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| 17 Jun 2022 | |
| Australia | |
| School Newsletter |
Last Wednesday, Shelly and I were invited to a Leaders' Dinner at Parliament House by Ku Ring Gai MP, Alastair Henskens. We were able to meet other school captains in the Kuring-gai electorate, including Barker, St.Leo’s and Turramurra High. It was the first time both Shelly and I had been to the old Parliament House, so we very much enjoyed touring the building, learning of its history and getting a behind the scenes look at the State ministers at work.
Minister Henskens spoke to us about the importance of leadership beyond our school life, and the necessity to take these skills into our own lives, especially to help the world we live in for future generations. Something that particularly resonated with us is his commitment to listen and relate to young leaders in regards to their concerns and questions. We were also pleased to hear some insights into the government's renewable energy plan that hopes to uphold their promise to the Paris agreement.
We also felt very close to royalty when they told us we were sitting in the same dining room where Queen Elizabeth dined! We made sure to visit the bathroom they installed especially for this occasion!
We were very fortunate to have this opportunity to meet and interact with our counterparts from other schools and hope to establish long lasting relationships for years to come.
Last week, Year 11 showcased their collaboration skills and teamwork to present Loreto Day! The day was very successful with everyone having a good time with lots of laughter, food, and good cheer. The day started with a thought provoking awareness presentation on forced marriage in Australia and the beautiful Loreto Day liturgy, coordinated by Ms McCullough and run by the Year 11’s.
After the liturgy, the House stalls opened, and the school came to life. Whether staff and students were purchasing acai bowls from Kendall House, or purchasing an entry for Mornane’s 100 draw or enjoying Barry’s hot chips and disco, it was community time with a capital ‘C’. We were very excited to have students from St Lucy’s enjoy the House stalls and it gave the students a chance to reacquaint after a period of absence due to Covid.
We were amazed by the talent that this school has with our afternoon concert and the diverse acts across years 5 to 12, including singing, dancing, karate, music, comedy and even an amazing animation that touched the hearts of everyone present in the gymnasium.
We would not have been able to do this without the help of our amazing teachers and the wider Loreto Community. Thank you to everyone for your generosity and we look forward to seeing what our Year 10 peers do in 2023.
Paul Dillon presented to our Year 10 - 12 students and our parents on June 8. His focus on prevention, safety and the wellbeing of our young people was again very evident. Paul included up to date information on the effects of vaping and alcohol and gave the strong message to students that being informed, looking after yourself and your friends and making smart choices in our social lives is crucial. Parents were reminded that picking up and collecting daughters, knowing where they are and talking to other parents are protective factors. If you wish to engage further with Paul’s information, please see his DARTA website.
Over the past few months, over 80 students from Years 5-10 have trained at various lunchtimes for the Da Vinci Decathlon. The Da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: Engineering, Mathematics, Code Breaking, Art and Poetry, Science, English, Ideation, Creative Producers, Cartography and Legacy. The theme for 2022 was PATTERNS.
I was very impressed with the enthusiasm shown by all the girls as they worked together on some very challenging tasks. Based on their practice results and commitment to training, 6 teams (one from each year group) made up of 8 students were chosen to compete against teams from across NSW. The girls competed on one of the following days depending on their year group; Tuesday, 24 May– Year 7 and 8, Wednesday, 25 May - Year 9 and 10 and Thursday, 26 May – Year 5 and 6. Although the competition is generally held onsite at Knox Grammar, due to Covid restrictions, all students competed at their own schools and there was a virtual link to Knox Grammar School throughout each day.
Each of the papers are extremely challenging and require creative and critical thinking, perseverance and collaboration. All teams are to be congratulated for their mental stamina, wonderful teamwork and amazing results. They also had a lot of fun! See comments from some of the girls, the Da Vinci results and a list of names for each team below.
‘I enjoyed working with other people my age, getting to know other people as well as finding out my friends' talents. I also enjoyed the engineering because it made us think about how to get the bridge stable’.
- Murphy Sun, Year 5
‘The Da Vinci Decathlon was really fun because we were able to work with friends all day, but it was challenging because many tasks were really hard’.
- Amy Bohlsen, Year 6
‘I thought that Da Vinci was really fun and challenging, and my favourite activity was creative producers’.
- Danielle Tsang, Year 6
‘It was a unique experience, especially as the day was on Zoom, yet our team of 8 girls bonded so well and new friendships sparked. We had to use time management and strong communication and we achieved things we did not even know we were capable of. Overall, Da Vinci Decathlon was an incredible learning experience!’
- Portia Rowland-Stefanic, Year 7
‘Da Vinci Decathlon was such a positive experience. I learnt so many new skills and it was a great opportunity to meet new girls, collaborate as a team and represent our school. We all had lots of fun, thank you’.
- Kate Napoli, Year 7
‘I really enjoyed the Da Vinci decathlon as I met lots of new people and I learnt how to work well in a team.’
- Hannah Chung, Year 7
‘I enjoyed the Da Vinci Decathlon because it needed a lot of concentration for a lot of time and I also enjoyed the team aspects’.
- Caitlin Wigglesworth, Year 7
‘I thought that the Da Vinci Decathlon was a fun experience that challenged me in a variety of areas. It was also a great opportunity to get to know my peers. I’m very grateful for this experience, thank you so much!’
- Chloe Liu, Year 8
‘Da Vinci was such a fantastic experience that challenged our creative mindsets. Throughout the day, I was able to connect with team members to find innovative answers and look at issues from different perspectives. Each booklet and topic allowed us to work together on problems that ranged anywhere from abstract, to real world issues. Overall, it was a great day!
- Tahlia Moses, Year 10
Thank you to Ms Katherine Trethewey and Ms Rowena Bryce (Year 5 and 6), Dr Ying Sng and Ms Ann-Marie Duncan (Year 7 and 8) and Ms Leanne Sylvester (Year 9 and 10) who helped me train the girls throughout the term and assisted on the competition days.
Out of 72 Year 5 NSW Teams, Year 5 placed:
Out of 81 Year 6 NSW Teams, Year 6 placed:
Out of 76 Year 7 NSW Teams, Year 7 placed:
Out of 86 Year 8 NSW Teams, Year 8 placed:
Out of 76 Year 9 NSW Teams, Year 9 placed:
Out of 76 Year 10 NSW Teams, Year 10 placed:
Adhithi Srinivasan, Elena Brinkmann, Julia Foong, Medha Lingam, Mina Zhang, Murphy Sun, Sabrina Whenman and Nicole Huang.
Aavni Gandhi, Amy Bohlsen, Chiara Michael, Danielle Tsang, Darcie O’Leary, Inayah Absar, Kate Huang and Kate Shepherd.
Hannah Chung, Annie Goodall, Kaitlyn Ha, Amelie Johnson, Kate Napoli, Portia Rowland-Stefanic, Caitlin Wigglesworth and Adrina Jamshidi.
Alina Su, Clara Singh, Chloe Liu, Elizabeth Rizk, Isabella Scotti, Sasha Tasker, Amber Wang and Zoe Kha.
Ruby Harrison, Olivia Kent, Keenor Sabaa, Emma O’Brien, Charlotte Choong (Year 8), Ruby Greenhalgh (Year 8), Amelia Shepherd (Year 8) and Julia Levay (Year 8).
Natalia Barone, Yvette Alford, Tahlia Moses, Isabella Lynch, Josephine Egan, Lauren Meaney, Brienna Russell and Catherine Ye.
This term in the Social Justice space, we have been supporting student voice and participation. Several students in the secondary school participated in the Australian Catholic University’s Young Voices Awards, in which students could use a variety of mediums to focus on how their voices and opinions can make a positive difference in the world. I would like to commend the following students for their entries and compelling topics that continue to take the message and charism of Mary Ward into the present day;
If your daughter would like to participate in any additional justice competitions, students are encouraged to participate in the Schools Reconciliation Challenge, which is open to Year 5 – 10. Information can be found here or by contacting Mrs Alisha Thorburn or Mrs Jacinta Wells.
I would also like to thank students who continue to put faith into action, by supporting the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal. 30 students supported the cause at Thornleigh Bunnings on the weekend of the 28 and 29 May. Mackenzie Eyles in Year 8 stated; “it was a great learning experience and I felt so positive knowing that the money raised would help to provide shelter, support and food to those in need”. Furthermore, Eleanor Low in Year 10 noted; “the impact we had was felt, not just in the money collected; but in our hearts”.
If you missed the Year 9 Far North Queensland Parent Information Evening on Thursday, 28 April a recording is available here.
Enter the password FNQ22!
Congratulations to all CSDA teams on a great season. Shout out to the 12A and 9B teams who were undefeated in the rounds. Also congratulations to the 7B and 10A teams who have also been included in the finals programs. We wish these teams well as they participate in the Elimination Rounds and the Quarter Finals in Week 1 of Term 3.
Congratulations to our Mock Mediation Team who participated in Round 3 on Thursday, 17 June. Once again, the girls did a great job. The team scored 77/100! Well done ladies!
Good luck to all our girls competing in the last round of IGSA Sport this weekend. We are so proud of the way you have conducted yourself representing the School this term, and that true Normo spirit as always come to the fore.
Special mention to our LON01 (S01), LON16 (J01) and LON26 (Y701) Basketball Teams who are competing for the possible trifecta of first grade championships!
Aoife Berry (Year 9), Annie Hall (Year 9), Skye Halmarick (Year 9), Eliza Matthews (Year 9) and Stephanie Wilkins (Year 9) represented NSW CIS at the NSW All Schools 15 & Under AFL Championships last month. The CIS team won the tournament, with Skye Halmarick and Annie Hall being selected into the NSW All Schools Team to compete at the School Sports Australia AFL Championships. Well done to all.
Aisling Kennedy (Year 9) and Charlotte Spooner (Year 8) competed in the U15 Hockey State Championships in Parkes on the Weekend of 28th and 29th May. The girls played in the Division 1 North West Sydney Team and came away with the Silver Medal.
We had 27 runners participate in the IGSA Cross Country Carnival at Frensham School on Friday of Week 5 The course was challenging and the sunshine on the day made the conditions warm for our competitors. Congratulations to all students that ran the IGSA Cross Country.
Zara Warland (Year 12), Zara Cusick (Year 9), Eva Cusick (Year 7) and Hannah Quan (Year 7) all qualified to participate in the NSWCIS Cross Country Carnival at Sydney Motor Sports Park on Wednesday of Week 7. Zara Warland ran 12th in the U18 cohort, Zara Cusick 15th in the U15s, Eva Cusick was 20th in the U13s and Hannah Quan ran 16th. A challenging course on the tarmac at Sydney Motor Sports Park pushed our runners to perform at their very best, congratulations to our runners on your efforts. Thank you to our Athletics Coach, Ross, for leading our LN runners on the day.
Congratulations to the following girls who competed at the NSW All Schools Swimming and Diving Championships earlier this month.
Medley relay team of Tilly King (Year 12), Veronica Kuru (Year 11), Meghan Andren (Year 12) and Hayley Kable (Year 12) who won Bronze.
Cordelia Stephen won bronze in the 16s 50m backstroke.
Tilly King (Year 12) placed 1st in the 50m breaststroke, 1st in the 100m breaststroke, 3rd in the 200m breaststroke, set a new record in the girls 17+ 50m breaststroke in a time of 32.65 seconds and qualified for the National School Swimming Championships!
Loreto Normanhurst fielded a full U16 team and 5 players for an U18 team that joined forces with players from Frensham, surrounding clubs and Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College. The students had a great day using skills they have learnt in Rugby 7s outside of school. Our U16 team made the final, falling just short at the post to Frensham, and our U18 team combining to play against Monte and Frensham. Congratulations to our students for stepping out of their comfort zone and playing some fantastic Rugby. Thank you to our Rugby Coach, Tim, for leading the teams on the day.
A full recap of results and achievements will be included in the next Newsletter!
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