One of our team mentioned to me last week that they think we’ve packed 10 weeks of term activities into an 8 week term and I think that is right! It’s been wonderful and busy and life giving and challenging and that is a good thing in the life of a school.

From Shrek to billy carts, Gawa guests to Colour and Chords, Book Week to Year 9 camp, and all sorts of specific learning activities in between… it’s been hectic! Behind the scenes of these public events has also been a flurry of additional activity in relation to subject selections and allocations, budgeting for next year, planning for next year and more. One of the things we like to do as a staff is giving “shout outs” to people for their faithfulness and hard work. I’d like to give a shout out now to the whole team that works so hard to bring learning to life at MECS each day. From our IT crew to our lab technician and everyone in between, thanks so much for your commitment and passion. It’s much appreciated!

How we can help our children navigate some of the messages that are not helpful…

It’s been a tough week of news in our world, and much has revolved around the death of Charlie Kirk. Whether or not you appreciated and valued Charlie’s messages or not, his death was unnecessary and just so sad on so many levels. One of the things that has alarmed me is how the news, footage and details of his death became accessible within moments of this tragic event through social media feeds. This is not okay for our children to be exposed to. As a response to this, Karissa Esselbrugge has written the following for us to be reminded of, in relation to supporting our children in their engagement and usage of social media:

We are reaching out to you with an important reminder about online safety, particularly in light of recent events in the United States. Graphic footage related to a tragic shooting has been circulating widely on social media and other online platforms. This content is highly distressing and inappropriate for young people.

We encourage you to speak with your child about the importance of avoiding such material and to be vigilant about what they may encounter online. These videos can be deeply upsetting and may have a lasting emotional impact.

Please consider:

· Checking privacy and content settings on your child’s devices and social media accounts.

· Having open conversations about what they see online and how it makes them feel.

· Encouraging them to speak up if they come across disturbing content.

If your child has seen anything upsetting, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Our wellbeing team is here to support students and families.

Thank you for your continued partnership in keeping our young people safe and supported.

Gawa Guests

It was a great privilege to welcome students from Gawa Christian School, Elcho Island, Northern Territory to MECS over the past few weeks. We had the opportunity to host these students and their teachers and carers and spend time learning about their culture and sharing elements of ours. We were able to share a few meals, share in dance and artwork, play music and sport together. I was so impressed with the way that our students extended hospitality as welcoming advocates to our guests. It was beautiful to watch.

Indonesia Trip 2026

It was great last week to gather with a group of parents and students who are interested in the 2026 MECS trip to Indonesia. This is a wonderful cultural experience that is offered to our Year 10 students who study Indonesian. If you are wondering if this is something that would be a great experience for your child, I encourage you to speak to Pak Bradbury soon.

Are You Okay?

It’s good to ask that question, and it’s good to listen to the answer. Thanks to our well being team for carving out this day to encourage our students to stop and respond to “are you okay?”. There were activities and cupcakes that were enjoyed as part of this day. Thanks to Mr Wright for leading the charge in making over 300 cupcakes!

Colour and Chords

I am so excited about the amount of artistic and musical talent that exists across our school. Our students were able to share in their gifts last Thursday night as artworks and musical talent was on full display at our Colour and Chords evening. The artworks displayed were so unique and told stories of interpretation of being Justice Seekers or responses to the challenges in the world. They told stories of hope and more. The musical items were so diverse. From Nirvana to AC/DC, to original pieces of music and lyrics that were insightful and inspired. Thanks so much to the hard working staff behind this event, it was truly wonderful. Especially to Alyce Vanderjagt and Tristan Forrest who still have post production fatigue in their bones!

So, as we wind up this term, I am thankful for the past 8 weeks of learning, fun, excitement, play, curiosity and engagement. Here at MECS we try to make God’s story integral to all that we do and that is a real challenge that we take seriously. Thanks parents, for partnering with us in teaching your child in a way that will help them reflect God’s story in their lives in all that they do.

Have a lovely term break and we look forward to kicking off into Term 4 on Thursday 9th October.

Michelle Dempsey

Principal

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