Justice and Service
Beginnings
The Justice and Service group at Sacred Heart College was initiated by Genevieve Chalkley during her time as Religious Education Coordinator. She was an inspiration to all who knew her and her passion for justice continues to grow and develop in the young people who have committed themselves to the work she began. Justice and Service empowers students, staff and families to live out the Mercy ethos in our daily lives and is of enormous importance to our College community.
What we do
Justice and Service is a voluntary student led group that meets once a week during lunchtime to plan and run awareness raising activities and fund raising projects throughout the year. Issues of social justice are discussed and the group provides leadership for the Sacred Heart College community in working to alleviate the problems of a social justice nature. As young people they have been able to communicate to their peers with enormous effectiveness. Students decide which justice issues will be tackled and what fundraising will be undertaken. They have a keen perception of what matters to young people and a willingness to look outside their immediate environment to understand issues in the world around them.
Inter-School seminars
Students represent Sacred Heart College at inter-school Justice seminars and conferences in Melbourne and interstate and share ideas and insights they gain with the wider College community. Groups attend the Seeds of Justice overnight seminars in Melbourne run by the Victorian Mercy schools, the Young Mercy Justice Tree Conferences in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne, the Justice Leadership days run by the Catholic Education Office and the World Vision Leadership Training days.
Mercy Justice Day
Mercy Justice Day is a student initiative that has been running successfully for the last five years. The students organise speakers and activities that run throughout the day. The College general assembly is given over to the Justice and Service group and they have challenged the College community every year with inspiring speakers and important messages delivered in a way that students take notice.
