Welcome to the Year 7s FALSE START Tim Sinclair from “The Things a Map Won’t Show You” You have become Uncertain In this shiny Circle – K.
This poem is just one of the many that we analysed as part of our short story unit “A look at poetry.” Students were quick to make parallels between this poem and their new journey into secondary school. As part of the short story unit students were asked to think about the rituals that they left behind and the new rituals that await them.
Nothing Is working out Like you planned.
Beginning any new journey is fraught with ‘false starts’, new rituals and deeper understandings of yourself and where you fit in within the cosmos. In Term 1 our Year 7 students explored the text “Things a Map Won’t Show” and were encouraged to consider this concept as they embarked on their secondary school journey. What are the things that exist in our school that are not obvious on any map anywhere? As the weeks progressed students noted exactly what those things are: the culture that exists within the community, the rich Mercy traditions that are so much a part of our everyday existence and the new demands of learning in a space that calls them to be responsible for their own learning journey.
You arrived….how long? Seven hours ago. Seven hours ago You got off the plane.
As the Year 7s became more confident with SETQA, developed friendships, used their locks with ease and could now navigate their way around the space, the false starts became fewer.
And that Was the end Of all that you’d known Until now.
While we are always learning and life will always give us false starts, as students of St Aloysius College we are well on our way to having the tool kit to deal with the bumps that come our way.
With it’s row upon row Of Japanese snacks, And signs that scream In a language you can’t understand. The promise of air – con And convenient convenience Are not working out Like you planned.
Rituals are important for a variety of reasons: sometimes they help us to mark time, or indeed to create time, by signifying beginnings and endings. At St Aloysius
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Always Aloysius – Winter Edition, 2021
College, we experienced this on a number of occasions, when we came together to celebrate the start of Term 2 in a Whole School Liturgy – a ritual that many of us have come to appreciate even more in the last 12 months when these gatherings have been few and far between. As the year 7 cohort continue to move through the school year they will have the opportunity to participate in many of the rituals and traditions that make our school unique, for some it will be the ritual of yelling out the last verse of the school song with gusto or the ritual of filing into the school hall for their first assembly while being cheered on by their peers. Much like the poet in “False Start” we may have found ourselves feeling excited to begin in a new place, yet feeling a little overwhelmed. We can take heart that we learn from our false starts and continue to grow. This cohort will surely contribute to the many important rituals and traditions that are so much a part of our school community. Tamara Lourdes Year 7 Leader and Transition Leader
