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

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.
— Ecclesiastes 3 :1

Golden Leaves

We see signs of summer's passing in golden leaves,
shortening days, misty mornings, autumn glow.
We sense its passing in rain that dampens,
winds that chill, Harvest's bounty placed on show.
Creator God, who brings forth
both green shoot and hoar frost,
sunrise and sunset,
we bring our thanks
for seeds that have grown,
harvests gathered,
storehouses filled,
mouths fed.
And, as your good earth rests
through winter's cold embrace,
we look forward to its re-awakening
when kissed by spring's first touch.
— Author unknown

Key dates

• Monday 25 May – student free day (Staff Professional Development)
• Tuesday 26 May – return to College for on-site learning for Year 11 and 12 students and any Year 10 students completing a VCE/VET subject (excluding Year 10 RE) and also students of essential workers; remote learning continues for Year 7-10 students
• Monday 8 June – Queen’s birthday public holiday
• Tuesday 9 June – return to College for on-site learning for Year 7-10 students (remote learning ceases)
• Friday 19 June – student free day (Staff Professional Development)
• Friday 26 June – Term 2 ends
• Tuesday 14 July – Term 3 begins

Information regarding the return to school has been emailed to parents and guardians and is also available on the Parent Portal.

Students who are unwell - reminder

Parents/guardians are reminded that if their child is feeling ill they are not to be sent to school. If students present ill at school, staff are to send students to the sick bay and the parent/guardian will be contacted to collect their child.

Uniform Shops

The Bob Stewart Uniform Shop at MLMC has re-opened and is operating on normal hours.

The opening hours are:

• Monday 8.00am-12.00pm
• Tuesday and Thursday 12.30pm-4.00pm.

It will also be open on Saturday 23 May (tomorrow) and on Saturday 6 June from 9.30am to 12.30pm.

The College’s Second Hand Uniform Shop will remain closed as the volunteers are unable to maintain the cleaning regime required. Families requiring access to second hand uniforms may contact Mr John Rodgers via email to jrodgers@mlmc.vic.edu.au who will organise a private session if possible.

As the VET Sport and Recreation and the Outdoor Education excursions have been cancelled for the term, the staff decided to bring 'the next best thing' to the students’ backyards with a camping competition. Students were invited to build their own campsite using the various resources they had at their disposal at home.

It was great to see the students get super creative, some using only sticks and others, including Aaliyah Roberts (pictured above) bringing in some furry friends to help out. The winner, taking away a $50 Ajays gift voucher, was Mawson Sunderland (Year 8 Jade) with his Himalayan teepee-inspired tent (pictured below).

Thank you to all the students for their entries.

The College has produced a new promotional video which you can watch HERE.

The video provides prospective parents and students with a glimpse of the College's beautiful grounds, unique location and outstanding facilities. To discover more about all the College has to offer we encourage people to book a College tour HERE.

This video is the first in a series of three — in the next instalments we will hear from the Principal and students.

This week is National Volunteer's Week — a perfect time to acknowledge the incredibly hard work our volunteer community does here at MLMC. We have so many generous parents and friends within our community, who donate their time and skills to ensure that important events within our College calendar run as smoothly as they do.

From our resident BBQ crew, who keep the students and teachers fed during events like our annual Mercy Day, Athletics Day and Swimming Carnival; to the amazing team who keep our Second Hand Uniform Shop running so smoothly; to the Organisational Skills team who visit our Year 7 and 8 students regularly to ensure they're developing skills of independence and organisation; to those parents who offer special skills, like voice lessons for the Musical, or agricultural skills to our Young Farmers — we thank and value each and every one of you.

Our volunteer community is rich with the Mercy Spirit — Catherine would certainly be amazed and humbled by the hospitality our community shows, much like we are. There's no exaggeration when we say that there are a number of events at the College that simply could not go ahead without the generosity of our volunteers. We are forever grateful for everything each of them does.

We are very pleased to announce that this month we launched our first Virtual College Tour.

The tours are led by the Principal Mr Philip Morison and the Registrar Mrs Marilyn Ryan and provide prospective parents and students with a wonderful opportunity to go on a guided walk (virtually) around the College and discover all that it has to offer. There is also a Q&A session hosted by the Principal.

The Virtual College Tour is a small group tour that runs for approximately 30 to 40 minutes. Bookings are now open and you can find all the details and dates HERE.

We look forward to extending a very warm welcome to prospective parents and students to Mount Lilydale Mercy College.

The Instrumental Music lesson program at MLMC ran very differently in Term 2 for our Music tutors and students. With the initial news of having to run Instrumental Music lessons remotely, we were all a bit nervous about how successful this would be, but those feelings quickly vanished.

Thanks to the positive feedback from parents, our Music tutors and online Music lessons flourished and we saw our students’ music skill levels grow as each child was encouraged to be more insightful and adventurous in their music making.

Although there were some glitches with online music lessons, overall with patience and dedication our Music tutors were able to continue teaching. We would like to thank our students, supportive parents and our Instrumental Music tutors for their great work during this time of remote learning.

Remote learning has offered up many challenges to staff and students alike, but the Outdoor Education and the VET Sport and Recreation classes have made the most of this unique situation. The Practice Hike from Home task was initially designed for the Year 10 VET Sport and Recreation students to demonstrate competence in elements and performance criteria as part of their course. It has since spread to incorporate Year 11 VET Sport and Recreation and Year 9 Outdoor Education students.

We may not be able to walk or hike together on our planned hikes in Term 2, but that does not mean we can’t be active, get out walking, prepare for our future hikes and share our experiences.

Students were set the task of completing at least one walk or run a week of 5km or more while carrying a pack. They had to plan, record and share their walks with classmates while also promoting and encouraging physical activity within their households.

Students had to use the Strava app to track and share their activities and get walking. They were also challenged to add more weight to their pack, to go further or do it faster to increase the level of challenge. Health and PE Prefect Bridget Deed has also been giving weekly awards for the greatest distance walked, the best activity title and the most interesting walk.

Students were given more information regarding privacy about the app and safe walking strategies. All students have embraced the Practice Hike from Home task with activities varying from walking, including family walks, running, cycling and even horse riding. One Year 10 student even managed a 70km ride along the Warburton Trail.

Year 7 students have taken some time during remote learning in Term 2 to reflect on what they are grateful for because we thought it was important to express our gratitude in such a negative time. This was done very early in the ‘lockdown’, when there were a lot of ‘unknowns’ and a lot of negativity in the media.

In a time where many privileges were taken away from us, it was important for our youngest students to pay attention to what we had perhaps taken advantage of before – the small things, like playing in a park, for example. We then decided to put the images together into a video for all of the Year 7s so that they could see how many of them shared the same feelings and felt the same gratitude towards similar things. They were not alone.

There were plenty of images of pets, families and friends, one of a doctor, one of our Prime Minister, as well as bikes, shoes, favourite rooms, game controllers, homes and gardens and a few maps of Australia.