MRC The Week Ahead 2024 Term 3 Week 9
Junior School
R U OK Day:
R U OK? is a national suicide prevention charity and registered public health promotion that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times.
R U OK? contributes to suicide prevention efforts by encouraging people to invest more time in their personal relationships and building the capacity of informal support networks – friends, family and colleagues - to be alert to those around them, have a conversation if they identify signs of distress or difficulty and connect someone to appropriate support, long before they're in crisis.
The link below provides an opportunity for parents to provide some feedback to the school to help understand what is happening in the young people’s lives we work with each and every day. Please take 2 minutes to answer the three questions on this survey.
Your support is very much appreciated.
https://mercy.vic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-r-u-ok-day
Parent Teacher Student Interviews (PTSI)
This week it was wonderful to converse with family and students as part of PSTI. This provided a great opportunity for students to get valuable feedback on areas of strength as we all areas for improvement. Over the next 2 weeks and into Term 4 students should turn their attention to building on this feedback. If you were unable to make PSTI you can always reach out to your child's teachers via PAM communication functions or call the school if you prefer.
Contact us on office@mercy.vic.edu.au if you know a Mercy student doing great things in the community and we will give them a shout out!
Uniform
With the change in season upon us, a check of uniform items is due. A number of students have uniform items with rips, holes or missing buttons. Now would be a good time to organise for these items to be repaired or replaced. It is also a good time to locate your school hat in time for Term 4, when hats will again be required for break times and PE classes.
If you are in need of new items from the uniform shop these can be ordered online or alternatively call into the uniform shop on Monday 12.00 pm – 4.00 pm or Thursday 8.00 am – 12.00 pm.
Mercy Dip
The annual Mercy Dip for Mental Health is fast approaching again. Students will be having all their classes at McAuley on the day. More details will follow next week. See poster below for more details. See poster below for more details about Mercy Dip.
Try booking: https://www.trybooking.com/CUWGE
Contacts
We encourage you to contact your child’s MERCY teacher if you have any queries, questions or worries throughout the school year.
7A: Mr Tim Woodmason - twoodmason@mercy.vic.edu.au
7B: Mrs Leah Sinnott - lsinnott@mercy.vic.edu.au
7C: Mr Matt Irving - mirving@mercy.vic.edu.au
8A: Mrs Melanie Bourchier - mbourchier@mercy.vic.edu.au
8B: Miss Georgia O'Leary - goleary@mercy.vic.edu.au
8C: Mrs Mel Simmonds - msimmonds@mercy.vic.edu.au
O'Keeffe Leader/Assistant Principal
Matthew Irving - mirving@mercy.vic.edu.au
Kind regards,
Matthew Irving- Assistant Principal - O'Keeffe Campus
Tim Woodmason - O'Keeffe Campus Assistant
Upcoming Events
Term 3
Week 9
Thursday 12 September - Junior Library Excursion
Friday 13 September - Mercy Dip at Lake Bullen Merri
Middle School
Welcome
This week it was wonderful to converse with family and students as part of PSTI. This provided a great opportunity for students to get valuable feedback on areas of strength as we all areas for improvement. Over the next 2 weeks and into Term 4 students should turn their attention to building on this feedback. If you were unable to make PSTI you can always reach out to your child's teachers via PAM communication functions or call the school if you prefer.
Outside of school, we wish good luck to all students participating in WDFNL finals this weekend.
Contact us on office@mercy.vic.edu.au if you know a Mercy student doing great things in the community and we will give them a shout out!
Uniform
With the change in season upon us, a check of uniform items is due. A number of students have uniform items with rips, holes or missing buttons. Now would be a good time to organise for these items to be repaired or replaced. It is also a good time to locate your school hat in time for Term 4, when hats will again be required for break times and PE classes.
If you are in need of new items from the uniform shop these can be ordered online or alternatively call into the uniform shop on Monday 12.00 pm – 4.00 pm or Thursday 8.00 am – 12.00 pm.
Student Attendance Flowchart and Awareness Process
As we highlighted last week, student attendance continues to be a focus in Middle School. Our school’s attendance policy acknowledges that regular attendance for all school-aged children is important for their educational and social development, and that it is an obligation of our school to ensure that student attendance rates are recorded and monitored. Below is the Student Attendance Flowchart which outlines the processes for tracking attendance, and the ways that we will follow up with families.
Over the past couple of weeks, some families have received an ‘Attendance Awareness Letter’, which is generated when a student’s attendance is below 90%. The intention of the letter is to ensure that families are aware of their young person’s attendance at this point, to consider whether we may need to work in partnership to improve attendance moving forward, and avoid further absences where possible.
We do understand that there are many unavoidable reasons that students may be absent, and this year in particular has seen a lot of illness in our community. Please be assured that the steps followed on the attendance flowchart have the best interests of our students and families in mind, and that the conversations around attendance are just one aspect of a great partnership between school and home.
Mercy Dip
The Mercy Dip has become a great annual event for our school community. See the flyer below for details and we hope to see many of you there on the day - family and friends most welcome to join in.
Try booking: https://www.trybooking.com/CUWGE
Kind regards,
Lydia Darcy and Nickeeta Roache - Middle Years Community Leaders
Upcoming Events
Term 3
Week 9
Friday 13 September - Mercy 'Dip for Mental Health' - VCE-VM lead activity, 'Dip' at Lake Bullen Merri
@7.00 am followed by breakfast at the McAuley Campus
- Our Lady of Mercy Mass - 11.30am
Week 10
Wednesday 18 September- McAuley Cup
Thursday 19 September - Last Day for Students - 3pm finish
Friday 20 September - Last Day of Term 3 - Student Free
Senior School
Congratulations
Jack M recently attended two notable events in Canberra. On Sunday, 18th August, he participated in a STEM Summit at ANU, followed by the NYSF (National Youth Science Forum) 40th Birthday Gala Dinner at Parliament House on Monday, 19th August. These events are a continuation of the NYSF program from January. The attached article provides more details about the program. If any students are interested in this field, feel free to reach out to Jack for a chat.
https://www.nysf.edu.au/nysf-celebrates-40-years-as-diversity-and-equity-in-stem-trailblazer/
If anyone else has awards or accolades to share please send them to myself (bsinnott@mercy.vic.edu.au) or Rose Henry (rhenry@mercy.vic.edu.au)
Dip for Mental Health
Our Year 12 VM students are leading the MRC Dip for Mental Health this year. The details to remember are:
Try booking: https://www.trybooking.com/CUWGE
Student Leadership 2025
Student leadership for 2025 has recently commenced. Interested students will be working on their application over the next few weeks with leaders being announced early Term 4.
Traineeships 2025
The Traineeship process for 2025 has been shared with all Year 12 students. We welcome parents to have a conversation with their child around this. If a traineeship with the HCSN isn’t what they are interested in, there are many others to consider. Please contact the school if you would like further detail in regards to the HCSN or other traineeships available.
Students Driving to School
If any students who have their driving licence and are intending to drive to school, please call in to see Rose to collect the form to register your details.
P.A.R.T.Y PROGRAM - Invite for Year 11 Students
The P.A.R.T.Y. Program has run at The Alfred since 2009 as an initiative of the National Trauma Research Institute (NTRI) (www.ntri.org.au). The "P.A.R.T.Y. at The Alfred" programs provides participants with an authentic experience to create insight into the consequences that patients and their families are faced with because of risk‐related trauma.
Participants engage with paramedics, doctors, nurses, allied health practitioners, patients and their families in the hospital or outreach setting. Learning occurs through a combination of classroom‐based information delivery, interactive scenario based learning and proactive demonstrations.
The P.A.R.T.Y (Prevent Alcohol & Risk-Related Trauma in Youth Groups) is a program that focuses on injury prevention. It takes students from an educational environment into a clinical environment showing first hand the consequences of a risk-taking behaviour.
DETAILS:
- Thursday 31 October
- 9.00am - 3.00pm
- Approximate time leaving from Camperdown - 6.00am
- Approximate time arriving at Camperdown - 6.00pm
There are limited spots available for this program (30). The first 30 students to submit this form will be allowed to attend (parent consent will also need to be obtained). All Year 11 students have been invited to apply for this program. Please discuss this with your child if you would like them to attend or call Berni at school if you would like to discuss further. There are a few links below for you to watch that give great insight to the program.
P.A.R.T.Y Program (extended version)
P.A.R.T.Y returns to The Alfred
Reminder: Student Illness or Absence and Medical Certificates
Now that we are into Term 3 and the weather is beginning to turn, it will be important for senior students to source medical certificates if they miss school due to illness. This can form evidence for special consideration in the case of extended absences, which are always unpredictable.
As we have clocked more than halfway through the year, we would like to take this opportunity to remind parents to contact the school if your son/daughter is going to be absent. Please call and inform the office on 5593 2011.
Kind regards,
Berni Sinnott - Senior School Community Leader
Upcoming Event
Term 3
Week 9
Monday 9 September - SSV Intermediate Netball State Final
Friday 13 September - Mercy “Dip For Mental Health”- VCE-VM lead activity, 'Dip' at Lake Bullen Merri
@7.00 am followed by breakfast at the McAuley Campus
- Our Lady of Mercy Mass - St Patrick's Church Camperdown @ 11.30am
Week 10
Monday 16 September - Year 12 Dress Up - Initials
Tuesday 17 September - Year 12 Dress Up - Movie/Show Characters
- Unit 4 English Practice Exam 1pm-4:30pm
Wednesday 18 September - McAuley Cup & Shield- Ballarat
- Year 12 Dress Up - Mercy Teachers
Thursday 19 September - Year 12 Dress Up - Celebrities
Friday 20 September - Last Day Term 3 - Student Free