Acting Principal Update

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

If we time this correctly, just as this newsletter lands in your inbox, the entire school will be in the gym taking part in Mordi Idol! This event is such a great way for our students to connect with each other, and to celebrate the talents of so many of their peers.

Our final day this term is Friday 20th September; students will finish at 1.30pm, at which point staff will get together to celebrate their hard work this term.

As the parent of a Year 12 student, I will be spending time this end of term break encouraging my own son to revise and get ready for the VCE examinations in Term 4. I can assure you that being a teacher doesn’t make this particular job any easier, but we both know that it will be worth it in the end! If I was going to offer any advice it would be to create a revision timetable (and stick to it!), engage diligently with exam question practice, reflecting on where and how marks are awarded, and use feedback provided by subject teachers to focus in on content that was probably always challenging, and so deserves a bit more of your time. 

I really do hope that over the end of term break, you get to spend time with your favourite people, and I am looking forward to seeing you all back on Monday 7th October. 

Instrumental Showcase. 

In Week 9, we  celebrated our Instrumental Music Showcase across two nights, and showcased Brass, Woodwind and Percussion, Vocal, Piano and Guitar. I am definitely no musician but, I know amazing work when I hear it! Students from Year 7 to Year 12 played individual pieces in front of their families, and their peers, they were an absolute credit to the school. Whilst this will be the last Mordialloc College event for our Year 12 students, it was a fabulous way for them to go out in absolute style. A credit to our dynamic music team - Demis Danoudis Coordinator (and teacher of guitar, piano, and voice), Nigel Maas (woodwind), Damien Maughan (brass), Jason Liacos (guitar), Adrian De Luca (drums), and Tahlia Makunde (voice) and I thank them for their ongoing support of our students.

Emergency Procedures: Drill Safety 

Each year as a school we conduct emergency drills so that we can: 

• Practise the routines for emergencies 
• Be compliant with the law
• Make any necessary changes to our emergency procedures if needed
• Know students are confident with how we are keeping them safe

On Wednesday 11th September, each year group was spoken to about why we have emergency drills, the type of drills that are held at school, and what is expected of students and staff when we have those drills. The following day, the entire school did an evacuation out on the oval, this went really well, and we have taken on board some feedback so that we can continue to evolve what we do. At Mordialloc College we believe that safety is everyone’s concern, and it was great to see our students acting so maturely on the day. 

R U OK? Day 

Thursday 12th September was R U OK? Day. Whilst we educate our students about the importance of being able to ask “R U ok?” on any day, this particular Thursday we accompanied that sentiment with Donuts, and raised over $400 to go towards our Mordialloc College Aboriginal mural. A big thankyou to Julia Hockey for the organisation of this event, and also to Headspace Bentleigh for joining us on the day.

Countdown: Year 12 

As we move towards our Year 12 students coming towards the end of their Mordialloc College journey, we have a series of events to not only prepare them for examinations, but to also celebrate their educational journey. 

In Week 9, to celebrate the last week of Year 12 content, our VCE VM & VCE students dressed as their ‘future selves’! 

A huge thank you to all of the staff who were involved; particularly Angela Holloway (Year 12 YLC) and Kodilee Strahan (VM YLC) for organising all of the Year 12 events. 

Year 12 students also spent time together during a BBQ, whilst fondly remembering their Primary School years.

In this final week of Term 3, it really has been back to business: our VCE students will be hard at work all of Week 10 with Year 12 Practice Examinations, whilst our VCE VM students will be involved in 1-to-1 interviews with staff.

Middle School Awards 

Each term, we celebrate the achievements of the Middle School students who have proudly demonstrated our Mordialloc College values of Personal Best, Integrity, Respect, and Responsibility. On Wednesday 11th September, the top house point winners from each house, and students who had been awarded individual certificates from subject teachers were invited to come up to the front of the assembly to be celebrated by our House Captains, and also their peers. With over 100 winners, the photos below certainly don’t do justice to how great the event was but, I’d like to think that this gives you a glimpse of the hard work that so many of our students engage with, and how we take every opportunity to celebrate their success at Mordialloc College. Well Done Middle School!

Japan 2024. 

We have had a “kon'nichiwa” from our intrepid travellers who have touched down in Japan and have already visited a baseball game, and Akihabara. A massive thank you to Loretta Ilott, Eleni Capp, Andrew Potter and Cynthia Leung who have all volunteered their time so that our students can engage with this once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

TAASS SEAL Re-accreditation 

On 17th September, we had the pleasure of being joined by Deborah Harman and Rod Williamson to walk us through the stringent process of being re-accredited as a TAASS SEAL school.

This process involved an investigation of our policies, procedures, staff Professional Learning and documented curriculum. 

Our SEAL coordinator Amelia Hargreaves and I spent the morning being interviewed, SEAL students and staff were then invited along to discuss their experiences of SEAL provision here at Mordialloc College.

I am so proud to say that we have achieved our reaccreditation for the next three years, and of course even prouder to share that yet again visitors to our school have expressed how wonderful our students are, and what fabulous ambassadors they are for the SEAL program, and for Mordialloc College. A big thankyou to Amelia Hargreaves who put so much effort into the success of this accreditation. 

I really do hope you have a great end of term.

Rachael Stone

Acting Principal