The Hedge
Week 1, Term 3 | Thursday 25 July 2024 A weekly snippet of what’s happening ‘behind the hedge’ at Mercedes College... starting the second half of our 70th Anniversary year!

Share Your Insights

On Friday 9 August, our Year 11 and Year 12 students will make an early start, chatting over a light breakfast with parents and Old Scholars about different career pathways and study options they might like to consider once they graduate.

Hosted by Acting Principal Narelle Sandercock and MOSA President Nick Pipinias, the morning is a wonderful way for students to learn from practitioners in a wide range of professions, often sparking a new interest or passion, or cementing a long-held decision about what career path to follow.

If you’d like to support our students by sharing your experiences, we’d love to hear from you! Learn more here and sign up by Monday morning to secure your spot.

Legally Blonde JR

The cast and crew of our first Year 7-12 Musical are getting excited to share the music and energy of Legally Blonde JR, with opening night just a few weeks away! This high energy, entertaining show will be held in our newly refurbished Gleeson Theatre, with refreshments served at each performance.

There are three evening shows, and two matinees (perfect for young children or bringing the grandparents…).

Seats are limited – so think pink, and get your tickets now!

PLUS!

We do have one more role to cast… Bruiser the dog!

If you own a small dog with a penchant for the dramatic, a love of being carried and cuddled, and an obsession with pink accessories, we want to hear from you!

Please send through a photo of your pup, or any questions, to Jayan Mace today.


Unforgettable Netball

The Mercedes College Netball Teams who competed in the Waverley International Schools Netball Championships at the end of Term 2 certainly represented our community with pride.

Three teams played against competitors from around Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore, making great connections across Year Levels and supporting each other both on the court and the sidelines. A big congratulations to all of our Netball Camels for your enthusiasm, teamwork, and display of the Mercy Keys while in Melbourne, we know that the memories you've made will be with you forever.

9A | Runners Up, Junior Division 2
Open 2 | Runners Up, Senior Division 3
Open 1 | Fourth Overall, Senior Division 1

Test Your Trivia

Tables for our 2024 Quiz Night, ‘Through the Decades’, are selling fast – don’t miss your chance to join the fun!

Quiz Master Doyle will be putting you through your paces with four bumper rounds each dedicated to the past seven decades, in honour of our 70th Anniversary.

We will be hosting the Quiz night in our newly refurbished Gleeson Theatre, and the rounds will be 50s/60s, 70s/80s, 90s/00s and 10s/20s – so something for everyone!

There is an amazing raffle, and prizes for the Best Dressed Team and Best Dressed Table, so choose your decade, get out your platform heels or legwarmers, safari suits or taffeta dresses, and 'be in it to win it'.

Tickets are just $10/head (plus booking fee) for a Table of 10. Bring your own supper and beverages (cheese fondue anyone?) and your trivia brains, and we’ll see you there!

Got your team sorted? Please provide your team name and theme, plus names of all 10 attendees, via your booking confirmation.

Vinnies Winter Appeal

Our annual collection for the Vinnies Winter Appeal is now in full swing, and with biting winter temperatures, the need for donations is high. If you would like to contribute, you can drop items to the blue Vinnies collection bins at our Reception areas, or through your Home Groups. We will continue collecting items until Wednesday 7 August and thank you for your generosity.

Donation ideas include long-life soups, canned food, rice, pasta, cereal, baby formula, blankets, socks, underwear, scarves, beanies, full-sized toiletries, hairbrushes, combs, deodorant, and period products.

There’s also still time to support our Year 12 students and their teachers who will brave the cold this Term for the Vinnies School Sleepout. Donate to their cause here.

Holidays on Hotham

During the school holidays, more than 40 Year 11 students attended the annual Snow Trip to Mount Hotham, Victoria.

A cold and snowy start to the trip meant low visibility early, making beginners' lessons even more challenging, but in the end they were tearing down the slopes on their skis and snowboards with confidence.

Their advice to Year 10 students thinking about going next year? "Do it, you won't regret it!"

Bonjour, Ciao, Hola, Nǐ hǎo!

Next week, we are celebrating our global community and all the languages of the world.

Perfectly timed with the first week of the Paris summer Olympics, students will have the opportunity to play international games, be part of a passport-themed treasure hunt, create a chalk collage of special words, taste international cuisine, and more!

Our Language Week not only reflects our commitment to languages through our IB international teaching framework, but also celebrates our International Student Programme, which has been running at the College for 56 years.

Supporting our College Community

Do you own a local business? Would you like to support other Mercedes College family businesses? Are you an Old Scholar who would like to share information about your business?

We’re seeking expressions of interest from our College community for a business directory to be hosted on our website. Businesses listed would not be ‘endorsed’ by the College, but rather would give our families the option to choose from within our community when making purchases or looking for professional services.

If you would be interested in having your business promoted through our website, please complete your details here.

If there is enough support for this initiative we will launch the directory in a future edition of The Hedge.

Warming up for Intercol Celebrations

In Week 5, we will be hosting this year's Intercollegiate competition against St Ignatius’ College, and as the 2024 Host, we are looking forward to welcoming everyone to our Campus.

Students and families are all encouraged to get in on the excitement and turn out in droves to cheer on our mighty Camels.

Our exclusive, student-designed Camel scarves are available from Strathspey for $25 each – they are warm and comforting, plus they make a great makeshift supporter's banner!

We are also giving you one more chance to join the race to be our Intercol baking champion... Simply bake your best ‘Caramel Camel Cupcake’ and deliver it to Jenny at Strathspey House Reception by Wednesday 31 July.

We will have a blind taste test and the winning recipe will be served at our final day of Intercol – Saturday 24 August – to bring our Camels home!

We will announce the winner in Week 2’s edition of The Hedge, so keep an eye out – you could have boasting rights during Intercol as the creator of the official Mercedes College Caramel Camel Cupcake!

Week 2 Traffic Restrictions | Rectory Walk

Families who access the Campus via Rectory Walk are advised that traffic restrictions will be in place on Thursday and Friday of Week 2 (1-2 August).

There will be no vehicle access from Carrick Hill Drive, and a reduced speed limit from Woodland Road (going one-way only).

Please consider this in timing your arrival to school, or avoid the area on these days.

Coming up…

  • Friday 26 July | Term 3 PEG meeting (register to attend online or via Zoom)
  • Monday 29 July – Friday 2 August | Languages Week | Year 8 Sprout Cooking Classes
  • Tuesday 30 July | Reception excursion to Superluminal | Subject Information Evening (Year 10 into Year 11, Year 11 into Year 12)
  • Thursday 1 – Friday 2 August | Year 11 Retreat | Traffic restrictions Rectory Walk
  • Friday 2 August | Quiz Night
  • Wednesday 7 August | 2025 College Captain Interviews | Last day to donate to Vinnies Winter Appeal
  • Friday 9 AugustCareer Insights BreakfastVinnies Winter Sleep Out 
  • Monday 12 August | School Photos: Non-sporting winter co-curricular teams | Year 6-12 Learning Reviews
  • Tuesday 13 August | Year 11 Subject Counselling
  • Wednesday 14 August | School Photos: Winter sport co-curricular teams | Year 10 Meningococcal B Vaccinations
  • Thursday 15 – Saturday 17 August | Legally Blonde JR
  • Friday 16 August | 2025 College Captain Presentations and Voting
  • Monday 19 – Saturday 24 August | Book Week | Intercol | Catholic Schools Open Week