Final Newsletter 2022 – From the Executive Team

What another remarkable year we have had this year at MFG! It was so lovely to be back at school and interacting in person again. Our highlight was the fun we all had together on our Awards morning, House activities and the MMADD Concert. We were so proud of our House Captains for the activities they organised, the House performers in the afternoon (including our talented staff) and the support our entire school community gave them. Thank you to everyone for your involvement - it made the day a “hoot”.

We feel that this year has been even tougher than the previous two COVID lockdown years of 2020 and 2021. Student and staff absences due to the different variants of COVID, the flu and colds have made learning and staffing a challenge. We thank our MFG community for their understanding of these difficulties and for their adaptability this year.

First of all we would like to thank our passionate staff, who supported each other and our students with great enthusiasm. We were so proud of how the staff collaborated and supported each other and our students and their families; it was a wonderful team effort!

A special acknowledgement needs to be made of our wonderful leadership team who expertly led our MFG staff and students through their challenges during the year. Thank you to Cindy Robinson, Joy Carr, Renee Lane, Sarah Tolley, Joanne Toone, Kylie McMillan, Shelley Grant, Chris Collins, Sue-Anne Parlour and Penny Dyson for their leadership throughout the year.

Thanks also to our MFG students, for your flexibility with your learning this year and your support and respect of our relief teachers, of which there have been many. Thank you in particular to our senior students and student leaders who took the time to connect with younger students, in particular our Year 7s.

To our parents and carers, thank you for your patience and support during this year, especially when teachers were absent due to illness. We always value contributions from parents and see them as a vital part of the fabric of the MFG community. A particular thanks to the parents and community members who have joined us as part of our school council. Yet again this year, these volunteers have helped us to shape our learning environment.

This year marked a few significant events in the MFG calendar, including: our swimming, athletics and cross country sports days which had wonderful House spirit; our Awards House MMADD Day, which was super fun; our many “special weeks and days” with activities and celebrations; our community breakfast; our school camps, our Red Earth Trip and many more. In addition, it was fantastic to have more music in the school grounds at lunch, numerous stalls and markets and lunchtime clubs. One project of note, was the survival kits for children and families at the Royal Children’s hospital which our Year 11 VCAL class made and delivered to them in person.

Our building projects have continued this year. We created a new under cover locker bay and purchased some more water proof lockers for outside, which certainly brighten up the outside of the buildings along with our two new murals created by a team of our students with the guidance of artist in residence, Carla McCrae. We have also put in new shade sails and more outdoor furniture for students to use.

Despite these wonderful things, it is the attitudes and values that are embedded in our daily life at MFG that are demonstrated in a multitude of moments, some significant, some barely visible, which add to the development of our MFG traits in each of our students. So, we would like to recognise the diligence, perseverance and focus of our staff and our students who strive each day to achieve these magnificent MFG traits.

Despite the challenges of 2022, we feel that as a community we were able to continue “Looking Forward” and will continue to keep “Merrya” (looking forward) in 2023.

Michelle Crofts (Principal), Jeremy Dyson (Assistant Principal), Damien Toussaint (Assistant Principal) and Chelsea Bright (Leader of School Services)

MFG Valedictory Dinner 2022