Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community,

This past fortnight has been full of Awards ceremonies, end of year Masses, barbeques and the Academic Foundation Program. It gives me great joy to see students celebrating their achievements. So as the year draws to a close, it is with immense gratitude and heartfelt pride that I extend the warmest of thanks to each and every one of you for your unwavering support of Mount Lilydale Mercy College throughout this academic year. In recognising parents and care givers as the prime educators of children, as partners in the education and spiritual formation of our students here on the Hill, your dedication and collaboration have been the cornerstones of our success.

In reflecting on the year gone by, we are reminded of the strength of our community and the shared values that bind us together. This year, we have witnessed the resilience of our students, the dedication of our staff and the unyielding support of our parents. Together, we have faced challenges with grace and perseverance, emerging stronger and more united.

At the heart of our value system is the holistic development of each student — nurturing their minds, their bodies and their souls. With your active support of our College, you have played a crucial role in creating an environment where our students can flourish academically, socially and spiritually. Your support and commitment to help foster a sense of community and faith is truly commendable and appreciated.

As we approach the Christmas season, a time of reflection, joy and celebration, I wish to express my sincerest wishes for a holy and peaceful Christmas to you and your loved ones. May the light of Christ illuminate your homes and hearts, bringing peace, joy, hope and love. As we approach the festive season, let us come together as a community to appreciate the blessings in all our lives and extend a helping hand to those in need.

As we look forward to 2024, let us carry the lessons of the past with us and embrace the opportunities that lie ahead. With your continued support, we are confident that Mount Lilydale Mercy College will continue to be a beacon of light on the hill, aspiring for excellence while nurturing an environment of pastoral care that builds resilience, tolerance and respect for all.

Once again, thank you for your unwavering support and commitment to our College community. May the arrival of the Baby Jesus bring joy and life to all and may the new year be filled with abundant blessings, joy and prosperity for you and your families.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

In finishing I have challenged our students to: “Be Courageous. Be the difference. Live life to the full.”

In the spirit of Catherine,
may God bless each and every one of you.

Philip A Morison

As we conclude the school year, this Sunday marks the beginning of a new liturgical year with the season of Advent. Advent is the four weeks preceding Christmas. It is a time of anticipation and preparation for Christ's birth. It's a time of hope, reflection, and spiritual readiness. Through prayer, fasting, and acts of kindness, Catholics await the coming of Jesus, embracing his message of love, joy, and renewal in their lives.

Many Catholics have an Advent wreath and four candles to help them prepare for the celebration of the Nativity on 25 December. You can find a great explanation of Advent and what a Catholic Advent wreath draws our attention to on the Hallow website by clicking HERE.

Here is an Advent prayer written by the United States Conference Catholic Bishops:

Let us pray

Lord our God,
we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ:
He is Emmanuel, the hope of the peoples,
He is the wisdom that teaches and guides us,
He is the Saviour of every nation.
Lord God,
let your blessing come upon us
as we light the candles of this wreath.
May the wreath and its light
be a sign of Christ’s promise to bring us salvation.
May He come quickly and not delay.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

As the school year has drawn to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to wish all our parents and students a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

This year has been a year filled with challenges and triumphs. We have witnessed our students grow in leaps and bounds, both academically and personally. They have embraced new experiences, shown resilience in difficult times, and demonstrated a commitment to their learning and our community.

As we now take this time to rest and recharge, we look ahead to the new year filled with excitement and anticipation. Eager to continue our journey of learning and growth, we look forward to working with you in 2024  again get the best out of your child.

To ensure a smooth and positive start to the new year, we kindly request that you take some time to check your child's uniform over the holidays. Please replace or mend any items that are damaged or worn or simply outgrown. From a personal perspective, our children grow a lot over the summer break, so please ensure the uniform they turn up in on day one next year is one that fits the College requirements. Please be mindful of haircuts also. If unsure, please check the College website for our guidelines.

It is my hope we can create a learning environment that is conducive to success that avoids having to spend valuable time addressing uniform issues, which can take away from our focus on teaching and learning.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. We look forward to welcoming you back to school in the new year.

(2) Dates

• Tuesday 5 December — Orientation Day for 2024 Year 7 students
  
• Friday 8 December — Semester 2 reports released
• Friday 8 December — College Office closed for staff Christmas celebrations
• Tuesday 12 December — Night of Excellence
• Wednesday 20 December — College Office closes for the year, 1.00pm
• Thursday 18 January 2023 — College Office opens, 8.00am
• Friday 26 January 2023 — Australia Day public holiday
• Wednesday 31 January — 2024 academic year begins for Year 7, 11 and 12 students. A parent liturgy will be held in the College chapel from 9.00am followed by morning tea. 
• Wednesday 31 January — Orientation Day for new Year 8 and Year 9 students (10.00am-12.00pm)
  
• Thursday 1 February — 2024 academic year begins for Year 8-10 students

NOTE: parents are welcome to come to the College Office before it closes on Wednesday 20 December and after it reopens on Thursday 18 January to collect Rapid Antigen Tests if they are required.

(3) Wellbeing resources for the holidays

Tina Tasiopoulos
School Counselling and Wellbeing Leader

The College Counsellors — Amy Bartlett, Emma Stafford, Tony Trevitt and I — have provided some resources and information for parents and guardians to assist and support your young person over the holidays. You can find these resources by clicking on the links below:

headspace: Supporting your young person during the holidays

Victorian Government: Wellbeing support for students during the school holidays

RUOK? holiday sheet

Youth Resources Card.

We wish all our families a happy Christmas time and an enjoyable holiday season.

(4) End of year Careers advice

Jennifer Morison
Acting Careers Leader

While many activities at the College have wound down, the Careers centre is about to enter its busy period with the release of Year 12 results and the first round of offers for universities and TAFE. There are many pathways for students to achieve what they want, and we are here to support them in this by assisting with the process.

Parents and guardians are encouraged to note the following important dates:

• Monday 11 December — VCE results and ATAR released (7.00am). Careers practitioners will be available 9.00am- 4.00pm at the College, via phone or email, to advise on Change of Preference
• Tuesday 12 December — Careers practitioners available 9.00am-3.30pm
• Wednesday 13 December — Change of Preferences closes at 4.00pm. Careers practitioners will be available by phone or email, or contact Careers or the College Office
• Thursday 21 December —First Round December offers (2.00pm). Contact Mrs Morison via email to jmorison@mlmc.vic.edu.au for any concerns or questions
• Friday 12 January 12 2024 — Second Round offers (2.00pm). Contact Mrs Morison via email to jmorison@mlmc.vic.edu.au for any concerns or questions.

Families are reminded that student results are confidential and, therefore, we are unable to provide these to parents. Students who need advice regarding seeking employment or applying directly to TAFE or other institutions are encouraged to contact us at any time.

Notices about Change of Preference events, employment opportunities and other information services will continue to be uploaded to the Careers Portal on the College website.

Year 10 students for 2024 attended an information seminar on Tuesday 28 November regarding undertaking Work Experience next year. The purpose of Work Experience was explained, as well as the requirements for securing a placement. A Google Classroom page has been set up for all Year 10 students and an introductory information letter was sent to parents through Compass, advising of the dates and encouraging students to get in early and try to organise their placement during the summer holidays. Work Experience will be held from Monday 24 June to Friday 28 June.

Finally, on behalf of all the team in Careers we would like to thank you for your many and varied interactions throughout the year and wish you and your family a happy Christmas and peaceful New Year.

On Tuesday 28 November, the College community celebrated our annual Family Carols night. The service was hosted by Aksa M, our 2024 Mercy and Justice Prefect, and Rosanna C, our 2024 Faith and Ministry Prefect. Around 40 students were involved in the service by retelling the nativity story through a drama; leading the singing in the choir; or playing an instrument in the College band.

It was a relaxed evening with energetic singing by the choir and attendees, great dress-up costumes by the kids, and yummy pizzas generously supplied by the Parents and Friends’ Association. It was a fantastic evening to remind us of the true message of Christmas so elegantly expressed in the carol Hark the Herald Angels Sing:

Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come,
offspring of the Virgin's womb:
veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th' incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel.

Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
Mild he lays his Glory by,
Born that Men no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of Earth,
Born to give them second Birth.

Merry Christmas.

(1) EISM sport

Congratulations to our Year 9 EISM teams who competed in Grand Finals last week. The boys Super 8s cricket, girls netball B and girls soccer teams each claimed premierships. Well done to everyone who competed in the EISM competitions!

EISM Year 9 Grand Finals

(2) Student Achievements

National Powerlifting Championship
Congratulations to Boston O (Year 10 Gold) on competing in the Under 16s National Powerlifting Championships. Lifting 112kg in the bench press he finished in third place, 8kg behind the winner. A massive thank you to Mr Beard and Mr Dimitracopoulos for their assistance in spotting and form.

Soccer
The Lilydale Montrose Under 14 girls soccer team was the undefeated Southeast Region Champion for 2023 and also runner-up in the Victorian State Championship. The team featured several MLMC girls: Emily D, Ava E, Charlotte P, Lily S, Sadie S, Elice M and Ella H. Big congratulations to their coach Paul Dorian (OC 1996).

If you have any other student achievements, please email them to me at rparsons@mlmc.vic.edu.au

On Friday 17 November, our Year 12 students celebrated their Graduation from Mount Lilydale Mercy College. Students and their families traveled into the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre where Mr Kamahl Russell emceed a night worthy of their significant achievement.

As well as acknowledging every Year 12 student, the recipients of the Emma Collins Award for Community Spirit, the Glenys Heath Memorial Award, Year 12 Barak All Rounder Award, the Rotary Club Award for Service and the Catherine McAuley Award nominees were also acknowledged, as well as the Mercy Service Award winners.

It was great to hear from our College Captains, Campbell M and Elena A, who spoke about their MLMC journeys and some of the highlights from Year 7 in 2018 through to Graduation as the Class of 2023. Two musical numbers were performed at the event, by Year 12 students Elena A, Vivienne M and Kye A and also Eliza M (Year 10), singing OneRepublic’s, I Lived and an amazing rendition of Hallelujah.

We trust the evening was enjoyed by all who attended and we extend our congratulations to all students.

An additional congratulations to all those who received or were nominated for Year 12 awards to be presented later in the year at the Night of Excellence.

*The winner of this award will be announced at the Night of Excellence on Tuesday 12 December 2023.

Last Saturday night, the 2023 Kool Skools Awards night was held and three MLMC students took to the stage. Studio 52 in Heidelberg hosted the event, featuring performances by three MLMC students — Celeste T (Year 12 Green), Kye A (Year 12 Orange) and Cassidy R (Year 10 Purple).

Each student had earned nominations in various categories and the highlight of the night was Celeste winning the prestigious award for Best Singer-Songwriter.

The venue was filled with MLMC students and families who came together to support our talented performers. Kye performed Ghosts, Celeste was on stage with her song Sand Dunes and Cassidy performed Green Heart.

Each song appears on the 2023 MLMC Kool Skools album called Protect the Flame. The songs were recorded by 14 students over two days at Studio 52 in August.

The Kool Skools program, which has been running for over 25 years, draws together musicians of all genres, giving students the opportunity to have their songs professionally mastered and released on CD.

Other songs on this year’s MLMC album are:

• Protect the Flame — Kye A (Year 12 Orange)
• Butterfly Fly Away — Vivienne M (Year 12 White) and Eliza M (Year 10 Gold)
• I’m Coming Back for You — Bridie M (Year 8 Bronze)
• Five Steps Away — Celeste T (Year 12 Green)
• Space Man — Madii W (Year 9 Silver)
• Boy from Ipanema — Eden F (Year 9 Silver)
• Scream — Maison R (Year 8 Silver)
• Wake Up — Sophie W (Year 8 Red)
• Ceilings — Elena A (Year 12 Silver).

Sam R (Year 12 Purple), Taj R (Year 11 White), Luca B (Year 8 White) also feature on the album, playing music.

Our MLMC Young Farmers had a fantastic day at the recent Lilydale and Yarra Valley Show. Our students presented the McAuley Park sheep in a variety of categories and won several awards including the Show Champion Stud Ewe. The prize-winning ewe was presented to the judge by Damon R (Year 8 Blue). Our McAuley Park lambs were also entered by the students in the Best Pet Lamb competition. This was won by Alannah F (Year 9 Bronze).

Our MLMC student team worked extremely well together and supported each other on the day. Our 2024 Science Prefect Mia S (Year 11 Green) showed great leadership on the day by supporting her younger peers.

Below is a reflection from Mia:

We are very proud of our students' work ethic, commitment, enthusiasm, problem-solving and teamwork skills that we saw leading up to and on the day. A huge thank you to all students and staff for all their efforts.

We celebrated the outstanding achievement, creativity and commitment to learning of our Years 7 to 11 students with several Awards Ceremonies over the past few days.

Our students’ contributions to the community, their spirituality and learning have been celebrated as each year level gathered with staff and families in Centennial Hall to witness the presentation of academic and merit awards. College Colour commendations were also presented.

We kicked off the series of awards ceremonies by recognising Year 11 students going into Year 12. Principal, Mr Philip Morison summed up the most important point to all the students that "Today's not just about marks on reports; it's a testament to the countless hours and dedication and resilience..." giving credit to all their hard work for the year. Mr John Rodgers, Deputy Principal — Pastoral Care, who addressed the Year 10s of 2023 spoke from the heart. He encouraged students to remember that everyone has the opportunity to achieve an award, and circumstances do not determine our future but our choices do.

I expressed similar sentiments, speaking about having the courage to learn and that success should be celebrated. I referenced Taylor Swift's song Shake It Off: "Today, amongst us are students who have overcome their own set of challenges to stand tall here because 'failure was not fatal'. Students who 'can't stop, won't stop moving' to achieve their best, 'because success is not final' and students who have 'music in their mind saying it's going to be alright'."

Students who achieved academic awards are commended and continue to serve as an inspiration to their peers. Academic awards were presented to students who have achieved academic excellence which included a weighted average of 85% or above in that subject, demonstrated personal organisation, creativity and originality, enthusiasm for the subject and a positive contribution to the learning environment.

Merit awards were presented for excellence in relation to enthusiasm for study, completion of work, punctuality and meeting task due dates, a cooperative approach to others and consistency in effort. Students who received Merit awards showcase the best values of our Vision for Learning at MLMC.

We wish all award recipients the best in the 2024 academic year and encourage everyone to strive to be courageous and be the difference.

The Performing Arts Faculty recently held two engaging incursions featuring music industry professionals from the musical theatre realm and commercial music scene.

The Vocal Workshop (pictured above and below) was run by Vicky Jacobs, founder of Glee Club Melbourne. Vicky introduced our students to skills and techniques that enable singers to switch between singing styles which were then applied to singing in the large ensemble on the day. Students’ sight-reading skills and natural ability to harmonise were on full display.

Rhythm section players were audience to well-known producers, performers and composers Phil Turcio on keys and MLMC staff member Emilio Kormanic on guitar in one half of the band 'The Outernet'. Students witnessed an impressive performance of a fusion of styles and improvisation, then participated in both an entertaining and insightful Q&A session about pursuing a career pathway in music.

We thank our guests for their time and education of our Performing Arts students.

Over the past few weeks, the two Year 9 Physical Education Supercoach classes have attended St Richard’s Primary School in Kilsyth. Here the students were responsible for teaching Grade 3/4 and Grade 5/6 students some sports skills, in soccer, football and netball. These teaching sessions formed their major assessment piece for the subject.

The MLMC students all did a fantastic job representing the College, with the primary students getting great enjoyment and learning out of the sessions. Our students should be very proud as they got plaudits from the St Richard’s staff as well as the students each week, which is a credit to their responsibility and application of the work they have learned over the course of the semester.

Once again a group of enthusiastic students from Year 7-12 have this year taken part in the 2023 International Chemistry Quiz.

The quiz aims to “promote and encourage an awareness of the nature and relevance of chemistry amongst secondary school students” across a number of nations across the world.

It was fantastic to see our MLMC Science enthusiasts take on the challenge of the competition.

A number of students saw some great success and received High Distinction or Distinction awards. These students were recognised during the recent Awards ceremonies:

We congratulate all the participants on their achievement.

This year all students enrolled in VCE-Vocational Major 1 (VM1) were required to complete Structured Workplace Learning (SWL) on one day a week. Students had to find an employer/local business who was willing to take them on to gain industry experience linked to the VET course they were studying.

Congratulations to all students who completed their 40 days of work placement throughout the year. We also wish to acknowledge all the wonderful employers who took students on during the year, this program would not have been a success without you and your team.

If you want to learn more about SWLs, click on the links below:

Structured Workplace Learning – preparing young people for work — OELLEN

Structured Workplace Learning: Resources | education.vic.gov.au

If you are interested in hosting a student for work placement in the future, please fill out the Google form by clicking HERE. 

During the September school holidays, Alex C (Year 8 Red) and Liam M (Year 8 Silver) were part of a four-person team who joined the Victorian Rail Challenge at the Yarra Ranges Tech School. The challenge was open to all secondary school students.

As part of the challenge, each group had to come up with an original idea to improve the passenger experience by designing new software/app or an improved carriage design. Each group was required to develop their idea and create a presentation on the first two days, then deliver the presentation to a group of judges on day three.

Alex and Liam's group chose a new modular carriage design that would allow for more versatility and customisation.

After the presentations were complete, the judges announced that Alex and Liam's group had won first place which included $1500 in prizemoney between the group members. The award was presented on Thursday 16 November at the Student Recognition and Awards Night banquet dinner at Box Hill Institute’s Fountains Restaurant.

During the three-day challenge, the students taking part received training and access to cutting-edge technologies and tools. They learned how to use various digital design software like TinkerCAD, Illustrator, Miro, and others, to bring their visions to life and they had hands-on experience with 3D printing, littlebits, laser cutting and so much more to help prototype their ideas.

Well done to Alex and Liam!

You can learn more about the Victorian Rail Challenge by clicking HERE.

In doing some research in the Archives, I came across an article from the Lilydale Express newspaper, dated Friday 19 December 1941, which featured the College.

The newspaper article had the headline “Break-up concert”. Just before the College finished for the Christmas holiday period, the students entertained their parents and friends with a concert that entailed:

“A diversified program, including elocutionary and musical numbers, drill and physical exercises, tableaux and dancing, along with the presentation of the annual report by one of the senior scholars, provided a most pleasant evening.

“Every item was indicative of the excellent training and the high standard of proficiency which has distinguished this educational institution for over a quarter of a century.”

By all accounts 1941 was a very successful year for the College in student academia and also music. The praise for the standard of education and the development of the students was clearly due to the “spiritual and secular training of the nuns and lay teachers”.

Above and below are 1940s photos from the College Archives.

We congratulate everyone on their successes for the year and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.