Around the College
Mannningham Online Interschool Chess - Tuesday 1st of September
The MMCRC Chess consisted of Harry Herbert, Jeffrin Mathew, Andrew Martin, Lachlan Aulich, Will Davies and Robert Ornsby.
Biggest upset of the day was recognised during the tournament, with Will Davies beating a player with nearly 400 points higher Rating in his first game.
I loved watching Jeffrin’s online Round 5 game. His opponent offered Jeffrin a draw. Jeffrin kept on with the game, did not consider the offer, and had a strong win.
Harry had a solid game day with expected wins. Jeffrin was coming 3rd in the tournament, as he was having an awesome run until Harry just took 3rd stop in the last game.
Robert warmed up in his early games but then had a game take 56 moves which presented a good challenge.
What was really interesting is Harry and Jeffrin had a score of 5. Andrew and Lachlan both had scores of 4 ½ points. The four team members were very close so with those combined scores it saw our team place place 2nd and 19 points – with the winning school only having 19 ½ points – so close.
Extending our ‘Remote Learning’ experience at Mary MacKillop 2.0
Write a Book in a Day Report:
On August 20th three teams of nine students led by Ms Newton, and Mr & Mrs Muranty competed in the Write a Book in a Day competition, Mr Preston also assisted with graphic design support. Books are written and illustrated by teams of up to 10 writers in a consecutive 12-hour period on one day. Each team had two ‘Illustrators’ to create a front and back cover, while the remaining team members focused on completing 3,500 - 5,000 word books.
We needed all 27 students and three teachers to get the job done!
This year the College was able to support the Kids Cancer Council by participating in the Write a Book in a Day competition for 2020. Because the pandemic hasn’t pressed pause on kids’ cancer, the competition has been adapted to accommodate schools to stay connected, keep minds busy and exercise creativity. Normally we would be undertaking our annual walkathon and assisting charities with sponsorship in Term 3. It was motivating and heartening for students to know that their efforts were making a small difference to kids who already had enough to cope with!
All students involved were already in the Tree Tops Program, eager to put some of their extended learning from earlier on the year to the test. Our Middle School teams began at 8am online (using their unique set of parameters different for each group) and finally completed the exhaustive process by 7pm. All work was completed via Photoshop Illustrator and google everything: meets; chat; jam boards and Doc’s.
Each team is provided a unique set of parameters to write their story: two human characters, one non-human character, an issue, a setting and five random words, this is issued on the day. The three books were all very different and have been posted to the school face book site for online access – please read them and take a look.
Well done all three teams. The three books are titled; Blue Gum Bill; Within or Without; Bound. Teams wrote for the same audience of ‘kids’ are supported in the competition. Results will be released in term 4 and we wish all teams the best of luck throughout the judging process led by esteemed authors and writers across Australia.
Thanks to teachers, parents, Ms Connell and Ms Steenholdt for supporting this great extended (and remote) learning opportunity.
Mr Muranty
Write a book in Day Coordinator
Extending our ‘Remote Learning’ experience at Mary MacKillop 2.0
Tournament of Minds Report
We launched the 2020 online Superchallenge just before our Stage 3 Restrictions started.
This year there was just one ‘Superchallenge’ for all students participating. Mary MacKillop supported three learning areas (teams) this year; STEM, Arts and Literature. Former student participants Jamillah Enbom (Yr 11), Samuel Evans (Yr 10) as well as Ellen Kavanagh (Yr 11) took on ‘facilitator’ roles to learn to manage their own teams.
Students this year from Year 7-9 worked with the following leaders who are not permitted to take any part in the challenge other than provide extra learning for team skills critical to the format’s success:
STEM: Mr Duckmanton and Year 10 student Samuel Evans
ARTS: Ms Poletti and Year 11 students Jamillah Enbom and Ellen Kavanagh
LITERATURE: Mr Muranty and Ms Leslie
The Challenge was called Quo Vadis? This is a Latin phrase meaning, Where to now? Where are you going? Each discipline (and team) was challenged to use this phrase to create a 5 minute video presentation that explains what happens when something incredible has been discovered that changes the future for human kind while shedding light on the past. Each team used their learning area (STEM, Arts & Literature) to interpret the challenge, creating their own story and explaining ‘the journey’ along the way.
Elsie Steenholdt wrote this about her experience with the ARTS team:
“I was a part of the Arts team for Tournament of the Minds and it was so much fun to collaborate with other people from different year levels who have the same interests as me. It was just as impactful doing it online rather than in person, the process as well as the fun times are always there no matter what. Everyone gets their moment where they really shine and accelerate the team whether it’s saying a funny line or writing a piece of music for the play, everything counts.”
All 3 teams of 7 students had to rise to the challenge in Remote Learning 2.0 working with the online tools available to produce a video in ISO, shining a light from a dark and often lonely space. Each team had to produce an action plan, with team roles and journals as they evolved over six weeks to finally produce their presentation.
Team submissions were due September 9th (Wednesday) with judging to take place over this weekend, September 12th (Saturday) and September 13th (Sunday).
Teams will be judged by Division (Primary/Secondary) and then by Challenge discipline. The top 10% in Victoria will be awarded “Distinction”, the next 20% will be awarded “Honours” and the remainder “Participation”.
There will be no Victorian Final or TOM International Final in 2020 – the Super Challenge will run at regional level only.
Results will be published on the Victorian page of the TOM website by Wednesday 16th September. Presentations will be published to the Mary Mackillop Facebook site to view on the same date.
We wish all teams the best and acknowledge the dedication, commitment and ability of teachers and students involved to rise to the Superchallenge in ISO 2.O. Warm thanks and gratitude are extended again to teachers Mr Duckmanton, Ms Polletti and Ms Leslie for their commitment and leadership throughout this term (6 weeks) to ensure their teams could continue in unprecedented times. The resilience and determination demonstrated by all 24 students has meant that they have already won!
Mr Muranty
Tournament of Minds Coordinator
To complete the Challenge you have to have read 15 books this year. The Challenge ends Wednesday September 16.
Congratulations to the students who have completed the Challenge for 2020. Remote Learning has made it more challenging than ever to complete so you have done an amazing job!
The rewards for finishing the Challenge are
- All the benefits of reading including more success in school, larger vocabulary and improved well-being.
- A certificate that acknowledges your achievement which goes with your personal portfolio. This shows you are committed to self-improvement and will impress potential employers.
- An invitation to an amazing morning tea where you will be presented with your certificate.
You have until Wednesday next week to complete the Challenge. Email sking@mmcrc.catholic.edu.au or tbugbird@mmcrc.catholic.edu.au with a list of the 15 books you have read and we will include you as completing the Challenge.
We Are A Student2Student Reading Program School
Our students are making a real difference in the lives of others! See article here.