10.08.2017 Avila College Newsletter

August 10 | 2017

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From the
Principal

On Sunday the Church celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration.
This major feast marks the moment when Jesus is transfigured and
becomes radiant upon a mountain top, shining with bright rays of light.

Dr Michelle Cotter At this most significant of moments, This innovative program gave them the
where human nature meets God, we opportunity to refine their scientific
Principal are asked to see love in each other enquiry skills and 'learn to teach'
Exec. MBA, M.Ed. Leadership, and for each other. as they mentored younger Grade 4
M.Ed. RE, Post Grad. Dip. IT, students.
Post Grad. Dip. Adult Ed., Finding grace in each person we meet
Grad. Dip. RE, B.Ed and naming to each other how we see For our Year 7 students, the realisation
God in each other is a great outreach that they have now enjoyed 100 days of
35 Charles Street, of faith, hope and love for each other. secondary school is also significant.
Mount Waverley,
Victoria 3149 As a Catholic and Presentation We celebrated this milestone with a
T 03 9831 9600 community our Avila family has party and huge cake, recognising the
[email protected] this week been blessed to have successful transition they have made
avila.vic.edu.au many outpourings of love and care to a new learning environment with
as we have mourned the loss of our different responsibilities, expectations
Avila College acknowledges the Year 12 student Kiara Verma. and relationships.
Wurundjeri people, the traditional
custodians of the land on which My thanks to the many students, We also recognise we might also
the College is built. parents and friends of Avila as well as feel like the cold of winter will never
2 many from other Catholic schools who lift and as we turn our attention to
have offered us and Kiara’s family their preparations for the coming year
sympathy and support. in subject selections and pathways
planning it can seem like the year is
We very much feel embraced by our flying away too fast.
Loving God and by our shared faith.

Week four of Term 3 sees us a bit more
than half way through the school year -
in the colloquial, “we’ve gotten over the
hump!”

This milestone can be exciting and give
us a sense of achievement.

Our Year 8 students have now had the
opportunity to experience and reflect
on the new Avila learning program,
STEM-4-ALL.

Prayer

This is the nature of the seasons of the We also have many guest speakers Avila College Prayer
school year and our Melbourne weather visiting Avila College who share their
too! personal experiences across a range of Our patron, Saint Teresa
disciplines and vocational avenues. of Avila, calls us to be
Every term offers our students the the hands, feet and eyes
chance to ask themselves, am I making We recently had former Avila student of Christ.
the most of the diverse opportunities Dianne McGrath share her diverse Lord, you have blessed
available to me at Avila? career history with students recently us with many gifts,
and her potential pathway to space Guide us so that we
If the answer is yes that’s great, if it’s not - as she is currently shortlisted for make the most of these
then maybe now is the time to review, the Mars One program. in our everyday lives.
set new goals and look in different ways May we respond to your
at experiences and opportunities. Part of my habit of being in conversation call to give generously,
with students in Term 3 is through to welcome
“Journeying With You - Jelly and a Chat” wholeheartedly
with Year 12's. and to support all of
your creation.
So far I’ve enjoyed meeting with a Let us use our voices for
number of 12 Gold students who thanks and praise as we
have graciously gone along with the grow in the light of Saint
Aeroplane Jelly theme (Journey With Us - Teresa.
Paper Planes is the link!). Grant us wisdom to
live out the Gospel as
They have sung along and chatted about Daughters of the Church.
their favourite Avila things and current Saint Teresa of Avila,
No. 1 subject as well as their future Pray for Us.
aspirations..
Amen
There is as much to celebrate about
winter as there is to moan about it.

It’s a great time to grab a book and find
a comfortable spot to go somewhere
else in our imaginations!

Happy Learning!

Dr Michelle Cotter

Talking with teachers, curriculum and
wellbeing and year level leaders about
their journeys and the many pathways to
success at Avila is highly recommended!

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In Memoriam

Kiara Daphne Verma A combination of student and staff musicians
and singers offered the gift of music to the Mass
June 2, 1999 - July 28, 2017 and helped all present to immerse themselves in
the blessings of our Loving God at this sad time.
May she rest in peace
Kiara is deeply missed by her friends, the Avila
With great sadness I wrote to Avila families community and of course her family.
recently to advise of the sudden and tragic
death of our Year 12 student, Kiara Verma. We offer our condolences to Kiara’s father Paul,
mother Lorraine and brother Ivan, they remain in
In the days since this sad news students, staff our thoughts and prayers.
and families have drawn on their reservoirs of
faith and hope and love to express their grief, Our Year 12 class of 2017 have shown themselves
to support each other and to offer love and amidst their sorrow to be young women of great
care to Kiara’s family. fortitude, deep humanity and gentle care and
kindness for each other, for College staff and for
Over the weekend just passed students, staff their own parents and families.
and Avila families and friends joined with Kiara’s
family at St Jude’s Parish, Scoresby, to pray for There are of course many different ways we grieve
Kiara and her family through the Rosary on Friday and mourn and each of these is an important
evening and then at a beautiful Mass celebrating personal response.
Kiara’s life on Saturday morning.
Support remains available at school through
Over this time we gained more understanding our counselling services and I remind students,
and appreciation of the colour and joy Kiara staff and parents that external agencies are also
brought to all those she encountered. available to access beyond the school.

An important dimension of our grieving is finding
ways to return to usual routines and school
life. If parents / guardians or students find this
process difficult I encourage you to contact your
daughter’s Homeroom Teacher or Year Level
Coordinator in the first instance.

Advice for supporting adults, children or young
people who are vulnerable or have expressed
concerns about their mental health is available
from:

• Headspace.org.au 1800 650 890

• Lifeline.org.au 13 11 14

• KidsHelpline.com.au 1800 55 1800

• Beyondblue.org.au 1300 22 4636

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A Prayer To
God In Time Of
Great Sadness

O Lord God we come to You at this time of grief and ask that in Your grace, You would shed
Your peace and comfort to all who are mourning this death - that was so sudden and so very
unexpected.
Lighten our darkness O Lord and comfort our sorrowing hearts. Pour Your peace, that passes
all understanding into the hearts of all who are grieving and shower the assurance of Your
love on all at this time of sadness.
Lord it is at a time like this that we suddenly begin to realise the great frailty of life and the
brief portion that we are permitted on this earth.
Help us Lord to come to terms with Kiara’s death. Her life will always be remembered for the
light it shed rather than the gap it leaves. Help us pray, as we face the future with courage.
Lord, although we doubt that You will ever fully answer the question why? yet we pray
that You will give us an understanding heart - and help us come to terms with what has
happened. Be our comfort, strength and hope.
Amen

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Faith
and
Mission

Ms Carmela Marino

Director of Faith and Mission

[email protected]

A Woolly Winter!

As some of you may know, the Young Vinnies at Avila College is a group
of students from all year levels who are passionate about helping those
less fortunate than themselves.

Maeve Gill After having a meeting near the end Please continue to donate warm items of
Tiana Chandraratne of Term 2 we decided that this term clothing and edible goods as everything
we would be collecting items to help that we are able to collect now will be
Faith and Mission Captains those in need this winter, so far each going to someone in need later.
year level has been stellar and brought
Chiara Smith in many articles of warm clothing and Also, to anybody who may have forgotten,
Alicia Roy edible goods. the year level that is able to amass the
most amount of goods will be receiving
Faith and Mission Captains All of the donations from the Avila a prize for their ginormous efforts.
6 community will go to various groups
that are in need this winter and will Milagros Vargas
be handed out at the soup vans that 7 Red
help to feed the many hungry mouths
around Melbourne.

The Young Vinnies would like to thank
the students and families at Avila who
have all supported this worthy cause.

Faith and
Mission
Important
Dates

Sunday's Gospel
Reading

Sunday 13 August
Matthew 14: 22–33
Jesus walks on the
water.

Sunday 20 August
Luke 15: 21–28
A Canaanite woman
asks Jesus to heal her
daughter.

Monday 14 August
Memorial of

l St Maximilian Kolbe

Tuesday 15 August
Solemnity of the
Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary

Saturday 19 August
World
Humanitarian Day

Monday 21 August
Memorial of St Pius X

YyfcoooourumrtchmawenuinYnstotietiulrylnwddgorrVioovipnlel.nioeifsefs Tuesday 22 August
DdMoraonrpainptioeod'ns soofcfffaitcnoeb.Mes Memorial of the
Queenship of the
Blessed Virgin Mary

Thursday 24 August
Feast of
St Bartholomew

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Learning
and
Teaching

STEM-4-ALL

Mrs Madeleine Franken On Monday 7 August Avila College In this, the program’s initial year,
hosted its very first STEM-4-ALL approximately one hundred and
Deputy Principal Presentation Night. eighty students across the five schools
Learning & Teaching The evening was a showcase of all the participated.
work conducted by the Year 8 students
[email protected] from Avila College and the Grade 4 Session one was an introductory
students from the participating primary session which required the students
Ms Angela Torelli schools; Holy Family, St Christopher’s, to work together and look at how
Good Shepherd Parish School and to develop a good focus question
Director of Studies Y10 - 12 St Leonard’s. The night was a buzz and hypothesis so that they could
with excited students proud of their begin to write their own question for
[email protected] achievements. investigation.

Ms Klara Baka The STEM-4-ALL program was a seven- Students conducted small experiments
week program that ran over two school with the primary school students as a
Director of Studies Y7-9 terms. The aims of the program were way of introduction to how to form a
to improve STEM inquiry skills, provide hypothesis.
[email protected] opportunities for Year 8 students to
consolidate learning by acting as The subsequent sessions involved:
8 teacher/mentor and to improve the introduction of the concept of
metacognitive, thinking and variables, how they could be controlled
communication skills, promote the profile and changed; the difference between
of females in STEM in an engaging and observations and inferences through
student-centred learning environment. conducting basic experiments.

Groups discussed and formalised
the Method and Data Collection for
the inquiry question formed from
Session One.

Primary school students visited Avila and presenting data, drawing Avila Calendar
College to conduct the experiments conclusions, discussing limitations Dates & Events
they had carefully planned for in the and reporting on findings which were
preceding weeks. displayed as posters and displayed August 10
Students had access to real science at the presentation evening where Specialist Group Photos
laboratories which many of the students had the opportunity to PFA Meeting (7:00pm)
primary school students had not discuss their projects with their
seen previously, outside areas, expert parents. August 14 - 18
teaching staff and it was amazing to Science Week
see how well the students worked In speaking with several students
together. both during the sessions and on the August 17
evening, they were very proud of Students finish 1:10pm
In the final two sessions, their achievements. Parent/Teacher/
students were required to work Student Meetings
with their groups to report on Some students said, “we loved (3:30pm - 8:30pm)
their investigation by analysing working collaboratively and being
a mentor”, whilst others stated August 18
“I have a new appreciation of Student free day
Science” and “I used my Maths skills
to analyse my data”. August 22
Students finish 1:10pm
The staff and Leadership Team are Parent/Teacher/
extremely proud of the students Student Meetings
and congratulate them on their (3:30pm - 8:30pm)
achievements.
AVILA COLLEGE
Klara Baka GENERAL OFFICE HOURS
Director of Studies
8am - 4.30pm

PLEASE CALL THE

ABSENTEE LINE

BEFORE 10am IF YOUR
DAUGTHER IS ABSENT

FROM SCHOOL

9831 9696

HrrfeFeaoAto-vruueremgrmnnuyrfseosoodtudlrm2uy25eeo0nu1b9tra?ck

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Pastoral
Care

Ms Janine Bauman Student Leadership Forum 2017

Deputy Principal Students Leaders across all year levels came together to reflect on the things they value,
appreciate and celebrate about their school. They considered how they could
[email protected] make a great school an even greater school and representatives from each
year level brought forward ideas/proposals that had been collated from their
respective year levels to an “AVILA United Nations-style forum”

Robust discussion was had and the leaders were asked to consider how they could
advocate for changes within their sphere of influence.

College Captains Sinead Coulter, Tamara Ryan and Maeve Gill facilitated the
session motivating and inspiring the girls. Sinead and Tamara also shared their
experiences with the external leadership opportunities they had been involved in
such as the Lord Somers Camp and RYLA (Rotary).

Janine Bauman
Deputy Principal Students

Mrs Anne Stephens

Director of Pastoral Care Y7-9

[email protected]

Mrs Anna Marvelli

Director of Pastoral Care Y10-12

[email protected]

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Craft
Club

We Craft Club!

We enjoy craft and we wish we could go
to Craft Club every day, but it is only on
Thursdays at lunchtime.
We have made easter chicks, teddy bears,
headbands, felt roses, sock creatures, pin
cushions, crochet and origami.
We like coming to Craft Club because we can
make new friends, everyone is welcome and
it is nice and relaxing.
Jessica Y7, Sarah Y8, Teagan Y9, Melissa Y10

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Year 9

Studio Arts 2D Class

The Year 9 Studio Arts class has just started week 3 for the semester and their work is so impressive!
Students began working in grey lead pencil drawing still life objects focusing on proportion, tones,
shadows and textures. They are now developing colouring techniques studying fabric swatches

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Year 7

Project ROCKIT Lucy and Archie gave us some ‘hot tips’. They
explained that commenting ‘dislike’ on a post can
On Tuesday 25 July, Lucy and Archie from help stop the 'hate'. They told us that if we report a
Project ROCKIT came to Avila College to talk to post, because of our age, the people who manage
Year 7 students about the internet, cyber safety the post give our report top priority.
and cyber bullying.
They explained to us that the internet isn’t a bad
During their presentation, they invited the year place when used wisely. The internet is a place
level to participate in an open discussion. where we can share things with each other to enjoy,
so we shouldn’t dwell on the negatives but, always
They talked about how social media can be a good think of the positives.
communication tool to keep in touch with friends
and family but also provided examples of cyber It was a very interactive presentation and gave us a
bullying and other risks. lot to think about.

They explained how internet usage may result in Shania Sun
unknown persons accessing your information and 7 Blue
the risks associated with commenting on some
issue, image or post on the internet. 13

Cyber bullying was discussed with some examples
of how it can occur online. They talked about
how you could deal with it safely and helped us
understand that cyber bullying could happen to
you or to someone you know. It is important to ask
for help and if someone you know has been cyber
bullied, it is important you reach out to them.

Year 7

100 Days of Year 7 Celebration!

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Operation Wallacea Information
Fiji Study Tour 2018 Evening

Wednesday
23 August

7.30pm
in Bunjil.

Registration
via CareMonkey.

Operation Wallacea
Fiji Study Tour 2018

Delve under the ocean with Avila!

Avila College will be offering Year 11 and Year 12 students
the opportunity to join a two week Environmental
Expedition to Fiji from June 23 - July 8, 2018.

Snorkelling Fijian Herpetofauna Invertebrate Bat Mist
and Reef Culture and Pitfall Traps Malaise Traps Netting
Ecology Environment
Course
Course

Discover more at the Information Night | August 23

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Year 12
Art

Excursion

Year 12 Studio Arts Photography and Painting and Drawing students recently explored the Fitzroy
Art Precinct, visiting a number of galleries, including the Centre for Contemporary Photography,
to view current exhibition work, learn about curating and discover what goes on behind the
scenes with industry professionals.

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STEM-4-ALL

Presentation

Evening

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News,

Updates

+ Reminders

FISAF Championships

Congratulations to the Avila
College students who competed
in the Federation of International
Sport Aerobics and Fitness
National Championships in
Brisbane: Róisín Selvarajoo (Y12),
Natasha Kerr (Y9) and Emma
Johnston (Y8). Róisín placed 2nd
in the Adult Advanced Individual
section and her team came first
in the Adult Petite Fitness section.

Year 8 Indonesian Students Fiji Study Tour

Our Year 8 Indonesian language Together with Operation Wallacea,
students were colourfully an environmental research and
immersed in the cultural expeditions organisation, Avila
costumes this week in class. will be offering a new study tour
option for Year 11 and 12 students
Mars One Speaker next year.

The theme of the Year 10 Drama An information evening about the
Festival this year is the Mars One tour will be held on Wednesday
colonisation mission. Former Avila 23 August at 7.30pm in Bunjil.
student (1986) Dianne McGrath,
is one of the 100 candidates
shortlisted for the mission (from
202,586 applicants) and shared
her career pathways, training and
the mission with students.

18

Pathways

and
Careers

Careers Expo

Ms Jenny Dunn On Tuesday 25 July the annual Careers Year 10 Interviews
Expo was held. 14 exhibitors from a
Pathways Co-ordinator range of institutes attended and all Most year 10 students have now
[email protected] Year 10, 11 and 12 students visited. seen one of the careers staff and
have been introduced to a range of
Mrs Geraldine McKenna Institute staff commented on how tools to inform and plan their future
courteous the students were and on pathways.
Careers the quality of their questions and
[email protected] comments. Any student intending to study a
university or VET course post Year 12
After the Expo Year 10 and 11 students is encouraged to continue exploring
engaged in a variety of careers the VTAC site.
activities.
Parents, ask your daughter to explain
the site to you. There are many useful
tools to assist student on the Careers
guidance site on SIMON.

The link below will take you to the
VTAC home page.

http://www.vtac.edu.au/

It is also recommended that all
students download the VTAC app.

Please ask your daughter about her All Careers Newsletters are available
MyCareermatch report and to show on the Careers Guidance tab on SIMON
you the parent resources available
under the year 10 link on the Careers See you in the Careers Hub,
Guidance pages.
Jenny Dunn
Some helpful tools include: Pathways Co-ordinator

Open Days 2017 Geraldine McKenna
Careers Counsellor
Help your child choose school
subjects

VTAC Year 10 and 11

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment
Authority

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Inspiring today for tomorrow

2019 Applications

Closing Date Friday 25 August

Register online at www.avila.vic.edu.au
or call 9831 9600 for more details.

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