Social Justice Report 2017

2017 was another massive year for the Social Justice domain of Good Samaritan Catholic College. Our students were once again extremely generous with their time and efforts and participated in a number of initiatives. As always our students created a impressive name for themselves within the community as a group of committed young people who are always willing to commit themselves whole-heartedly to helping those in need.

Our strong association with the St Vincent De Paul Society continued again this year, particularly through our participation in the St Vincent De Paul Assisting Refugee Kids (SPARK) Program and the St. Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal, which was coupled with the Good Samaritan Winter Stay Out.

SPARK is a Special Work of the St Vincent De Paul Society, NSW. SPARK provides educational, social and cultural support to newly arrived refugee children and their families in partnership with primary schools in Western Sydney. This year, SPARK focused on having ten Year 10 students, who would volunteer their Thursday afternoons, in Term 1, to assist students with homework, literacy and numeracy needs. This experience has been incredibly rewarding and worthwhile for all involved. Thank you to all the students and teachers who volunteered for the program.

The biggest Social Justice event this year was, once again, the annual Good Samaritan Winter Stay Out, which occurred on Friday 1st September. The theme of the night was Together We Can Do Heroic Things and as a part of this students were not only challenged to recognize that those who experience homelessness are everyday people who have experienced unfortunate circumstances in their lives, but they were also challenged to help those in need. The night began with our Social Justice leaders Emily Arndell, Brandon Bourke-Cuisia, Trevjon Bruce and Zoe Curuana introducing the concept of homelessness and presenting some startling statistics about homelessness in Australia. After this our guest speaker, Abraham Leota, spoke to the students about a number of initiatives that are aimed at helping the homeless and empowering people to do more on the issue of Homelessness. Next the students were divided, with the Year 7-11 students participating in a ‘Game of Life’, which was painstakingly organised by Mr Lamy, while the Year 12 students gathered in A1/A2 to pack over 200 Night Patrol packages that were delivered to the homeless people on the street, this was followed by the soup kitchen, which highlighted what life is like on the streets for the homeless in Sydney. Many thanks to Mrs McInerney and Mrs Randal for making the delicious Chicken and Corn Soup and Pumpkin Soup that was served on the night. We then gathered as a faith community in prayer in a powerful liturgy, led by Mrs Moutou. After this, we unfortunately said goodbye to our Year 7-9 students, as the Year 10-12’s stayed and participated in a number of activities, such as the Cardboard Box activity, these activities were aimed at raising awareness of Homelessness. Overall, the night was a huge success with over 180 students attending, 127 of these being from Year 12 and a classroom full of warm clothing was donated to the St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal. Thank you to all the students and teachers who supported the night.

The Homework Help initiative that our Year 11 and 12 students started last year was continued again, with a number of students volunteering their time to assist our junior students with their homework every Tuesday and Thursday in the Learning Centre from 3pm-4pm. This initiative allowed our students to give back at a local school level as well as developing positive relationships with students in other year groups. The juniors appreciated the help and advice from our wonderful senior helpers.

The Social Justice group would like to thank our senior leaders, Emily Arndell and Brandon Bourke-Cuisia of Year 12 and Trevjon Bruce and Zoe Caruana of Year 11 for their hard work and dedication to social justice. In particular we wish our Year 12 leaders all the very best in all their future endeavours and are grateful for the legacy of commitment they have left behind.

The Social Justice group looks forward to continuing these efforts next year.

Mr. Alex Montford

Social Justice Coordinator