Student VOICES: From our Chess & Cultural Diversity Captains

Chess Club

Chess Club is such an amazing place to be because of its inclusivity. Between spontaneous lockdowns, it was wonderful to see girls from all Year levels actively taking part in Chess Club activities. Despite constant interruptions to interschool events due to COVID restrictions, our team still managed to participate in several offline and online interschool tournaments.

Amongst our most remarkable achievements was moving from top ten in the first tournament at Scotch College to top five in the last online tournament. Amazingly, we made it to the Girls’ State Grand Final and missed out on the win by one point. It is evident the girls have benefited from weekly Chess coaching sessions. It was also great to see the participation of talented Barbreck girls who quickly became valuable members of the Club.

Throughout the year, many bonds were formed, and everyone was encouraged to step outside their comfort zones by playing others who they were not familiar with. I would like to thank every girl who attended this year, and to our coaches Flora and Ross, thank you for your support, as well as Ms Okumura and Ms Johnstone for your patience and presence.

I am extremely proud to be the Chess Captain and so thankful to be a part of this big family. The team spirit of St Catherine’s girls never ceased to surprise me and I hope our Chess girls continue to thrive and improve in the future.

Lillian Lu
Chess Club Captain

Cultural Diversity Club

With those unexpected lockdowns and border closures, 2021 was a challenging year for all students. Luckily, we were able to keep the Cultural Diversity Club running either on campus or online.

At Cultural Diversity Club, we embrace different cultures from all over the world. We aim to create opportunities for students to experience other cultures and make all students feel united and supported at St Catherine’s School.

Various club activities were held throughout the year including, calligraphy at the Lunar New Year, were we made paper lanterns at the Lantern festival and we made origami kabuto (helmet) on Japanese Children’s Day.

During the lockdown, we participated in games such as, ‘who is the spy’ and ‘draw and guess’, to stay connected.

As the Cultural Diversity Captain of 2021, I want to thank all the students and staff members at St Catherine’s School for your enthusiastic participation in the Cultural Diversity Club.

Special thanks to Mrs Morgan for helping me run club activities.

I hope that in the future more students come and join the Club including both local and international students.

Tingquan (Gloria) Meng
Cultural Diversity Captain

Lillian Lu, Chess Club Captain and Gloria Meng, Cultural Diversity Club, Captain