Principal's Report
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It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the first edition of The Lighthouse for 2022 and, in so doing, celebrate the commencement of another school year at 酴圖弝け. We commence the year with an enrolment of just over 1700 students including 19 students from St Marys College for the deaf. We also employ over 240 staff. Of course, we welcome most heartily all students new to Aquinas, especially those who join Aquinas for the first time in Year 7. It has been wonderful to see so many happy smiling faces and hear such excitement as their secondary schooling begins. I look forward to keeping you up to date with news from the College each fortnight via The Lighthouse.
College Leaders
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I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with our College Student Leaders earlier this week and hear about the exciting plans they have for the year ahead. For the families who may be reading Lighthouse for the first time, let me introduce our College Student Leaders for 2022. Our Captains are Levi Mugamu and Bailey Leatch. Vice Captains are Dylan Tudor and Georga Carusi. The Advisory Council Representative is Ben Beattie. The Student Ambassador is Patrick Romijn and the College Ambassador is Ann Marian Joseph.
CovidSafe Return to School
It is pleasing to be able to commence the 2022 year with schooling face to face, albeit at a time when COVID-19 is quite prevalent in the community. It is understandable that there may be heightened anxiety about the return to school and the College will be implementing our CovidSafe Plan which is continually under review in accordance with the public health advice. The key protective measure remains to stay away from school if showing the and seek medical advice as necessary. Students who normally show symptoms of allergies and hayfever do not need to remain at home unless the symptoms seem unusual or more severe than normal.
To ensure that we minimise risk, Aquinas students are required to adhere to the following expectations:
- Students should maintain good hand hygiene and clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol based rub regularly.
- Wear a mask at all times when indoors and on public transport. Masks are not required outdoors except when social distancing is not possible.
- Undertake rapid antigen testing twice per week, especially if asymptomatic, and isolate for 7 days if there is a positive result.
The College is maximising ventilation indoors by ensuring that windows and doors are open whenever possible. Air purifiers have been provided by the Victorian Government and have been deployed to areas of reduced ventilation and higher risk. We are also assessing large gatherings and determining whether they can safely proceed. Where possible, we will plan to gather outdoors.
Rapid Antigen Tests
Rapid Antigen Tests have been provided for all students and staff to use as part of a surveillance strategy to help avoid asymptomatic students and staff bringing COVID-19 into the College. Tests are to be taken twice per week and we are recommending Monday and Thursday. A positive result should be reported to the and to Dr Rodezno at the College: deputyprincipal@aquinas.vic.edu.au. The College will notify the relevant cohort of our community when a positive case has come onsite.
ICON Update
As part of our transition to the ICON Enterprise Administration and Finance System we have been required to establish a new pathway to our Community/Parent Portal to allow access for you to update details and organise fee payments. Unfortunately, we are experiencing some delays and this functionality is yet to go live. We will inform you when it is ready to be accessed and apologise for the delay.
College Opening Mass and Opening Assembly
Due to Covid-19 area density guidelines our Opening Mass and Opening Assembly will be student only events this year and therefore will be conducted during the school day. Both will occur on the morning of Tuesday, March 1.
Celebrate Excellence @Aquinas
We will gather as a community and recognise those who achieved excellence in 2021 on Monday, February 28 at 7.30pm. This year the students who excelled at Year 12 will also be invited to return and be acknowledged as part of this ceremony. Invitations for participants and guardians will be available over the coming days. The event will need to be conducted outdoors in accordance with our CovidSafe plan for large gatherings. More information, including ticketing, will be made available over the coming days.
Post School Offers
In January, 175* Year 12 graduates received a First Round Offer with 85% receiving their first or second preference. This is an excellent outcome for our graduates who wish to pursue tertiary studies and there is great diversity in their areas of interest, highlighting again, the opportunities that exist for graduates to pursue their passions. We have also had many students secure full apprenticeships and other traineeships. We wish all of our graduates great success in the next stage of their education. *Nb. Students can refuse permission for publication of their offer.
Parents and Friends Network
The P&F Network provides valuable feedback to the College leadership and gives a parents perspective on life at Aquinas. They also help us welcome families to the community and show the Aquinas hospitality of which we are so proud. The committee is looking for new membership as a number of current members finish their association with Aquinas with their childs graduation. Meetings are held on the first Monday of the month. Should you wish to find out more please contact Dr Nap Rodezno on deputyprincipal@aquinas.vic.edu.au.
Darren Atkinson
Principal