It has been very exciting to see students enthusiastically participating in so many of the extracurricular and eXcel activities offered by the College, whilst at the same time, joining in celebrating our Catholic traditions and identity. In recognizing the importance of student voice in empowering our young people, students have shared some of their term one experiences below…

SIS Volleyball

At the start of term one, myself and nine other Year 9 students joined the SIS volleyball team. None of us had ever played before but we all really wanted to give it a crack and try something new. We also thought it might be fun. To practice and most importantly learn the rules of the game we train once a week on Mondays at lunch. To put the skills into practice we play against other schools on Friday afternoons which is fun. Even though none of us had played before we all tried our hardest and cheered each other on when we did well or even made a mistake. We have all come a long way and have improved a lot since week one. The team and I would like to thank Ms Little for being our super cool team coach, helping us out along the way, and being part of the fun we had!

Rafaela Demarte, Year 9 Doyle

SIS Cricket

On Friday the 25th of February some of the Year 9 students and CRT teacher, Mr Farish from Tyabb Padua set off to Casey Sport Centre to play our first game of indoor cricket. We met with Casey Grammar School. David Warmbrunn was our Captain and chose to bowl first. Casey made a whopping 160 runs in 16 overs, our team got quite a few wickets, but they had a very strong batting side. When it was our turn to bat, Noah Wisken and Kade Thornhill opened and started off strong, but we only ended up making 70 runs in the end which is pretty good considering it was our first game of indoor cricket. The next two weeks we had a bye and then we were supposed to verse Mornington Padua, but they had to forfeit because of COVID. We ended up with a win against Mornington Padua because of their forfeit.

When we finally got to play again, it was at Mornington Indoor sports which used to be Inflatable world. We versed Hillcrest Christian College and David Warmbrunn ended up winning the coin toss again choosing to bowl first. Hillcrest made 163 runs in the first 16 overs, we had a few players out this week so we were a bit short on the bowling but still managed to get quite a few wickets. Eli Sherrin and Noah Wisken opened the batting for Tyabb Padua and managed to get a couple of runs for the team. Hillcrest Christian College were a very strong team with the end scores being 163 - 64 with a 99-point win in their favour.

Eli Sherrin, Year 9 Geoghegan

The ‘YES’ Program

For the past five weeks, our Year 9 Cardijn Leaders have been fortunate to take part in the YES (Youth Education and Support) Program. This is a program designed to educate students on how to cope and deal with our own mental health, as well as others. On 4 March, ABC News was invited to film one of our weekly meetings to raise awareness for mental illnesses in teenagers. The aim was also to encourage other schools to take on these much-needed programs. That filming was later aired on ABC and can be viewed at the link below. I found it to be a great experience, spreading information on our mental health and being able to see behind the scenes how these documentaries are put together.
Read in ABC News: https://apple.news/AYkMbbGhwQU...
Or watch: https://www.abc.net.au/news/20...
Indi-Mae Nicholls, Year 9 Cardijn

Year 8 eXcel Day

A few weeks ago, a Year 8 eXcel Day was held. It was a day for all Year 8s to experience different workshops to help our wellbeing. It started with a smoking ceremony held by an indigenous organisation. Each of us walked through the smoke to let the negative vibes leave us before we began the workshops. One of the workshops was run by the same indigenous group. We learnt about their culture and how to throw spears and create a fire using a stick and other natural materials.

The next workshop was held by Elephant Ed where we got to talk about some hard subjects in a safe environment and finally that last one was called Throw Like a Girl, which was a workshop run by our own Padua staff. We learnt about how some phrases we use can be sexist so we learnt what they can be and not to use them. We also talked about how we all have different opinions but that doesn't mean we all can't come together.

Overall, the day was a fantastic way to take a break from our everyday classes and get to experience something to help our well-being.

Miranda Aumont, Year 8 McCormack

Interschool Aerobics

The start of a new school year has brought new surprises. First, we started training again straight away, hard. We also got a few new recruits from both Mornington (Lara) and Tyabb (Aurora, Miranda, Ruby and Ash). Mrs Bailey has had us working as a team to bring together a whole routine to get us through regionals, states and hopefully, get us to Queensland for Nationals. But it hasn’t been without help. A few weeks ago, all five of Padua’s aerobics teams met up at Mornington for a workshop with the CEO of School Aerobics, Roxanne. Everyone learned so much and Roxanne changed bits of the routine to meet what she thought all the judges would like. And now we are working on our compulsories to get them perfect. Everyone is always tired after our training sessions and Mrs Bailey is always annoyed that we talk a lot more than we should (according to her anyway). Even though we work really hard, we still have a lot of fun and can’t wait for our first competition.

Tahlia Love, Year 8 McCormack

Ash Wednesday

On 2 March, half of the Tyabb Year 9s that were on their dolphin excursion sat down together and did the Ash Wednesday liturgy. The teachers, as well as some of the Year 9 Leaders took turns in reading out the prayers, and everyone also received ashes on their forehead in the shape of a cross to symbolise penance, mourning and mortality. Ash Wednesday is a day to reconcile with God and confess sins. It also signifies the beginning of Lent. Back at the campus there was also a separate liturgy for the Year 7s and 8s as well as the remaining Year 9s.

Emma May-Konning, Year 9 McCormack

Shrove Tuesday

Tuesday 1 March was Shrove Tuesday which marks the day before Lent starts. To celebrate this at the Tyabb Campus, some of the House captains and leaders held a pancake fundraiser at lunch time. On Monday, myself and three other House leaders all stayed at school and helped to make pancake batter for 400 pancakes. Then they were cooked on Tuesday before lunch and we sold them, each for a gold coin donation towards the Caritas charity. In total we made over $200 for the Caritas charity.

Fyonn Munro, Year 9 Doyle

International Woman’s Day

On 8 March 2022, Tyabb Padua staff and students supported the global celebration of International Women's Day. We all took part in raising awareness for this call to action of gender parity, by being encouraged to add a pop of purple to our uniform no matter how small or extravagant. Everything counted. We all recognised that the significance of the colour purple originated from the Women's Social and Political Union in the United Kingdom. Purple signifies dignity and justice and is now recognized as the international symbol for women.

Campus-wide in class on Monday, to kick off International Women's Day, all students were asked to recognise an inspirational woman in society and write their name proud alongside a few words about their significance. This was done on a purple heart and these have now been hung high in the office building windows for everyone to see when they pass. On Tuesday, Doyle House ran a BBQ fundraiser open to the whole campus for anyone who wanted a sausage in bread or just wanted to donate to a good cause. The proceeds went to the McAuley Community Services for Women. It was a great day where we all took a moment and reflected on the past and thought about the positive changes we can make for the future. #breakthebias

Rafaela Demarte, Year 9 Doyle

Year 7 Camp

From Monday to Friday, the Year 7s at the Tyabb Campus of Padua College went to Ferngully Lodge in Healesville for a camp. Doyle and Cardijn went on Monday and returned on Wednesday and McCormack and Geoghegan went on Wednesday to Friday. Ferngully Lodge had lots of activities and it was great for bonding. There was a giant swing, swimming pool, initiatives area, archery, commando course, zipline, low ropes and high ropes. Everyone participated and had a ball. On the final day (Wednesday for Doyle and Cardijn, Friday for McCormack and Geoghegan), we went to Healesville Sanctuary. We walked around and saw the animals and went to talks. We all had lots of fun at the Year 7 camp.

Madeleine Little, Year 7 McCormack

Aspire 9 Launch at Seawinds

For Aspire9 launch, all Year 9s across the three junior campuses trekked approximately 4km through the beautiful Arthurs Seat bushland before gathering at Seawinds Gardens. The purpose of the day was to get to know others in our House colours. We participated in a liturgy and then played a bunch of ice breaker games and had many conversations with new and old friends. Overall, it was a really fun day getting to know new people from Mornington and Rosebud.

Jake Symes, Year 9 Doyle

Aspire9 First Aid Training

For Aspire9 last week we had a first aid trainer named Dan come to our class to teach us a lot of things about first aid, and how we can save someone's life if the time comes. We learnt how to perform CPR, how to help someone who is choking, how to stop someone from drowning and much more. I found that the first aid class increased my knowledge about first aid and I think I would be able to help someone who needed it. The highlights of the day were all of Dan's interesting stories about his job as a paramedic, and performing CPR on human-sized dummies.

Jack Symes, Year 9 Doyle

Aspire 9 Marine Excursion

On Wednesday 2 March, Year 9 groups 1 and 2 were taken out to Sorrento to swim with a special species of dolphin, the Burrunan dolphin. After a 45min bus drive we were dropped off at the Sorrento back beach to explore the rock pools, and the life living in these tiny ecosystems. We sketched out the rock pools, collected data and filled out a sheet before returning back to the front beach to swim with dolphins. The wind however was too strong and the water was super choppy. It was too dangerous to swim however we still had lots of fun on the beach. We took another bus to the old isolation place in Portsea, we walked around the old building before heading back to Sorrento to have a walk around the shops to buy lunch with friends.

Chloe Kemble, Year 9 McCormack

It was an early start to an exciting school day, Tyabb Year 9 students were to meet at Tyabb Campus at 7am sharp. We were heading to Sorrento. Everyone was super excited for the day ahead. First up we did have the dolphin dive cruise at Queenscliff but when we arrived we sadly got informed that it was going to be too choppy to head out on the dolphin dive.

We didn't let that ruin our day though; we changed our plans and went to Sorrento back beach where we studied the ecosystems. In the rock pools we found many things, including crabs and seagrass.

After we studied the ecosystems, we went back to Sorrento front beach and did a rubbish investigation. The two classes split off and studied different parts of the front beach. We found many bottle caps, plastic, rubber, drink bottles, and drink cans.

After our rubbish clean-up, we went down to Portsea quarantine station. When we arrived, we did a liturgy for Ash Wednesday, and then afterward we went into our houses and investigated the old quarantine station.

Even though we didn't get to go out on the dolphin cruise we encountered dolphins in the bay when we spotted them from the shore, and it was lovely! Once we had a good look around, we went back over to Sorrento main street where we got some lunch, and before we knew it, we were heading back to Tyabb. It was such a fun day packed with learning lots of new things. I look forward to all my Aspire9 days ahead!

Tia Howe, Year 9 McCormack

Intercampus Swimming Trials

Tuesday 29 March was another big day on the Padua sporting front with our Junior cross-campus swim trials, which saw students from our Tyabb, Rosebud and Mornington Campuses vying for places on the SIS Swim Team, with some amazing performances from Callum Rossetto, Lily and Charlotte Snow, Logan Shelley, Jack Turner, Owen Cooper and Oscar Skehan. Congratulations to all who participated.

Emilio Di Paolo
SIS Leader & Junior School Sports Co-ordinator