Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community,
It is winter, and it is two degrees celsius outside as I sit and write to you this morning. It is cold and foggy, but I know the fog will clear and the day to come will be a fine clear day with blue skies and it will be a day to be enjoyed. In the coming weeks the grey sky will come and with it the much-needed rain, but they too will pass. Why do I use the weather so much in my introductions, I can hear you asking, and the answer to that question is simple. Weather provides us a continuing lesson of life, cycles and new beginnings. It may also be, of course, that 11 years living in regional Victoria taught me how important the weather cycle is to our farmers.
Pentecost Sunday
Last weekend saw the celebration of a different cycle within our Church. Last weekend we celebrated Pentecost Sunday, which many believe to be the beginning or birth of our Church. Pentecost, meaning 50th, ends the Easter cycle of seven weeks of seven nights. Pentecost is, of course, the celebration of the Holy Spirit, both the Holy Spirit itself and the gifts or powers of the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel of John, after the Resurrection and the Ascension, Jesus joins with the disciples, offers them peace and offers them the Holy Spirit. You may well prefer the story in the Acts of the Apostles, whereby the disciples were cowering in a room, feeling alone and scared, when a roaring wind appeared and tongues of flame settled above them. They were full of the Spirit and empowered to do the work that was necessary and that they were called to do. A new beginning, as it were.
Year 7-10 students return
In the next week, we return to full-time, face-to-face classroom teaching and the remote learning model will cease. Next Tuesday, some 1500 students and 180 staff will enter the College grounds and this, too, will in many ways be a new beginning. It cannot be the same as it was when the students left some 11 weeks ago. It will — and must be — different and we must have learnt from the experience. Firstly, the physical environment of the College will have changed with the refurbishment of the Sinnott Building well underway and the covered veranda and walkway completed at the rear of the Power Building Quad.
The students, too, will have changed and have been changed by this experience. Some students will have thrived in the remote learning experience, having liked the isolation and the opportunity to concentrate on school work without the distraction of social engagement. Such students may have some reservations about returning. Other students may have struggled with the remote learning experience and fallen behind in their work as they seek the social engagement of friends. Such students may be looking forward to seeing friends, but fearful they have fallen behind academically. There will be a range of emotions on returning after such a long time away.
Safety guidelines
The COVID-19 pandemic itself will continue to cause mixed emotions and perhaps provide other challenges as we all return. Is it really safe? The Federal Government has continued to state that it is safe for students to attend school and that the risk of transmission is very low. While schools have been made exempt from social distancing guidelines, we still must do everything possible to minimise risk. On returning, students will see a range of measures that are in place to help reduce the possibility of spread of the virus, should someone be found to positive. These include:
- Change in canteen arrangements
- Change in locker arrangements
- Provision of hand sanitiser
- Change in classroom seating arrangements
- Use of bubble taps
- A very detailed cleaning regime
- Some teachers deemed to be at high risk will continue to teach from home until the end of Term 2
- And various other measures.
All of this is simply not enough. Although students are not required to observe social distancing, I ask parents to have conversations with their children as we seek to implement social distancing as much as is possible within a school setting. I know students will be keen and excited to see friends, but we ask the following of them:
- Avoid all physical contact, especially no hugging, kissing or handshaking
- Try to maintain a separation of 1.5m where possible
- Wash hands for at least 20 seconds with soapy water whenever possible
- Use the hand sanitiser provided, but do not waste it
- Never cough or sneeze in the open air. Use tissues, which should immediately be discarded, or cough or sneeze into your elbow
- If sick in anyway, students must stay at home.
If any student within the College is exposed to someone who has tested positive to COVID-19, please inform me at the College via my Personal Assistant Mrs Kathy Broadbent on 9237 1301 or via email to principal@mlmc.vic.edu.au
Welcome
Here at the College we are doing everything possible to ensure a smooth transition to a new beginning. In considering new beginnings, with a return to on-campus learning, we welcome the Buansing family in Teresa (Year 8 Purple) and Donbosco (Year 7 Silver), who join us from Myanmar. I know you will join me in making them welcome in our community.
Personal Pars
We also have families that experienced loss of loved ones during the time of social isolation and these families remain in our prayers. Lynette Smark, grandmother to Kirra and Ebony (Year 12), Jordan (2015) and Corey (2016), passed away after a short illness this past Tuesday. Let us pray for the repose of the soul of Lynette and may she, along with all the faithfully departed, rest in peace.
