From The Principal

Year 6 Transition to Secondary School

On Tuesday 28 July 2020, current Year 6 students had the opportunity to experience a little of what lies ahead for them in Year 7 at MLC School. I thoroughly enjoyed dusting off my teaching resources to prepare for the day and the opportunity to share the excitement with the Year 6 girls. In my Science lesson we explored the transfer of energy and experimental design as we catapulted marshmallows of various sizes across the open area of the Senior School building. Other lessons included the exploration of word play, doggerel and epigrams in an English lesson with Deputy Principal Frances Booth, making delicious rice paper rolls with Head of Learning and Teaching Linda Emms, engaging in History lessons with Head of Department – History Peter Klamka and an energetic PE lesson with Head of Department – Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) Olivia Nolan.

As well as building excitement for the next phase of their learning, the day allowed members of the Executive and academic leadership team to get to know the girls and to offer encouragement and connection as they begin their transition to Secondary education. I know that all involved had a wonderful day. I must admit it was also reassuring for me to know that although it is some time since I worked full-time in the classroom, my teacher voice can still bring a class to silence in seconds!

Pastoral Care

In keeping with our stated aim to ‘connect our community with the spiritual life of the School, and ensure that service is at the heart of our expression of faith’, it has been wonderful to see our Chaplains out and about, meeting and greeting our girls and their families and assisting with drop off and pick up. Amongst the many projects that are underway, the Senior School hats for the homeless initiative has seen our girls making beanies to contribute to those in need.

There are many other initiatives underway in Pastoral Care, Teaching and Learning and Masterplanning and I look forward to updating you on these as the year progresses.

– Lisa Moloney
Principal

Old Girl Shares Her Hong Kong Experience

In March we sent out a call to MLC School Old Girls all over the World to share their pandemic experiences with us.  Each of us has our own journey and it differs from place to place, and country to country. We are grateful to the 14 Old Girls who answered the call from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.  We will be sharing more of these stories in an upcoming issue of LUCIS.

Living in Hong Kong during COVID 19 pandemic – Lydia Leung (class of 1995)

It has been a tough year overall for all of us, whether we live in Australia or overseas. We relocated back to Hong Kong in 2002.  Back to a heavily populated city of over 7.4 million people, that has always been buzzing with energy.

The burst of COVID 19 clusters has now silenced the city. The closing of many shops that couldn’t survive the downturn, and mandatory closing of all restaurants in the evening has turned this once World-famous city in Asia into a dark, quiet little town.

We have been through many significant changes to our lives, from shortages of masks, groceries and supermarket items, to total online home schooling for the majority of 2020.

Helping my children get through their whole school year on zoom and online projects was surreal. Handing in presentations and work, getting feedback and parent teacher consultations all done online made us feel distant. Luckily it was still encouraging to be able to hear constant motivations and support on line.

The children of this era have definitely shown they are adaptive and innovative, using many forms of communication to get through this lockdown around the World.

I really hope the virus will go away very soon, or that a remedial vaccine will be available so we can all travel safely and get on with our daily lives without fear.

Sapphires Cancellation – Reminder

Although we very much regret the cancellation of our Annual Sapphires’ Chapel Service and Luncheon for 2020, the safety of our Old Girls is very important to us.  

Please stay posted, we will advise all Sapphires as soon as we know next steps.

• Tuesday 13 October 2020 – Sapphires’ Chapel Service and Luncheon CANCELLED

Reunion Cancellation Reminder

Due to COVID-19 restrictions and the safety of our Old Girls, the following reunions have been cancelled. We will update you on how will we proceed with these as soon as possible.

• Saturday 12 September 2020 – Reunions for Class of 1980 and 1970 CANCELLED
• Tuesday 13 October 2020 – Sapphires’ Chapel Service and Luncheon CANCELLED

MLC School Tour Dates

The MLC School girl is fearless and brave. She is focused on learning.

The next MLC School tour day will still proceed and be held on Tuesday 18 August 2020 as a virtual tour from 10.30am.

Numbers are limited and registration is required. To register your attendance click the link below and please indicate which tour you would like to attend. There’s no need for you to miss out on the change to secure a place for your daughter at MLC School.

We look forward to ‘seeing’ you on the day. If you have other enquiries, please contact Nerida Coman, MLC School Registrar, by email or call 02 8741 3165. 

REGISTER HERE

The last Tour Day of the year is Thursday 12 November 2020, from 10.30am. Registrations are now open.

2020 Time Capsule

As part of their legacy at MLC School, the Year 12 Class of 2020 is gifting the School a time capsule to capture a snapshot of the School at this moment in history – a unique school year which will no doubt be an interesting one for future generations to explore. The time capsule will be opened at the School’s 200 year celebrations in 2086.

Through this project the girls hope to celebrate the MLC School community, reflect on its values and appreciate our past experiences. The OGU has been asked to contribute to the capsule.

In a year where these girls have had so many of their last experiences curtailed by COVID-19 restrictions, their generosity in thinking about the entire community is truly inspiring.

Watch the video explaining the concept.

Nina Dillon Britton (2015) wins 2020 University Medal and Michael Jackson Prize

Nina’s proud mum, Anne, contacted us with the exciting news that her daughter, Nina Dillon Britton (2015), had won the University of Sydney 2020 University Medal and Michael Jackson Prize for achieving the highest mark in Government honours.

In true MLC School spirit, Nina described how she used the prize money: ‘I spent some of it on a much-needed new pair of shoes and donated the rest to the Refugee Advice and Casework Service, which provides emergency legal advice to refugees and asylum seekers.’

Nina’s innate passion for social justice and equality was evident in her prize-winning honours thesis, Throwing away the umbrella: A quantitative analysis of the effects of Shelby County v Holder. Her thesis examined the way that restrictive and racially discriminatory voting practices in the USA had increased since 2013 when the US Supreme Court decided to invalidate the “preclearance” policy under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The preclearance process was designed to reduce discrimination, increase voter turnout, and to ensure each citizen had equal power to elect his or her preferred representative.

Aside from Nina’s exceptional academic achievements, she is currently the editor of the University of Sydney’s student magazine Honi Soit and last year she was the Editor in Chief of the Sydney University Law Society’s Dissent Journal.

 Nina’s coverage of anti-sexual assault protests in Honi Soit was featured in the New York Times, News.com and Junkee. 

The full article celebrating Nina’s outstanding success can be read here.

– Barbara Hoffman
Archivist

Teacher Appreciation Week

During the week of Monday 15 June to Friday 19 June 2020, the Student Representative Council (SRC) had the pleasure of coordinating Teacher Appreciation Week, an event first initiated by the 2019 SRC team and eagerly carried on by our representatives this year.

Teacher Appreciation Week was the chance for girls to get involved again within the School community and to show their gratitude for their teachers who had gone above and beyond, especially during online schooling. 

Looking around the School, you could see the immense gratitude and appreciation that the student body has for the teachers who have played a significant role in their education and their growth in life.

Girls worked together with teachers in the Teacher Student trivia, wrote words of gratitude and kindness on our Staff Appreciation Notes, and dressed up as their favourite teachers on Friday 18 June 2020, which was also Kindness Day.

– Charlie (Year 12)
SRC Captain

Will your daughter be an MLC School Girl too?

Would you like to enrol your daughter at MLC School?

Old Girls are given priority in our interview program.  The School is currently commencing interviews for girls who will commence in Pre-K to Year 7 in 2023.

If you would like to apply for the few limited 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, view our online prospectus package –  please click HERE.

Should you wish to register for our upcoming virtual tour on 18 August 2020, please click HERE.

For any questions regarding enrolment, please feel free to email Nerida Coman, Registrar.

Illuminate Lights Up Week 1

Illuminate 2020 took over the Senior Centre in Week 1. This student-led celebration and exhibition uses art and design to visually represent interpretations of the MLC School motto to ‘Walk as Daughters of the Light’.

From art installations to dance performances, both the Junior and Senior School took part in the successful week-long event. 

Even though parents couldn’t be on campus this year, MLC School found another way to share the fun and atmosphere of this special event.  We hope you enjoy this quick video showing the amazing work that went into Illuminate 2020.  

All students and staff should be commended for this great event.

Senior Centre Wins Prestigious Architecture Award

During the school break, architects BVN, were awarded the prestigious William E Kemp Award for Educational Architecture at the NSW Architecture Awards for their work on the Senior Centre – what we already know is a simply outstanding building.

The Award Jury said, ‘With an eye on the future of collaborative work-place environments the Senior Centre enhances learner-centred design principles by providing daylight-illuminated spaces that enable students to take increasing responsibility for their own learning and be more self-directed in how they shape their learning experience. Open areas have successfully blurred the boundaries between spaces such that staff and students are often working side by side in their preparation time. The glass pods suspended throughout the building encourage senior students to make the most of the opportunity for private study, small group study or meetings with teachers. There is a harmonious and successfully realised balance between open collaborative spaces, performance, practical and more traditional spaces.’

In reality, the Senior Centre offers so much more than beautiful spaces. It provides our girls with a view to their future work places and facilitates the style of learning that will equip them with the skills they will need to be adaptable and flexible.

Of course, we are proud of the awards the building has so far received, but my pride comes from knowing that our girls are using the spaces as they were designed to be used: to work as a team or seek a place for quiet study. During Illuminate last week, the girls transformed the building into a stunning gallery to display all manner of art and it looked absolutely stunning. I was so proud that I sent the architects several photos to show them how their creation is now working for us so brilliantly.

– Lisa Moloney
Principal

For more information on the Architectural Awards, please click here.

School Leaders Unite

The Junior School Captains, Jodhi and Sophia (both Year 5), joined the Middle School leaders and Senior School leaders at their meetings in Term 2. It was fantastic for Jodhi and Sophia to see how the Senior School leaders work together – both groups were very different. Jodhi and Sophia gained insight into how our MLC School ‘older’ girls view and action leadership and how they work together to better the School and represent the students. We thank these leadership groups for making us so welcome. We look forward to making further links between the leaders of the Senior School and the leaders of the Junior School.

– Joanne Sharpe
Deputy Head of Junior School, Student Life

Year 12 IB Chemistry and Physics Investigations Are Testing

Our Year 12 IB Chemistry and Physics girls continued work on their Internal Assessment investigations during the School holidays, under the watchful eyes of Felicity Cassidy, Tracy Getts and Susan Rowley. The variety of experiments and robust discussions continued to ramp up with the ‘MacGyver’ skills of some girls put to the test!

Wishing to investigate how temperature may affect the pitch of instruments, Cherie manipulated equipment in a unique way to set up up an apparatus that could test the resonance of a tube simulating a wind instrument at different temperatures. Other investigations included Kaisha looking at improving her soccer skills by observing how momentum is conserved when kicking balls of different radii and Amala used the rotational speeds of galaxies to determine if their percentage of dark matter changes with distance to the galaxy.

Amelie and Jessica are shown in the accompanying images wielding the glassware like professionals to study chemical properties of materials in great depth. They are performing complex experiments and using a wide range of equipment and probes to meticulously take measurements and collect data for further analysis.

Interhouse Public Speaking Competition 2020

MLC School continues to find creative and novel ways to do things. This year, the Interhouse Public Speaking Competition has embraced a new format. The prepared speeches were pre-recorded and submitted online. A panel of adjudicators, including student representatives, watched the speeches, scoring them and giving feedback.

The Impromptu Speaking Round 2 was very exciting. It was held in the Senior School playgrounds. The participants found it confronting, as they had a large audience to entertain and a stage with a microphone to present from. However there was an exciting vibe emanating from the audience. More people were able to take part and House spirit abounded.

Every competitor was impressive but only three from each division could progress to the final round which will be in early August. 

– Jan Falls
Learning Enhancement Teacher

– Cherie
2020 Debating Captain

You Can’t Stop The Music

When challenges come along. MLC School rises and grows, and our Music Department has proved that you can’t stop the music.  

Though, our Chamber Orchestra and piano students were unable to perform to live audiences, we took them to the people virtually this year.

Chamber Music Concert

Many congratulations to everyone involved in the wonderful Virtual Chamber Music concert on Friday 5 June 2020. At MLC School, girls volunteer to play chamber music and rehearse either before school or at lunch. Over the past few weeks it has been lovely to see the girls come together to perform again, especially during these difficult times.

All the ensembles played beautifully, performing works by a range of composers that included Bach, Boccherini, Haydn, Arensky, Dvorak, Teddy Bor, Milhaud, as well as a new work by our own Tristan Coelho. 

View the Chamber Music Concert Showcase here
To access the video showcase please enter the password: MLCMusic

– Joanna Drimatis
Head of Strings

Piano Festival

MLC School was proud to host its first-ever virtual Piano Festival. This event was a voluntary performance opportunity for girls who play piano, with all participants receiving a certificate of participation. 

Please follow the links and watch some of our great pianists who participated.
To access the video showcase please enter the password: MLCPiano

Beginners Showcase

Intermediate Showcase

Advanced Showcase

Round Square – Learning and Fun On Campus

MLC School is the only Round Square school in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area and has been a global member since 2005. Developed in 1966 the Round Square community is a global network of 160 innovative schools across six continents, sharing  a passion for experiential learning and character education.

Membership offers schools a framework for excellence and continuous improvement, along with structured opportunities to collaborate and share experiences with like-minded peers around the world.

Our Round Square Captain, Lily in collaboration with our Arts and Design Captain, Paris worked hard with their respective committees to bring both Round Square Week and Illuminate together, making these events special without the usual community engagements (such as parents attending).

Events during the week were varied and inclusive, featuring an interfaith chapel service; treasure hunt; art and design Installations; interactive ‘massive’ world map; global concerns installation; wishing tree; student dance performances; dance workshop; international film showings; debate and panel; Pictionary; musical performances and the inaugural Round Square Fair.

MLC School Embraces Online Events

Embracing new challenges and adapting to changing times has never been more necessary. MLC School has risen to the occasion – taking advantage of new opportunities to ensure that our School Community stays in touch.

From the introduction of “flexible learning” and our first virtual event earlier this year right through to Webinars, the whole School has been working hard to keep our girls and families informed and involved.  Families have been enthusiastic and appreciative in their response.

Here’s a small sample of online and virtual events the school has delivered over the last two terms:

Junior School Mother/Daughter Disco; Coffee with the Principal and Head of Junior School; MLC Tour Day – Virtual Tour; Dr Michael Carr-Gregg Seminar; Year 6 Parent Student Webinar, Illuminate; Chamber Music Festival; Piano Festival; Year 10 Parent Information Evening; Year 8 Subject Selection Information Evening; live Streaming of Year 12 IB Theatre Collaborative Presentation Q&A and Year 12 HSC Performance Task; Chapel and Communion, and most recently, a Microbiome Research Webinar for students and parents.

We will continue to deliver informative and interesting opportunities for our girls and families, as we continue to work  towards physical events being able to take place once again

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Have you Read About our 2020 Alumnae Award Winners?

Old Girls of MLC School help to make the world a better place. Their contributions lead to progress that benefits society as a whole. MLC School would like to recognise and celebrate these women who are prepared to think differently; have courage and conviction; and lead with passion, and we have introduced the MLC School Alumnae Awards, as a means to do so.

Read about our Alumnae Award Winners HERE

MLC School Safety Town Comes Alive

For their Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) class, the Year 3 girls learnt about road safety and in particular bike safety. On Monday 15 June 2020 as a culmination of all the theory lessons, the MLC School Safety Town came alive. The Year 3 girls brought either their bike or scooter to School and participated in a bike safety course on the Hockey field. The safety course had pedestrian crossings, roundabouts and traffic lights. The course also challenged the girls with hazards like a dog park where Year 10 Physical Activities and Sports Studies (PASS) girls ran onto the road playing the role of dogs and flew around as birds. There were remote control cars buzzing around the course as the girls tried not to be distracted on their journey. The girls also needed to navigate over speed bumps around bunting on the ground that resembled a drain and watch out for a spot fire in the middle of the path.

The Year 10 PASS girls issued fines to the Year 3 girls for not using hand signals and reckless riding. The fines needed to be paid with physical challenges like star jumps, sit ups, push ups and burpees! Additionally, Officer Sarah Jauncey sent many reckless riders to the MLC School Safety Town Police Station for further investigation.

A great afternoon of fun was had by all and the consolidation of learning was put into practise. Michelle Hiss and the Kindergarten girls also had the opportunity to visit MLC School Safety Town in action, as they too had been learning about different types of safety.

Thank you to Burwood Council for lending the School actual council signs.

See all the great photos on Facebook.

– Sarah Jauncey
PDHPE Teacher

Big Sister, Little Sister

Our Year 11 ‘Big Sisters’, care for their ‘Little Sisters’ in Year 7 on a regular basis

The Year 11 girls are a wonderful support for the Year 7 girls, focusing their conversations on friendship and connection with words of encouragement about the importance of getting to know different girls in the Year group and offering suggestions about how to do so. We hope all Year 7 girls will feel that their ‘Big Sister’ is another person at School they can go to for additional support.

– Karen Roberts
Head of Year 7

The Year 11 girls recently spent time during Luminary, with their Year 7 Little Sisters. It was nice to see how each Luminary group found different and fun ways to engage and bond with the Year 7 girls. Indeed, looking at the photos it should come as no surprise to you that I have received a lot of positive feedback from teachers about the particularly mature and caring relationships that this group of Year 11 girls have formed with their Little Sisters; something that is a credit to them.

– Felicity Berry
Head of Year 11

Paul Dillon – Drug and Alcohol Presentation

The MLC School Strategic Plan 2020-2024 puts a very strong emphasis on Communication and Family Experience.  Our long term aim is to build trusting, communicative partnerships with our families and our community so that MLC School girls benefit from excellent, constructive interaction between parents, the School, and its staff.

The MLC School girl is at the heart of everything we do.  With this in mind, the School invited Paul Dillon, Director and founder of DARTA (Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia) to present to all Year 10 to Year 12 girls during week one of this term.

Paul Dillon is passionate about ensuring that the community has access to accurate and up-to-date alcohol and other drug information.

DARTA provides school communities with presentations on a range of alcohol and other drug issues. To ensure best practice is followed, DARTA presents across the school community targeting students (Year 10s and above), teachers  and parents to ensure that all receive the same information.  DARTA is committed to best practice drug education and all workshops are aligned with the new Australian Health and Physical Education Curriculum.   

The delivery of high quality and accurate alcohol and other drug information to all parties is essential for a whole community-based approach.

Kareen Healys Doll’s house

A beautiful doll’s house was donated to MLC Junior School last term by Kareen Healy’s mother, Sandra. The doll’s house, made by Kareen’s Uncle Allan, was once Kareen’s favourite toy. It will now be enjoyed by MLC Junior School girls for years to come.

The doll’s house is just one of the tributes to Kareen at MLC School that reflects Kareen’s, and her family’s, warmth and generosity. We thank Sandra for this kindhearted and touching gift.

Kareen Healy (2005)

Kareen Healy was a wonderful girl who was beloved by both her many school friends of all ages, and by the staff at MLC School. She was described as a generous, positive and cheerful person. Tragically, her life was cut short at the end of Year 9 when she collapsed while doing something she loved; playing touch football for MLC School with her schoolmates. Kareen had an anaphylactic reaction and went into cardiac arrest on 2 December 2002. She subsequently passed away without regaining consciousness on 5 December 2002.

Kareen was an energetic, fit and fun-loving girl who participated in a number of team sports and always strived to beat her personal best. Teams were incredibly important to Kareen; all she wanted was to compete, support her teammates, and to respect the sport and the spirit in which it was played. This was Kareen’s strength and one that endeared her to all.

Friendships meant a lot to Kareen and she was popular because she did not judge people, rather she acknowledged the strengths of her peers without criticism. She was generous to her friends in many ways. It was fitting that even after death she enriched the lives of others – four adults were the recipients of Kareen’s donated organs. This is something Kareen would have been pleased to know. Her family said ‘Kareen was a generous girl, a loving girl, a team player. She would be wholeheartedly happy at the fact that she kept four people alive.’

Even though she was very disciplined and her attention to detail was widely recognised, Kareen also had a mischievous ‘prankster’ streak aimed at creating fun and laughter for her mates. Her laugh was more like a chuckle and a smile continually lit her face.

Kareen Healy had a personal motto: ‘Be the best you can possibly be and then improve further, in all you do.’

Other Memorials to Kareen Healy at MLC School

Speech Night Award: Year 11 Kareen Healy Memorial All Round Sporting Award

The generosity of spirit that Kareen always displayed is reflected in the annual Kareen Healy Memorial All-Rounder Sports Award which is awarded to a Year 11 student in recognition of their community commitment – someone who has a positive influence on the team, is a quiet achiever, displays respect for the sport played and its officials, and who plays the sport in the spirit of MLC School values.

Kareen’s younger sister Alyssa Healy (2008) was also a student at MLC School. Alyssa left MLC School a couple of years after Kareen died, but for many years returned to the School to present the Speech Night Award in her sister’s honour. Alyssa is currently a part of the Australian Women’s Cricket team as a wicketkeeper, batter and bowler.

Rowing Boat: 4x+ Rowing Boat Purchased and Named ‘Kareenypoo’ in 2003

Kareen didn’t row but as an avid sports player she had a number of good friends who rowed. In 2003, Kareen’s rowing friends purchased a 4x+ boat and named it ‘Kareenypoo’, Kareen’s nickname.

The ‘Kareenypoo’ was launched at a ceremony on 14 February 2003. Kareen’s sister Alyssa christened the boat and her father, Greg Healy, spoke, reminding all present that ‘there will always be six in this boat’.

Kareen Elizabeth Healy Memorial Bench

The bench, donated by Kareen’s family, sits on the verandah of the Sutherland Rooms, overlooking the Principal’s Lawn.

– Barbara Hoffman
MLC School Archivist

Apology and Correction Excelsior 2019

The Marketing and Community Relations Department wishes to apologise to the 2019 Captain of Netball, Capri Maher for the error made in her report on page 171 of Excelsior 2019 which was incorrectly attributed to another author. We sincerely apologise for this mistake and are correcting all digital and archival editions of Excelsior 2019.  

The updated edition is available here.

Michele Dunn
Head of Marketing and Community Relations

Have You Moved Recently?

Have you recently moved, changed your email or mobile phone numbers?

Please let us know so that we can continue to keep in touch.  If you know of any other Old Girls who are currently not receiving communications but would like to, then please pass on this request or provide their details.  Thank you.

UPDATE HERE