The Girl

Our wonderful, The Girl, sculpture in Barbreck, is dedicated to all the girls who pass through our Junior School. Generously donated by Mrs Sonia and Mr Wayne Kent to acknowledge their family’s association to Barbreck, and St Catherine’s.

Proudly sitting at the entrance to Barbreck, The Girl is a gift with immense meaning. She is a symbol of what it means to be a Barbreck Girl, representing knowledge, confidence and character. The presence of the wise owl, Sapientia, represents wisdom, and the chessboard symbolising challenge.

Every Barbreck girl, along with our Barbreck teachers and families will associate different meanings to The Girl. For me, I love many things about her, including:

• She is a girl involved in her school and all that it has to offer.
• She is a keen learner, with her set of books by her side.
• She is a lover of sports, with her sports shoes on.
• She loves a mental challenge, with her chess piece in hand, ready for a game.
• She has pride in herself and her school, sitting proudly in her uniform.
• She is caring and kind to animals and the environment, with her owl, Sapientia, by her side.
• She is strong, with a face of quiet confidence, a knowing of what it means to uphold values and good character.
• She is a leader, sitting at the front of Barbreck, setting the benchmark for Barbreck girls, and encouraging others to follow her example.

Within Barbreck, many of our girls often tie their St Catherine’s blue ribbons in The Girl’s hair. They sit beside her, sharing friendships and conversations around her, together feeling a shared security, and love for the warmth and care of our Junior School.

I encourage every girl to approach their time in Barbreck with the characteristics of The Girl. I encourage them to pat Sapientia’s head as they pass each day, thinking of all they have learnt and will learn at Barbreck. As each girl pats her head, a little of the dark patina will be removed and soon her head will shine golden – a tribute to all that The Girl stands for.

Parent Information Session

It was pleasing to see so many of our parents attend the Barbreck Parent Information Session and PFA social evening on Tuesday. It is always a special time when our community joins together, especially now we can gather in-person, on School grounds.

I hope everyone enjoyed the evening and left feeling informed and excited about what is happening in Barbreck for your daughters in 2022!

Barbreck Leaders

Our Leadership Assembly held last Friday, saw each of our Year 6 girls receive their Leadership badges. To view an image gallery of the Assembly visit our new myPhotos platform on the mystcatherines portal here.

Those girls elected to positions of specific responsibility also received their captaincy badges. We congratulate all Year 6 girls on their commitment to being the leaders of Barbreck, and the following girls elected to positions of responsibility.

JUNIOR SCHOOL ELECTED CAPTAINS 2022

Year 5 Study Tour: Sovereign Hill

This week our Year 5 girls excitedly set off to Sovereign Hill as part of their studies on the Australian Gold Rush.

There is no better way to obtain knowledge than through experiential learning. The Year 5 study tour provides opportunities for girls to experience an important era in Australian history, and to understand the many complexities associated with the impact of gold being discovered.

Sovereign Hill takes the girls back in time to the 1850s where they can experience a little of what life was like then. Each year the girls particularly enjoy dressing in the clothes of the time, braiding their hair and visiting the General Store, which sells just about everything, including boiled lollies!

Being able to see, and experience much of what they have learnt through research, reading and films, enables the girls to develop a greater depth of understanding of the times, and an opportunity to apply their thinking routines to develop their complex reasoning skills, including comparison, cause and effect, deductive reasoning and classifying.

While at Sovereign Hill, I am sure they were comparing life then to their life now, and are now very happy to enjoy the many creature comforts modern living provides.

Out of School Hours Care – Term 1 Week 4 Activities

Upcoming activities for Term 1 Week 4 detailed here.

St Catherine’s School offers an Out of School Hours Care program to all ELC and Junior School families. The program is implemented by our provider ‘After the Bell’, and operates within the ELC building. Parents are reminded that if you need to use the Before School Care or After School Care service, registrations need to be made in advance with ‘After the Bell’. Please allow up to five business days for your registration to be processed before your child can begin attending the program. Registration is free. All families are encouraged to register so that you can use this service in the event that you are unable to pick up your child.

Before School Care – 7.00am to 8.45am

After School Care – 3.00pm to 6.00pm

Registrations can be completed via the ‘After the Bell’ website.

Please phone 9758 6744 for all enquiries.