Mission Team __________________________________Page

LITURGY @ SJC

At the heart of every Catholic community is the Eucharistic celebration. The roots of this Christian ritual are entwined in the Passover as the very first Eucharist celebrated was at the Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples. At St Joseph’s College we celebrate the Mass on many celebratory occasions – Edmund Rice Day, Mother’s Day, Graduation

Mass and the final day of school. Yet liturgies also play an important role at our school especially for Ash Wednesday and Easter.

For the Ash Wednesday liturgy all students were encouraged to

“shed a skin” during the Lenten season in order to bring about new life. They were asked to make three commitments: to their family, to the St Joseph’s community, to the earth and global community.

These slips of paper were burnt and formed the ashes that marked the cross on their forehead. These ashes reminded us that everyone in our school community has negative layers that need to be shed and we are all striving to be people who benefit the communities we live in.

Our Easter Liturgy focused on Jesus being the great includer. He welcomed everyone to his table, he sat with them at the table and he invited them to the table. The original vision of an Edmund Rice school in Australia was a school that ‘… is open to all who wish to avail themselves of it without distinction of creed, colour or nationality. No child can be refused admission on the score of religion or payment”. Our school community was asked, “Who do we invite to sit at the table?” The liturgy encouraged us to change our behaviour, to open our hearts and minds, to continue to shed our negative skins which will help us undo the act of crucifixion.

RE PBL Pilot

With excitement and some trepidation, three year 8 RE classes began the very first Project Based Learning projects as part of a pilot program. They were challenged by the driving question: How do we as Catholic-school students mobilise our community to meet the need for food assistance? The students were inspired by the entry event which included Richard Slevin (a person who has formerly experienced homelessness) and Bill Mithen (CEO of Give Where You Live) imploring the boys to

help them help those in need in our community After researching the current need for food assistance in Geelong, which was greater than anyone thought, the students identified an organisation which they wanted to support including the Geelong Outreach Van, Geelong Food Relief Centre, Secondbite, St Mary’s Parish Pantry and Give Where You Live. Once in groups the students developed a plan to seek support from their local community for their chosen organisation which they put into action. For some this meant raising awareness of the organisation and for others seeking donations of goods, food or money. The main criteria for their action plan was they had to find out what each organisation most needed and develop a plan to meet this need. Following the actioning of the plans, the groups presented their plans, results and evaluations at a marvellous showcase. Representatives from the organisations and the St Joseph’s College leadership were invited to come and see the displays, speak to the boys about what they had done, and to award gold stars to the most effective groups. This event was an exhilarating way to end the project and certainly gave the students an opportunity to present their work and be proud of their achievements.

Rachel Roche, Vicki Mills and Jo Hart Below are some responses from students in 8C following their evaluation of the project: What is one thing you’ve learnt through the PBL RE project?

Student Leader, Student Leader, I have learnt that a lot of the community of Geelong are Rhys Hegyesi Rhys Hegyesi really committed to making a change because everyone distributing the ash we stopped they listened and donated and passed the on Ash Wednesday on Ash Wednesday message around to support Secondbite.

Jordan Fama

PBL group loading the Second PBL group loading the Second Bite van after collecting food at Aldi at Aldi The most important fact that I have learnt about my community is that the organisations don’t just need volunteers and donations but what they really need is for the word to be put out for everyone to know about them and how they can support people in hard times.

Lachlan Stonehouse How would you describe this project to a new group of Year 8s?

That it is an interactive way to talk to others and get work done in a fun way, and you get to talk to big companies and make change happen.

Michael La Spada PBL project group Oscar Mazaraki, PBL project group Oscar Mazaraki, Jacob Stevens, Will Dawson, Michael La Jacob Stevens, Will Dawson, Michael La Spada, Teague Ryan and Finn Spence Spada, Teague Ryan and Finn Spence

This year we have 23 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students here at St Joseph’s, including four young men from remote communities in the Northern Territory. We have had a busy but rewarding year and have participated in numerous activities. To start the year off we had a BBQ with our ATSI families, staff and students from the four Catholic schools, which was a great opportunity to catch up with everyone, as well as introduce the new Year 7s to the group. In Term 1 we sadly said goodbye to Kylie Pretty, the 2014 ATSI Coordinator, who headed off on a new adventure to China with her family. In July, students from the four Catholic Schools came together again to attend the ATSI Camp at CYC in Melbourne. “It was a good experience and it was even better that we got to learn about our culture at the Bunjilaka museum. It was also good to meet other people and learn about their stories. All in all it was a really good day, capped off by the footy!” Callum McGough - Year 10 & Jurrin Romanis - Year 9. Term 3 was an extremely eventful one! Students participated in the Watta Watnanda Cultural Day at the Korin Gamadji Institute at Richmond Football Club, getting involved in activities such as modern Aboriginal dance, listening to guest speakers and a footy clinic. We were also very fortunate to participate in Yapanyepuk, the first International Indigenous Education Symposium & Youth Forum in Melbourne. Here, senior Indigenous and non-Indigenous students had the opportunity to meet with world leaders in Indigenous education from universities in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US. Together, they were able to put forth their opinions about the future for Indigenous Education in Australia. “At the youth forum, some of the schools in Geelong and Melbourne came together to talk about diversity in our countries and also indigenous people internationally. Alongside this, what it means to have indigenous studies and fire-carrier groups and what they can try and accomplish” Sebastian McDougall - Year 11. A group of Year 8 ATSI students: Joel Hutchinson, Fraser Mackus and Kaleb Owen participated in a year-long art project in connection with Narana Cultural Institute and Geelong Hospital where they created Aboriginal artwork to be displayed in the Geelong Hospital. This project culminated with an official opening where the

Offi cial opening of Aboriginal Art Project at Geelong Hospital All ATSI students at the Richmond Day from the Four Geelong Catholic Schools

students were invited to see their artwork on display along with local politicians and prominent Aboriginal leaders. In addition, two of our students, Isaac Wunungmurra and Jazariah Marrkula, were chosen to participate in the Worlds of Work aspirations program run by the Catholic Education Office, a five day residential program in Melbourne that provides students with an opportunity to explore possible vocational pathways. We had a visit from Monash University, enabling the boys to find out information about tertiary study. This is what Jack Brogden in Year 10 had to say about it: “Krystel came down from Monash and talked about potential opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at Uni and, in particular, at Monash. She brought in a current student and they discussed what university life is like and that you don’t need an amazing ATAR to achieve the goal you want!” We also had the opportunity to participate in Mindfulness lessons, to help students focus on exams and assisted with Year 7 renewals, where Susan Collins and senior ATSI students taught the Year 7s about compassion, Aboriginal Culture and the Stolen Generation. “Being part of the ATSI group at Joeys allows me to be a part of a group of students who are Aboriginal like me. I don’t feel different, I feel like I can be myself with them and like learning about each other’s culture. We love the activities, but especially the pizza lunches at our meetings!” Kaelan Morrison - Year 10 This year’s group have successfully implemented a fortnightly newsletter “ATSI News @ SJC” and a group Facebook page to facilitate communication between the school, students and families. They also have had regular lunchtime meetings, “Our Yarning Circle”, so that we can spend some time together, having a yarn about what everyone is up to and learning about each other’s stories. In 2016, we have introduced a new leadership role – the ATSI Captains – who will act as mentors to younger ATSI students and as representatives for ATSI culture in the school. We congratulate Sebastian McDougall, Jack Brogden and Jazariah Marrkula on successfully obtaining these positions and look forward to seeing what they can achieve next year!

Supporting the Recognition campaign Yapanyepuk Youth Forum Yapanyepuk Youth Forum