This week in the Senior School, we welcomed St Catherine’s Old Girl, Dr Edwina Thompson (’96), to share her extraordinary career journey with students from the Global Politics, Legal Studies, Health & Human Development VCE classes and the Human Rights Group. Edwina’s School journey began at St Catherine’s kindergarten, and she finished her final two years of schooling in the United Kingdom due to her parents’ relocation.

Edwina has undertaken an impressive depth of study in her field and is now recognised a world expert on Middle East Finance. She has completed an undergraduate degree with First Class Honours in English from University College London, a Masters degree in Government and Rural Sociology at the University of Sydney and Cornell University, New York, and a doctorate in Law at the Australian National University, with a Doctoral Fellowship in 2005–2007 at St Cross College, University of Oxford.

In academia, Edwina has conducted frontline research on how money flows during conflicts and natural disasters. Her book Trust is the Coin of the Realm: Lessons from the Money Men in Afghanistan (Oxford University Press, 2011) and subsequent work in Somalia and Syria has made a significant contribution to the attempts of Western governments to fight terrorism.
Edwina’s address was nothing short of inspiring for our Senior girls as she spoke of the motivations in her career to help decision-makers think differently and act decisively in the face of distressing situations from gun violence in Papua New Guinea and refugee protection in Australia, to state-building in Afghanistan and experimentation with new technologies in some of the most extreme humanitarian disasters. Edwina’s work in many different countries has introduced her to inspiring people who fuel her drive to keep challenging the way Western countries support the world’s poorest people.

Edwina shared the most moving stories of her career with almost twenty years working as a humanitarian practitioner. Her most recent work in Syria has required a deep understanding of the impact of war at the local level which has successfully enabled her to extend and track millions of dollars of global aide money to reach the grassroots level of communities. She shared a rare light on the underground banking system across the Islamic world. This has included supporting hospitals, medicos, food supply chains and, most notably, financially supporting families by empowering women to control the household money.

Given the tragic event recently in Christchurch, New Zealand, Edwina’s research about the proliferation of small arms and her understanding of the ‘why’ of people fleeing war torn countries, provided both a timely and thought-provoking backdrop to her presentation.

In our School Assembly on Monday, our School Captains, Kavina Kalaichelvam and Georgie Cottrill spoke of the power of one person to make a positive difference and to bring about change for the good. Listening to Edwina speak this week provided a perfect example of this exact sentiment.

I encourage our parents to be inspired by watching the TedTalk created by Dr Edwina Thompson:

HOSG Rowing

St Catherine’s rowers have produced strong results at the annual Head of the School Girls on the Barwon River in Geelong last weekend. The HOSG Regatta is the pinnacle event of the season following many months of training.

I wish to acknowledge the support provided to our rowers by parents working cohesively together to share the early morning transport to training and ably supporting the efforts of our rowers with their attendance at regattas. The Heyington Club, led by 2019 President, Mrs Lucy Fortey, created a sea of light blue on the banks of the Barwon River which ensured a warm and vibrant welcome to all who ventured to Geelong to support our crews. Of our 15 crews, St Catherine’s qualified for seven A Finals and eight B Finals, placing all of crews in the top eight of their divisions. The steady success of the program is accredited to the leadership of Director of Rowing, Mr Dave Fraumano and Rowing Coordinator, Brigette Carlile, who closely mentor coaches and develop consistently effective training programs underpinned with good mechanics and technique in the boat.

The blue ribbon event of the HOSG regatta featured our Year 11 and 12 rowers competing in the Senior Eight divisions. In Division 1, our crew rowing in the Fearless Girl, won a convincing semi-final and were narrowly defeated for third place in the A Final. In Division 2, our crew competing in The St Catherine’s 120 had a similar show of strength in the semi-final and were also narrowly defeated for third place in the A Final. For a relatively small school population, St Catherine’s is well considered to ‘punch above its weight’.

I congratulate all our rowers across the Years 9-12 crews and was proud of the maturity and calm composure in which they approached the Head of School Girls Regatta.
Over the weekend of 30-31 March, we wish our Senior Eight crews the very best as they travel to Penrith to compete at the AON Sydney International Rowing Regatta. Details of the racing, including live streaming on Saturday and Sunday, is through the following website: www.sirr.rowingaustralia.com.au

Concerto Concert

The annual St Catherine’s School Concerto Concert on Wednesday evening continued to showcase the outstanding work of our music students, most notably the seven soloists –Jariyan Patel, Rosie Bogdan, Amelia Sun, Adrianna Chai, Emma Gregory, Sophie Williams and Karen Cao performing a duet with Sophie Hogan. The evening concluded with Catherine Chen, playing Piano Concerto No.23 in A Major, K.488 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 3rd Movt. (Allegro Assai) accompanied by our Jorgenson Orchestra. Like many of the audience members, I found myself quite mesmerised by Catherine’s performance with her fingers reminding me of butterflies dancing on the piano keys.

Our musicians throughout the evening were ably supported by our Head of Strings, Mrs Lisa Cook, our Instrumental Tutors and were accompanied by Ms Kate Denmead.
The Concerto Concert provides a performance opportunity for students of the most prestigious Music Scholarships offered at St Catherine’s. The Shelmerdine Violin Scholarship provides two magnificent Italian violins, a Praga and a Postiglione, both gifted to the School by St Catherine’s Old Girl, Ms Lindy Shelmerdine.

Sophie Turnbull (Year 12) has enjoyed playing the Postiglione Violin; this particular violin was crafted in Italy by Vincenzo Postiglione in 1870 and is considered to be an absolute treasure for its tonal qualities, great depth and evenness across the registers. Sophie’s performance of Sicilienne and Riguadon (In the Style of Francoeur) by Kritz Kreisler was simply captivating for the audience. Sophie Hogan is the recipient of the second Shelmerdine scholarship providing her with opportunity to play the Praga Violin.

The third violin generously donated to the School in 2014 by Mrs Sue Hayes, mother of the late Danielle Lloyd who was a boarding student at St Catherine’s School, Captain of Music in Year 12 and later a much-revered Violin teacher. This Collin-Mezin Violin is of French origin, dating back to 1902, and was beautifully played by Karen Cao in her duo with Sophie Hogan at the concert.
All three gifted violins place the most beautiful instruments into the hands of our very best students and undoubtedly provide an inspiring opportunity to study music. The School is very appreciative of Ms Lindy Shelmerdine and Mrs Sue Hayes for their generous donations to the Music Department.

Thank you to the Music staff, in particular Mr Tim Collins and Mrs Lisa Cook, for coordinating the Concerto Concert this week. I, like many parents, enjoyed an opportunity to sit quietly and simply enjoy the music. With competing interests of time, our girls’ commitment to their music mastery is not without careful prioritising of other activities. I congratulate all the music performers and encourage their continued pursuit of music as they enter their senior years of schooling.