IONA 5

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Term Two.  We are looking forward to a full term of onsite learning and co-curricula activities, and I encourage each student to make the most of the opportunities that are on offer at the College.

Sisters of Charity Chapter News

Some of you may be aware that the Sisters of Charity recently held their Chapter gathering from 6-14 March in Sydney.  As described on the Sisters of Charity website, Chapters are “regular meetings during which the leadership teams are elected for fixed terms, and matters relating to religious life are discussed and resolved”.  This is a very important discernment and renewal period for the Sisters as they reflect on their previous Chapter Statement, elect new congregational leaders and plan for the future.

The new Congregational Leader, Sr Laureen Dixon, and Council – Sisters Libbey Byrne, Adele Cottrell-Dormer, Margaret Guy, and Teresita Marcelo (Sr Tess to us), were elected as the new Congregational Leadership Team (CLT) and were installed at St Vincent’s Chapel, Potts Point, on Thursday, 25 March.

Sadly for our community at St Columba’s College, Sr Tess’s election to the CLT will mean that her work with us in its current form will come to a close.  Sr Tess has been such an important part of our community over the past few years.  She has supported our Faith and Mission programs at the College, worked with students in various classes and at retreats, and supported student leadership development work.  She has shared her life of service, commitment, faith and love with us freely and generously.  She has been our tangible connection to the work of the Sisters, and to the tradition and heritage we have inherited, and are responsible for giving life to every day, as a Mary Aikenhead Ministries’ College in the tradition of the Sisters of Charity.  Her loss will be profoundly felt across the community.  She has been friend, mentor and confidante to many of us.  We offer Sr Tess our heartfelt congratulations, while reflecting on how much we will miss her constant presence among us.  We offer Sr Tess our sincerest gratitude for who she has been for us.  Of course, we will see Sr Tess from time to time, as her new role will allow.

All of the chapter liturgies were live streamed and recorded.  This link will take you to a recording of the commissioning liturgy held on Thursday, 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation, especially significant as the new members of the CLT expressed their commitment to their important work on behalf of the Religious Sisters of Charity Australia, on the commemoration of Mary’s acceptance of God’s will for her as the mother of Jesus.

Gracious and loving God, the cross of Christ is the sign of your desire for justice and peace for all. Open our minds to your vision as we remember all who suffered through Australia and New Zealand’s involvement in wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. Grant all servicepersons who sacrificed health and life for the good of all, the gift of your deep peace. May we who inherit the freedom for which they fought become instruments of your peace in our homes, workplaces and world. We ask this prayer through Christ our Lord.

On the 16th of March, a group of girls from the year 12 VCAL class hosted an International Women’s Day Panel for the Year 10 cohort. We were challenged to create a project to promote international women’s day. This year’s theme was women in leadership – achieving an equal future in a Covid-19 world. As a group, we decided to expand on the theme and create a panel where we would invite a group of female leaders to come in and talk to the year 10 pathway girls. We chose to aim our panel towards the Year 10 girls, as they’re starting the process of selecting what career pathway they wish to follow. 

We sent out countless amounts of emails reaching out to women who inspired us and we believed that the girls would relate to, we soon finalised the lineup of guests this included Bianca and Bridget Roccisano founders and owners of Bianca and Bridget clothing and Boobie Tape, Emily Lucin owner of Napoleon Swimwear and Gabriella Roccuzzo owner of salon Gabrielle in Moonee Ponds. We held the event in theatrette where we asked questions based on the pathways curriculum as well as questions we believed would fit this year’s theme. We got some amazing responses from our guest speakers, they spoke about the journey that they went through to get to where they are today and what it’s like being a female entrepreneur in a male dominated world. 

We have received such amazing feedback from all the Year 10 students saying how listening to what the guest speakers had to say really inspired them and gave them a good insight into the steps that they took to build their own brands. One of the quotes that stood out for us was “you are your brand” meaning that how you present yourself and the attitude you have towards others builds your personal brand. Other points that were made in their responses was that you’re never too young to start chasing your dreams and that it’s ok to not know exactly what you want to do after school and for it to change over time. 

Feedback from the Year 10 guests:

“It doesn’t matter where you start, you can work your way up from anything.” – Alana D’Orazio

“I like how they weren’t scared to show that they had failed in the past” – Toni Morabito

“I took away how they spoke about how important it is never to give up!” – Tiarna Tarascio

“Your plan may change unexpectedly as you grow.” – Tessa Coleman

“I took away that anything is possible.” – Olivia Illiovski

“Inspiring how the ladies discussed how they changed and adapted their businesses in corvid.” – Loretta Peszek

During the month of March, the VCAL Year 12 students partnered with the organisation Share the Dignity to collect women’s sanitary products and end period poverty.  Thank you so much for all of your donations and support for this important cause.

This year the VCAL cohort were eager to be involved with Athletics Day carnival. We organised novelties for all year levels to make them more fun and enjoyable for the girls.

We ended up having the BBQ at school due to the weather. All the money we raised was donated to Caritas, Caritas work hand in hand with local communities to bring relief to people whose lives have been devastated by natural disasters or conflict.

We had the BBQ in front Gayip-Biik. The vibe was amazing, we played music on the speakers and the atmosphere was loud and cheerful. All up, we raised $300 for Caritas. The Year 11 and 12 VCAL students collaborated effectively as we were all prepared by lunch time. We were very pleased with the results and how everything went.  

As well as the BBQ, we came up with seven different novelties for each year level, this then changed because athletics was cancelled so we decided to create a circuit where we had three different novelty activities where we had 10 girls from each House and year level go around and complete all the novelty activities. The exciting novelty activities we had included egg and spoon, three legged race and throwing the bean bags into the hoops. We then had a novelty activity set up for the senior year levels to complete at lunch, we also managed to get the House Leaders and other teachers involved!  The senior novelty event was an awesome game of tug of war – who doesn’t love being able to knock the teachers down! We had an awesome MC, Monique who revved up the crowd throughout the whole event.  A huge thanks to the awesome cheer squads who cheered on their Houses throughout the day!

Year 9 camp took place from Wednesday 17th March until Friday 19th March at Kurth Kiln & Gilwell Regional Park in Gembrook, Victoria. The camp challenged students to develop personal skills and provided various opportunities for collaboration and enhancing social networks.

Our students were certainly out of their comfort zones and were challenged individually and in teams through a range of activities such as a cultural bushwalk, high ropes course, initiative games, flying fox, and orienteering. Some slept in tents for the first time and cooked and prepared meals for themselves on a camp stove.

Thank you to all students for their willingness to participate and try new things. Gratitude is extended to the staff who gave up their time to attend camp and support the growth of our Year 9 students.

Some student quotes from Year 9 Camp:

We enjoyed our time at camp; it was a great way to disconnect from school, technology and enjoy the outdoors.

Great way to meet new people and make new friends.

The staff were really hands-on and helpful. 

The angelic voice of our small group leader in the morning was a nice way to wake up.

Some of our favourite activities were abseiling, flying fox and high ropes.

Camp was a good way to learn how to cook and collaborate with my peers. It wasn’t very fun when we burnt the rice though.

At the end of last term, students in the College’s Environment Group and Year 8 students from the Fiontar unit ‘Active Adolescents’ have been participated in Clean Up Australia Day. We were donated the necessary materials such as biodegradable waste bags and reusable gloves from Clean Up Australia in order to participate in the cleanups.

Students in the Environment group participated in individual clean ups as well as a community event near Ormond Park, Moonee Ponds which was organised by Moonee Valley Sustainability. Fiontar students cleaned up in multiple local areas including Rose St, Puckle St and along the Maribyrnong River. I would like to thank all participating students for being active citizens in helping to keep our treasured greenspaces clean.

During Term 1, five girls competed at the Head of SchoolGirls Regatta held at the Barwon River in Geelong. This regatta took place from Friday the 12th of March to Sunday the 14th of March. This event is the leading schoolgirls rowing competition on the calendar that attracted 2166 competitors from schools across Victoria. Stephanie Clarke, Emma Grogan, Morgan Kukuljan, Zoe De Silva Abeyewickreme and Oleasia Sirotic as the coxswain competed in the Female School Coxed Quad Scull Open event, racing over a 1500m course. The girls made it to the B final, where they ended up placing second.

In this edition:

• University Early Entry programs – Australia National University, University of New England, La Trobe University, Charles Sturt University
• Year13 Career Expo
• VCE and Careers Expo
• Upcoming career events
• Updates from Australian Catholic University, University of Wollongong, and La Trobe University
• Careers in Banking – Virtual Internship with Citibank
• UNSW Bragg Student Prize of Science Writing
• How to research university and TAFE courses
• UCAT Registration for Medicine and Dentistry

Access the full newsletter here.

Visit the pathways website here.