English and Humanities

Year 8 Churches Excursion

On the 20th of August, all Year 8 students headed off on a journey to explore four different types of Christian Churches around Springvale. We were given a booklet to complete throughout the excursion. We walked to our first destination, StJoseph’s Catholic Church. There were already a lot of people in the church when we entered. After the mass, we gathered together and Brother Louis explained all about the sacred objects and rituals of the Catholic Church. When this session finished, we all gathered together for recess in the community hall, and soon walked on to our next destination, St Athanasios Greek Orthodox Church. One thing we all agreed on was that this church was beautiful inside and out. There was no mass going on so we sat down and the priest explained all about the church. Next was St John’s German Lutheran Church. The members of the church gave us a warm welcome, supplying water and tissues because they knew that we were walking. After a presentation about the church, we had lunch in their hall.  The last church was the Springvale Uniting Church, which was pretty similar to the Catholic Church. The entrance was full of bushes and flower, and there were less people in the congregation. This was a multicultural church reflecting its connection to the many different immigrants who had come to  live in Springvale over the last 50 years. Overall, the day was really fun and tiring as we walked a lot. We learned about the differences and similarities of these churches. Thank you to all teachers and staff for organising this day. 

Sneha K C and Susanthica Jay - Year 8 St Paul

On Tuesday 20th of August, Year 8 students travelled around Springvale to experience religion and church life from many different Christian denominations. The first stop was St Joseph’s Catholic Church where we took part in mass. Afterwards, the priest spoke to us about the history of the church, its sacred objects and rituals, and we sketched drawings of the interior and took notes.  We continued our journey to the beautiful Greek Orthodox church. All of us were in awe of the detailed and amazing paintings. The paintings told many stories of Jesus and his Disciples through art. The next church was the German Lutheran Church, although it wasn't as grand as the Greek Orthodox, it still taught us that if people have faith and truly want to give to the unfortunate, we can do good together. After our last stop, the Springvale Uniting Church; we started the walk back to school with a new sense of faith and religion.

Phoebe Collins - Year 8 St Peter