From the Principal

Good morning, another great week for Mornington Secondary College, with so many opportunities for our students to participate in. The KELiS (Koorie Emerging Leaders in Schools) is just one example. KELiS is a program designed to foster leadership, cultural understanding, and social and emotional wellbeing among Indigenous students.

During the KELiS Day at Mornington Secondary College, students from various schools gathered to participate in activities and workshops focusing on these key areas. The event would likely include:

1.	Leadership Workshops: Sessions were aimed at developing leadership skills, empowering students to take initiative, and becoming role models in their communities.
2.	Cultural Activities: Celebrated and educated students about Indigenous culture, traditions, and history, fostering a deeper connection and appreciation for their heritage.
3.	Social and Emotional Wellbeing: Workshops and activities were designed to support the mental and emotional health of the students, providing them with tools and strategies to manage stress and build resilience.
4.	Guest Speakers and Mentors: Brady Cooper from the Richmond Football club and other Indigenous leaders and role models spent time working with the students. They shared their experiences and insights, inspiring the students.
5.	Networking Opportunities: Students connected with peers from other schools, sharing experiences, and building a support network.

Led by the Koorie Academy of Excellence and supported by the Korin Gamadji Institute, the event focused on providing a holistic approach to student development, integrating cultural pride with personal growth and leadership skills.

Exams are in full swing this week and next, whilst our Year 11 VCE-VM students are spending time on presentations as part of their assessment. PAT testing is also taking place for students in Year 7-9. Staff will spend the next couple of weeks marking each assessment ready for Report Writing day, 18th June. This will be a pupil free day.

Thankyou for your ongoing support.

Linda Stanton

Principal

Important Dates

Term 2

June

Thursday 6th to Friday 14th June - Year 10 and 11 Mid Year Exams

Monday 10th June - King's Birthday - Public Holiday

Monday 17th June - Semester 2 Begins

Tuesday 18th June - Year 12 GAT and Teacher Report Writing day - Student free

Thursday 20th to Friday 21st June - Year 12 Outdoor Ed Snow Camp

Friday 21st June - SMR Cross Country - Ballam Park

Tuesday 25th June - 2025 Course Information Evening - 5.00pm to 7.00pm

Thursday 27th June - Year 12 Fancy Dress Evening - Frankston Arts Centre

Friday 28th June - Last Day of Term 2 - 2.30pm Dismissal

Term 3

July

Monday 15th July - Term 3 Commences

Tuesday 16th July - Whole School Assembly

Monday 22nd to Friday 26th July - Grade 4 and 5 Science Fair Week

Friday 26th July to Tuesday 6th August - Osaka Exchange

Friday 26th July - Year 9 Course Counselling

August

Tuesday 30th July to Thursday 1st August - College Production

Friday 2nd August - Year 10 2024 into Year 11 2025 Course Counselling

Thursday 22nd August - Parent Teacher Interviews - At school and online

Wednesday 28th to Friday 30th August - Music Camp

September

Wednesday 11th September - Year 7 & 8 Showcase - Science, Humanities and Japanese

Thursday 12th September - 2025 Parent Information Evening - 5.00pm to 6.00pm

Friday 13th September - Staff Professional Development Day - Student Free

Monday 16th to Friday 20th September - Year 12 completing Units 3 and 4 - Trial Exams

Monday 16th to Thursday 19th September - Year 12 Revision Lectures

Friday 20th September - Last Day of Term 3 - 2.30pm Dismissal

Don't forget to look on Compass for sport sign ups, excursions and any other information sent to students and parents.

Below is a link to help guide you in your use of Compass.

https://mornsc.vic.edu.au/for-parents/compass-parent-guide/

Middle School

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Please keep abreast of information on the MSC Compass Newsfeed as there is so much happening this term!

Our teams did a great job in the aerobics competition and our senior team performed extremely well making it to the next level: the Nationals to be held in Adelaide. Amanda Keen did a great job with Indie Jowett devising a routine and teaching it. I know many parents were at the event very early in the morning and cheered our girls on to do their best and they did exactly that. Our parents are very proud of their children. We too are very proud of our amazing students and teachers!!

On the 14 June, we are so excited to have the Yale Acapella group (from America) come to our college and workshop with our Year 7s. We cordially invite Year 7 parents and grandparents to this event. The Year 7 students received letters to take home (please check your child’s school bag) inviting you to the event. Please ring the school or email to let us know if you plan to attend so we can have the tea and coffee ready.

We had senior school exams today and PAT testing Numeracy for Years 7, 8 & 9. Literacy PAT testing continues tomorrow and next week.

Earlier this week I took prospective families on a school tour and Chloe Smith helped lead the tour and she did a wonderful job. I asked Chloe to write a reflection about Year 7 and school in general. I hope you gain an insight into our college from a student’s voice.

Wishing you a great week

Denise Leggett

Middle School Assistant Principal

Reflection from one of our Year 8 Captains Chloe Smith

Hi, I am Chloe Smith, and I am the Year 8 Year Level Captain.

I have always loved school, but Mornington has just pushed me to love school and learning even more with the amazing staff and students.

Mornington is a bright school and has excellent opportunities that everyone can participate in. I have always believed that it does not matter what school you go to as long as you do your best, I still believe that, but now, I realise that the school that you go to can also influence the effort you put in and Mornington always strives to make sure every student is looked after and does their very best.

Mornington has school tours that occur weekly and on Wednesday I had the opportunity to join one of these tours with Mrs Leggett, our Assistant Principal. My role was to provide a student perspective about the school. I enjoyed this as the families got to ask questions and I could answer them from a student’s point of view.

We talked about the different classes that we have on offer and the electives that you can choose. I highly recommend a school tour as it is a great way to see the school and ask questions, you can also get to know the Principal or the Assistant Principal.

As I mentioned I am a Year 8 student so I have been in Year 7 and to tell you the truth the transition from Year 6 to Year 7 and then to Year 8 can be overwhelming. We have an amazing group of teachers at Mornington, and they all want to help you. From Year 6 to Year 7 it can be tough as you must move to a new school and while that is a big change- it is not as big as you think as Year 7 is just like Year 6 just at a new school and of course you will learn new things.

We have a great HeadStart program and in the first few weeks of school starting all the teachers help you get used to Secondary school. You may not think so but the difference from Year 7 to 8 can also be a big change because the work gets harder, and the workload is more. As I said there is a great HeadStart program but for all the other year levels HeadStart is at the end of the school year and goes for about 2 weeks. The teachers and coordinators are great and are always there to help you.

Chloe Smith

Year 8 Year Level Captain

Senior School

To students and families of the Mornington Senior School,

We have arrived at the mid-year exams for Years 10&11. It’s such a great opportunity for our students to demonstrate the effectiveness of their study skills and learning behaviours. After results are released, students will be able to reflect on areas for improvement to focus on in Semester 2. These examinations are all a vital part of preparing students for their final year of schooling/entering the VCE years. I wish them all the very best and look forward to seeing our students recording some great results.

Good luck to our Year 11 VCE VM students who will be taking part in mid-year evaluation presentation interviews during those same dates. Details have been distributed by the VCE-VM team. As always, students attending school for exams or interviews will need to do so in full-school uniform.

This week I wanted to highlight two of our fantastic student leaders, our College Captains, Bridie Borthwick and Molly Pierce-Decker. I’m lucky enough to work with them both closely through the MSC Captain’s Council and thought that everyone else should get to know them a little better as well.

Student Profile

Name: Bridie Borthwick

Year Level: 12

Favourite Mornington Subject: Maths

Favourite teacher: Mrs Lamb

Siblings: 1 sister

Pets: 2 dogs (Allen and Digger), 1 cat (Nut) and 3 chickens (Nugget, Schnitzel and Parma)

What primary school did you go to: Osborne Primary School

Favourite Sporting team(s): Geelong Cats and Melbourne Vixens

All-time best movie/tv/other quote: Life moves pretty fast if you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it! - Ferris Buellers day off

What do you want to be in future: A midwife

Best MSC excursion or camp that you’ve been on: Year 10 OES camp to Phillip Island

Advice for primary school students: Don’t rush your primary school experience enjoy that time.

If I won a million dollars, I would… use it to travel the world!

Student Profile

Name: Molly Pierce Decker

Year Level: 12

Favourite Mornington Subject: Music Performance

Favourite teacher: Mrs Jones or Mr Southam

Siblings: 2 brothers

Pets: Border Collie named Billy

What primary school did you go to: Benton Junior College

Favourite Sporting team(s): Liverpool and Ferrari

All-time best movie/tv/other quote: “We have to right a wrong. And sometimes, in order to right a wrong, you have to do a wrong-right. Gandhi said that.” -LEGO Batman

What do you want to be in future: Musician and/or theatre performer

Best MSC excursion or camp that you’ve been on: Supreme Court for Legal Studies

Advice for primary school students: try your hardest but remember to have fun because time flies!

If I won a million dollars, I would… buy recording equipment and produce my music

Year 12 TRAG

Our Year 12s went to the Teenagers Road Accident Group (TRAG) presentation yesterday and listened to first responders to road transport accidents such as police, SES and ambulance Victoria talk about exactly what it is like to attend collisions (pretty much all of which are avoidable). They also heard from several parents of children from the Mornington Peninsula who lost their lives in these collisions. It is always a tough presentation to be part of however our young people are entering the most dangerous time of their driving life (18-24) and they need to hear about why it’s important to Drive-4-Life. As always our students were polite, respectful and great ambassadors for the college. After the presentation, the Year 12 cohort had a BBQ prepared for them by their Year 12 teachers.

Year 12 GAT

Students have been distributed a GAT information brochure during an assembly this week and Year 12 students will undertake GAT preparation sessions through the Connect and ROADMAP programs beginning next week. VCE VM students will prepare in their VM Literacy and Numeracy classes while Year 11 students studying a Year 12 subject will receive a GAT information session and brochure.

For more information about the GAT, please go to https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/assessment/vce-assessment/general-achievement-test/Pages/index.aspx

Mornington SC is off to Nationals!

Finally I’d like to end this week’s report by giving team Boultify a huge congratulations as they are off to Nationals in August! I was fortunate enough to watch them over the weekend and they performed wonderfully well (to my untrained eye) in a highly competitive division where 6 teams scored over 80. They’ll be the second ranked team from Victoria heading into Nationals and according to the presenter from the state finals, other states should be very worried about the Victorian teams. I’d like to acknowledge the dedication of the girls and their coaches, Amanda Keen, and Indie Jowett. They go above and beyond in their support for the girls and the school is lucky to have such great people!

Kind regards,

Nick Evans

Senior School Assistant Principal

Aerobics Teams Update

The Hurricanes and Boultify Aerobics Teams competed in the Victorian State Final on Saturday the 1st of June at Rowville Secondary College.

It was an early start for the Hurricanes, made up of Year 7 students, arriving at 7am to warm up and prepare for their performance. The students gave it their all and improved in their synchronisation and performance elements. They placed 9th in the State for the Junior Stage 1 teams. They beat a team that was ranked higher than them after the previous regional finals, showing that they worked hard to improve and strengthen their routine.

Our senior team - Boultify, were scheduled for later in the afternoon. Having only one other team to compete against at the previous regional competition, it was a bit of an unknown about the standard of the state. And the standard was certainly high! Boultify did us proud; showing their experience, entertaining performance element and powerful movements. Judged with junior and senior teams combined, Boultify achieved the Bronze State Medal. However, they were the 2nd highest ranked senior team. To top it off, Boultify is through to the National Finals to be held in August in Adelaide! We wish them the best of luck and know they will be training hard between now and then.

Amanda Keen

Aerobics Coach

Food For Change

Hello Parents, Staff and Students,

We would like to announce Mornington Secondary College’s chosen Charity for 2024!

After much thought about which local charities we believed we could contribute to this year, and any suggestions and conversations with our student council, we have chosen to donate our fundraising money collected this year to Food For Change!

Food For Change is an organisation who’s mission is to alleviate food insecurity in Australia and making sure that no person or family goes hungry, no matter their background or circumstance. The sad reality is that one in five Australians have experienced food insecurity in the last 12 months.

In simple terms this means that one in five Australians have not had access to sufficient food or food of a standard quality to meet basic needs. To combat this, the team at Food For Change grow fresh and nutritious foods on their farms, lead food rescue initiatives with IGA, other food retailers and food relief agencies by providing them with the foods necessary.

Since 2016 Food For Change have delivered millions of meals to those in need.

Everything we make from our year level fundraisers this year will go toward Food For Change and their mission. We believe that this is a very relevant cause at the moment, with the cost of living becoming difficult for a growing number of families in the past few years, we acknowledge the struggle that this is becoming for more people across the country and we want to help to change this, and so by holding our fundraisers we ask that every student who wishes to participate, to bring a gold coin donation, because even a little can go a long way.

We believe in change and we believe we have the power to make change.

We encourage everyone to visit their website and look further into supporting them.

https://foodforchange.org.au/

Thank you,

Molly Pierce-Decker and Bridie Borthwick

College Captains

Year 10 Psychology Forensics

The Year 10 Psychology Forensics classes enjoyed pretending to be Crime Scene Investigators. Students were required to walk around the crime scene to make their initial observations. They worked in small groups to create a detailed log of evidence and took photos to use in their final investigation.

Year 12 Vocational Major - Personal Development at the Mornington Library

What an amazing session at the library! We had all our students engaged and supporting members of our local community with their technology issues. Some people had questions about their laptops. Other people had questions about creating a photo book online. Whilst others had questions about how to use Instagram, give permission for photos on what’s app and how to get a video to load and play.

Well done to the Year 12 Vocational Major students from 12H who willingly helped and demonstrated great leadership and team work skills.

Some of the feedback we received from the people they assisted:

“How good to get ‘technical support’ given in a patient and friendly way. A big thank you – much appreciated!”
“Thank you so much for providing excellent students with comprehensive knowledge regarding computers and phones. All my questions were answered and I had a chance to also take comprehensive notes.”
“Brilliant! Solved my technology problems and were excellent communicators.”
“Thanks – you’ve been lots of help. Cheers.”

The students also benefitted from their volunteering. They also demonstrated their ability to interact positively with the older members of our community and were very helpful and willing to give things a go – even if they didn’t know the answer straight away. The students reflected on the leadership and teamwork skills they demonstrated including communication, showing initiative, using problem skills, and being determined to find solutions to the issue they were being asked to solve.

Well done to everyone involved!

Dianne Parkinson

VM Personal Development Teacher