Newsletter

This week, all Year 11 students engaged in their annual Reflection Day as part of their learning in a Catholic school in the Mercy charism. Reflection is central to the Mercy charism. It fosters inner growth, compassion, and awareness of their own spirituality. Regardless of personal religiosity, acknowledging the diverse beliefs of all people, simultaneously cultivating tolerance and curiosity, is important and was the core focus of the Reflection Day is "Understanding Our Common Ground: Interfaith Connections." This aligns to the Unit 2 VCE Religious Education curriculum that focuses on inter-faith connections and understanding as part of Year 11 students’ studies.

This year, students attended an off-site excursion to three places of worship: the Albanian Australian Islamic Society, the East Melbourne Synagogue, and, finally, attending public Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral.

For students, these were eye-opening experiences attending places of worship and hearing from spiritual leaders from non-Christian faiths, which allowed them to see significant connections between the three important monotheistic religious traditions.

Student reflections included:

We liked the interactive elements of the day, including smashing the glass and hearing the horns played during a Jewish wedding celebration at the East Melbourne Jewish synagogue. […] It was interesting to see the similarities and differences between the religions. Overall, we enjoyed the fun day, being able to spend time with our friends and learning about different religions and their practices [in their places of worship].

Today we had the opportunity to visit an Albanian Islamic mosque, a Jewish synagogue and St Patrick’s Cathedral. The Islamic religious leader was called an Imam and when he spoke about Islamic traditions and faith it was enriching to hear about the key place of charity – similar to Mercy – in the Islamic faith.

Today’s reflection day was very interesting. I learned about Judaism and Islam, including their key religious beliefs. My favourite place was the mosque because the Imam was very humorous. I like the synagogue because it was very beautiful, especially the alter, and I had never been to one before.

Thanks to the Year 11 Religious Education teachers and Ms Marie-Claire Anastasiadis, Learning Leader Religious Education for their planning and enrichment of student learning and reflection as Mercy students in a modern community with diverse faith traditions. Worth noting that St Aloysius Year 11 students had the loudest and most joyful mazel tof of any school that has visited the East Melbourne Synagogue so far this year.

Another off-campus learning experience that took place this week was the Year 12 Health and Human Development excursion to the Melbourne Museum to learn about the Road to Zero – a world first safety education developed by the Transport Accident Commission and Melbourne Museum. The installation draws upon decades of TAC research and is a key part of the Victorian Government's overall road safety strategy, especially with young drivers, aiming to reduce road trauma in pre-learner drivers and build knowledge and awareness to equip young drivers to make safe decisions on the road. Below is a student reflection:

On Tuesday, The Year 12 Health and Human Development class attended an excursion to the Melbourne Museum to participate in the Road to Zero safety talk. We engaged in a variety of interactive activities, including virtual reality experiences and learning about the Sustainable Development Goals through informative stations. A highlight for me was the quiz on Unit 3 content, which encouraged teamwork and allowed us to show our knowledge in a fun and competitive way.

Tom Crowle
Senior Years Leader