From the Principal
Class Team
Dear MRC Community,
With the completion of week 7, we are well and truly past the half way mark for term 2. In the coming weeks we turn our attention to the completion of assessment tasks across the college including the mid-year exams for most secondary students. Students should use this time to prepare and to seek and clarify feedback from their teachers.
Attitudes to School Survey
We have commenced the implementation of the Department of Education (DE) Attitudes to School survey for students in Years 4 to 12. The information gathered from students provides schools with their views and perceptions on a range of topics relating to what is happening and what can be improved in their school. These sets of data, which are collated for schools, support the planning and implementation of programs and support throughout the College.
Education Support Staff Day
Every year, the DE sets aside a day on which schools celebrate the work of our Education Support Staff. This year we observed this day on Thursday 16th May, where the contributions of our ES staff were highlighted and celebrated. Our food technology department headed by Ms. Stella Daniele prepared morning tea for our ES staff. Our ES team plays an integral part in supporting the needs of our students and their families. In doing so, their partnership with teachers ensures that students are provided with holistic supports and opportunities to excel. We should all be extremely proud of our talented ES staff and the positive influence they bring to the lives of our students and their families.
PREP 2025 INFORMATION EVENING
On Tuesday May 7th we held our first Prep information evening for the year. The night was well attended by members of the community and their little ones. Families were given information related to our College, enrolment packs and were taken on a small tour of the Prep space in Essex. Well done to the Early Years Engagement team, along with current Prep teachers for their organisation and preparation of the evening.
PFA: MOTHER’S DAY STALL AND SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE
Our Parents and Friends Association (PFA) has been rather busy during the last couple of weeks. The PFA successfully organised our annual Mother's Day Stall and were able to sell numerous items to many very eager students. As a result, we trust that there were many happy mothers on the Sunday. The PFA also ran their very popular monthly second-hand uniform sale last week. As is usual on these days, there is generally a great turn-out and the available stock gets depleted fast. While on the subject of the PFA, the core committee of volunteers offers an invaluable service to our community and is always on the lookout for others to help. They meet for an hour once a month to plan upcoming events such as Mother’s and Father’s Days, Second Hand Uniform sales, EOY raffle, Footy Day BBQ, Parent Helpers morning tea etc. If you are interested in supporting the PFA or would like to know more please contact the College.
MACKILLOP FAMILY SERVICES
On Wednesday 15th May, James Tupai from MacKillop Family Services (MFS) was able to engage the services of a local Barista (and coffee van) for the purpose of providing free coffee / hot chocolate to members of our community. Over 100 beverages were provided to very appreciative parents and staff. This event provided a great opportunity for parents to meet with our staff and discuss the support services they have access to through our partnership with MacKillop Family Services. It was great to see so many staff and parents mingling on such a beautiful morning. Our PFA was also on hand to spruik their work and provide additional support. Congratulations to the wellbeing team and our partner (MFS) for creating such a positive and successful event.
COMMUNITY COOKBOOK
In the last couple of weeks you would have received notification and and a request to contribute to our very own MRC Community cookbook. We are excited to announce the development of a community cookbook. The ultimate goal will be the creation of an MRC community cookbook representing the rich culinary diversity that our community has to offer. We look forward to promoting the recipes over the next few months followed by the launch of a cookbook, at a special event, later in the year. Stella will be sending out correspondence to our wider community requesting special family recipes.
Families and staff are encouraged to submit a special recipe using Microsoft forms (https://forms.office.com/r/vb2qcJiDza) or by sending it to this email: community@mountridleycollege.vic.edu.au to be included in the MRC recipe book.
EXCURSIONS/INCURSIONS
As you will read in other sections of the newsletter, the last few weeks have been particularly busy with numerous excursions and incursions taking place. These events require much work and preparation and we acknowledge the great effort and contribution of staff and community partners to ensure their success, congratulations to all involved.
Have a wonderful weekend and stay warm,
Con Stamatelatos
Deputy Principal- Accountability and College Partnerships