From the Dean of Year 12
The year for the class of 2017 continues to provide challenges and hard work but there are still plenty of moments of fun and laughter. At times, they feel that they have a SAC every other day. However, they continue to approach all student activities with high energy and enthusiasm. Whether it be pop up music near the fountain at recess, preparing for the Sing Off competition, arranging their fundraising event and of course, we were all in awe of the talented performances of the many Year 12 students in the Senior School play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In our Year level meetings on Wednesday afternoons, the girls have had the advantage of many informative sessions including:
- The Power of Sleep by Brad Felstead.
- Preparing Personal Statements and Job Applications by Cassandra Monahan, Human Resources Manager at St Catherine’s.
- Drug Education by a visiting paramedic.
The long awaited Formal was held earlier this term. This is a special night for both students and their parents. A great opportunity for the girls, their parents and teachers to all meet on the dance floor. Included below is Chloe Thompson’s (Year 12) reflection on the evening.
The Year 12 Formal
“Ninety spray tans, five sword dancers, four camels and three belly dancers later, we arrived at our Arabian Night. Except it was in Brighton. Uber Blacks and spirited drummers surrounded the ethereal scene. Exotic music leaked from inside, camels smiled for the photos, and friends’ parents gasped and chuckled at how we “must be taller than dad in those wacko heels!”. It was our Australian version of Prom, our big night, and a wave of nostalgia was inevitable as one glanced around and saw their Barbreck friends all grown up.
The most colourful array of dresses ever seen – that was the rumour going around at the teachers’ table. Bold reds, brave blues – a dashing Ms Jeanette Gunn in magenta was even seen swishing through the crowds. The music was perhaps even more colourful. No one could explain the bizarre phenomenon that occurred when the mysterious melodies began to sound – unfamiliar impulses to groove began to manifest in even the best of us. There was no controlling the slightly awkward jiggling of heads and bopping of shoulders. How to dance to Arabian drums and vivacious violins was the biggest question of the night.
Yet, who could care that we all looked like cumbrous lunatics on the dance floor when it was the only time we would ever be in the middle of a dance circle with our closest friends, our Maths Methods teacher, and our proud parents. These fond memories will fasten themselves to us forever. We will laugh about when we stabbed our dates in the heart with the buttonhole flower, and reminisce upon the frightfully candid pictures when we one day find ourselves old and greying.
It was our moment of eternity, the late April night frozen in time and memory. And then it was over, just like that, with one flick of the DJ’s wrist. Perchance it was all a dream – years of youthful anticipation wiped away in one fleeting night! And so it would have seemed if it were not for the dress hanging wistfully at the foot of our bed or the faint hum of Arabian tambourines still ringing in our ears.
