From the Principal
From the Principal
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers
This certainly is an ever-changing world at present with the challenges of COVID-19 and one which we are learning to navigate together as best we can. Here at the College, our focus is on maintaining a calm and productive approach to all that we do as we care for each other’s wellbeing. All around us some people in the community are responding with fear and individualism and we can see that this is not a dignified way to relate to each other. It is causing unnecessary shortages in the supermarkets and unnecessary friction between people. When we only think of ourselves no-one thinks of us. Yet if we look closely we can see goodness exhibited by many people too and it is important to focus on this goodness at OLMC. As a Mercy community we care about each other, we respect each other and we place ourselves at the service of others.
As a Mercy community we are preparing as best we can to respond to the challenges of a COVID-19 world as I have communicated with you this week on Monday, 16 March. On Friday, 20 March this week we will enact the OLMC Student Online Study Day when students in Years 7-12 will stay at home and study remotely. As advised, it is a Staff Development Day and we will be testing our online learning delivery should the College receive instructions from health and educational authorities to close the school. We remain open for learning and all students should be in attendance unless unwell. Absences without a medical exemption will be recorded as unexplained.
As a result of COVID-19, we have had to cancel many internal school events for the remainder of Term One.
| DATE | EVENT |
| Tuesday, 24 March | Alumnae Award Assembly |
| Tuesday, 24 March | Year 7, 2022 Enrolment Information Evening |
| Wednesday, 25 March | Rostrum Voice of Youth |
| Monday, 30 March | Scuba Diving Information Evening |
| Tuesday, 31 March | Design the Future Workshop |
| Wednesday, 1 April | Year 12 Leadership Afternoon Tea |
| Thursday, 2 April | River City Voices |
| Friday, 3 April | CAPA Senior Students Theatre Excursion 'No Pay No Way' |
| Monday, 6 April | HSC Success Evening |
International Women’s Day, 8 March, coincided with our 2020 College Open Day this year. The theme for 2020 is “An equal world is an enabled world.” International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. IWD is about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy and action. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day. We can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions, improve situations and celebrate women's achievements.
International Women’s Day suggests that:
“We are all parts of a whole. Our individual actions, conversations, behaviours and mindsets can have an impact on our larger society. Collectively, we can make change happen. Collectively, we can each help to create a gender-equal world. We can all choose to be #EachforEqual.”
At a local level, we can all remain sensible and level-headed during these challenging times.
We were very fortunate to welcome prospective families to OLMC on Open Day. When I spoke to these families I welcomed them to the 2020 OLMC Open Day – a day when we open our doors, our hearts and our minds to showcase our best selves as a Mercy community. I wish to acknowledge and thank all of our students and staff who volunteered their service so willingly to welcome our visitors who were able to see live examples of our values in action - through the curriculum and co-curricular activities, through Mission initiatives and tours of the College spaces. Thank you also to the generous P&F who provided the tasty BBQ on the day. It truly was a wonderful day and not one bit dampened by the intermittent rain!
From student and staff reports it is clear that the recent Year 7 Camp was a great success. The varied activities involved team building, leadership, initiative and responsibility, all of which are invaluable life skills for any individual. Please watch out for future stories about the Camp. If your daughter is in Year 7, I am sure that she returned full of excitement with plenty to talk about with these positive experiences. Such experiences help to shape who your daughter is becoming, adding to her independence and resilience.
As Principal, I will continue to communicate with you regularly regarding updates and advice and instructions concerning the Coronavirus. The College is vigilant in managing safe hygiene practices and social distancing. Our priority remains everyone’s safety, health and wellbeing- social and emotional. This means that we will never respond from fear but from facts and with the collective welfare at the forefront. I will be acting on all advice and instructions provided by Health and educational authorities.
Please also, take care of yourselves.
Warm regards,
Mrs Marie Wood
Principal (Acting)
Teaching And Learning
OLMC Connect
Public Speaking
Public Speaking
Impact of COVID-19
The development of COVID-19 has led to the cancellation of many public speaking programs. At the moment, CSDA, Rostrum Voice of Youth, the Parramatta Eisteddfod and the Legacy competition have been cancelled. Sadly, this may mean that close to 100 girls will lose an opportunity to develop public speaking skills but the health and welfare of our students is paramount.
CSDA Success
Before the cancellation of this competition, many students were involved in the early rounds of CSDA. Well done to Alexandra Attard and Aarushi Duggal (Year 7), Mia Fogolin and Isabella Samaha (Year 8), Ambeikaa Mishra and Vidushi Trivedi (Year 9), Maeve Nolan and Sophia Santos (Year 10), Yasmine Alwakal, Jala Bakri and Sofia del Rio (Year 11) and Ashley Leslie (Year 12). All the girls were well prepared and OLMC should be proud of their efforts. Alexandra, Isabella and Ambeikaa truly impressed and progressed to the semi-finals at which point, the competition was cancelled.
College Open Day
At the College Open Day on Sunday, 8 March, two of our outstanding Year 7 speakers, London Ardeleanu and Sierra Lake made a major contribution to the day by speaking (twice) at the welcome to our visitors. London and Sienna spoke exceptionally well and had a major impact on those who heard them speak. Well done to both girls who had to first write their speeches before delivering them. London and Sierra have maintained the exceptional standard we have come to expect from our students.
Mr Christopher Ostrowski
Public Speaking Coordinator
From The Uniform Shop
College Notices
Parents and Friends' Association
Other Careers Event
OLMC Anti-Bullying Policy
OLMC Anti-Bullying Policy
People all around Australia are familiar with the name Dolly Everett.
Dolly’s name was heard across the nation after she sadly took her own life last year following relentless bullying. At a College Assembly held in 2019, I shared an image that was drawn by Dolly, with the students. I challenged the girls to commit to speaking even if their voice shakes when they become aware of bullying.
Dolly’s parents and sister have worked to establish an organisation called Dolly’s Dream to support young people impacted by bullying and to help prevent any further loss of young lives as a result of bullying. Dolly’s Dream has funded a first of its kind anti-bullying video with the hopes of getting teens to understand just how much their words can affect someone. This video was written and directed by 15-year-old filmmaker Charlotte MacLaverty. Award-winning singer, Billie Eilish, also lent a hand to help create the powerful video, gifting one of her songs as the soundtrack.
On 10 March at the College Assembly, I reminded the girls of the College Anti-Bullying Policy and showed them Charlotte’s powerful anti-bullying video. Please follow the link below to view the video and an interview conducted by The Project on Channel 10. Mrs Sandra Portela, Senior College Counsellor shared this same link in the previous newsletter. https://scroll.in/video/937695/watch-are-your-words-doing-damage-a-15-year-old-director-asks-in-her-anti-bullying-short-film
Charlotte’s video draws attention to the fact that cyberbullying can happen at any time and in any place, while highlighting the devastating toll that it can take on a person. Whether spoken face to face or online, words can be positive and help build others up or they can be crushing and devastating to the receiver. I challenged the girls in the Year of Dignity to choose their words carefully.
The College is an inclusive community and strives to celebrate the diversity among us. In the Year of Dignity, it is time to revisit the message of this poster that is displayed in every classroom.
We are a Mercy community and bullying should have no place at the College if we truly live out the Gospel values. Mercy fuels compassion; it is kindness in action. The College has a zero-tolerance for bullying.
What is bullying?
- It is more than just a fight or disliking someone.
- Bullying is when someone or a group of people who have more power than you, repeatedly use words or actions to hurt you.
I reminded the girls that the Anti-Bullying Policy and Social Media Policy are both in the 2020 College Diary and by signing page 3 of the diary, they have committed to understanding and abiding by these policies. Bullying can be physical, verbal, social, psychological and cyber-related and bullying, in all its forms, does not maintain a person’s dignity. OLMC is all about respectful relationships, student to student, and student and teacher.
What to do if you’re being bullied?
- It’s really important to talk to an adult you trust. This could be a parent/carer, another relative, a counsellor or a teacher.
- The goal is always to make the bullying stop. The school can and does intervene and the expectation is the bullying stops. I explained that we need each student to be courageous and to 'speak even if your voice shakes'. To call out what you know is undignified, unkind, unmerciful behaviour towards a fellow Mercy girl.
The College has issued each girl with a wristband highlighting the need for us to stand together and ensure that everyone’s dignity is treasured. In any bullying situation, there are three parties, the bully, the person being bullied and bystanders. At OLMC we do not stand by, we stand up.
Please remember…
- Bullying is never okay.
- It is hurtful and can impact someone for a long time.
- If you are being bullied, you’re not alone.
- There are people you can talk to and things you can do to stop the bullying.
Mrs Anne-Maree Donnelly
Director of Pastoral Care
From the Counsellors
From the Counsellors
Lent
We continue on our Lenten journey: a time of preparation and readiness for Easter.
This week’s focus is on an indigenous Gamilaroi man originally from western NSW. Barry is a father of four and he embodies resilience and strength. Growing up in a tough environment, he had to look inside himself to make the right choices for him and his family. Barry, and others like him, were able to take part in a cultural healing program called Red Dust Healing. This program encourages participants to examine their own personal hurt and allows them to heal from within, addressing family and personal relationships and what may have been life-long patterns of violence, abuse and neglect.
Just as the Samaritan woman went on to share her revelation with others, Barry also shares the richness of his experience. His community is striving forward, facing the challenges of intergenerational trauma, past oppression and colonisation together.
How can we manifest the radical love of Christ in order to break down barriers of injustice?
Cambodia Information
The 2019 Cambodia Group presented their final video to the College at Assembly last week. The girls delivered a very good summary of the trip:
In early December, 30 girls from Year 10 and 11 accompanied by four teachers travelled to Cambodia for a 12-day service-learning trip. For the first three days of our trip, we spent our time in the Capital City, Phnom Penh and travelled up to Siem Reap, where we spent three days building houses.
The capital city of Phnom Penh is one full of history and culture. Whilst here we visited the Royal Palace and were amazed by some of the beautiful buildings. But it is also a city of contrast. We also spent some time visiting locations where the civil war saw an enormous loss of life and changed the face of Cambodia forever. These were places of pain and trauma but the feeling whilst there was of hope. Butterflies amazed us flying around areas which were once mass graveyards.
Another part of the cultural experience whilst in Cambodia was interacting with the local Cambodian people. We did this by participating in different service-learning projects. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting a local Primary school for a whole day. BFOK school is just outside Siem Reap. B.F.O.K is an acronym that stands for Better Future For Our Kids. Despite the school’s limited access to resources, it was filled with smiley, yet cheeky children. We spent the day reading books to the children, conducting English lessons in the classrooms, teaching them numbers, singing educational songs and most importantly playing soccer in the scorching heat!
The final three days of our trip in Siem Reap were spent building houses. It was hard work in the heat, lifting the heavy wooden frames, nailing in floorboards and screwing on the colourbond walls. We were truly amazed with the local Cambodian builders who used basic tools and skills to ensure that the frame was straight, lined up and safe. When taking breaks, we also spent some unforgettable time interacting with a large number of children from the community, who on the second day greeted us with leaf and flower crowns.
We have all heard before that small actions have the ability to make a big difference in the life of another person; but what we achieved and gave to these families and the whole community was far from small. It was life changing for all involved!
Silk is one of the largest exports Cambodia is known for, hence whilst we were in Cambodia we visited a silk farm and witnessed the process of how this material is made. Whilst there we purchased a silk cloth in each of the 8 House colours which will be used at House meetings and other House related events.
Charlotte Carter (Year 12) and Elizabeth Lawlache (Year 11)
Year 10 Reflection Day
On 5 March, Year 10 went to St Joseph’s Retreat Centre for our Reflection Day. After arriving, we gathered together to discuss what the day was going to offer us and what we would be focusing on.
After Recess, we split into three groups to focus on activities surrounding the Mercy Engaged Program, the Fast Fashion industry and its impact on the environment and society, and Mercy in action in today's world.
Drawing on our experiences - we bound and decorated our Reflection Day booklets based on the opening Reflection activity. We had to draw three main personal characteristics/traits that benefit the world.
The Possibility Project - two speakers named Kath and Kim, ex-students of OLMC, spoke about the impacts of fast fashion on society and climate change. It was eye-opening and made us aware of the horrors behind fast fashion today. Many well-known brands, such as H&M and Zara, employ women and children who are underpaid and experience terrible working conditions.
A Resourced World - In this activity we formed groups and created communities with resources including cardboard, pipe cleaners, cups, paper, etc.
After all the sessions were over, we gathered once again in the hall to reflect on what we had learnt and how this information could contribute to our community.
Throughout the day, we looked at the impacts that humans and industries have on the environment and society, and how we, as Mercy Girls can change society for the better through our Mercy Values. Year 10 would like to thank all the teachers who organised and attended this Reflection Day. It was definitely a day to remember.
Samantha Emeish (Year 10)
