The Hedge
Week 5, Term 4 | Thursday 14 November 2024 A weekly snippet of what’s happening ‘behind the hedge’ at Mercedes College...

Fun Day Bake Sale – Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is our Junior School Fun Day – which means the whole Junior School will be out and about having fun from 8.30am and you’re invited!

Our College Coffee Cart will be open from 8.30am, and we’d love some volunteers to cut up fruit for our little athletes! Meet outside the Junior School Hall if you can spare a few minutes.

Don’t forget the House Bake Sale – please bake something sweet or savoury in your House colours for sale at recess time. All items are just $2 and we will re-invest funds raised, into sports items for the College.

If you can volunteer some time to help on the Bake Sale, please email jbell@mercedes.catholic.edu.au

We are looking forward to seeing our Junior School students and families in a sea of green, yellow, red and blue tomorrow!

Ho, Ho, Ho…

Last Sunday, our families gathered together in the Rose Garden for the final Community event of the year – our annual Christmas Picnic.

Just over 350 parents, friends and children spent the afternoon enjoying the sun, the gelati, free face-painting, some Christmas craft, and of course a visit from Santa!

Our Joy Boxes were again a great success – thank you to everyone who packaged up a box, and to all the families who purchased them on the day! We sold just over 100 boxes, and the few remaining will be donated to Catherine House.

It’s been a fantastic year of events – thank you to everyone for supporting them and coming out to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones. Our events are a great way to stay connected with the College community.

We look forward to another great year of events in 2025!

70th Highlights Showcase

Next Thursday night, our Performing Arts students will be putting on a 70th Highlights Showcase in Gleeson Theatre, from 6pm – 8pm

Our choirs, bands, ensembles and other performers will share snippets of their work from the past 3 Terms, in a celebration of our 70th year.

The Gleeson Theatre will be transformed into a ‘supper club’ with tables and chairs set in cabaret style. Guests are welcome to bring their own drinks and nibbles, which they can enjoy throughout the show.

All families of those students performing have been notified, and a programme of performances will be available soon.

This will be a wonderful opportunity for students to put on a Showcase of their work, in a relaxed and comfortable environment, so we’d love to see you there.

Please book your tickets soon, as capacity in the venue is limited. Book here.

World Explorers for a Day

Last week, our Year 4 students spent time exploring the world… but not as you might think!

Linked with their unit of inquiry ‘Where we are in Place and Time’, students set up in groups and researched an explorer, selected for the qualities they showed that aligned with the IB Learner Profiles.

They then used their Spheros, to map their explorer’s voyages around the globe. Giant continents were laid out in the Junior School Hall, and students plotted their journeys and also made their own boats to sail around in.

Having a ‘flat’ world to navigate around wasn’t so far from what many early explorers believed in!

What a great way to combine robotics, geography and history!

Putting our Best Feet Forward

Earlier this week, our Year 4 students took receipt of a very large cheque, from Athletes Foot in Burnside. There has been an ongoing partnership between Mercedes College and The Athletes Foot, where a percentage of each shoe purchase by a Mercedes College family at the Burnside Village store, is donated back to the College.

This year’s donation will be going towards a new Basketball Ring!

So if you are looking for new shoes for 2025, drop into The Athletes Foot Burnside and you’ll be helping the College as well as your children’s feet.

SACE Art, Design and Media – on Show!

Last Friday, family, friends and special guests attended the SACE Art, Design and Media Exhibition, in the Yitpi Centre. Students’ work was on display and our Annual Awards were presented.

The artwork has stayed up this week, allowing other students and families to enjoy the work.

Congratulations to Mavis McBride Award Dual winners – Noah and Anouk
Principal’s Award (Visual Arts - Art)  - Laura
Principal’s Award (Visual Arts - Design)  - Sienna
Principal’s Award (Creative Arts - Media)   - Coco

The Visual Arts programme is alive and thriving at the College, bringing so much colour and life to our spaces!

2025 Captains Make Their Mark

Our 2025 College Captains have hit the ground running this term, starting by being MCs for our 2024 Graduation Ceremony.

Since then, they have been involved in the design of their 2025 Leaver’s Jumpers and most recently, were invited to be part of The Advertiser’s feature article on School Captains that appeared in yesterdays online edition of The Advertiser.

All four Captains did the College proud, sharing their thoughts on the role of College Captain, why they wanted to volunteer for the job, and what they plan to do once they graduate. We are looking forward to great things from our four Captains next year!

Youngest Artists Shine!

Yesterday, our Reception students had a Book Launch and Art Show to celebrate their unit of inquiry, ‘How We Express Ourselves’.

As part of this unit, the students published their own book. They also explored different feelings in Visual Arts and created a worry monster and some emotional bowls.

They enjoyed hosting their own event and getting the opportunity to celebrate their work with their families and friends.

Bravo to our youngest artists!

Middle School Leaders Take the Lead

Yesterday, Mercedes College hosted 25 Secondary School Principals, for the Association of Principals of Catholic Secondary Schools Annual Meeting.

Year 7 students Mia and Alexander and Year 9 students Chloe and Lucy, were the official greeting party for our guests, and they all displayed superb leadership and communication skills, as well as being impressive young ambassadors for the College.

Bravo to our student leaders who showed such maturity and represented Mercedes College so well.

And the results are in...

Our Junior School Fun Run was another highlight, where our R - Yr 5 students ran laps around the Campus, to have fun, keep fit and raise funds for Mercy Charities.

And the results are in:

A total of 4303 laps were ran and we raised a grand total of $7,563. 

1st Place - McAuley 1117 laas
2nd Place - Barry 1102 laps
3rd Place -  Dalton 1051 laps
4th Place -  Fitzpatrick 1033 laps

Graduation Ceremonies

As the 2024 year comes to a close we will soon be celebrating the graduation of our Primary and Middle Year Programme students with our families.

Just a reminder to RSVP to these events. 

Year 5 Graduation Ceremony
Wednesday 27 November 2024, 6.30pm, Gleeson Theatre
All Year 5 students and families

Year 10 and 11 End of Year Presentation
Including MYP Exhibition
Monday 2 December 2024 at 6pm, Yitpi Centre
All Year 10 and 11 students and families

Bus Detours - 18 / 19 November

On Monday 18 & Tuesday 19 November there will be detours are that will impact the 966, 967 school bus services. 

Buses will not be able to use Raglan Ave..

Students using the 966 morning services will need to catch the bus from Stop 16 Bray St or Stop 14E Edward St

Students using the 967 afternoon service will need to get off  at bus from Stop 16 Bray St or Stop 14E Edward St.

On Wednesday 20 November, the 966 and 967 routes will return to normal.

Coming up...

Thursday 21 November | Reception Students ‘Tour around Paris’

Thursday 21 November | 70th Year Highlights Concert Performance (Book here)

Wednesday 27 November | Year 5 Graduation

Thursday 28 November | Student Mentoring Programme - End of Year Celebration

Friday 29 November | Orientation Day

Friday 29 November | Class of 2024 Graduation Ball 

Sunday 1 December | Advent Begins

Monday 2 December | Year 10 and 11 End of Year Presentation 

Friday 6 December | Last Day of School