A Great Celebration
Friday 13 March 2009
It was an uplifting experience to be at the Old Girls' Dinner last night. Not only was the talk level extremely high as friends shared school and life stories, but so many of our former students were also parents of present girls, indeed grandparents! Four generations is not uncommon for our School.
I felt I was in the future rather than the past as we honoured our sportswomen who were present - Marg Woodlock-McLean as our guest speaker really entertained and lifted spirits high with her life's story and her irrepressible joy for living. Olivia Sayers received overwhelming applause for her world records in swimming and Marilyn Miglie for her success in Olympic level skiing.
Lady Southey has handed over Foundation leadership to Anne Court and there was clear recognition of the ‘we can' spirit of St Catherine's.
In a few short hours so much was enjoyed, given, accepted and planned. It was great to celebrate with 160 of our past students who all enjoyed themselves very much and we launched The St Catherine's (Bequest) Society too. I loved seeing some of the Junior girls dressed in some of the old-time St Catherine's sports uniforms and hearing all of the Old Girls join together to sing St Catherine's Girls! It was the best of evenings! We thank Lisa Nicoll-Cooke as President and her whole team for their hard work and dedication in making the night such a success.
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Today I have asked our Dean of Year 9, Merran O'Connor to write for the Blog:
The Year 9s have had a very smooth start to their year. They are a very happy and hardworking group! We welcomed four new students and five exchange girls from England; two from Queenswood and three from St Catherine's in Bramley. All of the new girls have been shown a warm welcome by the other girls; a testament to the caring community that is St Catherine's.
An important focus of the Middle Years, the Leadership Diploma, will soon be launched to the Year 9s. The Diploma sees our girls fulfil a range of tasks and gain skills which prepare them for leadership roles in the Senior School and into the future.
Another focus for Year 9s in first term is the Beyond Boundaries overnight camp to the Yarra River later this month. In preparation for this and for the Mitchell River trip in Term 3, the girls listened to a presentation from a guest speaker from Environment Victoria. The students are very excited about the camp, particularly the self catering element! On Monday next week the girls will have the opportunity to hone their food preparation skills in a fun activity modelled on the popular TV program Ready Steady Cook. Together with our Outdoor Education Instructor, Amy Neville, I have planned the competition which involves the girls preparing a tasty, nutritious snack using ‘secret ingredients'. This activity, undertaken last year with great success, is one I know the girls are excited about, as they look forward to ‘showing off' their creative cooking, teamwork skills and initiative.
Many of the Year 9s are presently involved in a range of co-curricular activities including rowing, debating, music and drama, alongside their academic program.