Hope at Star of the Sea College
Each year, the Student Leadership group at Star of the Sea – including School, House, Faith and Liturgy, Living Justice, SRC, and Environment Captains – engages in a process with the Faith Leader. They take the annual theme, brainstorm ideas that lead to deeper reflection, and create a meaningful statement of the theme for the school community. The Student Leaders then design a symbol to accompany the statement. This is one of their first responsibilities, bringing them together purposefully and exemplifying student voice, collaboration, and leadership.
In 2024, we explored the theme of hope through the statement: Planting Hope: Nurturing Growth, with the dandelion as the symbol. At its heart is our seven-point Presentation Star, with seeds in house colours gently flying in the breeze, representing deeds that nurture new life founded on the hope of love, compassion, justice, and faith from the gospels.
We have engaged with the theme of hope through whole-school activities, such as key first lessons in RE classes and mentor groups, where we explored the various meanings of hope, taking it to a deeper level of understanding than a mere wish. Each staff member was presented with a HOPE bookmark and a dandelion badge to add to their lanyards.
Before our Foundation Day Mass in March, we met in mentor groups and brainstormed ideas for actions that build hope in the everyday. Each group wrote these ideas on paper and created a garden of origami hearts for all 49 mentor groups. These hearts became part of our Mass focus that day and inspired our actions during the winter term. Our Art Leaders painted a huge HOPE sign in the style of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. These HOPE letters have moved around the school grounds throughout the year, serving as a reminder, and were displayed at the Kildare Ministries Conference in March.
In Term 3, we introduced the Ambassadors of Hope initiative, where students and staff nominate others who they see as bringing and building hope. At each main assembly, the newest nominees are presented with a dandelion badge and congratulated by the school community. So far, we have awarded around 100 Ambassadors, and the badges are worn with pride on the Star blazers.
During this term, our Wellbeing program was also based on Hope Theory and connected well with our Catholic Identity focus. At the end of Term 3, we launched a Postcards of Hope competition to carry us through to the end of the year. The aim was to provide a creative outlet for expressions of hope.
As part of our First Nations program, we are a partner school with the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School in Richmond, and five students from there attend Star. Our staff engage in professional learning and cultural competency training in this area. This program reflects the hope and belief we have in the value of education and in Reconciliation with First Nations people.
Throughout the year, activities centered on hope have been realized through various initiatives, such as Living Justice volunteering at House charities and regular programs like Friday Night Tutoring, Little Mission, fundraising for Sacred Heart Mission and Caritas, and supporting The Big Issue. Faith in action activities, such as participating in Star Sisters conversations, being a buddy reader in the Smith Family’s S2S Reading Program, and sewing HeartStars, also continued.
The Stars Sustainability group has also been building hope for the planet through their many purposeful initiatives that encourage us to value and appreciate God’s creation. Hope has been a wonderfully proactive theme and has blessed us with a strong reality of service – facta non verba – throughout 2024.
