Leadership's Letter

This term, there have been a number of leadership, community and wellbeing events that have been driven by our Junior School student leadership team. Today our Junior School Prefects will share their reflections on these initiatives. 

Middle Leaders Networking Day at Assumption College

Fourteen Year 9 Leaders arrived at Assumption College on a cold Tuesday morning where we were greeted by lovely staff and students. We started off with icebreaker activities which was then followed by a Leadership questionnaire, this assessed our own personal style of leadership. We then heard from a number of staff and students past and present from the host school Assumption College; they offered their personal experiences as a leader in their own school environment. An appetising morning tea was provided after some long discussions, and finally we were placed in our school groups that were asked to come up with ideas and initiatives to implement within our school community. The day turned out to be a huge success as we stopped by McDonald’s to grab some lunch but most importantly we gained different ideas and insights on how we can be better leaders on a whole.

The Middle Leaders Networking Day was very beneficial to the Year 9 leaders. The team came up with some ideas for the coming year. One of our aims as a group was to raise awareness around VCE and to educate students in the junior school about VCE. This will be done through presentations given by senior school students and past Mazenod students. This presentation will inform students in the junior school about VCE. What VCE consists of, how it works and how to pick subjects. We hope that these presentations may help students to get their heads around years 10, 11 and 12 before they actually reach them. Overall, the day was very beneficial, generating many good ideas from our Year 9 Leadership team.

Written by

Lester Harvey (Year 9) and Samuel Duckett (Year 9) 

GameAware Presentations 

On Tuesday the 24th of June, the Year 7 and 8 students gathered in the Lecture Theatre to hear from Andrew Kinch from GameAware. Andrew offered relatable content from the perspective of an avid gamer on the motivations and behaviours surrounding gaming, through interactive discussions and video presentations. GameAware aims to manage and prevent gaming disorders through rational discussions around a balanced approach to gaming. They use the psychology of video games to help parents understand why we play video games to allow us to turn a habit into a hobby. Through this session Year 7/8 students understand the contrasts of addiction and disengagement from real life and activity and community engagement through gaming. We warmly invite parents of all students at the College to our GameAware parent webinar on Thursday 18th July. 

Written by

Angus King (Year 9) and Ben Redford (Year 9)

Primary School Experience Day 

Last Thursday, students from St. Justin’s and St. Simon’s came to Mazenod to experience “college life." The day began with a simple presentation surrounding Mazenod’s achievements, followed by various activities including science, sport and robotics. Finally, some of the students took part in a Q&A session, giving them an understanding of what to expect at Mazenod.

The boys from St Simon’s and St Justin’s gained a college experience that other schools are unable to offer to them. They learnt how a college timetable works and participated in classes in which Mazenod students attend on a weekly basis to better inform them on their secondary school options. 

Written by

Alistair Edward (Year 9) and Gianluca Vescio (Year 9)

Year 7 Tabloid Sports mornings 

The Tabloid Sports program was introduced to build on the friendship and teamwork in the Year 7 Cohort through fun games and activities. Through weeks and months of planning, each of us Year 9 leaders created our own unique games that would see competition and teamwork through all the students. These activities were hosted on the 10th and 31st of May during specific extended Pastoral time on Friday mornings enabling the Year 7’s to further enjoy the last day of the week. To add on, these mornings gave each and every Year 7 their own goals and motives on how to win enabling many more connections. Furthermore, throughout the course of the activities, the students built spirit amongst themselves again through teamwork and friendship that they built along the way.

Written by

Gabriel Rezk (Year 9)

Jamie Davin

Dean of Junior School