Greetings parents and guardians of students of Catholic Regional College, our names are Hannah Nguyen and Samantha Smith and we are the Year 10 Social Justice Captains. As Year 10 Social Justice Captains, we have chosen to devote time into making a cause and raising awareness about the challenging situations that many in the world are forced to endure. Through this, we can form solidarity within the school community and overall sensitise everyone regarding dilemmas even developed nations experience. The Social Justice Captains intend to execute many campaigns in our own unique way and will assist the students of Catholic Regional College in being more conscious about communities that require our support. We will undertake the role of assisting the other members of the group in the planning of the events following special campaigning weeks such as ‘Solidarity Week’ and the ‘Winter Appeal’. Through these, we will be able to expand the knowledge and understanding of everyone in the school community.

This year within our social justice council, we are focusing on three main areas which are solidarity, fundraising and information. To us, solidarity is about uniting as a team and taking action whether it be through spreading awareness of issues or creating events in order to donate to organisations and make a difference in the world. We plan to make continuous acts of solidarity while in our meetings and everyday life. Fundraising is going to be a major focus this year and we have already kicked it off with tremendous donations towards Caritas. We have exciting ideas on the horizon in order to raise funds and make a change in people's lives. Finally, information and updates about social justice projects and ways to get involved will be posted frequently on the bulletin and newsletter.

‘Refugee Week’, a special period of time intended to spread awareness about the conflicting issues refugees experience during their demanding migration, is initiating on June 20 in 2019. The Social Justice Team intends to notify students and teachers of Catholic Regional College weeks prior about the events occuring to commemorate those being robbed of a fortunate life as they make a gruelling journey. An excursion to a real life refugee camp has been planned for those willing to volunteer and devote their time to expanding their knowledge about a crisis in our world. Moreover, there will be days where the Social Justice Team will organise a ‘lunchbox’ for students in the school, representative of the scarce amount of food refugees are given in Detention Camps and raise awareness about another factor of their struggles. It can also be interpreted as ‘an act of solidarity’. Other activities for Refugee Week include: watching videos in Pastoral Care which follows the lives of particular persons that would be considered as ‘refugees’, having discussions and answering questions in relation to the given video or statistics regarding refugees, competing in pop quizzes regarding to refugees and perhaps even a competition on rap/pop about solidarity or heart-wrenching story they wish to share.

After the events of ‘Refugee Week’, Catholic Regional College will step into the new duration that is the ‘Solidarity Evening’, which was formerly known as ‘Winter Appeal’. The purpose of this appeal is to transform the lives of those who are poverty-stricken and inform everyone about the hardships the homeless have to endure, particularly in the winter. Events for this campaign include knitting woolen apparel, donating for the Winter Sleepout and most importantly, the ‘Winter Sleepout’ which is a day where volunteered students sleep at school, Samantha Smith and Hannah Nguyen Year 10 Social Justice Leaders

Jade Nguyen Year 10 Designed our Social Justice team Logo, shown below: