Wellbeing

2022 Lenten Dances

Parents are advised that the annual Lenten Dances will be held at the College Hall (Times: 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM) on the following dates:

Year 7 - Wednesday 30 March
Year 8 - Thursday 31 March
Years 9 and 10 - Friday 1 April.

As indicated by Ms Daley in her Especean article, our Lenten Partner this year is the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice. We are utilising the Humanitix platform for online ticket sales. Ticket cost is $25. Details and instructions on how to purchase tickets will be made available in next week’s Especean.

Invitations will soon be forwarded to girls’ schools in the Inner West for them to purchase an allocated number of tickets.

Once we reach venue capacity no more tickets will be sold due to our duty of care and the WHS requirements.

In past years, parent volunteers with active Working With Children Check (WWCC) documentation have assisted staff and Year 12 students with the running of the dances. If parents are interested in assisting at one of the dances, they should contact robert.simpson@spc.nsw.edu.au or ingrid.viney@spc.nsw.edu.au at the College during office hours for further information.

Safe on Social

As part of our ongoing commitment to educating and supporting students and their families across the College about the potential issues surrounding social media platforms, the College has arranged for Kirra Pendegast, founder of the ‘Safe on Social’ organisation to address members of the College community on Tuesday 22 March. Further detail on the topics covered in Kirra’s presentation are provided in the flyer below:

Kirra will speak to Year 8 students during their Pastoral Care Period (PCP) and then present to parents at the Parents' and Friends' Forum being held that evening.

Robert Simpson

Director of Wellbeing

EREA Young Leaders' Conference

Change is something that leaders start, but the community finishes. I recently participated in the national EREA young leaders conference. As has been the case for all things these past few years, we were unfortunately not able to meet in person, and so, we participated through zoom. The day served to allow young leaders from EREA schools across the nation to build connections with one another and develop our overall understanding of the role that young leaders play within our schools and communities. The day was split into five sessions, each focusing on a different aspect of leadership and understanding. We began by reflecting on our own leadership qualities and desires, through which we then were able to share with others, to broaden our understanding about the qualities and desires of our fellow leaders.

Following this, we heard from Dean Parkin, the Director of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The Uluru Statement from the Heart was released in 2017 and seeks constitutional change to recognise First Nations peoples through a voice to Parliament. For those interested in this, I strongly recommend watching Dean Parkin’s TED Talk about this statement from 2020. On the day, Dean spoke about the importance of voice, treatment and relationships, and the ongoing leadership that is required to see the change that this statement seeks. After hearing from Dean, we were all called to think about how we could help raise awareness about this statement, and what we can do as leaders to work with our First Nations peoples.

We were then lucky enough to hear from Ram and Manisha from EREA schools in India, who informed us about the work that they do within their communities to seek justice and equality for all. We learnt about their daily hardships, including the difficulty in finding a toilet to use, and how they have used their voice to create a ‘children’s parliament’ to seek change for the better. After hearing from them, I realised how lucky we are to be fortunate enough to have access to great facilities, and to be able to use something as simple as a working toilet.

Throughout all the sessions, and in speaking with other leaders throughout the day, I noticed that everyone placed a strong emphasis on the importance of diversity within our schools, particularly the significance of our acceptance of this diversity. Luckily enough, being EREA schools, we are all guided by the touchstone of Inclusive Community, one that encapsulates the very essence of what we were discussing. If we were all the same, and diversity didn’t exist, then the world would be such a boring place. It is important that rather than exploiting this diversity, and using it to put others down, we embrace it and rejoice in the fact that despite all our differences in where we come from, what we look like, how we act, and the like, we are all united as one community. An inclusive one that celebrates individuality. From this, we explored the idea of leadership as a partnership, rather than one of dominion over others. During this session, we were lucky enough to hear from EREA Executive Director, Dr Craig Wattam, who shared his thoughts on this topic. He spoke about the importance of being an ‘everyday’ leader, through which we can become more approachable for those around us. He also spoke about the importance of having a go. Although we may not be the best at something, it is important to always give it a go, because even if we fail, we can at least be content in the fact that we tried.

Overall, the day provided an opportunity to meet other young leaders, develop my understanding of leadership within EREA, and strengthen my own leadership qualities to share with everyone.

Michael Bejjani

College Captain