Goodji Festival

REV GILLIAN MOSES

On Friday 5 August, five Year 8 students attended the Anglican Schools Commission’s Goodji Festival at St John’s Anglican College, Forest Lake. Unity, Juliet, Maggie, Sophia and Pari reflect on the day and what they are bringing with them back to St Aidan’s

The Goodji Festival is about young Australians coming together to improve future Earth. There were speakers focusing on the climate, poverty, refugees and more! Most of the speakers were people at the top of their field looking to help others and inspire the next generation to make a change.

The Festival was a great opportunity to learn how to interact with our peers about things we care about and expanding our knowledge on these topics. It celebrated differences and acknowledged those who had achieved extraordinary things. But its main purpose was to empower us to make active change, to encourage us to be bold, creative, and different, basically to be open-minded and think outside of the box. As one speaker said, “If you want change you can’t keep thinking the same way; you have to change the way you think.”

Duku Fore was the standout speaker on the day. Duku was a United Nations youth delegate and former refugee. He believes that storytelling is an extremely effective way to connect and empathise with other people. It was inspiring to see someone who cared so much. We could all learn something from him, whether it be to love yourself, love others, love stories, or to have confidence in yourself. Also speaking at the festival was Tony Rinaudo who spoke about deforestation and the solutions that are already happening. Alongside the speakers there was live music (a band from St John’s), dancers, food trucks, and various workshops taking place. One of the workshops was called Jewel. It was a storytelling circle, where we listened to real stories that others shared with us.

We would like to share with St Aidan’s the Jewel workshop. It would be an environment where everyone felt safe to share their stories, no matter how big or small. It would create a culture of wondering, listening, and respect.

We learned that it is so important to pursue your dreams. All the speakers loved what they did, even though it was often difficult to get where they are today. We also learned the importance of helping others in your community. Did you know, for example that just $5 billion would wipe out hunger in Africa, so even if we all gave a little bit, imagine the difference we could make.

We will definitely attend the Goodji Festival again. It was informative, and entertaining. We learned about what we can do to help the world even as high school students. It is a great experience if you aspire to be a leader and make great change.

Maggie Charles, Sophia Evenden, Unity Maxwell, Pari Meta, Juliet O’Donnell (Year 8)

New Class for Year 2 2 0 2 3

At St Aidan’s our focus is to develop and promote authentic, caring, confident, creative and connected women who value reason, imagination, truth, compassion and responsibility.

Due to increased demand, we have added a new class for Year 2 commencement in 2023. If you are interested in joining the St Aidan’s family, we are offering a very limited opportunity to secure a place without paying the normal Application Fee.

To take advantage of this offer, please contact us: registrar@staidans.qld.edu.au 07 3373 5999