From Director of Junior School, Ms Gabrielle Smith

The May 50K – Leave Your Limits Behind

Congratulations to Angus Peshos, who competed in the May 50K for MS.

Angus says: “I did the 50km in May because my Aunt had recently been diagnosed with MS and my uncle was doing it. Initially I thought I would donate $50 and hoped I might be able to get some more money, so I decided to register for the 50km in May charity. I ended up raising over $1,500 and I did over 50km. I was very proud of myself.”

You can read more or donate by clicking here.

Project Compassion Raffle

Our Junior School students are to be commended for their wonderful generosity in supporting Project Compassion this year. During the season of Lent, the 6 Gold boys generously donated Easter Eggs to gift three beautiful Easter baskets as prizes. The money raised is donated to Project Compassion.

This year’s annual Easter Raffle had to be postponed until we returned to campus in Term Two. The support from the boys was magnificent. The Raffle raised over $735 for Project Compassion and the following boys were overjoyed when they heard their names called out as the winners.

1st prize: Finnian McCarthy – 6 White

2nd prize: Alex Moore – 5 Red

3rd prize: Christian Richardson – 6 Indigo

Reconciliation Week – 6 Indigo

Reconciliation has been explored in 6 Indigo through English. The students participated in a variety of activities, developing a strong understanding of the need for them to be active citizens in the future. During Reconciliation Week, 6 Indigo took time to reflect on and learn about Aboriginal culture. As part of this, on Friday afternoon we participated in an outdoor art lesson. The class all traced their hands and created a dot painting. Looking over the newly cleared Wingara the students enjoyed exploring their new art techniques. They appreciate the patience and dedication it takes to create an amazing artwork.

Refugee Week – From Teacher, Ms Jennifer Hoare

This week, the Junior School students continue to recognise and celebrate Refugee Week, which runs from 14 to 20 June. This is Australia’s peak annual activity to raise awareness about the issues impacting refugees, as well as recognising the positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society. The theme for 2020 is celebrating the ‘Year of Welcome.’

Students have been exploring the countries that many refugees in Australia originate from. Each boy has drawn a representative flag and learnt about the many challenges refugees face by coming to Australia. We have also looked at how our community can provide a safe and welcoming environment for refugees. Most importantly, the students have been celebrating the contribution refugees make to our community.

Director of Identity & Student Formation, Ms Suzanne Walsh organised for a former student of hers to talk to the Junior School. Elijah Williams is a refugee from Sierra Leone and I too had the pleasure of teaching Elijah when he was in Year 7 at Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview. On Monday, we welcomed Elijah to the Learning Hub, where he shared his story.

Elijah and his mother and brothers fled war-torn Sierra Leone in 2001 and arrived in Perth when he was only four years old. After nine months of living in a refugee camp, the family came to Sydney. Elijah attended Belmore West Public School and later became a boarder at Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview in 2009-2014. He shared many of his experiences, emotions, hardships and successes with the boys and they were captivated by his dynamic personality, resilience – and, most importantly, by how grateful he is for the freedom and opportunities he’s had since living in Australia.

Elijah is a talented sportsman. He represented Riverview in basketball, AFL, rugby, football and athletics. Since leaving school he has competed as an elite sprinter at the Nationals. His real passion in life, however, is acting. Elijah has followed this dream and he is now a professional actor. In 2018, he was awarded Best Male Actor in a Leading Role in an Independent Production by Sydney Theatre Company. He has many exciting acting roles ahead and hopes to visit his home country, Sierra Leone, in the next few years.

The boys were moved by Elijah’s inspirational story and they were very excited to ask him questions. They loved hearing that Elijah had played Usain Bolt’s double for a television commercial. It was a wonderful experience for the boys to meet Elijah and we appreciate his generosity of time in sharing his extraordinary story.

 

Sustainability Club Waste Audit – From Assistant Director of Curriculum, Ms Charlotte Stephens

It is with great pleasure that the Sustainability Club was able to meet again this week. The boys got their hands dirty – figuratively speaking, as they were wearing gloves! – and undertook a waste audit.

As part of the audit, the students had to go through the bins in the playground and separate its contents into different categories:

• Mixed recycling
• Landfill
• Clean, dry paper and cardboard
• Food scraps and dirty paper napkins for compost
• Soft Plastics

We discovered that a large amount of the rubbish going into our bins could be reused, recycled or composted. Recycling properly and composting would have a huge impact. The next step for the Sustainability Club is to educate our Junior School students on what can go in the recycling bins and what we can put in our brand new compost bins. The boys will be developing lessons and infographics to spread awareness. A big thank you to Sustainability Coordinator, Ms Emily Pace and Sebastien Van De Hoek for helping us conduct the audit.

Sustainability Club meets once a week in the 5 Red classroom. We welcome anyone who is passionate about sustainability and wants to have a positive impact on our school community. Next term we will meet on a Tuesday morning from 7:30-8:30am.