Villanova College
Villa View: Issue 1
Villa View: Issue 1
Dear Members of the Villanova College Family
A very special welcome to all our families and especially those families who are new to Villanova College. The Villa View is our weekly newsletter and the format has been revamped for 2017. I trust you will enjoy the new format and will continue to find the Villa View an effective way of communicating the many happenings around the College.
Thank you to the many parents who have worked tirelessly to ensure their son(s) were ready to begin the new academic year. The students have returned with great enthusiasm and I am confident we will have another great year at Villanova College.
Our theme for 2017 is “Putting Teaching First”. Our focus for 2017 is centered on the classroom and the teaching and learning process. Our teachers are our most important resource in the education process and in 2017 we are placing an emphasis on the “Art of Teaching” and the associated learning that flows from good teaching in the classroom.
Welcome to Year Five
The first day finally arrived and the students streamed through the front gate to commence an exciting year of education. Accompanied by their parents, our youngest students were almost overloaded with the amount of materials they had to bring to school. Fortunately, the Year 12 students were waiting to assist the Year 5 boys and their parents and direct them to the Junior School meeting area. There were a few nervous mums, dads and students as the crowd grew in size and everyone waited in anticipation for the bell to ring so they could move to the classrooms and meet their new teachers.
After 24 hours the Year 5 boys have settled into their classrooms and are beginning to get to know their new surroundings. Next week they are off to Year 5 Camp.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Mrs Sophie Studders and her husband Merrick on the birth of their first child, Louis James, born 22 December, 2016. We also offer our congratulations to Mr Callum Hackett who became engaged to Miss Christina McPhee during the Christmas break.
Prayer
The symbol below is the emblem for the Order of St Augustine. Every community across the world claiming to be an Augustinian community will display this symbol.
The open book suggests a dedication to intellectual searching or study; the pursuit of knowledge both divine and earthly. Saint Augustine is often portrayed holding a flaming heart to indicate his great personal charity and the fact that he preached love of neighbour as the way to serve God. The arrow piercing the heart and the book represents the Spirit of God piercing our minds and hearts and calling us to a continual growth of faith, hope and love in our lives.
You have made us for Yourself, O Lord
And our hearts are restless until they rest in You.
God bless
Mr Mark Stower, Principal
The start to a school year is a spiritual awakening in us all. It begins with the wide eyed, slightly nervous but highly eager Year Five students. The newest Villanovans at the College are full of hope and looking to belong as quickly as possible. When they put on their grey academic uniform, carry their books through the classroom door and enjoy their first play break with 160 boys we officially declare them Villanovans.
The ritual of being welcomed by over 1200 peers and 100 staff in Goold Hall on Tuesday morning was certainly a moment to treasure. The senior students were watching in awe, reliving just how quickly their time has passed over the last seven years. These young men remember vividly the moments that Year 5 brings, the many firsts, be it new friendships, sporting teams, College Carnivals or assessment tasks. 2017 has an incredible line up of achievements and memorable moments in store for us and we are more than ready to start living out this chapter.
To the Year 5 parents, we thank you for the opportunity to work with your son. We appreciate your every effort up to this point in order to ready your child for an all-boys educational platform. You can be assured that we will support, challenge and make the most of our time together this year. You will need to be very kind to yourselves, as this year will be one when you also experience first-hand new experiences with your son. Familiarising yourself with College history, guidelines and expectations (such as those in the College Diary) take time. The College Newsletter, website, Parent Lounge and communication from your son’s teachers will also need to be given priority in order to coordinate the weekly timetables and best support your son’s academic development. Every child’s journey will be unique and we will endeavour to ensure the best balance of spiritual, academic and social/emotional elements are provided.
Our Year 6 students have walked into 2017 with pride and enthusiasm. They are reflective of their own experiences in 2016 as they develop their buddy relationships with the Year 5 boys. They have shown courtesy, patience and genuine interest in their new mates which is pleasing to see. It is a wonderful opportunity in Year 6 to use the knowledge of last year’s experiences to truly reach the potential that lies within academically. It is essential to focus on making specific goals, taking risks and using feedback to make every gain possible. It is one thing to retrieve, recall or demonstrate a skill. We need to ensure our students can compare and contrast, create, classify and predict meaningfully with their work tasks. This year our Junior School staff are conscious of being explicit with the criteria we set in daily lessons and assessment tasks. We are using Marzano’s Taxonomy “the most current and comprehensive guide to define the new standard of education”, so that our students can be self-sufficient and accountable for their achievements.
We all have a clean slate for 2017, an endless stream of opportunities in front of us for being our best selves. Many will have high hopes for what can be reached, and it is the journey of how this happens where human beings need a community of support and understanding.
From this week we will work on asking the boys to concentrate weekly on a key area of personal character traits and manners. In classes we will explore Circle Time to promote relationships and build connections that can reduce the frequency and occurrence of conflict. Our Junior School camps in Week 2 and Week 3 will foster a sense of brotherhood between the boys within activities that provide the highest level of fun and personal challenge. In Week 4 I will begin formal Restorative Practice sessions with the students to define and explore numerous examples of how assumptions, presumptions and emotions can lead to misunderstandings. It is always how we approach a situation, what we bring in the moments before, that can make a more positive interaction more likely. Pastoral care of our boys at this point in time is crucial. Their well-being, mentally and physically, is key to the man we dream of who will leave Villanova College in his senior year.
Please contact me if I can be of any assistance to you and your family in 2017. I am honoured to be working with you and I anticipate many celebrations and joyful exchanges will be shared with the community about our Junior School boys.
Mr Stephen Rouhliadeff, Head of Junior School
5 Gold Students
It is with great pleasure that I welcome all families to Villanova College for what I hope will be an exciting year of sport ahead. Our aim is to maintain and further develop Villanova’s sports program from Years 5 – 12 and to ensure that our students are given the opportunity to participate and enjoy all the benefits that playing sport can provide. Villanova offers many opportunities for its students to become involved in a wide variety of areas and my advice to all students is to ‘get involved’ in the life of the College. Enjoy the challenges and friendships you encounter on the way and be proud to represent your College by the way you conduct yourself on and off the sports field.
At Villanova, it is considered a privilege to don the green and gold. I encourage all students to show pride in the uniform each week by training hard and playing even harder. Best wishes go to us all in 2017, let us all do our bit in order for the year ahead to be a fun and enjoyable one!
Listed below are current staff members of the College’s Sports Office. Students and parents are asked to contact any of the personnel below if you have a query or question of a sporting nature:
Craig Stariha, Director of Sport: 3394 5611
Blake McLauchlan, AIC Sport Coordinator: 3394 5584
Chris Everding, AIC Sport Coordinator: 3394 5505
Erika Schofield, School Officer – Sports Office Support: 3394 5621
It is imperative that all students and their families regularly access the College’s website to obtain sports information. Simply go to www.vnc.qld.edu.au and from the home page scroll down to the ‘Latest News’ section. Within this section select the Locker Room which has all the latest sports information for the week. Links from the Locker Room will also take you to the Weekly Fixture section which outlines the times and venues for all games for that week. Links from the Locker Room will also take you to sections pertaining to each individual sport (for example, AIC cricket, AIC AFL etc.) which will have further details pertaining to that particular sport.
Within the sports pages you will find information regarding team lists, weekly draws, training schedules and much more. The website is updated regularly and must be checked regularly by all players throughout the entire year.
Villanova families are strongly encouraged to download the Villanova College Skoolbag App from the App store. Simply search – Villanova College Skoolbag App (free download) and follow the prompts. Messages and alerts regarding the cancellation of matches or training, special reminders, etc. are often sent via this app. The College Newsletter (Villa View), Parent Lounge, website and app are our major avenues for imparting information. Please ensure you check and use them regularly for all information pertaining to sport.
Already all AIC volleyball, AFL and cricket team lists, training schedules, weekly game schedules, coaches’ details and much more have been added to the website for all to see. Likewise, all information pertaining to the AIC swim season has been posted. Please take the time to navigate through the site as I believe most of your questions will be answered in this section.
I thank all of those who have assisted the Villanova sports program over the years in taking on the various roles required. I encourage as many people as possible to assist by coaching, managing, refereeing, scoring, serving at canteens etc. throughout the year when the opportunities arise. I am certainly looking forward to meeting as many people as I can over the year ahead.
Today after school the Villanova Swim Squad (from Year 5 – 12) will participate in a swim meet with the Jets Swim Club at Langlands Pool. All Year 6 – Opens cricket teams and Year 7 – 12 volleyball teams will trial against Ashgrove on Saturday. Year 5 cricketers and Year 5 and 6 AFL players will have internal trials. Please read further details below. Good luck to all involved and please enjoy!
Sports Trials and Music Camp
The Sports Office is aware that many students will not be available for this weekend’s trials as they will be away on Music Camp. We have obtained a list of those students attending and have highlighted these names on the team lists which appear on the website. Coaches are aware of the Music Camp and will take this into consideration when finalising teams early next week ready for Round 1 against St Patrick’s. All players are to check the lists for this weekend’s games as there has been a number of changes made due to the camp.
Saturday 28 January – AIC Cricket and Volleyball Trials v Marist College Ashgrove
Tomorrow, Villanova will participate in cricket and volleyball trials against Ashgrove (ASH). All volleyball teams from Year 7 – 12 as well as all cricket teams from Year 6 – 12 will play games against Ashgrove at various venues. All Year 5 cricket teams will trial internally. Please refer to the College’s website to view all times and venues for this weekend’s fixtures against Ashgrove. Once on the website, scroll to the bottom of the home page, locate the Latest News section, select the Weekly Fixture section and open the document which lists all game times and venues. Links from the Locker Room will take you to the AIC cricket and volleyball section which will have all team lists, training schedules and coaches details available for viewing.
AIC Cricket
By now all players should be aware that we have a full round of cricket trials ttomorrow against Marist College Ashgrove. As always there will be a certain level of ‘organised chaos’ as our coaches continue the selection/trial process. As this is considered to be a trial game, negotiations have been made with Ashgrove to allow coaches from both Colleges to be flexible during the match. Therefore, leniency will be given this weekend in order for coaches to give all players an opportunity to perform.
As these games are only trials, I ask parents and players to be patient. Many players are unavailable due to the Music Camp and there will be some movement of players from team to team as the coaches finalise teams ready for Round 1 next weekend against St. Patrick’s. All boys should check the web site regularly to keep abreast of all information regarding teams, training and games. All players are to wear the correct Villanova cricket uniform, have adequate water, sunscreen and the correct hat for the games. Please be advised that while all training schedules are still being finalised, training has begun as of this week as per the schedule posted on the web.
Villanova Cricket Uniform
All players from Years 5 – 12 are to wear whites.
Cricket Whites:
- White pants
- Villanova cricket shirt
- Sports shoes
- Villanova green sports cap or broad brimmed hat
Under no circumstances are players permitted to wear club shirts or club hats.
All cricketers from Year 5 – 12 are asked to wear protective equipment. It is compulsory for all batsmen and wicket keepers whilst keeping up to the stumps to wear a helmet. The College will provide two helmets per cricket kit. All players are required to purchase and wear their own cricket box protector.
Year 5 Cricket Trials
Cricket trials begin tomorrow morning, with six of the eight teams playing at Kianawah Park, Wynnum Road Tingalpa. UBD 162 E14. There are 11 cricket fields at this venue and our allocated fields (5, 6 and 9) are in the middle, left hand side as you drive in to the complex. Please see the map below for further details.
5A/B trial: Meet Mr John Godwin and Mr Mark Eustance at 7.45am on Field 9.
5C trial: Meet Mr Harry Stanfield and Mr Josh Mullins at 7.45am on Field 5.
5 Green/Blue: Meet Mr Rohan McCaul, Mr Ben Stuart and Mr Jack Blanchfield at 7.45am on Field 6.
5 Gold/White: Meet Mr Aidan Dooley, Mr Jun Tominaga, Mr Gus Hicks and Mr Tom Valetic at 7.45am at Coorparoo State School (Halstead St, Coorparoo).
Team lists can be found on the web and are on the Junior School notice board. Boys are to be at the venue by 7.40am and are to wear cricket whites if they have them, or full College sports uniform. Cricket gear will be supplied.
Once the trials have concluded, all boys will be selected into teams. This year there will be A, B and C teams selected.
The remaining teams will be evenly graded on ability and placed into the supplementary draw.
Saturday’s draw, coaches’ details, by-laws and training schedules have been placed on the cricket web page for you to view. A revised list for Round 1 against St. Patrick’s College will be posted on Tuesday. Please note that many of boys will change into different teams as this is part of the trial process. There will also be a number of changes throughout the season as we endeavour to place the boys into their correct ability levels. If there are training clashes with other commitments, after these changes, please contact the Sports Office and we will do our best to work out a solution.
It will take a season or two to get the boys into their right teams. Please be patient with the selection process as we can only grade the boys on what we see. Attitude and sportsmanship, also contribute to the selection process and we expect very high standards in both these areas when students are representing Villanova College.
Wet Weather Procedure
In the event of rainy weather, a notification will be placed on the College Skoolbag App. An alert will only be given if games are cancelled due to wet weather.
On training days:
If it is raining in the morning, training will be cancelled. No alert on Skoolbag will be sent out. It is recommended that you contact the coach, if you are unsure. The coaches’ details can be found on the College’s website.
If inclement weather necessitates the cancellation of afternoon training, an alert will be posted on Skoolbag by midday, as well as an announcement over the College’s PA system. If training is cancelled during the course of a session, boys at Langlands Park will be taken to the undercover carpark at Easts Rugby League Club and may be collected from there.
Zone Cricket
Villanova College expanded back into the BEARS Divisional Cricket competition pre-Christmas after a lengthy break from the BEARS competition. In total seven teams were nominated from Division 1 to Division 13 and it proved a very successful comeback indeed. This was on top of our normal pre-Christmas Zone teams that were entered into the Eastern Districts competition for players up to U12 age level, so all year levels were represented in some form.
Congratulations to our Premiership winning teams:
Division 1, Division 7, Division 8 and Division 13 (Red) who all raised the trophy and our Division 12 team who were runners-up. These are extraordinary results and congratulations must go to all players and coaches. Special thanks to the following BEARS coaches: Andrew Challinor, Matthew Carson, Michael Schaumburg, Ross Whitby, Jeff Ilka, Phil Horton, Michael Druery, Matt McNaughton, Mark Wall and our EDJCA coaches David McMahon, Noel Delaney, Andrew Walsh and Justin Poole.
Whether winning a premiership or not, the College is extremely proud of the boys and their achievements. The overall concept was for boys to be invited to get a group of mates together to form a team but not have a grading system (unlike the AIC Competition). A large number of boys played and from Division 1 we rotated 17 players throughout the season with boys from Year 9 to Year 12 all participating together. Lower division teams were formed on their year level with each team having 12, 13 or 14 within their ranks. Whether boys played in A teams in AIC or a coloured team didn’t matter and all went about having fun with their mates. We finished the season with a well-attended break-up/trophy presentation at Villanova Park with players, parents and siblings from all teams including Zone teams in attendance.
Congratulations must also go to a number of Villanova cricket players who made representative teams over the holiday period:
U12 Ian Healy Cup: Ruben Webb, Liam Meredith, Aidan Sheahan, Michael Anderson, Max Gosling and Liam McConville
U13 Les Kinnane Trophy: Dimitri Horton
U13 Ballina District Cup: Gus Godwin and Aidan DelaneyU13 State Championships: Frazer Moloney
Many thanks must go to Mr Chris Everding for his “call to arms” to a group of parents in July last year to consider Villanova re-entering the BEARS competition. After a few early morning meetings, dozens of emails and interest put out to the boys and their families, the Villanova Cricket Club was up and running again. Thank you to all parents involved and all players who did an outstanding job, playing in the true spirit and respect of the game and conducting themselves in true Villanova tradition. Well done to all. Make sure you keep an eye out mid-year for notices for the 2017 Villanova – BEARS nomination for teams.
AIC Volleyball (Volleyball Co-ordinator – Ms Barbara Dewis) bdewis@vnc.qld.edu.au
All volleyball players from Years 7 – 12 are asked to attend a volleyball meeting in Goold Hall on Monday 30 January during first recess.
The AIC volleyball program has now commenced. A number of trial games and training sessions were organised late last year. Furthermore, we had our annual volleyball skills clinics last Monday to hone player skills and plays before the season commences. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all players and coaches who gave up some of their holidays to attend. Villanova will have 19 teams participating in the AIC volleyball competition this year – TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK, will be the motto for this year.
At the start of the school holidays boys playing in the First VI travelled to Melbourne to compete in the National Schools Cup where they finished 22nd in their group, however from all reports the games were very close.
Tomorrow, all volleyball teams are set to trial against Marist College, Ashgrove. All training officially began yesterday afternoon. Training schedules, team lists, game times etc. are all posted on the volleyball web page. It will be necessary for parents, players and coaches to check the College website on a regular basis to ensure accurate information is delivered.
The volleyball uniform is listed below and all players are expected to be in correct uniform as this demonstrates pride in themselves and the College. All players should, by now have collected their shirts from the College Uniform Shop.
Villanova Volleyball Uniform – Hire Shirts
As from this weekend, all volleyball players must wear the correct Villanova College volleyball uniform as listed below
- Villanova volleyball shirt (for hire from the College Uniform Shop – details below)
- Green PE shorts only (no basketball, football or rugby shorts allowed)
- Villanova socks only and sports shoes
All players are asked to collect a volleyball hire shirt from the Uniform Shop this week during both lunch breaks when coaches will be available to assist. Players are to keep their shirt for the entire season and return it to the College Uniform Shop at the conclusion of the season. A hire fee of $15 for the season will be added to Term 2 school fees.
AIC AFL (AFL Co-ordinator – Mr Adam Fry) afry@vnc.qld.edu.au
By now all players should be aware that we have a full round of internal AFL trials tomorrow at Yeronga AFL Club. As always with trials there will be a certain level of ‘organised chaos’ as our coaches continue the selection/trial process before finalising teams. As this Saturday is an internal trial game there will be no training this week. All teams will commence their training in Week 2 after the trials this weekend. Teams will be announced on Monday of Week 2 and a list of teams will be posted on the AFL web page. All available players are expected to meet at Yeronga for an 8am start.
As AFL is new to the AIC competition, sorting through all the necessary rules and regulations may take a couple of weeks. I ask parents and players to be patient as the coaches do their best to sort out everything as quickly as possible. All players are required to wear an old jersey/shirt that they can play in this weekend and if already purchased may wear the Villanova rugby shorts and socks. Please be advised that all training schedules and teams will be finalised by Monday 30 January and training will begin next Tuesday as per schedules posted on the AFL web page.
I am excited to get the season underway and look forward to seeing everyone out at Yeronga on Saturday.
AIC Swimming (Swimming Co-ordinator – Mrs Kate Alexander) kalexander@vnc.qld.edu.au
Welcome back to the 2017 AIC swimming season. I would strongly encourage any student who would like to be part of the squad to attend time trials this week or see the Swim Manager for their age group. More detailed information about this year’s swimming season, including information packs, uniform requirements, dates and times of training and AIC swim meets have been handed out to students this week. This information is also available on the swimming web page. The first AIC swim meet is at Langlands Pool this afternoon from 5.40pm – 8.00pm. All interested squad members from Year 5 – 12 are expected to attend.
Middle and Senior School Inter-House Swimming Carnivals
Date: Wednesday, 1 February (Week 2)
Venue: Langlands Pool
Time: Middle School: 9.00am – 11.30am. Senior School: Midday -2.30pm
- All students are required to wear their full sports uniform to and from school on the day of the carnival
- Students are required to bring and wear their hats, sunscreen and have water bottles
- Students are encouraged to wear the Villanova swim togs or jammers
- A canteen will be operational at both carnivals
- PARENTS ARE MOST WELCOME TO ATTEND
Lytton District Swimming Trials
The Lytton District Swimming Trials will be held at Moreton Bay College on Friday 10 February for under 10, 11 and 12 swimmers. Only two or three boys, who meet the qualifying times over the next week, will be given the relevant information regarding these trials. We are also required to send along a parent as an official. If your son is selected and you can assist, please contact the Sports Office as soon as possible. All students will be required to find their own transportation to and from this carnival.
Villanova-Fit for Years 7 – 12
New Year, New Membership Required
This program is always evolving and improving to cater for the needs of our students. Different elements of the boy’s fitness will be tested in the first week of term, and will then be retested at the end of term to see their progress. Training will be a combination of strength, flexibility and cardiovascular work as Villanova-Fit moves outside in the mornings in urban training. The cost for Term 1 2017 is $140.00 or $240.00 for Semester 1. Boys may access Villanova-Fit before and after school with the exception of Friday afternoons. Term 1 – Monday 30 January – Thursday 30 March 2017. All boys are reminded No Towel – No Gym!
Forms may be collected from the Sports Office and are available from the Villanova Fit webpage and payment is to be made through the College Finance Department.
Junior Villanova-Fit for Years 5 and 6
The focus will be on the boys learning the correct techniques in the gym in preparation for Villanova-Fit in Year 7. The boys will do some strength training, cardiovascular training, flexibility and some core strength in each session. The class will be in the gym from 3:15- 4pm every Friday afternoon in Term 1. The cost is $60 for the term. There will be an exercise scientist in the gym to run the boys through the session. Junior Villanova-Fit will be limited to 16 participants only. Term 1 – Friday 3 February – Friday 24 March 2017. Boys are reminded No Towel – No Gym!
Forms may be collected from the Sports Office and are available from the Villanova Fit webpage and should be returned to Mrs Schofield at the Sports Office with payment.
Mr Craig Stariha, Director of Sport
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.
