There are two things 2020 Galen Graduate Lachlan Carboon and his friend and business partner Ryan Falconer (current Galen Year 12 student) love to do – build things and solve problems.

But it’s much more than teenage tinkering – they’re using their talents to improve the safety of the bridges you drive across, the jetties you fish from and the weirs that protect your water supply.

The Wangaratta students have been engaged by Melbourne startup ROVing Intelligence to develop software for remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) used to survey underwater assets including jetties, weirs and bridges.

The opportunity came about through their involvement in Startup Shakeup, North East Victoria’s innovation network.

Lachlan and Ryan were classmates at Galen Catholic College when they won the Startup Shakeup Pitchfest people’s choice award in 2019 for an online booking system connected to a smart lock that allowed remote entry to buildings.

The duo’s winning innovation didn’t progress further, but their business mentor Mark Cooper put them in touch with ROVing Intelligence founder Matt Curtain who was looking for tech-smart, creative minds to work on his startup.

“Their energy, creativity and open thinking brings a lot of value to startups like mine,” said Matt who has taken on fifteen university interns in total.

“Personally I get heaps of satisfaction in being able to be part of their growth.”

“It’s shown us how much work goes into a startup and what it takes to make it a success,” Ryan said.

Matt, Lachlan and Ryan will be at the Wangaratta Regional Study Centre on Friday May 28th 12pm-1.30pm to showcase the ROVs underwater survey capabilities in the region.

In addition to their work with ROVing Intelligence, Lachlan and Ryan are developing their own new business idea which is almost ready to pitch.

“I’m feeling really confident with the research I’ve done and the pitch I’ve created – all those things I’ve learnt through Startup Shakeup. You develop the confidence to know how to back your ideas. You know when to walk away and when the idea is worth pursuing,” Lachlan said.

He praised the high-quality advice and mentoring offered through Startup Shakeup, saying it “makes the impossible seem possible”.

“One of the best parts is all the connections I’ve made and grown. I have this group of people through Startup Shakeup that I can come back to for feedback and they’ll be here to support me. And the quality of what I’ve learnt is so high. I’ve learnt so much.”

Lachlan is currently studying a Degree in Mechatronics at Deakin University, a mix of mechanical, software and electrical engineering, while Ryan is competing Year 12 at Galen Catholic College and plans to study an electrical engineering or mechatronics degree next year. Both have well and truly been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug.

“We’ll keep working on business ideas and startup projects we have in development,” Ryan said.

“Hopefully in the future Ryan and I will own our own company, a successful one we’ve built from the ground up. That would be amazing,” Lachlan added.

 

---

 

FOUNDER MEET & GREET
Friday 28th May, 12pm-1.30pm
Wangaratta Regional Study Centre, Charles Sturt University, 218 Tone Road, Wangaratta
Event information/bookings https://bit.ly/3u3yBzq

The event will include interview opportunities with Lachlan Carboon, Ryan Falconer, Matt Curtain (ROVing Intelligence) and Ilena Young (Chair, Startup Shakeup).

Want to know more or organise an interview?
Contact: Jessica Tucker, Startup Shakeup Project and Communications Facilitator
0467 999 901
jessica@startupshakeup.co

Roving Intelligence: www.rovingintelligence.com
Startup Shakeup: www.startupshakeup.co

---

WHAT IS STARTUP SHAKEUP?
Startup Shakeup is a thriving community of Entrepreneurs, Businesses, Innovators, Local Government and Investors turning big ideas into jobs and growth across the region. It’s a collaboration between five councils – Benalla, Indigo, Mansfield, Alpine and Wangaratta – in partnership with Charles Sturt University, Goulburn Ovens TAFE and NE Tracks Local Learning and Employment Network.

What is a Startup?
A Startup entrepreneur sees a problem and develops a solution. These solutions are innovative, high impact and scalable; offering benefits locally, regionally, nationally and potentially globally.

What is a Shakeup?
A Shakeup is an existing business that seeks to reset, recalibrate and evolve to meet current challenges in a resilient and sustainable manner.

JESSICA TUCKER
Startup Shakeup – Innovate North East Vic
0467 999 901
jessica@startupshakeup.co

Good afternoon, Parents, Carers & Guardians of Yr 7 Students

We are very excited to invite you to be a part of the first major goal-setting exercise for your child as a secondary student.

As part of our commitment to developing the new House System and the role of the Homeroom Mentors as the consistent point of contact between the school and families, we would like to begin this process with an evening next Monday, March 1, where you will meet your child’s Homeroom Mentor and set some academic goals across the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Science and Humanities.

The evening will commence at 6.00pm and conclude by 7.00pm. Information will be shared throughout this week to assure you we are taking all the necessary COVID-safe steps, whilst trying to engage in this important process with you and your child.

Across the evening you will be introduced to our Deputy Principals, Junior School Leader, Year 7 Learning Leader, House Leaders as well as your child’s Homeroom Mentor.

A brief outline of the evening is as follows:

6.00        Acknowledgement of Country & Opening Prayer         – Jim Samon (DP Catholic Identity)

6.05        Welcome to Galen                                                              – Bernard Neal (Principal)

6.15        Academic Goal Setting – Why?                                          – Kylie Girolami (Year 7 Learning Leader)

Brief overview of the process to parents

6.30        H/Room Mentors introduce SMART goals – Homeroom Mentors supported by House with students and parents and allow Leaders and Senior Leadership time for discussion and the setting of goals across core subjects (English, Maths, Science, Humanities)

7.00        Evening concludes

We look forward to sharing this important occasion with you as your child begins their education at Galen Catholic College.

Regards

Dale Gleeson
Deputy Principal – Learning & Teaching

Opening Mass – Wednesday 3rd March

Our college theme for 2021 is “Faith in Our Future” which was developed with the senior students. It relates to the 200-year anniversary of Catholic Education in Australia which is “Faith in the Future”. The celebrants for the Mass will be Bishop Shane McKinlay, Fr Mike Pullar and Fr Nathan Vellar. It will be a whole school Mass under the covered area (weather permitting). It is for staff and students only due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, the Mass will be live streamed for parents, families and friends who wish to be able to be online participants. Mass will commence at 11.30am – (Year 7 students process in and sit with their House group led by their House Leader when directed). Mass will conclude in time for lunch.

 

Ash Wednesday & Shrove Tuesday

Homeroom Mentors led their groups in an Ash Wednesday prayer this week. Due to the lockdown, we have rescheduled Shrove Tuesday activities and the Ash Wednesday liturgy and distribution of ashes to next week. Shrove Tuesday pancakes will be served next Monday 22nd Feb by the VCAL students at recess and lunchtime. The Ash Wednesday liturgy and Project Compassion launch are next Wednesday 24th February.

 

Project Compassion

Project Compassion is our major fundraiser for the year that runs during Term 1 for Lent. We are looking at having a Casual Clothes Day for Project Compassion on the last day of Term 1 classes on Tuesday 30th March.

 

Saint Patrick’s Day Feast Day

Patrick House will celebrate their Feast day on Wednesday 17th March. More details to come closer to the date.

Enrolment applications for Year 7 2022 at Galen are now open. Simply follow the steps below and note the key dates for our Information Evening, School Tours, Application due date and Interviews.

Step 1	Attend our  Information  Evening	Date: Wednesday 3rd March Time: 7.00pm Location: Galen Catholic  College Stadium	We invite Parents and guardians to attend our  information evening
Step 2	School Tours: see Galen in  action	Available dates:     • 4th March 9.15am & 1.50pm     • 5th March 9.15am & 1.50pm     • 9th March 9.15am, 1.50pm &         5.00pm     • 10th March 9.15am, 1.50pm &         5.00pm     • 11th March 9.15am, 1.50pm &         5.00pm	For all bookings and  enrolment information  please visit our website www.galen.vic.edu.au/enrolments
Step 3	Submit your  application	Applications available from: www.galen.vic.edu.au/enrolments Due date: 12th March
Step 4	Attend an  interview	Interview dates: • March: 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 23rd,    24th, 25th, 26th  • April: 20th, 21st, 22nd, 26th, 27th,     28th, 29th, 30th

Good morning, everyone.

The Premier has announced that the 5-day lockdown will finish tonight as planned.

This means that school will resume onsite tomorrow for all staff and students.

There will still be a number of restrictions around mask-wearing, social-distancing, etc. I will monitor this information during the day as it comes in and will provide you with more details later this afternoon (earlier if I can).

Thank you all for the way you have adapted at such short notice – once again the Galen community has stepped up to the plate when called upon.

Regards,
Bernard Neal
Principal

Friday 12th Feb 2021

Good evening, Students, Parents, Carers and Guardians

Deep within us we all knew that Remote Learning 3.0 was a possibility and now it is – suddenly – upon us.

The safety and wellbeing of all our students, staff and community members is paramount in all of the decisions that we are currently making. We will all have our own individual responses to the new situation and we will try to make sure that all these responses are acknowledged, respected and supported. I am sure that like us, you will be hoping and praying that this is with us for only 5 days; at the same time we need to be ready to adapt if the lockdown is extended beyond this time.

As things stand on Friday afternoon, the following arrangements are in place at Galen Catholic College for Monday through to Wednesday.

Please refer to the attached “Remote Learning Guide for Parents and Caregivers” for details on period times, attendance requirements and other details. Please see the Remote Learning page for Remote Learning Guidelines.

Monday has been declared by the state education authorities as a planning day for staff to prepare the move to Remote Learning 3.0
Please note that for Years 7 – 11 this means there will be no classes running on Monday
At Galen we will be running Year 12 classes only online on Monday but all other classes are cancelled. These classes will run to the COVID period times (see attached)
The school will provide onsite supervision in the VCE Study Centre and surrounding classrooms for vulnerable students, students whose parents are regarded as “essential workers” and those whose parents cannot work from home and where no other supervision arrangements can be made:
i. Parents whose children meet this criteria MUST register their child(ren) for this supervision via the link on PAM. This link can be found by opening PAM and clicking on “COVID-19 Student Attendance Registration”. This link is also located on the Remote Learning page – link above.
ii. Students and staff onsite must be wearing masks at all times whether inside or outside.

On Tuesday and Wednesday (at this stage) Remote Learning will apply for all year levels
There is a revised set of period times for Remote Learning (see attachment)
Teachers will send a Google Meet link to all students in their class at the commencement of the period
All students and all staff are expected to join and remain connected to the Google Meet for the entirety each period.

The school will run with a skeleton staff on Monday – Wednesday:
The main office will be open but with reduced staff
The Principal and/or the Deputy Principals will be onsite each day
The library and IT centres will be open but with reduced staff

All camps and excursions are cancelled from Monday to Wednesday

The school canteen will be closed for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

The following scheduled events for next week will be affected:
Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday activities will be postponed until the following Tuesday and Wednesday (unless the lockdown is extended)
School photos will go ahead as planned on Thursday (unless lockdown is extended)
Swimming Sports will go ahead on Friday (unless lockdown is extended)

Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have any concerns for your child’s progress or engagement with the learning process over the coming days.

Regards
Bernard Neal
Principal

Good afternoon, Galen Parents, Carers and Guardians.

We find ourselves in familiar territory this afternoon with the announcement of the 5-day lockdown called for Victoria.

Please be assured that Galen will do everything in its power to make the 3 affected school days –  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week – as smooth and manageable as possible. We recognise that this re-emerging situation will have challenges for families, students and school alike.

Very much in our favour is that Galen families and Galen itself showed last year that together we have the combined resilience, organisation, communication and commitment to deal with this sudden change in circumstances with professionalism and understanding

I will be emailing you all again later today once we have received more detailed information from the education and health authorities. For the moment, though, I can confirm the following:

• All Victorian schools will be returning to remote learning for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday along similar lines to last year’s Remote Learning 2.0.
• All Galen students have been alerted to this information this afternoon. This included letting them know to take all necessary resources home with them at the end of school today – eg: laptops, writing materials, other resources they would expect to use
• We will be running our online classes to the same schedule we used last year: a copy of these times will be in the email later today to all students, staff and parents.
• As with our arrangements last year, vulnerable children and the children of essential workers will be able to register for attendance at school on Monday – Wednesday. Details of how to register will be provided in the email later today. Please note that students MUST meet the criteria to be eligible to register: more information will be provided in the later email.
• We welcome any feedback or questions from parents, carers and guardians at any stage of this process.

Regards to you all until the next email later today with more detailed information.

Bernard Neal
Principal

Congratulations to 2020 Graduate Sacha Fraser whose VCE Studio Art work has been selected for the Year 12 Art Show at MAMA Albury. Running from 18th February to 30th May, the exhibition will provide an insight into the creativity, innovation and unique perspectives of young people from our region who have completed their HSC and VCE during the challenges of 2020.

Featuring students from Albury High School, Catholic College Wodonga, Galen Catholic College, James Fallon High School, Murray High School, Tallangatta Secondary College, The Scots School Albury, Victory Lutheran College, Wodonga Senior Secondary College and Xavier Catholic College were selected to participate in this annual showcase, with the shortlist selected by a panel of local curators. In addition to having her work selected for the show, Sacha’s work will also appear in promotional items and advertising for the exhibition. Congratulations Sacha!

Good afternoon, Galen students, parents, carers and guardians.

As you are aware by now, there has been a change in the COVID restrictions since yesterday. Schools today received an update on what these changes mean for those attending or working at schools.

Here is a summary of the key points from the advice provided to schools:

Students please note: as of Friday all students MUST wear a mask when indoors at school and when on public transport, including school buses.

The key points are:

• Masks are mandatory in public indoor spaces apart from eating or drinking
• Masks MUST be worn by students on public transport including school buses
• All Victorians MUST carry a mask with them whenever they leave home
• It is strongly recommended that masks are worn whenever you cannot keep 1.5 metres distance from others
• Students MUST wear a mask when indoors at school
• Staff MUST wear face masks in indoor areas of the school when not teaching or caring
• If a person is working by themselves in an enclosed indoor space, a mask does not have to be worn
• Visitors to school sites must also wear masks when indoors

Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have any queries.

Regards,

Bernard Neal
Principal

In this most extraordinary of school years, the Principal and staff of Galen Catholic College congratulate all Year 12 students across the 2020 VCE and VCAL courses on their results. Our 2020 Year 12 students have done what no other Year 12 cohort has ever been asked to do: complete their final year of schooling in the midst of a global pandemic with on-again, off-again online learning and disruptions to all four school terms.

We are very pleased to announce that the Dux for 2020 is Talia McLaurin with an ATAR of 96.4 placing her in the top 4% of students in the state. Talia was closely followed by Matthew Somerville with 96.25 (also in the top 4% across the state).

We are particularly proud of the 4 Galen students achieved ATARs of 90 or above placing them in the top 10% across the state. 24 Galen students achieved Study Scores over 40 in individual subjects placing them in the top 8% of all students across the state in those subjects.

We are also pleased to announce that Galen Year 12 students have once again achieved 100% success rate in attaining their VCAL certificates.

Galen VET students also performed exceptionally well as part of their VCE and VCAL certificates.

Whilst we are naturally proud of and happy for the large number of students who have achieved high scores, we are equally pleased to report that so many students have achieved to the best of their ability and have given themselves the best possible opportunity to move onto their preferred next steps in life whether that be employment, further study or a GAP year.

Galen Principal, Bernard Neal, said that the staff and Galen community are immensely proud of the efforts of the 2020 cohort. “This group faced challenges that no other Year 12 group has ever faced with not one school term in 2020 running its full length with onsite classes. They adapted to these unique circumstances and made it through the year with courage and persistence.

“It is really important to note that we are equally proud of all students who put in their best effort regardless of their subject scores and ATARs and regardless of whether they completed their VCE or VCAL. We are proud to have played such a pivotal role in preparing these young people over their final six years of school education and especially so this year.”

Mr Neal also said, “The breadth and flexibility of opportunities available to our students through the 26 VCE subjects undertaken by Galen at school this year, along with VCAL, VET and School Based Apprenticeships, has enabled the senior students at Galen to tailor courses to suit their particular needs and interests, including the ability to combine elements of all four.

“Today’s results will enable the Galen graduates now to step forward with confidence and a sense of achievement that opens new doors into their futures. We wish all the students well on the next stage of their journey – Galen will always be here to help and advise them as needed, and to celebrate their future successes with them. We hope that they will continue to be as proud of their Galen heritage as we are of them.”

We look forward to working just as closely with our 2021 Year 12 cohort over the coming twelve months and helping them achieve their goals in spite of any challenges that might come our way or their way.