NEWS
Marymede Catholic Collge would like to wish all families a very Merry Christmas and a safe, happy and Healthy New Year.
The College Office will close on Friday December 21 and will re-open on Monday January 6.
For a full list of starting dates please CLICK HERE.
Are you looking to join the Marymede Community in 2020 or 2021?
Applications for our two major intakes (Prep and Year 7) are now open.
- Prep 2020 applications will close on May 24, 2019.
- Year 7, 2021 applications will close on August 23, 2019.
- Applications for Year 7 2020 are now closed. If you are interested in enrolment for this intake please contact the College.
For more information please do not hesitate to contact us via 9407-9000 or via email at registrar@marymede.vic.edu.au
Exciting times lie ahead for Year 7 Marymede students Marc Lando, Leo Karakatsanis and Christian Nicolaou, all of whom have recently been selected to represent Marymede Catholic College as the first ever Australian team to compete at World Educational Robot Competition held in Shanghai, China.
The World Educational Robot Competition (known as WER) is an international robot contest for teenagers from 4 to 18. Annually, more than 500,000 contestants from 50 countries participate in WER contests.
Our students, whom have been generously sponsored by Centrecom, Sunshine to attend the competition, are looking forward to their exciting opportunity in the land of the Red Dragon. “I’m really looking forward to the experience and spending time with my robotics teammates but also the atmosphere of the whole event which is going to be huge” says Christian.
Our students will work as a team of 3 using robots made by Abilix – a world-leading educational robotics company - to design, build and program a robot to navigate a game mat and solve tasks around the 2018 theme “Information Era”. The boys have developed their Team Name ‘Robo Roos’ and logo, and have been working together in their lunchtime Robotics Club developing their abilities in robot design and programming as well as teamwork and innovation.
Digital Technologies at Marymede Catholic College has gone from strength to strength in the past 3 years thanks to the dedication and commitment of Staff member Ms. Kylie Buttigieg who continues to work on new and innovative programs and opportunities for our students.
Ms. Buttigieg said that these three boys were the ideal candidates to lead Team Marymede in Shanghai due to their longstanding commitment to Robotics Club and the keen enthusiasm and energy they brought to the program. Leo claimed that what he liked most about coding was "solving problems and progressing through different stages of problem solving through using technology”, whilst Marc has always had a keen interest in digital technologies: “I remember starting to code around 4 years ago because I just had this fascination with computing and robots”.
This year’s contest is just the beginning for Marymede, who will host the Australian leg of the WER here on College grounds in 2019 – with Ms. Buttigieg’s Robotics Crew already training for next year’s event.
The Robo Roos will depart for Shanghai, China on December 13 for the two-day competition. We wish them all the very best in their endeavours and acknowledge the support of Centrecom, Sunshine for their sponsorship.
The Robo Roos will depart for Shanghai, China on December 13 for the two-day competition. We wish them all the very best in their endeavours and acknowledge the support of Centrecom, Sunshine for their sponsorship.
Congratulations to our Boys Futsal Team who went all the way in Brisbane to claim the Australian Futsal Association Championship - this team is special!
Big shoutout to our Girls Team who also finished 3rd overall. In addition to these great achievements, we are excited to announce that a whopping 8 Marymede players have been selected in the All-Star Teams to represent Australia at the World Futsal Championships in Italy in 2019!
Well done Team Marymede.
VICTORIAN SCIENCE TALENT SEARCH SUCCESS
A Reflection – By Kaitlyn Moss
In early May, our 7X (Year 7 Enhanced Learning Stream) class were invited to enter the ‘Victorian Science Talent Search’, a competition that aims for students of all ages to be involved with, and enjoy, science.
Participants were required to select a task from a range of different categories, based around the theme ‘Game Changers and Change Makers’.
Chloe and Shantal (my classmates) presented a scientific photographic explanation of meat preservation using salt water whilst my project partner Sienna and I entered a board game – targeting environmentally friendly and affordable transportation fueling substitutions.
Recently, Sienna and I were informed that our entry was successful and were to be awarded a Minor Bursary Prize. On October 29, we visited LaTrobe University to display our prize-winning game and to see what our competitors created. Every single one was amazing, with some being made from lego mechanics and others having additional affects such as sound and lights.
Presenting our game to the public and other schools was enjoyable as we were able to teach them about fuel and how expensive it really is If only all our teachers taught in game form!
At the conclusion of the day, the awards ceremony took place. We waited for what felt like ages before we were signaled to stand in a line to collect our prize, a bursary cheque and medallion.
We had a fantastic time and definitely would not hesitate to take part in the future.
Kaitlyn Moss 7X
Please find below link to 2019 Starting Dates including Meet the Teacher sessions for new Prep students.
Towards the end of 2017 Marymede Catholic College commenced our journey towards implementing meaningful solar generation across our growing South Morang campus.
In a plan then developed between our College and specialised energy strategy firm ‘Mamachi’ we are now about to turn on its very own power plant! A 270kW solar PV system - made from 981 (x 275w) panels and inverters have been installed by Autonomous Energy and is expected to be turned on by the middle of this Term. The installed system is projected to reduce our current annual consumption by over one third. From a sustainability standpoint, the system projects an average annual saving of 201 tonnes of CO2, offsetting as much as 2,500 tonnes over a 10 year operating life.
Solar Panels Now Lining Several Buildings Across our Grounds.
Solar Makes Sense:
“The ability to play a leadership role in the local community and for our students during their formative years was too important. Not just adopting renewable energy but ensuring it was tactile for teaching purposes, and tangible as part of our broader community message” explains Business Manager Paul Romanin.
What About Batteries?
Importantly, we had expressly included consideration for battery storage from the get-go. Energy reliability is topical in the media, and top of mind following recent power disruptions in our local area.
“Between 22-30% of the solar energy produced may not be utilised by us – consider School holidays and weekends. The benefit we do obtain is compelling – that’s why we have installed it! Nonetheless, there is still a meaningful proportion of solar energy that could be utilised. Over time we believe that will mean storage - and potentially more solar!” Paul noted.
The system – now fully installed and awaiting final permission to energise – offers up to 80MWh per year in generated, but not used, solar energy - perfect for storage.
Solar in School @ Marymede Catholic College
Another factor which drove our investigation into solar energy was the idea that it could be integrated into the classroom environment. 100kW of inverters now sit on proud display at the Trade Centre, clearly visible to students and within observable reach for use in a range of identified curricular applications.
Trade Skills Centre (Far Right)
“STEM and the interaction between students and technology is becoming integral to the learning experience. This will only continue to impact the nature of employment and society as our students go forwards in life. We want to take every opportunity to prepare them for this, so utilising the solar data was important from the outset.” comments Paul.
Thanks to an existing, site wide fibre network across the College all data created by the solar system is directly fed into our School LAN Network. As well as supporting compliance requirements for local grid-operator, Ausnet, our IT network can monitor performance data of the system to be captured, managed and utilised.
Students will therefore be able to interact with the solar system, which we believe can play an increasing role in our curricular objectives - creating readily available data for use in both science (Climate, Environment and Renewable Energy Studies) and technology (such as Data Science, Business Intelligence or Analytics) streams from early primary years into VCE.
It’s all bases loaded for Year 7 student Joshua Opasinov who has recently been selected to represent the State of Victoria in Softball as a member of the Boys Under 15’s Development Squad.
An outstanding achievement for the 13 year old, who has been playing the sport now for 5 years – first starting at the age of 8. “A lot of my friends were playing Softball at the time and they invited me down to join in” recalls Joshua, a member of Marcellin House here at the College.
Playing across a number of positions, including Catcher, First and Second base, Joshua’s current training regimen is intense and has increased as a result of the recent State announcements, taking place in rain, hail or shine. Two hours of running on Tuesday nights, 4 hours of training on Saturday morning and additional three-hour afternoon sessions taking place on a range of different fields across Melbourne.
But it’s all part of the passion for Joshua, who is aiming to continue the trend of working hard and earning selection in the different Representative Teams available. “In Softball, there are a range of different rep teams, State and other – so I’m looking forward to training hard and making as many different squads as I can in the coming years.”
Joshua currently represents his local team the Cheetahs and will compete at the State Championships to be held in Canberra during 2019.
A devoted teammate, Joshua consistently seeks to encourage and support his fellow players and has the following advice for anyone keen to get involved in the sport: “Just come down and give it a go, you’ve got nothing to lose and there are plenty of different options across the field to get involved in. It’s a lot of fun!
Marymede Catholic College would like to congratulate Joshua and we wish him all the very best in his upcoming State endeavours.
We are pleased to inform our Marymede Community today that Daniel Preziuso (Marcellin House) and Marian Fernando (Chisholm House) have been announced as our 2019 College Captains!
Two amazing members of our Marymede Community who are going to do an outstanding job in 2019!
We would like to congratulate Daniel and Marian on this achievement and also acknowledge our unsuccessful candidates on their applications.
In this edition of 'Meet the Teacher' we speak with Ms. Meaghan Voumard, one of the College Nurses here at Marymede Catholic College.
Name: Meaghan Voumard – Nurse – meaghan.voumard@marymede.vic.edu.au
What is your role at the College?
I am one of the Nurses here at the College. I have been here since 2010 and I manage the medical needs of all our students at Marymede. I work closely with students who have additional health needs and their families to establish a range of medical plans and processes throughout their time here at the College. It is my hope that this eases the pressure and concerns that some of our students or families may have.
Provide us with a ‘snapshot’ into your daily routine at the College:
My routine begins the minute I walk in the door - preparing for the busy day ahead.
On average we could see approximately 100 students a day with a number of health concerns ranging from very minor to some which are quite severe.
I also oversee the preparation of medical resources for School excursions, camps and sporting events. There is also a significant admirative component to our role – ensuring that all incidents are recorded accordingly and that items such as 'Epipens' or medications are checked regularly
What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
I love being able to work closely with all members of our Marymede Community. Having a Nursing Team at a large school like ours really helps to reassure parents and children themselves. The most rewarding part of my role is when I walk through the yard and have students come up to me for a chat or hear them yell hello from the other side of the playground! It really makes me feel appreciated and knowing that I am able to make a difference here at Marymede Catholic College is extremely rewarding.
Fast Five:
Favourite Food: Chocolate
Favourite Movie/TV Show: I love anything - Reality TV sadly!
Hidden Talent or Something We May Not Know About You: I’m a great painter. I only recently painted the whole interior of my house (by myself!).
Favourite Sporting Team: Western Bulldogs
If You Could Pick Any 3 People as Dinner Guests, Who Would They Be and Why?:
1. My Dad: My Dad passed away when I was in Grade 5 so we have lots to catch up on. I would also love for him to meet his grandchildren;
2. My Pa: I know that Pa would also love to meet his grandchildren.
3. My Mum: She would love a catch up and to show-off her grandchildren...and her cooking skills!
