Mercy Regional College eNewsletter

Prayer

Principal's Message

Pope Francis has declared 2021 as the ‘Year of St Joseph': With the Apostolic Letter “Patris corde” (“With a Father’s Heart”), the Holy Father recalls the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. Pope Francis describes Saint Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows.

Mercy has the privilege of an important part of our history being linked in name to St Joseph. Our O’Keeffe campus in Noorat was originally St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, having been established in 1924 as an off-shoot of St Thomas’ Terang, with two Sisters of Mercy from St Thomas’ travelling to Noorat each day to conduct school there. The local Catholic church St Joseph’s was built in 1919, and whilst the church ceased operation in the early 2000’s, it can still be found on Glenormiston Road as a private residence.

Whilst reflecting on the history of MRC’s O’Keeffe campus, I share with you the timely return of the statue of St Patrick to our O’Keeffe Chapel. This statue was originally donated to the former St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Noorat in 1919 in memory of the late Patrick Scally who died in 1911. The statue was then moved to the O’Keeffe Campus when the Church was sold in 2003 and later, it was moved to St Patrick’s Primary School in Camperdown. I would like to thank the Scally family for the generous donation of the statue of St Patrick to the O’Keeffe Campus of Mercy Regional College at Noorat.

We are most grateful to have been given a gift of a copy of the booklet commemorating the St. Joseph’s School Noorat Golden Jubilee 1924 - 1974. The booklet tells the story of a “close knit community formed around St Joseph's Church and St Joseph’s School, Noorat”. I have enjoyed reading it this weekend and smile fondly at the still familiar surnames listed in the Roll Call of 1924. We look forward to celebrating St Joseph this year.

On Sunday I had the pleasure of supporting Year 12 student Ruby Bennett as she represented Camperdown Lions and Mercy Regional College in the second round of the Lions Youth of the Year competition. Youth of the Year is designed to encourage student interest in leadership and the qualities required to take an active and constructive role in the community. The competition requires participants to undertake an interview, followed by answering two impromptu questions, and then giving a 4-5 minute prepared speech on a topic of the participant's own choice. The impromptu questions required Ruby to reflect on two statements: “When you hear the statement 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ what comes to mind” and “What are your thoughts on the banning of everyday items that supposedly contain racial or insensitive names or images”. Ruby then spoke most confidently and eloquently on the topic of “The Modern War on Food”. We congratulate Ruby on her participation and whilst the participant from Beaufort Secondary College will progress to the next round, we acknowledge Ruby’s skill, confidence and courage.

DOBCEL Policy Implementation

We continue to share with you any policies and procedures that we have updated as part of our transition to governance by DOBCEL. All will be available in the Resources section of PAM. I encourage you to please make the time to access PAM and make yourselves aware of any new policies and procedures. Many are also publically accessible on our website.

MRC Open Day - Thursday 25 March, 2021 - Independent Learning Day

We look forward to opening the doors of Mercy to the wider community for our Open Day on Thursday, 25 March. This will be an Independent Learning Day for all Year 7 to Year 11 students, with learning provided by teachers in Google Classroom for students to access from home. Unlike Remote Learning, there will be no Google Meets. All Unit 3 classes will run on-site at the McAuley Campus according to their usual timetable and buses will run to transport Unit 3 students to school. We will be hosting the HCSN Year 5 / 6 classes at O’Keeffe on this day as the first of their HCSN Transition to Mercy days. Our Open Day information and activities sessions will be hosted at the McAuley Campus, Camperdown, beginning at 3.30pm, with tours also available at the O’Keeffe Campus, Noorat, from 2.30pm. Information sessions and activities will not be available at O’Keeffe. I thank, in advance, the staff, students and parents willingly and enthusiastically involved in sharing their experience of a Mercy education and all the benefits it offers with prospective students and families. Thank you also to all in the community who have shared our flyers.

MRC School Improvement Plan Review | 22-24 March, 2021

Next week, we will participate in our School Review Process. Designed to be affirmative and supportive, the review will reflect on the achievement of our 2015-2020 Key Priorities, whilst assisting us in setting the key priorities for the next five year cycle. We have written a self-reflection report based on the feedback we have received from staff, students and families through SIF and CHECs surveys and other data. The review panel will meet with groups of staff, students and parents across Monday and Tuesday, before providing recommendations to the College Leadership Team to assist our community in developing our 2021- 2025 School Improvement Plan. We greatly appreciate our partnership with parents and if you would like to be involved in the review, times for parents to meet the panel are:

Monday 22 March | 3.00-3.30pm in Camperdown
Tuesday 23 March | 8.45-9.15am in Noorat

Please email Nicole Darcy at ndarcy@mercy.vic.edu.au if you are available.

With kindness
Sharon Gillett
Principal

Learning at Mercy

Interim Reports and Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews

The purpose of reports is to benefit the student and inform parents/guardians on how their child is progressing and where or how they need to improve, particularly in skills development. Comments for improvement are evidence based, and relate to assessments and class tasks on SIMON, and general class work, attitude, organisation, and so on.

Reporting on student achievement and progress at Mercy occurs in a variety of ways:

Parent/student/teacher (PST) interviews (twice a year);
Interim reports each semester;
Summary semester reports;
Ongoing reporting via PAM; and
Other communication, such as phone calls and emails.

Comments on PAM (Parent Access Module) - Learning Areas are parent and student friendly and are easy to read and understand. Parents should not be surprised by student results in the semester report. They should have a general idea of their child’s progress via the interim report, PTS interviews, diaries and emails, phone calls or overdue letters home about work of an unsatisfactory standard.

Semester reports include a description of the subject/unit, outcomes and progression (Years 7-10), as well as work practices for learning, self-management and social interaction. The focus should be on comments and feedback, rather than grades and raw scores. Teachers report on assessment and future learning online and in an ongoing manner. You are encouraged to view these comments regularly via the Parent Access Module (PAM). As we are halfway through Term 1, most subjects will have some form of assessment or class task available for parents to look at.

Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews for Semester 1 will be held on the following dates:

Online via Google Meet | Monday, 26 April (4pm - 7pm)
Face to Face | Tuesday, 27 April (9am - 5pm)

Whilst Tuesday, 27 April is considered a “teaching free day,” it is certainly not considered to be student-free or a “day-off" for students. Parents and students are encouraged to attend the interviews together. The idea is that the conversation is centred around the student and teacher, with parents listening and providing support for their child. This has the greatest impact on student learning, clarification and overall improvement of student growth.

Bookings will be made through PAM and parents will be notified when they are opened.

Berni Sinnott
Deputy Principal

Parent Access Module

The Parent Access Module (PAM) provides real time access to keep parents/carers informed and updated with their child/rens learning progress, important dates and key messages. Log on details are provided when your child commences at Mercy. If you are unsure of your details, please contact reception at either campus.

At Mercy, we strive to actively engage parents in their child/rens learning experience and the PAM module helps facilitate this. The aim is to support and improve student learning outcomes through positive and connected partnerships between home and school.

PAM provides access to keep parents up-to-date with:

Student learning progress, including Learning Behaviours and Reports
Student timetable
School calendar
Personal details – please inform the College if the details need to be updated
Attendance - including parent notified absences by 9.30am
Medical profile – update your child’s medical information at any time
School activities – give permission for excursions & trips
Interview bookings – online booking for Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences
Daily messages from the College
Useful links
College policies

To access your PAM account please visit https://pam.mercy.vic.edu.au

Daniel Glennen
Assistant Principal - Learning

Literacy

This week we launch our first literacy campaign, designed to highlight where each domain observes literacy development occurring in their classrooms. Teachers from across the school will be targeting their students’ reading, writing, thinking or talking related to their subject, capturing this important learning as it occurs. Each domain will then be in the spotlight for a duration, celebrating how we explicitly target literacy at Mercy. Literacy is a broad term, and it looks different in every classroom; how students learn the specific requirements in a physical education class will differ to a humanities class, while still developing the core tenet of student confidence in the subject.

We look forward to sharing the results of ‘This is Literacy’ with you over the coming weeks, in the newsletter, on social media, and via the college website.

Luke Bourchier
Literacy Coordinator

Tutoring Update

The tutoring program has been in full swing for Junior and Senior students, focussed on explicit writing skills. Mrs Jennie Darcy has been working with Year 12 English students, unpacking topics and planning ideas for their upcoming Analytical Text Response essays. The Year 12 Literature Students will have their session with Jennie next week. Year 7s and 8s have been practising short writing tasks, with a focus on telling stories and expanding their vocabulary.

We are also pleased to announce that Mr Mark Alexander will commence Maths tutoring in Senior School shortly, and that Middle School tutoring is set to begin in the first week of Term 2 with Mrs Janine Fitzpatrick. Parents of participating students will be notified in the coming weeks.

Wellbeing at Mercy

Friday, 19 March is Bullying No Way Day of Action, and along with many other schools, Mercy is marking the importance of standing against violence and bullying. This year, we are asking students to show their support for the day by wearing orange socks or ribbons. At lunch time on each campus we will be encouraging students to share their written messages on how we can make our community inclusive, and these positive messages will be collected and put into a display that reminds us of how we can actively make a stand against violence and bullying at Mercy. We will have some information and give-aways for students and we sincerely hope that the project is well supported with the students adding their voices and messages.

The national definition of bullying for Australian schools says:

Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening.
Bullying can happen in person or online, via various digital platforms and devices, and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert). Bullying behaviour is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time (for example, through sharing of digital records).
Bullying of any form or for any reason can have immediate, medium and long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders. Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying.
Behaviours that do not constitute bullying include:
mutual arguments and disagreements (where there is no power imbalance)
not liking someone or a single act of social rejection
one-off acts of meanness or spite
isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation or violence.
However, these conflicts still need to be addressed and resolved.
Likewise not all online issues are bullying. (Online bullying is sometimes referred to as cyberbullying and refers to bullying that is carried out through information and communication technologies).

Taken from: https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/resources/fact-sheets/fact-sheets-for-families

Chadley Peerman
College Social Worker

Faith at Mercy

Project Compassion

During this Lenten season we are encouraged to be more. Our students have been looking at some stories from around the world in Mercy and Religion classes. These have highlighted some of the work that Caritas Australia does in Australia and developing countries to support communities.

All of our classrooms have the Caritas Australia mission boxes in them and students are encouraged to bring in any small loose change they have for this cause. Classes across the school have also come up with some innovative fundraising ideas - 8B, for example, have been enjoying some home cooked muffins made by Mrs Grinter with all proceeds going to Project Compassion. This week at the O’Keeffe campus, on Thursday, 18 March, we will also be selling Zooper Doopers at lunchtime at the cost of 50c to support this cause.

In the last week of term, we will also be doing some Caritas Ks at lunch time. This is an opportunity to walk in solidarity with those in our world who walk each day to survive. Every day, thousands of women and children around the world need to cover many kilometres to fetch water, obtain food, get to school or market, or simply to survive. Caritas Ks is an opportunity to fundraise and educate our community in social justice, with the aim of inspiring them to be more for the poorest in our world. https://lent.caritas.org.au/caritas-ks

Sam Clear Shares His Story of Walking for Unity

On Tuesday, 2 March, our Year 12 group were involved in their second Seminar Day. Sam Clear facilitated the day for us, sharing his story about his 15,600 km, Walk for Unity. He focused in on our reactions to adversity and helped students identify what is holding us back from making the most of any situation. The students also heard about Sam's hard-hitting encounter with a family on the brink of starvation and one man’s willingness to lay his life down for his family. This helped us to think about our own great passions, and where we want to make a difference in the world - to carry God’s love into the world - through our own journey.

Sam also facilitated our Year 7's first Faith Day for the year on Wednesday, 3 March, held at the McAuley Campus and St Patrick’s Church in Camperdown. Sam shared video footage, photos and stories about his epic journey across the world. There was a focus on our reactions to adversity and our strengths in overcoming challenges.

The next part of the day focussed on how the seemingly insignificant things in life can blind-side us. How do we react when the basics go wrong, especially with relationships? Students were then engaged with where they want to make a difference in who they are, and in the lives of those around them.

Trust is such a simple concept, and yet the lack of it produces such crippling fear in certain situations. Each group looked at the wonderful consequences of trusting in God’s love for us. By drawing a thread through the day, students were then invited to bring their prayers forward in a simple, yet powerful, water liturgy. Both session were lovely, throught provoking days of growth, reflection, and personal growth.

Year 12 Seminar Day

Year 7 Faith Day

Each week during the Church season of Lent, every homeroom will have access to a new poster, taking the Gospel reading and breaking that reading open in a way that may be more accessible to all of our MRC Community.

The key points from the Sunday Gospel reading are highlighted. Reflections on the Gospel allow these themes to be interpreted in a modern context. There are questions to help focus on the Gospel message in our own lives and finally a prayer.

Lent is a time for contemplation and peaceful prayer; please enjoy these posters and may they help to enrich your Lenten experience this year.

Jo Saunders
Liturgy Coordinator

Finance Matters

2021 Fee Payments

For families choosing to pay full fees upfront, payments are due by 31 March 2021.
A discount of $150 per student will be applied.

For families wishing to pay in installments, please contact the office ASAP to make a direct debit arrangement (if you haven't done so already).
You can download a direct debit request form below 👇🏻

Direct Debit Request (March 2021)

CSEF Applications - Do you have a Health Care Card?

Families with an eligible Concession Card are entitled to Camps, Sports and Excursion funding (CSEF) from the Government, that is deducted from fees. Only eligible families new to the College in 2021 or who have not applied before need to complete the CSEF Application form below and return it to the office ASAP. Families who have applied for the funding previously, through MRC, do not need to reapply.

Please contact the College office for more information about claiming.

CSEF Parent Information

CSEF Application 2021

Outdoor Education Camp

Last week, our VCE Outdoor and Environmental Studies students spent three fabulous days on camp in Port Fairy. In addition to some fun outside of the classroom, they enhanced their understanding of the relationship between humans and the local environment by learning about the history and exploring the area by participating in guided walks at Port Fairy and Tower Hill (Twilight). The activities of scuba diving, stand up paddle boarding and walks at Tower Hill and Griffiths Island assisted all students to gain the different perceptions and relationships humans can have with the outdoor environment. The students also undertook a tour of the Codrington Wind Farm to learn about sustainable and renewable energy sources and how these technologies protect our environment. Three days of fun in the outdoors!

Greater Western Senior Cricket

On Wednesday, 3 March, the senior cricket team headed off to Ballarat. We left at 8am on the bus with a few coffees and a couple of egg and bacon rolls; we were pumped and ready to go. Our first game was at 10am against Phoenix; we won the toss and elected to bat. We knew we had to make a good score to compete with such a quality cricket team. Hugh Giblion and Hamish Sinnott opened the batting and Gibbo started really strong, hogging the strike for the first two overs and making 19 runs, but got caught trying to cross bat a shot and had to go LBW. Hutchy was in next with Hamish and they both hit a couple of fours, but as soon as everything was looking good, Hutchy was run out and was gone. Louis come out to bat and went back to the sheds for a duck. Next in was Calvin, who got two wild bounces at his head but tried playing one shot too many and was caught by the keeper for 1. Hamish Sinnott and Sam Kenna steadied the ship for a while, both hitting some really nice shots, but Sinnott soon departed and the Bears were 5/82. Sam Kenna kept going on his merry way but went one to many and was out, but a very good innings by the big fella. Xavier and George finished the job by getting a reasonable score of 126, with 19 runs coming from the last over. The boys were ready to go and try to defend that score so they could book a spot in the grandfinal. Louis Darcy and Hugh Giblin opened the bowling pretty well and Big Gibbo got us the much needed breakthrough with a massive swing bowling the stump out of the ground. Xavier bowled a really nice spell, starting with a maiden, and Hamish had a good partnership with the spin of Sinnott, taking two massive scalps and really putting Mercy back on top of the game. The last five overs of the game by Louis and Shae really put the icing on the cake with both of them taking two wickets each as Mercy were 26 run winners in the first game with some great fielding by Sam Kenna, Calvin Corpuz and Henry Roberts.

The boys and girls had to wait to see who won out of Emmanuel and Horsham. Whilst their game played out, we went over to Subway and enjoyed a winners feed. When we got back, Emmanuel had chased down Horsham's score easily, with about four overs to spare. We focused back on the game and were ready to upset Emmanuel. We prepared well and won the toss to bat again. Sinnott and Giblin went out to open again, facing very good bowlers, they managed to survive and also got some runs on the board. Sinnott hit a huge six down the ground but on the next ball, Hutchins was caught behind. Next in was Calvin Corquz AKA Glen Maxwell and he was hitting everywhere, over mid-wicket, straight down the ground, and even over the keepers head, and he made a nice 45 before departing. Louie Darcy came in and batted really well with Giblin, hitting a few big sixes but then went. Gibbo finished the job with a nice 50 and Mercy made a score of 120, a bit under par. We thought we had a shot and tried our hardest, but they made our score in only nine overs. The Emmanuel team batted really well but there were a lot of things we could have worked on. The bus trip home was quite and a bit sad, but we did have a good time.

Hamish Sinnott
Year 12A

House Athletics Carnival

Students braved the dreary and cold weather to compete in our annual House Athletics Carnival on Thursday, 4 March. Students had entered themselves into the various track and field events prior to the day and participation overall was excellent. We were lucky to see a number of outstanding performances across the day with some records broken. The relays and the handicap race are always well contested and they provided great entertainment to conclude the day. All staff and students were well catered for by Tina Jenkins and the many student helpers at the BBQ.

Congratulations to Markey House on their win and to all the age group champions for excelling on the day. A big thank you to the parents that came along and to the Camperdown Little Athletics Club for the use of their facilities and equipment. There will be a number of students that will continue through to the HSSSD Interschool Athletics on Tuesday, 23 March.

On Friday, 12 March, 35 students participated in the Interschool Golf Competition at Colac. There were two competitions on the day. Years 7-9 made up the junior section and Years 10-12 making up the senior section. The conditions were perfect for the 9 hole competition. Students were put into groups of 3 or 4 and it was great to see students interacting well with both students from MRC and other competing schools. In the senior competition, Fred Beasley (MRC) was the winner shooting an impressive 36, winning from his brother Geroge on 39. With these impressive scores it is likely that both Fred and George will be invited to participate in the next stage of competition. The junior competition was won by a student from Camperdown College on 40 shots over our own Finn Castledine on 43 shots. Well done to all students that represented Mercy Regional College at this event.

Darren Cheeseman
Sport Coordinator

Congratulations to Year 8 student, Matilda Darcy, for her recent efforts at the Victorian Age State Swimming Championships at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. Representing the Warrnambool Swimming Club, Matilda swam a PB in the 100m Breaststroke event and was a fraction of a second from her PB in her Freestyle Event. What a fantastic achievement!

If you have student achievements to share, please email us at community@mercy.vic.edu.au.

Careers

The most recent Weekly Careers News articles are below. If you would like further careers information or to view past careers newsletters you can find it here: https://careers.mercy.vic.edu.au/

Weekly Careers News - 3 March 2021

Weekly Careers News - 10 March 2021

Canteen Update

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to absolutely everyone who has been so welcoming and positive since re-opening the Canteen doors in 2021 with a redeveloped menu and over the counter personal service provided to all students and staff at Mercy Regional College and St Patrick’s Primary School. We appreciate such a welcoming sense of community spirit and a caring and helpful workplace environment.

In celebration of starting Term 1, 2021 and the return to on-campus learning, we have had a variety of over the counter sweet treat options to purchase at recess and lunchtime breaks - solely as a 'Welcome Back to School for 2021' and the celebration of a successful return to a somewhat normal routine & community gathering. Our limited sweet treat over the counter stock has now been exhausted and we will now be focused on promoting a healthy, nutritious approach to the coming year ahead by following obligational Dietary Guidelines for Children & Adolescents in Australia, and positively facilitate a whole-school approach to nutrition and choosing a healthy lifestyle partnership together.

Our current menu reflects our vision to help provide and support a healthy food choice service for all students, staff & participating visiting educators. To keep up-to-date on any seasonal menu changes and specials in the coming months, refer to the Parent Access Module (PAM) and keep an eye on regular newsletter issues.

We welcome any feedback and will consider as a team any recommendations and contributing communication from our community to assist in maintaining a warm, welcoming communal canteen environment for all to enjoy. Options currently being reviewed are:

an online ordering system;
themed days;
special treat day offerings; and
eftpos facilities.

All correspondence is considered confidential and any suggestions brought forward will remain anonymous. You can contact us directly at canteen@mercy.vic.edu.au.

Finally, we wish all families a happy and safe Easter break.

Faye Kenna
Canteen Coordinator

Anna Bourke
Canteen Assistant

School Photos | Register Now

Annual school photos were taken by Arthur Reed Photos earlier this week. To view the images of your child and order photos, you will need to first register online.

Go to https://order.arphotos.com.au and enter the 2021 image code for your child (from their personalized flyer)
Tap on ‘Add another child’ to enter the image codes of any siblings
Fill in your email and mobile details and then review all details before confirming your registration

That’s it! When 2021 photos are ready, you will be notified by email and SMS.

Even if you registered last year, it’s important that you do it again each year using your child’s new image code to link their photos for the current year with your contact details.

To ensure you are ordering school photos for the current year, please wait for notifications that 2021 images are online before placing orders.

In the webshop you can view photos and customize your photo package; choose ANY layout, ANY image and purchase multiple digital image downloads.

All photo orders will be sent directly to the address you provide when ordering.

REGISTER ONLINE NOW to be notified when 2021 school photos can be viewed and ordered.

POST photo day-ONLINE LINK 2021

Open Day 2021

We warmly invite families to our Open Day on Thursday, 25 March. The Open Day provides our prospective students and their families with an opportunity to discover life at the College, engage with our students and staff, meet our leadership team, and tour our College grounds.

Open Day Activities

McAuley Senior Campus, Camperdown

We invite you to visit our McAuley Campus at any time between 3.30pm and 7.30pm to get involved in the following activities:

Information sessions – hear an overview of what the College has to offer from our Principal Sharon Gillett. The information sessions will be held at 4.30pm, 5.30pm and 6.30 pm.
Subject displays – meet the Subject Domain Leaders and find out the pathways available in each subject area.
Campus tours – enjoy the opportunity to see the life at the College through the eyes of our students. Led by students and staff, the tours offer a detailed guide to the grounds of the Senior Campus. On your tour you will visit all the major learning areas and engage with teachers through a series of short activities. The tours will run every 30 minutes.
Music on the Deck – enjoy the music performance by the participants of our Instrumental Music Program.
Enjoy some hot food available for a fee on the day.

O’Keeffe Junior Campus, Noorat

The O’Keeffe Junior Campus will be open for tours from 3.30 to 7.30pm.

Registration

We encourage you save time and pre-register your attendance beforehand by completing the short form below.

2021 Open Day Registration Form

Additional Information

Please contact us if you have any questions about our Open Day:

T. (03) 5593 2011
E. office@mercy.vic.edu

Alumni News

On 7 March, the Bookaar and Pomberneit Cricket Clubs competed in the grand final of the inaugural Colac and District Cricket Association Youth Women’s premiership. The game was greatly anticipated by the cricket lovers in the Mercy community as a number of our past and current students played for both teams:

Bookaar CC:

Erin Hassett (Class of 1997)
Kayla Hooper (Class of 2006)
Taylah Casson (Class of 2019)
Brodie Humphrey (Class of 2019)

Pomborneit CC:

Meagan Kerr (Class of 2003)
Narelle Place, (Class of 2009)
Grace Lee (Class of 2013)
Tayla Reynolds (Class of 2018)
Mary Place (current Year 11)

We would like to congratulate the Bookaar Pelicans on their spectacular victory and give Taylah Casson a special round of applause for receiving the Player of the Match award. ‘We were an underdog and didn’t expect to win originally. We were just hoping to do our best’ admits Taylah. After a strong start, the Pelicans managed to keep their advantage and claim the victory defending 8/101 in the 20 over contest.

The supportive audience at the Pomborneit Recreation Reserve enjoyed a fantastic game and a great effort from all players. What a great season for women’s cricket and for our alumni.

Player of the Match Taylah Casson (right) and Brodie Humphrey (centre), Class of 2019

The History of Labour Day

The second Monday in March is a day for Victorians to observe Labour Day. Like ANZAC Day, Labour Day is a time when we remember our history and the contributions of Australians - here, their spirit, loyalty and determination to improve conditions and build a better future for workers and their families. The first march for improved working conditions took place in Melbourne on April 21st, 1856, and focussed on achieving an eight-hour work day (these events moved to March in some parts of Australia after World War II). Stonemasons and workers on building sites around Melbourne stopped work and marched from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to draw attention to the length of the working day and abuses against workers. Many of these harsh working conditions arose from the Industrial Revolution, which brought great progress, but at the expense and exploitation of workers. The 1856 claim advocated for eight hours of work, eight hours for recreation and eight hours for rest. Subsequent campaigns pushed for minimum wage levels, safety in the workplace, pay equality for women and the right to bargain as a collective group. More recent issues include discrimination in the workplace, workplace culture and safety, recognising the impact of sustainability and climate change on work, job security, the future world of work and exploitation in the gig-economy. This important annual event is more than just a long weekend, it is truly a time for reflection.

Tania Bruckner
Humanities Teacher

The 8 hour day banner used in Melbourne, 1856.
State Library of Victoria: http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/node/1087

Community Notices

Tony Forbes (past MRC teacher) and his band, the Hip Replacements, will be rocking out at the Lake Edge Cafe on Thursday, 1 April. It’s a burger 'n’ band night and a great way to see in the Easter break. It's great to see live music coming back after a long hiatus.

Music starts at 7:00 and continues after dinner until 10-10:30pm.
Bookings essential as numbers are limited.

MRC Newsletter - Issue 3 - 16 March 2021