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| 28 Oct 2022 | |
| Australia | |
| School Newsletter |
It’s been 20 years since we staged a Musical at Loreto Normanhurst. Matilda Jr, performed in Week 1 of this term proved to be an enormous success. The final product was a wonderful celebration of the talent, collaboration and hard work of students from Year 5-11. Below are some student reflections about the process and their experiences of performing or working backstage.
We are also delighted to share an insight into the show with you. The highlights video is the culmination of the creativity, imagination, collaboration, and grit of all students involved from Year 5-11.
Anna-lea Russo
Musical Director and Head of Drama
For many months now, the production team, cast and crew have been working to put on ‘Matilda Jr’ which we were finally able to perform in Week 1 of Term 4! After being postponed due to COVID, and facing setbacks (including cast changes and even doing rehearsals over zoom!) we were all thrilled to take part in such an amazing production.
Since Term 2, the cast have been attending rehearsals, learning lines, choreography and songs under the direction of our Head of Drama, Ms Russo, with the assistance of our Musical Director, Mrs Bruce, and our Choreographer, Lauren. All the time and effort that was put into 'Matilda' paid off in the end when we were able to watch each scene put together, with costumes, lighting and props and we were able to perform on stage!
Putting on a production is no easy task, first, you need to source an appropriate musical, get copyright for it, find the actors and the stage crew then finally put on the show! It was exciting for students to not only contribute as cast members, but also as members of the back stage crew. Working back stage or as part of the audio and lighting team was lots of fun, even if it was stressful at times.
Girls from Year 5-11 were involved in 'Matilda Jr' which was a great opportunity for the whole cast to get to know people from different year groups, especially girls in the Primary School who loved being able to dress up in their costumes, do their hair and makeup and step onto stage to sing and dance their hearts out. We’ve loved the opportunity to grow closer to girls we didn’t know before and we have all bonded over the experience. By the last show, it was evident that this musical family was going to keep these connections, saying hi to a familiar face when passing each other in the corridors, especially after many tears were shed on closing night. Everyone in this show has made so many amazing friendships and memories, from the countless hours in rehearsals getting to know each other while learning dances, to the dressing room on opening night sharing their thoughts and nerves. We have all come together in so many ways.
It’s been wonderful to be being able to watch each and every cast member’s confidence and skills grow as they took risks and stepped outside their comfort zones, from that very first audition of singing in front of a small audition panel, to closing night and performing in front of hundreds of our peers, friends and families.
A highlight for the cast was when we had the opportunity to meet Elise McCann, an ex-normo girl from 2002, who played the role of Miss Honey in the 2015 Australian tour of 'Matilda the Musical'. Elise attended closing night and it was great to have her support, meet her and hear about her experiences from being involved in Drama at Loreto to her career in professional productions.
Recording Link: vimeo.com/760975046
Password: Y11info22
On Thursday, 13 October, the Year 11 Studies of Religion classes had the opportunity to travel to Auburn and visit the Islamic Sciences Research Academy (ISRA) and the Auburn Gallipoli Mosque.
The excursion allowed students to deepen their understanding of Islamic rituals, beliefs and sacred ceremonies that make Islam a dynamic belief system for adherents. Additionally, students were benefitted from hearing from adherents who had firsthand experience of significant practices, such as the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the Hajj.
Indianna Cane shares her reflection on why the excursion was a valuable learning experience, stating; “I enjoyed how immersive the experience was, actually being able to go into the mosque, take our shoes off and wear head coverings meant for a short time we could experience another culture and religion first-hand. This meant that the excursion felt very authentic. Additionally, the lectures we heard at ISRA allowed us to more fully explore the concepts that we had been discussing in class, plus ask questions to ensure clarity and have real lived examples to support the content”.
Inara Hossain, also shared her reflections; “the Year 11 excursion to ISRA and the mosque in Auburn was an educational experience which has benefitted my studies and my understanding of Islam. Visiting an education centre run by Muslims allowed me to hear from experts in Islam. Their passion for sharing their beliefs and rituals was evident and kept us all engaged throughout the day. Additionally, visiting the mosque, allowed the day to feel holistic, moving beyond just theory to experiencing Islam as a living religion”.
Once again, a number of students have put their faith into action during the month of September. I wanted to commend and acknowledge those students who participated in Caritas Australia’s Women for the World 100km Challenge. It was the first year that Caritas Australia hosted the challenge and Loreto Normanhurst was proud to partake in this event, with a number of our students recognised as being in the top 20 fundraisers. Congratulations to the following students who participated:
This fundraiser event brings our students together in a global sisterhood, supporting vulnerable women in marginalised communities. Thorough the funds raised, Caritas Australia can support locally led programs that aim to create better futures for women and girls everywhere. Well done to all involved in this wonderful initiative.
This term, our new Social Justice and Ecology Leaders, Mia Hallinan, and Charlotte Hudson, are keen to put sustainability and justice front and centre of our Justice Extra-Curricular programs in the Secondary School. In both Green Team and JPIC, every Friday this term, we will be making sustainable Christmas decorations that will be donated to families in need via the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. All students in Year 5 – 11 are welcome to join us in the DRC, every Friday at lunch. Additionally, if any families have left over material that could be used for Christmas decorations or stockings, please feel free to contact Mrs Jacinta Wells at jwells@loretonh.nsw.edu.au or drop off materials to the collection box in the LRC.
Every Christmas the St Vincent de Paul Society provides much needed assistance to families and individuals in need. This includes Christmas hampers and gifts. All Loreto Normanhurst students are being asked to help Christmas be a time of joy and hope for a vulnerable family by donating gifts/non-perishable items. Anything from books to educational toys and movie vouchers, as well as Christmas pudding to tea and coffee is most welcome.
Students are asked to drop off donations to their Head of House or the Primary School Reception by Friday, 25 November. Whilst your daughter can contribute any non-perishable items to the hampers, we would also encourage items from the list below. Please just check the use by date and ensure items do not contain nuts.
| Year 5 and 6 | Candy canes, Mince pies, Bon bons, Gravox, Custard powder, Baby foods, Nappies, Christmas cake |
| Year 7 | Tinned meats, Tinned pudding, Tins of tuna/salmon, Canned vegetables including peas, beans, carrots, potatoes, beetroot, corn, mushrooms, canned soup |
| Year 8 | Tea bags, Weetbix, Long life milk, Cereal, Powdered Milk |
| Year 9 | Salad dressings, Sugar, Tomato paste, Jelly crystals, Biscuits |
| Year 10 | Dried beans, Lentils, Instant noodles, Pasta sauce, Pasta meals, Pasta, Rice |
| Year 11 | Disposable razors, Feminine hygiene, Kleenex, Shampoo/Conditioner, Soaps, Tooth care, Shaving cream, Deodorant |
With over two million people living below the poverty line in Australia, including over half a million children, your support of the Vinnies Christmas Appeal will provide more than immediate help, it provides something much more valuable – the opportunity of a better life. You can help families in need in your local community to have a genuinely meaningful Christmas. We thank you for your support in making a difference to people in need. Please feel free to contact Mrs Jacinta Wells at jwells@loretonh.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions.
At the end of the term, if any parents or carers can provide the gift of transport to help deliver the hampers to the Hornsby Vinnies Support Centre at 41 Jersey Street, Hornsby, your daughter is welcome to accompany you and the contribution of time will be recognised by Mr Jason Currao as Community Service Hours.
We are so excited to have launched Normo Fusion this week. Normo Fusion is a re-imaging of what was the Light Entertainment program. The Creative Arts, Music and the Performing Arts are back and the students are busy brainstorming ways to interpret the theme, “the circus is coming to town” in their Houses. Over the next few weeks, the students will collaborate and get creative with one another. The Normo Fusion Assembly will be held on Wednesday 30 November during House time in the gymnasium. Take a few moments to ask your daughter about the program and her involvement.
Vaping (the use of e-cigarettes or 'vapes') continues to be an issue that attracts a great deal of attention as well as debate across the country. Many parents feel ill-informed about it and have little or no experience on how to address this with their children.
Mr Paul Dillon, the founder of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia, will be presenting a webinar on vaping (cost $25 plus GST) on Monday, 14 November from 7-8:30pm, which is targeted at parents of school aged children. This session will examine what we currently know about the use of e-cigarettes and vaping amongst Australian school-based young people.
This event will be livestreamed over Zoom and a recording of the event will also be made available for a period following the event's conclusion. We strongly encourage you to register for the event. To register for the event please click here.
Loreto Normanhurst remains committed to education and preventative strategies with regards to e-cigarettes. In week 4 in Conversation Time, Year 9 will have an educational presentation about the risks of vaping, led by Heads of House and PDHPE staff. This session complements their learning in the PDHPE curriculum and will introduce them to important information before Paul Dillon presents to them in Year 10 in 2023. Paul presents to Year 10, 11 and 12 each year about the risks associated with drugs and alcohol. We are currently undertaking research on vaping detectors to understand their suitability in our school setting.
School TV is an online resource designed to empower you as parents with credible and sound information with realistic, practical ongoing support strategies.
Click the link here to find out more.
Disability provisions in the HSC are practical arrangements designed to help students who can’t otherwise make a fair attempt to show what they know in an exam. The provisions granted are solely determined by how the student’s exam performance is affected. More than 7000 HSC students apply for provisions each year. Provisions help students to show the HSC markers what they know and can do. These needs may be related to learning, sensory impairment, mental health, medical or physical conditions.
Examples of provisions available include:
Schools are responsible for determining and approving disability provisions for all school-based assessment tasks. NESA determines disability provisions for the HSC examinations. Students and parents should be advised that there is no guarantee that NESA will grant the same provisions as those provided at school.
To apply for provisions, schools must submit an online application to NESA. This application tells us which provision/s a student is requesting and includes recent evidence. Evidence may include medical reports, reading results, spelling results, writing samples and teacher comments.
Disability provisions also apply to temporary and emergency-related disabilities e.g. if a student breaks their writing arm a week before an examination.
If you feel your daughter may require exam provisions please contact Simmy Cesamolo, Head of Diverse Learning at scesamolo@loretonh.nsw.edu.au or on phone 9473 7368 to discuss the process of application. The closing date for disability provisions applications for known/stable conditions for the 2023 HSC is before the end of Term 1 2023.
Please find all details about Disability Provisions Applications on the NESA website.
To view the latest Careers events, seminars, subscriptions and university updates, please explore the yellow Careers News tab on Canvas. Click here to access the Careers Canvas page. Alternatively, go directly to this week's Careers Canvas Newsletter here.
Students in all year groups can book an appointment with Careers at any time by emailing careers@loretonh.nsw.edu.au. Please put your availability into your email.
Congratulations to all piano students who performed in the Piano Studio Concert last weekend. A wonderful diversity of musical style was enjoyed by parents and friends in the Curran Theatre. Learning how to perform is an important skill for young musicians and each student engaged with the etiquette required for concert performance like seasoned professionals. It was especially impressive to watch students just beginning their music learning on this instrument bravely perform alongside our senior students. A genuine feeling of camaraderie was communicated in this concert.
A special thanks and acknowledgement is extended to the wonderful piano staff, Virginia Matcham, Amy Putt, Ella Higgins, Lee Akinsanya and Angela Pelletier who prepared the students with boundless encouragement and support.
Saturday, 15 October
Congratulations to Tahlia Moses, Catherine Ye and Hewage Jayasekara for their participation in the Sydney University Model United Nations. A big shout out to Tahlia Moses who received the Most Diplomatic Award.
Friday, 21 - Saturday, 22 October
Congratulations to all students who participated in this year’s Festival of Speech! Loreto Normanhurst placed 16th out of 27 schools who participated in this year’s event.
This year we have made the decision to begin preparing the Mock Trial team earlier. As such we are calling for nominations from Year 9 and Year 10 students who would be interested in participating in Mock Trial in 2023. Students have been notified via Sentral. Students can nominate using this link. Students who were in the team in 2022 are required to still nominate but are excluded from the try-out process. Students can use the following link to nominate for the team. Nominations will close on Friday, 4 November.
We are calling for nominations from Year 9 and Year 10 students for the Snr Ethics Olympiad teams for 2023. Students can use the following link to nominate for the teams. Students who were in the team in 2022 are still required to nominate via the form. Students have been notified via Sentral. Nominations will close on Friday, 4 November. Students can nominate via this link.
Students who are interested in attending the Youth UN Disability Justice Summit should enter their expression of interest via the website and then confirm their enrolment with oratory@loretonh.nsw.edu.au
We are delighted to invite all members of the Loreto Normanhurst Community to join us onsite or online for the next seminar in the 2022 'Seeking Truth' Seminar Series - an exciting series of interactive seminars about feminist theology and the role and experience of women in the Church.
This presentation will consider how and why theology can either be a transforming or disempowering mediator for change in Pasifika communities. Arguing that although theology has a powerful role to play in bringing about transformative change, much is largely dependent on the kinds of theologies we choose to privilege or perpetuate.
Presented by Rev Dr Seforosa Carroll who is an Australian Fijian-born Rotuman theologian who spent her formative years growing up in Lautoka, the western side of Viti Levu in Fiji. Rev Dr Carroll is currently the Programme Executive for Mission, Mission from the Margins with the World Council of Churches based in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to joining the WCC she worked with Uniting World as a theological researcher (on climate and gender) and the church partnerships manager (Pacific) facilitating church relationships in Australia and the Pacific.
We warmly invite our community to the Mary Ward Justice Forum on ‘Responding Together for our Common Home’.
An annual collaboration between Loreto Normanhurst and Kirribilli, we would love you to join us to explore our response in Australia to the teachings of Pope Francis on Care for our Common Home with Jacqui Rémond, Dr Sandie Cornish, Prue Roberston and Eliza Harvey.
Join us for a fun afternoon of Gingerbread House making! Kits are $45 (one house per student & parent) and include all ingredients, gingerbread house, icing and lollies. You are welcome to bring along your own lollies to personalise your gingerbread house.
Spaces are limited and unfortunately no RSVPs after the RSVP date will be accepted. RSVPs must be in by 9am Tuesday, 1 November.
Click here to book tickets
Please Note: The booking link below is for Secondary families and ONLY those Primary families who can’t attend the Primary event.
Gingerbread House Kits are also available for Secondary families to buy! Kits are $45 and will be shipped directly to you. Kits are available in traditional gingerbread, chocolate gingerbread and gluten free and are available to purchase until 30 November.
Purchase your kit here.
Please see below for the upcoming parent events for Term 4!
It’s finally here, only 2 days to go! Don’t forget to check out the Spring Fair page for all the important information and updates regarding the Spring Fair. Hope to see you all there on Sunday!
PAL is very happy to announce a new range of merchandise that has been curated especially for our Loreto Normanhurst Community. Are you in need of a cap or visor, jacket, or puffer while you stand on the sideline cheering your daughter on? Looking for a big umbrella to keep you dry during this wet season? Does Dad need a new pair of socks for Christmas?
Click on the link to take you to the Normo Network Shop to view all available items. Or come and visit us at the PAL Stall at Spring Fair to view our full range of Loreto Merchandise!
Click here to purchase PAL Merchandise
Please note, all orders will be available for collection at the Spring Fair.
After more than a year in the making, we are so excited to share our beautiful commemorative Cookbook with the Loreto Normanhurst community. The Cookbook will be available for purchase at the Spring Fair; visit the Cookbook Team in the Gym to purchase a copy.
The Cookbook can also be purchased on the Normo Shop here.
If you have any questions relating to the Cookbook, please feel free to contact us at LNcookbook125@gmail.com
Thank you for your support,
LN Cookbook Committee
Friday, 11 November
Join us for end of year drinks at the Hotel Pennant Hills on Friday, 11 November. There is no cost to attend but please RSVP via the link below as numbers are limited. All drinks and food will be at your own expense.
Click here to RSVP
Friday, 18 November
More details to come
Wednesday, 23 November
6.30pm
The Parent Association of Loreto Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, 23 November at 6:30pm onsite at School.
The Parent Association of Loreto (PAL) is the official representation of parents and guardians of students at the school. We encourage parents/guardians of students from all year levels to join the Executive Committee and be part of the wider committee in non-executive roles so that we can truly be a representative body. Being part of the Committee is a great way to be involved with the school community and to meet other parents.
If you would like to nominate to be on the PAL Executive Committee or be part of the wider committee in non-executive roles such as a Year Parent Representative or the event planning team for 2023, please see below for the position descriptions and nomination form.
We look forward to having you on the team!
Click here for Nomination Form & Position Descriptions (this is a fillable form)
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or any general queries in relation to the Parent Association at Loreto Normanhurst at pal@loretonh.nsw.edu.au
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