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O U R L A DY O F M E R C Y C AT H O L I C C O L L E G E B U R R A N E E R
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PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
The foundations of Jesus have been affirmed by the
words and actions of Catherine McAuley and the
Sisters of Mercy. Our Mercy values, taught to us by
Jesus - excellence, dignity, compassion, justice, service,
stewardship and hospitality - are an integral part of
our foundation.This year, under the leadership of Mrs
Letitia Layton and the Religious Education teachers,
our students have developed a greater knowledge of
the Mercy story and how it intertwines with their
daily lives, from class prayer to our school Houses and
symbols. This year under the guidance of Mrs Janine
Janssen and Mrs KimTregoning our students created
House banners as part of the Mercy Project. With
Pope Francis declaring the Holy Year of Mercy, we
hope to further develop our understanding of Our
Lady of Mercy and the path of Mercy in our world.
Once the foundations are laid we must build the
walls. Every student, every parent, every teacher, in
fact every person in our community represents the
bricks that form the walls. Each one is unique and
has a role in strengthening the walls. Together they
create a building, that is, something unique, something
lasting, something spectacular. Each person leaves a
legacy, just like the building will be a legacy for all.
Each student represents a brick that builds the school.
Each individual possesses her own gifts, personality
and characteristics. OLMC has students gifted
academically, in the creative and performing arts, and
in sport. Each year we acknowledge their successes
and contributions. We celebrated strong NAPLAN,
RE, and ICAS test results. This year, we became
part of the Newman Project for gifted education
and revelled in the great learning of our 7O class
at the Newman Symposium.The girls developed and
demonstrated their oratory skills through debating
and public speaking. Their leadership, social justice
and hiking abilities were evident with record numbers
of students gaining their Silver and Bronze Duke of
Edinburgh Award. Our choir was invited to sing at
the special ANZAC Day dawn service on Cronulla
Beach commemorating the 100th Year Anniversary
and used the SCCVC recording studio to create the
inspiring hymn,Blessed are the Merciful.The combined
DLS/OLMC Band and Dance Troupe performed at
numerous events with the Band achieving a Gold
Award in the Band Fest competition. Our girls
were victorious in a range of sporting competitions
including Swimming, Cross Country and Netball and
many students progressed to representative level.
This is just a snippet of our 2015 achievements.
Not only can we compare each unique student to
each brick, we can also compare the development of