Mercy Messenger - Term 2, Week 6 - Friday 27 May 2022

House Day
It was wonderful to have the College community join together to celebrate our House Day Mass on Tuesday. Thank you to Fr Alex for presiding over the Mass and I thank the staff who organised and assisted with the celebration. Our students went on to enjoy a day of activities at various locations around Mackay. The House Spirit of Mercy College was evident in the interaction between students and staff.

Bikeathon
Thank you to everyone who attended and supported the recent Combined P&F Bikeathon. We were blessed with good weather and it was wonderful to see so many students and staff supporting this event. Congratulations to everyone involved in making the day such a success.

Reconciliation Week
Reconciliation Week starts today with the theme ‘Be Brave. Make Change’ and marks two key events in Australian history. The first when indigenous Australians were recognised as full Australians at a referendum in 1967, and the second event when the High Court decision in the Mabo case gave traditional custodians the right to claim native title. Australia was considered as Terra Nullus prior to European settlement – that is land owned by no one.

Indigenous Australians still suffer effects of this treatment – prior to 1967 they came under the Fauna and Flora Act. Prior to 1992 there were no traditional land rights. The sad truth is, that indigenous children are still more likely to be taken from their families and put into care than non-indigenous children. More still needs to be done to support indigenous communities – especially remote communities where employment and educational opportunities are limited.

Reconciliation is about two sides coming together, holding hands and walking together into the future as equal partners. 2022 will see The Uluru Statement from the Heart invitation bringing our communities together. The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to the Australian people from First Nations Australians. It asks Australians to walk together to build a better future by establishing a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution, and the establishment of a Makarrata Commission for the purpose of treaty making and truth-telling (https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement/).

P & F Meeting
The next combined P & F meeting will be held on Wednesday 1 June at 6:00pm in the Mercy College Library. I would like to invite all parents from both St Patrick’s College and Mercy College to come along and attend this meeting. If you have any questions, please contact the College office on 4969 4199.

College Promotional Film
During the past week, a film crew was at the College grounds filming for promotional and marketing purposes; students and staff were involved in the process. This was an exciting opportunity for the College which will enable us to showcase our students and the facilities that St Patrick’s and Mercy College has to offer, as we move towards combining in 2023. We look forward to featuring the film through our website and Facebook page in the near future.

Year 7 Enrolments 2023
We welcomed many new families to our College for our 2023 Year 7 enrolment interviews held last Thursday evening. Round One enrolment offers will be sent to families on Wednesday, 13 July. We remind all parents/guardians with students wishing to attend Year 7 in 2023 to complete their online enrolment application as soon as possible to be eligible for the Round One offers.

Staffing News
I would like to welcome Karissa Giumelli, Olivia McCowan and Patrick Hoare to the Mercy community. Karissa, Olivia and Patrick are joining our Inclusive Curriculum Department as Teacher Assistants. Welcome to Mercy.

Last week’s Gospel gave us the Last Discourse of Jesus before he leaves the world physically. The beauty of the lectionary is that it follows the rhythm of our liturgical calendar. Next week we will celebrate Ascension Sunday when Jesus leaves the earth body and soul, so Jesus’ words this week draw us into a message of hope that He wants to leave behind for us.

What is that message?
John’s Gospel poetically ties in a particular theme when it comes to talking about Jesus and the Father. That theme comes from the Greek word meno which means abide, to stay or remain. God the Father abides (meno) within Jesus.

Our reading says, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.” The word home comes from the same Greek word meno. We also get the words like dwelling and room depending on your translation. The point here, is that although Jesus leaves us physically in the Ascension, we are still given the opportunity to invite Jesus into a new dwelling place, our hearts. Jesus leaves us to be with the Father in heaven but rather than creating distance between us, Jesus comes to us more intimately and personally through the Word and Eucharist.

When we look back on the history of the people of Israel, we see God among them in their tent of meeting. We have come to know this as the tabernacle. God shows us, in the very least, that God has been intimately present to the needs and cries of God’s people by being present among them. That same presence, emphasised in Jesus, reaches further into suffering and death. Since this connection to our humanity has been established by God, it can no longer be broken. The only thing we can do to distance ourselves from God is to constantly reject a loving, patient, and merciful Lord. Good Luck!

As we draw closer to Ascension Sunday, we are reminded that Jesus wants to establish a dwelling within us, to be with us through life. There is no need for us to clean up, we simply need to open up our hearts to Him.

May our hearts be a home for the living God who make every effort to reach out to us.

In Week 4, the Year 8 students had the opportunity to listen to Sergeant Nigel Dalton from the Crime Prevention Unit talk to them about how to be safe online. Using the internet, online communication, gaming and social media are all part of our lives and can be a fun way of connecting, however, it is important to know how to stay safe online. Parts of this talk may have been confronting for the students as they were given real life examples of what happens when we are not careful when communicating online.

Sergeant Dalton discussed with the Year 8 students the impact of what they share online can have on themselves and others. He used segments from the video “Tagged” to demonstrate how what may seem a harmless joke, can spiral and has the potential to create serious harm.

Sergeant Dalton discussed with the students the use of the following acronym when it comes to sharing anything online.

A - Appropriate
W - Who
A - Accurate
R - Respectful
E - Environment

Appropriate

When sharing something online or through messages, we need to consider if it is appropriate. Is what we are sharing suitable to be shared online? Is it illegal? Sergeant Dalton discussed with the students what may be considered an illegal post or message. This includes posts discussing physical harm towards a person, and inappropriate images and videos that might be shared with their peers. If they ever receive a concerning video or image, Sergeant Dalton discussed that they should tell a trusted adult, including parents/guardian, teacher or the school counsellor and the importance of not sending this onto other people, or saving it on their phone.

Different social media platforms were also discussed and students were made aware of the age of 13 is the requirement for most social networking sites. This highlighted the importance of this talk even more, as a majority of the Year 8 students are turning 13 or already are and need to be aware of how they can manage their accounts safely.

Who

Who is going to see what is being posted? Sergeant Dalton discussed that once you have posted something online, it is always there. It may look like some of the photos and videos have disappeared but they haven’t, and you may not be aware of who has saved or copied a photo.

Accurate

Is the information you are sharing accurate? Or a rumour? While sending out inaccurate information about another person is not considered illegal, there still may be serious repercussions for the people involved. This is considered a form of bullying.

Respectful

Part of growing up is learning how to be respectful to others. Students are encouraged to read through their messages before posting and ask themselves these questions - Could this upset someone? Would I say it to their face? How would I feel if it was said to me?

Environment

Think about the photos that are being shared. Do they provide personal information such as where you go to school, where you live? During this time, Sergeant Dalton explained that there are some people online not who they say they are, and use the student's feeds to gather personal information, such as age, school and extracurricular activities.

Sergeant Dalton also went into using personal information when creating passwords and profiles when gaming online. Tips he suggested when creating an online gaming profile included keeping your profile private, not using your name, gender, age or where you live in your profile and use a password that cannot be easily guessed. He also discussed only sharing this password with their parents/guardians, not with their friends.

Social media is an everyday part of our lives. We can’t fight it, and keep our students away from it, but it is important we guide and educate them about appropriate boundaries and using social media safely and respectfully.

If you have any concerns regarding your child and their use of social media, or would like further information about what was discussed, please contact me through email (donnetta_trannore@rok.catholic.edu.au) or contact the school on 07 4969 4199.