Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community,

Welcome to the new term, and one that I hope will be very productive and provide opportunity to excel and grow. I hope each and every one of you enjoyed some family time either over Easter or during the school holidays. I know I certainly enjoyed having my children return to a full family Easter Sunday and then family events like Collingwood playing at the MCG. It is always good to have them all home.

During the cause of the week, I had the opportunity to join my many colleagues in taking up a position in the Doyle Centre to participate in the Student Progress Interviews (SPIs). Whilst very few parents make appointments to see me, it is an opportunity to make myself available, have casual conversations and share experience. Understanding that positioning is important at such events, I found myself sitting in the path of the rear doors of the huge open-plan building and although it was heated, the draft that continually entered reminded me that winter was fast approaching and it was cold but the contrast of the heater above my head provided warmth.

Now I am not particularly a Walt Whitman fan, although he is considered a great American poet and writer and the so called father of free verse, I was reminded of a quite a famous quote of his: “Keep your face always towards the sunshine — and shadows will fall behind you”.

Now some suggest that Whitman was making analogies between the fact that many people find shadows scary and are a metaphor for the things that bother you, which should be left behind.

I might suggest for example that Whitman was making reference to that old Gaelic Prayer which contained the lines “May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face” but I suspect not, given Whitman was a bit of a sceptic.

So far more simply put he was suggesting that if you keep your face towards the sunshine (be an optimist and always look on the bright side) then the shadows will fall behind you (ignore fear and negative thoughts). (Source: quoteinvestigator.com)

Now I think this is a wonderful analogy for SPIs which are a time for reflective conversations, discussing academic progress to date and planning a strategy for improvement, given the understanding that everybody is capable of further learning. Most students would be proud of the work they have achieved so far this year and keen to be challenged for the future. Some students might not have achieved their best in Term 1 but it is important that these conversations are held so that the student can consolidate current learning to build in the future. SPIs are not a time for regret and not a time of remorse. The experience should always be about building for the future, having reflected on the past.

The other surprise to me about SPIs was the large number of families that chose to avail themselves of the opportunity for a face-to-face meeting rather than use the option for a Zoom meeting. Perhaps this reflects on the connection of our community. I look forward to understanding the data from this month’s SPI process as we plan future events. I thank all in our community for the positivity and collaborative nature of our SPI process.

This morning the College held the 2021 ANZAC Day service, as is our process, over the PA system led by our Humanities Prefect, Amy Wahenberger, and Year 12 student Emma De Paolo. The presentation finished with a video from the Australian War Memorial, which I understand will be further discussed in classes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mezWg85GDOQ&authuser=0

It is important that we stop reflect and give thanks. The College will be represented at the Dawn Service in Lilydale and I intend joining with my community in Monbulk at the RSL at dawn.

Of course, at each of these services The Ode will be recited taken from the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon.

For the Fallen
By Laurence Binyon

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Source: The London Times (1914) https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57322/for-the-fallen

Given that this year we are celebrating 125 years of Mount Lilydale Mercy College and given our Irish ancestry with Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy being born in Ireland, let me finish with that Irish blessing mentioned earlier.

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand. (Gaelic prayer)

In the spirit of Catherine, may each of you be blessed

God bless

Philip A Morison
Principal

For the past few years Leader Community Newspapers has surveyed the student leaders from schools across Melbourne about what their vision for the year ahead is. It's called 'Tomorrow's Leaders'. Our 2021 Captains Melinda Virgona and Sam Green joined other student leaders in this year's edition (see snapshot below). 

You can read the full article and what other student leaders from Melbourne's eastern surburbs had to say HERE (but only if you are a Herald Sun/Leader online news subscriber).

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
— John 15:13

God of love and liberty,
We bring our thanks today for the peace and security we enjoy,
We remember those who in time of war faithfully served their country.
We pray for their families, and for ourselves whose freedom was won at such a cost.
Make us a people zealous for peace, and hasten that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither learn war any more.
This we pray in the name of the one who gave his life for the sake of the world:
Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

Amen.

— From A Prayer Book for Australia

Dates and reminders

• Special Persons’ Day: Special people in the lives of our Year 7 students will be welcomed into the College on Tuesday 27 April. Click HERE for the details
• Autism Acceptance Family Night: MLMC is hosting an Autism Acceptance Family Night on Wednesday 28 April. Click HERE for the details
• Business Breakfast: The Old Collegians’ Association is hosting a Business Breakfast on Tuesday 11 May. Click HERE for more information
• Student free day: The Friday before the Queen’s birthday long weekend (Friday 11 June) has been designated a student free day. Monday 14 June is a public holiday.
• End of term: Term 2 will end for students on Friday 25 June.

Winter uniform 

Last term it was advertised that Term 2 will commence with the winter uniform. At that time the College was unaware that there was a supply problem with the girls’ skirts. The problem existed due to the COVID- 19 lockdowns in India and subsequent transportation problems. This problem has now been resolved and we are assured the Bob Stewart Croydon Shop will have skirts available from next week (Monday 26 April). 

If your child is absent

I thought it timely to update families on the guidelines for advising the College of a student absence. The College is required to keep an accurate record of absences as part of the VRQA registration, Department of Education and Training and CECV guidelines. Where a student is absent from the College on any given day, parents/guardians are required to advise the College by 9.00am on the day of the absence. This information is then passed on to your child’s homeroom teacher, subject teachers and Year Level Leader via roll marking. 

Student absences can be advised to the College via the Parent Access Module (PAM), by phoning the Absentee line (9237 1365) or by emailing administration@mlmc.vic.edu.au. 

Where a student has an unexplained absence, the College will advise the parents/guardians as soon as practical. 

Parents/guardians are now able to advise the College of a student absence via the Parent Access Module (PAM). By logging on to your PAM account, simply click on ‘Parent Notified Absences’ (which is located on the top right-hand corner of the screen if you are logging in on a computer, or located under the student's name if logging in with a mobile device). Click on ‘+Add Future Absence’, select the student name, reason, absence period and date of absence and include any notes relevant to your child. Then simply click ‘Add’. You will receive a confirmation email of the absence. Changes or cancelling an absence can be made on PAM also. 

VCE students 

As per the College VCE Policy, a medical certificate and a letter from a parent is required for students undertaking a VCE subject if absent on the day of a SAC. 

Absences for family holidays (more than two consecutive days) 

Families are also reminded that a condition of student enrolment at the College is to not withdraw students from school for more than two consecutive days for family holidays without the pre-arranged written permission of the Principal. This can be obtained by emailing Mr Morison via principal@mlmc.vic.edu.au. The College strongly discourages students missing classes for social activities as such absences do impact on the learning of other students. Should you have any queries regarding your child’s absence, please contact the College’s Administration team for assistance on 9735 4022.

Bus timetable changes

McKenzie Buses have provided the College with a new timetable for the Z24 bus. If you would like a copy of this new timetable please email bus@mlmc.vic.edu.au and a copy will be emailed to you.

PTV has notified the College that our students who catch the Invicta 663 bus in the morning will need to transfer to the Invicta 10 bus at Lilydale Station, which will then come straight to the College.

Second Hand Uniform Shop

The College’s Second Hand Uniform Shop will be open every fortnight on a Thursday 12.00-1.30pm, starting Thursday 6 May.

Enrolments for 2023

Mrs Marilyn Ryan
Registrar — Students

Parents and guardians are reminded that applications for Year 7 in 2023 are now due. Applications can be made via the ‘Year 7 Enrolment’ page on our website or by clicking HERE.

Free webinar on Consent: Strategies for parents to start the conversation at home

Mrs Amy Bartlett
College Counselling and Wellbeing team

In the next of the free parent website webinars, Elephant Ed will cover the topic of consent and help guide parents on how to start, and continue, the conversation at home. In response to the national discussion about the need for better consent education for young people, The Parents Website and Elephant Ed are hosting a free webinar for parents and carers on the topic of consent on Wednesday, 28 April, from 7.00pm to 8.00pm.

Elephant Ed is a leading provider of sexuality and relationships education to tens of thousands of Australian students and is endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as a Trusted eSafety Provider.

The webinar will include the following key discussion points:

• Statistics and prevalence of sexual assault
• Background to the current petition and testimonies
• Legalities surrounding consent
• Avenues to seek help
• Strategies to start the conversation at home.

You can register by clicking HERE. 

A group of our Year 8 students participated in their first Debaters Association of Victoria debate held at Tintern Grammar on Wednesday 31 March.

Congratulations to Shiloh Thurrowgood, Summer Hathaway, Amelia MacDonald, Terenja Bork, Poppi Davies and Bonnie Edwards-Tesselaar. The topic they debated for the negative was the proposition "That the government should subsidise tourism in regional Victoria" and our young students did an outstanding job on the night with both MLMC teams winning their debates.

We extend an extra special congratulations to Bonnie and Poppi who were both awarded Best Speaker in their debates.

The DAV Schools Competition is the largest English-language debating competition in the world. It is divided into 20 regions encompassing both inner and outer Melbourne suburbs, Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo. The format of the competition is Australian three-on-three style, with three speakers to each team, debating over five rounds across the year. Students in Years 10 and above have the opportunity to debate a mix of prepared and secret topics (secret topics are announced only on the night of the debate), while students in Year 9 or below are introduced to the competition through a series of prepared topics. At the end of the five regional rounds, eligible teams continue into a finals series.

Participating in debating at a school level promotes confidence and effective public presentation skills. It also encourages logical and critical thinking, social awareness and an interest in current affairs. Topics often challenge students to consider issues and arguments they might not normally encounter in the classroom.

MLMC’s A Grade team had a bye in Round 1. The next round at Ringwood will be held on Wednesday 28 April.

As ANZAC Day approaches, it is fitting that we have a look at the connection that some of our Old Collegians have had with the Australian defence force and war. 

Dion Courtney (Class of 1993) went on to serve with the Australian defence force as a naval pilot, flying Seahawk helicopters and serving overseas in Iraq. He has also returned to the College to be involved in our Careers' counselling programs. He was inducted into the Mercy Honour Roll in 2017. 

In 2018, Fiona Haynes (Class of 1989) was inducted into the Mercy Honour Roll for her leadership and skill in the Army as the most senior education officer. She is pictured in the gallery below in 1986 (with Di De Munk) and more recently with her children. . 

The story below is  taken from a new book which will be published in August celebrating the College’s 125th anniversary this year.

Lest we forget.

1944 — the 15-year-old who went to war

Bill Phillips was one of 11 children from his family who attended the Convent school (MLMC). In June 1942 he enlisted to serve in the Second World War, even though he was only 15 years old, telling the military authorities he was 19. According to Bill, his parents were unaware that he had done this. His father was already in the Army and his mother had 10 other children at home to look after and thought he was away working in the bush.

After his training he was transferred into an Anti-Aircraft Battery and was sent to New Guinea. He served on the frontline for a year until he contracted dengue fever and while he was in hospital the military authorities discovered his real age. Even though he had served for two years he was still just 17 and still underage and so was discharged in June 1944.

His military career didn’t end there, though. Bill enlisted again in July 1945, when he was 18, and served as an army instructor until 1950 when he volunteered for service in the Korean War. He only made it as far as Japan when his earlier tropical disease flared up, resulting in him being sent home and discharged. Bill passed away in 2015. He is pictured in the gallery below wearing his medals alongside his sons (picture courtesy of Mt Evelyn RSL). 

Our Year 12 students are very excited to be putting together the final preparations for the Debutante Balls, which are coming up in two weeks’ time. The first ball will be held on Friday 7 May at The Centre Ivanhoe. For our Year 12 students there is an extra level of excitement as they have had to endure an extra year of waiting due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place leading to a cancellation of last year’s event. They are now busy rehearsing (pictured) with instructors from Sassi Dance in Lilydale.

In addition to our Year 12 students, we have our Year 11 students also beginning rehearsals for their Debutante Balls, which will take place in late August and early September. We are thrilled to be back at The Centre Ivanhoe this year after they have undergone renovations. It is where the College has held our Debutante Balls for some time. We look forward to celebrating these events with our students, their families, and the wider College community.

We are now over halfway through our Active April House Competition. Over April, including during the school holidays, we have asked students to log in and record their physical activity on the Get Active website and earn points for their House.

The College warmed up for the event with a staff versus students volleyball game held at lunchtime on the last day of Term 1 (pictured). The staff team held on for a win.

For adolescents, research has shown that regular physical activity can improve cardiorespiratory fitness, build strong bones and muscles, control weight, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and reduce the risk of developing health conditions later in life.

So far, through the challenge the College has 162 participants who have together logged over 1759 hours of physical activity. Congratulations to O’Neill House who is leading the challenge with one week remaining.

The statistics for each of our six Houses so far:

Active April will conclude on Friday 30 April with two events — a ride/walk to school day, where a healthy breakfast will be provided for any students who ride or walk to school — as well as a lunchtime staff versus students ultimate frisbee match.

Students are also being encouraged to keep an eye out for year level events being held in the final week of April. Please view the video link HERE created by our Health and PE Prefect Andre Parlas showing students how to create an account on the Get Active webpage and join their House team. It's not too late to earn House points.

The leading House is:

Like-minded MLMC students can now get more out of their reading by joining a revamped Junior Book Club held ever Wednesday lunchtime in McAuley Library’s reading room. 

Four meetings have been held this year, with an average of 20 students attending. It is open to anyone, including staff, but it has mainly been attended by Year 7 and 8 students with all of the activities literature related. The activities have included a quiz game, an unusual Easter Egg hunt and the board game The Great Penguin Bookchase.

The egg hunt involved giving the students a clue to the title of the book and once they had guessed it they had to go and find the book on the shelf and they would be rewarded by finding an Easter egg behind the book.

If students attend three times they will earn full membership to the Book Club, which entitles them to extended borrowing rights over the school holiday period. Book Club members can take out eight books, double the normal allowance of four books.

We encourage all our students to pop in and try it. They may find they like it and get something out of it. Students Rachael Roper (Year 8 Purple) and Monique Ross (Year 8 Green) said they love the Book Club. “The games are fun and you get to learn about new books,” Rachael said. This week Rachael is reading a book by Lynette Noni and Monique is reading a book by JK Rowling.

We are pleased to extend a warm invitation to all the ‘special people’ in the lives of our Year 7 students to join us at the College on Tuesday 27 April, from 9.00am to 10.15am, to celebrate Special Persons' Day.

The morning will include a welcome Liturgy and Principal’s Address in Centennial Hall followed by a tour of the school and morning tea in McAuley Hall.

Please RSVP by Friday 23 April with the number of guests (for catering purposes) via the Parent Portal ‘Events’ tab for the ‘Special Person’s Day’ event. Parking will be available on the green basketball courts which provides easy access to Centennial Hall.

Chris Varney, the founder and Chief Enabling Officer of the I CAN network (pictured), will be our special guest speaker when MLMC hosts a free Autism Acceptance family night on Wednesday 28 April. The event will be held from 7.00pm to 9.00pm at the College.

The College is hosting the event because “as a Mercy College we strive to ensure all members of our community are respected, included and understood,” Mr John Rodgers, Deputy Principal — Pastoral Care, said.

Mr Varney, the 2018 Victorian Australian of the Year finalist, will share his personal experience of growing up with autism and help guests learn more about the I CAN network and other services. I CAN Network is Australia’s largest provider of autistic-led group mentoring programs, training and consultancy.

Mr Varney is a law graduate and a pioneer of autistic-led service provision in Australia. He has a background in children’s rights and youth programs, having been 2009 Australian Youth Representative to the UN and World Vision Australia’s Manager of Youth. He founded I CAN Network in 2013. It is now Australia’s largest autistic-led organisation with 38 autistic staff and more than 1500 students in the program nationally. Mr Varney also serves as National Patron of the Australian Association for Special Education and is on the Advisory Board of Learning Creates Australia.

Children and young people are welcome to attend the forum. The Mercy – Catherine’s Cafe van will be open and there will be an opportunity to mingle with other families and ask questions during the Q&A session.

To register for the event, go to: https://www.trybooking.com/BPVXX

Next week is Autism Acceptance Week. Students are being encouraged to wear a hoodie on Friday 30 April, in place of the College blazer. See the attached flyer.

The MLMC Old Collegians' Association is inviting members of our community to join us for our annual Business Breakfast on Tuesday 11 May. Members of the community will gather to enjoy a delicious breakfast prepared by our wonderful VCAL students and be inspired by our two guest speakers.

This year’s guest speakers are Old Collegians Amanda Scardamaglia (Class of 2000) and John Van Gastel (Class of 1985) (pictured).

Amanda is an Associate Professor and Department Chair at Swinburne Law School. Her area of focus is intellectual property law with a special focus on empirical and historical studies in trade mark law, branding, advertising and the consumer. She is also the author of two books: Colonial Australian Trade Mark Law and Printed on Stone: The Lithographs of Charles Troedel, which was awarded the Premier’s History Award in 2020.

John has had an illustrious career as a costumier, working on films Charlotte’s Web, Romulus My Father and The Dressmaker as well as television series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Underbelly and Squizzy, musical theatre, dance productions and the arranging of many exhibitions. His credits include creating and producing the costumes for Melbourne Theatre Company’s Shakespeare In Love in 2019. He was an inductee of MLMC’s Mercy Honour Roll in 2015.

Old Collegian Savanna Fanfulla (Class of 2014) will also return to provide entertainment.

Date: Tuesday 11 May 2021
Time: 7.00am to 9.00am
Venue: McAuley Hall at MLMC
Cost: $35 per person
Bookings close: 3.00pm on Friday 7 May
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/BPI...

We hope you can join us. If you have any queries please don't hesitate to get in contact me via sshallcross@mlmc.vic.edu.au