College Principal

For the past few weeks, we have been going through a rigorous selection process to choose our College student leaders for next year. Our students had to submit an application, present speeches, engage in interviews with relevant staff, and then students from Year 7 had the opportunity to show their support for their choice of leader. With an impressive 68 applications for only 20 leadership roles, it is heartening to see our young people putting themselves forward for these roles, it takes courage, confidence and resilience to have a go! 

Congratulations to our newly elected student leaders:

College Captains:                  
Lucy Gee and Molly Hoogland

Faith & Mission Prefect:        
Rochelle Dias

Social Justice Prefect:           
Aditi Kamath

Wellbeing Prefect:                 
Alyssia Rostirolla

Environment & Sustainability:
Bronte Sprotte

Arts Prefect:                           
Lucia Juarez

Sports Prefect:                       
Charlotte Pugh

Gunagulla House Captains:  
Isabella Catalano and Ella Hodge

Kurrawa House Captains:     
Ava Karam and Georgia Long

Mundawora House Captains:
Tamara Haddad and Claudia Pickett

Teangi House Captains:        
Chiara Afonso and Julia Lancuba

Weelya House Captains:       
Lara Milward and Apostoleia Moulos

Yetinga House Captains:      
Claudia Care and Armani Jamieson

Last week we celebrated all things Science. Science Week provided a great opportunity for us to put the spotlight on Science and Technology and acknowledge the contributions of Australian scientists to the world of knowledge. Lots of activities were held during the week including Cool Science at lunchtime which involved liquid nitrogen, dry ice and rockets! Chemical experiments were conducted in Gioia House while our Primary students used Makey Makey kits to explore how circuits work by creating game controllers and mini keyboard devices. 

A highlight of Science Week was our inaugural Science Showcase, a new initiative developed by our Head of Science, Ms Kempers and Assistant Head of Science, Mr Connolly. We invited members of our community, parents and ex-students to take centre stage to present projects that they are working on in a broad range of scientific fields. It was an outstanding success and the audience were inspired by how members of our community are making an extraordinary impact in the world. We heard about technological developments in sustainability, pharmaceuticals, human health, land use planning and aerospace.

Isabella Salameh from the Class of 2020 who is studying a Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering (Hons) at the University of Sydney shared her work as an intern design engineer with Airbus which has taken her to work in Bristol for the past year. She was incredibly impressive in sharing her work with Airbus to pioneer a sustainable future with their aircraft. 

We were also delighted to welcome parents such as Scott Partlin whose work as Head of Grid Connection sees him powering Australia and the world towards 100% renewable energy; Angie Corbo also joined us, her work with Roche Pharmaceuticals sees her in the technological innovation field; Natlie Curach also inspired, as the Senior Director, Business Development with Ginkgo Bioworks she took us on a journey of programming biology and the implications for health (and everything else); Susan Fox spoke about Disaster Management, she uses science to inform land use planning decisions in her role as Senior Manager Bushfire Planning with the NSW Dept of Planning and Environment; and finally, Christopher Hodge, a national clinical research coordinator responsible for clinical research development for the Vision Eye Institute where he works on many collaborations with topics including the novel treatment of corneal disease, talked us through the extraordinary medical innovations in his field. We hope to do this again next year, it was such an interesting and exciting presentation and we are grateful to everyone who volunteered to support this event. 

This Friday, our Gioia House girls will host more than 200 Year 6 boys from St Patrick’s College. This event aims to inspire, engage and educate students about the exciting possibilities within STEM disciplines. Throughout the day students will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the range of technology, hear from guest speakers and participate in practical activities through workshops to encourage creative thinking, problem-solving skills and digital confidence. During the lunch break, students will come together to play mixed teams friendly soccer games on our oval. The event is also an excellent opportunity for girls and boys to establish connections and learn how to work together and form friendships that prepare them for the world beyond their school years.

The Primary campus will celebrate Book Week this week with author visits and the highly anticipated Book Week Parade on Friday. 

We look forward to welcoming fathers and carers to our Father’s Day Mass and Breakfast next Thursday, 31 August. This year there will be one breakfast for everyone between each Mass and it will be held in Siena Hall from 8:30am. Our Secondary Mass will be at 7:30am and Primary Mass will be at 9:30am. 

Wishing you well.

Go gently.

Paulina Skerman
College Principal