YEAR 8 CAMPUS NEWS

THE LATEST NEWS AT MERCY CAMPUS...

Welcome back to school and to Year 8 for 2020. It has been great to see everyone ready to start the year on a positive note. The new year often brings its own little challenges, and it has been great to see so many students have a really positive start to the year. Just a quick reminder for those parents who drop off and pick up their students, we ask for this to happen inside the Campus in front of the Mercy Theatre entering from Eleventh Street and exiting onto Riverside Avenue. With buses moving through, Riverside Avenue and Eleventh Street are always busy. This arrangement keeps students safe and allows for a constant flow of traffic around the Mercy Campus.

As has happened with the students moving this year, there have been a number of staffing changes at the Mercy Campus for 2020, as well. Mrs Lauren Dixon will continue as the Assistant Head of Mercy Campus until commencing leave at the end of this term. Mrs Dixon will be working with me to ensure that we as an educational facility continue to strive for excellence. As well as the Assistant Head of Campus, she will be one of six of the Pastoral Care Group (PCG) teaching team for 2020. Please join me in welcoming our other new PCG members, Mrs Susan Quinn and Mrs Fiona Pike. They join returning members Mr Sam Doering, Mr Lachlan Murdoch, and Miss Teresa Hagen. These teachers will typically be the conduit between school and home, a great resource for the families of the students in their Pastoral Care Groups.

Developing student leadership is a key attribute that staff and students try to focus on at the Mercy Campus. This process begins when the students are in Year 7 and nominate for the roles of Mercy Campus Captain. We once again had a series of strong speeches from all our applicants before students voted for their chosen representatives. The 2020 Mercy Campus student leaders are:

These students all spoke well about their desire to represent their peers and develop the culture amongst the student group. They will be involved in a variety of events during the year including the Sunraysia SRC Development Day, Mercy Campus assemblies, guiding tours at the Open Evening and discussing student issues with myself. They will also form a Mercy Campus SRC that will advocate for the needs of their peers and focus on issues that they feel are important for Year 8 students.

Students have also begun to focus on the theme of sustainability in Integrated Studies, chiefly on recycling and looking after the resources that we have. Each classroom has a dedicated recycling bin as we continue on the path to becoming a more sustainable school. We will continue to develop this focus throughout Integrated Studies for the remainder of first term.

Finally, students have been introduced to the Smiling Mind program, which we hope to complement our focus on the Zones of Regulation idea. Smiling Mind is an online program that teaches students how to be mindful and focus their thinking. Students will access this program each week during Integrated Studies. The program is free and available to all families online and via a smartphone application. I encourage you all to have a look. Smiling Mind has many attributes that will greatly benefit our students. This forms a key component of student wellbeing at the Mercy Campus, and in addition to the Year 8 Wellbeing Day being held this Friday, provides students with the necessary time to take stock and maintain their focus in their increasingly busy lives.

Before I finish a reminder that there is an information evening regarding the Year 8 Camp being held on Wednesday March 4 at 7.30pm in the Holland Room. The information session gives all the essential information surrounding the Camp and allows for the beginning of room nominations and group allocations. If you have any questions about the camp or are perhaps interested in coming along as a parent volunteer, please feel free to get in contact with myself.

I look forward to working with you all over the coming year and the successes the year will bring.

Mr Marcus Parker

Head of Mercy Campus