Newman News Term 4 Week 4: From the Director of Mission and Catholic Identity
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with our aspiring student leaders in Year 5, as they undertook their leadership preparation course before moving into Year 6. While we spent much of our first workshop exploring our understanding of leadership, and the qualities we recognise as important in leaders, in our second workshop we looked at what this means in a Marist community. It was so beautiful to hear students speak about what it means to be a Newman College student, and how the Marist pillars and Mary as our model plays such a significant part in our understanding of what it means to be a student in our community. Please see some of the response’s students shared in our conversations below:
How can we make Jesus real in our community?
How was Mary a good leader? What can we learn from her?
Well done to all of our Year 5 students who participated so enthusiastically and wholeheartedly in the student leadership process, and to their Year 5 teachers and Mrs Battersby for their support in their formation. It is very encouraging to know that the future of our community is in good hands.
Socktober
Over the past two weeks, our Year 6 Mini Marists in the primary school have been busy raising awareness for Socktober. This is a time of the year when we raise awareness of the large number of children around the world who are living in poverty through the world game of soccer. Students have been spending their lunchtimes making their own soccer balls from string and plastic bags, and on Friday, students right across the Lavalla campus had the chance to play with these at lunch, sparing a thought for those who so often go without. We also held our traditional staff vs students game which ended in a 1-1 draw. It was great to see so many students enjoying themselves on Friday, and we owe a big thanks to Mrs Jane Short and our Year 6 Mini Marists for leading this initiative.
Game Changers Wind-up Gathering
After another great year of building Game Changers, we finished off the Year 11 meetings with an All-Year Wind up. Students from Game Changers groups in years 7-11 had a terrific time bowling, eating pizza and drinking soft drink while attempting to score a strike. Although few strikes were actually made, the students clearly had a great time and really connected and celebrated a great year. There was inter-year group mingling and sharing of fun and challenging experiences the year had held for them. Year 7-10 will continue to have meetings in Weeks 6 and 8, where they will get involved with 24/7 Youth Ministry and plan out their initiatives for next year.
I would like to sincerely thank all the teachers who have volunteered their time to mentor our students; Matt Box, Albert Zollo & Jade Nicotra, Jordan Coveney, Chris James, Bonnie Keynes, and Adeline Hendriks. Their unwavering commitment makes each meeting worthwhile and enjoyable for those involved. I would also like to thank Issy Ochtman, and previously Liam Street, as our Marist Regional Assistant and their running of our retreats and camps, Br Paul for helping and being our bus driver, and lastly, Amanda Redwood for all the behind-the-scenes organisation and planning aid. We are fortunate to have the support and assistance of such a great team!
Mrs Aleisha Bryson (Leader of Youth Ministry & Advocacy)
Year 10 Game Changers Retreat
The Year 10 LaValla retreat day was all about our students discovering their personal True North! What are our future aspirations? How are we heading there? Who is guiding us? We also looked at understanding, empowering, and creating meaningful relationships with the people around us through social justice. This led us to discussions on what are some of the things we can do this year and next in the way of social justice and community service. Out of this came the plan to visit our Mini Marists in Lavalla Week 6, something our Year 10s are very much looking forward to. Next year we have the intention of continuing these visits, as well as bake sales, immersions, and involvement in the wider community, stay tuned to see how it all plays out in 2023!
Community Mass
It was great to welcome so many of our students and their grandparents to our community mass last week – thank you to everyone who attended in support. We warmly invite the entire Newman College Community to gather with us for Mass at 8.10am on Thursday mornings in the Champagnat Chapel. Mass is celebrated by a Priest from a local parish and is hosted by both primary and secondary school students. Please see the upcoming schedule below;
Week 5: Thursday, 10 November; Marcellin and Year 4 Red, Monsignor Kevin Long
Week 6: Thursday, 17 November; MacKillop and Year 4 Blue, Fr Ruben Cardona