Principal's Report
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Welcome to the first edition of The Lighthouse for 2023. The Lighthouse is a fortnightly publication and is the main vehicle by which we will keep you informed about life at 麻豆国产AV. It is published every second Friday and I ask that you try and find time to read this newsletter. We will endeavour to keep it informative and interesting, covering upcoming events, ways that we are working to improve student learning and wellbeing, and a reflection as a Faith Community. We also want to celebrate student achievements and other milestones, and introduce you to members of our staff in each edition.
We commence the year with an enrolment of just over 1700 students, including 24 students from St Mary鈥檚 College for the Deaf. We also employ over 240 staff, including talented educators, dedicated support staff and great maintenance teams. Of course, we welcome most heartily all students new to Aquinas, especially those who join Aquinas for the first time in Year 7, as well as the 17 students joining us at other levels. It has been wonderful to see so many happy smiling faces and hear such excitement as their secondary schooling begins.
Year 7 Parent / Guardian Welcome Evening
Thank you to everyone who was able to join us on Tuesday evening for our Year 7 Parent Information Evening. It was great to see so many in attendance. Thanks especially to the VET Hospitality Students and their teachers, Meaghan Sadler and Owen Stott, for providing refreshments. Thanks also to the members of our P&F who were present to welcome new families.
College Leaders
It is my great pleasure to introduce our College Student Leaders for 2023. Our Captains are Matthew Azzopardi and Chloe North-Coombes. Vice Captains are Thomas Scutt and Brooke Tudor. The Advisory Council Representative is Rhys Cameron. The Student Ambassadors are Lucy Kinsman and Jay Tolentino.
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Aquinas School Advisory Council - Finance Representative Vacancy
Our AQSAC plays an important role in College governance and is also a wonderful opportunity for community members to contribute to our decision making and share their own expertise. We have a vacancy for a current parent/guardian with a finance background to offer advice to the AQSAC and the Finance Sub-committee. The commitment is to six AQSAC meetings and five Finance Sub-committee Meetings each year. If you would like to find out more, please contact myself principal@aquinas.vic.edu.au or our Chairperson, Chris Leahy Chris.Leahy@tuttbryant.com.au.
ICON Update and the Launch of SIMON Everywhere
Thank you for your patience as we continue our transition to the ICON Enterprise Administration and Finance System and associated issues with logins to our SIMON Parent Access Module (PAM) and our Community Portal to allow access for you to update details and organise fee payments. We believe most issues are now resolved. However, if you continue to experience problems accessing PAM, please contact registrar@aquinas.vic.edu.au or for the Community Portal contact fees@aquinas.vic.edu.au. If you have not already downloaded the SIMON Everywhere App, you are encouraged to give it a try to improve access to PAM on your phone.
College Opening Mass and Opening Assembly
Our Opening Mass and Opening Assembly will be conducted during the school day on Monday, February 20 and Tuesday, February 21 respectively. We plan to have a live stream of the Opening Assembly for parents / guardians, with more details to be provided closer to the date.
Celebrate Excellence @Aquinas
We will gather as a community and recognise those who achieved excellence in 2022 on Monday, February 20 at 7.30pm. Invitations for participants and their guardians will be available over the coming days.
Post School Offers
In January, Year 12 graduates who had applied to the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) received news of tertiary placement, with 94 per cent receiving a First Round Offer. 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. Thanks to Careers Advisor, Fran Jennings, for her support of students as they made decisions about their tertiary pathways.
Parents and Friends Committee
The P&F provides valuable feedback to the College leadership and gives a 鈥減arent鈥檚 perspective鈥 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 following their child鈥檚 graduation. Meetings are held on the first Monday of the month. Should you wish to find out more, please contact Dr Nap Rodezno at deputyprincipal@aquinas.vic.edu.au.
Enrolments for 2025
Enrolments are now open for those in Grade 5 to join the Aquinas 2025 intake. Enrolment is through the College website: /enrolment. Current families are reminded that each child needs to be enrolled separately and that we will not presume that you intend to enrol a sibling of an existing student.
Darren Atkinson
Principal