Year 7 working on their Social Justice
From the Social Justice Coordinator, Geraldine Cullen
Parent and Son Urban Walks
Each month I take a group of Year 11 students to the Wayside Chapel. They meet a man who has experienced drug addiction and homelessness and we listen to his stories. Afterwards we take a walk around the backstreets of Kings Cross and he draws attention to points of interest, such as the Injecting Centre.
If parents are interested in accompanying their Year 10 sons on this walk in Term 4 please email me at gcullen@waverley.nsw.edu.au The cost is $25 and is given as a donation to the Wayside Chapel Homelessness Program.
Advocacy Campaigns
Currently all Year 7 and 10 students are learning how to run an Advocacy Campaign in their RE classes. It is hoped by the time they leave school, they will be able to plan and execute a campaign to highlight an injustice and hopefully effect change. Students are encouraged to focus on their personal strengths and use these to create a unique campaign that hopefully brings about real change. In the past students would comment on how we raise their awareness about the many injustices in this world but don’t teach them how to change things. Hopefully that is about to change.
Year 11 Outreach
The Outreach Program got off to a good start this term. The majority of students have turned up to their rostered activities. Both parents and students are sent a reminder email. Please let myself or Ms Cooper know if your son is unable to attend.
Winter Sleep Out
Tevlin House is involved with raising awareness about the issue of homelessness. The Tevlin Winter Sleep Out is fast approaching. Students will meet a man who has experienced homelessness and drug addiction and they will listen to his story. After watching a documentary on Youth Homelessness, students will sleep out in the gymnasium. The idea is they will experience in a small way the discomfort of sleeping rough. In previous years we have slept out in St John’s Church grounds. Due to the Ice epidemic we can no longer do this.
Holdsworth Ball
On the 1st September our students and some St Clare’s students will host the Holdsworth Ball in St Clare’s Hall. This is the highlight of the year for our young Holdsworth friends living with disabilities. Mr Horrocks and Brennan House put a huge amount of effort making this a very special night.
The Holdsworth Community is an organisation that supports children, young adults and their families living with disability, providing them with recreational activities and employment support.
The theme for the night is “A Night at the Oscars”. The hard work has well and truly begun planning the night and in order for the night to be run successfully, fundraising and donations are needed to pay for costs such as; food, drinks, decorations and further marketing of the event. Over the next few weeks Waverley boys and St Clare’s girls are going to be running a number of fundraising events to pay for the running of the night. Additionally, any parents, friends or members of the Waverley Community that are able to donate prizes to be raffled on the night would be greatly appreciated and would contribute significantly to the success of the night. The event is one of the key highlights in the Holdsworth Community annual calendar.
For more information, please contact Mr James Horrocks via email at: jhorrocks@waverley.nsw.edu.au
