Year 7 Pastoral Day

On Monday 29th July, the Year 7s were granted with a special pastoral day that was intended to build on our team bonding and self-esteem. The following will explain each activity that we participated in.

First, our group participated in a Core Values film activity with our Peer Support Leaders. We got into groups and were assigned to 1 of the 4 Magdalene core values: Quality Relationships, Discipleship and Service, Love of Learning and Personal Best. We discussed ideas relating to our topic and planned our film which was based on an example of the core value we were given. Everyone had very creative ideas and the films are still a work in progress!

Next, we had a talk with Dan from ‘Young and Confident’ about resilience. He talked about how sometimes we can feel defeated and want to quit, but we need to bounce back and learn from our mistakes. He also explained how we all have many different qualities within us that can positively impact others. We found out our top 3 personal characteristics by doing an online personality test. 

Later, we had a serious cyber safety talk with our school Police Liaison Officer, Senior Constable Melanie Sumata. She works with the police department and has experienced a lot during her past years in the team. This was a real eye-opener as she talked about the numerous people who are online pretending to be someone else and faking their identity. She explained how there are so many people who fall for their lies which could lead to critical outcomes and even death. This is such a severe topic that must be handled correctly. Did you know that you can be charged at the young age of 10?!

Finally, we were involved in ‘The Amazing Race’ activity. This was a team bonding game allowing us to get closer to our peers and to improve our team effort skills. The aim of the game was to solve each clue and be the first to complete them. The race began with our Peer Support group leaders reading our first quest that involved 2 people from each group to travel to the library to find three things. After the things were found, the 2 people went back to the group with the next clue. The next task was to get a ball into a bucket using tubes. We found that communication was the key to achieving this challenge. The next clue was to choose either ‘Mind or Matter’, which then gave us another task to complete. The final challenge to finish it all off was making the school emblem with lego!

Overall, this pastoral day was very beneficial to our Year group and we all enjoyed each activity that we participated in. We would like to thank Mrs Taccone, Dan, Officer Mel, and all of the other teachers who helped out/participated. We all learnt so much new information and it was a fun day for all of us!

By Billie Magro & Elise Burgess

Year 7