YEAR 8 MERCY WORKS

MERCY WORKS

As part of the St Joseph’s College curriculum, Year 8 students participate in a subject called Mercy Works for three lessons per week.  The Mercy Works subject aims to teach our students about service learning and its relevance to us, as members of a Mercy school community and as individuals. It incorporates the Mercy values of St Joseph's College and encourages the students to look at the needs of the school and the wider Sunraysia community. Students are taught the skills needed to address the needs of these communities, that they can identify with and respond to.  

Normally, the Service Learning projects taken on by our students provide them an opportunity to work and interact with people from different walks of life, whilst providing valuable lessons in teamwork, leadership, and commitment to something above and beyond our daily existence.  Students would generally volunteer at venues such as our local aged care facilities, childcare centres, Sacred Heart Soup Kitchen, St Vincent de Paul agency and our local botanical gardens. However, with Covid-19 restrictions in place, our Year 8 Mercy Works students have not been able to go on excursions to different agencies or organisations to assist.  

So our four Year 8 Mercy Works classes have had to alter their projects and think outside the box to provide similar learning outcomes and Service Learning opportunities.  On returning to the school after remote learning, our students focused on five projects.  Firstly, students cut up material into A3 size for St Vincent de Paul to sell to local businesses as rags; secondly, students created reusable face masks for Sr Margaret Ryan and the Mercy Sisters to send to PNG for the local villagers to use; thirdly, students propagated 300 plants to beautify the Mercy campus gardens; fourthly, students wrote introductory letters to two of our local Aged Care facilities to establish a pen pal system between themselves and the residents and the final project was to produce children’s audio books for local schools to assist students’ reading.

By participating in these above activities during the final three weeks of Term 2 whilst based at school, students have been able to continue their service learning projects without leaving the college grounds.  Our students have continued to be engaged and have enjoyed their alternative projects while learning gardening, sewing and production skills.  Students have learnt about their own and others’ skills including: communication, team work, commitment, establishing and fostering friendships and flexibility in their expectations and plans.  We look forward to continuing and expanding these projects in Term 4.

Miss Paula Cox

Director of Catholic Identity