Father’s Day Breakfast
We are looking forward to sharing a delicious Father’s Day breakfast with our Mercedes Colleges Dads next Thursday 29 August here at the College!
We would love to see as many dads and their children drop by from 7.30am – 8.30am to enjoy a warm egg and bacon muffin, croissants, and a few sweet treats… please register your attendance here so we can cater for everyone.
What a great way to start the day, plus we'll be on the hunt for the best/worst Dad Joke, so bring your favourites along!
There are very sleek Mercedes College socks on offer ready for Father's Day, too, if you're looking for a great gift idea – drop in to see Jenny at Strathspey for your pair.
Strong Results in NAPLAN 2024
At Mercedes College, we use NAPLAN results to track the performance of individual students, as well as the proportion of students achieving strong proficiencies.
Nationally, approximately 70 per cent of students are expected to achieve in the top two levels of proficiency, meaning that they demonstrate or exceed expectations at the time of testing.
At Mercedes College, greater than 70 per cent of students in all year levels across all testing areas achieved this.
Read more, including comparative results against other Catholic schools, on our website.
What's the Story with Cam the Camel?
With Cam the Camel out and about this week for Intercol, many students and families have been wondering how and when our Camel Mascot came to be.
In the late 90s, a student with a passion for footy – a young Peter Malinauskis – got chatting with mates, and came up with the idea of a Camel as the ‘spirit animal’, or mascot that the community could rally behind.
There was apparently some reluctance (a Camel?...Really?), but the name stuck and the Camels legend was born…26 years later our Camel is firmly entrenched in Mercedes College folklore and part of the culture of our community.
So, why a Camel? Well, they are deceptively fast, tough animals that can travel over many terrains, survive in harsh conditions, and hydrate quickly for extra endurance. They are also quite social animals who like to be part of a group – a caravan, in fact. Sounds like a great match for us!
This week, Old Scholar (Class of 1998, Dalton) and now State Premier, Peter Malinauskas himself, sent through a video message for our Intercol teams which was played at our whole-of-College Assembly. We look forward to updating the Premier at the end of the week on all the results.
Go Camels!
Collecting Shields…
We’re at the halfway point for Intercol 2024, with a big night of nail-biting Open A soccer last night ending with a Shield count of St Ignatius' 6 – Mercedes College 2.
Tonight, we return to Campus with Table Tennis in Gleeson Theatre, and Netball in the Yitpi Centre and our outdoor courts, and we can’t wait to hear our supporters lift the roof with their cheers and chanting… Go Camels!
Full fixture and venue information on our website.
Baristas in Training
Keep an eye out at upcoming College sports and events, as several of our Year 9 students put their hands up to undergo barista training with b3 Coffee supplier, and our resident barista from Mrs Sippy!
The Mercedes College Coffee Cart was an initiative of some 2023 Seniors. The idea was to have a portable coffee cart that can be moved around the Campus for various events, with students working to not only learn the finer skills of making a great cup of coffee, but also learning about running a small business, ordering stock, managing cash flow, and providing great customer service – all great skills for life!
You’ll see our Coffee Cart at our Netball and Basketball Intercol matches this weekend, as well as at our Father’s Day Breakfast next week. Pop by and say hello!
The Right to Disconnect
We are sharing an important change in South Australian legislation that will affect how we support our staff at Mercedes College.
This recent change to the Fair Work Act introduces the “right to disconnect,” which is designed to enhance work-life balance by ensuring that employees have the right to not engage in work-related communications outside of their regular working hours. This legislation applies to all workplaces, so you may indeed hear about this through your own employer.
We support this initiative at Mercedes College, as it aligns with our commitment to fostering a healthy work-life balance for our team.
It means that from Monday 26 August 2024, our staff will not respond to work-related communications outside of their designated working hours of 8.30am to 5pm, as per the legislative directives.
We understand that this adjustment might impact the timing of responses to any queries or concerns you might have. Please be assured that all emails and messages will be addressed promptly during working hours.
If you have any urgent issues, you may reach out to us within these times, and we will be happy to assist you as soon as possible.
Hopefully this government-initiated legislation will help bring a better balance to everyone's lives, regardless of where they work.
Cosy start to Book Week
Seeing our Junior School students in their PJs on Monday to kick off Book Week was a great sight. Bumping into some of our teachers in their dressing gowns was also a lot of fun!
Staff shared favourite stories with different classes, students shared stories with each other, and our Year 7 students dropped down to the Junior School to visit with the Year 2 students and read stories they’d written themselves. It was a great way to bring out Middle and Junior School students together – over a good book! One of life’s great pleasures!
3J Basketball Academy at Mercedes College
DeJan “DJ” Vasiljevic, Adelaide 36ers Guard and two-times NBL Champion with the Sydney Kings, is bringing his 3J Basketball Academy to Mercedes College in Term 4.
These specialist sessions are open to experienced basketballers aged 12 years and over. They have been designed to help give future South Australian athletes a pathway for development and representative or professional aspirations in this sport.
Mercedes College students are being given the first opportunity to register for these classes – so please sign up soon as places are limited.
Held on Wednesday evenings from 16 October to 11 December inclusive, registration includes a gift pack with 3J Academy merchandise. All classes will be held on our Campus.
Click here to read more and register with DJ Vasiljevic for Term 4!
College Assembly
Yesterday, our whole College gathered in the Yitpi Centre for Assembly. It is great to have such a large gathering space available to hold events like this, which bring our students and staff together.
This Assembly was completely led by our students. Our four College Captains were our MCs and we had brilliant musical performances from our Year 2s (from the musical Matilda) and our Year 8 Percussion Band. Students from all other levels also contributed with Prayer, Acknowledgement of Country recited in Kaurna Language, a poem in French and highlights from Legally Blonde the musical and the Vinnies Winter Appeal.
To finish off a busy and creative Assembly, our College Captains each presented our Intercol Open A Captains in Football (boys and girls) Netball, Soccer (boys and girls), Table Tennis and Basketball with their new Heritage uniforms, which have been especially produced for Intercol, to celebrate 70 years of Mercedes College, as well as our 20th anniversary of Intercol competition against St Ignatius.
What a great showcase of talent, performance, music, sport, culture and community spirit – a perfect ‘slice of life’ at Mercedes College!
A WHAT in my cheese sandwich?!
When is a frog in your cheese sandwich a good thing? When it’s being sung by our very own Mercedes College students!
Tomorrow is launch day for Peter Combe’s new album, A Frog in My Cheese Sandwich, featuring backing vocals by Year 4 and Year 5 students. Peter said he was very impressed with the performance from our students – which is a great result for all their hard work in the rehearsal room!
It was great to hear tracks from the album, as well as getting a first glimpse of the official film clip for the title track, "A Frog in My Cheese Sandwich".
Spring Spectacular!
As the weather becomes finer, and greys of winter slowly disappear, it’s time to celebrate brighter days and our music performers at our co-curricular performance - Spring Spectacular – being held in the Gleeson Theatre on Tuesday 17 September, 5.30pm – 7.30pm
This performance will feature our student performers from across our Junior, Middle and Senior years, from our vocal ensembles, guitar, strings and percussion ensembles, plus stage, jazz, stage and concert bands.
A night for music lovers of all genres to enjoy – so we’d love to see you there. We know our students love the chance to perform for family and friends.
Find out more and secure your seats for this spectacular showcase of musical talent, Tuesday 17 September, 5.30pm – 7.30pm, Gleeson Theatre.