Principal

Da Vinci Decathlon 15 May 2024

The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students.

Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: engineering, mathematics and chess, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography, and legacy.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was one of the world’s greatest thinkers and scholars. da Vinci demonstrated an ability to perceive the interconnected nature of knowledge and embraced learning with a lifelong passion and determination to uncover the unknown. The Decathlon competition places a particular emphasis on higher -order thinking skills, problem solving, and creativity.

This year, our Year 10 team gained first place in the Ideation discipline! This is no mean feat, given we were competing against selective schools (James Ruse Agricultural High School, Sydney BHS) and other independent schools.

This was a great achievement for us as it has been several years since we have placed that highly in any discipline at da Vinci. Ideation is a particularly challenging discipline because it requires the most critical thinking, problem-solving and creative thinking of all the disciplines.

We are all very proud of these boys: 

I want to thank Mrs Heidi Viney for organising this opportunity and for her unstinting efforts in the area of Learning Enrichment.

Strathfield Rotary Youth Achievement Awards

Last week, several of our students were nominated for Strathfield Rotary Youth Achievement Awards. Our nominees were: Community Service Award Patrick McDonald and Jack McDonald, Environment Award Andreas Blatsos, Sports Award Junior Patrick McDonald, Jack McDonald, Mitchell Woods, Massimo Costa-Puntillo, Anthony del Popolo, Jack Taylor.

We were delighted to have two of our students successful in winning an award:

• Mitchell Woods         The Roy Ellis Shield for Young Sportsperson of the Year
• Andreas Blatsos        Environment Award

These awards are well deserved, with Mitchell Woods experiencing more success on Saturday in the NSWRL U18s City vs Country fixture where he played in the five-eighth position and was dominant after scoring a try and having a hand in several others.

Blue, Black and Gold Ball – Le Montage

Hundreds of parents and the College Leadership Team were out in force at the 2024 BBG Ball! The strong focus for the evening is the building of community so it remains a wonderful night for parents of all the cohorts to enjoy a wonderful night of fun, food, and dancing.

Partnering with parents in upper primary and high school is essential for fostering students’ academic success, consistent learning experiences, and social development. Such collaboration leads to higher grades, better attendance, and improved behaviour as parents/carers and the College unite to support our young mens’ education. This synergy also promotes the sharing of resources, acknowledges cultural diversity, and prepares our students for future challenges.

Members of the Parents’ and Friends’ Executive are to be congratulated on the work they did behind the scenes to ensure we had a dazzling event: Elena Ierardo, Lina Bartorilla and Caroline Chahin. The festivities were kept to time by the amazing Old Boy Rob Shehadie (‘84) and father of Jonah (Year 7) and Jaiyden (Year 5). The Navarra family (Dominic ’23) went out of their way to give us the finest experience on the night and we thank them for supporting our College.

Inappropriate Social Media Use

In assembly on Friday, I had cause to speak to the student body and the issue of respect for one another, teachers, particularly female teachers, our neighbours, and themselves. One area that is of concern is an Instagram page that has renewed its activity once again. It purports to be a series of humorous memes; however, not many of the victims of such ridicule are laughing. Unauthorised images of teachers and students have been used which of course, is unlawful.

On Friday, there were 473 followers who identified as current students, parents, and alumni. I was happy that most boys took my advice and “unfollowed” the account. The account has now been made “Private,” with the administrator urging the boys to request to “Re-Follow.”

To their credit, several students have contacted me with screenshots that indicate that some of the original followers have failed to “Unfollow” the page. 

May I ask you to check your son’s phone? If he follows that page, please ensure he “Unfollows” it. Of course, the administrator (a Year 11 student) should shut it down completely. It is a matter of RESPECT and acting LAWFULLY at all times. 

I am giving parents fair warning that the College will take steps to protect its hard-won reputation and protect its students, staff, and other local schools from ridicule.

In Memoriam

We keep in our prayers the family of Old Boy Anthony White (’74) who passed away last Friday. Mr White had a strong association with the College; he and his wife Susanne married in the College Chapel and their son Gerard was in the Class of 2005. Mr White was a much-loved father to his two children and recently became a new grandfather. 

Dr Vittoria Lavorato

Principal

SPC boys can do anything! 

**except divide by zero