Learning  

Dear Parents/Guardians 

Welcome back to Semester Two, I hope all families had an enjoyable and restful break.

Term 3 is a big term where students continue to build on their successes from last semester, whilst also starting to look to the future.  Year 7 students are finding their feet and thinking about all the opportunities available to them and Years 8 to 11 are involved in subject selection.  For the Year 12s, this is their biggest challenge yet as they complete Unit 4, start exam preparation, plan for life beyond the Academy, all while trying to maintain a healthy balance. 

I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents and students that there will be ups and downs along the way.  Learning is hard work, it is supposed to be hard, if it isn’t hard we are not really learning.  However, we are a strong community and as a community we all work together to support our young people along their learning journey. 

As part of our commitment to being a Premier Learning Community, we are excited to share ‘Educate for Excellence – our model for Learning and Wellbeing’.  This has been developed over the last 18 months following extensive research about what works best in girls’ education, along with consultation with staff and students.  This model uses contemporary evidence-based practices that promote learning and wellbeing and resonate with our Mercy values.

Educate for Excellence – our Model for Learning and Wellbeing

It is everyone’s responsibility to build an innovative educational community that encompasses the cultural standards where we use the instructional strategies and embody these characteristics

Vision: To be a premier learning community recognised for developing young women of integrity and purpose who are empowered by the values of Mercy, creativity and social justice in pursuit of academic and personal success.

.

This recognises that our culture encompasses our Catholic Identify and Mercy Values; a community where we have high expectations of ourselves and each other; where we build strong relationships so that everyone feels a sense of belonging; where we work in partnership between students, families, school and the local community, and develop our leadership skills.  Within this culture and using the instructional strategies in the dark blue circle, we encourage our community to aspire to embody the characteristics in the light blue circle: To be committed in what we do; to challenge ourselves and each other to be the best we can, to be confident and curious communicators who collaborate, and importantly to care for ourselves, each other and the world around us and be willing to make positive changes so that together we can grow and flourish.

2025 Subject Selection 

The process for students choosing their subjects for 2025 has begun with the VCE Information Evening for Year 10 students and parents, along with assemblies for Year 10 and Year 11 students to help inform students and parents of the process.  Parents and students can find more information about VCE and proposed subjects in the Senior Years Course Guide on our website.  We will be offering a full program of support to help students make their choices.  The subject selection process for Year 8 and Year 9 students will commence in August.

New Programs Introduced for 2025 

As part of our VCE program, we are able to offer students more choices in the form of Work Related Skills and Personal Development Skills.  This is a significant step in ensuring we cater to the needs of all our students and offer engaging opportunities that empower our young people in being prepared for the world beyond the Academy.

In addition to this, we are excited to announce that there will be a revamped Year 9 Program in 2025.  More information to follow!

All the best to all students and parents for Term 3.  If you have any questions or wish to provide any feedback, please feel free to contact me.

Ms Lucy Neil

Deputy Principal – Learning and Teaching