Celebrating 25 years of Fr Marcello's vocation
The St Michael’s school community recently celebrated a very special milestone for Fr Marcello – 25 years since his ordination to the priesthood. For 25 years, Fr Marcello has generously answered God’s call to serve His people, sharing his faith, compassion and pastoral care with the many communities he has been privileged to journey alongside.
We are particularly grateful for the important role Fr Marcello plays in the life of our St Michael’s community. Through our liturgies, Sacraments, school celebrations and everyday interactions, he continues to support our students, staff and families and reminds us of the importance of living our faith through kindness, service and love.
Twenty-five years of priesthood represents an incredible commitment to God and to the people he serves. We give thanks for Fr Marcello’s vocation and for the many lives he has touched throughout his ministry.
[Content and photo shared by Tim Hogan, Principal at St Michael's Primary School Daylesford]
Laudato Si' In Action at St James' Parish School
Caring for our common home – Urban Ripple Project
Our Discovery and Leadership 6 students recently walked down to Yarrowee Creek for our second planting session of the year with the Urban Ripple Project and Ballarat Council.
As part of our continued commitment to Laudato Si’ and caring for our common home, our students have been working alongside the local community to help restore this important waterway. Our Prep students have also contributed to the planting project this year, making this a wonderful whole-school connection between our youngest and oldest students.
This important restoration work is helping to bring life back to Yarrowee Creek by planting native trees and understory, strengthening the local ecosystem and creating healthier habitats for native wildlife and, we hope, one day, platypus!
We were also excited to be joined by our new friends from Magpie Primary School. Together, students got their hands dirty, worked alongside one another and saw firsthand how their actions can make a real difference to the environment.
This experience connects beautifully with our Learning with Place approach, encouraging students to develop a relationship with the places around them and understand their role in caring for Country and community.
A big thank you to Magpie Primary School for joining us, Ballarat Council, and Kate Martin from the Urban Ripple Project for continuing this important journey with us. We look forward to more opportunities to learn, plant and care for Yarrowee Creek together.
[Content and photos shared by Viv Mcloughlin, Deputy Principal at St James' Parish School]
St James’ students demonstrate a Care for Our Common Home at the first Environmental Forum
Students in Year 5 travelled all the way to Terang College to participate in the inaugural Humans and Habitats Environment Conference. of this region. This event brought together students in Years 5 to 9 from around 15 schools, stretching from Geelong all the way to Port Fairy to collaborate, share ideas and explore real-world environmental challenges. Students had the opportunity to engage with real-world sustainability challenges and collaborate with community experts while developing their communication, leadership and problem-solving skills.
Students from St James’ led workshops about the many ways we can reuse and recycle paper and shared the school's journey towards reducing waste to landfill. Our students rose to the challenge as they led high school students through the paper recycling process -an impressive demonstration of leadership, service and stewardship.
The day included a Welcome to Country, guest speakers, interactive student-led workshops, a tour of the school’s fantastic wetlands, and time to engage with students from other schools and share stories and ideas. They learnt about projects including wind turbines, wetland rehabilitation, hydroponics, water filtration, bent-wing bat conservation and Switch Off for Shearwaters and ended with a wonderful musical production that involved everyone.
What a fantastic day for our region as we celebrate the amazing work being done in the field of sustainability. We are incredibly proud of our students for representing St James’ and the Ballarat region and for sharing their commitment to caring for our environment. Their willingness to lead, learn and inspire others was a wonderful example of Laudato Si’ in action—caring for our common home.
[Content and photos shared by Viv Mcloughlin, Deputy Principal at St James' Parish School]