Term 3 has started with a bang from Vice Captain Rushan’s and my perspective. It has been great to see the School come alive again after an interrupted start to the term.
Last week the students came together as a whole Senior School to donate over 6,000 cans of food to the Magdalene Centre through our House competition ‘Pyramid of Cans’. Having spoken to staff at the Centre we understand that our contribution will help those who need it most for several months. Credit must be given to the House Captains and leaders for organising their structures and keeping everyone involved in the process, as the event would not have run smoothly without their organisation. This year’s theme was ‘Countries’ and congratulations to the winning House MacDermott who constructed Australia’s Coat of Arms.
As Captains, we have been working hard this year to cultivate a culture that is conducive to every member of our community feeling valued and empowered to reach their full potential. This week was our 8th annual ‘Blue Week’ for Mental Health at St Peter’s College, lead by Blue Group Captains Alex Karytinos and Arthur Drayton. This year’s motto ‘Embracing your Identity’, has focused on normalising discussions about mental health issues, providing tools for every student to flourish and raising funds for Beyond Blue. This week saw students enjoy a muffin with their Mentor to help spark conversation, Student v Staff competitions, an inter House Battle of the Bands, blue themed casual clothes day, fundraiser BBQ, and a blue sports round still to come. The Senior School was also lucky enough to have guest speaker Brendan Cullen address the school via a pre-recorded video. Brendan is a sheep and cattle station manager in far west NSW and is a rural mental health advocate. Brendan currently works closely with Lifeline and the RFDS in their program ‘We’ve got your back’, which is a face-to-face peer mental health and wellbeing initiative for rural people from the land. I would like to thank all the staff and students for the way they have embraced this week, it has been great to see everyone participating and having fun with their mates.
Although Blue Week may be coming to a close, the fun continues into next week’s intercollegiate sport matches with our friends down the road, Prince Alfred College. I look forward to seeing a sea of blue blazers supporting their comrades in the friendly competition. Go Saints!
Sam Jackson
School Captain