Grace the walls of Sherren House

Entwined within my speeches over the past two years, I have often drawn comment on the strength, tenacity and leadership of the St Catherine’s Old Girls that grace the walls of Sherren House as part of the Nil Magnum Nisi Bonum project. Well, no longer do these stories just ‘grace the walls of Sherren House’ as they are now beautifully compiled as a collection of autobiographies in the first edition of the book.

Nil Magnum Nisi Bonum that was launched this week by the St Catherine’s Old Girls’ Association (SCOGA) and as part of the St Catherine’s School 120 anniversary celebrations. The Nil Magnum Nisi Bonum project was undertaken by SCOGA 10 years ago and aims to proudly celebrate generations of St Catherine’s women, each embracing the doctrine of our Founding Principal, Miss Jeanie Hood, to be ‘women of the future’. The achievements of the St Catherine’s women acknowledged in the first edition inspire our current students everyday and serve as a reminder to all who visit Sherren House of what can be achieved by a St Catherine’s girl.

I congratulate the SCOGA Committee, in particular, President Mrs Phoebe Norman (Olsen ‘95), Ms Louise Lampard (‘79) and Mrs Deb Berry (Manos ‘77) on the development of the Nil Magnum Nisi Bonum Project and commend this first edition to all members of our community.

2016 ANZAC Poetry Competition

This week we received notification from the Office of The Honourable Kelly O’Dwyer, Federal Member for Higgins, that Jariyan Patel in Year 6, Charlotte Weir, Charlotte Murdoch and Sophie Garrett in Year 8 and Lulu Murrell and Flynn O’Brien in Year 9, were selected as finalists in the Higgins 2016 Schools Anzac Poetry Competition.

The Competition honours the service and sacrifice of the original ANZACs in the First World War and all the Australian men and women who have served in conflicts. The theme was ‘What does Anzac Day mean to you?’ With over 300 entries across the Higgins electorate, our Head of English Faculty, Mrs Ceri Lloyd commented:

“I was delighted with the number of students successfully selected as finalists as it reflects the depth of the creative writing interest and talent in the School. This is being further developed by the creation of our Writers Club, allowing any passionate writer to discuss, read and write with other like-minded students. Another pathway for our talented English students to pursue.”

The girls and their parents attended a presentation today with Kelly O’Dwyer and we congratulate the winner Flynn O’Brien and runner-up Charlotte Weir.

ANZAC Service

The ANZAC commemorations commenced last weekend for our School Captain, Elizabeth Bolt and Vice-Captain, Clare Cameron, who attended the Annual Nurses Memorial at the Shrine. Elizabeth wrote the following response after the Service:

Sometimes, even the simplest of gestures can be significant.

The commemorative service held by the Nurses Memorial Centre on Sunday was, in my

opinion, a shining example of this. The service, dedicated to the nurses of the Great War

and beyond, was without the bells and whistles usually seen at other commemorative

events. However, it undeniably held the same sincerity.

After the twenty third Psalm and hymns led by the Keytones Choir, Clare and I were invited

to lay a wreath on behalf of the School at the base of the memorial. The Last Post then

played, with the bugler’s incredible playing still heard over the roar of the traffic behind.

Clare and I left this service incredibly grateful that we could attend. It was an honour to

represent the School at such a touching event, and it was a beautiful way to begin this

commemorative period.

Lest we forget.

Student Achievements

The sporting success of St Catherine’s students continues this week with our 11 years Junior School Swimming team crowned silver medallists at the State Championships in the 4x50m freestyle relay. Months and months of training came down to a 2.21 minute swim, with the girls narrowly beaten by less than two seconds. The girls also swam a PB by two seconds on the day. Congratulations to the entire team that competed at the District, Regionals and State Swim Meets: Emma Gregory, Madeleine Hooker, Chloe Nevins, Zara Krause, Brydie Read and Coco Kudelka.