1.

3 Social Action & Justice

Rounded Average: 4/6

Have the students or the wider school community nominate where they would like to
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participate in social justice.
I don't understand enough about the frames of reference to have anything purposeful to
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contribute.
5 Try to ensure that all students experience practical experience of social justice each year.
4 No suggestions to promote growth in this area at the moment.
Students in a lot of ways see social justice linked to $$$ and sending $$$$$ overseas- need to
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incorporate local and volunteering and helping
5 more on the homeless
6 Continue with the same practices and keep the understanding happening for all involved.
5 I think that what we do is fantastic. I not sure what else we can do.
5 None at this stage.
5 Identifying specific areas for improvements and successes are very useful in moving forward.
Keep the candle and prayer book- a nice prompt and visual.
5
Grow the JAG group.
6 Continue with the focus on social justice within the college
More specific information about social justice at the school for new staff and students
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More service based activities for students to participate in
5 Students need more opportunities
Liaising with other schools - catholic and non-Catholic - within and outside Ballarat to develop
5
broader approaches to issues.
Affirmation and education of our students on the impact their great work is having locally and
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internationally.
3 more options
More variety and input into the areas that fund raising is distribute.
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the opportunity to respond to more current issues instead of always doing the same charities
Allowing the students more choice.
4
I was disappointed in the staff response to the Enviro strike.....
I think Timor is way too top heavy with the donations etc. as the other charities have suffered
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so much. I think we need to broaden this.
5 Maybe a focus could assisting more on a local front.
Survey students on which areas of social justice they feel are most important to them,
strategies they would like to pursue to in order to meet those social justice challenges as well
4 as have them set goals for themselves to try and reach. Ownership by students will not only be
key to their feeling empowered with regards to social justice but will surely see an increase in
their efficacy.
JAG is a great point at individual students can participate in social justice initiatives - how do
5 we get more students involved? I have worked in schools where Social Justice was a
recognised student leadership position?
6 Why did we stop raising $ for project compassion as term 1 went on? Too competitive?
3 Students need to improve their knowledge of the term social justice in our community
A review of the the delivery of the 7-9 experiences, particularly year 9. We could look at doing
4 something that was experienced by staff who participated in recent youth festivals.
An on campus experience of guest speaker, Mass and activities.
 Again, I'd like to take the time to become more familiar with the opportunities presented to
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students in this area prior to making suggestions - just to avoid doubling up on ideas!
Social justice more prominent earlier in class/school combined with tradition - (example- our
tradition of social justice used more in year 7). Rejig charities - maybe a month (term?) for
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certain ones let the students decide - what they see as important in today’s world. They may
see things we don't see!
Continue in working on re- contextualization the retreat programs so the link becomes
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obvious.
The continuation and further exposure, perhaps on a House Level or TA Level, of students to a
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range of opportunities to participate actively in social justice .
Involvement from TA students is an ongoing challenge. There is a reluctance to fund raise at
times. Do we do too many different fund raisers? "Compassion fatigue"?
5 I think this is an area where more parent involvement could be encouraged - especially with
Green Group (involvement in Christian Stewardship). This could be linked with reflective
experiences - such as evening bush walks, use of the Commemorative space).
I don't know a lot about what JAG does in the school, but I believe we need to develop some
strong interest and possibility for action by students along the lines of gender and sexual
5 orientation issues. Action in the Green Group is evident, what about refugee support groups,
etc.? Can students be asked what they would sort of social justice issues they would like to
explore
As the focus deepens for Social Justice initiatives like Timor Leste, Caritas and CPDA, how do
we introduce other initiatives? I.e. Could each year level have focus which deepens their
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connection between the faith and social justice elements for example Year 7 (Caritas, St
Vinnies), Year 9 (Winter Appeal?).
Show people what the money raised is going towards, as they feel they are 'always' donating
and do not know what they've contributed to. E.g. Timor - show students the infrastructure
now in place because of our donations.
4 Review of retreat programs to re-contextualise the programs to connect in with today's
societies.
Consider a balance of fundraising across the organisations to ensure every group an equal
opportunity.
I think some of our students view social justice as just 'giving money' to those who are in need
5 - is there other ways we could get them thinking about how they can help others that doesn't
always involve raising money?
6 NA
Having observed the experiences for staff and students in the Timor Leste program, it would
be awesome to see students and staff establish similar levels of passion and development
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opportunity through the other programs like St Vinnies for example, looking at a balance of
local and international provision of support and understanding.
3 -
4 See above.
being new to the school and the catholic education system I am unable to offer any
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suggestions, however I look forward to seeing and being a part of any new developments
Growth needs to be in action - not necessarily in giving money. Perhaps we need to make a
6 compulsory volunteering activity in Year 9 or 10 to show what they can do (not just give money
all the time).
I think the fund raising structure of the college in this area should be reviewed. Traditionally a
5 unified and focused fundraising effort elicits greater results. This would provide greater clarity
regarding fundraising for the Damascus college community.
4 Contrary to some valid views that raising money should not be competitive nm
 Continued from last submission:
Project Compassion seems to be waning in effectiveness. Unless another vehicle is found to
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raise money, Project Compassion seems to be the best way of students learning to appreciate
what they have compared to others in need.
An increased college focus on our local charities, homelessness in Ballarat is at the highest it
has ever been, there is not enough recourses to support them and as a college this is the area
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we provide the least financial support. I would rather donate towards this and other local
outreach programs and not have everything go to Timor.
5 Could the Timor Leste program be expanded to hosting students here?
5 Fundraising that contributes more to local agencies supporting the vulnerable
6 .
Reduce the number of charities and perhaps look more closely at our local community and
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Australian community.
Board Subcommittee
Helping students recognise that social justice is one of the key features of Jesus’ message.
Need for Parent education in this area so that these parents are informed when it comes to
completing surveys. With Year 11 data trending down, how do we keep this year level
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engaged?
A more integrated hands on experience for students after an introduction to Social Justice.
Explore more suitable options for this age group including engagement of media technology
e.g. Mercy International
Board Subcommittee 2
…repeated efforts through language to connect social justice work to mission/faith may need
to be made more often or by more/different staff members (not just the RE faculty) to help
5 students recognize those links.
Individual accountability to contribute to community to encourage self-determination, sense
of pride and personal growth, which allows for potential for giving back, to continue the cycle
of community support