26 May 2023
On 26 April, all students were welcomed back to the College, refreshed and ready, for the start of another jam-packed Term 2. We started off the term with our annual ANZAC Day ceremony. It was an honour for both of us to play a role in such a special part of our Australian history, through laying a wreath at the base of the flagpole of the Australian flag at the front of the school, getting to pay our respects to fallen soldiers who fought for our way of lives today. It was also amazing to see how reverent all students were when in their pastoral groups, listening intently, and fully immersing themselves in the experience.
Another highlight of the term was the revival of our Class Captain Panels. Class Captain panels are composed of the elected Class Captains for each of the Learning Mentor groups, and who come together to help fuel and keep our student voice thriving. Our first Class Captain panel was about welcoming the students and getting to know all the new captains, as well as filling them in on the responsibilities and jobs that they will have throughout the year. Our future panels include leadership skill workshops. Our next workshop focuses on Time Management and Organisational Skills. It is so important that our Class Captains walk away with not only a great experience, but skills to help them better their school and potential future leadership careers.
MMADD Day… All houses have been rehearsing for one of the biggest days on our school calendar. We are so proud of all the student leaders who have been actively involved with MMADD Day organisation and preparation so far. A big shout out goes to our senior house leaders for not only working so hard and collaboratively, but also being so innovative with their dances too. We look forward to not only participating, but watching the houses battle it out for the MMADD Day cup… and see which decade will conquer them all!
To wrap up the term, it was so much fun to meet and get to know future families considering MSJ as a school for their children at our Open Day, as well as seeing our school community come together. Both of us were part of Ms Dishon’s Principal's panel, which was to provide families with our personal perspective and experiences at MSJ.
Finally, we hope to continue to make the rest of Term 2 one that will never be forgotten, as we look to inspire and encourage everyone to get involved.
So together, as a community, we ask everyone to try their best, finish off strong, and enjoy every part of 2023.
We cannot wait to see what Term 3 has in store for the MSJ Community!
Kate Lavers and Zara Curtis – College Captains
Picture this: you go to the supermarket, but you’ve only brought one shopping bag with you, so you squeeze every last thing into that one bag (because who is paying 15 cents for another bag in this economy?) - that is how I would describe Term 2! A short nine-week term, jam-packed with activity after activity, but what is life at MSJ if not busy?
Both our junior and senior captains have continued to facilitate a range of lunchtime activities each week, from pop culture trivia and volleyball to ‘Guess the Song’ competitions and screenings of the cult-classic TV series ‘H2O: Just Add Water.’ This initiative has been thoroughly enjoyed by all students, as there has truly been something for everyone. Our leaders have done an amazing job, continuing to be innovative and coming up with new, creative activities. Keep up the great work, team!
As we look ahead to Term 3, the wellbeing and co-curricular team will be further expanding on our senior coaching and mentoring program, which will see more senior students volunteering to coach our junior sporting teams for interschool sports with the Catholic Girls Sports Association of Victoria. We hope to have this in full swing for next term’s competitions which will include AFL, volleyball, netball, soccer and lacrosse.
We are MSJ!
Bridget Munro – Wellbeing Leader
What a term for the Arts Portfolio! All of the houses have been rehearsing their MMADD Day dances, an MSJ tradition where the Year 7 and 12 students from each house collaborate to create a dance and then compete against each other to win the MMADD Day Cup! This year's theme is 'If I could Turn Back Time' (Decades). So far, the dances are looking great and it is wonderful to see the Year 7 and 12 students working together and bonding over this fun activity! We have also begun planning different activities for the MMADD week, each day of the week will represent Music, Media, Art, Drama or Dance and end with MMADD Day on Friday 2 June.
Our school musical 'Legally Blonde Jr' is coming along very nicely. Our leads are off book, our ensemble is working on their choreography and singing and we are already well into Act 2. We have also begun finding and building set pieces and sourcing costumes for all members of the cast. This year's musical will also have a live band which we are very excited about. A reminder that the sponsorship packages with great benefits are still available for those interested in sponsoring the production!
As we look ahead to Term 3, Legally Blonde Jr will have performances on the 4 and 5 of August, with tickets going on sale on 5 June via trybooking! Towards the end of Term 2 and beginning to mid Term 3, we will also be hosting MSJ’s Got Talent, where students can enter their talent, perform in front of the school and get voted into our grand final, which will be on Feast Day, Friday 11 August. We will also be having musical performances throughout the term at lunchtimes as students complete their assessments.
Kesara Brocas-Reti – Arts Leader
Term 2 and the Academic Portfolio has started with excitement!
We have been continuing ACED IT Tutoring throughout the term, which has shown exceptional levels of communication and togetherness between our senior and junior students, to benefit our learning!
We have more exciting things coming up with our academic portfolio during this term and Term 3! Towards the end of this term, we will have our first house Spelling Bee competition. Every student in each year level will have the chance to represent their house in the Spelling Bee, with house points and prizes ready to win!
To start Term 3, we plan to celebrate Australian Education Week with a day dedicated to each domain area. There will be multiple, exciting activities running throughout the week such as writing competitions, maths quizzes, art activities and even opportunities to make new foods!
I encourage everyone to come along and participate in all these activities to stay involved within our school and enhance our learning in an exciting way!
Prisha Anand – Academic/Applied Learning Leader
Students celebrated the first Youth in Action meeting of 2023 with a shared afternoon tea. Participants happily enjoyed an array of healthy fruits (and some cheeky sweets!) while listening to the club's prospects and goals for the year, concerning Faith, EarthCare and Social Justice. Coming up in YIA, we are exploring the interests and passions of its members while also brainstorming a possible art project to display in school, to show what the team is all about. Specific to the Ministry Portfolio, the Youth in Action team has begun planning the future of Chapel Prayer at MSJ. Students and staff are looking forward to uplifting the Chapel's spiritual presence in school through the organisation of events dedicated towards prayer, faith, and spirituality. Aside from Youth in Action, the Ministry Portfolio has been busy preparing for Reconciliation Week, in commemoration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We look forward to a week full of activities ranging from art workshops, Indigenous film screenings, walkathon and Reconciliation awareness tote bag competition! Later in the term, the Ministry Portfolio will also have a role in organising the MSJ Op shop and St. Vincent De Paul Society's Sleepout, with a keen focus on stocking up on donations for sanitary products, food, and clothing appeals.
Additionally, MMS has planned various activities for Reconciliation Week to pay homage to the deep connection and kinship of its First Nations people. This event aims to reflect on our shared history and promote reconciliation in our country. Last but not least, Social Justice is organising the St. Vincent De Paul Society's WINTER SCHOOL SLEEPOUT, which will be returning for the first time on campus since 2019. Throughout this term and the rest of the year, I encourage everyone to participate in lots of social justice-related activities, such as fundraising and advocacy. Let's all get involved!
Bella Fiumara – Ministry Leader, and Delaney Calder – Social Justice Leader
The Sustainability Portfolio is off to an exciting start in Term 2! Students and staff can look forward to an unforgettable year filled with fundraising and advocacy events thanks to the establishment of Youth in Action. Coming up on the group’s agenda, we will be working towards revitalising the school’s garden by planting heaps of new and in-season vegetables and flowers. Furthermore, the group will be helping to organise our annual op-shop, encouraging MSJ community members to donate any old or unwanted items to sell for charity. Independent of Youth in Action, the Sustainability portfolio is excited to announce MSJ’s involvement in the Catholic Earthcare Schools Program, joining the movement to care for God’s creation and exemplify the goals of Laudato Si’. Lastly, the portfolio will also help organise a Plastic-Free July kick-off event for the entire school. This event will be filled with good food, music, and other initiatives, so stay tuned for more updates!
Jade Neary – Sustainability Leader
Term 2 for the Co-curricular Portfolio has been packed so far with activities for both staff and students across the College. Students in Years 7 and 12 have been rehearsing for MMADD Day, creating music and dances that are sure to impress the entire school, with the students practising tirelessly in all their free time, across the school.
Despite a washout in round one, throughout the term, the Year 7 netball competition is also to be completed by Year 7 houses/Learning Mentor groups across the term. In an attempt to encourage house spirit and boost physical activity in our newest members to the College, each week uniquely named teams will compete for glory, the question of who will be crowned as the premiers is still yet to come.
Continuing on from last term, the Year 11 VET sport class is continuing to run ‘Cardio Tuesdays’ weekly at lunchtime, with the aim of recording the amount of laps around the school oval members of each house are taking, each gaining students and staff a house point towards the house cup. Following on from their victory last term, Cameron house is seemingly leading once again in the race for ‘Cardio Tuesday’ champions, with more to come later in the term.
Continuing with sports, students will be able to participate in CGSAV sports including:
Participation in these sports will require signing up and completing several trials held by the coaching teachers and Mr Dicker at lunchtimes, closer to selection dates.
Finally, upcoming this term includes student run clubs, which run weekly includes the grannies (LRC), photography club (Tuesday lunchtimes, LRC), the chess club (Wednesday lunchtimes, LRC), Year 11 and Ms Sleiman run Supportive Friends (Wednesday lunchtimes, P1) and makerspace (Friday lunchtimes, LRC) available for all students, with further information on SIMON and MSJ RADIO.
Alice Imms and Vedangi Khanna – Co-Curricular Leaders
Cameron House has had a very busy Term 2 already. We are very proud to be Senior Cameron Leaders of such an amazing house. From the first day back after the school holidays, the Year 7 and 12 students have heavily focused on MMADD Day to produce the best performance possible, for you to enjoy on 2 June. As well as this, during Day 10 Learning Mentor time (Friday), the junior leaders have been leading Year 7 Cameron to bond together through games and activities. The first visit was great and the whole class enjoyed a fun game of silent ball as well as a chant off between the houses. Cameron also showed lots of house spirit at the first round of the Year 7 Netball tournament. We cannot wait to see the Cameron enthusiasm grow throughout the year!!
GO, GO, GO, GO CAMERON 🧡🧡🧡
Isabella Kendall (Cameron Arts Leader) and Georgia Kikidis (Cameron Wellbeing Leader)
Kincumber has had an amazing start to Term 2! With MMADD Day fast approaching, the Year 7 and 12 students have been working hard to get into their 70’s groove and we couldn’t be more excited to perform in the coming weeks. Our Year 7s have also had an amazing start to their netball competition with both Kincumber teams working well to help earn points for the house as well as participating in a Day 10 activity with the junior house leaders to promote community, stepping out of your comfort zone, and just having fun. We have also been working hard to plan lunchtime activities such as downball with music and we can’t wait to see what the turn out will be. There has been some great teamwork this term that we can’t wait to carry on into Term 3 as we continue to strive for house spirit.
GO KINCUMBER 💙🐬
Neha Arumalla (Kincumber Arts Leader) and Sophie Aitchison (Kincumber Wellbeing Leader)
McCormack has leaped into Term 2 with even more enthusiasm than last term!
With MMADD Day fast approaching, the Year 7 and 12 students have been working hard to produce the grooviest 60’s themed performance! Along with this, there have also been lunchtime activities, such as ‘guess the song’, to bring a sense of community within our house and the greater MSJ community. We can’t wait to keep connecting as a house, as well as dominating against the other houses…
LET’S GO MCCORMACK! 🐊
Sophie Mallabone (McCormack Arts Leader) and Holly Moore (McCormack Wellbeing Leader)
This term, Penola has started off with a great and amazing collaboration between the Year 7 and 12 students. Everyone is very excited about MMADD Day that is around the corner, and we are appreciative of all the Penola people who are not in Year 7 or 12 that have been eager to help out!! Penola has also been successful in our lunchtime activities with a Pop Culture Kahoot that saw a lot of participation, competitiveness and fun! We are so excited for the rest of the term and to further develop the relationships within the Penola community!
GO PENOLA☀️☀️☀️☀️
Aimee Thornton and Jorja Hickmott (Penola Art Leaders) and Mila Fanjek (Penola Wellbeing Leader)
Term 2 has been a great start for Solomon. We are all extremely eager for MMADD Day and have been putting in a lot of effort with the Year 7 and 12 students. In order to win, we have been working together to create ideas and props for our 90’s performance. We have every confidence that we will succeed if we keep up our current level of tenacity.
GO SOLOMON ❤️
Jessica Chawla (Solomon Arts Leader) and Louise O’Connor (Solomon Wellbeing Leader)
Providence has had a fantastic start to Term 2. The Year 7 and 12 students are filled with eagerness and excitement as they are preparing for the highly anticipated MMADD Day!
With the dances coming along quickly and the fast approaching date, it is excellent to see the Year 7 and 12 students working so well together.
The Year 7 students have also been putting their all into the netball tournament with some great results so far. Their house spirit is amazing to see, with the students not competing cheering their peers on! We are ready for another term of teamwork, passion, and energy, and can’t wait to present our performance… and hopefully get the win!
GO PROVIDENCE! 💜
Olivia O’Rourke (Providence Arts Leader) and Monique Parker (Providence Wellbeing Leader)
