The rescheduled Information Evening will be held on Thursday 11th March in the Functions Room from 7pm.

Dear members of the Marcellin College family,

Happy 60th Birthday Marcellin College! This week 60 years ago the Marist Brothers had the foresight and courage to open a Catholic school for boys in Camberwell and so Marcellin College was born. The first Principal of the College was Brother Nilus Kenny fms. Trolling through our College archives I found an article written by Brother Nilus some years later in which he reflected on those early days…

“One hundred and seven pupils attended school on the opening day, and these represented 19 Parishes. Three classrooms only were ready for use; and it was not till some six months later that the first school block was completely finished. ... the present playground was set out in flowers, shrubs and trees - the pupils were soon interested in watching a bull-dozer, a grader and front-end loaders transforming this area into a level stretch of ground.
As the highest class was Form III (Proficiency), there were no Public Examinations to face. These first students had no intellectual achievements of the past to inspire them in their studies. Theirs was the difficult task of setting a high standard worthy of imitation by future pupils.
Inter-House Competitions in Football, Cricket and Athletics were organised according to age and ability. Our first Athletic Carnival, held on Camberwell Oval, was very favourably commented upon.
The year was brought to a close by the Speech Day and distribution of Prizes held in the beautiful grounds of the College. More than 500 people were present - a really good attendance."

- Brother Nilus Kenny

There is much to reflect on from this article and many similarities which can be drawn with present day life at Marcellin. One passage which stood out for me was where Br. Nilus spoke of the first group of “senior” students and the difficulty they had in achieving high standards in their studies without the example of others before them.

The students at Marcellin today have no such difficulty. A strong tradition of academic excellence has been set by many graduating classes in the 60-year history of this great school. The class of 2009 has been no exception.

We all know there are many measures of success in schools. One of these is the quantitative measure provided by the VCE. The class of 2009 achieved the following:

• a median study score of 31 (above the state average of 30)
• 9.3% of study scores achieved by this group were over 40 (A study score of over 40 places a student in the top 8% of students in a particular subject).
• 17% of those students who applied for an ENTER achieved a score of over 90 (Placing them in the top 10% of students)

These figures are but one measure of student success. I believe that equal in importance to these statistics are the ones which focus on what happens next – Student Destination:

• 146 students received a First Round Offer = 96.05% of those who applied for tertiary entrance

Of the 146 students who received an offer:

• 98 gained a University offer = 68%

• 48 gained a TAFE or Private provider offer = 32%

• 2 out of 3 students received either their 1st or2nd preference
• 12 VCAL students also gained an apprenticeship

These last two statistics are particularly significant as these show that students were well supported in discerning an appropriate pathway beyond school.

I would like to pay particular tribute to Ms Dora Karas who has worked tirelessly in supporting students in discerning their future careers and vocations and all teachers who have played a part in assisting these boys to reach their potential.

I would also like to congratulate all students who completed a successful final year at Marcellin and in particular, the Dux of Marcellin College Matthew Molloy who achieved an ENTER score of 99.45

Last Monday the College held an Assembly to honour the students who had achieved the best result in each Year 12 subject.

At this Assembly I spoke of these boys as exemplars of our College motto – Virtute ad Altissima (With virtue and courage to strive for the highest). I spoke principally on the courage displayed by these boys. These young men made the spirited decision to give their very best to their studies and strive for the highest possible result. They were courageous because making this commitment could lead to failure.

I know that Marcellin College is full of courageous young men ready to stand up and live out the motto of our school. I wish all our students from Years 7 to 12 all the very best as they commit themselves to being courageous and achieving their best in 2010.

I extend a warm welcome to all new members of our College community. In particular, I welcome our new Year 7 students and those students commencing their studies here at other year levels. I hope you find Marcellin a welcoming and supportive place in the true Marist tradition of family spirit.

Below is a list of all staff new to our school this year:

Ms Michelle Atwell: Laboratory Technician.

Mr Paul Benedict: Director of Finance and Administration

Mrs Rana Brogan: Mannes House Coordinator

Mr Nicholas Buff: Music teacher

Mrs Concetta Calgaro: Long service Leave replacement for Ms Anna Liggieri

Mr Brent Coviello: Outdoor Education

Ms Josephine Elefantis: Learning Support Aide

Mr Peter Garguilo: Chemistry/Science

Ms Randa Katerelos: General teaching duties

Ms Siew Eng Lim: General teaching duties

Mr John McIntre: AFL trainee

Mr Daniel McMahon: AFL Trainee

Mr Simon Strachan: Art/Technology/Teacher in charge of Rugby

Mr David Sarah: Science/Biology

Yours sincerely,

Mark Murphy
Principal