Xavier College Gawler Belt eNewsletter

Principal Welcome

College Captains 2022

We would like to congratulate Shannon O’Brien and Layne Bailey for being selected as our College Captains for 2022, by their peers and staff. Congratulations to all students who applied for the positions, and we wish Shannon and Layne the best for their leadership roles next year.

Academic Awards

Since the early years of the College, Xavier has recognised outstanding academic performance through a series of Awards that culminates in the highest award, the Dux of College, which was presented this year to David Sutton at our Opening Assembly.

It has also become a Xavier tradition to recognise and reward Academic Excellence each semester. This will be the second year that Certificates of Academic Excellence will be awarded on a Grade Point Average System (GPA) in which points are allocated for grades and these are weighted according to the length of the subject. An average number of points is determined to provide a GPA, or grade point average, for each student. This is a similar system to that used in universities around the world.

This new system is non-competitive - each student has the opportunity to achieve the award by setting achievable goals for themselves, and committing to achieving the goal by working hard.

Students who receive a grade point average of 4.6 or above for semester one will receive an award.

The awards would normally be presented during an Assembly early in Term 3, however, due to the current restrictions, they will now be presented at our second Academic Assembly towards the end of the year.

The winners of the Academic Excellence Award for Semester One, 2021 are:

Social Justice Sunday – Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor

Each year, the Australian Catholic Bishop’s Conference releases a statement on Social Justice Sunday. This year’s statement: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor, affirms that “we human beings need a change of heart, mind, and behaviour”. It draws from Scripture, from the theological tradition, from Catholic Social Teaching, and from the wisdom of the world, including the insights of the First Nations.

In the Statement, the Bishops invite the whole Catholic community to join them in taking up Pope Francis’ invitation to a seven-year journey towards total ecological sustainability, guided by seven Laudato si’ Goals. These Goals are: response to the cry of the earth; response to the cry of the poor; ecological economics; sustainable lifestyles; ecological spirituality; ecological education; and community engagement and participatory action.

This year’s statement and other information can be accessed here.

Gareth Watson
Assistant Principal - Religious Identity and Mission

Two Wells - Junior School

Students showing off their Principal Awards!

It has been a wonderful few weeks at the Two Wells Campus, with lots of events and exciting activities happening. Over the last few weeks we have had Cross Country, Science Week, Book Week, 100 Days of School and Parent Teacher Interviews. We have more events to look forward to this term, but are especially excited to go see the College musical Shrek as a whole campus. We are looking forward to seeing the amazing work of the students, Sanjay Mohanaraj, Leanne Savill and Taryn Stevens.

Thank you to families for their wonderful support of the Two Wells campus; this was evident in the productive and positive Parent Teacher conversations. Communication is key for us, so please don’t hesitate to contact us. Conversations were productive and positive and really highlighted the incredible development of our students.

The next few weeks will be an exciting time at the Two Wells campus, as we prepare for the subsequent stage of development. This includes early civil works, and the placement of temporary transportable classrooms, which will provide learning areas during the next stage of construction.

Janet Coomber
Head of Campus Two Wells

On Wednesday the 18 of August, students from Year 3-6 travelled to the East Parklands to compete against other schools in the SACPSSA Cross Country Carnival. Reach Kim (Year 6) and Jasmine Molloy (Year 6) both shared that their experience was ‘fun and challenging because they had to run up a lot of hills and through creeks’. Overall, the students competed really well and showed true sportsmanship as they encouraged and supported all competitors across the line throughout the day.

Nathan Clarke
Primary 3 – 5 Coordinator

Two Wells - Science Week

Week 5 was Science Week, and our R-6 students celebrated this occasion within our Oratories on the Friday. Oratory teachers led students in a range of different experiments that were both hand-on and exciting. Lilly (Year 3) enjoyed the experience and said that the highlights were ‘the experiments and the Elephant Toothpaste explosion’. Hannah (Year 6) agreed and said that ‘trying to make slime in Oratory was fun and challenging’.

Nathan Clarke
Primary 3 – 5 Coordinator

In weeks 5 and 6, students are participating in gymnastics as part of Term 3 Sporting Schools. They are developing locomotor, stability and object manipulation skills through a variety of movement challenges and activities.

Nick Skewes
Teacher

It was wonderful to see so many parents and caregivers successfully connect in with our Oratory Teachers via Microsoft Teams for our latest round of SPOT interviews that were held in Week 4. These virtual interviews provide students with the opportunity to be acknowledge for their achievements for Semester 1 and to discuss a number of key learning goals which they will be able to work towards in the second half of the year. It is also important to highlight all of the structures which we have in place to support each student with their learning journey during their time at Xavier. The Oratory teacher is a key first port of call for all families in supporting all dimensions of the student’s education and holistic development. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to keep in regular contact with your child’s Oratory teacher to keep them informed of any concerns you may have and to share with them any personal celebrations of success which the students may have had as part of the broader range of activities in which they engage with beyond the boundaries of their school life here at Xavier.

I would also like to take this opportunity to promote our Study Support Programme which we have available for all students to access. The Programme is held each Monday to Wednesday afternoon from 3:15pm to 4:15pm. As a vibrant learning community, we are blessed to have a number of old scholars who provide their time, knowledge and subject expertise to support this student focused, learning support initiative. Finally, the individual subject teachers are central to the core teaching and learning process and each child’s academic progress and development. This week parents, caregivers and students were able to successfully connect in for a series of virtual interviews with the students’ individual subject teachers via Microsoft Teams. These important conversations provided the opportunity to celebrate milestones of success and to set the course for the successful completion of the 2021 Academic Year for each of our students.

John Cameron - Head of Campus

Gawler Belt Student Services

Many Term Bus Passes for the East, West, North and Angle Vale bus runs still have not been collected from the Student Services, please do so as soon as possible.

There are also various items of lost property, woolen jumpers, PE rugby tops, hats, drink bottles etc. If you think you have lost something, please come to collect as soon as possible.

The Indigenous Youth Leadership Program (IYLP) Awards Dinner

The Indigenous Youth Leadership Program (IYLP) Awards offers scholarships and leadership opportunities to young Indigenous Australians, with a focus on Indigenous youth from communities in very remote areas of the country or regional communities.

In addition to helping Indigenous students achieve their educational aspirations, the IYLP supports the development of a pool of positive role models and future leaders, to inspire other Indigenous students and illustrate the successes that can be achieved through educational attainment and academic success. On Thursday evening this week I was delighted to be able to attend the awards dinner at the Adelaide Convention Centre along with a number of our staff and students, parents and caregivers to celebrate this special occasion.

Gawler Belt - Christian Citizenship Shield

After the suspension of the Bosco Cup in 2020, it is with great pleasure that we can once again announce the winners of the Christian Citizenship Shield. Congratulations to the members of the Mazzarello House for being the winners of the Christian Citizenship Shield for 2021!

This result would have been announced at a College assembly earlier this term. However, it was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions in place at the time.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who supported Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion in Term 1 and the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal last term. We realise that this is still a difficult time for many of our families. This makes this year’s effort even more remarkable.

Gawler Belt - Shrek The Musical

The countdown is on! The College production of Shrek the Musical will be opening in 2 weeks time, and it is set to be a stellar performance. The cast and orchestra have been working tirelessly for many months and are very excited to show you their wonderful talents on the main stage!

We can’t wait to see you at the theatre!

Tickets are selling out fast and it’s looking like a sellout season. To ensure you don’t miss out, visit TryBooking:

Try Booking - Click here for Shrek tickets

Positive Education - Considering Mindfulness

As we move through the Xavier College school year, we now move our Positive Education focus to Mindfulness. This is the intrinsic ability to be fully present, and aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not to overreact or become overwhelmed by what life throws at us. While we find our students at Xavier often naturally are mindful in the way they tackle their studies and overall College engagement, we still need to know more about how mindfulness is an intrinsically natural possess, and it becomes easier for us the more we practice mindfulness activities on a regular basis, and we want this to occur here at Xavier College and in our College community. We find our students, staff, and our community are being mindful when we are aware of what we’re experiencing using all of our senses.

Some mindfulness activities that can be achieved here at Xavier or at home can include meditation; this can be as simple a process where you set aside some time, observe your present moment, let all negative thoughts go by and don’t be concerned by your wandering mind – just breathe. This is a simple process that can be done anyway and at any time – you might not get results straight away – it takes practice…something we know a lot about at Xavier College. For more information please see our School TV link below:

School TV - Mindfulness article

House Directors
Pastoral Care

Galwer Belt - Humanities

The Year 10 cohort recently enjoyed an emotive performance from musician, actor and historian Brett Hunt titled Vietnam: Dusted Off. The performance chronicled two decades of Australian History, from 1967 to 1987 and conveyed the experiences of soldiers who fought in the Vietnam war and the difficulty of returning to society. In his performance Hunt also expressed the struggles Indigenous Australians faced during this era regarding the division in rights and freedoms in Australian society.

At the conclusion of the performance several students shared stories of how their family and loved ones had been affected by serving in the Vietnam War with Brett.

Year 10 student Jorja Herrmann commented ‘the presentation was the best presentation that I have ever experienced. It just wasn't a normal presentation. It was so engaging, and very interesting. Especially how Brett was telling the story while playing the sounds with his instrument. The instrument sounds felt like they were from the war’.

Amelia Vogelsang
Curriculum Leader - Humanities