Villa View – Issue 2, 8 February 2024

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy
Across the 2023 school year myself and Mrs Kate Garrone, Dean of Identity and Mission worked with University academics, parent focus groups, staff and students to develop a diversity, equity and inclusion policy. This policy is to ensure that as a College community our values, and our statutory obligations, are understood and applied. The policy applies to all elements of College activities; student actions, activities and relationships, staff and staffing, enrolments process and practices and governance processes.

In a school community when talking of students we are largely dealing with ‘developing minds. developing bodies and developing hearts.” This means that from our children there will often be mistakes and misunderstandings, sometimes be discriminatory comment or behaviour and rarely targeted and intentional hurt through comment or action”. IT is important though that we recognise each of these, act immediately, and ensure that the College behaviour processes then play their part to respond competently and completely to address and adjust student behaviour and to restore relationships. At the College we cannot tolerate racism, religious or sexuality vilification or student behaviour that looks to put down or degrade students who are neurodivergent. It will happen, but this policy looks to address at a governance level and then ensure that at the student level any such behaviour is eradicated.

I sincerely thank those parents, staff and community members who played a part in shaping this document for us.

Villanova-College-Diversity-Equity-and-Inclusion-Policy-2024.pdf (vnc.qld.edu.au)

Scholars Assembly and Graduates Return celebration
At this weeks assembly we acknowledged the outstanding student academic performances of 2023.  Tonight we will acknowledge our outstanding graduate achievers from the class of 2023.

Reflecting on the results of 2023 it was very pleasing to see the average cohort achievement levels across each grade. It is to be noted that we do conduct significant monitoring and moderating of student performance standards and as such report with confidence the accuracy of results according to Australian curriculum standards and elaborations.

Our GPA performances for each Year level were as follows:

• Year 5 43  (B)        Growth            Semester to Semester:            .23
• Year 6 22  (B-)      Growth            Semester to Semester:            .37
• Year 7 66  (B)        Growth            Semester to Semester:            .21
• Year 8 77  (B)        Growth            Semester to Semester:             .20
• Year 9 96 (B+)     Growth            Semester to Semester:            .45
• Year 10 72 (B)      Growth            Semester to Semester:            .42
• (Year 11 and 12 unavailable due to QCAA Senior Schooling processes).

While overall having students across Junior and Middle Schools achieving at a B average is excellent (when one considers a “C” grade is the average performance expectation for a student to be considered progressing at a sound level) what is even better is the global improvement from Semester 1 to Semester 2 with Year 9 and Year 6 students showing strong keenness to improve. Whilst there will always be moments of improvement and regression as our boys cycle through their development it is pleasing to see the calibre of young men we have and the focus they are showing toward achieving to their best.

The Graduates evening is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and welcome back our newest Old Boys. On this night we congratulate our College Dux, Mitchell Reick and Proxime Accessit, Thomas Winn as well as detailing and giving accolade to this cohorts excellent performances namely:

• 15 students achieved A’s in all six subjects
• 4 results of 100/100 in subjects; Mitchell Reick (3) and Jackson Moloney
• 5 students achieved ATAR’s above 99.00
  • Mitch Reick, Tom Winn, Brenton Peters, Larry Clark & Charlie Corrigan
• 73 students were awarded VET certificates
• 98% achieved their QCE

On our graduates night we also acknowledge the destinations of our Senior students and I share with you a brief summary of where our students are heading in 2024. These results are self-reported and as such indicative of a high percentage, but not all of the cohort.

• Tertiary Offers: 83% of cohort
  • QUT 51%
  • UQ 34%
  • GU 13%
  • Other 4%
• Apprenticeships: 4% of cohort
• Employment: 2% of cohort
• Other: (GAP year) 11% of cohort

Finally, it is worthy to acknowledge two members of the cohort have been offered scholarships to study in the United States. Tom Winn to the University of Long Beach on a Golf Scholarship and Larry Clark, the recipient of the inaugural Villanova University Augustinian Student Scholarship in Philadelphia.

College Musical
Best wishes to all of our talented actors, singers, musicians and staff who start the final count down to the Loreto / Villanova production of Legally Blonde. Tickets sold quicker than a Taylor Swift concert and there is even a ‘preview performance’ that has gone on sale to address the demand! I am certainly looking forward to the production and would encourage all of our boys to take advantage of getting involved in the musical as it comes around each two years. It is a wonderful opportunity to test oneself, step outside of your comfort zone and experience something that is largely new, builds lifelong friendships and gives an opportunity for boys to expand talents which often lay, and stay, hidden.

Year 7 Camp
I had the privilege of spending time with our Year 7 boys and staff on camp at Currimundi this week. The boys had a wonderful time in an atmosphere of friendship growing, physical challenge, games and enjoyment. It was great to see the boys interacting positively, working together and shaping important relationships with one another, their Heads of House and Year 7 core teachers. I thank very much Mr Sean O’Neill and Mrs Vicki Lamb for their organisation of this camp and our wonderful staff who spent time away from home and family to guide the boys through this important College activity.

Mr Paul Begg, Principal

In keeping with the Spirit of Reconciliation, Villanova College acknowledges the Yuggera and Turrbal peoples, as the Traditional Custodians of this land on which we stand. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging. This has always been, and always will be, a place of teaching and learning connected to country, culture and community.

Last Friday, the campus was awash with energy as our first full House Assemblies were conducted. With an intentional focus on our upcoming Interhouse Swimming Carnival that will be held next Thursday, the meetings allowed our House Seniors with the opportunity to introduce and lead some new chants- some playing upon some classic songs including Queen’s We Will Rock You and Ay-Oh. Providing our Year 12 students with a platform to lead these assemblies will be an underpinning feature of our new House System in both building their leadership capacity and promoting student voice.

Clear Thinking
One of my favourite thought leaders is Shane Parrish, a former intelligence officer and founder of the Farnham Street Blog which I have shared excerpts from in prior newsletter columns. In his new book ‘Clear Thinking- Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results,’ Parrish reveals the barriers to effective decision making as well as pragmatic strategies to achieving mental clarity. I found his discussion on the biological instincts that control us and influence our thinking to be quite illuminating. According to Parrish, these behaviours represent something akin to our brain’s default settings, behavioural programs written into our DNA that our brains will automatically execute when triggered unless we stop and take the time to think. These are:

• The emotion default: we tend to respond to feelings rather than reason and facts;
• The ego default we tend to react to anything that threatens our sense of self-worth or our position in a group hierarchy;
• The social default: we tend to confirm to the norms of our larger social group;
• The inertia default: we’re habit forming and comfort seeking, and we tend to resist change and prefer ideas, processed and environments that are familiar.

Parrish contends that those who master their defaults get the best real-world results. Our wellbeing and formation program seeks to support our young men explore some of these defaults by seeking to build emotional intelligence and develop humility and resilience to change. I look forward to sharing some further strategies and safeguards that Parrish suggests in future newsletter articles.

AIC Ecumenical Service
Last Thursday, I accompanied eight members of our Student Leadership Team in attending the annual AIC Ecumenical Service, this year hosted by St Peter’s Lutheran College. This event marks the commencement of the AIC sporting season and seeks to remind all AIC member schools about the underpinning values and beliefs that we attach to sport and activities. The motto of the AIC is ‘learning and growth through sport and competition.’ Our Ministry Captain, Harrison Bryant, presented our GREATS Framework as our symbol of growth at the service and reflected upon the fundamental nature of this value in the development of Villanova young men. With the new season now commenced, it is important that we also ensure that all players, coaches, parents and community members also understand and practice the values of respect and teamwork so that sport continues to be an extension of the teaching and learning process.

Senior School Parent Information Evening
Thank you to all Senior School families that joined with us at last Tuesday’s Senior School Parent Information Evening. For those who weren’t able to attend, I have emailed a link to the presentation for your consideration. Given the change to the format this year, I would welcome parental feedback pertaining to any aspects of the night, including commencement times, the content explored and whether combining the three cohorts into the one evening worked. Please feel free to email me at mlevander@vnc.qld.edu.au

Date Claimer- Paul Dillon Parent Evening
Just a final reminder about next Monday’s opportunity to listen to renowned drug education expert Mr Paul Dillon. Paul will present to all three Senior cohorts during next Monday and deliver a talk to parents at Loreto College’s Mary Ward Centre at 6pm on practical ways to keep your son safe from the dangers of vaping, drugs and alcohol. I hope many of our parents, especially our new Year 10 families in the Senior School, are able to attend.

“The greatest wealth is health.” – Virgil

Mr Matt Levander, Head of Senior School

It was fantastic that so many parents were able to attend the Middle School Parent Information Evening. To see parents mingling, introducing themselves to teachers and other parents makes you realise what a wonderful community we are blessed with.

One of the questions that came up on the evening was the support network available in the newly instituted House system. Whilst parents knew that lots of support was being put in place around their son, I recognise that there is some new language and terminology being used that is worth some greater explanation.

Firstly, all students are attached to one of the eight new Houses and will have a Head of House. This person will be their leader, run the House Assemblies and will be the main point of contact for students and parents regarding most issues that arise. This is a key relationship for students and their families to develop and one that will remain in place for their entire Villa journey.

Secondly, underneath each Head of House there are six House Mentors, and your son will meet with their Mentor most mornings. This is a great opportunity for the four – five students from Years 7-12 in each House Mentor Group to mingle, as we did on the parent evening, and build real micro-communities. This is also an excellent opportunity for our older students to mentor the younger ones and support them. Already we have had some great feedback about the way our Year 12’s have been encouraging our newest Year 7 and 8 students.

Finally, don’t forget the classroom teachers that your son will be having daily interactions with. We have always invested our time in ensuring students and their teachers continue to work on building strong relationships and that has not changed. Our Year 7 students, they will have four core teachers, with two of them teaching your son English, HASS and RE and another two teaching Maths and Science plus their elective teachers. Our Year 8 and 9 students will have up to eight teachers between their core classes and electives. This is a lot of staff interacting with your son, who are only too happy to help support him on his academic, spiritual and emotional journey.

We all recognise that the new A and B timetable will take some getting used to and that changes in classrooms will be unsettling. As I say to students when I speak with them, it is in the challenging moments that you lean into your academic work, you find the support from your teacher, House Mentor and Head of House and, together, grow through the difficulty and come out the stronger for it.

Across all of the support structures in place for our students, the key is always good communication in our learning relationships. All our classroom teachers, House Mentors, Heads of House and Head of Schools, ask that students and their families be collaborative and work towards establishing high expectations of behaviour and work ethic so that, in supporting each other, we can see the best version of each young man.

Have a lovely week in the Middle School everyone.

Mr Sean O’Neill, Head of Middle School

Last week saw the true beginning of routines with all Year 5 and Year 6 students working and playing in the Junior School precinct for the first full week together.  Our Focus of the Week this week “Striving for Improvement’ is centred around goal setting, completing tasks (during school and at home) and beginning our path of resilience and perseverance in learning.

Goal setting for each student is a highly individualised process – starting simple and ensuring there is a chance of success is crucial.  Some boys, particularly in Year 5, will find the expectations at Villanova College might be different to previous years.  Year 6 students may experience the inevitable lift in standards, higher than last year.  This happens all the way through to Year 12, I can assure you.  It is typical to find the first few weeks a time where you don’t know all the answers, you might feel unsure, and it could be a little “hit and miss” with the new routine – for example bringing the swim gear for your PE day or having pick up arrangements confirmed for after school training.  That’s quite ok.  There is not one person around you who has life worked out perfectly.  Perfection is a myth; however we still aim to do our best and we can do that with a few helping hands.

1. OneNote is going to provide you with most of the answers so please use it and share it with your parents on a regular basis so they can see the information and subject work too.
2. Your College Diary has valuable information – for example, the expectations of uniforms and haircuts. By now, you and your parents should have read through pages 2-26 to acknowledge you understand which blades and blending the barber should do during school terms.
3. Forgetting a pencil case, book or homework is understandable – it’s going to be all right! Let your teacher know – explain the reason and most importantly let them know the “Plan B” – how will you manage?  Borrowing stationery from the class spares or a mate, writing work down on a spare piece of paper to glue in later that night, and bringing that homework in the very next day is all you can do.  If you find that you are repeatedly forgetting something – for example, charging your laptop – then it’s time to work out a plan such as having a reminder card above your toothbrush so at night you have a picture to jog your memory.

Some students will find their goals are on a social level – making friends, feeling confident and happy to walk into school, classes and making contributions to learning.  Finding the courage to ask a mate or teacher for help can be a perfect goal to set during Term 1.  There are many strategies to work on positive, growth mindsets (The Big Life Journal and The Prodigy Game resources online are a great start) with our boys.

Students might be working on physical goals – joining an AIC team such as swimming, cricket and AFL.  This means taking calculated risks in front of others, building trust with relationships, sharing the common victories and challenges as a team.  Developing skills and communicating decisions during a game takes a lot of coordination and has incredible benefits for a young man.

Academic goals are also important.  At Villanova College, subjects are graded at A, B, C, D and E levels using the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority standards.  Most assessment is completed at school, under conditions that meet National Standards and account for the identified needs of the students.  Achieving a “C” grade means the student is achieving at the expected level for Year 5 or 6.  The work is completed satisfactorily.  Tasks are moderated between teaching partners as well as at Year Level meetings with other teachers and in consultation with the Year 5 Curriculum and Pedagogy Leader, Chloe Adams and Year 6 Curriculum and Pedagogy Leader, Melissa Liddy. To achieve in the “B” or “A” range, a student must demonstrate an ability above or well above expectations for students at this stage.  At Villanova, this often means a combination of extra effort, time and higher cognitive level approaches that usually stem from revision and study – preparation is key.  To simply attend classes and be present for an assessment task may not be enough to achieve those highly anticipated B’s and A’s, so gentlemen, it’s time to set your goals!  What is going to be your one – two subjects where you place your attention?  How will you manage your revision time on a regular basis to excel?  Who will help you to stick to your plan and help you reach your target?  It is most certainly the best practice to record your goal/s, talk to parents and teachers, and have check in points to ensure you are doing your best.

This week, I’d like to set a little challenge and have a little fun – who exactly is reading my newsletter pieces?  I would like as many Junior School boys as possible to email me their goal/s for Term 1 – at srouhliadeff@vnc.qld.edu.au – and I will pick one social, physical, and academic goal setter to share a little snack around the table in my office.  Over the next two weeks it’s my challenge to know every student’s first and last names, so I would be honoured to share in your goals and see who I might be able to help over the upcoming weeks.  Entries must be received by Monday 12 February 5pm.

Mr Stephen Rouliadeff, Head of Junior School

Happy, calm children learn best – I came across this quote by social researcher Daniel Goleman earlier in the week and it stuck with me as I feel it encapsulates so well the pivotal role wellbeing has in education.

Research shows students who understand how to care for and enhance their own wellbeing tend to achieve improved academic outcomes.
This is evidence for what many of us would instinctively know to be true – students who are happy, optimistic, and resilient are more likely to be better learners.

To help boys be happy and calm, there are things parents and teachers can do in partnership to help them navigate the school environment and ‘learn best’.
It involves;

• encouraging resilience,
• having open communication with parents,
• promoting positive school environments,
• emphasizing physical and mental health at school and at home,
• addressing academic pressure,
• encouraging hobbies, and
• offering professional help when needed.

But more importantly, boys need to feel like they can ask for help, and know they are being listened to.

For some boys, navigating the school environment can be a challenging and distressing task, particularly for adolescents who are trying to deal with the ever-increasing social demands occurring at this time. Young children and adolescents often refer to friendships as one of the most important factors in their emotional life and when these friendships or relationships break down it can be devastating for young people and ultimately affects their wellbeing. In the Formation office, we see these issues regularly. The boys are listened to, supported, and guided in their efforts to repair and rebuild a friendship that’s broken down for whatever reason. So often, the reasons are minor and trivial, but not to the boys involved. It is always affirming to see them shake hands at the end of a lengthy conversation, knowing they have had a chance to talk openly about the problems.

At the end of last year, all students were asked to complete a Social Emotional Wellbeing survey that asked them a range of questions about aspects that effect their wellbeing.  I can happily report that in every year level, Villa boys were above the National Average in conflict resolution. This shows that the work being done in the Formation Team is having an impact.

Supporting your son’s wellbeing at Villa is a priority. It is crucial for their mental health, academic success, and social-emotional development, so we may prepare them for challenges they face now and in the future. We all want what is best for your sons, and that includes challenging them when they make mistakes.

We will continue to work with the young men at Villa in partnership with you and strive to ensure they are happy and calm so they may ‘be their best self’.

Mrs Sheridan Carey, Director of Student Wellbeing

Last Tuesday, at our opening Mass, our House Captains carried a huge plank down the aisle and put it down blocking the way to the altar!
Fr Saldie shared a parable from Luke’s Gospel:

Jesus asked his disciples this question:

‘“Why do you look at the tiny piece of saw dust in your brother’s eye, but pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Please, brother, let me take that bit of saw dust out of your eye,’ yet cannot even see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take that plank out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” 

I’d like to share Fr Pete’s homily from the Mass.  It so effectively explores this question of Jesus for us today at Villanova College:

This plank is really in the way of people approaching the altar. How will the Book of the Gospels get to Fr Saldie to read? How will we get the bread and wine to the altar? This plank is a barrier to our goal of all being united as Villa men and women. The plank has to go! 

That’s what Jesus said in the Gospel, the planks in our eyes have to go! I need to get rid of the plank, the faults in my character before I can see the good stuff in your life and remove the barrier between us. I need to remove the things I do wrong so I can see all the good that you are. 

One way to be aware of our good and bad characteristics is through interiority. Interiority happens when we are reflective enough to get an insight into our life and character. Here is an example: 

As you approach the front gate of Villanova to leave, there is a stone pillar with a bronze heart on the top. On one side of the stone pillar are the words “In all things love”. It is our practise, each time we pass  this ‘touch-stone’, to touch the bronze heart and in our heart say the words “in all things love”. Then something magic happens-interiority. Our head and heart remember that we do want all our actions to be loving. And we think of maybe some unloving action, some plank that we should work to chop up and remove. 

I know an easy way to identify the planks, the actions in our behaviour that are barrier to being brothers and sisters together. The easy way is to ask yourself “would I like someone to do this to me?” 

So, let’s identify some things we don’t like others to do to us. Tell me a few … And students from the Junior and Senior school from their seats did.  They included being ignored, being made fun of, being left out. 

What about this weekend when Villa boys are playing cricket, volleyball and AFL against another school. What are some unrespectful things you would not like the opposite school to do or say? 

So, interiority would be reflecting on how we like to be treated and how to treat others in the same way. And, as our first reading said, when we are uncertain “ask advice of every wise person”. In that way we will do the third piece of advice in the first reading— “Bless the Lord God in everything; beg God to guide your ways and bring your paths and purposes to their end”. 

As we establish the routines of 2024, let’s ensure we build in touching the heart on our way in and out of school, let’s create those moments to pause in a busy day!  Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and we’ll have the forty days of lent to really work on this.  Our theme this year is Interiority – In all things Love.  More on this in our next newsletter.  Please as a family consider how you will enter this time of lent.  At the College there will be an opportunity to also support Project Compassion and Emmanuel City Mission.  Here is a great link for you to learn more about the work of Caritas that is enabled through Project Compassion.

Ash Wednesday – 14 February

Next week, the season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, which also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allow Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

Please give generously to Caritas Australia this Lenten season and help vulnerable people around the world, now and for all future generations.

With your support, Caritas Australia has been able to assist communities around the world through income generation, water and sanitation, food security, education and disaster risk reduction programs.

Project Compassion 2024 reminds us that the good we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow.

You can donate through Project Compassion donation boxes and online by visiting caritas.org.au/project-compassion or by calling 1800 024 413.

On a Mission in ‘24
Harry Bryant is our Ministry Captain for 2024.  He has a great vision for our student run Ministries and will be working alongside the leaders of our five different groups.  There is also great energy building this year for our Mission Week in May and there will be more to come on this in the following weeks!

Last Tuesday after school we held a training session attended by our ministry leaders of 2024. This time was crucial for the forming of the bonds that will be the glue of these ministries in the over the coming year. I was extremely pleased to see the number of eager year 9’s in YAYM who eagerly await their chance to make a change. Led by Gus Jones, the energy from these boys brings much needed spirit to ministry and bodes well for the future of ministry at Villanova college.

Some key dates for our term one ministries include clean up Australia day for green team on the first Sunday of March, Our upcoming St Vincent De Paul fundraiser for Emmanuel City Mission, and the weekly attendance of our YCS volunteers for the Junior School, with many more ambitious ideas en route from the co-captains Tom Anderson and Charlie Cox.

For anyone who wanting to join ministry or anyone with questions, ideas, or criticisms, meetings are open to all from Week 4 at the following times in ST6:

• Green Team: Tuesday First break
• YCS: Wednesday Second Break
• AFAS: Friday First Break
• YAYM: Thursday Second Break
• SVDP: Monday First Break

Green team: Honey Harvesting
This week the Green Team kicked off another year with a bountiful and delicious honey harvest. Expertly led by the College’s Beekeeper Andy Masson; the Green Team along with their ministry colleagues from AFAS ministry and supporters from Rita House, collected an amazing 21 bottles of honey from our very happy and very busy College bees. Here is what Beekeeper Andy had to report about Tuesday afternoon’s successful honey harvest.

With everyone jumping to participate and get a taste for the sweet honeycomb, it is safe to say everyone is now eager to come along to the next Green Ministry event being the Clean Up Australia Day creek clean up!

Starting with smoking the hive to calm down the bees the boys removed the frames shortly after de-caping them, to prepare for the best part… the honey spinner! With the golden view and the sweet smell in the air, it was then ready to put the honey into jars which will be available to purchase at the upcoming Villa Carnival in July (alongside some home baked honey treats).

Before buying our honey, you must know why this program is so important. Full of antibiotics this honey is rich with natural remedies that keep you healthy. Furthermore, this program is essential to keep the bees in our community thriving because the world would end, as we know it, if they stopped buzzing. Did you know that bees contribute up to a third of global food production? Look out for our honey at the Villa Carnival in July and join the Green Team on Clean Up Australia Day. The bees will appreciate healthier water ways too.

Conversations of the Heart
Conversations of the Heart started because our Senior students told us that they needed opportunities to meet, listen to and share with girls about some of the topics that are difficult – consent, respectful relationships and social media!  It is a changed and changing context, and it is difficult to navigate, there are lots of decisions to be made and they can get made in a complicated context of snap chat, parties, formals, schoolies where a whole lot of other factors like alcohol and peer pressure can be involved.

Loud and clear the message has been, students need these conversations early and they need to have them with peers just a bit older than them!

Conversations of the Heart is a twilight retreat program that is run with All Hallows.

On Tuesday, 27 Seniors from Villa headed over to All Hallows to meet with a group of their Seniors for their own Twilight retreat to unearth the topics, listen to stories of past students from our schools, and share about their experiences and their learnings.  We do this in the context of our faith that is so grounded in the dignity of the human person.

Next Tuesday, a group of our Year 9s will participate in the retreat and it will be facilitated by our Senior students who will be working to prepare it in the coming days.  So more to come.  We are planning to run the program again in Semester 2 as it has proved to be so popular and helpful.  Our Year 9 students have a link to register their interest in the program.

A huge shout out to Br Damien Price who facilitated; to Claire Easton and the staff at All Hallows who welcomed us at All Hallows; to our past students including Ashton Taylor who shared their stories and learnings; to Amanda Waterson who assisted with all our Villa students; and of course to all our Senior students from All Hallows and Villanova who are making this program possible for our Year 9 students.

Time & Space – Year 7s and their Mum/Mother Figure
Tuesday 20 February

As outlined at our Middle School Parent Information evening, with the support of our P&F, we are excited to announce the inaugural Time & Space event for Year 7 students and their Mothers/Mother Figures, scheduled for Tuesday, 20 February 2024, in Goold Hall.

We have over 260 people registered to attend, and we encourage your participation in this event.  If you are not yet registered please see this flyer for more information about the program.

Mrs Kate Garrone, Director of Mission & Identity

Parent Information Evenings
It was a real pleasure speaking with parents last week at the various parent information evenings. Meeting new families and catching up with existing ones was a great way to commence the year. From a teaching and learning perspective, the messages delivered were relatively general in nature in order to familiarise parents/carers with processes and procedures, and to allow them to understand their son’s start to the new school year. Across the year there will be plenty of opportunities to engage with your son’s studies, whether they be through subject information evenings, careers expos or scholarship information events.

Year 12 Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences
A reminder that Year 12 Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences will be held next Thursday 15 February. I would encourage Year 12 parents/carers together with the students to engage with teachers early in the year in order to discuss students’ progress and best way to achieve maximum growth. Conferences will run from 3.30 to 8.00pm. Parents/carers have been emailed details to make bookings and to then participate in the conferences. Please note that these conferences will be online via Microsoft Teams.

Scholars’ Assembly
The College came together for the annual Scholars’ Assembly on Tuesday to celebrate and acknowledge the many high achievers of 2023. We acknowledged over 130 students across Years 6 to 12 who were able to achieve highly in Semester 2 last year. In addition, approximately 75% of these students were also acknowledged as demonstrating consistency across the entire year and received their academic badge. The College introduced academic badges two years ago and we already have many students who are proudly wearing three of these badges.

The theme for assembly on Tuesday was Growth. Whilst we acknowledged the high achievers in each year level, the speakers who did address the school body emphasised the need to look for opportunities to ‘stretch themselves’ and look at failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. Our 2024 Academic Captain, Luca Ter Horst, gave his annual Scholars’ Assembly address and highlighted the need to be persistent in one’s attempt to improve and grow. He also tied nicely the College’s focus value of interiority into his message. Luca’s address to the College is below:

Good morning staff, guests, and my Villanova brothers.

Firstly, I would like to congratulate all of today’s award winners in advance, you have put in hours of hard work accompanied by sleepless nights to achieve such a feat, so seize this moment and reap the rewards and congratulations of all your time and dedication. I wish you all the best for your studies this year and I’m sure I will see you all in front of me here next semester.

Just before we begin our presentations, I would like to take a moment to recognize all those who worked so hard but will not be receiving an award today. Whether it be 1 whole GPA point or even 0.1 of a GPA point you should all be considerably proud of yourselves. We often discuss our GREATS framework, and it is very fitting for our GREATS focus of this week to be growth. To the boys who have shown academic growth over the past 6 months you should be proud, it takes a considerable amount of dedication to improve yourself and the quality of your tasks.

Growth isn’t just achieved overnight, being consistent and creating a love for what you do is key to growing. When we love doing something we often get a sense of curiosity for the subject, this is a vital part of growth and learning. As Saint Augustine stated, “Free curiosity is a greater encouragement to learning than frightened compulsion.” So if we can learn to love what we do in school our academic endeavours become significantly easier.

In order to enjoy or love something we have to first look inward and understand why, at this point in time, we might not enjoy it as much as we could. This is the importance of interiority. Last week in mass when we discussed interiority, Fr Pete described it as looking inwards, challenging yourself. In my personal experience, studying becomes a chore when I spend too much time doing the same thing. Studying in different ways and creating variation in what you do stops it from being repetitive, and maybe even fun to do.

So, before we congratulate our award winners today, I invite you to take a moment and reflect. Be honest with yourself, how did your academic progress go at the end of 2023? Why do you think it went the way it did? Is there anything that you would change coming into 2024?

EmpowerED Program
This week, the College has introduced a new program for Year 7 to 12 students to commence the new semester. The EmpowerED program is an initiative that brings together a range of activities and learning opportunities for students to complete and participate in, in the hope that what they discover will help them to grow academically.

Successful individuals tend to share a number of things in common; one of these is the time they invest in goalsetting. Goalsetting allows individuals to use direction and focus, motivation and engagement, planning and time management, and accountability and responsibility to make measurable progress in what they put their mind to. This Friday, all Year 7 to 12 students will spend time in their House meetings completing their Semester 1 goalsetting. The document asks students to draw on the College value of interiority to reflect on their past achievements and to then challenge themselves to improve on these achievements. Whilst we place significant importance on academic progress, the process will also ask students to reflect on other elements of their lives such as their personal development and wellbeing and set goals to improve these areas.

Next Friday, during the session before morning tea, the College will suspend normal classes and students will participate in a program of activities, one of these being a conference with their House Mentor about their goalsetting for the semester. It is important that students have their goalsetting document completed by next Friday (16^th February) and avoid any appointments wherever possible.

The program for next Friday is below:

Below is further reading around goalsetting that parents/carers might like to share with their son(s) when discussing their participation in the EmpowerED program.

Goalsetting
Embarking on a new school year provides an excellent opportunity to establish meaningful goals for personal and academic growth. Setting goals not only enhances your focus but also helps shape the kind of student you aspire to become. To ensure your goals are both attainable and inspiring, consider the following:

SPECIFIC: Make goals as detailed and specific as possible. Avoid vague goals like ‘I want to do better in Maths,’ instead make them very detailed and specific. Exactly what do you want to achieve?

MEASUREABLE: A crucial aspect of goalsetting is having a way to measure your progress. Define clear indicators that signal achievement, enabling you to track your success along the way. This could involve setting specific targets, such as achieving a certain grade or completing a set number of tasks.

ACTION-ORIENTED: Your short-term goals should be the action steps you need to take to achieve the medium and longer-term goals. (Another version of SMARTIES uses aspirational instead of action-oriented, i.e. your goals should inspire you and stretch and challenge you beyond your comfort level.)

RELEVANT and REALISTIC: Goals change, so if your goal is no longer relevant, you need to change it too. Although your goals should stretch you beyond your comfort zone, they need to still be based in reality. Create challenging goals by all means, but not totally unrealistic ones.

TIME-BASED: Your goals need to have a ‘to complete by’ date to give you something to aim for. Assigning deadlines to your goals provides a sense of urgency and direction.

INTERESTING: Choose goals that genuinely interest you and align with your values. Pursuing objectives that are personally meaningful increases motivation and commitment. When you find your goals interesting and worthwhile, you’re more likely to stay dedicated to achieving them.

EMOTIONAL: Express the emotion behind your goals using powerful language. This emotional connection enhances your commitment and helps you stay connected to the purpose of your objectives. When you can articulate the significance of your goals, they become more compelling and personally resonant.

SUCCESS ORIENTED: Frame your goals in a positive and success-focused manner. Instead of focusing on what you want to avoid or improve, emphasise the positive outcomes you aim to achieve. A positive mindset fosters resilience, optimism, and a greater likelihood of success.

By incorporating these guidelines into goalsetting process, you increase the likelihood of turning your aspirations into tangible achievements throughout the school year. Remember that the journey of goalsetting is as valuable as the destination, fostering personal growth, motivation and a sense of accomplishment.

Mr John Christie, Dean of Teaching and Learning

Acceptable Use of ICT Equipment and Resources
On Friday 2 February, an Acceptable Use of ICT Equipment and Resources form was emailed to all families of students in Years 6-12.
This form was due for completion by Wednesday, 7 February.

A significant number of returns are still outstanding. I appreciate the efforts of those families who have responded promptly and would encourage all families to complete the form as soon as possible. This will ensure our students understand the responsible use of technology, the importance of respecting privacy, and the ethical use of chat and digital communication tools. For our older students (Years 9-12), it’s particularly important to understand the ethical and honest use of AI tools such as ChatGPT. Depending on the age of your son, the form will contain different sections, so please check your inbox for the link to the form and complete it once for each student at the College. Please email me on jlane@vnc.qld.edu.au if there are any issues with completing this important annual agreement.

For students in Year 5, they are completing an in-class “BYOD Bootcamp” program. Our Year 5 new recruits will complete a different type of agreement (with more accessible language) at the conclusion of their program, later this term.

Esports 2024 Sign-ups
Last week students in Years 7-12 had the opportunity to sign up for our 2024 esports teams. It is possible that some students did not see this invitation notice and wish to join our growing esports teams. And yes, there is still time to join our growing community of esports players and helpers!

The FUSE Cup Rocket League competition will take place on 6-7 March at Brisbane South State Secondary College. We’re hoping to match our success in 2023 where Year 9 students Patrick Joyce and Aidan Davis finished second in Australia! We are aiming to field 8 pairs of Rocket League players from Years 7, 8, 9, and 10. Practice will be on the Nintendo platform, but the competition will be on the XBOX platform. Lunchtime practices will commence in Week 4, and Wednesday after-school training will be scheduled once the representative teams are finalised. This competition is our first priority, given the March date is fast approaching.

In addition, we’re excited to announce a new opportunity for Villanova to compete in our first Valorant esports tournament hosted by QUT at their Gardens Point Esports facility on Saturday 2 March 2024. This new opportunity has been granted to our students to help expand our esports involvement into the upper Senior School years. More opportunities for internal and external esports are available on the form via this link (your son will need to sign in with his school email address to complete it): https://forms.microsoft.com/r/7BZqkFXAVk

Mr Jason Lane, Director of E-Learning

Lessons and Rehearsals
All lessons and rehearsals have been running smoothly for almost two weeks now.  It is great to hear the music back in the building and seeing our students move through the school with their instruments.  We have our Debut Concert series coming up in just over four weeks and I am looking forward to this first opportunity for our students to share their fine work with our broader community.  More information regarding our first concerts will be shared in next fortnight’s Villa View offering.

Year 5 Instrumental Music
Our Instrumental Music (IM) team are in the final stages of allocating instruments to our Year 5 musicians.  It has been wonderful getting to know our newest members of our community and great to witness them all having an opportunity to play some of the instruments we offer in this amazing immersion program.  We expect to be able to share instrument loan agreements before the end of this week – these will be distributed to all students in their classes.  A communication regarding IM for Year 5 will be sent home on the day we distribute loan agreements to ensure that all information is shared in a timely manner.

We cannot release an instrument to a student until a signed loan agreement has been received.  To ensure students are able to collect their instrument next week, we will require all loan agreements to be returned by Tuesday 13 February.  There will be a prize for the class who returns all their loan agreements first!

Registering Attendance at Music Activities
To ensure we meet our duty of care requirements, as per all activities within our school we must maintain an accurate attendance role for all music activities.  I would like to take this opportunity to remind all students and families of our processes regarding the recording and monitoring of attendance for ensemble and lessons here at Villanova.

Ensemble Attendance – the roll will be taken immediately before the commencement time of rehearsal.  Students who are not present will either be marked ‘A’ (away – unexplained absence), or ‘E’ (away – explained absence).  Explained absences will be logged should communication be received via email or phone message to the music absentee line.  If you communicate on the morning of a morning rehearsal, your son may be marked away – the roll will be adjusted once the teacher has had an opportunity to check correspondence after rehearsal.  The parents of students marked absent will receive a brief email communication noting their child’s absence.

The roll will again be marked at the end of rehearsal.  Students who were marked absent but have arrived during the session will be marked as ‘L’ – or Late.

Lesson Attendance – students are required to sign in via the Kiosks outside the music office if they are attending their private or group lesson.  Please ensure you bring your student card as this is the most efficient way of negotiating this obstacle.  If you don’t have your student card, you will require your student number and password (used for accessing the Villa network).  Students are to log in at the kiosk and select Music Lesson upon arrival, and check-out of music lesson upon departure.  Staff will also maintain a roll for our records that is updated upon conclusion of each lesson.

We take our duty of care seriously and we thank the students for assisting us in following procedure to ensure all are safe and accounted for.

Mobile Phones in Rehearsal
As our school embarks on a new era of relationships with mobile phones, we will look to emulate a similar approach in rehearsal.  Historically, in rehearsals that I take, I expect that mobile phones are not to be used or seen during ensemble.  These activities, whilst co-curricular, are still part of the College routine; as such, the regular rules around mobile devices apply.

With the removal of mobile phones from classrooms from the beginning of the 2024 academic year, it is expected that mobile phones are not brought to rehearsal.  Mobile phones may be placed inside a student’s instrument case (on silent) or left in their school bag.  If a phone is seen by a teacher during rehearsal, the regular school rules will apply – the device will be confiscated and taken to Student Services for collection by the student’s parent.

We thank you all for supporting our College community at this interesting juncture in time.

Musical
The initial reviews of our most recent musical with Loreto College, Legally Blonde, have all been very positive.  The set and props have made their way into Hanrahan Theatre, and we are looking forward to the technical bump in this coming Friday.  The Augustine Centre certainly has been a hive of activity over the past week.

I would like to extend my congratulations to the students involved, and, on behalf of the music team here at Villa, wish them all the best with their final fortnight of rehearsals and shows.  Well done to all – looking forward to the final outcome.

Music Support Group
Our next Music Support Group meeting will be convened on Monday 12 February in the Chapter Room at the front of the Augustine Centre, commencing at 6:30pm.  All parents are most welcome to attend.  We encourage you all to come along and learn a little more about what happens behind the scenes in music here at the College.

Key Dates Term 1
As we look ahead across the term, please ensure we pencil the following dates into your diary:

Villanova Camp Chairs and Wildcat Coolers
Our fantastic Music Support Group have organised an innovative fundraiser for Villanova College.  You may have heard the buzz about our Villanova Camp Chairs and Wildcat Coolers…  the MUST HAVE items for the beach/cricket/park/fishing/BBQ/etc.

Villanova Branded Camp Chairs – $35; Wildcat Coolers – $30
All items can be purchased via Trybooking through the following link:  https://www.trybooking.com/BMEML
Purchases can be collected from the Music Office and all profits go to the Music Support Group.

Entertainment Publications Memberships
Entertainment memberships are one of the Music Support Groups main fund-raisers.  Just click on the link to purchase a membership and obtain ongoing special deals throughout the year.

Thank you all for your ongoing support of Music at Villanova College.

Mr Michael Jones, Director of Music

Director of Sport Address
It was pleasing to see more than 900 Villanova young men engaged in sport throughout Round 1 of competition. A heartfelt thank you also to the 93 individuals who make up our coaching teams for Term 1 sport. From staff to Old Boys, parents to current students; the notion of ‘community’ is evident in and around the sporting fields and courts.

We welcome St Patrick’s College in Round 2 this weekend, with our swimmers venturing to Iona College on Friday 9 February.

Following a resilient win in Round 1, following a one set deficit, our First VI Volleyball team have their sights set on continued improvement in the coming weeks. A special mention to our Junior AFL teams in Years 5-8, who were all successful on the weekend versus Marist College Ashgrove; signs of good things ahead for the AFL programme. Our First XI Cricket team are primed to bounce back in Round 2 after a surprising defeat, following impressive form in holiday tournaments and pre-season games.

As we look forward to Week 4, we will be presenting our Term 1 Sports Captains and Firsts teams at the College assembly on Tuesday 13 February. The College is also excited to welcome back the Interhouse Swimming Carnivals in 2024:

• Junior School, 11:30-2:35pm on Tuesday 13 February at the Villa Pool.
• Senior School, 8:30-2:45pm on Thursday 15 February at Langlands Pool.

Draw – Round 2, Friday 9 and Saturday 10 February
Round 2 vs St Patrick’s College – is now available on the Locker Room page. The draw will be posted to Locker Room by the Wednesday prior to the round ahead. This is the earliest possible time we can post this information.
Round 1 Results

AFL Round 1

Cricket Round 1

Volleyball Round 1  

Team Lists
Team lists do not appear online. They appear in the Parent Lounge and Student Cafe sections of the portal. Team lists will be posted by Thursday prior to the round ahead. This is the earliest possible time we can post this information.

AIC Draw 2024
Please find attached the AIC Draw for 2024.

Communications
Families are reminded to access all Sport information via the Villanova College website and the Villanova College App. The Locker Room tab provides updated information regarding training schedules and current AIC/trial draws.

Training Schedules
For all updated information regarding training and selection trials schedules, please visit the Locker Room page of the Villanova College website. Sport specific training schedules for AFL, Cricket and Volleyball can also be found on the Locker Room page.

All Sport Training Schedule – Term 1, 2024

Term 1 Sport Uniforms
Families are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the Villanova College Uniform Look Book. This information is found on the College website Uniform Shop page. Opening hours for the Uniform Shop can also be found here. All students selected in AIC teams are expected to wear the correct uniform for AIC fixtures each week.

Hire Jerseys – Term 1 AFL and Volleyball
In Term 1, students playing AFL and Volleyball will hire jerseys from the College. Students who have not collected their hire jersey need to visit the Uniform Shop as soon as possible.

Jerseys are then returned to the Uniform Shop before the end of Term 1.

Jerseys not returned by the end of Term 1 incur a late fee charge on the student’s account. The deadline of the end of Term 1 (last day of term) is strict. All hire jerseys must be returned by then to avoid the late fee charge.

Students must have the full correct uniform, including hire jersey, for all AIC matches.

Sport Contact List
If you are requiring information about a specific sport, in the first instance, visit the website Locker Room page. If you need further clarification, please contact the relevant Coordinator below. For any training or game absences, please contact your Sport Coordinator.

Director of Sport – Shaun McLean, smclean@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC AFL Coordinator – Matt Conlan, mconlan@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Cricket Coordinator – Chris Everding, ceverding@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Swimming Coordinator – Juanita Jacobs, jjacobs@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Volleyball Coordinator – Todd Kropp, tkropp@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Cross-Country Coordinator – Brian Pascoe – bpascoe@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Chess Coordinator – Kath Underhill, kunderhill@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Football Coordinator – Nathan Dufty, ndufty@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Rugby Union Coordinator – Chris Everding, ceverding@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Golf Coordinator – Todd Kropp, tkropp@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Basketball Coordinator – TBC – contact the Director of Sport
AIC Rugby League Coordinator – Alex Russell, arussell@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Tennis Coordinator – Nathan Dufty, ndufty@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Track & Field Coordinator – Anthony Kemp, akemp@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Water Polo Coordinator – Juanita Jacobs, jjacobs@vnc.qld.edu.au
Composite District Sport – Todd Kropp, tkropp@vnc.qld.edu.au
Lytton District Sport – Chris Everding, ceverding@vnc.qld.edu.au

Wet weather cancellations
If there is any reason to cancel training sessions or weekend games, this information will be posted to the Villa App in the Notices section.
Please ensure you have downloaded the Villa App and updated your preferences and settings.

The Villa Sports Department will endeavour to cancel morning training sessions by 6am and afternoon training sessions by 1pm. If a training session is cancelled, boys are not able to be dropped off to the training venue as there will not be supervision present. Please check the Villa App regularly for these notifications.

If any AIC fixtures are cancelled, we will follow the same procedure above. Timing will be dependent on when that information becomes available.

AFL
In Round 1 of the AIC Competition, Villa lined up against a formidable opponent in Marist College. We started off the season in style with 10 wins and only four losses against Marist College. From all reports there were some admirable individual performances and more importantly, some excellent team performances. A special mention to the three Year 5 teams who donned the green and gold for the very first time in the AIC competition. Whilst walking along the boundary lines and listening to the team huddles, I could sense the obvious pride and excitement running through their veins.

Another important point to mention is that during this season, coaches of the Years 5-9 and the Second XVIII teams will be asking for parents to officiate as goal umpires. This is an excellent initiative as it takes the pressure off the field umpires to make sometimes difficult decisions. I encourage both mums and dads who are interested in volunteering to approach their son’s coach prior to the game commencing this weekend to offer their support.

Finally, this week we take on St Patrick’s College in what promises to be another tight round of fixtures. I’m confident that if we bring the same endeavour and attitude, we’ll come away with more than our fair share of victories!

Matt Conlan, AFL Coordinator

First XVIII AFL
Prior to the first bounce for the Villanova’s First and Second XVIII AFL team’s Round 1 fixture Mr John Godwin and Fr Saldie addressed the players.
Fr Saldie blessed the team with a prayer borrowed from a fellow Augustinian who follows the Sydney Swans, because he obviously knows a good AFL prayer.

Mr Godwin spoke to the boys about the practical love of neighbour, or in our case a team-mate or the jersey which is central to Augustinian communities.
He then spoke about how that love could be practically applied by the players intent, as well as being brave for the team.

The intent and effort displayed by the team throughout the game was testament to the love they have for each other that will ensure a positive legacy continues to be built for the jersey they proudly wear.

Brian Pascoe, First XVIII Head Coach

Cricket
The Cricket season finally got underway last Saturday with a Round 1 clash against Marist College Ashgrove. Thanks to all of our coaches for getting things underway, even with the wet weather disruptions, which has hindered training and potential team selection sessions. Over the last couple of years we have held our own and shared the results or even come out on top against Marist College, but last Saturday we came away short and only had six wins, while 19 sides lost. Four of those wins were aggregate sides, which isn’t a bad start, but we really need to lift our game across the College, if we are to compete against the big improvers in recent years, St. Patrick’s College. Villanova has been very successful in cricket, having won the aggregate shield for the last five years and other Colleges have been working hard to improve their programmes to raise the profile of cricket and compete against AFL for numbers. It will be important for each team member to focus on their role in the team and to concentrate on that at training.

The Fourth XI, 10A, 8A, 7B, 6A and 6C sides all claimed solid wins, while the Seconds, 10B and 7C sides had very close losses.

Good luck to all sides this weekend in our Round 2 games v St. Patrick’s College.

R1 Cricket Results v MAR

Chris Everding, Cricket Coordinator

First XI Cricket
Villanova First XI had the exciting challenge of a first round match up against last year’s First XI premiers Ashgrove College, who have proven to be one of the strongest cricketing colleges in the last decade. Villanova won the toss and elected to bowl first, this was a decision that as team we were happy with, as we wanted to set a positive mindset from the beginning.

Our bowling innings started brilliantly with Henrik Frederiksen (3-40) bowling with great pace and consistency to claim early wickets in the Ashgrove top order, he was well supported through the middle overs by Zac Joyce (1-21) and Lachlan Whaites (1-29). To Ashgrove’s credit, they were able to keep wickets in hand, which allowed them to play with freedom and positivity for their last session and they scored a total of 217.  As a team – we felt that this total was well within reach on what was a fair and decent batting pitch.

Villanova set off chasing the target in positive style and were 1-40 after 10 overs. Ashgrove then showed why they won the premiership last year, by making a “double spin” bowling change. Ashgrove simply applied a lot of pressure to our batters, which saw us lose quick wickets in a short period of overs to have us 6-75. As a team, we didn’t recover from this period of play and Villanova were bowled out for 115.

The First XI teams focus now turns to SPC who have also been very strong in recent AIC seasons, I’m positive that the entire team can respond accordingly and push for our first win of the season in Round 2.

Nathan Dufty, First XI Head Coach

Swimming
Congratulations to all the new swim squad members who made their way to SPLC on Friday night for their first ever swim meet.  It is always different and exciting for swimmers who may not have swum competitively before.  We had nearly 80 swimmers in attendance on the night.

This week we will travel to Iona.  The routines for the meet will be the same as last week.  Junior School swimmers will meet with Ms Liddy and the Seniors near their classrooms and walk together to the bus.  All other swimmers should meet at the front of the College as quickly as possible after Period 5.

When we arrive at Iona, we will all walk together to the pool and boys will marshal for each event as per the event schedule and announcements. The older swimmers will ensure that the younger boys make their races.  We encourage every swimmer to swim in as many events as possible so we can track their improvement.   At the end of each race, the swimmers will receive their post it note with their time written, to be given to the teacher who is recording.

For the meet this Friday 9 February, there is no bus returning, so all swimmers will need to be collected from the Iona pool at 5:30pm. We recognise that many Year 7 boys will be coming back from camp that day and may not be able to attend this particular meet, but we look forward to seeing an improvement in times at the following meet.  It is expected that all boys who are training, would also participate in these swimming meets.

Our focus at training will change over the next few weeks.  As we approach the AIC championships, more time will be spent on sprint sets, starts and finishes.  In the week leading up to March 5, relay change overs will also be incorporated into the sets.  While many students may have clashes with other sports or music, we do ask that swimming is prioritised for the final two or three sessions immediately prior to the AIC.  This allows the teams to have proper relay practice before race day.

Good luck to all of the Villanova swimmers who are competing this weekend at the Queensland Sprint Championships.  I look forward to reporting on your success and  numerous PB’s in the next bulletin.

AIC Swimming Meets
Save the dates for upcoming AIC meets and AIC Championships:

• Friday 9 February at Iona College
• Friday 16 February at SPLC
• Thursday 22 February at Chandler
• Tuesday 5 March AIC Championships at Chandler

Buses will transport boys both ways at all meets and championships, other than Iona on 9 Feb which will be one-way only. Parents may collect boys from the meets and take them home – they just need to check in with a staff member prior to leaving. Meet timings and details will be distributed closer to the dates in the weekly draw.

Juanita Jacobs, Swimming Coordinator

Volleyball
Thank you to the Volleyball community for the work during Round 1. It was great to see our teams in action after the long pre-season and we recorded some great results over the weekend and look forward to continuing these into Round 2.

On the topic of good results, our First VI Volleyball team recorded a 3-1 win against a very well-trained Marist team. The Villa VI team competed well during each set, achieving the team’s standards in attack and defence. Very notable performances from First VI Middles; Lachlan Gillett and Elliot Henning for their work in attack through the middle third of the court.

Ahead of Round 2 v SPC, can I please remind the Senior teams that they will also have court duty in addition to their match time. The duty times are listed below.

A few other announcements, with the large number of Year 12 players competing, we will introduce the Fourth VI team from Round 3 of the AIC season.

Our 8D team will have the bye for this weekend.

Best of luck to all our teams!

Round 2 duty roster

Todd Kropp, Volleyball Coordinator

2024 Chess is underway at Villanova!
Famous Chess player Saudin Robovic once said, “Chess is a terrific way for kids to build self-image and self-esteem.”  While Chess is a Term 2 AIC Sport, there is an air of excitement amongst new students to the College which has prompted the launch of an early training program this term.

Junior School
We will be launching a Chess Club next week for students in Year 5 and Year 6 who can play Chess. This will involve a commitment of at least one lunch period per week for this term. If your son is keen and can play Chess, please email me at kunderhill@vnc.qld.edu.au.

Firsts Training Squad
A select number of students have been nominated to be part of the Firsts Training Squad. This select group of students will be required at least one morning before school (most probably Tuesday) from 7:15-8:15 am. We have employed the services of a professional coach for these sessions. A full commitment will be required, and attendance and punctuality is critical to secure a place in this group. These students will be contacted by email today. There will also be an expectation that these students commit to supporting the Junior Chess Club by mentoring them through the occasional lunchtime activity.

Inter- School Competitions
The following are the Inter-school competition dates for this term, so if you would like for your son to attend, please contact me at kunderhill@vnc.qld.edu.au by Monday 12 February. Attendance at these competition days will be at parents’ expense ($24.00 pp)

Further details to follow.
TERM 1 Brisbane South:
Secondary 4 March at Ipswich Grammar School Year 7 – 12
Primary      26 March at Iona College Year 5 and 6

I am really looking forward to an amazingly successful year of Green and Gold Chess!

Kath Underhill. Chess Coordinator

Cross-Country
The training for the 2023 AIC Cross-Country season starts on Tuesday 5 March in Week 7 of Term 1 with the Junior, Middle and Senior Schools squads training as one. (Students competing in AIC Swimming on Tuesday 5 March are not required at Cross-Country that morning. All swimmers will have a team photo that morning from 6:30am).

Dedication to training, effort and positive respectful relationships are the characteristics of the students at Villanova College who train with the Cross-Country squad. I challenge students who want to be involved to start their own running training now in preparation for the start of the running season.

I encourage boys, especially students fit from playing other sports or wanting to be fitter for their other sports to speak to either Mr Pascoe or Mr Roache about how you could get involved. Especially, if you have not previously joined the Cross-Country squad.

We are aware that many boys will have lots of different activities going on. We encourage our best runners to represent Villanova on the day of the championships. It may be the case that a student may not be able to attend all training sessions due to other commitments. If this is the case, we simply need students to communicate this to the coaches and managers involved. We are open to negotiating alternative training schedules with those who have lots on to facilitate optimal performance and maintain athlete well-being.

Training Schedule
Term 1 – Weeks 7-10 – Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings, 6:45-8am.
Term 2 – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, 6:45-8am.

Middle and Senior School Students

• Meet in front of Goold Hall and have name marked off roll.
• Leave Goold Hall at 6.45 am.

Junior School Students

• Meet at the Agora, store bags, have name marked off roll.
• Leave the Agora at 6.45 am.

The Cross-Country season will once again include a number of warm-up meets. This will allow students race practice and to familiarise themselves with AIC Championship course at St Patricks College playing fields, Curlew Park Sandgate. The warm-up meets include:

Cross-Country Warm-up Meets

• Wednesday 8 May at Sherwood
• Wednesday 15 May at SPC – AIC course familiarisation.
• Wednesday 22 May at Runcorn

All Cross-Country training will be conducted on and around the precincts of the College and Little Langlands.
The training is completed by 7.45am with shower facilities available in Goold Hall and the tuckshop open from 8am for breakfast if required.
The 2024 Cross-Country Championship is scheduled for May 29 at Curlew Park, Shorncliffe.
We encourage all boys intending to join the ‘Running Wildcats’ to attend training starting Week 7 and see how great you can be.

Brian Pascoe, Cross-Country Coordinator

Speed & Agility Training
For those students in Years 5-8 who have registered for Speed & Agility Training, these sessions continue on Monday mornings.
For students in Years 9, 10, 11 and 12, there are “free” Speed & Agility sessions on Wednesday mornings, 7-8am on Whinstanes.
These sessions are free of charge and open to any boys in Years 9-12.

Composite Sport (13-19 Years)
Nomination paperwork is available from the Sports Office for the following Sports.

External Achievements
Please note achievements that have already been posted to the College’s social media platforms will not also be displayed in the newsletter.

Criteria for social media posts are generally achievements reaching a National level of representation or success/leadership of State level teams (e.g. selection in an Australian team). Or significant achievements on parallel with this.

Criteria for newsletter posts are generally achievements reaching a State level of representation (e.g. selection in a QLD team). Club, Met East or Composite representation does not meet the criteria for newsletters.

Please send all newsworthy stories to smclean@vnc.qld.edu.au.

And always remember; kids sport is meant to be fun…

•  Collection Notice for parents/guardians – 2024 Student Residential Address and Other Information
  https://www.vnc.qld.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Privacy-Collection-Notice-for-Parents-Address-Collection-2024.pdf

• If you have a son currently in Year 5 at another school, and you are seeking a Year 7 commencement.
  Year 7, 2026 enrolments are now open and will close on February 23.  Interviews will be held end February, early March.
  Please click on the link provided below to submit your son’s application. Year 7 in 2026 | Villanova College (vnc.qld.edu.au)
  For any further enrolment enquiries please contact enrolments@vnc.qld.edu.au

• Employment Opportunity
  We are on the lookout for a Sports Canteen Convenor to join our Villa team! As the Sport Canteen Convenor, you’ll be right in the thick of it all, helping keep our Villanova Park and Goold Hall canteens running like clockwork. From prepping tasty treats to making sure everyone’s well-fed and happy, you’ll be the behind-the-scenes hero of our sports gatherings. Flexibility is key in this role, with additional hours required, including Saturdays.
  We believe in giving our community the first shot at this awesome opportunity, so we are reaching out to you before casting a wider net. So, if you’ve got a passion for sports, a knack for organisation, and a desire to make a difference right here at Villanova, we want to hear from you! Head over to our website for more information: https://www.vnc.qld.edu.au/employment/