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“THE JOURNEY” PROGRAMME ATST PATRICK’S COLLEGE, BALLARATOn Thursday, May 28 ,194 students and twelve staffexperienced a night of homelessness as part of the College’sYear 10 Programme, “The Journey”. Each night in Australia,an affluent country by any measure, a staggering 36,000people from the 12-25 age group, will sleep out in theelements. This rate of homelessness is of great concern andis literally on our own doorstep. It is imperative that we raiseawareness about this issue and look at the many underlyingfactors that contribute to young people’s homelessness.students have already committed to organisingpractical assistance for the homeless at local level. It isalso central to the College’s charism as a Catholicschool in the tradition of Blessed Edmund Rice.Mark WaddingtonDevelopment Manager - St Patrick’s College, Ballarat.STUDENTS READY TO PEDALAGAINST POVERTYLater this year Damascus College, Ballarat, studentswill cover more kilometres than riders in the Tour DeFrance, in less time.Using their new solar pedal assisted bike calledADIMOV Dreaming, students of the EnergyBreakthrough Team will head to Darwin and ride backto Ballarat, all in the name of raising money for povertyand to highlight climate change.However getting there is not a cheap exercise. Thereare flights, food and accommodation to consider andthat is before fundraising can begin.The experience was co-ordinated by the College’sLeadership and Standards Officer, Mr Jamie Bobrowski, andis part of a holistic leadership development programme inYear 10, titled “The Journey”.Mr Bobrowski noted that for boys used to the comforts ofhome and supportive families, “One Night of Homelessness”was a challenging, and at times confronting experience, thatintroduced Year 10 boys to just some of the conditions thathomeless young people in Australia experience on any givennight. Students were able to experience areal-life soup kitchen and meet workers and volunteerswhose dailyreality brings them into contact with some of societiesmarginalised.“One Night of Homelessness” complements the St Patrick’sCollege leadership programme, “The Journey”, by enablingboys to experience a real life situation that provided insightsinto the challenges faced by those living at the margins. Italso reinforced that the causes of homelessness are multifaceted– many people who live on the streets attendedschool, had jobs and families but for reasons linked to mentalhealth, social connectivity and substance abuse, now findthemselves living on our streets. Other experiences for thenight included a range of team challenges and experiencesincluding eating a meal from a soup kitchen, sleeping withonly the assistance of a blanket, exposure to the elements ofnature and midnight informative sessions from Open FamilyMelbourne, who work with homeless youth on a daily basis.The boys’ response to the evening was outstanding. Theexperience was a voluntary one, which attracted a responserate of over 99% from boys in the year level. Several boys,who due to medical reasons could not sleep in the elements,participated in the programme till well after midnight beforefinding shelter.The experience was an invaluable one for students,highlighting that homelessness is literally on our doorstepsand a number ofThe RODE RAGE (Ride Against Greenhouse GasEmissions) team will leave November 23 andyesterday received some help in the form of $20,000 inState Government funding.Teacher Mark McLean said he was hopeful up to$100,000 would be raised through their website, whichwill stream the journey live.‘‘The students are involved in raising funds for it, butwe hope to raise funds not only to just cover the eventand costs, but raise funds to fight poverty,’’ he said.‘‘People in poverty do it tougher when we say let’sreduce greenhouse gas emissions, so we are trying todo it from a two-pronged approach by highlighting theneed to reduce emissions but also support those whowill be most affected.’’Ballarat East MLA Geoff Howard said the money wasin recognition of the program’s ongoing success.For more details visit www.roderage.com.au.Text and photo courtesy of the “Ballarat Courier”, 17/7/2009Article by James Kelly, photo by Lachlan Bence.
SS. MICHAEL AND JOHN’S PRIMARY SCHOOL, HORSHAMBUILDING FOUNDATIONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURYIt has been a very hectic 12 months for our school community. It was Holy Thursday in 2008 when we received initial reports thatindicated Brigid House was structurally unsound. The Building Committee members were stunned by the news. Subsequentreports confirmed our fears about Brigid House and since then we have worked diligently through the process of demolition andthe development of plans for a new school.It was with sadness that we farewelled the building and moved into our temporary accommodation after the third term holidays.Commemorative photos and tours of the building were provided in late 2008. Many took the chance to visit and relive old timesand tell stories about escaping from the boarders’ rooms for dances and the like! The demolition process has been a slow one.There have been many hold ups along the way. Most recently the long awaited rains forced closure of the tip and therefore a haltto demolition work, as there wasn’t anywhere close to dump the rubble.We are now moving into a new phase, a phase of development and construction rather than the gloom of demolition andtemporary buildings. At the end of 2008 we were successful in gaining a $1.35 million grant from the Federal Government. Asthe world economy headed toward recession, the Rudd Government announced a stimulus package, “Building the EducationRevolution”. We were excited to get news of two more grants through this package: $125,000 National Schools Pride Grant and$2 million for Primary Schools of the 21st Century. These grants will enable us to redevelop the area once covered by BrigidHouse and build a new primary school containing 12 learning areas, new student and staff amenities, a resource hub and adminfacilities. Twelve months ago this all seemed a dream!The new school of the 21st Century has the learner at its heart. Today’s learners are different and so we need to build schools forour children’s future - not our past. Have you considered how today’s learners are different?They devour technology - internet, email, sms, facebook, wikis, blogs. They want to create and collaborate. The jobs that they willhave (and they are likely to have many), will be different and in fact some haven’t even been invented yet. Companies wantemployees who are able to create new ideas and problem solve.As we embark upon this new journey into 21st Century Learning, we are packing our suitcases full of the great practices we havein place, but looking to other examples of 21st Century Learning to create a place for the students of today - our future problemsolvers and creative thinkers.Left picture:Before DemolitionRight picture:After DemolitionBUILDING EDUCATION REVOLUTION IN FULL SWING AT ST MARY’S, SEA LAKEThe Building Education Revolution is well underway at St Mary’s Primary School.We have won $50,000.00 from the “National School Pride Grant” and the Board have decided to upgrade office and staff roomfacilities. The office and the staff room lounge will be extended forward by three metres, allowing staff and visitors to comfortablyenjoy their breaks. This also allows for a workbench area for staff around the photocopier. Administration will have much neededoffice space, with an area that will allow much more flexibility and freedom. The Principal’s office will now enjoy an interviewarea, which it is currently lacking.The school has employed local builder, Rick Collier, to co-ordinate the project andwithin a week, Rick already had half the slab down. The project is expected to befinished in about six weeks and the school is proud to support local contractorswhere and whenever possible.St Mary’s has an application in for the “Primary Schools for the 21 st Century” grantfor about $250,000.00. We are hoping to hear an answer to this application by theend of July. The proposal, at this stage, is to use this money, should it becomeavailable, to build a Multi-Purpose Hall. Busy and exciting times lay ahead for StMary’s!
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Page 7 and 8: 50 YEARS OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION IN R
Page 9 and 10: We were both in a position thinking
Page 11: MINISTRY TO 30 - 49 YEAR OLDSIn the
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Page 17 and 18: BIRCHIPSeventeen gallant believers
Page 19 and 20: Sovereign Hill celebrated Catholic
Page 21 and 22: CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE CATHOLIC
Page 23 and 24: Reconciliation & Right Relationship

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