Villanova College
Villa View: Issue 03/21
Villa View: Issue 03/21
Teaching for thinking – on the weekend these three words came to my attention. The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) posted an article last Friday (Queensland schools need to develop essential critical thinking, experts say – ABC News that included some key considerations for learning:
- Critical thinking needs to be taught through improved ways in schools.
- The “Thinking Project” at the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project – University of Queensland (uq.edu.au) is working to actively assist teachers in pedagogy that will help our learners improve their problem-solving abilities.
- Adults need to shift the idea of the classroom being a place where knowledge is transmitted to one where students are learning to inquire meaningfully into the curriculum.
There are 21st Century skills which need the time and space to be explored in our classrooms. These skills are crucial for future employment – for currently unknown careers our Junior School students will aspire to work in when they graduate in 2027-2028. There are four Cs – communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Each requires continued practice, refinement, and mastery over the educative experience. It is the “how” we work, combined carefully with the “what” we need to learn. At Villanova College, we are always working towards how best to combine these skills within our teaching, learning, assessment and pastoral care. Our spaces in the St Thomas Learning Centre foster the ability for such skills to be an everyday focus – organising belongings, making best decisions for work groups, meeting check-in points for tasks, reflecting on our learning and what can be changed for next time – the list goes on. It is very reassuring to know that current research and conversations reinforce the years of planning we have put into the flexible classrooms we work in today.
I write to you all from the Year 6 camp at Noosa. The weather shines upon us, and the staff and students are very busy with activities that foster friendships and trust. We welcome with open arms Chase who has joined us this very week in the Junior School. With Year 6, comes the wisdom of Year 5, but I do understand that we still all have a few nerves about leaving home and travelling to a new place. It is amazing what being on the bus is like – songs, chants and conversations flow easily. There is excitement in catching a ferry across to camp. After 2020, the boys know that they can indeed work from the gear in their bags across wet and dry activities. Sunscreen, sweat and insect repellent combine to make the ultimate deodorant only an 11-year-old can create. This is the time and place for boys to enjoy – learning about themselves and each other without the distractions of bells and books.
The past three weeks have provided an introduction to College life. I am certain that there have been speed bumps despite the best intentions of all people involved. With confidence, I know that we all have the best intentions when it comes to our main priority – the boy in the green and gold. Having spent time in his classroom, meeting various teachers and staff, and now having completed the camp experience, on Monday we all begin the more formal part of the learning for Term 1. Routines and expectations will become clearer as will the behaviour and achievement of the students within our care this year. With the highest support, we will all endeavour to stay positive and continue to set goals for the boys to work towards. Each individual will have their successes and challenges – the idea of perfection is a myth and best left to TV shows and the movies. Our best efforts, under the circumstances we all face each day, is all we can hope for. Our Focus of the Week “Support your Classmates” could not be timelier, nor appropriate. In fact, it is one for every week of every year as Villanovans are lifelong mates and learners.
Mr Stephen Rouhliadeff, Head of Junior School
This week our Year 7s and Year 8s have started their camp experience for 2021, with more classes to follow in the coming weeks. As each new school year commences, camps play an important role in helping boys to establish new relationships with their classmates and teachers.
This has been evident in the plethora of smiles and laughs that have filled the Currimundi campsite this week. But being away from home can be a challenge for some boys, and being out of our comfort zones can always create a vulnerability that requires both peer and teacher support. Again, I’ve been exceptionally pleased with the classes who have attended thus far in the way they have supported one another.
The Year 7s have enjoyed a variety of activities including archery, circus skills, body boarding, rock climbing and an alpine rescue challenge. The Year 8 boys have been mountain biking, stand-up paddle boarding and completing initiative challenges.
Each of the activities have focused on building teamwork, demonstrating and developing initiative, and effective communication. These important skills are transferrable to all aspects of our lives, and most certainly the classroom.
I thank the classes this week for the amazing way they have engaged in the camp experience and I’m looking forward to welcoming next week’s groups.
For highlights from the camps, check out the Middle School Instagram page: vnc_middle_school
Mr Greg O’Neill, Head of Middle School
Living Gratefully and Walking Humbly!
It has been a big week at Villanova, camps, swimming carnivals, and grief and loss rippling through our community due to the sudden death of one of our new Year 7 students. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Nepean-Hutchinson family and Karmichel’s classmates.
Last week I posed again the questions of our Academic mass which Fr Peter had placed before us:
Where, when and how do we hear God’s call in our lives?
When are we invited to listen deeply and to respond using our gifts?
How will we do this in 2021?
As the term gets underway the enthusiastic and committed students in our Ministry groups have been gathering at Villa to launch into their sign-up week which begins on Monday 15 February. As the year commences with all the different extra-curricular activities and opportunities in the College, we hope all students will consider their involvement in some aspect in our Ministry groups across this year. Being involved can range from leadership roles; attending lunchtime meetings; assisting with fundraisers or actions both during school breaks and beyond. These programs are student driven and student led. They are a great way to make a difference in practical and systemic ways.
The following outlines the different groups and what they do.
| Ministry | Description |
| Green Team | The Green Team is passionate about all issues concerning the environment and care for our common home such as recycling, litter, planting of vegetation and sustainability. |
| AFAS (Australian Filipino Augustinian Solidarity) | AFAS looks to assist the poor and marginalised in the Philippines. This is achieved by promoting solidarity and partnerships with communities in the Philippines that Villanova students and staff support through visits on immersions and through fundraisers to support these communities. In 2021 we had hoped to visit, and this is not possible due to COVID, but these communities continue to need our support and so grateful of our contact with them. |
| Vinnies | The St Vincent de Paul ministry raises awareness and fundraises to support some of the most vulnerable members of our wider community. Some of these projects include: fundraising to support Emmanuel City Mission homeless outreach, organising baskets of groceries for families and individuals at risk in our community, participating in a sleep-out experience in solidarity with those experiencing homelessness. |
| YAYM (Young Augustinian Youth Ministries) | This ministry is for students in the Middle School who are interested in voicing their ideas for better the school and broader community through fundraising projects as well as outreach to the elderly with their work to support residents of Duhig Village nursing home. |
| YCS (Young Christian Students) | Students in YCS have traditionally engaged with Year 5 and 6 students through lunchtime games that promote belonging and wellbeing. In 2020 the group expanded to look at the promotion of good mental health in the College and will continue to do this in 2021. |
In addition to the school-based ministry groups there are opportunities to volunteer and serve in the wider community. There will be an opportunity in coming weeks for senior students to express their interest in participating in the following projects.
| Event | Description |
| Rosies homeless outreach | Student and teacher volunteers go out with the Rosies outreach van to have a chat and cup of tea with those experiencing homelessness in Brisbane City. |
| Emmanuel City Mission homeless drop in centre | As needed groups of students and teachers have been working with Emmanuel City Mission drop in centre to cook a meal or chat to those experiencing homelessness. |
If you have any questions about these ministries or service opportunities please email myself kgarrone@vnc.qld.edu.au or our Service Learning Coordinator, Ms Nicole Jones njones@vnc.qld.edu.au
Masses at Villa
We are so fortunate to have two Augustinians, Fr Peter and Fr Saldie, on our staff at Villanova College. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday there is a Mass in the College Chapel at 8am. Staff and students are welcome to attend. In addition, all pastoral classes within the school are invited to make a special effort to come along to mass on an assigned morning. This provides all our students with an intimate experience of Eucharist with their peers. If students and or/staff arrive after Mass starts you are still welcome to join in the Mass.
Ozanam Leadership Program
In recent years Vinnies Youth have offered places on the Ozanam leadership program for older students at Catholic high schools. Both Luke Palmer, our current Student Council President, and Isaak Collie, our 2020 Ministry Captain, recently graduated from the program. Luke Palmer shares the following reflections on his involvement in the program.
“Over the course of 2020, I had the pleasure of participating in St Vincent de Paul’s Ozanam Leadership Program (OLP), which is named after the founder of Vinnies, Frederic Ozanam. The program is organised by SVDP as a chance for students from different schools to come together and gather skills and experience in leadership, especially servant leadership. 2020 graduate Isaak Collie and I represented Villa and connected with many other students from schools across the region.
Unfortunately, like most things, the program ended up vastly different than how it was originally planned due to COVID, however there were still many great events which made the program worthwhile. Although I could not attend all the events, I gained much from those I attended. We were given the chance to volunteer on the September holidays Buddies Day program, as big buddies to many younger participants. About 15 of us volunteered for the Zillmere program, where about 30 kids attended across the two-day camp. Through the course of many activities, including soccer and arts and crafts, we established a bond with the participants and had an enjoyable, eye-opening and educational time.
During our Advocacy Day, we packed Christmas hampers which had been donated by schools in the local area. This time was valuable for getting to know each other, as well as learning about the importance of the work of the community in assisting each other. This learning demonstrated how easy it is to show an act of leadership in our community and also reinforced the importance of the work of our Vinnies, as well as our other ministries, at Villa.
In amongst these events, we had leadership development evenings and thought-provoking discussions on how to lead ourselves and others for the benefit of all. The skills I learned will assist me in being an effective servant leader in my role of Student Council President, and in any future positions of leadership I may find myself in. It was a very enjoyable program, and it was great that Vinnies still gave us the opportunities they did, despite a challenging 2020.”
Anthony Forshaw, Vinnies Youth Coordinator; Luke Palmer and Isaak Collie.Sunday readings at home
Please use this link to access this week’s readings and commentaries.
Ms Kate Garrone, Dean of Mission and Identity
Nudgee Catholic Cemetery
The Nudgee Catholic Cemetery is located on St Vincents Road, Nudgee. It can be accessed from the Gateway Arterial Road or Sandgate, Toombul, and St Vincents Roads. It is open to the public during daylight hours all year.
The Nudgee Cemetery is owned and operated by the Corporation of the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane. The land was purchased in 1862, with the first recorded burial in 1867. It is Brisbane’s largest private cemetery, with historic significance for both the religious and non-religious communities.
It is a sacred liturgical space, respecting the faith, tradition, and history of the Catholic Church, and the wider community; you don’t have to be a Catholic to be buried at the cemetery. An Augustinian section in the Monumental Lawn, located at the highest part of the grounds, is an attractive and peaceful place for prayer and reflection.
There are nine Augustinians buried here that were significant members of the Villanova staff. Their life at the College will be featured in the coming issues of the Villa View.
Memorial Lawn, Augustinian Section: Photo Belinda Grant (2020)
Grave of Father Joe Walsh, most recent Augustinian buried at the cemetery. (photo Belinda Grant, 2020)
Address
24 Sixth Avenue, Coorparoo, Brisbane, QLD 4151 Australia
Villanova College is an independent Catholic School for boys under the care of the Augustinian Order. Striving for excellence in boys’ education as an Augustinian community one in mind and heart on the way towards God.
