Middle School News

Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week was 27 May to the 3 June and we challenged our Year 9s to Be Brave. Make Change.

On Wednesday 1st June, we invited Aboriginal social enterprise, Clothing The Gaps, onsite to to inform and inspire our students to be change agents. Recently, Clothing the Gaps achieved something incredible - they freed the Aboriginal flag from copyright, meaning everyone can now use and celebrate the flag without fees and royalties. Expect to see the flag flown at more AFL matches now.

The journey of Clothing the Gaps is remarkable and our presenters today openly shared with us their motivations, media tactics and advice for achieving change. A powerful takeaway message for our students is that being small is your power - you have the ability to create a groundswell and make social change if you don't lose sight of the 'why'.

On the same day we also welcomed onsite a special guest, Jim Poulter. Jim is a local author and historian on indigenous culture who has donated a lot of his research papers and books to our school. Our Library team created a display of his work and some of the Year 9 MySelf classes reviewed his work. 

Student, Harvey C, has provided his responses to a student quiz on Reconciliation Week.

What do you know now about ‘Reconciliation Week’ that you didn’t know before?

Reconciliation Week is ultimately about Australians coming together and learning about our shared histories, cultures and achievements and exploring each other’s contributions.

Why do you think it is important for 'Sorry Day' to be acknowledged by all Australians?

It is important for ‘Sorry Day’ to be acknowledged by all, so we can commemorate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families and our nation’s history.

Explain why you think our community has a minute of ‘silent reflection’ on the 26th of May each year?

Our community has a minute of silent reflection because those gathered observe a minute's silence in remembrance of the Stolen Generation Survivors, families, and the children who did not return home.

MyCity 

The Intersection’s city walks and workshops

As someone once said, “What we see depends mainly on what we look for.” That is one of the key lessons that Year 9 students learnt during their MyCity excursion in the streets of the CBD on Wednesday 8th June. 

Shortly after meeting us in Collins Street, our guide, Evan, initiated a very interactive conversation about stereotypes, how deceitful they are, and how easily they influence our judgement about the reality around us. Evan is part of The Intersection Urban Learning, a social enterprise aiming at educating about empathy, diversity, and connection. 

The Collins Street Baptist Church that Evan picked to start our tour has served as a shelter for the homeless and people in need for a long time, and it was a perfect location for him to introduce, through personal anecdotes, the topic of bias and stereotypes. 

Then, walking along Collins Street, the windows of fashion and luxury shops triggered the reflection on what the items sold in such places represent and what we unconsciously assume about people who possess them. 

Next to the Scots’ Church, Evan explained to our students how the same place can tell different stories, depending on who is the teller and who is the listener. The “characters” of his particular story were a tile on the street pavement with a pictorial representation of the aboriginal dreamtime art, the Church itself and Westpac, one of the major Australian banks. It was a powerful way for Evan to interweave themes such appearance, power, history, and more in one single narrative. Talk about “Intersection”!

The walk continued along Russell Street where Evan found another engaging way to make a point about the importance of being openminded and break down preconstructed ideas: he explained how a drug dealer is not only a dodgy guy, selling illicit substances in a dark alley, but can also be a cleaned-up man in a business suit or a bartender selling alcohol.

This trip was the first one of its kind for our Year 9 students, who were easily captivated by the unique and interactive approach of our guide. The impact was immediately visible, as the kids were clearly observing the surroundings with different eyes on their way to Melbourne Central Station, where they had lunch before returning to school.

Thank you, Ms Gucciardo, for making it happen!

Maria Cagiati

Language Assistant

Year 9 Ceramic Creations

MyCity

Yarra River Cruise

On Wednesday the 1st of June, a group of year nines in the My City program group set out to experience a ride on the Yarra River cruise. A memory I'm sure no one will forget! 

We started our journey with the 907 into the city, where we then took a train to Flinders Street Station then walked to our destination. As we were early, we got a bit of free time in South Gate just before we started our trip. 

Our boat arrived and we all boarded with excitement from every student as we began moving. The boat was so big it was nowhere near full, with 26 students, 2 teachers, 10 members of the public and 2 crew mates. The boat ride was very calm and relaxing and came at the best time it possibly could have come. This is because 2 weeks leading up to the river cruise we had previously gone on two other excursions that would have tired out a majority of the students attending. The river cruise was a chill fun way to spend the day. 

Even though the cruise was only an hour and the weather wasn’t ideal, we are sure that it was a really fun and needed experience for the students that attended. It was a nice chill day out in the city relaxing on the river seeing lots of different sites the city of Melbourne has to offer. 

We really recommend for the future My City classes to choose this river cruise, for the most Ideal effect we recommend to do the cruise on the 3rd excursion. In the end the cruise was a really great experience and was really well run by Miss Gucci and Maria.  

By Michelle C. & J.P Ramperdaud

Year 9 MyCity Students