Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community,

Welcome to the end of Term 3 and congratulations to you each and every one of you. You have made it. Perhaps the end of term might provide some of those quieter moments where reflection and thanksgiving are possible.

Today we celebrate Mercy Day. Reflecting upon this gives me a great sense of joy as it is one of those special days in the College calendar which is uplifting, provides a real sense of community and brings us all together to celebrate. The day has many traditions built into it here at the Hill; a whole College Liturgy, the Year 12 parade, competitions, display of business talent by the VCAL students, the games and fundraising rooms and, of course, ‘Mercy Has Talent’ or ‘Mercy Idol’. None of this will happen this year and while sad, strangely enough, Mercy Day still provides great opportunity to be thankful.

Firstly, the fact that we can celebrate Mercy is cause for celebration. Where would be if Catherine McAuley, on inheriting substantial funds from the Callaghans and Coolock House, decided to live a comfortable life rather than using those funds to help the poor, the uneducated, the sick and the imprisoned? Indeed, what if she never founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831? What if Sister Ursula Frayne never left Ireland to come to Perth to establish a school in 1849 and then on to Melbourne in 1857 to establish the Academy in Fitzroy. What if Sisters never left Carrick-on-Suir in Ireland to establish a house in Mansfield and then travel to Lilydale to start to build our community in 1896? What if? Where would we be? What of our existence?

In reflecting upon all of this, I often ask myself: why? Why would those Sisters have left the security of their home county to come to Australia to establish schools and eventually hospitals? Was it out of a sense of adventure; were they simply bored? Was it that times were tough in Ireland at that time, so Australia provided the prospect of a better life? Was it a sense of duty? Was it a sense of camaraderie to their friends? I think not; I think it was a genuine calling and to act in Mercy.

We often talk of Mercy being a verb. We reflect that Mercy is about doing and acting rather than talking. Mercy is found at the margins. Mercy is being courageous and doing that which no one else will do. Mercy is doing the unpopular simply because we know it to be the right thing to do because we are called to do it.

The Sisters knew this. They came here to share their talent with us and to model that which we know. Be Your Best. Give Your Best. The Sisters knew the importance of this and to teach us the importance of it. They came to give us of their talents. Each and every one of us is called to develop our special skills to help and improve the quality of life of all around us, whether that be globally or locally, whether it be our Mother Earth or helping the homeless that walk the streets of Lilydale or the person sitting 1.5 metres from us. Indeed, Mercy Day is as relevant today as it was last year and every other year.

The end of term is also a time to give thanks for our successes and, indeed, Term 3 has been very successful. Each and every one of you has contributed to that success and for that I am eternally grateful. I am so proud of our community. I am thankful for a dedicated committed hard-working staff that continues to provide educational opportunities for each and every student. I am thankful for a community where parents and students all work together with common purpose to support that vision. Indeed, this holiday take some time to rest, sit in the sun with a good book and replenish the soul.

Happy Mercy Day and God bless each and every one of you.

Some very quick reminders:

• Term 4 will resume on Monday 5 October with a full remote learning curriculum. I expect other government announcements before then, so I will write to you as information becomes available.
• In this newsletter you will find information about the feedback process for Student Progress Interviews. Please take the time to do this survey.

God bless

Philip A Morison
Principal

Prayer for the Beatification of Catherine McAuley

Loving God, you chose Catherine McAuley for the service of your people who are poor, sick and uneducated.
You inspired her to found the Sisters of Mercy that these good works might endure.
Give to each of us a portion of her compassionate spirit and ardent desire to serve your suffering people.
Bless all our undertakings and grant that union and charity may always thrive among us. Graciously hear our prayer for Catherine, and by granting the favours we ask through her intercession, hasten the day when her sanctity will be celebrated by all the church.
Amen.

** Artwork by Tara Vanstan (Year 12 White)

(1) Important dates

• Friday 18 September 2020 — end of Term 3
• Wednesday 23 September 2020 — College Office closes at 4.00pm for school holidays
• Monday 5 October 2020 — start of Term 4 (remote learning for all students)
• Wednesday 7 October 2020 — GAT
• Monday 12 October 2020 — Year 11 and Year 12 students return (Unit 4 students will sit practice exams). Year 7-10 continue remote learning.
• Monday 26 October 2020 — potential return to on-site classes for Year 7-10 students.

(2) Student Progress Interviews

Anita Kay-Taylor
Deputy Principal — Learning and Teaching

This year’s Student Progress Interviews (SPIs) were organised and conducted online via Zoom meetings. Anecdotally we understand the process was highly successful, but we would like to get your feedback on the experience. Please complete this short survey, which you can access HERE.

(3) Bob Stewart Uniform Shop

John Rodgers
Deputy Principal — Pastoral Care

With winter now over and Term 4 seeing the return of the summer uniform, I am sure many of you have noticed that the uniform worn in Term 1 no longer fits. Some things do not change, even in these days of change. The good news is our College Uniform Shop will again be open for business. From the start of this week, the online service has resumed. Please remember that if you take this option a postage fee of $14.95 will apply. This is a flat fee regardless of the number of items purchased.

From 1 October 2020 a click and collect service will operate. Once your order has been placed, the Bob Stewart Uniform Shop will contact you with a date and time you can pick up your order. Customers will not have entry to the shop to supplement their order. It will work somewhat like the way Bunnings has set up its click and collect service.

Hopefully when restrictions ease further we can return to the good old days of annoying our kids by dragging them along and making them try on what we purchase. Stay safe, and feel free to give me a call at the College if needed.

(4) Secondary schools immunisation program

Louis Papadimitriou
Deputy Principal — Organisation

Due to the uncertainty surrounding the return to school-based learning for students in Year 7, the Yarra Ranges Council immunisation service will be completing the secondary school immunisation program at community-based venues. Any Year 10 students who has missed their scheduled meningococcal ACWY vaccine can also attend one of the scheduled sessions. This decision has been made to support schools and students and to allow the focus to remain on a successful completion of the current school year. The sessions will be held at the four large venues listed below, which will enable social distancing requirements to be observed. Please click HERE and then on the venue (be sure to choose the 'Secondary School Immunisation Session' required) to make your appointment:

• Upwey Hall, 1433 Burwood Hwy, Upwey
• Kilsyth Sports Centre, 123 Liverpool Rd, Kilsyth
• Memo Hall, 237 Maroondah Hwy, Healesville
• Upper Yarra Family Centre, 2444 Warburton Hwy, Yarra Junction.

Appointments are mandatory. We request that parents do not enter the venue unless additional support is required for the child. If you are unable to attend any of secondary school specific sessions you can book in to any free community immunisation session via the council’s website, through your GP clinic and some pharmacies, or you can use your own immunisation provider if you reside outside of the Yarra Ranges Shire. For further information please contact the immunisation service on 1300 368 333.

(5) School holiday program at Headspace

College Counselling and Wellbeing team

Headspace Knox is offering a school holiday program for people aged 12 to 25 years Activities include online trivia, Netflix movie parties, craft and pilates. Please see the attached flyer for timetable and more details. Registration is via email.

While in remote learning our students were offered the opportunity to participate in some extra cocurricular creative writing. Called the ‘Flash Fiction Challenge’, it was hoped that the activity would provide students with daily writing practice and nurture and encourage students’ creativity.

The Fast Fiction Challenge involved providing a one-word prompt and the students then had to write a 30-word short story based on the prompt. The challenge also coincided with the virtual Melbourne Writers Festival, who also offered the same challenge to the general public.

Over six weeks, various prompts were given to the students. The below short stories were judged to be the best.

The overall winner was Denisse Lopez Garza (Year 8 Blue) (pictured), who used the prompt ‘wind’:

I look down at my watch. It's time for powerful, destructive winds to sweep everything into the calm night sky. Nobody believed my calculations. They'll regret that very, very soon.

An honourable mention was awarded to Emma Di Paola (Year 11 Silver) whose story was based on the prompt ‘hero’:

Screams ran through ears as they dropped to their knees. Being abandoned without comfort hurt more than the fresh scars. Yet, a stranger, came to hold them. No questions asked.

Another honourable mention goes to Shae Preston (Year 11 Gold) who used the prompt ‘wind’ to create her short story:

Thoughts swirled through his head like wind through trees of a storm. Branches snapping under the force causing the next blow within his mental state, slowly, slowly, loosening his grip.

Book vouchers will be awarded to all the winners and there will also be encouragement awards for everyone who participated in the challenge. Well done everyone!

On the last day of term today, Friday 18 September, the morning homeroom time was extended so that all students and staff could take part in a short Liturgy celebrating mercy. The Year 12 CSYMA class put the Liturgy together and although it was not how we were originally planning our Mercy Day Liturgy to be celebrated, it is still a recognition of our heritage and the part we have to play in keeping it alive.

Each year during Mercy Week a small group of students, staff, Old Collegians and Mercy Sisters gather at the Lilydale Cemetery to acknowledge the dedication and commitment of the Sisters who have gone before us and to remember all those Sisters who are part of that story. We gather to pray, to honour, to remember and to give thanks.

After a short Liturgy, flowers are placed on the graves of the Sisters. We also acknowledge the Sisters of Reparation whose order was founded by Mary Gertrude Langridge (Sister M Paul Langridge) at Oliver, Murray Road, Croydon in 1949.

As we were not able to visit the cemetery this year a candle was lit in our College Chapel for each of the Sisters, and a prayer of thanksgiving offered.

We wish all Mercy Sisters throughout the world many blessings as they celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy on 24 September. In particular, our very best wishes go to Sr Mary White for a very happy Mercy Day.

As we all know 2020 has required all of us to show great adaptability and while we usually enjoy many after-school collaborative sessions while preparing challenge responses for Tournament of Minds (TOM), this year collaboration had to be achieved in a different way. We knew live performances and gathering at Deakin University in Burwood for the Tournament Day were not going to be part of the way forward, but a large group of students were still keen to participate — showing the enthusiasm and commitment we always see from students here at the College.

Over the past six weeks, seven teams of students have been working diligently to complete the Tournament of Minds Super Challenge 2020. The competition moved online this year but still required teamwork, problem solving skills and persistence — perhaps more so this year than in any other year.

Last week the students’ reflections on the process and how they worked together were uploaded for judging, along with their videoed response. Tournament judges are always keen to hear how teams went about the process of generating ideas, planning, script writing, making costumes and props, etc. and this year they also wanted to know how teams had adapted to the online format. Digital skills were highly valued this year as all presentations had to be filmed, edited and formatted appropriately for the judges. This year’s Super Challenge, titled ‘Quo Vadis’, focused on something extraordinary being found in an unexpected place by an out of the ordinary group and teams could focus on the challenge through the lens of one of the four disciplines — Social Sciences, Language and Literature, STEM or The Arts.

The Social Sciences team received a distinction for their extraordinary project ‘Mars Broadcasting Corporation’. The team, facilitated by Mr Thomas Warren, included students Shiloh Thurrowgood (Year 7 Orange), Amy Langcake (Year 8 Blue), Lucy Hobley (Year 8 Green) her brother Thomas (Year 9 Red) and Mitchell Mazzarella (Year 9 Red). Usually teams comprise seven students, but this team of five worked together beautifully despite the challenges of being separated and having to video their segments individually.

TOM offers teams of students the opportunity to solve authentic, open-ended challenges that foster creative, divergent thinking whilst developing collaborative enterprise, excellence and teamwork.

Congratulations to all of our students involved for their teamwork and commitment. It was wonderful to continue to be part of the TOM this year when so many other events and competitions have been cancelled.

Big thank you to Ms Natalie Hamment, Ms Christeen Fernando, Mr Thomas Warren, Mr Michael Modini and Mr Stuart Thornhill for working with the teams as facilitators this year.

TOURNAMENT OF MINDS PARTICIPANTS 2020:

Arts 1: Alannah Rudan (8 Jade), Madeleine Onley (9 Bronze), Anastasia Sutton (7 Purple), Anika Lill (7 Red), Myah Kennedy (7 Red), Taylah Wade (7 Green)

Arts 2: Chanel Fernando (10 Orange), Marisa Lopez Garza (10 Orange), Sienna Del Giudice (8 Purple), Alexander Boucher (8 Purple), Mia Sattler (8 Purple), Violet Willemsen (8 Red), Ella Hamilton (8 Red)

Arts 3: Olive Kercher (7 Bronze), Paige Prescott (7 Orange), Denisse Lopez Garza (8 Blue), Schemaiah Perera (9 White), Summer Hathaway (7 Bronze), Lissette Lopez Garza (7 Bronze)

Social Sciences 1: Shiloh Thurrowgood (7 Orange), Amy Langcake (8 Blue), Lucy Hobley (8 Green), Mitchell Mazzarella (9 Red), Thomas Hobley (9 Red)

STEM 1: Monique Ross (7 White), Chloe Ross (10 White), Jarrah Walpole (7 Orange), Rachael Roper (7 White), Kai Maloney (7 White), Max Biddiscombe (9 Blue), Primrose Dillon (9 Blue)

STEM 2: Teagan McConachy (10 Jade), Declan Beekhof (8 White), Ben Hendriks (8 White), Frankie Salomone (9 Red), Bradley Johnson (10 Silver), Zac Prentice (8 White)

STEM 3: Malindu Chandrasekara (9 Green), Mariano Martinez (9 Purple), Stephen Cameron (9 Red), April Atkinson (9 Jade), Mitchell Payne (9 Green), Josh Roberts (9 Gold), Carissa Manger (9 Gold)

Throughout the period of remote learning our Year 12 homeroom teachers and Year 12 Level Leaders have been maintaining connection through pastoral care sessions, a Year 12 newsletter and Google Classroom to ensure the wellbeing of each student is catered to. We are aware how extraordinary these circumstances are this year and how our Year 11 and 12 students have had a very different experience to the one they envisioned at the start of 2020. In Term 4, we will endeavour to find a great balance between preparing for the assessment period ahead and, especially for our Year 12s, celebrating the final days of 13 years of schooling. The Student Leadership group have also been involved to ensure the celebrations are a fitting end to the school year. Our main aim for Term 4 is for Year 11 and 12 students to enjoy each other’s company and reflect on a job ‘well done’ in 2020.

It is also essential that we provide as much support and practical assistance to our senior students as they prepare for the final phase of their 2020 studies. This requires hard work and a strong study ethic in ‘normal circumstances’ and so with this ‘disruption’ year the role parents can play in assisting students with preparing for ‘the final push’ towards their End of Year Examinations is even more crucial. As well as explaining our preparation strategies, please also see the resources available for students and parents.

General Achievement Test (GAT) — Wednesday 7 October

We have been reinforcing with students that it is in their best interest to achieve the best GAT results they can. Preparation has included an Online Practice GAT so students could experience exam conditions and practice problem-solving strategies. We have also created four video tutorials (accessible on the Barak Learning Portal and shown in Tuesday's pastoral care period) unpacking tips and suggestions. It includes specific advice from Mrs Kay-Taylor, who has been a GAT assessor. Once marked, students will receive direct feedback on strengths and areas for improvement with suggested strategies for developing over the September holidays.

• GAT Briefing for Year 11 and 12 students
• Importance of the GAT (Mrs Barr)
• Online practice GAT (Mr Russell)
• Tips from an assessor (Mrs Kay-Taylor)

Unit 3 and 4 Trial Exams — Monday 12 October to Thursday 15 October (Term 4 Week 2)

Unit 3 and 4 Trial Exams have been rescheduled to the second week of Term 4. This year, this also takes on extra importance as subject teachers will be using Trial Exam results to assist with calculating subject indicative scores for the VCAA's 'Consideration of Educational Disadvantage' process with moderating ATAR rankings. Subject teachers will also use Trial Exam results to specifically diagnose students' subject strengths and weaknesses to inform exam revision activities and areas of focus in the final weeks of Term 4, so students’ preparation focus will be essential. To assist students with preparing over the holidays (after a short rest after finishing up Term 3), we have prepared the following for students (and parents) to utilise:

• Link to Trial Exam Timetable
• Link to Trial Exam Preparation Checklist

Unit 3 and 4 End of Year Examinations

Commencing Term 4, subject teachers will be leading students through finishing Unit 4 course work and with the information from the Trial Exam results will be delivering revision activities to prepare students for the End of Year Examinations.

• Link to VCAA VCE Exam Timetable (MLMC Subjects)

Special Entry Access Scheme via VTAC

Our fantastic Careers team have been working with students in preparing their VTAC applications, including the SEAS component of their application. This includes students completing surveys where they can identify how this COVID-19 disruption has impacted them and their studies. Students and parents are encouraged to contact Careers Leader Mrs Lauren Ferguson if they have any questions or require any assistance with completing this section of their VTAC application.

Consideration of Educational Disadvantage via VCAA

The Victorian Education Minister, Mr James Merlino, announced several weeks ago that the VCAA will be utilising a 2020 'Consideration of Educational Disadvantage' process to give reassurance to VCE/VET Unit 3 and 4 students that the VCAA will be considering the impact of COVID-19 disruptions on students' learning and achievement during the year — alongside their exam results. Schools will be asked to provide information from a range of data that will be considered alongside their exam results. The College has a team currently working on providing to the VCAA this information. Part of this process will include students completing a 'Personal Impact Survey' so that they can provide information on their experience.

VCAL

We are also very mindful of the impact that COVID-19 has had on VCAL students — especially their ability to complete their hours for their Structured Work Placements. We're anticipating more guidance soon from the State Government on how we can best help our VCAL students finish their studies this year as well. Students and parents are encouraged to contact VCAL Leader Mrs Kristy Brown if they have any questions.

Article by the Barak Campus team: Mrs Janet Barr, Mr Tim Thompson, Mr Neal Haining, Miss Simone Esmonde, Mrs Tamara Rundle and Mr Kamahl Russell.

Food Technology classes have looked quite a bit different during remote learning. Instead of cooking together in the College’s kitchens, students have been building their cooking skills at home. Parents and siblings have been thoroughly enjoying reaping the benefits as their budding chefs cook up creative dishes at home.

Safety is still the number one priority, as you can see from Jordan Potts in the photo he submitted (above). He said:

In this photo I’m safely dicing my onions with my thumb tucked in making sure none of my fingers are exposed to the blade.

Well done to our trainee cooks! These life skills will support you in the future so that you can create healthy meals for years to come.

Pictures from Year 9 Meal Planning:

• Jordan Potts (Year 9 Orange) making spaghetti and meatballs
• Justin Beaton (Year 9 Orange) making an omelette that he designed himself and called ‘Jordan’s Cheesy Mushroom and Onion Omelette’
• Amber Usenich (Year 9 Gold) orange and poppy seed cake.

The Mercy Foundation is committed to social justice and addressing the root causes of poverty and inequality in our community. The aim of the Foundation is to: end homelessness, end human trafficking and slavery and bring about greater social justice in communities across Australia.

Each year the Foundation runs a Youth Awards competition, presenting an opportunity for students to be mindful of the most vulnerable in our community. This is an opportunity for students to learn more about a specific social justice issue. This year’s competition encouraged students to learn about the issue of modern slavery.

Year 11 CSYMA students enter this competition annually as a part of their course work. Students were asked to submit a photograph that represented the word, ‘Freedom’. The photograph had to incorporate a key and be accompanied by an explanation using a maximum of 100 words. Students also learnt about modern slavery and had to answer questions about this as part of their entries.

Across Australia 330 entries were received from 35 schools. Congratulations to Abbey Wheeler (Year 11 Red) who was one of 10 students across Australia to receive a Highly Commended Award. She received a $50 prize.

Still life drawing is a key skill of any artist. The ability to draw objects from observation rather than from a photo or image is a skill within itself that can be quite challenging, as the Year 10 Art class experienced during their last assessment task of Term 3. As with their past tasks, the students did not fail to impress and they submitted work of a standard that exceeded the already high standards they had set for themselves.

Being at home, the students completed the entire process from start to finish on their own. Choosing the objects, creating a cohesive and visually pleasing composition, setting up their lighting and backdrops, and then drawing their artworks. They had to consider what lighting would create the most dynamic shadows and highlights, as well as including different textures in the objects they chose to draw.

Peter Scoble (Year 10 Bronze) reflects on how he has found Art this term:

Art class during remote learning has been restricting as ideas with the class aren't shared as easily, but focusing on the work is a lot easier as there are fewer distractions to disrupt your focus. It has been an interesting task that I find works well for me.

In recent weeks the class have been completing theory on the great impressionist and post-impressionist artists of the last century. They have learned about the likes of Monet, Renoir, Matisse, Seurat, Kandinsky, and many more, and now they are creating their own artworks based on the painting styles of these artists.

'En plein air' was the practice of painting outside that the impressionist artists were famous for. They took the elite practice of art and moved it into the everyday, which was revolutionary for its time. With the arrival of spring and sunny weather, the students moved their painting set-ups outside for the final lesson in order to truly paint like an impressionist artist and experience en plein air themselves.

Here are some student reflections about the 'en plein air' work:

It's been a while since I've gone outside and stayed out here for a long time. I felt the breeze in my face and hair and the sun shining in my eyes. I never realised that being outside would make you feel relaxed. It's good to get a bit of sunshine every day and paint outside. It's really relaxing.
— Marisa Lopez Garza (Year 10 Orange)

'En plein air' is an art phrase used by artists meaning to work outside, which is what most impressionism artists do and what we are encouraged to do in class. Doing our painting task, especially outside, is really relaxing and I am able to take my mind off things and focus on the painting that I am creating in front of me. It is also a really great way to relieve stress and it is very enjoyable to do.
— Sabina Lantouris (Year 10 Purple)

After many weeks in lockdown, the Year 12 VCE/VET Music students were able to have two rehearsal sessions onsite (both held in a Covid safe way). It was nice to see students’ big smiles and eagerness to get things moving.

There is no doubt the pandemic and resultant restrictions have enormously affected their Music performances and exams preparation. However, MLMC Music students are determined and confident they will give it their best shot.

Every Music performance requires an audience, so we organised for the Year 12 rehearsal session to have a virtual viewing audience. While the clapping wasn’t as good as live applause, the students happily accepted their classmates’ respect and acknowledgement.

Terry Dunn 42.2

With the end of the term comes the conclusion of the Terry Dunn 42.2 event that has been running for much of Term 3. The challenge saw:

• Over 1000 separate entries made
• Over 5000km covered
• 22 staff and 75 students took part
• Over 50 staff and students completed the marathon distance of 42.2km
• Another dozen staff and students completed the half-marathon distance
• Many valuable House points were earnt.

When we designed this challenge to reach the 5km, 10km, 21km and 42.2km milestones, we never could have imagined that we would have to create 100km, 200km and even 300km milestones as well!

Congratulations to Chloe Morris (Year 8) who has finished in first place with a total of 342.94km. Chloe loved the challenge and said that it “helped stop me from being lazy and I would run and walk just to do well in the challenge”. Chloe did a lot of her kilometres with her dogs — one is pictured above.

Honourable mentions go to Josh Handasyde (Year 8), Kelly Whitchell (Year 11), Sophie Morris (Year 9), Harry George (Year 12), Louisa Inglese (Year 9) and Harry Doyle (Year 8) who all achieved over 100km. We are so proud of everyone who got involved, and well done to everyone!

Remote Sport in Term 3

During the time that we have been in remote learning the Sport staff have been providing us with weekly sessions and activities to join in and do at home when we would normally have had EISM competition. The activities have ranged from online Google Meet sessions with cross fit coaches, to 'The Great MLMC Dog Walk'. It has been an awesome way to keep involved in some sport and exercise and also catch up with some mates (virtually).
— Bridget Deed (Health and PE prefect)