MRC Newsletter - Issue 6 - 12 May 2021

Prayer

Principal's Message

May is a special month at Mercy. May is Marian month, where Catholic communities honour Mary, mother of Jesus. At its foundation, our College chose the Feast Day of Our Lady Mary Help of Christians as our College Feast Day on 24 May. We followed the example of the early church in Australia who relied heavily on prayers to Mary for faith and guidance with the Australian Catholic Church choosing Mary Help of Christians as its principal Patroness.  Our Feast Day this year on Monday, 24 March marks not only the beginning of Catholic Education Week Victoria 2021 but is also a national day of celebration of 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia. A magnificent milestone! Mercy students and staff will gather for Mass at St Patrick’s Camperdown and will then spend the day celebrating with fun, friends, food and activities followed by a special edition of our very own Mercy’s Got Talent featuring performances not only by students and staff but also guest appearances by Tom Richardson of Zoo and All Abilities Choir fame and Slam Poet Scott Wings. After a difficult year in 2020 we are looking forward to celebrating together on this day. Stay tuned for more exciting details.

At Mercy we are committed to providing the best possible learning opportunities for all of our students. This commitment extends to the learning environment inclusive of our learning facilities. We have recently invited tenders from educational architects to develop our next Master Building Plan. We look forward to their presentations which will enable us to choose the company to design facilities that best meet the future educational needs of our students. We are also very pleased to share with you the completion of the court cover at our O’Keeffe Noorat campus. It looks amazing and will make a huge difference to outdoor learning for our students protecting them from sun and rain. Resurfacing of the court will take a little longer as we need to wait for consistent warmer weather. Our new grass on the oval is also coming along well. All will be worth the wait.

You may have noticed our recent advertising for a Deputy Principal - Learning, Teaching and Innovation. Details of the role can be found on our website. Our recent School Improvement Review supports our intent to focus on learning, teaching and innovation across the next five year review period  to improve the holistic learning outcomes of all students.  This appointment will be key to enabling us to meet this goal.  Applications are concurrently open internally and externally.

We value greatly our partnership with parents and carers in education. Thank you for your recent involvement in Parent Teacher Student Interviews.  It was fantastic to once again meet with families onsite and face to face whilst also taking advantage of the new skills we learnt during Remote Learning to offer virtual meetings for those that preferred this method.  We also value the contribution of those parents and former students involved on our School Advisory Council (formally College Advisory Board of Management).  We would love to welcome some new members. If this interests you, please reach out by emailing principal@mercy.vic.edu.au. Our Semester one Parent Forum will be held on Wednesday 9 June at our McAuley campus. This is an opportunity for parents to meet with me informally to share any areas of interest or concern. More details will be shared closer to the date. In the meantime please consider joining staff and other community members at our first Book Club. Details appear later in the Newsletter. 

With the weather changing as we move towards winter it is time to check on the condition of winter pants and skirts and jumpers.  With our young people making great use of the flexibility to choose their uniform according to the weather, our trans seasonal options are proving popular.  Whichever uniform is chosen to be worn, we remind students and parents that it is expected that a complete uniform is worn.  Details can be found on our website.  I also ask if you have any items of uniform that are no longer needed in your family that you consider donating these to the College for those who may need a little support.  Clean items can be dropped at reception at either McAuley Camperdown or O’Keeffe Noorat.  We are grateful for your generosity and support.

Finally, I extend a special thanks to the staff who have given their time to ensure our young people can continue to experience learning beyond the school gates.  These first few weeks of term have seen many excursions, inclusive of our Year 9 students heading to Halls Gap, and our Year 8 students to Cooriemungle for their camps.  Our Year 11s ventured to Warrnambool, Ballarat and Geelong to explore their future pathways, and all Mercy students were encouraged to celebrate their house spirit by participating in our House Cross Country.  We appreciate the time and commitment our staff give to our young people to ensure these experiences are possible, more so since we were unable to enjoy many of them last year. 

With kindness

Sharon Gillett
Principal

Learning at Mercy

NAPLAN 

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) for Years 7 and 9 students began yesterday. Students have completed their Language Conventions & Writing test, with Reading & Numeracy still to go. Congratulations to all involved. 

The assessment provides parents and schools with an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of the tests. NAPLAN is just one aspect of Mercy’s assessment and reporting process. 

If you would like to discuss anything further or to reschedule a test if your child is absent, please contact myself or Lydia Darcy on 5593 2011.

For more information, please visit https://www.nap.edu.au/home. 

Daniel Glennen
Assistant Principal - Learning

As adults, we are always demonstrating new concepts, approaches to learning, or behaviours to the young people in our care.  This modelling that we do is a critical component of development, both in and out of the classroom.  This is certainly the case in building on literacy skills.  How do we teach students about the importance of reading?  We spend time reading.  How do we promote the importance of discussion, of verbally thrashing out ideas?  We devote time to it, and do it ourselves.  How do we encourage students to improve their written responses?  By showing them a model, or an example, of what good writing looks like.  This is an important strategy in each teacher's toolkit, and undoubtedly a strategy that is used by others outside the classroom in order to demonstrate the quality or standards that they are looking for.  To quote famous management guru, Stephen Covey, 'to begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination'.  We can all take a leaf out of Mr Covey's book, and seek to clarify what we are heading towards before we set off and to consistently model the learning that we wish to promote in our young people.

Luke Bourchier
Literacy Coordinator

Wellbeing at Mercy

This week is Family Week: 10-15 May, 2021

With family being the focus this week, it is a good time  to remember and emphasise the importance of family on all children, particularly their learning and relationship building.  Adolescents can at times act as though their families are less important than their peers.  However, the safe family foundation, coupled with the support family offers, continues to have great importance and value in the teenage years. Catholic Care Victoria have encouraged schools to celebrate Family Week, recognising the nurturing support and strength families provide within our community. 

Last year strongly evidenced how important families are to people.  This was clearly demonstrated through the support families provided to our students at Mercy Regional College.  We are sincerely grateful for your support of the College and your children’s learning and wellbeing as we navigated our way through requirements of being COVID safe.  We, as  a school community, rely on a close relationship with all our families to ensure we provide the best education and care possible, for each individual student.  We recognise that families are vitally important in providing the foundations required to allow children to achieve at school and beyond.

CatholicCare has reminded us that, “Families are the glue that hold our communities together”, however we are also aware that keeping the family unit functioning in a strong and positive manner can be very challenging at times. If you need any support to assist with supporting your child /children, or family we encourage you to make contact with us here at Mercy Regional College. There are also helpful tips and advice on websites such as Catholic Care and Raising Children, links are below:

• https://www.ccam.org.au/page/128/families
• https://raisingchildren.net.au/teens/family-life

Please also remember to register if you’d like to join in the discussion at our “Living with Teens” parent evening supported by CatholicCare on June 1st. This is a free and interactive event, that can help us understand the changes that take place during teenage years, behaviours that may present and how to look after yourself and keep the family strong through this transitional phase of family life.

Once again we would like to sincerely  thank you for all the support you provide us as a school to make your child’s educational journey a positive experience.

Ben Brisbane, Chadley Peerman, Sharon Suhan
Wellbeing Team

Flourish Wellbeing eMag - May edition 

The May edition of Flourish is now available. The May issue includes:

• The Silent Pandemic – Family & Domestic Violence
• Exercise for Ageing Heart Health
• National Sorry Day
• Finding a Work/Life Balance
• + more

Faith at Mercy

Marion Month

The month of May is Marion Month, where Catholics try to keep the Mother of God more present in their hearts, where we give reverence and honour to our Lady. 

This week we also celebrated Mother’s Day. This day is an opportunity for us to thank the woman who gave us life and to reflect on the unique role that mothers and mother figures are called to play in the lives of their children and in the world. 

This day also points us to Mary of Nazareth and a consideration of her place as the Blessed Mother.  Jesus Christ didn’t just appear as an adult.  He was born of a woman, and had a human mother.  Mary understood who Jesus was and what he was called to do.  From the crib to the cross, Mary loved her Son and faithfully served him as her savior and lord.

In turn, Jesus relied on her in his infancy and early life, spiritually throughout his public ministry, and at the end of his earthly life, he entrusted his community of believers to her, “Behold your Mother.” She now stands as an advocate of grace and guide in faith. 

We thank God for all mothers, living and deceased, and for Mary, a spiritual mother who is always present and forever available to those who need her.

Feast Day

Excitement is building as we prepare for the celebration of our College Feast Day in Week 6, Monday, 24 May. This will be an important day for our school community which will be held at the McAuley Campus and St Patrick’s Church.  Our whole school Mass for Term 2 will take place on this day where we will formally recognise our Patron - Mary, Our Lady Help of Christians.

In the middle part of the day, all students will participate in some fun and engaging activities at the McAuley campus - students are encouraged to click the link below to sign up.  Further information will be available to students in the coming days - please keep an eye on Daily Notices on SIMON and PAM.  Students are also invited to bring some money if they wish to purchase some hot food (including pancakes at recess time and burgers and baked potatoes at lunch time) and refreshments which will be available for purchase on the day.

The day will also be a celebration of the arts at MRC.  In the afternoon, we will hold our Mercy’s Got Talent (MGT) event.  It is with great excitement that we announce that Tom Richardson from ‘Find Your Voice’ All Abilities choir, Australia’s Got Talent fame, will be working with us on the day. 

In 2021, Catholic Education is also celebrating 200 years in Australia.  The theme for the celebrations is “Faith in our future”, which aims to reflect the core purpose of catholic education which is to form students in their faith and to provide an education that enables our graduates to make a meaningful contribution to the world. 

https://200years.catholic.edu.au/

Kellie Wilson
Catholic Identity

Sport Report

HSSSD Athletics

In the last week of Term 1, our students participated in the HSSSD Athletics Carnival.  We had many outstanding performances both on the track and in the field and we were lucky enough to have eight students crowned age group champions and these students, along with quite a few others, will continue through to the Greater Western Regional stage on Thursday, 7 October, which is plenty of time for students to prepare for these events.  Mercy Regional College did well enough to win the overall shield, which was a great reward for the students' efforts.  Their participation in the events that they were assigned to was excellent.  Thanks to everyone that completed various duties required on the day.

• Mercy Regional College: 990
• Timboon P-12: 638
• Camperdown College: 515
• Terang: 465.5
• Cobden Technical School: 414.5
• Hampden Specialist School: 58

The age champions were as follows:

• U13 Girls - Elsie Sinnott
• U14 Girls - Ruby Darcy
• U14 Boys - Archie Taylor
• U15 Girls - Sophie Curran
• U15 Boys - Myles Sinnott
• U16 Girls - Lara Taylor
• U16 Boys - Oscar Curran (3 way tie)
• U17 Boys - Joshua McGlade

Intermediate Volleyball        

At the beginning of the year, a number of students showed an interest in entering a volleyball team into the Victorian School Sport Competition.  We cannot remember ever entering a Volleyball team so this was quite an historic occasion.  

The team travelled to Horsham to play against a variety of other schools. This was the same day as parent teacher interviews so our participants went during their own time, which is excellent.  Although they were unable to come away with victory, it was great that they got a team together and hopefully it will be the first of many teams we enter in volleyball.  

Congratulations to Lucy Barry, Amelia Beaton, Sophie Conheady, Chelsea Duynhoven, Marley Faulkner, Matilda Kealley, Rosie Payne and Allison Vallejo.  Also thanks to Mr Daryl Richardson and Jordy Gray for taking the students to Horsham.

Shooting

On Wednesday, 28 April, five students competed in the inter-school clay shooting competition at the Colac Gun Club.  With over 150 entrants, the competition was high.  Toby Pride and Angus Murfitt shot well on the day with scores of 14 and 13 respectively.  The next competition will be held in Noorat in late August.

House Cross Country

The House Cross Country in 2021 was held over two days, with the McAuley Campus participating in a 3.7km course on Wednesday, 5 May, and the O’Keeffe Campus on Monday, 10 May.   Well done to all students for their efforts and to the staff for filling the various jobs required to run the days.  

The top ten runners in each section gained a certain number of points for their house, and after this, each participant gained a point towards the final tally of their houses.  Congratulations to Markey House for taking out the cross country for 2021!  

• Markey - 235 points
• Frayne - 173 points
• Ryan - 165 points
• Tindley - 145 points

We also congratulate the following age group champions:

• Under 13 Girls: Elsie Sinnott
• Under 13 Boys: Will Hinkley
• Under 14 Girls: Taylea Murfett
• Under 14 Boys: Campbell Parker, Parker Walsh, Archie Taylor, Winton Ochieng and Hamish Dean
• Under 15 Girls: Kate Smith
• Under 15 Boys: Myles Sinnott
• Under 16 Girls: Lara Taylor
• Under 16 Boys: Fred Beasley
• Under 17 Girls: Susanna Ryan and Rosie Pickles
• Under 17 Boys: Gryff Dwyer
• 18 – 20 Girls: Sophie Pearson
• 18 – 20 Boys: Louis Darcy and Hamish Sinnott

We look forward to the inter-school event on Monday, 17 May.

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Careers

Year 10 Work Experience

Year 10 Work Experience is fast approaching in Term 3, Week 1. In our Careers classes we have begun discussions around considerations and constraints for Work Experience and building on our work in Term 1 students have identified potential interest areas and skills.

The next stage in our planning is for students to consider and approach businesses/workplaces where they think they could complete Work Experience. Shortly, the required paperwork will be made available to students to complete.

If you have any questions/queries around Work Experience please contact your child’s Careers teacher:

• 10A - Kristie Jensen
• 10B - Kym Penry
• 10C - Caitlin Rix 

• Explore your university course options by speaking with course advisers
• Sports Physiotherapy versus Clinical Exercise Physiology
• Medicine and Dentistry applicants (Yr 12) – applications for the UCAT are closing soon
• Victorian Careers Show – coming soon!
• How to prepare for a Careers Expo
• Explore your global university options
• Careers in sport
• Future of work predictor – how will jobs change over the next 10 years?
• Apprenticeships and traineeships
• Casual employment resources
• Parent/guardian resource – from school to work
• Careers in business, economics, and commerce
• National Youth Science Forum – applications now open! (Year 11)
• Natural health courses
• Careers with the Australian Federal Police
• UNSW – medicine information sessions
• Upcoming career events
  

• Medicine and dentistry – UCAT registrations closing soon (Year 12)
• Major career expos coming up soon
• Interested in studying business in the future?
• University early admission programs – now open or opening soon (Year 12)
• Australian Defence Force – Gap Year Program (Year 12)
• Creative arts competition – Bright Awards
• High achiever scholarship programs (Year 12)
• Upcoming career events

Library Resource Centre Report

Coming soon!  The College is introducing a Book Club for parents and friends of the Mercy Community.  If you enjoy a good book and some informal discussion in a social setting - this is the place for you!

The first two books on our reading list will be:

• Lenny's Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee
• The Guest List by Lucy Foley

You can pick up these books from your preferred retailer or local library and snuggle up for a good read before our first meeting.  The books can also be found on eBook and audiobook platforms.

Refreshments will be provided. For more information please contact moloughlan@mercy.vic.edu.au.

Maureen O'Loughlan
Library Manager

Year 8 Camp

In late April, our Year 8 students spent three days at Camp Cooriemungle.  They participated in a variety of activities, including the giant swing, high and low ropes, commando course, canoeing, and archery. The students also had the opportunity to explore the local region, stopping by the Loch Ard Gorge, Gibson Steps and trekking along the Port Campbell Discovery Walk.  The following are some reflections from Year 8 students in the student news team.

At Camp Cooriemungle, we did a number of activities.  There was archery, low ropes course, high ropes course, the giant swing, a commando course and canoeing. 

The archery was a fun activity but we had to do the low ropes course first.  The low ropes course required teamwork to get through it, and we had a challenge in archery to pop a balloon to get a bar of chocolate.  The high ropes course was extremely frightening if you're scared of heights, it was around and in trees as well.  At the end of the course, you got to go on a zipline through the trees, so it was cool at the end.  

The canoeing was entertaining, with one group having two people that needed to swim across the entire lake and another two having to swim about 10 meters.

Luke Free
O'Keeffe Student News Team

“Now, SIT IN THE PUDDLE!”  We all take a seat in the puddle except for me, I sit on the edge with my legs covered in mud. “NOW, EVERY COMMANDO NEEDS COMMAND STRIPES, DRAW SOME ON YOUR FACE WITH THE MUD!!” (yes, he was yelling the entire time.)  Most of us paint stripes on our faces, and of course, some people cover their face in the disgusting, smelly stuff.

After deciding which team would go first by playing tug-of-war, The Winners won, my team, so we had to go through the course first.  To be completely honest, I didn’t absolutely hate it.  Even with my already tainted view of the entire course because of previous experiences with it in primary school.  What I don’t understand is why most of the boys enjoyed it, and the fact that we had to do the course whilst being squirted with water by the opposing team.

One of my favourite things about camp was the trips to the different beaches across the Great Ocean Road.  We visited three beaches in total, one of which had a minor cave with stalactites, which was awesome.   At one of the beaches, we stopped and made sand art and a weird stick person after Chadley found a stick that looked like legs, and we made a head and arms by tying sticks on it with seaweed.

Camp was a worthwhile experience for any of the Year 8 students.

Tiffany Van Es
O'Keeffe Student News Team

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Alumni News

Reconnecting with Rebecca Alexander, Class of 2006

Over the past 15 years, life has taken Rebecca to Bendigo, Melbourne, and then home to Camperdown again. After finishing school in 2006, Rebecca moved to Bendigo to commence a double degree in law/arts with La Trobe University, and then completed her degree at La Trobe in Bundoora graduating in 2012 with Honours in Law.  After a bit more study in Melbourne to qualify as a lawyer, Rebecca moved back to South West Victoria to work with SLM Law, a law firm based in Camperdown, Cobden and Colac. 

Rebecca admits that work as a country lawyer has given her more opportunities then she could possibly have dreamed of in Year 12 at MRC.  According to Rebecca, a lot of lawyers do good work but do not get to see how that effort impacts on the community. “I am grateful that I get to walk down Manifold Street and see families and businesses I have assisted thriving.  Local people seem to really value the fact that I went to school locally at MRC - they know it means I care about our community and they put a lot of trust in me,” she says.

In 2017, Rebecca bought a share of the business at SLM Law.  Rebecca is presently a Council Member of the Law Institute of Victoria (a peak body representing about 19,000 lawyers across Victoria).  She aims to ensure the interests of regional Victorians are properly represented in the legal industry.

The Alexander family has a long association with MRC, with Rebecca’s grandparents John and Margaret Ryan sending seven of their eight children to then CRC.  Rebecca’s siblings, Katie and James, also graduated from MRC - Katie was Dux in 2008.  Last year, Rebecca joined the MRC School Advisory Council. “It's a privilege to be able to contribute to our family's ongoing ties with MRC,” she says.

When asked about the fondest memories of her school years, Rebecca mentions those times when a teacher would push her and open up her mind to new ideas. “Lesa Thornton's Year 10 politics class still sticks in my memory - I remember that she was a hard marker but I learned so much from that challenge,” admits Rebecca. “Kym Penry's Year 8 English class was the first time I really appreciated the art of public speaking and I use some of those skills to this day.”

Rebecca says that it’s hard to play favourites when it comes to choosing one teacher that made the greatest impact on her. “Maria Russell (nee Agius) taught me music and I played piano and guitar in lots of the school musicals and I also accompanied the school choir.  Maria helped me to gain a lot of confidence and, in reflection, I'm impressed she went to so much effort to find me unique roles to accommodate my interests and abilities.”

As a piece of advice for our current students, Rebecca notes that some people see growing up and going to school in the country as a barrier.  Rebecca believes it is an asset. “Some of the most successful people in Australia - whether in business, sport, politics, or the arts - come from regional areas. I think that's because they are willing to get out of their comfort zone, try new things and take risks.”

Upcoming Dates and Events

11-13 May - NAPLAN

Monday, 24 May - Mercy Feast Day - All students at McAuley Campus

23-29 May - Catholic Education Week (celebrating 200 years)

Friday, 28 May - HCSN Taster Day - Year 8 Students at McAuley Campus

Monday, 31 May - Book Club

Tuesday, 1 June - Living With Teens event

Wednesday, 9 June - General Achievement Test (GAT)

Wednesday, 9 June - Report Writing Day (student free for those not sitting the GAT)

Friday, 11 June - No Derrinallum buses running

Monday, 14 July - Public Holiday - Queen's Birthday

Friday, 25 June - Applications for Year 7 2022 Enrolments Close

Friday, 25 June - Last day of Term 2

Wednesday, 28 July - Michael Carr-Greg presentation | Adolesence & Mental Health Awareness, more details to come soon.

Our school calendar is always available to be viewed through the Parent Access Module (PAM) - please see our handy hint in the pictures below. Further details for school events, student excursions, camps, and student assignment due dates, etc, can all be found on the PAM calendar.

For parents with students in Years 7 and 8, the O'Keeffe Campus' The Week Ahead publication can also be viewed via PAM; it is usually uploaded at the end of each week. 

Community Notices