Newsletter

At St Aloysius College, the Mercy Values are at the heart of everything we do. These values – Hospitality, Respect, Compassion, Courage, Justice and Service – shape the way we learn, lead and support one another within our school community. These values guide not only how we learn and lead, but also how we interact with peers, College staff and the wider community.

Recently, in Year 9 Coaching, students engaged in a meaningful lesson exploring how these values are expressed through everyday actions. They watched “Kindness Boomerang – One Day”, a short video demonstrating how one act of kindness can spark a ripple effect. This was followed by a practical empathy activity titled “Walk in Their Shoes”, where students stepped into different real-life scenarios and considered how they could make others feel seen, heard and supported. These experiences deepened their understanding of how small, values-driven actions can create a positive impact within our community.

Together, we nurture a community built on kindness, empathy and purpose.

On Monday 26^th May, the Year 9 students and our St Aloysius College Community came together for a Whole School Assembly for National Reconciliation Week. The presentation highlighted the importance of reconciliation, building relationships, respect and trust between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The assembly also featured a discussion on social justice, highlighting the recent Mercy Schools Seeds of Justice conference, attended by Year 10-12 students. It was inspiring to hear a reflection from Annie-Rose Attard, a Year 10 student, which provided valuable insight as the Year 9 students look forward to their own role in contributing to social justice and positive change in the future.

Emma Turner
Year 9 Leader

Last lesson in Year 9 Coaching we learned about how the Mercy Values tie into your daily life. We watched a video called 'Kindness Boomerang', which depicted a continuous chain of simple kind acts that eventually circled back to the first person who did a kind thing for somebody else. This video helped me understand how you can show the Mercy Values of Compassion, Service and Respect by doing things such as giving someone an unexpected gift, helping the elderly cross the street, or returning someone's lost items to them.
This Monday the whole school also attended a Reconciliation Week Assembly, where we learned about the significance it holds in Aboriginal culture, the dates it recognises, and the theme for this year, "Bridge from now to next”. By taking part in this assembly, we displayed the Mercy Values of Respect for Aboriginal cultures and traditions, as well as recognising their connection to country and the justice that they have showed and continued to support reconciliation at St Aloysius College.
Ruby Chiu, 9E

In our previous lesson, we learnt about how our five Mercy Values allow us to be a better person. We learnt that small acts of values such as Compassion, Respect and Service can make a big difference to someone's day and can even encourage those people to give back to others. An example of this is the kindness ripple, where those who receive a kind gesture pay it forward to others around them.
On Monday, we also participated as a school in an assembly focusing on Reconciliation Week. We were informed about why this week was important, and how we can connect with kindness towards the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and become involved in their culture whilst embracing the Mercy Values.
Maree Christopoulos, 9E

Last coaching lesson, we started by watching a video about kindness and how it triggers people to act compassionately towards others. We acted in a small roleplay that demonstrated why and how it is important to follow the Mercy Values and what it is like stepping into other people shoes to see how they would be feeling in certain situations. These scenarios taught us how to be better people and what we could do to assist others if they are in need.
Reconciliation Week was recognised by a Whole School Assembly, where we learnt about the 1967 Referendum and the impacts that it had on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Ms Marquet also talked about the Social Justice club and what they are doing to help young people overseas. They are currently assisting kids by sponsoring them so that they can receive a proper education. We are thankful that we received this knowledge of how to think and act better and aim to apply it as we move forward.
Noah Young, 9E

During our coaching lesson, we watched an inspirational video about a ‘kindness ripple’. The video put a smile on many of our faces, as it showed us how one act of kindness inspires and positively affects others in a ripple effect and eventually comes back to the same person. After watching the video, we sat down in groups, motivated by the acts of kindness we had discussed. We put together 4 examples of our Mercy Values, and how happy it makes people feel. We got to perform these examples in our class groups, which made many of us laugh.
This week, on Monday, we had an assembly during our nourish period about Reconciliation Week. Many people from our school spoke and showed us some projects and social justice issues we could fix as a group. Particularly, Ms. Marquet, a teacher who is involved in our school’s social justice group showed us some acts of kindness to those who need it most. They discussed a conference that some of our students attended recently. They reflected upon this conference and showed us what was discussed. During the assembly, we reflected on the different major steps we have had in our Australian history for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s rights. After the assembly, we returned to our pastoral rooms, where we discussed as groups the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s and the steps that have gone right and wrong in the past.
Gregory Jenkins, 9E