2019 Leadership 

Ash Wednesday 

Grade 7 - New Beginnings

Cricket, Tennis and Come and Try Golf 

Basketball, Cricket and State Reps 

Canteen Volunteers Needed and Weekly Roster 

The College gathered for the first time last Friday to commission leaders for the 2019 academic year.

Student Leadership, Organisational Matters and Homework

Inclusive Community

The Gift of a New Year and 'Perspectives' from our Coordinator of Justice and Peace 

New Beginnings 

Grade 3&4 Cricket 

Cricket, Basketball, Sailing and Tennis 

Weekly Roster 

Welcome!

It was wonderful to welcome back new and returning students looking resplendent in their formal uniforms.

A Great Start to 2019!

2019 Leadership 

House Representatives Commissioning

Tomorrow we will be commissioning our Grade 8 and 9 House Representatives for 2019. We will also be commissioning the Peer Support Leaders and the Sports Captains and Vice-Captains. I congratulate all of these students and look forward to working with them throughout the year.

The elected House Representatives, Sports Captains and Vice-Captains are:

Doyle House                           William Busch, Edward Byrne

Dwyer House                         Xavier Connor, William Blizzard

Hessian House                       Caerwyn James, Thomas McCallum

Joyce House                            Aidan Ryan, Cameron Direen

Sports Captains

Cricket Captain:                   Tom McGann

Cricket Vice-Captain:         Joseph Kelly

Swimming Captain:             Sam Askey-Doran

Swimming Vice-Captain:   Rufus Bresnehan     

Tennis Captain:                    Joseph Kelly

Tennis Vice-Captain:          Jed Plunkett- Smith

Basketball Captain:             Brodie Turner

Basketball Vice-Captain:    Mondi Wara

Peer Support Leaders

DO1                Nicholas Bealey, Ned Ward

DO2                Oliver Mihal, Phoenix Robey

DO3                Harry Fisher, Ben Paradisis

DO4                Jake Stebbings, Angus Triffett

DO5                Liam Donaghy, TJ Donaghy                     

DO6                George McLeod, Raphael Mackey

DW1               Harleigh Bentley, Kurtis Palmer

DW2               Josh Young, Thomas Nielson       

DW3               Joseph Fracalossi, Jack Wallace

DW4               Joe McShane, Maximus Lamb

DW5               Joel Watling, Cameron Mann

DW6               Jarrod Connolly, Angus Cooper

HE1                Billie Brooks, Julius Lovell

HE2                Matthew Noble, Jake Cresswell

HE3                Fletcher Loveless, Riccardo Mucci           

HE4                Liam Elkin, Kurt Geeves

HE5                Sebastian Hay, Luke Kelly

HE6                Joseph Kelly, Haidar Alnassar

JO1                  Angus Paynter, Jak Britten

JO2                  Mondi Wara, Brodie Turner                     

JO3                  Callum Lancaster, Jack Mansfield

JO4                  Tyson Montalvo, Daniel Tucker   

JO5                  Harrison King, Benjamin Steinbauer

JO6                  Chris Colrain, Sam Colrain

Junior School Leaders

Last Friday the Junior School Commissioning was held. Further to the boys who received their badges at the College Commissioning assembly, I congratulate the following boys who were commissioned:

SRC                                      

Vice-Captains

Aussie Sports Captains

Mini Vinnies

Junior School Welcome BBQ

It was great to see so many parents at the P&F Welcome BBQ last Thursday evening. Events such as this are a great opportunity for parents to meet their son’s teachers and for new families to be welcomed into the St Virgil’s community.

My thanks to the hard working Parents & Friends Committee for running this event.

Open Day/Principal’s Tour

Each year the process of beginning enrolments for the future take place around this time. I encourage anyone thinking of enrolling their son, or know of others who may be interested in enrolling their son into St Virgil’s, to make application. The process for 2020 and beyond continues with our annual Open Day and Principal’s Tours.

Open Day, Austins Ferry                   Thursday March 7, 9am to 5pm

Principal’s Tour                                  Friday April 5, 9 – 11.30am

These two events are only one component of the process and history shows word of mouth endorsement from our community is one of the major reasons that people choose to send their son to St Virgil’s. If you are in conversation with others, please mention to them the events and enrolment timelines listed below.

Junior School Enrolments for 2020    Applications due by Friday April 12, 2019

Grade 7 Enrolments for 2021             Applications due by Friday September 13, 2019

Scholarship applications

Every year the following scholarships are offered, please see information below if interested in applying.

Estate of the late Barry William and Mary Jeanette Woods Scholarship                                                          

The Scholarship provides partial payment of school fees for two students selected from Years 7 and/or 8 and two students from years 5 and/or 6.   It is a once only payment to assist with the costs of attending St Virgil’s College.

Written applications to the Principal – principal@stvirgils.tas.edu.au are invited by Friday April 5 2019.

The criteria to be applied in awarding of the Scholarships are as follows.

• The endeavours applied by the student to his educational studies
• The character of the student
• His participation in Catholic religious studies and practices
• The financial circumstances of the fee paying parents or guardian

GL Curtis Scholarship for Old Virgilians

This scholarship is for first year university students.

The GL Curtis Scholarship provides a sum of $1,000 to an Old Virgilian beginning university studies.   It is a once only payment to assist with the costs of attending university in the first year and is to be used for the purchase of essential texts or materials, the payment of university charges or the establishment costs necessary to provide university accommodation (country or interstate students).

It is normally expected that the student will be enrolled at the University of Tasmania unless there are significant reasons why this is not the case (such as the courses not being offered there).

There are two such scholarships provided each year.

Criteria

1. Recipients must be graduates of St Virgil’s College.
2. The recipient will be enrolled for the first year of a university course.
3. In line with the terms of the endowment, priority may be given to those enrolled in

             medicine, law or chemistry.

Applications

Written applications are invited to the Principal – principal@stvirgils.tas.edu.au  by Friday April 5, 2019 in the year of intended university enrolment.   Applications should outline:

• the intended university and course, including proof of enrolment;
• the reason for this choice of course;
• the intended use of the funds;
• the personal circumstances of the applicant, particularly any relevant financial

            difficulty.

Selection

The selection panel will include the Principal and two Board members of St Virgil’s College.  The panel may wish to make personal contact with applicants to gain further information about the application.  As funds are held in trust by the Archdiocese the final decision will be ratified by the Archbishop.

Ash Wednesday 

Grade 7 - New Beginnings

The Grade 7 New Beginnings Programme concludes this week.  I am sure that at the moment there is a large number of boys who are very tired after eight days full of activities, excursions and of course the overnight stay at the Cliftonvale camp site.  The programme is designed to provide each student with opportunities to build connections with the College, through learning of its history and traditions, and to build relationships, with peers and teachers.  In my observations in working with the groups, I have seen a change over the two weeks in how comfortable the boys are working with each other and in their confidence in dealing with life in secondary school.  We look forward to seeing these relationships, the sense of belonging translating into personal success in their life at the College.

As a final word on New Beginnings I thank all those involved in the running of the programme.  In particular I thank the staff that take on a significant role in leading each of the activities: Mrs Renee MacGregor, Miss Farron Boxall, Mr Samuel Morey, Mrs Bridget Jenkins, Mr Dave Webster, Mr Simon Harder, Mr Steve Aitken, Mr Rohan Mitchell.

Time and Space Programmes

The annual Time and Space Programmes begin this term.  The information in regards to the Grade 9 and 10 Time and Space extended programme has been emailed to families. Registrations are now open for the Grade 9/10 programme and the Grade 7 Mother - Son Evening.

Grade 7 Mother - Son Evening

Wednesday April 3  – 7:00pm – 9:15pm

To register please: http://bit.ly/STV-2019

Grade 9&10 Time and Space

Night 1 Thursday April 4   – 7:00pm

Weekend Friday April 5  (evening) – Sunday April 7  (early afternoon)

Dinner Monday April 8  – 7:00pm

Locks

There are a number of students who still do not have locks on their lockers or do not have school locks. It is imperative that all boys have a lock on their locker to secure their property and also to have a school lock so that in case of an emergency that lockers have a school lock on them.

Can I please ask that if a student does not have a lock or a school lock on their locker that this is rectified as a matter as soon as possible. Measures will be taken if this is not done within the next week. School locks can be purchased at the clothing store for $15. If there are any issues with this, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Cricket, Tennis and Come and Try Golf 

Rosny Golf Course - Come and Try Sessions 

GOLFTas-GolfTrial-A4Poster-V4

Basketball, Cricket and State Reps 

Basketball

On Wednesday the depth of SVC basketball was highlighted with all six teams winning. All teams played with great spirit and skill and demonstrated excellent team work. 

However the highlight was the sportsmanship of our Division 1 team as highlighted by this communication from the Sports Coordinator at Dominic College. 

I’m just touching base about the Year 7 and 8 Basketball games played at Dominic College last night. I would like to say a huge thank you to your Year 7 team. The boys were obviously excellent players and very experienced. Most of our boys had never played a game before.
We had five very inexperienced players, and the SVC team was packed, although we had a full team, your coach offered 2-3 SVC players to help to boys out each half. All of the SVC boys were so lovely about it.  Could you please pass on a HUGE thank you from Dominic, they demonstrated exceptional sportsmanship, they even made the effort on trying to remember all of the boys names on the court.

Cricket

1st XI 

SVC 1-100 defeated Friends 6-99 

Blake Campbell 38 no, Tom McGann 33, Joe Kelly 23 no. 

A comprehensive win by the team, eclipsing Friends score in just 9.2 overs. 

Good Luck 

Best wishes to the following students - 

• Kyedon Grueber who is playing in the 2019 Tasmanian Golf Open in Ulverstone. 
• Zane Van Anholt is competing in the National Round of BMX racing in Western Australia. 

Canteen Volunteers Needed and Weekly Roster 

The canteen still needs volunteers to help our boys - especially on Thursdays and Fridays. If you can assist, even if only for a couple of hours, please contact Carol - chilyer@stvirgils.tas.edu.au

Weekly Roster 

The College gathered for the first time last Friday to commission leaders for the 2019 academic year. The event was a fitting celebration of leadership at the College with all student leaders committing whole heartedly to their roles. The Prefects' Mission Statement encouraged all students to take every opportunity presented to them and to take ownership of their learning. The students commissioned were as follows:

Austins Ferry

College Captain                                 Jarrod Connolly

College Vice-Captain                         Callum Lancaster

Joyce

Joyce House Prefect                            Chris Colrain

Joyce Service Leader                           Sam Colrain   

Joyce Spirit Leader                             Jack Mansfield

Joyce Sport Leader                             Mondi Wara

Doyle

Doyle House Prefect                           George McLeod

Doyle Service Leader                         Liam Donaghy

Doyle Spirit Leader                            TJ Donaghy

Doyle Sport Leader                            Harry Fisher

Dwyer

Dwyer House Prefect                         Angus Cooper

Dwyer Spirit Leader                           Joseph Fracalossi

Dwyer Service Leader                        Joe McShane

Dwyer Sport Leader                           Joshua Young

Hessian

Hessian House Prefect                       Matthew Noble

Hessian Service Leader                      Sebastian Hay

Hessian Spirit Leader                         Haidar Alnasser

Hessian Sport Leader                         Joseph Kelly

Junior School

Junior School Captain                        Lachlan Gillie

Junior School Vice-Captain                Tyler Medwin

Joyce House Captain                          Mitchell Young

Doyle House Captain                         Oscar Hall

Dwyer House Captain                       Luca Di Venuto

Hessian House Captain                      Ethan Leary

I congratulate all students who have taken up the challenge of leadership and wish them well in their roles.

In regards to leadership on both campuses, students are currently involved in voting processes for the selection of SRC representatives. I encourage all students to get involved in this important area of school life and look forward to their commissioning in the coming weeks. 

Senior School Open Day and Principal’s Tour

Each year the process of receiving enrolments for the upcoming year takes place on both campuses. The move to Grade 7 enrolment occurring during a student's Grade 5 year suggests that our annual Open Day and Principal’s Tours are important for all current Grade 4 and 5 students. Details are outlined below: 

Open Day - Austins Ferry                   Thursday March 7, 9am to 5pm. No Bookings required. Tours will run all day. 

Principal’s Tour                                  Friday April 5, 9 – 11.30am. Please RSVP to The Registrar

These two events are only one component of the process and history shows word of mouth endorsement from our community is one of the major reasons that people choose to send their son to St Virgil’s. If you are in conversation with others, please mention to them the events and enrolment timelines listed below.

Junior School Enrolments for 2020    Applications due by Friday April 12, 2019

Grade 7 Enrolments for 2021             Applications due by Friday September 13, 2019

New Beginnings

 Timetable for Coming Week 

Extra Curricular

This week sees the beginning of our extra-curricular programme and it has been great to see so many teams take to the court, field or water already this week to represent St Virgil’s. The opportunities that this presents for our young men is by choice but we always recommend students get involved wherever possible.

All information about the programme is available on our sports website – sport.stvirgils.tas.edu.au or please contact  our sports coordinators at either campus – Mr Michael Moschogianis at Austins Ferry – mmoschogianis@stvirgils.tas.edu.au or Mrs Kelly Dixon at the Junior School – kdixon@stvirgils.tas.edu.au

Scholarship Applications

Every year the following scholarships are offered, please see information below if interested in applying.

Estate of the late Barry William and Mary Jeanette Woods Scholarship                                                          

The Scholarship provides partial payment of school fees for two students selected from Years 7 and/or 8 and two students from years 5 and/or 6.   It is a once only payment to assist with the costs of attending St Virgil’s College.

Written applications to the Principal – principal@stvirgils.tas.edu.au are invited by Friday April 5 2019.

The criteria to be applied in awarding of the Scholarships are as follows.

• The endeavours applied by the student to his educational studies
• The character of the student
• His participation in Catholic religious studies and practices
• The financial circumstances of the fee paying parents or guardian

GL Curtis Scholarship for Old Virgilians

This scholarship is for first year university students.

The GL Curtis Scholarship provides a sum of $1,000 to an Old Virgilian beginning university studies.   It is a once only payment to assist with the costs of attending university in the first year and is to be used for the purchase of essential texts or materials, the payment of university charges or the establishment costs necessary to provide university accommodation (country or interstate students).

It is normally expected that the student will be enrolled at the University of Tasmania unless there are significant reasons why this is not the case (such as the courses not being offered there).

There are two such scholarships provided each year.

Criteria

1. Recipients must be graduates of St Virgil’s College.
2. The recipient will be enrolled for the first year of a university course.
3. In line with the terms of the endowment, priority may be given to those enrolled in medicine, law or chemistry.

Applications

Written applications are invited to the Principal – principal@stvirgils.tas.edu.au  by Friday April 5, 2019 in the year of intended university enrolment.   Applications should outline:

• the intended university and course, including proof of enrolment;
• the reason for this choice of course;
• the intended use of the funds;
• the personal circumstances of the applicant, particularly any relevant financial difficulty.

Selection

The selection panel will include the Principal and two Board members of St Virgil’s College.  The panel may wish to make personal contact with applicants to gain further information about the application.  As funds are held in trust by the Archdiocese the final decision will be ratified by the Archbishop. 

Student Leadership, Organisational Matters and Homework

Someone once said that “a leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way”, and this is certainly the message we want our newly appointed Prefect Group to hear following last Friday’s Commissioning Ceremony. The boys and their parents should feel a great sense of pride that their peers and teachers have felt enough confidence in them to entrust the representation of the student body of the College to them.

It is time now though to get on with the work of leadership, and I think College Captain Jarrod Connolly summed it up in saying that it is not about the shiny badge but about actions. I can report at this stage that the feedback on the work of the student leaders from the Grade 7 camps has been very positive. A good start boys.

Organisational Matters

For all of the new parents and as a reminder to ongoing parents I have included a few organisational points below:

• Boys are required to fill in their diaries with homework information when issued in class, and also fill in the diary for the following week in PC each Friday morning. Any parent notes can be checked at this time too.
• We ask parents to check the diaries (usually Thursday evening) and sign them ready for checking the following morning.
• Boys must only wear the Sports Uniform on days when they have HPE or a school related sport.
• Morning latecomers must report to Mrs Harback to have their name checked off the roll.
• All lockers must have a lock on it for security purposes.

I know for new parents of Grade 7 students there a lots of new protocols and systems that are quite different to what happens at Primary School. Please be assured that there is always someone willing to assist and answer any questions. Pastoral Care Teachers, House Heads, Mr Canning or myself are always available to assist if there are any concerns.

 Homework

I have included below a ten steps homework guide for students that may be of benefit for parents in helping to get their son’s into the routine of study. You may want to discuss this with your son.

Each evening do the following: -

1. Check the diary for homework.
2. Decide which tasks are most urgent. (Are all the due dates in the diary?)
3. Complete set homework tasks. (Do them in order of priority).
4. Work on any long-term projects and assignments. (Don’t leave these until the night before.)
5. Write long-term projects in your diary each day so you don’t forget.
6. Revise for tests and other assessments. (Everything taught will be assessed in some way.)
7. Read any handouts and place them in appropriate folders.
8. Proof read your written work.
9. Let parents know when you need more paper, pens, equipment etc.
10. Importantly, clean out the schoolbag when homework is finished, then pack it ready for school the next day.

Simple habits such as these are very important for boys. We understand that homework is sometimes just as stressful for parents as it is for the boys – just remember that the St Virgil’s College teachers are committed to helping your son, so please communicate with us when there are problems.

Finally, please just remember - “too much praise is barely enough”.

Inclusive Community

Our community is accepting and welcoming, fostering right relationships and committed to the common good.

― EREA Touchstone

As a Catholic boys school in the Edmund Rice tradition, we are called, and challenged, to be inclusive.  At St Virgil’s we reflect on the fact that we are a microcosm of the broader Hobart community where our school is situated and therefore called to be a place of social inclusion and equity.  As active citizens in our community we continually confront barriers to being inclusive.  We strive to model and be examples of inclusion to our boys, their parents and extended family.  It has been heartening to hear how welcome our new families have been made to feel by our Junior School community.

 Now that elections have been held for other leadership positions, our Mini Vinnies boys will be organising a variety of activities that will challenge each of us to actively live out being inclusive and to help those that are less fortunate than ourselves.

 I look forward to seeing many of you tonight at the P & F welcome BBQ – new and returning families. Thank you to those families who have replied as we are anticipating around 200 people coming along. 

College Commissioning

What a wonderful ceremony we were able to share as a College community when all the College and House Leaders were commissioned last Friday. It is important for our Junior School boys to start to fully appreciate that they are a part of a bigger picture which is St Virgil’s College. Congratulations to all of our boys who were commissioned for the wonderful way that they presented themselves. Thank you also to the family members who were able to attend to make it that little more special for them.  Grade 3 and many of our new boys to the College stayed at the Senior School for the afternoon to look through the College History Centre and find out a little more about the College.

Dinosaur rEvolution

As a result of collecting many, many Cripps bread bags last year, the Junior School was the lucky recipient of tickets to the Dinosaur rEvolution exhibition currently on display at TMAG.  Grade 3, 4R and 4/5W walked as class groups to and from the exhibition this week.  The boys seemed to have really enjoyed this opportunity and happily talked about some of their new learnings when they returned.

Term 1 Sport

This week JSSATIS Sport got underway with Cricket and Tennis.  A special thank you to the parents and guardians who are assisting with our different teams. Participants and spectators alike are reminded that these sports are for encouraging participation, sportsmanship and skill development.  I look forward to reading about the achievements of our boys over the coming weeks. Thank you also to Mrs Dixon for her hard work behind the scenes to get our teams organised for their participation.

Try Sailing – Grade 5

Today, a number of our Grade 5 boys will be participating in Try Sailing. Generously supported by the Federal Government’s Sporting Schools Grants, our boys will travel to the Royal Yacht Club for 6 weeks to try their hand at sailing.  I hope they enjoy this experience and make the most of the opportunity.

Student Leadership

This week, Boys self-nominated for roles on the Student Representative Council (SRC) and also Mini Vinnies.  These boys will be presented with their badges of office at our commissioning in St Mary’s Cathedral on Friday morning commencing at 12 noon.  Grade 3 boys will elect their representatives during Term 2 and will receive their badges at our mid-year assembly. 

Grade 4 R:            Edward Huigsloot and Oliver Medwin

Grade 4/5 W:       Clement McKenna and Charlie Cubit                

Grade 5 S:             Oliver Hall and Daniel Mapley

Grade 6 C:           Ethan Briggs and Max Grave

Grade 6 L:            Oliver Cupit and Connor Macdonald

Mini Vinnies

President:      Toby Gannon                        Vice President: Chandler Bradley

Secretary:      Ashank Gupta                     

Safety

With many new families and also after such a long Christmas break, it is important that we remind you of how important safety is especially when picking up boys in the afternoon.

The boys have all been told that they must move to marked pedestrian crossings if they are to cross Patrick Street in the afternoon to meet whomever is picking them up.  They have also been encouraged to escort the person picking them up to the crossing.  I acknowledge that this may take extra time, but our boys (and their parents/guardians) safety is of paramount importance. NO parents should be double parking in Patrick Street to collect any of our boys.

If you pick your son up from Harrington Street, they are to wait with the boys who catch buses in the afternoon until they sight your car. This too is for supervision and safety reasons.  We appreciate your understanding in regards to this important aspect of safety.

Parents and guardians should not be using the Cathedral parking are in the morning or afternoon as a drop off or pick up area. Many children walk through this area and are not always aware of what is happening around them.

Welcome BBQ

The first social gathering of the P & F will be the welcome BBQ where all families, old and new, are invited to come along and meet each other and enjoy a social gathering.  The welcome BBQ is on tonight commencing at 5.30pm. Details have been posted through the College’s Parent Paperwork email system. It is not too late, if circumstances have changed, for you to come along tonight. Please feel free to join our first gathering of the year.

Parent Help

During the year, there will be many opportunities for parents and other family members to be actively involved in the life of the College and the Junior School Campus.  Tasmanian State Legislation requires anyone helping out to have a valid Working with Vulnerable Persons Card.  I would strongly encourage all our parents to make application to obtain this card so that you can actively be part of your son’s education.  Further details can be obtained at:  http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/working_with_children If you already have a Working With Vulnerable People Card, please ensure that the Junior School Office has a copy of it on record.

Parent-Teacher Interviews

The ongoing, active communication between home and school in the partnership of educating our boys is critical. There is much research world wide that indicates the more parents are involved in the education of their son (in and out of the classroom) the better his results are. To that end, parent/teacher interviews have been scheduled for next week.  These opened yesterday and it was reassuring to see that many parents have already booked times.  It is expected that all families attend these meetings to establish how the boys have settled in to the busy start of the year, clarify any questions about expectations or routines and set some goals for the year.  If next week is not convenient, an alternative time should be made with your son’s teacher.

Junior School Swimming Trials and House Swimming Carnival

In readiness for the House Swimming Carnival, our Swimming Trials are being held today. These are held to get an indication of your son’s swimming ability, to help with placing boys in appropriate divisions and to kindle the House spirit.  Our House Swimming Carnival will be held on March 15 at Glenorchy Pool. Please mark this date in your calendar as parental help and support is always greatly appreciated.

P & F Association

The first social gathering of the P & F will be the welcome BBQ where all parents, old and new, are invited to come along and meet each other and enjoy a social gathering.  The welcome BBQ will be held on Thursday February 21 commencing at 5.30pm. Our welcome BBQ has traditionally been a fantastic family event and a great opportunity for our families to mingle.  All families are encouraged to join us for this gathering. Details will be posted through the College’s Parent Paperwork email system very soon.

Representing St Virgil’s College in Sport

There are many sporting opportunities available to our boys.  Parents should have received notification that sign up for the different sports is now open.  Sign up is via the College’s Sport website www.sport.stvirgils.tas.edu.au It is preferred that parents register their son so that all parties are aware of what is going on.  We also rely on parent volunteers to assist with all of our teams. Please check the website to see what sporting opportunities are available for the upcoming Terms.

Parent Paperwork (Edsmart)

Living in a digital age, many steps are being undertaken to minimise the amount of paper that comes and goes through the College.  Last year, Parent Paperwork was launched where parents receive email notifications about upcoming activities.  For many, there is also the opportunity to register your reply directly back to us.  If you have not been receiving these notifications, please contact the Junior School Office as a matter of urgency.

Calendar Update

Parents and guardians are reminded to subscribe to the College’s online calendar.  The great advantage of this is that if there are necessary changes to dates these changes can be made immediately.  Please check the calendar at: http://www.stvirgils.tas.edu.au/calendar/

Significant, upcoming events are summarised below:

February

Week 3A

Swimming Trials @ Glenorchy Pool 11-2                                     February 21

Grade 5 Try Sailing 3.30 – 4.45pm                                                 February 21

P & F Welcome BBQ @ 5.30pm                                                      February 21

Assembly led by Grade 4 commencing 10.15am                        February 22

Junior School Leaders commissioning                                        February 22

February/March

Week 4B

Parent/Teacher Interviews                                                             February 25, 26 & 27

Grade 5 Try Sailing 3.30 – 4.45pm                                                 February 28

Assembly led by Grade 6 commencing 10.15am                        March 1

North West Schools rowing regatta                                             March 2 – 3

March

Week 5 A

Ash Wednesday                                                                               March 6

Grade 5 Camp                                                                                  March 6 – 8

Senior School Campus Open Day                                                 March 7

IPSHA Gr 6 leadership day                                                            March 8

Week 6 B

Public Holiday                                                                                 March 11

Grade 5 Try Sailing 3.30 – 4.45pm                                                 March 14

Junior School House Swimming Carnival                                  March 15

The Gift of a New Year and 'Perspectives' from our Coordinator of Justice and Peace 

A new academic year provides the opportunity for a fresh start. In the spirit of Jesus’ Resurrection, we can start afresh with a new life and sense of hope every new year, every new semester, every new term, and every new day. This is true for our new students, families and staff who join us for the first time, for the students entering the adventure of new opportunities for growth and friendship and for the staff who are returning for another year. It has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm and joy in the eyes of our Grade 7s participating in the College's New Beginnings programme. In entering into relationship with new peers and teachers they are sharing their God given talents and living the mission of the College. 

We pray that each member of our community begins the year with the joy, hope and sense of belonging that defines the relationships within our Catholic learning community. 

Our hope for all members of our community is that this year will be filled with every grace and blessing for the community of St Virgil’s College. May we always grant everyone the chance for a new start, whenever and wherever they need it.

Justice and Peace 

Mrs Bridget Jenkins

Coordinator of Justice & Peace 

Last week we witnessed the important and encouraging commitments made by our staff and student leaders as they were commissioned before the College community.

The student leaders returned to school before the new school year began to work together on creating their mission statement. These intentions were then presented to the principal in a written document and signed by each leader as they read aloud their promise to lead the College according to our values of Community Justice and Respect.

A mission statement contains the words of leadership. But good leadership also requires action, where the words of their mission are lived through their deeds.

‘Leadership needs to be a selfless service’

These are the words of Najeeba Wazefadost and Shukufa Tahiri in discussion at the Refugee Alternatives Conference held by the Refugee Council of Australia this week.

They remind us that the words and deeds of a good leader come from an understanding that leadership is not about power or position but about working with and for others to make change for good. 

In their actions this week our student leadership group have taken up this challenge and given their time, skills and cheerful company to help out in every aspect of the Grade 7 transition programme New Beginnings. It is these actions of selfless service that demonstrate the determination of this leadership group to ensure that their mission statement is authentically lived both through their words and their deeds.

New Beginnings 

Dwyer 3 - The Amazing Race! 

The Grade 7 New Beginnings Programme has commenced this week and it has been wonderful to see the boys partaking in a range of activities, more importantly the smiles on their faces and the new friendships being formed reflect how quickly these boys are stepping into life at St Virgil’s.  Thank you for all the support of families in assisting your son in preparing for each day of the programme. Key information is included below:

Time and Space Programmes

The annual Time and Space Programmes commence this term.  The information in regards to the Grade 9 and 10 Time and Space extended programme has been emailed to families. Registrations are now open for the Grade 9 and 10 programme and the Grade 7 Mother-Son Evening.

Grade 7 Mother-Son Evening

Wednesday April 3  – 7:00 – 9:15pm

Registration details will be available shortly. 

Grade 9/10 Time and Space

Night 1 Thursday April 4   – 7:00pm

Weekend Friday April 5  (evening) – Sunday April 7  (early afternoon)

Dinner Monday April 8  – 7:00pm

Grade 3&4 Cricket 

SVC WHITE V FRIENDS

A solid start from all boys for the first game of the season.  Everyone ran well between wickets.  Despite the windy conditions, not too many wide balls were bowled.  Well done Team White!

Player of the Week:  Lewis Williams for fast pace bowling.

SVC GREEN V SHC RED

A great all round match.  Bowling and fielding was terrific.  Some work needed with batting but very pleased with the effort by the boys.  Mitch Gray was captain and loss the toss with SHC making us field first.

Player of the Week:  Oliver Medwin for fielding (3 catches) and batting.

SVC GOLD V SHC BLUE

A great start to the season for SVC Gold.

Player of the Week:  Will Anderson for great team work.

Cricket, Basketball, Sailing and Tennis 

1st XI Cricket 

Despite a very solid effort the team went down in a close game against GYC. SVC old boy Isaac Manson was the difference between the two teams making 108no off just 46 balls! 

SVC 7-158 lost to GYC 2/161 

Blake Campbell 28, Mitch Hayers 35, Bryce Alomes 37no, Ryan Hopkins 1-10, James Wilson 1-24. 

Next week v Friends at SVC. 

Basketball

A huge week of basketball action at gyms across Hobart! 

Grade 7 Div. 1

An impressive win also by the SVC Grade 7 Div. 1 Boys tonight with over half of the team away on camp or injured. They battled very hard going down to only 4 players. Great sportsmanship and respect shown to both the opposition and referees.

At Austins Ferry and other gyms this week, Grade 7 & 8 SSATIS Basketball kicked off with SVC hitting the courts with nine teams across both age groups. Some fantastic performances and school spirit on display. A big thank you to the army of Grade 9 & 10 boys and dedicated staff and parents, who volunteered with coaching, scoring and refereeing.

Tennis 1st IV 

SVC defeated Friends 5 rubbers to 1 (36 – 15)

Plunkett/E. Lee d Darcy/Henry 6 – 0, T. Kerschbaum/W. Mooney lt Giles/Rex 6 – 7 (3), J. Plunkett-Smith d Darcy 6 – 0, E. Lee d Henry 6 – 1, T. Kerschbaum d Giles 6 – 3, W. Mooney d Rex 6 – 3.

Sailing 

Round 1 Teams Sailing
The School’s Team Sailing competition got off to a fantastic start this week off Nutgrove with the SVC/GYC team having a 2-0 win over Collegiate. The first race was a cracker with our team taking first, second and third places giving best points. The second race was a little closer with SVC recording a commanding result coming second, third and fifth.

 Above left: Henry Dennison, Oliver Whitton, Darcy Berry, Will Roth, James Pinelli and Hayden Wright-Dawes. 

Off the Beach Winners!

Last weekend a number of Grade 7 boys competed in the “Off the beach” section of the Crown Series.

Pictured above:

Oliver Whitton who placed first in the Sabot class.
Darcy Berry who placed third in the Sabot class.
James Pinelli who placed first in the NS14 class as crew for Ben Glover from MacKillop College.

Weekly Roster 

We still require (and greatly appreciate) new volunteers! If you can assist, even if it's just for an hour or two, please contact the Canteen Manager, Carol Hilyer - chilyer@stvirgils.tas.edu.au

Welcome!

Welcome to the 2019 academic year, another year that promises to be extremely busy. As a fresh year full of new energy emerges, we take time to be thankful for the blessings of the past year and look forward to the challenges of 2019 as positive goals are set for the ongoing growth of the College.

I particularly welcome the 178 new students to St Virgil’s and also our new staff – Bronwen Baume-Tarrant, Kelsey Cooper, Amelia Daun, Luke Jackson, Jo-Anne Kemp,Dan Keegan, Marissa King, Declan Martin, Michael Moschogianis, Bec Payne, Michael Stranger, Simon Terhell, Jacinta Waddington, Oliver Wilson-Haffenden, Hannah Windsor and Erin Young. I trust that all new students, staff and parents find the St Virgil’s community very welcoming.

New Parent Evening – Austins Ferry

I encourage all new Austins Ferry families to attend the new parent evening which commences at 5pm today. This is an opportunity for you to meet the staff and receive information in areas such as Assessment and Reporting, iPads, Grade 7 matters, Pastoral Care and Student Services, Learning Enrichment, Parents & Friends Association, and communication.

Commissioning

This Friday we commission our House leaders for 2019 as we come together as a College community to congratulate our newly elected leaders from both campuses. I look forward to the boys showing positive leadership in representing our College community as they lead their peers throughout the year. It was a pleasure working with these fine young men during their leadership gathering on Wednesday afternoon as they worked on their tailored plan of action and Mission Statement for 2019.

The commissioning of the Junior School house representatives happens next Friday, February 22 and the Austins Ferry House representatives are commissioned on March 1.

Calendar

I encourage everyone to regularly check the online calendar to keep abreast of all the events happening in the College - https://stvirgils.tas.edu.au/calendar/

Reading the Newsletter 

The College newsletter 'The Star' is emailed to parents each Thursday. It is configured to be able to be accessed on any device - particularly mobile phones which research tells us is the major way people access news today. 

The Star has been configured to be read in a variety of ways:

The Blue grid button above is the default option and present the newsletter in newspaper/magazine format. Sections can be clicked on according to interest or need, however all sections are still accessible from the page you are on - Sections Post tab on the right side of the page. Past editions are available from the Editions feature - either by section or entire newsletters. 

The middle icon is 'List View' which presents the newsletter down the page for those who like to read top to bottom. Articles are still under headings and you will need to use the functions from the right panel to move between sections (as explained above). 

The 'Full Post View' presents the newsletter from top to bottom in one continuous document.

The 'Print Button' on the right allows you to print the newsletter for those who love to curl up on the couch with a cuppa and read all the news form SVC! 

It was wonderful to welcome back new and returning students looking resplendent in their formal uniforms.

I would particularly like to acknowledge the group of Peer Support Leaders who gave of their time by coming back a day early to help the new Grade 7s settle in.

As is tradition at Austins Ferry we conducted a lovely welcome for every new boy followed by the Blessing of the Bags Ceremony conducted by Fr Suresh. This ceremony sets a tone for the commencement of the year that we hope is the foundation for the formation of all of our young men.

Grade 7

As is always the case we have boys in Grade 7 from a wide range of Primary schools. It is with this in mind that we conduct numerous orientation activities and I would encourage parents to note Mr Canning’s section in this Newsletter.

Standards

With a few exceptions I can report that the boys have returned in a manner that upholds and enhances our standards. Hair and uniform have been excellent. I was questioned this week by a lad about why it matters that hair is kept neat and tidy – a fair enough question I suppose! My response was to say that it is less a rule than an expectation. We want our boys to look and act like they belong to our great College, its history and traditions.

Uniform

Can please I remind all families that Term 1 requires the wearing of a hat at recess, lunch and during all outdoor activities. This is a compulsory expectation for all.

Contact

In closing can I please encourage parents and guardians to feel free to contact me about any matter needing addressing. I can be contacted by email at tblizzard@stvirgils.tas.edu.au and would also welcome phone or in person contact at the College.

A Great Start to 2019!

Inclusive Community

Our community is accepting and welcoming, fostering right relationships and committed to the common good.

                               EREA Touchstone

Parents are the primary educator of their children.  From their day of birth, every child learns from their parents, followed closely by those around them.  They watch, listen and they touch until they are old enough to also communicate.  Parents are critical in the ongoing development across all domains for their children.  This is not an easy task and is also quite often a thankless one.  Many researchers have documented how critical too the relationship is between home and school.  In our modern society so many people, especially parents, are time poor however the lines of communication between home and school need to stay open and positive so that our boys benefit and we can help each other out.

At St Virgil’s many opportunities, formal and informal, are afforded parents so that they can be partners in the education of their son.  This week, we have already held the parent information sessions where parents could find out first-hand what opportunities and activities their son will be engaged in during this academic year.  It was great to see these sessions well attended by our parents with many noting that it was helpful to have this opportunity so close to the start of the school year. Next week there is the Swimming Trials and the welcome BBQ.  These are great opportunities for parents to meet and talk with the teachers and other parents, possibly rekindling old friendships, in an informal setting.  Later in the term will be the more formal parent-teacher interviews.  I strongly encourage as many parents as possible to take advantage of these formal and informal opportunities to foster the relationship between home and the College. 

It is also very important that all families are subscribed to the College Newsletter, have the College calendar synched to your preferred device and that you are receiving the notifications through Parent Paperwork.  If you are having difficulties with any of these, please do not hesitate to contact us so that we can assist you.  Your son, our boys in the end, will be the big winners.

Junior School Canteen – Volunteers Needed!

The Junior School Canteen is generously supported by parent volunteers and serves lunches from Wednesday to Friday each week.  We are, sadly, in dire need of some additional volunteers to help out in the Canteen. Mrs Leon does much of the work behind the scenes in readying the Canteen for our volunteers. To be of assistance you only need to be available one day a term from 11am to approximately 1.15pm. Please contact the Office if you are able to help out in any way.

Parent Help

During the year, there will be many opportunities for parents and other family members to be actively involved in the life of the College and the Junior School Campus.  Tasmanian State Legislation requires anyone helping out to have a valid Working with Vulnerable Persons Card.  I would strongly encourage all our parents to make application to obtain this card so that you can actively be part of your son’s education. 

Further details can be obtained at:  http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/working_with_children

If you already have a Working With Vulnerable People Card, please ensure that the Junior School Office has a copy of it on record.

Parent Information Gatherings

Thank you to those parents who made the time to attend this week’s information sessions with their son’s teachers. These are important opportunities to hear first hand from your son’s teacher about what is happening in his classroom and build relationships between home and school. Thank you to all the staff for the preparation beforehand and willingness to foster the home – school relationship. If you were not able to make the sessions, please contact your son’s teacher as soon as possible.

Student Leadership

This week, our boys listened to speeches from our Grade 6 boys who wanted to be considered as a House leader.  All boys are to be commended for their enthusiasm for these important roles. I would like to congratulate those boys who were elected to one of these roles:

                        Doyle                         Dwyer                       Hessian                      Joyce

Captain          Oscar Hall                 Luca DiVenuto         Ethan Leary              Mitchell Young

Vice                Tom Prokopiec        Sam Murray              Lachlan Davey         Luke Bresnehan

Aussie            Patrick Mazimpaka Archie Gray              Lucas Dunnewijk     Angus Bennett

Sport              Harry Todd               Zac Zehmesiter        Fletcher Pidgeon      Oscar Sirgunas

Congratulations again to the boys. The Captains will be commissioned at the College commissioning tomorrow. The other House leaders will be commissioned at the Junior School commissioning next Friday.

Other student leadership roles will be determined next week with the boys being formally commissioned into those roles at a special ceremony on Friday February 22.  Parents and friends are warmly invited to attend the ceremony with further details being posted soon.

Junior School Swimming Trials and House Swimming Carnival

In readiness for the House Swimming Carnival, our Swimming Trials will be held on February 21. These are held to get an indication of your son’s swimming ability, to help with placing boys in appropriate divisions and to kindle the House spirit.  Our House Swimming Carnival will be held on March 15 at Glenorchy Pool. Please mark this date in your calendar as parental help and support is always greatly appreciated.

P & F Association

The first social gathering of the P & F will be the welcome BBQ where all parents, old and new, are invited to come along and meet each other and enjoy a social gathering.  The welcome BBQ will be held on Thursday February 21 commencing at 5.30pm. Our welcome BBQ has traditionally been a fantastic family event and a great opportunity for our families to mingle.  All families are encouraged to join us for this gathering. Details will be posted through the College’s Parent Paperwork email system very soon.

Representing St Virgil’s College in Sport

There are many sporting opportunities available to our boys.  Parents should have received notification that sign up for Term 1 sports is now open via the College’s Sport website www.sport.stvirgils.tas.edu.au It is preferred that parents register their son so that all parties are aware of what is going on.  We also rely on parent volunteers to assist with all of our teams.

Coder College

St Virgil’s College Junior School is pleased to offer a Coder College course during Term 1 of this year. At the moment the course is open to students of St Virgil’s and St Mary’s. All boys should have brought home an invitation to join in the course. If your son is interested, please complete the online registration. The course for Term 1 commences next Thursday.

Parent Paperwork

Living in a digital age, many steps are being undertaken to minimise the amount of paper that comes and goes through the College.  Last year, Parent Paperwork was launched where parents receive email notifications about upcoming activities.  For many, there is also the opportunity to register your reply directly back to us.  If you have not been receiving these notifications, please contact the Junior School Office as a matter of urgency.

Calendar Update

Parents and guardians are reminded to subscribe to the College’s online calendar.  The great advantage of this is that if there are necessary changes to dates these changes can be made immediately.  Please check the calendar at: http://www.stvirgils.tas.edu.au/calendar/

Significant, upcoming events are summarised below:

February

Week 2B

College Commissioning @ 11.30am Senior School Campus     February 15

Week 3A

JSSATIS Cricket commences for Gr 3 & 4                                     February 18

JSSATIS Tennis commences for Gr 5 & 6                                     February 19

Swimming Trials @ Glenorchy Pool 11-2                                     February 21

Coder College commences 3.30-5.00pm                                      February 21

P & F Welcome BBQ @ 5.30pm                                                      February 21

Assembly led by Grade 4 commencing 10.15am                        February 22

Junior School Leaders commissioning                                        February 22

February/March

Week 4B

Parent/Teacher Interviews                                                             February 25 & 26

Assembly led by Grade 6 commencing 10.15am                        March 1

North West Schools rowing regatta                                             March 2 – 3

March

Week 5 A

Ash Wednesday                                                                               March 6

Grade 5 Camp                                                                                  March 6 – 8

IPSHA Gr 6 leadership day                                                            March 8

2019 Leadership 

House Representatives Commissioning

Tomorrow we will be commissioning our Grade 8 and 9 House Representatives for 2019. We will also be commissioning the Peer Support Leaders and the Sports Captains and Vice-Captains. I congratulate all of these students and look forward to working with them throughout the year.

The elected House Representatives, Sports Captains and Vice-Captains are:

Doyle House                           William Busch, Edward Byrne

Dwyer House                         Xavier Connor, William Blizzard

Hessian House                       Caerwyn James, Thomas McCallum

Joyce House                            Aidan Ryan, Cameron Direen

Sports Captains

Cricket Captain:                   Tom McGann

Cricket Vice-Captain:         Joseph Kelly

Swimming Captain:             Sam Askey-Doran

Swimming Vice-Captain:   Rufus Bresnehan     

Tennis Captain:                    Joseph Kelly

Tennis Vice-Captain:          Jed Plunkett- Smith

Basketball Captain:             Brodie Turner

Basketball Vice-Captain:    Mondi Wara

Peer Support Leaders

DO1                Nicholas Bealey, Ned Ward

DO2                Oliver Mihal, Phoenix Robey

DO3                Harry Fisher, Ben Paradisis

DO4                Jake Stebbings, Angus Triffett

DO5                Liam Donaghy, TJ Donaghy                     

DO6                George McLeod, Raphael Mackey

DW1               Harleigh Bentley, Kurtis Palmer

DW2               Josh Young, Thomas Nielson       

DW3               Joseph Fracalossi, Jack Wallace

DW4               Joe McShane, Maximus Lamb

DW5               Joel Watling, Cameron Mann

DW6               Jarrod Connolly, Angus Cooper

HE1                Billie Brooks, Julius Lovell

HE2                Matthew Noble, Jake Cresswell

HE3                Fletcher Loveless, Riccardo Mucci           

HE4                Liam Elkin, Kurt Geeves

HE5                Sebastian Hay, Luke Kelly

HE6                Joseph Kelly, Haidar Alnassar

JO1                  Angus Paynter, Jak Britten

JO2                  Mondi Wara, Brodie Turner                     

JO3                  Callum Lancaster, Jack Mansfield

JO4                  Tyson Montalvo, Daniel Tucker   

JO5                  Harrison King, Benjamin Steinbauer

JO6                  Chris Colrain, Sam Colrain

Junior School Leaders

Last Friday the Junior School Commissioning was held. Further to the boys who received their badges at the College Commissioning assembly, I congratulate the following boys who were commissioned:

SRC                                      

Vice-Captains

Aussie Sports Captains

Mini Vinnies

Junior School Welcome BBQ

It was great to see so many parents at the P&F Welcome BBQ last Thursday evening. Events such as this are a great opportunity for parents to meet their son’s teachers and for new families to be welcomed into the St Virgil’s community.

My thanks to the hard working Parents & Friends Committee for running this event.

Open Day/Principal’s Tour

Each year the process of beginning enrolments for the future take place around this time. I encourage anyone thinking of enrolling their son, or know of others who may be interested in enrolling their son into St Virgil’s, to make application. The process for 2020 and beyond continues with our annual Open Day and Principal’s Tours.

Open Day, Austins Ferry                   Thursday March 7, 9am to 5pm

Principal’s Tour                                  Friday April 5, 9 – 11.30am

These two events are only one component of the process and history shows word of mouth endorsement from our community is one of the major reasons that people choose to send their son to St Virgil’s. If you are in conversation with others, please mention to them the events and enrolment timelines listed below.

Junior School Enrolments for 2020    Applications due by Friday April 12, 2019

Grade 7 Enrolments for 2021             Applications due by Friday September 13, 2019

Scholarship applications

Every year the following scholarships are offered, please see information below if interested in applying.

Estate of the late Barry William and Mary Jeanette Woods Scholarship                                                          

The Scholarship provides partial payment of school fees for two students selected from Years 7 and/or 8 and two students from years 5 and/or 6.   It is a once only payment to assist with the costs of attending St Virgil’s College.

Written applications to the Principal – principal@stvirgils.tas.edu.au are invited by Friday April 5 2019.

The criteria to be applied in awarding of the Scholarships are as follows.

• The endeavours applied by the student to his educational studies
• The character of the student
• His participation in Catholic religious studies and practices
• The financial circumstances of the fee paying parents or guardian

GL Curtis Scholarship for Old Virgilians

This scholarship is for first year university students.

The GL Curtis Scholarship provides a sum of $1,000 to an Old Virgilian beginning university studies.   It is a once only payment to assist with the costs of attending university in the first year and is to be used for the purchase of essential texts or materials, the payment of university charges or the establishment costs necessary to provide university accommodation (country or interstate students).

It is normally expected that the student will be enrolled at the University of Tasmania unless there are significant reasons why this is not the case (such as the courses not being offered there).

There are two such scholarships provided each year.

Criteria

1. Recipients must be graduates of St Virgil’s College.
2. The recipient will be enrolled for the first year of a university course.
3. In line with the terms of the endowment, priority may be given to those enrolled in

             medicine, law or chemistry.

Applications

Written applications are invited to the Principal – principal@stvirgils.tas.edu.au  by Friday April 5, 2019 in the year of intended university enrolment.   Applications should outline:

• the intended university and course, including proof of enrolment;
• the reason for this choice of course;
• the intended use of the funds;
• the personal circumstances of the applicant, particularly any relevant financial

            difficulty.

Selection

The selection panel will include the Principal and two Board members of St Virgil’s College.  The panel may wish to make personal contact with applicants to gain further information about the application.  As funds are held in trust by the Archdiocese the final decision will be ratified by the Archbishop.

Ash Wednesday 

Grade 7 - New Beginnings

The Grade 7 New Beginnings Programme concludes this week.  I am sure that at the moment there is a large number of boys who are very tired after eight days full of activities, excursions and of course the overnight stay at the Cliftonvale camp site.  The programme is designed to provide each student with opportunities to build connections with the College, through learning of its history and traditions, and to build relationships, with peers and teachers.  In my observations in working with the groups, I have seen a change over the two weeks in how comfortable the boys are working with each other and in their confidence in dealing with life in secondary school.  We look forward to seeing these relationships, the sense of belonging translating into personal success in their life at the College.

As a final word on New Beginnings I thank all those involved in the running of the programme.  In particular I thank the staff that take on a significant role in leading each of the activities: Mrs Renee MacGregor, Miss Farron Boxall, Mr Samuel Morey, Mrs Bridget Jenkins, Mr Dave Webster, Mr Simon Harder, Mr Steve Aitken, Mr Rohan Mitchell.

Time and Space Programmes

The annual Time and Space Programmes begin this term.  The information in regards to the Grade 9 and 10 Time and Space extended programme has been emailed to families. Registrations are now open for the Grade 9/10 programme and the Grade 7 Mother - Son Evening.

Grade 7 Mother - Son Evening

Wednesday April 3  – 7:00pm – 9:15pm

To register please: http://bit.ly/STV-2019

Grade 9&10 Time and Space

Night 1 Thursday April 4   – 7:00pm

Weekend Friday April 5  (evening) – Sunday April 7  (early afternoon)

Dinner Monday April 8  – 7:00pm

Locks

There are a number of students who still do not have locks on their lockers or do not have school locks. It is imperative that all boys have a lock on their locker to secure their property and also to have a school lock so that in case of an emergency that lockers have a school lock on them.

Can I please ask that if a student does not have a lock or a school lock on their locker that this is rectified as a matter as soon as possible. Measures will be taken if this is not done within the next week. School locks can be purchased at the clothing store for $15. If there are any issues with this, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Cricket, Tennis and Come and Try Golf 

Rosny Golf Course - Come and Try Sessions 

GOLFTas-GolfTrial-A4Poster-V4

Basketball, Cricket and State Reps 

Basketball

On Wednesday the depth of SVC basketball was highlighted with all six teams winning. All teams played with great spirit and skill and demonstrated excellent team work. 

However the highlight was the sportsmanship of our Division 1 team as highlighted by this communication from the Sports Coordinator at Dominic College. 

I’m just touching base about the Year 7 and 8 Basketball games played at Dominic College last night. I would like to say a huge thank you to your Year 7 team. The boys were obviously excellent players and very experienced. Most of our boys had never played a game before.
We had five very inexperienced players, and the SVC team was packed, although we had a full team, your coach offered 2-3 SVC players to help to boys out each half. All of the SVC boys were so lovely about it.  Could you please pass on a HUGE thank you from Dominic, they demonstrated exceptional sportsmanship, they even made the effort on trying to remember all of the boys names on the court.

Cricket

1st XI 

SVC 1-100 defeated Friends 6-99 

Blake Campbell 38 no, Tom McGann 33, Joe Kelly 23 no. 

A comprehensive win by the team, eclipsing Friends score in just 9.2 overs. 

Good Luck 

Best wishes to the following students - 

• Kyedon Grueber who is playing in the 2019 Tasmanian Golf Open in Ulverstone. 
• Zane Van Anholt is competing in the National Round of BMX racing in Western Australia. 

Canteen Volunteers Needed and Weekly Roster 

The canteen still needs volunteers to help our boys - especially on Thursdays and Fridays. If you can assist, even if only for a couple of hours, please contact Carol - chilyer@stvirgils.tas.edu.au

Weekly Roster 

The College gathered for the first time last Friday to commission leaders for the 2019 academic year. The event was a fitting celebration of leadership at the College with all student leaders committing whole heartedly to their roles. The Prefects' Mission Statement encouraged all students to take every opportunity presented to them and to take ownership of their learning. The students commissioned were as follows:

Austins Ferry

College Captain                                 Jarrod Connolly

College Vice-Captain                         Callum Lancaster

Joyce

Joyce House Prefect                            Chris Colrain

Joyce Service Leader                           Sam Colrain   

Joyce Spirit Leader                             Jack Mansfield

Joyce Sport Leader                             Mondi Wara

Doyle

Doyle House Prefect                           George McLeod

Doyle Service Leader                         Liam Donaghy

Doyle Spirit Leader                            TJ Donaghy

Doyle Sport Leader                            Harry Fisher

Dwyer

Dwyer House Prefect                         Angus Cooper

Dwyer Spirit Leader                           Joseph Fracalossi

Dwyer Service Leader                        Joe McShane

Dwyer Sport Leader                           Joshua Young

Hessian

Hessian House Prefect                       Matthew Noble

Hessian Service Leader                      Sebastian Hay

Hessian Spirit Leader                         Haidar Alnasser

Hessian Sport Leader                         Joseph Kelly

Junior School

Junior School Captain                        Lachlan Gillie

Junior School Vice-Captain                Tyler Medwin

Joyce House Captain                          Mitchell Young

Doyle House Captain                         Oscar Hall

Dwyer House Captain                       Luca Di Venuto

Hessian House Captain                      Ethan Leary

I congratulate all students who have taken up the challenge of leadership and wish them well in their roles.

In regards to leadership on both campuses, students are currently involved in voting processes for the selection of SRC representatives. I encourage all students to get involved in this important area of school life and look forward to their commissioning in the coming weeks. 

Senior School Open Day and Principal’s Tour

Each year the process of receiving enrolments for the upcoming year takes place on both campuses. The move to Grade 7 enrolment occurring during a student's Grade 5 year suggests that our annual Open Day and Principal’s Tours are important for all current Grade 4 and 5 students. Details are outlined below: 

Open Day - Austins Ferry                   Thursday March 7, 9am to 5pm. No Bookings required. Tours will run all day. 

Principal’s Tour                                  Friday April 5, 9 – 11.30am. Please RSVP to The Registrar

These two events are only one component of the process and history shows word of mouth endorsement from our community is one of the major reasons that people choose to send their son to St Virgil’s. If you are in conversation with others, please mention to them the events and enrolment timelines listed below.

Junior School Enrolments for 2020    Applications due by Friday April 12, 2019

Grade 7 Enrolments for 2021             Applications due by Friday September 13, 2019

New Beginnings

 Timetable for Coming Week 

Extra Curricular

This week sees the beginning of our extra-curricular programme and it has been great to see so many teams take to the court, field or water already this week to represent St Virgil’s. The opportunities that this presents for our young men is by choice but we always recommend students get involved wherever possible.

All information about the programme is available on our sports website – sport.stvirgils.tas.edu.au or please contact  our sports coordinators at either campus – Mr Michael Moschogianis at Austins Ferry – mmoschogianis@stvirgils.tas.edu.au or Mrs Kelly Dixon at the Junior School – kdixon@stvirgils.tas.edu.au

Scholarship Applications

Every year the following scholarships are offered, please see information below if interested in applying.

Estate of the late Barry William and Mary Jeanette Woods Scholarship                                                          

The Scholarship provides partial payment of school fees for two students selected from Years 7 and/or 8 and two students from years 5 and/or 6.   It is a once only payment to assist with the costs of attending St Virgil’s College.

Written applications to the Principal – principal@stvirgils.tas.edu.au are invited by Friday April 5 2019.

The criteria to be applied in awarding of the Scholarships are as follows.

• The endeavours applied by the student to his educational studies
• The character of the student
• His participation in Catholic religious studies and practices
• The financial circumstances of the fee paying parents or guardian

GL Curtis Scholarship for Old Virgilians

This scholarship is for first year university students.

The GL Curtis Scholarship provides a sum of $1,000 to an Old Virgilian beginning university studies.   It is a once only payment to assist with the costs of attending university in the first year and is to be used for the purchase of essential texts or materials, the payment of university charges or the establishment costs necessary to provide university accommodation (country or interstate students).

It is normally expected that the student will be enrolled at the University of Tasmania unless there are significant reasons why this is not the case (such as the courses not being offered there).

There are two such scholarships provided each year.

Criteria

1. Recipients must be graduates of St Virgil’s College.
2. The recipient will be enrolled for the first year of a university course.
3. In line with the terms of the endowment, priority may be given to those enrolled in medicine, law or chemistry.

Applications

Written applications are invited to the Principal – principal@stvirgils.tas.edu.au  by Friday April 5, 2019 in the year of intended university enrolment.   Applications should outline:

• the intended university and course, including proof of enrolment;
• the reason for this choice of course;
• the intended use of the funds;
• the personal circumstances of the applicant, particularly any relevant financial difficulty.

Selection

The selection panel will include the Principal and two Board members of St Virgil’s College.  The panel may wish to make personal contact with applicants to gain further information about the application.  As funds are held in trust by the Archdiocese the final decision will be ratified by the Archbishop. 

Student Leadership, Organisational Matters and Homework

Someone once said that “a leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way”, and this is certainly the message we want our newly appointed Prefect Group to hear following last Friday’s Commissioning Ceremony. The boys and their parents should feel a great sense of pride that their peers and teachers have felt enough confidence in them to entrust the representation of the student body of the College to them.

It is time now though to get on with the work of leadership, and I think College Captain Jarrod Connolly summed it up in saying that it is not about the shiny badge but about actions. I can report at this stage that the feedback on the work of the student leaders from the Grade 7 camps has been very positive. A good start boys.

Organisational Matters

For all of the new parents and as a reminder to ongoing parents I have included a few organisational points below:

• Boys are required to fill in their diaries with homework information when issued in class, and also fill in the diary for the following week in PC each Friday morning. Any parent notes can be checked at this time too.
• We ask parents to check the diaries (usually Thursday evening) and sign them ready for checking the following morning.
• Boys must only wear the Sports Uniform on days when they have HPE or a school related sport.
• Morning latecomers must report to Mrs Harback to have their name checked off the roll.
• All lockers must have a lock on it for security purposes.

I know for new parents of Grade 7 students there a lots of new protocols and systems that are quite different to what happens at Primary School. Please be assured that there is always someone willing to assist and answer any questions. Pastoral Care Teachers, House Heads, Mr Canning or myself are always available to assist if there are any concerns.

 Homework

I have included below a ten steps homework guide for students that may be of benefit for parents in helping to get their son’s into the routine of study. You may want to discuss this with your son.

Each evening do the following: -

1. Check the diary for homework.
2. Decide which tasks are most urgent. (Are all the due dates in the diary?)
3. Complete set homework tasks. (Do them in order of priority).
4. Work on any long-term projects and assignments. (Don’t leave these until the night before.)
5. Write long-term projects in your diary each day so you don’t forget.
6. Revise for tests and other assessments. (Everything taught will be assessed in some way.)
7. Read any handouts and place them in appropriate folders.
8. Proof read your written work.
9. Let parents know when you need more paper, pens, equipment etc.
10. Importantly, clean out the schoolbag when homework is finished, then pack it ready for school the next day.

Simple habits such as these are very important for boys. We understand that homework is sometimes just as stressful for parents as it is for the boys – just remember that the St Virgil’s College teachers are committed to helping your son, so please communicate with us when there are problems.

Finally, please just remember - “too much praise is barely enough”.

Inclusive Community

Our community is accepting and welcoming, fostering right relationships and committed to the common good.

― EREA Touchstone

As a Catholic boys school in the Edmund Rice tradition, we are called, and challenged, to be inclusive.  At St Virgil’s we reflect on the fact that we are a microcosm of the broader Hobart community where our school is situated and therefore called to be a place of social inclusion and equity.  As active citizens in our community we continually confront barriers to being inclusive.  We strive to model and be examples of inclusion to our boys, their parents and extended family.  It has been heartening to hear how welcome our new families have been made to feel by our Junior School community.

 Now that elections have been held for other leadership positions, our Mini Vinnies boys will be organising a variety of activities that will challenge each of us to actively live out being inclusive and to help those that are less fortunate than ourselves.

 I look forward to seeing many of you tonight at the P & F welcome BBQ – new and returning families. Thank you to those families who have replied as we are anticipating around 200 people coming along. 

College Commissioning

What a wonderful ceremony we were able to share as a College community when all the College and House Leaders were commissioned last Friday. It is important for our Junior School boys to start to fully appreciate that they are a part of a bigger picture which is St Virgil’s College. Congratulations to all of our boys who were commissioned for the wonderful way that they presented themselves. Thank you also to the family members who were able to attend to make it that little more special for them.  Grade 3 and many of our new boys to the College stayed at the Senior School for the afternoon to look through the College History Centre and find out a little more about the College.

Dinosaur rEvolution

As a result of collecting many, many Cripps bread bags last year, the Junior School was the lucky recipient of tickets to the Dinosaur rEvolution exhibition currently on display at TMAG.  Grade 3, 4R and 4/5W walked as class groups to and from the exhibition this week.  The boys seemed to have really enjoyed this opportunity and happily talked about some of their new learnings when they returned.

Term 1 Sport

This week JSSATIS Sport got underway with Cricket and Tennis.  A special thank you to the parents and guardians who are assisting with our different teams. Participants and spectators alike are reminded that these sports are for encouraging participation, sportsmanship and skill development.  I look forward to reading about the achievements of our boys over the coming weeks. Thank you also to Mrs Dixon for her hard work behind the scenes to get our teams organised for their participation.

Try Sailing – Grade 5

Today, a number of our Grade 5 boys will be participating in Try Sailing. Generously supported by the Federal Government’s Sporting Schools Grants, our boys will travel to the Royal Yacht Club for 6 weeks to try their hand at sailing.  I hope they enjoy this experience and make the most of the opportunity.

Student Leadership

This week, Boys self-nominated for roles on the Student Representative Council (SRC) and also Mini Vinnies.  These boys will be presented with their badges of office at our commissioning in St Mary’s Cathedral on Friday morning commencing at 12 noon.  Grade 3 boys will elect their representatives during Term 2 and will receive their badges at our mid-year assembly. 

Grade 4 R:            Edward Huigsloot and Oliver Medwin

Grade 4/5 W:       Clement McKenna and Charlie Cubit                

Grade 5 S:             Oliver Hall and Daniel Mapley

Grade 6 C:           Ethan Briggs and Max Grave

Grade 6 L:            Oliver Cupit and Connor Macdonald

Mini Vinnies

President:      Toby Gannon                        Vice President: Chandler Bradley

Secretary:      Ashank Gupta                     

Safety

With many new families and also after such a long Christmas break, it is important that we remind you of how important safety is especially when picking up boys in the afternoon.

The boys have all been told that they must move to marked pedestrian crossings if they are to cross Patrick Street in the afternoon to meet whomever is picking them up.  They have also been encouraged to escort the person picking them up to the crossing.  I acknowledge that this may take extra time, but our boys (and their parents/guardians) safety is of paramount importance. NO parents should be double parking in Patrick Street to collect any of our boys.

If you pick your son up from Harrington Street, they are to wait with the boys who catch buses in the afternoon until they sight your car. This too is for supervision and safety reasons.  We appreciate your understanding in regards to this important aspect of safety.

Parents and guardians should not be using the Cathedral parking are in the morning or afternoon as a drop off or pick up area. Many children walk through this area and are not always aware of what is happening around them.

Welcome BBQ

The first social gathering of the P & F will be the welcome BBQ where all families, old and new, are invited to come along and meet each other and enjoy a social gathering.  The welcome BBQ is on tonight commencing at 5.30pm. Details have been posted through the College’s Parent Paperwork email system. It is not too late, if circumstances have changed, for you to come along tonight. Please feel free to join our first gathering of the year.

Parent Help

During the year, there will be many opportunities for parents and other family members to be actively involved in the life of the College and the Junior School Campus.  Tasmanian State Legislation requires anyone helping out to have a valid Working with Vulnerable Persons Card.  I would strongly encourage all our parents to make application to obtain this card so that you can actively be part of your son’s education.  Further details can be obtained at:  http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/working_with_children If you already have a Working With Vulnerable People Card, please ensure that the Junior School Office has a copy of it on record.

Parent-Teacher Interviews

The ongoing, active communication between home and school in the partnership of educating our boys is critical. There is much research world wide that indicates the more parents are involved in the education of their son (in and out of the classroom) the better his results are. To that end, parent/teacher interviews have been scheduled for next week.  These opened yesterday and it was reassuring to see that many parents have already booked times.  It is expected that all families attend these meetings to establish how the boys have settled in to the busy start of the year, clarify any questions about expectations or routines and set some goals for the year.  If next week is not convenient, an alternative time should be made with your son’s teacher.

Junior School Swimming Trials and House Swimming Carnival

In readiness for the House Swimming Carnival, our Swimming Trials are being held today. These are held to get an indication of your son’s swimming ability, to help with placing boys in appropriate divisions and to kindle the House spirit.  Our House Swimming Carnival will be held on March 15 at Glenorchy Pool. Please mark this date in your calendar as parental help and support is always greatly appreciated.

P & F Association

The first social gathering of the P & F will be the welcome BBQ where all parents, old and new, are invited to come along and meet each other and enjoy a social gathering.  The welcome BBQ will be held on Thursday February 21 commencing at 5.30pm. Our welcome BBQ has traditionally been a fantastic family event and a great opportunity for our families to mingle.  All families are encouraged to join us for this gathering. Details will be posted through the College’s Parent Paperwork email system very soon.

Representing St Virgil’s College in Sport

There are many sporting opportunities available to our boys.  Parents should have received notification that sign up for the different sports is now open.  Sign up is via the College’s Sport website www.sport.stvirgils.tas.edu.au It is preferred that parents register their son so that all parties are aware of what is going on.  We also rely on parent volunteers to assist with all of our teams. Please check the website to see what sporting opportunities are available for the upcoming Terms.

Parent Paperwork (Edsmart)

Living in a digital age, many steps are being undertaken to minimise the amount of paper that comes and goes through the College.  Last year, Parent Paperwork was launched where parents receive email notifications about upcoming activities.  For many, there is also the opportunity to register your reply directly back to us.  If you have not been receiving these notifications, please contact the Junior School Office as a matter of urgency.

Calendar Update

Parents and guardians are reminded to subscribe to the College’s online calendar.  The great advantage of this is that if there are necessary changes to dates these changes can be made immediately.  Please check the calendar at: http://www.stvirgils.tas.edu.au/calendar/

Significant, upcoming events are summarised below:

February

Week 3A

Swimming Trials @ Glenorchy Pool 11-2                                     February 21

Grade 5 Try Sailing 3.30 – 4.45pm                                                 February 21

P & F Welcome BBQ @ 5.30pm                                                      February 21

Assembly led by Grade 4 commencing 10.15am                        February 22

Junior School Leaders commissioning                                        February 22

February/March

Week 4B

Parent/Teacher Interviews                                                             February 25, 26 & 27

Grade 5 Try Sailing 3.30 – 4.45pm                                                 February 28

Assembly led by Grade 6 commencing 10.15am                        March 1

North West Schools rowing regatta                                             March 2 – 3

March

Week 5 A

Ash Wednesday                                                                               March 6

Grade 5 Camp                                                                                  March 6 – 8

Senior School Campus Open Day                                                 March 7

IPSHA Gr 6 leadership day                                                            March 8

Week 6 B

Public Holiday                                                                                 March 11

Grade 5 Try Sailing 3.30 – 4.45pm                                                 March 14

Junior School House Swimming Carnival                                  March 15

The Gift of a New Year and 'Perspectives' from our Coordinator of Justice and Peace 

A new academic year provides the opportunity for a fresh start. In the spirit of Jesus’ Resurrection, we can start afresh with a new life and sense of hope every new year, every new semester, every new term, and every new day. This is true for our new students, families and staff who join us for the first time, for the students entering the adventure of new opportunities for growth and friendship and for the staff who are returning for another year. It has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm and joy in the eyes of our Grade 7s participating in the College's New Beginnings programme. In entering into relationship with new peers and teachers they are sharing their God given talents and living the mission of the College. 

We pray that each member of our community begins the year with the joy, hope and sense of belonging that defines the relationships within our Catholic learning community. 

Our hope for all members of our community is that this year will be filled with every grace and blessing for the community of St Virgil’s College. May we always grant everyone the chance for a new start, whenever and wherever they need it.

Justice and Peace 

Mrs Bridget Jenkins

Coordinator of Justice & Peace 

Last week we witnessed the important and encouraging commitments made by our staff and student leaders as they were commissioned before the College community.

The student leaders returned to school before the new school year began to work together on creating their mission statement. These intentions were then presented to the principal in a written document and signed by each leader as they read aloud their promise to lead the College according to our values of Community Justice and Respect.

A mission statement contains the words of leadership. But good leadership also requires action, where the words of their mission are lived through their deeds.

‘Leadership needs to be a selfless service’

These are the words of Najeeba Wazefadost and Shukufa Tahiri in discussion at the Refugee Alternatives Conference held by the Refugee Council of Australia this week.

They remind us that the words and deeds of a good leader come from an understanding that leadership is not about power or position but about working with and for others to make change for good. 

In their actions this week our student leadership group have taken up this challenge and given their time, skills and cheerful company to help out in every aspect of the Grade 7 transition programme New Beginnings. It is these actions of selfless service that demonstrate the determination of this leadership group to ensure that their mission statement is authentically lived both through their words and their deeds.

New Beginnings 

Dwyer 3 - The Amazing Race! 

The Grade 7 New Beginnings Programme has commenced this week and it has been wonderful to see the boys partaking in a range of activities, more importantly the smiles on their faces and the new friendships being formed reflect how quickly these boys are stepping into life at St Virgil’s.  Thank you for all the support of families in assisting your son in preparing for each day of the programme. Key information is included below:

Time and Space Programmes

The annual Time and Space Programmes commence this term.  The information in regards to the Grade 9 and 10 Time and Space extended programme has been emailed to families. Registrations are now open for the Grade 9 and 10 programme and the Grade 7 Mother-Son Evening.

Grade 7 Mother-Son Evening

Wednesday April 3  – 7:00 – 9:15pm

Registration details will be available shortly. 

Grade 9/10 Time and Space

Night 1 Thursday April 4   – 7:00pm

Weekend Friday April 5  (evening) – Sunday April 7  (early afternoon)

Dinner Monday April 8  – 7:00pm

Grade 3&4 Cricket 

SVC WHITE V FRIENDS

A solid start from all boys for the first game of the season.  Everyone ran well between wickets.  Despite the windy conditions, not too many wide balls were bowled.  Well done Team White!

Player of the Week:  Lewis Williams for fast pace bowling.

SVC GREEN V SHC RED

A great all round match.  Bowling and fielding was terrific.  Some work needed with batting but very pleased with the effort by the boys.  Mitch Gray was captain and loss the toss with SHC making us field first.

Player of the Week:  Oliver Medwin for fielding (3 catches) and batting.

SVC GOLD V SHC BLUE

A great start to the season for SVC Gold.

Player of the Week:  Will Anderson for great team work.

Cricket, Basketball, Sailing and Tennis 

1st XI Cricket 

Despite a very solid effort the team went down in a close game against GYC. SVC old boy Isaac Manson was the difference between the two teams making 108no off just 46 balls! 

SVC 7-158 lost to GYC 2/161 

Blake Campbell 28, Mitch Hayers 35, Bryce Alomes 37no, Ryan Hopkins 1-10, James Wilson 1-24. 

Next week v Friends at SVC. 

Basketball

A huge week of basketball action at gyms across Hobart! 

Grade 7 Div. 1

An impressive win also by the SVC Grade 7 Div. 1 Boys tonight with over half of the team away on camp or injured. They battled very hard going down to only 4 players. Great sportsmanship and respect shown to both the opposition and referees.

At Austins Ferry and other gyms this week, Grade 7 & 8 SSATIS Basketball kicked off with SVC hitting the courts with nine teams across both age groups. Some fantastic performances and school spirit on display. A big thank you to the army of Grade 9 & 10 boys and dedicated staff and parents, who volunteered with coaching, scoring and refereeing.

Tennis 1st IV 

SVC defeated Friends 5 rubbers to 1 (36 – 15)

Plunkett/E. Lee d Darcy/Henry 6 – 0, T. Kerschbaum/W. Mooney lt Giles/Rex 6 – 7 (3), J. Plunkett-Smith d Darcy 6 – 0, E. Lee d Henry 6 – 1, T. Kerschbaum d Giles 6 – 3, W. Mooney d Rex 6 – 3.

Sailing 

Round 1 Teams Sailing
The School’s Team Sailing competition got off to a fantastic start this week off Nutgrove with the SVC/GYC team having a 2-0 win over Collegiate. The first race was a cracker with our team taking first, second and third places giving best points. The second race was a little closer with SVC recording a commanding result coming second, third and fifth.

 Above left: Henry Dennison, Oliver Whitton, Darcy Berry, Will Roth, James Pinelli and Hayden Wright-Dawes. 

Off the Beach Winners!

Last weekend a number of Grade 7 boys competed in the “Off the beach” section of the Crown Series.

Pictured above:

Oliver Whitton who placed first in the Sabot class.
Darcy Berry who placed third in the Sabot class.
James Pinelli who placed first in the NS14 class as crew for Ben Glover from MacKillop College.

Weekly Roster 

We still require (and greatly appreciate) new volunteers! If you can assist, even if it's just for an hour or two, please contact the Canteen Manager, Carol Hilyer - chilyer@stvirgils.tas.edu.au

Welcome!

Welcome to the 2019 academic year, another year that promises to be extremely busy. As a fresh year full of new energy emerges, we take time to be thankful for the blessings of the past year and look forward to the challenges of 2019 as positive goals are set for the ongoing growth of the College.

I particularly welcome the 178 new students to St Virgil’s and also our new staff – Bronwen Baume-Tarrant, Kelsey Cooper, Amelia Daun, Luke Jackson, Jo-Anne Kemp,Dan Keegan, Marissa King, Declan Martin, Michael Moschogianis, Bec Payne, Michael Stranger, Simon Terhell, Jacinta Waddington, Oliver Wilson-Haffenden, Hannah Windsor and Erin Young. I trust that all new students, staff and parents find the St Virgil’s community very welcoming.

New Parent Evening – Austins Ferry

I encourage all new Austins Ferry families to attend the new parent evening which commences at 5pm today. This is an opportunity for you to meet the staff and receive information in areas such as Assessment and Reporting, iPads, Grade 7 matters, Pastoral Care and Student Services, Learning Enrichment, Parents & Friends Association, and communication.

Commissioning

This Friday we commission our House leaders for 2019 as we come together as a College community to congratulate our newly elected leaders from both campuses. I look forward to the boys showing positive leadership in representing our College community as they lead their peers throughout the year. It was a pleasure working with these fine young men during their leadership gathering on Wednesday afternoon as they worked on their tailored plan of action and Mission Statement for 2019.

The commissioning of the Junior School house representatives happens next Friday, February 22 and the Austins Ferry House representatives are commissioned on March 1.

Calendar

I encourage everyone to regularly check the online calendar to keep abreast of all the events happening in the College - https://stvirgils.tas.edu.au/calendar/

Reading the Newsletter 

The College newsletter 'The Star' is emailed to parents each Thursday. It is configured to be able to be accessed on any device - particularly mobile phones which research tells us is the major way people access news today. 

The Star has been configured to be read in a variety of ways:

The Blue grid button above is the default option and present the newsletter in newspaper/magazine format. Sections can be clicked on according to interest or need, however all sections are still accessible from the page you are on - Sections Post tab on the right side of the page. Past editions are available from the Editions feature - either by section or entire newsletters. 

The middle icon is 'List View' which presents the newsletter down the page for those who like to read top to bottom. Articles are still under headings and you will need to use the functions from the right panel to move between sections (as explained above). 

The 'Full Post View' presents the newsletter from top to bottom in one continuous document.

The 'Print Button' on the right allows you to print the newsletter for those who love to curl up on the couch with a cuppa and read all the news form SVC! 

It was wonderful to welcome back new and returning students looking resplendent in their formal uniforms.

I would particularly like to acknowledge the group of Peer Support Leaders who gave of their time by coming back a day early to help the new Grade 7s settle in.

As is tradition at Austins Ferry we conducted a lovely welcome for every new boy followed by the Blessing of the Bags Ceremony conducted by Fr Suresh. This ceremony sets a tone for the commencement of the year that we hope is the foundation for the formation of all of our young men.

Grade 7

As is always the case we have boys in Grade 7 from a wide range of Primary schools. It is with this in mind that we conduct numerous orientation activities and I would encourage parents to note Mr Canning’s section in this Newsletter.

Standards

With a few exceptions I can report that the boys have returned in a manner that upholds and enhances our standards. Hair and uniform have been excellent. I was questioned this week by a lad about why it matters that hair is kept neat and tidy – a fair enough question I suppose! My response was to say that it is less a rule than an expectation. We want our boys to look and act like they belong to our great College, its history and traditions.

Uniform

Can please I remind all families that Term 1 requires the wearing of a hat at recess, lunch and during all outdoor activities. This is a compulsory expectation for all.

Contact

In closing can I please encourage parents and guardians to feel free to contact me about any matter needing addressing. I can be contacted by email at tblizzard@stvirgils.tas.edu.au and would also welcome phone or in person contact at the College.

A Great Start to 2019!

Inclusive Community

Our community is accepting and welcoming, fostering right relationships and committed to the common good.

                               EREA Touchstone

Parents are the primary educator of their children.  From their day of birth, every child learns from their parents, followed closely by those around them.  They watch, listen and they touch until they are old enough to also communicate.  Parents are critical in the ongoing development across all domains for their children.  This is not an easy task and is also quite often a thankless one.  Many researchers have documented how critical too the relationship is between home and school.  In our modern society so many people, especially parents, are time poor however the lines of communication between home and school need to stay open and positive so that our boys benefit and we can help each other out.

At St Virgil’s many opportunities, formal and informal, are afforded parents so that they can be partners in the education of their son.  This week, we have already held the parent information sessions where parents could find out first-hand what opportunities and activities their son will be engaged in during this academic year.  It was great to see these sessions well attended by our parents with many noting that it was helpful to have this opportunity so close to the start of the school year. Next week there is the Swimming Trials and the welcome BBQ.  These are great opportunities for parents to meet and talk with the teachers and other parents, possibly rekindling old friendships, in an informal setting.  Later in the term will be the more formal parent-teacher interviews.  I strongly encourage as many parents as possible to take advantage of these formal and informal opportunities to foster the relationship between home and the College. 

It is also very important that all families are subscribed to the College Newsletter, have the College calendar synched to your preferred device and that you are receiving the notifications through Parent Paperwork.  If you are having difficulties with any of these, please do not hesitate to contact us so that we can assist you.  Your son, our boys in the end, will be the big winners.

Junior School Canteen – Volunteers Needed!

The Junior School Canteen is generously supported by parent volunteers and serves lunches from Wednesday to Friday each week.  We are, sadly, in dire need of some additional volunteers to help out in the Canteen. Mrs Leon does much of the work behind the scenes in readying the Canteen for our volunteers. To be of assistance you only need to be available one day a term from 11am to approximately 1.15pm. Please contact the Office if you are able to help out in any way.

Parent Help

During the year, there will be many opportunities for parents and other family members to be actively involved in the life of the College and the Junior School Campus.  Tasmanian State Legislation requires anyone helping out to have a valid Working with Vulnerable Persons Card.  I would strongly encourage all our parents to make application to obtain this card so that you can actively be part of your son’s education. 

Further details can be obtained at:  http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/working_with_children

If you already have a Working With Vulnerable People Card, please ensure that the Junior School Office has a copy of it on record.

Parent Information Gatherings

Thank you to those parents who made the time to attend this week’s information sessions with their son’s teachers. These are important opportunities to hear first hand from your son’s teacher about what is happening in his classroom and build relationships between home and school. Thank you to all the staff for the preparation beforehand and willingness to foster the home – school relationship. If you were not able to make the sessions, please contact your son’s teacher as soon as possible.

Student Leadership

This week, our boys listened to speeches from our Grade 6 boys who wanted to be considered as a House leader.  All boys are to be commended for their enthusiasm for these important roles. I would like to congratulate those boys who were elected to one of these roles:

                        Doyle                         Dwyer                       Hessian                      Joyce

Captain          Oscar Hall                 Luca DiVenuto         Ethan Leary              Mitchell Young

Vice                Tom Prokopiec        Sam Murray              Lachlan Davey         Luke Bresnehan

Aussie            Patrick Mazimpaka Archie Gray              Lucas Dunnewijk     Angus Bennett

Sport              Harry Todd               Zac Zehmesiter        Fletcher Pidgeon      Oscar Sirgunas

Congratulations again to the boys. The Captains will be commissioned at the College commissioning tomorrow. The other House leaders will be commissioned at the Junior School commissioning next Friday.

Other student leadership roles will be determined next week with the boys being formally commissioned into those roles at a special ceremony on Friday February 22.  Parents and friends are warmly invited to attend the ceremony with further details being posted soon.

Junior School Swimming Trials and House Swimming Carnival

In readiness for the House Swimming Carnival, our Swimming Trials will be held on February 21. These are held to get an indication of your son’s swimming ability, to help with placing boys in appropriate divisions and to kindle the House spirit.  Our House Swimming Carnival will be held on March 15 at Glenorchy Pool. Please mark this date in your calendar as parental help and support is always greatly appreciated.

P & F Association

The first social gathering of the P & F will be the welcome BBQ where all parents, old and new, are invited to come along and meet each other and enjoy a social gathering.  The welcome BBQ will be held on Thursday February 21 commencing at 5.30pm. Our welcome BBQ has traditionally been a fantastic family event and a great opportunity for our families to mingle.  All families are encouraged to join us for this gathering. Details will be posted through the College’s Parent Paperwork email system very soon.

Representing St Virgil’s College in Sport

There are many sporting opportunities available to our boys.  Parents should have received notification that sign up for Term 1 sports is now open via the College’s Sport website www.sport.stvirgils.tas.edu.au It is preferred that parents register their son so that all parties are aware of what is going on.  We also rely on parent volunteers to assist with all of our teams.

Coder College

St Virgil’s College Junior School is pleased to offer a Coder College course during Term 1 of this year. At the moment the course is open to students of St Virgil’s and St Mary’s. All boys should have brought home an invitation to join in the course. If your son is interested, please complete the online registration. The course for Term 1 commences next Thursday.

Parent Paperwork

Living in a digital age, many steps are being undertaken to minimise the amount of paper that comes and goes through the College.  Last year, Parent Paperwork was launched where parents receive email notifications about upcoming activities.  For many, there is also the opportunity to register your reply directly back to us.  If you have not been receiving these notifications, please contact the Junior School Office as a matter of urgency.

Calendar Update

Parents and guardians are reminded to subscribe to the College’s online calendar.  The great advantage of this is that if there are necessary changes to dates these changes can be made immediately.  Please check the calendar at: http://www.stvirgils.tas.edu.au/calendar/

Significant, upcoming events are summarised below:

February

Week 2B

College Commissioning @ 11.30am Senior School Campus     February 15

Week 3A

JSSATIS Cricket commences for Gr 3 & 4                                     February 18

JSSATIS Tennis commences for Gr 5 & 6                                     February 19

Swimming Trials @ Glenorchy Pool 11-2                                     February 21

Coder College commences 3.30-5.00pm                                      February 21

P & F Welcome BBQ @ 5.30pm                                                      February 21

Assembly led by Grade 4 commencing 10.15am                        February 22

Junior School Leaders commissioning                                        February 22

February/March

Week 4B

Parent/Teacher Interviews                                                             February 25 & 26

Assembly led by Grade 6 commencing 10.15am                        March 1

North West Schools rowing regatta                                             March 2 – 3

March

Week 5 A

Ash Wednesday                                                                               March 6

Grade 5 Camp                                                                                  March 6 – 8

IPSHA Gr 6 leadership day                                                            March 8