Faith, Mission and Learning

From the Director of Faith, Mission & Learning

Our College has been faith life has been in overdrive with an energy of passionate activity these past weeks. From the Year 12 Class of 2023 Retreat through to the Diocesan Catechist’s Mass through to Faith Fridays there is a wonderful sense of the Mission bringing Jesus Christ alive in our College.

Catechist’s Mass
Our 20 student Special Religious Education/Catechists travelled to the annual Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta where they were recognised in their efforts teaching Scripture to students at local public schools. We thank these students and the teachers who accompanied them weekly, Mr Giancarlo Ison, Mrs Theresa Ciantar, Mr Antony Culbert, Ms Christella Bade and Mr Andrew Hoare.

Frank Clarke
Director of Faith, Mission & Learning

From the Leader of Faith, Mission & Learning

Year 12 Retreat - Class of 2023

The 2023 Year 12 students experienced three days of prayer, faith, reflection, fun and friends during the Year 12 retreat at the Collaroy Centre, on the 2nd to the 4th November 2022. The students reflected on the gospel theme “You are the Light of the World,” as they considered who has shone light on them, how God brings light to their lives, and how they shine their light on others as disciples of Jesus.

 

Some of the day 1 highlights were, students decorating a candle with symbols that represent who they are and their faith journey, before lighting the candle and embarking upon a night beachwalk and gospel meditation. Day 2 the students placed Fr Kevin the hot seat as we held an interview with God session, where Fr Kevin attempted to answer the big picture questions students would ask God if given the opportunity, before engaging in a scripture marketplace, where students experienced scripture through prayer, drama and music. The afternoon walk to the beach and swim in the rock pools allowed everyone some relaxation and fun, before returning that night for an opportunity to go to reconciliation, and then celebrating Mass with Fr Kevin Redmond which was a prayerful and meaningful experience for many. 

“Faith Fridays”

Day 3 saw many tears of joy as the students affirmed each other both publicly in their House groups, and through private messages placed in their affirmation envelopes. The joy the students experienced over the three days was made evident at the end of day 3, when the students came together to sing the school song and how Great is our God, which was an experience that many will take with them. Thank you to Mr Clarke for leading us all through the meaningful prayer and meditation experience that the retreat was. Mr Frankham for his leadership and care as Year 12 leader of Wellbeing. Special mention and thanks to all the teachers who gave up their time to guide and care for the students as small group leaders, to allow the students to have this opportunity.

There was standing room only at St Andrew’s first Faith Friday youth group which was a roaring success. The students, led by Miss Tan, engaged in fellowship, ice breaker games, listened to music, ate pizza and discussed the question, “Why is Faith important”? Thank you to all the students who participated along with Miss Tan, Mr Ison, and Mr Hoare who provided pizza.

Faith Fridays will continue each Friday till the end of term, at lunchtime in the Drama room. 

Our youth group has also begun on the Senior Campus, on Wednesday’s at recess in the hall.

All are welcome.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

On Tuesday the 18th of October- Mr Ison , Mr Clarke, Makoi, Youssef, Alexandra and Irish participated in the official school launch of the Australian Catholics Bishops Conference Social Justice statement. The level of respect and gratitude that these students showed on the day of the conference and how they represented our college should be commended. The Social Justice statement is called Respect. The following is the transcript from the assembly. 

Makoi:
Alexandra, Youssef and I had the opportunity to be a part of the Catholic Bishops Conference - Social Statement Launch in the JNR conference room. We were joined by other catholic schools via zoom such as St Pauls Catholic College, St John Paul II Catholic College, Catherine McAuley and St  Columba's to name a few. Every year the Australian Catholic Bishops release a statement that reflects the current social, economic, and ecological issues and encourage school communities to turn this into actions. This year's statement mainly focused on understanding that domestic violence and abuse is not only a one-person matter but also a social justice issue. It challenged us to educate ourselves about domestic abuse, and ways we can bring awareness inside our own community. 

Youssef:
As Makoi has stated, domestic violence is not an individual matter, but more so a social justice issue. Domestic violence can come in the forms of emotional, spiritual, financial or even physical violence and can affect anyone. Women and children are the most common victims of domestic violence, as every 1 in 4 women is assumed to be suffering some sort of domestic violence. These statistics aren't just to say men do not suffer as well though, as for every 6 males, 1 of them is assumed to be going through some form of domestic violence. 

Alexandra:
Building on from what Youssef has stated, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men is a pretty low number, meaning that people right here within our St. Andrew’s Community could be going through Domestic Violence and we wouldn’t even be aware. Moving Forward from this conference, we encourage you all to speak out about the problem and raise awareness throughout the college community about Domestic Violence as us as staff and students should have the right to feel safe within our community. We would also like everyone here to know that we are able to emotionally support you and are able to talk to anyone here about any problems you may have with domestic violence, whether it be our school counsellor, teachers, peers, or even us. As mentioned in the conference, we should all be treating one another with love and respect.

Andrew Hoare
Leader of Faith, Mission & Learning.

From the Leader of Faith & Mission

Vinnies Christmas Appeal

As a College community, we commit these weeks leading up to Christmas to the Vinnies Christmas Appeal, helping struggling families in our community. This year's Vinnies Christmas Appeal will be running from Weeks 6-7 ending on the 25th of November in Term 4. 

Similar to last year's Christmas Appeal, we will be asking for Prepaid Gift Card donations. 

There are some important points to note for this year's collection:

• Prepaid Gift Cards for general use: As many marginalised individuals and families in our community have diverse needs, please purchase gift cards that can be accepted in various stores and for a variety of goods. Please see below for links to Woolworths and Coles online options:
• Woolworths Gift Cards
• Coles Gift Cards
• ALDI Gift Vouchers
• Gift cards collections: 
• Please collect any donated gift cards during Learning Group daily and record details on the document provided with the promotional material.
• Collected gift cards will then need to be sent to the Office in the provided envelope with the LG roll bag at the end of Learning Group each day to record amounts and tally totals.
•  Students are welcome to purchase these cards as a Learning Group, smaller friendship groups or as individuals. 

Thank you again for your ongoing support in this space. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Mr Giancarlo Ison
Leader of Faith & Mission