Latest Happenings at Melba Copland Secondary School
NAIDOC week 2020 at MCSS
Posted on 11 Nov 2020
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic and social distancing requirements MCSS had to adjust this year’s NAIDOC week assembly.
The 8 November 2020 marked the start of this year’s NAIDOC week celebrations. This year we celebrate the NAIDOC theme Always Was, Always Will Be. NAIDOC 2020 invites all Australians to embrace the true history of this country – a history which dates back thousands of generations. It’s about seeing, hearing and learning the First Nations’ 65,000 plus year history of this country - which is Australian history. We want all Australians to celebrate that we have the oldest continuing cultures on the planet.
Melba Copland acknowledges the Ngunnawal people, the traditional custodians of the land where we live, work and learn. We celebrate the continuing culture of the Ngunnawal people and pay our deepest respects to all elders past, present and emerging.
A small selection of school students and staff participated in this year’s NAIDOC Ceremony. The ceremony was impactful for the students and staff who could be present and is now available to the whole school via this link -
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LCkH72FK6bQD02tQtYJIGvoDVWdEK2zO/view?usp=sharing
**Please note: The above image is this year’s 2020 National NAIDOC Poster which is called Shape of Land designed by Tyrown Waigana a proud Noongar and Saibai Islander man.
MCSS Cultural Integrity team
National Health and Physical Education Day 2020
Posted on 26 Aug 2020
Good for Children, Good for Schools and Good for Communities.
HPE Day highlights the importance of HPE in the Australian Curriculum and its influence on the learning, development and the wellbeing of our children and young people.
Get active, be creative, have some fun.
Make sure you let everyone know how you celebrated HPE day by posting an image or video with the hashtag #HPEDay via your school’s social channels.
For lots of great activity ideas and links to great resources make sure you also visit the HPE website.
Young Female Achiever
Posted on 11 Aug 2020
Congratulation to MCSS Talented Athlete Program student Heli Laajoki on being named Young Female Achiever of the Year at the recent Australian X-Country awards. Heli claimed an Australian title in three different categories in the 2019 winter, winning the U16 Classic Sprint, the U16 Rollerski Championships and AUS Interschools Division 3. In addition Heli finished as runner-up at the NSW and ACT U16 Junior Championships, and narrowly missed the podium at the 2019 Joey Hoppet, finishing 4th.Well Done Heli. MCSS is extremely proud of your achievements.
Reconciliation week at MCSS
Posted on 10 Jun 2020
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic and social distancing requirements we had to adjust this year’s Reconciliation events.
This year marks the third annual Reconciliation event in Canberra and is now marked with a Public Holiday. The National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. The dates of National Reconciliation Week remain the same each year; 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey – the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.
Melba Copland Secondary School acknowledges the traditional custodians of the ACT the Ngunnawal people, and their continuing connection to the land and community. We pay our respect to them and to the Elders both past, present and emerging.
MCSS held a range of activities to engage students and staff throughout National Reconciliation Week. A small selection of school staff were invited to participate in a traditional Smoking Ceremony, led by the school’s Indigenous Education Officer, Joe Chapman-Freeman.
Joe Chapman-Freeman began the customary ceremony by burning native plants to produce the cleansing smoke; a small number of staff were invited to walk through it to be cleansed. Belinda Whyte, a music teacher at the school and descendent of the Murrawarri people of North West, New South Wales performed ‘My Island Home’ by Christine Anu.
The ceremony was impactful for the staff who could be present and is now available to the whole school via this https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CxarmOoa0M1Nbsca7hsaOxtcej-iUI78/view?usp=sharing
**Please note: The above logo for National Reconciliation Week 2020 is based on artwork created by Biripi/Bunjalung woman Nikita Ridgeway entitled, “Reconciliation, a continuing journey of growth and togetherness.”
MCSS Cultural Integrity team
ANZAC 2020
Posted on 07 May 2020
ANZAC commemorative assembly.
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic and social distancing requirements we had to cancel this year’s annual ANZAC day commemorative assembly. However, as part of our commemorations we have had a Aleppo pine seedling planted in the garden bed of the carpark to honour the ANZACs and their sacrifice.
The pine is representative of the Gallipoli campaign where the 1st Australian Infantry Division launched a major offensive at Gallipoli on the 6th August 1915. The ridges, once covered with the Aleppo pine, had been cleared to provide cover for the Turkish trenches, leaving just one, solitary pine. The area became known as Lone Pine Ridge. After three days of fighting the Anzacs succeeded in capturing the enemy trenches, but this action cost 2000 Australian soldiers’ lives and 7,000 Turkish lives.
Lance Corporal Benjamin Charles Smith collected some pine cones from the branches used to cover the Turkish trenches. He sent the cones home to his mother, in remembrance of his brother Mark, who had died in the fighting. From one of these cones Mrs McMullin sowed several seeds, and successfully raised two seedlings. One was planted in Inverell, and the other was presented to the Australian War Memorial to be planted in the grounds in honour of all the sons who fell at Lone Pine.
Lest We Forget.
Enrolments 2020
Posted on 28 Apr 2020
1. Go to education.act.gov.au for information on your local school and to enrol online.
2. Apply before 5 June 2020 to receive an offer from 27 July 2020. This means there is ample time to submit your application to be included in the initial round of offers.
Online@MCSS
Posted on 09 Apr 2020
Online @ MCSS has been created to support students and families in the transition to online learning.
We encourage our community to continue to check-in with this online tool for updated information and advice throughout term 2.
https://sites.google.com/ed.act.edu.au/online-mcss
Education Perfect 2020 Global Spelling Bee
Posted on 07 Apr 2020
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15u7Po2ZuB4FR6FMVuC8QOSjbPVRSquba/view?ts=5e8bcee5
Capital Chemist Awards
Posted on 16 Mar 2020
Ms Sidhu attended the Capital Chemist Awards, were congratulations goes out to our MCSS College students Benjamin Doherty, Peter Hazlewood and Sam Sawade for winning the Capital Chemist Award.
School Sports ACT
Posted on 02 Mar 2020
MCSS has the pleasure to announce that former Year 12 student Kendall Elliott has been nominated in the School Sport ACT 13 & Over Achievement Category.
The Award Ceremony will be held on Wednesday 11 March at 4.30pm in Reid.
MCSS wish's Kendall all the best at the Ceremony.
School Sport ACT
Posted on 28 Feb 2020
MCSS has the pleasure to announce that Year 12 student Aidan Richardson has been nominated in the School Sport ACT 13 & Over Achievement Category.
The Award Ceremony will be held on Wednesday 11 March at 4.30pm in Reid.
MCSS wish's Aidan all the best at the Ceremony.
LitLinks Awards 2019
Posted on 13 Nov 2019
Ellie Sanders and Klara Steinhauser attended the ACTATE 2019 LitLinks Creative Writing Competition Awards on Tuesday 12 November 2019.
We are proud to announce that Year 8 students Ellie and Klara received Achievement Awards for their story writing, at a presentation ceremony at Canberra College.
Ellie and Klara placed in the top 10% of entries across ACT for the Year 7 and 8 category, and were nominated by ACTATE’s judges to receive a special award.
Congratulation to both girls.
Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge
Posted on 04 Nov 2019
Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge
Melba Copland Secondary School recently won the new 9 – 12 category of the Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge for 2019. The challenge requires students to read 15 books before September and the winning schools are awarded a book voucher from Paperchain Bookstore. Jemima, Stephanie and Rachel from Yr 9 were presented with our certificate and voucher by the Chief Minister himself.
Well done to all students who participated in the Reading Challenge this year and congratulations to students from Year 9 on their win.
Language Perfect championships
Posted on 27 Sep 2019
This term the Language Perfect championships were held across all the Language Acquisition classes. We have some great results across the board, with a special mention to Quan Do in Year 9 who was placed third in the world in all language category, and first in the world in the Japanese category. Congratulations Quan Do
National Touch Football
Posted on 26 Sep 2019
Congratulations to MCSS TAP athlete Rebecca Guest who has returned from the National Touch Football tournament in Caloundra. Rebecca had a great tournament coming away with 3 tries. At the team dinner on Saturday, Rebecca was awarded the NYC ACT Raiders Under 18 Coach’s Award for 2019.
Year 8 TAP Athlete
Posted on 09 Sep 2019
MCSS year 8 TAP student Heli Laajoki has just returned form what has been an amazing winter ski season for her.
She has finished the season with two Australian titles and the following results:
NSW/ACT School events / results:
- NSW/ACT cross country interschools ski champs (skate technique), Division 3 (yr 7 and 8) - 1st
- Australian cross country interschools ski champs Div 3 (classic technique) - 1st
Ski and snowboard Australia events:
- Australian junior champs U16 cross country sprint (classic technique) - 1st, U16 cross country distance (skate technique) - 5th
- Australian Open champs - classic sprint 6th, skate sprint 12th, classic distance 16th
Heli spends many hours every week training, both on and off snow and this year has seen her travel to Europe for intensive training. Heli is a valued TAP athlete as not only does she represent MCSS at National level in Snow sports, she also represents us locally in many school sport carnivals, including obtaining successful X-Country results this year.
Sydney Eisteddfod
Posted on 07 Aug 2019
On Sunday our Magellan Dancers travelled to Sydney and competed in the Sydney Eisteddfod against schools from across the country.
This was a great experience for our students and allowed them to compete against some of the best dancers in their age range from across Australia.
Dean's Excellence Award
Posted on 07 Aug 2019
Congratulations to MCSS Alumni Nathan Lynch who was recently awarded the University of Canberra, Dean's Excellence Award for his outstanding grade point average.
Rugby League Referee from MCSS
Posted on 07 Aug 2019
Aidan Richardson has been selected to referee (match official) at the National 12 years and under Championship (Rugby League). He is the only person selected from the ACT/NSW region. He is one of 10 officials appointed Australia wide. Congratulation Aidan from MCSS
Archibald Prize – ‘Young Archies’
Posted on 23 May 2019
Congratulations to Rika Jammer Year 8. Rika has won her way to become a finalist in the 2019 Archibald Prize – ‘Young Archies’ age group 13-15 years.
Fynn Jammer
“This is my brother. This moment was a special one, his eyes tell you the story. I think a person’s eyes can hide and still reveal so much. His eyes here showed the fun, playful times we had as children, but also the bitter, sullen moments we somehow haven’t regretted. We think differently, but are still one. We stick together, and one day this showed. We were riding through a forest and stopped to take a rest. He looked up and there it was– the moment. With a swift kick of the pedals, we were back on the move.”
All Australian Girls Softball team
Posted on 21 May 2019
Congratulations to year 12 MCSS TAP athlete Kendal Elliott for her inclusion in the All Australian Girls Softball team.
Innovation Award
Posted on 14 May 2019
Congratulations to Darcy Gooday and Levi Dowhy winning the Innovation Award in the CIT Bridge Building Challenge. The boys will now participate in the ACT finals.
CyberTaipan Finals!
Posted on 29 Mar 2019
CyberTaipan Finals!
MCSS excels in the National Finals
CyberTaipan is a pilot Australian youth cyber security competition that is modelled on the US Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot program. The competition which started in Australia this year is designed to educate, engage and inspire young people to develop skills and pursue careers in cybersecurity and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Participants gain exposure to real world defensive cyber security principles and ethics, while developing their technical, leadership, communication and teamwork skills and abilities.
After several rounds of competition our college team “Cool Kids of Canberra” with Cassandra Goh, Isaac Wetherell, William Pearson and Leighton Burns competed in the National Finals on 16thof March. This was followed by the award ceremony and a gourmet dinner at the Parliament House. Our MCSS team is among the top eight in the National Finals.
Let’s congratulate the team for their excellent effort and I hope CyberTaipan is just the start of many future careers in Cybersecurity.
UNSW Mathematics Winners
Posted on 08 Mar 2019
UNSW Canberra Prize for Best Female in Mathematics 2018 was won by Maneeha Durrani (Year 10) and Caitlin McCreedy (Year 9). These students along with their families were invited to attend the UNSW Canberra Prize for Best Female in Mathematics Award Ceremony on the 7 March 2019 celebrated as International Women’s Day
