From the Principal

Dear Parents/Carers, 

The 2024 Academic Year is now off and racing! We have already packed so many things into just 2 short weeks. Today our Year 7’s will return back from Camp and we cannot wait to hear more of their adventures and see more of their photos. We know from previous cohorts, that this galvanising experience will ensure that new friendships are formed, relationships are built with key staff members and lifelong memories will be made. 

It is truly a magnificent way to begin the secondary journey here at Mt A. As I conveyed to all of our students at our welcome assembly, the vibe is great in 2024!

We extend our congratulations of our recently installed Year 12’s, who are now fully commissioned as the senior leaders of our college. In our Year of Service, we know that they will model in word and deed what this means to us as a Franciscan community. 

We also trust that our 20 new students in years 8 -11 and new staff members are finding their way here at Mt A and that our community has embraced them with the support and guidance that is needed by anyone (child or adult) when they commence somewhere new.

In our upcoming College assemblies we look forward to acknowledging the outstanding academic achievements of our students. In particular, we can’t wait to welcome back the class of 2023 seniors who have collectively broken all college records in relation to senior achievements. 

To claim a 91.75 median ATAR score is an outstanding metric that speaks to the dedication, grit and tenacity of all students and their dedicated teaching staff. Astonishingly, a further 64 students achieved the post-school qualification of a Diploma of Business. It is incredible to think that between 2015-2019, our College median ATAR equivalent was a 63.00. 

This is indeed a meteoric rise and should offer proof to every student here that the sky is truly the limit. There is simply no greater joy than to be able to highlight to students that with a combination of self-belief and hard work they can achieve almost anything! In 2024 we will be soaring high at Mt A.

An important message about Success - It's all about Personal Best and Ongoing Improvement. Don’t get caught up in the perfectionism trap!

With our strong commitment to student educational wellbeing, I shared with the students - the secret ingredient to lasting success is really the following. “Perfection is not the Pathway to Success”. By focusing hard on being perfect we are prevented from taking action or making any progress at all. So if we concentrate on improvement (incrementally), we will (and do) see the gains. It is a money back guarantee.

Parent Welcome Soiree

Please don’t forget to RSVP to our Parent Welcome Soiree on Friday 9 February. We especially hope that our newest families to the College, in Year 7 and other year levels will join us in what promises to be a lovely evening, mingling on the Rooftop Garden Terrace. 

The leadership team, extended leadership team and members of our Parent Partnership Panel (who will be wearing their badges) look forward to seeing you.

There is still time to register your attendance!

MMG School Survey Feedback 2023

Hot of the press and as promised, we would like to share with our community the executive summary of the extensive survey the College undertook throughout last year. In our spirit of ongoing, continuous improvement – we share with our community the summary of stakeholder metrics below. This information will also be included in our Annual Report and is already serving as a rich and valuable source for our annual strategic and operational priorities at Executive and Board level. We thank all of our students, staff and parents for their extensive feedback last year.

Our Year of Service

We are very excited in 2024, to be guided by our Franciscan College value of Service. There are endless opportunities in this area if we have open hearts, listening ears and willing hands. To commence the year, we have asked the students and staff in these early days to begin with kindness – for kindness is a service in and of itself. 

A passing smile, a hello, an invitation to another to join you at lunchtime, a helpful offer, a kind word of affirmation or reassurance. All simple gestures, but ever so powerful.

We look forward to sharing more of how our Franciscan year of Service is shaping our community in the weeks and months ahead.

Partnerships in Communication 

At Mount Alvernia College we are committed to open, respectful and solutions focused communication. In 2024, we have developed some protocols to ensure our staff (and all members of our community) are able to disconnect outside of work hours. This statement has also been shared with our staff in our staff professional learning days.

The Right to Disconnect 

At Mount Alvernia College we recognise and support the wellbeing and rights of our staff to disconnect. Staff are not required to respond to emails from parents, students or co-workers outside of business hours, weekends or holidays. Similarly, staff are also asked to refrain from sending emails to colleagues outside of business hours. 

As an organisation Mount Alvernia College encourages the use of email scheduling for emails to be sent the following morning. Staff are also encouraged to mute or disable alerts on school-based notifications after hours. As an organisation we value respectful and purposeful communication and partnership from all stakeholders and will honour a 48hour response to emails during the weeks of term time.

For more urgent matters during term time; parents, staff and students are always encouraged to speak with or phone the relevant person wherever possible.

Our regular hours of operation are 8am to 4pm, Term time. 

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning” Luke 12:35

Peace and all good,

Samantha Jensen