Dempsey's Digest

There are so many wonderful things happening in the life of the school at the moment. Special activities, incursions, art shows, industry week is looming and lots of learning is happening across the school. Here’s a snapshot of the past 2 weeks and some glimpses into what’s to come. Also, there is some news about one of our founders and past principal, Stewart Miller.  

Enrolment Boom! 

We are experiencing a lot of enrolment enquiries at the moment and many of these enquiries are coming from current parents who are spruiking warmly about MECS to others. Thanks for your support and votes of confidence to others. 

SP Persuasive Letters

Mr Pirie and I were delighted to receive persuasive letters from the Senior Primaries last week. The SPs have been learning about persuasive writing and wrote us letters around their opinions in relation to the use of visual language around the school. Their arguments included wanting more indigenous language as well as other languages that reflect the people in our school community (Hakha Chin, Zomi, Fasi, German, Dutch etc). The students wrote very convincing, sometimes humorous letters which we are endeavouring to take some action around. 

Year 10 & 11 Exams and Early Commencement

Last week our Year 10 and 11 students were heavily occupied with sitting their exams. Exams are an important part of being able to express what you have learned and although not the most popular aspect to school life, they are valuable and help teachers see what has been retained. This week, our students kicked off with early commencement where Years 10 and 11 students are commencing their units of study for Year 11 and 12. It’s great that our students can have a head start and begin to enact some good study techniques as well. 

Year 9 Industry Week Interviews

I was so happy to be involved in the Industry Week interviews this week for students that were applying for the Overall Manager role of the Industry. Eight students came into my office for a group interview and I can confidently affirm that any of them would be suitable for the manager role and the final decision will be hard! I was so impressed with the warmth and integrity shown by these young people as well as their desire to see community and teamwork be the focus of the week. 

CEN Meetings and Conference

During the past week, I was privileged to attend some meetings in Hobart in relation to the next International Transforming Education Conference for Christian Education National (CEN) that will be held in 2028. It might seem early for conference preparation, but this conference will attract over 1000 educators, from both international and national schools, so getting the right speakers locked in now is very important. In addition to these meetings, a number of our board members and our Business Manager Rob, attended the CEN Governance Conference last week and from all accounts, it sounds like it was a great time of growth and input. We very much value our connections with CEN. 

Master Plan Refresh

The Board is meeting in the coming week as we begin again to look closely at our MECS Master Plan in preparation for the future. This is exciting as we prayerfully consider the best ways forward for MECS in conjunction with our architects, Stanton and Dahl. 

Kinder Art Show

Gill and the Kinder team were delighted to report that over 230 guests came to view the art works on display at our Kinder Art Show. What an encouragement to our Kinder kids and their teachers, not to mention the impact of this kind of event on community. Well done to the Kinder team and of course, the budding artists! 

More Staff Movement

We were saddened last week to announce that our lovely Jenny Taylor who works as a part of our Community Advancement Team is finishing up at the end of the year. If you’ve ever attended a MECS community event, you’ve probably come in touch with Jenny serving food, turning snags, making people feel welcome, or just having a chat. We will miss her warm and encouraging presence, but wish her well for her next endeavours. 

Some of our Founders

I received news on Sunday that one of our much loved founders of MECS, Mrs Joan Tromp, passed away peacefully. Joan was heavily involved in the early years of MECS, a founding board member, a parent, and a grandparent to past students at MECS. Her legacy is significant and we wish her children, family and extended family our warmest sympathies during this time. 

Also, our second Principal of MECS, Mr Stewart Miller suffered a small stroke some weeks ago and is still recovering in hospital (in rehabilitation). Please join with me in praying for healing and patience for Stewart and for his family as they support him. 

That’s it for another Dempsey’s Digest. 

Hold on for the ride that the next few weeks will be! 

Michelle Dempsey

Principal