We are well over halfway through Term One. How quickly time flies!

Next week is Activities Week. I thank the staff who have spent time coordinating the range of activities on offer, and hope that students enjoy the wide range of opportunities with which they will be provided.

Addressing Concerns

From time to time, parents might be concerned about things that are happening at the College. Alternatively, parents might seek further clarification around particular matters. A reminder to all parents and guardians that the College has a Complaints Policy which is available on the College website.

In summary, matters should be referred to the relevant staff member as outlined below.

Respectful Communications

At Loyola College we are committed to nurturing respectful relationships and active partnerships with our parents and guardians. We believe that our students’ learning journeys are enriched through mutually respectful and positive home/school relationships.

Parents and guardians are among the most influential role models in our student’s lives. We therefore seek parental support in promoting and upholding the core Catholic values of our school community and its culture of respectful and positive relationships.

Students will learn to be respectful to teachers when parents show trust in teachers and address them respectfully. I ask parents to be mindful of the way they address concerns with teachers. Our teachers are open to honest and respectful dialogue. Together, in partnership, we hope to work for the students in our care.

Loyola College App (digistorm)

Parents are encouraged to download the Loyola app, available at the app store. This app contains a wealth of resources including up-to-date access to the college calendar, parent news and the Ignatian, as well as providing the ability to submit a student absence. The app is user friendly and an efficient way of keeping up to date with college news.

College Social Media

The College has pages on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Parents are encouraged to follow Loyola, as we make weekly posts to keep our community abreast of what is happening at the College. Throughout Activities Week, there will be regular posts showcasing the highlights of the week.

Lenten Reflection – Almsgiving

Almsgiving is one of the three pillars of Lenten observance, alongside prayer and fasting. It is a powerful and transformative act that calls us to reach beyond ourselves and extend a helping hand to those in need.

In our fast-paced lives, it's easy to become consumed by our daily challenges and responsibilities. Lent invites us to pause, reevaluate our priorities, and consider the well-being of others. Almsgiving challenges us to step outside our comfort zones and share our blessings with those who are less fortunate. It is a tangible expression of love and compassion, reflecting the selfless example set by Jesus Christ.

The act of giving alms goes beyond the material aspect; it is an acknowledgment of our interconnectedness as a community. Through our generosity, we strengthen the bonds that unite us, fostering a sense of solidarity and empathy. As members of our college community, let us be mindful of the struggles faced by our neighbours and actively seek ways to alleviate their burdens.

Moreover, almsgiving is not solely about financial contributions. It encompasses acts of kindness, time devoted to volunteer work, and a genuine commitment to understanding the needs of others. By engaging in these acts of charity, we cultivate a spirit of generosity that extends far beyond the Lenten season.

This Lent, let us challenge ourselves to embrace almsgiving wholeheartedly. Start by reflecting on the blessings you have received and discern how you can share those blessings with others. Whether it's donating to Caritas Project Compassion, volunteering your time (such as our Year 11 students going on Christian Service), or simply offering a listening ear to someone in need, every act of kindness contributes to building a more compassionate and caring community.

May our collective efforts during this Lenten season be a testament to the transformative power of almsgiving. As we journey toward Easter, let us not only seek personal renewal but also strive to be a source of hope and support for those around us. In doing so, we emulate the teachings of Christ and fulfil the true spirit of Lent.

Caritas Project Compassion – Term 1 fundraiser

As we journey together through Lent, we again look to contribute to the Caritas Project Compassion fundraising appeal. This annual campaign, deeply rooted in the Catholic ethos of love and compassion, calls us to unite in solidarity with communities in Australia and around the world facing poverty, injustice, and hardship. Thank you to families who have already donated to Caritas this term! There is still time to donate.

Each Mentor has been given a money box to collect donations from our community. Alternatively, you may wish to donate on your child’s House’s fundraising page at the following link: Loyola College - Watsonia - Caritas | Project Compassion Schools Please navigate to the bottom of the page to see each House profile. Select the House your child belongs to and then donate on the House profile page. Students can also make a profile if they wish, share that with family and friends and link it to their House.

Together, we can make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate. Thank you for your continued support!

Year 7 and 9 NAPLAN

Please note that NAPLAN will now take place the week beginning 11 March.

Dates:

• Thursday 14 March – Writing 

• Friday 15 March – Reading 

• Monday 18 March – Conventions of Language 

• Tuesday 19 March – Numeracy 

• Wednesday 20 March – catch up

Students will be completing the NAPLAN tests online. This will require them to make sure that their digital device is fully charged for each session, and that they have their headphones with them each day. Headphones will not be provided to students who fail to bring them.

Public demonstration site

Students and parents are able to access a demonstration site (link below) to become familiar with the assessment platform prior to the NAPLAN testing days. This site displays the types of questions and tools available in the online NAPLAN assessment platform.

NAPLAN - Public demonstration site

Student Report:
As a result of the changes, parents and carers will receive earlier, simpler and clearer information about their child’s NAPLAN achievement. Reports will be easier to read and will provide clearer information about how a student is progressing.

The numerical NAPLAN bands and the national minimum standard will be replaced by four levels of achievement. These will give teachers and parents better information about what a student can do.

Levels of Achievement:
• Exceeding
• Strong
• Developing
• Needs Additional Support

For more information, please refer to the NAPLAN website.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE – CSEF

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) offered by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families by reducing the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities, included in the Loyola fees, has been increased to $250 annually.

Families that hold a valid means-tested concession card such as a Health Care Card or Pension Card, temporary foster parents as well as asylum seeker and refugee families may be eligible for the CSEF payment.

Please click here to access the CSEF application form or contact the school office to obtain a copy. For queries regarding eligibility, contact our Finance Department on 9433 0752.

A SPECIAL REPORT: Toxic Achievement Culture

Toxic achievement culture is characterised by the entanglement of self-worth, achievement and the relentless pursuit of academic or extracurricular success - at any cost! This phenomenon goes beyond the mere quest for success. It embeds a belief in students that their merit is exclusively tied to their achievements, often propelled by intense external pressures from families, schools, and society.

Some students are overfilling their schedules with activities aimed at "getting ahead". However, the consequences are proving to be detrimental to students' mental and physical health, resulting in burnout and heightened levels of stress. This culture is also being aggravated by parental expectations, peer competition and a relentless comparison ethos often driven by social media.

There is nothing wrong with having ambition, but it's crucial to ensure that this desire doesn't push our young people into a toxic cycle of achievement and make them feel that they must achieve in order to matter. The relentless drive to excel is leading many students to prioritise accolades over genuine learning and personal growth, often at the expense of their own wellbeing and interpersonal relationships. As adult carers, we need to advocate for a more balanced and holistic approach to achievement, emphasising the importance of resilience, wellbeing, and the pursuit of diverse interests.

This Special Report will help you understand the signs of toxic achievement, and how to address them so as to teach students how to adopt a better work/life balance.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report:

https://loyola.vic.schooltv.me...

In Year 10 Digital Technologies, students are currently studying Digital Systems. They investigate the components of digital systems, including hardware and software and pull apart a computer to learn how the main components of a computer work. They also learn about networking and how devices communicate with one another.

ICT News

Cybersafety Part 2: What is posted on the Internet remains there forever!

Once posted, it’s toasted!

Consider this true story. A teenage girl takes some photos of herself modelling and posts these photos up on her social media account for her friends to see. Some months later, she is travelling in a bus and notices an advertising billboard with one of her modelling photos on it. Shocked and curious, her concerned parents contact the advertisers only to discover that a social networking site had sold her photos to them without their daughter’s prior knowledge or consent. But when the teenager rings up the social networking organisation, she is politely informed that when she signed up for an account and agreed to their Terms and Conditions, she was in fact agreeing to hand over to them the copyright and ownership of all future content she posts – text, photos, videos, everything! She will never get a single cent out of the social networking organisation, and she will never be able to stop the organisation using her photos or videos as it sees fit.

What about when applying for a job? Does having a social media account or signing up for online competitions matter? Absolutely! The Internet is like ‘Big Brother’, constantly gathering data about a person’s private life. It is now commonplace for employers to use Google and social networking sites to do background checks on job applicants before deciding whether to interview them for a job. There are also organisations that are paid to ‘dig up’ as much online information about job candidates as possible, in order to build an accurate profile about them and therefore help make an informed decision about whether to invite them for an interview and hire them. This is known as ‘Data Mining’.

On the Internet you may be surprised at the amount of personal information available about people – this information is not protected by privacy laws, since it has been willingly posted on the Internet each time a person adds their profile details to a social networking site, or signs up for free downloads, ringtones, or competitions, or posts an Instagram picture, blog or tweet.

Parents/guardians, please encourage your child to think twice about posting the following online: boasting, being crude or talking about socially negative behaviours like theft, drug use, homophobia, xenophobia or getting drunk. These character blights will form part of your child’s online curriculum vitae.

It gets scarier. Even when deactivated, a Facebook account is kept forever; officially, this is so no one else can use the same name. But once a person’s information is put out there on the Internet, it can never be taken back! It is kept on a database and can be accessed by people with sufficient authority, even if that information does not appear to be visible to the public.

What can parents/guardians do to protect themselves and their children from cyber-theft?

1. Ensure they remove any content that someone else may find valuable or which may be used to hurt or bully them in future;

2. What about closing the Facebook account? Closing down the account alone is not sufficient. Delete all photos before closing it down; nevertheless, all content will still be kept in archives, and can still be indexed by Google. And if someone else has already downloaded those photos, they can still repost or do what they like with the photos without asking for permission or telling anyone about it;

3. When signing up for things like social networking sites, add only the minimum information. Never fill in fields that are not asterisked. Never provide a surname, or at least a real surname. Never supply a date of birth, or at least a real date of birth. Never give out a personal, work or school email address. At the very most, use a temporary email address that can easily be dumped later on. Keep your personal email address only for important correspondences, such as for family, close friends and work.

4. Never use the school email address for anything other than for school related activities.

Stay safe online. Be careful not to get burnt!

Victor Dalla-Vecchia

ICT Manager

2024 Loyola College House Eisteddfod

Tuesday 26 March – Festivities start at 6pm, show starts at 7.15pm

One of the most anticipated events on the Loyola College Calendar is nearly here – the 2024 House Eisteddfod. All members of the College community are invited to attend the evening.

There will be a Friends of Performing Arts (FOPA) fundraising BBQ from 6pm in the Two Wolves Hub area, choc tops for sale and a spectacular Easter egg raffle as well. Please join us to celebrate Performing Arts at the College, as well as to enjoy some remarkable performances and very robust House competition.

A limited number of VIP tickets will go on sale on Friday 1 March at 7.15pm. VIP tickets are limited to a maximum of five per family and include an allocated seat in one of the front rows, a snack and guaranteed great time! They can be purchased by clicking on this link:

https://events.humanitix.com/2...

Co-Curriculum Timetable

Loyola College offers approximately sixty Co-curriculum activities throughout the year. These activities run before school, at lunchtime or after school and we encourage all students to expand their learning beyond the classroom, make new friends and try something new by taking on one or more of our Co-curricular activities. Each activity is overseen by members of our teaching staff who do a wonderful job of fostering curiosity, creativity, learning and friendship through the activity.

The 2024 Semester One Co-curriculum timetable has now been finalised and emailed to all students. Please encourage your child to take a look at the timetable and expand their horizons at the College.

I am delighted to share that upon curating, artwork from two of our senior Art students, Olivia Lawson (12XBAM) and Mackenzie Lavender (12FHPL), has been selected for the Catholic Education Week Creative Arts Exhibition in 2024. Congratulations to these incredibly talented students who are two of many that share creative talents.

Please see details of the invitation to the Awards Ceremony, that is to be held on Sunday, 17 March, 2024.

The exhibition is also open to the public on the following days:

Tue 12 March: 9am - 4pm

Wed 13 March: 9am - 7pm

Thu 14 March: 9am - 4pm

Fri 15 March: 12pm - 7pm

Sat 16 March: 11am- 4pm

Hello parents, staff, students and the wider College community. Our names are Shireen and Noah, and we are the 2024 College Captains.

We wanted to officially welcome you all to the new year! Hopefully everyone had a relaxing summer break and has settled in well over the last couple of weeks, despite those rough early starts! We would like to extend a special welcome to our new Year 7 families and new families joining our community across all year levels. We hope that you have all had a smooth transition into the College. We look forward to seeing and working with everyone throughout the year.

Our goals this year is to really emphasise the importance of the connections between students, staff, and the wider Loyola Community as well as to focus on and promote a love for learning.

We aim to represent the student voice in the College as we believe leaders are the bridge that increases the connections between students, staff and the community.

Along with positive connections, we want to encourage a love for learning into our school lives. We believe that when you are passionate about what you are learning, this will bring about both academic success and an enjoyment to be at school.

We hope to introduce new initiatives and traditions which hopefully continue through the following years, working with different faculties of the school to increase positive involvement and connectivity.

As always, Term 1 has been packed with heaps of exciting events. To begin the year, we had the Year 7 picnic and the Year 12 Breakfast to celebrate students’ first and last years at Loyola. Last week we had the annual House Swimming Carnival and every Friday evening House Eisteddfod rehearsals have been keeping everyone busy. Also coming up we have Activities Week! We hope that everyone enjoys their respective Year Level camps/events as these are always a great experience and a fantastic way to form new connections and friendships.

A Fun Fact, for those who don’t know already from our assemblies, Shireen loves a good Harry Potter quote! Here is her version of Dumbledore’s famous words, “Help will always be given at Loyola to those who ask for it.” So please feel free to come up to or contact us, as well as your LSC representatives and House and Co-Curriculum Leaders, with any suggestions, questions, or just to chat!

We both look forward to working with everyone as we embark on the exciting year that 2024 will turn out to be. Together, let’s give it our best shot, strive to achieve our goals and bring out the best in ourselves, each other and our community.

Thank you everyone and we’ll see you around!

Noah and Shireen,

2024 College Captains

We would like to award the “Student of the Fortnight” to… Madelaine Dupes (12MMBM)!!

Madi, your initiative in taking time out to help us with organising the Class of 2024 Jumpers has been spectacular! Your input with the design process has been really helpful and we thank you for your kindness and willingness to help others.

Year 7 Family Get Together- Friday March 15

The LPFA once again, look forward to welcoming all Year 7 families to a fun filled Year 7 Family Get Together. This is a great opportunity to meet other Loyola families. Both students (siblings included) and parents are welcome to attend.

WHEN: - Friday March 15

TIME: 6:00 pm – 8.:30 pm

WHERE: Loyola Companions Hall

Bookings are essential at https://www.loyola.vic.edu.au/...

$15 per family – includes food, drink, ice-cream, games and entertainment (free door entry prize and raffle tickets)

Loyola Parents & Friends Association (LPFA)

Presentation Ball Information Night – Monday March 25

A Parent and Student information night will be held on Monday March 25 at 7:00 pm in the Theatrette (LCH) for Year 11 students who would like to express an interest in participating in the 2024 Presentation Balls. The Presentation Balls will be held at Melrose Events, Tullamarine. All students participating in the Balls must be present Year 11 Loyola Students. Males can ask a female, a female can ask a male, a male can ask a male and a female can ask a female.
There will be nine rehearsals which take place on a Sunday evening in the LCH from 6:30pm.
Interested students and their parents are required to attend this evening. Please register at https://events.humanitix.com/l...

If you do not have a partner at this stage, please feel very welcome to attend the information session.

An email will sent for you to register your expression of interest.

2024 House Masses

We welcome your attendance to our annual House Masses. Year 7 and Year 12 students will be presented at each House Mass.
Flynn House: Sacred Heart - Sunday, 3rd March at 9:00am
MacKillop House: St. Thomas the Apostle - Sunday, 3rd March at 10:30am
Xavier House: Our Lady of the Way - Sunday, 17th March 9:00am

Morning Tours 2024

Morning Tours take place from 9:00am – 11:00am