“From the certainty that God's grace is with us comes the strength to take courage in the present moment: the courage to carry forward what God asks of us here and now, in every area of our lives; courage to embrace the vocation which God reveals to us; courage to live out our faith without hiding or diminishing it.”11 March 2022

Throughout the year, our Year 9 / 10 students in Faith in Action have heeded Pope Francis’ words. Some students have shared what they have been doing throughout Term 3 when given the opportunity to work with the students at St Paul’s Primary School.

We participated in a speed dating activity. We asked the St Paul’s students questions about themselves and what they enjoyed doing. In return, they asked us questions, so that they got to know us better.

On 9 August in session two, the students were able to bond further with our Marian College community as we brought in art and craft supplies for art activities. Groups rotated through the activities, enabling them to create friendships with multiple groups of Marian and St Paul’s students. On 15 August in session three, we took sports equipment from our gym and played lots of games including soccer and skipping. Again, the students would rotate through the activities so that they were able to get to know more people and play a range of different sports. Vanessa DiPietro

As part of the Faith in Action course, my class engaged in volunteering at St. Paul's. Many of the primary students connected with the older girls from Marian. In the first volunteer session, we had open conversations, talking about their interests. On the second volunteering session, we were separated into groups and each group had a different creative activity. Some of the activities were painting, board games and making slime. The kids really enjoyed getting the chance to express themselves through art. In the third and final session, we got to do fun sporting activities. Like the previous week, the kids had the freedom to select their preferred sport. These enjoyable activities encouraged both engagement and participation among the children. Razan Kalouy

Visiting St Paul's was my first time. I felt nervous and did not want to go but made an effort to give it a try. On my first visit I was partnered up with Leah (my classmate) and we were assigned a pair of St Paul’s students. We asked them different questions to get to know them better. I first met two lovely names Mary and Waylee. Mary was a joyful student who loved to draw, paint and loved Ipad time. Waylee was a unique girl who loved arts and crafts. I really enjoyed getting to meet the little students and see my past school years through them. The second visit was a bit lonely since we needed to bring arts and crafts materials to run an activity. We were hopeful the primary students would join us. We ended up by ourselves for a while but later met three very energised kids. Our last and final visit was a very sad time since I wanted to continue coming back. We ended up playing sports and I enjoyed showing off my soccer skills. I was honoured to meet such happy, joyful kids and hopefully I will get to see them again later in the future. Fiti Vaega

As part of our Faith in Action class we visited the St Paul’s Primary School next door to our College and had the opportunity to play with students in Year 2. We ran a variety of activities such as sports, arts and classroom games. In the beginning it was challenging as it was difficult to keep the students engaged, however through this experience I have learnt to be patient and understand their views on certain activities. Overall I was excited and happy to visit my besties in St Paul’s. Monica

In Faith in Action, we visited St Paul’s Primary School which was part of the volunteer aspect of our Religious Education class. We interacted and played with the younger students from Year 2. We took part in sports, arts and crafts and other activities. Meeting them was exciting, but we also experienced some nervousness. Although it was difficult to interact with them at first, we learnt to be patient and as our visits progressed, we grew more at ease. Overall, the experience has given us the opportunity to have fun whilst volunteering. We look forward to visiting them again. Srishti

For our Faith in Action class we volunteered at St Paul’s Primary School to help the students with things such as reading, organising sport games and arts and crafts. Over the duration of 3 lessons we bonded with our buddies and shared things with each other such as what we want to do when we're older and our favourite foods. At the beginning it was slightly difficult to bond with our Year 2 buddies but as the time progressed we became best friends and enjoyed the time we shared together. Overall the experience was thoroughly enjoyable which is why we each made them a card and talked about how much we enjoyed our time with them as well as how much we would love to visit them again!! Tara

It was heartwarming to see the bright smiles on the faces of the 2nd-grade students as we helped them with reading, sports activities and arts and crafts projects. We found that sports activities were particularly effective in building communication and encouraging the younger students to try new things. It was a truly rewarding experience for all of us. Japjot and Miah

From the Archives