Safe, Respectful Learners

Harmony Day Showcase 

Harmony Day was celebrated at MHS on 30th March 2021. Celebrations looked a little different this year but it was still as spectacular as ever! Over 100 MHS students from Years 7-12 participated and shared their passion and cultural dance styles from over 11 different countries.

The Harmony Day Cultural Showcase was well received by all staff and students who viewed the two massive shows. The student performers are deserve a special shout out, as they all did an amazing job at organising their own dancers, routines, rehearsals, costumes and much more within the 3 week time frame allocated. Excellent leadership and collaboration was exhibited by all students involved.

Thank you to all our performers and not to mention our numerous student helpers, backstage crew and staff. Without you all the Showcase couldn’t have been as successful as it was. We are looking forward to next year's Harmony Day Showcase already! Remember: ‘Everyone Belongs’ at MHS!

Wellbeing Sports Initiative - Spike Ball

Merrylands High School’s PDHPE staff have successfully run this term's ‘Wellbeing Sports Initiative’ which was ‘Spike Ball’. Each Tuesday during lunchtime on the oval, students had the opportunity to engage in weekly fun round robin competitions run by Ms. Raikadroka and Mr. MacNamara. Students paired up with friends to work together against other teams from all year groups. Through successful communication and strategic development, students honed their skills to take down formidable opponents. Honourable mentions go to the year 7 students for successfully defeating the year 10s in the finals. Congratulations and looking forward to Term 2’s PDHPE Wellbeing Sports Initiative.

L. E. A. P. Inquiry and Investigation skills.

LT5 students are participating in the Geography unit of work “Exploring the School Environment”. The students are developing their Investigating and Inquiry skills in this project/unit of work. The students explored the school environment and conducted some investigations in the sitting area near the canteen. The students found that the sitting area near the canteen is too crowded and it needs some work. They brainstormed ideas as a team and highlighted strengths and gaps of  the area. They pitched a proposal by writing a letter to the Principal, Mr Prasad. In the letter, the students disseminated their views and provided some ideas to make the canteen sitting area more user friendly and environmentally friendly. Mr Prasad listened to their views and assured the students that he will look into the concerns raised by the students. A very innovative and proactive approach taken by LT5 students! 

International Women’s Day 

Written by SRC Students

International Women’s Day was held on the 8th of March and  is one of the most important days of the year. The day focuses on celebrating women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements, lobbying for equality and fundraising for female-focused charities. The day also encourages groups to come together to celebrate women and all that they accomplish.

The young women of Merrylands High School had the opportunity to meet and listen to the story of a former graduating student, Memu Conteh. An international model, writer, YouTuber and entrepreneur, Memu attended her former high school to come and shed some light on her experiences, how they have shaped her to accomplish what she has today and what she went through to get to where she is.  Being in a comfortable and inclusive environment where us women were able to be vulnerable and to speak and listen. It was inspiring to hear Memu speak about her life, her story, where she was and where she is now, her struggles as a woman and her current success despite her hardships. The advice she gave was especially wise and a real eye opener. All the girls had come together as one, where we understood, spoke, listened and learned from each other’s experiences and stories.

The overall experience of having such an inspiring individual come and shed such aspiration and enlightenment on the topic of women was delightful and empowering. Memu had a strong presence in the room which displayed how much of an inspirational woman she is. The story of her journey was really impressive and aspiring for women who strive to achieve high goals in the future. International Women’s Day is very special for women all around the world and it is important for women everywhere to understand where they are, where they are going and what comes next in their amazing journey of life. 

Celebrating International Women's Day in the Library

For International Women’s Day, the school library presented displays of books which showcased some of the 445 resources available relating to the topic of Women.  Titles of the books displayed included ‘Girls who Rocked the World’, ‘Women in Australia’, ‘Women and the Olympic Games’, ‘Girling Up’, and ‘The Glory Garage’. All the titles can be located using the Oliver Merrylands High School website looking under the search term ‘Women’.

Year 8 Technology Mandatory

Year 8 Technology Mandatory have been researching and investigating different forms of renewable, sustainable and clean forms of energy, in particular wind energy.  Students in 8GTM, 8TM1 and 8TM5 had many discussions about how electricity is made. Students have gained knowledge and insight about coal and its impact on our economy and the environment. Furthermore, students have demonstrated an understanding through watching documentaries, class discussions and other forms of research of how important it is for not only Australia, but the world at large to invest in wind farms and other forms of clean, renewable and sustainable forms of energy. In this design challenge, students had to create four different designs of Wind Turbines, complete a (PMI) evaluation and construct a model of a final Wind Turbine based on specific criteria like cardboard, straws, masking tape, skewers etc. The majority of students constructed their wind turbines through teamwork, brainstorming and researching. Students evaluated at every step of the design process. Well done Year 8!

Year 8 Creative Writing 

Students have been using 'The writing process' to create a short story. They planned, drafted, revised and edited their work before finally publishing for submission. 

What Is The Highest Score?

Year 8 have been testing their skills with ping pong balls as part of their assessment in Mathematics this term.  They have used their own collected data to find statistics such as the mean, median and mode.  Students then pooled their data to compare their individual performance to others in their class and across the year.  These mathematical skills are also used by sports commentators during professional games.  The Mathematics Faculty are proud of the effort that Year 8 put into their assessments, especially using technology to create graphs to display data as well as their skill in calculating the statistics.  Great job Year 8! 

Literacy Planet 

Year 7 and 8 English classes are improving their literacy skills using on the online program Literacy Planet. Term 1 just ended and the students have already completed over 2000 missions!