Mercy Regional College eNewsletter

Prayer

On This Day....

Mend a quarrel
Search out a forgotten friend
Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust
Write a love letter
Share some treasures
Give a soft answer
Encourage youth

Manifest your loyalty in a word or deed
Keep a promise
Find the time
Forego a grudge
Forgive an enemy
Listen
Apologise if you were wrong

Try to understand
Flout envy
Examine your demands on others
Think first of someone else
Appreciate, be kind, be gentle
Laugh a little more.
Deserve confidence

Take up arms against malice
Decry complacency
Express your gratitude
Worship your God
Gladden the heart of a child
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth

Speak your love
Speak it again
Speak it still again
Speak it still once again...

Principal's Message

Welcome to Term 4
Welcome back everyone and I hope the break gave some time to relax and reconnect with family and friends. I wish to thank Deputy Principal Natalie Stephenson who stepped in whilst I took a little longer break to travel to Scotland and Ireland with my husband to visit friends and take in the beautiful scenery and culture that those two countries are renowned for. Term 4 as always is full of so many wonderful celebrations. Please keep an eye on the College calendar and The Week Ahead to ensure you don’t miss anything!

Change of arrangements
The scheduled Student Free Day for Year 9 students on Friday 1 November is no longer required. All Year 9 students are expected at school on this day. The day will remain Student Free for Year 8 students who return from their three day camp the previous day.

2025 Forward Planning

We are well into the planning stages for 2025. I share with you some dates for your early planning:

Start of Term 2, 2025
Term 2, Week 1 in 2025 contains two public holidays - Easter Monday and ANZAC Day. With the support of our governing body DOBCEL and our School Advisory Council (SAC), Tuesday 22, Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 for Mercy Regional College will be STUDENT FREE days for all year levels with MRC staff participating in professional learning days with Trinity College Colac and DOBCEL staff. This creates a three week break inclusive of Easter for our families. We will shift one of our traditional Student Free days from later in the year into this week and utilise the other two days for planning for implementation of the new Victorian Curriculum 2.0 which is a requirement for all Victorian schools and will require considerable work by our teachers. Term 2 in 2025 is again 11 weeks in length. This change to Week 1 will keep our learning and teaching program at 10 weeks. I hope this early notification will be of benefit to your forward planning. All other Student Free Day dates will be made available in the coming weeks.

MRC 2025 Production
Following on for the great success of The Addams Family in 2023, we will be hosting a Production once again in 2025. Stay tuned for some announcements soon!

Experiential Learning Opportunities
Our students in Years 9 and 10 in 2025 will once again have the opportunity to participate in our Central Australia Immersion. Participation is voluntary and is additional to our learning program. The dates for the experience will be confirmed but are currently scheduled for Friday 3 September to Friday 10 September. Further details will be made available soon to students and families.

Students currently in Years 9 and 10 will have the opportunity to apply to participate in a new Social Justice Immersion to Timor Leste. In previous years we have offered a similar opportunity to Cambodia. This opportunity will be in collaboration with other Catholic Secondary Schools in our Diocese, with Mercy able to send 4 to 6 students. Planned dates are Sunday 30 March to Wednesday 9 April, 2025. More details will be provided later this term with an evening online information session available to those interested students and parents. As this and our Central Australia Immersion are additional learning experiences, all costs require additional payment to family fee contributions.

Our young people continue to thrive and excel with many notable student achievements. Congratulations and well done to:

⭐️ Well done Ben M. on receiving the Coaches Award for the Greater Western Victoria Rebels.

⭐️ Congratulations Sophie C. on receiving the 2024 Shaun Kelly Personal Growth Award for the Greater Western Victoria Rebels.

⭐️ Fantastic work Rhys U. on a great performance in the 2024 AFL draft combine physical testing.

⭐️ Great job Ava W. who won the Woorndoo-Mortlake FNC 15/U B&F for the third year in a row!

Our MRC Athletics team participated in the Greater Western Region event last week. Our team included more than 50 athletes who all represented our College with pride and achieved some excellent results. We congratulate those athletes that have now qualified for the School Sport Victoria State Finals on Monday by coming first in their events:

Ben M. 18-20 200m
Nate S. U15 Long Jump
Sarah B. U14 High Jump

Senior Student Leadership 2025
We will induct our 2025 Senior Student Leaders to their new positions at our Leadership Investiture Ceremony on Wednesday 18 October at 1.30pm. This is also the time when we show our gratitude to our outgoing 2024 Senior Student Leaders. Families are most welcome to join us.

We congratulate our newly elected College Captains for 2025:

We hope to announce all other senior positions in the coming days.

Senior Years and Final Days for Year 12s
We will begin to formally acknowledge our Year 12 students who conclude their 13 years of education and for many six years at Mercy Regional College in the coming weeks. We are incredibly proud of all of these young people. This is also a significant time for their parents, carers and family. Our Graduation Mass and Awards evening will be held this year in Terang on Wednesday 23 October. Year 12s will have their Celebration Day and final Year 12 assembly on Thursday 24 October.

We congratulate our VCE Vocational Major students who completed their studies at the end of Term 3. Our Year 12 students who are sitting exams and their VCE Unit 4 teachers were very engaged across the term break with many revision and enrichment opportunities provided. It was great to see so many students making use of the library facility which was made available to them. They continue their focused application in preparation for their upcoming external exams commencing with VCE English on Tuesday 29 October. We do wish all Year 12 and Year 11 students completing VCE Unit 4 exams all the best and acknowledge their hard work towards achieving their goals. I thank and acknowledge Senior Community Leader Berni Sinnott, Senior Pathways Leader Mel Kavanagh and Senior Years Assistant Rose Henry and all VCE teachers for their work in support of our young people.

World Teachers Day
We will celebrate our wonderful teachers on Friday, 25 October, for World Teachers' Day. This day offers an opportunity to recognise the vital role teachers play in shaping the future through education, while also raising awareness of the challenges they face and promoting appreciation for their essential work. We are deeply grateful for the incredible teachers at Mercy Regional College, knowing they are integral to the futures of our young people and part of the heart of our school community. Thank you!

Finally, please don’t forget our 2025 Car Raffle to be drawn on Tuesday 3 December. Proceeds of this year's raffle will assist in the purchase of a new 31 seat bus for our community. Please share the link with your family and friends to give them an opportunity to be a lucky winner. We always greatly appreciate your support.

With kindness,
Sharon Gillett - Principal

Learning at MRC

The beauty of spring is not lost on me as I sit to write this report and our lovely sunny day turns into a spring thunderstorm. Nature in all its wonder is marvellous to behold.

Along with daylight savings and lovely sunny days comes the feeling of enjoyment that comes from spending time in the sun. It is such a restorative feeling to go outside and soak in nature and feel the sun's healing rays.

As with everything, balance is the key. Now is a good time for students to review their home study planner to ensure that they have plenty of time to go outside to do the things they enjoy, whilst building in time for Home Learning. It is so tempting to put home learning off until tomorrow, however the reality is that this kind of thinking is a delaying tactic that creates stress as due dates come and go and tasks are not completed. I encourage all parents and carers to work with their child to create an effective and manageable home learning schedule.

We are now past the halfway mark for Semester 2. Many classes are currently or will soon be completing Assessment Tasks. I encourage you to have a look at the Parent Access Module to check the status of your child's assessment and class tasks. Keeping on top of overdue work will reduce stress and allow students to focus on the current topic rather than having to catch up on tasks from the previous unit of work.

Later this term students in Year 9 to 11 will be completing exams. This can be a stressful time for some students. It is important that we work together to build student confidence and resilience. If they are working to the best of their ability and are actively participating in all learning activities, they will be well prepared to complete the exams. Exam technique is a valuable skill which needs to be built over a number of years leading into VCE. Exam timetable will be published in the newsletter.

Now would be a good time to check in with your child to ensure that they have the necessary stationery items they need to finish out the year. We would appreciate you replenishing any supplies which may be running low.

Leanne Delahunty - Director of Learning & Teaching

SENIOR SCHOOL

Year 12 Info Sessions

Our Year 12 students heard from the Corangamite Shire last week about our local area and the many and varied pathways within it.

Sessions like these help our young people gain a broader perspective on what life beyond school might look like for them.

Holiday Study Sessions

Our VCE students worked hard during the holiday break to set themselves up for the last few weeks of their academic year, with exams beginning in late October.

Many took the opportunity to attend classes at school where teachers provided invaluable revision and practice exam sessions.

Link to VCE Exam Timetable

MIDDLE SCHOOL

PAX Excursion

On Friday 11th October, a small group of keen Middle School Students attended the PAX event at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. PAX, short for Penny Arcade Expo, is a celebration of gaming and gaming culture that takes place annually in Boston, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Melbourne.

Across the three days of PAX, over 80,000 people attend to hear from world renowned gamers and content creators and to view the latest innovations in gaming technology. However, PAX is not only about digital gaming, but also Table Top Gaming, board games and card games, vintage and retro pinballs, comics and culture, and Cosplay.

A highlight for the students was seeing game developers and publishers, spotting Youtubers, checking out incredible Cosplay outfits and hands on gaming.

$20 Boss Smoothies

On Monday, Amarli, Lara and Poppy put their small business learnings into action by preparing and selling smoothies at the canteen for their $20 Boss Project.

With mango and berry varieties available, over 50 smoothies were sold to staff and fellow students, which is a terrific effort!

JUNIOR SCHOOL

Welcome back to what promises to be an exciting final term of the year, and for all of our year 8’s, their last term at O’Keeffe campus. The term will once again be a busy one as students continue to have many fantastic opportunities in sports, excursions, faith days, camps, classroom learning and personal growth. There is so much to look forward to in the coming weeks as the end of the year looms!

As we kick off the term, we’d like to remind students about the importance of keeping their laptops charged and ready for use in class. We have noticed a significant number of students with flat laptops seeking to charge them in the library or to collect chargers throughout lessons to assist with charging. To help avoid disruptions and ensure students are prepared for learning, we encourage everyone to charge laptops at home each night. Being organised and ready for class is a key part of making the most of your learning opportunities, and we really appreciate your support in this area.

As already mentioned, we are in for a busy term, and it is never more important for us to encourage students to continue modelling great learning and social behaviours. Staying focused, being prepared, and actively engaging in lessons will help set students up for a positive finish to the year. Encourage your child to maintain momentum and put their best effort forward right through to the end of term.

Leah Sinnott - Learning Leader Junior School

Community & Wellbeing at MRC

Useful Wellbeing Links:

MRC SchoolTV

Sports Report

GWR Track and Field

39 Mercy Regional College students travelled to Ballarat to compete in the Greater Western Region Track and Field event last Thursday.

These students had either won an individual event or a relay event at the HSSSD level in March.

The weather was perfect for the day's events and our students performed well against students from schools stretching from Apollo Bay to Dimboola.

To qualify for the State Level Competition on 21 October students needed to win their event.

We had three students do this as well as a number of students that finished in top 3. Thanks to the staff and students who attended.

Below is a summary of the results from GWR Track and Field.

1st - Ben M. 18-20 200m
1st - Nate S. U15 Long Jump
1st - Sarah B. U14 High Jump
2nd - Indi C. U16 100m
2nd - Indi C. U16 200m
2nd - Aidan C. U17 Triple Jump
3rd - Nate S. U15 200m
3rd - Ben M. 18-20 100m
3rd - Nate S. U'15 100m
3rd - Aidan C. U17 200m
3rd - Ben M. 18-20 Long Jump
3rd - Archie M. U14 400m
3rd - Georgia K. 12-13 400m
3rd - Lucia C. U14 800m

Relays
3rd - Under 14 Girls
3rd - Under 15 Boys
3rd - Under 16 Girls

Faith at MRC

Term 4 is another exciting time for Catholic Identity & Culture at MRC. We have many great things happening this term to look forward to. All year levels are working on their final units for the year.

On Friday, year 9 students will participate in their annual Retreat day on site at McAuley. The day will be focused on Mercy and how that looks when enacted. There will be a guest speaker and some hands-on activities for students to participate in. Students are asked to bring a toiletry donation, morning tea to share and their own lunch. Students may wear casual clothes.

Week 3, the Year 7s will participate in their final Faith Day for the year. This will involve a tour of the Camperdown Churches and the way in which the space enhances the prayer life of the parishioners. Students will wear full school uniform. The day will conclude with the Investiture of the 2025 College Captains.

Melanie Bourchier - Director of Catholic Identity & Culture

Careers

Latest Careers Newsletter:

Weekly Career News 14th October 2024.pdf

Weekly Career News 7th October 2024.pdf

Useful Careers Links:

https://studyworkgrow.com/

https://vtac.edu.au/

Child Safety

Mercy Regional College is a child-safe community.

Child Safety Officers:

Emily Stephens
estephens@mercy.vic.edu.au

Chadley Peerman
cpeerman@mercy.vic.edu.au

Contact them by email or on:
Phone - 55932011 (McAuley Campus) or 55925353 (O’Keeffe Campus)

2024 Car Raffle

Paper tickets for the Early Bird Draw must be returned by October 23 to allow for processing.

An MG ZS Excite (demo) from Callaghan Motors is our fantastic first prize, with 8 more terrific prizes on offer!

Raffle tickets are available online for $20 via the link below.

Buy Car Raffle Tickets

Please support our major fundraiser which will raise funds for a new College bus!

If you are unable to buy raffle tickets online, you will find paper order forms in numerous shops across the region, as well as some local events. A book has also been sent home to families.

For more about the draw and our fantastic prizes, including answers to FAQ, please visit our website: https://www.mercy.vic.edu.au/community/car-raffle/

Please share this post with your family and friends. We don’t want anyone to miss out!

Permit No: 10241/24

Volunteers needed

If you are able to assist us by selling tickets at one of our raffle stalls, it would be most appreciated!
Please let us know via the form below.

Dates include Local Markets, Masses, Terang Colour Festival, Camperdown Show, Noorat Show and more.

2024 Car Raffle Stall Volunteer Form

Spirit of Mercy Dinner

School Notices

OHS Update

If your child has experienced concussion, it is important that you follow recommended medical advice. Returning to school can be a graduated approach with the aim of increasing tolerance to a full day, the same situation could occur with sport.

It is always important to check with your doctor and seek medical treatment after a child sustains a concussion.

It is important to inform the school if your child has sustained a concussion outside of the school setting so we can monitor for ongoing symptoms and adapt activities if required.

The factsheet link below from the Royal Children's Hospital is valuable to read and understand.

RCH Fact Sheet

There is also a great evidence-based app from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute that walks you through what to do in the result of a concussion.

Headcheck App