A weekly snippet of what’s happening ‘behind the hedge’ at Mercedes College.

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Home / The Hedge / Week 4, Term 3

Celebrating Languages

Last week, was Languages week and our students immersed themselves in a range of challenges and activities as part of this important week on Campus.

The Indonesian eating competition was the most amusing, with students finding many creative ways to munch down on Kerupuk in a bid to win Beng Beng chocolate bars! A real delicacy.

We had students scouring the College grounds for clues in our Treasure Hunt as well as playing Bingo in their home language.

On Friday, all students from Reception to Year 12 took part in our House activity for Term 3 – our Languages Quiz… great to see older and younger students working together.

To round off the week, Mercedes College won the Best School Award in the Global Education Perfect Languages Competition, taking the title from 49 other Australian school participants.

Languages are alive and well at Mercedes!

Photo Reminder - Friday 14 August

A reminder that tomorrow, Friday 14 August, Advanced Life will be taking photos of all Non-Sport Co-Curricular Groups as well as our Mid-Year Reception Class (REO) in the Junior School Hall.

Students are to wear full Winter uniforms, including blazers, and standard uniforms for our Reception students.

The groups of students required for these photos is listed group here.

Vinnies Winter Appeal

Last Friday marked the end of our Vinnies Winter Appeal with the collection of our College donations.

This included 42 boxes and 3 full wheelie bins of food items, toiletries, clothing and blankets.

Special mention to our highest donating classes 9LR (209 items) and 7JA (155 items) – amazing effort – well done!

These generous donations, together with the record breaking $4,558.00 raised from Beanie Day and by our 70 senior students at the Winter Sleep Out, will go a long way to support the work of the St Vincent de Paul Society to help those in need in South Australia.

Mercedes College has been partnering with Vinnies for 35 years – thank you to our generous community for your ongoing support.

Year 1 Road Safety

As part of our Year 1’s Unit of Inquiry on ‘How We Organise Ourselves’, students had an excursion to the Road Safety Centre.

They travelled through the City by bus, looking at services and systems they had been talking about in class. After a picnic lunch at West Beach, they arrived at the Road Safety Centre.

They had an introduction to road safety, learnt about playing in safe places, went through the ‘Stop, look, listen, think’ steps, talked about the importance of wearing seatbelts and helmets, pedestrian and bike riding safety and also about calling Triple Zero (000) in an emergency.

A fun day out – but most importantly, learning about essential safety skills.

Recycling for a Cause

Our Study Thinking Extension Programme (STEP) has had a long-standing relationship with the Hutt Street Centre as well as a strong focus on service and responsibility beyond oneself.

Year 9 students are tasked with sorting 10c recycling items on our Campus to reduce the amount of plastic going to landfill and at the same time, raising money to support Hutt Street’s ‘Angel for a Day’.

‘Angel for a Day’ is a programme which provides meals for people experiencing homelessness. For every $400 raised through our Year 9 STEP collection efforts, breakfast and lunch will be provided for 200 people.

We have orange recycling bins around our Campus, so please do your bit to support the Hutt Street Centre, by depositing your 10c cans and bottle in our bins – you can’t miss them!

Finals Fever

It’s that time of the year when our sporting teams are playing their last few games – and we have had brilliant success in Football, Netball and Basketball – with our Open Teams all making it to Grand Final games.

Last night, our Boys First XVIII Team played in the Grand Final. They put up a great fight, but didn’t come away with the win.

We wish our Open Girls Netball and Open Boys Basketball teams all the best with their Grand Final endeavours later today and on Saturday.

Please come out and cheer them on!

Open Girls A1 Netball Grand Final
Mercedes vs St Michael’s
Adelaide 36ers Arena
Crittenden Road, Findon
3.45pm Thursday 13 August

Open Boys A2 Basketball Grand Final
Mercedes vs Scotch
Nazareth Senior College – Court 1
Hartley Road, Flinders Park
10.00am Saturday 15 August

We also wish good luck to our other netball teams playing Grand Finals this Saturday – Open 2 Gold, Open 4, Open 5, 8C and 7D.

Go Mercedes!

Year 12 University Mentoring

This week, our Year 12 students took part in 1:1 mentoring sessions with representatives from Adelaide University and Flinders University, providing invaluable guidance as they prepare for life once they graduate.

Students had the opportunity to discuss University pathways, SATAC applications, prerequisite subjects, entry requirements, early offers, scholarships and future career options. These personalised conversations allowed students to ask questions specific to their own goals and receive tailored advice to support their next steps.

We were also fortunate to welcome Mercedes College Old Scholar, Jonathon Aucone (2011, Dalton), who shared his experience from Mercedes to University and beyond. His insights and experiences provided students with an authentic perspective on navigating post-College pathways.

These mentoring sessions are an important part of our Year 12 transition programme, ensuring every student is well supported as they explore their options and prepare for tertiary study, training or employment.

Cross Country Carnival

Last week, Mercedes took 24 students to the CBD parklands to compete at the annual Catholic Primary School Cross Country Carnival. With perfect weather conditions, our students put in a great effort with some outstanding individual and team results.

Whilst we highlight some results, the best thing about the day was the way our students conducted themselves, both during and after the competition. Mercedes College Mercy Keys in action!

Special mention to:
Year 3 Boys – Harry (McAuley) Div B 1st, Tom (Fitzpatrick) Div B 2nd plus 1st in Team category
Year 3 Girls – Keira (Dalton) Div B 2nd
Year 4 Boys – Angus (Dalton) Div B 1st
Year 5 Boys – Walter (McAuley) Div A 3rd

Bravo all!!

Intercol is coming…

Next week, Mercedes College hosts St Ignatius College for Intercol 26!

We have 6 days of competition across 9 sports for a total of 21 Shields – and we’d love you to come out and support our teams.

You can check all matches, times and venues here.

We would still love anyone who can spare an hour or so, to help out on the BBQ and serving our families and guests in our Camel Café. If you can help on Thursday 20 August (4pm – 7pm) or Saturday 22 August (10.30am – 3.30pm) please compete this volunteering form – we’d love to hear from you!

Check out our daily social media posts featuring Cam the Camel and our Intercol Captains for more information on each day’s events.

Go Camels…

Indigenous Storytelling

Yesterday, our Reception students spent some time with Trent Hill, an Indigenous storyteller.

Through telling stories, our students learnt about the different ways Indigenous Australians care for and connect with the environment. Trent shared a traditional story about the man on the moon and the two sisters (the first and last stars in the night) which captivated the imagination of the whole class.

This was part of the students’ current Unit of Inquiry, “Living things have needs in order to grow, change and survive.”

It was a wonderful way to listen, learn and discover and Trent’s engaging way of sharing information through stories had a big impact on our youngest learners.

Primary SAPSASA Soccer

Last week, Mercedes College had 10 students representing City South at the annual SAPSASA Soccer Carnival. Our students played against the best soccer players from across the State and fought hard across the 3 days of competition.

The number of our Primary students representing the District is growing each year and this was one of our strongest turn outs.

The Girl’s City South team finished the week undefeated winning the Gold Medal in Division 1.

The boys team only lost 1 game for the week, taking out the Silver Medal in Division 2.

What a fantastic effort – well done everyone!

Car Parking Courtesy

This is a reminder to all families driving onto our Campus at either Delamere Avenue or Founders Lane entrances. There have been numerous incidents of families and carers double parking, parking across roundabouts (Founders) and driving well above the 10km speed limit.

Our priority is the safety of all students.

We appreciate when it’s raining or if you are a bit early, it is easier to just pull up and wait – but this forces cars to queue up and drive around cars. This is not safe for students, or considerate of other families who also need to get their children dropped off and picked up.

We also have cars parking in Accessibility car parks – which are needed for those students who have mobility challenges. We do have several students using wheelchairs and crutches – so please don’t park in these spaces unless you have a permit.

We ask our students to always have integrity, do the right thing and show mutual respect to others – and we are asking the same of our families and caregivers.

Student safety during these times is everyone’s responsibility – please play your part.

Coming Up...

  • Friday 14 August | Photo Day – Leadership, CEA (non-sport) and Mid-Year Reception
  • Monday 17 – Saturday 22 August | Intercol 26
  • Monday 17 August | ICAS Science
  • Tuesday 18 August | ICAS Spelling
  • Monday 24 – Friday 28 August | Book Week
  • Monday 24 August | ICAS Mathematics (Yr 2-6)
  • Tuesday 25 August | ICAS Mathematics (Yr 7-10)
  • Friday 28 August l Book Week Parade
  • Monday 7 September | Pupil Free Day

More upcoming activities can be found on the College Calendar.