An Update On Our Online Campus

You might remember this time last year I updated you on our Online Campus. It is time for another update. The great news is that our Online Campus is up and running beautifully!

Our Online Campus is a marvellous success.

You see, we don’t want prospective parents missing an MCC education. Offering places in the Online Campus means we can hold additional secondary classes to take on additional students.

Something very exciting we have found is that we have been able to provide real schooling for students who, for a range of reasons, cannot attend onsite school. You may have seen this in your own family or circle of friends. There are some students for whom onsite schooling is not an option for all sorts of reasons. Our Online Campus is wonderful in that it provides real-time schooling with real teachers, for students who are unable to attend onsite school.

I keep emphasising that our Online Campus is real teachers, on screen in real-time. Let me mention them by name, because many of you will know these highly valued MCC teachers.

• The team is led by Mr Derek Bendall, famous among us as a Physics teacher who also teaches Theatre Studies. This rare combination of studies that shows his rare giftedness.
• Everybody knows Mrs Mary McCarthy. Mary has taught Science and Food Studies at MCC for decades and is admired by all her past students and their parents. Her passion is getting the best out of every individual. No one gets left behind!
• Mr Carlos Santander teaches English and Humanities from his breadth of experience both at MCC and in other settings. His passion is student success in digital settings.
• Mr Ken Yap has that great combination of Maths and Physical Education in his qualifications and we have been so pleased to welcome him back to MCC this year. His passion is creative ways to use online teaching to inspire students to learn.
• Innovation attracts great talent. This team of teachers is specifically and adroitly assisted by Information Technology expert, Mr Glen Pelz. I would be surprised if you had met Glen, because he works behind the scenes, ensuring the technology of the Online Campus serves the work of teaching and learning. I myself have known Glen for around 30 years through other schools, and I was deeply excited that Glen would join the MCC team, because I knew of his experience and work-ethic combined.

Every one of these staff has a bias for action. These are people who have to be slowed down rather than stirred up, and it is a great privilege to have them working with our students. As it turns out, there are other online schools around Australia and apparently, some of them use pre-recorded tutoring as their main method. Having real-time, real-teachers is a huge strength in our Online Campus and I feel confident to ‘brag’ about that fact.

Please share my confidence. MCC’s Online Campus is successfully running, and we are looking forward to steady growth through this year, and the offering of Years 7, 8 and 9 in 2026 combining learning-from-home while fully attending school with real, synchronous lessons.

Share this news with your friends, especially anyone who needs their child enrolled in Year 7, Year 8 or Year 9 classes for next year.

david gleeson, principal