Year 7 students experienced a wonderful day of initiation into the Dominican tradition through participation in activities on the Dominican Discovery Day. We explored and wondered at the beauty of St Dominic’s church, whilst listening to the ethereal voices of the Dominican friars as they sang the haunting Regina Coeli for us. We marvelled at the rich timbre of the church bells as they rang above our heads, calling us into communion with God.
In the Priory, we responded to the presenters who told us about many of the great Dominican figures who continue to inspire the Brothers and Friars and were enthralled by the story of the voting using the black and white balls.
Back at the College, we meditated, experiencing what it means to contemplate, one of the four Dominican Pillars. With great excitement and a strong sense of competition, we raced around the school grounds on an orienteering course to discover the many signs, statues and religious artefacts that remind us we are in a Catholic school in the Dominican tradition.
After a delicious shared lunch, we reflected on the College theme, ‘One Body, Many Parts’ and created a jigsaw that was made up of our own personal strengths and abilities. This helped us realize that we bring so many gifts and talents to Siena and have much to contribute to the life of the College.
A couple of weeks ago, all of the Year 7 students were privileged enough to spend the day finding out more about Siena’s history. We wandered the school on a Dominican dash, finding answers to clues about the school’s past through cryptic messages, hidden in Caleruega and met the friars at St Dominic’s who shared stories with us about their life and the Dominican tradition. To end the day, we decorated puzzle pieces with drawings and words to describe us, sharing a bit of ourselves with the school. This went perfectly with our theme this year, ‘One Body, Many Parts’. This day was a great way to learn more about Siena in a different way with lots of people telling us stories and to give us a deeper understanding of what it truly is to be a Dominican.
Mia Kelly and Jessica Higgins
Dominican Discovery Day gave the Year 7 students an opportunity to learn more about God through hands on activities. We began the day with a scavenger hunt learning about the history of Siena. This was followed by meditation and attending mass at St Dominic’s. Our day concluded with making puzzles in small groups which in my opinion was the best of fun and was a great way to reflect on the day.
Francesca Stapleton
On Friday, 9 February, the Year 7s attended Dominican Discovery Day. We raced around the school doing the Dominican Dash, then we went into Caleruega and experienced the manner in which the sisters prayed. We then went across to the church and looked around the Priory with the brothers from St Dominic’s church. After that, we met Sr Juliana. Once we came back from the church, we were supplied with a delicious lunch by Siena College. Once the bell went, we were put into point groups and did a jigsaw puzzle together. Over all it was an amazing day and we thank all the teachers who helped organise this day.
Georgia Froutzis
After Dominican Discovery Day, I came away with new knowledge about Siena’s history. Some things I learnt about the Dominicans is that they were founded by St Dominic and Dominicans are also known as the Order of Preachers (OP). When taking part in the exciting treasure hunt, I learnt about Siena’s Dominican history by discovering historical paintings and I learnt that Siena College is named after St Catherine's home town of Siena in Italy. That’s how our rust coloured blazers were chosen, as Siena is a small town with a colour scheme of rust. When wandering around the Dominican friar’s house, I learnt about the rules and regulations of being a Priest. I asked one of the brothers, 'Is it a necessity to wear the robes all the time?' He replied with 'No. It is our choice as to when to wear it. I don’t wear it when mowing the lawn'. The highlight of my day was working with my class to create a creative puzzle that really highlighted who we are and what makes us special. The puzzle pieces each described us, so when the puzzle was finished, we had different colours and images but it all made a whole, just like our College theme, 'One Body, Many Parts'. I thoroughly enjoyed this day and I’m looking forward to discovering more about Siena.
Evie Goodale
