Xavier College Gawler Belt eNewsletter

Calendar Events

All school events are updated on the College calendar accessible through SEQTA Engage and can change without notification. Please ensure you check the calendar on a regular basis to keep up-to-date with College information.

Uniform Shop Opening Times

Monday: 2:30pm - 4pm

Wednesday: 8am - 9am

Thursday: 2:30pm - 5pm

Please direct any enquiries to uniformshop@xavier.catholic.edu.au

Qkr! app

Uniform orders placed through the Qkr! app will be delivered to the respective Campus. You will be notified when your order is ready to be picked up from your Campus Front Office.

One College, Three Campuses

What a fantastic start to the year, here are some happy snaps of our students across all three campuses.

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Welcome to Xavier College Evanston. We have transitioned into the new year at Xavier College and it has been delightful to see our students, families, and staff settle in beautifully. We welcome Connie Everett and Bianca Robinson as our new Receptionist and Administrative Officer respectively. We have also been blessed with three new educators in our community: Shania Davis, Jade Ryan, and Brittany Forbes.

This week we introduced Oratory class. This is held every Friday morning, where students are in mixed year level Houses - de Sales, Handley, Mazzarello and Occhiena. Oratory is dedicated to building peer relationships with those in our community, which was extremely successful, and it was brilliant to see the students interacting with one another.

On Tuesday, 7 February we celebrated our Beginning of School Mass with Fr Chris Ford, our College Chaplain. It was a time to gather as Xavier College Evanston and share the message that ‘God loves us all the time’.

As we settle into the year, we will have various opportunities to get together as a community, share stories and build connections. I look forward to what I know will be an amazing year.

Rozanna Elmassih
Head of Campus - Evanston

Evanston - First Oratory

Oratory is an important part of the Xavier College tradition. When speaking with old scholars, we hear how important Oratory is for our students; the connections, the relationships built, the soft skills that are developed.

On Friday of Week 1, Evanston students got to experience their first Oratory. It was evident that students loved the experience, and staff were providing the students with the platform to connect with one another. With Reception students all the way up to Year 6 – students spent time with one another, in their journey to understand how the Xavier House system will benefit them in their educational journey.

Evanston - First days of school

Our Reception students from our new Evanston Campus were full of smiles for their first day of school.

Don’t they look fantastic in their school uniforms!?

Gawler Belt - Head of Campus

Welcome to the 2023 School Year
This Term, Gawler Belt Campus commenced with close to 1,100 students, which is the highest number of enrolments in the history of our campus. As we progress towards 2024 and beyond, we will be close to averaging 200 students in each of our year levels. Xavier College is deeply devoted to educating the whole person across all the dimensions of what it is to be truly human. As a vibrant learning community, we are committed to achieving excellence across all facets of the comprehensive academic program we have on offer. We are passionate about creating opportunities for the students to form connections with one another and to be connected to our community. A community in which each and every child is truly known. We value the importance of working in communion together - parents, caregivers and staff with the view to supporting each and every student to truly thrive and be the best they can be.

Committed Staff and Staff Retention
The Gawler Belt Campus continues to maintain a strong position in relation to retaining highly skilled committed staff. The positive and connected culture of the Gawler Belt Campus provides an attractive working environment for all existing and new staff. We are delighted to be in a position where we have very few staff leave our campus to move on to other schools.

Site Masterplan - Gawler Belt
In Term 1 the College will be engaging the services of an architect to complete a comprehensive ‘Site Masterplan’ for our Gawler Belt Campus. Plans are already underway for the refurbishment of the T4 classrooms into the College’s first formal STEM Lab, along with a new Directors’ Hub being set up in the current B9 classroom. Work on both of these projects has been scheduled to take place during the course of the Term 1 holidays.

A Genuine Focus on Excellence
During the course of 2023 our staff will be collectively focusing on achieving excellence across all facets of what we do. From student outcomes, the design and delivery of our academic programs, the shaping of our own personal professional learning programs, the care we take in creating and maintaining beautiful contemporary learning environments, communication and building positive relationships. This initiative is aligned with the South Australian Commission of Catholic schools (SACCS) Learning and Teaching Commitment: Pursuing excellence in learning and teaching, and student outcomes across all Catholic schools in South Australia.

John Cameron
Head of Campus – Gawler Belt

Gawler Belt - 2022 High Achievers

The College is very proud of the collective academic achievements of our 2022 Graduates. Yesterday our most outstanding academic achievers were celebrated at our Academic Assembly. Our congratulations is extended to Layne Bailey who was presented with the Handley Award for College Dux, as well as the Mayoral Youth Recognition Award for Academic Achievement.

This event was followed by the Merit Ceremony, held at Government House, where our students were formally acknowledged along with the other high achievers from across the State. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and congratulate the staff who worked tirelessly to guide and support the Year 12 students during the course of the 2022 Academic Year for assisting students in achieving their 100% SACE completion.

Gawler Belt - Peer Support Program

During Term 1, Year 7 students will be involved in the Peer Support Program. Each week, groups of 10-12 students will meet with three Peer Leaders to work through a range of activities that focus on building connections and addressing a range of behaviours including the prevention of bullying. Meeting in small groups allows meaningful connections to form, assisting students with the transition to secondary school. Over a period of 8 sessions, students will acknowledge their strengths and learn skills to build resilience, identify how to develop, maintain and repair friendships, develop understanding of a range of behaviours including bullying and will also learn strategies in order to respond appropriately in a variety of situations. This program will commence Tuesday of Week 2. Please ask your child about the concepts they are learning in the Peer Support Program.

This week we have been able to formally welcome our new Year 7 students of Mazzarello and Occhiena Houses into our community at the first of our Welcome to House events. These ceremonies highlight the importance we place on welcoming new people into our vibrant Salesian learning community. It also provides the opportunity for parents and caregivers to get to know our other Year 7 families. The de Sales and Handley Welcome to House events are scheduled for next week on Monday (de Sales) and Wednesday (Handley).

John Cameron
Head of Campus - Gawler Belt

Two Wells - Head of Campus

The year has started in a dynamic way! We welcome new staff, families and students to the 2023 school year. The Two Wells Campus has already seen the amazing growth of facilities, with the gym now well and truly underway, and the added bonus of the Meaney Road car park now operational.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new staff: Emma Browne, Angela Bowman, Adrian Costa, Taylor Irlam, Matthew Jackson, Jack Matthews, Kas Pillay, Clare Priest, Eloise Saliba, Chris Spry, Adriaan Vollebreght and Amy Waters.

We also extend a warm welcome to our new students and families; we trust you will enjoy your time as a part of our Xavier Two Wells Campus community.

With the easing of Covid restrictions, we were grateful that we were able to meet with our families and start to build strong relationships. At Xavier, relationships are key and we have spent a lot of time as a staff looking at the Salesian charism which focuses on a preventive system and seeks to nurture the whole person to be the best they can be. This extends to our families as well as our students. We ask that you keep regular communication with your child’s Class / Oratory teacher so we are able to strengthen these relationships for the benefit of our children.

It can be daunting for children to start a new school, whether that be the commencement of school in Reception or changing schools. Transition can take time, so asking children to name a positive, or a challenge they worked through, is advantageous. Reassure your child that change is hard for everyone.

As the term progresses, we look forward to great teaching and learning, camps, athletics events, parent meetings, and the hustle and bustle of our daily lives on campus. We are excited to be working in partnership with you and are looking forward to a wonderful year ahead.

Janet Coomber
Head of Campus - Two Wells