Principal’s Message
Mr Paul Finneran, Principal
Greetings to the Assumption family.
Welcome to another edition of Shandon Calls. Since our last newsletter, the term continues to hurdle towards the end of the year, and we have much to celebrate. Our Year 12 students have completed their examinations. While they await their results in the weeks to come, we pray that the next chapter of their lives is one that brings much hope and joy. We thank them for their contribution to the Assumption story.
Performing Arts Highlights
Over the past few weeks, we’ve enjoyed a number of performances from our VCE VM music and dance students and our co-curricular bands, which serve to highlight the vast array of talent we have here at Assumption College.
On Thursday t6 November, we held the VCE performing arts evening in which our Unit 1 & 2 music and dance students in Years 10 and 11 presented their works, and what was a wonderful display of their abilities. The students and staff are to be commended for the hard work they have put in to developing their performances.
On Thursday 20 November, we held a co-curricular band evening where the audience were treated to a number of performances covering a broad range of musical genres. These events bode so well for the future of performing arts at the college.
Annual Awards Celebration
On another note, this year we have changed the time of our annual awards celebration from an evening event to during the school day. Tuesday 20 November at 9:30 a.m. we will be holding the awards ceremony, and the parents of all award winners have been invited.
Our objective in changing the time is to celebrate our students in front of the entire community, as we seek to encourage all students to aspire to be their very best. Central to the philosophy of our Assumption Way, is the notion of aspiration. We want our students to aspire to be the best version of themselves and to strive for excellence in all that they do. It is our hope that holding the annual awards ceremony in front of the entire community will engender a spirit of aspiration within our students and encourage them to reach for the stars.
Parent Association Meeting
Our next parent association meeting will be held next Wednesday 20 November beginning at 6:30 p.m. The focus of the meeting will be the new learning framework which will be presented by a Deputy Principal of Learning and Teaching, Mr Liam McCormack. We look forward to your contribution to learning and teaching at Assumption College.
Thank You to Our Community
As the year progresses towards its rapid conclusion, I want to offer my heartfelt thanks for your support throughout the year. One of the many gifts of Assumption College is its palpable sense of community and the Assumption family spirit is well and truly alive, each and every day. Thank you for all that you do to support your child and I look forward to continuing our vital partnership in 2026.
Quae Supra Quaere, Always.
2026 Teaching Staff
This year we came to the end of the cycle for Positions of Leadership at Assumption College and thus the application recruitment process commenced. The recruitment process was concluded by the end of term three and with MyStart beginning next week, it is appropriate that I announce to you the leaders who will commence next year.
Next year sees the introduction of several new positions including:
- Director of Students Years 7 to 9,
- Director of Students Years 10 to 12,
- Director of Learning Culture,
- Director of Data Analytics,
- Director of Pathways,
- Head of VCE,
- Head of Applied Learning,
- Transition Coordinator, and
- Instructional Coaches.
Additionally, we are transitioning back to having dedicated learning domain leaders. We hope that with the restructure of middle leadership across the college, we’ll be able to ensure clear consistent communications and processes.
The Positions of Leadership for 2026 are:
- Director of Professional Practice: Luke Hamilton,
- Director of Operations: Jessica Flavell,
- Director of Pathways: Jade Shiner,
- Director of Students Years 7 to Nine: Amanda Hadjiiloukas,
- Director of Students Years 10 to 12: Sarah Sefky,
- Director of Learning Culture: Elisa Colaluca
- Director of Data Analytics: Tim Girgin,
- Head of VCE: Matthew Downie,
- Head of Applied Learning: Nathan Holmes,
- Head of Personalised Learning: Kate Todorovic,
- Head of Library Information Services: Jo Treanor,
- Transition Coordinator: Laila Fleischmann,
- Learning Leader – English: Georgia Burns,
- Learning Leader – Religious Education: Ben Egan,
- Learning Leader – Mathematics: Chris De Sousa,
- Learning Leader – Humanities: Hilary Tieri,
- Learning Leader – Health and Physical Education: Ethan Gorski,
- Learning Leader – Performing Arts: Justine Garcia,
- Learning Leader – Visual Arts And Technology: Deana Pillay,
- Learning Leader – Science: Ursula Linke,
- Instructional Coach: Rachel Williams and Sasha Wilmann.
Our house leaders for 2026 are:
- Austin House Leader: Rachel Finnin,
- Damian House Leader: Kaitlyn Wilson,
- Frayne House Leader: Joshua Eid,
- Gerrabinon House Leader: Sean Vah,
- Hilary House Leader: Victoria Burns,
- La Valla House Leader: Alex Langdon,
- Mackillop House Leader: Anthony Poppa,
- Marcellin House Leader: Steve McCarthy,
- Marian House Leader: Claire Moulds,
- McAuley House Leader: Christopher Pennycook.
On behalf of the college community, I congratulate these leaders and we look forward to their contribution to the college in the years to come.
St. Vincent to Paul's Christmas Appeal
Olivia, Mission Captain
This term, we turned our hearts to raising funds for the St. Vincent to Paul’s Christmas appeal.
This year, hundreds of families across Victoria will face a Christmas without the comfort of a family, gifts under the tree, or a traditional dinner on the table. As a part of the Christmas appeal, each learning mentor group was responsible for assembling a hamper of food and money for a Christmas ham, which will be delivered to a family in need. In addition, our learning mentor groups and staff also purchased Christmas puddings and cakes from local family business, Alpine Valley Fine Foods. Proceeds of the sale will go directly to Vinnie’s.
Through our generous efforts, we hope to make Christmas a little merrier and brighter for families facing difficult times.
Summer Sports
Bobby & Emerson, Sports Captains
Summer Sport is off to a promising and competitive start, with our teams experiencing a mix of wins and losses across various sports.
Basketball, cricket, tennis, volleyball, touch football, and our softball teams have all shown strong effort and improvement with several securing early victories while others continuing to build momentum. Overall, it has been a positive beginning to the season with students demonstrating great teamwork, determination, and school spirit in every match.
The First Boys Cricket team has had a balanced start to the season, recording one win and one loss from their opening two games. Their victories showcase strong teamwork, disciplined bowling, and confident batting, while the loss provided valuable lessons and areas to build on. Overall, the team is tracking well and looking to develop consistency as the season progresses.
The First Girls Cricket had their first win on the Carroll Oval against Wesley College, defeating Wesley by eight wickets. Shout out to Ruby for taking five wickets and Emerson taking two with all the girls bowling extremely well. Fielding was also a highlight with many stopped fours and catches being taken. Emerson and Ava opened the batting with bringing the team to a great start making 51 runs combined, while Bridget and Ruby were able to make the final runs getting the team across the line for a win. Now they look to take on Caulfield next week to hopefully obtain their second win of the season.
The First Boys Basketball team has shown great intensity and demonstration despite a challenging start to the season. With two narrow losses, their effort, energy, and competitiveness has been clear in both games, and the team continues to build confidence as they look to turn their strong play into wins in the coming rounds.
Summer Sports has continued to grow this term with up to 40 teams across all sports competing in the AGSV summer sports program and looking to add another 11 teams in Term 1.
Congratulations to everyone that is competing in a co-curricular summer sport and keep up the amazing effort.
This term we held the Student Vs Staff ultimate frisbee game on 6 November. It was an amazing turnout, and we love seeing all the students that had to come long to support the event. Unfortunately, the teachers came across with the win. We had many great performances during the game from both the student’s and teacher’s sides. Now the students look to gain the win at the next Student Vs Staff event.
Congratulations to those who participated on the weekend. There were lots of great performances. Good luck for students playing their last round of Summer Sports before the break.
MyStart Program
Mr Liam McCormack, Deputy Principal of Teaching & Learning
Our MyStart program will start on Monday 24 November.
This program is designed to give students the opportunity to commence their learning ahead of the 2026 academic year. It will allow students the opportunity to meet their teachers, understand the course, and initiate their learning.
For our VCE students in particular, it gives them the chance to make a start on their learning outcomes and complete study over the break. This ultimately helps set our students up for success in VCE.
I’d like to wish all our students a productive MyStart program and a restful break.