As a collective, WAAMSS has had a phenomenal end to Term 2!
Zara Curtis & Kate Lavers - College Captains
In the Academic portfolio, we have had our first ever House Spelling Bee competition! Filled with competition and house spirit, all students who participated in the spelling bee have shown their commendable skills with spelling some difficult words. Additionally, ACED IT Tutoring has been continuing throughout this term with great results for older students assisting the younger students with their learning. Next term, we look forward to celebrating Australia National Education Week, with the week being dedicated to each subject domain.
Prisha Anand – Academic and Applied Learning Leader
The Wellbeing portfolio is very excited to announce that the long-awaited installation of the House Cup trophy cabinet will be very soon! This project is a joint initiative between the Arts and Wellbeing teams to encourage students to support their house by signing up for any and every activity they can, as driving participation in inter-house events and activities has been a prominent goal for the Student Leadership Team for 2023. It will be fantastic to see a range of things displayed and celebrated in this cabinet for our staff and students to see, from the Year 7 netball competition and Athletics Day, to MMADD Day and the Cardio Tuesday leader board.
Bridget Munro – Wellbeing Leader
In the Arts portfolio, our main focus this term has been MMADD Day! It was a smashing success, and all students had a great time celebrating and learning about Music, Media, Art, Drama and Dance. There were 30+ workshops to take part in throughout the morning, but the highlight of the day was our House Dance competition. Solomon came out on top, scoring a perfect 80 and winning the MMADD Day Cup with their 90s inspired dance. It was also great to see our staff get involved and embrace the day, with a special performance from some of the staff to finish off the day. Also, this term, our Year 11 and Year 12 VCE VET Music students performed at Kindred Studios in Yarraville for their friends, family and staff. It was a terrific night and a great way to showcase student talent and hard work. We’ve also had three soirees from our Instrumental students and ensembles, including the Orchestra and MSJ Voices. The soirees were a wonderful showcase of the talent in the program. Looking forward to next term, our school musical Legally Blonde Jr will be taking to the stage at Altona City Theatre on 4 and 5 August and will be the culmination of months of hard work. Our cast is so excited for you all to see it. We will also be hosting our MSJ’s Got Talent competition in Term 3, with auditions going out over the holidays and our Grand Finale on Feast Day, 11 August.
Kesara Brocas-Reti – Arts Leader
In the Sustainability portfolio, our student club Youth in Action rejuvenated the MSJ garden! On Friday 16 June, our club members, accompanied by our outstanding maintenance staff, embarked on an exciting trip to Bunnings Warehouse to purchase the fresh produce necessary to revive our garden. The following week, we planted an array of produce such as carrots, silverbeet, sugar snap peas, flowers and more to “make our vege garden best”, as one of our amazing maintenance staff Akhil said. A big thank you to Ms Severi, and Akhil, Brad and Mark from Maintenance for making this trip possible! Lots of more exciting events to expect next term – look out for fun Plastic Free July activities coming your way!
Jade Neary – Sustainability Leader
We began the semester in the Social Justice portfolio with YIA (Youth In Action), a group run by students with an emphasis on social justice, sustainability, and ministry. This group has been concentrating on the MSJ Op Shop, Reconciliation Week, and the recently renovated MSJ Garden, lead by the Maintenance team and Sustainability Leader, Jade. Then from 16 June through 22 June, the Faith Team ran Sacred Heart Activities and an Op Shop to wrap out this semester. Beginning on Friday with a Morning Sacred Heart Feast Day Quiz, won by Senior Cameron 4 (Mrs. A. Stafrace) who came out on top with 9/10 accurate answers. Additionally, the excellent Makerspace Club offered a heart-keyring-making activity during lunch. Finally, MSJ Op Shop for Sacred Heart Mission was open at lunchtime during the last week of term and offered some fantastic deals. Providing students with the option to purchase pre-loved clothing, accessories, games, and other items is both a win for the environment and raising money for the Sacred Heart Mission. A Sacred Heart Raffle was also held in addition to the MSJ Op Shop.
And that concludes Term 2. The school will have plenty of fun activities in Term 3, including the first MSJ Sleepout held in person in two years.
Delaney Calder – Social Justice Leader
In the Ministry portfolio, our main focus for this term was National Reconciliation Week between 5-9 June. To acknowledge reconciliation at MSJ, there was a series of activities held which allowed students and teachers to actively participate in building a community of peace, progress and respect.
On Monday, we were honoured to welcome Scott Darlow to the College. Scott is passionate in working with Indigenous communities. Using music as a tool to open young hearts and minds about Indigenous culture, Scott encourages us to help promote peace and reconciliation in our community. It was clear that his self-described "guitar and didgeridoo-driven rock with a tinge of country” style really had a beautiful effect on the school as students joined in with his symphony, clapping and cheering to the beat.
This year, MSJ held its first ever ‘Reconciliation Week Awareness art competition’. The competition was open to all artists with the task to create a design based around Indigenous Reconciliation. The winning artists will have their design printed onto a canvas and tote bag which will be sold to raise funds for Indigenous charities.
The winner of the tote bag design was created by Ava Scott.
The winner of the canvas print design was created by Lucy McFarlane.
You can expect to see the tote bags and canvas print make their debut next term.
On Wednesday, MSJ enjoyed a shared lunch whilst listening to Indigenous music and participating in an interactive art workshop. Students used their painted handprints to recreate the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags. The handprints symbolise the MSJ community’s partnership and reconciliation with the Indigenous people of the land. The two art pieces will be displayed at school in the near future.
On Thursday there was a screening of ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’. The film follows three aboriginal girls as they escape from their white missionaries where they were being trained as domestic staff, setting off on a trek across the rabbit proof fence, to home.
To conclude the week, the MSJ community made a pledge to support the Uluru Statement during Friday’s morning pastoral. There was an accompanying slideshow which educated the students on the issue occurring. For those curious, you can access the slideshow through this link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QzcaqsRUuhLtIW8cy3LOZQLA2Jyp5qUoIASSLv6khzY/edit?usp=sharing
Bella Fiumara – Ministry Leader
