ACTS camp is an opportunity for students in Years 10 and 11 to come together with other young people from around the Rockhampton diocese. Ten students are selected each year to attend the camp that is held around mid-year in Yeppoon. The camp helps the students to build confidence and to explore significant questions about faith and life. The Year 10 Camp, A Chance to Share and the Year 11 Camp, A Chance to Serve, focuses on how we can be part of recreating our world as the compassionate, just and peaceful world God intended it to be.
The Confraternity Rugby League Carnival was the creation of Jim Stephensen and other staff members of the old Christian Brothers College in Bundaberg and the confraternity of Brothers Rugby League clubs in Queensland.
The first carnival was held in Bundaberg in 1980 where six schools were represented. From those humble beginnings, the carnival has grown into the largest schoolboy carnival in Australia with forty-eight schools competing in two divisions.
Shalom has had a proud history at these carnivals competing in all but two carnivals and has hosted the event on three occasions. Shalom will again play host in 2019 and players look forward each year to compete against other schools throughout Queensland.
The Edmund Rice Camp is an opportunity for some of our senior students to spend time with disadvantaged children from the local area. Each senior student who attends the camp in January is assigned to be a buddy for young person who is living under disadvantaged circumstances or in need of a holiday and a positive role model. Students gain valuable experience and grow in their understanding of the needs of others through their involvement in this camp.
Year 11 students are given the opportunity to travel to Cambodia or a neighbouring country to encourage positive relationships and an international community service. This enables our students to experience the rich cultural, religious and historical heritage of a country very different to their own. Students raise money, donate goods and provide human resources to help communities continue to develop.
Every eighteen months to two years, Years 10, 11 and 12 students at Shalom College have the opportunity to participate in a study tour of Japan. The trip is a highlight of many students' study of Japanese providing them first hand insight into the Japanese culture.
The tour includes a home stay in Saitama with our students attending Sakado Senior High school, Shalom's Sister School. The school/ home stay experience is a very popular part of the trip. Student's attend classes, participate in sport/club activities with their host student and learn traditional cultural arts such as Kendo (a Japanese Martial Art), Ikebana (Flower Arranging), Sado (Japanese Tea Ceremony) and Shodo (Japanese Calligraphy). During the home stay, students use their Japanese skills on a daily basis enjoying family life in a Japanese home.
During the tour, students enjoy the travel component of the trip with the students staying in a range of traditional and modern Japanese accommodations. Students enjoy the 'Land of the Rising Sun' while on tour of Japan by visiting places such as futuristic Tokyo, Kyoto (located on the central island) and the commercial hub of Osaka. One of the natural highlights is seeing the snow capped peak of Mount Fuji, Takayama, Shirakawago and Hiroshima. Depending on the interests of the students attending, the destinations may change with each tour.
The Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball Carnival (QISSN) is a carnival that began at Shalom College in 2000. Since then more and more teams have become involved and the sportsmanship and prestige of the event has continued to escalate.
The aim of such a competiton is to be able to mix with the best of the best from Independent schools throughout Queensland. Regional teams have the opportunity to play against girls of all abilities.
With sixteen teams taking part in the inaugural year this number has increased to sixty teams. The carnival runs during the first week of the June/July holidays.
All students in the school have the opportunity to attend a reflection day or retreat during the year. In particular, our senior students find these to be very valuable opportunities for personal and spiritual growth. Our Year 11 students attend a reflection and team building day in Term Three designed to promote the idea of Christian leadership and to help them prepare as a year group to be the leader of the school in the following year. Students generally refer to this retreat as one of the most moving and valuable experiences of their whole time at Shalom College.
All students in Years 7, 8 &10 attend a camp of three days and two nights at Shalom's own outdoor environment centre "Chaverim". Each of the camps has it's own distinct purpose and the students experience different activities each year.
The Year 7 camps occur in Term Two and aim to build relationships between students who are quite unfamiliar with one another initially.
The Year 8 & 10 camps see the students challenged both individually and to develop teamwork as they tackle a variety of activities.