Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community,

I am currently acting as Principal for Mr Philip Morison, who is currently at the MEL Principal’s conference and who will be starting his enrichment leave from Thursday next week. It has been another busy two weeks with a number of events at the College and below I have touched on a few of them.

(1) Liverpool Football Academy Launch

This partnership with the prestigious Liverpool Football Club marks the beginning of an exciting journey filled with many opportunities for our students who share a passion for football.

As we welcome Liverpool Football Academy into our College community, we embrace the powerful motto of Liverpool Football Club for generations: ‘You'll Never Walk Alone’.

This collaboration is not just about training future football stars; it's about instilling in our students the values of sportsmanship, resilience, and determination that will serve them well in all aspects of their lives. It's about fostering a culture of excellence where every individual is encouraged to strive for their personal best, whether on the field or in the classroom.

This journey with Liverpool Football Academy and with the Sisters of Mercy by our side reminds us of the importance of unity, empathy, and solidarity. Let us walk together with compassion in our hearts, knowing that no one is ever truly alone when surrounded by a community that cares.

To our students, I say: embrace this opportunity with open arms, and let the values of respect, compassion, and teamwork guide you on your path to success. And to our staff and supporters, I extend my deepest gratitude for your unwavering dedication and commitment to our shared mission.

(2) College Open Day

On Sunday 3 March we hosted our annual College Open day. The day was filled with excitement, enthusiasm, and a vibrant display of everything about our College. This was an opportunity for us to showcase the College, programs, faculties and student life to prospective students and their families. Families had the opportunity to interact with members of staff and students and discover how the College operates. You can read more about it HERE.

(3) Staff Professional Development Day

Last Friday our staff took part in a professional development day working with Greg Mitchell. The professional development focused on student connection and learning and why it is crucial for educators to create a supportive and effective learning environment. It covered:

• individual student needs

• building positive relationships

• promoting engagement and motivation

• effective communication skills

• creating a safe and inclusive environment.

By focusing on these areas in professional development, we can strengthen our ability to connect with students and create an engaging, supportive, and inclusive learning environment where all students can thrive.

(4) EISM swimming

I had the pleasure of seeing our swimmers compete at the EISM Division 3 swimming carnival. Congratulations to the students who made the College proud and came away as the winners of Division 3. It was great to see the involvement of the students and the support they showed each other. Read more about it HERE.

(5) NAPLAN

This week also saw our Year 7 and 9 students taking part in the nation-wide NAPLAN testing. This testing not only provides students with a snapshot of how they are progressing, but more importantly provides information to the College on areas that need improvement.

In the Spirit of Catherine,

God bless.

Adam Skoczylas
Executive Deputy Principal

Saint Patrick was born in the fourth or fifth century AD and legend holds this saint drove all snakes out of Ireland. This legend likely arose from the credit to Saint Patrick for spreading Christianity in Ireland. He is known as the great ‘Apostle of Ireland’. St Patrick's patronages include protection from snake infestation and bites, and he is also a patron of engineers due to the large number of churches he constructed in Ireland. His feast day is celebrated on 17 March.

Dates

• Monday 25 March — MLMC Athletics Carnival
• Thursday 28 March — Term 1 concludes
• Friday 29 March — Good Friday public holiday
• Sunday 31 March — Easter Sunday public holiday
• Monday 1 April — Easter Monday public holiday
• Tuesday 2 April-Friday 5 April — College Office open 8.00am-4.00pm
• Friday 5 April — College Office closes for school holidays at 4.00pm
• Monday 15 April — Term 2 commences (College Office opens at 8.00am)
• Friday 19 April — MLMC Old Collegians' Association outdoor cinema event

Uniform. Uniform. Uniform.

Although the present weather may make you wonder if I have lost my mind mentioning winter uniforms, Term 2 means the return of our winter uniform. Please use the next four-five weeks to have items cleaned and altered so that there is no need for staff to engage in conversations that should not need to be had. Please do not place the responsibility of your child wearing the correct uniform on the College. As parents, you play a vital role in ensuring your child wears the correct school uniform as it instills discipline, teaches responsibility, and fosters a sense of belonging. By ensuring the College uniform policies are met, you help prepare your children for the expectations of the academic and professional world while promoting a conducive learning environment.

Year 10 Central Australia Tour

Attention parents of Year 10 students!

Very soon parents will be asked to submit an expression of interest for their child to be considered for the Central Australia Trip.

Please understand spots are limited and, as is the case every year, more students apply for spots than are available. To help determine participants, past attitudes and cooperation are considered in our selection process. Should demand exceed availability, fairness will be maintained through a random number generator.

In the next few weeks we will be sending all parents of Year 10 students a link to the expression of interest form. Keep an eye out for a link if you are keen for your child to be involved.

Uniform donations

Natalie Virgona
Community Development Coordinator

The College is now accepting donations of second-hand blazers, shirts, dresses, skirts and sports uniforms. We please ask that all donations are in great condition. We will not be accepting any uniform that is not in near new condition. Donations can be dropped off at reception during school hours. Please email Community Development Coordinator Natalie Virgona at nvirgona@mlmc.vic.edu.au if you have any questions.

Parent webinar

Counselling and Wellbeing team

Parents and guardians are encouraged to join the experts at the Butterfly Foundation for a practical webinar on supporting positive body image in teenagers. It will include strategies on:

• managing social media
• reducing appearance talk and body comparisons
• increasing body appreciation
• supporting body kind eating and movement
• responding to negative self-talk and appearance bullying
• what to do if concerned.

The webinar will be held via Zoom on Wednesday 20 March from 7.00pm-8.30pm and costs $15 to register. A time-limited recording will be available.

To register, please click HERE.

A change from a night-time event to a weekend event combined with some warm and sunny weather meant the classrooms, buildings and grounds of Mount Lilydale Mercy College were buzzing with people for Open Day on Sunday 3 March.

More than 700 guests joined us to see what our College has to offer, with our students and staff shining examples of the wonderful community we have at MLMC. They are the best people to share their experiences and sell our school to prospective students and their families, and they did a marvellous job as every learning area of the College put on a show.

A welcome from the Principal, Mr Philip Morison emphasised that “when you are choosing a school, you are also choosing a community,” and this message was tangible in every space of the College.

Our Year 10 Peer Support leaders and Year 7 Level Leaders were kept busy in the Mansfield building answering questions about the transition to high school and what happens in Year 7 at MLMC.

As always, there was so much to see and do in the Science labs. Youngsters could touch and feel Science in action by watching Science Prefect Mia S do a rat dissection or see Mrs Morison create oohs and aahs from the young crowd as she made elephant toothpaste bubble over the beaker or create a flash of flame with burning methane, or kids could make slime. Members of the STEM Club were also busy, displaying Lego robotics and Physics in action.

A touch of nostalgia and pride in our legacy was another highlight in the quadrangle, which was a popular stop for parents and Old Collegians to reminisce as they moved from McAuley library to the Year 9 Horizons display before heading into the Technology area to see Design and Technology and Textiles displays or taste a delicious choc chip cookie or scone provided by the Food Technology staff.

The range and nature of activities in the Mercy Learning Centre along with some impressive displays on Careers, First Aid, Counselling and Wellbeing Services, Mathematics and English, with the Barak Library downstairs another stop, left our visitors with plenty to engage with.

Holding rehearsals for the College Musical The Addams Family drew in the crowds, alongside screen printing and painting which were popular activities in the Visual Arts area, while the Humanities and Languages faculties had plenty of hands-on activities for children of all ages as people walked through our new Heath Learning Centre.

There was high energy in the Doyle Centre, where families could ask questions about our VET Sport and Recreation program, witness our students taking part in Health and Physical Education activities or watch our newly-established Liverpool Academy football squad go through their paces.

With a mix of Music performances, from a cappella high notes from the Choir to our rock band’s heavy sounds at Centennial Hall, or acoustic guitar performances next to Catherine’s Cafe, there was a real presence of our students’ musical talent and prowess.

Families could take a look at our McAuley Park Farm sheep, watch a Music performance, grab a drink from Catherine’s Cafe crafted by our VCE-VM students and staff or a sausage from the Parents and Friends’ Association sausage sizzle, all in a matter of 30 steps.

It was a wonderful day for the community to see what we do.

Mount Lilydale Mercy College has started a partnership with the prestigious Liverpool Football Club, with an official launch held on Thursday 29 February. This collaboration marks the beginning of an exciting journey filled with boundless opportunities for our current and future students who share a passion for football.

MLMC officially became the first school in the outer north-east of Melbourne to offer an exclusive Liverpool Football Club Academy, providing a high-performance school-based soccer program.

Our Year 7 and 8 students and invited guests were able to witness the launch of this new partnership. We were joined by State Member for Evelyn Ms Bridget Vallance, representatives from Mercy Education Limited, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, leaders from some of our local primary schools and representatives from local soccer clubs.

We were lucky to have Mr Kevin Kalinko, the Liverpool Football Club International Academy Director, as well as the academy’s Technical Director Mr Kevin Grima and other representatives from the academy join us.

The launch began in Centennial Hall where our invited guests and junior students heard from College Principal Mr Philip Morison, Executive Deputy Principal Mr Adam Skoczylas as well as Ms Vallance and Mr Kalinko, with MLMC officially welcomed to the family of the Liverpool Football Club.

The launch continued with 12 of our students involved in providing a live demonstration of the Liverpool program. This was facilitated by Mr Grima and myself, who will be MLMC’s Head Coach of the Liverpool Football Club International Academy.

The 12 students below are to be congratulated for being selected to be part of this squad. They demonstrated fantastic skills and the values of the Liverpool Football Club during a trial where over 50 students came down to show their football skills.

Well done to: Lily S (8 Jade), Olivia M (8 Orange), Kristen S (7 White), Daniel T (8 Orange), Louis G (7 Purple), Nathias C (7 Blue), Samuel M (7 Purple), Jules B (7 Orange), Ethan A (8 Jade), Adam H (7 Bronze), Ryder C (7 White), Stefania C (7 White).

As we begin this journey with Liverpool Football Club, we are able to remember the club's values of unity, dignity, commitment and ambition and link these with our College Mercy values of Respect, Compassion, Courage, Hospitality, Justice and Service.

Let's make our College and Liverpool Football Club International Academy proud!

Be the difference.
You’ll Never Walk Alone.

You can learn more about the program HERE.

(1) EISM swimming

Congratulations to all the MLMC swimmers who competed at the EISM Division 2/3 Swimming Carnival on Tuesday 5 March at Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre.

MLMC won the age groups in Under 13 girls, Under 16 girls, Open girls and Open boys as well as the Girls’ aggregate trophy and MLMC was the overall Division 3 Champion.

Our swim team captains Lucien P (Year 12 Jade) and Chloe B (Year 12 Red) (pictured right) did an excellent job of leading the team to success.

(2) Save the dates

The MLMC House Athletics Carnival will be held on Monday 25 March at the Quarry Road Sports Complex. The EISM Athletics Carnival will be held on Monday 22 April at Lakeside Stadium, Albert Park.

(3) Student Achievements

Cricket
Well done to George L (Year 9 Gold) who played for Croydon over the summer in the JG Craig Shield cricket tournament.

Athletics
Congratulations to Emily F (Year 8 Blue) who recently competed at the Victorian State Track and Field Championships at Lakeside Stadium placing sixth in the 100m, third in the 200m and fifth in the 400m events for her age group.

Football
Congratulations to Brylee A (Year 10 White), Hannah Doran (Year 10 White), Archie S (Year 10 Green), Luke I (Year 10 Bronze), Jeremy N (Year 11 Red), as well as Old Collegians Cody A (OC 2023) and Baylin S (OC 2023), who have all been selected in the 2024 Eastern Ranges squads. Teacher Mr Tony Regan will be an assistant coach. He is pictured with Brylee, Archie, Luke and Jeremy below. We wish them all the best for the season ahead.

Well done also to Troy C (Year 10 Bronze) on his selection in Hawthorn Football Club's Next Gen Academy in the Under 15 squad.

Netball
Congratulations to Kane W (Year 11 Gold) who will represent Victoria in the boys’ Under 20 national netball titles in Brisbane in the upcoming school holidays. Best wishes, Kane!

Karate
Well done to Casey C (Year 11 Bronze) and her brother Stephen (OC 2023) who each won state titles on Sunday at the Victorian Karate State Championships. We wish the siblings (pictured below) all the best as they travel to Sydney in April for the Australian Karate Open.

We love hearing about student achievements. If you have any, please send details to me via email to dwebb@mlmc.vic.edu.au

(4) EISM results

Year 8 (5 March)

Seniors (6 March)

Year 9 (7 March)

Year 8 (12 March)

Seniors (13 March)

Year 9 (14 March)

Conversation Cafe is a student-led discussion group held fortnightly in the Ministry Lounge. The senior Ministry class prepares a current topic related to the Sunday gospel teachings and opens up the discussion to students of all year levels. We look at the theme on a deeper level and discuss what it means to us. At Conversation Cafe, students are free to respectfully share their opinions on the topic without any fear of judgement. They can gather to explore their faith with fellow students and enjoy each other’s company.

The first topic we covered was the Mercy value of Respect; the value that MLMC is focused on this year. This week we discussed the theme of love and finished by writing short prayers in thanksgiving for the people who love us. We have many students from a range of year levels come and participate. Students are encouraged to listen out to hear the next topic to be discussed in two weeks’ time.

Mount Lilydale Mercy College has a new addition to its classroom stock, but this is no ordinary learning facility as it is located near the Quarry Rd sports precinct and is affectionately called the ‘outdoor classroom’. The venue was a degraded and overgrown site which, through the concerted efforts of Mr Paul Morgan and other teaching and maintenance staff, is now ready to host its first classes.

Mr Morgan was instrumental in sourcing grant funding from Melbourne Water and Yarra Valley Water and in-kind support from the Shire of Yarra Ranges’ Ribbons of Green program. The council will supply over 700 plants and grasses to be planted by numerous student and faculty groups from within the College.

Mr Aaron Violi, Federal Member for Casey (OC 2002), this week officially opened the site and noted the commitment of College staff and students in undertaking this project. It sets an example of community action that is impacting real change in the environment.

Students from various faculty groups will be actively involved in undertaking real-world learning tasks, these include water quality testing, site rehabilitation, biodiversity monitoring and landscaping.

So far, major land clearing, weed eradication and native plantings has seen the site revitalised to be conducive to hosting many learning opportunities from a variety of faculty areas. 

Photos by Matthew Reilly

During Week 5 our Year 7 students went on an excursion into the Melbourne CBD. The students visited four sacred spaces to the Catholic tradition in Fitzroy, all within a 10-minute walk from each other. They were:

• the Ursula Frayne Chapel at one of our sister Mercy schools — Academy of Mary Immaculate
• the Mary MacKillop Heritage Centre to find out more about Australia’s first Catholic Saint
• the Saint Mary of the Cross, MacKillop Chapel at Australian Catholic University
• St Patrick’s Cathedral to explore the side garden and inside the building itself.

This experience helped the students make connections between their classroom learning about our Mercy tradition in Australia, Catholic places of worship and their own faith.

The MLMC Parents and Friends’ Association hosted a successful and popular Father Figures Bowling Night on Tuesday 12 March. The event was a sell-out, with more than 70 tickets sold.

The event was held this year to encourage male members of our community to get involved with College activities, as often they do not get the opportunity to attend College events. It was terrific to see the fathers, uncles, grandfathers and other father figures join our students and take the opportunity to socialise and meet new families in a relaxed and fun environment.

Everyone who attended had a great night, with two games of bowling played by everyone. The P&F committee is already planning to host this event again next year.

We thank everyone who got involved and purchased tickets as events like these are not able to go ahead without the continued support of our College community.

Mount Lilydale Mercy College Old Collegians' Association is hosting a FREE outdoor cinema event — come and join us and watch the classic film, Back to the Future.

This is a free event for the College community to come together and enjoy a night under the stars.

The event will be held at Mount Lilydale Mercy College on Friday 19 April, starting at 5.00pm and concluding at 8.30pm.

There will be a barbecue, snacks and drinks to purchase on the evening. Please bring your own chairs, picnic rugs, bean bags and blankets.

Please register your interest to attend by clicking HERE or visit trybooking.com/CPGHU

In line with our Mercy spirituality, our Year 12 students have the chance to go out in Catherine’s Cafe (named after the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, Catherine McAuley) on a Tuesday afternoon/evening to be a presence in our Lilydale community for the marginalised.

We offer toasties, biscuits, hot drinks and soup to various groups of people who don’t necessarily have a regular meal or even permanent shelter.

In the gallery below are some images from a Year 12 Religious Education class baking delicious chocolate chip biscuits for the cafe.

The College recently had an Open Day to showcase the school, including its many buildings and facilities. It also showcased some of the student talent. A search through the College Archives has shown that back in the 1910s, the College used to hold an annual Speech Day, whereby the students performed and were presented with academic prizes.

The annual Speech Day event usually attracted a large gathering including a number of parents from Melbourne whose children attended the school. At the 1913 Speech Day one of the parents, TW Simpson, described it as: “The Sisters saying in effect to the parents; Here are your children; we have done our best for their educational advancement and physical development”.

The Lilydale Express newspaper reported on the 1915 event proclaiming: “a first class programme was gone through, including instrumental and vocal music dancing, and physical culture, all of which were carried out in splendid style, reflecting very great credit on the teachers and scholars alike. The programme was much appreciated by the audience, who were unstinted in their praise”.

At the 1916 Speech Day, the Shire President, Councillor Hughes, said: “the teaching staff was the very best obtainable and the performance of the pupils in examinations, especially in music, was most gratifying”.

Earlier, in 1910, the local paper declared at the end of a similar event: “The Sisters, as well as the pupils, are to be congratulated on the excellence of the different performances, and it must have meant an immense amount of work to turn the performers out in such an efficient manner”.

Well done MLMC on all its achievements — then and now.

Pictured above: the Simpson children in 1916 and the Lilydale Express article from 19 December 1913.

We are thrilled to share with you the recent strides our Year 10 Peer Support students have taken in working towards eliminating bullying within our College community. As part of our ongoing commitment to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for all students, our Year 10 Peer Support program has undergone specialised training aimed at recognising and addressing instances of bullying.

This training, led by the educationalist, Greg Mitchell, equipped our Peer Support students with invaluable skills and insights into identifying and effectively dealing with bullying behaviours. By understanding the various forms bullying can take and the impact it can have on individuals, our Year 10 students are now better equipped to intervene and support their peers in need.

What makes this training particularly powerful is its alignment with our UR Strong Pastoral Care program, which our students undergo in Year 7. The UR Strong program lays the foundation for students to develop positive strategies for resolving friendship issues and navigating interpersonal relationships.

The Year 10 Peer Support training builds on this foundation by providing students with practical tools to actively address bullying within our College community.

Greg Mitchell emphasised the importance of Year 10 students serving as role models and allies for their younger peers. By being present and supportive, our Year 10 Peer Support students play a crucial role in creating a culture of respect and empathy within our College.

We commend our Year 10 Peer Support students for their dedication to making our College a safer and more inclusive space for all. Their commitment to stamping out bullying sets a shining example for the entire College community to follow.