Galen Catholic College Reflections Newsletter - Issue 16 2022

Reflections

Amy and Jonah compete in Culinary Challenge Final

Hospitality students, Amy Kurjan and Jonah Lewis won their way into the Murray River Culinary Challenge, held in Echuca on September 17th. As a team they competed against 3 other finalist teams from Echuca, Swan Hill and Nathalia. The competition involved the preparation of a 3 course meal of roasted cauliflower and chorizo soup, crispy skin salmon with a pea puree and a dessert of vanilla panna cotta. Each course was served within a strict time line, with 4 consistent plated serves presented to 4 judges. Amy and Jonah kept their cool, communicated well and functioned smoothly as a team in the kitchen. Their dishes were of a high standard. After a nervous tallying of the scores, Echuca took out the top prize with the Galen team coming a close second. What a great achievement and valuable experience for Amy and Jonah.

to

Principal's Message

Year 12s – the end of a school era

I like to congratulate our year 12 students for successfully making it the end of the final year without being impacted by lockdown or any other issues created by COVID 19!

I’d also like to congratulate those who have already started in the work force having completed VCAL and those currently in apprenticeships and traineeships.

This week for the Year 12s is different to previous years as we now celebrate graduation on the evening of their last day where as in the past they celebrated at the end of exam period. This change will give us a greater opportunity for more students to celebrate together. We also chose to make this change to give us greater flexibility in case we were impacted by Covid 19.

I’d also like to thank staff who have been part of each student’s journey from Year 7 through to Year 12. It’s a privilege to be part of a student’s learning and development and at the heart of why our teaching staff love what they do.

Enrolments 2023

We currently have over 200 enrolments for Year 7 2023 which is a fantastic figure. I believe this large number reflects those families looking for quality secondary education and highlights that at Galen Catholic College we are providing a variety of realistic pathways for all students to achieve success. At the same time, we are also fielding enquiries for years 8 to 12 enrolments and over term 4 we will commence our extensive transition and orientations for Year 7 2023 students.

Learning walks

Our tours and learning walks aren’t just for new families. If it’s been a number of years since you had a walk through a classroom to see Learning in action, I encourage you to book for one of our weekly tours. In particular, the transition from Junior to Senior years opens up access to more than the conventional classrooms as our students explore their career pathways. Book a tour at: https://enrol.galen.vic.edu.au/school-tour

Building programme update

In recent weeks I’ve fielded a number of questions regarding progress of the building programme. It is anticipated that the works for Performing Arts Centre and Stadium will be completed by the middle of 2023. We are hoping that the first performance will be our Junior production. We are also very excited that the stadium will be ready for use during the winter period when the outdoor space can often be limited with inclement weather.

Parent Survey – we want to hear from you

In the next edition of the newsletter we will share a link to a parent survey on our culture at Galen. This will allow us to hear the parent perspective and we are after a minimum of 80 families to participate in this survey. Typically, we only receive feedback from 20 to 30 families and would like to ensure we have a much broader audience to use for future strategic plans.

Happy days,

Darta

Principal

Building & Construction Progress

Over the second half of Term 3 our 1st year Building & Construction students have been busy finishing off the frame work and installing the insulation and plaster for the new new office space and tea room for our maintenance staff. For the next stage of the build students will be installing kitchen cupboards including overhead cupboards, they will tile a splash back, learn how to hang a door, put on door furniture and install architraves and skirting boards. Keep an for more progress in future Reflections Newsletters.

Galen Theatre Chair Donations

invite sponsorship towards our new Performing Arts Theatre chairs. Our new Performing Arts Centre

Catholic College is excited to partner

provide Galen Catholic College and the Wangaratta

the theatre seats, or donations

with a fantastic

be

names will be affixed

theatre and performing space. Sponsorship of the theatre chairs is being offered as a

be made

Hume Athletics

On Thursday 6th October Galen was represented by 33 students at the SSV Hume Athletics Carnival in Albury. Galen finished 3rd out of 38 participating schools.

We had a very successful day on the track with 17 students qualifying to represent Galen in Melbourne at State Level on the 17th October in Individual events along with 3 relay teams, 12-13 Boys, U14 Boys and U17 Girls.

There were 7 records broken for the day and 2 of those belong to Isabella Pasquali in the 200m and 400m. We had 2 students named Age Group Champions. Congratulations to Isabella Pasquali and Callum Bott on this achievement and Declan O’Sullivan, Georgia Lewis placing 2nd in their age groups.

Congratulations to all our students who participated on the day. Galen is proud of your effort and wish those competing at State all the best.

VCE VET Sport & Recreation

Term 3 was another busy one for our VCE VET Sport & Recreation students. Our Unit 3 & 4 students worked with our local Primary schools – St Bernard’s, St Patrick’s and Wangaratta West. They ran clinics at the schools to teach grade’s 5 & 6 students about AFL9’s which is an inclusive game for males and females using football skills. These experiences help to build confidence and broaden our student’s “tool kits” of skills to be able to apply to their own coaching competencies while satisfying assessment requirements for their Certificate III in Sport & Recreation. We also worked with students from The Academy who worked with us during some coaching sessions and assisted us with the umpiring and officiating on carnival day. All students were all great ambassadors for our school.

For further information about VCE VET Sport and Recreation Units 1 - 4, please contact: jennie.annett@galen.vic.edu.au

Year

Media

Composite School Fees Reminder

As the school year is now well advanced,

reminder

a friendly prompt for all parents with outstanding fees, to assess their current balance.

If you have already contacted the school this year to discuss payments or have a 2022 agreement in place, we thank you in advance.

If you have not yet made contact with the school,

ask that you advise what your payment

to finalise your balance before the end of the current school year.

In cases of financial hardship or where special/difficult circumstances exist, parents/guardians are in vited to contact Jaye Miller on (03) 5721 6322 for an appointment to discuss ways we can assist you and your family. Parents and Guardians are strongly urged to make such arrangements rather than allow debts to accumulate with the School. These arrangements are to be negotiated on an annual basis. All details discussed are of course strictly confidential. Your cooperation is much appreciated.

Fruit

Junior School

Fruit

continuing to

a weekly basis

of the year. Fruit

be available outside

Junior School Leader

office

a Tuesday’s

make sure

healthy

Vincent Feast Day

Wednesday 14th of September saw us enjoy our first covid restriction free Vincent Feast Day. There were activities throughout the day for the Vincent students including hot chocolates during breakfast club, a homeroom comp during extended homeroom, smartie cookies at recess and Mr Rispin made some fun with the students at lunch with his balloon shapes/animals. Vincent 6 were the winners of the activities and enjoyed a pizza lunch as their prize. Our Raffle was drawn throughout the day, with 22 lucky prize winners. Thank you for all those that provided donations and bought tickets, and a special thanks to Linda who wrapped and organised all the hampers. $452 was raised and will be donated to the St Vincent de Paul Society. Well done to the student leaders and the Year 9 helpers who promoted and sold tickets in the lead up. A special thanks to Vincent house captains Emily and Sam who helped with the organisation of day whilst experiencing a very busy time in the Year 12 year, and to all the staff and students who participated, encouraged and made the day fun.

Thank you to Vincent staff and students who donated prizes along with a special thanks to Morris Brothers Real Estate and Adventure Camping & Fishing for donating prizes for the raffle.

Emerge

The Emerge retreat is all about connecting with, embracing and loving the woman the girls are becoming. After the hormonal cascade of puberty, this is a time to consolidate and cultivate their unique expression. It is a time to deepen their connection with themselves, their body and others. Unfortunately most girls are still restricted by old narratives of shame and self-doubt which are inhibiting, and painful. Our program is designed to disrupt these limiting beliefs, so they can be empowered and confident and free to express themselves more fully.

This is a time for girls to relax, and connect in authentic, meaningful ways and also experience the value and magic of supporting and nurturing eachother. Girls discover that by embracing our unique value, we can all shine, as as there really is enough sun for us all.

The program includes movement, meditation, journalling, reflection, discussion and sharing. Girls have permission for open discussion about all topics, particularly those often seen as "taboo". We believe it is vital create powerful, healthy dialogue about all aspects of life experience.

The retreat has 3 key areas of focus - emerging self and body, sexuality, and relationships. We touch on each one in our one-day retreat, and explore them in greater depth in the full weekend experience.

K E Y L E A R N I N G O U T C O M E S

self-confidence positive body image self-respect embracing sexuality

healthy relationships with others healthy relationships with food positive effects of physical exercise

P R O G R A M O U T L I N E

EMERGING SELF AND BODY

As the girls come out of the intense period of puberty, they are beginning to explore and identify their unique potential. The aim of the retreat is for them to grow their self confidence to express themselves fully and celebrate who they are becoming.

EMERGING SEXUALITY

At this age girls are often discovering and exploring their sexuality. During the retreat, girls connect positively with their body, and generate an understanding of the sacred nature of their sexuality Through this, they can then make safe, empowered choices.

EMERGING RELATIONSHIPS

The girls explore the changing nature of relationships at this age, Sharing the retreat experience, naturally teaches them about the importance of trust, empathy and creates a sense of solidarity They really understand that we flourish when we support and celebrate eachother, rather than compare and compete. The girls realise that there is enough sun for us all and we shine brighter together

Star Gazing at WHS!

a past WHS student, who has recently co

Guest, Krystal De Napoli

Sky Country” as part of

First

Books

be

this

signed by Krystal on the night.