Student Leadership

Term 2 Report

College Captains

Perhaps one of our busier months, May has been crazy! With staff vs. student events, SCSA Sports, our annual House Athletics carnival, clubs in full gear, as well as the usual SACs and assessments. The Student Leadership Team and other student helpers have organised some amazing events this term, such as ‘Acceptance Day’ and ‘Autism Awareness Day’, to inform our community of how we can help those who feel marginalised in the world, and have been working hard to come up with many more brilliant and interactive ideas that will continue to build on the house and community spirit around the College.

Congratulations to the Academic team on a fantastic week of Family Feud, and the Ministry and Wellbeing teams on their organisation of the Solidarity Walk, and ensuring that Athletics Day, and all of our fundraisers ran smoothly. As we enter Reconciliation Week, we continue to unite as one Josephite College with laughter and joy. As we near the end of the term, we wish good luck to Years 8 to 11 on their upcoming mid year exams and fly into Term 3 with high hopes as our Year 12 students soon begin their Higher Education preferences and enter their last semester.

By Elli Kyriazopolous & Dhriti Modi

Wellbeing

After such a great athletics carnival, the Wellbeing portfolio has been organising more fun competitions to be involved in. Already in the past week we have held the Staff vs Year 12 netball competition which was a great success with many turning out to support both students and teachers. The Year 12 students took out the competition, winning by 3 goals and luckily no teachers or students sustained any serious injuries from the heated match. Starting on the 30 May the Year 7 Netball competition kicked off with all Year 7 students showing great enthusiasm and sportsmanship, trying their best to bring victory to their house group. This competition will continue in these coming weeks during lunch times. Goodluck to all teams involved! The Wellbeing portfolio hopes to host many more fun, interactive activities and competitions throughout the rest of this term for all students to be involved in and showcase their great talent and spirit.

By Chelsea Gray, Wellbeing Captain

Arts

After such success with our school musical ‘Seussical,’ the Arts team has decided to focus on different and unique aspects of the arts. Each week we are celebrating a talented young artist, whether it be in Studio Arts or Visual Arts, one student’s work is displayed in our art corridor in the Pierce Building. We are also working on ways to showcase the amazing work from our textiles classes. At the moment we have pillowcases and bags on display from Years 7 and 9, later we hope to present the work of our VCE Textiles classes during a school assembly as a fashion show. While we work on displaying the amazing talents in visual arts and textiles, during Term 3 the Arts Team will be holding auditions for MSJ’s Got Talent, these will be held at lunchtime in the MMC. The grand final of MSJ’s Got Talent will be held on Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day and we hope that people of all talents, from juggling to stand up comedy will sign up to ensure a widespread of involvement and unique talent.  

By Hannah Clarke, Arts Captain

Academic

We are half-way through the year and examination period for Years 8 through to Year 11 is about to begin. This is great time for students to come along to Tutoring Tuesday. Tutoring Tuesday  runs from 3:15 to 4:15pm after school. This grants everyone with the opportunity to be mentored by VCE students. In addition, it allows students to form subject study groups while seeking assistance from senior students and satiate their academic needs and ambitions. Ensure to check the tutor roster in the LRC to see the available range of subjects each week. Further, Homework Club is still running in the Learning Resource Centre after school until 4:30, available to everyone for self-study and homework catch-up.

As exams approach, make sure to get plenty of sleep, eat healthy, take breaks and enjoy yourself. It will help relieve some of the stress and keep you sane as you study hard for exams. Not only are semester exams approaching, but VCAA has released the VCAA examination timetables for those studying  Units 3 & 4 subjects – so make sure to start preparing to maintain your organisation. Do not give up and good luck to everyone!

Over the past 6 weeks, MSJ radio has been announcing riddles. Congratulations to all pastoral classes who participated – it was tough competition to answer a given riddle not only correctly, but quickly. The winning pastoral for the riddle competition was 8 McCormack.

Finally, the Academic portfolio had our annual Family Feud with the 6 representatives from each house competing. Many students came along to watch and cheer for their house. The winning house for our 2018 Family Feud was Solomon. Congratulations!

By Niroshi R Dikmadugodage, Academic Captain

Ministry

On Thursday the 24 May MSJ had its first interfaith dialogue panel, involving a range of students from different faith backgrounds. They answered a range of questions from “What is it like coming to a Catholic school when you come from a different faith?” to “How do you think the media portrays your religion and does that have an impact on the way people see you?”. I would not only like to congratulate all the students on the panel for doing an amazing job of sharing their personal experiences and insights with their peers, but also those who came to listen.

Monday the 28 May signified the beginning of Reconciliation Week. National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements with the indigenous population, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.  Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians. In recognition of reconciliation week, students were able to watch the Australian film “Bran Nue Dae” during Wednesday and Thursday during lunch. On Friday there was a pancake sale to raise money to send the Year 6 students from St Joseph’s in Kununarra, WA - to Canberra.

By Madeline Bateman