Principal

Mr Chris Grimmer

Final Days of 2023

We are moving into the final weeks of 2023 and have completed another amazing year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank students, staff and parents for your support throughout the year. 

Our Year 10s have just taken part in their final assembly, breakfast and celebration at Club DaVinci on Friday evening. Next week we will hold our Awards Night, Year 6 Celebration, class parties, Activity Days, Lake Day, Pool Fun Day, the final Prep Orientation, as well as the full day Year 7 Orientation.   

These events don’t run without an enormous amount of planning, organisation, and teamwork. I would like to acknowledge our wonderful teaching and support staff for their planning and organisation of these important celebrations. The office staff in particular provide enormous support with the preparation of reports, certificates, notes, and catering for these major events.

Final Day of the School Year

Just a reminder to families that Tuesday 19th December is the final day of structured activities for students, with the primary Pool Fun Day and the secondary Lake Day organised for the Tuesday. Wednesday morning will be clean up and pack up to ensure the college is organised and tidy and the building project can continue throughout the holiday break. 

For any students attending on the 20th December, school will start at 8.15am for Breakfast Club and the dismissal time is 1.30pm. CDC buses will be running an hour earlier than normal (between 2.30pm – 3.00pm), but the Wentworth bus will still run at the usual time of 3pm.

Awards Night Reminder

The annual Awards Night will once again be held at the Mildura Arts Centre and will take place on Monday 11th December. 

Students receiving awards have been notified in recent days. All students receiving awards on the night are required to attend in school uniform.  Parents are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Our awards evening acknowledges the contribution to our school and academic excellence of around ninety Primary and Secondary students each year.

Through the generous support of community-based organisations and businesses, we distribute over $4000 in cash and prizes to our award winners each year.

Our Awards Night relies heavily on the wonderful support of local businesses, service groups and families who generously sponsor many of the awards.  Their support is greatly appreciated by the school and highly valued by the recipients of the awards.

Year 10 Final Celebration

Last Friday evening, December 1st, we celebrated our Year 10s journey at Merbein P-10 College with a special breakfast before school, a whole school assembly and then finally an evening ceremony at Club DaVinci. It was a fantastic celebration, and the culmination of a lot of hard work from students, parents, and staff. I would like to acknowledge and thank all staff who gave up their time to organise the special ceremony, prepare students for the night and assist with the breakfast and whole school assembly. Most of all, I would like to thank staff for their care, patience, and support for the Year 10s across many years. We have a terrific school with wonderful students, supportive parents, and great staff, which is something we can all be proud of.

Retirement News

In 2024, one of our long serving staff members will be retiring from teaching after many years in Education across Victoria, and significantly for us, at Merbein Secondary College and now Merbein P-10. Mrs Wendy Dawson will be taking LSL in Term 1, but then retiring from teaching. On behalf of the students and staff at Merbein P-10, I would like to thank Wendy for her magnificent contribution to our college. 

Returning in 2024/Leave in 2024/Leaving in 2024

We are very excited that Clare Alexander (Collihole) will be returning to our Wellbeing Team in 2024, however this also means that Danielle James, who has been in a leave replacement position in our Wellbeing Team this year, will be leaving us in 2024. On behalf of all the students and staff at Merbein P-10 College I would like to thank Danielle for her work throughout this year and wish her all the best for the future.

Jo Wood, our Mental Health Practitioner, will be taking leave next year to pursue a leadership position, so we wish her well with this opportunity. Annika Livingstone is moving closer to home after spending most of this year filling our Science Lab Technician position in the new Science Centre. Annika has done a terrific job in our new Science Centre and we wish her well next year. Monica Brown, Rebecca Holy, Jenny Donnelly and Megan Downes are all continuing their leave for 2024. Jess Collihole will begin her family leave in the first few weeks of Term One. However, we are very lucky that Jess Dawson (Williams) will be returning from her family leave at the start of next year, so we can’t wait to see her back.

Further positions are still being confirmed for 2024 and will be announced at a future date.

2024 Primary Staffing

Casey Stoetzer: Assistant Principal P-6/P-3 LCL 

Kerry Grimmer: Year 4-6 LCL & 5/6 Literacy 

Carla Piscitelli: Primary Mental Health & Wellbeing Co-ordinator 

Sue Gardner: Maths Specialist

Kylie Cummings: Early Years Koorie Literacy Numeracy support

Catherine Brown:  PE Specialist & P/1 Literacy                                                                             Jodie Atkinson: Art Specialist, Music Specialist & Literacy support                                         Suzie Darby: Auslan Specialist P-6                                                                                                       Josh Hudson: Year 2-6 Music Specialist                                                                                                Hannah Schofield: Returning Semester 2

Education Support Staff

Heather Collihole P-6 Administration

Tamara Walker - Wellbeing 

Cheree Hoyle

Emma Davis 

Shona O’Callaghan (casual)

Cheryll Hodge

Nat Donohue

Jarrod Searle

Rebecca Layton