College Principal

Thank you to our musicians who once again kept us spellbound with their extraordinary performances at our Celebration of Music Concert last week. This was Mrs Richardson’s debut performance as our Director of Music leading a whole school concert and it was impressive! The first half of the program saw us time travel in reverse from the 1980s Contemporary popular music to the Romantic and Baroque Periods with our curricular and co-curricular string ensembles, and then to the Renaissance with a performance of the beautiful work, O Magnum Mysterium by the College Chamber Choir. The term is busy for our musicians, on Friday evening they will perform at our Fra Angelico Festival of the Arts and then of course we will have another musical treat at Speech Night and the Advent Carols. Much thanks to our Music staff who inspire our young people to create such a high standard of music excellence for us.

Our Year 9 students recently attended Year 9 Camp at Myall Lakes run by Southbound Adventures.  By design, this camp has elements that test students and their endurance. In the five-day program, there is one day where the challenge is meant to stretch our girls. Disappointingly, 31 students did not attend camp this year.  While some had legitimate reasons, others, more than 20, pulled out on the morning they were to leave with a range of sudden ailments. Much planning had gone into preparing for this camp, our supervising teachers committed to leaving their families for a week while also leaving work for their students at school to complete while we hired extra staff to teach their classes. It was a big undertaking. These programs are designed to teach resilience and self-regulation, to inspire girls to make new friends, to step out of their comfort zone and to realise that they can do hard things. This is important in building confidence and teamwork as well. Given the disappointing attendance, I asked Mr Walker to survey the students who attended. Their feedback was overwhelmingly positive and they were able to identify the pride they felt in completing difficult challenges. Many articulated how life changing this experience was for them and I have included just a few of the many positive comments that reflected the growth, strength, resilience and maturity of those students who attended and participated. 

‘I learnt patience through the long canoe trips and hikes which has further developed my resilience as well. Additionally, the Year 9 camp experience, specifically canoeing, has enabled me to develop the confidence to get out of my comfort zone and explore new things in life.‘

‘That even though an experience may seem difficult or even impossible, I will always come out stronger and more resilient.‘

‘I have learnt that laughter and having fun helps motivate you to keep going and forget about your struggles or challenges.‘

‘I have learnt the importance of community, friendship and resilience. There were several tough times but we were all able to get through it thanks to the people around us and our mentality, and I hope to keep this mindset going forward.‘

‘I have learnt the power of positivity and attitude. If you are down and moody the whole experience it will make it unenjoyable for everybody and yourself. If you are put with people you wouldn’t pick personally then it is better to get along and learn to work with them forming new relationships rather than avoid them again resulting in a bad camp experience. I can utilise this so much throughout my life and I have also learnt the act of resilience when something doesn’t work out to get back up and work around it.‘

‘One thing I have learnt about OEE is that if you don’t go out of your comfort zone you will never experience anything that challenges you. I have learnt how to cook using a trangia, make new friends when I’m with people I’m not familiar with, and sleep in tents for five days. If it wasn’t for OEE I would never do this on my own and I’m grateful for that!‘

I am so proud of our girls who found it tough but kept on going anyway. 

Last week our Year 3 students had their first taste of camp at Tallong. During the overnight experience all students were able to participate in various activities such as group challenges, a bush walk, shelter building and nature play, mountain biking and group games. Through these various activities, students began to stretch their comfort zone and learned the importance of a growth mindset. Students strengthened their friendships by engaging in various cooperative challenges to solve problems together and enhanced their sense of community.

Over the weekend, 37 parents and children bonded over shared experiences at Tallong. They participated in problem solving activities with the Tallong Challenge, roasted marshmallows on the fire, swung to great heights on the high ropes course, explored the property on mountain bikes and enjoyed canoeing on Barbers Creek. Cheffrey and the kitchen staff put on a smorgasbord of delicious salads, roasted meats and deserts as the conversations flowed in the dining hall. Overall, it was a lovely weekend for parents and children to create meaningful memories at Tallong. 

We continue to offer our students great opportunities to engage with reading and this week Year 9 students competed in the SSC Reader’s Cup competition against students from St Patrick’s College. The students have been working together as a group to read as many of the selected four books as they can, developing their teamwork and comprehension skills, as they prepare to participate in a trivia-style competition to answer questions that will test their memory of what they have read. There were great prizes won on the day including book vouchers, writer’s diaries, literary pencils, bookmarks and other treats. Santa Sabina students took out first and second place while a team from St Pat’s came third.

This week our Year 8 students had the opportunity to listen to actress Angourie Rice, and her mother, playwright Kate Rice, in conversation with our Ms Marchetta, talking about their experience and process to co-author their new book, Stuck Up and Stupid, an exciting new romance inspired by Pride and Prejudice. We were pleased to also be joined by students from Meriden and SSC families for this event. 

We were delighted to host Grandparents Day again this year after a lengthy break. It was wonderful to see grandparents enjoying time with their grandchildren, watching the youngsters perform and visiting their classrooms. I had the opportunity to share our Masterplan and talk through our initial projects with them as well so that they can see how these future plans to develop our campus will benefit their grandchildren. 

Congratulations to our incoming P&F President Ben Middleton and Simon Chan, our new P&F Treasurer, who were appointed at our AGM this week. We thank Joseph Gittani who very generously and enthusiastically gave of his time as P&F President for the past two years. Under his leadership, we introduced new events and brought old events to life. Joseph did a wonderful job of building a very positive culture in the P&F.  Massive thanks also to Bryce Wilson who has been the P&F Treasurer for two years and prior to that Assistant Treasurer for two years. Bryce has successfully managed the finances with attention to detail, a great sense of humour and kindness. 

Everyone is getting excited about our inaugural Fra Angelico Festival which will be held this Friday night commencing at 5:00pm. We have had many parents and teachers volunteer to run stalls and supervise events which is very appreciated and inspires a strong community spirit. The Ex-Students’ Association, P&F and other groups are setting up stalls as well bringing all elements of the community together in this night of celebration. I look forward to seeing you all there when we showcase our student work across the curriculum. The Fashion Parade, Light Show, Champagne Lawn and International Eat Street are also part of the spectacular events taking place. Tickets are selling fast for the Silent Disco and Lumination Lab tours are sold out! 

You would have heard about the recent tragedy at St Lucy’s School where a 10-year-old boy, Sanad Shahriar, lost his life in an accident at school. St Lucy’s is a school for children with disabilities and it is our Dominican sister school governed like us by Dominican Education Australia. Our students and the children at St Lucy’s School have spent time together and this year a group of Year 11 girls travelled to St Lucy’s to celebrate St Dominic’s Day with their community. During my time at Santa Sabina I have come to know David Raphael, St Lucy’s principal, and I have reached out to him on behalf of our community to offer our condolences. Staff from Santa also joined me this week in attending Sanad’s memorial service. This is a terrible time of grief for this family as well as for teachers, parents, students and friends of the school. We keep them in our prayers and in our hearts. 

Go gently as life becomes even busier in the lead-up to Christmas.

Paulina Skerman
College Principal