CAMPS AND RETREATS

Year 7 Camps

The Year 7s attending Kokoda Park near Laidley. The students participated in a number of challenging activities including a giant flying fox, high ropes, rock climbing, crate stack, archery and swimming. Each group of students were required to support their peers to overcome their different fears throughout the camp.

Year 9s Moreton Island Camp

This year our Year 9 students went to Moreton Island for a 3 day camp. Some of the highlights of the trip were snorkeling around the Tangalooma wrecks, sandboarding, illuminated transparent night kayaking and an island discovery tour where we were lucky enough to see whales breaching right in front of us.

Year 10 Currumbin Valley Retreat

This year was the first time we have taken our students to the Currumbin Valley Retreat. It is a style of camp our students have never been involved in but was an incredibly powerful experience. The 3 days were focused on reflection and giving every student time to determine their own path. All of this happened in between some very physically demanding hiking and kayaking through the Currumbin Valley. The opportunity to switch off from the pressures of life and do some reflection about their pathway was invaluable for our students.

Year 10s Work Experience and Career Retreat

Year 10 students had two events this year linked to entering senior school and career pathways. At the end of Term 2 Year 10 students participated in a two-day Careers Retreat and Pathways Showcase. The aim of this retreat was to support students in seeing their schooling journey as a pathway to a vocation. The retreat assisted students and parents in subject selection for Year 11 and 12. The twoday event concluded with a Pathway Showcase that gave students the opportunity to meet and speak with industry professionals.

At the end of Term 1 students took part in a Work Experience Program to learn new skills and be exposed to possible career opportunities. There was excellent feedback received from both students and work providers, with many students receiving employment opportunities. Some students have now investigated options to start School Based Apprenticeships and other forms of training to help their career journey begin.

Year 11 Camp

Year 11 Leadership Camp took place at the end of Term 1 at Emu Gully. Students were faced with physical, team working challenges to test endurance, teamwork, and leadership skills. Some of the students found the mud and tight spaces challenging, however as always the highlight of the camp was 'digging in' a paintball challenge where students try to move up a hill to rescue a stretcher patient while under fire –the teachers particularly enjoyed this activity as they were in charge of the paintball guns!

Year 12 Retreat

In April this year, our Year 12 cohort, accompanied by Mrs O'Rourke, Mr Albion and Mrs Radley, set off on Senior Retreat–a pilgrimage through parts of Brisbane which allowed us to find our Josephite roots, by following in the footsteps of Mary MacKillop.

In 1867, Mary MacKillop penned the statement "We are but travellers here". This was an apt title for our Retreat, which enabled the Year 12s to reflect on their journey at MMCC thus far, the remaining journey of Senior year and their possible pathways in the future. As a symbol of their pilgrimage, students were given a scallop shell–the grooves in the shell, which come together at a single point, represent the various routes pilgrims travel, eventually arriving at a single destination.

Our journey began at All Hallows' School, where we were taken on a guided tour, specifically spending time in the chapel and outside the All Hallows' Convent, where Mary MacKillop spent two weeks with the Mercy Sisters when she first arrived in Queensland in December, 1869.

From here, our group walked to the City Botanic Gardens, stopping briefly at Customs House to acknowledge that it was most likely along this stretch of the Brisbane River, where Mary and her Josephite sisters would have disembarked. Amongst the beauty and serenity of the Gardens, students reflected on what Mary MacKillop's quote “With God’s aid we shall get on and gain fresh strength and energy for the work" means for them, particularly when they are faced with challenges which test their resilience and perseverance.

The final destination for day one of our Retreat pilgrimage was the site of one of the oldest Catholic primary schools in Brisbane–St Joseph's School at Kangaroo Point–which was founded by Mary MacKillop in 1870. Here, our Year 12s reflected on the links between Josephite values and mission evident at a school which is over 150 years old and those espoused at MMCC, a place many of them have been since Prep.

Day 2 of our Retreat began at St Stephen's Chapel and Cathedral. Mary MacKillop prayed in both the original Saint Stephen’s Cathedral and in the present Cathedral of Saint Stephen, opened in 1874. On some Saturday mornings, Mary MacKillop would attend Mass in what is now known as Saint Stephen’s Chapel, which houses the Shrine of Mary MacKillop. While 10am Mass was conducted in the Cathedral, our Year 12s gathered in the Chapel, where they considered their own values and who and what is important to them. We then journeyed to Roma Street Parklands for an opportunity to rest, meditate and “see the beauty of God” (MM, 1872) while the Year 12s wrote a letter to themselves.

Our pilgrimage ended at Southbank Parklands, where students participated in a fun Amazing Race activity, giving them a chance to explore Southbank while using teamwork to find landmarks in the area. Despite tired legs, there were plenty of smiles at the end of our pilgrimage together.

In Week 7, Term 4, during their final week at Mary MacKillop Catholic College, Mrs O'Rourke and Mr Albion facilitated a one-day Retreat. This experience built on the April Retreat and enabled our Seniors to consider how their Josephite heritage and the story of Mary MacKillop can accompany them beyond the gates of MMCC.