1474 Ignatian Newsletter - Friday 9 December 2022
PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
At this stage of the school year, it is sad to farewell staff members who are finishing at Loyola at the end of the 2022 school year.
The following staff will be completing contract positions. We thank them for their contribution to the life of the College and wish them every blessing for the future:
Antonia Gazzana, Megan Laing, Celia McDonnell and Elijah Treglia
We also thank and farewell staff who will be leaving the College at the end of the year. We wish them well in all future endeavours.
Rebecca Apostolidis (L: 22), Mark Arnavas (L: 03-22), Daniela Curcio (L: 13-17; 19-20; 22), Wayne Hall (L:11-22), Jan Johnston (L: 19-22), Christopher Lynch (L: 95-22), Matthew McFarlane (L: 21-22), Anne-Marie Morris (L: 10-22), Michael O’Keeffe (L : 92-97; 09-12; 17-22) Suzanne Pola (L: 87-89; 03-22), Nicholas Roussidis (L: 19-22) and James Vella (L: 22).
A number of new staff have been appointed for the 2023 school year. We welcomed the new staff at an induction day on Monday 5 December. There was a great buzz in the room as we introduced them to the Loyola way.
As we approach the end of the school year, I would like to thank the community for their ongoing support and encouragement. I have thoroughly enjoyed leading the community as Acting Principal and look forward to continuing in this role into 2023.
I wish all of our families a happy Christmas and a restful break.
Alison Leutchford
Acting Principal
IGNATIAN MISSION & IDENTITY
Year 7-9 Final Masses
All Houses celebrated the end of year with Mass. At each mass House Leaders gave a brief reflection on the year. All expressed gratitude at having a relatively normal year with a return to the activities that are so important for building House spirit, a sense of belonging and opportunities to try new things, make new friends and deepen relationships. The students thanked their teachers and peers.
Highlights of the year included sports carnivals, ACS sport, activities week with all three levels going on camp, House Eisteddfod, Legally Blonde, the musical and everyone’s favourite day of the year – St Ignatius day!
Advent is a time of hope and looking forward to the birth of Jesus and what he means to the world. The students expressed their desire to spend time with their families over the Christmas break. I thank the parish clergy and Fr. Gerry Healy SJ for their support of liturgy at Loyola and wish all the College Community a holy Christmas and a safe and restful break.
Christmas drive
Thanks to all families who supported the Loyola Vinnies Christmas drive. These donations will make many children’s Christmas morning extra special. Local Vinnies conferences will be distributing them to families prior to Christmas.
Advent Examen
St Ignatius encouraged his Companions to pray the prayer of the Examen regularly. Over the last three years students and staff have creatively presented themed Examens. These are streamed to classrooms on most Mondays just prior to lunch. They are also available on our The Examen - YouTube and website.
They have been used by other schools, spirituality centres, teacher formation days and others who want to take some time out to reflect. The last Examen for this year was presented by some of the Year 7 leaders on the theme of Advent Preparation.
My final word
This is the last Ignatian article I will be writing in my role as Deputy Principal. I am retiring after 46 years in teaching: Saint Fidelis – Alexishafen, Papua New Guinea (1976), Niddrie High School (1978-81), Hurstbridge High School/Diamond Valley Secondary College (1982-1994), Loyola College (1995-2022).
In my teaching career I have held many roles – Road Crew leader (1977), Locker Co-ordinator, Head of Sport, School Operations and Timetabler, VCE Co-ordinator, Head of Computers, Head of Mathematics, Year Level Co-ordinator, Director of Curriculum and Deputy Principal – Ignatian Mission and Identity. Life as a teacher has been wonderful for me. Every year and every day has been different. It has been a privilege to work collaboratively with teaching and non-teaching staff, others in leadership, local clergy, Ignatian co-ordinators and leaders from other Colleges, and parents in the business of the formation of young people.
Two key things have guided me – the Catholic Social teaching principle of ‘The human dignity of all people’ and the Ignatian ideal of ‘accompaniment’ in being a person for and with others. Each day presents us with opportunities to ‘be more’ and God has given us the free will to make choices and the intellect and compassionate heart to decide how best to make a difference. We also need to have the humility to accept we are not always going to get it right and that’s okay.
I would like to thank my past and current colleagues, members of teams I have worked with and past and present principals for their support, encouragement and the opportunities they have given me. I will finish by thanking my wife Megan for all the love, care and support she has given me over the years and my children – Neil (L:96-01), Ruth (L:97-02), Gerard (L:99-04), Anthony (L:01-06)(L:14-), Luke (L:04-09), Hannah (L:07-12) and Sarah (L:12-17) and their partners for the delightful young people they are and the joy they bring to me.
Mr Chris Lynch
Deputy Principal,
Ignatian Mission & Identity
TEACHING & LEARNING
2022 certainly has been a very exciting year for our students and, as we approach Christmas, it is worth reflecting on our year. Parents and guardians will receive their reports in the next few weeks, and it is important to celebrate the successes, the challenges and ways to improve in 2023.
I would like to thank the teaching and support staff for all their work over the year. We have a great team at Loyola and continue to work for the benefit of our students. I would also like to thank the parent community for their ongoing support of their learner, and for supporting the College.
I wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas and we look forward to working with you in 2023.
Year 10 - 12 Orientation Preparation Work
Our students in Units 1 – 4, have completed their Orientation program. In class, every subject teacher would have gone over the expectations for learning and what is needed to have a successful 2023.
To make the most of this learning opportunity; students have been assigned Orientation work to be completed at home over the break. The amount in each subject area will vary but as general rule the following can help.
- 2023 Unit 3/4 students – 1.5 days per subject
- 2023 Unit 1/2 students – 1 day per subject
Students do have work to complete with staff being specific in their directions on what needs to be completed.
Mrs Suzanne Pola
Deputy Principal,
Teaching & Learning
ICT NEWS
Digital Devices for Year 10 – 12 Students
Is your child starting Year 10, 11 or 12 in 2023?
If you wish to replace their current device, please be advised that you may purchase the device from any retailer, provided it meets the specifications below.
Recommended Digital devices for Year 10 – 12 students:
- Windows Notebook or Surface Device (eg carried over from Year 9)
- Windows 10 or later
- Core i5 Processor or greater
- Minimum 8Gb Memory (RAM)
- Wireless Network Card with AC (5Ghz)
- Apple Macbook (VA students) or Macbook Air (not recommended for Visual Arts students, unless it has the M2 chip)
- Apple OSX Mavericks or later
- Core i8 Processor or greater
- Minimum 8Gb Memory (RAM)
- 2013 model or later
Note that Android devices are not supported on the College’s ICT infrastructure.
- Further recommendations:
- Anti-Virus: This should be installed and kept up to date.
- Warranty/Care: It is highly recommended that the device is maintained under warranty and that consideration is also given to protecting the device from physical damage.
- Support: Please bear in mind that as the device is parent owned, Loyola College is not responsible for diagnosing hardware issues with the device, repairing the device or replacing the device should it be lost or destroyed.
Note that parents/guardians are responsible for dealing with any warranty/damage issues with the device.
Microsoft Office 365 (www.office.com) and Adobe Creative Cloud (www.adobe.com) licences are provided by Loyola College, linked to each student’s Loyola email address. The ICT Helpdesk can provide application support for your device, but parents/guardians are responsible for providing antivirus software.
Mr Victor Dalla-Vecchia
ICT Manager
COMMUNITY
Morning Tours – 2023
Morning Tours for 2023 will take place on a designated Monday each month from 9 am to 11 am.
Dates for bookings are now available on our website.
Semester 1 dates -
- Monday, 20th February
- Monday, 27th March
- Monday, 15th May
- Monday, 19th June
Parent Thank you Night – Tuesday, 15th November
It was a pleasure to be able to host a night to express our gratitude to so many parents who actively volunteer their services at Loyola College. Despite the cold weather, over 80 parents attended the event in the Functions Room and enjoyed some nice food and drink and, most importantly, enjoyed the company of others. It was also a privilege to present three parents with the very prestigious recognition of LPFA Lifelong Membership. A big congratulations to Loretta Baker, John O’Connell and Reena Thomas. All worthy recipients have made such a valuable contribution to the school by giving so generously of their time in ensuring that all Community events ran smoothly and with spirit.
As good as new uniform sale – 24th & 25th November
Due to demand, a decision was made to have the sale run over two evenings. There was a big influx of customers on the Thursday night, with many families grateful for the opportunity to buy second-hand clothing for their children. Friday night was almost equally busy and it was great to see so many pre-loved clothing items going to good use. A big thank you to Natalie Scott, who headed the sale under Christian Service. A thank you to Annette Accardi and many other mums who assisted in the big job of setting up the sale, in particular, Ann Adams, Bronwyn McLeod, Deb Black, Monique Grasso and Pinella Lo Presti. The set-up was very impressive and over the two days a total of $5,690 was raised, with monies going to the Exdous Charity and Watsonia RSL.
Request for uniform donations
Loyola College would like to continue to have second-hand uniform sales but we need your help. We request the ongoing donation of uniform items, including blazers, dresses, school bags and other items. If you have outgrown items or are an outgoing Year 12 student, please kindly donate items of Summer and Winter uniform.
The funds raised go to a worthy cause and the program also assists families in need.
All items can be dropped off at Reception which is open from 8 am – 5 pm until Friday, 16th December. Alternatively, College Reception will re-open on Monday, 9th January.
LPFA Community Food Truck & Carols Night – Friday 25th November
As I nervously checked the weather report and prayed to St Ignatius, I was so pleased to have been blessed with great weather which added to the great success of the evening. Food Trucks and stall holders arrived to set-up and by 5 pm all was in place to greet an amazing number of attendees. It was so great to see so many people out and about enjoying such an event. There was Surge the Magician to entertain the young ones and Sarah Catania (past student) did a wonderful job entertaining us while people found the time to relax and shop for Christmas. The night then moved to Old Loyola and there was a great spirit as the families joined in the Christmas Carols. A big thank you to the LPFA Members who gave up so much of their time assisting with co-ordinating of the event. To say I am truly blessed to have the support of such an amazing Committee is still an understatement. Thank you to Michael O’Keeffe for his guidance and support.
2023 Dates
PWP Meeting – Monday, 6th February
LPFA Meeting – Wednesday, 15th March
Twilight Working Bee – Friday 24th February – 4 pm
Please contact Dianna Alonso – alonsod@loyola.vic.edu.au if you would like to get involved in any Loyola Community event.
Mrs Diana Alonso
Community Liaison Officer
PERFORMING ARTS
What an amazing year we have had in Performing Arts! The year has finished with a flurry of activity. Students have been performing in a variety of events including:
Classroom performances
Piano & singing soiree
Masses for each year level
Graduation with a special item from our graduating performing arts students
Assemblies
And of course the Christmas Carols, with many of our bands, ensembles and choirs participating.
Students have presented some well rehearsed and entertaining performances. We thank all students who have been involved and thank them for participating.
We also wish our year 12 Drama, Music, Dance and Theatre Studies students well as they get their results. We saw your performance pieces and we hope that you are rewarded for your efforts.
We have also announced our College Musical for 2023, All Shook Up!. This funny musical is high energy and includes lots of dancing accompanied by some of the great hits of Elvis. We are sure it's going to be a lot of fun. Auditions will be held early next year. All details are on the All Shook Up LMS page. If you are interested in auditioning make sure you go to the page, where you will find an audition pack with full instructions on what to prepare.
Finally the most spectacular news of all. If you haven’t heard, our wonderful 2022 show Legally Blonde has been nominated for multiple awards at the Music Theatre Victoria Guild awards. These are state awards for theatrical productions. This is very prestigious and puts our College at the top of the state for schools in terms of quality of performance. I sincerely congratulate each nominee. All are well deserved. A highlight is that the whole show was nominated for best musical and the students have been invited to perform at the guild evening. The staff and students involved are all excited about this and so rehearsals are occurring to prepare the number again. We are so proud of all involved and wish them well on the night. Chookas.
I would like to thank FOPA [Friends of Performing Arts] for all the wonderful support they have been this year to our faculty. Your energy, skill and contribution is enormous and we are extremely grateful for your help. Thank you also to our wonderful staff who have brought an enormous amount of passion and skill to our programs and delivered it with enthusiasm all year. Have a wonderful Christmas and we look forward to another fantastic year in 2023.
GUILD NOMINATIONS
Production of the Year
Best Director - Vanda Tolli and Michael O'Keeffe
Musical Direction - Jem Sherwill
Choreography - Matt McFarlane and Gem Oktay
Female in a leading role - Hannah Chesser
Female in a supporting Role - Rebekah Sison
Creative Design - Deb Bland and Maryanne Pannuci [foyer design]
Mrs Julie Boyle
Head of Performing Arts