Around the College 

Cambodia 2024 

Nazareth College recently provided me with the chance to visit Cambodia to experience an opportunity of a lifetime. With the support from Global Transitions Foundation, 20 volunteers from around Australia and a couple from Greece were brought together to provide a family within a country village in Siem Reap with a new home. Many families in rural areas experience limited access to safe water, live on approximately $1 a day and have poor access to sanitation. The house building project is in some way a small contribution to providing one family with the opportunity to become more independent and break the poverty cycle. 

The house building project went over 4 days. Guided by local Cambodian workers, the volunteers laboured from around 8:00 am to 1:00 pm in humid conditions carrying out jobs such as digging foundations, mixing cement, building scaffolding and steel frames for the home, fixing hardiplank to the walls and painting. Additionally a toilet block was also constructed out of balsa bricks. Whilst the work was quite physically demanding, the experience of being able to provide the family with a new home and the new relationships formed amongst the volunteers and village people cannot be underestimated. 

One of the best outcomes of this experience was the trust and welcome displayed by the village community to us. Regardless of the simple lives the village people have, they are constantly happy, smiling and acceptive to all those who wish to experience their culture. The children of the village would congregate daily around the building site, curious in nature and thoroughly enjoying the small gifts presented to them by the volunteers. 

We were fortunate to visit a local community school and be greeted by very enthusiastic students and staff. We participated in games, were shown around classrooms and in some small way were able to hand over some stationary goods from Nazareth College and some funds to support the community. 

In the short time that I was in Cambodia I was also able to visit Angkor Wat, the Floating Village and partake in a cooking course. 

The friendships made both amongst the volunteers and the Cambodian people will last a lifetime. Knowing that I have in some small way supported a family with a house that will for many years provide them with a shelter, a place of prayer and safety has been life changing. 

We now want to encourage interested staff and students to experience this journey. The Global Transitions Team will visit Nazareth College in the next few weeks to show their presentation and begin the process of planning the trip for 2025. The photos present a brief snapshot of the Cambodia experience. 

Mr John Brenton

P/E Teacher

Religious Education Faculty

We celebrate the joy of students engaged in Religious Education at Nazareth College. Our whole school mass will be on the 29 February. You are warmly invited to attend, please contact the office to let us know you are coming.  

Ash Wednesday will be celebrated on 14 February this year. A prayer service will be held in Pastoral groups. No meat will be served in the Cafe on this day.

There will be outreach opportunities beginning again soon for students to get involved in. Soup kitchens, Nursing home visits, St Vinnies and more. Details will appear in SIMON/PAM.

Just a reminder that the Catholic Youth Bible is a required text for all RE classes. Teachers use them for a variety of reasons during the lessons.

Please contact me or the office if you need assistance with this.

God bless. 

Mr Peter Nathan

Instructional Leader Religious Education

Visual Arts

VCE Visual Communication Design (Units 3 and 4)

VCE Visual Communication Design (VCD) Units 3 and 4 students have hit the ground running this semester with the submission of their Fast Start holiday drawings. They were given a range of different stimuli over the break to prepare them for the upcoming year in VCD. Please see below a range of the outstanding work from the Year 11s and 12s. They have set themselves up for a strong year in design and I have high hopes that they will achieve well.

Mr Rosario Ripper

Instructional Leader Visual Arts

VCE Unit 1 Art Making and Exhibiting

During the 2023 FastStart program Unit 1, Art Making and Exhibiting students had the privilege of attending an art making incursion held by Tania Di Berardino from Zart Art. Students were shown a range of creative making materials and techniques. They had a wonderful opportunity to practise and engage in using these creative making techniques, ask Tania questions, and share their creative outcomes. It was an insightful and enjoyable introduction for the Art Making and Exhibiting students.  

Ms Mary Green and Ms Adelle Frittitta

Art Teachers