College News & Events

City Country Partnership: Visit to St Mary’s College, Broome

June 27, 2024

During Week 10, the latest chapter unfolded in the Country City Partnership (CCP) between Chisholm Catholic College; St Mary’s College, Broome; and Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Highgate.

Four Chisholm staff – Paul Shanahan (HOLA Science); Lilia Kalache (Science); Peter D’Amico (Science) and Jake Ricks (Mathematics) – travelled to St Mary’s for our second trip to Broome in 2024. Once again, this proved to be an extremely productive and enriching experience for all involved.

This CCP’s headline focus is on improved and sustainable long-term STEM outcomes for St Mary’s students at, and beyond, school. However, it is also underpinned by the concept of ‘mutual advantage’ for all three schools involved. As a result, Chisholm is benefiting greatly from this partnership with St Mary’s in so many ways – particularly in cultural and academic areas.

During the week, we were invited to work alongside St Mary’s staff and students to demonstrate and co-develop STEM activities and pedagogy that could be embedded in a whole of school approach. We also performed some relief teaching which was great fun! St Mary’s is a very special school populated by brilliant staff and students – so it was an awesome experience to be in their classrooms working with them!

On Thursday, we spent the day on Yawuru Country at a very special location called Crab Creek. Whilst learning about the special history and cultural importance of this place, we tried our hand at fishing – with various degrees of success! The Year 12 students who accompanied us on the trip were more successful, catching a couple of mud crabs which they cooked up for lunch on a fire. What a meal! This was a very special day which enriched our understanding of Yawuru people and their culture and history.

The Friday morning before our return to Perth saw us participate in a march through Broome with St Mary’s staff and students – and many others – to launch NAIDOC Week. We witnessed elders and locals performing Yawuru songs, dances, and telling stories which further enhanced our understanding of the Yawuru people and their country.

The next important chapter in this partnership sees 18 St Mary’s students and five of their staff visit Perth during Week 4 in Term 3. On Wednesday 7 August, they will present two projects at the 2024 CEWA STEM Showcase to be held at Chisholm.

It is going to be an exciting and important trip. We can hardly wait to host these wonderful people at Chisholm and show them the same care, support and generosity they have shown us on our visits to St Mary’s in Broome.

Mr Paul Shanahan
Head of Learning Area – Science

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