On Wednesday 6 May, our Year 9 students and staff participated in an Encounter Day focusing on the theme: Encountering Inclusivity – Loving not Judging, whereby students learnt about the importance of respecting and embracing individual differences.

Students met in their Mercy Homegroups, before heading off with their teachers on a short walk to the Bendigo Baptist Church. On arrival, the students heard an engaging presentation on Team First Leadership from Scott Angove (SALT – Sport and Life Training). During this session, students discussed examples of known great leaders, reflected on their own leadership capabilities and learnt what it takes to become a successful leader within a team environment.

The next activities involved the girls listening to a presentation from SALT presenter and retired Australian and Melbourne Vixens netballer, Tegan Philip, called Empowered, aimed at building self-confidence, self-respect and belief that anything in life can be achieved with the right attitude and level of effort. The boys’ session on Positive Masculinity outlined the influence, positive or negative, that males can have on certain situations and people. The key messages in this session were that boys do not always have to adhere to specific stereotypical expectations, images and behaviours, nor do they have to put excessive pressure on themselves.

After lunch, students took part in a Koorie Education session run by Mrs Renee McCaig (CMCB Koorie Education Worker) and Mr Simon Briggs. This presentation was very informative for our students, outlining the history and facts relating to First Nations people in Australia. The session also involved a quiz, whereby students to put their knowledge of Indigenous Australia to the test.

At the end of the day, students participated in a para-liturgy celebration involving beautiful readings and prayers from our Year 9 students and teachers. Our students were amazing during this celebration, showing great reverence throughout.

Finally, students once again gathered in their Mercy Homegroups for a short reflection on the day’s events and learnings (see some reflections below), before walking back to the College.

“In my opinion the Year 9 Encounter Day was great! I really enjoyed listening to the guest speaker from SALT, he helped me to understand the kind of leader I can become.” (Jordyn Rinaldi)

“I thought that the presenter from SALT was very relatable and was very confident with what they were talking about. He was great for including us and wanting to hear our answers.” (Grace Wyatt)

The ‘Letter to Year 12 Self’ activity, which was planned for one of the afternoon sessions, did not take place due to time constraints, so was instead completed in this week’s Religious Education classes under the supervision of their teachers.

Mr Stephen Evans, Mrs Jo Tobin and Mr Dean Carmody