Justice

Turning Compassion into Action

Over the last three weeks, our school community has been buzzing with generosity and spirit. We have had some amazing fundraisers organised and hosted entirely by our students, with the wonderful support of their mentor group teachers.

We are incredibly proud to announce that each of the following recent events raised well over $200:

8 Green: Bake Sale
9 MacKillop: Bake Sale
9 Monash: Chocolate Toss
10 Blue: Hot Cross Buns
10 Silver: Lolly Kebab and Treat Stall
Year 12: Krispy Kreme Sale

As we head into our final week of school for the term and Lent, the momentum isn't slowing down. Students have the following exciting activities to look forward to:

8 Blue: Guess the Eggs in the Jar
9 Barak: Bake Sale
11 Green: Pin the Object on the Teacher
11 Red: Easter Egg Guessing Competition

A special mention goes out to our Year 7 cohort, who will be concluding the term with their highly anticipated "Longest Coin Chain" event! The Year 7 mentor groups are competing not only to build the longest physical chain of coins, but also to raise the most money. As we enter this final week, the year level has already raised a little over $500! Well done Year 7!

While these activities bring a lot of joy, collaboration and friendly competition to our school grounds, their purpose is profoundly important. All funds raised are going directly to Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion. Through these seemingly small acts of buying a bake sale treat or bringing in spare change, our students are directly supporting vulnerable people around the world. The money we raise helps provide essential resources like clean water, education and healthcare, empowering communities to make sustainable, long-term changes to their lives.

This beautiful spirit of giving ties perfectly into the true meaning of Easter. During Lent, we are called to almsgiving and solidarity. By sacrificing our own time and resources for others, we reflect Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and His message of unconditional love and hope. Every dollar our students have raised is a testament to that hope and a practical way of bringing new life to those who need it most.

We thank all the students, staff and families who have supported these initiatives. We wish you and your loved ones a safe, restful, and very Holy Easter.

Celebrating Togetherness

Recently, our school came together for a truly special dual celebration, honoring both Harmony Day and World Down Syndrome Day. To mark the occasion, students were invited to wear crazy, mismatched socks alongside their everyday school uniforms. This colorful display served a beautiful dual purpose: it symbolised our unique differences as individuals while highlighting our deep connectedness as one united school community.

Furthermore, mismatched socks are the global symbol of support for World Down Syndrome Day. This tradition began because chromosomes are actually shaped a lot like socks, and people with Down syndrome are born with an extra 21st chromosome! Wearing these brightly colored, mismatched socks is a wonderful, visual way to celebrate diversity, raise awareness and spark important conversations about inclusion and acceptance.

The themes of inclusion and belonging were explored further during Mentor time in the morning. Students watched a special, thought-provoking video created by our very own student leaders. Following the video, Mentor groups engaged in rich discussions around the impact of loneliness on our mental health, our shared responsibility to look out for one another and practical ways we can all show ‘togetherness’ when we notice someone might be feeling isolated.

Throughout the day, the celebration continued with a range of engaging activities. Students decorated paper socks that are now proudly hung on our vibrant school Harmony Day Display, and enjoyed spending time together participating in mindfulness activities, including mindful colouring and bracelet making.

Thank you to all the students and staff who helped make this day such a meaningful and joyful celebration of our diverse community. Happy Harmony Day and World Down Syndrome Day!

Preparing for Cambodia: A United Mercy Journey

As we look toward August, anticipation is building for our upcoming combined Mercy Cambodia Immersion. This incredible journey brings together student leaders from Academy, Our Lady of Mercy College (Heidelberg) and St Aloysius (North Melbourne).

Immersion opportunities like this are profoundly important; they challenge our students to step outside their everyday lives, build deep global empathy and actively live out our shared values. Furthermore, by experiencing this journey alongside fellow students from our sister schools, the girls are able to broaden their worldview while strengthening our wider Mercy network and forging lifelong friendships.

To ensure our students are fully prepared for this life-changing experience, the combined group recently came together for their first two preparation sessions. Session One was all about building connections. After spending time getting to know one another, the students were treated to an inspiring presentation by Young Mercy Links members, who shared stories from their own recent immersion to Cambodia. It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to mingle with Young Mercy Link members and the Sisters of Mercy who were in attendance, gaining a deeper understanding of the profound experiences that await them. The evening concluded beautifully with a shared, home-style meal of traditional Amok Curry.

This week, the momentum continued with our second session. The students broke into small, cross-school groups to begin collaborative research projects investigating various aspects of Cambodian culture, which they will eventually present to the wider group. To cap off an evening of rich learning, the students travelled to Samut Restaurant in the city for a traditional Cambodian dinner and excitedly tried a range of cultural culinary delights.

We are so proud of the open-mindedness, enthusiasm and sense of community our students are already demonstrating and we look forward to updating you as their preparations continue.

Courage to Care in Action

Last Tuesday, our Year 10 students proudly embarked on their first official day of our 2026 Community Action Program: Courage to Care in Action. Stepping out of the traditional classroom, students spent the day immersed in various community settings, putting our school values into practice through hands-on, meaningful service.

Care for Country: Merri Creek Two of our groups, 10 Silver and Green focused on environmental stewardship, heading to Merri Creek to work alongside the Merri Management Committee. The students learned about the devastating impact of litter on our local waterways and then rolled up their sleeves to make a tangible difference. In just one session, these dedicated students collected an incredible 90kg (1,580 pieces) of rubbish from the creek and its surrounds! The top five polluting items they removed were:

Soft plastic fragments
Metallic food wrappers
Polystyrene fragments
Aluminium cans
Glass fragments

Care for the Elderly: 10 Blue dedicated their day to Caring for the Elderly at Mercy Place East Melbourne. Their day began at school, where they learned how to meaningfully interact with seniors, gained a deeper understanding of dementia and prepared activities to host. Upon arriving at Mercy Place, the group was welcomed by the Lifestyle team, who spoke about the facility, the residents they care for and the diverse career pathways that keep an aged care facility running. Our students then hosted two wonderful sessions with the residents, featuring knitting circles, crafts, games and even some singing! The visit concluded with a shared afternoon tea filled with beautiful, valuable intergenerational conversations.

Care for Community: 10 Red spent a joyous and busy day at St Brendan's Primary School in Flemington. Our students were a fantastic help, supporting the primary teachers and students in the classroom, playing games with the younger children, and even tackling the big job of organising the school's storage shed. By all reports, it was a deeply cherished day of connection and service with one of our local primary schools. Our Year 10s have three more Community Action days scheduled for this year. They will rotate through all the different service areas so that every student experiences each setting. We are also looking forward to introducing our final rotation, Care for the Vulnerable, where students will be heading out to support the Brotherhood of St Laurence at one of their op-shops and their book warehouse.

We are incredibly proud of the maturity, compassion, and hard work our Year 10s demonstrated this week!

Connecting Across Borders

On Wednesday this week, Academy proudly hosted students and staff from Our Lady of Mercy College (Heidelberg), St Aloysius College (North Melbourne), and Mount Lilydale Mercy College for the first of four AMSSA Student Conference sessions.

The Australasian Mercy Secondary Schools Association (AMSSA) hosts a bi-annual student conference that has historically been delivered as a large, in-person event. This year, the conference has transitioned to an innovative online and hybrid model. This exciting shift is a fantastic development, as it enables our schools to include a much larger number of student delegates and allows us to connect in real-time with Mercy schools as far afield as New Zealand and Papua New Guinea!

The overarching focus of this first session was exploring Mercy as action in the world—challenging our young leaders to move beyond words and into courageous, justice-centered living. The purpose of the conference is to provide deep formation in Mercy spirituality history, and its contemporary relevance, all while building rapport across schools and states. The session was a wonderful opportunity for our local schools to mix, share ideas and connect with the wider Mercy network.

The afternoon began with a warm online AMSSA welcome, which led beautifully into an inspiring National Keynote Address presented via Zoom by Annette Schneider rsm. Her insights set the tone for the rest of the session, challenging the students to think deeply about their impact.

Following the keynote, students transitioned into localised, in-person workshops facilitated by our teachers. During this collaborative time, students engaged in guided reflections and worked together to map out local needs, identifying powerful examples of Mercy in action within their own schools and communities.

To broaden their perspectives, the session then expanded back to a national level. Students jumped into Zoom breakout rooms for a National Student Dialogue, allowing them to participate in mixed-school discussion groups.

By the end of the day, the primary outcome was clearly achieved: our students walked away with a shared language and a deeper understanding of our Mercy identity. We are incredibly proud of how our Academy students hosted and engaged with their visiting peers and we eagerly look forward to the next three sessions!

📬The Academy Stamp Box! 📬

Did you have a cleanout over the summer break or receive Christmas cards in the mail? If you found any used stamps, we want them! We will be collecting stamps throughout the year, and your ongoing support is greatly appreciated. If your workplace receives stamps, we would be grateful if you could collect them for us. Additionally, if you have any personal stamp collections you are able to donate, we would warmly welcome them. Every contribution makes a difference!

We're collecting used or new stamps to raise money for those in need around the world. Sounds small, right? But here’s the kicker: Stamp donations can raise between $35,000 and $40,000 every year. That’s a serious impact from something you might usually toss in the bin!

How it works:

Snip your stamps-leave about 1 cm of envelope around the edge. Or, bring in the whole envelope. We accept both used and brand new stamps, but used stamps are preferred (yes, even from your mail at home).

Got an old stamp collection? We’ll take that too! We send the stamps to auction, and the money raised goes toward grants that help communities in need around the world. Where can you drop off your stamps? The Stamp Station is located at Student Reception, open before school, at recess and lunch, and after school.

Ms Mel Sachanandani

Justice Leader