From the Principal

Dear Parents, Students and Friends of St Virgil’s,

Lent 

As the season of lent moves ever closer to the events of Holy Week and Easter we must ask ourselves how open are we to welcome the Risen Christ into our heart again this Easter. We may like to pray this prayer found at the door of a Church in Ireland long ago…

‘O God, make the door of this house wide enough 

to receive all who need human love

and fellowship and a heavenly Father’s care and narrow 

enough to shut out all envy,

pride and hate. Make its threshold smooth enough to be no 

stumbling block to children,

or to straying feet, but rugged enough to turn back the 

tempter’s power.

Make it a gateway to thine eternal kingdom

St Virgil…Pray for us

Blessed Edmund Rice…Pray for us

We live Jesus in our hearts…Forever

Amen

Head of the River 

It was great to be able to attend the Head of the River last Saturday at Lake Barrington. The Head of the River is the culmination of our rowing season, and it was a privilege to be able to share in the boys' successes on the day as well as see first-hand the enormous commitment of parents, coaches and staff which enable our rowing program to be so successful. 

The team, under the guidance of Director of Rowing Mr Oliver Wilson-Haffenden, performed exceptionally well on the day winning the 2023 Head of the River Junior BoysJunior Aggregate Shield for the third year in a row. 

Whilst all boys rowed well and can be extremely proud of their efforts on the day, some notable performances are worth highlighting: 

Division 1 Winners

Year 7 Double Scull – Hamish Godfrey and Ryan Lamprey 

Year 7 Quad Scull - Hamish Godfrey, Ryan Lamprey, Liam Quinn, Andrew Mooney and cox Tiago Romanski 

Year 9 Single Scull – Alex Lamprey 

Division 1 Podiums 

Year 7 Single Scull – Ryan Lamprey (3rd)

Year 9 Double Scull – Alex Lamprey and Llewellyn Gray (2nd) 

Year 9 Quad Scull - Alex Lamprey, Llewellyn Gray, Angus Parkinson, Luca McCreadie cox Josh Topham (2nd) 

Year 10 Double Scull – Saxon VanAnholt and Anthony Volta (2nd) 

Year 10 Single Scull - Saxon VanAnholt (2nd) 

Year 10 Quad Scull – Anthony Volta, Owen Scott, Saxon Van Anholt, Liam Stewart cox Kai King (2nd) 

Year 10 Coxed Four - Saxon VanAnholt, Anthony Volta, Harry Todd, Thomas Coad, cox Kai King (3rd)

Well done to all boys who participated in the rowing programme in 2022. You have certainly represented the College with distinction. Thank you to our dedicated coaches, parents and support staff who work tirelessly to provide our boys with such rich opportunities. It is a great team effort, the results of which were on show on Saturday.

Middle School Peer Support Leaders Commissioning

It was wonderful to have some many parents in attendance at our Middle School Assembly today. Year 9 Peer Support Leaders were commissioned in front of family, friends and peers and they committed to taking on this very important service leadership position at the College. My thanks and appreciation to Miss Van Heerden – Head of Middle School for her coordination of this important event and thank those parents and carers who took time out of their busy week to be with us on the day. We congratulate the following young men on their appointments, and I wish them well as they take on this important leadership position at the College: 

Doyle House

Dwyer House

 Hessian House

 Joyce House

Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) 

With recent building developments at both the Junior School and Senior School additional Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras have been installed to provide coverage of existing and newly developed areas. Parents/Carers are reminded that the use of CCTV is made in accordance with our obligation under the Privacy Act 1998 and to provide a safe and secure environment for our students, parents/carers, staff and visitors as well as protecting College facilities. Appropriate CCTV surveillance will be conducted for the purpose of: 

• Providing safety and security within the College’s premises or while using the College facilities 
• Protecting students and staff 
• Preventing vandalism 
• Assisting in the identification of criminal and/or anti-social behaviour  

Closed Circuit Television cameras are installed in public areas where there is no ‘reasonable expectation of privacy’. These areas include building entrances, hallways; car parks; front offices where staff, students, visitors and parents/carers come and go; and in playground areas and sporting fields. Cameras are not installed in ‘private’ areas such as general learning spaces, changing rooms and toilets or in private offices. For further information about the use of CCTV cameras please refer to our policy which is located on the College website.

Staffing Update

Head of Learning Enhancement – Junior School

It gives me great pleasure to announce the appointment of Mrs Sue Burrows to the position of Head of Learning Enhancement at the Junior School who will commence in this role from the beginning of Term 2. Mrs Burrows is currently the Student Support Coordinator at Sacred Heart College and has previously held leadership positions at Sacred Heart as Assistant to the Deputy Principal, Director of Teaching & Learning and Literacy Leader. Mrs Burrows has a Bachelor of Education (Primary) from the University of Tasmania and Graduate Certificate of Education – Special Needs from the University of Notre Dame and comes highly recommended to this position. We look forward to welcoming Mrs Burrows to the Junior School and for her expertise in support students and families with additional needs.

Best wishes for the week ahead.

Jon Franzin

PRINCIPAL