This is our final newsletter for the year. I would like to thank and commend all our staff, students and families for all that has been achieved this year. Our theme has been ‘And, who is my neighbour?’ (Luke 10:29b). During this year, the Year 12 Student Leaders, the Student Representative Council and those with informal student leadership roles worked across all year levels to help all students understand that they are each a neighbour to someone at OLMC.

On Friday evening the Junior Production with Marcellin College of High School Musical Jr will open. It has been wonderful to see the excitement of the students involved as they prepare for their first public performance. They demonstrate amazing courage to share their talents with our community in such a public way. We wish them all the very best for a spectacular opening night.

Over the course of this year, students across all year levels have faced new challenges, developed new knowledge and skills and applied them to solving problems and it is appropriate to reflect on their success. Next week, we will hold our final assembly where we will formally acknowledge the students who have exhibited excellence in their learning or through their engagement within or outside the College. It will be a moment to celebrate and give thanks for all that has been achieved throughout 2023.

Staff Movement

This year a number of people are discontinuing their normal roles at OLMC. Each person has contributed to the fabric of our community, helping to build and nurture young people of courage, compassion, justice and joy. There are many OLMC students who speak about their amazing experiences both in class and in the many co-curricular activities on offer at OLMC because of the dedication of staff like them.

They have offered kindness, mentoring and leadership to all with whom they have worked. While we wish them well in the next part of their journey, we farewell them with some sadness but hope that they will remember that they will always be a part of the OLMC Community:

Christine Al Mourani – Health and Physical Education Team
Caroline Bui - English Team
Janine Daniel - Nurse
Fleur Davison – Languages Learning Leader
Vanessa Dimovski - PA to Leader of Learning Development
Bernadette Mercieca - Maths and Religious Education Teams
Angela Molinari – English and Religious Education Teams
Henry Ralston – Design, Art and Technology and English Teams
John Renkin – Maths Team
Susan Richardson – English Team
Patrick Smithers – Humanities and English Teams
Adrian Stojkovich – Art Technician
Mark Vorster – Maths Learning Leader

Staff on Leave in 2024

Maureen Gleeson
Phina Tran

New Staff

In 2024, we will welcome the following staff:

Sarah Hodge - Maths
Nora Macawali - Maths
Cyvonne Scarica - Languages/Art and Year Level Coordinator/House Coordinator
Shirley Wu- Maths Learning Area Leader

Christmas

In this season of Advent, we prepare for the birth of Jesus. This is a season of great joy, hope and celebration. We spend time with family, and share celebrations with our friends and colleagues. It is a celebration of the gift of life. Christmas can therefore become an occasion to welcome, as a personal gift, the message of hope that emanates from the mystery of the birth of Christ.

My hope for all OLMC families, as it is each year, is that this is a time of great joy where the gift of life and the nourishment for your heart enables you to find a place of encounter with God and each other. May the blessings of Christmas be with you.

Advent – a precious time of waiting. Maranatha!

As the end of another school year approaches, we are gifted with the precious season of Advent, as we prepare, yet again, to welcome Jesus into our world. This prayer centres around the word, Maranatha מרנאתא, which is an Aramaic word meaning ‘Come, Lord’. This language was used in the region of Galilee at the time of Jesus and would have been spoken by him. So we pray…

Maranatha!
Open our eyes to the dignity of all people
And our ears to the cries of the earth.
Maranatha!
Let us walk in solidarity with the poor
And cleanse our world from oppression.
Maranatha!
Let us shout out for justice for all
And renew our hope for change.
Maranatha!
The Lord is coming
Let us share the Good News!

Amen.

Five Year 10s and Year 11s headed to the Holy Cross Centre this week to participate in the Seeds of Justice Conference.

The conference is finally back in person and was held as an overnight camp. Our students had the opportunity to meet students from other Mercy schools across Victoria to discuss social justice initiatives and this year’s theme focused on the Climate Crisis: ‘Laudate Deum: Is this the World We’ve Created?’.

On the first day, we had a session facilitated by expert Sally Neaves, Integral Ecology Animator at the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea. The students were compelled to consider actual ecological disasters that affect our country and how we might work together to prevent, educate, imagine and act.

We thank the Seeds of Justice Committee for all their hard work in putting together this wonderful program.

You may like to reflect on the opening prayer below that was read out by the OLMC students.

O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned
and forgotten of this earth,
who are so precious in your eyes.
God of love, show us our place in this world
as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth.
God of mercy, may we receive your forgiveness
and convey your mercy throughout our common home.
Praise be to you!

Amen.

Bernadette Hogan
Religious Education Learning Leader

Lauren Marquet
Social Justice Coordinator

The end of the year always seems to come in a rush. The Year 12 VCAA exams concluding in mid-November hint that the Year 10 and 11 exams are close. For students in Years 7-9, there are the final assessment tasks, the final Horizon camp, and not too far away, the final classes for the year.

However, while we are concluding 2023, it is also a time where we have one foot in 2024. Courses are being reviewed for 2024, and our Mathematics Learning Area has spent some time during this exam period unpacking and sequencing the new Year 7-10 Mathematics Curriculum. The new Mathematics Curriculum is to be phased in over the next two years. In other Learning Areas, new Victorian Curriculum Version 2.0 will be released for familiarisation during 2024.

For our Senior students, our Orientation week commences on Friday 1 December. The Orientation program is an opportunity for students to start to understand what is required of them in their VCE or VCE VM studies. While the summer holidays offer an important time for students to rest and recharge, there is also an expectation, particularly for our Year 12 students, that they continue to learn – whether through set homework, revision of prior learning, or reading of texts in preparation for 2024.

Student reports for Semester Two will be available on SIMON and PAM in the afternoon of Friday 8 December. When they are available you will receive a notification via email and an announcement will be placed on PAM. The email will also provide you with an outline of the various sections of the reports.

I hope that you have a Merry Christmas and a joyous start to 2024.

To finish off 2023, we asked our Term 4 Horizon students to share their thoughts on the program and what they enjoyed the most. These are some of their responses.

‘During this term, I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Smoothie Challenge, where I had the chance to be innovative in marketing our brand. The experience was marked by experimenting with flavours, textures, and presentations to create a standout product. Collaborating with a committed group added to the enjoyment, as we worked together to make our presentation both informative and entertaining. The challenge not only allowed me to explore my creative side but also taught me valuable lessons in teamwork and effective communication, skills I plan to apply in future marketing endeavours.’- Aprila D 9ACH

‘This term the best thing about Horizon has been the friendships I have made along the way. Horizon has allowed me to interact with many different people and learn how to be independent when going on trail days. These trail days not only allowed me to have fun but also gave me an insight into life skills and the independence to work alone.’ – Ava C 9TLA

‘In my opinion the best things about Horizon were the trail days. My personal favourite trail day was Engage Melbourne. I found it really fun to walk around with my friends and solve questions. I also really enjoyed camp! Caving was really fun and engaging, despite the dirty clothes. I also really enjoyed abseiling, commando and Master Chef. Everyone got involved and gave everything a try including myself. I also enjoyed IBL. It was really fun to research my topic with my group and interesting to learn new things about it too.’ – Isabella L 9ACH

‘The best thing about this term in Horizon, in my opinion, was the camp. The camp was a surreal experience and I genuinely believe it was the best three days of my life. The activities were lots of fun and forced us to work together and bond which at the time, I didn't even notice. I spoke to people I had never spoken to before and made connections with people I once knew nothing about. The competitive game of musical chairs and the night-time disco party were moments that I will never forget.’ – Lynn G 9ACH

‘Camp was one of the best things I did in Horizon and was one of the best camps I’ve been on. It was a good time to become closer with new people. Before I went on this camp, I was dreading the idea of it and was debating if I even wanted to go. Most of the activities that we were doing were the last things I would want to do, like caving and abseiling. I ended up doing all the activities and it was one of the best memories that I got to share with my friends.’ – Mia N 9TLA

‘I really enjoyed Horizon. The hands-on experiences, life skills and logistical application areas of Horizon were quite helpful and something I will take into my adult life. Budgeting activities were realistic and taught me how to handle money. My favourite moments from the whole term came from the three days at camp. There were unique opportunities to try things we probably would never have the chance to again.’ – Hannah W 9ACH

‘My favourite part about Horizon this term has been camp. I really enjoyed participating in the bike ride and other activities. My favourite activity was the commando course. I created lots of great memories with friends and I got to know the people in my class a lot better by doing activities as a group. I also developed my communication skills on this camp.’ - Lucy S 9TLA

‘The best thing about Horizon this term was the Trail Days especially the Old Melbourne Jail. I had always wanted to go and found it an extremely fun experience with friends. I found it fascinating learning about Melbourne history and enjoyed walking around the grounds. Overall, it was an extremely enjoyable day and I had a great time.’ - Ava O 9TLA

‘Camp was the best thing about Horizon for me. I learnt about independence with cooking our own meals and resilience, as I had to learn to be a bit uncomfortable and had to get through the day. On camp I witnessed the most intense game of musical chairs, challenged my fears by abseiling and caving, and had an amazing time.’ - Georgia R 9TLA

‘The best thing was 100% going on camp because you could be with your friends and all the activities were thrilling and out of everyone’s comfort zone. It was by far the best camp I've been on as I felt independent and had the most fun!’ - Olivia D 9ACH

‘The best thing about Horizon was the camp. I ended up trying new things that I will probably never end up doing in my life ever again, and made connections with people I never thought I would get along with. Participating in group activities and giving everything 100% was what made it fun and enjoyable.’ – Ava L 9ACH

‘IBL - I really liked researching my topic and coming up with a solution. It gave me a feeling of more independence and the IBL assessments are quite different from anything else I've done previously.’ – Imogen S 9ACH

Gabrielle Tabban
Horizon Coordinator

The 17^th BrainSTEM Innovation Challenge concluded on Thursday 16 November with a brilliant presentation from the OLMC team at the Royal Society of Victoria. The team presented to a packed house including families, teams from schools across Melbourne and the President of the Royal Society, Rob Gell. The evening commenced with a tour of the Royal Society, its library and its collection of significant historical artefacts. Our team’s innovation product, developed with the guidance of their mentor from the University of Melbourne, was a 3D printed ceramic structure. The structure was embedded with chemical sensors and crystals of sodium bicarbonate salt, which is endothermic as it dissolves. This can act as a buffer to balance the absorption of excess carbon dioxide from the air which makes the oceans acidic and threatens the Great Barrier Reef.

Dr Susan Long
Science Learning Leader

Whenever the Humanities Learning Area met this year, we started each session with a slide that reads: Humanities 2023. Continuing to help explain our world.

It is what we try to do as teaching professionals and hope that the students garner how vital it is to study Civics, Politics, History, Geography and the range of Commerce subjects offered at OLMC.

Last week, one of our past students had the opportunity to visit Federal Parliament and hold lobbying meetings with 30 MPs. Charlotte Woods, Class of 2022, was one of 28 advocates flown into the capital to participate in discussions and observe the process around the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Equity) Bill 2023. This bill asks Parliament to enshrine a duty of care to protect the health and wellbeing of young and future Australians in government decision making, on projects that could significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions.

Charlotte listened to the Senator address the media and she later discussed the issue with Ged Kearney, Dr Monique Ryan and Kate Thwaites. Charlotte described her involvement as amazing ‘to see how everything is run in person and how complex pushing a federal bill is. From the legal side of things to the conflict between parties and within parties, affecting issues pertaining to human rights and international obligations. There was a lot of disparity…’

No matter the outcome of the Duty of Care and Intergenerational Equity Bill, Charlotte has taken her learning from OLMC classrooms, followed her passion and is using her energy to continue to help explain our world. We are so proud of her achievements and look forward to hearing more from her in the future.

Rosemary Jones
Humanities Learning Leader

After studying typography and imagery in Unit 2, the Outcome 2 task of Year 11 Visual Communication Design involved the students creating four different book covers for an existing well-known teen or adult fiction book. Students had to showcase four different genres from the following list: Horror, Fantasy, Romance, Mystery, Children, Fairytale, Science Fiction or Dystopian. The students came up with an array of different books to recreate including Little Women, Alice in Wonderland, Home, The Silent Patient, Coraline, Matilda, The Girl on the Train, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Hunger Games, The Lion King, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Romeo and Juliet, The Fault In Our Stars and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The students then utilised the design process they have used since Year 9 Graphics, to work though the design problem to create their final four book covers.

These book covers were then used in the Unit 2, Outcome 3 task. For this task, students had to design a logo for an online bookshop and several web pages, incorporating their book covers on one of the pages. This task involved using the terminology and design process found in the new Study Design for Visual Communication that will be taught in 2024.

This task gave the Year 11 students an insight into the Year 12 course, as students will have to produce two different presentation formats with two different purposes when they devise their own design problem for the folio in both Units 3 and 4. This was a much smaller project completed over five weeks whereas in Year 12, the folio normally covers at least four and a half months of work.

We hope you enjoy this glimpse into the vibrant world of visual storytelling and design.

Maree Smith
Design and Technology Teacher

Struggling to find something good to read for the holidays? Why not try one of the books in our general recommended reading lists. We also have ebooks and audiobooks available for students to borrow. Students are encouraged to borrow recreational reading materials for the Summer break and have no limits on the number of books borrowed.

• Year 7 General Reading List
• Year 8 General Reading List
• Year 9 General Reading List
• Year 10 General Reading List
• OLMC eBooks and Audiobooks platform

Students can also access the Learning Commons newsletters from 2023 on the Library Catalogue for more great recommendations and activities.

Anna Apfelstedt
Learning Commons Coordinator

Term 4 GSV Sport Wrap Up

Congratulations to all teams in Cricket and Basketball on a most successful term of GSV Sport.

OLMC Senior and Junior Cricket teams finished fourth and third respectively in their zones, unfortunately just missing out on finals.

Our Senior, Intermediate and Junior Basketball teams participated in many finals and dominated their zone competitions and were very strong in their respective finals.

Please see the final results of Term 4 Weekly GSV Sport below.

Thank you to all students and staff involved in representing OLMC in GSV Sport this year.

Trevor Robertson
Sports Coordinator

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