Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community
This week the College celebrated the many aspects of Semester 1 with a student led assembly, planned and overseen by the College Captains and Student Representative Council (SRC). It was pleasing to see the many aspects of our College celebrated by the student body itself.
As with all full College assemblies I was invited to address the community and in so doing I chose to reflect on three different ideas.
The first was a reflection about a great Australian and scientist Michelle Yvonne Simmons, whom I saw being interviewed on One Plus One recently. She inspired me to do some research about her and in my address to the students I discussed her. Much of what I said, I found in her acceptance speech as Australian of the Year in 2018.
My address to the students included the following extract:
Michelle was born in 1967 in London England and went on to study at Durham where she was awarded a PHD. She is a professor who has held appointments at the University of Cambridge (1992-1998) and at the University of New South Wales (1999-present). Most of her work has focussed on the design and construction of quantum electronic devices. This has resulted in the development of technology to fabricate devices in silicon at the atomic level towards the realisation of quantum integrated circuits and quantum computation.
Yes I know it sounds quite complex, and undoubtedly it is. I only understand some of the concepts so you may need to ask your Science teacher, but an important thing about Michelle is that she was the 2018 Australian of the Year, which is a huge accomplishment given that she did not become an Australian citizen until 2007.
In 2019, with the Queen’s Birthday, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.
What I like about Michelle is the story that she tells.
Why did she come to Australia?
She says she came to realise her dreams because she believed that in Australia as a woman working in a man’s world of physics, she would be given a ‘fair go’ and could somewhat fly under the radar. She said she believed that Australian researchers are unique and able to accomplish a great deal. Although they compete hard and are down to earth, they are able to compete across all boundaries and judge by results. She believes Australian researchers believe in what is real, can think for themselves and are able to give hard challenges a go.
Michelle came to Australia to work.
She stated that a negative belief can become a self-fulfilling prophecy if you let it, and so you should never listen to the detractors.
Michelle has achieved so much, but what inspired me to tell you about her, what inspired me to start to research her and what I want you to learn from her is that she lives by four basic mantras.
- Do what is hard
- Place high expectations on yourself
- Take risks
- Do something that matters
As you move forward, I offer you these four mantras as a focus for how inspiring they are. If you take them up, you will indeed,
‘Be your Best and then, Give your best.’
Michelle is indeed inspiring.
The second key point that I raised with the student body was the concept of change which I raised in the last newsletter with the wider community. Again, change in the context referred to in our upcoming mobile phone and portable devices policy. The text of my address is included here for you so that you know how I addressed this with the students.
The second thing I want to talk to you about is change. Change is a constant part of our lives and I ask you to embrace change. You may have read in the College newsletter or heard spoken around our College that the Policy on the use of mobile phones is changing from Day 1 of Term 3.
Essentially, devices, other than the portable electronic devices issued by the College (i.e. MacBook or Chromebook) or a BYO device agreed upon by the College, are not to be used or carried by students between the hours of 8.45am and 3.15pm.
This means from the start of Term 3, between 8.45am and 3.15pm you cannot use or be seen with your mobile phones. You cannot walk around the College listening to headphones. There is a lot more detail about this and I am sure your Campus Directors and Year Level Leaders will provide much of the required details.
For now I would like to make the following points.
- This policy change has been made in your best interest
- This policy change has been made for good educational reasons
- Embrace this change as a positive
- Do not let this change in policy be a thing that will cause a disruption to excellent relationships that generally exist between staff and students
- Do not let this change in policy be a point of contention between staff and students
- Do not put staff in a position where they are compelled to rebuke you for phone usage
- This will be the policy from day 1 of Term 3 and there will be no grace period. Please embrace this change.
Since writing about this policy change, I have been contacted over the last two weeks by a number of parents and community members congratulating us as a College in making this policy decision and recognising that there was a need for change. I am grateful to all those who contacted us to indicate their support for the policy change. Furthermore, on the very day this issue was raised with the student body, James Merlino, Minister for Education announced a similar policy for all Government schools. Perhaps James, being an Old Collegian, is reading our newsletter. It is also of interest that Dan Tehan, Minister for Education in the Morrison Government, came out in support of the policy. I believe he would like to see it Australia-wide. Still, we will start the policy next term and hopefully it will not create unforeseen issues.
The third point that I made to the students was a simple one.
To thank them for their efforts over Semester 1 and I hope each and every one of them reaps the benefits of their good work. I hope they all enjoy the semester break and return to us in July readied for the semester to come. I wish each and every one of you that very same sentiment.
Please note — I will be taking a very short period of leave at the beginning of Term 3. Mr Louis Papadimitriou will be the Acting Principal for this period and I trust you will all offer him your support.
Finally, we continue to remember those within our community that suffer loss with the passing of loved ones. We remember and pray for Robert Roberts, grandfather of Emma Roberts (Year 11) and Nicole Roberts (Class of 2016). May he rest in peace.
God Bless
