The College Principal, Ms Gilligan, has initiated the creation of an exciting new venture at Dominic: a College Museum. Our College has a history of over sixty years and a Museum should be an integral part of our life as an educational community, a part which has long been missing.

For over thirty years, until his passing in 2000, Br Peter Dezani was the custodian of all the College history and memorabilia. His knowledge of the people connected to our community was extraordinary, his collection of material was extensive and his DOSA room was the focal point of hundreds of visits over the years. His legacy needs to be continued.

The College Museum will be located initially on the upper floor of ‘Grantleigh’, better known as the White House by many former students, and it is planned to be opened in the first part of next year. In the meantime, a great deal of work has to be done in collecting and cataloguing all the material, which is currently located in many places around the College. The work done by Mr Simon Natoli since 2000, in maintaining and adding to Br Peter’s collection has been extremely valuable and most sincerely appreciated. Already, many teachers have generously donated items they have kept over the years and these will also form important parts of the Museum .

Part of the Museum Collection will be ready for displays on the ‘Back to Dominic Weekend’ on November 13th, 14th and 15th. I feel sure that many Old Scholars, as well as current students, will be particularly interested to see these displays.

IF YOU ARE AN OLD SCHOLAR ……then perhaps, you have something at home from your days as a student at Dominic (or Holy Name, or St John’s) that you might donate to our Museum ….. a piece of uniform, a Diary, books or pamphlets etc.??? Please, just let me know at Dominic.

Michael Woolford | Museum Curator

In 2010 the Australian Veterans’ Children Assistance Trust (AVCAT) are expecting to give financial assistance for up to 65 students under many different scholarship schemes. All schemes help the selected children in need of the Australian veteran community with the costs of tertiary education. Applicants are considered for all schemes for which they are eligible.

Applications open on 18 August 2009.

For more information on the application criteria, and any other information about the Bursary, please refer to the below link:

More Information

Human Swine Influenza Update 18th June 2009

NEW PANDEMIC PHASE “PROTECT”

On the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jim Bishop, and the Australian Health Protection Committee, a new pandemic phase called PROTECT has been created to guide the ongoing Australian response to the disease.

This new phase will guide the pandemic response that will be used in most states and territories from Monday 22 June 2009.

This new phase directs resources to those who experience severe illness, and those who are at high risk of severe illness. This includes pregnant women, people with asthma, lung disease, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic health conditions, and people who are morbidly obese.

This brings significant changes to the way H1N1 Influenza 09 will be managed in Tasmania.

• From Monday 22 June, students who have returned from Victoria, Mexico, USA or Canada will no longer be required to stay home for five days after leaving the affected area. Children who are currently excluded because of recent travel can return to school on Monday.
• Irrespective of travel history, anyone (child or adult) who has flu symptoms (fever with cough and/or sore throat) should stay home and away from others as much as possible for 7 days from onset of symptoms (standard practice for influenza).
• Laboratory testing will only be carried out when clinically indicated (e.g. when there is serious illness or risk of serious illness).
• Anti-virals will only be provided to those with serious illness and those at risk of serious illness.
• Contacts of confirmed cases will no longer be traced or told to stay in home quarantine.
• People will only be advised to phone 1800 FLU DOC / 1800 358 362 if they are worried about the severity of their symptoms or if they are in a high risk group for severe illness.
• There will be particular focus on controlling outbreaks in institutional settings, including special schools

Individuals are still urged to minimise spreading the flu by:

• frequently wash their hands with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand rub;
• covering their nose and mouth with a tissue or the inside of the elbow when sneezing or coughing (and put the tissue in the rubbish straight after use); and
• not sharing food or drinks.

If you have any questions regarding this new pandemic phase and how it will be put into practice at the school, please contact the College on 6272 5011. The College will continue to update information on this website as it is distributed from the government, so we advise you to check it at least weekly for any changes.

Dominic College is pleased to confirm that it has purchased the new long day care centre on Tolosa Street in Glenorchy.

The College has partnered with Discovery Early Learning Centres to operate the new 90 place child care centre, with plans to be open in May this year.

Dominic College Principal, Ms Beth Gilligan, said that parents can now see the educational pathway to Dominic as potentially beginning at six weeks of age. It is also an opportunity to offer the wider Glenorchy community with a high quality child care service.

“The College’s vision for an early learning and child care service is to support our staff as working parents, our neighbours and the local community, to house a first rate child care centre”, Ms Gilligan said.

“The built and natural surroundings of the centre are state of the art, and I think families are going to be very impressed with the environment that has been constructed”.

Discovery Early Learning Centres is a vibrant child care provider with an excellent philosophy regarding the care of children. CEO of Discovery Early Learning Centres, Jo Walsh, says they are delighted to be able to offer their high quality care to families in Glenorchy.

“We are excited about the partnership that we have developed with Dominic College and look forward to a close working relationship with the school. Together we can offer children the opportunity to develop a desire and curiosity for life-long learning”, Mrs Walsh said.

Ms Gilligan believes the child care centre will be in high demand when it opens in May.

“The community will need to act swiftly to secure a place for their child”, Ms Gilligan said.

For all enrolment and employment enquiries regarding the child care centre, please phone: 6273 6005 or email: dominic@discoveryelc.com.au

FAMILY DISCOUNT SCHEME IN TASMANIAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS / COLLEGES

Please be reminded that the deadline for returning applications for the relevant discount, when a family has three or more children attending any Tasmanian Catholic school, was 6th November 2007.

Applications, if your family meets the above conditions, can still be returned.

You are also reminded that if an application is not returned to the College, there is no guarantee a three or more children discount will be applied, or backdated after each 2008 monthly school fee account has been processed.

This discount is a separate process to that of either the discount offered for families with two children at Dominic College (10% discount for the youngest child, with no application required to receive this) or the annual School Fees Assistance process.

If there are any queries regarding any of the above or a spare application is required, please contact the undersigned on 6272 5011, then select option 4.

Simon Natoli. | Accounts Clerk.

FAMILY DISCOUNT SCHEME IN TASMANIAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS / COLLEGES

Please be reminded that the deadline for returning applications for the relevant discount, when a family has three or more children attending any Tasmanian Catholic school, was 6th November 2007.

Applications, if your family meets the above conditions, can still be returned.

You are also reminded that if an application is not returned to the College, there is no guarantee a three or more children discount will be applied, or backdated after each 2008 monthly school fee account has been processed.

This discount is a separate process to that of either the discount offered for families with two children at Dominic College (10% discount for the youngest child, with no application required to receive this) or the annual School Fees Assistance process.

If there are any queries regarding any of the above or a spare application is required, please contact the undersigned on 6272 5011, then select option 4.

Simon Natoli. | Accounts Clerk.

Application forms for 2008 STAS will soon be posted to College families who were approved in 2007, direct from the Department of Education.

If your family hasn’t received a STAS application from the Department of Education by 20th November, please contact Simon Natoli at the College Business Office on 6272 5011 (then select option 4) to arrange for a spare application.

For families whom haven’t successfully applied in 2007 or who may have been unaware of this scheme, please find reproduced the Income Test for STAS, to gauge whether your family would be likely to receive approval.

No. of Dependand Children	Income per Week	Annual Parental Income
1	$502	$26,104
2	$579	$30,108
3	$660	$34,320
4	$746	$38,792
5	$838	$43,576
6	$940	$48,880
7	$1042	$54,184
8**	$1144	$59,488

* Centrelink payments such as Family Tax Benefit Part A & B, Disability Support Pension & some Dept of Veterans Affairs Pensions should not be included in the total parental taxable income.

** For more than 8 children, add $102 per week or $5,304 per annum for each additional dependent.

The value of the government subsidy, one off payment for eligible students in 2008 is:

Year Level	Amount ($)
Kindergarten	$51.00
Prep to Yr 6	$71.60
Yr 7 to Yr 10	$143.20

Parents, who have students enrolled at both Dominic College and another school, for 2008, are not required to complete multiple applications. The one completed form may be lodged at one school.

Simon Natoli | Accounts Clerk.

Recently Dominic College entered a submission in the 2007 Workplace Safe Awards in the category of ‘Best Solution to an Identified Workplace Health and Safety Issue’ for our efforts to educate our Year 10 Work Experience Students on identifying and managing potential hazards in the workplace.

A key issue in Workplace Health and Safety is the lack of training provided to new workers in the workplace. Dominic College recognised that the students participating in the Work Experience Program were effectively the newest of the new workers to the workplace. Furthermore, whilst an increasing proportion of students were employed in casual work at the time, the majority had never been employed and an even greater majority had no experience or training in Workplace Health and Safety. As such, the College, under the direction of Workplace Coach and current parent, Neil Johnston, proactively implemented a Work Skills training initiative of which Occupational Health and safety was an integral component that was targeted at our Work Experience students. The solution was a simple four-step process that assessed student’s previous work history and health and safety training and included discussions on common workplace accidents related to young workers, the impacts of accidents in the workplace, how your own actions can cause injuries to others, what factors assist in contributing to a safe work environment and what process to follow should you identify a potential risk within the workplace.

Through educating Work Experience students on these health and safety matters, they were provided with an enhanced awareness and understanding of how to minimise the chance of a workplace accident occurring and were also equipped with knowledge of how manage a potential risk in the workplace.

The Workplace Safe Awards Dinner was held on Friday 26th October at the Tasman Room, Wrest Point Casino. At this presentation Dominic College was announced as a finalist in the category and winner of the ‘Highly Commended’ Award. This was an amazing achievement for the College as we were competing against 18 other businesses, some of these National Companies.

There is currently a lack of work safety programs for students in schools and those participating in Work Experience courses. Furthermore there are no programs in existence that are as intensive and proactive as this program implemented by Dominic College. Our innovative solution has great scope to be implemented across the industry, into other schools that run a Work Experience Program.

Congratulations to all involved in the design of this program and we should all be very proud of this wonderful achievement.

If your family applied for the government once yearly Student Assistance payment (STAS) for 2006 and you intend to apply for 2007, there is a new process, which means you won’t have to complete a new application. Instead, you should receive a letter from the Department of Education that will ask you to complete, sign and return to the Department a declaration confirming information about your children and that you still meet the Income Means Test. To further make it easier you will also receive a Reply Paid Envelope to use.

You should expect to receive the letter before 8th November 2006. If you have not received a letter by then please contact the school for a spare application to complete.

If applying for STAS for the first time or didn’t apply in 2006: You will need to complete a STAS Application Form and provide documentation giving proof of your family’s combined taxable income. Application forms for 2007 are available from all schools. Regardless of how many children you have, you only need to fill in one form. When you have completed the form you can lodge it at any school. To make sure that your application is processed and approved in time you should lodge your completed form at any school by no later than 22nd November 2006.

Student Assistance Scheme at Dominic College: STAS provides assistance for low income families and can be used for Secondary stationery purchases or credited against a families school fees account. The costs for Primary stationery are incorporated into the school fees charged; hence no stationery payment is required.

A family approved for STAS and granted School Fees Assistance will have remaining STAS funds, not used at the Secondary stationery event in February, credited against fees that are initially remitted by the College. Those families without School Fees Assistance, will have STAS funds not used, also credited to their fee account.

Eligibility is determined by an income test which applicants must satisfy. The income limits are:

No of Dependent children	Income per Week	Annual Parental Income
1	$489	$25, 428
2	$564	$29,328
3	$643	$33,436
4	$727	$37,804
5	$817	$42,484
6	$916	$47,632
7	$1,015	$52,780
8*	$1,114	$57,928

*For more than 8 children, add $99 per week or $5,148 per annum for each additional student.

The value of the government subsidy for eligible students in 2007 is:

Year Level	Amount ($)
Kindergarten	$51.00
Prep to Yr 6	$71.60
Yr 7 to Yr 10	$143.20

If you have any general enquiries about applying for STAS for 2007, or if you need assistance completing the application form, please contact our Business Office on 6272 5011, then select option 4.