A weekly snippet of what’s happening ‘behind the hedge’ at Mercedes College…
As part of Reconciliation Round, our sporting teams acknowledged Reconciliation Week at all of their matches over the past week.
Our Open teams wore our Reconciliation Round uniforms which were designed by Old Scholar Zed Fielding (Class of 2025, Fitzpatrick). Captains from Mercedes College spoke before each match, about the importance of and commitment to be ‘All In’ for reconciliation.
Our Open A Netball Team hosted traditional Reconciliation Round rivals St Mary’s in our Yitpi Centre. Our team joined with their opponents for a Welcome to Country, delivered by Drew from ‘Walking Together with Kaurna’, who shared insights into the history of this cultural practice and its relevance and importance.
We had a great series of victories across multiple sports at the top level – congratulations to all our Teams.
There is only two more weeks to secure your table for this year’s Quiz Night, where we’ll prove that it’s ‘Easy Being Green’.
Get a team from your Year Level together, decide on your theme, then it’s a green light for costumes and table settings. We ask all of our Year Level Reps to encourage new families to get a group together and come along – this is a great College event and the perfect opportunity to get to know our community – in all their green glory!
This event is always full of laughs and good fun – you’ll be green with envy if you miss it!
This week, our Year 10 STEP students explored the concept of building up a healthy respect for suitable risk-taking. Rather than shying away from new opportunities, or alternatively, not assessing risk, our students learnt valuable lessons from stepping outside their comfort zone.
Students took part in a ‘Try Dive’ scuba diving session at Adelade Scuba where they learnt the counterintuitive practice of breathing underwater, and practiced keeping calm and alert in a foreign and potentially hazardous environment.
What a great experience and one lesson they are not likely to forget!
Recently, families heard from Madhavi Nawanda Parker, CEO Positive Minds Australia, who talked to staff and parents about building resilience in our children, as part of our Guest Speaker Programme.
We’re delighted to announce that our next speaker is Dr Mark Williams. Mark is an internationally renowned neuroscientist, who will share insights about the true potential of the brain. He has worked with students, teachers and health professionals to help them understand how the brain works and how to perform optimally and maintain a healthy brain.
Mark has worked at MIT in the USA as well as multiple universities in Australia. He now draws on his scientific background to work with schools to develop evidence-based practices to enhance our education, work and personal lives.
Mark will spend some time at Mercedes College at the start of Term 3, working with our students and staff, before giving an evening presentation to families. This is a great opportunity to listen to a leading expert in this area.
We’d love you to come along – so please RSVP below.
This evening session is for parents only as students from Yrs 6-11 will have heard from Dr Williams during the day.
Dr Mark Williams
Tuesday 21 July (Week 1, Term 3)
7.00pm – 8.30pm
Gleeson Theatre
Please mark the date in your diaries – so you don’t miss out!
We hope you got the chance to see our production of ‘Little Women’ last weekend. It was an amazing performance and so good to the variety in genres that our drama students undertake.
But it doesn’t end there – across the next two weeks, our Performing Arts students will take to the Gleeson Theatre stage again for three performances combining Music, Drama, and Dance.
There’s something for everyone – so grab a ticket and support our performers!
On Thursday 11 June, immerse yourself in dance pieces from across our Middle and Senior School curriculum, including student-choreographed works that highlight their development in composition and technique.
After a short interval, our senior Drama students, supported by Dance, will present a series of pieces from the hit musical, Chicago. Featuring well-known songs delivered with passion, heart and even humour, it will be a celebration of the art of musical theatre.
On Friday 12 June, Gleeson Theatre will be filled with the sounds of student musicians performing at our Winter Concert.
Hosted by our Arts Leaders, Eleanor and Pallas, this concert will feature more than 90 students from Year 3 to Year 12. You will enjoy performances from our choirs, ensembles, bands and orchestra as well as showcasing the curriculum learning of our Senior School music students.
To round out this trio of performances, our Year 8 and Year 9 students will deliver Versions, an amalgamation of music and drama in an expression of transformative and diverse art.
Year 8 Drama students will deliver a series of monologues they have been developing in class, exploring the ways in which elements of theatre and performance can alter the way a piece is presented. Their Music counterparts will perform musical excerpts that feature pop culture references including video games and movies.
Our Year 9 students will showcase ‘Know Your Role’, a page-to-stage experience exploring the roles and expectations of society that challenge the version of ourselves that we present to the world. There will also be as an instrumental ensemble experimenting with how different layers of sound come together, through covers of contemporary rock and pop music.
Yesterday, our Year 6 students had a Reflection Day at The Monastery. They took part in a series of activities designed to deepen their connection with their spirituality and each other.
One of these looked at how symbols, words, images or colours can invoke feelings of peace and serenity, or remind them of a thing or place that brings them joy.
Students took up the challenge of decorating Affirmation Stones, with things that meant something special to them.
These Reflection Days are an important time for our students, to step away from their classroom and take a moment to consider their sense of self and how they connect to the wider world.
‘World Peace Game’, which is part of our Extension Programme for Year 5s, wrapped up this week. Students taking part spent time collaborating and problem-solving right up to the very last minute to achieve their goal – world peace – and they did it!
Now, some of our Year 7 students will be given a similar challenge: ‘Earth Accord’. This will ask them to address real-world concepts such as environmental sustainability, public health emergencies, economic trade and technology, diplomatic tensions, and rapid innovation.
It’s going to be another fantastic opportunity for students to gain a deeper understanding of global interactions and their impacts, while considering humanitarianism, ethics, and responsibility. This exercise will also help them apply their problem-solving, collaboration and communication skills as they explore the consequences of complex global issues.
Both of these programmes aim to stretch students who are looking for ways to challenge and extend their critical thinking. A great initiative for our Year 5 and Year 7 students.
Our Year 5/6 Boys’ Football Team started their season with a great win and even better attitudes. They had coaching support from Year 11 duo Archie B (Dalton) and Archie L (Barry), alongside Teacher and Old Scholar, Andrew Khabbaz (Class of 2009, Barry), so they are in good hands.
From this team, James and Ted (both Year 6, Dalton) were selected to represent Mercedes College at the SAPSASA Football Carnival last week, where their coach Andrew was joined by another Old Scholar, Lachie Fox (Class of 2023, Fitzpatrick), to coach our City South team to second place in Division 1 – a brilliant result! Well done.
Time flies when you’re having fun, as our Year 12 students know all too well. Last Friday, they celebrated their ‘1/2 Way Day’- the halfway point of their final year at Mercedes College.
For this event, our Year 12s are asked to remember what they wanted to be when they ‘grew up’ and then dress up for the day.
Students shared lunch favourites from their childhood (including Fairy Bread) in our Sunken Garden, dressed as ballerinas, zoo keepers, FBI agents, sports stars, magistrates, medical professionals, vets, nurses, artists, and the occasional magic fairy.
It was a great way to come together and celebrate the hard work students have already put into their final year of studies. We look forward to following their adventures and seeing how many take the career path they imagined when they were young!
Please note that due to student exams taking place in our Museum in Strathspey House, the Second-Hand Uniform Shop will not be open on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 June.
Across the weekend, our ensemble cast and crew of ‘Little Women’ performed to audiences, eager to hear the story of the March sisters and their relationships, budding independence and push against society’s expectations.
With insightful interjections from author Louisa May Alcott herself, the two-act play was a resounding success and we congratulate everyone involved in bringing this story to life on the stage.
It was wonderful to see students explore productions, alongside the ever-popular musical that the College puts on every second year.
Don’t forget to check out the Winter Vacation Care Programme to keep your children entertained these holidays!
More upcoming activities can be found on the College Calendar.
