Our Focus for the Loreto Year of Justice

This is the Loreto Year of Justice; a focus we share with our sister Loreto schools around Australia. The term social justice has become remarkably familiar; however, we are challenged to think more deeply and uniquely about what the value of Justice means within the context of a Loreto education and in our own School.

Justice is not only something we can view on an international scale when looking at the challenges that face the world. It must also be strived for on a much smaller scale, starting within our School community. We want to make Loreto Toorak a place where every student feels valued and heard, and where each classroom is a safe space for all students to express themselves without judgement. So, at the start of the year, we asked students to think about how they could bring justice to light through building positive and “right” relationships with themselves, their friends, teachers, and families. It is important we start with small acts of justice, by building right relationships with ourselves and those around us.

To help our focus and with the assistance of all the Year 12 Councillors, we created the theme for the 2023 Loreto Year of Justice: Leave no one behind on our quest for truth and justice.

We want to emphasise that justice cannot be achieved instantaneously, but rather, it is a journey that we continuously work on. There is always room to improve justice within our communities and the world. In the Loreto Toorak community, justice can be found in the connections and can best be pursued as a community; hence, we leave no one behind.

During this first semester, we have already engaged in many activities in the spirit of Justice, and we have been amazed at the willingness of the students to be involved. We have witnessed the sheer generosity of people to attend the nowannual Gaelic Football match against St Kevin’s, which, combined with other student-led activities raised over $4000 for Project Compassion. Numerous students also took time out of their holidays to volunteer for the Good Friday Appeal; others assisted at the sausage sizzle at our House Athletics carnival to raise funds for Mary Ward International Australia. As a School community, we have also supported the Maytime Fair, participated in Reconciliation Week, and witnessed our Student Representative Council create environmental pledges that will support all students and the School.

This year, it is our hope to promote justice in ways both big and small, seen and unseen, to build positive and lasting relationships across the School, shown every day through our participation in the quest for truth and justice.

STEPHANIE BARÉ & ELLA LECHTE CAPTAINS OF SCHOOL