The first day of School is always filled with excitement and joy, whether you are a new student or an existing student or a teacher.

This year was no exception with the Year 9s entering the Wintergarden refreshed from the summer break and embracing their new space. It is great to see the girls have transitioned well and settled straight back into classes. Pleasingly, the Year 9s have been very welcoming of the new students that have joined the St Catherine’s School community, including the seven students on exchange from the United Kingdom.

As the Head of Year, each year I am required to implement some sort of mnemonics to try and learn approximately 80 student names as quickly as possible, and have the pleasure of getting to know each of them individually. It has been wonderful hearing about their holidays and enjoying their different personalities and their stories. During this ‘get to know you’ time I have discovered the many talents the girls in this cohort have and some of their achievements over January.

Our chess extraordinaire, Lilian Lu has had some wonderful results this summer at the Australian Junior Chess Championships; achieving first place in the Under 16 girls Blitz and the Under 16 girls Problem Solving competition. She also achieved equal second in the Under 18 Girls championship.

In addition to Lillian Lu’s success, Mayuri Maralidharan has experienced some amazing success in Fencing. In 2017 she received the mantle of National Under 13 and Under 15 female foil champion. During January she represented Australia for the European Tour. She competed in the Under 20 World Cup in Udine and was the youngest competitor, she won three of the six pools. After several European competitions and many hard fought battles Mayuri had some great achievements and was able to lift her ranking. During her time overseas, Mayuri was interviewed by an Italian television Network where she highlighted Australia’s talent in Fencing.

Further, in the last week Sophia Livanidis has represented Australia in Gymnastics at the World Games in Belguim and we look forward to hearing about her amazing experiences and achievements.

This is an interesting and diverse cohort, and I will enjoy learning more about all of them.  I look forward to a great 2018.