What a term! Most of it done online and remotely which proved challenging for us all, students, parents and staff alike. While it was a difficult time for everybody it makes you appreciate one of the best outcomes of life at Warrnambool College: the relationships that we form with our fantastic students.

It has been great to reconnect with everyone and it feels like things are getting back to somewhere near normal. As a house we have been limited in what we can do together with the students. No assemblies, no excursions, no academies for most of the term, no SPP after school sessions. Hopefully these type of activities will resume in the second half of the year.

Cycle 2 Reports were published last week and, once again, our Belfast students led the way with the highest average Attitude and Effort scores and the highest overall scores of any house.

Well done to all Belfast students on how you have applied yourself over a very strange time. Have a great holiday.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE, BE BELFAST.

Merri Fun-raising Day

Firstly, Merri would like to thank everyone in the Warrnambool College Community who helped us raise money for the Taksenkagnbluong Community Centre today - the total amount raised was just over $1500!!

A special thank-you goes to the Merri students, families and staff who collectively donated all of the goods that were sold today. This means that every single dollar that was raised today will go straight to supporting the families in the Taksenkangbloung Community in Cambodia.

The Taksenkangbloung Community Centre is a small organisation ran from Warrnambool that aims to empower the people of Taksenkangbloung village in Cambodia through improving access to education. In the past, money raised by Merri has brought this community a Tuk-Tuk to transport children to and from school and has gone towards providing much needed materials for the students who attend school including uniforms, stationary, books, tables and chairs. Fortunately, Cambodia has been lucky in terms of the spread of COVID 19 however, as a country and community that relies heavily on tourism the already fragile Cambodian economy has been hit hard. As a result the Taksenkangbloung Community Centre Inc. is now in crisis mode. In the blink of an eye, Taksen turned from educators to a welfare organisation. Many of the parents in the community were suddenly out of work and were without the safety net of social security. For these families, a bulk amount of rice, eggs and soap was purchased and distributed in April. Back then 12 families had reached out for help. By the beginning of June, Taksen was helping nearly 40 families who had requested this type of support due to financial hardship. This number rises every day. In a village of approximately 400 people, Taksen are now supporting up to three quarters of them.

So we would just like to say one more time. Thank-you for your donations and helping us support this fantastic non-profit organisation.

We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone in the Warrnambool College Community for the incredible display of persistence, resilience and grit that was demonstrated over the course of Term 2. It was not an ordinary school term to say the least. The fact that we are where we are today, holding an incredibly successful out of uniform day and fundraiser for the Taksenkangbloung Community Centre and celebrating the term that was, is evidence that we made it through. Everyone, parents/guardians, staff and most importantly the students, deserve a pat on the back for this effort. Well done.

A school holiday break well deserved.

From the Merri staff at Warrnambool College we would like to wish you all a safe and relaxing school holiday period. A very well deserved break after such and extraordinary term.

Chloe Hammond - Merri House Leader

NEWSLETTER

Persistence, Resilience and Mutual Respect

Term 2 - Week 11 · 26 Jun 2020

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