From the Principal

Happy International Women’s Day everyone. This day is celebrated all over the world on March 8th each year. It is a day to celebrate and recognize the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world.

International Women’s Day has been observed for over a century, recognizing the progress made towards gender equality and the challenges that continue to exist. Many countries and organizations celebrate this day and provide opportunities to highlight the strength, resilience and contributions women have made worldwide.  

Today we celebrate the achievements of 2 women at Mornington Secondary College. They are Bridie Borthwick and Molly Pierce-Decker, our College Captains for 2024. I asked them to write a piece for my article this week about themselves and the opportunities they have embraced.  

Molly Pierce-Decker 

Throughout my 18 years I have always strived to do and be the best I can. I have seized every opportunity that has become available to me - from my sporting, theatre, and music to my academics. I grew up surrounded by boys - my two brothers always pushed me to be better and achieve more; both within our competitive nature and in a supportive way. I have learnt many things in the past few years especially, things I didn’t realise were available to me, and in my newfound understanding I have gained a new understanding of myself and my future ambitions. My goal for my future is to be part of the Formula One industry as a sports journalist for the women’s F1 academy. I’ve have been lucky enough to have been a part of leadership throughout my 13 years in school, I have had numerous opportunities to be a part of music performances and leading roles in many musicals both inside and outside of school. I believe in taking part in every opportunity that is handed to you, and so I try to take that on board not just for myself but to those who look up to me - my peers, my Captains Council, my students, and my friends. Every opportunity is a chance to be better and prove that you can do it.  

Bridie Borthwick 

My name is Bridie Borthwick, and I am one of the 2024 College Captains at Mornington. 

Throughout my 13 years of schooling, I have always been a very leadership-based individual and I focus on helping others both within our school community and the wider community. I have always tried to be the best version of myself in anything I do whether it be my academics, leadership responsibilities or personal life. 

Throughout my time at Mornington, I have grown as both an individual and leader thanks to the support and guidance from my mentors and teachers I have been able to form a sense of self. I have found that if I put in the time and effort, I can make anything happen I just have to keep pushing because I am stronger than I seem, smarter than I think and braver than I believe. Thanks to the opportunities available to me I was able to gain a $1500 scholarship from the Freemasons in 2022 and I was named Youth Rotary Member in 2023. These achievements have helped to boost my confidence levels and have encouraged me to push myself outside of my comfort zone, making me the person I am today. 

Congratulations Molly and Bridie and on behalf of the school community thankyou for being  fantastic ambassadors for the school. The opportunities afforded to both Molly and Bridie are available for everyone to access. I look forward to following your careers.  

Thankyou for being part of our community.  

Linda Stanton

Principal

Important Dates

Term 1

March

Monday 4th to Friday 8th March - Year 8 Camp - Phillip Island

Monday 11th March - Labour Day Public Holiday

Tuesday 12th March - College House Athletics Carnival

Thursday 14th March - School photos catch up

Wednesday 13th to 25th March - Year 7 and 9 NAPLAN

Monday 25th March - Year 7 Grandparent Morning Tea

Wednesday 27th March - Parent Teacher Interviews - Hybrid online and face to face

Thursday 28th March - Whole School Assembly

Thursday 28th March - Last day of Term 1, 2.30pm dismissal

Friday 29th March - Good Friday Public Holiday

Term 2

April

Monday 15th April - Term 2 Commences

Monday 15th April - Year 7 and Year 10 Vaccinations

Wednesday 17th to Friday 19th April - Year 9 Morrisby Meetings

Wednesday 17th to Friday 19th April - Year 11 Outdoor Ed Wilsons Prom Camp

Friday 19th April - State Swimming at MSAC

Wednesday 24th April - ANZAC Day Commemorations at school

Thursday 25th April - ANZAC Day - Public Holiday

Monday 29th April to Wednesday 1st May - Year 10 Outdoor Ed Otways Camp

May

Wednesday 8th May - Year 7 Cross Country

Thursday 16th May - Year 10 Careers Expo

Friday 17th May - Staff Professional Development Day - Student free

Wednesday 22nd to Friday 24th May - Year 7 Camp - The Summit

June

Tuesday 4th June - Year 12 TRAG Excursion

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

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 - 5.00 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

Follow us on

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,

The first group of students have returned from the Year 8 Phillip Island camp and by all accounts they had a fantastic time.  I have included some camp photos for you.  We will be able to give you more information about the camp when Mr Pirrie and the Year 8 team return. We are so grateful to Mr Pirrie and our staff for providing these great opportunities for our students.

This week I wanted to focus on the year 9 cohort.  Currently, year 9 students are involved in the Morrisby online career education tool.  The Department of Education gives every Victorian Government school student free access to the world-leading Morrisby online career education tool. 

Morrisby helps your child make informed choices for senior secondary school and beyond by exploring their strengths, interests, and career opportunities.

The My Career Insights program pairs your child’s Morrisby profile with a free expert career consultation.

The students really enjoy this program as the Morrisby profile helps create a unique profile that summarises strengths and interests as well as suggesting related career paths and study options.

Naplan: Year 7 and Year 9 students commence Naplan next week.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assessments happen every year.

Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are tested on the fundamental literacy and numeracy skills that every child needs to become successful learners in school and beyond.

NAPLAN has moved to an online assessment.

• Visit the NAP website for more information, resources, FAQs, and parent information. You can also find information on our research and development for NAPLAN online assessment.

Wishing our families, a wonderful week

Denise Leggett

Middle School Assistant Principal

Senior School

To students and families of the Mornington Senior School,

Just like that we are in autumn, although we have a few warm days on the forecast. As we head into the long weekend, our students and families will have had the opportunity to reflect on their first progress reports of the year. I strongly encourage you all to spend a few minutes with your child, having a conversation about their thoughts about their progress. What are the strengths? What are the areas for growth? What strategies can they trial to improve in some areas?

The students I teach as part of the Year 12 ROADMAP study skills program have been having similar conversations with myself (or their teachers) about how they are going so far and looking at these practical strategies. You will have the opportunity to discuss this information in more detail with the teachers of your child at our parent teacher interviews in the final week of this term.

I just spent a lunchtime with our year 12 dreamcatchers and their year 7 support buddies. They wrote letters to one another and will be taking part in different activities throughout the year to support and encourage each other throughout their first (Year 7s) and final year (year 12) of secondary school. It’s a wonderful tradition here at Mornington and seeing the positive interactions between our youngest and oldest students was a great reminder that we are one community here, without everyone striving to do their best on their own individual journey in this world.

At a conference I attended recently, some 2023 state-by-state data was released and showed that Victoria had the best attendance of all states and also showed the most improvement during 2023. It also showed our NAPLAN data was best or equal best of the different jurisdictions around Australia. It shows that the combined efforts of families and schools working in partnership to maximise student learning opportunities is working, despite what sometimes gets reported in the press. Sometimes good news doesn’t generate clicks it seems 😉 At Mornington, we like to share good news and we are proud of the efforts of our students; however we always want them to strive for more – Dare to Dream!

Enjoy the long weekend and spending time with family and friends,

Nick Evans

Senior School Assistant Principal

Parent Teacher Conferences 27th March...Let's Get Together

It’s getting towards the end of term and it's time for parent teacher conferences. These conferences give you a great opportunity to see how your child is going at school and to develop strategies with your child’s teacher on how you can support the work of the school.  Conferences run best with the child present, that way they can receive all the praise directly from their teacher, but also be part of the plan for when improvements are needed.

Structure:

This semester we are going to try a hybrid model: half the day on site, face to face interviews with the second half being online.

• Face to Face interviews will be at school from 12-3:30pm
• Online interviews will be on MS Teams from 5-7:30pm

You should book using Compass then attend school for the face to face interviews or have your child’s laptop ready to receive a call from the class teacher for the online interviews.

If you will be unable to access your child’s laptop at the time of the online interview please email the class teacher and we will provide you with an alternative link.

BOOKINGS ARE OPEN NOW!

Looking forward to seeing you on the 27th of March.

Kind regards,

Mike Parker

Assistant Principal

Whole school Athletics Carnival Tuesday 12 March.

A great day for students to participate for their House and earn points, or just come along and support their House.

If you have not consented for your child/ren to all logon to Compass to give permission.

Year 11 Outdoor Ed Cable Park Excursion

The day started with knee boarding which eventually led to wakeboarding. It was all smiles and fun until Mr Williams was no longer the best boarder in the Cable Park. When the students became satisfied that they were now better than the teachers (especially Mrs Nicholls), we swapped our attention to the high ropes course. Students were able to learn firsthand the technology advancements which have increased participation among people and the risks associated with activities such as wakeboarding. We wish students all the best for their first SAC and hope they draw upon what we experienced and learnt on this amazing excursion. 

Year 12 Outdoor Ed Kayaking Excursion

To prepare our students for the big Murray River paddle camp, students underwent a kayaking training session at our local beach. Wind dropped nicely by the time Mrs Nicholls amazingly drove our minibus to the beach. With a perfect park, sunny weather and Mr Williams broad brim hat modelling we were ready for kayaking. Thanks to Mrs Nicholls fantastic kayaking explanations and Mr Williams enthusiasm for capsizing kayaks that are not his own, we were able to create amazing paddlers ready for their camp. A big shout out to Mornington Boat Hire for providing all the equipment. Thank you to the following MSC staff who attended; Mrs Dixon, Mr Jones, Miss Jerkovic and Miss Gamble.

Year 11 Biology and Environmental Science

Year 11 students have been doing some interesting practical activities. Year 11 Biology students have been looking at osmosis in potatoes placed in solutions of differing salt concentrations.

Year 11 Environmental science students are investigating the effect of differing conditions on the reactants and products of photosynthesis

Division Swimming

On Thursday 29th February our College Swimming team competed at the Southern Peninsula Division Swimming Championships which were held at the Pines pool in Frankston. The weather was perfect, and the competition was held in a very friendly atmosphere. Our swimming team represented our college with distinction putting in 100% effort and volunteering to swim in as many races as we could fill. Many of our swimmers were swimming up in higher age groups, especially in the girl’s events where sadly we had very few students representing. A special congratulations to our super fish Cian Andrews who won four individual events and a relay. A highlight of the day was the senior boys 17-20 age group placing equal first with Dromana SC on 128 points. Overall, our boys aggregate placed a very commendable second place behind Dromana SC on 284 points. Our combined girls aggregate score was 97 points placing them in 5th position. Our total school aggregate was 381 points resulting  in a 4th placing overall. 

Congratulations to our Division event winners.

Boys 17 Years 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay: 

Cian Andrews, Xavier Brown, Carter Nicholson & Sean Mackenzie

Our Division champions will progress on to represent the school at the next level which is the Southern Metropolitan Region championships which is to be held on the 25th March at the Oakleigh Outdoor Pool. 

John Walker

College Sport Coordinator

Year 10 Outdoor and Environmental Studies Phillip Island Surf Trip

On Wednesday 28th February our Year 10 Outdoor and Environmental Studies students participated in a surfing experience to YCW beach on Phillip Island. The session started with an instruction session on water safety and then on to the practical application of how to establish the correct body position on the board, paddle action and sequence of movements to pop up and hang ten! Sounds easy but there were plenty of classic wipe outs, thrills, and spills. The students did really well, with the vast majority being able to stand up and catch some great waves. After the surfing we headed back to San Remo to sample the local fish and chips before the drive home.  

Year 7 Volleyball

Our Year 7 boys Volleyball team competed at Mt Eliza College. We won the first game against Dromana College 2:0, the second game was well fought against fierce competitors Mt Eliza College 0:2. The boys last game was a clash of the titans 1:1 a draw against Westernport Secondary College, so a 3rd game was played. The boys played well and fought hard to try to pull back some points in the final game with a final score of 11/15. Our Year 7 boys were lead by Noah S, who coordinated the team and supported his team mates admirably – Thomas M, Declan K, Axel S, Curtis G, Kenji E and Casey K. Proud Coach- Tracey Watchorn.

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