Dempsey's Digest

Apart from the weather being glorious over the past week, there is so much happening across the school which just makes me feel so thankful! 

Below are some things that have captured my attention over the past weeks and help us get an insight into community life, in this special place. 

Grandparents & Special Friend’s Day for Kindergarten

What a joy to see (and hear!) the buzzing of little ones enjoying showing their grandparents and special friends around our kinder! Excitement and lots of giggles were heard as our special visitors were invited to play outside, build with blocks, read a story and just have fun! Thanks to our fantastic Kinder crew who brought it all together! 

CEN Principal’s Retreat

I had the opportunity to spend time on a short retreat with other Principals from CEN schools across Victoria, at Covenant College, in Geelong. I had a great time asking lots of questions of other Principals as we swapped notes and spent time navigating some challenging parts of school leadership. I am so grateful for the support of fellow travellers in Christian education! 

Year 9 General Manager Interviews

One of the lovely features of our Year 9 Open Village program, is the opportunity for students to participate in Industry week at the end of Term 3. As a part of preparation for this, students apply for various roles in their 'company', one of the roles being the General Manager. I had the privilege of observing a group interview where 5 students demonstrated leadership as they (as a group) navigated the interview themselves and addressed various questions that were presented to them in a document. I was blown away by their ability to put themselves forward, articulate clearly their hopes for the 'company' and be mindful, courteous and encouraging of each other. How wonderful to see some very gifted leaders emerging from our Year 9 cohort. 

Parent Seminar B

As you would all know, when you enrol your child(ren) at MECS, you are expected to attend two seminars at MECS which is an opportunity for us to share the MECS story and in essence, the MECS approach to Christian schooling. Last week, Danny Gamble and I lead seminar B, which focused on understanding Worldview and identifying the lenses that we view the world through. Of course at MECS, we teach from and attempt to view all of life, through a biblical lens. We also looked carefully at the cultural stories that surround us, and the impact that phones and social media has had on the way we interact, mental health and our kids ability to 'play'.  

Sam Burrows

Also during last week was an opportunity to hear from Sam Burrows, a great speaker who gives some great commentary on the crossroad between our culture and theology. Sam has a great way of making complex issues easy to digest and certainly challenged our thinking. It was a great night and lovely to see some association members attend. 

VET Taster evening

Do you sometimes wish you could go back in time and do parts of your schooling again? I think that, every time I drop in at Ranges TEC. The opportunities for practical learning in a trade environment are exciting. Last week, Ranges TEC hosted another Taster evening for Year 10 students where they got the chance to 'have a go' at Furniture Making, Hospitality, Horticulture, Metal Engineering or Electro. What a great chance to meet the Ranges TEC crew (thanks Ross, for hosting) and walk out with another glimpse of this wonderful option for a different learning pathway. 

Indonesian Travels 

It was lovely to see our Indonesian travellers arrive back to school safely on Thursday. They were very tired after a long day and night, but were full of stories and smiles. What a blessing their trip was and how wonderful that they stayed in good health and were kept safe! 

Photos and stories will be in the next newsletter.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr

It’s all happening as the final rehearsals of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr are underway! Don’t forget to purchase your tickets and be a part of the fun of this extravaganza! I personally can’t wait to see this re-creation of a childhood classic! I wonder if I’ll STILL be afraid of the child catcher? 

Prep 100 days

There were a lot of very little elderly people hanging around school last Friday when the Preps celebrated completing their first 100 days of school! I got to join the celebration as well, though I also managed to trick some of the staff that I WAS an old lady (didn’t I, Ben Clark!!) See what being a Principal does to you after 100 days…

VM Community Projects Presentations

Last week, our Year 11 Vocational Major students gave excellent presentations to myself, Assistant Principal, Karissa Esselbrugge and our Property Manager, Daniel Chatelier. These projects are based around building community across the Senior Secondary School. In presenting they had to consider impact, budget implications and risks. What a great project in itself! It’s exciting to see young people working together with creativity to enhance an experience of community amongst their peers. I can’t wait to see them come to fruition! 

Craig Dell’s passing

As a part of community life, we at times are confronted with the passing of a loved one. This happened a number of weeks back to a family in our school, who lost their dear Dad and husband, Craig Dell. Craig had struggled with brain cancer and passed away on the 24 July.  A few of the staff had the privilege of attending a celebration of Craig’s life and got a beautiful insight into his life as husband to Tanya and Dad to Carter (in Year 11) and also to Madison, Ciel and Trinity. As a community, can I ask you to continue to uphold this family in their grief.