Secondary Campus

GIRL GANG WELLNESS PROGRAM

On Friday 20 August, the Year 7 girls participated in the ‘Girl Gang Wellness Program’. The full day program gave the students the opportunity to continue to develop their relationships, gain positive self-talk strategies and practice self-care, by making ‘Bliss Balls’ and participating in a yoga class. They ended the day with an Art Therapy session, creating colourful canvases as a keepsake from the day.

“It was very inspirational, and the activities were entertaining. They taught us how to block out the negative things people might say”. – Isabella Pacicca (7GPC-04)

“They brought us out of our shells and made it ok to be different”. – Meg Laforgia (7GPC-04)

“My favourite part was the nutrition part because we got to try a protein ball that was made with dates, oats, honey, coconut, and cocoa powder. I also liked the confidence catwalk as it helped boost my confidence and made me feel good about myself. I would totally do it again and would recommend it for more girls my age”. – Eloise Dodd (7GPC-05) 

“The Girl Gang day was amazing they talked to us about body positivity and how to feel good. To make us feel good we did yoga, dancing, nutrition, talk about social media, painting, stickers and then to finish it a cat walk. I liked the cat walk because it boosted my confidence and made me feel brave and I also liked the nutrition task because we got to eat bliss balls which are made up of coconut, oats, dates, honey and cocoa powder. I really liked Girl Gang and I would definitely recommend Girl Gang to other girls my age to help them feel good about themselves”. – Chloe Hilton (7GPC-05)

Ms Joanne Howat, Assistant Year 7 Director

YEAR 12 DRAMA

The Year 12 Drama class performed their production of The Internet is Distrtact- Oh Look A Kitten! on Wednesday and Thursday night this week. The performance was based on the character Micah, who only had twenty minutes to finish her essay on The Great Gatsby. She just needed to check a few facts on the internet first. As we know, the web is a nefariously wacky place and in this case boxing cats, Facebook lurkers, and doll-throwing games threaten to take over Micah’s schoolwork… or worse. Does she finish her essay and escape with her life before the school bell rings? This comedic performance explored the rabbit hole of distraction we all go down every time we go online.

Audience members were raving;

“This was a spectacular performance, hilariously funny but at the same time relatable as we are often caught in a similar situation. It was a seamless performance by the cast and crew, and I cannot rave enough at just how professional and fantastic this performance was. A big congratulations to all involved in this production, you should all be super proud of yourselves!” – Olivia

On behalf of the cast and crew, I would like to thank all those who came out to support this production. Congratulations to the cast on a fantastic show!

Ms Danii Zappia, Drama Teacher – Secondary

YEARS 7-9 LEARNING AND WELLBEING CHARACTER STRENGTH FOCUS

Week 6: Love

Love. This one is a biggie! As I begin to write this article, I wonder where to start with a character strength like this. Comedian George Burns once described love as something like a backache, “It doesn’t show up on X-rays, but you know it’s there.”[1]

When we think of love, it’s easy to immediately conjure the sound and image of The Beatles’ ‘All You Need is Love”, and then hard to stop it in our heads! The notion of love has inspired artists and authors since the dawn of time. Saints and philosophers have grappled with it, trying to understand and unravel its force as a phenomenon; Shakespeare and Dante are famous for their takes on it; Mother Teresa affirmed that love can solve the world’s problems; Mary MacKIllop sustained ‘in all things love’; Jesus spoke often about loving one another, and St John Baptist de La Salle spoke about touching hearts.

Love’s power is very clear; in fact, it is one of the most empowering character strengths of all. They say it can ‘move mountains’, and energise us towards objectives like no other catalyst. Just think about what you would do for your children or loved ones, and what you have done! Many of us can attest to actions and change they would have never thought possible without such a powerful force of nature.

Love includes romantic love and friendship; love between parents and children; and emotional bonds between family members, friends, mentors, teammates, or coworkers. Of course, we can also love things- foods, hobbies, articles. The Greek language does a better job at evidencing the differences- there are four different terms to highlight the differing natures of love!

As we know, the world is endlessly interconnected, and none of us can live well in isolation. Love helps to create positive feelings, which overcome loneliness, anxiety, and depression. Without love, the strong relationships with our families, friends, or communities are not possible. Love is linked to good health and longevity; providing a sense of meaning and purpose in life. Fortunately, during COVID times, technology has rescued us often from what could have been much more pronounced isolation. Love also needs to be directed at the world we live in, at other peoples and at the environment.

St Michael’s is a place where we aspire to ensure that each person is known, valued and cared for, whether student, staff or family member. As Mr Foley wrote in last week’s newsletter, “recent events, including COVID and loss have reinforced with us all the importance of relationships and connections”. As a community, we all show love towards each other, in various ways, supporting each other in the hardest of times and celebrating together in times of joy. School is also a place where students are reminded of our responsibility for stewardship for our world, and its health. The Eco Squad, and our attention to COVID safe directives are just two examples of this.

Some other examples include an article last week in the STAR highlighting Year 10 students performing random acts of kindness; Year 12 College Leaders working with their younger brothers and sisters in the Garden; and Year 7 Mass this Week, led by Mr Alberton’s class with love as its focus, guiding us all to a strong call to love our neighbours and take care of each other and our world. In my Year 9 English class, in connection with the character strength of the week, we reflected on evidence of the broader definition of love in the novel we are reading, Leaving Jetty Road. Students also reflected on the strength of love they perceive in their lives and the love they show. Here are some of their thoughts:

What evidence of love do you see in your life? The setting of good example and guidance, food and shelter, sometimes saying ‘no’ to protect us, noticing when I am sad and supporting me, providing comfort, when coaches push you to become better, kindness, hugs, looking out for me and giving me advice, listening, forgiving me if I make a mistake, teachers give endlessly and support students and so does Mr Viz,  believing in us, smiling, connections, looking out for each other.

What do you do to show love? Showing affection, sending love in a message, watching movies together, supporting others when they are going through something, being honest and positive, making time for that person, learning what’s important to another person, going out of my way to make them smile, compromising, telling others when they are doing the wrong thing, encouraging them.

Each of us can accept the challenge of working with love in mind. Sometimes it isn’t easy and there are days when we are all tested, especially when circumstances out of our control surround us, and contribute to momentary loss of focus. Having said this, seeing a situation through the lens of love does always help us to view things in a more positive way, does help us each to feel better and be healthier, and fundamentally helps each of us to contribute to the community where we are all known, valued and cared for.

In the meantime, we can do our best to follow St John Baptist de La Salle’s wisdom and “Often ask God for the grace to touch hearts”.

Have a great Week 6 and weekend ahead!

Mrs Tonia Carfora, Year 7-9 Learning and Wellbeing Initiatives Leader

SECONDARY ACTIVITIES

The Secondary Campus offers many weekly activities for students to connect and explore their curiosities. Please see the activities calendar below for more information. Everyone’s welcome!

CO-CURRICULAR GROUP PHOTOS AVAILABLE UNTIL 3/09/2021

The Secondary Campus co-curricular group photos are now available to view and purchase. If you place your order before 3 September 2021, you will get a 20% early order discount. Please click the link below for more information. Please note the discount will be automatically applied at checkout. Click here to order now.

Images can also be viewed by visiting www.advancedlife.com.au entering the code: PAR 6DP FZ6 and clicking on “Group Photos”

Important:

• Sports and co-curricular group photos can only be purchased online, PLEASE DO NOT return payment to your school
• If your child’s group or team is scheduled to be photographed at a later date, you will receive an additional email notification when the images are ready to be ordered
• Photos will be returned to your school for distribution approximately six weeks after the discounted early order period has closed
• Past years’ photographs including sports, co-curricular and representative groups are also available at your school’s advancedorder and your child’s advancedyou photo sites

Advancedlife would like to express their appreciation to St Michael’s College for placing your trust in them. Please remember they offer a 100% money back guarantee on products to ensure your peace of mind. They would also love to receive your feedback or resolve any issues you may experience as fast as possible, to ensure your satisfaction. If you have any questions, comments or feedback relating to your advancedlife experience please click here.