Introduction

The Waa Awards provide students with formal recognition of their positive engagement with the college across multiple areas. Rather than being a specific award for one specialty area, the Waa Awards requires students to be actively involved across a range of school activities and events.

Students will need to gain points in four broad areas, however there is a minimum requirement for academic performance and community contribution. These four areas are:

1. Academic
2. Community
3. Culture
4. Sport

The awards are named in honour of Waa the crow. The traditional custodians of our lands, the Marun Bulluk clan of the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation acknowledge Waa as protector. Waa is also the totem and moiety for the clans of Kulin Nation who have kinship with him.

There are three levels of award: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each level of award requires a designated number of points in a specific area.

The Four Categories

As the Waa Awards aims to acknowledge students who are active across a range of activities, students must reach a designated number of points in each area.

Academic

Academic points are gained when students display academic excellence. This could include:

• Semester Grade Point Average
• Academic subject dux
• No lates in a term
• House academic activities
• VCE revision lectures attendance
• FACE academic excellence and contribution
• Mathematics competition participant

Community
Community points are awarded when students show a commitment to improving the community here at CCCC and beyond. This could include:

• Vinnies Winter Sleepout
• Social Justice fundraising initiatives
• Year 12 Retreat attendance
• Reflection day attendance
• Student Leadership position
• Sacred Heart Day Involvement
• Caroline Chisholm Medal
• Spirit Award Recipient

Culture
The points for the culture section of the award are gained by students participating in activities that lend themselves to developing a rich and diverse culture at CCCC.

This could include:

• Student club membership
• Debating event participation
• College choir/band rehearsal membership
• Art Acquisition Award
• College theme weeks involvement
• Photography assistance at events

Sport
Points for sport are gained when students are actively involved in any school sport event. This includes:

• Athletics Carnival attendance and participation
• Swimming Carnival participation
• SACCSS or Premier League Team membership
• SACCSS or Premier League Team premiership
• Interschool Athletics, Swimming or Cross-Country
• House lunchtime sports participation
• FACE Sportsperson

Levels

There are three levels of the Waa award; Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

Students must complete a minimum number of points in the areas of Academia and Community and can then make up the remaining points across any category.

	Total Points Required	Academic Minimum	Community Minimum
Bronze Waa	400	300	30
Silver Waa	800	600	60
Gold Waa	1100	750	100

Waa Award and Reconciliation

Caroline Chisholm Catholic College is committed to enacting and upholding our Catholic values in regards to reconciliation and respect for the first nations peoples. We acknowledge their traditional ownership of the lands, waterways and skies within which we gather, educate, pray and live. This includes incorporating education and celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in our everyday school life.

The Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung people acknowledge Waa the crow as protector of the skies and waterways – the ancestral being who brought fire to the people, and whose overhead cries are a warning of those below.

The Waa award draws on the connection we have to the Marin-Bulluk clan of our local area, and aims to raise the profile of First Nations stories and representation within the life of the college by physically and visibly demonstrating respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures.