A weekly snippet of what’s happening ‘behind the hedge’ at Mercedes College.
It was a week of perfect conditions, outstanding sportsmanship, enthusiastic support and heart-warming community spirit from both sides for our Intercol 26 Carnival… and our Mercedes College Camels came away as Intercollegiate Champions 2026! The final result – 11 Shields to 10 – a very close result!
It all came down to the final day of competition and to the last game – the Open A Basketball! A brilliant way to end the week and a sign of the close competition between the two Colleges.
Our whole Intercol Squad achieved a 17 to 14 success rate, with our Middle Teams winning 60% of their contests across the week. A turning point was the six Netball games played on Thursday evening, where our girls won every match across all levels!
Congratulations to everyone who represented our College – whether as a competitor or a supporter – we look forward to the challenge of Intercol again in 2027!
Bravo Camels!
We were delighted to see Old Scholar Maddy Massy (Class of 2014, McAuley) take on the role of South Australia’s National Science Week Ambassador this year!
Working as a Science communicator, presenter and content creator, Maddy is sharing her love of Science with the world through her engaging brand of storytelling and collaboration.
Maddy said “What I love most about National Science Week is that it’s optimistic and future-focused. At a time when misinformation can make it difficult to know who to trust, these events create opportunities for people to connect directly with scientists, ask questions and engage with the discoveries shaping our future.”
Our Junior School students celebrated the week with a Seeds of Science colouring competition. Congratulations to our winners: Della (Year 5, McAuley), Sophie (Year 2, Fitzpatrick), and Natsuki (Year 3, Barry).
In Middle and Senior School, students added scientific questions to our growing Science Question Tree, building a visual representation of their innate curiosity.
This week is National Book Week, where we celebrate a Symphony of Stories across the Junior School and beyond.
With activities about popular books, diverse characters and the “sounds” of storytelling, we have enjoyed watching our students and staff share their love of literature this week. We are also looking forward to seeing the culmination of this celebration at tomorrow’s 2026 Book Week Parade!
Our Junior School students, with help from our Year 12s, will show off their costumes to family and friends in Gleeson Theatre from 8.50am, before parading past our Middle and Senior School students across the Campus.
Everyone at Mercedes is encouraged to dress up in a book-themed costume for the day, as we all take the time to celebrate the joy of reading.
It would seem that our Mercedes Dads love a good coffee and delicious breakfast with their children, as the RSVPs for this year’s Father’s Day Breakfast have been rolling in!
This annual breakfast is a great way to start Father’s Day celebrations, so come along – register your attendance here – we’d love to see you.
Join us in the Junior School Hall for warm breakfast treats and a Barista coffee.
Thursday 3 September
From 7.30am
Junior School Hall
Dad Jokes Encouraged!
As we race towards the end of Term 3 and the October break, it’s a good time to think about holiday activities. Our Spring Vacation Care programme has just been released – and there is plenty to choose from!
Vacation Care offers both incursions and excursions that will not only keep children entertained, but also build on their social, problem-solving, creative, and agility skills. It’s also a welcoming and familiar environment for students to spend their day and provides a good opportunity to meet students from different year levels.
Check out the full programme here, and be sure to book in early to avoid missing out, as some excursions have limited capacity.
A big congratulations to those students from Year 2 to Year 10 who signed up to challenge themselves in the ICAS assessment programme, across Digital Technologies, Writing, English, Science, Spelling, and Mathematics.
68 participating students completed 194 individual tests across four weeks of nationally recognised assessments.
We now look forward to receiving the results of their efforts, which will provide valuable insights into student strengths and areas for growth, as well as celebrating our students’ willingness to embrace an academic challenge.
Recently, our Year 3s used their mathematical mapping skills to follow grid references, coordinates and written directions to navigate to a series of clues hidden around our Campus, as part of their PYP Unit of Inquiry, ‘Where we are in place and time’.
Working in small teams, students uncovered the clues which revealed a secret message linking to connections between Australia and our neighbouring countries.
This was an excellent display of students’ spatial awareness, problem-solving, and navigations skills, delivered through the PYP Learner attributes of being Knowledgeable and Inquirers.
Congratulations to those students who recently celebrated their Sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion at St Paul of the Cross Parish, Glen Osmond with Father Tom McDonough and Father Dean Marin.
These are special milestones in their faith journey as they continue to grow and deepen their understanding of what it means to live as members of our Catholic community.
We congratulate each of our students and celebrate this important step with them.
Our College Captains have put together a week of activities to focus on wellbeing and mental health support, in the lead up to R U OK? Day.
Starting with Community Prayer on Monday at 8.40am, each day has a topic about mental health and how to support each other in simple, practical ways.
Monday – Connection: Check in with at least one person each day this week. Join games in the library at lunch.
Tuesday – Belonging and Inclusion: Wear silly socks and bring a gold coin for the Breakthrough Mental Health Foundation. Decorate biscuits at lunchtime with friends.
Wednesday – Gratitude: Write a message of gratitude to someone in our College Community. Collect a Heart of Appreciation at lunch.
Thursday – Kindness: Commit to three random acts of kindness. Join mindfulness colouring at lunch.
Friday – Seeking Help and Hope: Identify trusted people and services available.
Mental health and wellbeing is often ‘invisible’ and the aim of this week-long initiative is to encourage conversation, reduce stigma and support one another!
We’re proud to share that Mr Rohan Cheong has been listed in the 2026 NewsCorp Australia’s Best Teachers series.
Having supported our students at Mercedes College for 10 years, Rohan is a popular Year 12 Home Group Teacher and Middle/Senior School Design Teacher.
Nominated through NewsCorp’s Adelaide Advertiser, Rohan was described as being “calm, understanding, and easy to relate to”, with a commitment to supporting students with their work.
Congratulations, Rohan – a great accolade from your students.
More upcoming activities can be found on the College Calendar.
