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NEWSLETTER

ISSUE 1-3 8th March 2019

FROM THE PRINCIPAL Our Vision

Mercy Regional College serves a wide rural community which values growth and diversity in Catholic Education in the Mercy tradition.

Our Mission In the Spirit of the Gospels we commit ourselves to the core values of community, inclusiveness,

learning, care, justice and mercy, excellence and achievement.

Today is International Women’s Day, a celebration of all the women have achieved over the past few decades and

a reminder of the work still to be done to ensure that women and girls receive equitable treatment in all things – wages, education, access to health care.

Today’s prayer highlights the challenges that girls and women may face;

“Better the Balance, better the world”

Dear God, creator of women in your own image,

born of a woman in the midst of a world half women, carried by women to mission fields around the globe,

made known by women to all the children of the earth, give to the women of our time the strength to persevere,

the courage to speak out, the faith to believe in you beyond all systems and institutions.

So that your face on earth may be seen in all its beauty,

so that men and women become whole, so that the church may be converted to your will in everything and in all ways.

We call on the holy women who went before us, channels of Your Word in testaments old and new,

to intercede for us so that we might be given the grace

to become what they have been, for the honour and glory of God.

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By God’s Mercy, we have been given this work to do.

For me this signifies three main aspects – empowerment, compassion and purpose – and this is how I relate it to

my ‘work’. Empowerment to empower students every day of the week, by providing that little bit of

encouragement and self-belief. Compassion demonstrated in the way a person of Mercy works with others and in the respect that individuals show to one another. All the while working towards achieving our shared purpose – to

teach and to learn.

For me my ‘work’ is summed up as:

• Helping students narrow down their future pathways with subject and class selections

• Providing opportunities for students to achieve both within and outside the classroom, and helping them get there, and

• Creating a safe and supportive environment that is conducive to learning.

Although ‘work’ is often used negatively, I thoroughly enjoy my role and the benefits it brings. It allows me to get to know students on another level – hearing their ideas for the future, likes/dislikes and working with their families

to support their education. The best part of my ‘work’ though would definitely be having a joke, a laugh and sharing a smile with the many wonderful students that walk in our classrooms every day.

~ Jacqui Hester – Head of Teaching & Learning for Middle School ~

Partners in Learning: Our focus in Learning and Teaching at Mercy is always guided by the valued relationships we have between

parents, students and staff. In 2018 we continued to pursue personalised learning for students, based on data, assessment and teacher professional knowledge. Our staff spend a lot of time collaborating in teams and

reflecting on their own practice to ensure we deliver the best programs for our students, your children. Please read

further in the newsletter more details on: Assessment, Exams and reporting, and Homework.

Mercy Parents’ Consultative Group Over the last few years, the Principal of Mercy has worked with a group of parents from across our region in the

Mercy Parents Consultative Group (PCG). This group comes together once a term to provide advice to the Principal

on issues currently under discussion in school, to offer suggestions on areas of improvement and to continue to build the fundamental partnership between parents, families and school. Our first meeting for 2019 is being held

on Monday 12th March in the McAuley Campus Board Room from 5.00 – 6.30pm. The group is open to any Mercy parents and I would love to see a number of parents representing students new to Mercy join us. Please contact

me at the College if you would like further details or just turn up on the night.

Behaviour on Buses

Given that more than 90% of Mercy students use buses to get to and from school each day, the conduct of students on these buses is critical. Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in complaints from bus drivers and

students on buses about a small number of other students who are misbehaving. The College has clear guidelines regarding behaviour on buses with these guidelines reflecting the PTV Code of Conduct; students who routinely

behave inappropriately on buses risk losing their right to bus travel.

Mercy Regional College Open Day

Wednesday 27th March sees the College open the doors of the O’Keeffe Campus to prospective 2020 Year 7 students with our annual Open Day. The afternoon and evening are being held from 3.30 – 7.30pm at the O’Keeffe

Campus, McKinnons Bridge Road, Noorat, See flyer on page 4 for more information.

Student Achievements

With the Labour Day long weekend ahead of us, it is timely to highlight the achievements of those in our community:

• Special congratulations to all students and staff who participated in the Corangamite Shire’s final Relay for

Life last fortnight.

• Well done to all students who participated in House Athletics on Tuesday. It’s pleasing to see our students representing their House with pride and effort.

• Congratulations to the Senior Cricket team for Winning the GWR Cricket on Wednesday. The students look

forward to advancing to the next stage of the competition.

• Good luck to all students who have competitions or activities over the long weekend, with many of our

students competing in Finals and Grand finals.

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2019 Presentation Ball

Last Friday night, many weeks of hard work and preparation paid off as we celebrated the 2019 Mercy Regional College Presentation Ball. Our Year 11 girls and boys looked fantastic as they were presented and then danced at

Glenormiston College initially as partners and then with their parents and special friends. As I said on the night, it

is a unique celebration for Mercy and one that reinforces the importance of family and community to all present.

Special thanks to the many staff and parents who worked to make the evening a success and special thanks to our dance instructors, Colin and Yvonne Langley, as well as our Ball Coordinators, Tracey Baker, Tania Davis and Jane

Wyss who were ably supported by Rose Henry.

Wishing you all the safest of long weekends.

Warmest regards,

MRS. BERNI SINNOTT

PRINCIPAL

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OPEN DAY O’Keeffe Junior Campus, McKinnons Bridge Road, Noorat.

Wednesday 27th March, 2019 3.30pm – 7.30pm

Prospective parents and students are invited to attend our Open Day from 3.30pm.

Interactive displays for Students Parent Registrations

Campus Tours Afternoon Tea

Information Sessions to be held at 5.00pm & 6.30pm

(Parent’s need only attend one session)

College Prospectus / Enrolment Form distributed on the day.

Enrolment applications for 2020 closing date: Friday 28th June 2019

For further information, please contact the College office on 5593 2011. Email office@mercy.vic.edu.au

Learning to Care, caring to Learn

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From the Assistant Principal Mrs. Claire Wrigley

The past few weeks have been busy for our staff and students. A very successful Year 7 camp, Junior

leaders attending a leader’s congress in Warrnambool and a fantastic athletics sports day held earlier this

week. The student participation and enthusiasm in all these events was great and well support by MRC

staff.

Year 7 Camp – Cape Bridgewater

I had the pleasure of attending the Year 7 camp for a night and enjoyed a lovely ocean view walk with some

of our Year 7 students the following day. The camp allowed time for students to interact with each other

allowing them time to get to know one another. Some feedback from the students was that the camp was

great, and they really enjoyed the activities especially the Seal adventure tour! It was wonderful to see the

positive participation from the students and willingness to give the activities a go! Thanks to all staff

involved with the camp.

Leaders Congress

Our Junior school student leaders attended the Leaders Congress in Warrnambool on Thursday February

28. The students heard from guest speakers Sarah Wall, Ben Harkin and Mat Bowtell. They each shared

their stories and inspired the students with their individual challenges they have faced and successes in life.

The students enjoyed the day and now have the challenge of leading a project in their own school

community. It will be exciting to see their project evolve. The picture below is of our Junior school leaders

and Ben Harkin.

MRC Student Voice

In term 3 last year the Mercy Student Voice committee was formed. There are

representatives from across most year levels. This committee meets several times a

term to discuss matters that affect our student body or aspects of school where they

wish to see changes. Some items of discussion at the meetings has been uniform,

school activities, curriculum and facilities. This forum allows students to freely

express their opinions and gives the students the opportunity to suggest

improvements in the school.

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Learning and Teaching

Assessment, Exams & Reporting:

Over the last couple of years, we have moved to learning and assessment that is formative and ongoing, in line

with best practice teaching principles. Individual, peer and teacher review and feedback are essential components

of this, where teachers and students reflect on learning and teaching. The major focus is to allow students to

progress in their learning. As outlined in previous Newsletters, this approach puts more focus on progressive,

skills-based tasks, working towards other assessment like exams. Another focus is on literacy, especially is

breaking down tasks to make learning more visible for students. Our Teaching & Learning leaders will provide

more details on this in our special edition T&L Newsletters.

Last year we reviewed the model of student reports that parents and students receive at the end of each semester.

Reporting is ongoing, where teachers report on class and assessment tasks by providing explicit feedback to

students and parents on achievements and progress. Students are encouraged to write reflections, focussing on

areas for future improvement. We also publish interim reports, prior to Parent/Student/Teacher interviews, and

summary Semester reports. Parent engagement in the education process is a key factor in students improving

outcomes with the Parent Access Model (PAM) providing direct access to assessments, comments and student

reflections.

Homework:

There is a lot of research around the pros and cons of homework. Homework is beneficial when it has a purpose, is

specific and reinforces learning. It can help students practice skills learned in class and develop further

understanding of key concepts. Parent interest, like any aspect of a child’s education, is very important.

Educational outcomes are generally improved where the child’s education is a partnership between the student,

parent and school. We encourage all students to complete homework on a regular basis however we also

acknowledge that a balance is vital. Time spent with family and friends after school, in a range of activities and

commitments is very important and encouraged. Students can expect some regular homework. Making effective

use of class time is the best strategy to keep up-to-date with school work. Parents can monitor class, assessment

and homework tasks via PAM. Regular discussions with teachers are welcomed and your attendance at our

biannual parent/student/teacher interviews are strongly encouraged.

Examples of homework tasks:

• Reading (15-30 minutes per night is suggested)

• Maths Online tasks (1 hour per week)

• French – 15 minutes of vocabulary work per week (at Year 7)

• Watching the news or a documentary

• Reading newspapers

• Practising questions or skills

• Preparing for a test or exam - this might include practice questions, similar to the test, summarising key ideas

onto a mind map or table, watching a video and making some dot point notes or completing a quiz.

• Finishing off a task not completed in class

• Catching up on work missed while absent - Edrolo is great for VCE classes

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Head of Middle School Mr. Darren Cheeseman

Work Experience Full report on next page. Road Smart Today we had a visit from Road Smart Victoria. Road Smart is a road safety education and training program designed to build on the existing road knowledge, skills and behaviors of Year 10 (or equivalent) students. The program aims to help lay down the foundations for safe driving among young drivers. They spoke to all Year 10’s about the following areas: • road trauma and its causes • how the safe system works • the ‘Towards Zero’ vision • the Graduated Licensing System • importance of a staged approach to learning to drive.

Most of these students will be going for the Learner Permits in 2019 and we hope that this was a timely message for our students. Road Smart is a government funded program and they visit schools free of charge.

Head of Senior School Mrs. Lesa Thornton

Senior School Matters

Just letting our parents know that Senior School has been abuzz with activity these past 5 weeks. In this

time, we have had a Year 12 Retreat to the Grampians and a Year 11 Camp to Melbourne, a flurry of

activity for our Year 11 students with the Presentation Ball, Swimming and Athletics carnivals

Interschool Swimming carnival, Senior Cricket, Year 12 Guest speaker Ross Huggard a senior English

teacher and VCAA Examiner and Lions Youth of the Year tournaments at Camperdown and Terang.

As you can see it has been a very hectic schedule and we are all ready now to focus more fully on the

reason we are her, to complete our studies of VCE or VCAL.

I would ask support from our parent body to encourage your children to understand that at this level of

their education it is imperative the student take responsibility for their educational program. If there are

difficulties that you notice from your child, I would strongly urge you to contact the school to discuss this

with the teacher of that subject or myself or Danae Fraser as Head of Senior Teaching and Learning.

I also encourage the students to apply themselves fully at school and complete revision and homework

tasks at home. If a student says they ‘have no homework’ this does not equate to revision of their notes,

preparing for outcomes, reading novels, plays or notes.

Every period of revision done by a student will enable them to deal with the pressures of exams later this

year.

Many thanks,

Lesa Thornton

Head of Senior School

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Work Experience Report Mr. Darren Cheeseman & Mrs. Jenny Phillips During week three, Monday 14th February through to Friday 18th February, our Year 10 students were able to participate in the annual week of Work Experience. Students were required to organise their own work placement, and this in itself was a good experience for them, by having the responsibility to contact employers. There was a wide variety of jobs undertaken including plumbing, antennae installation, green keeping, cricket bat making, primary school teaching and the most popular was working at the veterinary clinic. One of the duties back here at school was making contact with these work places and the we received many positive reports about our students, both in regard to work ethic and also respectful behaviour.

Well done to all Year 10s involved in this program. Below are reports from some of the students regarding their work experience and photos on the following page. Ally Cecil – Warrnambool City Council – Flagstaff Hill During my WE at Flagstaff Hill I got to do lots of different activities over the week. These included: Working in the lolly shop, selling tickets for entry to the village and the night show, dressing up and doing the daily tour, sorting flags, recording the daily earnings, helping to set up for the night show, as well as preparing for a wedding. I also renewed supplies of brochures and flyers in the information centre, sorted flags and raised the outdoor flags. I had lots of great experiences. Bronson Bambridge – Terinallum Partnership – Agriculture During my week of work experience on a large property, I got to do a variety of tasks. These included: Helping in the garden, mowing and a number of different farm jobs. I enjoyed time on work experience. Tom Wright – GMB Technology During my week of work experience I got to fix some computers and help people with their computer troubles. I took the screen off a computer and replaced the hard drive. I enjoyed it and had a great time. This is a career path that I could follow after finishing school. Hugh Giblin – Cervus Equipment Terang My week at Cervus Equipment was pretty good. I got an idea of how the mechanics of John Deere vehicles work and got to fix tractors. Overall it was a good week. Pippa Jones – Colac Area Health During my WE I was given the chance to see all areas of the health service: Urgent Care - watched the nurses. Community Nursing - involved going to patients’ home to do dressing etc. Aged Care - talked to the elderly about their past, read the newspaper to them, did crosswords and quizzes. Medical Imaging - watching them do x-rays and MRI’s on people, occasionally getting to press the button to take a picture. Nicole Bath – St Patrick’s PS Camperdown My tasks for the week included the following: Assisted teachers in all grades throughout the week. Read with the preps and prepared some tasks for them and did a PE class with them. I did all specialist classes with the 3/4s, digi tech, science and art. In the 1/2s and 5/6s rooms I assisted teachers, read with students and generally helped. I very much enjoyed this experience and I didn’t think that I would enjoy it as much as I did. As a result, I and may actually consider this as a future career.

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Geordie Parsons

Hamish Sinnott

Jordy Steele

Nicole Bath & Destiny Bambridge

Tom Wright

Sarah McSween

Holly Cardwell

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Careers Report Mrs. Jenny Phillips Year 11 Camp Reports On the 4th February, the Year 11’s departed for a three camp to Melbourne. Whilst the camp had a predominantly careers based theme, the students also visited the Holocaust Centre as a follow up to their Year 10 History studies. Toby Fleming One of the venues I attended was Deakin University Waterfront Campus and as I was the only student who attended this venue, I received a personalised tour of the things at the university that were relevant to what I wanted to pursue as a career once I finish school. I really enjoyed my tour, getting to see the architecture department, as well as a tour of the on-campus apartments. I felt like I was treated very well, and I truly thank my guide for being an excellent help with my future. Overall, I really enjoyed the camp and I thank the school for giving us to opportunity to visit universities that we potentially may attend in our future. I honestly believe that if I hadn’t gone with the school, I may never have even looked at some of the uni’s due to them being quite a far distance from home. Tess Lourey I visited ACU and learnt about the different courses they offered, as well as the accommodation available. Then our guide showed us around the campus, and we got to see the human-sized dolls that the nursing and medical students work with - the dolls can vomit, pump blood, have a heartbeat and do most things real humans do. We also learnt that the medical and nursing floor could be used in emergency if all Melbourne hospitals were full and it is called a “crisis centre”. I found ACU very accommodating and thought they provided me with plenty of information about both the Ballarat and Melbourne campuses. I believe the overall camp was amazing and it gave me some things to think about looking forward to the future and where I might study and where I might go next for open days. Using public transport was awesome, as I don’t get to do that very often. I also found the different institutions were great and I feel that my future is bright now, looking at these learning centres. Jess Wade On Day 3 as we travelled back to Camperdown, I visited Marcus Oldham College in Waurn Ponds. There I learnt that Marcus Oldham really only offer Agribusiness courses. I was able to develop a better understanding of the requirements to get into one of their courses and how much they as a university, value on-hand experience with their students. GENERAL CAREER INFORMATION VCE and Careers Expo 2019 Caulfield Racecourse 2nd to 5th May For more information use the link below. https://www.vceandcareers.com.au/ A University of Melbourne Scholarship Opportunity for 2020 Applications for the University of Melbourne Hansen Scholarships in 2020 are now open and close on 21st March. For more information use the link below. https://scholarships.unimelb.edu.au/hansen Australian Apprenticeship Pathways Webinar On Thursday 21st March between 2.00pm and 2.50pm you can access the Australian Apprenticeship Pathways Webinar which will guide you through the steps to obtain an apprenticeship. The Webinar will be recorded and available after the event. For more information use the link below. https://www.aapathways.com.au/insiders-advisers/events/webinar-steps-to-an-australian-apprenticeship?utm_source=AATIS+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f92eac9e9b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_28_No_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_69976f5733-f92eac9e9b-175259609

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ADF ‘YOU’ Session to be held in Warrnambool If you are at least 16 years and six months old, you can begin the application process to join the ADF. Once you have begun this process you are required to attend a ‘YOU’ session. The ADF are holding a ‘YOU’ session in Warrnambool beginning at 4.00pm on 25th March at the City Memorial Bowls Club. To start the process and to secure your spot on this YOU Session click on the following link to register on Defence Jobs Website or call 13 19 01. https://www.defencejobs.gov.au/

Career Resources For all the latest Career News and up-to-date Career Information use the link below. https://careers.mercy.vic.edu.au/

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SCHOOL PHOTO DAY MONDAY 18th MARCH 2019

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TERM 1, 2019

Monday 11th March Labour Day Holiday

Friday 15th March GWR Golf Colac

Monday 18th March

School Photos

Tuesday 19th March MRC Board AGM Meeting

Wed 20th - Fri 22nd March Year 8 Princetown Camp

Friday 22nd March

GWR Swimming Ballarat

Wednesday 27th March OPEN DAY @ O’KEEFFE CAMPUS 3.30 – 7.30pm

Student FREE DAY

Thursday 28th March TIS Tour for Year 12s

Friday 29th March HSSSD Athletics

Friday 5th April

Term 1 Concludes

Tuesday 23rd April Term 2 Commences

Thursday 25th April Anzac Day Holiday

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NOTICES

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