Year 7 retreat

Our Year 7s experienced their first OLSH retreat last week, spending the day together getting to know each other and learning more about life at OLSH College. Our senior students helped out with activities and there was great courage and enthusiasm shown by the year 7s, putting up their hands to share stories and work in teams.

Here are some reflections from the Year 7s about the day. 

"Last Friday on our retreat day I learned a lot of new names and had fun with people I had hardly ever seen before. I made one new good friend and I think the entire year level became more comfortable with each other. One new thing I learned was that at OLSH we are part of a community much bigger than I thought, where people help others, for example the OLSH Sisters work in orphanages in countries with less money than ours. My highlight of the day was getting to meet new people and make new friends, as well as the open-mic concert at lunchtime. I really enjoyed this because we all had fun and joined in the singing with our friends." - Claire

" Every activity I participated in led me to meet a new person I didn’t know yet. I met so many different people and made a few new friends from different classes, houses and even primary schools! I learned that being an OLSH girl meant being a part of a community that expanded far beyond Bentleigh! I learned all about the other OLSH schools here in Australia, and all of the wonderful things OLSH is doing to help less fortunate communities in our world. The whole day was so much fun, but my favourite part was when we did Just Dance. Getting into pairs and groups to do the dances together was in my opinion the best part of the day, and I just wish we had done one or two more." - Sophia

"On retreat day I made at least five new friends who I didn’t know before. I learned that there are many OLSH Sisters around the world and that they help lots of communities, in many different parts of the world and help in many ways. My highlight of the day was making new friends and getting to know lots of people I wouldn’t normally hang out with." - Teegan

"At the Year 7 retreat day, I met many new people. As well as making some new friends, I also had the chance to meet other Year 7s who are in other classes. One new thing I learnt about OLSH is that there are over 1,000 OLSH sisters around the world, helping people who are in need. The highlight of my day was the Just Dance competitions, where we partnered up with someone in another House that we had never really talked to before." - Evelyn

"It was really nice getting to meet new people, but also building stronger friendships with so many people I already knew. I learnt about the orphanage in Papua New Guinea and Sister Liz's dedicated service there over many years. My highlight of the day was doing the Just Dances and building on existing friendships." - Laura

"I made three new lovely friends on retreat day. I learnt about all of my classmates and people in Year 7's stories on why they came to OLSH. The highlight of the day was the waka waka Just Dance!" - Amelia

Raising awareness for the challenges of homelessness

Some of our senior students participated in our 2023 St Vinnies Winter Sleepout recently, to raise awareness for the challenges faced by people who are homeless. We were fortunate to have visitors Tracey, Di and Jaimie from the St Kilda food van that the College helps with each month, to share their stories and spend time with us. 

Thank you to the parents who assisted with food donations and serving dinner, and to the staff who slept out overnight. We passed on donations raised by our students, which will be used to buy items for the food packs distributed by the van each week.

Ms Megan Donohue
Deputy Principal Faith and Mission

World Youth Day: The Local Experience

Students in Years 10 to 12 are invited to attend World Youth Day: The Local Experience on Saturday 5^th August at St. Bede’s Mentone campus to coincide with the real thing in Lisbon, Portugal. It will be a full day of fun, formation, friendship and faith!

Please see details of the day below.

Tickets are $35 (all activities and catering) and can be purchased here: https://events.humanitix.com/world-youth-day-the-local-experience

Australian Catholics Magazine

Following on from our student winter sleep out, you may wish to read the article Homelessness hits home in the Australian Catholics Magazine. There are many other items of interest in the latest edition too.  

You will need to log in with the email address parents@olsh.vic.edu.au and password acparents.

Australian Catholics is Australia’s only national print magazine for Catholics of all ages and all walks of life and is distributed throughout Australia to Catholic parishes and schools.