Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College Community
Welcome to the 2018 academic year after what I hope was a restful family Christmas and an inspiring holiday period. The weather has certainly been varied and provided some challenges, but many opportunities as well. The College has been open and running for several weeks now and much work has been completed in that time, but the joy of any school community is full classrooms and social areas. I believe our students will return to a College which continues to aspire to improve.
Improvements over the holiday period include:
• A rearranged and refurbished entrance to the McAuley Library
• A new entrance to Centennial Hall
• A refurbished performance space in the Drama Room
• A new stage extension and stairs in Centennial Hall
• A refurbished playing floor in the Bradshaw building
• Solar panels on top of Centennial Hall and the Doyle Centre
• Some repaired roadways and line marking around the College
• The installation of a new electronic gate at The Eyrie.
Whilst this may not be an extensive list, it does give you some idea that improvements are continually being made to our facilities so that improved outcomes can be afforded to each and every student.
Over the holiday period I enjoyed reading a number of books, some for pleasure and some for my professional extension. I stumbled across a summary of an article written by a psychotherapist named Amy Morin, entitled “Things your teenager need to know” and it was written from the premise that the start of a school year can be both an exciting and frightening time for many teenagers. It proposed five things that parents should discuss with their teenagers.
1. “Everyone else isn’t doing it”
There’s a lot of talk about all the things teens claim to be doing—drinking, using drugs, extensive use of social media, engaging in sexual activity to name a few. The truth is, many of those claims aren’t true. Teens who believe that the popular kids are doing such things are more likely to engage in those activities. The notion that ‘everybody’s doing it’ can fuel poor choices. As parents set the record straight and explain how some adolescents exaggerate and lie to be perceived as cool. As parents certainly do not believe it when your adolescent states “Everyone else is doing it”.
2. “I expect good grades from you”
While it’s not healthy to put too much pressure on your child, it is important to set your expectations high enough that you’ll encourage them to do their best. Reassure them that the workload will be manageable. Stay involved in your child’s education and take steps to ensure they remain motivated to achieve at a high standard.
3. “Kindness matters”
Many teens believe their parents want them to be smart, more than they want them to be kind. Talk about healthy values. Make it clear that you love your child and want them to be successful, however also explain that you want them to show kindness and compassion. We are all called to live by the golden rule to love one another.
4. “You can earn freedom by showing you can make good choices”
Explain they can have more independence but extra responsibility must be earned. They can show you when they are ready for more freedom by doing well with the independence they already have. If they can’t arrive home on time, why would you allow them to stay out later? Explain that their ability to gain more freedom depends on their behaviour.
5. “The decisions you make now can affect the rest of your life”
Teens need to know that many of their decisions can impact them forever. Whether it’s an inappropriate post on social media, or a risky decision that doesn’t turn out well, there can be serious consequences for their choices. You can’t be there to see what they’re doing when they are at school or out with friends. Show confidence in them to think before they act and make healthy decisions, regardless of what others choose to do, but don’t set them adrift. Be their staunch parent, friend and supporter.
The Theme chosen to help guide us through 2018
The Theme for 2018 was developed for us by our Student Prefect Team at their induction program and is clearly centered around the Mercy Value of Respect, understanding that Catherine had this to say: “Our mutual respect and charity is to be Cordial”.
The Theme is: Whilst Knowledge May Empower, Character Builds Respect.
With the supporting scriptural content from Mark 12:30 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE): “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
We look forward to the year with this theme in mind, knowing that we will be able to develop it together.
The College Newsletter
The College Newsletter is an important source of formation and information. It is published electronically each fortnight. Parents and families will find the newsletter in their email inbox every second Friday evening. Current and past issues can also easily be found on the College website.
The Parent Portal
The Parent Portal is also a very important access point to the College. Excursion information, medical forms and individual family letters are all published via the Parent Portal. Families should become familiar with the processes to use it.
The College will text message parents when it is important to check the information on the Parent Portal. This year we will also continue to develop our Parent Access Module (PAM) which caters for live ongoing reporting as well as semester reports and attendance tracking. Both the Portal and PAM should have the same login details for each family.
2018 New Students
This year we welcome to the College a total of 265 Year 7 students all of whom were welcomed by anointing with oil on Thursday 1 February 2018 in Our Lady of Mercy Chapel.
7 Blue
Harry Alderman, Jake Andrews, Elly Atanasovski, Stephen Cameron, Jackson Coleman, Ciara De Vincentis, Alicia Di Pietrantonio, Tayah Eales, Miami Fabian Smith, Liam Furey, Gabriel Griffin, Louisa Inglese, Maya Johannes, Ayden Keithley, Jett Lang, Mitchell Mazzarella, Bella McMaster, Mackenzie Mitchell, Moses Nai, Aaliyah Roberts, Daniel Roper, Jasmine Ryan, Anthony Schembri, Olivia Shaw, Gracie Spieth, Rowan Tucker and Isabelle Walliker.
7 Bronze
Zachary Beard, Max Biddiscombe, Hayley Blewett, Monique Bonanno, Fraser Brown, Perry Byron, Grace Chamberlain, Ryan Chams El Dean, Alexandra Chisholm, Emily Comben, Antonina Corrone, Madeline De Vries, Amber Eacott, Kaj Elenius, Liam George, Jared McCann, Jett Moody, Madeleine Onley, Samahdi Reed, Harry Russell, Luke Schmitzer, Braedan Somers, Will Toopchan, Alice Vardy, Dan Whitaker and Sam Wicks.
7 Gold
Samantha Badgery, Heidi Bird, Julian Callaway, Anthony Ciantar, Joshua Del Biondo, Summer Edyvane, Nathan Elderhurst, Tom Elvin, Alexandra Griffin-Krenn, Ben Heath, Sarah Janssen, Alanah Jary, Sophie Johns, Scarlett Keen, Harry Largue, James Maffescioni, Chloe McDonald, Thomas Napier, Jordan Potts, Abi Pritchard, Samuel Rice, Frankie Salomone, Baylin Spencer, Jasmine Steele, Alex Van Duuren, Lily Woods and Zelie Zmegac.
7 Green
Harry Baxter, Hunter Bourke-Finn, Arabella Bucci, James Carr, Bianca Condon, Lauren De Betue, Mika Elenius, Joshua Giusto, Brody Harrison, Damon Hine, Miles Hollole, Brooke Leist, Russell MacDonald, Carissa Manger, Georgia Matthews, Flynn McDonald, Katherine McGarry, Tanesha McGregor, Macklin Murray, Karen Mwagiru, Gabriella Orlando, Jakob Pace, Yasmin Riddiford, Cody Silvester, Coby Smith, Riley Spencer and Celeste Tisbury.
7 Jade
Tessa Atkinson, Lucy Bourke, Oscar Brown, Benjamin Burkitt, Trystan Cannon, Malindu Chandrasekara, Liana Choi, Alannah Cox, Ashtyn Crabtree, Hayden Foletta, Rhys Fraser, Lauren Frazzetto, Lola Fritz, Jamie Ivan, Tyler Kirkham, Vivienne Mackenzie, Jett Matthews, Soph Morris, Cynthia Napolitano, Lachlan Northmore, Schemaiah Perera, Caleb Prentice, Jorja Rose, Harley Stafford, Mary Vanderkolk and Spencer Woods.
7 Orange
April Atkinson, Liv Barre, Olivia Blewett, Oliver Brewin, Sam Carrington, Jess Craig, Zach Di Ludovico, Primrose Dillon, Elle Enright, Lochie Foster, Ava Garthwaite, Joseph Glennon, Grace Horgan, Mia Hurren, Jayden Isbester, Levi Johnston, Rainer Ludwig, Will McNaught, Tia Neicho, Olivia Nielsen, Cameron Nyko, Jaz Sumner, Ollie Tisbury, Sean Wahrenberger, William Welsh and Jonathan White.
7 Purple
Paige Adams, Sienna Armstrong, Justin Beaton, Ellen Bradley, Torey Burns, Ed Cerini, Ryley Dare, Kelsey Fern, Sixten Franz, Mariam Grais, Shaelee Lang, Cameron Lilagan, Elizabeth Maggs, Tomas Majdancic, Rian Martinez, Alice McCormick, Sebastian McDonald, Ashley McIntyre, Danya Moerth, Raynor Orme, Edgerrin Peters, Josh Roberts, Mariz Sewiha, Paddy Vanstan, Jesse Wade and Andrew Waldron.
7 Red
Morgan Allen, Tyson Archer, Billy Athanasopoulos, Jay Barnes, Kaitlyn Barnes, Holly Chapman-Attwood, Phoenix Edyvane, Serena Farrugia-Borg, Sophie Grima, Caleb Harrison-Nicol, Spencer Hill, Thomas Hobley, Ashah Holmes, Joshua Logg, Olivia Mackowiak, Campbell Manser, Daisy McHarry, James McLaine, Max Murray, Mitchell O'Neil, Kathleen Rhodes, Keira Sandford, Xavier Scanlon, Riley Trewin, James Trimboli, Olivia Warren and Jade Whelan.
7 Silver
Leith Addison, Sienna Allen, Cody Anderson, Ginger Borg-McIlroy, Kiki Brilli, Harvey Cutler, Michael Douthwaite, Maxine Flamsteed, Olivia Gardeniers, Daniel Glennon, Blake Grant, Lily Hall, Darcy Harrap, Nicholas Hausler, Max Iskra, Georgia Kinslow, Julian Lopez, Rye Orme, Tyler Parker-Turner, Mitchell Payne, Seb Price, Nancee Ripepi, Lizzie Snell, Olivia Spence, Alannah Van Den Broek, Jess Vukic and Hollie Wheeler.
7 White
Jay Bridge, Dale Carroll, Amy Colliver, Jordan Copling, Taylah Culwick, Joel D'Angelo, Jade Fredrickson, Olivia Gallo, Yasmyn Gillam, Tyler Hanger, Jack Johnson, Richard Laan, Olivia Licciardi, Daniel MacFarlane, Heath Price, Benjamin Richardson, Natasha Rutzou, Monique Savini, William Smith, Amber Usenich, Matthew Van Steyn, Olivia Vandenberg, Georgia West, Joshua Wolski and Michael Woodward.
We also welcome a number of students and their families to other year levels:
Year 8
Chelsea Clinch, Phoebe Collins, Leah Haag, Zeke McDonald, Lachlan Reynolds, Noah Ruta, and Matthew Wilson.
Year 9
Keirah Kelly, Bridie Moon, Evan Schneider and Finn Whiteside.
Year 10
Samantha Crabtree and Ebony Edge-Willcockson.
Year 11
Isabella Fouet, Torrey Kelly, Eliza McDonald, Nuwin Rathnayake and Wil Selby-Hele.
Year 12
Brooke Johnson.
2018 New Staff
At our first Staff Liturgy for 2018 we welcomed back a number of returning staff:
• Tom Leydon returning from 12 months leave
• Renee McKinnon returning from family leave
• Marg Quinn returning from leave in Term 4 2017
• John Rodgers returning from leave in Term 4 2017
• Neal Haining returning from leave in Term 4 2017
• John Ioannou returning from overseas travel in Term 4 2017
• Emma Stafford as a College Psychologist for Term 1 2018.
We also welcomed and commissioned a number of new staff at the Liturgy:
• Christeen Fernando: Chemistry, Science and Maths teacher for 2018
• Paul Morgan: Religious Education and Faith Development Leader (REFDL)
• John Ryan: Faculty Learning Leader Humanities
• Andrea Cardinali: Italian Language Assistant for Semester 1 2018.
We also welcomed three new AFL Trainees for 2018:
• Candice Farrugia-Roberts: Events Management Trainee
• Tyson Noyes: Sports Trainee
• Sienna Spencer: Outdoor Education Trainee.
Community Opening Mass
This year the Community Opening Mass will be held later on Wednesday 7 March 2018 at 7.30pm in the Doyle Centre. This Eucharistic celebration is an important event in the life of the College for it is the first time that we as a complete community come together in prayer and recognise the importance of God in our lives. At this time we will also pray for a successful year of studies for all of our students, but especially the incoming Year 7 group and the Year 12 Class of 2018. I would therefore hope and expect to see many families at this Mass.
College Advisory Council
Mount Lilydale Mercy College encourages community involvement within our College through the many activities, but one such way is through our College committee structure. Parents and community members are asked to participate in committees to ensure the College is consultative, but also to increase expertise and skills when making decisions that affect the short and long term future of the College. This year we have vacancies on two committees:
• The College Advisory Council (one place)
• The College Publicity and Promotions Committee ( to be reformed)
If you are interested in being nominated for either of these Committees or know of someone who you would recommend nominating please contact me at the College or via email at principal@mlmc.vic.edu.au
The Parents and Friends group is also vital within our College and is another avenue used for consultation. We also encourage new members to the P&F and interested parents should contact Mary Ryan at ryanm@mlmc.vic.edu.au
Parking and Dropping Off Students
Please remember that there is a drop off and pick up zone inside the main entrance. Parking is restricted in both Allison Crescent and The Eyrie. Please do not drop off or pick up students in either of these streets. Such action will cause unnecessary congestion to our neighbours. Be aware of the strict parking restrictions that apply in the streets adjacent to the College. Cars are not allowed to stop in sections of these streets at the usual drop off and pick up times. Council Officers are likely to be present to supervise these parking restrictions and drivers who stop in the NO STANDING areas are likely to be fined. Students who have a medical condition that prevents them walking should be driven into the College via the main gate and dropped off as close as possible to her/his locker.
A Guide to People to Contact at the College
With this newsletter please find attached a Communications Guide. Hopefully it will help you when you wish to communicate with staff at the College.
God Bless
Philip A Morison
Principal
