This week's message is devoted to the College's COVID experience with the goal of reducing unwarranted anxiety for students.

We have just 14 active COVID cases across our community of over 700 staff and students.  Of these, 9 will be free to leave isolation over the weekend.

This week we have had just 1 or 2 COVID positive cases on any given day.  In addition, most cases have reported relatively mild symptoms.

Given the nature of a secondary school, a positive case could have been in a number of different groupings on any given day.  Thus, if I hear of 2 positive cases, they could easily have been in classes with over 150 students across a day- and it is possible for some of these to be in classes whose parents have already been notified because of earlier cases.

Sending emails to each of these families may result in parents being bombarded by multiple emails.  This may give a (false) perception that COVID is spreading quickly.  Our reality is the opposite (and I thank the staff, students and parents for their role in achieving this).

I agonised over whether or not to continue to send the advice but have determined that parents will want to know, and it helps remind us all to do a RAT if sniffles develop.  I have, however, edited the template to reduce any alarm that it may generate.

So, please, if you are a parent reading this, explain the data to your child and emphasise that they are safe.

I will continue to pray to keep us all safe and happy.

Frank Pisano

Congratulations to Year 11 student, Felicity Purton, on being named the regional winner for the Australia and New Zealand Region, Argumentative Category in the Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition. Good luck to Felicity for her next global essay submission!

The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition (HCGEC) brings together from around the world ambitious high school students (aged 13 - 18) with a passion for, or interest in, writing. This competition is an annual opportunity for students to showcase their talents on a global stage, compete to win exclusive educational opportunities and prizes, and explore different possibilities of a future in writing.

For more information on getting involved in HCGEC's competitions, you can find the details on their website here. Happy Writing!

What better way to support the development of higher-order thinking skills—like problem-solving, decision making, critical thinking, planning, and even creative thinking than to have a fun (or competitive!) game of chess! Chess training and practice also helps improve general cognitive ability and scholastic achievement—especially in mathematics.

The College's Chess Club meets every Tuesday in the Mary Mackillop courtyard during lunchtime. We'd love to see you there!

Being SunSmart is a simple and effective way to reduce your risk of developing skin cancer. With UV levels still well above three, sun protection is still required. 

The cancer council recommends a combination of sun protection measures: 

• Slip-on some sun-protective clothing that covers as much skin as possible. 
• Slop on a broad spectrum, water-resistant SPF30 (or higher) sunscreen. Please put it on 20 minutes before you go outdoors and every two hours afterwards. Sunscreen should never be used to extend your time in the sun. 
• Slap on a hat – broad brim or legionnaire style to protect your face, head, neck, and ears. Seek shade. 
• Slide on some sunglasses – make sure they meet Australian Standards. 

The College has provided sunscreen stations in various areas for students to access. We encourage all members of the College community to be sun safe. 

Term one NSATIS Sports kicked off two weeks with the NSATIS Lady Saints 1st basketball team hitting the road to Launceston for the NSATIS Basketball Lightning round. The lightning round would see the girls play 3 games for the day. With new coach Taya Webb and Jo Aherne, this was very much a new look NSATIS team with most of the girls representing the College at NSATIS level for the first time. 

The girls started the day strong with a solid win over St Patricks College. In a tough game, it took the girls the first quarter to really find their rhythm, but once they did there was no turning back. With a convincing lead at the half, the Lady Saints kept their foot on the throttle going out 25 point winners with a score of 49 to 24.

With their first game jitters out of the way, the ladies took full charge of the second game from the first whistle. Winning the tap the Lady Saints went on a 15-0 scoring run and kept Scotch Oakburn scoreless for most of the first quarter. With the wind in their sails, the Lady Saints ran away with their second victory for the day defeating SOC 66 to 42.

In their final game of the day, the Lady Saints went off like a cut snake craking the 100 point mark while keeping Launceston Church Grammer to under 40 points. Defensively the ladies produced a number of important turnovers which proved to be the difference as the Lady Saints went on to win comfortably 109 to 34.

Unfortunately due to the weather on Wednesday and illness from other teams, there were no NSATIS Sports played this week.

Monday 21 February, the Lady Saints 1st Basketball has their biggest matchup of the season so far taking on an equally as strong Marist Regional College in a 2021 Grand final rematch. Both teams are undefeated on the season and will be looking to cement themselves as the team to beat in 2022.

The NSATIS Tennis teams took to the court for the first time in 2022 last week against Scotch Oakburn College. There are a number of new players this year and an increase in players has put both Tennis teams in a strong position for the future. 

The first games of the afternoon saw both the boys and girls team play their doubles matches. With only one returning player in Baxter Tu, the boy's team had a new look and played together really well. Baxter Tu and Tom Williams had a tight game against their opponents with their doubles game going for nearly 2 hours. The boys then back this long performance up with their singles matches. While the team did not win the day, there were lots of positive signs and as the team continues to grow in confidence it won't be long until they find themselves in the winner's circle. Final score to SOC 51 to 35 

The ladies led by seasoned veterans Annabelle Radcliff and Asha Ianuali had a good first hit-out, losing by just 5 points. In their doubles games, the girls were able to split the points with SOC which made for some important singles matches. In her first week of NSATIS Tennis Chelbie Pickering showed some great promise as did Elizabeth Titlow. However, their determination was not enough to contain SOC and the girls would fall to SOC 43 to 38.

Unfortunately due to the weather on Wednesday and illness from other teams, there were no NSATIS Sports played this week.

NSATIS Boys tennis will travel to MRC for their match up with the Lady Saints Tennis having the week off. 

The College Swimming Carnival is on Tuesday 22 February at Splash Aquatic Centre. Transport is provided for all students. More information will be available to students next week and parents should have access to consent2go in their inbox.

As a result of the outstanding results at the Australian Open Tennis Australia is offering FREE court hire for casual users for the month of February at local tennis clubs. 

All you need to do is go to https://play.tennis.com.au/court-hire/DevonportTennisClub#courthire and then on check out using the code FREECOURT. 

If you have any questions or need help with this, please contact Pip Martin on 0438 687 542.