27 March 2020
This first term of 2020 has been extremely eventful. Despite current health concerns, MSJ has been able to come together as a community stronger than ever before and support each other through this challenge, as cooperation and unity are crucial in this trying time. Hence why, despite modifications due to COVID-19, MSJ still held Harmony Week. This week commemorated the internationally celebrated Harmony Day, as well as The National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence with the theme “Take Action Together To Create Harmony”. Due to health restrictions, the Student Leadership Team had to make the tough decision of cancelling several activities, although this demonstrated the great teamwork and resilience of MSJ students as safer new activities were quickly introduced. Nevertheless, the MSJ community enjoyed pre-made videos and pastoral activities that aimed to celebrate the vast diversity of the college, as well as pledging to take a stand against bullying and violence.
We look forward to returning and continuing our leadership at the College after the school holidays.
By Laura Whitfort and Olivia Caldwell
The first term of 2020 is one which has been filled with many exciting and engaging events for the whole college. On February 24th, we held our House Swimming Carnival at Werribee Outdoor Pool, where over 200 students competed in our annual event. Congratulations to Providence house, who finished victorious with a total of 146 points, and thank you to all of the house captains, participants and staff who celebrated the day with house spirit and pride. Special thanks to Sports Coordinator, Sue Sofarnos, who organised and ran this whole day.
Throughout the term, we have also been running our Get Active Lunchtimes for the Year 7 and 8 students. The purpose of this activity is to encourage students to be active during their lunchtimes (particularly during the warmer months), so that everyone can work towards achieving their 60 minutes of physical activity per day. These lunchtimes have been a great success! With the multitude of equipment available, we saw students playing downball, skipping, kicking a footy and playing Jenga. We hope to continue to run these lunchtimes throughout the year, and even expand for our senior year levels.
Alongside these activities, despite the annual MSJ House Athletics Carnival being cancelled due to current advice from the government, we were able to run a mini athletics carnival on the oval, where my fellow Year 12 students and I were able to dress up and participate in novelty events (eg. an egg and spoon race and three-legged race). The Wellbeing Team greatly appreciate the ability of the College to come together during this stressful time. While the situation regarding COVID-19 keeps us all on standby, we look forward to all of the future activities that we will be running throughout the year, particularly to combat the stress and anxiety that this situation has caused, in order to better the wellbeing of all students and staff of MSJ.
By Penny Parker - Wellbeing Captain.
The beginning of the academic year is always a time of uncertainty and anxiety with new and challenging subjects. This is why I decided to continue Aced It! Tutoring into 2020 since its successful establishment in 2019. Aced It! Tutoring is a free tutoring service offered to MSJ students in Year 7 to 11. A variety of subjects are offered to be tutored in, such as Maths, Japanese and Science. It runs every weekday after school in the library and group tutoring is also available. The tutors are experienced Year 11 and 12 students who are more than willing to lend a hand!
Along with this, the Academic Team also thrilled MSJ with a Pi Day celebration to commemorate the magic of mathematics. Students celebrated Pi Day by participating in a pie decorating competition where they won decorating utensils by answering math questions. The best pie had to fulfill the criteria of: incorporating elements of maths, specifically of pi, and had to look appetizing. With over 75 students engaged, that lunch was filled with enthusiasm and house spirit. In the near future, the Academic Team will be hosting an MSJ spelling bee and an eccentric trivia.
The Academic Captain and Academic Team are elated to work with the MSJ community to ensure a lively and positive experience with their education in 2020.
By Pooja Chelimela - Academic Captain
The beginning of 2020 was off to a fantastic start for the wonderful, newly elected and dedicated Arts Team. During our weekly meetings, surrounded by people who care so much about a field that requires such dedication, it was great to see so many ideas being thrown around and the entire group bouncing off each other.
As Arts Captain, I am beyond proud of the entire team for pulling off some amazing events in both the ending of last year and the start of 2020. The Arts Team have managed to announce the Mary Poppins musical in a way that has not been done at MSJ, via a live stream after school hours, come up with ideas to get the media arts and visual arts just as seen as the outstanding performing arts area and lastly, work to create inclusive activities for all of the school to enjoy. The MSJ swimming carnival was also blessed by some arts presence this year, with the national anthem being sung by a member of the arts team and the inclusion of some hectic movie trivia.
From musical rehearsals to numerous lunchtime concerts and MSJ radio every Monday, the Arts Team are a very busy bunch and with the support of the MSJ community, who knows what will be possible. Overall, the arts team have made a brilliant start to 2020 and with big events such as MMADD DAY coming up - it is no doubt how amazing they will turn out.
By Tia Stewart - Arts Captain
As the new year began, I was honoured to be given the opportunity to represent MSJ in the JJAMM Conference located in Sydney. The Ministry and Social Justice Captains were given the chance to seek and embrace the spirit of our school as well as share new initiatives between different Josephite schools.This allowed us to meet with other Josephite schools from across Australia and New Zealand to gather as leaders and to share the spirit of Mary Mackillop and Fr Julian Tennison Woods. JJAMM also gave us the opportunity to bring back new ideas for the MSJ community.
Every year, MSJ fundraises for Project Compassion, this inspires and brings together thousands of Australians in schools, parishes and the community to stand in solidarity with the world’s most vulnerable communities, to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity. The annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day on 25 February was, as always, a big hit with staff and students and raised a total of $468 to go towards Project Compassion. A big thank you to everyone who donated pancake mixes and toppings and came along to buy pancakes! Aside from the pancake day, this year, the year levels and houses are competing against one another to see who can raise the most money for Project Compassion. We hope students will remember that small change makes a huge difference and continue to contribute to this wonderful cause.
By Nadine Gunadi - Ministry Captain
2020 started off with a bang, with the Social Justice Team organising a Bushfire Relief Coin Challenge, which saw students bringing in handfuls and zip-lock bags of loose change. The coins were arranged to spell out the message “MSJ Stands With You”, to show our solidarity with those who have been affected by the devastating bushfires that hit Australia at the end of 2019. The coin challenge, which raised a staggering amount of $1599.05, also goes to show that every little thing adds up, and when we come together and unite as a community, big things can happen. All of the funds raised went to the St Vincent de Paul Society to help with the rebuilding of affected communities. To show our ongoing support for victims of the bushfires, the Social Justice Team are planning to hold a letter writing workshop in early Term 2 where MSJ students can write messages of support and encouragement to primary school students in areas that have been affected, so keep an eye out for that notice and many more.
At the beginning of the year, I was given the opportunity to go to Sydney for the annual JJAMM Leadership Conference with Nadine, the Ministry Captain and Mr Robinson, the Faith and Identity Leader. We were able to meet fellow leaders from other Josephite affiliated schools across not only Australia, but New Zealand as well. During the five days we were together, we were able to learn more about Mary Mackillop, Fr Julian Tenison Woods and the Sisters of Saint Joseph, all of whom play an integral part in making Mount Saint Joseph what it is today. We were able to share our leadership ideas and be inspired by activities and projects that other schools did as well as form strong, lasting bonds of friendships with the other students from the 27 schools who attended. Words cannot describe what a privilege and life-changing journey this was. It was an absolutely amazing and humbling experience to say the least and I am extremely thankful to Ms Dishon, Mrs Fairthorne and Mr Robinson who made it all possible.
By Thuy Vu - Social Justice Leader
