Trinity College Colac Newsletter

Faith and Mission News

Term 1 is an extremely busy time for staff and students. Here are a selection of the key events that relate to the Faith & Mission life of Trinity College.

 

Retreats

From 8th-10th March, our senior students 'retreated' from the busyness of their day-to-day lives to contemplate the journey they each are on in these final stages of their secondary schooling.

Thank you to all staff who attended the retreats, as well as those who helped behind the scenes with organising equipment and logistics.

 

Year 11 Retreat

The Year 11 students spent their three days at the PGL Campaspe Downs Adventure Camp, Tylden, where they took part in a range of outdoor activities and reflective sessions. The theme of the Year 11 Retreat was 'Be yourself, everyone else is already taken', and this idea permeated through the small group discussions and large group activities.

Year 11 Coordinator Mr. Seal, along with the Year 11 Homeroom Mentors, and other staff in attendance facilitated a range of thoughtful activities that allowed students to explore different aspects of their own personality, and provided them with opportunities to really challenge themselves.

The student feedback was extremely positive - when asked to 'describe the best part of the retreat', here are a range of perspectives:

  • Spending time with people you may not normally and getting to know the teachers better.
  • The best parts of retreat was getting to spend more time with people outside of school time.
  • Connecting with everyone on a different level
  • Doing the camp activities, spending time with people, talking to people I usually would not have.
  • Getting closer with everyone and hearing stories or struggles from others and understanding them
  • Music trivia, and the whole grade being together, as well as the amount of free time at the end of the day to do what you wanted, and to hang out with friends and peers.
  • The group activities that brought us closer as humans

Year 12 Retreat

The Year 12 students journeyed to Cave Hill Creek near Beaufort, a beautifully situated location that has been the site of the Year 12 Retreat since 2015.

The theme that guided the entire retreat was a Swahili word, 'Ubuntu', an African philosophical belief which roughly translates into English as 'We are human together'.

In between small group reflective sessions and outdoor activities, the Year 12s took part in a series of large group sessions run by a different teacher - Mr. Clohesy, Mr. Geary, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Ryan, and Mrs. McGlynn. These staff members chose to explore different aspects of the theme by sharing anecdotes, words of wisdom, and lessons they had learned throughout their own lives.

Like, the Year 11 students, the Year 12 students responded in an extremely positive manner - when asked to 'describe the best part of the retreat', here are a range of perspectives:

  • Spending time getting to know different members of the cohort and reflecting on my time at Trinity
  • The op shop dinner, small group activities and the emotional experience of warm fuzzies, letters and gratitude.
  • Getting to know my classmates and teachers on that deeper level.
  • Mainly the discussions with the group members (reflective, warm fuzzies and parents letters).
  • My favourite part was getting to hang out for one of the last times as a cohort.
  • Op shop dinner, sense of connection within the group and the lovely and wonderful teachers who spent time with us.
  • Hearing the stories from teachers offered a view not many would have seen, but allowed us to gain respect because they showed us trust.

Years 7, 8 and 9 Reflection Days

While the senior students were on their retreats, the Years 7-9 students took part in a day-long reflection seminar run by Az Hamilton- a public and motivational speaker from 'Just Motivation' in Brisbane. Through a series of activities and stories, Az challenged the students to push their limits and to challenge themselves in order to unlock their potential.

 

Ash Wednesday Liturgies

As is now an annual tradition, during Lesson 1 on the morning of Ash Wednesday, each Year 12 Homeroom lead a short liturgy service with an allocated year level. Staff and students across the school reflected on the opportunities that Lent provides for each of us to change for the better. The sign of ashes on our foreheads acts as a reminder of the shortness of life, and the impetus that this should provide for us to abandon those behaviours that prevent us from being the best versions of ourselves. The Year 12 students are to be commended for their willingness to respectfully lead the celebrations of this significant event on the Church's calendar.

 

Commencement Masses

The entire Trinity College community returned to St. Mary's Parish this year for the annual Commencement Mass - albeit across two different services. On the morning of Tuesday 21st February , Years 10, 11 and 12 students attended the first mass, and in the afternoon, Years 7-9 travelled to the parish for the second mass. Father Michael presided over both masses, with support from the Year 12 Student Leaders. It was also the first time that our new House Banners were revealed to the school community, and the House Captains proudly carried these into the church at the beginning of the mass. Using the Creation story in the Book of Genesis as inspiration, Father Michael spoke in his homily about the beauty of the world and the important role that each one of us plays in helping to make our community a better place for all. It was wonderful to see the entire church full of Trinity students and staff gathering together to celebrate our community and to ask for God's blessing in preparation for the year to come.

Time & Space Event

Trinity has partnered with Time and Space again this year to run some special events aimed at strengthening connections between students and their parents/mentors.

The first of these evening ran on Monday 20th March, and saw over 50 fathers/male role models attend, along with their Year 7 or 8 student. Led by Ray Messer, an experienced public speaker, the evening began with some short 'ice-breaker' activities, and was followed by a panel discussion, made up of Mr. Clohesy and College Captains Amaia McCallum and Harry Murphy. The same type of panel discussion was then replicated in small groups of mixed fathers/male mentors and Year 7 or 8 students, and the discussion was facilitated by a member of staff, or a student volunteer. At the conclusion of the evening, the father/male mentor rejoined their Year 7 or 8 student and they reflected on what they had learned throughout the evening. It was very affirming to see how many wonderful male role models there are for our students within the Trinity community. There will be another Time and Space evening on Monday 27th November for Year 11 students and their parents, as part of the transition into Year 12.

The following comments were provided after the event as feedback.

Students

  • It was great and I learnt some life advice today.
  • It was really helpful to hear from older and younger generations.
  • The treasure sharing activity was very nice and I loved it and I really enjoyed spending time with my dad.

Fathers/Mentors

  • Great to hear a different array of feelings from both students and parents on how to relate to each other.
  • Would be interesting to do again in a few years and see changes and make adjustments if necessary.
  • Great initiative to encourage men to be more involved in their children's life.

Project Compassion & Easter Egg Raffle

We are currently in the final week of collecting Easter Eggs for our annual Easter Raffle, which will  be drawn during the College Assembly on Tuesday 28th March.  Each student is asked to bring an item to contribute to their Homeroom's collection. All funds raised will be donated to Caritas Australia's annual Project Compassion. Spanning across the six weeks of Lent each year, Project Compassion brings thousands of Australian schools, parishes and supporters together to raise funds for people living in some of the most vulnerable communities across the world.

Members of the SRC will be selling raffle tickets during Homeroom time this week. Good luck!

Staff PD - 23rd March

All teaching and support staff gathered in the Jubilee Auditorium on Thursday 23rd March for their annual Faith & Mission professional learning day. The day's theme was inspired by a line that Edmund Rice wrote in a letter to another Christian Brother in 1837: 'Have courage, the good seed will grow up in the children's hearts later on.'

This call to act, and to live, courageously was explored in an address to the staff by Brother. Clem Barrett, principal of Trinity College from 1989-1998.

In his speech, Br. Clem reflected on his life as a Christian Brother, his time in Colac, and, in particular, on his experiences working in Tanzania and Zambia. His extraordinary life of service and dedication to ensuring that young people, whether they live in Colac or Arusha, could lead to a better life was an incredibly inspiring tale for the audience, and he followed his address by responding to a number of questions from the staff.

Support for Vanuatu

Our College Leaders attended the three masses at St Mary's last weekend to help Father Michael and the parishioners raise funds to support the reconstruction efforts in Vanuatu after the island was hit by two cyclones earlier this month. There are a number of Vanuatuan workers in our community whose families and communities, as well as their homes and farms have been severely impacted by the cyclones. The College Leaders were keen to support the fundraising efforts and to represent Trinity at the parish.