A group of high achieving Creative Arts students from Year 9 and 10 attended “Inner Space”, a combined Creative Arts showcase hosted by Claremont College at the Derwent Entertainment Centre this Wednesday.

The students were welcomed at the door by Dominic Old Scholars Jessie Gibbons and Jasmine Cole, and were ushered into an exhibition of the work of Visual Art students, primarily featuring photography of different sorts and a selection of 3D pieces. Whilst viewing the works, students were entertained by a band of about seven excellent musicians playing a selection of jazz standards and more contemporary numbers.

The audience was then ushered into the Bowen Room, where the students were treated to a variety of performances across the Performing Arts and also some short films created by students.

The performances were “introduced” by a pair of students playing the part of senior citizens providing their comments on the performances and life in general. One of the dance items featured another Dominic Old Scholar, Michaela Lathey.

When our students returned to school, they were asked to write down their opinion of what they had seen, with a particular focus on what Dominic College could learn from how the Claremont College event had been staged. This process was facilitated by teachers from the Creative Arts team: Ms Crocker, Miss Spencer, Ms Smith and Mr Woodward.

Lots of interesting ideas were gathered from the student body, and I hope that this will give these students a greater sense of ownership over the event that we ourselves will stage in Term 3. I also hope that the event has inspired our students to perhaps strive that little bit harder in the pursuit of excellence in their chosen fields of Creative Arts.

Mr Greg Woodward | Dominic College Creative Arts Coordinator

Dominic College was recently fortunate in gaining a Federal Government “Pride in Schools” grant of $200,000. This blessing of unexpected funds will be used to renovate a very impoverished and underdeveloped part of the secondary campus.

Four classrooms that make up the Siena classroom block desperately need to be refurbished. They are in a terrible condition and I am ashamed to ask students to learn in these rooms. In our plan the rooms will be gutted, reframed, redesigned, rewired, recarpeted and wirelessed. New storage, display areas and technologies will be installed.

But $200,000 is not enough to update the four classrooms to the extent that they so desperately need and we don’t have reserves to call upon for this. Dominic College needs to ask for help from our families and friends to complete the job. For each of the four Siena classrooms we need up to $30,000 for refurbishment.

I know that Dominic is not a community of wealth and privilege so we need the help of all to reach our goal. I am hoping that every family might be able to find a way to support the College in our Capital Campaign to raise $109,000.

All donors will be acknowledged in the various Dominic College publications and on our web site. And we will name all significant donors, who give over $500, on a plaque to be permanently displayed near the classrooms, and will be specially invited to an official opening.

Below is a link to the donation form which sets out the College needs and how you might make a difference in our development. All donations are tax deductible and the Campaign will run for Term 2.

Donation From

I am very grateful to all our members of the Dominic Community who will act to support this appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Beth Gilligan
Principal
Dominic College

On Tuesday 7 July, the College held its inter-house cross country carnival. The carnival was held under surprisingly sunny conditions, although still soggy underfoot given the recent rain drenched weeks. Participation was impressively high and there were a number of outstanding individual efforts. This year the course was slightly altered due to the unsafe wet terrain, but was still run mostly on the school grounds, and this new course certainly fitted into the cross country category.

Following the history of previous years, Savio house blitzed the field once more, while Siena house improved dramatically to move into second position. These results prove how important participation and effort are towards the outcome of the carnival. Savio and Siena had the highest amount of students running the course under 20 minutes, therefore achieving four points for the house. This time is easily achievable by students providing they jog so this system ensures that students are rewarded for effort.

The final results are as follows:

The table below shows the winners and runners-up for each age group. These students will be presented with medallions in an upcoming assembly to congratulate them on their efforts.

The top 10 students from each age group will start training next week for the Southern SATIS Cross Country Carnival, held in August at the Rokeby Police Academy.

More photos are available here

On Wednesday this week members of the composite Year 9 and 10 Music Class entertained the student body with a lunchtime rock concert in the middle lawn area, specially timed to coincide with the visit of the Creative Arts Review Panel.

New to the Dominic family this year, Year 8 student Jack Brown’s debut singing performance was a highlight, as was an all-in performance of “Unholy Confessions” featuring two very different vocal performances from Ellen Bennett and Hayden Sparks.

The fearsome guitar duelling of Nathan Waplington and Patrick Fielding wowed the audience, and it was all topped off with a “theme” double from the movie Star Wars and the Super Mario Bros computer game.

Apart from the obvious contributions of all of the performers, special thanks must go to the other members of the class for their efforts in setting up beforehand and packing up afterwards.

At the beginning of the school year Fashion and Design started off with a small class of girls keen to learn sewing techniques. They were also keen to fulfil either the desire of simply learning to use a sewing machine or the much higher ambition of owning their own fashion label.

Our teacher Mrs Breen first let us take part in individual projects that included making pyjama pants, hand bags, designing and sewing singlet tops, and learning to make clothes from a pattern.

After deep discussion we became excited and willing to put our time and ideas toward the proposal of a Dominic College Fashion Expose. We have planned to obtain vintage and pre-loved clothing and redesign them to demonstrate stylish and modern 21st century fashion. By doing this, we also aim to set an example for Grade 7s and 8s showing the potential in continuing Fashion and Design in grade 9 and 10.

Chelsea Hickman and Brooke Hills

The Secondary Campus leadership team, the senate, met for the first time on March 3rd this year. The 2009 senate is made up of:

- School Captains Cailtin Chivers and Jack Gregson
- Vice-Captains Chloe Sargent and Tom Gregson
- Savio House: Crystal Stewart and Liam Caplice
- Siena House: Eliza Nolan and Hamish Ainsworth
- Bosco House: Teagan Nettlefold-Roberts and Chris Hursey
- Guzman House: Katie Dyke and James Gray

We discussed the purpose of the senate, and over the next few meetings we will decide on a role description to define what the senate’s responsibilities within the school really are. We also discussed the structure of our team, and decided to have two co-presidents, one with a focus on running meetings and speaking at assemblies, and the other with a focus on administration. Our 2009 co-presidents are Eliza Nolan and Teagan Nettlefold-Roberts.

As a group we also talked about what we wanted to achieve this year. Some issues we want to focus on are:

- Shelter areas for protection against the sun and wet weather
- Processes for student suggestions
- Surveying students for opinions on the new timetable
- The year 10 leavers present, and fundraising for it
- Preventing graffiti
- Year 10 leavers tops

We’re looking forward to making progress on these issues, and we will discuss them more at our next meeting, on March 17th.

Dominic College has now introduced a social network to display Outdoor Education information, photos and trip reports.

You can use this page to find out dates and times of upcoming trips, get some information about equipment or food ideas or just to check out the latest photos.

Check it out either by following the “Outdoor Education” link from the Dominic web page, or go there directly at www.dominicoe.ning.com

On Tuesday, October 21st, the Dominic College community was wowed by our talented Drama students at our annual Drama Night. Students in our 9/10 Drama and Dance classes performed two shows, ‘Cinderella’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’, both adapted, directed and choreographed by our Drama and Dance teacher, Mrs Esther Hoggart.

The night began with ‘Cinderella’ with Year 9 student, Angela Zonno illuminating the stage in her title role. Her performance was equally matched by that of her ugly step-mother (Julia Schmalfuss, Year 10) and ugly step sisters Euphemia (Nadia Atkinson, Year 10) and Gertrude (Theresa Chisolm, Year 10), complete with hideous outfits and a hilarious fat suit for Gertrude. Although the story followed a familiar plot, our version of Cinderella included many more new characters to twist the tale, including a Jester who wanted to be a rock star (Brianna Clancy, Year 9), the Prince’s not so bright brother, Brucey (Ellen O’Garey, Year 9) Princess Tabitha and Princess Missy vying for the Prince’s affection (Emily Dowling, Year 9 and Michaela Lathey, Year 10) and the Prince’s over-protective man servant, Lawrence (Jessica Brennan). With the help of the Fairy God Mother (Jessica Harris, Year 10), Cinderella made it to the ball, and after the Prince (Joshua Corner-Walker) finally tracked her down with the glass slipper, they lived happily ever after in the Kingdon of King Wemberly (Brittany Smith, Yr 10) and Queen Esmerelda (Vin Ottavi).

The second show to grace the stage was ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Again, the story followed a familiar path, with Dorothy (Candice Brunning, Year 9) and Toto (Zac Nichols, Year 8) swept away in a tornado and landing in Oz. After some wise advice from Glinda, The Good Witch of the North (Jasmine Cole, Year 10) and a handful of Elvis look-alike munchkins, she followed the yellow brick road on the way to see the Wizard (Oliver Morgan, Year 10). Along the way, she met her faithful companions, Scarecrow (Adam Crowe, Year 10), Tin Man (David McGuiness, Year 10) and Lion (Jonathon Heather, Year 9). Yet the Wicked Witch of the West (Merinda Sainty, Year 10) tried many tricks to steal the ruby slippers from Dorothy’s feet, including casting a spell on the trees in the Haunted Forest (a dance piece featuring ten of our talented Dance students) and a kidnapping by the flying monkeys. Dorothy and her friends made it to the Wizard, but all was not what it seemed when it was revealed that the Wizard was nothing more than a hippy with a magic combie! However, at the end of the day, the ruby slippers took Dorothy back to her Aunt Em (Sarah Crowe, Year 10) and Uncle Henry (Sam Lojek, Year 10) in Kansas, and everything was well again.

Months of preparation lead up to the night, and many hours of sewing, gluing and painting all paid off as the costumes and sets shone brightly under lights. There are a great many people to thank for all their effort, especially Mr Mark Nolan for his work with sets and the backstage crew, Miss Sally Fielding for her stage management, Mr Mike Schmalfuss for his technical expertise and Old Scholar Rhys McGuire for his assistance with lighting. Mrs Maureen Durno and Mrs Leila Kluver sewed tirelessly to help create the amazing costumes, and Miss Elisa Cosentino (an Old Scholar of the College) assisted with choreography and ended up performing in her routine! Most of all, thank you so much to all the students in the cast and crew for their amazing effort, and for all the people who packed the gym to support the students of the College. It was an amazing night, and will be hard to top!! Onto 2009!!

View All The Nights Photos

Year 8 & 9 students are excited about their Year 9 & 10 Elective Subject Choices for 2009.

Mr. Paul Williams, Acting Head of Secondary Campus, is currently in the process of sorting through the student choices. He is happy to report that most students will get their first choice.

Elective Subject Choices are offered in addition to core subjects in Years 9 & 10. Students have the opportunity to choose from a range of electives that are designed to develop their interests and practical skills.

It is not uncommon for students in Years 9 & 10 not to know what they want to do when they finish school. It is wise for students to keep their options open.

It is suggested to students that they choose elective subjects which:

• they enjoy;

• have enjoyed some success in;

• will help them achieve their chosen career goals or keep career options open;

• will develop skills, knowledge and attitudes useful throughout life.

Dominic College offers a broad range of elective subjects that make it possible for students to continue to explore career options before making specific decisions in the future.

Some of the Elective Subject Choices on offer at Dominic in 2009 include: Art, Craft & Design, Business Enterprise, Child Studies, Computer Graphics, Creative Writing, Dance, Design Graphics, Industry & Technology, Design in Wood, Fashion & Design, Home Economics, Information Technology, Landcare, Agriculture & Environment, LOTE- Indonesian, Mathematics Methods 4B, Music for College, Music Performance, Outdoor Education, Science Extended (Forensic), Science Studies, Speech and Drama & Sports Science.

Year 10 students Cody McMahon (B2), Jake Sharp (G4) & Michael Langshaw (B4) spoke today about the term three sports on offer at Dominic.

All three students agree that they get a great sense of pride from representing the College, especially when other schools visit and our magnificent grounds are utilised.

They spoke about the sporting program at the College giving students the opportunity to be active and get outside. The element of participation, fun and the pursuit of skill excellence and teamwork are also key reasons why they choose to be involved.

Sport is not compulsory, but every student is strongly encouraged to represent the school and the term three program provides a wide range of choices for participation including: basketball, cricket, athletics, touch football & tennis.

Mr. Aaron Davey, Secondary Campus Sports Coordinator, said that the College is committed to providing students with these opportunities. He said: “the benefits of keeping active when you are a teenager are huge. It helps you relax and sleep better by relieving stress and tension. It builds up stamina, improves concentration & self-discipline. And socially, it’s the perfect way to make new friends.”

Congratulations to all our students who are getting out and having a go in term three sport, we wish you the very best with your endeavours.

Go Dominic!