News

AJASS PILGRIMAGE - Walking in the footsteps of Mary MacKillop

From October 17-20, Michelle Locsin, Thuy-Tien Vu and myself Laura Attana, had the privilege of attending and taking part in the 2018 AJASS Pilgrimage to New Zealand to follow in the footsteps of Mary Mackillop. We arrived in the South Island with 13 other like minded Year 10 students from 4 other Mary Mackillop affiliated schools in Victoria.

We visited many sights that were a significant part of Mary Mackillop's life and the Josephite Sisters' endeavours and history in New Zealand. As a group we journeyed from Christchurch to Temuka, on to Timaru, then Arrowtown and departed from Queenstown. 

Throughout the duration of the pilgrimage we made strong spiritual connections with the various destinations and religious spaces that we visited. Each place that we stopped at was brimming with history and culture, and we were greeted with open hands and welcomed with generous hearts every step of the way. We all made precious memories and strong friendships, whilst learning a great amount about our College’s history and making connections to our foundations and Josephite history.

This was a very rewarding experience and opened our eyes to the important charism that our College foundations hold.

By Laura Attana

Italy / France Study Tour

During the September/October term break, a fortunate group of 24 students and 4 staff departed on a two week study trip to France and Italy. The first stop was the ‘Eternal City’ of Rome. Sightseeing included the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps, and Piazza Navona. Of course, the girls were also able to indulge in Italian gastronomic delights such as wood fire pizza, pasta and authentic gelato. On the way to Florence from Rome, the group stopped for a tour of the Cinecittà studios, the filming location of many Hollywood classic movies such as Ben Hur and popular Spaghetti Westerns. In Florence, the students spent their mornings in the kitchen of a local cooking school working on their cooking skills. They learned to make authentic pasta from scratch as well as a selection of Italian sweets. Sightseeing highlights in Florence included the Ponte Vecchio, the Uffizi Gallery , Galleria dell’Accademia and a day trip to Pisa. From Florence, it was off to Venice “La Serenissima” where the group enjoy the quintessential Venetian experience – a gondola ride!

After Venice, it was time to move on to France with a flight to Lyon, the gastronomic capital of France. Here the group visited the Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière and the charming old town of Vieux Lyon. The group was treated to a special dinner at the Paul Bocuse Training Institute where they experienced a superb meal from the training kitchen and restaurant of the renowned late chef Paul Bocuse whose restaurants have been recognised with multiple Michelin stars for over 50 years. From Lyon, it was on to Paris by TGV (train à grande vitesse – fast train). In addition to a French cooking lesson, the students ticked off all the ‘must dos’ – the Eiffel Tower, a river cruise on the Seine, the Arc de Triompe, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, the Château of Versailles, Sacré Cœur and the artist’s district of Montmartre. Of course, amongst all this there were ample opportunities to shop and sample authentic French croissants.

Luisa Ragusa

Languages Domain leader

VCAL Camp

When the Year 12 VCAL students were asked what they wanted to do for their final assessment in Personal Development Skills the response was that they wanted to organise an end-of-year school camp. The students worked together as a class to brainstorm some locations and activities that would challenge them, allow them to work together as a team, and most importantly provide them with everlasting memories of their last ever school camp in secondary school.

The camp began on Thursday 18 October with a drive to the Enchanted Gardens in Arthurs Seat where the students tried Tree Surfing. Strapped to trees 20 metres in the air, the students navigated their way through a variety of obstacles and flying foxes, some even overcoming their very strong fear of heights. From Arthurs Seat the next stop was the supermarket where the girls got supplies for the three-course meal they had been planning to cook. No one went hungry with the students preparing dips and meat platters, barbequed sausages, hamburgers, schnitzels, home-made chicken satay, salads, rice and finished off with some freshly made apple crumble. Student Mija Weightman then played host to a 10-round trivia night complete with cream pie in the face for the losing teachers.

After a night of games and activities the students woke up on Friday morning ready to relax and finish off their school year. The morning was spent at the Mornington Hot Springs followed by lunch before departing for school.

An enjoyable two days spent with the 2018 class of Year 12 VCAL students, on behalf of Mount St. Joseph Girls’ College I would like to wish all the exiting Year 12 VCAL students good luck as they close one door, and open the next.

Western Health Community Partnership Presentation

The Year 12 VCAL students have been working with the staff, volunteers and patients at Western Health’s Footscray Hospital for the past five months transforming the common room of Ward 3B from a drab hospital room to an inviting and calming space.

The girls have been visiting the hospital once a month to work on the project with the final presentation taking place on Tuesday October 16. MSJ Students Rida Hossain, Mary Abboud and Renee Furlan volunteered to host the presentation where they spoke about the challenges, successes and overall experience of this fantastic project.

Mount St. Joseph Girls’ College would like to thank Western Health Manager of Volunteers and Community Engagement, Jo Spence, for opening the doors to this great partnership which has allowed our students to showcase their individual talents and strengths as well as work together as a team to achieve an amazing outcome. The students would also like to thank the staff, volunteers, and patients of Ward 3B for accommodating our monthly visits to the hospital and for their continuous support and guidance throughout the project.

MSJ looks forward to continuing and developing this great community partnership for years to come.

Natasha Feore

VCAL Learning leader

English News - Peer Assessment

Our Year 9 students recently completed a task where they were required to write a persuasive piece, such as a persuasive essay, an opinion piece or a letter to the editor. They had a range of topics to choose from and were asked to utilise a variety of persuasive techniques to aid them in convincing a specific audience to agree with the arguments they put forward.

We decided to join our classes for a peer assessment session in which the students read each other’s work and gave each other feedback to help improve the quality of the piece and the overall persuasiveness.

The year 9 students found this session to be very beneficial and many commented on the positive experience they had in sharing their ideas, and gaining new ideas from their peers.

Here are some comments made by some of the year 9 students:

“I think it has been beneficial because its new students to work with, you get a fresh opinion, instead of the same people we are always in class with.”

Jennifer E, Vivian D, Maddy T

“It was a great way to get to know our other peers and get new feedback on our work”

Norisha & Eve

“We worked well together and understood the task better after helping each other out”

Alyssa & Lillian

“It was helpful to hear what another student thought of my work, and the suggestions that they made meant that I could improve my work”

Rebecca L

Rebekah Taylor & Sally Frith

English Teachers

Folio Exhibition

The VCE Folio Exhibition was opened on October 16 and ran until October 29. It was a celebration of the passion, talents and dedication of the VCE students. Over 300 works were on display, showcasing Studio Arts, Visual Communication Design, Media and Product Design Technology (Textiles). The extensive exhibition displayed a variation of media, styles, techniques and themes. The audience definitely enjoyed the creativity and uniqueness on display and it was great to hear directly from students talk about the processes that they undertook to complete their folios. The night was a huge success; special regards to all who exhibited, the VCE teachers, Ms Spiteri and especially Mr Meilak who organised and curated the exhibition. We look forward to next years event.

By Gemma Srijan

Studio Arts

Student Essay

Here is Nicole Pizzuti's (Year 10 Providence) thoughtful biographical essay about Hazel Smith, an American woman who stood up against racism, intolerance and bigotry.