Message from the Prefects: Social Justice Initiatives
Over the past semester, we have had a number of social justice initiatives that have been highly successful thanks to the support of the whole College community. We are really excited to give you a recap and reveal the final amount that was raised for these important causes.
In Term 1, we had the annual Caritas Project Compassion fundraiser during which we raised over an incredible $11,000!
During this period, we had many different events to collect donations, including a delicious bake sale run by Gioia House and pancake sale for Shrove Tuesday.
However, alongside the traditional means of fundraising, this year we introduced an exciting new event as part of this fundraising period. One of the focus areas for Caritas this year was providing access to clean water and sanitation for communities across Africa, Asia and the Pacific. In line with this, we introduced the ‘Carry for Caritas’ relay race, where the different houses and a special Gioia House team went head to head racing to fill their buckets with water in the fastest amount of time using various containers. These teams relied on the generous donations of their respective house groups to raise money which would ‘unlock’ better containers to be used as fundraising targets were met; the final target also unlocked fun costumes for the teachers to wear during the race!
It was incredibly heartening to see the enthusiasm this generated, with many students and teachers volunteering to represent their House and students donating generously for this initiative – every single House not only met their targets, but greatly exceeded them too. We would like to give a particular shout out to Gioia House who raised over $4,500!
Ultimately, the Gioia House team ended up taking first place, followed by Yetinga and Weelya!
Term 2 was similarly hugely successful with Santafest fundraising and celebration taking place over the course of Week 6.
Santafest is a week full of community celebration and fundraising for the Kopanang Community Trust and our sister school Montebello in South Africa which has been taking place annually since the early 1990s. Over the course of the week, we raised over $5,500 that will go towards these important causes. Each day consisted of various activities and events, with some of the headline events consisting of:
- A competition showcase of homeroom dances during assembly to the timeless Dancing Queen by ABBA which ended with Yetinga getting the prized first place
- A student vs teacher debate discussing whether or not ‘school is harder for students than teachers’. Ultimately the teachers prevailed, successfully arguing that school is indeed harder for students (which perhaps was also a silent win for students who had their teachers sympathising with their scholarly struggles!)
- ‘Teachers in uniform’ during which teachers were sponsored to wear the Santa uniform for a day and take part in a parade during a busking concert at lunch where they showed off their fashionable outfits.
But this wasn’t all! There were even more enjoyable events as outlined below:
- Hot chocolate sales in the cold mornings and recess
- A tasty cake stall run by the incredible bakers from Gioia House
- A mouthwatering sausage sizzle
- Free dress day themed ‘one of a kind’ where students showed off their unique styles
- An incredible busking performance by our talented community demonstrating their musical mastery
- An enjoyable dominos pizza lunch where students enjoyed pizza with their friends.
None of this would have been possible without the generous support of the whole Santa Sabina community, and we are so thankful for the enthusiasm, joy and energy that everyone added to these initiatives!
Kate Pitman-Fernandez
Social Justice Prefect
