Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community,

It is cold. Welcome to winter and the much-needed rain.

Over the past fortnight the College has been celebrating National Reconciliation Week, with the theme this year ‘Grounded in Truth: Walk Together in Courage’. This theme was announced by Karen Mundine, CEO of Reconciliation Australia, who said: “Reconciliation is ultimately about relationships and like all effective relationships the one between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians must be grounded in truth. There can be no trust without an honest, open conversation about our history.” (reconciliation.org.au)

Reconciliation is an important concept within the Catholic tradition and it is important that we reconcile with our Australian Indigenous people. All students within Religious Education classes have been invited to write a prayer or promise on Australian Indigenous symbols and animals, which are on display outside of the College Chapel. The week finished with a Reconciliation Liturgy at the start of lunchtime today.

A group of staff and students trekked into the city and Federation Square last Saturday to walk with Michael Long in the 15th anniversary celebration of ‘The Long Walk’ in the ‘Walk together to Dreamtime at the ‘G’. It was very pleasing to see our College banner present. A group of our Year 9 students also travelled to Aquinas College on Tuesday 28 May to participate in their Long Walk memorial.

Furthermore, last Tuesday, a group of staff and students participated in the Reconciliation Cup at Worawa College, whereby our girls are to be congratulated on winning both the football and netball trophies.

I am proud that reconciliation is highlighted within our community and that we are making steps and gestures in moving forward in our commitment.

Family Week

Last week, the College celebrated Catholic Care’s Family Week with the theme ‘Building Connections in the Spirit of Hope’, with the idea that we are best when we are connected. How can hope be strengthened within families, schools and Parishes? Hope is so very important in our lives because we are called to be people of hope. I have admitted freely in the past that one of my favourite biblical references is: "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love". (1 Cor 13:13). I do not know how you could love without hope.

Family Week has been highlighted by fundraising activities in the Ministry Lounge and discussions in classrooms about the work and purpose of Catholic Care.

City Experience

Over the last few days, our Year 10 students have been participating in the City Experience program, whereby they spend two days experiencing Melbourne. The program is not about being a tourist, but rather an important extension of the challenges given to the students through the Year 9 Camp experience . While this Year 10 challenge is not a physical one, as was their experience in Year 9, it is instead a situational resilience and independence-building exercise.

Students were asked to complete several activities in groups. Firstly, they completed the Great MLMC Race where they were challenged to find some landmarks in the city of Melbourne. They had to orientate themselves to the city, learn a bit of the history and take themselves out of their comfort zones and build their problem-solving skills along the way. They also visited a number of landmarks.

The staff do a fantastic job on planning the City Experience, ensuring the safety of our students while providing this rare opportunity. We must continually challenge our students to be their best and then give their best.

Annual Report to the College Community

Each year at about this time, the College is required to produce a report entitled Annual Report to the School Community. This is done to meet compliance and registration protocols, so the format is fairly regulated. At the same time it is a report of interest and it is worth reading. We no longer produce hard copies of this report, but you can access it HERE.

God bless
Philip A Morison
Principal

Hosts for exchange students

Each year the College offers families the opportunity to host an exchange student from overseas. If your son or daughter is studying Italian, hosting an exchange student from Italy is an excellent way for your child to practice their language skills. If you are interested, please contact me via email to jrodgers@mlmc.vic.edu.au

World’s Greatest Shave — 7 June

Members of the College's Student Representative Council (SRC) have been busily collecting donations for the Leukaemia Foundation as part of the upcoming World's Greatest Shave event. Read more about our Principal, Mr Phil Morison, myself and other staff putting their beards on the line for a good cause HERE.

Attendance

Although Maths, English and other subjects are important to the development of your child, going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Something new is taught at school each and every day. By being at school each day your child will not only learn skills to help them become independent thinkers and learners, but they will also develop social and emotional skills that assist in good communication, resilience and teamwork.

If, for some reason, your child does not want to go to school, it is important to find out the reason and then work with the College to work on solutions. It is important to keep communication channels open by talking to your child’s homeroom teacher. Please remember, there is no safe number of days for missing school. Each day a student misses puts them behind.

Screen time

I am sure you are aware of the many articles surrounding students and screen time. Like many parents, you may be trying to work out what is a healthy balance. Many of you may not be sure how much your child is actually looking at a screen, be it a computer, phone or some other electronic device. An article from the Royal Children’s Hospital (a few years old now) indicates that “teenagers spend most amount of time on a screen-based device at home, of any age group, at almost 44 hours on average per week — more than the time equivalent of a full-time job”. Is this your child? Are you keeping a record of just how much time is spent on a screen-based device?

If you would like to read this article, it can be found HERE.

Year 7 enrolments for 2021

Please note applications for Year 7 students for 2021 will be closing soon. If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact Terry Hill or Marilyn Ryan in the Registrar’s office on 9735 4022.

Car parking and drop-off areas

Please be mindful that some streets surrounding the College are sign posted 'no standing' in what is traditionally drop-off and pick-up times. Parking inspectors have been active in the area, photographing cars that stop to drop off students.

Week of Prayer for Reconciliation (27 May-3 June)

The Week of Prayer for Reconciliation and National Reconciliation Week is held each year between 27 May and 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey — the anniversaries of the successful 1967 Referendum and the Mabo decision.

As an initiative of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (now Reconciliation Australia) and communities of faith across the country, the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation was established in 1993 and continues to receive strong support from faith communities. The week-long event has been celebrated nationally across the general community since 1996 when it evolved into National Reconciliation Week.

Walk as one prayer

God creator spirit, walk with us and give us the
strength to stand for life, in the face of destruction
and greed of the earth.

Teach us to be respectful and gracious for all that our
land and waters provide.

Instil in us the spirit of unity with our indigenous
sisters and brothers from around the world. Lord, with
your grace, help us to endure the challenges placed
before us and our earth. Let us take time to reflect on
the spiritual connection to our lands and the fragility
and beauty of mother earth.

With your love and spirit, let us walk together in unity,
peace and harmony on these great lands.
God, strengthen our love and respect for each other
and our connections to country and all creation.

We pray, as one global family, for a safe and just world
for our children and our children’s children. Let us
bring your love to all people.

Amen

Our Year 7 students visited St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne and the Academy of Mary Immaculate in Fitzroy in the past week. The aim of the excursion was to deepen their individual knowledge and understanding of the oldest Mercy all-girls college in Melbourne (founded in 1857) and the epicentre of the Catholic faith for our Archdiocese. They represented MLMC extremely well, displaying terrific behaviour and pride in wearing their uniform.

Here are some reflections from Year 7 Red students:

My two favourite things were the chapel in the Academy of Mary Immaculate and all the information found in the Cathedral.
— Kaijah Holmes

I really liked the stained-glass windows at St Patrick’s because they were so beautiful. I enjoyed learning about the history of Sister Ursula Frayne (at the Academy), too.
— Jordyn Kelly

I learnt that there are a lot of cool, very interesting things in St Patrick’s Cathedral.
— Jack Parker

I learnt that gargoyles on the roof protect our Cathedral and that Frayne House is named after Sister Ursula Frayne, a Mercy Sister.
— Gemma Williams

I learnt that the Academy of Mary Immaculate has been a school longer than Australia has been a Commonwealth.
— Sienna Finger

St Patrick’s Cathedral looked magnificent. I cannot believe that Sister Ursula Frayne is buried underneath the Academy school chapel.
— Tyson Fitzgerald

Each year MLMC is given the opportunity to strengthen relationships with our Indigenous neighbours at Worawa College in Healesville at a sports carnival. This year’s carnival was held on Tuesday 21 May and MLMC had girls’ football and netball teams competing for the Reconciliation Cup.

The day began with something special — a traditional smoking ceremony, where all schools were welcomed. Shortly after, the games began.

First up, the MLMC girls’ football team played against Worawa and through hard work MLMC won and qualified for the grand final. The netball team had eight games to play and won seven of these to also qualify for the finals.

The first final was in football, where we played local rivals Lilydale High School. It was a tough match, but the MLMC girls played extremely well and won — taking home the trophy for the first time. Matilda Kelly (Year 11 Gold) was awarded best on ground honours.

In the netball finals, MLMC claimed a win against the boys team and a close two-point win in the grand final against Beaconhills College.

Sports stars from a variety of sports were also at the carnival, including netball players from the Melbourne Vixens and Hawthorn Football Club AFL and VFLW players.

Thank you to our coaches for the day — Ms Elizabeth Keogh, Miss Serena Gibbs and Old Collegian Emerson Woods. It was a great day full of fun and culture for everyone and we are keen to get back there next year!

Library and Information Week recognises the services libraries provide to society and was celebrated nationally from 20 to 24 May. The theme was 'truth, integrity, knowledge', highlighting the ways libraries support these aspects in a society where information is easily created, distributed and accessed.

Library and Information Week 2019 at MLMC saw students coming together in McAuley Library to have some fun with library and literary-based word searches. Students expressed their creative talents making mini notebooks using techniques from origami and kirigami. Chess Club was popular, with students learning a new strategy followed by playing friendly chess matches.

Daily quiz questions and the regular lunchtime library quiz were popular activities. The topic for the latest lunchtime library quiz was Disney/Pixar movies. Eight teams participated and the two winning teams were The Incredibles and Tissue. The winners each received a Collins gift card.

Barak Library was the venue for a book chat hosted by the College's English Prefect, Meg Thompson (pictured below). The book chat provided students and staff with the opportunity to discuss books they have been reading and preview new library books.

Here Meg writes about the book chat:

It was great to see some of the younger students getting involved and discussing some of their favourite books. It was also great to see Mr Banfield discuss one of his favourite books.

`The Green House effect — who said it’s bad?’ is MLMC’s entry in a Victorian Government competition with up to $5000 of assistance from the Back to Earth Initiative up for grabs. Voting runs until midnight on Sunday 9 June. You can view all nominations and vote for our project on the Back to Earth website HERE.

The Back to Earth Initiative puts green waste to good use, creating compost to help farms, gardens and community spaces bloom. To celebrate the launch of the Back to Earth Initiative in Melbourne's east, early learning centres, schools and community groups in the participating councils nominated a garden or environmental project.

One project will win $5000, while five runners-up (one from each of the five participating councils) will win $1000.

The College has a strong focus on educating students to be responsible global citizens. This teaching takes the form of class-based theory lessons but, more practically, is explored within the school's Agriculture and Horticulture, Science and VCAL classes, the Sustainability group and the Duke of Edinburgh Award groups as well as numerous other subject areas across the curriculum.

MLMC's entry sees students design and construct a greenhouse from new and reclaimed materials to grow and propagate seedlings. Food waste, using 'Back to Earth' principles, are collected from the school’s canteen, playground bins, food technology kitchens, staff rooms and horticulture plots and converted into compost.

Potting mix and compost are then used to plant up the propagated seedlings into larger pots. The project aims to make a difference, by educating staff and students by developing skills that address environmental challenges, promote attitudes to make informed decisions and act in ways that are beneficial to our community and environment.

Students will also explore sustainability with a specific focus on food production. An essential component of the process is the collection and reuse of rainwater.

Please vote for our project! Voting runs until midnight on Sunday 9 June. You can view all nominations and vote for the MLMC project HERE

The College will host its World's Greatest Shave event on Friday 7 June and members of the College's Student Representative Council (SRC) have been busily collecting donations for the Leukaemia Foundation, raising money in a bid to help researchers to find a cure for blood cancer.

This year our Principal, Mr Philip Morison, has put his beard on the line, challenging students to raise $2000. Myself and two teachers — Mr Dan Kelly and Mr Greg Hysted — are also sacrificing our beards. Get behind this great cause and donate a few dollars and help the SRC shave off those beards.

A permission form for students to participate by having a $5 hair colour or a $10 No.2 buzz cut is now on PAM. Permission forms must be signed before students can participate.

These brave staff members (pictured) will lose their beards if the following amounts are reached:

• Mr Dan Kelly: $500
• Mr Greg Hysted: $750
• Mr John Rodgers: $1000
• AND MR PHILIP MORISON: $2000.

Please support this wonderful fundraiser and help us reach our target of $2000 for the Leukaemia Foundation.

Year 10 and Year 11 VCE Dance students hit the stage of Centennial Hall on Wednesday 22 May as part of their Unit 1 and 3 studies, with each of the students tasked with creating a technique solo showcasing their individual strengths, their knowledge and muscle movement.

The Unit 3 students will perform the solos externally at the end of the year with the scores contributing to their VCE results and ATAR scores. The two Unit 3 students performed a jazz routine and a contemporary dance, while the Unit 1 students showcased their talents with a tap routine and a contemporary dance.

The four girls also performed a group dance to Pink’s song What About Us. The group dance is a requirement of the Dance study design and requires students to work together — a highly-regarded skill in the dance industry.

Inspirational guest speaker Sam Clear returned to MLMC on Tuesday 28 May to speak to the Year 10 cohort and facilitate a day of reflection. Sam undertook a journey from the westernmost point of South America to the westernmost point of Europe starting in 2006 — almost all of it on foot. He had 11 near-death experiences as he walked from one side of the world to the other over 568 days.

Having become increasingly frustrated by the hostility between the Christian churches, the walk was Sam’s way of trying to bring harmony and unity to those who shared a faith in Christ but disagreed on how that could best be done.

His presentation mixed anecdotes with opportunities for the students to ask questions, allowing them to discuss what had challenged their thoughts and what they felt was important to them about what he had shared. Each student received a business card — an invitation to pray for church unity at 4.01pm everyday. His passionate storytelling both captivated and inspired our Year 10 cohort.

Sam's stories revealed the nature of God's call to him, things that he learnt from those along the journey and privations he endured. His heartfelt tales shone like a beacon for all who heard him, showing a great example of how each of us can be people of faith and integrity.

Jaimee Strachan (Year 10 Green) writes about the presentation:

Sam is a very inspiring man. He learnt about something from a very young age and it didn’t sit well with him. He was uncomfortable with the disunity within the churches. So he set out and walked around the world. He had a lot to share with us, including what he witnessed every time he walked into a new town with a new church and discovering the disunity there. He talked about the many times when he nearly gave up, how he prayed and God gave him a sign. He didn’t only shed a light on the continuing disunity in the church, he also showed us that God will always be there for us.

On Saturday 25 May, a contingent of MLMC students and staff united behind our College banner and walked in support of reconciliation from Federation Square to the MCG prior to the Dreamtime at the 'G AFL game between Essendon and Richmond. It was part of the annual ‘We Walk Together’ event.

A group of Year 11 and 12 students and teachers met at Federation Square. While there they were entertained by indigenous performers and they heard speeches from former Essendon player Michael Long and both the Premier of Victoria Mr Daniel Andrews and the Prime Minister Mr Scott Morrison, before walking to the MCG.

The Long Walk is a charity inspired by Mr Long’s November 2004 walk from the suburbs of Melbourne to Parliament House in Canberra to get Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues back on the national agenda and meet with then Prime Minister John Howard to discuss his concerns. His walk became a mission of hope and a vehicle allowing Australians to express their commitment to reconciliation and a united Australia. He plans to walk to Canberra again.

The Year 10, 11 and 12 Drama students presented their ensemble performances to an audience of family and friends on Thursday 23 May. The performances were based on the topic of 'narcissism', and were a result of three months of work by the class.

Students were required to create their performances completely from scratch, starting off by researching the topic intensely, brainstorming ideas for a performance, writing and rehearsing a script and, finally, presenting it at a formal performance evening for assessment. It was a successful evening, with the students using performance as a way of exploring social issues.

(1) Student Achievements

Basketball
Congratulations to Brody Harrison (Year 8 Blue) who will travel to Spain in June to represent Victoria in the Under 15 basketball team. We wish you all the very best, Brody! Brody is pictured in the gallery below.

(2) Staff Achievements

Bodybuilding
Congratulations to Maddy Fitzpatrick who has recently competed in the ANB Melbourne titles and the All Female Classic bodybuilding competitions, where she placed third and fourth respectively. Well done, Maddy!

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

(3) Cross country training

It’s that time of year again — cross country running season! Training began this week, with carnivals to be run in Term 3. Commendations will be awarded for training milestones. Training days and times are as follows:

• Monday afternoons (3.30-4.30pm)
• Wednesday mornings (7.00-8.00am), with breakfast provided afterwards.

For details about cross country training, please contact Ms Webb in the Doyle Centre.

(4) EISM Reminders

With the Winter seasons of Year 8, 9 and Senior EISM Sport all about to begin, please remember the following:

• Check the sport plans — up on the Doyle Centre window at the beginning of every week
• If you are unable to play in your team in a particular week, you need to let your coach know as early as possible
• Please be on time to the Doyle Centre on your sport day. All EISM teams need to leave at the start of lunch to get to venues to play
• Your uniform needs to be 100% correct to ensure no forfeited games — hockey, soccer and football must wear long navy socks (available at the Doyle Centre) and mouthguards must be worn for hockey. NO CORRECT UNIFORM, NO GAME.

Live fixtures for EISM matches can be found online at eism.org — click on ‘weekly sport’, then ‘Junior’ (Year 8) or ‘Senior/Intermediate’ (Year 9 and Senior). E = Eastern division (MLMC is in this section).

(5) EISM Results

Year 8 (21 May)

Senior (22 May)

Year 9 (23 May)

Year 8 (28 May)

Senior (29 May)

Year 9 (30 May)