MacKillop College has a strong commitment to educating the whole person rather than focusing only on subject specific material. In service to this commitment, we have various extra-curricular activities and opportunities available to students, including art, music, theatre, sporting activities, an extensive Outdoor Education Program, a Religious Retreat Program and our International Program.
The International Program in particular sets out to open cultural opportunities and experiences for broader learning, understanding and grounding of the self, outside of what is familiar to a student. It offers students the opportunity to travel, live and study in Italy, France or Japan for five weeks, ten weeks, a semester, or a year, while living in homestays with host families and engaging in cultural immersion programs at host schools. This opens the door for student to broaden their world view and outlook on national and global experiences and issues. It also serves to expose different ways of learning and teaching, building a knowledge-base a student can then bring back to MacKillop. This can then lead to them playing a more active role in their own future and the future of the students around them.
For those students who are not ready or able to embark on an international journey, we have, as part of our comprehensive curriculum, an offering of French, Japanese and Italian language studies, allowing students an introduction to the nuances found within language, identity and culture. In honour of this, we also have a Languages Week each year, that celebrates various languages and cultures found among our students and introduces an eclectic range of international food, music, fashion and dance, to deepen the experience.
Similarly, our school is open to select International students, living with host families within our community, reciprocating the engagement and cultural immersion offered to our students through the exchange program. International students can interact with our curriculum at any year level, including completing VCE or VCAL over two or three years. Students become integrated into our educative community from their first day and become part of a dedicated homeroom and pastoral structure. This allows for a well-rounded experience for all who come through our doors and an opportunity for an exchange of cultural learning, whether a student has set foot off the continent or not.
MacKillop College promotes the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all children as part of our ethos.
