From the Principal

This week we enjoyed a number of offsite community events and welcomed external visitors into the School after a long COVID-imposed moratorium on such gatherings. How lovely it has been to mix with parents and members of the School community in person! We are certainly making up for lost time with this week’s activities including:

• Welcoming parents and students from across Sydney to the Grand Finals of the ISDA debating (in which our Year 8 team won their competition after being undefeated all year and our Year 9 girls were runners up after being narrowly defeated by Sydney Grammar)
• Listening to marvellous performances at Friday night’s Piano Festival
• The 135^th Year Celebration Dinner at the Hilton Hotel
• Being absolutely awed by an exceptional night of Jazz at the Camelot Lounge (photos are on the MLC School Facebook page)
• Being treated to a fabulous Junior School assembly hosted by Year 3

Of course, this was on top of the usual array of sporting and co-curricular activities offered every week. Such events and activities take an enormous amount of time and energy, often on top of already demanding teaching roles. On behalf of the whole School community I would like to thank everyone involved in organising and hosting these events.

135^th Year Celebration Dinner

Thank you to everyone who attended this marvellous event. Despite it being a cool winter evening, we all thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to ‘glam up’ and dance the night away to the John Field Band.

We are so fortunate to have the support of a strong, connected School community, all of whom share our commitment to ensuring that our girls have access to the best possible education. It was lovely to gather and celebrate our School in such a way. Thank you to Jillian Avramis and all members of the Marketing and Community Relations team for envisioning and hosting this event.

Photos from the evening are on the MLC School Facebook page.

CEO Sleepout Countdown and Live Stream Link

 It is now less than one week until I attend the CEO Sleepout at White Bay Cruise Terminal. The latest information that I’ve received is that ‘starting at 5pm, you’ll arrive and be joined by many special people – people who’ve lived through the harsh realities of homelessness and poverty, as well as volunteers and support staff. Every conversation is another opportunity to learn more about poverty and homelessness in Australia’.

I am in equal parts excited and worried but I am sure that it will be an eye opening and educational experience.

The Senior School Looming with Love group have made me a beanie in MLC School colours and I am incredibly grateful for the warm wishes and donations received from across the School community.

I will do my best to keep the community updated on the evening of the event via the School’s social media pages and there is a live stream of the event, starting at 6pm.

If you would like to support my participation in the sleepout, please donate at https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/fundraisers/lisamoloney/new-south-wales

The link to the livestream is: http://live.createengage.com.au/vinniesceosleepout2021/index.html

– Lisa Moloney
Principal

Increased Patrols by Burwood Council Parking Officers

As a result of traffic build up in Comer Street (the road leading to the underground carpark in Britannia Ave), Council parking officers will be enforcing the road rules for blocking the roadway, driveways and impeding pedestrian and neighbour access.  

Please be mindful that the School is located in suburban streets, which we share with many neighbours and we ask that you always respect their right to the full enjoyment of their properties.

Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards Ceremony

On Tuesday 25 May 2021, five MLC School girls were awarded their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards at the official International Award Ceremony at the Amphitheatre in Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park.

The Gold Award is the most demanding of all levels of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and is made up of five components: Service, Physical, Skill, Adventurous Journey and Residential Project.

Congratulations to the following students:

• Elle Tamvakolos (Year 12)
• Vanessa Ryan (Year 12)
• Amelie Roediger (2020)
• Holly Miller (2020)
• Cherie Pepperell (2020)

Book Your Tickets for Triumph and Tragedy

MLC School is delighted to invite you to Triumph and Tragedy, our first significant music performance in over 18 months, on Wednesday 14 July 2021 at City Recital Hall, Angel Place.

This concert will celebrate effort and perseverance. It’s an ode to the risk taker; the resolute and the creator of things; those aware of the possibility of failure, yet seek the prize nonetheless. From the uplifting Aaron Copland Fanfare For The Common Man or Eye of the Tiger to the poignant Why Can’t That Be Me from Muriel’s Wedding, to works by one of our current Year 12 HSC students and a String Fantasy by our resident composer, this event will celebrate music creators.

BOOK HERE

Wakakirri Ticket Release

Wakakirri Story Dance involves students enrolled into the co-curricular Dance Jazz, Contemporary and Ballet program for Year 3 to Year 12. Tickets for this event are strictly allocated to families of the students directly involved in the program.  

Please note that Wakakirri allocate us tickets based on a ratio of performers per school performing on each evening of the event. The 2021 Senior School Wakakirri allocation is STRICTLY limited to ONE spectator ticket per performer. While the Junior School has an allocation of TWO tickets per performer. Information regarding ticket sales for both Junior School and Senior School events are detailed in the individual payment links.  

Please understand that we will regretfully need to refund any ticket order above your allocation.  

School ticket sales via the MLC School Payment links will cease at 5pm, Friday 18 June 2021.  

Junior Wakakirri (Year 3 to Year 6)

Monday 26 July 2021, 7pm
NIDA Parade Theatre, Kensington
Groups involved: Ballet Ensemble*, Jazz Dance Ensemble, Contemporary Dance Ensemble
* only those Ballet students who have opted into the event via the expression of interest form.

Book tickets for Junior Wakakirri

Senior Wakakirri (Year 7 to Year 12)

Tuesday 27 July 2021, 7pm
NIDA Parade Theatre, Kensington
Groups involved: Jazz Dance Company, Contemporary Dance Company, Year 11 VET Entertainment

Book tickets for Senior Wakakirri

– Jenna Skepper
Dance Coordinator

Illuminate Festival – Save the Date!

Senior School Co-Curricular Photos

Co-curricular photographs are scheduled to be taken for girls in Year 7 to Year 12 by AdvancedLife on Friday 16 July and Tuesday 20 July 2021.

Groups to be photographed include debating (Year 6 to Year 12), choirs, bands, orchestras, and ensembles. Also, netball, tennis, softball, soccer, water polo, swimming and diving team, fencing, badminton, rowing, AFL, hockey, mind challenges, Duke of Edinburgh, dance companies, co-curricular drama, round square and cadets.

Girls must be in full School uniform, including a blazer. No scarves or jumpers. The School uniform, hair and shoes must be tidy, clean and polished. The schedule is published below and is displayed on the Vivi screens for the girls.

Orders for packages can be placed securely online at www.advancedlife.com.au using MLC School’s unique 9-digit online order code, 9DY JGM 577.

Should you have any queries concerning school photographs or online ordering, please direct them via email to enquiries@advancedlife.com.au

Please note: co-curricular photos for Junior School are scheduled for Wednesday 13 October 2021. More details will be provided closer to the date.

Friday 16 July 2021 Photography Schedule

Tuesday 20 July 2021 Photography Schedule

– Kestie Neligan
Head of School Administration

Main photo: 2020 Diving co-curricular photo

This month on MLC SchoolTV – Friendship and Belonging

Learning how to make new friends and keep them involves a number of skills every young person needs to understand and develop. For some these skills will come very naturally, allowing them to easily move between different friendship groups, sharing their experiences and opening up to new people. For others, this can be much harder to navigate. Belonging to a group that is like-minded with similar interests is highly beneficial to a young person’s wellbeing. It gives them a sense of security helping them feel valued which in turn builds their confidence.

Positive friendships are an important part of the journey to adulthood. Adult carers can support their child or teenager by providing guidance in the many social and emotional skills required for a healthy relationship. This will help them to obtain, retain and maintain friendships. However, not all friendship are regarded as positive. Sometimes young people develop negative or toxic friendships. Therefore it is also important for them to learn how to identify, avoid or deal with such a friendship.

In this edition of SchoolTV, adult carers can learn how to support their young person’s friendship so that they experience a sense of belonging. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this month’s edition, and we always welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to this month’s edition https://mlcsyd.nsw.schooltv.me/newsletter/friendship-belonging.

Formal Wear Donations for Children and Adults of the Brewarrina Mob

Children and Adults of the Brewarrina Mob are in desperate need of formal wear to attend the NAIDOC Ball on Saturday 10 July 2021. Brewarrina is a rural town in North-West NSW above Dubbo and just East of Bourke. There are not many options for them to access formal wear without travelling hundreds of kilometres and that added cost makes it too expensive so many simply do not attend these special events. We are asking for help from our amazing MLC School community.

If you have any formal wear you no longer need or have grown out of, they would love to have them. A box will be left outside the Studies Office for the girls to leave donations, which can be made until the end of Term 2, on Friday 18 June 2021. Donations will be delivered to a collection point in Wollongong on Sunday 20 June 2021.

What can you donate? Formal dresses, tops, skirts, jackets and pants for girls, teens and women of all sizes and ages. Suits, pants, ties, jackets for boys, teens and men of all age and size. 

We truly thank you for your support and this means the world to a community in need.

– Sally Marks
Head of Department – Design, Art and Technology (DART)

Gymnastics Fun Camp

Gymnastics will be running a Holiday Fun Camp on Thursday 1 July 2021 and Thursday 8 July 2021 from 9am–3pm each day. The day will consist of Gymnastics, a morning tea and lunch break, a movie and craft. Students do not need gymnastics experience to attend.

All Gymnastics and Aquatic members can attend for the cost of $60 per day and should register through the online portal. Siblings, friends and family are also welcome to attend for the cost of $70 per day and should call the Aquatic Centre on 8741 3154 to register. 

Places are limited so register early to avoid disappointment. No refunds are given for missed classes or change of mind.

Date: Thursday 1 July 2021 and/or Thursday 8 July 2021
Time: 9am–3pm
Cost: Current student $60/day; New student $70/day

– Rochelle Dagher
Aquatic Centre Customer Service Coordinator

Uniform Shop Holiday Trading Hours Term 2/Term 3

The MLC School Uniform Shop will close for the school holidays on Friday 18 June 2021 at 4pm and will reopen for Term 3 on Friday 9 July 2021 at 9am.

Below are the extra holiday trading hours:

• Friday 9 July 2021, 9am–4pm
• Monday 12 July 2021, 9am–4pm
• Tuesday 13 July 2021, 8am–5pm
• Friday 16 July 2021, 8am–5pm

In addition, the online shop is available for your convenience (passphrase: MLC1886) and orders will be filled when the shop reopens on Friday 9 July 2021.

Normal trading hours will resume on Monday 19 July 2021:

• Monday 8am–4pm
• Tuesday 8am–4pm
• Friday 8am–4pm

For enquiries please contact Vanessa Newling or Helen Searle on 8741 3177 or email mlc@midford.com.au.

Book Now for Learn To Swim Intensive Lessons

Intensive swimming lessons will run for two weeks during the upcoming school holidays, from Monday 28 June to Friday 2 July 2021 and Monday 5 July to Friday 9 July 2021. Lessons must be booked for the entire week and your child will attend the same class at the same time from Monday to Friday that week. Individual classes cannot be booked and make-up lessons will not be given for classes missed.

Intensive lessons do not replace normal bookings, however, if you wish to attend the intensives and not your normal lesson during this period, you may apply for a make-up lesson provided you have given sufficient notice.

Date: Monday 28 June to Friday 9 July 2021
Lessons: 5 x 30-minute lessons (Monday to Friday)
Time: 9am–12noon (times may vary dependent on level. Please refer to timetable)
Cost: Group lessons $102.50 (5 lessons @ $20.50 per lesson)  

Lessons can be booked via the Aquatic Centre Parent Portal (existing customers) or call the Aquatic Centre on 8741 3154. 

Download the timetable

From the Head of Junior School

It has been a delight to have our parents and carers with us this week sharing and celebrating of learning through the Junior School. It has been all smiles across the girls faces as they proudly displayed their achievements at school to their parents and grandparents. Both Pre-K and Year 4 hosted Celebrations of Learning whilst Year 3 lead the Junior School Assembly. 

My thanks to the parents who have been running our second hand uniform sale on the Red Carpet and to those families who also donated uniforms. All proceeds go towards the girls’ education.

During our assembly the girls thanked and farewelled our loved art teacher Jane Lancaster. Ms Lancaster leaves MLC School after many dedicated years of service, bringing a love, understanding, and appreciation of visual arts to so many girls. This year Ms Lancaster taught art to every girl on the Junior School campus. We wish her well in her new position at the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). We welcome back Lesley Snelgrove to our Art department who will work alongside Victoria Bradshaw with the support of our art assistance Liane Simpson.

I look forward to seeing many parents at our Kindergarten to Year 5 Athletics Carnival next Thursday at Sydney Olympic Park. Please click here for more details.

Help our Principal to Help Others

Every night, thousands of Australians experience homelessness. But it doesn’t have to be that way. This year, our Principal Lisa Moloney is taking part in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout to raise money for the St Vincent de Paul Society to support Australians in need. On the night of Thursday 17 June 2021, she’ll be sleeping outside as part of an eye-opening experience to raise awareness and bring home the realities of homelessness.

To support Ms Moloney’s efforts and to help to build understanding about the impact of homelessness, the MLC Junior School will be having a hoodies and beanies mufti day on the last day of term. Students should wear their warmest clothes to remind them how lucky they are to have a home and all its comforts. Students are asked to bring a gold coin donation on the day. Funds raised will be donated to Ms Moloney’s fundraising efforts.

If you wish to personally support Ms Moloney’s participation in the sleepout, please donate at https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/fundraisers/lisamoloney/new-south-wales.

– Daniel Sandral
Head of Junior School

Pre-Kindergarten Celebration of Learning

On Wednesday, the Pre-K girls welcomed their parents, carers and family members to our Celebration of Learning. Our specialist teachers also joined us with a variety of fun learning experiences. The girls had a wonderful time showing their parents and carers all the wonderful learning experiences they engage in during the week.

A special thank you to all families for joining us on this special morning.

– Emily Bryson, Gina Zucco, Vicki Liubinskas, Eleonora Monda
Pre-Kindergarten Team

Click on the image gallery to view full-sized images.

Chaplain’s Corner

The youngest members of Senior School and Junior School held their services in the chapel for the first time this week!

On Tuesday, Year 6 held their first ever Chapel Service as a Year group since the pandemic started. They sang their hearts out and there was a spirit of celebration and even clapping at the end of the service. We explored the theme of ‘Giving Changes People’ and our Year 6 girls were encouraged to share their gifts and talents in fostering a giving heart!

Our Pre-K girls also held their final service for the term in the chapel on Tuesday. They were shown the symbols in the Chapel, and learnt more about them. Their excited, happy faces lit up the worship space as they sang, prayed and learnt about the love of God.

– Rev Vinnie Ravetali
Senior Chaplain

Year 3 CLP – All living things are connected

Girls in Year 3B and Year 3G were scientists dissecting lilies in the Science Lab in the MLC School Senior Centre for their Term 2 Collaborative Learning Project. The project’s Big Idea was: ‘All living things are connected’.

‘Seeing the pollen explode was the best part of dissecting the lilies.’ – Daphne L’Estrange (Year 3B)

‘If we look at the outside of a lily, we don’t see much detail and the parts of a plant, but if we take our time and dissect it, we can see the parts more clearly.’ – Gaia Bigolin (Year 3G) 

‘I got to touch pollen and the stamen.’ – Aerin Kim (Year 3B)

‘We got to see all the parts of the flower that we have never seen before.’ – Elina Yu (Year 3B)

‘On the outside of the flower, it doesn’t look like much, but on the inside, there is much more to it!’ – Zoe Zlamal (Year 3G)

‘We saw that the pollen was actually yellow because we squished the anther and the pollen fell on the paper.’ – Valentina Palazzolo (Year 3G)

– Susan Blanche
Year 3 Teacher

Click on image gallery for full-sized images.

Knitting Club’s Special Visitor

The Junior School Knitting Club were privileged to have a special guest knitter join them this week. Yes, it was Principal Lisa Moloney! She brought her knitting and it was wonderful to have her come along and spend time with us. Thank you to Ms Moloney.

– Junior School Knitting Club

Junior School Athletics Carnival

The Junior School Athletics Carnival (Kindergarten to Year 5) will be held on Thursday 17 June 2021 at Sydney Olympic Park Warm Up Track at Homebush.

The students will be transported by bus to and from the venue during the school day.

Please ensure the students arrive at school by 8am for prompt 8.15am roll call. 

Students will need to wear their House Sports uniform with caps, and have sunscreen, food and water for the whole day.

Students will return to MLC School in time for their normal 3pm–3.15pm collection.

Further information can be found on the excursion notice. Please ensure you approve this excursion on the My Student section on the My MLC School Portal.

– Kylie Bickerstaff
Assistant Director of Sport

Uniting Vacation Care Bookings Now Open

Vacation Care bookings for the June/July School Holidays are now open! Bookings can be made via iParent Portal. For additional support, you can contact the Uniting customer support team at elsupport@uniting.org or on 02 7203 8900. If you are looking for an Exceeding rated service under the National Quality Standards that offers quality education and care, in a safe and secure environment on MLC School grounds, we would love for you to join us at Uniting MLC School OSHC!

For more details and program for the week, please click here.

– Adriana Damevski
Coordinator, Uniting MLC School Outside School Hours Care

From the Head of Senior School

As we embark on the long weekend, and get closer to the mid-year break, it’s a great time to evaluate the levels of success over the past two terms. There are many ways to define success. Admittedly, we all want to be successful in our lives. No matter what our career or personal aspirations may be, we all hope to attain an element of prestige, achievement, and fulfilment.

A major part of success involves never settling for less. I’d say it goes even further to include NEVER SETTLING. Great success depends on the will and drive of the person involved. No matter how much you believe luck and circumstances affect one’s chance at “making it”, this is far from the truth. The person most in charge of your success is YOU. Conversely, YOU are also the biggest obstacle preventing you from achieving that success.

So how does one reach the pinnacle? How can I become everything I desire in my life? How can I reach all my personal goals, and even go beyond my wildest dreams?

Simple. You must become allergic to the idea of being average. Mediocre “success”, satisfactory work, and substandard results cannot be enough for you. If they are, retrain your brain right now. You need to develop an allergy to average. Success depends on being extraordinary and outstanding. In a word full of mediocrity and “just enough” you must become exceptional. You must be and want more than enough.

If you’ve been accepting less than phenomenal from yourself and from your work, you must retrain your brain to reject this. Changing your brain and your ingrained habits is a difficult process, but with commitment and a focus on your new, higher standards, soon you will come to find yourself accepting only the best from yourself and others. In this way, you’ll be honing your allergy to average effort, average performance, and average results. With even the smallest tasks, invest 100% of yourself with the thought that you’ll accept nothing less than the best work of your life.

Further than becoming allergic to average, your brain also must be rewired to reject negativity. Extraordinary success cannot be obtained without real positive thinking; hard work and effort must be supported by optimism and determination. If you start looking at things in more positive terms, you will find that reaching your goals becomes easier. Your dreams seem more obtainable when you are looking through the eyes of positive self-trust and having faith in good outcomes.

Becoming allergic to average will alter your behaviour and thoughts at the subconscious level, gradually changing everything you do to point you towards great success.

How does this translate to school? Is it too late? Why can’t I make a start? Why do I get started and fail to keep going? How do I combat procrastination?

These are all great questions that need answering. Taking onboard an ‘Allergic to Average’ mindset will be the first step to gaining the answers. Please take the time to check in with your daughters. How are they travelling? Are they feeling confident in their own ability to tackle the challenges in all subjects? Do they have good habits in place that have served them well over the first six months of the year? How will they prepare for a successful Term 3? How do they stay positive throughout the colder months?

A collaborative approach to seeking answers to these questions is always the best approach. The willingness to complete a personal review is the first step in becoming allergic to average.

Wishing all our families a great long weekend.

– Neil Scotney
Head of Senior School

From the Assistant Head of Senior School – Academic Care and Administration

Incursion, excursion, immersion

As we slowly emerge (and sometimes quickly retreat) from our COVID isolation these key elements of a MLC School education are returning to our everyday experience and I for one welcome their presence. 

We often say that to truly ‘know’ something requires the use of this knowledge in a ‘variety of uses/settings/problems’. Nothing supports this theory like venturing out into the world to see where and how these facts, theories, concepts and skills are being used (and often misused, and sometimes abused) in the real world. 

Knowledge for knowledge sake will make our conversations over afternoons and coffee spoons entertaining and intellectually stimulating but authentic knowledge, applied to real life and skills forged through first-hand experience will have others talking about us when the evening is spread out against the sky. 

Immersions like the Red Earth program are obviously more difficult to organise in this ever-changing COVID cluster concern but their contribution to learning is even more profound. 

They key for teachers and students is how to bring those real world applications back into the classroom. The opportunity for growth both as a person and as a learner is immense when we expand our horizons. As a parent I would encourage you to use the return of your daughter from one of the many excursions organised each term as a moment to chat about where the rubber meets the road.

– Chris Barnes
Assistant Head of Senior School – Academic Care and Administration

Main photo: Year 8 Excursion to Cockatoo Island. Click here to read more.

From the Assistant Head of Senior School – Pastoral Care and Wellbeing

Social and Emotional Competency: Social Awareness

MLC School has always been a place where social and emotional learning has been put into action by challenging the girls to step out of their comfort zone and try something new. Whether it is within the School grounds, in a co-curricular activity, on excursions, on camps, Duke of Edinburgh experiences or immersions, we have prided ourselves on the development of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) social and emotional competency, Social Awareness by putting the theory into action.

CASEL define social awareness as the ability to understand the perspectives of and empathise with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behaviour in different settings, and recognise family, school, and community resources and supports.

As we reach the end of the term and fatigue sets in, social awareness with regards to being compassionate for others by listening to and taking on others’ perspectives, recognising strengths in others and showing concern for the feelings of others is critically important. For the remainder of the term I would like to challenge our girls to live out our value of compassion and act on the above things. I would also like to see them be courageous and reach out for support by recognising that the support of their family, friends and school is an essential component of their development as a person as well as developing their social awareness skills. 

In addition to being socially aware and compassionate at school, next week I am taking a team of staff and students from Year 10 to Year 12 away on a Red Earth Indigenous Immersion. We are heading to Cape York to live and learn from Indigenous Australians who are living on their homelands. It is an opportunity for all of us to deepen our understanding of the perspectives of others, with respect to those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. I am immensely grateful for this opportunity to put social and emotional learning into action and I look forward to sharing how our girls demonstrate their growth in resilience, empathy and compassion from this experience and others throughout the years to come.

– Sarah Tynan
Assistant Head of Senior School – Pastoral Care and Wellbeing

Dare to Read Together Challenge

Once again, we are running our Dare to Read Together Challenge.

The research is clear, reading for enjoyment is linked to enhanced learning outcomes. However, it is so much more than that: reading builds empathy, imagination, it is a window into multiple lives, and in these days of travel restrictions, it allows us to travel the world.

Our Dare to Read Together club is designed to promote reading engagement by encouraging our students, parents and/or carers, to read the same book at the same time, discussing what is happening and what might happen.

We have chosen a variety of books which we know you will love. To see what is available and to sign up, click the link below. If there is something that is not on the list that you would love to Read Together, email me and we will put it aside for you.

Dare to Read Together Sign Up

Happy Winter Reading!

– Louise Piggott
Head of Library Services

Year 7

The girls have continued to revisit their study habits in Luminary time this week, completing a Stop, Start, Continue reflection activity to help them refine their processes. They also had a little time to work together on their House Illuminate discs, some welcome time out for them.

I know quite a few students are using the Discord messaging platform (more information can be found here). One major concern is how easy it is for strangers to contact young people and how easy it is to share images and graphic content. If you are allowing your daughter to use the app, it could be a good idea to monitor who she is talking to and have a discussion with her about the importance of tight privacy settings. Like many messaging apps, the age limit is 13 years and over, and for good reason. Many of our Year 7 students should not be using these apps at all.

Just a reminder about uniform. The girls should not be wearing hoodies under their blazers. They can only wear the jumper and/or blazer if they are cold. All our classrooms are warm and well heated. I would appreciate your support in this area.

– Fiona Pow
Head of Year 7

Year 8

It’s hard to believe that as we move to the end of our time in Year 8, we would still be having some many firsts. Two weeks ago saw our first Year group Chapel, and this week saw our first Year group excursion since we arrived back from Year 7 camp. To say the girls were excited was an understatement and mother nature provided them with beautiful weather to set the scene. It was an amazing day as the girls were fully involved in all aspects of the trip to Cockatoo Island. They immersed themselves in the artistic themes and their drawing and sketches proved this.

‘On Wednesday 9 June 2021 Year 8 went on an excursion with the art teachers to Cockatoo Island. We started out by catching buses into Circular Quay and getting on a ferry to the island. We then looked around and took photos and drew many of the interesting constructions on the island. After about two hours we got on the ferry and went back to Circular Quay and drew many buildings surrounding the MCA. It was a great experience which we very much enjoyed. Thank you to everyone involved it the making up of the day!’ – Tiana Robinson (Year 8)

Year 8 also had the opportunity to learn about open shutter photography in the evening with a special presentation from .Peter Solness

‘Yesterday was actually more fun than I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be more watching things than actually making photos. When we went into the basement and took open shutter frames they were the best fun… [it was an amazing thing to] have tried. When we went outside to the hockey fields we got some hoola hoops and balls connected to ropes and we created things with batons. All of these lit up and you could change the colours as if it was strobe. Overall 10/10 experience!’ – Anastazia Samad (Year 8)

‘Yesterday’s excursion was more than just an excursion, it was a new experience. We discovered how to take the perfect photographs and draw eye catching images. It was great to bond with new people and overall was a heap of fun.’ – Lana Rafsanjani (Year 8)

‘It was such a fun experience! Everyone really got a chance to work independently and with friends. Cockatoo Island was really full of history, and there was so much to explore and see!’ – Sarah Pickett (Year 8)

A big thank you to the Art Department for arranging such an amazing experiences.

Thank you everyone and I hope you have a fantastic long weekend.

– Kylie Bickerstaff
Head of Year 8

Click on the image gallery for full-sized images.

Peter Solness Photography Workshop Illuminates

A special thank you to Peter Solness who visited MLC School on Wednesday 9 June 2021 for a professional photographic workshop. Peter is a renowned and multi-award winning contemporary photographer who was most recently selected by Ben Quilty to be a finalist in the 2019 Dobell Drawing Prize. He specialises in the photographic method of Light Painting. This involves mounting his camera on a tripod and working in darkness to allow long camera exposures of between 4 to 60 seconds. These long exposure times mean he can hand-illuminate his chosen subjects using small torches to create visual effects not generally associated with traditional methods of photography.

The girls thoroughly enjoyed learning about the significant role light has in creating a photographic image. The girls explored the concepts of shutter speed, long exposure, white balance, degrees kelvin and composition in a fun and exciting manner.

We hope to see Peter back for future workshops.

– Emily Cribb
Visual Arts Teacher

Click on the image gallery to view full-sized images.

Year 9

Last Friday, Leawarra ran an entertaining and highly competitive Year group assembly, where representatives from each House could compete in musical chairs. I didn’t realise that so many Year 9 students were so competitive and would actually make for excellent football players! Well done to students of Year 9 Leawarra for facilitating a fun event for their peers. We look forward to Whitley House running their assembly on Friday 18 June 2021.

On Wednesday I was fortunate to attend the Stand Tall Event with the 10 Middle Years Leaders, 6000 students from around NSW and another 50,000 students joining online. Stand Tall brings a host of speakers together in one room to arm students with the skills of resilience, the strength to stand up to bullying, the keys to motivation, the power of perspective and the benefits of making good and wise decisions. The Middle Years Leaders found it inspiring and motivational and they were outstanding representatives for the School. Year 9, despite the weather, also had a great time on the Geography excursion on Thursday visiting Camperdown Pocket Farms and listening to guest speakers. It’s been a busy term and I know that Year 9 girls are very much looking forward to having one more week of school and assessments before the holidays.

As always, if there is anything you wish to discuss please contact me on 8741 3246 or email cwhite@mlcsyd.nsw.edu.au.

– Claire White
Head of Year 9

Stand Tall Event Lessons for MLC School Girls

The Stand Tall Event was a very inspiring and moving experience that we were grateful to participate in. From the moving speeches to the upbeat performances, 6000 students were able to come together and celebrate each person’s uniqueness. Though their life stories, we learnt how adversities do not define us and that, with a positive mindset, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.

Michelle Payne inspired us to pursue our passions through persistence and taught us how to challenge stereotypes in male-dominated industries.

Michael Crossland shared his life story in a moving speech about how dedicating your life to service helps you to appreciate the small moments and be grateful for all you have.

Alex Noble taught us that anything is possible if we put our mind to it and have a bit of resilience.

The event has stayed with all of us and we all had a memorable day.

– Laura Andrikis (Year 10), Jasmine Stavros (Year 10) and Jenna Wright (Year 10)

Year 10

This week in Luminary, the groups nominated our first round of Luminary Representatives which I can announce in next week’s newsletter. As with anything, I have noticed varying degrees of enthusiasm regarding Luminary Representatives but for the most part many have been positive to have a representative to voice their ideas regarding Luminary and what is happening within our Year group. It is great to see many taking more ownership over making positive change around them. During the Year meeting last week, it was interesting to see the girls’ ideas on the role description for a Luminary Representative. Many have quite high expectations of the role, although I anticipate this is a safe practice ground to lead discussion, negotiate with staff on behalf of others and learn new skills.

Also, in Luminary this week, many of the groups discussed what happens to you when you don’t drink water, and the short and long-term effects of caffeine. We have seen a significant increase in coffee drinking and also energy drinks, which are purchased on the way to school. The temptation is there after late nights working on assessments. It is worth having a discussion at home regarding the substitution of sleep with energy drinks, which can often result in a highly emotional student throughout the day.

On Wednesday a voluntary group of Year 9 and Year 10 girls went to the Stand Tall Event 2021. This inspirational event hosted many speakers with the aim to provide students with key resilience skills to manage challenges to motivation, perspective, making good decisions and bullying. Claire White, Head of Year 9 who accompanied the group, told me that the Year 10 girls that went along were awesome, that they embraced the opportunity and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Thank you Anais Siu (Year 10), India Makovec (Year 10), Mimi Jones (Year 10), Keiralyn Dao (Year 10), Laura Andrikis (Year 10), Anna Xu (Year 10), Erica Chou (Year 10), Jasmine Stavros (Year 10) and Jenna Wright (Year 10) for representing MLC School so well.

After a challenging term, I am happy that the cohort has a long weekend ahead of them to relax and tie up any loose ends for the term, as they have been working very hard.

If you have any current concerns for your daughter’s wellbeing, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, by phone 8741 3278 or email arenwick@mlcsyd.nsw.edu.au.

– Angela Renwick
Head of Year 10

Year 11

The Year 11 girls have been busy with assessment tasks and planning their holidays. Chris Barnes, Assistant Head of Senior School – Academic Care and Administration, spoke to the whole group in Luminary time today to help the girls plan out their holiday work. He explained how to use their time appropriately during the break and to assess where they need to focus their attention. For example, reflecting on the level of study they are taking and how confident they feel in their subjects and workload at the end of Term 2. Each girl will receive a planner from him to complete and submit at the end of Week 1 next term.

Our image this week is of our Red Earth girls who are off to the Cape York communities on Tuesday for their immersion experience. As I mentioned last week, we are so excited for them for the journey and what they will teach us when they return. Hopefully the experience will help them to share stories and see the world from a completely different perspective.

Enjoy your long weekend and all the best from the Year 11 Luminary Team.

– Sharon Connolly
Head of Year 11

Year 12

Environment Week

Each term, Week 8 is Baraza Group Week. This week, the Year 12 students spent time on Monday watching a TedTalk tackling the big environmental issues like climate change and other global environmental issues. After viewing the film, the girls gathered in their Luminary groups and the House Captains led a discussion focusing on the following questions:

1. How is our environment impacted by changes in our behaviour in response to global challenges?
2. Are there lessons to be learnt from previous environmental challenges? What are they? How can these lessons guide our future actions?
3. Is our desire to clean up our environment driven by wanting to put things right for the sake of our planet (for nature itself) or is it about creating a more sustainable future for our own sake? If we continue to damage our environment, are we ultimately only really damaging ourselves?
4. If our aim is to maintain our civilisation and way of life, what is the trade-off between human growth and development and the creation of a sustainable future?
5. How can we transform the way we behave so that we let our development be guided by our environment and its needs, rather than manipulating the environment to suit our development?
6. What does sustainable human development mean to you? How can this be implemented to help address the issues we face in relation to the environment?
7. Do you think that the combination of a lot of small, simple changes is enough to address our current climate crisis? Or are more large-scale changes necessary to make a significant change?
8. What do you currently do that may negatively or positively impact the environment? What opportunities available to you for positive impact are you not currently making use of?

The depth of discussions and the deep understanding that our girls demonstrate regarding topical issues never ceases to amaze us and we have so much faith in the future with MLC School girls at the helm, they are truly amazing.

As we approach the final week of term, we encourage the girls to continue to persevere and dig deep as we tackle the last few days of Term 2. The mid-year break is in sight.

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Enjoy the long weekend!

– Sarah Tynan, Assistant Head of Senior School – Pastoral Care and Wellbeing, Head of Year 12
– David O’Donohue, Assistant Head of Year 12

Library Holiday Hours for Year 11 and Year 12

The Senior School Library will be open for girls in Year 11 and Year 12 during the school holidays:

• Monday 21 June 2021 to Friday 9 July 2021, 9am–3.30pm

Normal hours will resume Tuesday 13 July 2021.

Please note, the library will be closed on Monday 12 July 2021 as all staff are taking part in Professional Development.

– Louise Piggott
Head of Library Services

Players’ Code of Conduct

‘The key is not the will to win. Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.’ – Bobby Knight

 Training sessions are an important part of athlete development. The importance of teams training together is paramount to a team’s success. Training is where athletes, develop their skills, learn about commitment, responsibility, and accountability. Training is where coaches and teams develop their team culture and where athletes learn about being valuable teammates.

Players and parents who do not value the importance of training sessions have a negative impact on the rest of their team.

It is important that we instil in our girls the following values:

• PUNCTUALITY – Be on time for your training session (some girls are arriving 20 minutes late)
• RESPONSIBILITY – Warm up properly, so you are prepared for training and reduce the risk of injury
• ACCOUNTABILITY – If you are going to be absent from training or a game, let your coach and the Sports department know
• RESPECT – When your coach is talking to you, listen so that you learn. If your coach asks you to do something, do it, do not tell them “No” or encourage your teammates not to listen or participate. This behaviour is unacceptable.

Now would be a timely reminder to go through the Players’ Code of Conduct with your daughter so that they understand what is expected of them.

• Play by the rules.
• Never argue with an official. If you disagree, have your captain, coach or manager approach the official during a break or after the competition.
• Control your temper. Verbal abuse of officials or other players, deliberately distracting or provoking an opponent is not acceptable or permitted in any sport.
• Work equally hard for yourself and/or for your team. Your team’s performance will benefit, so will you.
• Be a good sport. Applaud all good plays whether they be by your team, opponent, or the other team.
• Treat all players as you would like to be treated. Do not interfere with, bully, or take unfair advantage of another player.
• Cooperate with your coach, teammates, and opponents. Without them there would be no competition.
• Play for the “fun of it” and not just to please parents and coaches.
• Avoid use of derogatory language based on gender.

If we can instil these behaviours in our girls, it helps them create a safe and nurturing training environment where everyone is valued, respected and confident enough to take risks and learn from them.

Coachable athletes who learn and demonstrate these skills develop strong values that they can transfer to other areas of life as they become adults.

– Lisa Filby
Director of Sport

End of Season Medals

Congratulations to the following students who were awarded MVP and Most Improved Medals by their coaches.

– Lisa Filby
Director of Sport

Swimmers Out in Force at Recent Meets

Congratulations to Florence Jiang (Year 9) and Avery Koh (Year 6) on their great swims at Metro South-East.

Florence swam in eight events swimming all PBs and receiving two 1st places, three 2nd places, and a 3rd, 4th and 5th place.

Avery also swam in eight events achieving seven PBs, three 2nd places, two 3rd places, two 4th places and a 6th place.

Main photo: Congratulations to Avery (left) and Florence (right).

Our MLC School Marlins were out in force at the Mounties Short Course Cup. Congratulations to the following girls:

 Olivia Burke (Year 4)

• Women 9-10 100m Freestyle – 7^th (PB)
• Women 9-10 50m Freestyle – 6^th
• Women 9-10 50m Butterfly – 6^th
• Women 9-10 50m Backstroke – 5^th (PB)
• Women 9-10 50m Breaststroke – 5^th

Zara Stewart (Year 4)

• Women 9-10 50m Freestyle – 9^th
• Women 9-10 50m Butterfly – 8^th (PB)
• Women 9-10 50m Backstroke – 9^th

Chloe Miller (Year 6)

• Women 11-12 100m Freestyle – 9^th
• Women 11-12 100m Backstroke – 2^nd
• Women 11-12 50m Freestyle – 11^th
• Women 11-12 50m Backstroke 1^st

Well done to all our swimmers!

– Lisa Filby
Director of Sport

Golf News

Congratulations to Charlotte Huynh (Year 12) on her fantastic achievements in golf. Recently, Charlotte competed at the NSW All Schools Tournament in Bateman’s Bay. Charlotte finished 11^th in the Girls’ Gross Championship Division and 3^rd in the Girls’ Nett Championship Division! Well done, Charlotte!

– Lisa Filby
Director of Sport

Fencing Gold

Congratulations to Elena Sun (Year 7) who received a fencing award last Sunday.

Elena competed in the NSW State Championships U15 Girl’s Epee and received the gold medal.

Previously, in May she competed in NSW Intermediate School Age competition in the girls’ foil and received the silver medal. Well done, Elena.

– Lisa Filby
Director of Sport

Important Sports Notices and Procedures

Follow MLC School Sport on Facebook

MLC School Sport has its own Facebook page. Please follow us for all sports updates and important information.

Remember!

Do not miss any important sports information! Please make sure you check Canvas messages, emails, Facebook AND the Sports Update in the newsletter. The sports update always contains fixtures and registration information so you should never miss a registration.

Absences from Sport

 What to do when you are unable to make training or a game

On the rare occasions that it may be necessary for a player to miss training or a competition, please follow these instructions.

• If the inability to attend is known in advance – a written explanation (email) from the player’s parent/carer is to be given to the coach and Sports Department in advance. This notice should be given as early as possible.
• If the player is absent from school on the day of training or on competition day – the player’s parent/carer is asked to advise the coach and Sports Department of their daughter’s absence from training or the game.
• Do not ask your friends or team mates to give your coach the message.
• Do give as much notice as possible.
• If there is a clash with another sport or school event, please speak with the Sports Department to determine which game/event you should attend.

Please note: Continued failure to attend training or competitions without a timely written explanation is unacceptable and may jeopardise the player’s continued involvement in sport.

 A member of the Sports Department will contact parents/carers of students whose non-attendance at training or games is not notified in the correct manner.

 Pockets are only awarded to students who have attended at least 80% of training and games.

What Do I Do If It’s Wet Weather?

While on most occasions we would not cancel training for wet weather, cancellations may occur if rain is too heavy to train in or weather conditions deem it unsafe. Additionally, due to safe distancing measures and government guidelines, we may be required to cancel training when we cannot accommodate students safely in an indoor space.

Morning Training

The decision to cancel any morning training sessions will be made by 8pm the night before training.

Wet weather cancellations will be posted on the MLC School Sport Facebook page, followed by an email.

No Facebook post, or email means that activities will still go ahead.

After School Training

The decision to cancel any after school training sessions will be made by 1pm on the day of training.

Wet weather cancellations will be posted on the MLC School Sport Facebook page, followed by an email.

Saturdays

If you are playing an IPSHA Sport, please download the IPSHA app (instructions below). IPSHA normally makes a decision by 7am.

If you are playing an IGSA Sport, visit https://m.ahigs.nsw.edu.au/venues. The IGSA website will let you know if your venue is closed or open.

When possible, we will also post the cancellations on our MLC School Sport Facebook page

On all occasions, it is the individuals’ responsibility to check the wet weather information. The Sports Department, coaches and managers are not always in a position to relay any game cancellations.

IPSHA App Instructions

Search on the app store for ‘IPSHA’ – follow the download instructions.

Once downloaded and opened you will receive the following popup messages:

1. Allow IPSHA to access your location – select whichever is appropriate for you – if this is turned on it may help with directions to sports fields with Google locations linked.
2. Enable Push notifications – if you would like to receive push notifications, which is a feature that will be used on the app and can be turned on and off at any time, then allow push notifications. If you do not allow push notifications, it can be turned on via the settings on your phone at any time.
3. If you allow push notifications, all notification subscriptions will be turned on as the default set up.
4. To turn the push notifications such as Girls Saturday Sport Wet Weather Messages, Swimming/Cross Country and/or Athletics marshalling calls or IPSHA Trials messages on and off at any time follow the instructions below.
   1. Click on the mail icon on the top left-hand corner of the home page.
   2. Click on the cog on the top right-hand corner of the page.
   3. Choose which notifications you would like to receive by clicking on the on/off icon next to the name of the notifications you would like to receive.
   4. You must hit save for any changes you have made for them to take effect.

– Lisa Filby
Director of Sport

Weekend Fixtures and Upcoming Dates

Weekend Fixtures – Saturday 12 June and Sunday 13 June 2021

Saturday 12 June 2021

No Saturday sport

Sunday 13 June 2021

Upcoming Dates

• Tuesday 15 June 2021 – Water Polo Trials (new players only), MLC School Aquatic Centre, 7am–8am
• Thursday 17 June 2021 – Junior School Athletics Carnival, SOPAC, 9am–3pm
• Thursday 17 June 2021 – Senior School Athletics Time Trials, SOPAC, 3pm–6pm
• Friday 18 June 2021 – Representative Water Polo Trials, MLC School Aquatic Centre, 7am–8am
• Saturday 19 June 2021 – Saturday Sport Round 8 (ERNA), Meadowbank Park and Brush Farm, various times
• Friday 9 July to Sunday 11 July 2021 – National Youth Games, Tamworth, various times
• Saturday 10 July 2021 – Saturday Sport Round 9 (ERNA), Meadowbank Park and Brush Farm, various times

MLC School Strikes a Chord

Strike A Chord is national chamber competition for secondary school students run by Musica Viva. MLC School has enjoyed numerous collaborations with Musica Viva which is the flagship organisation in Australia that promotes and operates concerts devoted to chamber music.

This year, MLC School had seven entries in the competition. This map shows how many ensembles entered the event.

In the past week, the first-round results of the competition have been finalised and our MLC School ensembles have been successful in achieving excellent results:

• Bronze Award – The Four Mozart-rella Sticks – Nichole Wang (Year 10), Hannah Kang (Year 10), Christine Jin (Year 8), Angela Lai (Year 8)
• Bronze Award – The MLC Bass Quintet – Fiona Feng (Year 9), Ruby Scott-Wishart (Year 11), Coco Huang (Year 11), Jade di Girolamo (Year 11), Wisteria Hu (Year 11)
• Strike A Chord Strings Prize $200/Reserve semi-finalists – Tetivo Trio – Daisy Li (Year 9), Tasha Wong (Year 8), Juah Hyun (Year 7)
• Strike A Chord Keyboard Prize $200 – MLC 40 Fingers Piano Ensemble – Wisteria Hu (Year 11), Isabelle Lin (Year 9), Angela Lai (Year 8), Christine Jin (Year 8)
• Strike A Chord Mixed Ensemble Prize $200 – MLC Senior Trio – Jacqueline Flett (Year 11), Jade di Girolamo (Year 11), Cynthia Hu (Year 12):
• Strike A Chord Vocal Prize ($200) and Strike A Chord Spirit of Chamber Music Prize $200 – MLC School Vocal Consort – Ellery Joyce (Year 12), Sofia Carey (Year 12), Tianka Parapuram (Year 12), Emma Corcoran (Year 12), Sabine Saad (Year 12), Ana Trigg (Year 12)
• Semifinalists and Eligible for either Silver or Gold Award and prize money up to the value of $5000 – Bartholdy Trio – Fiona Feng (Year 9), Justine Zhang (Year 8), Vincent Zhu (Conservatorium High School)

This is a fabulous achievement by our students. Many thanks to Ying Ho, Emma Bourke, and Laura McDonald for their hard work and support. The full list of the winners in the competition can be found on the Musica Viva website.

– Joanna Drimatis
Head of Strings

Main photo: MLC School Vocal Consort

Important Music Notices

Chamber Choir Extra Rehearsal

There will be an extra rehearsal for the Chamber Choir on Tuesday 15 June 2021 at 7.15am at Newington College chapel. Students should make their own way to Newington, a bus will bring them to school after the rehearsal. Students have been given permission to be absent from Period 1A.

Symphony Orchestra Extra Rehearsal

An extra rehearsal will be held on Wednesday 16 June 2021 at 7am in the Music Centre. This does not apply to students going on the Red Earth Immersion Experience.

Intensive Rehearsal Days – Monday 12 July to Tuesday 13 July 2021

Students in ensembles performing in the Triumph and Tragedy Concert will attend two days of intensive rehearsals at school. Click here for more information.

Triumph and Tragedy Concert – Tuesday 14 July 2021

All students involved in the concert will attend rehearsals at City Recital Hall during the day and an evening performance at 7pm. Click here for more information.

– Alison Duncan
Music Centre Manager

Concert Rehearsal Days – Monday 12 July and Tuesday 13 July 2021

All Year 6 to Year 12 students in co-curricular music ensembles performing in the Triumph and Tragedy Concert at City Recital Hall on Wednesday 14 July 2021 are required to attend two days of intensive rehearsals at School on Monday 12 July and Tuesday 13 July 2021.

Rehearsals will run from 8.15am to 5pm on Monday and 8.15am to 3.15pm on Tuesday in various locations around the School. Not all students will be required at all times. A detailed rehearsal schedule will be provided by the end of Term 2, but please note the following:

Monday Arrival Times

• 8am Trout Quintet, Greatest Show soloists
• 8.45am Senior Choir, Taiko Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra
• 10.30am Symphonic Wind Band, Stage Band, Symphony Orchestra

Monday Dismissal Times

• 2pm Senior Choir
• 3pm Taiko Ensemble
• 3.15pm Symphony Orchestra
• 4.15pm Chamber Choir
• 5pm Symphonic WInd Band, Vocal Consort

Tuesday

• Students in Senior Choir and Symphonic Wind Band will be able to attend classes for 1AB
• Students in Taiko Ensemble will be able to attend 1A
• Students in Symphony Orchestra will be able to attend 2AB

Students may wear casual clothes on both days. Catering will be provided by the School.

Please note that Monday 12 July 2021 is the last day of the school holidays and Tuesday 13 July 2021 is the first day of Term 3, the students involved will be excused from classes that day.

– Alison Duncan
Music Centre Manager

Triumph and Tragedy Rehearsals and Concert

Wednesday 14 July 2021
City Recital Hall, Angel Place

MLC School’s first concert post-Covid will celebrate the achievements of students studying music in our ensembles program and classroom music programs. This concert will include the Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Band, Stage Band, Senior School Taiko Ensemble, Senior School Choir, Senior School Chamber Choir, Angeli and Bella Voce Junior School choirs, the Junior School Ukulele Ensemble and all of Year 6.

Daytime Rehearsal

Junior School Students (Year 6, Angeli, Bella Voce and Ukulele Group)
Students should come to school as normal. Buses will take students to the City Recital Hall at 11am and return students to school by 3pm. Please note that Year 6 students in the Senior Choir will be asked to catch an earlier bus at 9.30am to arrive at City Recital Hall in time for their rehearsal.

Year 7 and Year 8 Students
All students should come to school as normal and be ready to catch a bus to the City Recital Hall at 9.30am. Students will return to school by bus by 3pm.

Please note that:

• Year 7 and Year 8 students in Chamber Orchestra will be asked to come straight to City Recital Hall by 8.30am instead of going to school.
• Year 7 and 8 students in Symphony Orchestra (including the extra brass players), Chamber Choir, Symphonic Wind Band and Taiko will be asked to stay on at City Recital Hall for their afternoon rehearsal and will be dismissed at the times listed below or supervised at the venue according to parent preference.

Students in Year 9 to Year 12
Students should make their own way to the City Recital Hall by 8.30am. They will be dismissed in the afternoon according to the following times and are to make their own way home.

Dismissal Times

• 2pm Senior Choir
• 2.30pm Chamber Choir
• 3.30pm String Players
• 4pm Band
• 4.30pm Taiko Ensemble

Evening Performance

All students should make their own travel arrangements to and from City Recital Hall for the evening performance, arriving at 6pm.

The concert will start at 7pm and finish at 9pm.

Parents and carers are invited to purchase tickets from the below link.

BOOK TICKETS

Year 8 Debaters Win ISDA Grand Final at MLC School

Last Friday, for the first time in over 18 months, we hosted a big debating event at MLC School. The ISDA Debating competition began back in February with 32 schools from the Sydney region competing. Last year the competition was abandoned after four rounds due to COVID-19 so this year everyone was determined to see the competition continue. We started debating virtually but schools finally moved to face-to-face debating in time for the finals series. MLC School had six teams progress to the Octo Round, five teams made it to the quarter finals and three teams competed in the semi-finals. It takes a lot of hard work to make it to the Grand Finals in this knockout stage of the competition. It was exciting last Friday to not only be hosting the event but to have our Year 8 and Year 9 teams still competing.

Nine different schools competed in the grand final, with parents, carers and supporters watching their students debate and creating an enthusiastic atmosphere in the Senior Centre. Our Year 8 team of Sarinna Cai, Sophia Bucci, Chloe Ho-Shon, Uma Singleton and Annaliese Yan powered through their debate to defeat Newington and rightly claim the trophy as the undefeated ISDA champions for the 2021 season. Our equally talented Year 9 team of Moira Peach, Jody Feng, Anika Sanan, Georgie Roediger and Vishaalini Ravichandra had a tough ask to win against an undefeated Sydney Grammar team. It was a closely fought debate, but our team was narrowly defeated in the end.

Congratulations to all the girls on a terrific season.

– Andrea Rowe
Debating Coordinator

Main photo: Year 8 ISDA undefeated champions
Below photo: Year 9 ISDA runners-up

Yoga Club

Yoga is not just for adults! These Year 3 and Year 4 girls have been doing yoga for seven weeks now and they have enjoyed a range of activities ranging from breathing exercises, balances, poses that challenge their muscles, flowing movements that get the heart rate up and at the end of each class, some relaxation.

Yoga teaches children how to focus and can improve self-management skills. It can also reduce stress and anxiety. The many benefits of yoga go beyond the physical. While it does improve strength and make muscles more flexible, the girls have been encouraged to approach movement in a mindful way in order to remain calm. Each and every girl has participated wholeheartedly and gained enjoyment from the practice. It has been great to watch them develop each week. Thank you girls for being wonderful participants!

– Andrea Martinez
Junior School Teacher, Yoga Club Coordinator

Click on image gallery to view full-sized images.

Junior School Kitchen Garden

Every Friday during lunchtime a group of regular Junior School gardeners meet to connect with nature. A few of the gardeners would like to share their experience.

‘I love how we can plant, water and pick the fruit in the garden. It has been so much FUN. I love Kitchen Garden Club.’ – Bethany Haddad (Year 4)

‘I like how you can plant seeds with friends (it’s really fun). I love Kitchen Garden Club.’ – Sophie Hong (Year 4)

‘I like how we get to plant all the seeds with all the girls.’ – Jocelyn Yao (Year 4)

‘I like how we get to plant new seedlings and making food to eat. Give Kitchen Club a go because we get to pick and then eat.’ – Olivia Smith (Year 2)

– Victoria Noy and Gina Zucco with the Junior School gardeners

Click on the image gallery to view full-sized images.

Giving Discarded Materials New Life

This term students in the Surprisingly Rubbish co-curricular club have been exploring used and discarded materials and how we can give them new life as art. The students used found resources sourced from Reverse Garbage and created a Mandala representing this ‘rubbish’ in a new light. We also began making handmade paper out of the recycling paper around the School. We have also explored how to change an ordinary plastic cup into something more exciting. Remember, everything can have a new life and it’s just the way you perceive it. 

– Madison Greville
Junior School Teacher

Click on image gallery below for full-sized images.

Chinese Culture Society Week 8 Update

As Illuminate approaches, we continue to work on our artwork. To accommodate our hard work, we had numbing, spicy snacks also known as ‘Latiao’ in Chinese as well as a range of unique flavoured chips consisting of cherry blossoms, cucumber, chestnut and waxberry! How fun!

If you would like to participate in our weekly adventures into the Chinese culture, please come visit us every Thursday in SCG05 where we will warmly welcome you with Chinese pop music!

– Chinese Culture Society Committee

Middle Years Drama Company Represents at 2021 State Shakespeare Carnival

The State Shakespeare Carnival run by Sport for Jove was held at the Seymour Centre last weekend. MLC School was the only school across NSW and the ACT who made it into three sections which is an amazing achievement. The students who won our School Shakespeare Carnival went on to perform in the Regional Shakespeare Carnival in four sections. Three out of four groups were chosen to represent MLC School in the State Shakespeare Carnival.

On Saturday 5 June 2021, students enjoyed a day of Shakespeare workshops run by highly experienced Sport for Jove tutors which was a part of their prize for making it to the State finals. Students, friends and families enjoyed the performances on Sunday 6 June 2021. It was great to see our Regional finalists and other members of MLC School’s Middle Years Drama Company come along to support their friends. The standard of performances was exceptional and the judges had very difficult decisions to make.

We are so excited to announce that Samantha Brady (Year 9) and Anna Sulan (Year 8) came 3^rd in the duologues section! Congratulations to Anna and Sam and all of our Middle Years Drama Company finalists on their outstanding achievement.

Devised Scene

• Hannah Chessell (Year 8)
• Madeline Haller (Year 9)
• Sarina Nagra (Year 8)
• Jane Xia (Year 7)

Film

• Maya Gupta (Year 8)
• Zoe Andrews (Year 7)
• Lulu Habibullah (Year 7)

Duologue

• Samantha Brady (Year 9)
• Anna Sulan (Year 8)

It was such an amazing experience for the girls, not only to learn so much about the world that is Shakespeare, but to meet students from other schools and appreciate each other’s amazing performances. What struck me most was the way in which each school supported each other with claps and cheers and the sense of community and appreciation for each other was infectious. The girls are looking forward to the 2022 Shakespeare Carnival!

– Monica Brian
Director, The Speech and Drama Studio

Click image gallery below for full-sized images.

Inner West Eisteddfod Wraps for 2021

Speech and Drama Studio High Achievers

Last weekend was the fourth and final weekend of the Inner West Eisteddfod. One-hundred Speech and Drama Studio students represented MLC School in a variety of categories from acting to poetry to public speaking, achieving numerous Winning Place and Highly Commended awards and excellent marks and reports for all students. The Speech and Drama Studio has supported our local Eisteddfod for the past 25 years since I commenced at MLC School. The Inner West Eisteddfod (IWE) is a non-profit organisation founded in 1984. Its objective is to nurture and encourage young people in the performing arts, giving them a valuable opportunity to develop confidence and skill and to benefit from expert assessment. Eisteddfods were a highlight of my own high school years and I was fortunate for the opportunity to participate in the Inner West, Penrith,  Parramatta, St George and City of Sydney Eisteddfods in the 1980s. I see the same positive impact the experience has on our students today.

A huge congratulations to 22 of our Speech and Drama Studio students who represented MLC School last weekend at the Inner West Eisteddfod. Sections included Shakespeare Extract Solo or Duo; Character Recital in Costume; Prepared Speech; Duologue in Costume; Improvisation and the Actor’s Championship. Whilst a number of our MLC School speech and drama students achieved Winning Place and Highly Commended awards, we are more focused on the experience rather than the result. Every single student performed with confidence, focus and energy. We are proud of each student for daring to be more, by challenging herself to strive for excellence in her Eisteddfod piece and being fearless performing in front of an Adjudicator and audience. The students really enjoyed the experience and are already excited about next year’s Eisteddfod!

‘Throughout the Inner West Eisteddfod, I had so much fun amongst many talented people and came 2^nd place. When I performed the poem, ‘If I should have a daughter’ by Sarah Kay, I used my nervousness to project my voice, making the emotion really resonate with the audience. I really enjoyed the subject and was passionate about the way the author conveyed the story.’ – Elora Nadarajah (Year 8)

Congratulations to the following students:

• Anisha Sivaguranathan (Year 7) and Aryana Sah (Year 7) – 1st place in Duologue in Costume
• Sacha Jeyasingam (Year 7) and Chloe Miller (Year 7)  – 2nd place in Duologue in Costume
• Magdalena Volikas (Year 3) and Faith Huynh (Year 3) – Highly Commended in Duologue in Costume
• Sophia Hu (Year 6) and Meena Kanthathas (Year 6) – 2nd place in Improvisation
• Amisha Khatri (Year 10) – 3rd place in Prepared Speech
• Lily Walker (Year 10) – Character Recital in Costume
• Dalia Alsaad (Year 10) and Chantel Nguyen (Year 10) – Shakespeare Extract Solo or Duo
• Sameera Khatri (Year 8) – Character Recital in Costume
• Julia Zarlenga (Year 7) – Character Recital in Costume
• Dina Saeed (Year 7) and May Nguyen (Year 7) – Improvisation
• Haegan Sitou (Year 7), Grace Farrow (Year 7) and Kathleen Chrun (Year 7) – Improvisation
• Anisha Sivaguranathan (Year 7) and Aryana Sah (Year 7) – Improvisation
• Jodhi Bou (Year 6) – Actor’s Championship

Special Mention to Zahra

Zahra Yassine (Year 8) competed in an impressive four sections of the Inner West Eisteddfod. Sections included: Prepared Speech, Humorous Verse or Prose, Character Recital in Costume and the Actor’s Championship.

We are so proud of Zahra for her extraordinary effort, excellent results and continue commitment to speech and drama.

– Monica Brian
Director, The Speech and Drama Studio

Click on the image gallery below to view full-sized images.

Speech and Drama Students Shine at Parramatta Eisteddfod

Congratulations to Rachael (Pip) McGuire (Year 5) and Alana Siluk (Year 5) who were awarded 2^nd place in the Duo Prepared Mime category at the Parramatta Eisteddfod. We are so proud of Pip and Alana for their awesome achievement.

‘Last weekend we had the opportunity to participate in the 2021 Parramatta Eisteddfod in a Duo Prepared Mime performance. It was an awesome experience to get up on stage and perform our mime in front of a room full of people and the judges. 

‘At first, we were very nervous while waiting for our number to be called. Competition was fierce. But once we were up on stage we quickly forgot our nerves, the audience, and focused on our characters and the mime. We both ended up having so much fun performing and was proud with what we achieved. We cannot wait to do it again next year!  – Rachael (Pip) McGuire (Year 5) and Alana Siluk (Year 5)

– Monica Brian
Director, The Speech and Drama Studio

Enrolments Closed for Speech and Drama Studio June Holiday Production

Alice in Wonderland June Holiday Production
FULLY BOOKED

The Speech and Drama Studio’s June Holiday Production of Alice in Wonderland is now fully booked and not accepting any more enrolments.

If you missed out this time, you can join us for the September/October Holiday production. Dates and details will be released soon.

– Monica Brian
Director, The Speech and Drama Studio