Acting Principal Update

Thursday 1 May 2024

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

Anzac Day Service

Last week the College held a whole school assembly to recognise Anzac Day and to reflect as a community as we commemorated the landing at Gallipoli. The service was organised and led by our School Captains and Middle School Captains, and included a talk by our guest speaker Tony Galea of the Longbeach RSL, and Trevor Beswick (Longbeach RSL) who played the Last Post.

The assembly was a great example of excellent student leadership, and the importance of engaging with our wider school community, and I thank everyone involved for the smooth running of this important event.

A huge thank you must also go out to Antonio, Isabelle and Jamie for representing Mordialloc College at the Longbeach RSL Anzac Day service.

Richard Williams Scholarship

At the end of our Anzac assembly, we also took the opportunity to celebrate the successful recipients of the Richard Williams Scholarship. This scholarship is now in its fourth year, and we continue to be grateful for the special relationship that we have with members of the scholarship board.

Richard Williams was an unsung, local hero. He worked tirelessly for others, always putting them before himself. After his passing in 2020, some of his close friends, who he had been friends with since they were students together at Mordialloc College, got together to create the Richard Williams Scholarship in his memory. This year there were nearly fifty applications from across the school community. The Scholarship Fund committee in consultation with Mordialloc College selected six students to be awarded the scholarship to further support each student’s studies and/or pursuit of a particular interest.

Members of the Richard Williams Scholarship board were in attendance, including Lindy Langshaw (Richard’s partner), David Downie, and Ivor Donohue from the Mordialloc College Alumni Association. David, Lindy, and Ivor presented certificates and awards to the following recipients: Ben Woolridge, Evan Susil, Roy Zhu, Kai Lynch, Madison Sinn and Sam Heazlewood.

Thank you again David, Lindy and Ivor for being such an important part of our Mordialloc College community.

House Events: Cross Country

On the afternoon of Tuesday 23rd, we got together as a whole school for our annual Cross Country Event. The weather did us a huge favour by staying sunny and dry as we got together to see which house could pull out a 2024 win…..drum roll please!

We had a great afternoon of house camaraderie with the students below deserving a special mention:

AGE GROUP WINNERS:

12 -13 Female: Eleanor Higham
12 -13 Male: Luca Orr
14 Female: Ava McIntosh
14 Male: Owen Norton
15 Female: Lucy Fletcher
15 Male: Connor Sullivan
16 Female: Alexandra Adkins
16 Male: Sebastian Weller
17 – 20 Female: Soma Harrison-Corney
17 – 20 Male: Toby White

Open Evening

On Wednesday 24th, we had our Open Evening for prospective 2025 families. This was my first big event as Acting Principal, and with over 600 visitors, it was great to have the support of Antonio and Isabelle, our School Captains who formally hosted this event. Our visitors walked into a fantastic music ensemble presented by the Mordialloc College orchestra, led by Mr Nigel Maars.

Visitors got to meet members of our School Council, including our newly elected School Council president, Jason Allan. The presentation by Leo and Lottie, two of our Year 7 students, provided their personal overview of Year 7 and an insight into their experience of being a Mordialloc College student; I was asked by a few families if I had written Leo and Lottie’s speeches for them as they were really quite fantastic! Honestly families, I had nothing to do with how great these talks were, it was all down to our fabulous students!

I would really like to thank the huge crowd of students who volunteered to give up their evening to take attendees on a guided tour of the school; staff and students made us look wonderful, and I really felt proud of everyone who helped make it such a successful evening.

We also run tours of the school during the day for prospective students and their parents to see the College in action. People can book in for a tour (Friday at 9.30) by contacting the office.

Music Ensemble

Wednesday 1st May, we had a full house in our PAC building as families, friends and staff came together to watch our Year 11 and Year 12 music students perform. The evening was jam-packed with students showcasing their vocal, piano, guitar and drumming skills; it is always a privilege to be in a space where our young people can celebrate their talents, and their hard work. Thanks to all who came to make this evening so special, a huge thank you to Demis Danoudis and Jason Liacos who work tirelessly with all of our musicians throughout the school year.

Cycle Safety

It is great that so many of our students ride to school and make use of our huge bike shed to store their bikes; we are very lucky to be located next to a great cycle path. Unfortunately, I have received a few concerns this term from members of the public about the way that some students ride their bikes when they are riding to and from school on that cycle path, and also around Yarrabah School.

Your child’s safety is our top priority but, we cannot maintain those high expectations without your involvement. Please will you continue to have discussions with your child about the legal requirements around wearing a helmet, sharing pathways with pedestrians, and staying safe as a cyclist when using the road.

Some resources that may help you with those conversations are below.

Rachale Stone

Acting Principal

Mordialloc College would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land – the Bunurong/Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin nation, and pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging.

As a school and community, we are committed to a greater understanding and appreciation of Indigenous culture.