Christian ideal of universal love and care for others. I spoke at that opening assembly about my high expectations for every student – in all areas of school life – and my dream for the College that this short passage from Luke’s gospel also becomes our lodestar as a community.
Those high expectations extend to every aspect of school life – we want students to enjoy school and thrive, to take advantage of the many things on offer at St Aloysius, to be involved in sport, social, cultural and service activities, to do their best in their classrooms, take pride in their school and abide by our rules for the benefit of all. Most of all though, I want everyone to remember the message of the Good Samaritan and extend that all-welcoming, all forgiving, all caring love for each other. We do not need to ask, as the lawyer did, ‘who is my neighbour?’ – all are. Look out especially for those in need and seek them out.
Ash Wednesday
Yesterday we celebrated Ash Wednesday and began the season of Lent. This is a time to reflect on the meaning of our lives as we prepare for the great celebration of Easter. If we are here to live life for ourselves, to accumulate the most wealth and possessions, to wield power over others, then we live the shallowest and most meaningless of lives. To swim against the tide of materialism is very hard, yet God’s providence is richness beyond imaginings. Today we, and many Catholic schools like us, are the living legacy and evidence of what faith hope and love can achieve and, during Lent, we are made ever more mindful of what is possible.
‘Fat Tuesday’
Anyone with a little French will know that the day before Ash Wednesday (Shrove Tuesday) is also known as mardi gras, or Fat Tuesday. It’s refreshingly human that before we enter the season of Lent when we’re supposed to fast, do good works and contemplate our mortality, the tradition is to cook up all the sweet treats in our cupboards, make pancakes and have a party. Mardi Gras is celebrated all over the world with festivals, street parades and parties and at St Aloysius we celebrated it in style with pancakes on sale at the Middle Campus. Sincere thanks to our staff and student leaders who prepared, cooked and sold our pancakes. Proceeds from the sales go to Project Compassion and the Church’s overseas aid work through Caritas Australia.
Welcome Letter
All parents will next week receive a communication from their child’s class or Home Group teacher, welcoming students and families to a new school year and including important information for the Term. The welcome letter includes contact details for key staff in pastoral care and I would encourage all parents to get in touch if help is needed or if there’s any information you need to tell us about the welfare and education of your child.
Welcome BBQ
On Tuesday we had a wonderful welcome BBQ to celebrate with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and families. We were honoured to be welcomed to country by Uncle Rodney Dillon, to experience the healing warmth of the smoking ceremony and to sit, talk and eat together as one community. At St Aloysius, we have over 150 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and it is a wonderful privilege to celebrate this important event with our families. Sincere thanks to Anne-Marie McWatters for her organisation of the event.
Parent Forums
As we move into 2023 and plan for the years to come, I will be holding two Parent Forums during Term 1 as part of our planning processes and I will announce the dates in our next Newsletter. I would like to meet with and hear from as many parents as possible during this year – whether in those forums or directly in other ways about the College’s future and it will be not only be a chance for you to put a face to a name and to hear from me, but more importantly for me to hear from you about the future of your College.
Community Safety and our Duty to One Another
My first duty to all students, staff and visitors to the College is to keep everyone safe – physically and emotionally. Our Work, Health and Safety procedures apply to everyone but I have spoken particularly to students about keeping themselves and others safe. For the most part, that means doing nothing to put themselves or others at risk – in any way. This is why I so strongly emphasised the importance of our Mission as a Catholic school to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. That guides our actions when it comes to keeping students physically safe, but it also applies to emotional safety – and our procedures to protect all students from bullying, harassment and other actions which cause emotional harm. I will continue to remind students of the message of the Good Samaritan throughout this year and take this opportunity to remind everyone – students, staff and parents – to speak up and report unacceptable behaviour which puts others at risk.
Vaping
Vaping is becoming an increasing problem for all schools and, as cigarette smoking declines and those companies see their profits decline, they are shifting their business models to profit from addiction and misery in a new way. I will be very clear – and very strict – in enforcing our College drug policy and I will be talking to all secondary students about those issues. But I want to also be very clear about why. The known health risks with vaping are very concerning and the as-yet unknown risks, even more so. We have a brief and very important opportunity to intervene and protect our students - your sons and daughters - from immediate and long-term harm and future addiction. We will do that through education and positive messages – but also through strong penalties for vaping at school or, more seriously, for supplying or selling vaping products. We do not forget that the real villains in this story are those producing these products and those supplying them to young people, however we will do all in our power at school to discourage this concerning new trend, speak out against the sale and promotion of vaping products and keep students safe.
Have a Great Year
2023 promises to be a very exciting year as we move forward to the completion and opening of our new Senior Campus and many major developments to come as the College grows towards its full enrolment.
Through all those changes we remain the same St Aloysius College – a proud, growing and dynamic Catholic College dedicated to spreading the Good News of the Gospel.
We look forward to working with you in 2023 and renewing that vision in our service to your sons and daughters.
With best wishes,
Mr. Craig Deayton
PRINCIPAL
- JUNIOR CAMPUS -
EXPLORERS Birth to Five Program
- MIDDLE CAMPUS -
Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club runs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:20am to 8:40am. It offers students free toast, fruit, cereals, Milo and juices. Each Friday, the Club hosts a free BBQ with bacon and egg rolls, feeding up to fifty students.
The Club has been enormously successful and it has been fantastic to see so many students showing up, grabbing something to eat and contributing to a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
The goal of the Club is to encourage students to eat breakfast and to start the day in a positive way. The Club would not be possible without the generosity of teachers and student volunteers.
If you would like to donate food items, such as bread, spreads, fresh fruit, juices, milk or eggs to the Club, this would be greatly appreciated and would help ensure the programme can continue to support our students. Please contact joshua.leach@catholic.tas.edu.au if you are interested in offering some support. Thank you!
Chess Club
Chess coaching is available for students in Years 5-10, every Tuesday afternoon, from 3.15-4.15pm in the Library, with qualified chess coach James Briant, of Black Square Chess. Come along and join in!
Wooden Boat Festival 'Build a Boat Challenge'
- YEAR 11 -
Year 11 Outdoor Education
Year 11 Outdoor Education is off to a flying start with some amazing waves at Clifton Beach. Our wonderful instructor Alex, all the way from Spain, provided excellent tutelage in the finer points of body position, timing and wave selection.
Sport at the College
It has been a busy start to the school year with two of our major carnivals being in week 2 of this term.
Year 7-11 Athletics Carnival
On Wednesday, 8th and Thursday, 9th February, the College held the Year 7-11 Athletics Carnival at the Domain Athletics Centre. This year was the first time we have held this carnival in summer, with SATIS moving their carnivals to summer also. It is always such a great event, and very exciting to have our Year 11 students there for the very first time. The days were filled with a high level of energy, colour, participation, fun, house spirit, and some incredible talent shown by some of the athletes. What a great way to kick off the house spirit for the year. Congratulations to the winning house, Charity, who haven't won this carnival since 2014!
Charity 1600
Aikenhead 1475
Galilee 1393
Gonzaga 1343
Fides 1255
Congratulations to the following students who were awarded Track or Field Champion/Runner Up awards:
Track Champion Track Champion Runner Up
Year 7 Girls Jasmine Taylor and Madeline Marshall
Year 7 Boys Kian Reeve and Jacob Wass
Year 8 Girls Poppy Tunstall, Stella Chapman and Bessy Brereton
Year 8 Boys Lachlan Jones and Sebastian Lie
Year 9 Girls Mia Sullivan and Lilian Adams
Year 9 Boys Flynn Smith, Charlie Jackson and Lucas Sullivan
Year 10 Girls Sunita Buamee and Hannah Kull
Year 10 Boys Blake Doyle and Harry Page
Field Champion Field Champion Runner Up
Year 7 Girls Lucy Page and Indie Hunt
Year 7 Boys Kian Reeve and Elijah Abbott
Year 8 Girls Kirra Doyle and Casey Bumford
Year 8 Boys Lincoln Penney and Lochie Thorpe
Year 9 Girls Amber Bumford and Lilian Adams
Year 9 Boys Flynn Smith and Finley Piva
Year 10 Girls Tayla Crack, Alyssa Lynch and Josephine Rose
Year 10 Boys Blake Doyle and Hunter Thorpe
Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival
On Friday, 10th February, Year 3-6 students participated in the Primary Swimming Carnival at the Clarence Aquatic Centre. It was decided to continue with the same format as previous years, with splitting the carnival into two mini carnivals; Year 5/6 in the morning and Year 3/4 in the afternoon.
A special mention to our Year 10 student leaders who were there to assist on the day, in and out of the water, who were wonderful in encouraging and supporting the younger students.
A swimming team will be selected from the timed results, to represent the College at the Huon & Channel Swimming Carnival and Primary Catholic Swimming Carnival next month.
SATIS Sport
What is SATIS?
For our Year 7 students, and for students who are new to the College, the acronym SATIS may be unfamiliar. The Sports Association of Tasmanian Independent Schools (SATIS) was formed by AHISA (Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia) to conduct sporting competitions for member schools, St Aloysius being one of those schools. SATIS provides a variety of sporting opportunities to our Year 7-11 students, including after school rosters and inter school sport carnivals across several sports.
SATIS promotes physical, emotional, and social well-being by fostering and administering a quality sporting program providing competition between schools in an environment which encourages participation, diversity, integrity, and sportsmanship.
How do I sign up to SATIS?
Each term there will be a number of sports offered for each Year level, from Year 7-11. Term by term, they will be opened up for registration through Compass Events, and registration is to be completed through your Compass Parent Portal. You will receive a notification once sports are opened for sign up. Please note that registrations must be completed prior to the closing date. Once an event is closed, teams are then formed/registered with SATIS and it is difficult to make changes once rosters are drawn.
Term 2 sports coming soon…
Year 7&8 Girls Netball
Roster dates: Mon 8 May - Mon 26 Jun
Registrations close: Fri 31 March
Year 9&10 Girls Netball
Roster dates: Tues 9 May - Tues 27 Jun
Registrations close: Fri 31 March
Year 9&10 Boys Aussie Rules
Roster dates: Tues 2 May - Tues 20 June
Registrations close: Fri 31 March
Year 7&8 Boys Aussie Rules
Roster dates: Wed 3 May - Wed 21 June
Registrations close: Fri 31 March
Junior Netball - Year 3-6
The KNA Junior Netball Roster is now open for registration through Compass Events. For roster details, please refer to Compass.
Enquiries: simone.skinner@catholic.tas.edu.au
Soccer Club (U5-U12)
Soccer season is coming! Stay tuned, registration details are coming soon.
To keep up to date with all things sport at St Aloysius, please follow our social media pages:
Facebook – St Aloysius Catholic College Sport
Instagram – staloysiussport
The beginning of 2023 has seen many classes take up great opportunities to enrich their learning.
Year 4 HaSS: Traditional Aboriginal Societies
As part of their Humanities and Social Sciences studies, Year 4 students deepened their understanding of the economies, customs and lores of traditional Aboriginal societies. With a focus on palawa cultures, local Elder Uncle Rodney Dillon, explained the systems of trade and described valuable resources such as animal skins, bark canoes, shell necklaces and stone tools. Using a large map of lutruwita/Tasmania and miniature artefacts, the children practised trading. Most of these students visited a stone tool rock quarry on Bruny Island last year with Uncle Rodney. It was wonderful to re-connect with him and learn so much more. Students are to be commended for their thoughtful questions and enthusiasm for learning.
Year 7 Drama: Traditional Aboriginal Rituals & Ceremonies
In term one, Drama students are exploring the theme of rituals. What better way to start the unit, with a palawa smoking ceremony! Led by local knowledge holder Bronwyn Dillon, Year 7 students learnt the difference between an ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ and a ‘Welcome to Country’. Bron explained the significance of both ochre and smoking ceremonies and led the group in a dance. The class was joined by Year 7 Outdoor Education students, who also visited a traditional hut in the nearby Peter Murrell Reserve.
Year 10: First Nation Students
Three days before Sheldon Thomas’ traditional bark canoe officially opened the Wooden Boat Festival, First Nation students from Year 10 were invited for a sneak preview. Many of these students were taught how to make a bark canoe, two years ago, by Sheldon. It was wonderful to also visit the beach where he launched his canoe as well as the Maritime Museum where another, smaller canoe is on display. Students deepened their understanding of Indigenous watercraft and demonstrated pride in the reclamation of knowledge of traditional construction techniques.
Ash Wednesday and Lent
Lent is the six week period leading up to Easter. It’s one of the most important times of year for many Christians around the world, particularly those within the Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Lent is held at a similar level of importance to Advent, the build up to Christmas.
While Advent is a celebration and a time of great anticipation, Lent is more frequently seen as a time of solemn observance and preparation for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter. From its start on Ash Wednesday until its conclusion on Easter Sunday, Lent has been a traditional time for fasting or abstinence, prayer and almsgiving. Just as we carefully prepare for events in our personal lives, such as a wedding, or birthday; Lent invites us to make our minds and hearts ready for remembering Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head which are an outward sign of the changes we are making within. The ashes also symbolise the dust from which God made us.
Church and Chapel Visits
Our Year 7 and Prep students have been familiarising themselves with the Parish Church and our Middle Campus Chapel. Fr Mike Delaney, Parish Associate Maggie Sandric and Director of Mission, Polly Marriott have been taking them behind the scenes and explaining the various features that make up our sacred spaces.
- Parents and Friends -
For more information on the Parents and Friends please click here
Meeting schedule 2023 - Updated
- Fundraising Opportunities -
Entertainment Memberships
The P&F is once again offering Entertainment Memberships as a fundraiser for the College. Please click on the pdf below for further information, or click here
Today at 6.00pm a flash sale extension of 4 months starts, until midday 25 February 2023. This means for every 12 month membership purchased, the P&F recieves a percentage of the payment and the owner recieves 16 months worth of membership!
- Parent Resources and Opportunities -
Time & Space Evenings - Years 7 and 8
Raising Tech Healthy Humans - Daniel Sih
As a follow-up to that Seminar, Daniel is holding a seminar on raising 'tech healthy' humans. The event is hosted by St Clements Anglican Church for 3 weeks, on Thursday 16th, 23rd and 30th March (7.15-9.00pm). The cost is $15 per person (and it includes snacks / refreshments for the 3-week course).
Families Tasmania
Me & My Emotions Workshop 5-10 years
Ideal for children who struggle with anxiety and emotion dysregulation - interactive workshop including parents. Details and tickets here
MOTIV8
Anglicare Events and Sessions
Information available here
Free Autism Workshop for Parents and Carers
E-Safety Webinars for Parents & Carers
Information is available at https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars
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eSafety 101: how eSafety can help you (30min) |
Setting your child up for success online (30min) |
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This 30-minute webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people in primary and secondary school. It will cover:
Term 1 dates (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)
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This 30-minute webinar is designed for parents and carers of children in primary school. It will cover:
Term 1 dates (Australian Eastern Daylight Time) |
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Getting the most out of gaming (45min) |
Navigating online friendships (30min) |
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This 45-minute webinar provides families with strategies for supporting children and young people to have safe, positive experiences when playing games online. It is designed for parents and carers of children aged 7 to 14. It will cover:
Term 1 dates (Australian Eastern Daylight Time) |
This 30-minute webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people in secondary school. It will cover:
Term 1 dates (Australian Eastern Daylight Time) |
National Walk to School Day: Friday 19 May 2023
This May will mark the 24th anniversary of National Walk Safely to School Day. Championed by the Pedestrian Council Australia, the initiative aims to raise awareness of the health, road safety, transport and environmental benefits that regular walking, or alternative active transport (especially to and from school) can provide for the long term well-being of our children, not just on 19 May, but every day.
Junior Hockey Program
These programs are aimed at 6-14 year olds. These are Come and Try sessions for complete beginners that will lead into the GetIn2Hockey Programs, which last five weeks per term. At these sessions players are introduced to the basics of Hockey and are taught by our HTAS appointed and qualified coaches. The sign-ups for these sessions are accessible via the link below and are available all around the state:
https://www.hockeytasmania.com.au/participate/get-into-hockey/
School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI)
For more information on this initiative please click here
For more information on this initiative please contact admindirectornorth@
Youth Advisory Groups - Nominations are now open
Are you parenting a young person who is passionate about representing the following areas: First Nations, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Promotion of STEM, Climate Change & Conference of the Parties or Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children?
If so then you need to get them to head to https://www.ayac.org.au/advisory-groups to find out more!
Huonville Lions
Cricket Hub
Lions Youth of the Year Program
Kingborough Council Youth Activities
Kingborough Lions United Football Club
