Pastoral Care

From the Assistant Principal Pastoral Care

• National Day of action Against Bullying and Violence
• Year 8 Camp
• MindMatters Peer Mentoring Rockclimbing

National Day of action Against Bullying and Violence

This Friday we celebrate the National Day of Action Against Violence and Bullying with a full school assembly run by our Year 11 and 12 MindMatters Student Empowerment Teams.  Mr Matt Shirvington, former Australian Sprint Champion and Olympian and now Fox Sports commentator, will assist our Year 11 and 12 Wellbeing Leaders in interviewing a group of students and staff to discuss our school’s culture in acting to oppose bullying and violence.

Matt’s father, Phil Shirvington, was an Old Boy of the College before embarking on a highly successful teaching career.

We look forward to our students leading this important day on the College's wellbeing calendar and a report from our Wellbeing Leaders next week.

Year 8 Camp

The Great Aussie Bush Camp at Tea Gardens in a choice bush setting provided a positive challenge for our Year 8 Camp activities last week. The students greatly enjoyed the Thursday Adventurous Journey activities in particular where they canoed the lower Hawkes Nest section of the Myall Lakes and walked the circuitous coastal route back towards Jimmy’s Beach.

At the campsite itself, the activities such as the High Ropes Course, Rockclimbing and Rock and Water challenges provided rich experiences and learning opportunities for our boys.

Whilst on camp we celebrated a number of students' recent and upcoming birthdays with birthday cakes on Thursday evening and congratulations to Ryan Jom, Oliver Michaeil, David Giles, Tom Garratt and Liam Thomson.

The following students were elected and appointed as House Vice Captains on camp

• Barron – Laurence Kisten
• Purton – Liam Thomson
• Rice – Daniel Galati
• Treacy – Callum Skinner

These boys will help out variously at Open Day next Saturday, ANZAC Ceremonies on 9 and 25 April and Indigenous Service Men and Womens’ commemoration on 31 May as well as fulfill other leadership functions over Semester One.

It was a very rewarding camp and I repeat my thanks to Mr Ticli and the Year 8 Pastoral Care Team who facilitated this rich learning adventure for our appreciative students.

MindMatters Peer Mentoring Rockclimbing

Last Thursday afternoon featured the first of our Peer Mentoring group activities for the year with a record number of young mentees and their senior school mentors attending Mr Russo’s Rockclimbing afternoon at Climbfit Artarmon.

The teamwork involved in rockclimbing and belaying is the perfect exercise for building mutual confidence, empathy and cooperation and the Peer Mentoring Teams of 2019 benefitted enormously from the experience.

Later in the year we hope they engage with the Canoeing, Buddies' Bushwalk and Beachwalk, and Paddleboarding activities with the same enthusiasm and energy.

Fide et Labore

Mr Sean Brannan - Assistant Principal Pastoral Care