News
Italy / France tour 2017
On the 30th of March, 21 MSJ students and 4 teachers departed for the Italy and France Tour 2017.
We began our tour in Rome, where we had the privilege to learn about Roman History. We visited incredible places such as the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and Vatican City. Our journey then continued into Florence where our Italian students were given the experience of a lifetime, as they attended Italian lessons in a private Italian school called Academia Del Giglio over 3 days. The remaining students toured the many beautiful landmarks in Florence such as the Galileo Museum and the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum. The leather markets were amazing and we were not afraid to show our bargaining skills. We also spent an evening at Palazzo Pitti where we participated in a hands on cooking class. Our chef taught us how to make fresh fettucini pasta, ravioli and tiramisu. At the end of the class we all sat down in a beautiful underground dining room to eat and enjoy the fruits of our labour. Our final stop in Italy was in Venice. We enjoyed a gondola ride and some of the Italian students were finally able to meet their pen pals in person. The girls got along so well so quickly with their pen pals as they had previously chatted via social media and the old fashioned way, through letters.
Our journey to France began with an overnight train ride from Venice to Paris. Seventeen hours later, we met our bus driver and chaperone for the next three days, Xavier. He was incredibly kind and helped us on our journey around the north of France, dropping many French language tips along the way. We spent the first three days in France visiting various historical war memorials at the Somme Battlefields and the Memorial Museum for Peace. We were better able to understand and appreciate the bond between France and Australia. Our first day in Paris was filled with excitement and joy as our morning began with an intense 402 step climb to the top of the Notre Dame, where we were welcomed with the stunning views of Paris. We spent the majority of our days in Paris visiting other famous landmarks such as the Louvre where we got a very quick view and captured some blurry photos of the Mona Lisa before we were pushed to the back by fellow eager tourists. Our final day in Paris was jam packed with a day and night visit to the Eiffel Tower, a Seine River cruise, the Arc De Triomphe and the famous Champs Elysees.
Overall, this was a once in a lifetime experience that none of us will ever forget. BUON VIAGGIO! BON VOYAGE!
By Olivia Gatt, Sapphire Kantharidis, Sarah Matulick, Alyssa Conte and Isabella Morlin
Easter Egg Fun
On Monday the 27th of March the Year 7 students joined in on an Easter Egg hunt planned by the Year 12 VCAL class. During process of planning the activity we worked together as a team to organise ourselves and overcome any issues that came our way. At the end of the day the Year 7 students enjoyed themselves and even got a bit of chocolate out of it!
The Year 7 students in groups of 3 or 4 followed clues that led to a hidden basket containing tokens that they could then use to redeem the chocolate Easter eggs. The weather was windy and raining which did not bode well for our paper tokens so we had to modify the locations a bit to suit the weather and use some of our contingency plans. Everything worked really well and the Year 7 students had fun running around finding locations and figuring out the clues. Overall the day was a success and turned out to be good fun for all involved.
By Jasmine Whitfield
Senior VCAL
Joseph's Corner High Tea
Joseph's Corner High Tea is a highlight of the Mount St. Joseph Girls' College calendar. On the first Sunday of May for a number of years now, our College has been the venue for the Joseph's Corner High Tea fundraiser, which raises valuable funds for this local organisation. Our students are always willing to help and give a hand to the event, whether it is setting up, serving the high tea, preparing the food or singing, the students are always willing and eager to support where possible.
Joseph's Corner was established in 2001 in a response to the community's need for support for families living with alcohol and drug addiction. Joseph's Corner is now located at three centres in Yarraville, Hopper's Crossing and Laverton. If you were unable to make it to the high tea this year and would to donate to Joseph's Corner please DONATE HERE
Year 7 Camp
We all had a wonderful time at our Year 7 camp. We had a great time doing activities, even when it was freezing cold and you had a water activity! Considering that we hadn’t known each other for long, we all felt comfortable being ourselves. Creating new friendships is hard, but we all made new friends, and learnt things about each other that we never knew. We had a laugh, and at every activity we had a smile on our face. We put ourselves to the test, by going on the flying fox and bike riding up and down rocks.
We all learnt new skills that we will use in our life, such as, responsibility, teamwork, using a map, facing your fears, and being able to work with others. We had great food and wonderful instructors. All of us appreciated the work and the time the teachers put into making our camp special, by creating the game night, saying prayer, and the lighting of the ‘Year 7’ and house group candles. This camp is definitely one that we will never forget.
By Sonia Cekalovic
7 Providence
Camp was an amazing experience, some people seemed nervous at the beginning but we were also eager to start all the activities.
It was a chance to try out new things, make new friends and make new memories. There were a variety of activities to participate in, like the dual flying fox, stand up paddleboarding, raft building survivor, adventure tunneling, kayaking, geocaching, amazing race and mountain bike riding.
Everything started really quickly, we got a friendly introduction from the camp staff and then made our way to our rooms to drop off our bags and start our activities. Some activities definitely tested our ability, strength, teamwork skills and endurance. Some activities we had never experienced before and after completing them, we all felt that we had really achieved something.
By Sophia Tripodi and Cathy Le
7 Kincumber
Student Photography Competion
The MSJ students and staff recently held a photography competition. The theme for the competition was 'Autumn'. See the stunning winning entries here.
What is on in the MSJ Learning Resource Centre
There is lots happening in the LRC:
Chess Club - Wednesdays
Pageturners Book Club - Mondays
Study Buddies - Wednesdays
Makerspaces - Fridays
Homework Club
Every night in the LRC students meet for Homework Club and Study Buddies from 3:10 - 4:30pm. Students from all year levels receive guidance to complete homework and assignments or gain assistance to understand specific subject based content, such as during Maths Help on a Thursday afternoon.
Students say they take advantage of the extended opening hours in the LRC because they are able to focus on their studies in a relaxed, familiar setting where they can receive one to one support from their peers, teachers and education support officers every night of the week.
Students also say that they enjoy finishing their homework in an environment that differs from the home environment, one where they have access to high speed Internet, printers and IT support.
Have a read of the Academic Portfolio in the WAAM report to hear more about Homework Club and Study Buddies.
The LRC opens at 7:55am for Year 12 students each weekday and 8:15am for all other year levels. The LRC closes at 4:30pm each weekday.
Chess Club
Our club meets every Wed at lunchtime in the LRC. We learn Chess by playing the game. Our aim is to hold a tournament by Term 4. We follow online games and games played by students in other schools who share their games on Tornelo.
Chess helps to develop our thinking, our memory, it improves concentration and our ability to think mathematically and it is fun! Challenge yourself daily with a chess game on any of the ten sets in the LRC.
Makerspaces in the LRC
Every Friday we offer a different activity that captures your imagination and engages us in ways we thought not previously possible. Today we created amazing cards that we will sell at our fundraising events for Caritas and some to give to friends and family. We are not finished so this Makerspace continues next Friday.
In Term 2 we are teaching ourselves how to use connective thread with LED lights to create a cross-stitch that glows. Our knowledge of conductivity and scientific principles will surely be honed as we design a circuitry and try to be creative at the same time.