Principal's Message

Dear parents, families & guardians

We have many positives to celebrate as a community at Mentone Girls’ Secondary College and it goes to the core of our values.  At Mentone Girls' Secondary College we value the development of the whole person, student well-being, diversity and respect, personal best, student leadership, agency and voice and school pride.  All of these values were visible to everyone during Cultural Diversity and Harmony Week.

Cultural diversity and harmony can mean different things for different people, but I would suggest that everyone would agree that it is about acceptance of others, tolerance, empathy and inclusiveness.  Having a one week focus on these essential elements that make us compassionate human beings allows us to acknowledge our similarities and understand that the differences can provide us with an opportunity to broaden our world view of arts and culture. 

I would like to thank Jocelyn Chang, our newly appointed EAL & Literacy Learning Specialist, for heading up this week and for working closely with students and staff on this endeavour. There were a number of activities that were running during the week which were very popular with our students.  The food was spectacular and the henna tattoos were as well.  I even joined in the exercise class in front of the tennis courts the other day.  I can’t say my moves were inspiring but it was a lot of fun. I may have been the only staff member up on the tarmac dancing along with the international students but I was pleased for the company of many of our students.

We saw the continuation of this theme of cultural diversity in this week’s Year 9 My Migrant Story Expo which was organised by Deb McKay and the Year 9 Humanities teachers.  It was an outstanding evening which showcased the high standard of research and analysis of the Year 9 students as they explored the world of their parents, grandparent and ancestors. The journey to Australia for each family was unique and often unknown by the Year 9 students until they began their research.  As visitors to the expo, we were able to read and hear about the struggle that their parents or ancestors experienced due to economic and social situations at the time as well as what an insight into the life of indigenous people. 

So, let’s continue the celebrations in our daily life.  It is what unites us rather than divides us.

Kind regards

Linda Brown 

Getting Girls on Track    

Our Pick My Project community initiative has reached a significant stage with the tender documentation for the construction of the track and oval improvements now available on our website https://mgsc.vic.edu.au/getting-girls-on-track/. Quotes are due COB Thursday 4 April.