2023 - Edition 3
Dear Families
Welcome to Aspire, our quarterly newsletter for future MSM families that highlights successes, activities and events that have occurred here at Mt St Michael’s College during Term 3.
On Thursday 17 August it was a pleasure to welcome our Year 7 2024 students and their parents at their Orientation Morning, the start of their transition to MSM.
We hosted a very successful ‘Spirit of the Arts Festival’ on Tuesday 29 August. We are very proud of this annual community event, which highlights our curriculum and co-curricular programs in the areas of Music, Visual Art, Drama and Dance. This event provided an opportunity to “experience” our programs and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of the festival. I am so proud of our girls and their performances and works of art that were on display. It was a most enjoyable evening and a wonderful family occasion.
It is my pleasure to share a snapshot of our girls' successes in this edition of Aspire. As always, I encourage you to take the time to share this news with your daughter, to further familiarise herself with our College and the opportunities we offer.
In Faith and Love
Ms Sharon Volp
Principal
Welcome to Aspire, our quarterly newsletter for future MSM families that highlights successes, activities and events that have occurred here at Mt St Michael’s College during Term 3.
On Thursday 17 August it was a pleasure to welcome our Year 7 2024 students and their parents at their Orientation Morning, the start of their transition to MSM.
We hosted a very successful ‘Spirit of the Arts Festival’ on Tuesday 29 August. We are very proud of this annual community event, which highlights our curriculum and co-curricular programs in the areas of Music, Visual Art, Drama and Dance. This event provided an opportunity to “experience” our programs and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of the festival. I am so proud of our girls and their performances and works of art that were on display. It was a most enjoyable evening and a wonderful family occasion.
It is my pleasure to share a snapshot of our girls' successes in this edition of Aspire. As always, I encourage you to take the time to share this news with your daughter, to further familiarise herself with our College and the opportunities we offer.
In Faith and Love
Ms Sharon Volp
Principal
ORIENTATION DAY
It was wonderful to welcome our incoming 2024 Year 7 students and parents to our Orientation Day. Year 6 students from over 30 different schools came together to participate in fun group activities and games, and bond as they got to chat and laugh with their future MSM classmates.
MARY AIKENHEAD DAY
Our MSM Family marked Mary Aikenhead Day with a beautiful College Mass. Our College Community joined with the Sisters of Charity to commemorate the 165th anniversary of Mary Aikenhead's death. A courageous woman of vision and deep faith, may we all be inspired to follow in her footsteps.
Faithful to the Sister's vow of service to the poor, our students spent time engaging in service activities that benefited St Vincent's Hospitals and Aged Care, the Romero Centre, Birthing Kits International and Mater Little Miracles. And we finished the day with a tremendous display of house pride with our first ever Sustainable Fashion Parade and House Lip Sync Competition!
On Mary Aikenhead Day MSM Year 7 students were involved in a scavenger hunt which was based around the life of Mary Aikenhead and the story of the Sisters arriving in Australia. The students had to work in teams to complete activities revealing a part of Mary Aikenhead’s journey. Upon completion, they received a riddle that they had to solve to find the next location! An exciting, educational, fast-paced hunt for all!
SPIRIT OF THE ARTS FESTIVAL
The Spirit of the Arts Festival: Vitality was a huge success! This major cultural event, vibrantly supported by the wider MSM community, celebrated the varied talents of MSM Arts students. The College campus positively overflowing with joy as visitors embraced the uniquity of our Arts Community rejoicing in the diverse displays of Art, Dance, Drama and Music, including a spectacular closing ceremony encapsulating the College theme “Love without Limits”.
INTERHOUSE ATHLETICS
MSM students enjoyed a wonderful and colourful day at our 2023 Interhouse Athletics Carnival. Congratulations to our competitive athletes who dominated and to all students who participated for house points.
Congratulations to Grantuly House, led by House Captain, Eva for being awarded Champion House for 2023 Inter-house Athletics Carnival. Well done to Stewart House on winning the House Spirit points for this event.
CaSSSA ATHLETICS
The 87 strong team of MSM athletes alongside our inspiring coaching team competed in the CaSSSA Cup Athletics Carnival at QSAC. Some brilliant individual results, coupled with #MSMPride and a team of students trying their hearts out for each other resulted in adding another year to the Percentage Cup trophy. We also took home the Field Champions, were runners up in the Track Trophy and 2nd in the All-Age Relay. We came 2nd in the Aggregate Cup - a wonderful outcome after a hard fought and committed season from every MSM team member. The College batted above our average again to take the clean sweep of Percentage Cup trophies in all Big 3 CaSSSA events in 2023!
QCMF
MSM students performed in eight sections, over three incredible days at the Queensland Catholic Music Festival held at Villanova College on 17 - 20 August. We congratulate our musicians on their commitment and enjoyable performances, resulting in some outstanding results.
- Guitar Ensemble GE1A – Gold
- College Choir CH1A – Sliver
- MSM Singers VE1B – Gold
- Concert Band CB1B – Gold
- Year 7-8 Choir CH1B – Silver
- String Orchestra SO1B - Gold
- Senior Strings IE1B – Gold
- Percussion Ensemble PE1B – Silver.
RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN
At the end of our Mary Aikenhead Day Mass, we blessed and commissioned our new College Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), signifying our commitment to journey with First Nations people as we seek to build a more just Australia for all people. To mark this special occasion, four of our First Nations students – Eugenie, Scarlett, Lila and Zara – designed and decorated four beautiful Reconciliation Candles using traditional designs and symbols.
Around the College
Year 8 Retreat
Our Year 8 students enjoyed a wonderful Frozen-themed Retreat Day. Focusing on the qualities and dispositions of Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf, our students reflected on the ways that they can grow in courage, compassion, kindness and gratitude. A highlight of the day was the opportunity to create a glittery sensory bottle, a special keepsake to use to calm raging storms. Our thanks goes to our amazing Year 8 Pastoral Team for their care of our students as they grow into all they are meant to be.
MSM's Got Talent
MSM’s Interact CAN group coordinated the annual MSM's Got Talent. Entrants from across the Middle and Senior School entranced the audience with their spectacular instrumental performances, singing, dancing, signing and circus tricks. Congratulations to our Middle School winner Hannah who signed to “There’s nothing holdin’ me back” and our Senior School winner Sophia with her Bollywood Belly Dance Fusion. Thanks to the gold coin on entry, all proceeds went to this year’s school charity Wakitikimi.
National Science Week
To launch National Science Week activities at MSM, students joined our UQ Science Ambassadors to discover the intriguingly stretchy world for slime during lunchtime.
Stewart Day
Stewart Day was celebrated at the College on Monday 14 August. Stewart House was named after Alexander Stewart. In 1928, the Sisters of Charity purchased the Stewart family house to commence what is now Mt St Michael’s College. Students from Stewart House celebrated this special day with a cake and spirit activities.
Crazy Hair Day
As part of the Year 12 cohorts fundraising initiative The MSM Chop, students were invited to add some spice to their MSM life and wear crazy hairstyles/ribbons with a gold coin donation going to Project Wakitikimi. The MSM Chop takes place next week for 34 Year 12 students who will be chopping their locks for Project Wakitikimi!
Pilates
One of the continuing and very popular activities within our social sport program each term is Pilates. Students participate in Pilates sessions at Studio Pilates Ashgrove, providing them physical activity that isn’t competitive by nature but so good for their physical and mental health. A brilliant way to stay active and be involved in MSM life.
Brain Bee Challenge
Year 10 student Tully was given the opportunity to attend an immersion day at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) at the University of Queensland as a part of the Australian Brain Bee Challenge. This challenge involved students from all over Queensland competing in a series of online quizzes to test their knowledge of the brain and neuroscience. Tully’s hard work saw her make it into Round 2 of the competition held at QBI. The day involved lab tours, talks from PhD students and competing in both a teams and individual final round of the competition. This experience provided valuable insight into research and the study of neuroscience at university.
Aerobics
Congratulations to our MSM Aerobics teams for their performance at the Future Champions FISAF event. These teams have been training tirelessly for most of the year and the results achieved at this event were indicative of their effort and commitment. We also wish our teams competing at the Nationals this coming weekend the very best of luck.
Future Problem-Solving
Our MSM Senior and Middle School Future Problem Solving Teams completed their qualifying booklet on the topic ‘Robotic Workforce’ in a 2 hour lock up. We were delighted with the news that our Middle School Team have qualified for the National Finals of the competition to be held in Brisbane in October. We are so proud of our teams for their commitment to this academic program.
Japanese
Our Year 7 Japanese students made kyaraben (character lunch boxes) for Japanese class. Margot’s winning bento was the cute Rilakkuma (bear). Students then enjoyed their nutritious and appetizing bentos whilst watching “Bento Harassment” in Japanese. In this film, single mother Kaori creates embarrassingly cute bentos with messages for her rebellious teenage daughter in the hope of opening up a line of communication between them.
Career Conversations Breakfast
On Friday 11 August we welcomed MSM Alumni from various career fields including engineering, finance, communications, media, IT, teaching and medical to present to current Years 8 –11 students and their parents and caregivers. Attendees enjoyed gaining valuable insight from MSM Alumni to assist them in their subject selection process and future pathway considerations. Thank you to our amazing Alumni for sharing their valuable time with our community.
Our Community
2023 P&F Mothers' Lunch
The 2023 P&F Mothers’ Lunch, held on Friday 25 August in the Rose Room at Cloudland was a huge success, making this an event not to be missed on the MSM calendar! Thanks to the generosity of our MSM community, significant funds were raised though our raffle to support the Light the Way Capital Campaign, assisting the College to light the way for future generations of MSM students through the enhancement of new educational facilities.
2024
MSM Term Dates
Term 1
Tuesday 23 January (Years 7, 11 and 12) – Thursday 28 March
Wednesday 24 January (all students) – Thursday 28 March
Term 2
Monday 15 April – Friday 14 June
Term 3
Monday 8 July – Friday 13 September
Term 4
Monday 30 September – 29 November (Years 7-11)
MSM Term Dates
Term 1
Tuesday 23 January (Years 7, 11 and 12) – Thursday 28 March
Wednesday 24 January (all students) – Thursday 28 March
Term 2
Monday 15 April – Friday 14 June
Term 3
Monday 8 July – Friday 13 September
Term 4
Monday 30 September – 29 November (Years 7-11)
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Mt St Michael's College - MSM News
Our mailing address is:
Mt St Michael's College
67 Elimatta Drive
Ashgrove, QLD 4060
Australia
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Mt St Michael's College - MSM News
Our mailing address is:
Mt St Michael's College
67 Elimatta Drive
Ashgrove, QLD 4060
Australia
Add us to your address book