School Newsletter

As the Term draws to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the girls for their hard work and effort this term. Our celebrations on Friday for Mercy Day were a testament to the spirit of collaboration and unity that our students display and a true celebration of the meaning of Mercy.

As you read this, we are in the middle of the celebrations to mark the end of Year 12's time at the College – a time of great joy tinged with sadness as they get ready to leave us and start the next part of their life journey. So, I ask that as a community we keep them in our prayers as they sit their HSC examinations.

As we finish up for the term, I have asked the girls to remember to thank their teachers for supporting them this Term.

I would like to thank the Wellbeing Team for everything they do to assist our students, and to our parents/carers for all you do to support us as we work in partnership to help your daughters achieve their potential.

Thank you and take care

Ms Ann-Marie Herd
Director of Student Wellbeing 

This week, it is optional for your daughter to wear either her summer uniform or her winter uniform. From Week 1, Term 4, all students must wear full summer uniform.

I ask for your assistance in ensuring that your daughter’s summer uniform complies with the College dress code. In particular:

• The junior dress or senior skirt is to be worn at the correct length (at least 2cm below the bottom of the knee cap).
• The jumper/cardigan is not to be worn to or from school unless under the blazer. Year 12 jerseys are also not to be worn under the blazer.
• College socks are to be worn with the summer uniform and sports uniform.
• To avoid any uniform infringements, please also ensure that your daughter adheres to the College standards for hair, make-up, jewellery and nails.

When I speak to the girls about their uniforms, I emphasise the respect factor. When the girls wear the uniform with pride, they show respect for themselves and for the College and I thank you for your support in ensuring that your daughter wears the correct uniform. I appreciate the financial commitment you as parents make in purchasing all items of the uniform, and it is for this reason that I ask that all items of the uniform be labelled with the student’s name so lost property can be returned quickly to your daughter.

Goal Setting for Success

Success is impossible without focus, direction and specifically a goal to achieve. To experience success, it is important to learn how to set realistic and relevant goals. Realistic goal setting starts with careful consideration of what you want to achieve, that is, a long-term goal, and multiple short-term milestones which allow opportunity for evaluation and celebration. Goals that feel unattainable, or unachievable usually fail to come to fruition as they are the victims of procrastination.

What a wonderful community celebration Mercy Day was! With the Mass theme, ‘Women of Courage’ we started the day in prayer and reflection. Mrs Leila Abdallah, our guest speaker, was one of the women of courage highlighted in our Entrance Procession. Leila shared with us her touching story about when courage and her strong faith pulled her through the darkest days.

The Mass was complemented beautifully by music and I wish to thank the Music staff who, under the leadership of Mrs Belinda Angilletta, worked tirelessly with the students to ensure that all involved were able to share their talents to the best of their ability.

Thank you also to Ms Lonergan and the many students who were involved in the planning of the liturgy and all those who had a special role on the day - there are many people who work together to ensure that a Mass is well planned and runs smoothly.

The Wingara Student Leadership Program hosted by AISNSW, was held at UWS Parramatta Campus. Students participated in three workshops, one being run by Aunty Theresa Ardler who has a strong association with the Sisters of Mercy. It was a wonderful opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from around NSW to join together and learn more about culture, leadership possibilities and post-school options. The day finished with a tour of the UWS Campus where students were invited from local schools to share the facilities and library spaces.

Ms Gabby Scanlon
Director of Identity

Year 8 Science 1 participated in the inaugural National Schools Citizen Science BioBlitz this month. A BioBlitz is a community science event where people are asked to photograph the plants and animals within a certain area to obtain a snapshot of the organisms that are found in that environment.  The National Schools BioBlitz asked students to explore their school playground and take photos of their environment. This fits in perfectly with the topic of ‘Sustaining Life on Our Planet’.

'In Year 8 Science, we have been learning about the adaptations of flora and fauna in Australia. One of the activities we had to do was to take photos of plant and animal adaptations in the garden. We took photos of different plants to show the adaptations the plants had developed. Some of us took photos of plants that had a fluffy texture, for example, so that the plant wouldn’t get eaten by animals. We entered some of our photos into the BioBlitz Competition to demonstrate our learning.'

Alena Stivala (Year 8)

Year 9 and 10 Language students have been busy applying their skills in a variety of creative ways.

In Term 3, Year 9 Japanese students used Minecraft to create a dream house. These will be used to produce their assessment task, presenting a detailed description in Japanese of their house, and incorporating Western and Japanese style features. Year 9 French students produced a video presentation of our College and our daily school life. They created the video to present to future visiting French students. Year 10 French students had to create a Vlog following the completion of the topic on Grocery Shopping. They included finding a recipe, making a shopping list using quantities and demonstrating how to follow the steps, using the grammatical feature of the imperative form. Some impressive videos were created!

Upcoming School Holiday Workshops (Sep-Oct)

These workshops are organised and delivered by external providers.

Save the date! The OLMC Dance Extravaganza will take place early next term on Friday, 21 October from 6:00-7:00pm in Edith Angel Hall. This fabulous night will showcase a range of works that have been developed this year by our Elective Dance students and the Co-Curricular Dance ensembles. These groups are currently working hard to finalise and refine their choreography in preparation for this event. The students involved are excited to return to the stage and share their talents with you! To RSVP please click here.

Soroptimist International

Last week saw the return of the Soroptimist International Public Speaking Competition at Glenhaven Community Centre. This event has been suspended for two years and it was a welcome return. No fewer than 15 of our girls were involved.

Always, our girls were well prepared and performed very well. Notable achievements include Ysabel Daelo (Year 7) who took out first prize in her division with a speech where she adopted the character of a koala calling out to help save her environment. There were also several second placings: Mira Srma (Year 7), Lizzy Butler and Matilda Webb (Year 8) and Mia Fogolin (Year 10). Bianca Mina (Year 8) was awarded third prize in her event.

One praiseworthy outcome of the competition was the invitation to Mia Fogolin to speak at next year’s International Women’s Conference to be held in Sydney. Congratulations to Mia for this recognition of her speaking skills.

Well done to all girls who took part in the competition. We are proud of all of them.

Christopher Ostrowski
Debating and Public Speaking Coordinator

In Terms 2 & 3, students in the French and Spanish Club have been busy making bookmarks with inspirational quotes written in both languages. The bookmarks have now been finalised and they look great! They have been given to the library for distribution among students just in time for that holiday book read. Any donations collected will be given to Mercy Works. Merci! Gracias!

NSWCCCC Athletics

On Monday, 12 September, the NSWCCC Athletics Championships were held at SOPAC. OLMC was represented by Lucie Francis, Matilda Webb and Amelia Johnston. The girls all performed exceptionally well with Amelia finishing 5th in the 12yrs 80m Hurdles, Matilda finishing 3rd in the 12-14yrs 1500 walk and Lucie finishing 2nd in the 16yrs 1500m. Well done girls! We wish everyone competing at the NSW All Schools Athletics Championships during the holidays the best of luck.

Stuart Guthrie
Sports Coordinator

Uniform Fittings 2023

Appointment times for Year 7 2023 and Year 10 2023 will soon be available online and can be booked via the uniform tab on the College website.  Please note there are separate times and dates for junior and senior fittings.

Senior Uniform Fittings for Year 10 2023 will begin from Saturday, 29 October 2022 until Wednesday, 23 November. Please ensure your booking is made between these times.

Junior Uniform Fittings for Year 7 2023 will begin from Saturday, 26 November 2022 till Monday, 12 December 2022. Please ensure your booking is made between these times.

Opening Hours and Purchases  

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

Term 4 - All girls are to wear the summer uniform.  

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