Working With St Hilda’s For Social Justice

Mr Nicholas Stansbie

Dean of Students Years 7-9

“Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities.”

Three hundred Year 9 students from TSS and St Hilda’s were challenged on Tuesday 15 June this year, when they came together to reflect on actions they could take to make the world a better place for those who are less fortunate.

The Year 9 student leadership teams from both schools interviewed representatives from a diverse group of local charities and organisations, who are engaged in important social justice work. The interviewees were:

Jim Chapman, who, together with fellow 2017 graduates Sandy Hickson and Nathaniel Poynting, has founded a social enterprise, the Nice Coffee Company, which supplies coffee both through mail order and via a mobile coffee van throughout Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The company has been established to raise funds for St John’s School in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya, and has provided invaluable support to the school, particularly during the COVID crisis.

Carly Fradgley from Baby Give Back, a local Gold Coast Charity that aims to support the babies and young children of families who are in crisis and have often had to move house at very short notice, by providing them with the essential items that they need.

Madi Lucas from OzHarvest – a national charity that raises awareness of food waste, and then distributes unused and unwanted food to people in need.

Vicky Kersey, from Friends with Dignity, a national charity, originating on the Gold Coast, that aims to support victims of domestic violence and their families.

Sharlene Smith, a volunteer from Orange Sky Laundry, a Brisbane based charity that provides a mobile laundry service for homeless people, providing them with washed clothes, but also social connections and a range of other support services.

Each of these organisations were founded by people who had encountered injustices or unequal situations as a result of their own life experience and resolved to do something practical to address the problem. Several of the founders were young people who had recently left school; Jim commented that his resolve to act for social justice had first been kindled as a TSS Year 9 student. The questions from the Year 9 interviewers sought to discover the different motivations and experiences of the guests which had led to them becoming involved in social action, and also the challenges they had faced along their journey, particularly over the past 12 months when managing the effects of COVID.

After morning tea, the students then got busy with some practical activities to show their support for the organisations: boxes of donated food were packed for OzHarvest, and recipe cards for using up over-ripe fruit and veg were put together; donated books were packaged up for Baby Give Back together with hand-written messages in the inside cover and hand made bookmarks; a group of students also put together some ‘pamper packs’ for distribution by Friends with Dignity, to help make the transition into a new or temporary home a little bit easier for a family. The boys and girls articulated that:

“We are incredibly fortunate to be able to live the lifestyles that we do, and we should recognise that the world is not an equal place – the majority of people in the world are much more disadvantaged than us.”

“We can take action to play our part in re-balancing the scales and helping those who do not have what we do.”

“How we do this is up to us as individuals – there are so many different ways to get involved and organisations to support – all are worthy of our support.”

It was a great day for all involved - we look forward to seeing the social impact that our Year 9s can have in the years to come. In Term Three, the two groups will be taking part in the dance classes together at St Hilda’s and they have decided that on the final night, they will hold a fashion parade, where they will be dressed in clothes from local Op Shops – a great fun way of supporting our local charities.

This day was one of a number of events this year in which boys and girls from our two schools are working together. Early next Term, the Year 8 students will come together for a day which explores bullying, particularly cyber-bullying, and the issues of consent and social relationships. Our Year 10 students will be coming together for a trivia quiz afternoon and our Year 7 students will be meeting together in a number of locations on the Gold Coast, to look at issues of sustainability.

In our Prep School St Hilda’s and TSS participate in many activities together including debating, Readers Cup, a Science Week celebration, problem solving, a swimming carnival between Years 4 and 5 students, and of course the much anticipated Prep Picnic.

Whilst we value hugely the benefits of a single sex education, we also acknowledge how important it is to see the world from different eyes and these collaborative events between our two schools provide important learning opportunities which we are strongly committed to.