College Principal

On 16 February 2024,130 years after first establishing Santa Sabina College, the Sisters took the final step in their evolving relationship with the school by transferring the buildings and land to Santa Sabina College and Dominican Education Australia (DEA). The transfer of property to DEA and the College signified the Dominican Sisters’ move from a role of governance and responsibility to one of accompaniment – a journey we continue together but in a different way.  We were joined by Trustees of Dominican Education Australia, members of the Santa Sabina Board of Governance, Dominican Sisters and the College Leadership Team to celebrate this significant moment in the life of the school.  

You will notice the new fence is up along The Boulevarde. We are working to have a secure campus and once we arrive at this point, Mr Gilmore will reach out with some extra information about accessing the College. Our aim is to keep cars and intruders off the College grounds and away from our children. To do this, changes will be made to how we operate but it is absolutely my priority to make this happen sooner rather than later. At this stage, there is no access to the College via the Chapel driveway except to some staff. Visitors coming to the College may park in the Siena Hall Car Park but will need to use the intercom on the gate or call College Reception. We will arrive at a point where students will be asked to swipe in to access the College via pedestrian gates but this is still being finalised. For big school events, after hours, gates will be opened where appropriate. 

This Friday is International Women’s Day and this year, the UN Women theme is ‘Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress.’ This is based on the priority theme for the United Nations 68th Commission on the Status of Women. Count Her In will examine the pathways to greater economic inclusion for women and girls everywhere. While important progress has been made, women still face significant obstacles to achieving equal participation in the economy, women’s economic empowerment and independence is central to a gender equal world. Throughout the week, our students will be exposed to conversations about the importance of equal access to education, employment pathways, financial services and literacy. Santa Sabina College is an environment where girls are given equal opportunity to build their capabilities and strengthen their capacity to learn, earn and lead but beyond our gates we need to continue to work to reshape systems and remove barriers so that all women and girls can realise their full potential. We can all use our voices to demand equal opportunity for women. 

Congratulations to our newly appointed Captains and Leaders. We wish them all the best as they take on their leadership roles. May they be examples of justice, compassion, humility and love, ready to reach out to others with kindness. 

Gioia House
Captains: Jorja Matthews and Valentina Dal Pra
Faith and Community: Chloe Charbel
Social Justice: Mariam Fajloun
Environment and Sustainability: Amelia Rigon
Wellbeing: Harriet Behan
Arts: Ellena Kapetanakis
Sports: Abigail Schutt
Gunagulla House: Charlie Jackson
Kurrawa House: Evelyn Wei
Mundawora House: Ines Bolger
Teangi House: Mia Khoury
Weelya House: Mariah Saade
Yetinga House: Evie Horwood

Del Monte 
Captains: Elijah Au and Marie Metledge

Finally, congratulations to Mr Luiz Ramalho, our Director of Sports and Co-curricular Activities, and his team for organising an excellent swimming carnival from Year 3-12 at SOPAC last week. I was delighted to see that spectator absentee levels were lower this year and that school spirit was at an all time high. Well done to the following students who were age champions:

Chloe Cruz: 8 Years Girls
Samuel Van Hore: 8 Years Boys
Michaela Nguyen: 9 Years Girls
Flynn Lee: 9 Years Boys
Romi Lee: 10 Years Girls
Luca Serafin: 10 Years Boys
Evie Lloyd-Jones: 11 Years Girls
Dana Park: 12 Years Girls
Addison Xu:13 Years Girls
Georgia David: 14 Years Girls
Mira Nguyen: 15 Years Girls
Olynda Lebeau: 16 Years Girls
Madryne Lebeau: 17 Years & over Girls

There were also 14 records broken by five students: Evie Lloyd-Jones – five records; Romee Lee – five records; Dana Park – two records; Olynda Lebeau – one record; Airin Tominaga – one record.

We also wish our Tennis teams the very best as they compete in the IGSA Tildesley Tennis Shield this week. 

Paulina Skerman
College Principal