The Principal Mr Philip Morison is on leave this week. The following is from the Acting Principal, Mr Louis Papadimitriou.
Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community
Welcome back to school for Term 3. I trust that all our students and their families have had the opportunity to relax and take advantage of the opportunity to spend quality time together.
This term we welcome the following staff members who have commenced at the College:
- Miss Emma Thornhill who will be teaching in the English, Arts and Technology faculties for Terms 3 and 4
- Ms Adua Paciocco who will be teaching in the Religious Education, English and Humanities faculties for Term 3
- Miss Sarah Battersby who will be teaching in the Mathematics faculty for Terms 3 and 4
- Mr Shuichi Motoki who is joining us as our Japanese Language Assistant
- Ms Denise Taws who has joined our Learning Support team and
- Miss Georgia Burke who has joined our Learning Support team.
We also welcome back Mr Dan Kelly and Mrs Carrie Rudd who were on long service leave during Term 2.
I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Miss Cassandra Poynter who will be taking on the role of Year 9 Level Leader Assistant for the Term while Mrs Ann Collins is on long service leave.
At Mount Lilydale Mercy College we are not only committed to providing students with an interesting and challenging curriculum, but also the best possible learning environment. As you may be aware, towards the end of last term, our Year 12 students moved into the Mercy Learning Centre (MLC). This allowed us to refurbish the Calthorpe Building during the holiday break, with new carpets, desks and chairs for our Year 11 students to move into at the beginning of this term. The bold colours, modern design and the light, airy atmosphere make these spaces learning environments that we hope will stimulate active learning by improving student motivation and engagement.
I would like to extend thanks to: the Architects, Cirillo Architecture for assisting us in designing an innovative and flexible space that we hope will improve student learning outcomes and increase deep learning; our project management team, Pure Projects for assisting us in developing a project schedule that ensured every stage of the build was clearly defined and met all our operational needs; Becon Construction for building to a quality that met all our expectations, and finally to our school community for putting up with all the noise and disruption during the build. As we have all witnessed, the end result is a fantastic learning environment. The Mercy Learning Centre will be officially opened on Friday 23 August.
On Monday, 15 July staff gathered together to pray, listen, discuss, reflect and challenge ourselves on our College theme, ‘Compassion through Us’. This was a well organised day that allowed the College staff to gather as a community in faith. I thank Ms Elizabeth Keogh, Deputy Principal - Mission and her team for organising and running this day.
Across the last two weeks, I have had the opportunity to attend each of the year level award ceremonies that recognises those students who have achieved at a high level as well as those who have demonstrated an outstanding attitude towards their studies. I was pleased to see the number of students who had received Academic and Merit Awards. I congratulate those students and challenge the others to set personal best goals and try and improve on their Semester 1 results.
Congratulations to our senior girls’ football team for winning a qualifying game against Emmaus College. As a result, they represented the EISM Association on Wednesday, 24 July in Division 1 Herald Sun Shield against Hallam Senior College in the semi finals. The girls played well, but unfortunately lost by one point in extra time. Hallam Senior College will now play against MLC or Ballarat College.
Finally, I wish to thank parents and families for their support in the implementation of the new Mobile Phone Policy. We have already noticed a number of positive changes such as students talking to one another and playing games during recess and lunch. In relation to the number of students who did not comply with the new policy, I am pleased to report that we only had to confiscate a small number of mobile phones across the first two weeks. Once again thank you for your support.
Condolences
During the week, we were informed of the sad passing of former student, Tyson Noyes. Tyson was in the graduating class of 2017. We keep the Noyes family in our thoughts and prayers, parents Colin and Joanne, brother Clay (Year 12 2019) and sisters Jordan (Class of 2014), Montana (Class of 2016) and their extended families.
May Tyson join with all the other angels in heaven at peace with our God. Eternal rest grant unto Tyson, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen
Personal Pars
Members of our community would like your support in praying for and with them as they experience loss with the passing of loved ones.
Let us pray for Maria Kermac and Emily Hawkins, grandmothers to Adriana (Year 11) and Antony (Old Collegian 2018).
Let us pray for the repose of Maria’s and Emily’s souls and may they rest in peace.
God Bless
Louis Papadimitriou
Acting Principal
