ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ

Year 7 Camp Week Salesian Immersion

In recent years the College has been developing ways that students can learn about the history of ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ and the experiences of its students.

A successful innovation has been the introduction of a Salesian Immersion program during the Tear 7 Camp Week.

While two of the four House groups are attending camp, the other two Houses undertake activities including a History Walk, Salesian games, art and journals, cooking "dodgers" and potatoes in the ashes and a drama intensive "In Their Shoes".

Boys' Town was originally established as an orphanage by the Archbishop in 1945, and after the Salesians took over in 1946 Boys' Town became a boarding school. Boys' Town was renamed Savio College in 1956 and added day boys to its classes.

Fr Bernie Graham SDB led students in the History Walk around the College, talking about points of interest and the many changes and developments over the years. Other activities included during the immersion were designed to allow students to experience something of farm and school life and the simple pleasures of cooking, exploring or playing games in the early days.

"In Their Shoes" was constructed using verbatim accounts written by Peter ‘Jackie’ Allsopp aged 9 and David Despard aged 10 when they arrived at ‘Boy’s Town’. Students engaged with the experiences of the child migrants in England, on the journey to Australia and in the early days of Boy’s Town. The aim of the immersion was to have our students, through interactive drama, explore what it was like to leave their country of birth, travel for two months on a ship without any family and begin life in a new country.