From the Principal

Dear Parents/Carers, Students and Friends of St Virgil’s College, 

Mary Rice Day

Today we gathered as a whole College community in support of the Edmund Rice Centre (formerly known as the Mary Rice Centre) in Nairobi, Kenya. The Edmund Rice Centre supports young people with disabilities by providing access to learning, prevocational and vocational skills, therapy services and outreach programs. St Virgil’s College has a long-standing commitment to the Edmund Rice Centre and our annual fundraising provides much needed support with the operational costs of running this much needed facility. 

Many thanks to the students who engaged so positively in the range of activities on offer during the day. The Walkathon was a great success and the way in which our young men participated in the walk was commendable. Although the final tally for donations received is yet to be finalised we are hopeful of achieving our goal of supporting the Edmund Rice Centre in being able to purchase much needed resources to deliver their programs. 

I also take this opportunity to thank the Parents & Friend's Associations from both the Junior and Senior School who provided significant support on the day with preparing and serving of the rice and beans dish – a tradition African meal for those who attend the Mary Rice Centre in Nairobi. This assistance and support from the P&F reflect our strong parent community who have a generous spirit. 

Finally, I thank Mrs Kim Mooney - Assistant Principal, Religious Identity & Mission for her coordination of the day.  

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019). 

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools 
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability. The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. 

To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy .

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal.

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please refer to the attached fact sheet or make contact Mr Michael Farrell – Head of Learning Enhancement at the College. 

Annual College Report

Each year schools are required to prepare an Annual Report on school performance for their parents and the community as a requirement of the Schools Assistance Act. I write to advise you that the Annual Report for St Virgil’s is now available on the College website and can be accessed using the following  link:

www.stvirgils.tas.edu.au/our-college/about/reports

I would encourage all members of the College community to take the time to look through this important document. For those who do not have access to the internet, hard copies will be available from the Junior School or Senior School Front Office upon request. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you have any questions in relation to the Annual Report.

Vinnies Winter Sleep In

Last Thursday night students from our Junior School experienced ‘One Night of Homelessness’ providing them with some insights into the conditions many young people in Australia experience on any given night. There are 36,000 homeless young people in Australia with one in seventy young people aged between 12-25 years sleeping rough every night. With only a blanket and a warm cup of soup students were exposed to the elements (figuratively speaking) along with input from those who have experienced homelessness firsthand providing for a powerful learning experience. Many thanks to Miss Amelia Duan, Miss Stacey King and Mrs Jo Messer supported by a number of staff for their organisation and running of this very important event.

Drama Performance

This week I had the pleasure to attend the Drama performance ‘Storytelling in Australia’ put on by our Year 9-10 students. Thank you to all the boys for their work, commitment, and talent with this performance. This is a major chance for students to develop and demonstrate their various artistic talents. It is also very entertaining and rewarding for the students and staff who work with them. For many of our students this is their first experience of a live performance, so is an important experience for them. Thank you to students, staff, and parents for supporting the performance and a particular thanks to Miss Amelia Clark – Head of Arts, supported by many staff for their support of our students leading up to and on the night.

Staffing Update 

Next term we welcome Ms Aisling O’Driscoll who will be replacing Mrs Jo Morgan as the College’s Provisional Psychologist. Ms O’Driscoll has a Master of Professional Psychology and a Bachelor of Psychological Sciences (Honours) from the University of Tasmania. Ms O’Driscoll has experience working in a range of different contexts including Lifeline Crisis Support, St Francis Flexible Learning Centre and Headspace. Ms O’Driscoll will undertake a comprehensive handover with Jo Morgan and will commence in the role at the beginning for Term 3. Ms O’Driscoll comes highly recommended to this position, and we look forward to her joining the College’s Welfare Team.

We also welcome Mr Kye Direen to the role of Sports Trainee who will assist Mr Michael Moschogianis with the College’s Senior School Sports program. Mr Direen is well known to the Junior School community having recently undertaken the role of Learning Support Officer. Mr Direen is an Old Virgilian and has had a range of experiences including as a Learn to Swim Teacher as well as Customer Service Representative at Zap Fitness and is very excited about taking on this new role next term. 

On behalf of the College community, I congratulate Ms Aisling O’Driscoll and Mr Kye Direen on their appointments and warmly welcome them to St Virgil’s.  

Best wishes for the week ahead.

Jon Franzin

PRINCIPAL