Justice

We asked St. Joseph’s College Echuca to describe how they have given expression to the theme of Justice - the Kildare Ministries Value for 2020.

The development of the College Theme is done by College staff working with the twelve Year 11 students who have been appointed as House Leaders for their Year 12 year.

The College Theme for 2020 is

Assume Responsibility

Seek Unity

Restore Reason

Students were able to identify in their theme development that they would like our school to focus on Care of Creation in this 2020 school year.

Student Leadership Formation

Our Student Leaders have had two opportunities for formation in Term 1. The Diocese of Sandhurst provided a leadership development day for student leaders that focused on ‘ethical leadership’. Students were given the opportunity to listen to speakers such as Mr Paul Desmond, the Director of Sandhurst and Kate Wilde who is an independent consultant for youth development.

Our 12 school leaders attended the recent Social Justice Camp, organised by Kildare Education Ministries.

Ceres Sustainability

We have been participating in a Resource Smart Schools activity called Ceres . The Sustainability Hub. We have had students across year levels involved in onsite workshops. Our Student Leaders (Eco Leaders) attended a meeting with the Minister for the Environment (Victoria) on the 6th of March in Shepparton. We are hosting a PD for Staff next week where teachers and leaders will come to learn and share at our school.

https://sustainability.ceres.org.au/

Dr Jim Nickoloff

On Monday the 2nd of March Dr Jim Nickoloff worked with our Staff. His first session, with Religious Education Teachers, focused on areas of reform in the church. His presentation looked at the recent synod of South American Bishops and their focus on environmental and ecological justice for the Amazon. This was then linked to the hopes and dreams of Australia’s Plenary Council in 2020. Of the two sessions in the afternoon, for all Staff, Jim explored the concepts of wonder and justice calling on the personal experiences of both in order to assist people to see how we see God in the works of justice in the world around us.

New Look Foundation Day

In 2020 we have introduced new elements to our Foundation Day celebrations. In 2020 our liturgy will reflect our school theme and will focus on environmental and ecological justice, through the lens of St Brigid, Daniel Delany and Nano Nagle. In the lead up to Foundation Day students will be exposed to 3 elements of social justice across the world – access to education, water and food. On Foundation Day we will hold our traditional mini marts, which are designed in the context of a birthday party and assist us to raise money for Caritas’ Project Compassion. To finish the day our Houses will participate in a range of Justice Games, with activities such as The Water Bucket Challenge.

Year 8 Retreat 2020

Year 8 Retreat has taken a new form this year. Our Year 8 students spent the day in Bendigo on Tuesday the 17th of March. The day was divided into two parts. To complement the RE Curriculum topic – Why are there differences in the world?’ Year 8 students visited The Great Stupa of Compassion. Their visit comprised a presentation on Buddhism, a tour of The Great Stupa and they undertook a meditation in the sacred space. The intention of this activity was to increase students’ awareness of diversity in cultural and religious beliefs in contemporary Australian society.

In the afternoon the Year 8 students visited the Bendigo Art Gallery and were exposed to four exhibitions. Each of the exhibitions had a ‘justice focus’. The ‘They Can’t Take the Sky’ exhibition focused on the stories of Asylum Seekers held in mandatory detention in Australia. The Jim Muir Exhibition follows the spiritual development of Jim Muir, a Yorta Yorta man, who represents is Aboriginal spirituality through art. The Rivers of Gold exhibition explores the environmental degradation of Australian waterways. The Living in Multicultural Society LMCS Exhibition assisted in the exploration of the RE Unit mentioned above. Each of the exhibitions had a tour guide assisting students to access the materials. The Tour Guides were asked to focus on themes of justice in their explanations and questioning of our Year 8 Students.

Students will continue their work in their RE Lessons.

St. Joseph's College Stewardship Council

St Joseph’s Echuca is blessed with the challenge of providing the opportunity for our community to receive a Catholic education. One of the challenges is meeting the demand for spaces at our school. Finally, we are on the way to meeting this challenge through building a second campus.

After many years and particularly the last 12 months of planning, we have acquired 80 acres of land and developed a plan for the new campus. This enormous task has also involved the development of a master plan for the Dickson St campus.

Dickson St has significant meaning to both the Brigidines and the people of Echuca and district. Especially being the first of the schools established in Australia. Ensuring our 134-year-old school continues to demonstrate the presence and endurance of the Brigidine’s is one of our key priorities.

As we plan the development of the new campus, we have a huge opportunity to provide state of the art education into the future. The 80 acres will give students, staff and the community opportunities to spread their learning, teaching and engagement in areas beyond traditional school. We have the opportunity to provide innovative academic, environmental, agricultural and recreational resources for our students, as well as investigate mutually beneficial partnerships with the wider community

Challenges from here are obviously securing funding to build the new campus and to refurbish the Dickson St campus.

The other challenge for our Stewardship Council is to bring on board new, additional members. I know we are not unique in this challenge in today's environment. We pray for success in both these endeavours for 2020.

Member details:

Kirk Teasdale

Kirk is an accountant and chairs our Finance committee. I cannot praise his work enough having joined Stewardship last year. Kirk provides the skills and advice in this key area whilst juggling his work, home and children. I believe he may have a future Australian Cricket Captain among his children.

Matthew O'Farrell

Matthew has been a boon to our team having a business and property development background. This experience is invaluable in our current work to build a new campus. Matthew also juggles a corporate role and family commitments amongst his involvement with St Joseph's.

Matthew and his family have a long history of commitment to St Joseph's. His mother, Judith, taught at St. Joseph’s and maintained her relationship with the school for over 40 years.

Selina Handley

Selina is a solicitor, teacher, mother and wife. Again, she juggles a full diary whilst giving time to St Joeseph's. Selina's broad education and experience provide us with a diverse set of skills instilling wisdom into all areas.

Leah Taffe

Leah is CEO for Community Living and Respite in Echuca. Leah has a passion for the disadvantaged coupled with corporate skills. I like to think Leah provides us an extra link to our Brigidine ancestors as she hails from Ireland.

Shane Stacey

I am the current Chair of the Stewardship Council. My children attended St Joseph's over a period of 28 years. The school has given so much to my boys. Now I am attempting to give a little back.

Kildare Ministries Newsletter

Issue 2 · 23 Mar 2020

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