Dear members of the MLMC community
Welcome to this newsletter as we endure the very cold and wet first weeks of winter. I hope you are all able to stay warm and indulge in great hearty, but healthy meals to help you forge ahead yet enjoy this beautiful but arduous season.
There is much to discuss with you.
It is with great pleasure we announce the much-awaited introduction of Charlie our College wellbeing dog has commenced.
Despite his large size, Charlie is still very much a bouncing puppy that is curious but also a little anxious at the same time. For that reason, the transition of Charlie into the College continues to be a gradual one.
Charlie made his debut last week but was limited to orientation walks, getting to know his surroundings first before beginning his work of giving and taking love and affection. It was wonderful to see our students respond to the request of helping transition Charlie into the College by not giving him attention. You could imagine how overwhelming it would have been for Charlie if 1500 students called out his name or rushed in for a pat. Needless to say our students, despite the temptation, were fantastic, showing interest respectfully from a distance, allowing Charlie to settle in. It should be noted, it was equally difficult for staff too.
The College believes that some of the benefits of having Charlie on site will soon be seen. In fact, on one of his orientation days, some senior students stole a cuddle as a way to relax between exams. We believe the benefits will be many, but feel the immediate impact will be seen through:
- helping make our community feel more supportive, connected, positive, nurturing, and welcoming
- providing comfort and a distraction at a time when society is experiencing stress and anxiety.
As Charlie’s transition to be a wellbeing dog here at the College continues, we will keep you posted on the great work he will be doing. Charlie lives with the Morison family and we all love him. I bring him to his workplace every day and I look forward to seeing our students enjoy him as he will enjoy being with them. He loves people. He has taken over my office and every other office he can get into at the College. He still loves to jump to meet people and is a little afraid and overwhelmed by loud noises, but he is acclimatising well.
It should be noted that although the College now has two dogs on College grounds they are authorised to be at the College. Please understand that although we know the benefits of having animals in our presence, only authorised pets may be brought to the College as we must ensure proper training and procedures are in place. We are also mindful that some students may be allergic to dogs and indeed might be fearful of them.
The College has signed up to a program through a group called Dogs Connect and you can read about it at dogsconnect.net.au
I look forward to updating you on Charlie’s progress and apologise if occasionally my clothes appear to somewhat dishevelled as although Charlie is a groodle, which is a non-hair shedding dog, he manages to cover me in hair most days.
The second thing I wish to raise with you today is the MLMC Community Forum Group (CFG).
As part of our Mission to seek to educate future generations to inspire a love of learning, a love of life and a love of God, MLMC recognises the importance of parents’ views on the holistic education of the young people in our care. We are committed to strengthening our relationships and partnerships with families. At the last College Advisory Council meeting, the terms of reference for the CFG committee was finalised with the intent of replacing the Policy and Curriculum group which has now been disbanded. This committee provides a platform to consult about the development of policies and programs which are central to the life of our College. It will not replace the important role of the Parents and Friends’ Association (P&F), which continues to have parent consultation as one of its aims, or the very important role of the College Advisory Council.
The membership of the CFG committee will be:
- Chair (the Chair will be appointed by the Principal according to the agenda)
- Principal (Ex Officio)
- Deputy Principal — Learning and Teaching (at least two Deputy Principals will attend according to the agenda)
- Deputy Principal — Organisation
- Deputy Principal — Pastoral Care
- Deputy Principal — Mission
- Advisory Council nominee
- Staff nominee X 3
- SRC nominee on rotation X 3
- Parent nominees x 3 (parent nominees will declare interest to the Principal and be appointed by the Principal).
The key responsibilities of the committee are:
- to act as a consultation group for the College on matters directly affecting the education of students in matters of curriculum, policy and pastoral care
- to suggest changes to the policy direction for any new or existing policy whose intent has been altered
- ensure all stakeholder views are represented in the direction of College policy
- act as a focus group to provide the Curriculum Innovation and Management Team feedback on any new or proposed curriculum programs
- to consult and provide feedback on proposed changes to assessment and reporting
- to provide feedback to the College on pastoral care initiatives and the College Pastoral Care Program
- to consult on student leadership initiatives
- to provide the College Principal feedback on perceived shortfalls or failings in present College initiatives
- to provide the College Principal feedback via commendations on present College initiatives.
It is intended that the CFG will meet out of hours twice per term at a time to be agreed.
The process:
- Items for referral to the CFG must be raised with the Principal at least one month before the planned date of the meeting
- The CFG agenda will become a standing agenda item at each College Executive meeting
- The Principal will draft the agenda and share it with permanent CFG committee members
- The Principal will advertise those items to be consulted upon to the general community and seek further interested participants. Up to 10 will be permitted
- The Principal will appoint a chair for each meeting and finalise Executive participation
- The Principal may invite other members from College committees according to items to be presented
- The SRC to nominate students to each meeting as organised by the Deputy Principal Pastoral Care.
I am therefore seeking expressions of interest from community members who may wish to consider nominating for this newly-formed committee that will start next semester. Dates of meetings are yet to be set. Interested parties should email me at principal@mlmc.vic.edu.au All members will be required to undergo the volunteer and child safety processes of the College.
Lastly, there has been much speculation in the media and discussion by a range of medical associations about mask wearing. There are still both staff and students testing positive to COVID-19 on a daily basis. Influenza is also prevalent within our community. While the wearing of masks is not mandated, it is still a good preventative measure should staff and students choose to do so. The other constant that remains is the encouragement to maintain high personal hygiene standards including the washing of hands every two hours, cough etiquette and social distancing where possible.
In the Spirit of Catherine,
God bless
Philip A Morison
Principal
