At Aquinas College, boys are told that anyone is capable of leadership - that is, only when you put in the hard work. The Middle School Leadership Program was introduced to the whole Year 8 cohort on Thursday (24th June) to give every student an explanation on what it takes to become a Middle School Student Leader. Boys were handed a powerful message related to leadership upon their arrival at the workshop and were asked to sit down at a table with the same message attached to it. Almost all these messages linked to the idea that all boys are capable of being a leader, but much emphasis was put on the fact that we must put in the hard work to reach this goal.

Boys were to analyse the messages and speak in front of the group about what the message really meant. Leadership was already displayed in the workshop, as students braved the challenge to stand up in front of over 170 boys and speak to them, showing confidence and courage. Multiple other activities were included in the workshop, which required boys to fill out a booklet. All students were then sent an application form to become a Middle School leader but were to complete this in their own time. The workshop was a great way for the Year 8 students to be introduced to the Middle School Leadership Program of Aquinas College, and hopefully served as a great way for young boys to grow into good men.

Many thanks to Mr Weston for running the workshop.

The Sustainability Council has had their hands full with many ongoing initiatives throughout late 2020 and early 2021. We have gradually established a variety of sustainable initiatives inside and outside of the College campus. As a result, this year we have been steadily growing a list of ideas and initiatives to carry our own established legacy.

For the past couple of months, the council has been heavily concentrating on three main ‘campaigns. Firstly, the reestablishment of the ‘Containers For Change’ has been of top priority. Following the liquidation of our previous recycler, GreenBatch, our council is fully responsible for readapting the school to the new government system. As a result, several members have been directly involved with Containers for Change representatives, to form a revitalised advertising campaign and reskinning of our strange green/purple bins. Too few students are unaware that the typical choc milk and Up & Go containers are eligible for the 10 cents scheme. As a result, the boys have been working to address this. Furthermore, the boys have planned to launch an official collection depot on school grounds for external community members to recycle their waste. In Term 3, our council will appear at Middle and Senior School assemblies to reaffirm these recycling changes and possibly announce this new depot for recyclable materials. This would be a significant feat as no other environment or sustainability council has been able to safely label the school as a developing ‘green’ school. Of course, a large reputation cannot be achieved in one year, but we believe that we are taking the right steps in placing the college on the map.

In other news, the Sustainability Council has also managed to hold three successful sausage sizzles for all staff and students, with the funds assisting our council’s initiative to invest in more classroom rubbish and recycling bins, to fulfil the lack of bins in the many classrooms around the school. A particular highlight being the Senior School Production sausage sizzle, where our council was able to pull off gourmet-style Bratwurst hotdogs. Apart from seeing Sam Yeow devour 10 large hotdogs, this experience has taught the sustainability boys organising, management and grilling skills! A tremendous thank you to staff Ben West and Megan Monks for playing a large role in these initiatives. Funnily enough, the council has now been marked as the ‘Sausage Sizzle council’ following its success!

The Sustainability Council has also been hard at work in planning a city-wide Eco Conference in our very own College Hall. Taking place in late September, the boys have been assisting behind the scenes with Catholic Earthcare (Caritas) to organise a summit for representatives of most Catholic schools around Perth. This summit would provide a significant opportunity to meet lots of peers with similar interests, fast track some development of students in the council and boost the profile of the council and its objectives. This would allow Aquinas College to be able to share what we are doing, and there would be several projects from others that we can pick up and promote to our school leaders. Moreover, in conjunction with the Justice Peace and Advocacy council, some Aquinians attended the Australia-wide ‘School Strike 4 Climate’ march in the Perth CBD. This excursion allowed the boys some exposure and education to the issue of climate change and informed them about the government’s current position on the issue.

Looking forward, the Sustainability Council is looking to establish two more initiatives for the rest of the year. The first initiative reaching into the House competitiveness, where each house will compete to fill their designated recycling bin with eligible materials; slowly installing good recycling habits. Furthermore, the council is also looking to pair up with Waste Wise to promote efficient waste systems within the college grounds. This organisation would also allow us to visit Methodist Ladies College in a bid to gain inspiration from their well-developed waste system that has been integrated within their secondary school.

Finally, the council is looking to be involved with Second Bite. For those of you who do not know, Second Bite is a not-for-profit organisation that is dedicated to collating and redistributing foods to those who need them. Fresh produce like rhubarbs and cauliflower, which would normally be sent to rot if not bought, are now provided to the poor. Hence, we would like to see how the College can assist, considering its location to the weekend farmer’s market and Coles supermarket.

Overall, I am proud and appreciative of the ongoing efforts by all staff and students that have cooperated and coordinated a myriad of events. As a result of this, I hope we can develop a nourishing external reputation, as well as, a guiding legacy for future Aquinians to follow.

Men’s Health Week was started by the United States Congress in 1994, for the goal of heightening awareness of preventable health problems and encouraging early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys on a community and even global level. The council wanted to celebrate this week, as it is often that students overlook and rarely open up and learn about mental health. To celebrate Men’s Health Week the Wellbeing Council planned a series of events through tutor: Meditation, yoga and even an assembly, as well as a fundraiser for Beyond Blue. This allowed students to engage in activities and learn about ways to develop stronger mental health, as well as directly helping fund an Australian mental health and wellbeing support organisation.

A few lucky students were invited to attend the Lifelink launch day, here's what they had to say;

“It is a great initiative created for the people of Western Australia by the Archbishop. This is an extraordinary opportunity for all people not just Catholics to come together, raise awareness, fundraise and donate to Lifelink to secure a future for all people of Western Australia.” - Tremaine Baxter-Edwards, Yr 9

“I found the Archbishop's LifeLink Day forum to be an eye-opening and thought-provoking experience. The presentations on the amazing Catholic aid organisations around Perth and WA inspired me to return to school and devote myself to making a positive impact in my community, and Archbishop Timothy's speech on the importance of discernment in the lives of all Catholics–especially in the upcoming Plenary council–was incredibly interesting. At the end of the day, I left hopeful and excited for the progressive new initiatives and projects of my Catholic Church.”
- Matteo Conte, Yr 10

"Lifelink day was not just a great day for the people but also a great day for those who are a part of the WA community. With charity works going on non-stop, trying to feed the homeless of WA. I learnt that every day is a gift from God and should not be wasted. Also learnt that every single person has a vocation and must find that vocation and do it for God." - Aaron Martino, Yr 11

Mass

The mass in the morning began at 9:15am with grandparents arriving between 8:30 - 9:00 am. This was a special day for all Year 7 students and their grandparents. The Mass was a time to cleanse, relax and listen with your grandparents to the chaplain talking to us as well as the choir sing in the background to beautiful songs. It was a very peaceful morning not only for myself but also for the grandparents and something I will treasure for a long time.

Assembly

The assembly started right after the Mass. The assembly was for some of the Year 7 students to give a little idea to the grandparents about what life at Aquinas is like. The speeches ranged from a sport’s speech presented by me to a speech about the Boarding Life spoken by Ed Dodd and Caelyn Beard. It was very fun listening to some of the speeches given by our Aquinas Year 7 community.

Morning Tea

The morning tea was prepared by some of the student's parents and our amazing boarding staff in the dining hall. It was one of the most delicious morning teas I have ever seen. Unfortunately, none of the students were able to attend the spectacular event but
when we walked past it, it looked fantastic. My grandma was able to sneak one of the macaroons and let me tell you it was amazing, It was like something you would expect on MasterChef.

Conclusion

This was definitely a very fun day from the Mass in the morning to the morning tea in the end. Every single part of this amazing yet
tiring day was just one of the many days at Aquinas that I will certainly never forget. I can not finish this off without a huge mention
to all the staff who helped put this whole day together. I can’t wait till the next time so I can get another macaroon.

“Without challenge, there is no change.”

This was the main theme I took into Zero2Hero’s Camp Hero.

The camp certainly challenged and changed me both mentally and physically. It was a camp with 39 inspiring students from years 10 to 12 who helped me to grow on my path of self-discovery. The experience was five days long, and each day had a specific focus point.

The first day was focused on self-discovery, as you cannot help others if you cannot help yourself. The main activity on this day was the E-Colours personality test. It is a system of personality classification, based on how a person goes through life. This classified people by their dominant trait, based on whether they are a thinker, relater, socialiser or doer. The second day was about physical health, which involved several activities where we were divided into groups. It was a combination of problem-solving, physical ability and teamwork under time pressure. Mental health was the focus of the third day. This day was both about our own health and supporting the health of others. We all completed safeTALK, which teaches us the skills to identify and assist people with suicidal thoughts. The fourth day was a personal challenge, where we looked inwards. This was a day where we each considered what we hated most about ourselves and made a promise to leave it behind. The final day of the camp was focused on community impact and beginning to consider how we would transfer what we learnt on the camp into daily life.

This article is the beginning of my community impact. I want to let everyone know how incredible Camp Hero is. Although it is described as a mental health camp, it is so much more. It helped me discover who I am and who I want to be.

I have two main messages that I have taken from the camp. Get educated about mental health, so you can help yourself and those around you, and challenge yourself, as you never know when a life-changing experience can occur.

The Aquinas myFUTURE program gives Senior School students a number of ways to grow, develop and learn. Some students opted to spend their Friday time last semester in Service-based activities.