Several year 11 and 12 students travelled to the Alfred hospital for the PARTY program. There, we got to look around the ICU, trauma unit and burns unit, where we spoke with Rick, a man who suffered a workplace accident, resulting in his hospital stay.
To start the day off, we talked to a paramedic and nurse about their experiences at the hospital involving patients who had devastating stories on drunk driving and illicit drugs.
Shortly after, we took a look at some other specialties. In the Physiotherapy session, we got to practice using slings, wheelchairs and crutches, and learnt about different ways patients could undergo recovery. This was followed by orthotics, where we learnt about and tried on neck stabilisation braces. Finally, at Occupational Therapy, we learnt about some ways that patients are assessed after anaesthesia to ensure proper recovery. To finish the day off, we talked to Oscar, who had driven under the influence of alcohol resulting in the amputation of his right leg.
These hands-on experiences were very insightful into how doctors and nurses help patients recover after surgery or trauma, which included drink driving and the risks of driving under the influence of alcohol. This taught us to handle our decisions with care, as split second decisions can easily become lifelong struggles.
We would like to thank Ms Payne, Mr Johnston and Ms Holzer, and the numerous Alfred workers who helped to make the day possible.
Anabelle Sofoclis, Maddie Thomas - Year 11
Updated statements were issued 18 March 2025.
The Early Payment Discount has been applied to all families who qualified (account paid in full by 21st February 2025).
If you are yet to commence 2025 payments, it would be appreciated if you bring your account up to date. Please review the fees schedule on the website by following the link below.
Deduction forms (Direct Debit / Debit or Credit Card / Centrepay) can also be accessed via the link below.
https://www.msj.vic.edu.au/enrolments/tuition-fees
$1,256 CSEF reduction in fees
The CSEF / HCC Concession has been applied to all MSJ accounts for families who have completed an application and were eligible.
Families who have not already applied & are eligible (hold health care (HCC), pensioner concession (PCC) or veterans’ affairs gold card, permanent carers and temporary foster parents) are strongly encouraged to complete the CSEF form (also included on our website) as it provides significant reductions in fees.
Should you have any queries in relation to your account please contact Mrs Heather Rinaldi (msjfees@msj.vic.edu.au) or 8398 2000 (Option 3).
Your continued support is appreciated.
Daniel O’Malley - Business Manager
Sydney
After completing my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award, I decided I wanted to continue and get my Silver Award. My friends and I went through our options and decided the best option would be to volunteer in the school library. We love the library because it is a quiet place where we can study and where everyone is nice and kind. We are now a quarterway through volunteering and I am loving it. The librarians are nice and provide us with fun jobs such as, stacking shelves, doing the word of the day and setting up the Harmony Day display.
Esha
I am currently in the process of completing my Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award, and I decided to complete the volunteering portion in the MSJ library. It’s really fun getting to replace the Word of the Day, and getting to choose the word. Volunteering at the library has taught me so much about what our librarians do for the MSJ community, and has made me more grateful for the library.
Isabel
I am currently taking part in the Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award. For service, my friends and I decided to volunteer in the MSJ library. We have done so many things including picking the word of the day, shelving the books, putting up posters and organising activities. Other fun things in the library this term have been the Who Am I competition for Women’s History month, the communal jigsaws, the 3D printer and MakerSpace.
Father Ohno SVD was a Japanese priest whose working life was committed to the fulfillment of a dream for world peace. His experience as a conscript in the Japanese Imperial Army prior to his ordination after the conclusion of World War II was to make working for peace a priority for his entire future ministry. He simply believed that peace would not come until young people from all over the world had lived in each other’s homes. He particularly believed in the importance of such experiences for the youth of once-warring nations.
In 1983, as Principal of a Catholic Girls High School in Seto, near Nagoya he had sent his Deputy to Australia to seek out a school where he could conduct a homestay program for his students. His Deputy had contacted the Catholic Education Office and a series of visits was arranged to various Catholic Girls Colleges in Melbourne’ eastern suburbs. None was interested but at the final school he visited it was suggested to him that he drop in to Sancta Sophia in Glenroy on his way out to the airport to catch his flight home. He did just that and the Principal of that College showed some polite interest in his plan during the visit. Some months later a letter arrived advising her that 45 students and five staff (all male) would be arriving in four week’s time! Thus began an enduring connection between Melbourne and Seirei College that has continued until today.
Father Ohno died in January 1993 and Sancta Sophia closed in 1994 but his vision continues through MSJ from 1996. The baton has been transferred to us and we are now the Melbourne Catholic girls’ school conducting his program of homestay and schoolstay exchanges. As the Japanese economy has deteriorated and various ‘touristy’ elements of their Australian visit have been cut back, the essential experiences of having young people of once-warring nations live in each other’s homes has remained constant as has the timing of the visit to coincide with a commemoration of Hiroshima Day (August 6) each year.
Would you like to be connected in part to the fulfillment of Father Ohno’s dream?
Responsibilities of Home-stay family
We are scheduled to have a meeting in Term 2 however if there are any further enquiries about the homestay, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Takahiro Hayashi, Japanese Teacher for more information.
Please complete this form if interested.
(ph: 8398-2000 or Email: thayashi@msj.vic.edu.au)
On Sunday, 2nd of March, students from years 7 to 12 participated in Clean Up Australia Day at WG Cresser Reserve in Seaholme. This event is important to the Mount St Joseph’s community as environmental issues are a real focus at the college. Australia struggles with water pollution, with 130,000 tonnes of plastic leaking into marine ecosystems every year. As a community, we felt it was of the utmost importance to help clean our marine environment.
We had many staff, students and family members who joined us in picking up rubbish. Despite the windy and rainy weather, everyone showed their dedication, as well as a strong sense of community and commitment to making a positive environmental impact.
With so many people participating in Clean Up Australia Day, we were able to form multiple groups, allowing us to spread out and thus letting us clean the reserve in a swift manner. We found lots of interesting items, ranging from old boat parts to a whole coconut. As a community, we managed to collect around 20 bags of rubbish from the beach and surrounding areas.
We are proud of everyone's hard work in coming together to help pick up rubbish. It was amazing to see how enthusiastic everyone was and how willing they were to come help. Overall, a great day filled with lots of laughs and hard work!
By Bianca Anderson, Priscilla Law and Ebony Silva (Year 12)
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Interschool Tennis
Our MSJ tennis teams had an incredible victory at the CGSAV Division 3 Competition, held at Glen Waverley Sports Hub. All of our teams played exceptionally well, with our junior and intermediate teams winning the championship title.
Eliza Sagona was named best Junior player and Autumn Wells was named best Intermediate player. We also had Indiana Bogoevski (who is a year 10) play as the senior singles player and won all of her matches.
As a year 9 student on the team, it was amazing to be part of such a great day, witnessing our school's competitiveness and teamwork shine. Thank you to CGSAV who held such a successful event and congratulations to all the schools and players for their hard work and dedication, go MSJ!
