The Hedge

Week 6, Term 1 | Thursday 6 March 2025 A weekly snippet of what’s happening ‘behind the hedge’ at Mercedes College...

Ash Wednesday

Yesterday, we gathered as a whole-of-College community in our Yitpi Centre for Ash Wednesday Mass and Distribution of Ashes.

It was wonderful to again come together in this space to mark the first day of our Lenten journey.

Project Compassion was also launched at the event for Caritas Australia and over the coming weeks, our students will be coming up with fundraising ideas to support this campaign.

One of the highlights of the occasion was watching and listening to our Mercedes musicians. We had the Festival Choir, Band and Year 11 soloists supporting the Mass beautifully.

Glorious Garden Party

Almost 400 families, students and staff enjoyed our first 'Welcome to 2025' community event last Friday in the Rose Garden.

Our student musicians played cool jazz, our Small Gully Wines served cooler beverages, and the Big Red SOONTA Van kept the food coming all night. And to finish? The best home-made gelato in Adelaide.

A great way to bring our community together, on a perfect evening, in a beautiful garden to share wonderful company.

Show your House Colours

Tomorrow is our Year 7-12 Athletics Carnival at SA Athletics Stadium in Mile End South.

All students and staff will travel to the Stadium together on buses which will leave the College at 8.35am.

The format of the event has changed slightly this year. There will be an official Opening and Closing Ceremony to start and end the day. Buses will leave the Stadium at 2.40pm and return all students back to the College.

Students need to wear a plain t-shirt (no slogans or logos) in their House colour, along with their College PE shorts, to support House pride and spirit.

Please note: the Delamere Avenue entrance will be closed to all cars for drop off and pick up tomorrow morning and afternoon, as buses will be parked in this space, to transport students to and from the Athletics Stadium.

You can view the event programme here.

Pétanque Passion

This term, our Years 3-5 students registered to play Petanque each lunchtime.

It was a tough competition with Gigi and Sienna taking out the “Champions de la Pétanque 2025” title in the “Grande Finale” against William and Ariel on Monday.

Our four top teams will be playing in the Primary Schools Competition next Thursday evening at the Unley Sporting Club. Bonne Chance... Gigi, Sienna, William, Ariel, Greta, Ayana, Paige and Caitlyn.

Yr 3-6 Athletics Carnival

Our green spaces became a sea of red, blue, yellow and green on Tuesday, for our Year 3-6 students Athletics Day.

The high energy on the field, was only surpassed by the cheering and support from the sidelines.

Whilst Dalton took home the win... the House Spirit was strong across all four Houses!

This year, we have 16 x House Leaders across our Junior, Middle and Senior schools. They have been great ambassadors for their Houses, most recently holding their first House Meetings for 2025.

One of their first roles was to define the essence of the spirit of their House... key traits that were representative of the Sisters of Mercy after which each House was named.

Below are the final results, and the values associated with each House:

First - Dalton - Committed, Fairness, Fearless

Second - McAuley - Big-hearted, Merciful, Self-belief

Third - Barry - Confident, Courageous, Daring

Fourth - Fitzpatrick - Strength, Bravery, Empathy

International Women's Day

This Saturday is International Women's Day - a global day celebrating the social, cultural, economic and political contributions women make to our world.

We celebrate all the women in our Mercedes community - daughters, mums, sisters, students, staff and Old Scholars.

We are fortunate to have a strong Women in Leadership Team at the College, with Directors of Finance, Wellbeing, People & Culture, Marketing & Communications, Learning Enrichment, Religious Education, as well as Head of Junior School and our Deputy Principal.

Winter CEA Nominations Closing

Nominations for Term 2 and 3 CEAs are closing tomorrow Friday 7 March at 4pm.

Parents and caregivers can login here using the email address linked to your SEQTA Engage Account.

Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Tuesday, holds great significance for Mercedes College because it is the day before Lent begins.

The tradition of eating pancakes comes from the historical practice of using up rich foods like eggs, milk, and butter before the fasting period began.

For a Mercy College community, Shrove Tuesday is also an opportunity to emphasize the Catholic call to social justice and charity.

By eating pancakes, our College community is not only following an enjoyable and delicious tradition, but is also engaging in a meaningful act of preparation and reflection.

Enjoying the Outdoors...

Last week, our Stage 2 Outdoor Education students travelled to Rapid Bay and Second Valley to explore our stunning coastline and learn more about the impacts of human interactions on the Encounter Marine Park.

Highlights included fishing, snorkelling, swimming through a large school of Yellowtail Kingfish, catching and cooking squid for dinner and also removing close to 1,500 pieces of rubbish from the beach.

Our students left Rapid Bay with a newfound appreciation for our coastline and a better understanding of the role we all play in caring for our natural environment.

Chess Mates

Our students enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about the 'royal game' of Chess from David Koetsier who has been a Chess Coach for over 30 years.

Our studentds learned to evaluate and score each board based on the position of their King, the placement of their pawns, and the spread of their pieces.

Chess is one of the games we play at our annual Intercol competition against St Ignatius, which a great opportunity to play the ultimate 'mind game'

If you'd like to sign up to play Chess - it's not too late!

CEA nominations close at 4pm tomorrow.

Abrahamic Institute of Peace

Earlier this week, our students had a visit from interfaith representatives Rachel, Ben, Daniela and Munazza from the Abrahamic Institute of Peace. This College tradition, now in its 10th year, provides invaluable insights and perspectives from other faiths.

Year 11 students engaged in a seminar morning with all speakers, before hosting a Panel where students asked questions about how the guests lived out their faiths in their own communities.

Later, in the day, our 7 students hosted morning tea and joined in conversations with all speakers.

This visit is a practical way of illustrating our students' current unit of work on Abrahamic Faith and how spiritual communities live out the Golden Rule in their daily lives.

Introducing your 2025 Year Level Reps...

Thank you to all those parents who have volunteered to be our Year Level Representatives for 2025!

We have had a wonderful mix of new parents, as well as familiar faces sign up to be a key contact for their Year Level.

The list of Reps can be accessed here.

We have sent class lists to all Year Level Reps, so they will be in touch with you soon (if they haven't already!).

Here's to another great year of bringing our community together for events, of sharing ideas and insights for each year level, and to connecting everyone vertically through our House system.

Coming Up...

Friday 7 March l 7-12 Athletics Carnival
Monday 10 March l Adelaide Cup Public Holiday
Monday 17- Wednesday19 March l Year 7 #1 Camp
Wednesday 19- Friday 21 March l Year 7 #2 Camp
Friday 21 March l Junior School Swimming Carnival
Friday 28 March l Yr 6-Yr 12 Swimming Carnival
Monday 31 March l Yr 8 Retreat
Tuesday 1 & Thursday 3 April l R-Yr 11 Class Photos
Friday 11 April l Caritas Day