A special welcome to the new Year 8 & 9 students who have joined us this year and congratulations to our Year 7 cohort who have settled in so well into secondary education. Some feedback from our Year 7s include:
"I have made some new friends and have meet some new teachers. I love Padua because of the help it provides."
Olive Smart
"At the start I was nervous, but I made new friends and I had some friends from primary school that came here too. Settling in at Padua has been a nice experience for me."
Gloria Dellios
"Starting here has been fun and I love the oval."
Oscar Cannan
"I like sport, science and wood work."
Tom McGough
"I firstly walked into Padua feeling quite nervous since I didn't really know anyone. I did the first few classes whilst feeling still quite nervous. Towards the end of the day, I met some nice people and since then I have been enjoying Padua even more than I imagined. Up until now I didn't know how much I could learn with the impact of good teachers and a good school. I have learned things that I didn't even know existed that I know for sure will help me in the future."
Zaya Donegan
"It has been good moving to Padua because I’ve met new friends and its better being at a bigger school."
Jet Spyrakis
"Starting year 7 at Padua is a very different beginning because it is a very much bigger change I really have enjoyed science and woodwork and I'm excited to do some more things next semester such as textiles. I am looking forward to my journey here at Padua College."
Layla Moore
"My start to Year 7 at Padua has been a big change to primary school but it's a good change because it has challenged me. Starting Year 7 here has made me more organised and challenged. I've also made some more friends which is good!"
Scarlett Moore
Year 7 Camps
This year, Anthony, Goold, McAuley and Teresa Houses will all be attending the Year 7 camp at Ferngully lodge in Healesville from Wednesday 8 March to Friday 10 March. This will be a great opportunity to continue to form new friendships and build on the relationships already formed this year.
Campus News
A warm welcome to the new staff who have joined the Rosebud Campus this year. We look forward to sharing the gifts and talents that you bring to our community and trust your experience is enjoyable and rewarding.
The storms we experienced towards the end of the last year upset our resident possums who live down near the Agriculture/Horticulture area. Mr Smith and the Hands On Learning team built a number of possum boxes which are now occupied by a family of ringtail possums.
The Rosebud Maintenance team of Mick Little and Kyle Kraus continue to do a wonderful job of maintaining the campus grounds as well as overseeing a number of major projects. This includes the remodeling of the central quadrangle area which has been reconfigured and resurfaced. When complete this area will provide a space for students to gather for assemblies as well as use the area for recess and lunchtime activities. The student leadership group has formed a working party that will gather input from the student body before submitting a design outlining how they see this space being best utilised. Thank you to Rohan Cameron, Facilities, Grounds and Maintenance Manager, and David Lawn, Director of Business, for encouraging the students’ active participation in this process.
Student Leadership Reports
Last week the leaders of the Rosebud Campus had their first leadership meeting. We started by first introducing ourselves, and then we got straight into our key purpose of being there. What could we, as the leadership group of 2023, do to change the school and its community for the better? We spoke of adjustments that could be made to the environment throughout the year, and what we could do to make our school a more enjoyable place to be.
The focus of our meeting was what we could do to make the quadrangle at the centre of our school a more appealing area that best symbolises our school. We investigated what could be put there, and what would make the space a better place to hang out at during lunch and recess, instead of the slab of concrete that we currently have there.
The meeting was a great way to start getting to know the people that we will be working with over the next year, and what we will be looking into to improve the quality of our school during our limited time together. Learning about what each of us is passionate about was an interesting experience, and I cannot wait for the year that follows.
Edith Hickson, Year 9 Anthony
Hi, I'm Zee and I’m one of the McAuley House Captains. Recently at our first meeting, we discussed a number of things, including how we could improve the quad. Everyone was eager to share their thoughts and ideas and we discussed how to add a place for four square, tables and chairs, shade and plants! We also talked about what qualities a leader should have, such as listening, understanding, and accepting. I'm looking forward to helping out at Year 7 camp and getting to know the students. I hope to be a good role model, someone they can look up to and have some fun.
Zesos Phophithakkun, Year 9 McAuley
Co-curricula Activities
I encourage all students to continue to get involved and make the most of out of the co-curricula opportunities offered at Padua College. All the best to Mrs Donnelly and her great team who are about to embark on rehearsals for this year’s musical extravaganza ‘Mamma Mia’. Congratulations to all students involved and Harley Hanafi for the following report.
Mamma Mia
It was announced that one of my childhood favourite movies, Mamma Mia is going to be the next school musical production and I was very eager to be a part of this production. It was so much fun recording my audition, even though I felt embarrassed knowing that my family would be able to hear me singing and acting in the other room. 2023 was a new year where we would find out about call-backs and what a surprise it was, I got a call back for three of the leading roles. I felt proud of myself knowing that the school wanted me back to try out for the three roles - Sky, Harry and Sam. I arrived in Mornington for the call-backs, walking in to see some familiar faces which made me so happy to have a few friends auditioning with me. During auditions, I was surprised with how talented the other students were, however I also felt confident performing for the teachers. Overall, this has been a wonderful experience, one that I have shared with my friends and I look forward to playing the role of Harry Bright in this year's musical production.
Harley Hanafi, Year 9 Teresa
SIS News
Ms de Longville has been very busy co-ordinating our Southern Independent Schools (SIS) teams and training our keen swimmers at the YAWA Aquatic centre every Friday morning. We look forward to our swimming carnival on Friday 17 March.
My name is Jen de Longville I am the new Sports Co-ordinator at the Rosebud campus. I am very excited to see students thrive in a sporting environment within the Padua community, with that being interschool SIS sports, swim carnivals, athletics carnivals, cross country and rally days. Seeing them out of the classroom and participating in something they enjoy is a great aspect of schooling. I have always been involved in sport therefore love encouraging every student at any ability to just get out there and enjoy sport and recreation
Congratulations to our girls’ volleyball team and the intermediate indoor boy’s cricket team for their recent victory over Padua Tyabb and Hillcrest college. Lily Jackson reports.
First of all, congratulations on a great first game of the season. It was really good to see the effort from the girls especially after losing the first set. Being able to come back and win after being down a set shows grit and determination not only as volleyball players but as individuals. As the Captain of the team, I am extremely proud of the girls for their win and the effort they showed against Tyabb who is known to have a good volleyball team. Great win. Go girls!!!
Lily Jackson, Year 9 McAuley 2
