16 September 2022

As we prepare for the school holidays, let’s reflect on all we have achieved during a busy term of learning.

It was a time for celebration in schools with the opening of new facilities, including a junior centre at St Patrick’s School, Mentone, a STEAM facility at Sacred Heart School, Oakleigh, and a STEM centre and community garden at St John’s Regional College, Dandenong. At St Richard’s Primary School, Kilsyth, the school hall was renamed in honour of Australia’s first saint, St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. In addition to local school events, Melbourne hosted over 1400 teachers and leaders from Catholic schools across Australia and internationally at the National Catholic Education Conference. Participants are now able to access all of the presentations from the conference as well as the Mass.

The two large theme weeks of the term, Science Week and Book Week, encouraged students and teachers to approach learning in new ways and to unleash their imaginations. After two years as an online event, STEM MAD (Making a Difference) returned to the Catholic Leadership Centre. The Showcase provided an exciting opportunity for teams of primary and secondary students to share their projects with peers and judges, and demonstrate how students in Catholic schools are taking practical action to make a difference in the world. Inspired by the Book Week theme, ‘Dreaming with eyes open’, the community at St Dominic’s School, Broadmeadows, added to their traditional activities for the week with opportunities for students across year levels to read with each other, including in languages other than English.

Following a two-year hiatus, Watta Watnanda Day returned bigger and better than before, with over 150 students coming together to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture through presentations, dialogue and activities. ‘Today I’m enjoying the cultural experience, getting to mingle with other students who are also Indigenous and it’s bringing me out of my comfort zone’, said Year 12 student Nicholas from Catholic Regional College, Melton.

For more news stories from Catholic schools, please visit the News and Events page on the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) website. If schools have news to share, please email publications@macs.vic.edu.au.