A weekly snippet of what’s happening ‘behind the hedge’ at Mercedes College.
Last week, our Year 11 students enjoyed their Retreat in Wellington and Victor Harbor.
Titled, Stepping up and living Mercy, the Retreat provided the time and space away from the classroom, for the 11s to reflect on their identities, skills and gifts, especially as they think about their final year in Year 12 in 2027. They also spent time discussing what legacies they wanted to leave at Mercedes College once they graduate.
The ambience of both the river and the ocean was a lovely environment and set a positive tone for the two days they spent together.
Yesterday, our mascot Cam the Camel paid a visit to Mercedes, to meet with our Sport Leaders and Intercol Captains, to discuss plans for hosting Intercol 2026.
While Cam was here, there was much to do, including preparing the grounds, chatting strategy with the students, doing sound checks and getting our equipment ready.
We are looking forward to welcoming everyone to Mercedes College – Camel Land – from Monday 17 – Saturday 22 August for Intercol 26!
Go Camels…
A key part of our Intercol culture are our Mercedes College ‘Camel’ scarves!
We are encouraging all staff, students and families to wear their scarves over the next two weeks leading up to the Intercol Carnival.
You can pick them up from our No. 1 Camel Fan – Jenny – for $30 from Strathspey Reception.
Check out our Intercol 26 schedule – pop the dates and times in your calendar – and head out to catch a game.
There is no doubt that the energy and cheers from our supporters helps our teams!
See you out there…
Our Year 1 students have been busy catching up with SAPOL and the Metropolitan Fire Service to talk about their respective roles and keeping our community safe.
Whilst listening in the classroom is always interesting – full of facts and questions… the most fun is always had when students get to head outside and enjoy some ‘show and tell’.
The police car and sirens were great, but think the water hose from the Firies might have won the best fun award.
Always thankful to our emergency service teams for sharing their time and knowledge with our students!
It’s that time of year when we appoint our 2027 College Captains. Nominations are in, and next week we will hear from the finalists before staff and student voting reveals our four College Captains!
Our Senior Student Leadership applications open on Monday 10 August and close on Monday 24 August.
This is a great opportunity for our Year 12 students to step into key Leadership roles for their final year of school – a great experience to help prepare them for life ‘beyond our hedge’.
We wish everyone all the best – and look forward to introducing our 2027 Student Leadership Team to you soon!
Leadership positions include:
• House (x 4 Houses)
• Sports
• Art
• Social Justice
• International Student Programme
• Student Mentoring Programme
Pink Sports Round is an annual activity that ran from 27 July to 2 August this year, to support Australians impacted by breast cancer.
To support this initiative, the SAAS PINK round raises awareness for women’s health in our schools and community – it is a chance to pause and think about the women who are in our lives, many of whom are affected by breast cancer.
Our teams all got into the spirit, wearing a touch of pink during their matches last week to honour this important cause.
Earlier this week, a group of Year 9-11 Drama students went to the Space Theatre to watch The State Theatre of South Australia’s performance of ‘Logan Street’ by Jacob Boehme.
Students were able to use the magic of live theatre to experience an untold story and part of our Australian and Adelaide history, to wrestle with the idea of what it is to be human, existing together with many differences but also, many similarities.
Back in the classroom, students will reflect on this show in their theatre analysis work, as part of their MYP and SACE Stage 1 studies.
Our Football First XVIII Captain Sam (Dalton) invites you to come and cheer on our First XVIII’s Team on in this season’s Grand Final.
The team has had a great football season, under the guidance of Senior Coach Mr Caire, with 7 wins, 1 tie and 1 loss.
So rug up, put your Camels scarf on and head down to the Grand Final next Wednesday afternoon, to cheer our boys on…
It would be great to see you there!
First XVIII Grand Final
Richmond Oval (Milner Road Richmond)
Wednesday 12 August
4:30pm (finish approx. 6:00pm)
Term 3 has seen our performing arts CEA activies begin and it’s been a busy start.
Our Year 3-5 students have shown up in huge numbers to be part of our Junior School Drama Company on Tuesday lunchtime.
Also on Tuesday lunchtime, our Reception to Year 2 students are exploring ‘Sing and Move’, building on the work they did in Term 2 in ‘Dance and Play’.
Our guitar ensemble will be starting up again soon every Monday lunchtime with our new Guitar Tutor.
Every Monday after school, we have our Musical Workshop activity, where students learn skills in character, dance and singing to develop a scene and prepare for future Musical Auditions.
We are putting on a new show called ‘Director’s Choice’ on Thursday 18 September, and we’d love you to audition! This will be a showcase of actors, dancers and musicians, as well as a farewell to our Year 12s performing arts students.
If you would like to be considered for the show, send in a 1-2 minute video, in costume, of the piece you’d like to include in the show and send it to jmace@mercedes.catholic.edu.au by Friday 14 August.
Last weekend, Year 8 student Charlotte (Dalton) took part in the Road Cycling State Championship.
The morning started at 8:30am at a chilly 5 degrees and Charlotte raced in the Under 15 and 17 women 40km event.
Charlotte came across the finish line first and became the newly crowned State Road Racing Champion.
Next month, she is changing up her bike and is off to Canberra to take part in the National Championship Mountain Bike Title.
Bravo Charlotte – what a brilliant result.
All the best in Canberra!
Our Year 3 students had a lot of fun designing and creating their own 3D neighbourhood using nets of 3D shapes.
They worked in small groups, planned and constructed buildings, added connecting roads … and the result was a very impressive neighbourhood.
This was a wonderful opportunity for students to show their creativity, communication, time management and reflective skills.
A great project using the IB Learner Profile attributes of Risk-Takers and Communicators as they worked through a range of challenges to bring their vision to life.
A reminder that our Parent Engagement Group (PEG) meeting for Term 3 will be held on Tuesday 11 August, 8.40am – 9.40am in the Staff Room.
PEG Meetings are a great opportunity to meet other parents and learn about happenings around the College each Term. Everyone is welcome!
Please let us know if you can join us.
More upcoming activities can be found on the College Calendar.
