IONA 14

Plenary Council

“The Australian Plenary Council is part of a global movement of reform and renewal, longed for by Catholics across the world.  The Plenary Council has been called in response to the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and other challenges and failings; it is an opportunity for significant renewal in the Church in Australia.” (A Church for All – A Guide to the Australian Plenary Council and Beyond, Australasian Catholic Coalition for Church Reform.)

I have attached two articles in relation to the Plenary Council, with assemblies of the Council scheduled for October 2021 and July 2022.  One is by Bishop Vincent Long, and the beautiful vision for the future of the Catholic Church in Australia he presented in the Dom Helder Camara Lecture in June.  The second is a response to Bishop Long by Professor Gabrielle McMullen, former Trustee of Mary Aikenhead Ministries, describing where she sees hope in two current developments in the Australian Church.

For all of us with a deeply committed faith, we look to the Church for nourishment, guidance and direction for how we live our lives in the image of Jesus.  The Plenary Council gives me hope that our Church is one that articulates and gives life to Pope Francis’ vision for a Church that meets each person where they are at in their journey, entering into a genuine encounter with the other; a Church that is welcoming, open and inclusive, and transforms the world through love.

Season of Creation

Thursday, 1 September marked the commencement of the Season of Creation – an ecumenical time in our calendars that calls for focussed prayer, advocacy and action for the care of our common home, Earth.  The following excerpt helps us to prepare for and focus on this coming season:

“The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, September, is an annual event during which Christians worldwide are invited to celebrate and care for God’s creation.  In 1989, the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios 1 proclaimed September 1st as the Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.  Since then, many Christian churches have embraced this special day.  Its focus has been extended to a month-long celebration of the Season of Creation concluding on October 4th, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology.  In 2015, Pope Francis officially acknowledged the Catholic Church’s embrace of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and the Season of Creation.  The theme for this year’s Season of Creation is:  ‘A home for all?  Renewing the Oikos of God.’  Oikos is the Greek word for home.  This theme reminds us of the common bond Christians share as we reverence all creation as God’s good gift, recognise our inter-dependence and give thanks for the opportunity to care for our Earthly home.”

(https://www.columban.org.au/media-and-publications/newsletters-and-bulletins/columban-ebulletin/archive/2021/pej-ebulletin-september-2021/world-day-of-prayer-for-creation)

With so much of our time being spent at home and in the company of our families we are reminded of what is good in our world. Ms Grima has shared with the community Pope Francis’ invitation to participate in the 2021 Seasons of Creation. This initiative invites us to understand the “Healthy Planet, Healthy People” petition which will be presented to world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference in Scotland in November. Please explore this website with information, a petition and many resources that call each of us into conversation about the “seasons of Creation”: https://seasonofcreation.org/2021/05/10/season-of-creation-2021-celebration-guide-en-news/

2022 Year 12 Windcheater

A uniform should establish a sense of pride, belonging, purpose and identity among students. One of the most recognisable features of any school is the uniform worn by its students while on campus and in the wider public. The College uniform and the way it is worn provides a statement about the way we perceive ourselves, and the way in which we hope members of the public will perceive us. Uniforms also help build school spirit.

Since 2011, Year 12 students have been allowed to wear a commemorative windcheater as part of the celebration and acknowledgment of the significance of being in Year 12. We are continuing this tradition in 2022.

The current Year 11 students, in dialogue with the College Leadership Team, have designed this windcheater. The hope is that the Year 12 windcheater will be a unique design each year after a similar process of consultation. This year, the winning design for the windcheater came from Alyssa Calderone.

A letter has been sent to Year 11 families with further details about the purchasing of the windcheater. In order to ensure that the windcheaters are ready for delivery to the College for the commencement of the new year, the online purchasing needs to occur by 9.00am Monday 11 October. Please note that the link on the Noone website will become active on Tuesday 14 September. Questions about payment should be directed to Noone Imagewear, in the first instance.

Vaping

As a follow up to the article I included in the last edition of Iona, another useful read about vaping, entitled ‘Doing Drugs with Paul Dillon’.

As part of our teaching and learning program at St Columba’s College, we use the Respectful Relationship curriculum with the context of our Christian vision of human life and relationships to teach students to form an appreciation of their sexuality and discover what it means to express love, be loved and live well in relationship with God and others.

We are offered a parent webinar with Your Choicez, entitled “Brave Parenting Conversations” on August 24. The parent seminar gave valuable information about how to have difficult discussions about topics such as Sexual decision making, Sexting, Consent, and the Impact of pornography. Please see the following link for the recording of the session.  https://yourchoicez.wpengine.com/scc-2021/

Wednesday the 1st September saw the conclusion of this year’s Project Based Learning Program, where year 10 students were tasked to find creative and innovative solutions to problems posed by industry partners. 

The briefs this year had our girls working on everything from coding a chatbot for Amazon, developing an art installation for St Vincent’s Tunnels of Love project and even working with architects from Hayball for our new STEAM facilities to design learning spaces which foster creativity in functional and inspiring ways. 

The project based learning program follows the design thinking process, a cyclical way of approaching real world problems. Students work through multiple stages to truly understand the needs of their target audience and to find the best possible solutions. 

To facilitate this students took part in an immersion day which gave the students time to meet with representatives from our industry partners and participate in a range of activities to help them empathise with their project. For our Carers this meant participating in online fitness classes with Ascot Vale Leisure Centre to gain a better understanding of what a healthy lifestyle means at every age. Our Zoos Victoria group met with the rangers to discuss the needs of the Lions and Hippos who they were designing enrichment toys for and through the Zoo’s live streams the girls observed the animals in their enclosures. 

With PBL taking place online this year, students also worked on developing new ways to collaborate in an online space, using digital project management tools and concept boards. This gave our girls first hand experience in applying their 21st century skills in a world of work.

Intertwined with all of our projects this year was our Media Team who took on the task of capturing the ideas and ingenuity of each cluster to share with our college community and the world. Under the guidance of Ralph Barber from Making Media the girls were immersed in the work of a real life press team, developing interview questions, establishing their own authentic journalistic voice and liaising with all parties to ensure their publications fit within the codes of practice for community radio and met the College’s marketing brief. The work of the Press Team and all of our industry clusters was celebrated on Friday 3rd September when Columba Live was broadcast to the world on LiveFM. You can catch up on the podcasts at https://www.livefm.online/columba-live and learn more about each cluster’s project and solutions.

The annual college charity run, involving St Columba’s and St Bernard’s students, is celebrating the 40th run this year!  Formerly known as the Bendigo 150, this relay covered a distance of 150 kilometres over a 12 hour period from 4am until 4pm.  This year the event is scheduled for the first Friday when we return from the term break, being 8 October 2021.

This year St Bernard’s have nominated for the money raised to be donated to Brother Beausang Catholic Education Centre in Kenya.   The money raised will contribute towards the funds required for the daily functioning of the centre that provides educational opportunities to over 800 primary and secondary students from the Embulbul community.  This includes the upkeep of buildings and facilities, teacher wages and resources, as well as a hot meal that is provided to each student daily.

We are unable to collect cash this year due to Covid regulations so we would encourage students and the St Columba’s community to donate via our GoFundMe page to assist with making collecting and giving donations easier, and to be Covid safe. The link is:  https://gofund.me/f0fd0e5b      

Please support your fellow students in their commitment to making a difference.

Our congratulations to Tiana Ciavarella who was highly commended in the Intermediate Section of the Australian Catholics Young Voices Award for her entry, ‘Michele Payne: An inspiration’. The time and effort that every entrant spent was obvious, and though that made it particularly hard for the judges, it was rewarding and heartwarming as well.

Students of Year 10 STEM joined a virtual tour of the world’s most advanced pilot training aircraft – the Pilatus PC -21 aircraft.

The PC-21 will replace the Air Force’s current PC-9/A and is based at the RAAF Base East Sale in Victoria and RAAF Base Pearce in Western Australia. The new Pilot Training System is able to train more people faster and to a higher standard, with an advanced aircraft, state of the art simulation and an electronic learning environment. The system will ensure undergraduate pilots develop the necessary knowledge and skills prior to progressing onto advanced military aircraft such as the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, and MRH-90 helicopter. The Roulette 7 team fly the PC -21 for aerobatic and formation displays both nationwide and overseas. 

The Roulettes – Virtual Tour

On the 17th of August during my Science class, I was lucky enough to join Ms D’Amico’s year 10 STEM class for a virtual tour of the RAAF base in Sale Victoria. We were introduced to two women who both work for the Royal Australian Air Force, (RAAF). Flight Lieutenant Aimee Heal, a RAAF pilot with the Roulettes and Pilot Officer Alexandera Speakman. who is training to become a RAAF pilot.

We were shown the different planes they flew, the safety suits they had to wear and even their favourite tricks while flying. An example of the planes and what safety gear they wore is shown below. 

The plane was called the Pilatus PC-21 and was red, exactly like the picture shown below. The plane was shown as well as different parts of the plane. We were shown the ejector seat and we learnt some interesting facts about this plane. The propellers were on an angle so that the plane could stay upright and didn’t tilt to one side.

An example of the uniforms are also shown below. Pilots wear specifically designed clothing which includes a helmet, jacket and shoes all uniquely designed for each individual to ensure that the pilots are safe during their flight.

It was a very interesting incursion and I was very appreciative to have been allowed to join this STEAM lesson. I have chosen STEAM as one of my three electives and if this is what it entails, then I hope I am able to have this class next year.

Charlotte Mollica, Year 8

There have been some very thought provoking entries for this year’s writing competition on the topic of LOCKDOWN. There is still next week for students to enter. I am especially looking for students in years 9 and 10 to have a go. An early night in bed, hammering out a story, would be a great way to finish off a busy day.