Get out your petticoats and leather jackets, it's nearly time to visit Rydell High!
With only two weeks until this blockbuster performance hits the stage, tickets are selling fast, so don't miss out!
Head to the Coolock Atrium before the curtain for a photo in front of our Grease-themed backdrop, a cold beverage, or a theatre snack.
Get your tickets today and remember - Grease is the word!
Hello Families
For over two decades, the Intercol between Saint Ignatius’ College and Mercedes College has been a much-anticipated celebration of spirited competition, camaraderie, and shared values. It continues to be a powerful expression of our mutual commitment to participation, excellence, and the richness that sport and co-curricular life offer our students.
As we look to the future, both Colleges are engaged in ongoing and thoughtful reflection about how to best serve our students - ensuring access, equity, and high levels of engagement remain central to our approach.
With this in mind, we are introducing several key changes to the Intercol structure from 2025 onwards.
In 2025, we will:
We remain deeply committed to offering an inclusive, dynamic Intercol experience. All existing and future sports and co-curricular inclusions will continue to be reviewed to ensure they uphold the values of fairness, equity, and participation.
Thank you for your ongoing support in championing opportunities for our students to grow, compete, and participate.
Andrew Balkwill
Principal, Mercedes College
Lauren Brooks
Principal, St Ignatius’ College
Last week, our Year 8 Humanities classes went on a local walking excursion to Mitcham shopping centre. The purpose of the excursion was an extension of their in-class investigations on the psychology behind shopping centre layouts. Students navigated their way around Woolworths and Foodland to compare the layout, product placement and pricing of similar goods.
Last week, students were asked to vote for one of three House songs they wanted to sing for this term’s House Spirit competition…. the results are in!
Barry will be singing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”
Dalton selected Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”
Fitzpatrick will rock out to Queen's “We are the Champions”
McAuley will sing “Believer” by Imagine Dragons!
Students and staff will "Sing their Houses Out" in Week 10, so expect to hear these tunes being sung in the car on the way to and from school!
Our International Student Programme (ISP) has been inducted into the annals of greatness, winning the StudyTravel Outstanding Secondary School Award for Australia and New Zealand for the fifth time in a row – leading to our entry into the StudyTravel Awards Hall of Fame.
Judged by Education Agents from around the world, the StudyTravel Awards recognise schools providing the best service for attracting and transitioning international students from the enrolment process through to their arrival at school.
A fantastic recognition for this dedicated team and the wider College community.
We are in the middle of National Reconciliation Week (NRW), and this year’s theme is “Bridging Now to Next”, a reflection on the ongoing connection between past, present and future.
Our winter sporting teams competed in their Reconciliation Round matches on the weekend, with Open players from Football, Basketball, Netball, and Soccer donning our Mercedes College Reconciliation Round uniform.
The uniform, designed by current Year 12 student Zedekiah, is well suited to this year’s NRW theme, as it represents the passing down of culture through generations.
It also speaks to the strong connection between our College and the Mimili community in the APY Lands, Zed’s home and destination of our STEP Trek for more than 25 years.
Some Year 5 students have been engaging in a special challenge this term, coming together once a week to manoeuvre through the World Peace Game.
Supporting the development of collaboration, communication, and compromise skills, the World Peace Game is a hands on political simulation that explores the connectedness of the world through the lens of economic, social, and environmental crises, and the imminent threat of war.
The goal of the game is to extricate each country on the multi-level board from dangerous circumstances and achieve global prosperity with the least amount of military intervention.
Students will get the results of their efforts next week… fingers crossed they find the prosperity they’re working towards!
This Term, our Year 12 IB Chemistry students are collecting data for their Internal Assessments.
Topics being studied include the rate of production of calcium carbonate with CO2, calcium ion concentration in water samples, the concentration of Vitamin C in orange juice, the removal of lead from lead iodide suspension, the caffeine concentration in green tea, oxalic acid content in spinach, oscillating reactions, the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, chemical equilibrium, hydrolysis of aspirin, and the ionisation of a weak acid.
Students will continue their data collection each Monday and Friday, for this incredibly interesting research.
Our Year 11 and Year 12 Business Studies students yesterday headed to the hills for an insightful excursion to learn about how local businesses operate.
In Lenswood, students picked their own apples and discovered strategies for customer engagement, and at Melba's Chocolate Factory in Woodside they heard from staff about product development and marketing.
Students gained valuable knowledge about the challenges and opportunities faced by small businesses, topped off by the enjoyment of a sweet and fruitful experience out of the classroom.
This week, Old Scholars returned to the College to provide support to our Year 12 students across both SACE and the IB subjects, as part of our Academic Tutor programme.
This initiative will support Year 12 students with revision techniques, examination tips and preparation for success in assessments. As the term progresses, the programme will be expanded to support Year 11 students.
This walk-in-service is available from Monday to Thursday afternoons.
For additional details, contact our Programme Coordinators, Marc Whitehead (IBDP Coordinator) at mwhitehead@mercedes.catholic.edu.au or Melanie Scott (SACE Coordinator) at mscott@mercedes.catholic.edu.au
Save the Date: Orientation Day 2025 | Friday 28 November
More upcoming activities can be found on the College Calendar.
