Ave Maria College

Our VCE students have commenced VCAA written examinations and Year 11 examinations this week.  I commend all students on their punctuality and conduct in presenting for exams and wish them every success throughout this assessment period.

Year 7 -11 End of Year Program

A reminder of the important key dates and events for the end of the 2020 school year:

Year 7-9 Students

Friday, 27 November 2020: Year 7 – 9 students will complete formal classes.

Monday, 30 November 2020: Professional Practice Day for teaching staff (no school for all students).

Tuesday, 1 and Wednesday, 2 December 2020: Year 7-9 students will be involved in a range of wellbeing and extended learning activities onsite at the College.

Thursday, 3 December 2020: End of Year mass will be celebrated at 11.30am by Fr. John Hannon and students’ last day – dismissal will be at 12.30pm.

Year 10-11 Students

Year 10-11 students will complete formal classes and/or the VCE ‘Head Start’ Orientation Program on Friday, 27 November 2020.

Friday, 27 November 2020: End of Year mass will be celebrated at 2.20pm by Fr. Tony Feeney and students’ last day – dismissal will be at 3.25pm.

Semester Two Reports 2020

End of year reports will be available via the Parent Access Module on Thursday, 10 December 2020. Parents/carers will receive a notification via Skoolbag when the reports become available.  Assessment tasks for Years 7-11 in Semester Two will receive an S/N or a % score on these reports, depending on whether the task was conducted onsite or online during remote learning. A reminder that subject specific feedback for all summative and formative assessment tasks has been provided continuously throughout the semester on Ave Learning. If you have not accessed this feedback to date, I strongly encourage you to do so.

 Michelle Robertson

VCAA Examinations

Our Year 12 cohort have finished formal classes and have commenced their final examinations.

The VCE Exams Navigator 2020 outlines all of the rules and regulations regarding the examinations including a timetable that may be a useful reference. Students are reminded to allow plenty of time to arrive at school prior to the commencement of their examination, also considering their leaving time from home and accounting for any mishaps that can occur with transport.

Year 11 students completing a VCAA examination are required to return to normal class following the conclusion of their examination.

I wish students all the best throughout the examination period and trust that they will continue to prepare themselves to perform at their very best on the day. Their consistency and dedication throughout the year (even through the most trying of circumstances) and most recently shown during the revision period has been very impressive.

2021 Subject Allocations and Booklists

Students will receive confirmation of their 2021 Academic Programs on Monday, 16 November 2020 via their College email addresses. This confirmation will include a link to the relevant Year Level booklist and change of subject documentation. Parents will receive a Skoolbag notification highlighting when the 2021 Academic Programs have been delivered to students to encourage the conversation at home.

Booklists will also be available on the College website from Tuesday, 17 November 2020.

2021 VCE Orientation Program

Following the confirmation of 2021 Academic Programs, students in Years 10 and 11 will commence the VCE Orientation program from Wednesday, 18 November 2020. Students in Year 9 who will be studying a VCE subject as part of their 2021 Year 10 program will fully participate in the program this year.

All students are expected to attend the entire VCE Orientation program as it will help students to start 2021 on the right foot. Critical VCE/Careers information and wellbeing sessions will also be included as part of the program, as will an 'Introduction to Edrolo' for Year 9 and 10 students. Teachers will communicate holiday homework to students throughout the program.

Parents are encouraged to discuss the Orientation Program with their daughters to ensure they are feeling supported in a key transition within their secondary education journey.

 James Vella

Year 12 Graduation Mass

On Thursday, 29 October 2020, there was a Mass streamed as a ‘live event’ over Microsoft Teams to acknowledge the graduation of our Year 12 students. This was beautifully celebrated by Fr Tony Feeney, President of the Canonical Administrators of the College. Thanks to all who were involved in preparing, leading, participating in and supporting this event.

Thank You

To Danielle Thompson and Mia Kefenhoerster who did a wonderful job as Franciscan Captains this year – leading ably in faith, social justice and caring for God’s creation.

November – Month of Remembrance

November is the month of remembrance within the Church of those who have died. If you would like the name of a loved one who has recently passed away written into the College book of remembrance, please write their name in this form.

On Thursday, 26 November 2020, there will be an opportunity at lunchtime to light a candle in their memory in the St Clare Chapel.

Caring for God’s Creation

Pope Francis has taught on this through his encyclical, Laudato si. It is also one of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. We have begun work on a plan that gathers of the wonderful work done by our Senior Student Leaders this year raising awareness about sustainability. It will also build upon the long term work by the Business Manager, Mr Allan Thompson, in this area. Student leaders will play a significant role. More details in 2021.  

Remembrance Day

There was a service on Wednesday,  11 November 2020 to acknowledge those who gave their lives for their country. This was held over Teams and a wreath laid at the flagpole by Ms Hutton and student representatives.

Patrick Jurd

Student wellbeing is at the heart of Ave Maria and we are working each year to enhance the way we support the personal growth of each student at the College. While we have a range of programs designed to foster growth, engagement and contribution from each student it is also important that we are able to check in with our students regularly. We have traditionally used annual measures to track student engagement and wellbeing. However, this limits our ability to respond and intervene in response to the changing needs of our students.

We aim to be able to monitor student wellbeing more closely in order to be able to ensure that our supports and interventions are appropriate, evidence-based and effective. As a result we are trialing 'Pulse' for the remainder of the year with our Year 7, 8 and 9 students. Pulse is an online platform that asks students to check in weekly. Students are asked how they feel and are given the option of asking for help. This request will be emailed to a member of the Student Wellbeing Team. We stress to students that any need for immediate help should be directed towards parents/carers or to Kids Helpline. Any support request by the College may take a few days to be acted upon.

Pulse also asks questions about engagement and different areas of wellbeing. This information is anonymous but allows us to track the wellbeing of a Mentor Group or a Year Level. This means that we can construct adjustments or interventions in response to this. We can also ascertain the effectiveness of those adjustments. Pulse gives us an insight into our students evolving wellbeing throughout the year.

As we move towards 2021 we are working towards a more evidence-based approach to student wellbeing. We aim to provide a “best practice” approach to issues so that our students are uniquely equipped for the challenges ahead, for the relationships that they foster and for the contribution that they will make. 

Natalie Meddis

Ave Maria College is proud to introduce Simon Everywhere, a smartphone app, designed to streamline the communication process for our families.

Simon Everywhere allows you to conveniently access your daughter’s reports, grades and attendance, update medical information, notify student absences, give consent for excursions and communicate directly with teachers. Essentially it is your Parent Access Module (PAM) account in the convenience of an app.
To utilise this facility simply download the Simon Everywhere app from your devices App Store, select Ave Maria College from the schools dropdown list and enter your previously supplied PAM account credentials.