RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES
Teachers' College Christian Fellowship
Teachers' colleges throughout Australia foster student Christian move- ments. These exist to bring to students the vital knowledge of the way in which they might have life more abundantly in Christ Jesus.
The college Christian Fellowship in inter-dominational, and extends a warm welcome to all students to attend its meetings and enjoy Christian fellowship. Meetings are held every Tuesday during the lunch recess, and feature addresses by prominent Ch
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stian leaders, lively discussions, and challenging films.The Fellowship offers a variety of interests to its members:
daily prayer meeting weekly bible study group
social activities—hikes, barbecues, outings, week-end house parties annual state conference of teachers' colleges Christian Fellowship
groups.
Loyola Society
The Loyola Society is the Catholic society in the college. It exists for the spi
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tual welfare of its members, and aims to instil in them Christian ideas and principles, especially as applied to their work as teachers.The group meets on Tuesday at lunch recess to hold discussions, and hear talks by the chaplain and visiting speakers. It welcomes to its meet- ings all college students, and assures them of an interesting and profitable time.
Some of the activities of the group are:
annual mass in December at St. Patrick's Cathedral combined colleges week-end camp
social events—hikes, picnics, picture nights.
CLUBS
Students organize their own activities programs through a system of affiliated clubs. Each club functions under its own officials who act under the direction of the S.R.C. Finance is levied at the beginning of each year, and is payable with S.R.C. fees. Most club activities occur each Wednesday afternoon.
Competitions
The two major fixtures each year are the combined teachers' colleges carnivals in athletics and swimming.
In addition, inter-college competitions are held in several other branches of sport. These provide opportunities for provincial and metropolitan colleges to meet socially, as well as on the sporting field.
The participating primary colleges are:
Ballarat Burwood Frankston Melbourne
Bendigo Coburg Geelong Toorak
Teams from the Police College, Larnook Domestic Arts College, and Monash Secondary Teachers' College compete in some of the sporting fixtures.
WATER COLOUR FIGURE SKETCH RUSSELL DRYSDALE From the A. J. Law Collection
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TOURS, CAMPS AND EXTENSION STUDIES
Tours week, as constituted in previous years, has been removed from the college calendar. In future, attendance at any tour or camp organized by a Student Representative Council tours club or staff member will be volun- tary.
Activities will be conducted during the vacations, at Easter, or on long week ends. Where necessary, some latitude will be allowed for travelling to and from venues. Normally, all travel will be by public or hired transport.
In principle, tours and excursions are open to all college students, and embrace such occasions as:
Camps at Noojee and Wilson's Promontory
Experiences in arts and crafts, e.g. pottery, painting, architecture Interstate sporting conventions
Summer and vacation schools
Field studies in science and social science.
Where specialized interests are being catered for, admission to the excursion is by invita tion of the sponsor; however, if additional places are available, individual students may apply for inclusion in the party.
NOOJEE CAMP
The S.R.C. has secured a lease in perpetuity of 23 acres of Forestry Commission land at Noojee.for the purpose of establishing a college camp.
The site, known as White's Corner, adjoins an extensive state forest, and is within easy reach of snowfields and the navigable waters of the Latrobe River.
Volunteer parties of students have been at work clearing and preparing the site. Power and water have been laid on and, by June 197o, the basic amenities block will have been built. The present intention is that pilot camps providing a varied program of activities will commence about July or August.
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
The two principal social events of the year are the Welcome Ball in April and the Graduation Ball in November. At these functions, college welcomes official guests from the administrative and inspectorial staffs, representatives of other teachers' colleges, and head teachers of training schools.
For more informal occasions there is a palais, organized by a college group, occurring approximately every three weeks.
Other highlights of the year are a welcome concert and a river trip, which are usually held shortly after college re-opens.
Various outings are arranged within the groups to cater for a diversity of interests. Popular choices are visits to the theatre, week-end excursions, barbecues, and group dinners.
WELFARE WORK
One of the unpublicized activities of college students is the voluntary work which is done to help sections of the community which are under- privileged or handicapped. No official recognition is made of this work, but those who are interested will receive full co-operation from college authorities.
One day, however, is featured as an occasion when the college openly participates in charitable work. On Poppy Day practically every student assists the Returned Servicemen's League by selling poppies in the streets of Melbourne.
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