Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome back for the 2024 school year. A special welcome to all new families to the Academy. I hope that during the Christmas and New Year’s break you were able to all catch up with family and friends and you were also able to find some time to rest and relax after a very busy year.

I am pleased to say that the academic school year has commenced extremely well with the girls arriving with huge smiles on their faces last week. They were greeted at the front gate by our Senior Student Leadership Team with music and applause. This certainly was a welcome that put them all at ease and an example of the real sense of community and the spirit of Mercy that exists in our community.

We couldn’t be more than impressed with the new Year 7 cohort with the way they have been able to commence their journey with us. The Year 7 team have been working long and hard to ensure that the transition of the girls has been as smooth as possible. Similarly, the Wellbeing Leaders and Mentor Group Teachers from Year 8 – 12, have also welcomed another 12 students into the College and ensured that their beginning has also been smooth and successful.

Ms. Lucy Neil, Deputy Principal Learning & Teaching and I have continued to plan and work very closely to ensure that both the Learning & Teaching and Student Wellbeing Programs further complement each other so we are meeting the needs of our girls, allowing them to develop and grow academically and holistically and ultimately achieving their goals and becoming the very best young women that they can. We will be conducting year level assemblies in the coming weeks to outline some of our priorities with regards to students’ learning and wellbeing. This is something that we will continue with regularly throughout the course of this year. Please never hesitate to be in touch with either of us.

Academy SchoolTV

We are also proud to launch the Academy SchoolTV. SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource that can support you in the challenges relating to modern-day parenting. This award-winning resource helps build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. It can assist in starting conversations on topics that are sometimes awkward or difficult to tackle. Visit the Academy SchoolTv

Operoo

As you are aware, the College uses a communications system informing you of College events/excursions/incursions that take place throughout the year.

If you have not already done so, we ask that you create an Operoo profile for your daughter. The sooner we have your daughter on the system, the more information we have in ensuring her safety and wellbeing. Moreover, if your daughter does not have an Operoo profile it will impede her capacity to attend any excursion/event that is planned.

General permission letters will continue to be sent out to all year levels this week. We ask that you provide consent for your daughter to attend the various events by Friday, 16 February.

Student Planners

Your daughter’s Student Planner is a key avenue of communication with the College. There are several important aspects of the Student Planner and they include:

Statement of Acknowledgement and College Policies and Procedures

On the first page of the Student Planner, we have included a statement which we ask you and your daughter to sign. In asking you to sign this statement, it is an expression of your support of the College’s Policies and Procedures and the expectations and standards that we seek to uphold.

We thank you for your support in signing this statement and ask that this is done by Friday 16 February.

With reference to the College Policies and Procedures (pp.8-11) in becoming familiar with them, please take note of the General College Rules and Uniform Requirements. Going through this information may alleviate the potential for any confusion about what is expected at the College.

Student Wellness Plan (pp.16-17)

Another aspect of the planner is the Student Wellness Plan which we hope to use as a reference tool in supporting your daughter.

The plan asks the students to consider when they are happy, calm, or frustrated and from what they draw strength. The plan is taken from the Berry Street Education Model which is focused on engaging students who are vulnerable and at risk of not reaching their potential.

Our primary purpose of using the Student Wellness Plan at Academy is driven by a desire to better understand your daughter’s mindset at any given stage throughout the year. We encourage parents/guardians to engage with their daughter in talking about and contributing to the plan. Mentor Group Teachers will also be working with your daughters in talking about this wellness plan.

The more we can engage your daughter and encourage her to develop a clearer understanding of herself, the better able she may be to navigate the sometimes-murky waters of adolescence.

Parents’ Association Meeting - Monday 26 February

Approximately once a month the Parents’ Association conducts a meeting in which parents are offered the chance to contribute to the life of the College. It is an opportunity to continue an ongoing partnership between the College and the parents of the students in our care. I invite parents/guardians to play an active and crucial part at Academy and should you be so inclined you are most welcome to attend our first meeting of the year on Monday 26 February beginning at 7pm. The plan is to have our Term 1 & Term 4 Meetings on Campus and Term 2 & Term 3 Meetings online.

If you would like to attend the first meeting, please email me directly and I will add you to the email and distribution list.

Uniform

While the vast majority of the students have returned to school wearing the correct uniform, there are still a number of students who need to remember the following:

there should only one earring in each lobe of the ear
nose rings are not part of the uniform
dress length should be at mid-knee length or longer

I would also ask you to encourage your daughters to ensure their uniform looks its best at all times. Additionally, in travelling to and from the College each day, please remind your daughters to be on their best behaviour and to carry themselves with dignity and pride.

The students are often the start and end of what the public see and how they present themselves with their uniform and their behaviour should reflect the very highest of standards. The students are ambassadors for the Academy each time they step outside the school gate and, as such, they should be mindful that they are representatives of the College.

Wellbeing Leaders and Mentor Group teachers have been giving the students a very small ‘grace’ period with regards to uniform and / or lateness, etc, with the issuing of infringements commencing this coming week.

Student Mobile Phone Policy

Thank you to all students who have embraced the updated Student Mobile Policy this year. Thank you also to the many parents who have provided extremely positive feedback with the change in approach and process. The Policy was sent to all parents with Sr. Mary’s letter at the beginning of the year and it has also been in the ‘College News’ section of Compass since December for all in the Academy community to reference.

Mentor Group Time

This is a very important part of the day that will allow the opportunity for the development of a strong rapport between Mentor Group Teacher and the students and in doing so, students are looked after in the best possible pastoral manner. It’s also a period of time where some administrative tasks can be undertaken and Mentor Group Teachers can really set a positive tone for the day ahead. Attending Mentor Group is not an optional activity, nor is arriving late. All students are be expected to be punctual in the morning and there are procedures in place for any students who are late or do not attend this important part of the school day.

We ask for full parental support with all of the above.

College Photos

Elite School Photography will attend the Academy on Wednesday 14th February for our annual Photo Day. All information for the day, including the ordering process has been posted on Compass. A reminder that only individual portraits will be taken at all year levels and these will be used to create ‘composite’ photos for Mentor Groups. At Year 12, as well as this, we will also be taking the traditional Year 12 Group Photo.

Further to this, on the day, we will be shortening each lesson by 3 minutes to allow all staff and students to participate in an Ash Wednesday Service prior to dismissal.

Taylor Swift

We are aware that a large number of students have purchased tickets to see Taylor Swift next weekend. Melbourne is definitely abuzz with her impending arrival and no doubt the concerts and her performances will be a great spectacle. With this in mind, could I please just remind parents that all students are expected at school on Friday 16th February for the entire day. From a safety perspective, I also strongly encourage parents to be very mindful of allowing their daughters to attend and gather outside the MCG if they don’t have tickets to a concert. There seems to be momentum building for people who have missed out on tickets to do this. We are concerned that gatherings of this nature could be an unsafe place for young people.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you need any assistance or to raise any points of concern.

I look forward to working with all in the community throughout year.

Mr Sam Di Camillo

Deputy Principal, Wellbeing & Operations

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