Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community

The seasons keep changing and the cycle continues to roll on and perhaps that is the point — when do we stop to reflect on the beauty around us? Whether that be the magnificent storm clouds that form over the Valley or the leaves that will soon be gently falling from our trees. We know that the seasons will continue and that no matter how bad a day you might be having today, the sun will always rise tomorrow. But do we just accept this cycle without ever thinking about it? Probably or probably not? I know having lived in rural communities for many years, amongst many different types of farmers, that the seasons are hugely important.

Is the same true in our Church?

Lent

Just as the seasons of our beautiful earth provide us with sustenance, so too the beautiful seasons of our Church provide a different kind of sustenance.

This last week saw some year levels celebrate Shrove Tuesday with the delight of pancakes. Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Lent starts and is sometimes referred to as Pancake Tuesday. Shrove is derived from the word Shrive, which refers to the preparation for Lent by the confessions of sins. Over the centuries, this day has become one of celebration, like a carnival as people gather to use up all the things that they were not going to eat during Lent.

Lent started with Ash Wednesday, which begins the 40-day preparation for Easter and the Pascal Mystery. As Catholics, we focus on trying to unite with Jesus and the time when He walked the desert for 40 days and nights fasting, praying and preparing. At our College, each year level commenced Lent by attending Ash Wednesday services, prepared and presented by our Year 10 Ministry classes. Ash Wednesday, being a day of fasting, prayer and repentance, is marked by the placement of ashes on the forehead to the words, “repent and believe in the Gospel” or more traditionally, “remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).

Contrary to what some may say, Ash Wednesday is not remembrance observation for the Ash Wednesday of 1983, although the fires that have burnt around us these past weeks do remind us of such tragedy.

Growing up Catholic, surrounded by the Catholic tradition, the question was always asked: “What are you giving up for Lent?” and it is a question still relevant today. Why give up anything at all? Quite simply put, as Catholics we prepare for Easter by doing a range of things to help us focus on the forthcoming Easter Season — we pray, we fast (don’t overindulge and try to eat lighter meals), we abstain (from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday), we repent (focus on how we can become better Christians) and give alms (we support Caritas by donating money). Caritas is the only fundraising we support during Lent.

Having said all of the above, I am aware that many in our Church suffer and feel great pain as a result of recent events. As Catholics, we must focus on the teachings of Jesus and the many great Gospel values He espoused as we prepare to focus on His death and resurrection. Let us pray that all those who suffered as a result of any form of abuse are to find peace and that each gets the help that they need and deserve. With this newsletter, I attach a letter written by Archbishop Comensoli to Parishioners last Sunday. Please take the time to read it.

Social Justice

Last Friday the College stopped in support of our neighbours in Far North Queensland. A casual clothes fundraiser and BBQ lunch was enjoyed by all and we can say with pride that through our efforts we were able to donate $4,410 to the St Vinnies Far North Queensland Flood Appeal. Let us hope that in some small way we have helped or will help families in need at such desperate times. We will revisit this later in the year.

College Family Agreement

Over the last month I have been conducting some College tours and one of the things under discussion was the College Family Agreement, which all families sign on entering MLMC and specifically the clause that states “families agree not to miss more than two consecutive days of school for family holidays”.

The importance of this policy was highlighted to me in a recent article published in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald written by Pallavi Singhai with the heading: “13 per cent of Australian students missing a year of school by year 10”. The article was based on a report by ACARA (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority) and included the following points:

• 13% of Australian students are missing at least a year of school by year 10
• These students are missing at least one day of school a fortnight, they're at least a month behind per year
• That's a huge amount of content you're missing if you're missing a month of school every year and they fall further and further behind because that keeps adding up
• Across Australia, nearly 37% of all year 9 and 10 students missed at least one day a fortnight of school in 2017.

The reality is that in order for students to be successful both socially and academically at school, they need to attend. It is very difficult to maintain continuity with friendship groups and learning if attendance is sporadic. I believe it is also true that a lack of attendance by some students can impact the learning of others. Evidence clearly shows that young people who attend and gain a year 12 qualification or equivalent have better health and employment prospects across their lives, as well as higher incomes.

This is recognised by the Victorian government who in March 2014 introduced legislation which states:

• All children aged 6-17 years are required to either be enrolled at a registered school, or registered for home schooling
• School attendance is mandated under the Education Training and Reform Act 2006. It is the responsibility of parents/ carers to ensure their child regularly attends school.

I urge you to read the attached Victorian Attendance Legislation: Frequently Asked Questions for Parents and Carers document for more information.

Here at MLMC, we recognise the importance of family and that all family circumstances are different, but we also know missing school impacts greatly on educational outcomes. The expected attendance rate at all classes and especially VCE classes is 90%.

If you consider there are 40 teaching weeks across a year, if a child misses one day a fortnight then they will miss 10% of classes, which equates to four weeks of school. Over a six year period that is 24 weeks or more than a semester missed. If a child misses one day a week, that is 20% of classes or more than a year of teaching over the secondary school experience.

As a College we aim to support the development of the whole child, but in order to accomplish this, the student must turn up.

Personal Pars

Members of our community continue to suffer with the passing of loves ones. Let us remember and pray for Vivienne Kettle, grandmother to Justin Beaton (Year 8), who passed after a battle with cancer. Let us pray for the repose of Vivienne’s sole and may she, along with all the faithfully departed, rest in peace.

God bless
Philip A Morison
Principal

In his message for Lent 2019, Pope Francis said: “Let us not allow this season of grace to pass in vain! Let us ask God to help us set out on a path of true conversion. Let us leave behind our selfishness and self-absorption and turn to Jesus’ Pasch. Let us stand beside our brothers and sisters in need, sharing our spiritual and material goods with them. In this way, by concretely welcoming Christ’s victory over sin and death into our lives, we will also radiate its transforming power to all of creation.”

Prayer
Lord,
I am not always eager to do your will.
I would often much rather do my own will.
Please be with me on this Lenten journey
and help me to remember
that your own spirit can guide me
in the right direction.
I want to fix my weaknesses
but the task seems overwhelming.
But I know that with your help,
anything can be done.
With a grateful heart,
I acknowledge your love
and know that without you, I can do nothing.
Amen

The Doyle Centre was packed on Wednesday 27 February as we gathered in the evening for our annual Community Mass. Father Dean blessed the Year 7 and 12 students and all the new students and their families joining the MLMC community this year across all year levels.

Father Dean spoke about new beginnings and the opportunity each of us has to grow in wisdom every day. He encouraged us to live out our values and referred to the much loved quote from Catherine McAuley "The simplest and most practical lesson I know...is to resolve to be good today and better tomorrow".

The Principal Mr Philip Morison spoke about this year's theme of compassion and the role it plays in our daily lives stressing that "Compassion is in the doing — it is about action". He explained that "It is far more than a feeling, far more than sympathy. Compassion is being with someone at their time of need and so much so that you shoulder their pain. Compassion is being with, in and for that other person. Compassion is providing the shoulders to bear the load. Compassion is doing the heavy lifting".

The Year 12 students were presented with their Year 12 badges and the Year 7 students received a Bible. We thank everyone who came along to join us in this important community celebration and we wish each and every student and their families, a wonderful year ahead.

A big thank you to the students of the Year 10 CSYMA classes who prepared, facilitated and led our Ash Wednesday Year Level Liturgies this week to commence our Lenten season at the College in readiness for Easter. All students and staff were blessed with a drama presentation, prayers, reflections and songs — which was followed by the opportunity to receive the 'ashes'. Class Captains also received their Project Compassion boxes for fundraising and project awareness.

Class Captains were announced at the Year 10 Assembly and they were presented with their badges on Tuesday. Afterwards the Year 10s celebrated Shrove Tuesday, with some delicious pancakes prepared by a team of teachers.

In February our Year 7s made the most of their opportunity to bond with their new classmates and Homeroom teachers when they went on a three-day camp. From 11-13 February, the Gold, Purple, White, Orange and Red Homerooms were on camp, while from 13-15 February it was camp time for Blue, Bronze, Green, Jade and Silver.

Here are some student reflections of their camp experience:

I had an amazing time at Year 7 Camp. My class and 7 Bronze, in which I knew a few people, went to Camp Gundiwindi in Wandin. This camp is a really good time to make new friends. My favourite part was the campfire on the Thursday night — we could do some acts, so my friends and I did ‘Footloose’ and finished second. During the first two days we did some activities like giant swing, initiative course, making damper, archery, flying fox and ropes course. We also had to bring in something special to show our class so they know a little bit more about us. We had to make a class banner as well — ‘At 7 Blue we are cheerful and true!’.
— Emma Violi (7 Blue)

My class travelled to Camp Gundiwindi and my friends and I had fun and laughs while we were in the cabin together. Daytime activities were so much fun. My favourites were the giant swing, flying fox and the ropes course. It was also enjoyable to have the night-time activities, and jumping into the freezing pool was a bunch of laughs. Playing with the blue-tongued lizards and yabbies was one of the best things to do in my free time with friends. Now I know my class so much better.
— Samantha White (7 Blue)

I loved camp so much, it was a great experience. The activities are great — we did the giant swing, crate stack, initiative course, banner making, high ropes and the bring something special activity. My favourite ones were crate stack and the giant swing. I also enjoyed playing games with the Peer Support Leaders and playing basketball.
— John Foran (7 Green)

I really enjoyed school camp and my favourite activity was the giant swing. It was so exhilarating because you didn’t swing straight away, you had a 12m or so free fall before you were caught and then you started swinging. I do wish that I could have gone on the giant swing more than once, though. It was a very enjoyable camp.
— Jesse Greening (7 Green)

In January I was lucky enough to join in with the Archdiocese of Melbourne’s Pilgrimage to World Youth Day Panama, as one of 18 teachers sponsored by Catholic Education Melbourne. This pilgrimage took us first to Mexico, then Panama and finally to Houston, USA. It was nothing short of a life-shaping experience. I say life-shaping quite deliberately, as I would not say I am a completely changed person but rather that I have returned reignited and passionate, invigorated and enriched in almost every aspect of my life.

I had very little idea of what to expect, having never travelled overseas or experienced any sort of pilgrimage before. I quickly learned that the word ‘pilgrim’ means to walk. I walked with some of the most vibrant youth members of the church, having the most incredible discussions about God and faith and hearing people’s stories as our Fitbits exceeded 20,000 steps on an average day. I also had my expectations of the church challenged in some of the most unexpected ways.

I soon realised that I didn’t have to fit into any stereotype of what a Catholic should look like, or pretend to know more than I did or be anything than just me, as I walked in the hot sun next to our Archbishop Peter Comensoli in his daggy shorts and T-shirt. On day one, Archbishop Peter made it clear that wherever we were on our faith journey, we were wanted and loved. He proved this every day as we became more and more comfortable asking question after question, inquiring about things that many of us had never felt we could admit to not knowing before.

I saw the church in a new light. I saw the dedication people have to their faith and it made me wonder about my own commitment and if I, too, had the same strength behind my belief in God. I entered this experience feeling a little daunted by the number of religious experiences ahead, yet returned itching to recount every one of them to as many people as would listen. I saw the excitement that Mass, Adoration, Liturgy and Catechesis brought to people and enjoyed every minute of it myself. I went to 18 Masses in 18 days across three different languages and felt such a sense of peace and belonging, like being at home. We had Mass in Basilicas and Cathedrals, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the Chapel of the Rosary (which is an eighth Wonder of the World), in local parishes, in humble village churches, in carparks, in parkland, on the land for a future housing estate, at an airport, and by a hotel pool. This isn’t what I expected, or how I thought Mass was meant to be, but it reminded me that when two or more people gather in God’s name, He is there.

It is not just the memories of this experience that I bring back home with me, but the lessons I learned that I cannot wait to share. I remember being overcome with the challenge the theme of this World Youth Day placed before me: ‘Dare to say yes’, as Mary did. I remember the tears of frustration as I prayed to God and told him just how hard that can be. I learnt that God calls me to be strong, even though that is hard, and have since heard that same lesson echoed in conversations with others since I returned. I remember the love I felt emanating from our Holy Father each time he drove past me and the sheer awe I felt as I leaned against the gate only two metres away from him.

I remember thinking ‘that is the peace God will send to me when I say yes,’ and knowing that I need to say yes each day to each challenge that comes my way. But through all of this, the greatest lesson I learnt is to love every day and be grateful for all the good in it, regardless of how much bad there is. No matter how much chaos enters my life, I am called to see the good, to see God and be thankful, and this I see every day in the faces of those I interact with at MLMC, and I hope to help them see it, too, even when it is hard.

Student Attendance Requirements and Sign Out Process
We would like to remind all students and parents that students are required to have a minimum of 90% attendance for each of their subjects and Homeroom. The College also has a responsibility and duty of care toward all students, and therefore needs to be aware of students coming on to or leaving the property.

Usually, students use the Early Leaver Pass process (supported with a parent note, which needs to be approved by a Year Level Leader) when they know in advance when they may need to leave the College early. However, we need to remind students that if this is not arranged beforehand, they cannot simply call parents, friends or family to come and collect them.

For whatever reason they need to leave early (poor health, medical appointments, etc.) students must sign out at Student Reception, after first visiting either their Year Level Leader or First Aid (who, if necessary, will contact their parents for confirmation) to seek approval. We ask parents, too, that if they do receive such a call from their child, that they please check and confirm with Student Reception that their child has approval to leave the College or if there are other issues they need to be made aware of.

Important dates

Monday 11 March - Labour Day public holiday

Friday 29 March - MLMC Athletics Carnival

Tuesday 2 April - Student free day (student progress interviews)

Thursday 4 April - Term 1 concludes for all students

Studiosity
Studiosity is a new service provided by the College in 2019 to students in Years 9 to 12 via our Learning Management System SIMON, which lets your child ask a question and get help after hours from a real subject specialist as soon as they need help. This includes gaining help at times when teachers aren’t available, such as when a student is at home in the evenings, on weekends, over holidays or even on the bus or train. The College is investing in this service because educational research tells us that feedback — especially personal feedback at exactly the right time — helps students become more successful and confident.

The subject teacher will still remain the first point of contact for your son or daughter when it comes to their learning. The Studiosity service is very different to the guidance, leadership, and curriculum delivery provided by your child’s subject teachers. Studiosity helps build students’ thinking and problem-solving skills, provides support after hours and enables them to tackle any frustrations immediately, without delay.

Over the coming weeks Mrs Joanna Egan (McAuley Campus Learning Advisor) and Miss Simone Esmonde (Barak Campus Learning Advisor) will be launching this service with students at each campus.

Edrolo
Since 2018 students studying VCE subjects have had access to the Edrolo resource. For parents who are new to VCE at the College, Edrolo is an online resource designed to provide students with engaging, informative and comprehensive presentations to help them understand and learn key components of VCE courses in addition to the learning that occurs within the classroom. Teachers are encouraging students to use this resource to supplement their classroom learning and, in particular, to complete past examination-style questions. Edrolo supports the subjects listed below:

Interim Reports
Interim Reports for all students will be available on the Parent Access Module (PAM) from Monday 18 March. This report is an indication of the current academic standard and work habits being displayed by your child so far this year. ‘Satisfactory’ indicates that your child is currently meeting VicCurriculum, VCAL or VCE requirements for this semester at each year level. Families can access these reports using the normal PAM log in process.

Student Progress Interviews
The Parent/Teacher Subject Interviews for students in Years 7-12 are being held at the following times:

• Monday 1 April — 4.00pm to 8.00pm
• Tuesday 2 April — 10.00am to 8.00pm

Parents and students are invited to book interviews online with subject teachers via the Parent Teacher Interviews link on PAM. Parents will be able to make bookings between the following times:

• Unit 3 Subjects — Monday 18 March until Friday 29 March at 1.00pm
• Years 7 to 11 — Monday 25 March until Friday 29 March at 1.00pm

If you experience any difficulty making bookings, please contact the College Office on 9735 4022 for assistance.

Advice for Parents

You may have recently heard or read about various online challenges aimed at children, young people, and other vulnerable members of the community. One of these challenges, called the 'Momo Challenge’, encourages viewers to self-harm, and it is embedded within otherwise innocuous YouTube videos, etc., with advice on ways to self-harm.

Below is some advice for parents from the eSafety Commissioner. Please read through it carefully, monitor your own child's access/usage of social media outside of school hours and let our Counselling and Wellbeing staff know if your child has been adversely affected or influenced by this online content.

Advice from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner (28 February 2019):
It is concerning when young people have been exposed to any content that scares them or plays on their emotions, like those reported via the Momo Challenge. Unfortunately, the Momo Challenge is not the first, nor will it be the last, harmful online ‘challenge’ or phenomenon to target our children.

Our research shows 81% of parents hand their child an internet-connected device by the age of four, so active parental engagement and oversight of a child’s online activities is critical from the start, to help ensure they are prepared for what they may encounter. As young people often do not have the maturity or judgement to cope with confronting content online, it’s important to guide and instil critical reasoning skills so they are aware that not everything they see or receive online is real.

We encourage parents to co-view, co-play, ask questions about the games and apps they are using, and let them know you are there to support them if they are upset or uncomfortable about anything they see online.

Five top tips to help limit your child’s exposure to harmful content online:

• Engage in your child’s online activities — ask what apps, sites and games they’re using and make sure they’re age-appropriate
• Use parental controls on devices to help limit what your child is exposed to
• Let them know not everything they see online is real or true
• Help them report and block upsetting content they see on social media sites or apps
• Let them know they can come to you about anything upsetting they see online, and to contact Kids Helpline (Phone: 1800 55 1800) if they need further support.

Parents concerned their child has been exposed to the Momo Challenge, or other upsetting content should:

• Ask their child if they have come across or heard about Momo
• If they have, ask how it made them feel
• Reassure them they are safe and do not have to participate in the ‘challenge’
• Let them know they can come to you about anything they see online that makes them feel upset or uncomfortable, and contact Kids Helpline if they need further support.

Parents who are concerned their child may be susceptible to self-harm should be aware of the signs to look out for and know where to go for help. Find further information HERE

We encourage parents to visit the eSafety website for information and advice on keeping your child safe online.

It was a glorious sunny day for the annual MLMC Swimming Carnival which was held on Friday 22 February at Lilydale Outdoor Pool. We would like to thank the students for their excellent participation, enthusiasm and the positivity they displayed throughout the entire day. We would especially like to acknowledge our Year 7 students who had the most swimmers in the pool throughout the day!

In addition, we would like to thank our sporting and house prefects for their support and commitment towards the day running smoothly - they were definitely the stars of the day! Congratulations to the swimmers who have advanced to the EISM swimming carnival and will be competing on the 12th of March.

And....the winner for 2019 is Maguire!!

The Year 7 Purple Mathematics class the students recently completed a unit on statistics focusing on dot plots which are a graphical display of data using dot pots.

On Thursday 28 February, during a double lesson, the class decided that rather then working with dot plots from the textbook they would go and make their own human dot plot. The Class made three dot plots in total. The information collected was in response to the question ‘What is your favourite food out of an apple, a Mars Bar, a Twix, a Cherry Ripe and a Milky Way?’

The aim of this exercise was to allow the students to remember what a dot plot looks like and that they were part of one. The photos below show the the popularity of a Twix chocolate bar!

Our Intermediate VCAL students were involved in the annual VCAL Amazing Race Day in Melbourne’s CBD on Tuesday 19 February, which is part of a unit on leadership in which students explore the characteristics of people in leadership roles.

The students distinguish between different leadership styles, and identify methods for motivating others. To reflect on their own leadership styles they are encouraged to identify interpersonal skills that are used by people in leadership roles and identify responsibilities of a leader.

The Amazing Race gives students the opportunity to put into practice what they have learned about leadership and working in teams. Students worked in groups of four to five and were required to follow clues, which led them between checkpoints in the city, similar to the television show The Amazing Race. At various checkpoints students were required to answer questions and complete physical challenges to progress.

Congratulations to the winners Casey McMaster, Caitlyn Gervasoni, Tom Clements, and Maclaren Cooper, and the runners-up Tom Whitaker, Logan Watson, Harry Orme, Madeline Stokes, and Lachlan Cox.

Intermediate VCAL students will now move onto the next unit, Catapult Clash. A significant part of this unit involves students working in teams to construct catapults and targets. I look forward to seeing how students develop their leadership skills and learn new skills in this next new and exciting challenge.

Come and join us at the Year 7 Picnic. It's a very informal evening where parents can pack a picnic to bring to school, meet and greet other families and take a seat on the grassed area. Staff and Peer Support Leaders will run a few quick games (for about 45 minutes), but the rest of the time is available for mingling and eating. The annual picnic allows parents and guardians of Year 7 students to meet each other, fostering a sense of community at MLMC.

When: Friday 15 March
Time: 5.00pm-7.00pm
Where: grassed area behind the old gym (evacuation area).

We would love to see you there!

Year 8 Results 26 February

Senior Results 27 February

Year 9 Results 28 February - HEAT OUT

Year 8 Results 5 March

Senior Results 6 March

Year 9 Results 7 March

If you have any student achievements, please email them to dwebb@mlmc.vic.edu.au

The Lenten season has begun, starting with Ash Wednesday, which saw the launch of Project Compassion. The theme for Project Compassion 2019 is based around hope and giving Lent 100%.

Hope is one of the three pillars of Christian virtue. Money raised is sent to communities who are living in poverty and assists them with access to clean and safe drinking water, education and an overall better standard of living — things that we don't often stop to appreciate.

Project Compassion is run through Caritas Australia, a program which works through the principles and practice of community development, supporting people to help themselves out of poverty, hunger and injustice.

Money raised is sent to 25 different countries including Australia, Kenya, Uganda, Cambodia, India, Fiji, Samoa and other places in Africa, Asia and Pacific Island nations. We ask you to please donate generously in your Homeroom boxes to this Lenten appeal.

Spectrum Journeys and Amaze are two community resources that MLMC access to help build our teachers' understanding of Autism and Autistic persons. These two organisations have information sessions coming up and the Spectrum Journeys webinars are free, which may assist if you have a child who is Autistic (particularly a female teenager).

We would love to help link families to more community resources, so if you, or anyone you know, has links to other community resources we could share, please feel free to email Mrs Anne Cochrane at acochrane@mlmc.vic.edu.au

Amaze

A session called ‘Raising Autistic Teenage Girls’ will be held on Thursday 21 March at Glen Eira Town Hall about empowering autistic girls, parents and professionals to thrive. It will feature psychologists Dr Michael Carr-Greg and Dr Janine Manjiviona, autism self-advocate Chloe Hayden and Vanessa Thomas from Family Planning Victoria. For details, see the flyer attached. For tickets and further information, visit raisingautisticteenagegirls.eventbrite.com.au

Spectrum Journeys

Spectrum Journeys has just celebrated six years as a service and to celebrate they have produced a series of webinars to support people. In particular they hope these webinars will support families in regional areas and give practical strategies for the classroom, in meetings and for the home. The webinars are free, thanks to the support of The Andrews Foundation. The webinars address three very different topics, but throughout, the goal is to amplify strengths, see children on the Spectrum flourish and for carers and parents to gain valuable tools.

You will need these codes to access the webinars in March:
Unpacking ASD HERE
Communication HERE
Pre-teen Girls HERE

If you would like more information about Sepctrum's services or would like to provide feedback on the webinars please email info@spectrumjourneys.org.au

Enormous work continues in the field of neuroscience and for very good reasons. Neuroscience is the study of the brain and its impact on behaviour, cognitive function and neurological dysfunction. As practitioners in the field of Psychology, we are always fascinated as to how the brain works and what helps improve our capacity to think, remember and learn.

Therefore, we are interested to hear and listen from experts in the field. Genazzano College in Kew has organised for a guest speaker, neuroscientist Dr Jared Cooney Horvath, to make a presentation on Thursday 21 March about how memory works and look at four techniques to help you remember better.

For further information, see the attached flyer.