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The Hedge
Week 8, Term 3 | Thursday 11 September 2025 A weekly snippet of what’s happening ‘behind the hedge’ at Mercedes College...

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The Inaugural Business H-Edge Lunch

We all know how popular our Mother's Day Lunch is, and so this year we are holding our first lunch for Dads!

Our Mercedes Dads are invited to lunch at Adelaide Oval on Friday 14 November.

Current dads, Old Scholars and staff are welcome!

Hosted by our Principal, Andrew Balkwill, guests will enjoy lunch with a view of the Oval.  Current dad and College Council Member, Sam Dighton will be our MC, and will also be moderator for a Speaker Panel, which features:

Peter Malinauskas MP
Old Scholar, Premier of South Australia

Dr Dan Pronk
Current parent, SAS Ex-Special Ops Doctor, Bestselling Author

In addition to ticket sales, we have a limited number of Table Sponsorships available - both of which can be secured via our ticket link below.

So Dads, get a group together and come along to enjoy a superb lunch with fine beverages, and great company.

Click here for the full details and to book your tickets today.

Celebrating Visual and Performing Arts

There are two great opportunities to celebrate the talents of our senior Arts students on the horizon, and everyone's invited!

IB Diploma Visual Arts Exhibition Opening
Friday 12 September
4.30pm - 6.30pm
Strathspey Parlour
RSVP here

The exhibition will remain open during school hours from Monday 15 September to Thursday 18 September.

Encore: Senior Performing Arts Showcase
Friday 19 September
6.00pm - 8.30pm
John McDonald Performing Arts Centre
and Gleeson Theatre
Get your tickets here

Come along to show your support of our Performing and Visual Arts students, and enjoy their exhibition and showcase!

Reflecting on Future Generations

For their Reflection Day this year, our Year 10 students focused on service, particularly service to children of the future.

Lilah (Year 12, Fitzpatrick) presented learnings from her Spiritualities, Religion and Meaning studies about safe birthing, before leading the cohort in the meaningful act of assembling Safe Birthing Kits for the Birthing Kit Foundation Australia. These simple, but impactful kits will be shipped to developing countries to help women experience a safe birth and reduce the risk of infant mortality.

Using generous donations from our community, groups of students packaged baby goods and care packs to send to Louise Place and Catherine House for their new and expecting mums.

Lunch was shared at Brown Hill Creek under the ancient Kaurna Birthing Tree, before returning to Campus for Liturgy.

All in all, this was a day of compassion and gratitude that will benefit many here and around the world.

Taking a Step Back in Time

As part of their Unit of Inquiry, Where we are in time and place, our Year 1 students have been learning about the ways schools and education have evolved over time.

This week, they really got into the theme and spirit of being children from the 1800s, including remaining completely still and not smiling in the class photo!

Donning bonnets and waistcoats, they experienced the strict conditions of a classroom that not only expected outstanding handwriting, but thoroughly scrubbed fingernails, as hand inspections revealed.

The vintage games and hobbies were a hit, with students trying their hand at tossing coits, jumping elastics, skipping, playing marbles, and learning to knit.

A highly entertaining and educational day, we're sure students got a great taste of the past but also enjoyed getting back into present day at Mercedes College.

R U OK?

As part of their assessment, Year 12 Health and Wellbeing students hosted our Year 9s at an R U OK Expo.

With small groups presenting on a range of contemporary mental health concerns impacting young people, students were encouraged to make positive changes in their attitudes, behaviours, and understanding of mental health, and to foster open and supportive conversations with peers.

This was a great example of the authentic learning opportunities presented to our students, who embraced their leadership role in promoting wellbeing to younger students.

Empathy in Action

Last week, our Year 3 students explored the day-to-day realities for children in rural areas of neighbouring countries, who do not have access to modern plumbing and running water.

To deepen their understanding, students walked to Brownhill Creek with empty containers to get a sense of what it would be like to have to travel long distances to access water. 

This experience encouraged reflection by our students, about the fortunate circumstances they find themselves in.

Co-Curricular Sport Photos

On Monday, 15 September (Week 9), all of our co-curricular sporting teams will be getting their official group photo taken by Advanced Life.

Students who have participated in summer (Term 1) or winter (Term 2 and 3) sports must bring their team uniform and appropriate socks and shoes for their photo.

Not having the full and correct kit for their sport may result in not being included in the team photo.

Click here for the schedule for Monday's shoot.

Your Next Read?

In Week 6, two teams of students from our Middle School spent a day planning, writing, and illustrating their own books as part of the "Write a Book in a Day" contest.

These books are now complete and can be read by our community.

Tides of Desire by the Bestseller Bunch
"Discover what the ocean brings in when a baker, gymnast and fisher meet.
Rivalry? Love? or Destruction?

Lanne and the Stolen Painting by the Inkredible Wordsmiths
The painting is gone.
Melissa Lanne has lost her painting, and she thinks she knows who took it.
General Steed has had his heart broken and now she must pay.
The love of a huge chocolate Yowie can never replace the love he felt for his ex-wife.
Can Melissa retrieve her painting? Will Steed get his wish for love?

 

As part of the contest, students were given characters that had to be incorporated into their story, along with a list of random words that had to feature at least once.

What a fantastic achievement to have completed this challenge in a single day - congratulations!

True Champion

Our resident motorsport enthusiast, Jensen (Year 9, Dalton), has recently been named the Australian F4 Champion.

After four rounds of three-race events, Jensen has become the first person to ever achieve 12 race wins in a row in the approach to a Championship.

He will attend the FIA Motorsport Awards Night in February 2026, where he'll rub shoulders with other racing drivers who have achieved Champion status.

Congratulations, Jensen, on this amazing achievement!

Ready for Launch

Our Year 7 students have been honing their scientific teamwork, taking on the Launchbox by Fleet challenge, and competing for the opportunity to launch their own CubeSat into space by stratospheric balloons.

A statewide competition, teams of 10 to 12 students work together to design and build a CubeSat, giving them a 360-degree appreciation of the diverse career opportunities in the space industry.

An unforgettable learning experience, let's hope it inspires our students to reach for the stars!

Holiday Basketball Academy

Join elite coaches Lawrence Verbi and Jimma Dau for a two-hour high performance basketball session during the school holidays.

Designed for athletes aged 10-18, this academy-style session blends advanced skills training, competitive gameplay, and individual feedback.

Bring a friend from another school and both players get $10 off with code MERCEDESFRIEND10

Click here for more information and to book your place.

Coming up...

Save the Date: 2026 Student Orientation Day | Friday 28 November

More upcoming activities can be found on the College Calendar.

Historical Direqt Messages

For the remainder of Term 3, Direqt Messages will be switch on in SEQTA Engage for the sole purpose of accessing and documenting historical messages relating to upcoming excursions, sporting trials, and similar activities.

Written communication between staff and families will occur as emails and Direqt Messages will be switched off at 12.30pm on Friday 26 September.

To contact teachers by email, families can click on classes in their child's timetable. For non-teaching staff, including Heads of School and administration, you can locate an email directory in the SEQTA Engage Portal with key contacts.

If you are unsure of who to contact, please email the Junior School or McAuley Office in the first instance for assistance.