Year 10

The Year 10 cohort has continued their busy schedule in Week 2 this term, beginning with more assessments – Drama, Dance and Science as their final task. I have been so impressed with the girls’ approach to the assessment block, in their preparation, supporting each other and following instructions from the external supervisors. This assessment block is a big step up for the girls as they experienced a more formal, senior style exam environment before Year 11. In Luminary time, we are also going to unpack the experience for the girls to see what they learnt about themselves and how they can prepare themselves better for future tasks while maintaining their wellbeing and balance. A special thanks also goes to you as parents and families for supporting the girls during this busy time.

This term, until rollover in Week 5, is about celebrating our successes in Year 10 and looking forward to the future. While we have lost some Year 10 group opportunities due to COVID-19, some traditional activities have adapted to the new normal and thrived.

Our image this week is of the successful Year 10 Archdale Debating winners: from left, Tina Papamanuel, Doris Yang, Jade Di Girolamo, Sarah Pearson and Sanya Mehta. After a highly successful season of online debating via Zoom, the girls defeated Kambala twice, PLC Pymble, Santa Sabina and Meriden in the final with a unanimous judgement from the adjudicators. They drew the negative side for the final against Meriden on the topic, ‘We should care for our parents in old age.’ Normally the negative is a difficult side to debate but the girls loved this topic, an especially heartfelt one given our current climate. The girls wanted to thank Andrea Rowe for her care and organisation of the competition and Josh Wong, their debating coach, for sharing his debating skills, enthusiasm and knowledge.

Regular classes are now in place for Year 10 and their teachers are working hard to engage them, prepare them for the next stage and do some fun activities to sign off on their subjects, some of which the girls won’t work on again. This is an interesting time of transition and the girls are looking forward to moving on. Please contact me via email or call 02 8741 9736 regarding any issues your daughter may be experiencing and how we can best work together to support her. 

– Sharon Connolly
Head of Year 10