Religion and Values Education

Interschool Social Justice Day, 24 May

The Uniting Church Interschool Social Justice Day was held after a 2-year hiatus. A group of Year 10 students representing Aitken College made the trip across town to the host school, St Leonard's College in Brighton. The day was an opportunity for students passionate about issues relating to Social Justice, to join with like-minded peers to consider and discuss topics such as: how could the world be a better place and how could we be change makers. 

At the end of the day, students were challenged with this encouraging quote from The Talmud: “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now. Love mercy now. Walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work. But neither are you free to abandon it”.

Some student reflections

"Social Justice Day was a joyful and enlightening experience. As students, we were able to learn and communicate with others around us to form solutions or discuss topics that concerned us as Australian society. We were able to disclose some injustices within our community that concerned us, and we workshopped with other schools to form ideas and solutions for how these problems can be minimized or reduced. Overall, the experience was one you cannot miss, and I was able to learn a lot about myself and the world around me and how it affects not only myself but also how it affects all Australians." Rhiannon H

"My reflections on the day are that it was a fun and eye-opening experience, to be able to discover and understand other young people’s opinions on social justice issues and discuss as a team ways we can help our country overcome them. I enjoyed getting to meet and talk to new people outside of just our school and thought overall it was a fantastic day." Alannah N

"It was good to work with other likeminded youth in collaborating and coming up with issues in today’s society that we see as important. Listening to the speaker, climate activist and author Marita Davies, talking about how activism doesn’t need to be what we would traditionally consider as activism, and it doesn’t have to be a major topic just an issue that maybe doesn’t get enough attention or people aren’t educated about, was also interesting."  Finn W

"The Social justice event was an exciting new experience. Meeting people from other schools and experiencing the visiting a different school was interesting, let alone the fun interactive day with interesting guest speakers and more." Lachlan T

Mrs Anne Zugan

Head of Faculty RVE