Social Justice & Service

"Never see a need without doing something about it." Mary MacKillop's instruction to her Sisters is the whole of our social justice program in one line. Every year level at St Mary's has a hands-on way of serving people in need, and the college raised and donated $41,600 in cash and goods in 2025 to Caritas Australia, the St Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic Mission and local charities. This page lists what is on, when, and how your family can take part.

Annual program at a glance

Vinnies Social Justice Group

Our Vinnies group is the engine room of student-led service. Around 60 students from Years 7 to 12 meet every Tuesday at lunchtime (1:20pm) in Room S12, St Joseph's Building, with Sr Bernadette Long rsj and Ms Olivia Chen. The group plans and runs the Winter Appeal and Christmas Hamper Appeal, cooks for the Vinnies Soup Van once a month (Years 10–12, Thursday evenings 5:00–8:30pm, parents drive to the Ringwood depot), and sends a team to the Vinnies Schools Social Justice Forum each May. No sign-up is needed — students just turn up. Junior students (Years 5–6) have their own Mini Vinnies group on Wednesdays at lunchtime with Mrs Karen Fitzgerald.

Caritas Project Compassion — Lent

Project Compassion boxes go home with every Junior student and every Senior homeroom on Ash Wednesday. Classes and homerooms run their own fundraisers through Lent — Junior "Crazy Sock Day", the Year 8 pancake stall, the staff-versus-students netball match — and boxes return in Holy Week. In Lent 2026 St Mary's raised $8,412, the most in the college's history. Families who prefer to give directly can donate online through Caritas and email the receipt to mission@stmaryswc.vic.edu.au so the total is counted.

Year 11 Winter Sleepout — Friday 21 August 2026

On Friday 21 August 2026, 84 Year 11 students and 9 staff slept out in the Sports Centre car park in cardboard shelters, after a simple soup dinner and a panel discussion with Vinnies volunteers and two people with lived experience of homelessness. Students raised $6,230 in sponsorship for the Vinnies Winter Appeal. Thank you to every family who sponsored a student and to the P&F for the 6:30am bacon-and-egg breakfast.

The Sleepout runs every year in Term 3 for Year 11 as part of the Faith & Ethics course. Key details for 2027 (date to be confirmed, likely Friday 20 August 2027): arrive 6:00pm with a sleeping bag, warm clothes, a beanie and a torch; no phones, no mattresses; collected 7:30am Saturday; students sleep in the Sports Centre if the forecast is below 2°C or raining heavily. Sponsorship via the online page opened in the Parent Portal in July.

Christmas Hamper Appeal — Monday 16 November to Friday 4 December 2026

Each class (Junior) and homeroom (Senior) builds a Christmas hamper for a family supported by the Wattle Creek Vinnies Conference — roughly 70 hampers a year.

• Collection dates: Monday 16 November – Friday 4 December 2026. Bring items to your child's classroom or homeroom.
• What to give: non-perishable Christmas food (pudding, shortbread, tinned ham, long-life custard, biscuits, tea and coffee), new toiletries, and new, unwrapped gifts for children (please mark the age). No alcohol, no second-hand goods, nothing past its use-by date. Gift cards for supermarkets are especially useful and can be handed to the class teacher in an envelope.
• Delivery: Vinnies volunteers and the Year 10 Vinnies group pack the hampers in the Hall foyer on Monday 7 December 2026 from 9:00am; parent helpers welcome (WWCC required).
• Carols on the Green on Friday 4 December 2026 at 6:00pm doubles as the final hamper collection point — look for the Vinnies marquee.

Year 10 Community Service

Every Year 10 student completes 20 hours of community service during the year, logged in the Learning Hub and verified by the host organisation. Common placements include the Wattle Creek Vinnies shop, the parish, local aged-care homes, the Junior School Homework Club, the Wattle Creek Community Garden and local sporting clubs (coaching juniors). Placements are arranged by the family with help from Mrs Sarah Donnelly, Year 10 Coordinator; a list of approved organisations is in the Learning Hub. Hours completed at Year 9 Solidarity Camp count towards the total.

Environment Team and other groups

The Environment Team (Years 3–12, Thursday lunchtime, Tenison Junior STEM room) runs the college's recycling and compost systems, the vegetable garden beside the Penola Centre, and National Tree Day plantings at Wattle Creek Reserve. Our Student Representative Council leads the annual student-voice survey and chose Foodbank Victoria as the 2026 Senior Casual Clothes Day charity ($3,150 raised on Friday 19 June 2026).

How families can help

• Sponsor the Winter Sleepout or House Spirit Day via the Parent Portal.
• Give to Project Compassion and the Hamper Appeal through your child's class.
• Volunteer for the Soup Van roster (drivers with a WWCC needed one Thursday a month), hamper packing, or the Vinnies shop on Main Street (open Monday–Saturday). See Volunteering & WWCC.
• Donate clean, good-quality winter coats and blankets to the Winter Appeal bins in the Hall foyer each June.
• Tell us about a local need — the Vinnies group takes suggestions at mission@stmaryswc.vic.edu.au.

Contact

Mission & Social Justice — Mrs Siobhan Reilly, Deputy Principal – Wellbeing & Mission · mission@stmaryswc.vic.edu.au · (03) 9555 0100 Vinnies Social Justice Group — Sr Bernadette Long rsj and Ms Olivia Chen (Year 11 Coordinator) · via the Senior Office (03) 9555 0140 Mini Vinnies (Years 5–6) — Mrs Karen Fitzgerald · via the Junior Office (03) 9555 0130