Last week, I had the pleasure of watching and listening to our boarders perform on the stage at the magnificent Melbourne Recital Centre. With over a quarter of our boarders performing, it highlighted the wonderful musical opportunities available to our boarders at St Catherine’s School. Each afternoon, many of these boarders spend time in the Music School, practising their violin, piano, saxophone or attending ensemble or vocal practices. For some, their music is a major part of their studies, whilst for others, it is a chance to pursue their passion. I was very proud of all of our boarders who performed in the Gala Concert. It was the final performance for Ying (Stella) Liu, our Year 12 Co-Boarding Captain, who has enjoyed over the past four years her involvement in the Percussion Program at the School.

Term 3 is always a busy time at Illawarra. The term begins with the Year 9 students preparing for their Heyington to Highlands Program in Fiji. Every year, the Year 9 boarders return full of excitement and memories of this amazing opportunity and with plans to return in the future. Already skilled in living away from home, the boarders thrive during the program. Over the past four years, I have seen the positive impact of this program on all our boarders.

Sport is an important part of the fabric of life at Illawarra. This term, four of our boarders have competed in the GSV Athletics Carnivals with Chloe Manson (Year 12) being selected as the School’s Co-Athletics Captain. Chloe has represented the School in Athletics for the past six years. In addition, many of our boarders have represented St Catherine’s in GSV Badminton and Soccer, whilst others have competed in both House Snowsports and the Victorian Interschools Snowsports Championships and one competed in the Victorian Secondary Schools Waterpolo Cup. We would like to congratulate Emerson Stuchbery (Year 10) for her success in Equestrian events in Sydney over the past two weekends. Our boarders continue to play Netball, Hockey, Basketball, Cricket and Badminton in and outside school and in representative competitions.

St Catherine’s boarders compete in a wide range of sports both in and outside school and in representative competitions.

Term 3 is also the culmination of the Debaters Association of Victoria Debating Program at Scotch College and the start of the Junior Secondary Debating Program at St Catherine’s School. Involvement in Debating and Public Speaking provides students with life skills that equip them for their future endeavours. We acknowledge Year 12 debaters Flynn O’Brien and Rosy Brierly for their contribution to the Debating program and congratulate Jemima Wilcox (Year 8) for receiving a Best Speaker Award in her last Junior Debate.

Term 3 is also a very important term for our students academically. The Year 12 boarders have nearly completed their final SACs and are busy preparing for examinations and the completion of their Art and Media folios. It is also the term where our younger boarders select their Academic Program for 2020 and consolidate their learnings from Semester 1. The skills developed in their early secondary years, with a focus on dedicated homework sessions each evening, become very evident in the study habits of our current Year 12 boarders.

Last week, we voted for the 2020 Boarding Captains, whose main role initially will be to support the existing Captains and to help celebrate their time (and all the Year 12 boarders) at Illawarra at the Year 12 Boarding Dinner next term. The final event for our current Captains, Flynn and Ying (Stella), is to organise our annual Staff and Boarders Dinner. The Captains chose ‘Harry Potter’ for the theme and we are looking forward to turning Illawarra into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the evening with a suitably themed dinner and the annual trivia competition.

Finally, I would like to thank our Year 12 boarders – Chloe Manson, Qirui (Cindy) Li, Yi Jia (Erika) Tan, Zhijun (Fiona) Lin, Flynn O’Brien, Harmony Hughes, Wang (Lenka) Zhang, Mardi Bray, Maddison Carey-Wood, Rosy Brierly and Ying (Stella) Liu for their contribution to the life of Illawarra and wish them well for their final weeks of secondary schooling.