Mercy News

Mercy College celebrated Harmony Day on Wednesday 21 March. The College was a sea of orange in support of Australia’s cultural diversity. Glennon Gardens was host to the Harmony Day festival at lunchtime. Students could sample foods from around the globe including curry, yaki soba, snails and cannoli. Entertainment was provided by the Japanese drumming group - Okinawa Eisa.

Thirty Mercy students visited St Francis of Assisi Nursing Home on Tuesday as part of our annual Interact Easter Appeal. Students spent time chatting to both the residents and staff as they moved through the home handing out eggs. Thank you to all the families that donated to this appeal. It has been so successful that we have been able to distribute eggs to several other support agencies and shelters.

At the beginning of last year, the Mercy College community contributed to the One Million Stars to End Violence project by weaving stars. These stars, along with thousands and thousands of others from around the world, were sent down to Brisbane to be part of a massive installation at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Mercy College has its own installation to coincide with the Games, a beautiful waterfall of stars in the College library. The One Million Stars to End Violence project is a way of bringing people together to support each other, every single day. It promotes a message of light and love in the world, not hate and darkness, and was inspired by Dr Martin Luther King Jnr. The stars represent peace and solidarity.

On Saturday afternoon a group of Mercy College students had the privilege of serving afternoon tea at the Regional CWL Fashion Parade and Cent Sales, with all funds raised going to the St. Vincent de Paul Youth Services. It was a great experience and I enjoyed it immensely. Serving others in the community is extremely rewarding and I was able to talk with some of the ladies and hear a couple of people speak on topics such as the services available in Mackay, especially those provided by the St Vincent de Paul Society.

In 2016, Mercy College Signing Choir was established. I was very proud of the students’ achievements during that time. This year we decided to become a Club with a different structure to cater for the growing number of students interested in learning Auslan. We have 55 students from Years 7 to 10, who signed up.

On 23 May we will be participating in the Auslan version of the National Simultaneous Storytime, then two days later we will be signing the National Anthem for the School ANZAC Assembly.

In the Student Led format, students lead the conference while the teacher facilitates. The student invites both teacher and parents to sit down and discuss his or her reflections on goals, achievements and their general progress.

Student Led Conferences encourage students to accept responsibility for their academic progress.

When students reflect on their learning, celebrate strengths and identify areas for growth, they take ownership of their learning and are more likely to stay focused.

Student Led Conferences are an opportunity for students to be accountable for their learning and behaviour and ask for the support they may require from teachers and parents.