From the Principal
From the Principal
From the Principal
As Lent closes for 2021, we prepare for Easter and reflect upon the events
which led to Jesus’ death and Resurrection.
In our country, days of Easter remain warm with a hint of the cooler days to follow, beckoning us to make the most of what summer-like days remain. In our churches, it is a time of changing vestments and altar cloth to white after the purple of Lent, a time for celebration and feasting after a time of fasting and penance.
As a contemporary society, many remnants of Easter traditions remain - hot cross buns, chocolate eggs, passion plays, hat parades, the painting of eggshells, and a particular variety of lilies and passionfruit are named for Easter. On the Easter public holidays, families gather, hunt for Easter eggs and colour pictures of bunnies, prepare special foods of different origins and join events which have grown in popularity to mark the season such as the Royal Agricultural Easter Show, a family seaside escape and even the introduction of professional football games held on Good Friday.
In the Catholic tradition, the celebration of Easter is the most significant religious celebration of each year, marked by solemn and reflective Church rituals. This begins with Palm Sunday to begin Holy Week, then Holy Thursday commemorates Christ’s Last Supper and on Good Friday, we remember Christ’s passion and crucifixion. The Easter Saturday evening vigil prepare us for Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday.
As Christians, we recall in the Easter Season, the story of a man who preached justice for the downtrodden and freedom for those enslaved, being himself made a prisoner and killed, before his rise from death. It is the story of God who became fully human and displayed for us the fragility of humanity; Jesus, our brother, in whom our faith offers us salvation and forgiveness.
In this Easter Season let us also be reminded of our commitment to the poor and most vulnerable amongst humanity. Let us remember that love conquers death and promises us eternal life.
My hope is that you will share in the richness of Catholic Liturgy in the coming days with your daughters at this most significant time and my prayer for our OLMC community is that your families be blessed with love, laughter, leisure and rest as we look forward to our return to OLMC to begin Term 2.
Now Enrolling for Year 7, 2023
The College is now inviting enrolments from families who wish to enrol their daughter into Year 7, 2023.
CLICK HERE to commence an enrolment application.
Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)
Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability.
Click on the links below to read more about this data collection.
Letter Regarding NCCD
NCCD Information for Parents
New College Strategic Vision Launched
We are very excited to be launching our new Strategic Vision 2021-2025. The Vision, developed largely by the College Leadership Team and in consultation with our College Board and staff, is designed to elicit the best thinking and practice in the academic care of our students and all members of our community – staff, families and alumnae. The focus of the Vision is to ensure that OLMC is strategically positioned, now and for the future.
CLICK HERE to read the Strategic Vision on the College website.
Positive Message from Member of the Public about OLMC Students
The College received a phone call from a bus driver with Transit Systems who drives the 9608 afternoon school run. He wanted to share with us how impressed he was with the behaviour of the OLMC girls. He said he wishes all schools had students like ours who are wonderfully behaved, courteous and tap on and off. He said they are the benchmark that all schools should strive to be like. Congratulations to our Mercy Girls who catch this bus who have been wonderful representatives of our College.
Changes to a Bus Route
Transit Systems has informed us that there will be an additional route servicing OLMC in the mornings and afternoons. The existing 810X route, which operates from Pemulwuy, through Greystanes to Parramatta, will extend one trip to finish at Market St in the AM. A return trip in the PM will also start in Market St. CLICK HERE for more details of the services that will divert to OLMC, which will commence on 19 April 2021.
Photography/Video Permission Form
Throughout the year, OLMC students may be photographed or filmed at events or in the day-to-day life of the College. These images/footage may be used in College publications such as the newsletter, OLMsCene Magazine, the website and social media. They may also be used in advertisements, newspapers, in print and online promotions and marketing and in educational materials.
In 2021, our Photography/Video Permission Form has been updated to give you more choice over where the College can publish photos of your daughter. The new form has been created to be aligned with The Australian Privacy Principles.
CLICK HERE to complete the form. Please complete the form by Friday 16 April, 2021.
Lucie Farrugia
Principal
Teaching And Learning
OLMC Connect
Sport
Sport
Sporting results
If your daughter achieves an exceptional sporting result outside of school, please let me know so that we, as a community, can congratulate them!
NSW CCC Swimming
The NSWCCC Swimming Championships were held on Monday March 29 at SOPAC. OLMC was represented by Kasey Bolt, Tiana Karl, Elizabeth Harvie, Imogen Burns, Mia Cleary, Zoe McIntosh, Emily Shumack, Olivia Nesci, Amelia Harvie, Ashleigh Hamilton, Riley McIntosh and Olivia Towle. Congratulations to all the girls on their wonderful achievements.
Congratulations to the Senior Girls Freestyle Relay team (Olivia, Emily, Amelia and Riley) who finished 2nd, the All Age Freestyle Relay team (Kasey, Tiana, Mia, Emily, Amelia and Riley) who finished 3rd and to Ashleigh Hamilton who finished 3rd in the 16+ 50m Multi-class Backstroke. All girls have also qualified to compete at the NSW All Schools Swimming Championships in May!
Congratulations to Amelia Harvie, Riley McIntosh, Emily Shumack and Ashleigh Hamilton who all qualified and competed at the NSW Open Swimming Championships last weekend!
Saturday Netball
Games are scheduled to start on April 24. We will be playing at Eastwood Ryde Netball Association - Meadowbank Park, Adelaide St, Meadowbank.
Game times and grades have been emailed to all players.
Training has now started, but we are unable to train during the school holidays.
Please ensure you arrange to purchase your Netball uniforms from the Uniform Shop if you do not have one yet.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Saturday Soccer
Games are scheduled to start on April 24.
Game times have not been finalised yet. These will be confirmed by IGSSA by the end of March.
Soccer teams have been emailed to all players. We have a senior team, a Junior team, and a Year 7 team. Training has started on Monday and Wednesday mornings before school, 7:30-8:30am. There will be no training during the holidays and training will recommence on April 21.
Please ensure you arrange to purchase your Soccer uniform from the Uniform Shop if you don’t have one yet.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
NSW All Schools Cricket
Congratulations to Vaishnavi Deobhankar who competed in the NSWCCC Open Cricket team at the NSW All Schools Championships at Maitland last week. Despite the impending rain, the carnival went ahead and was able to contest a couple of T20 matches which NSWCCC won. At the end of the carnival, Vaishnavi was recognised for her talent and was selected for the NSW All Schools Open Cricket Merit Team. Congratulations Vaishnavi, what a fabulous achievement!
OLMC Cross Country
The OLMC Cross Country was held on Wednesday March 24. With the torrential rain leading up to the carnival, the Parramatta Park grounds were far too wet, so we had to modify how we selected our Cross Country representative team. This year, the girls competed in the BEEP Test, a Multi Stage Fitness Test, indoors. Rather than first to finish as is the case in a traditional Cross Country event, the BEEP test awards the last competitor. The girls competed exceptionally well and cheered each other on while each age group competed separately.
Well done to all the girls that competed and congratulations to the following girls who were crowned Age Champions:
12 Years – Kasey Bolt
13 Years –Alexandra Attard
14 Years – Zoe McIntosh and Mia Fogolin
15 Years – Lucie Francis
16 Years – Sofia Polson
17+ Years - Olivia Towle
Congratulations also to all the girls from Callan as they were crowned House Champions!
A big thank you to all the PDHPE Staff and students who helped on the day and to all of the competitors for participating.
Stuart Guthrie
Sports Coordinator
Public Speaking and Debating
Public Speaking and Debating
PUBLIC SPEAKING
ENROLMENT INFORMATION EVENING
The public speaking ability of our students continues to impress and even amaze those who hear them. Two girls who displayed exceptional talent recently were Zara Lewis and Nikita Krzeminski, both still in Year 7. Addressing hundreds of guests at the Year 7, 2023 Enrolment Information Evening, Zara and Nikita spoke about their early experiences as new students to the College, remembering how welcome they felt from the first day at OLMC and sharing some of their experiences that made an impact on them. The girls had been writing and practising for weeks before their presentation and their thorough preparation showed. Well done, girls. You are certainly wonderful ambassadors for the College.
CSDA Final
The recent CSDA Public Speaking finals saw Deeya Vashi competing in the Year 9 final. Deeya is to be congratulated on reaching this level, which sees the top twelve students from an original list of over a hundred entrants. While not being judged in the top three placegetters, Deeya’s effort is to be highly commended and an indication of the talent she has as a public speaker. Well done!
Rostrum Voice of Youth
After cancelling this competition last year, it was gratifying that Rostrum is up and running again in 2021. As always, the College opens its doors to hosting one of the early rounds. This year, Covid restrictions meant the number of entrants was more limited than in previous years and only three Junior students and three Senior could participate. Our Junior entrants were Rosemary Gonsalves of Year 7 and Nyssa Suraj and Jennifer Wang of Year 8. Our Senior representatives were Sakshi Chouta and Sarah D’Souza of Year 11 and Anne Nguyen of Year 12. Special thanks to Sarah who stepped in a few days before the event when one of our other girls had to withdraw.
Rostrum is particularly challenging as only the winner of a heat progresses to the Regional Final. Well done in particular to Jennifer Wang and Anne Nguyen who were both runners-up in their division but all girls were thoroughly prepared and performed well. We are proud of all of them.
Hosting an event requires the involvement of many others and our student volunteers play an integral part. A big thank you to London Ardeleanu, Avria Bergado, Chanel Elias, Annoushka Maikap, Jasmine O’Brien, Ruwindri Parndigamage, Gwen Penano and Kavya Samtani as well as DAPS leaders Sabrina Catania and Anne Nguyen who made everyone feel welcome and did so much to add to the success of the evening. Particular thanks to Annoushka and Ruwindri who stood in so capably as chairpersons when some Rostrum officials couldn’t make it. In fact, Rostrum spoke in glowing terms about the enthusiasm and cooperation shown by our volunteers. Thank you also to Mrs Batten and Mrs Bujnowski who gave up their evening to help in the organization of the event.
Debating
Our debating teams are well on the way to preparing for the beginning of the competition which occurs the first Friday after the holidays. Thank you to all the coaches and the girls themselves in committing to an intensive (but very rewarding) six weeks of debating. The good news is that this year’s competition will be live, giving everyone the opportunity to interact with other students face to face, a welcome change from last year. Another change is that we are now allowed four Senior teams (Years 11 and 12) which will give many more girls to participate in this valuable program.
Detailed reports on each round will appear in each edition of the newsletter in Term 2.
Christopher Ostrowski
Debating and Public Speaking Coordinator
From The Uniform Shop
Other Careers Event
Engaging (Tech Obsessed) Adolescents Workshop
Engaging (Tech Obsessed) Adolescents Workshop
St Patrick’s Day Mass
On 17 March 2021, I was fortunate enough to attend St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, to celebrate St Patrick’s Day Mass with Ms Farrugia, Mrs Scanlon and peers Isabella Nouh and Yasmin Sampaio. The special Mass was attended by staff and students from other Irish Charism schools in Sydney, which jointly celebrated 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia.
St Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland is best known for spreading Christianity in Ireland in the 5th century. He created councils, supported church officials, founded monasteries and organised Ireland into dioceses. Move forward to 1888, and nine Sisters of Mercy leave their homeland of Callan Ireland for Parramatta, to visit the sick and imprisoned, and to provide girls with an education. Very quickly OLMC was established in 1889, with Mother Mary Clare Dunphy as the founding Principal.
At his special Mass, in the magnificent St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, where we celebrated the Charism of our founders, I felt grateful and privileged for the strength and determination of Mercy men and women who have built our College over its 132 year history. It is hard not to be moved by the Mass with the Latin hymns and the encompassing congregation. The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Terry Brady and concelebrated by Fr Joseph Murphy.
Emily Orszulak, Year 9
From the College Counsellor
From the College Counsellor
Year 12 Reflection Day
The Year 12 girls enjoyed the space at 12 Victoria Rd for their Reflection Day which signaled not only the end of their Assessment Block but also provided an opportunity to stop, reflect, and regroup. Girls spent time thinking about the way they see and interpret - important qualities and learnings they will take with them beyond the gate in their backpack and also got creative painting canvases. The day concluded with the sharing of the Eucharist which was a fitting way to round off a day full of friends, fun and faith sharing.
Study Skills Handbook
Study Skills Handbook
Mercy 6 Senior Day
OLMC is a part of a network of Sydney-based Mercy schools called Mercy 6. A group of Year 10 and 11 students joined students from five other Mercy schools to participate in a day of Justice and Advocacy.
Students joined in with activities, made presentations and watched a video about the significant work of Aminata Conteh-Biger, a survivor of violence in Sierre Leone who is now working to improve maternal health and childhood health and development. Days such as these are a profound way of sharing a common Mercy connection and are always rewarding for the participants.
