Last Friday, the Year 9 Leadership Team joined with other Geelong Catholic Secondary School leaders. We had the opportunity to visit Sacred Heart College to learn about the work of MacKillop Family Services.

Throughout the day, we joined group discussions and listened to inspiring speakers who shared stories about the hardships and challenges faced by children and families experiencing trauma and how Mackillop Family Services provides support and care for those young people and their families. Teaching them fundamental skills for the future, allowing them access to education and providing them with a safe environment and much needed emotional care. This visit gave us the opportunity to reflect and discuss on how we can support and offer help to those in similar need. Using this as our inspiration we brainstormed ideas and developed initiatives we could bring back to Clonard.

We propose to run a School Supplies Drive and Christmas present donation tree which both aim to help others who are less fortunate and make a difference in our community. This day provided us with the opportunity to network with students from different schools, to self reflect, and empathise towards the many children and families that are living a more challenging life than us.

This empowered us with the confidence and drive that we can make a difference be it small or large, every little bit helps.

Amy L, Year 9