Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community
Blaring on the radio the other morning was the Kelly Clarkson song Stronger (what doesn’t kill you), which is a song from her fifth studio album Stronger (2011), and although much of the song is irrelevant to my thinking, there are some great lines in the song:
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, stand a little taller…”
Of course, the saying itself was not first attributed to Clarkson, but rather to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who wrote a book about personal struggles, which was printed by the German government and issued to soldiers during WWI. Nietzsche suffered depression and is believed to have been bipolar and he actually said, “that which does not kill us, makes us stronger”.
This saying is often attributed to resilience and how life experiences make us stronger if we do not give into them. I was reminded of it again the other evening, when I watched an older gentleman being interviewed on the news as he arrived to pick up water. When interviewed about the situation he smiled at the camera and said words to the effect of, “well, what can you do about it?”
It is this ‘roll up your sleeves’ attitude that appealed to me and I know there is much evidence of it around us at this time. Surely this is the resilience we want to teach our children — “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”.
We often talk about building resilience and it is for times like these, that it becomes evident.
These past two weeks have really called for both resilience and community support. Last fortnight at this time, we were finalising the arrangements under which we were to finish lockdown No.4 and have all students at the College undertaking final assessments and for many ends of semester exams. Preparation and planning was well underway to achieve this.
Last Wednesday night, however, torrential rain and extreme winds swept through East Gippsland and the Yarra Valley causing unprecedented damage, loss of power, internet and phone service, water contamination and, for some, damage to houses that made living in them almost impossible.
Thankfully there was no loss of life in the Yarra Valley or the Dandenongs (of which I am aware) but two lives were lost in other parts of Victoria.
Following this, we closed the College last Thursday morning and with very few avenues of communication, we did our best to inform our community. I realise that communication was not ideal. With no power, but a generator running to protect our network and provide limited wi-fi, no telephone system and limited network on mobile phones, we used the only options open to us: email, SMS, SIMON and Facebook and hoped that word of mouth would assist us in informing others. I fully understand that some families simply did not have access and would not receive such communications. I believed, and still believe, it was better to communicate using as many mediums as possible. Overall, I believe our approach was successful and I apologise if communication was lacking.
As a result of this, we will review our communication processes and opportunities for the future.
I am also fully aware that many members of our community are still without power and still have limited access to services due to fallen trees and/or flooding. Like many of you, we survived at home without power, phone service and internet until late Monday night and a number of College staff are still without these amenities. I am extremely grateful for our community and the support that we offer to each other. Please continue to look for ways to offer support as much as is possible, to ensure that no one is isolated or feeling isolated. Please make contact with neighbours and College colleagues to ensure they are feeling safe and offer any support possible.
In these times, more than many others, we are called to be of service. Let us be of service to each other.
In the spirit of Catherine
God bless
Philip A Morison
Principal
Share 
As a massive clean-up operation begins in our local communities after the storm on Wednesday 9 June, let us pray for all who are affected. May we reach out in whatever ways we can to those who need help at this time. Let us also pray in thanksgiving for all emergency workers who do such an incredible job at times like these.
Prayer
Go forth into the world in peace;
be of good courage;
hold fast that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak;
help the afflicted;
honour everyone;
love and serve the Lord,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
(Prayer based on 1 Thessalonians 5:13-22)
Share
Important dates
- Monday 21 June-Friday 25 June — Year 10 Work Experience
- Wednesday 23 June — last day of Term 2 for students
- Thursday 24 June and Friday 25 June — student free days (Staff Professional Development)
- Monday 12 July — student free day (Staff Formation Day)
- Tuesday 13 July — first day of Term 3 for students
College Office closure
The College Office will be closed on Thursday 24 June 2021 for a Staff Professional Development day and will re-open on Friday 25 June 2021 at 8.00am. Both Thursday 24 and Friday 25 June 2021 are student free days to allow for Staff Professional Development.
The College Office will remain open 8.00am-4.00pm during the first week of the school holidays, closing on Friday 2 July 2021 at 4.00pm. On Monday 12 July the College will be closed for Staff Formation Day. Term 3 starts for students on Tuesday 13 July 2021.
Mooroolbark Station closure
As part of removing the dangerous and congested level crossing at Manchester Road and building the new station and multi-deck car park at Mooroolbark, a major construction blitz will see Mooroolbark station close for up to four months from 9.00pm on Friday 16 July until late 2021. During this period there will be some important changes to the way passengers travel in the area. Please see attached the flyer.
Yarra Ranges Tech School workshops
Some workshops for students are available at Yarra Ranges Tech School during the upcoming school holidays. Students can learn about 3D modelling, laser cutting, mechanics and electronics, 3D scanning and electronic microscopes. The workshops will be held by artist in residence Jess Coldrey and cost $85 each, running from 10.00am to 3.00pm. See the attached flyer for further information.
New MLMC Shop
This term we have introduced the new MLMC Shop which gives parents a one-stop-shop payment portal for all transactions (excluding College fee payments). We’re asking parents to use this portal for costs associated with device repairs, photocopier funds, Catherine’s Cafe coffee vouchers, IT purchases and replacement ID cards, bus passes and badges.
Please log on via the College website's Portals page (or click HERE), and create a new account. It is a very quick and easy process to set up an account and the steps are outlined in the MLMC Shop Parent’s Guide, which you can find on the website and below. If you have any problems please contact the Finance Office on 9735 4022.
Uniform Shop closure
The Bob Stewart Uniform Shop at the College is closing at the end of Term 2. From Term 3, MLMC uniforms will only be available from their Croydon shop at 1-7 Maroondah Highway. The shop's trading hours are Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm and Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm. You can call the shop on 9036 7386 or email them at croydon@bobstewart.com.au
Share
The MLMC 125 Years Committee wanted to give the students of the College the opportunity to get involved in the 125 Years celebrations. As the committee wanted a poster that could be used for all aspects of promotion and advertising, the MLMC 125 Years Poster Competition was put to the student cohort in April. After some weeks and many entries into the competition, Beau Horkins (Year 8 Bronze) and Denisse Lopez Garza (Year 9 Orange) were declared the winners with their designs.
The posters had to include the dates of key events, have the 125 years logo, visual appeal and feature some history of the College.
Beau used silhouettes of students and images of a church, our community van and the College in his design, while Denisse used a historic image of one of the College’s iconic buildings next to an image of one of its most recent buildings, the Mercy Learning Centre.
Congratulations Denisse and Beau and we thank all the students who participated in the competition.
Poster designed by Denisse Lopez Garza (Year 9 Orange)
Poster designed by Beau Horkins (Year 8 Bronze)
Share
Despite the recent lockdown, and the challenges that our College Musical cast, band and crew have faced with COVID-19, (as they say) ‘the show must go on!’
We have been working hard to catch up on lost rehearsals and build the momentum and excitement back up as we hurdle towards opening night for our production of Matilda in late July. This week we began to build our set, painting countless boxes to build the 'world of Matilda'. The band have now monumentally rehearsed all songs in the show, and as of Wednesday night this week, the cast have officially learnt all songs and rehearsed all scenes.
All students have worked incredibly hard and we are keeping our fingers crossed that Victoria continues to see some sense of COVID-normality as we get closer to the performances.
We are looking forward to school holiday rehearsals, where the show continues to come together, with all of the separate parts of the performance becoming one. This is always an exciting time for everyone involved.
Keep your eye on the College newsletter for ticket release details in Term 3.
Share
Due to the most recent COVID-19 lockdown, the Visual Arts Exhibition for Semester 1 will now be combined with the end-of-year event. It is unfortunate that the amazing works created by our visual arts students have not been available for the community to see in person.
Some of the students’ work has been included in the gallery below.
VCE Media students have also been impacted by the lockdown, with teacher Mr Ben Brice writing: “I have these still shots from a recent production exercise that we did as a class on lighting. The Year 12 students are preparing for shooting their major films, which will happen over the holidays. We are certainly hoping all the restrictions are lifted so that students are able to proceed with their original script and cast, all the planning is complete and now it is down to their skills as director, cinematographer and production manager and sticking to their rigorous production schedules”.
We look forward to sharing more student work in the second semester.
Will Toopchan (Year 10 Drawing Painting and Sculpture)
Poppy Harrison (Year 9 Graphic Design and Advertising)
Mikayla Walpole (Year 9 Graphic Design and Advertising)
Maddii Weir (Year 7 Silver)
Kalia Dewar (Year 11 Studio Art)
Jude Upton (Year 7 White)
Emlyn Turriff (Year 7 Red)
Callum Middleton (Year 7 Orange)
Cooper Murray (Year 11 Visual Communication Design)
Amelie Kercher ((Year 11 Visual Communication Design)
Abi Mendez (Year 7 Red)
Chloe Greaves (Year 7 Red)
Zelie Zmegac (Year 11 Studio Art)
Share
Bree Walker (Class of 2010 and MLMC Sports Prefect) is the pilot and team leader of the Australian women’s bobsleigh team. Over the past five years, Bree has been working towards her dream of competing at the Winter Olympics and is “determined to represent Australia and female athletes at an Olympic level”.
As I’m sure you can imagine, the cost of transporting a bobsled around the world doesn’t come cheaply. The cost to ship the bobsled is about $32,000. With the 2022 Winter Olympics less than a year away, Bree is raising money to attend the Beijing bobsleigh testing event along with her team in October. This is in preparation to qualify for next year’s Winter Olympics. It is crucial that Bree attends the testing event in Beijing, to give her and her team the best possible chance for success at the Olympics.
You can find out more about Bree and her bobsledding by visiting the Australian Olympics website.
If you would like to support Bree and her team achieve their dream of an Olympic experience, head over to her fundraising page to see how you can help.
Share
The MLMC Mercy Honour Roll began in 2012 as an initiative of the Old Collegians' Association. The purpose of the Mercy Honour Roll is to acknowledge exceptional alumni who have achieved success in a recognised field and who would serve as inspiring role models for our current and future students.
We are now inviting nominations for the 2021 Mercy Honour Roll inductees. If you would like to put forward a nomination please submit an online nomination through the Old Collegians’ page on the College website. A member of the Old Collegians’ committee will be in touch with you to discuss.
If you require any further information please email me at oc@mlmc.vic.edu.au or call (03) 9739 2220. Applications close Friday 25 June 2021.
We look forward to reading about the amazing stories and achievements of members within our community.
Share
Students in the Year 12 Food Studies class have been discussing the rising world population and the impact this will have on our ability to continue to access a sufficient, safe and nutritious food supply. They noted that they know what it is like to have natural disasters like floods, storms and pandemics impact on their food supply.
In our practical class last week, students experienced first-hand what it is like to have food insecurity. They were given a bucket of water, limited tools and ingredients to make a healthy family meal with only 10 minutes allowed to search for recipe inspiration. Students experienced the frustrations of what it is like to have limited resources and how this impacts on their ability to produce an enjoyable meal. Boiling water for dishwashing and trying to ‘grate’ vegetables with a small paring knife were all part of the experience.
Students came up with a wonderful array of dishes. They created open burgers, stir fries, omelettes, pasties, savoury pancakes, couscous salad with roasted vegetables, just to name a few dishes.
Now students will be eager to learn solutions to solve global food insecurity as they have some empathy as to what it is like to not have what you need to create a meal for yourself and/or your family.
Share
As Victoria comes out of its fourth lockdown of the COVID -19 pandemic, I thought it would be interesting to share how the girls from ‘the Convent on the hill’ survived the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 as we reflect on stories from 125 years of Mount Lilydale Mercy College. Below is how they were affected by it all.
In late 1918 the deadly influenza pandemic known as the Spanish Flu arrived in Australia. Despite quarantine precautions, the epidemic spread to the civilian population.
Locally, the Shire Health Officer, Dr Arthur Syme, ordered all schools in the district, including the Convent School, to close for six months, although it is unknown what happened to the boarders at Mount Lilydale College and whether they were allowed to stay and continue their studies.
This wasn’t the first outbreak of infectious disease the Sisters had to contend with. In 1911, there was an outbreak of the childhood disease diphtheria, with one young boarder, nine-year-old Gina ‘Daisy’ Durham, struck down with it. Daisy was a talented piano player who had three sisters also at the College.
Margaret Williamson (nee Roberts) (Class of 1922) was interviewed in 1996 and said: “When I was at Mount Lilydale (College) a little girl called ‘Daisy’ Durham caught diphtheria and died. It was a fatal disease in those days, no inoculation. The only fumigation they had was sulphur set alight. The smell was awful. It was a real tragedy at the time.”
Pictured:
Above: MLMC music students
Below: newspaper articles from the Lillydale Express (7 March 1919) and The Age (15 June 1911).
Share
Cross Country training
It’s time to start getting some kilometres into your legs for cross country season. Training will be on rain, hail or shine on Monday afternoons, 3.30pm-4.30pm, and Wednesday mornings, 7.00am-8.00am (with breakfast provided afterwards). Students should meet at the Doyle Centre for all sessions. All fitness levels and abilities are welcome. Pictured are students and staff training at Lillydale Lake in 2019.
EISM reminders
Year 8s will play EISM sport against Mount Scopus College on Tuesday 22 June. Please note that there will be no Year 9 or Senior EISM sport next week.
With the Winter seasons of Year 8, 9 and Senior EISM sport either underway or about to begin, students are asked to please remember the following:
- Check the Sport plans — up on the Doyle Centre window at the beginning of every week and on the College Instagram story
- If students are unable to play in their team in a particular week, they need to let their coach know as early as possible
- Students are asked to please be on time to the Doyle Centre on their sport day. All EISM teams need to leave at the start of lunch (occasionally earlier) to get to venues to play
- Uniforms need to be 100% correct to ensure no forfeited games — hockey, soccer and football players must wear long navy socks (available at the Doyle Centre) and mouthguards must be worn for hockey. NO CORRECT UNIFORM, NO GAME.
EISM fixtures
Live fixtures for EISM matches can be found online at eism.org. Click on ‘Weekly sport’, then ‘Fixtures and results’ then ‘Junior’ for Year 8 and 9 and ‘Senior’ for Senior fixtures. This is particularly important as refixturing occurs due to recent lockdowns.
Staff and Student Achievements
If you have any student achievements, please email them to me at dwebb@mlmc.vic.edu.au
Share
Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community
Blaring on the radio the other morning was the Kelly Clarkson song Stronger (what doesn’t kill you), which is a song from her fifth studio album Stronger (2011), and although much of the song is irrelevant to my thinking, there are some great lines in the song:
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, stand a little taller…”
Of course, the saying itself was not first attributed to Clarkson, but rather to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who wrote a book about personal struggles, which was printed by the German government and issued to soldiers during WWI. Nietzsche suffered depression and is believed to have been bipolar and he actually said, “that which does not kill us, makes us stronger”.
This saying is often attributed to resilience and how life experiences make us stronger if we do not give into them. I was reminded of it again the other evening, when I watched an older gentleman being interviewed on the news as he arrived to pick up water. When interviewed about the situation he smiled at the camera and said words to the effect of, “well, what can you do about it?”
It is this ‘roll up your sleeves’ attitude that appealed to me and I know there is much evidence of it around us at this time. Surely this is the resilience we want to teach our children — “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”.
We often talk about building resilience and it is for times like these, that it becomes evident.
These past two weeks have really called for both resilience and community support. Last fortnight at this time, we were finalising the arrangements under which we were to finish lockdown No.4 and have all students at the College undertaking final assessments and for many ends of semester exams. Preparation and planning was well underway to achieve this.
Last Wednesday night, however, torrential rain and extreme winds swept through East Gippsland and the Yarra Valley causing unprecedented damage, loss of power, internet and phone service, water contamination and, for some, damage to houses that made living in them almost impossible.
Thankfully there was no loss of life in the Yarra Valley or the Dandenongs (of which I am aware) but two lives were lost in other parts of Victoria.
Following this, we closed the College last Thursday morning and with very few avenues of communication, we did our best to inform our community. I realise that communication was not ideal. With no power, but a generator running to protect our network and provide limited wi-fi, no telephone system and limited network on mobile phones, we used the only options open to us: email, SMS, SIMON and Facebook and hoped that word of mouth would assist us in informing others. I fully understand that some families simply did not have access and would not receive such communications. I believed, and still believe, it was better to communicate using as many mediums as possible. Overall, I believe our approach was successful and I apologise if communication was lacking.
As a result of this, we will review our communication processes and opportunities for the future.
I am also fully aware that many members of our community are still without power and still have limited access to services due to fallen trees and/or flooding. Like many of you, we survived at home without power, phone service and internet until late Monday night and a number of College staff are still without these amenities. I am extremely grateful for our community and the support that we offer to each other. Please continue to look for ways to offer support as much as is possible, to ensure that no one is isolated or feeling isolated. Please make contact with neighbours and College colleagues to ensure they are feeling safe and offer any support possible.
In these times, more than many others, we are called to be of service. Let us be of service to each other.
In the spirit of Catherine
God bless
Philip A Morison
Principal
As a massive clean-up operation begins in our local communities after the storm on Wednesday 9 June, let us pray for all who are affected. May we reach out in whatever ways we can to those who need help at this time. Let us also pray in thanksgiving for all emergency workers who do such an incredible job at times like these.
Prayer
Go forth into the world in peace;
be of good courage;
hold fast that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak;
help the afflicted;
honour everyone;
love and serve the Lord,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
(Prayer based on 1 Thessalonians 5:13-22)
Important dates
- Monday 21 June-Friday 25 June — Year 10 Work Experience
- Wednesday 23 June — last day of Term 2 for students
- Thursday 24 June and Friday 25 June — student free days (Staff Professional Development)
- Monday 12 July — student free day (Staff Formation Day)
- Tuesday 13 July — first day of Term 3 for students
College Office closure
The College Office will be closed on Thursday 24 June 2021 for a Staff Professional Development day and will re-open on Friday 25 June 2021 at 8.00am. Both Thursday 24 and Friday 25 June 2021 are student free days to allow for Staff Professional Development.
The College Office will remain open 8.00am-4.00pm during the first week of the school holidays, closing on Friday 2 July 2021 at 4.00pm. On Monday 12 July the College will be closed for Staff Formation Day. Term 3 starts for students on Tuesday 13 July 2021.
Mooroolbark Station closure
As part of removing the dangerous and congested level crossing at Manchester Road and building the new station and multi-deck car park at Mooroolbark, a major construction blitz will see Mooroolbark station close for up to four months from 9.00pm on Friday 16 July until late 2021. During this period there will be some important changes to the way passengers travel in the area. Please see attached the flyer.
Yarra Ranges Tech School workshops
Some workshops for students are available at Yarra Ranges Tech School during the upcoming school holidays. Students can learn about 3D modelling, laser cutting, mechanics and electronics, 3D scanning and electronic microscopes. The workshops will be held by artist in residence Jess Coldrey and cost $85 each, running from 10.00am to 3.00pm. See the attached flyer for further information.
New MLMC Shop
This term we have introduced the new MLMC Shop which gives parents a one-stop-shop payment portal for all transactions (excluding College fee payments). We’re asking parents to use this portal for costs associated with device repairs, photocopier funds, Catherine’s Cafe coffee vouchers, IT purchases and replacement ID cards, bus passes and badges.
Please log on via the College website's Portals page (or click HERE), and create a new account. It is a very quick and easy process to set up an account and the steps are outlined in the MLMC Shop Parent’s Guide, which you can find on the website and below. If you have any problems please contact the Finance Office on 9735 4022.
Uniform Shop closure
The Bob Stewart Uniform Shop at the College is closing at the end of Term 2. From Term 3, MLMC uniforms will only be available from their Croydon shop at 1-7 Maroondah Highway. The shop's trading hours are Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm and Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm. You can call the shop on 9036 7386 or email them at croydon@bobstewart.com.au
The MLMC 125 Years Committee wanted to give the students of the College the opportunity to get involved in the 125 Years celebrations. As the committee wanted a poster that could be used for all aspects of promotion and advertising, the MLMC 125 Years Poster Competition was put to the student cohort in April. After some weeks and many entries into the competition, Beau Horkins (Year 8 Bronze) and Denisse Lopez Garza (Year 9 Orange) were declared the winners with their designs.
The posters had to include the dates of key events, have the 125 years logo, visual appeal and feature some history of the College.
Beau used silhouettes of students and images of a church, our community van and the College in his design, while Denisse used a historic image of one of the College’s iconic buildings next to an image of one of its most recent buildings, the Mercy Learning Centre.
Congratulations Denisse and Beau and we thank all the students who participated in the competition.
Poster designed by Denisse Lopez Garza (Year 9 Orange)
Poster designed by Beau Horkins (Year 8 Bronze)
Despite the recent lockdown, and the challenges that our College Musical cast, band and crew have faced with COVID-19, (as they say) ‘the show must go on!’
We have been working hard to catch up on lost rehearsals and build the momentum and excitement back up as we hurdle towards opening night for our production of Matilda in late July. This week we began to build our set, painting countless boxes to build the 'world of Matilda'. The band have now monumentally rehearsed all songs in the show, and as of Wednesday night this week, the cast have officially learnt all songs and rehearsed all scenes.
All students have worked incredibly hard and we are keeping our fingers crossed that Victoria continues to see some sense of COVID-normality as we get closer to the performances.
We are looking forward to school holiday rehearsals, where the show continues to come together, with all of the separate parts of the performance becoming one. This is always an exciting time for everyone involved.
Keep your eye on the College newsletter for ticket release details in Term 3.
Due to the most recent COVID-19 lockdown, the Visual Arts Exhibition for Semester 1 will now be combined with the end-of-year event. It is unfortunate that the amazing works created by our visual arts students have not been available for the community to see in person.
Some of the students’ work has been included in the gallery below.
VCE Media students have also been impacted by the lockdown, with teacher Mr Ben Brice writing: “I have these still shots from a recent production exercise that we did as a class on lighting. The Year 12 students are preparing for shooting their major films, which will happen over the holidays. We are certainly hoping all the restrictions are lifted so that students are able to proceed with their original script and cast, all the planning is complete and now it is down to their skills as director, cinematographer and production manager and sticking to their rigorous production schedules”.
We look forward to sharing more student work in the second semester.
Will Toopchan (Year 10 Drawing Painting and Sculpture)
Poppy Harrison (Year 9 Graphic Design and Advertising)
Mikayla Walpole (Year 9 Graphic Design and Advertising)
Maddii Weir (Year 7 Silver)
Kalia Dewar (Year 11 Studio Art)
Jude Upton (Year 7 White)
Emlyn Turriff (Year 7 Red)
Callum Middleton (Year 7 Orange)
Cooper Murray (Year 11 Visual Communication Design)
Amelie Kercher ((Year 11 Visual Communication Design)
Abi Mendez (Year 7 Red)
Chloe Greaves (Year 7 Red)
Zelie Zmegac (Year 11 Studio Art)
Bree Walker (Class of 2010 and MLMC Sports Prefect) is the pilot and team leader of the Australian women’s bobsleigh team. Over the past five years, Bree has been working towards her dream of competing at the Winter Olympics and is “determined to represent Australia and female athletes at an Olympic level”.
As I’m sure you can imagine, the cost of transporting a bobsled around the world doesn’t come cheaply. The cost to ship the bobsled is about $32,000. With the 2022 Winter Olympics less than a year away, Bree is raising money to attend the Beijing bobsleigh testing event along with her team in October. This is in preparation to qualify for next year’s Winter Olympics. It is crucial that Bree attends the testing event in Beijing, to give her and her team the best possible chance for success at the Olympics.
You can find out more about Bree and her bobsledding by visiting the Australian Olympics website.
If you would like to support Bree and her team achieve their dream of an Olympic experience, head over to her fundraising page to see how you can help.
The MLMC Mercy Honour Roll began in 2012 as an initiative of the Old Collegians' Association. The purpose of the Mercy Honour Roll is to acknowledge exceptional alumni who have achieved success in a recognised field and who would serve as inspiring role models for our current and future students.
We are now inviting nominations for the 2021 Mercy Honour Roll inductees. If you would like to put forward a nomination please submit an online nomination through the Old Collegians’ page on the College website. A member of the Old Collegians’ committee will be in touch with you to discuss.
If you require any further information please email me at oc@mlmc.vic.edu.au or call (03) 9739 2220. Applications close Friday 25 June 2021.
We look forward to reading about the amazing stories and achievements of members within our community.
Students in the Year 12 Food Studies class have been discussing the rising world population and the impact this will have on our ability to continue to access a sufficient, safe and nutritious food supply. They noted that they know what it is like to have natural disasters like floods, storms and pandemics impact on their food supply.
In our practical class last week, students experienced first-hand what it is like to have food insecurity. They were given a bucket of water, limited tools and ingredients to make a healthy family meal with only 10 minutes allowed to search for recipe inspiration. Students experienced the frustrations of what it is like to have limited resources and how this impacts on their ability to produce an enjoyable meal. Boiling water for dishwashing and trying to ‘grate’ vegetables with a small paring knife were all part of the experience.
Students came up with a wonderful array of dishes. They created open burgers, stir fries, omelettes, pasties, savoury pancakes, couscous salad with roasted vegetables, just to name a few dishes.
Now students will be eager to learn solutions to solve global food insecurity as they have some empathy as to what it is like to not have what you need to create a meal for yourself and/or your family.
As Victoria comes out of its fourth lockdown of the COVID -19 pandemic, I thought it would be interesting to share how the girls from ‘the Convent on the hill’ survived the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 as we reflect on stories from 125 years of Mount Lilydale Mercy College. Below is how they were affected by it all.
In late 1918 the deadly influenza pandemic known as the Spanish Flu arrived in Australia. Despite quarantine precautions, the epidemic spread to the civilian population.
Locally, the Shire Health Officer, Dr Arthur Syme, ordered all schools in the district, including the Convent School, to close for six months, although it is unknown what happened to the boarders at Mount Lilydale College and whether they were allowed to stay and continue their studies.
This wasn’t the first outbreak of infectious disease the Sisters had to contend with. In 1911, there was an outbreak of the childhood disease diphtheria, with one young boarder, nine-year-old Gina ‘Daisy’ Durham, struck down with it. Daisy was a talented piano player who had three sisters also at the College.
Margaret Williamson (nee Roberts) (Class of 1922) was interviewed in 1996 and said: “When I was at Mount Lilydale (College) a little girl called ‘Daisy’ Durham caught diphtheria and died. It was a fatal disease in those days, no inoculation. The only fumigation they had was sulphur set alight. The smell was awful. It was a real tragedy at the time.”
Pictured:
Above: MLMC music students
Below: newspaper articles from the Lillydale Express (7 March 1919) and The Age (15 June 1911).
Cross Country training
It’s time to start getting some kilometres into your legs for cross country season. Training will be on rain, hail or shine on Monday afternoons, 3.30pm-4.30pm, and Wednesday mornings, 7.00am-8.00am (with breakfast provided afterwards). Students should meet at the Doyle Centre for all sessions. All fitness levels and abilities are welcome. Pictured are students and staff training at Lillydale Lake in 2019.
EISM reminders
Year 8s will play EISM sport against Mount Scopus College on Tuesday 22 June. Please note that there will be no Year 9 or Senior EISM sport next week.
With the Winter seasons of Year 8, 9 and Senior EISM sport either underway or about to begin, students are asked to please remember the following:
- Check the Sport plans — up on the Doyle Centre window at the beginning of every week and on the College Instagram story
- If students are unable to play in their team in a particular week, they need to let their coach know as early as possible
- Students are asked to please be on time to the Doyle Centre on their sport day. All EISM teams need to leave at the start of lunch (occasionally earlier) to get to venues to play
- Uniforms need to be 100% correct to ensure no forfeited games — hockey, soccer and football players must wear long navy socks (available at the Doyle Centre) and mouthguards must be worn for hockey. NO CORRECT UNIFORM, NO GAME.
EISM fixtures
Live fixtures for EISM matches can be found online at eism.org. Click on ‘Weekly sport’, then ‘Fixtures and results’ then ‘Junior’ for Year 8 and 9 and ‘Senior’ for Senior fixtures. This is particularly important as refixturing occurs due to recent lockdowns.
Staff and Student Achievements
If you have any student achievements, please email them to me at dwebb@mlmc.vic.edu.au