SIX YEAR

CRAIG HUBBARD LISA-MARIE PRESTON CRAIG FAESSLER

What a year 2022 was. We finally started to return to normal after the interruptions of the previous two years!

The students were excited to finally be leaders of the Junior School which meant taking on more responsibility and expectation. This was a role that they undertook with gusto. Year 6 loved playing with their Prep buddies, helping at Mac Mates, and running Junior assemblies and liturgies. At the end of the year, we discovered that the dance lessons with Mr Vernon were lots of fun and we had to show great maturity when asking a partner to dance.

Guest Speakers

Helping to deepen their real world understanding of concepts, the students were fortunate enough to have several guest speakers throughout the year. Firstly, in our Religion studies, we had guest speakers talk to us about how they show their faith. Mrs Julie Inskip, from Mini-Vinnes, spoke about how her organisation supports the needy. Mrs Inskip (St. Vincent de Paul) and Year 12 PRAXIS students all shared parts of their faith journey with us.

We were visited by the Federal Member for Groom, Mr Garth Hamilton, the State Member for Toowoomba North, Mr Trevor Watts and the Mayor of the Toowoomba Regional Council, Mr Paul Antonio, as part of our HaSS unit. We learned about the roles they play in looking after their constituents.

Lastly, we were very fortunate to have Waleed, Basel, and Fatima, from the Heritage Bank Inclusive Banking program, share their experiences as new refugees to Australia as part of our ‘Boy Overboard’ English unit. It was informative and special to hear first-hand accounts and celebrate the successes they’ve been able to achieve. We were able to ask questions and taste some traditional Syrian treats.

Transition lessons

Students were fortunate enough to participate in transition lessons in the Senior College again this year. They looked forward to these lessons with specialist teachers in the subjects of Food Technology, Design Technology, Science, and Visual Art. We hope these practical lessons helped them to be better prepared for the challenges of Year 7. Making coasters, building gassy rockets, creating clay artworks, and tasting our cooking creations were just some exciting opportunities the students participated in. They even got more efficient and skilled in washing and cleaning up! One of the favourite things was the freedom of playing at the Senior Campus during Semester Two!

Service

Our College highlights the importance of living a life of service like St Mary MacKillop. She asked us to ‘never see a need without doing something about it’. We read the book in term 3, ‘Boy Overboard’ by Morris Gleitzman, about a family that attempted to migrate from Afghanistan to Australia. The themes in ‘Boy Overboard’ and the guest speaker visit by the Heritage Bank Inclusive Banking program team inspired us.

As a cohort, we decided that we needed to do something to help refugees in our community. In response, we held a spider drink, chocolate toss, and ice-cream cone stall to raise funds for the ‘Work & Welcome’ program. Through the generosity of the College community, we were able to raise just over $1300 to support refugees, to feel connected and enhance their work skills. This was an amazing achievement and will go a long way to helping many refugees in our area. Many of the students also helped Khara with Mac Mates in the Prep-Year 2 playground. We think they enjoyed the experience just as much.

Year 6 has been a year of ups and downs, but it is a year that we will remember as one that was full of frivolity, friendships, and fun.