From the Senior Years
This week a number of important events added to the experience, learning and wellbeing of Senior Years students’ journey in the VCE. This included the STRIVE Program – a multi-day experience including incursions, excursions, physical and mental challenges, teamwork and critical thinking and problem solving. For Year 12 students, keynote speaker, Glenn Gerryn, gave a keynote address and follow up seminar on the themes of dreaming big, aspiring and living a life of purpose guided by hope. These sessions tied in seamlessly with the College theme – “Never be afraid of the unknown”. Glen outlined key ways students can sustain hope in their Year 12 year, by surrounding themselves with caring people who have their best interests at heart, and bouncing back after setbacks,
For Year 11 students, the STRIVE program began with a student-led Liturgy guided by Mr Adam Valladares, centring on the theme of hope for the school year. Later in the week, Year 11 students engaged bravely with a number of exciting activities that fostered students’ sense of adventure, teamwork and collaboration, including Hardrock Climbing, study sessions at the State Library of Victoria, team-building and critical thinking at Adventure Escape Rooms and creative and critical thinking at the National Gallery of Victoria.
Additionally, through the Year 12 Retreat, students actively engaged with the spiritual life of the College in the student-led Liturgy at Australian Catholic University (ACU). The Retreat was future-focused on student journeys into tertiary education as a possible future in the coming years after their secondary education at St Aloysius College finishes. Keynote alumna speakers, Tahlia J and Yasmine W (Class of 2024) as well as returning student Chloe Collin (Class of 2023), spoke to their Year 12 journey, their stories of success, the adjustments that they had to make during the year and their expectations and, as well as Chloe’s experiences as a tertiary student at Victoria University. Students also had two university tours at ACU and the University of Melbourne. These experiences allowed students to see both campuses and to hear the offerings and benefits of each in the eyes of current students at both universities.
Finally, the Year 12 Formal is relished by students as, arguably, the premiere social event for the Year 12 year. We look forward to an evening filled with excitement and the fun of dressing to impress and socialising with peers. Teachers and students, as we know, will light up the dancefloor having requested their favourite tracks, creating lasting memories captured in the student smiles in the many photographs to be taken this evening.
Tom Crowle
Senior Years Leader