It is great to welcome our girls back on campus for Term 3. I hope they had a chance over the break to relax and were able to enjoy some holiday moments - sleeping in, watching a movie or reading a book, taking the time to go for a walk or a bike ride. Life is busy and a change of pace is necessary whilst on holidays.

As you would have heard in the media COVID cases are on the increase. I would like to assure you that the safety of our students is of utmost importance and we will do everything possible to reduce the spread of COVID. We continue to promote COVID-safe strategies at the College including good hygiene practices and social distancing. The wearing of masks is currently not mandated but strongly encouraged whilst indoors.

During the break, I attended the Catholic Schools Principals National Conference in Canberra, based on the theme ‘A joyful, hope-filled and servant community’ Of particular note was the keynote address from David de Carvalho, the CEO of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) the authority overseeing the implementation of the National Curriculum. There are some exciting developments around curriculum reform in the next few years and I am pleased to write that OLMC is well placed to adopt these reforms as they come to pass.

Despite the rain during the break, our team of builders from Novati Builders have made great progress on the first phase of our new Master Plan involving the replacement of the northern wing of the Brigid Shelly Building. In the next few weeks, the College will be releasing some video footage that details the different aspects of the new build and what we can expect when it is completed during Term 1 of 2023. I am very pleased to showcase the first of these videos in this link and I’m sure you will agree that it is a most exciting time to be a Mercy Girl! 

At the end of Term 2, our Teaching and Learning Department conducted our Year 11 Course Preference Evening. Choosing subjects of study for students embarking on Year 11 is both exciting and challenging. This event provided a chance for Year 10 students and their parents to hear from teachers about the many course opportunities available in Years 11 and 12, HSC requirements and how the ATAR works. Thank you to all teachers and support staff who made this evening possible.  

Another event that was held in the final week of last term was our Careers Breakfast. Extremely well attended by our senior students, the event aims to give students different perspectives on varied careers. Thank you to our accomplished alumnae who spoke so eloquently of their journey from choosing HSC subjects and university courses, to ever-changing career paths. They challenged the girls to be brave and step outside their comfort zone, to find mentors in both their professional and personal life and to follow their passions.

On Wednesday, 20 July we welcomed over 60 people to our Open Morning Tour. Our next tour will be on Wednesday, 17 August. Prospective families can register using this link - https://www.olmc.nsw.edu.au/take-the-next-step/

I am excited for our busy term ahead with many events scheduled including our Year 12 Graduation and associated farewell events, Trial HSC, Year 7-11 Visual Art TAS Showcase and our Father Daughter Mass. 

Lucie Farrugia
Principal 

The students who went on our recent Immersion presented the College with a lovely artwork titled ‘Bush Medicine’.  Bush Medicine Leaves is a well-documented Dreaming story painted by the women artists of Utopia in Central Australia and reflects the importance of the bush medicine leaves to traditional Aboriginal culture. In painting the Bush Medicine Leaf story, the artists of Central Australia pay homage to the spirit of the medicinal plant. By creating its image the artists encourage the regeneration of the bush medicine plant, so that her people can continue to benefit from its healing powers.

We are very excited to announce that our Indigenous Immersion will run once again in 2023. All students currently in Year 9 or 10 will be eligible to apply to participate in this experience. We will be holding an information session at the beginning of Term 4, so keep an eye out for more informatoin.

Our annual Father Daughter Mass will be celebrated by Fr Walter in the College Chapel at 7.30am on Friday 2 September. All students are invited to attend with their fathers, grandfathers and other significant male role models. The link to RSVP for this event can be found here: Father Daughter Mass - RSVP

For mothers wishing to help out with the breakfast, please see P&F section below. 

The theme for our Mercy Day Mass this year is Women of Courage. We would like to make a display of inspirational women to display at the mass and would love for any student to send through pictures of women you view as courageous and influential so we can add it to our picture display! Please send a good quality image of a woman of courage to Miss Georges, rebecca.georges@olmc.nsw.edu.au so that it can be included.

Year 9 Photographic and Digital Media students visited Parramatta Park in Semester 1 to support the development of their photography portfolios. The aim of the excursion was twofold. Firstly, to capture images using a variety of compositional building techniques such as Rule of Thirds and Leading Lines. It was also fun getting to know the College’s new range of DSLR cameras - we don’t shoot in automatic, the girls use manual settings and the exposure triangle. This can sometimes be a challenge but the high standard of photographs are a testament to how hard the girls have been working. Well done artists!

We look forward to viewing their works in the upcoming HSC Visual Arts adn TAS Showcase this term.

Year 10 Photographic and Digital Media students also paid a visit to Parramatta Park last term to take photographs as part of their landscape photography unit. The class drew upon their studies of renown landscape photographer, Ansel Adams, as well as other artists, to create a portfolio of images showcasing their understanding of the genre, camera skills and photographic composition techniques.

The National Art School HSC Intensive Studio Practice is a prestigious workshop offered to Year 11 Visual Arts students throughout NSW. This course is designed for highly skilled and interested Visual Arts students seeking to further their studies in Visual Arts in Year 12 and beyond to tertiary level. This year OLMC had 3 successful applicants accepted into the program, with the girls completing the first of their 2 weeks during the recent winter holidays. Evie Dean, Chantelle Garingo and Alessandra Redoblado learnt a variety of techniques in their chosen areas of life drawing and painting, engaging in critical dialogue with their tutors and peers throughout the process. This has already proved to be a rewarding experience for these young artists and we look forward to seeing more of their creative endeavours in the future.

Nikita Krzeminski (Year 8) recently submitted a poem titled ‘Struggles with Teens’ to the 2022 Schools Poetry & Short Story 'National Treasures' Writing Competition. We are proud to announce that her poem passed the first round of judging. Congratulations to Nikita. The Competition was open to students across Australia and they were asked to write either a 16-line poem or a 500-word short story. We look forward to reading many more of Nikita’s poetry in the future.

Struggles with Teens

There I sat, alone, but with the company of the gloomy moon striking one half of my face.
I stood myself up,
trying to gain my balance.
I caught someone in the corner of my eye.
They had dark, puffy eye bags, tangled hair, and terrible posture.
This is until I realized that this person was me.

'Ding'
The vibration of my phone startled me.
'Who could be trying to contact me' I thought as I reach to get my phone.
It was a message from an old friend.
She sent a photo of her and her new friends together.
My eyes started to water as I made my way to my bed.
I lay there, staring at the ceiling with patches of cracked paint that had fallen off.
I lay there, frozen, zoned out without any thoughts going through my head.
As time went by, and the moon got brighter in the night sky,
my eyes start to slowly close.
All of a sudden my mind blanks and all I see is darkness.

Sydney University are offering a series of Webinars to students who might be interested in studying a language or combining the study with another degree.

Year 10, 11 and 12 students are invited to register for the Webinars. The first one coming up is on 3 August and relates to students who might like to pursue the study of a language at Sydney University.

There are also other Webinars to take place in September. Students can register themselves by clicking here and they will receive an email with the links to the Webinars. For further information please contact Mrs Ibarra.

It is a tradition that our newly inducted 32 Student Leaders experience a Leadership Camp shortly after induction. Last week, our 32 newly inducted Student Leaders for 2022/2023 went to St Joseph’s Baulkham Hills to focus on developing their leadership skills. Members of the OLMC Leadership Team, including Ms Farrugia, Ms Scanlon, Mr Esterman and Ms Polo visited the girls over the two days and shared their perspectives on leadership.

Katherine Baker, Liturgy Leader reported back on her time on the Leadership Camp:

How can we be the best leaders? And what does this look like practically? 

These two questions were answered during our two-day leadership camp last week. Although short, it was filled to the brim with reflection, brainstorming, teambuilding, and fun.  

On Friday we bonded over teambuilding (the three-legged race sort) and developed our all-important motto. As the panel of former OLMC leaders told us that afternoon, this motto will be our compass for the next 12 months. In the evening we had lots of fun developing our pitch, and also learned the logistics of the job – time to make some email folders.  

On Saturday morning we pitched to the Leadership team and had some time to brainstorm initiatives. Stay tuned for some exciting and uniting activities! 

On behalf of my peers I’d like to thank Mrs Roumanus, Ms Herd and Mrs Webb for their presence and guidance on this camp. Thank you also to the Leadership team who likewise gave up their weekend to support us.   

CSDA Debating Finals

Five hectic rounds of debating in Term 2 saw three of our teams qualify for the finals rounds. The Year 8B team (A’ishah Ali, Lizzy Butler, Pia Goradia, Bianca Mina and Celina Wassef and coached by Lily Tambrchi) were undefeated and automatically progressed to the quarter-finals. This team has the outstanding record of winning all fourteen debates they have contested in the last two years. Two other teams made it to the elimination finals: Year 9A (Isabella Cotter, Kaira Dasgupta, Bronte Herberstein, Sierra Lake and Jennifer Wang, coached by Mr Altura) and Senior B (Sarah D’Souza, Samantha Emeish, Stephanie Ogle, Charlotte Saker, Mikayla Simpson and Cassidy Turrell, coached by Mr Palmer). While the 9A team were defeated in the elimination round, the Senior B team won both elimination debates and progressed to the quarter-finals.

In the last edition of Parragraph, Mikayla Simpson was inadvertently left out of the Senior B team list. While Mikayla was originally a reserve, she became a regular in that team and has played a significant role in their success.

The quarter-finals were held last Friday at Christian Brothers High School, Lewisham. While the Senior B team were narrowly defeated in their debate, congratulations to Samantha Emeish, Sarah D’Souza and Mikayla Simpson for putting in such a good effort. The other members of this team are Stephanie Ogle, Charlotte Saker and Cassidy Turrell. The outstanding 8B team, coached by ex-DAPS leader Lily Tambrchi, continued in heir winning ways and now compete in this Friday’s semi-final at St Pat’s Strathfield. Well done to A’isha Ali, Bianca Mina and Celina Wassef, together with Lizzy Butler and Pia Goradia. Good luck to them in this week’s debate.

Intraschool Debating Competition

A new initiative at the College, the Intraschool Debating competition begins this week. Forty girls have made up the ten teams battling it out for two trophies. Th Celinae Years 7/8 section will be challenging for the Doris Goldie trophy while the Years 9/10 teams will compete for the Sr Barbara McDonough trophy. Both Doris Goldie and Sr Barbara have contributed much to debating at the College. A feature of this competition is that teams can be coached by other experienced debaters and several teams have taken up this opportunity. Good luck to all of them.

Parramatta Eisteddfod

Six weekends of competition saw the conclusion of the Parramatta Eisteddfod late in June. The final weekend saw more outstanding success for our girls. In one section of 11 and 12 years Impromptu Telephone Pairs, Ananya Karthik and Chaasya Ballapalli took out first prize, Ekaspreet Sohi and Mira Sharma were second while Annie Pant and Leyla Mazzocco were third. This remarkable result was the third event in the Eisteddfod where our girls swept all major placings. Other excellent results were to follow. In another section of Telephone Pairs, Krishna Avlani and Rachel Gilroy were placed second while Ashlyn Kumar and Matilda Webb came fourth. Ellie Geraghty and Magdalena Gilchrist were awarded a Highly Commended certificate. In the final event of the Eisteddfod, 13 and 14 years Prepared Public Speaking, Snigdha Bommasani came first, Tara Quinn received a Highly Commended certificate while Rhea Bindroo and Lauren McGirr received Encouragement Awards.

This year’s Eisteddfod has proven to be the most successful ever for the College, with eleven girls winning their events as well as others achieving countless minor placings and encouragement awards. Well done to all girls who performed. We are proud of each one of them.

AIDPSC and Speakfest

For the last ten years, the College has participated in the Australian Individual Debating and Public Speaking Competition (AIDPSC) and its Junior parallel, Speakfest. Both competitions are highly demanding with entrants competing in four different events in one day, then repeating the effort the following day. After two years of holding the competitions on Zoom, it is pleasing that 2022 will see a return to live competition, to be held over three days in September at St Leonard’s College, Melbourne.

Each year, eight outstanding speakers are chosen to represent the College and this year is no exception. Congratulations on their selection go to the Senior team of Sophie Assaad, Megan Keller, Hayden Rodewald and Neha Sharma, all of Year 10, and to the Speakfest team consisting of Year 8 students Lizzy Butler, Celeste Ieronimo, Ashlyn Kumar and Sofia Tong. During the recent holidays, the girls attended an all-day workshop in preparation for the competition but that was only a starting point. There will be many hours of preparation and practice during Term 3 but our girls have the talent and attitude that will ensure they are highly competitive against some of the best student speakers in Australia.

Speaking 4 the Planet Success

Speaking 4 the Planet is a major competition that allows students to address environmental issues in several different ways including public speaking, the section our girls compete in. Two years ago, Jennifer Wang, now in Year 9, won the World Title in this competition but this year, the Public Speaking event was restricted to State level. Nevertheless, our girls excelled once more and in an outstanding result, Haynin Lai and Raavia Riar, both of Year 8, were declared joint State Champions. This achievement is even more remarkable considering the event is open to all students up to Year 12. Congratulations to Haynin and Raavia but well done also to all our other students who submitted entries. Unfortunately, a number of students found the upload process didn’t work for them but the following girls all prepared speeches: Aanya Rao, Aditri Roy Chowdhury, Annabelle Sococ, Annie Pant, Ashwini Aravinthan, Caitlin Yeliseev, Ellie Geraghty, Georgia Nemeh, Hiya Mahida, Jasmine O’Brien, Leyla Mazzocco, Olivia Takchi, Ruhara Parndigamage and Teresa-Maree Saba.  

Legacy Competition

Just last week, two talented Year 9 girls, Gabby Fleming and Hasini Madukuri, participated in the Legacy Public Speaking competition which involved a prepared speech and an impromptu section. Thank you particularly to Gabby, who stepped in at short notice when one of our original entrants was unable to compete, but Hasini is also to be commended for her exceptional diligence in preparation. That diligence paid dividends as Hasini was selected to advance to the Regional Final, an excellent result. Well done to both girls! They are worthy representatives of the College. 

Christopher Ostrowski 
Debating and Public Speaking Coordinator

Saturday Netball

Draws and results are available on the ERNA PlayHQ Results page - https://www.playhq.com/netball-australia/org/eastwoodryde-netball-association/b9db8104

 The final round for the season will be held on 6 August with semi-finals starting13 August.

PDSSSC Junior Soccer

At the end of Term 2, OLMC competed at the PDSSSC Junior Soccer Championships at Jamison Park, Penrith. OLMC was represented by Leah Kolosakas, Sharon Sebastian, Alexandra Attard, Sahanna Sri, Giselle Al-Mir, Samantha Weatherburn, Teyana La Brooy, Sophia Lees, Kasey Bolt, Jemima Scothern, Charlise Kairouz, Frances Nolan and Angela Lees. The girls should be very proud of their efforts as they played extremely well and showed great resilience and teamwork. After a few good wins and a few narrow losses the girls finished 3rd in their pool. Well done girls!

A big thank you must go to Ms Herd for all her help with the team.

NSW All Schools Cross Country

Congratulations to Lucie Francis who competed at the NSW All Schools Cross Country Championships on Friday, 22 July at Eastern Creek Raceway. Lucie finished 9th in the 16/17 years age division and has qualified to compete at the School Sport Australia Championships in August. Well done Lucie!

PDSSSC Netball

OLMC competed at the PDSSSC Netball Championships on Wednesday, 20 July. The Teams consisted of Chanel Achie, Charlotte Gillies, Audrey Baysari, Iris McKenna, Eliza Gordan, Moana Tuala, Abigail Mahoney, Sienna Stokes, Ella McGirr, Chiara Borthwick, Hannah Leeman, Alannah Moujalli, Mikaylee Pearce, Lucy McSweeny, Bronte Herberstein, Lily Johnston, and Isabella Cotter. Despite the wet conditions the girls all played exceptionally well and were continually encouraging each other. The senior team had a tough start but finished strongly to secure 9th place overall. The intermediate team started very well but just missed the semi-final after a narrow loss. A big thank you to Caitlin Alam for umpiring all day and to Mrs Simpson and Mrs Bushell for all their help with team. 

Golf

Congratulations to Annoushka Maikap who was privileged to be part of the ‘Sydney Metropolitan Ladies Major Pennant 2022’ in spite of her age. She represented ‘Stonecutters Golf Course-Ladies team’ for the division 2 match-plays.

Apart from being the youngest in her team, she played like a mature competitor - taking the match play strategies to near perfection - as a result not losing a single game she was selected for.

Out of four tournaments, Annoushka was selected for three games and was victorious in all three!

As a result of her team effort, Stonecutters is now in the finals facing Pymble Golf Club, contesting for the Division 2 championship on 19 June. We wish her luck for the final tournament.

Hockey

Congratulations to Ekaspreet Sohi who represented Northern Sydney Hockey at the State Hockey Championships recently. The team was crowned State Champions. Well done Ekaspreet!

Taekwondo

Chelsea Gomez (Year 7) travelled to Korea during the school holidays with the Australian Taekwondo Performance Pathway Program. She competed in the Cadets - 42kg division. Chelsea dominated her division and defeated three Korean athletes to take home the first gold for Australia in the Korean Open held in Chuncheon. Chelsea is coached by Ms Abby Sangalang (ex OLMC student).

We wish Chelsea all best as she prepares to represent Australia in the World Taekwondo Cadet Championships in Bulgaria. Good luck Chelsea!

Wednesday Touch Football

Wednesday Touch Football registrations are now open.

If you would like to play Wednesday Afternoon Touch Football (Doyle Ground Parramatta) for OLMC, please create a team and complete a registration form and team list that has previously been emailed to students.

Every player must fill out a registration form and have their name on a team list. If you don’t have a team, please advise me and I will find a team for you. Individual registration forms and team forms are due by Friday, 5 August.

Touch football players wear the OLMC Sport Singlet and PE/Sport Shorts. These will need to be purchased form the Uniform shop ASAP.

Once the OLMC registration forms have been submitted in mid-August, EVERY player will receive an email from Parramatta Touch. From this email you will all need to register online with Parramatta Touch. You will need the team code from their email to register. You will have to pay online with Parramatta Touch during the registration where you can also apply the active kids’ rebate. You will also be billed by OLMC to cover coaches’ fees.

Stuart Guthrie
Sports Coordinator

This is a call-out to our Mercy Mothers! It is a tradition that the P&F, together with the wonderful Mums in our community, serve breakfast to the many Dads, grandfathers, and special men in our girls’ lives who attend this event.

Opening Hours and Purchases 

The Uniform Shop is open Monday to Thursday, from 8.00am – 9.30am,

It is also open from 3.00pm – 4.30pm on Monday and Wednesday (school days only).

Online purchases can be made via the Online Uniform Shop (https://shop.olmc.nsw.edu.au/) and all orders will be delivered to the Student Centre for collection by students.

Terms 2 and 3 - All girls are to wear the full winter uniform. 

Scarves

Scarves are now available and can be purchased online or via the shop.

Senior Cardigans and Junior Mercy pullovers

For those who have an allergy to wool, or prefer a non-wool knit, the uniform shop has limited stock of both senior and junior cotton blend cardigans and pullovers.  

If you have any concerns regarding uniform items, please don't hesitate to contact the uniform shop on 8838 1275 or uniformshop@olmc.nsw.edu.au

College fees were due on Friday 22 July 2022.  If your account remains outstanding, please ensure that the Finance Office receives payment promptly.

For fee enquiries, please contact the Finance Office on 8838 1214 or finance@olmc.nsw.edu.au

Mrs Anne-Maree Ironside
Finance Manager

Parramatta Library is preparing to move to its new home. We look forward to welcoming visitors to our new state-of-the-art Library, Customer Service Centre and History and Visitor Information Centre at PHIVE, 5 Parramatta Square, in Spring 2022.  

From Monday, 25 July until Monday, 8 August, students will not be able to use the library study spaces and resources.

From Monday 25 July, Parramatta Library will open as a pop-up, located on the ground floor, 1-3 Fitzwilliam Street, Parramatta.
Monday to Thursday: 9:30am to 6pm
Friday: 9:30am to 5:00pm
Saturday: 9:30am to 4pm
Sunday: 2:00pm to 5pm

The pop-up library will include: 

• library items available through ‘click and collect’ service
• borrow up to 40 items
• place holds (reservations) of up to 10 items on your library card via the library catalogue or by phoning Parramatta Library 9806 5159.

From Monday 8 August, in addition to our pop-up library, computer use of up to 90 minutes and study spaces will be available on Level 1. 

For further information, please visit the council website.

For further information please contact the library on 9806 5192 or 9806 5159 (Mon, Tues, Wed) or apoole@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au