Compass on the journey

Camping under the stars solo before embarking on an arduous hike while carrying your pack sounds like a challenge more at home at Campbell Barracks than in the golden fields of CBC’s sibling school, Edmund Rice College, but the adventure was all part of the Year 9 experience in 2018.

The Rite Journey (TRJ) camp in Bindoon, known as The Abyss, included spending 18 hours alone in a tent overnight to encourage reflection on the future aspirations and dreams of the developing young men.

After a year of activities designed to challenge the students and create a sense of achievement and belonging, the culmination of the TRJ programme also included a Retreat on the banks of the Swan River to encourage a deeper connection with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The Rite Journey is part of the College’s focus on the transition from today’s boys to tomorrow’s gentlemen, and helps Year 9 boys develop their own inner compass to be able to choose the right direction and make appropriate decisions towards becoming a positive male in society.

National acclaim

Appropriately then, last year TRJ at CBC came to the attention of producers of the ABC TV programme, Compass, who chose to focus on the College’s rites of passage for a whole half-hour episode.

CBC students and their families were stars of the final show, with the young men courageously facing the camera to share their thoughts on leaving their childhood behind and becoming an adult.

The Compass crew also braved the flies and heat of Bindoon to film the boys in the wild, capturing the golden beauty of the agricultural school in spring and the contrast of the dark history of what was Bindoon Boys’ Town during the 1950s.

As part of the process of preparing for the camp, the Rite Journey teachers spent time with their groups talking about the tragic background of the farm school, which is now a thriving centre for trade education. The stunning stone buildings,

the simple white crosses in the graveyard and the statues in the College’s 3,300 hectare campus all provided opportunities to reiterate the messages against bullying, sexual harassment and self-interest that the Rite Journey addresses as part of its year-long syllabus.

It is the detail of TRJ that creates such a powerful shift during the rites of passage that unfold throughout Year 9, ensuring students are in the best possible place to continue their journey towards their senior years at the College.