YEAR 8 CAMPUS NEWS

THE LATEST NEWS AT MERCY CAMPUS...

Resilience is an attribute that everyone would love to have in spades and be able to call on when needed. We understand that our students need to develop a level of resilience to the many challenges that they not only face in their lives at the moment, but also for the tough times that they will face in the future. With this in mind, our Campus theme for Term 3 is resilience. The Mercy Campus Captains, Lily, Ned and Anthony spoke exceptionally well about how they perceive resilience at our assembly on Monday and I hope that all of the Year 8 students will be able to use these ideas from this point onwards.

Term 3 is historically a challenging term as students are more tired than they were at the start of the year and they are struggling to see the finish line. One of the aspects of their learning that seems to drop off the earliest is the ability to stay organised both at school and in the morning before they come to school. Two of the tell-tale signs that organisation is an issue: incorrectly worn uniforms and items brought to school which should be left at home.

Thankfully the majority of Year 8 students have been and continue to wear the uniform exemplarily and set the standard for their peers. One area of concern at the moment is the use of the College back pack. An audit was conducted in week 1 and those students who were found to be using another type of bag have until the Monday of week 3 to present their College back pack to their PCG teacher. During the audit, a number of students informed me of issues with the straps on their back packs. If you have concerns with this, please contact Midford directly on 1800 TEL-MID (835 643) and a claim can be processed.

At this week’s assembly, all Year 8 students were guided through the 2020 subject selection process by Mr Kluske. This is the beginning of a month long process where students will have plenty of questions about what they need to do to be prepared for 2020. All students should have received a unique code via their Pastoral Care Group teacher this week and accompanying instructions for how to submit their preferences for next year. The next key event in this process in the 2020 VO/VCE/VCAL  Information Evening that is being held at the Mercy Campus on Tuesday, July 30. All Year 8 teachers will be in attendance at this evening to answer any questions you or your child may have as they make their subject selections for next year.

Also, announced at the Year 8 assembly was the launch of 'The Man Cave'. We are running this program in Term 3 following the success of the STRONG program for our female students in Term 2. The Man Cave will allow male students time to participate in different activities being run by staff members over lunch times on Mondays and Tuesdays. The boys will receive emails to notify them of all Man Cave lunchtime events.

Finally, the Human Powered Vehicle team will be racing in two events over this weekend in South Australia. Students from Years 8 and 9 race on both Saturday and Sunday against 160 cars and 2000 students. A successful training session was held on Sunday and I am sure that all students and teachers heading over are looking forward to the weekend. I look forward to bringing you the details in the next newsletter.

Mr Marcus Parker

Head of Mercy Campus