Year 9

This week has been a celebration of connection, leadership and excellence for Year 9. From an energetic Assembly takeover to enthusiastic engagement in Luminary, Year 9 have continued to bring joy and courage to the MLC School community.

MYL Assembly Takeover

On Friday last week, our Middle Years Leaders led an Assembly ‘takeover’ while Year 12 were on exams. They led a joy-filled assembly with range of items, including with ‘Guess the Coloured Bin’ to raise recycling awareness, interviews with new MLC School teachers, PASS Ski Camp reflections and a Year 9 sports report. The assembly student‑led, inclusive, and purposeful – well done Middle Years Leaders!

Bullying No Way Week

This week in Luminary, we aligned with Bullying No Way Week, Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative for schools. The focus was simple: fostering belonging through positive relationships. When students feel connected to peers, to staff and to place they thrive, and they are far less likely to engage in or tolerate bullying.

To make this practical, we ran two connected activities:

1. Fostering Connection (Human Knot)
   In small circles, students formed a ‘human knot’, then problem‑solved their way to untangling without letting go. The task demanded patience, communication and kindness; afterwards, groups reflected on how they helped one another and what it felt like to be supported.
2. Growing Connections
   We gathered in a circle to unpack the words ‘connection’, “belonging’, ‘community’ and ‘bullying’. Students then mapped their own connections in their lives and created Freeze Frames to make a visual statement about what belonging looks like in action.

Q&A with Elisa Scala

One highlight of this week’s year meeting was an insightful Q&A with Elisa Scala, led by Bridget Cortis-Jones and Madeleine Girgis. The discussion covered two important topics: Year 9 elective changes and the differences between the HSC and IB pathways. Elisa explained that the HSC offers subject specialisation, while the IB provides a broad, globally focused program. Students are encouraged to visit Ms Scala in the Curriculum Office for further guidance or if they have any questions.

Celebrating Year 9

Finally, we’re thrilled to celebrate some amazing achievements in Year 9 over the past few weeks:

• Veronica Pan excelled at Sydney and Ryde Eisteddfods with multiple firsts in clarinet. Veronica has also awarded LMusA Clarinet Performance Comprehensive (AMEB) with Distinction at the end of last term. 
• Ada Savage achieved a silver medal in Synchro Diving at the 2025 School National Swimming and Diving championships.
• Iris Ji placed top six nationally in breaststroke at the 2025 School National Swimming and Diving championships.
• Georgia Coxsedge represented NSW in AFL and hockey.

– Emily Marsh
Head of Year 9

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