Dear members of the MLMC community
Welcome to the last newsletter. Not the last newsletter of the year, nor the last newsletter of the semester, but certainly the last newsletter during COVID-19 isolation for many and certainly the last newsletter of autumn. Winter certainly approaches. My yearly ritual of watching the huge maple tree outside by office continues to provide delight as the leaves have slowly been changing and are now only starting to fall. Leaves will engulf the grassed area where Year 7 students traditionally play and where Year 7 students delight in playing with the leaves. Hopefully they will still be falling and present when those students return on Tuesday 9 June.
By now you would all be fully informed of the return to campus processes the College has implemented as we return to on-campus face-to-face teaching for senior students on Tuesday 26 May and for students in Years 7 to 10 on Tuesday 9 June. I do not intend discussing all the introduced changes here as only yesterday I again wrote to all families detailing intended procedures. Please remember that such detailed practices are being introduced to ensure the health and safety of all within our community. Indications from the State and Federal Governments are that schools are safe places for students and transmission between students is very unlikely. Transmission between students and adults, too, is very unlikely, but still the College is introducing a host of measures to further minimise risk. We all look forward to the return of our students and to our College again being filled with the joy of student interaction and learning — the raison d’etre for which it was built.
The students on return will see some changes to the physical College infrastructure with the works to the new entrance to the Science laboratories under the McAuley Library having been completed. This new entrance and covered walkway finalises the works around the McAuley Quad that have been ongoing for the past few years and certainly improve its functionality.
The work to the refurbishment and additions to the Sinnott Building (the old Barak Library) to create a new senior Visual Arts centre are progressing well and it is still intended that this work will be finalised by Day 1 of Semester 2, with students then occupying it by week 2 of Term 3. It will provide further opportunity for the production of great art. This genuinely excites me as it is about creating opportunity for our students.
As we plan and implement procedures for our students to return to campus, I have been reflecting on the impact of the information flow that has changed our lives over these past months. Last night I arrived home from working in isolation at my office about 7.15pm after a series of online meetings for the day. That in itself is interesting. In one day I used Webex, Google Meet and Hangout, Skype Professional and Zoom, none of which I had used two months ago. On sitting down to dinner at about 7.30pm my phone, sitting on the kitchen bench, starting profusely buzzing as messages started to arrive. The Age, the Herald Sun, the ABC website and social media were all announcing that the Premier had declared the VCE exam period to be from Monday 9 November to Wednesday 2 December, with ATAR results being available to ensure university offers will be possible early next year. The GAT will be held on Wednesday 9 September.
It is fantastic that we finally have this information and I am sure our Year 12 students are relieved to finally know, but of course the devil is in the detail. I am sure in the coming days the College will receive official documents from VCAA, the CECV and other organisations that will allow a planning process. Rest assured, once a detailed plan is in place, the whole community will be informed. There are many questions still to be answered, for example, the number of students allowed in an exam centre at the one time? Will that be changing? Graduation is currently planned for Saturday 21 November — can we hold graduation with 1000 people? If yes, where and when? The list goes on. As information is released we will plan and inform as we have with all such announcements over these past months.
As is always the case, if you questions please feel free to contact me at principal@mlmc.vic.edu.au and I will respond as soon as possible.
God bless and stay safe
Philip A Morison
Principal
