From The Principal

A recent podcast from the International Coalition of Girls Schools (ICGS) discusses the importance of girls of every age having ‘at least one trusted adult in whom they can confide, an adult in addition to their parents who can offer an unbiased listening ear or unhurried wise counsel in a problem-solving moment’. 

Having a trusted adult is incredibly important for girls as they navigate the challenges of growing up and developing their sense of self. Often, this trusted adult may be a teacher or other member of the school staff such as a Sports Coach, favourite Receptionist or Co-curricular Tutor.

A trusted adult can serve as a positive role model for young people, helping them to develop healthy attitudes and behaviours and encouraging them to seek more expert advice if necessary.

As part of our regular Trust Mapping Survey, one of the questions that we ask each student in Year 4 to Year 8 is whether they do have a trusted adult in the school that they would feel comfortable to go to if necessary. In almost every instance students report that they do and if not, the class teacher or Head of Year is aware and can work towards developing that relationship.

Of course, your daughter may find her trusted adult in someone outside the school, a relative or friend who can provide guidance and advice on a variety of topics, including school, relationships, and personal development and provide emotional support and a safe space to express her thoughts and feelings.

However, sometimes finding the right person, especially in the adolescent years, can be difficult. This podcast offers helpful anecdotes and useful advice which ‘could change the way you think about partnering with your daughter and the other meaningful adults in her life to help her build a healthy adult support network in these challenging times.’

The ICGS website is a rich source of evidence-based research and advice on issues related to the education and wellbeing of girls, and much of the material is available to all; I encourage you to take the time to explore its content.

Source: https://girlsschools.org/

– Lisa Moloney
Principal

Application Process and School Tour Days for 2023

The May 2023 School tour day has been closed due to demand. The next MLC School tour day will be held on Tuesday 15 August 2023 at 10.30am and Thursday 9 November 2023 at 10.30am – both are already filling fast.

Numbers are limited and registration is required for all School tours and places are in high demand. To register your attendance click on the button below, scroll down the page and please note which tour you would like to attend. There’s no need for you to miss out on the chance to secure a place for your daughter at MLC School.

We now have waiting lists for many of the year entries, so it is recommended that application be made by your daughter’s first birthday or at least three years prior to the nominated entry level. The School is currently interviewing girls who will commence in Pre-K to Year 11 in 2025  If you would like to apply for the few places available please follow the link to our online application form here.

Applications for all years are processed in the order in which they are received. For updated information, please view our online prospectus package.

If you have other enquiries about the enrolment process, please contact Nerida Coman, our Registrar, by email or phone 02 8741 3165.

Tuesday 15 August 2023 at 10.30am. Register here

Thursday 9 November 2023 at 10.30am. Register here

Year 5 Scholarships in 2024 opening soon

In 2021 MLC School introduced an All Rounder Scholarship for girls seeking entry into Year 5 of the following year. 

Applications for Year 5 2024 Scholarships will open on Monday 1 May 2023.

All Rounder Scholarships are awarded to applicants who demonstrate significant academic potential, together with achievement and potential in two or more of the following areas:

• Leadership
• Cultural/creative/performing arts
• Service
• Sport

The Examination will be held on Saturday 12 August 2023. Shortlisted candidates will then be invited to the School for an activity morning. Please note that not all shortlisted candidates will be offered a scholarship.

For more information about scholarships please visit our website, or contact our Registrar Nerida Coman on 02 8741 3165 or email enrol@mlcsyd.nsw.edu.au.

Welcome to Parents – 2023 Style

What a joy to welcome the MLC School community onto campus on Friday 10 February for the ‘Welcome to Parents’ event, especially as the sun came out after a week of rain.

The quad was full of the sound of parents gathering, sharing stories, meeting teachers, laughing and enjoying the food trucks and bar service.

Click here for Facebook Album.

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From the Head of Learning and Teaching – What is your unconscious bias?

On Wednesday 8 March we recognised International Women’s Day with a breakfast and panel discussion. As I listened to the discussion about how we can further gender equity in schools, the workplace and in the broader community, I was interested to note the number of times self-awareness was raised in the discussion. Self-awareness is one of the key learning dispositions that we advocate as a school. It is that innate knowledge of recognising how we think and respond in any given situation and in this context is particularly relevant to considering how our unconscious biases influence the way we operate and the decisions we make. The concept of being aware of our unconscious bias is essential when discussing the barriers to women entering industries that are traditionally male dominated.

Being aware of our unconscious biases and how this impacts our responses is something that begins at school and goes far beyond gender. MLC School is a community that is diverse in many ways. Our staff and students come from different cultures, faiths, and backgrounds. We think differently on a number of issues and the ability to discuss these differences in a respectful manner is something we seek to develop in our girls. A key component of this discussion must be what are the assumptions I am making without realising this is my unconscious bias. The ability to examine our own possible biases is an important step in understanding the roots of stereotypes and inequity in our society.

There are a number of different types of unconscious bias including gender, perception, affinity and beauty. But in an era where information and news often come through carefully curated feeds educating our girls about confirmation bias is particularly important. Confirmation bias is our inclination to seek, favour and use information that confirms our pre-existing ideas or beliefs. When our social media and news feeds follow specific individuals or groups, we are increasingly fed content aligned to their views and ideas. The quality of the underlying journalism or lack thereof, can vary greatly. This can lead to a narrowing of perspective and the formation of viewpoints that are not informed by all the facts.

As part of their learning we challenge the girls to examine why they hold a viewpoint or opinion on a topic. This may come from a teacher or a peer in the classroom or as part of a student lead interest group. Respectful debate of ideas is healthy and essential to develop the critical thinking skills necessary for life beyond school. As parents you can support your daughter to develop a well-informed world view by reading and viewing articles from a variety of news media outlets and encouraging discussion of the issues as a family. You will not always agree, but you can be assured that her ideas will be well informed.

– Linda Emms
Head of Learning and Teaching

From the Head of Learning and Teaching – ChatGPT and Education

Like many people over the summer months, I watched the rapid evolution of ChatGPT. What started as brief mentions in some of my feeds quickly became a dialogue that posed as many questions as there were answers. Schools in New York were already talking of blocking and banning this new technology as it hit them mid-term and my own networks in Australia quickly turned the conversation to discussions of our own responses. Was this a new technology to be feared and kept out at all costs or was it something we should embrace with open arms?

What is Chat GPT? ChatGPT stands for Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, it is what is known as a Large Language Model and is trained on approximately 300 billion words. Its output is guided by human feedback in a form of reinforcement learning. This is what enables it to write text that reads as though it was written by a human. This form of artificial intelligence (AI) is not new, nor is it the only one of its kind. At the moment it is free but whether this will remain the case in the future is unknown. As with all technology it does have its limitations. The output is only as good as the prompts you input, equally its responses to concepts that are too recent will be limited as it can only draw on publicly available content. As the technology continues to evolve, I am sure these limitations will change.

So, what does this mean for education? All technology can be used with both positive and negative intent. While there are valid concerns about the use of this tool to produce work that is not the student’s own, there is a growing body of thought about how we can teach students to harness a technology such as this to support and challenge them in their learning. Rather than talking about how we block students from using tools to assist them in assessments, we should be discussing how we evolve assessment. Can the use of technology such as chat GPT be used to deepen our understanding of complex concepts and improve retention of the important facts?

There are set of guidelines attributed to a professor at the Wharton School, Penn University that provide food for thought as the discussion of the use of AI continues to evolve. This is a discussion that as a staff we spent much time on as part of our professional learning program last week, where we were guided by the provocations of David Caspari, CEO of Janison and a thought leader at the intersection of education, innovation and technology.

Already there are a multitude of ideas about how to use Chat GPT as part of learning and teaching. Some are teacher centred, for example producing sample essays to use in class discussions, generating discussion prompts that encourage students to think critically and solve problems, creating formative assessment questions that assist the teacher in checking for understanding and the list goes on. The student-centred ideas are equally diverse. Imagine preparing for a test and asking ChatGPT to create adaptive questions to test your understanding of a given topic. If you answer correctly, it gives you a more challenging question. It could be used for providing real time feedback on practice questions. Or, for the student that is practising a new concept taught in class that day for homework who just needs one more explanation this type of AI could be just what they need.

Do we have concerns that that the use of AI will lead to an increase in issues of academic honesty in the short term? No more so that we already do in relation to the use of external tutors or other online facilities. I am confident that MLC School students have a clear understanding of what academic honesty entails and that the deliberate engagement in these practices will have consequences; however, we will continue to develop this understanding in relation to the use of AI. Will this challenge us as educators to think about the nature of the tasks we set? Yes, it will, and this is a good thing.

Sources:

• https://mccrindle.com.au/article/how-chatgpt-will-impact-the-future-of-education/
• https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/gpt-3/
• CESE NSW “What work best in Practice – a Teacher’s Prompt Guide to ChatGPT

– Linda Emms
Head of Learning and Teaching

From the Deputy Head of Junior School – Wellbeing – Cyber Safety and Social Media

No matter how young our children are, they are never too young to learn about good digital citizenship. Too often children have access to devices and use them in ways that we, as parents, are not aware. Young people today are often much more tech savvy than their parents. The issue of setting up rules around device use and supervising our children online is a serious one.

I know, from talking to parents, that device use is a concern in our community. Understandably, parents find it difficult to navigate what “everyone else” is allowed to do and what you, as parents, feel comfortable allowing your child to access.

I came across an article by Michelle Mitchell titled Setting up Social Media Safely: A Crash Course for Parents of Tween girls, which I think is worth a read.

At school your daughters receive cyber safety education in Library lessons. Jody Gilroy ensures the girls are made aware of keeping safe and being good digital citizens online. We are also very clear with parents and the girls that social media has recommended ages for using the sites and this is for a very good reason. So many issues we deal with, at school, involve the inappropriate use of social media because young people do not understand the ramifications of how they use these sites.

Michelle Mitchell gives some thoughts to consider when your children have access to devices, but especially when considering giving them a mobile phone and access to the internet. She says to consider not only when to buy a phone but how young people are allowed on social media.

As a brief overview some things she says to consider are:

• Never give a device as a gift
• Have clear usage agreements
• Insist on transparency
• Talk openly about issues your daughter may face online
• Expect the best and prepare for the worst

At the end of the article Michelle also gives several names of cyber experts families can access. She recommends you follow some on social for regular, bite sized information on trending platforms and safety issues. And don’t forget the eSafety Commissioner who provide a wide range of support for parents including technology agreements.

Click this link for the article.

– Joanne Sharpe
Deputy Head of Junior School – Wellbeing

MLC School Old girls perform in Encore Concert at the Sydney Opera House

Every year NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) holds a gala concert in the Sydney Opera House to highlight outstanding HSC performers and composers. Nominations for this concert are decided during the final exam period and are highly sought after; this concert is really the pinnacle of school music in NSW. The event is always sold out within hours as music teachers from around the state hurry to organise for their elective students to see, hear and experience the standard for highest rankings in HSC Music 1, Music 2 and Music Extension.

Our 2022 Year 12 HSC cohort was awarded five nominations:

Jade Di Girolamo (2022) – Performance, ‘Gothic Carousel’
Ruby Scott-Wishart (2022) – Composition, ‘Soliloquy for Winter Solstice’
Jacqueline Flett (2022) – Music Composition
Jacqueline Flett (2022) – Music Performance
Emma Mahant (2022) – Music Composition
Of these nominees, two were selected to perform in the Sydney Opera House Encore Concert.

Ruby Scott-Wishart‘s composition was a piece written for acapella choir based on a poem published by her grandmother from a collection of over 40 years of poetry. This was performed on the evening by the MLC School Chamber Choir.

Jade Di Girolamo was also selected for her performance of Gothic Carousel; a piece composed especially for the MLC School Piano Quartet by MLC School Head of Composition Tristan Coelho. The other members of the Piano Quartet performing with Jade were – Wisteria Hu (2022), Ruby Scott-Wishart (2022) and Coco Huang (2022).

It is a tremendous honour to be nominated for the Encore concert. Only the top performing students from around the state are awarded these nominations. For MLC School to have two students selected to showcase their work in the actual concert is somewhat of a coup for our School. A huge congratulations to Ruby, Jade, Jaqueline and Emma. as well as Wisteria, Coco and the girls of the MLC School Chamber Choir. You all represented the School in such a wonderful way!

– Trevor Mee
Director of Music

Click on image gallery for full size images. Photo Credit: Anna Warr.

2023 Australia Day Honours for two MLC School Old Girls

MLC School is very proud to announce that two of our Old Girls, Annabelle Farnsworth AM (1971) and Jane Latimer AO (Broderick, 1978), were included in the Australia Day Honour Awards for their respective contributions to health and to women.

Adjunct Professor Dr Annabelle Farnsworth (1971) MBBS (Hons), FRCPA, FIAC, Dip Cytopath (RCPA), RANZCOG (Hon), who was awarded an AM for significant service to medicine and to women’s health, is the Medical Director and Director of Cytology at Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology and a leading expert in cervical cancer screening.

After completing the HSC at MLC School, where she was an all-rounder with a talent for singing and drama as well as science, Annabelle graduated with First Class Honours from the University of Sydney and trained as an anatomical pathologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

For a number of years, she was Director of Anatomical Pathology at the Royal Hospital for Women, Paddington, before joining the Douglass Practice in 1995.

Prof. Farnsworth is a specialist gynaecological histopathologist and cytopathologist and is Director of GynaePath at Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology. She is well known throughout Australia and internationally for her contributions to cytology and gynaecological pathology.

Emeritus Professor Dr Jane Latimer (Broderick, 1978) BAppSc (Phty), GradDipAppSc (Manip Phty), PhD, MAPA was awarded an AO for distinguished service to tertiary education and research, particularly public health, and to women.

Jane was our 1978 School Captain and the winner of the Old Girls’ Union Prize in 1978. At school she was a talented debater and played high-level tennis, netball and softball.

After school, Jane completed two degrees in Applied Science and later a PhD in Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences at the University of Sydney.

Jane is Emeritus Professor in the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney and is recognised internationally for her research in back pain and Indigenous health.

She was previously Deputy Director of the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, an academic health partnership between the University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District (from 2017 to 2022) and was visiting Professor of Musculoskeletal Health at the University of Oxford (from 2016 to 2022). 

Jane also works as Director of Strategy for Elizabeth Broderick & Co., an organisation focused on gender equality and cultural change. In this role she works closely with the STEM Champions of Change coalition and supports Elizabeth Broderick (Jane’s twin) in her role as UN Chair-Rapporteur for Discrimination against women and girls.

Jane has been an invited mentor for both university and industry programs and recognises the responsibility a good mentor has to move beyond advice and coaching and to use their positional power to advance the careers of mentees.

Kindergarten Girls are Loving Book Picnics

Kindergarten staff were delighted to see so many families joining in our first Book Picnic of the year.

The aim of this special time together is to promote positive early literacy experiences for our young students. There are countless benefits for parents to be involved in their child’s education, and our Book Picnics are a wonderful way to do just that. By sharing stories parents are helping to develop students’ reading skills, vocabulary, and comprehension. Furthermore, it’s a fun and engaging way to bond and create happy memories.

We were thrilled to see the girls’ excitement. They enjoyed picking out their favourite books and sharing them with their peers and families. It’s heart-warming to see their faces light up when they discover a new story or when they see their parents enjoying a book as much as they do.

All Kindergarten families are warmly welcomed, participation in our Book Picnics helps to promote a love of reading that will stay with a child for a lifetime.

– Donna Keane
Teacher, Year Coordinator – Junior School

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A Triumphant Return for an MLC School Landmark Event!

The anticipation is building as all students from Year 5 to Year 12 prepare and rehearse for the 16th MLC School Sydney Opera House Concert – ‘Stories’ – on Monday 22 May 2023.

Such is the level of excitement within the MLC School community that tickets sold out in a week!

Photographs will be included in the Term 2 newsletter.

Year 3 and Year 4 Band Students Teach their Parents

On Saturday 18 February, we had our first ever Hit the Ground Running Day for Year 3 and Year 4 students playing a band instrument. The girls had a fabulous day of intensive music making and it was a fantastic opportunity to get a head start on their instrument (and enjoy a sausage sizzle)! The girls also had a lot of fun teaching their parents and carers how to play their instruments, who we think have a much better understanding of how hard our girls work now!

The fabulous trio responsible for this event were Richard Coward, Head of Bands, Elizabeth Gilberthorpe, Assistant Director of Music, and Sophie Grattan-Smith, Junior School Music Coordinator, with the help from some of our Music tutors.

– Sophie Grattan-Smith
Junior School Music Coordinator

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Camp Reflections from Year 5

My Highlights of camp were making new friends, surfing and facing my fears. I loved surfing because it was a great challenge and I got to try something new. I also loved making new friends, now it makes me a lot more confident! The trivia was a sensational experience, I now know a lot more about Disney characters. Even if we didn’t win, it was still a blast! Thank you to all the teachers and group leaders that participated in this wonderful camp! 
– April 

My Highlight of camp was snorkelling, because I got to do it with my friends and I learnt how to go underwater with my snorkel. It was extremely exciting!  I also loved the sand making competitions and now I am really good at it. I really enjoyed our little walk to the beach on the rainy Thursday.

– Faith

Camp was a fun experience for me, and it helped me to adapt to the school. I made new friendships with my group members and had a great time playing in the water and on the sand. What I enjoyed most about camp was that I had a chance to do activities that I don’t usually have an opportunity to do like surfing, snorkelling, and going to the beach. 

– Emilia

Our Year Five camp was amazing when we went to Kiama in week two. Lots of students showed courage when participating in surfing and snorkelling even though they found it tricky. I’d like to thank all the teachers for helping us in camp and especially Ms Jauncey for organising this camp.

– Charlotte

Camp was a great experience, and we did a whole load of different things starting from surfing to rock rambles. The best activity in my opinion was the beach games mostly the sandcastle competition because of how creative you could get like making dolphins to turtles to even the most creative things like a mermaid hotel but there was also snorkelling which was AMAZING. Even though the vision wasn’t the best we still got to see a lot of different types of fish. 

– Sateni

We had so much fun at camp doing surfing and playing on the beach. We went to visit the blowhole and learn about the water flowing into the blowhole. Learning to surf was one of the favourite activities. Having a sandcastle competition was another one of the amazing activities we did at camp. Going snorkelling in a rock pool was hard but once you got the hang of it was fun looking at the thing in the water like different sea plants and small fish. We had so much fun at camp and can’t wait until the next one. 

– Gemma

Camp was an amazing experience for all of us. We did lots of fun activities like surfing, snorkelling and sandcastle competitions. I know everyone is looking forward to our next camp.

– Isla

To start the long first day of activities, we had surfing and sandcastle building. My group dug a huge hole. On the second day, we did rainy day activities like pipe line. Then finally the last day came, and we did some snorkelling and a walk to Kiama’s very famous Blowhole. Camp was amazing!!!

– Alannah

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Science Guest Speakers Encourage Year 5 and Year 6 To Be Bold

“We can all do our part to unleash our world’s enormous untapped talent – starting with filling classrooms, laboratories, and boardrooms with women scientists.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres

In response to Guterres’ quote, Year 5 and Year 6 girls welcomed guest speakers who sought to encourage them to enter the field of science as their chosen profession. Fran Grant and Greer Horwarth, from Sydney Trains and Transport, spoke with the girls about the joys and challenges associated with choosing a career in science and engineering.

Fran spoke about her journey through developing a trade. She began as a technician who “fixed things”.  She loved being able use her skills to find employment as she travelled anywhere. Her point was: “things always need fixing.”  She also highlighted how these jobs pay very well.

Greer talked about her love of marine biology.  Her career began in the water but the skills she learnt were easily transferable to other areas in science. She now analyses data to make decisions that change the way things are done.  She also loves being a female role model for other women, something much lacking when she began her career.

Both speakers were honest as they highlighted the lack of gender equity in the field of science and engineering.  Despite this, the girls were encouraged to be bold. As the 21st Century moves on there are many new experiences being developed and the world needs thinkers, innovators and those prepared to be daring and audacious to try new things. The call was made for the girls to step up, step out and change the world.

– Year 5 and Year 6 Teachers

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Year 7 Camp

The Year 7 Camp was an amazing start to the year. I am so proud of how every single Year 7 student participated, laughed, shared and bonded over the three days. We left school feeling a little apprehensive and nervous and came back fighting fit, with new friends and connections, a full understanding of how to pack up a tent and most certainly keen for another surf! To watch the students surf, mountain bike, learn bush craft, canoe and all in such spectacular weather was truly a privilege.

– Kylie Bickerstaff
Head of Year 7

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International Day of Mathematics – Mathematics for Everyone

Each year, the International Day of Mathematics sits on 14 March. In celebration of this year’s theme “Mathematics for Everyone”, Year 7 and Year 8 students participated in some activities, involving creativity and problem solving. Students produced some creative mathematical comic strips, where only drawings and numbers were allowed and told a story where people worldwide could understand. Classes also designed posters with their faces on them to illustrate the diverse people who can experience mathematics through exploration, play, research, learning, problem solving and curiosity. Year 8 classes also participated in a Scavenger Hunt around the Senior Centre, where problems involving history of mathematics, volumes, areas, and tessellation were explored.

Furthermore, a huge congratulations must be given to Nitya (Year 10). Based on her excellent performance in the Australian Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad (AIMO) and Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC), she was selected to participate in the Mathematical Problem Solving Correspondence Program (MaPS), run by the University of Sydney. This program was developed to help talented students develop their problem-solving skills and prepare them for further mathematics competitions. We wish her all the best in this program.

We look forward to even more exciting activities in Mathematics throughout the year.

– Alfred Chu
Head of Department – Mathematics

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Year 9 Photography and Digital Media

Year 9 Photography and Digital Media students are successfully acquiring skills in mastering the camera’s aperture, shutter and ISO to create considered and thoughtful images.

This student example was captured by Phoebe (Year 9) of her class member Jiayi (Year 9). It uses a shutter speed of 1/500^th of a second and the conceptual inspiration of contemporary photographer Natsumi Hayashi, captured during a double period in class.

– Emily Cribb
Design, Art and Technology (DART) Teacher

Year 10 and Women in STEM Construction

A recent special guest and presenter for our Year 10 students was Mila Baturevych, currently Senior Project Manager for The Bays Station (Balmain) as part of Sydney Metro West.

 

MLC School returns to NSW Law Society Mock Trials

This year, MLC School has returned to the NSW Mock Trial competition after a number of years without a team. The School does, however, have a rich history in the competition, winning the title in 1997 and 1999 under the guidance of Michele Johnson (OG 1973).

Each trial consists of a team of two barristers, a solicitor, two witnesses and a magistrate’s clerk. The team acts as either the prosecution or the defence in a criminal or civil case, competing against other schools to win the trial.

The team’s first experience participating in a trial was against Merewether High School. It was the first time the students had participated in a scored trial, and they were allocated to the defence. They did a valiant job of dissecting the case and constructing arguments defending their accused on charges of deliberately placing a tree over railway tracks in order to bring attention to an environmental agenda. The students were successful in clearing the accused of charges, but lost the mock trial by one point.

– Joanna Graffen
Head of Senior School

Analysing Data in Year 12 Science Extension

Our Science Extension students are focusing on analysing and interpreting qualitative and quantitative data to provide evidence to support or refute their hypotheses. The students developed their own research question to analyse qualitative image data in class this week. Their research question, “What is the difference in visual perception of men’s and women’s roles in science as seen in images from the internet?”, required them to learn how to develop and conduct a content analysis via coding. As part of performing this collaborative analysis, they discussed how the data can be biased by the preconceptions of those performing the coding, lack of clarity in coding guidelines and individual interpretations of images. The students also examined how citizen science projects, such as Galaxyzoo, use a structured coding program to analyse image data from Hawaii-Two-0 survey.

– Felicity Cassidy
Science Teacher

IB Japanese Language Students Visit Nihongo Tanken Centre

The Year 11 and Year 12 Japanese IB students had a wonderful full day excursion at the Nihongo Tanken Centre in December 2022. Experiencing real life Japanese is an integral part of the IB course and the students demonstrated their open-minded inquiry skills by embracing the opportunity and seeking a deeper understanding of the Japanese language in context. The workshop took place in a traditional Japanese style building, which began with an engaging introduction from Mieko sensei and Taka sensei who demonstrated the correct way to take off your shoes and enter the genkan (entrance). From the moment they arrived the students were spoken to exclusively in Japanese and encouraged to reach out of their comfort zone. It was a full and busy day which was exhausting; however, the experience was a memorable one which was enjoyed and beneficial to all participants.

– Natasha Collins
Languages Teacher

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Round Square Collaboration with Barker College

MLC School is proud to be a Round Square School celebrating 20 years of involvement in the Round Square organisation in 2023. As part of this we are involved in the wider Round Square community including schools across NSW, Australia and the world. This year Barker College is joining the Round Square community and last week MLC School students worked alongside Barker’s new Round Square committee to introduce the Round Square IDEALS, discuss projects and develop future goals.

MLC School hosted 12 Barker College Year 10 students who make up their Round Square Committee alongside two teachers last Wednesday afternoon. The afternoon saw MLC School students from across Year 10, Year 11 and Year 12 work with the Barker College students as an introduction to being a Round Square School, how Round Square works at MLC School and our individual experiences. From after lunch into the afternoon, the event was comprised of presentations, activities and planning sessions regarding how Round Square can be adapted for Barker College and brainstorming the Round Square IDEALS and their role in our wider school community.

All Round Square activities and events are based around the 6 IDEALS of Internationalism, Democracy, Environmentalism, Adventure, Leadership and Service alongside the 12 Round Square Discoveries. We discussed how these focus areas interlink and how they can be imbedded in classroom and co-curricular learning alongside Round Square events.

Presentations included the 2022 International Conference in the UK as well as the upcoming 2023 International Conference in Kenya, our recent International Women’s Day Postcard event and Round Square through the period of COVID-19 lockdowns. Activities and discussion groups covered current and future Round Square initiatives, the groups’ areas of interest and key current issues as well as where to start with being a Round Square School. It was an amazing opportunity for discussion and collaboration with both schools being inspired with new ideas for future Round Square projects. For MLC School, as an experienced Round Square School, we were able to see new perspectives regarding Round Square and events we hold here.

It was a fantastic afternoon of fun, discussion and enthusiasm for Round Square and a great demonstration of the value of the Round Square community outside of MLC School.

– Elizabeth (Year 12)
Round Square Captain 

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