From the Head of Senior School

Celebrating the Year 10 ‘Dear Future Self’ Immersion Program

This year, MLC School proudly launched the revitalised Year 10 Immersion Program, ‘Dear Future Self’, designed to inspire students to reflect on their identities, set future goals, and build practical life skills. This program’s innovative structure and diverse activities have made it a highlight of the academic calendar, fostering growth, independence, and a sense of community among our Year 10 students. The students have genuinely embraced the opportunities.

Congratulations to Sarah Jauncey, our Director of Experiential Learning, who has brought this program to life. She has worked tirelessly with our pastoral, curriculum and futures teams to provide our Year 10 cohort with a meaningful and educational experience to round out the year before they move into their senior years of study. Our Head of Futures and Pathways, Jo Cilia along with Nicole Massara, Careers and VET Coordinator, have brought the work experience program to life which is a huge feat!

Week-by-Week Program Overview

Week 5: Immersion Trip – North Coast
A week dedicated to wellbeing and independence, with activities such as surfing, snorkelling, hiking, painting, yoga, and budgeting for and cooking meals. Attending supermarkets with their planned shopping lists was quite the highlight! Students stayed in holiday cabins at Foster, supervised by MLC School staff and Land’s Edge Foundation. Read more in the Year 10 article by clicking here.

Fiona Pow, Head of Students – Year 10 to Year 12, beautifully captured the spirit of the program:

‘When we take the kids away (like here in Forster, or Year 11 retreat) they excel themselves with their teamwork and can-do attitude. Providers and the general public are so positive about how they conduct themselves. They are a joy to be around, and it makes staff want to go away with them to be a part of the experience. Our students are incredible (and this is on the last day of a tiring camp 😊).’

I was even more impressed to receive the following feedback from the Forster Buslines: ‘The students and teachers that are in Forster/Tuncurry at the moment are the most polite and respectful students, my drivers and I were discussing how wonderful they were to drive around. It would be our pleasure to have the group back with us next year.’

Week 6: Future Forward Week

Students participated in workshops and sessions designed to guide them in developing their independence.

Monday: MLC School Future Ready Day. Students participated in each of these workshops during the day:

• Thinking Traps – Challenging our anxious and unhelpful thoughts, run by Tool box education.
• Galmatic – Empowering young drivers with essential car knowledge for greater safety and confidence on the road by learning the 10 minute ‘servo check’, how to change a tyre, what to do in an emergency and accident reporting.
• Sleep Connection – Lisa Maltman from The Sleep Connection ran a session on good quality sleep habits, how to get into good habits, why and what to do if you aren’t getting enough sleep.
• Biting Truth Nutrition – This session was all about nutrition, what to eat when and how to make health food choices that will work around study, physical activity and busy lifestyles. This session also gave the students recipe ideas and some tips and tricks to make easy healthy snacks.
• Moneyvest Financial Education – Practical and engaging financial literacy session that provide hands-on strategies to build financial health, capacity and confidence.
• PPEP Talk Periods, Pain and Endometriosis – PPEP Talk is a fun, medically accurate information session that explores periods, pain and endometriosis from the perspective of modern pain neuroscience.

Tuesday: Future Studies and Careers Experiences

Offsite experiences that were available for selection:

• Creative Direction and Styling workshop
• Barista Training
• Keeper for a Day – Taronga Zoo
• Macquarie University – Leaders and Achievers
• UNSW: Psychology in Focus
• UTS: Law in Focus
• Gourmet Food Truck Business
• Sydney Airport: Planning and Delivery
• UTAS: Paramedicine and Nursing, Marine and Antarctic Studies

Wednesday: University visits (UTS and USYD)

Students embarked on a full-day university experience, beginning at UTS Broadway in the morning and concluding at the University of Sydney in the afternoon. We received further feedback from University of Sydney staff member Ceren Gunduz, Management Office who had this to say: ‘From my lens, it was an absolute pleasure having the girls at SYD today. They represented their School with such honour and pride, and they should be genuinely proud of how they presented themselves. All my colleagues were full of compliments about how inquisitive and lovely the girls were.

I truly hope they found value in the day and are inspired to do what we do and dare to be more.’

The aim of these visits was to inspire students and broaden their understanding of higher education pathways while supporting them in making informed decisions about their future studies and careers.

Thursday: Academic workshops on campus.

Students had choice of academic workshops for the day:

• 101 of Essay writing
• CEO of the future
• Art and Design
• Sports Science
• eLearning

Friday: RYDA driver safety education course offsite.

Week 7: Work Experience

Students participate in offsite work placements, with teacher check-ins. Our Head of Futures and Pathways, Jo Cilia, has created a comprehensive program for students and we are so excited to welcome the program back after a number of years. Read more about Work Experience requirements by clicking here.

Our students have secured a wide range of placements and will be spending the week gaining valuable hands-on experience with their host employers.

Each student will receive a Student Placement Journal to document their daily activities and sign-off from their host employers at the end of the week.

A teacher will be conducting an in-person visit or phone call at the start of the placement as well as a follow-up check-in later in the week to assess their progress and gather information about their experiences.

Week 8: Final Week of Term 4

Students work on their final projects and present them to a teacher panel. Each student will have an interview with two staff members presenting their project, who they are, who they want to be and how they are going to get there, explaining all their learnings along the way. Students have the option of doing this on a visionboard, PowerPoint presentation, video or a verbal presentation.

Looking Ahead

MLC School’s Year 10 Immersion Program stands as a testament to our commitment to holistic education. By blending academic learning with practical experiences, we empower students to become confident, capable, and compassionate individuals – ready to embrace their futures with optimism and purpose.

Congratulations to all Year 10 students, staff, and families for making this year’s program a resounding success!

Study Hub Next Week

– Joanna Graffen
Head of Senior School

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