On 30 August Mercy Education colleges and affiliate schools from across Victoria and Adelaide came together for the 2024 Frayne Speech Festival. Established in 1996, the annual gathering, named in honour of Mother Ursula Frayne, is a celebration of student voices. This year the festival was hosted by Our Lady of Mercy College in Heidelberg, which provided warm hospitality to the other competitors, their teachers and representatives of Mercy Education and the MMC Trustee Directors.
The festival offered spirited and engaging competition in debating, public speaking and choir. Following three rounds of presentations, the whole community assembled in Mercedes Hogan Theatre for the announcement of the winners and presentation of trophies. The occasion fostered a sense of unity across these schools in the Mercy tradition. The 2024 winners were as follows:
Choir
Winner – Our Lady of Mercy College, Heidelberg
Runner up – Emmanuel College, Warrnambool
Debating
Winner – Our Lady of Mercy College, Heidelberg
Winner of Best Speaker – Student from Sacred Heart College, Geelong
Runner up – St Aloysius College, Adelaide
Public Speaking
Winner – Student from Academy of Mary Immaculate, Fitzroy
Runner up – Student from Academy of Mary Immaculate, Fitzroy
Mercy Day at St Aloysius College
Mercy Day was celebrated on 13 September in many of our colleges, as the feast day occurs during the school holidays on 24 September. At St Aloysius College, North Melbourne, the whole school community, Sisters of Mercy, some parents, Mercy Education CEO Louisa Rennie and Trustee Director Gabrielle McMullen AM gathered for the Mercy Day Mass, celebrated by School Chaplain Fr Thang Vu. The College choir and stringed musicians led the community in singing the Mass of St Francis.
Following Mass, Fr Thang blessed the 2025 prefect badges which were pinned on the new prefects by their 2024 predecessors. The celebration continued with four awards in each of performing arts, social justice, STEM and visual arts for which the College Houses, Fallon, McAuley, Scully and Vernon, had competed. Attendees saw photo and video images of winning exhibits, except for the performances which were presented live to an enthusiastic audience.
