Identity and Faith

Immersion Programs

If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.
- Lilla Watson, a Gangulu woman

Immersion experiences involve students in a social justice experience that has practical applications. They provide students with an opportunity to respond to the injustices around them and to attend to the needs of others.

Our aim is to help the students understand that the point of service is not just what changes as a result of one’s efforts, but that it is the change in one’s self that matters.

Immersion Units invite students to explore the challenges of our time and how they relate to adolescent male psychology. There is a sense that, as Catholics, we have a crisis of identity, of meaning and of purpose. How do we respond and remain faithful to our traditions? Our role models need to be St Joseph as Husband and Father; Jesus as Prophet, a man of social action and revelation and Edmund Rice, as a man of faith and learning.

Year 9 students can immerse themselves in the following experiences:

  • Matthew 25 - Students will work with a number of social justice organisations in close proximity to Gregory Terrace and will be challenged to move from an observational to a relational approach with those people that find themselves isolated from the greater community we live in.
  • Creative Industries - We’re all publishers now. Social media and many jobs need us to communicate visually, not just in words. The world’s most popular hobby has become a necessity.
  • Rustic Pathways: Wildlife Rehabilitation Project, South East Queensland – this immersion centres on deepening students' knowledge about social and environmental issues. With a particular focus on experiencing first-hand how wildlife rehabilitation actually works and the day to day of what caring for our most vulnerable species really entails.
  • Meraki - An adventure that will enable each participant to discover their true identity, the ‘Meraki’ immersion, run by the Gregory Terrace Outdoor Education team is a great opportunity for each student to push their own personal boundaries. This immersion is designed to challenge one’s beliefs and to discover each individual's true identity.Students will experience a series of activities and visit various sites in South-East Queensland.
  • Rustic Pathways: Reef and Rainforest, North Queensland – The Reef & Rainforest program provides students with an in-depth look at critical issues, challenges and solutions related to the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics in Far North Queensland. Led by Rustic’s passionate staff, this immersion is very a experiential education program.
  • Red Earth: Cape York and Red Earth Top End - The challenges faced by remote Aboriginal Australia are well documented. Isolated in a forgotten corner of the world, the Indigenous clans of Cape York in Far North Queensland and the Northern Territory are segregated communities that inspire students to see life in Australia from a different angle. This immersion gives students an opportunity to experience Indigenous culture and gain an appreciation for our Australian history.
  • Rustic Pathways: Central Australia - This immersion aims to provide students with opportunities for real-life, community-based learning experiences in Central Australia. It fosters respect for the people, history and culture of Indigenous people.