Year 7 Reflection Day

On Monday 5th August, our Year 7s participated in their annual Reflection Day. Led by the team from Real Talk, the students in their Pastoral Groups with their Pastoral Leaders took time to reflect on the theme of “Life & Love”.

Through a variety of presentations, reflective journalling, small group discussions and large group team building activities, our students explored being created in the image of God, the importance of self-worth and appreciating our differences, the impact of the media, the power of good friendships, the purpose of sex and marriage, and the need for setting goals and boundaries for positive and healthy relationships.

Thank you to all our Year 7 Pastoral Leaders and Year Level Leaders for their wonderful support.

The students and staff share their experiences of the day below:

“It was a GREAT EXPERIENCE!!” - Albert Joby

“Something that I learnt and that impacted me during the reflection day were the four gifts of life [that it is a gift, that life is sacred, that we’re made in God’s image and that we have a purpose], and the personal stories shared” - Fabian George

“Something that stayed with me was that the decisions we make today shape us of who we are tomorrow” - David Oro

“Something that inspired me today with the Reflection Day was that most of the stories that they said resonate with me and my daily life. I loved how they crossed a problem and figured out a way to solve this issue. It inspires me to become a better person and to be more independent like they were with their own issues… A Reflection Day is very important as it takes people’s mind of work for the day, also it teaches everyone about important matters such as the issue of pornography and how you are important to one another. I now have a deeper connection with God and Jesus just because of this day and it has inspired me to become a better person.” - Aadil Joe

“We are all made in God’s image” - Jake Berry

“I learnt that we should be grateful for our gifts” - Matthew Tai Hing

“I learnt how body language affects how you think someone is saying something.” - Kendrick Yeo

“Something I learnt is that God loves me for what I am” - Nathan Tissera

“I learned that we are all sacred to God and are not supposed to be used” - Bryant Sugandi

“I learnt that body language can be a very strong sign of what you are thinking” - Rhys Khoi

“I learnt that we are all gifts of God and are all worth the same no matter what we look like or what has happened to us” – Nathan Monea

“It was over all a good experience that made me aware” - Patrick Jamieson

“The reflection day had a positive impact on everyone” - Joel Redford

“What a great and entertaining team. I particularly liked the message about being yourself and being vulnerable with others” – Mr Robert Zaar

“It was a very meaningful event. Thank you for organising this Cristiano!” – Ms Philippa Kirwan

ACC Open Secondary Chess Championships

Huge congratulations to all our chess boys. Special congratulations to our Chess Captain Ryan Pieris in his last tournament after six years of wonderful service. He led with distinction, won 5.5 / 7 games and finished in 10th place overall.

This was Mazenod's 21st Open Chess victory in a row.

We had 3 teams in Division 1 – placing 1st, 3rd and 4th out of 13 teams.

Every one of our 30 players placed in the top 55 out of 117 players.

Best Individuals:
Khoi Do	Year 11	7 wins	1st overall
Chris Boey	Year 11	6 wins	2nd overall
Dinh-Phan Truong	Year 10	6 wins	4th overall
Patrick Klonis	Year 11	6 wins	5th overall

House Cross Country

The 2024 House Cross Country took place on Monday 19th August, with the winning House being Charlebois.

ACC Intermediate Debating, Public Speaking & Pitch Competitions

Our Year 9 and 10 students competed in the ACC Intermediate Debating, Public Speaking and Pitch Competitions hosted by Mazenod College. Alongside the competitions was also the Drama Workshop Day, which was also a fantastic opportunity for ACC Colleges to train in the dramatic arts. It was impressive to see the hard work, outstanding sportsmanship and comradery displayed throughout the day by Mazenod's young men.

Congratulations to the following students for their exemplary performances across several competitions:

ACC Pitch:

First place awarded to Mazenod College, represented by Year 10s: Ryan Murali and Saranta Sharma.

Intermediate Debating:

Second place in Division One awarded to Mazenod College, our outstanding Intermediate Debating team was represented by the following mixed team of Year 9 and 10 students:
- Akshar Maragani (Yr 9)
- Chris Antony (Yr 9)
- Chibuikem Anyadoro (Yr 10)
- Zain Muscat (Yr 10)
- Jerome Kim (Yr 10)
- Ryan Murali (Yr 10)
- Saranta Sharma (Yr 10)

Intermediate Public Speaking:

While there were no wins in this time around in public speaking, there were some outstanding speech performances, congratulations to the following public speakers for their hard work and exemplary presentations on the day:
- Elijah Jiminez (Yr 9):
  - Prepared speech topic: The 'gamification' of war.
- Imeth Mudannayaka (Yr 10):
  - Prepared speech topic: Why we should all be a little more like Raygun.
- Isindu Rajapakshe (Yr 9):
  - Prepared speech topics: That a nighttime curfew should be introduced to curb youth crime + That social media damages young people's mental health.
- Philopater Matta (Yr 9):
  - Prepared speech topics: That the UN Security Council Veto Power should be abolished + That an AI literacy curriculum should be mandated in Australian schools.

Parents & Friends Association