Cardijn Connect W9, T3 2023

During Wellbeing Week, there was a diverse lineup of activities that catered to every aspect of wellbeing. On Monday, the week kicked off with a focus on physical wellbeing as fun and games were held during lunchtime, followed by a soothing meditation session in the 360-degree Room.

Tuesday was dedicated to emotional health, encouraging students to express gratitude by thanking someone from their support network. Wednesday featured a focus on spiritual health with mandalas and chalk art. Thursday was dedicated to mental health, coinciding with R U OK? Day, and it included live music. 

To conclude Wellbeing Week, our YCS team hosted the annual ‘Good Vibes Day’ on Friday at lunch. An activity created to bring together our school community for some food, games, and music. This student-planned and student-run event was a hit - with Student Central full of students of all ages having a wonderful time. Students ate fairy bread, spread positivity (via hand-written messages), completed a scavenger hunt, and played games such as Kahoot!, cornhole, mini-golf, and jumbo naughts and crosses – all surrounded by uplifting tunes and bubbles.

At Galilee Campus, students engaged in various activities that fostered positivity and mindfulness. These activities included creating uplifting affirmation cards, carrying out spontaneous acts of kindness, and crafting mindful mandalas. On RUOK? Day, students actively participated in discussions about their support systems, honing their abilities to be good friends, and acquiring the skills to check in on one another's well-being.

Marcellin students enjoyed a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs cooked by staff on the BBQ to kick off R U OK? Day. This gathering encouraged conversations about mental health and checking in on each other in a meaningful way.

Our Year 12 students recently marked one of their final school gatherings before the upcoming exam period with the annual Dinner Dance! This cherished Cardijn tradition was brought to life as our students dazzled the audience with cleverly choreographed House group performances, showcasing their talents and creativity.

One of the highlights of the evening included the staff dance performance!

Last week, we held our Year 11 Reflection Days at the beautiful Saint Francis Winery; a gorgeous facility that gave us the opportunity to spend time outside, appreciate our environment, and connect with our natural surroundings. 

The Year 11 Reflection Day program provided our students with a valuable opportunity to delve into this year's Marist theme: "Created and Called." Specifically, it encouraged them to explore their individual purposes and missions in the world. This theme emphasizes the belief that every person is created with a unique purpose and has a calling to fulfil. This theme also highlighted the importance of love and tenderness in achieving this purpose, both in relation to oneself and to others. This can lead to personal growth and transformation, as well as positive change in the world. 

Throughout these days, we heard a diverse range of stories from people connected to our school community, including old scholars, staff, and CESA representative: Maddy Forde. To help us unpack the theme each of our guests’ shared stories, accompanied by activities and moments of reflection, to connect this theme to our students' own realities and experiences.
Thank you to all Year 11 students for helping make this such a wonderful experience.

Last week, Galilee Campus celebrated its growth as a community. Beginning the day with a special community prayer, families were treated to a cafe run by our Middle School students in the piazza. Families, students and staff then added plants to our community garden.

The students took part in various activities in their homerooms to celebrate our Catholic identity.
It was a beautiful celebration of our community and it was wonderful to welcome our families and volunteers as part of the day. A big thanks to the BBQ chefs!

Last week, two of our senior Cardijn ensembles, Cardijn College’s Big Band 1 and Cardinal Blues were invited to play at The Southern Jazz Club which hosts professional jazz bands every Tuesday night in the function room of The Highway. 

Our bands were enthusiastically received by the members and guests of the club who gave lots of positive feedback about our young performers who represented Cardijn with a high level of musicianship and impeccable behaviour in how they performed and interacted with members of the public at the venue.

After our Cardijn bands played, Cardijn Music Coordinator Mr Chris Weber switched over from conductor mode into trumpet player, vocalist, band leader mode with his own band, Atlantic Street Band. The band had the pleasure of entertaining patrons for the rest of the evening and invited two talented Cardijn students, Lauren (trumpet) and Keira (saxophone) to share the stage. They were also joined by another special guest, Cardijn saxophone tutor Emile Ryjoch to experience the polyphonic improvisation common in New Orleans Traditional Jazz. Lauren and Keira rose to the challenge and hit it out of the park.

Our students were proud to be able to perform in front of super supportive principal, Mr Steve Byrne who was presented with a cheque from the Southern Jazz Club to go towards the music program at Cardijn. It was a great experience for our students to be able to play in a public venue in front of a very receptive, jazz-loving audience and experience the power of music outside of the safety of our school.

One of the enthusiastic audience members was Don Hopgood for whom the nearby theatre is named. Don is a member of the Southern Jazz Club, so he and his wife Judy attend most Tuesday nights. Don also plays the Cornet himself in the Onkaparinga Brass Band and is a real advocate for the arts.

Cardijn’s bands have been invited back again and we look forward to making an appearance at the Southern Jazz Club an annual event for our senior jazz ensembles.

There were plenty of highlights throughout the Cardijn Netball season in 2023. We are proud to have entered four Year 7 teams into the SACSSGSA competition, the most of any year level. Of the four teams, two made it into the Grand Final and two played off for Bronze, displaying positive signs for the future of Netball at Cardijn.

Well done to our Year 7C team who came out as premiers in their division. Despite battling low numbers on some occasions, our Year 8 & 9 teams showed some promising growth with many of the athletes involved in the Netball Academy programs. We encourage these girls to stick together and continue their netball journey at Cardijn as they are building into great units.

A special mention goes to our Year 8B team who managed to win their grand final by a margin of two goals!

Finally, we were super impressed with our senior netball squad who were willing to represent the college despite balancing their studies and other commitments. Our Open B team were moved up two divisions due to their dominant performances across the season - great stuff girls! 

Our Open A team was made up of mostly Year 10/11s and were competitive on most occasions. A highlight was their involvement in the Marist Carnival in Perth where they were able to improve their combinations on court and consistently apply the gameplan provided to them. We look forward to seeing these students progress with their netball in 2024!

We express our heartfelt gratitude to a wonderful coaching team, consisting of current Cardijn staff and several old scholars:

• 7A - Coach: Alicia Watt
• 7B - Coaches: Chloe Cakebread & Tia Boorman - Bronze
• 7C - Coach: Michaela McDonald - Won their grand final 
• 7D - Coach: Ruby Kizito - Runners-up 
• 8A - Coaches: Brianna Cameron & Sam Low
• 8B - Coach: Joanna Ellis - Won their grand final 
• 9A - Coach: Olivia Dent
• 9B - Coach: Jess Zadow
• Open A - Coaches: Tyler Orr & Georgia Dent
• Open B - Coaches: Jade & Kayla Howes

Our Marian Campus Stage 1 Food & Hospitality students have been exploring contemporary flavours and presentation methods to design, plan and create a signature dessert. 

The dessert had to have four components and students needed to consider colour, flavour combination, texture and height in creating their desserts. Students focused on contemporary plating and presentation, whilst adhering to food hygiene and safety practices.

Dishes featured: Biscoff Cheesecake Mousse, Mint Slice Trifle, Strawberry Mousse, Strawberry Sponge, Lemon Meringue Pies and Sticky Date Pudding.

City to Bay was a great success with all the Middle School students who participated having an awesome day and feeling very accomplished at the finish line. A special mention to Baxter Osmond and Jett Wiseman who both ran the 12km in under an hour. Students have raised well over their target of $1000 and are continuing their fundraising efforts until the end of this week with winners of the raffle to be drawn next week.

https://citybay23.grassrootz.com/australian-marist-solidarity/cardijn-college-galilee

The Year 5 Galilee homegroups recently visited the Oaklands Estate Wetlands and Reserve as part of their Eco literacy lessons and participated in water testing, turbidity testing and collected samples of macroinvertebrates. 

The students compared the similarities and differences between the Galilee wetlands and the Oaklands Estate Wetlands.

The Term 3 Marcellin Excellence Awards Assembly was held last week to recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements of Marcellin students during the term.

Award recipients were selected through nominations from Marcellin staff members. These nominations were based on the students' exceptional performance in one or more of the following areas: academic achievement and effort, trade achievement and effort, Marist pillars and employability.

Each recipient was presented with a certificate, which will be a valuable addition to the employability portfolio they are building throughout their time as Marcellin students. Congratulations to all award recipients.

A special mention to the 11 students who received nominations from multiple staff members and were honoured with special prizes in recognition of their exceptional success during Term 3.

In recent weeks, Marcellin students have been working at Galilee Campus to build a new pergola at the primary school. The pergola will take pride of place in their butterfly garden, with a table and chairs for the children to sit at and enjoy. The students worked incredibly hard and are due to finish building ahead of schedule. Well done team!