Mercy News - Friday 21 February 2025
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Key Dates
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Prayer: 60 Years
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Message From Our Principal
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60 Year Celebration Day
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Executive Deputy Principal (Staff and Culture)
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Director: Religious Education and Identity
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Director: Learning and Teaching
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Years 9 and 10 Learning and Wellbeing Leader
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VCE Learning and Wellbeing Leader
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Year 9 Languages: Immersion Day
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Arts and Technology
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Alumnae
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School Photos
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Saver Plus
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Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund
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School Advisory Council
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Community Notices
Key Dates
Tuesday 25 February
- VCE/VCE-VM Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences, 2.20pm to 4.30pm
Wednesday 26 February
- Year 9 Immersion Day: The Arts and Technology
Thursday 27 February
- VCE/VCE-VM Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences, 3.40pm to 7.00pm
Sunday 2 March
- Clean Up Australia Day
Tuesday 4 March
- Shrove Tuesday
Wednesday 5 March
- Ash Wednesday
- Week 1: Years 4 to 6 Abstract Explosion Art Program 4.00pm to 5.00pm
Thursday 6 March
- CGSAV Tennis Tournament
Friday 7 March
- World Day of Prayer
- House Swimming Carnival
Prayer: 60 Years

We pray for Mercy College as we look toward the future, that we may continue to thrive, grow and serve future generations with the same spirit of mercy that has guided our school for the past 60 years.
May the College remain a place where God's love is experienced by all who come through its doors
Amen
Message From Our Principal

Dear Mercy Community,
Our School 60th Anniversary Celebration: A Day to Remember
This year, we are celebrating a truly special milestone—60 years of Mercy College. Our current students and staff and each member of our Mercy College community have all been a part of our story for the last 60 years. Their achievements and contributions have played a vital role in shaping the spirit and success of our school community.
On Tuesday, 18 February, we officially commenced our 60th anniversary celebrations.
We began the day in wellbeing classes with a 60-year trivia that challenged our knowledge of Mercy College’s history—it was a fun way for all to learn more about our shared past and celebrate how far we’ve come.
We gathered for a special 60-year photo, capturing a moment in time that reflects the unity and spirit of our community.
We walked to our parish church: St Paul’s for our Commencement School Eucharist which focused on our 60th Anniversary. We were fortunate to have as our celebrant, newly appointed Auxillary Bishop to Northern region Rene Ramirez RCJ DD, and concelebrant Father James Puppady, Parish Priest of St Paul’s and St Oliver Plunkett.





Following Mass, our students walked to Coburg Lake where all gathered for a BBQ lunch and ice cream. To mark the occasion, we also distributed commemorative badges to our students, and it has been wonderful to see them proudly displayed on their blazers.
Our invited guests from Mass included representatives who have been a part of our Mercy story: Sisters of Mercy, Principals from some of our parish primary schools, past Mercy College Principals, Foundation students and MACS representatives. After Mass they joined us back at Mercy College for the blessing of our Labyrinth, which we have built in our College grounds in recognition of 60 Years of Hope through Mercy.
A labyrinth is an ancient, symbolic form which dates to ancient Egypt. Many religions, including Christianity, have adopted them as an aid for prayer. Spiritually, a labyrinth is a guided, symbolic, meditative “journey” into the “centre” of ourselves. Labyrinths are complex, geometric designs which are one long path, always leading to the centre and always leading back out to the beginning. They are not like a maze, which intends to trick and confuse. You cannot get lost in a labyrinth!
We hope our Mercy College Labyrinth will be for our community a place of prayer and reflection, healing and reconciliation, celebration and thanksgiving.








As we look toward the next 60 years, I feel a sense of excitement for the new opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Regardless of what the future brings, we will remain committed to the values that have guided our journey—where Goodness is Strength. I am grateful to be part of this remarkable community and eagerly anticipate continuing this journey with all of you.
Let us never lose trust in the patience and mercy of God.
Lila McInerney
College Principal
60 Year Celebration Day
60th Anniversary Mass
















Reflecting and Celebrating 60 Years of Mercy College




Executive Deputy Principal (Staff and Culture)

Mercy College Celebrates 60 Years
On Tuesday 18 February, the Mercy College community came together to celebrate a significant milestone - our 60th birthday. The day began with a fun-filled trivia session and the taking of a whole-school photo to mark the occasion.
A special Eucharist celebration followed at St Paul’s Catholic Church, where foundation students joined us in honouring this memorable event. The College labyrinth was also blessed, along with commemorative 60th anniversary badges that were distributed to students and staff as keepsakes of the day.
The celebrations continued at Coburg Lake, where students and staff enjoyed a barbecue and ice cream in the sunshine. It was a truly special day, bringing together past and present members of our Mercy community.




Additionally, on Friday 21 February, our Year 7 students embraced their Reflection Day. It was wonderful to walk through the school and see them laughing and bonding with friends and teachers as they raced around the school for the Amazing Race challenge. A picnic lunch was had at Coburg Lake, where new friendships blossomed and wonderful memories were made. The day concluded in prayer, reflection and a letter to their future selves.
It was a joy to witness the Mercy spirit shining brightly on such remarkable occasions.
Jessica Frisina
Executive Deputy Principal
Director: Religious Education and Identity

60 Year Celebration Day
To celebrate our 60th Anniversary, we participated in a range of exciting activities and events as a whole College.
Mercy College Trivia
Trivia topics spanned across the five categories of Staff, 1965, History, 60, and Students featuring questions like: ‘Who is the longest serving staff member at the College?’ And ‘Name the most popular musical artist in 1965’. Wellbeing Classes particularly enjoyed learning about the history of our school and our alumni on staff!
60th Anniversary Mass
A highlight of our celebrations was our 60th Anniversary Mass celebrated by Bishop Rene Ramirez RCJ, Auxiliary Bishop of the Northern Region and Fr James Puppady, Parish Priest of St Paul’s Coburg and St Oliver Plunkett's Pascoe Vale, at St Paul’s Catholic Church. The formal proceedings commenced with a Mercy Through the Ages ceremony where key elements of our Mercy story were represented in our procession. This included Sisters of Mercy, Sr Eileen Ann Daffy RSM and Sr Anna Duble RSM; foundation students; Parish Primary School Principals; the Bain family who showcased the history of our College Uniform; student and alumni representatives of our Houses; Jenni Hickey and Vicki Harvey as our two longest serving staff members; Kyara Delgama as one of our College Co-Captains and our current College Principal, Lila McInerney.
Year 7 Reflection Day
Today our Year 7s participated in their annual Reflection Day based on the theme Together We Grow. They were involved in a range of fun and reflective activities including The Amazing Race, Circles of Mercy, a Picnic Lunch and a Liturgy in the Chapel. Photos and a reflection from our Year 7s will be featured in our next newsletter!
Student Leadership Interviews
We are so excited to have received so many applications for student leadership positions from Years 7 to 11. Group interviews will take place in Week 5:
Mission: Monday 24 Feb @ Lunch in the Chapel
Social Justice: Tuesday 25 Feb @ Lunch in the Community Hub
Sustainability: Wednesday 26 Feb @ Lunch in the Community Hub
House: Thursday 27 Feb @ Lunch in the Community Hub
Student Agency interviews will be organised by your Learning and Wellbeing Leader
Shrove Tuesday
As we approach the Season of Lent, our Social Justice Team is preparing for our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day Fundraiser. During Lunch on Tuesday 4 March, the Student Executive Team will be cooking and selling pancakes to raise funds for Caritas’ Project Compassion. We are kindly asking for donations to support this event:
- Pancake mix shaker bottles
- Toppings: maple syrup, sprinkles, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, etc
If you are able to donate items, please drop these off to the following donation locations:
- Parents/families: College Reception
- Staff: Staff Dining Room
- Students: Learning and Wellbeing Leader offices
Thank you for your support!
God bless,
Nima Ballenger
Director: Religious Education and Identity
Director: Learning and Teaching

Vision for Instruction
As part of our continued roll out of the Vision for Instruction, Mercy College’s focus during Term 1 will be on Reviewing Material. These are two of Rosenshine’s principles that incorporate ‘Daily review’ and ‘Weekly and monthly review’. These principles draw upon Rosenshine’s research concerning working and long-term memory.
An idea Rosenshine emphasises throughout his principles is that recalling prior learning should ideally be automatic. ‘Automaticity’ is the stage where learning and practice has been undertaken such that recall is effortless, thereby freeing working memory capacity. Working memory is the area of memory where we process information. It has very limited capacity and can only handle a few pieces of information at once. Automaticity requires ‘overlearning’: learning beyond the point of ‘initial mastery’, such that recall is automatic and skills are fluent. The free space in working memory helps us to perform other tasks, such as learning something new. Our working memory is limited; if we use much of it for recalling what we have learned, we have less available to engage in other mental activities important to learning.
Daily review supports the process of building up the amount of effective practice required to reach the level of mastery where recall is automatic. The first principle is important for recalling learning from the previous lesson. Activating relevant prior learning in the working memory is particularly important when teachers wish to introduce new learning. Daily review is also important for developing students’ fluency and confidence in a subject.
Rosenshine’s tenth principle concerns the retrieval of learning in the long-term. It involves the development of long-term memory to support learning. The effort involved in recalling recently learned material helps to embed it in long-term memory. The more often we do this, the greater ease we have when we try to connect any new material we learn with our existing knowledge.
NAPLAN Online 2025
The new NAPLAN testing window for 2025 is now from 12 to 24 March.
This means the results will be in the hands of education authorities and school systems earlier in the year to inform teaching and learning programs throughout the rest of the school year. It will also give teachers more time to better assess what support students need for the rest of the year.
Check out the NAPLAN key dates for this year and beyond.
NAPLAN Information for Parents and Carers
Mercy College will be conducting NAPLAN Online for Years 7 and 9 students on the following dates.
- Wednesday 12 March – Writing
- Thursday 13 March – Reading
- Friday 14 March – Conventions of Language
- Monday 15 March – Numeracy
- Tuesday 16 March – Catch up
Families will receive further detail about NAPLAN dates and times at Mercy College in the coming weeks.
VCE/VCE-VM Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences
The VCE/VCE-VM Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences will be held on Tuesday 25 February and Thursday 27 February.
This is an opportunity for teaching staff at Mercy College to share with families their understanding of the needs of each VCE and VCE-VM student, working in partnership with parents, guardians and students to discuss strategies that will enhance the understanding of the course content. Such partnerships are essential to the success of each student and ensure that each child can achieve their personal best.
We encourage all parents and guardians to make appointments with their child’s teachers. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in these interviews. We look forward to meeting with you and your child and discussing how to best support and extend her to achieve her goals and ‘flourish’ in the learning environment. Families have been emailed information outlining how to access and make bookings for the VCE/VCE-VM Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences.
Special Provisions within the VCE and VCE-VM
The VCAA Special Provision policy provides students in defined circumstances with the opportunity to participate in and complete their secondary level studies.
The underlying principle of the VCAA Special Provision policy is to ensure that the most appropriate, fair and reasonable options are available for students to demonstrate their capabilities if their learning and assessment programs are affected by disability, illness, impairment or other circumstances. Special Provision should provide equivalent, alternative arrangements, but not confer an advantage to any student over other students.
Applications for Special Provisions for students studying a VCE 3/4 subject close on Friday 7 March.
For further information please visit the VCAA website.
Year 7 Welcome BBQ and Years 8 to 12 Student Support Meetings
Thank you to parents/guardians for actively engaging in our important partnership by attending these sessions. We would also like to thank the Learning and Wellbeing Leaders and the Wellbeing Teachers for running these sessions.
Nicholas Ambrozy
Director: Learning and Teaching
Years 9 and 10 Learning and Wellbeing Leader
The last couple of weeks have been spent getting to know all the students and teachers at Years 9 and 10. I particularly enjoyed participating in the first Year 9 Immersion Day for the year. These days are great opportunities for the students to participate in excursions in the community and for the staff to interact with the students in these environments.
I was also very honoured to be part of the Mass to celebrate 60 years for Mercy College.
Lucia Morello
Years 9 and 10 Learning and Wellbeing Leader
VCE Learning and Wellbeing Leader

Starting Year 11 and/or Year 12 can be a stressful time in a young person’s life. SACs and exams, increased workload and the stress that can accompany these can be sometimes overwhelming. Here is some useful information to help you understand some of the changes and challenges that you or your child may be experiencing, but more importantly some ways to balance out these challenges.
Jaime Brown
VCE Learning and Wellbeing Leader

Year 9 Languages: Immersion Day
The first Year 9 Immersion Day for the year commenced with students immersing themselves in Languages activities, based on the Language they have selected to study this year - Italian or Indonesian.
Italian
Students studying Italian visited the Heide Museum of Modern Art to see the Molto Bello exhibition. This was a fitting culmination to the unit they had been studying on Italian design. Students recognised many of the iconic achievements, as they chronologically stepped through the history of Italian design from the 1930s until the 1980s. The immersion activity assisted them to tell the story of how Italian design has become admired throughout the world.
In the afternoon, once they had returned to Mercy College, students enjoyed watching the classic film Roman Holiday. A clip of this had featured as part of the exhibition.




Indonesian
Students studying Indonesian visited Gamelan DanAnda in Thornbury to explore gamelan (traditional Indonesian orchestra). They learnt the importance of working together in order to create a beautifully harmonious piece of music. They also explored voice percussion by learning the Kecak chant.
After returning to Mercy College, students explored modern Indonesian culture via the film Keluarga Cemara.
Here is a student reflection of the day:
‘Last Wednesday the Year 9 Indonesian class participated in a gamelan class, which is an Indonesian orchestra. Our teacher, Pak Jeremy, taught us how to play each instrument. I played the drums and played the offbeat. After this, we sat down in a circle and used our voices to make trance/chant music. I played the gong, keeping a steady beat throughout it. After that, we came back to school and watched an Indonesian movie called 'Keluarga Cemara'. Overall it was a really fun day, and I enjoyed it a lot!’
Olivia Fontana, 9A



Arts and Technology

Dance
The Year 7 Dance students have enjoyed learning about safe dance practices and getting to know their peers through a variety of kinaesthetic group activities. They have been able to explore different dance styles throughout the ages and understand how dance styles today, have been influenced by the past. Many students are looking forward to developing their confidence and performance skills, as well as learning a group dance later this term.
Fiona Laino
Dance Teacher
Alumnae


Greetings to all in our Mercy community!
We were blessed with a sunny day for Our 60 Years of Hope through Mercy celebration on Tuesday. It was a proud event to mark our 60 years of history in educating secondary girls at Mercy College since 1965. It was a pleasure to meet up with a group of the first students at Mercy College, our foundation students, at St Paul's Catholic Church for the 60th Anniversary Mass.
Diana Guminski (Heim) first contacted me in December 2017, introducing herself as one of the first students of Mercy. Diana and Maree Hellier (Salm) treasure their lifelong friendship and have maintained their connection with Mercy through the years attending milestone events, reunions, or popping in for a cup of tea!
Diana, Maree and I met in April 2018 for lunch at the former Old Cop Shop in Coburg. Their recollections of their years as Mercy College students were informative and vivid. It was as if it were yesterday, rather than 60 years ago!

Their proud stories of those first years and particularly describing their Year 7 and 8 experiences as the College buildings were still under construction in 1965. Therefore, their year level was split into two classes of Year 7 girls at St Ambrose's Primary School in Brunswick and two at St Paul's Primary School in Coburg. This went on until building works were completed in October 1966.
Pictured from left: Diana Guminski (Heim), Maree Helliar (Salm).
A photo of our first meeting in 2018 at the former Old Cop Shop restaurant in Coburg

Pictured: Foundation students on Tuesday.
From left to right: Helen O’Keefe, Maree Halley (Hunter), Lorraine Pratt (Careri), Diana Guminski (Heim), Angela De Nato (Rowe), Maree Helliar (Salm).
Diane Psaila
Alumnae Relations Officer
School Photos
School photos can be ordered from The School Photographer at www.theschoolphotographer.com.au.
Enter code X3166VC53M, your child’s name, year level and wellbeing class to place your order.

Saver Plus

Many families in the school community might be feeling the pressure of education costs - whether it’s for computers, iPads, uniforms, books, extracurricular activities or even school camps.
That’s where Saver Plus comes in. It’s a free education program that helps eligible families save for school expenses and rewards them by matching their savings dollar for dollar, up to $500.
Families who join not only receive up to $500 in matched savings, but they also gain practical money skills through free financial education workshops, helping them feel more in control of their finances.
To be eligible, participants need to:
- Be 18 years or older
- Have a Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card.
- Have a child in school (or starting next year) or be studying themselves.
- Have a regular income (either their own or their partner’s or centrelink payments).
- Be willing to join free online financial education workshops.
For more information, click on the link below:
Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund
The CSEF (Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund) is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.
If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. The allowance is paid directly to the school to use only towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
The annual CSEF amount per student is $256 for secondary school students. Mercy College contributes additional $469 per funded family, making the contribution a total of $725.
Application forms should be completed and lodged with the College as soon as possible in Term One. CSEF payments are for the current application year and cannot be claimed retrospectively for prior years.
Please fill in the CSEF Application Form and provide a copy of your HCC to Reception for processing.
If you have any questions, please contact the College on 9319 9299.

School Advisory Council
The School Advisory Council at Mercy College provides a forum for discussion and discernment, where parent voice and community perspective are available to influence and support the decisions made by the principal and parish priests for the good of the school where students’ wellbeing and outcomes are paramount.
The Mercy College School Advisory Council includes up to two parents to contribute to these discussions. Should you be interested in being a part of the School Advisory Council in 2025, you are invited to nominate to be involved by contacting the College on 9319 9299 or emailing sac@mercycoburg.catholic.edu.au.
Community Notices

