The Bridge Issue 2 2020 Brigidine College St Ives

THE BRIGIDINE COLLEGE ST IVES

bridge

ISSUE 2 2020

Beyond the classroom

The Bridge, the Brigidine College, St Ives bi-annual magazine Editor and Graphic Design Lyndal Sayer Content and Proof Reading Di Lawrence Cover and feature Photography Cybele Malinowski Photography Brigidine staff and students Printing Worldwide North Ryde Brigidine College 325 Mona Vale Road St Ives NSW 2075 +61 2 9988 6200 office@brigidine.nsw.edu.au brigidine.nsw.edu.au

WHAT WE LIKED We are immensely proud of you Year 12. Thank you for being such a ‘well-liked’ part of our social media for 2020.

CARE TO SHARE? We are always grateful to receive photos and stories that we can share on our social media pages.

Please send content to communications@brigidine. nsw.edu.au

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Contents

Issue two 2020

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12 FRO M T H E P R I N C I PA L

Beyond the Classroom F ROM T H E D E P U T Y PRINCIPA L FAI T H A N D W E L L B E ING

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Finding a Silver Lining N EW S

A new Virtual Tour for the College N EW S

Social Justice & Homelessness Week

NEWS

Entry before ATAR? FROM T HE VISUAL ART & TA S DEPARTMENTS

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Year 12 HSC Showcase Art Express 6

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FROM T HE DR AMA, DANCE & M USIC DEPARTMENTS

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ALUMNI

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NEWS

N EW S

Leading with Compassion Study Grant Awards

Make it Happen Girls in Black 12

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ALUMNI

Survey

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Year 12 Graduation

Staff Farewells

Introduction & Profiles

Innovate, Unleash, Inspire F ROM T H E D E P U T Y PRINCIPA L TEACH I N G A N D L E A RNING

NEWS

Student Highlights NEWS

OnStage, Callback and Encore FROM DA NCE SPETACULAR

NEWS

Women In English Webinar

AR CHIVES

New mission, New life, New world

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From the Principal

Beyond the Classroom

‘To be happy is to find strength in forgiveness, hope in battles, security in the stage of fear, love in discord. It is not only to enjoy the smile, but also to reflect on the sadness. It is not only to celebrate the successes, but to learn lessons from the failures. It is not only to feel happy with the applause, but to be happy in anonymity.

Being happy is not a fatality of destiny, but an achievement for those who can travel within themselves. Never give up .... Never give up on people who love you. Never give up on happiness, for life is an incredible show’. Pope Francis At a time when all we seem to talk about is the challenge that 2020 has presented it’s also important to remember the joy and happiness that each day presents. The inspirational quote above from Pope Francis is a timely reminder that we are the creators of our own life journey and the interactions with those we meet.

Brigidine College is a school that nurtures its

students to be courageous young women who act compassionately to build community and be alive with the Brigidine Charism. In a school where much happens, it is important to stop, pause and reflect on the foundation and core of all that takes place here.

Every day for students at Brigidine, opportunities exist to find the joy in their learning, in sporting and cultural activities surrounded by friends and teachers who celebrate their successes and contributions to our school community. Indeed, it is not only classroom learning that contributes to the successful development of our students.

The experiences, competencies and confidence gained through so many “beyond the classroom” opportunities at Brigidine play a significant part in all of the students we see graduating each year. This issue of The Bridge, despite the limitations placed on our activities, highlights the engagement and achievements, within and beyond the classroom, of our students throughout this challenging year. Remote learning, social distancing and the new normal have all become the catch cries of COVID-19 and Brigidine students and staff have embraced challenge and change and continued College life with the familiar pace and gusto that we have all come to expect.

While many anticipated events and activities had to be cancelled, staff and students

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‘In a society where often attitudes reflect a ‘near enough is good enough’ attitude Brigidine students have taken a counter cultural stand. The active pursuit of excellence and the celebration of each student achieving their best is of the highest priority of all the staff’

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actively worked to recreate opportunities to connect, learn and discover. Our student leaders of 2020 in particular lead the way with remote and online activities that continued to build positivity and closeness of the student body. Our staff adapted to online learning in a heartbeat and many of the traditional face to face features of school life transformed into online events.

Assemblies, parent/student/teacher meetings, information evenings around subject selection and study skills, performing arts events, HSC showcases, Year 12 Graduation and even events featuring guest speakers, all went online so that we could still reach out beyond our walls to parents, family and friends at home to continue to share and celebrate the journey of our students.

2020 has been an extremely successful year for the College. In academic, cultural and sporting endeavours students have excelled. In a society where often attitudes reflect a ‘near enough is good enough’ attitude Brigidine students have taken a counter cultural stand.

The active pursuit of excellence and the celebration of each student achieving their best is of the highest priority of all the staff.

We aspire to challenge that each of our Brigidine graduates will reach their potential as an active contributor to the world in which they live, capable of questioning and changing what needs to be changed. The Brigidine motto, Fortiter et Suaviter challenges students to be “Women of Strength, Women of Gentleness”.

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Our students tell us that they are inspired by our motto, understand its meaning and feel motivated to act with strength and gentleness and live out the Gospel values to make a difference in their world. They get it!

The importance of the value of inclusivity is a strength and feature of Brigidine College.

Coupled with values of courage, compassion, justice and wisdom, our community has worked to respond in a way that will educate our students to challenge and be challenged in a world crying out for people to rise above mediocrity and make a difference. Brigidine students will be ready to make their mark in a society where being values driven and displaying attitudes and actions that are life giving and Gospel centered are often not favoured.

A focus for the Brigidine community during the final term of 2020 and the start of 2021 will be developing a new value based Strategic Plan.

As we enter 2021 and the years beyond, our new plan will lead us into the future, ensuring that we remain faithful to our mission. Our plan will capture and build upon the ideals we hold closely at Brigidine - a wholistic education that celebrates and meets the needs of all learners, where collaboration and risk taking as learners is vital to the development and growth of our students and diversity of curriculum and learning experiences builds on real world experiences for our students.

LAETITIA RICHMOND P R I N C I PA L

From the Deputy Principal Faith & Wellbeing

Finding a Silver Lining

A famous quote on the need for positivity goes, ‘Don’t curse the darkness…light a candle!’ More than ever the College community has had to look for new and innovative ways to keep all our hopes up and to support our young women through the 2020 pandemic.

During the lockdown, the staff were fantastic in their approach to supporting the girls’ wellbeing and their learning and the transition for most girls was smooth. The students were uncomfortable, missing their friends and the classroom environment, but able to cope. As the pandemic extended its hold and duration through the year College life was restricted and limited in many ways. Mandates from NSW Health and the Government again changed the way we normally do things and excluded parents, visitors, excursions, camps, sporting events, presentations, performances, assemblies and chapel time. Our wellbeing, spirituality, community life, cocurricular experiences and connection with our parent community was effectively taken from us.

Here we chose to focus on the ‘light’ and became creative, using technology as a tool for interaction and re-thinking and re-imagining ways to build connection and to support the girls. Our Positive Education framework, based on the models of Positive Psychology and a growth mindset, played its part as well, reminding us all to focus

on strengths not weaknesses, positives not negatives, and self-care instead of self-absorption.

Despite this, it was not all smooth sailing at the College. The girls did demonstrate increases in anxiety, mood and eating disorders and level of depression. Our Counselling staff was increased and they managed to support many girls in 2020 through this challenging time. Our Pastoral team of Year Coordinators and Mentor staff also managed increased demands for support from students and parents struggling to cope in this difficult time. We were forced to focus on what is important and build new ways to create solutions enabling growth.

As we move towards the end of the year and our Class of 2020 graduate from the College, we again focus on the need to ‘light a candle’ and celebrate new ways to enjoy graduation.

The light was never more evident in the Class of 2020s wonderful success with their Year 12 charity working creatively to raise more funds than ever before. This great success in a year without the normal Founders Day and fundraising structures. A true testament to innovation and creativity, casting light in the darkness and being ‘strong and gentle’ despite all that is happening in the world.

BRIAN LOUGHLAND D E P U T Y P R I N C I PA L FA I T H A N D W E L L B E I N G

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News

A new virtual tour for the school

Brigidine College is about to lauch an exciting virtual tour which showcases our amazing Campus.

New prospective parents will be able to tour the school from the comfort of their own home As we are all very much aware 2020 has been a year like no other. Due to COVID-19 all College tours and our Annual Open Day were not able to progress. Given they are the most important enrolment tools we have, we had to reach our prospective parents without them setting foot on our Campus. The only answer was to go virtual. Luckily just weeks before restrictions were put in place, we had engaged a company called YouTour to film and deploy our virtual tour.

Filming was done on a normal school day with the aim to showcase our amazing facilities and the opportunities available to all girls who come here. Prospective parents start their journey from 120m above our Campus, flying down through our facilities and stopping at key locations along the journey. At each location parents can view high quality 360 virtual images, videos and photos.

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Another feature which enhances our virtual tour is the voiceover of our girls narrating the tour through the Campus. This gives the audience deeper insights into our offerings and guides their attention to key areas along their journey. The background audio was chosen specifically to create a warm and enthusiastic feeling for our audience.

The end result is a virtual tour which showcases the many features of our Campus, while confirming for our prospective parents that Brigidine College is where they want their daughters to be. While we still believe nothing is better than inviting visitors onto our Campus, the end result of this Virtual tour comes pretty close.

Please decide for yourself by visiting our website https://www.brigidine.nsw.edu.au/ K AT H Y G I U F F R I D A ENROLMENTS MANAGER

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News

Social Justice & Homelessness week

In a challenging year, charity and justice have never been more relevant. Even with restrictions limiting the opportunities for student to engage in the broader community, a new program has allowed students to give back to women and girls living in developing countries ‘Days for Girls’ is a charity which provides dignity, education and opportunity to girls and women by supplying them with menstrual kits.

A large number of students have been giving of their time and skills to create components for these kits and this work has continued to expand and grow as the year has progressed.

In Term two, the whole school stood in solidarity with Indigenous Australians with

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the Sea of Hands installation on the College Green. Students were encouraged to write a prayer or message of hope and pin it to a hand which was then arranged into a representation of the Aboriginal flag. This small gesture is a public statement of our support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and an acknowledgement to the past and ongoing hurts which these people have and continue to experience.

At an online assembly last term, the College community was addressed by Yaser Naseri who is a refugee who arrived in Australia during 2014 after fleeing persecution in Iran.

Yaser spoke of the reasons why he had to leave Iran, the journey that he took to arrive in Australia including the desperation which led to him attempting to get here by boat, and the positive contribution which he has made since arriving in Australia. He is currently finishing a Bachelor of Commerce at Sydney University and continues to work with refugees

to provide support services and advocacy.

The Year Group charities continue to be well supported. Year 12’s initiatives have raised in excess of $20 000 for Feel the Magic, Year 11 organised the whole school to make 2374 meals and 186 baby packs for people living on the margins and Year 8 ran a very successful Winter Appeal for the Vinnies vans in which they donated nearly fifty boxes of food. Year 10 ran a successful Indigenous Awareness week focussed on advocacy and awareness raising for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.The core mantra of justice and charity at the College is to LEAD. This means to Listen to a social problem, Educate themselves and the College community to the impacts of that issue, Act upon what they have learnt, and through this Dignify all the people who are affected.

M AT T H E W S E L B Y I M M E R S I O N S A N D M I N I S T RY C O O R D I N AT O R , M AT H E M AT I C S T E A C H E R

8290

DISHES COOKED FOR DIGNITY THIS YEAR

HOMELESSNESS WEEK AND DIGNITY DISHES The Brigidine College community has partnered with Dignity and embraced their core values to empower people who are experiencing homelessness Brigidine’s partnership with Dignity Dishes was one that started with twenty Duke of Edinburgh students seeing a vision of the difference they could make by cooking meals, for people experiencing homelessness, once a week as part of the community service component of the award. Momentum gained as word spread and our community saw the positive effect a simple action could have on those in need in our society.

Dignity is a charity with big ideas and endless optimism, with a philosophy to get things done and constantly dream up ways to do things even better. The Brigidine Year 11 House Leaders brought their dream

of making a Brigidine difference during Homelessness Week 2020 to reality. In the first week of August, Year 11 students educated and encouraged other Year groups to make a difference for people experiencing homelessness. Students in Years 8,10 and 11 were asked to cook 6 meals and Years 7,9 and 12 contributed products to make up baby packs. The response was overwhelming, so much so that we needed more freezer space to accommodate the 1000s of meals students cooked. Our wider community contributed two commercial size freezers and the Brigidine dream of making a difference this year during

Homelessness week continued well beyond our expectations. A total of 2374 meals were cooked and 186 baby packs made.

Everything Dignity does is guided by two core beliefs; Every person should be treated with dignity and together we can end homelessness in Australia. Brigidine students have and continue to embrace these core values through their actions and contributions to Dignity this Homelessness week and beyond with a total of 8290 dishes in total to date this year.

SKYE WACHER D U K E O F E D I N B U R G H C O O R D I N AT O R S C I E N C E D E PA R T M E N T

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From the Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning

Year 12 Graduation

Year 12 Graduation looked a little different this year, but there was definitely magic in the air on 23 September when we celebrated the sterling achievements of the Class of 2020 As the 2021 College Captain, Flora Tucker said: “Today is a celebration of Brigidine excellence within Year 12, and we are proud to share their achievements with you, and most importantly, to celebrate each student for who they are, here and now.”

The Class of 2020 have experienced a year unlike any other, which made this occasion even more special. Our goal in reimagining this assembly was to preserve elements of our usual traditions, whilst ensuring that our parent and friends’ community could still feel part of such a significant milestone. So, this was the motivation behind changing the format, so that we could take time to honour each Year 12 student for their unique contribution to the College.

The accolades the students received were many and varied and reinforced that when these young women venture into the world beyond Brigidine, they will be agents for positive change who engage compassionately with the world. The charity which was chosen by the students ‘Camp Magic’ exemplified the importance of relationships and connection. The fact that Year 12 students were able to inspire the community to donate more than $20,000 for such a worthy cause is testimony to their drive and determination.

As an educator, it was truly a joy and privilege to be able to showcase the creative talent and honour the girls’ outstanding cocurricular and academic achievements, which have been of an exceptionally high standard. Throughout the Assembly, we celebrated an array of exemplary works in Visual Arts, Drama, Dance, Music, Textiles and Design, Science Extension, Society and Culture, English Extension and History Extension.

I would like to congratulate our outgoing Year 12 students for the optimism, creativity, willingness and tenacity they have demonstrated this year. The girls’ 20/20 vision and focus has provided them with the clarity necessary to be successful, even through these uncertain times. We are confident that they graduated with a determination to making a difference to the world.

ELIZABETH WEBSTER D E P U T Y P R I N C I PA L TEACHING AND LEARNING

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News

Leading with Compassion A recent survey of our parent community confirmed that the values which are integral to Brigidine are a key reason why parents choose this College for their daughters. It is not surprising then that our parents integrate these same values into their lives. During the recent challenging months we were delighted to see one of those key values, compassion, once again demonstrated by our community.

Even though the College suspended this year’s Annual Giving campaign we still received gifts to our Scholarship and Bursary Fund. As I thanked each one of those who gave, there was a common thread of compassion.

“I wish I could give more but, if we all do what we can, we can ease the load for those who are struggling.”

Of course, our students are regularly involved in showing their compassion. Their own Student Leaders, teachers and Mentors all encourage and lead them to make a difference in others lives. We saw a wonderful example at the Year 12 Final Assembly with the announcement of an amazing $23,424 being raised for “See the Magic” – a staggering

Thankyou We thank the following donors and those who chose to give anonymously for their support to the Scholarship and Bursary Fund result in COVID times when activities were so restricted. Ms Richmond recently titled a College Council announcement “Leading with Compassion”. She said, “Mindful of the many challenges the Brigidine College community is facing the College Board has resolved to freeze tuition fees at their current rate for 2021.

We encourage our students to live the school’s motto – Fortiter et Suaviter – and to lead with strength and gentleness. This decision exemplifies such thinking.”

The College also extends compassion through the offer of Bursary assistance to families experiencing hardship so that their daughters may continue their Brigidine education. We are grateful to those who support the Scholarship and Bursary Fund as their gifts allow us to support a Brigidine education for girls in need.

Gifts to the Scholarship and Bursary Fund are tax-deductible and can be made through https://www.brigidine.nsw.edu.au/support/ annual-giving/ DI LAWRENCE DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT AND C O M M U N I T Y R E L AT I O N S

News

Study Grant awards We are delighted that Brigidine College, through the support of several donors, has offered five Grants to Brigidine Year 12 students in 2020 The Grants are provided by Mrs Margaret Cook, the National Australia Bank (NAB) and the Trussell Family. These Grants provide $500 to each student to assist in furthering her study or experience in these chosen fields. One grant was awarded for each study area.

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The successful students in 2020 were: Geography – Layne Cook Economics – Charlotte North Business – Lauren Pilling Mathematics Extension – Claudia Dixon Trussell Family Extension History – Lauren Hickey

Biggs Family Bowesman Family Chown Family Coakes Family Philippa Goddard John & Jenny Gordon Kitty Guerin Graham Hughes Di Lawrence Li Family Maher Family Sue Martin Anne Mayoh McGain Family David M McGrath Dr Kerry-Ann O’Sullivan Lindsay Piacentini Preziuso Family Rolfe Family Wilson Family

COLLEEN MCKEOWN We sincerely thank Colleen McKeown, past staff member, who has generously donated two plaques from Ireland which are on display in the Staff Common Room.

News

Entry before ATAR? Year 12 Early Entry Schemes: Why are they so popular and what is Early Entry?

Many Universities now have early entry programs, which allow students to apply for University before they complete their Year 12 exams. Essentially, students can secure a place early, thereby diminishing stress and anxiety which might be lingering.

The Early Entry programs look at factors other than a student’s ATAR to determine their suitability for a university place.

In many instances, to secure a placement offer the candidate is still required achieve a minimum Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR). However, given that other ‘adjustment’ factors are considered, the ATAR will be less than the official published rank. So, early entry is based on a ‘selection rank’ not an ATAR.​A selection rank is a student’s actual ATAR plus the adjustment factors the university allocates to a student. Sometimes these factors are referred to as ‘bonus points’. ​For example, ACU selects students who have spent time on one big community-based project. Macquarie University considers a Year 11 student’s academic achievements as well as their involvement in cocurricular activities.

Many universities, such as UNSW and ICMS, now have Elite Athlete Performer Pathways and Leadership Entry Programs. Some are a part of a scheme devised by UAC called the Student Recommendation Scheme, a pathway which considers a student’s Year 11 academic achievements as well as the school’s rating of a student’s aptitude. This year, over 50% of our students applied

for places via this scheme. In 2019, UTS made the headlines because they offered adjustment factors to female students who were applying to traditionally male dominated courses, such as Engineering Studies.

This year, universities have sent out a record number of early offers and applications for some admission schemes have tripled as year 12 students are very keen to secure a place in light of the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.

According to available data, early entry applications for the Australian National University increased by 70 per cent in 2020, and this is considered to be a direct result of the universities’ decision to consider Year 11 results. Universities began sending out early offers to our students in April, and many universities only closed their courses at the end of September. Many of our students have been offered more than one place, and some have been successful in securing prestigious scholarships.

At least 40% of our current HSC students have already been offered either a conditional or unconditional place at university.

It was wonderful to hear that several students have been offered a place at Macquarie University’s Leaders and Achievers early entry scheme: Abigail Powell: Bachelor of Human Sciences Libby Denyer: Macquarie University, Bachelor of Environmental Studies and Jemima Thomas: Bachelor of Psychology and Bachelor of Laws.

Chantelle Cunningham has been offered a range of excellent opportunities, including a Scholarship at Orana Fashion Business College to study a Diploma of Social Media Marketing and Diploma of Business, majoring in fashion.

Jessica Gordon was delighted to receive an unconditional offer to study a Bachelor of Nursing at the Australian Catholic University.

Her success was in part due to her decision to study a TAFE course in Human Services as part of her Stage 6 pattern of study.

UTS vice-chancellor Attila Brungs said his university will offer more places next year, and focus on students whose schooling had been impacted by COVID-19 to ensure they were not disadvantaged, he also gave this advice to a prospective student: “Remember that entrance to university is not a once-off opportunity that is closed to you forever should you miss it this year”.

He said, “For you, more than for any generation before, there will be multiple opportunities for a university education throughout your life. The great thing about being a tertiary student today is that career or study choices made immediately after school does not limit her range of choices in the future. It is not expected that graduates will remain in the same discipline for the duration of their working life.’

ELIZABETH WEBSTER D E P U T Y P R I N C I PA L TEACHING AND LEARNING

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From the Visual Art & TAS Departments

Year 12 HSC Showcase Our annual exhibition was streamed live and you can view it at https://bit.ly/3ma51oi

PREDATOR?

BY ANIKA TOWNLEY

REMNANTS IN THE AGE DIGITAL DECONSTRUCTION

BY CHARLOTTE ROBERTSON

VISUAL ARTS The 2020 HSC Visual Arts “body of work” exhibition showcased the outstanding artworks created by Year 12 students.

Each body of work on exhibition reflected insightful explorations into self-directed concepts such as place and identity, culture and belief, through a wide variety of expressive forms. The whole process of creating is time consuming and at times challenging. It is certainly not easy.

This year students have engaged in one of the most rewarding learning experiences they can have. Through Visual Arts they acquired skills, engaged in theoretical dialogue, and ultimately rose to the challenge of creating art. They become wiser and bolder through the process. The rewards are great and the lessons life-long.

The experience of resolving a body of work is an opportunity for students to engage with learning that values academic rigor as well as critical and creative growth. This resulted

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BAKA DUNJA MARIJA (GRANDMA DUNJA MARIJA)

BY CHANTEL JURISIC

TEXTILES in a memorable exhibition. Not just because every work was stunning but because this Showcase enabled the whole school community to celebrate the dedication, passion and learning of our Brigidine Visual Arts students.

We celebrate all the students who took part and applaude those who were also chosen to have their work exhibited at various locations as part of Art Express.

Congratulations to the students who had their work selected: Isabella Encina Chantel Jurisic Sadie Page Sasha Rous Khloe Tria Daisy Young

Coping with the unique circumstances presented to them this year the girls did an amazing job showcasing their ingenuity, creativity and innovation.

Under the watchful eye of Mrs Robyn Collins they have produced a range of apparel, non-apparel, costume and textile art pieces that are all testament to their hard work and dedication.

For the Year 12 course, students are required to develop a Major Textile Project which is focused on an area of interest. This has two components: the textile item(s) produced and the supporting documentation detailing design inspiration, visual design development, manufacturing specification and investigation, experimentation and evaluation.

This year our students’ design solutions have been enhanced by the application of digital printing and laser cutting technology.

B R I G I AT M A LT E S E VISUAL ARTS HOD

PA M E L A M A L O N E TA S / V E T H O D

ART EXPRESS SHOWCASE

SPINE

BY SADIE PAGE

FABRIC OF SHADOWS

BY KHLOE TRIA

INSOMNIA

BY NATALIE LUKACEVIC

BLEACHED

BY RUBY LOWE

EVERLASTING GOBSTOPPERS

BY ISABELLA ENCINA

DAWN

BY SASHA ROUS

THE CATASTROPHIC SHEDDING

BY ZALI MCKAY

GENESIS 2:15

BY JULIET BUCHANAN

BEE-WARE

BY SARAH WATSON

REFLECTIONS ON STREETONS ‘LOST’

BY DAISY YOUNG

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ELIZABETHAN BOTANICS

BY OLIVIA RUGGIERO

THE FAIRY OF JOY

BY JESS KEYSER

BY THE SEASIDE

BY MIA KUHN

NATURAL FEMININITY

BY JESSICA WEARNE

ANZAC DAY

BY KEILY TING

RESPECT YOUR MOTHER

BY CATRIONA HIGGS

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JAPANESE INSPIRATION

BY SALLY HEFFERNAN

RADICAL

BY ZARA PITTIONI

LUXURY TEXTILES

BY ISABELLA ACHELLES

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CHERRY BLOSSOM INSPIRED COSTUME

BY STEPHANIE GUSTARD

From the Drama, Dance & Music Departments

OnStage, Callback and Encore Each year our Year 12 students work collaboratively with their teachers to show their dedication towards Drama, Dance and Music. We celebrate all the girls for their hard work and we congratulate those who have been nominated for a range of NESA HSC Showcases for excellence in their areas of Performing Arts.

Well done for an outstanding effort by everyone involved

DRAMA - ONSTAGE

DANCE - CALLBACK

Congratulations to the following students who were sucessfully nominated for OnStage:

Congratulations to the Students and Dance Works Nominated for the 2020 Major Study Performance:

Carmelita Buay, Perfect Nicole Chan, Metamorphosis Chloe Christie, Every Brilliant Thing Laura Collins, Home I’m Darling Charlotte Cuda, Squawk Chantelle Cunningham, Get The Money Flo-ing Jemima Guberina, The Bleeding Tree Madison McGirr, Suck It Up Madison McGrath, Prima Facie Georgia Prendergast, Miss Havisham’s Great Expectations Charlotte Waite, Girls Like That Lucinda Weber, The Vagina Monologue Priya Wheatley, The Whore of Mensa

Rebekah Astley Carmelita Buay Chloe Oldham Allyssa Kozlovsky

MUSIC - ENCORE Congratulation to the following music students who were nominated for Encore: Madison McGrath Jessica Gordon Charlotte Cuda

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From Dance Spetacular

Innovate, Unleash, Inspire A highlight of the Brigidine year for the school is the Dance Spectacular production held annually in September. This event showcases every class as well as individual and Eisteddfod performances. Our Dance Spectacular highlights a wonderful opportunity for students to experience quality teaching and learning in the performing arts whether as part of their academic course work or as part of our cocurricular program

BALLET

COMPANY JAZZ

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SALSA

SOLOIST CAITLIN WALLEY

CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE

SOLOIST CARMELITA BUAY

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News

Make it Happen Girls in Black Girls in Black is a cocurricular group open to girls interested in learning technical theatre skills and provides backstage and technical support for College productions.

The girls learn and practise in the areas of theatrical lighting, sound production and stage management Whilst 2020 has seen so many of our face to face College events cancelled it has given our Girls in Black more opportunities for involvement than ever before. We have had to be more creative and think outside the box meaning many school events have become live streamed events which in turn has allowed

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for larger student crews to be involved in each one, and the girls have been able to really put their skills into practice.

As a result, the Girls in Black have been learning new skills in filming and live video production, such as multi-camera streaming, lighting for cameras and producing audio for video. They have developed a much needed skill set which could prove to be incredibly useful in the workforce.

As this issue of the Bridge goes to print the Girls in Black are now beginning to prepare for the upcoming Year 11 play. It will be the first time they have lived streamed a full-length play.

Although traditionally our Girls in Black have been working hard behind the scenes this year they have most definitely been centre stage.

GARETH EDEY M U LT I M E D I A S P E C I A L I S T

News

Women In English Webinar With three inspirational panellists, all outstanding women in their field our first ‘Women In’ event was a huge success. The series will continue in 2021. Stay tuned We are living in a time in which the media, publishing and social landscapes are rapidly changing. Only earlier this year we saw the closure of news outlet AAP after 85 years and other traditional news media sources and publishing houses are also facing unprecedented challenges.

An event originally scheduled to be held at the College we were pleased instead to hosts guests and our panellists in a live webinar ‘Women in English’. The webinar

aimed at those interested in a career in an English-related field was held on the evening of Tuesday 2 June and was enjoyed by students, parents, English teachers, and mentors alike.

Our panel was made up of three inspirational women, Amanda Hooton, Bridget GriffenFoley and Alisa Piper, all outstanding in their fields, to discuss their own careers and the future for careers in writing. They were engaging and shared some great experiences and advice with the audience.

The panel was welcomed by Laetitia Richmond, College Principal and Janet Walker, Head of English and questions were posed to them by Year 11 students Tara Thai and Flora Tucker.

In collaboration with our Careers Centre and Shelley Cooper, Careers Counsellor, this was the first in a series of faculty based “Women

in” events. Look out for the next one in early 2021!

We heard from some of our community and they told us: ‘‘Thank you for organising and hosting the “Women in English” webinar last night. It was one of the most entertaining, informative, and best run Zoom Webinars I have attended.’’

‘It was an interesting, informative and inspiring discussion, providing a unique glimpse into a variety of careers within this subject area.’

‘That was a fantastic webinar. Very inspiring!

I thought the evening went from strength to strength and in the end, found myself taking copious notes’ PIP INMAN A L U M N I / C O M M U N I T Y R E L AT I O N S C O O R D I N AT O R

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News

Student Highlights 2021 STUDENT LEADERSHIP

BARISTAS@BRIGO

Congratulations to the new Senior Ten Captains and all of our new Year 12 leaders: (left to right) Mia Ferguson, Jennifer Loke, Tara Thai, Sophie Tunks, Stella Hall Senior Vice Captain, Flora Tucker - College Captain, Georgia Bonadio, Caitlin Fletcher, Emily Ambrogio, and Courtney Wilkinson.

THE NSW SCHOOLAEROBICS STATE FINALS This year Brigidine entered 15 teams across 6 categories. We achieved 12 medals, an excellent result for all of our girls and their coaches. The results were: Stage 1 Gold Rockstars (Year 8) Stage 1 Bronze Electrify (Year 8) Stage 2 Gold Backstreet Bling (Year 9) Stage 2 Silver Electrify (Year 9) Stage 2 Bronze Intensity (Years 9-11) Stage 3 Silver Brigo Boogie (Year 9) Stage 3 Bronze Pump it up (Year 10) Aerobics Gold Aftershock (Year 12) Aerobics Silver Vivacious (Year 12) Aerobics Bronze Electric (Year 11) Open B Gold mixed (Years 9-11) Open A Gold Fierce Four (Years 9-11)

BRIGIDINE AWARDS Brigidine College was nominated for two awards this year, The 2020 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards for our involvement with Dignity Dishes and for Letter Writing to the elderly during lockdown. Well done and keep up the good work !

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Wednesday morning at Brigo now brings the aroma of fresh cinnamon donuts, hot chocolate and coffee. For Term 3 as a part of their required service periods the Hospitality students offered an early morning cafe service.

Students and teachers preordered online and then picked up their breakfast from the hospitality rooms.

Through this simulated cafe environment Hospitality students gained essential industry based skills. While working as a team they liaised with customers, made, packaged and delivered orders to industry standards.

Throughout the term we saw the confidence and leadership skills of the girls develop and as an added bonus all our profits were donated to the Year 12 Charity - Feel the Magic. We plan to make the Baristas@Brigo cafe a permanent service and hope that once the College is open up to visitors again so the wider community can also experience the culinary skills of our Hospitality students.

THE DOROTHEA MACKELLAR NATIONAL POETRY AWARDS Congratulations to Abigail Mills and Alexis Pridgen (Year 9) and Margot Pittman (Year 10) who received Highly Commended awards in the Dorothea Mackellar National Poetry Awards. Commended and Highly Commended awards are difficult to obtain in a competition that receives over 7600 entries a year, so the achievements of our students is very impressive. Brigidine was also only one of nine secondary schools nation-wide to receive a commendation for in the ‘Schools Award’ section. We were thrilled with the number and the quality of entries from Brigidine students this year. All students who entered the competition will receive a Certificate of Participation.

THE MOCK TRIALS

TILDESLEY TENNIS

The Mock Trial won Round 3 of the Mock Trial competition against Knox last Term. Courtney Wilkinson, Micaela Mulholland, Katy Prins, Zoe Bellenger, Charlotte Price, Tara Thai (Year 11) and Georgie Bickerton and Genevieve Kelly (Year 10), found it an invaluable experience. Good work girls !

Last Term, Brigidine had a team of 15 girls represent the College at the rescheduled Tildesley Tennis Tournament.

We had two Year 7 players who played their first Tildesley match, our three Year 12 singles players successfully progressed to Round 2 and Isabella Encina went on to the 3rd round, where she played an excellent match but was not able to overcome her opponent.

On Sunday we had 5 doubles pairs take to the court under sunny skies. All our pairings played well and won valuable games towards our overall point score.

Our top doubles pairing of Caitlin Fletcher (Year 11) and Isabella Wilson, our Tildesley Captain (Year 12) played some exceptional doubles against pairings from Roseville, Abbotsleigh and Kambala to progress to the 4th round, which is an amazing achievement at Tildesley.

In the fourth round they faced a pairing from Meriden.

They had their opportunities throughout the match to take games off the Meriden pairing and continued to play some excellent tennis! Well done to all our Tildesley players who were: Isabella Encina, Isabella Wilson, Sally Heffernan, Emily Todd (Year 12), Caitlin Fletcher, Alessandra Re, Sophie Tunks, Jamie Chung (Year 11), Zoe Ellis, Alyssa Parkinson (Year 10), Chloe Nemeth De Bikal (Year 8), Sofia Encina, Emilea Wallis, Olivia Carson and Freya Lugg (Year 7).

NSW ART GALLERY ART AWARD FINALIST Congratulations to Alessia Marrocco (Year 9), who has been chosen as a finalist in the Young Archie 2020 competition in the 13 to 15 years category. There were over 1800 entries from Australia and New Zealand and she is one of 10 finalists for her age category.

Her Portrait of her father is named “Papa Alf� and will be on exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW until February along side the Archibald Prize.

YEAR 11 HOSPITALITY COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP Year 11 Hospitality Students started Term 4 early by making lunch for the Brigidine Staff. The girls were privileged to work with the chefs from Le Cordon Bleu Cookery School to design, plan, make and serve a selection of multicultural lunch box treats. The menu included Katsu chicken with egg fried rice bundles, lamb kofta, quinoa tabouli, tzatziki and flat beads or a burrito box featuring a black rice salad, pulled pork and fresh garden salad and guacamole. Each box was served with a diplomate cream and strawberry shot! This community partnership was facilitated by NBBBEN and enabled the girls to get real life skills from local industry experts. The young Brigidine chefs will feature in a video to promote the benefits of studying Vocational courses such as Hospitality in schools.

UNPLUGGED Congratulations Natalie Theodore and Julia Manias (Year 11) who won the Northern Beaches Composure Unplugged song writing competition recently with one of their original songs.

They won $500 and $600 for studio recording time.

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CREATIVE WRITING FLASH FICTION

OOH LA LA ONLINE EXTRAVAGANZA Congratulations to the Brigidine girls who competed last Term and received: Company Contemporary – First Place, Company Jazz – Second Place. Congratulations also to the Brigidine Eisteddfod Company Troupes.

Congratulations to everyone who entered the Creative Writing Flash Fiction competition. The entries were of a high standard and the following students received awards: Senior Section Winner: Isabel Hopping (Year 11) Senior Section Runner-up: Sarah Matthews (Year 11) Senior Section Highly Commended: Micaela Mulholland (Year 11) Junior Section Winner: Poppy Kopelke (Year 7) Junior Section Runner-up: Alex Lawrence (Year 9) Junior Section Highly Commended: Tillie East-Lee (Year 7) Junior Section Highly Commended: Romani Sprigg (Year 8) Junior Section Highly Commended: Summer Woods (Year 7)

TOURNAMENT OF MINDS This year as a component of the Tournament of Minds, the students were given the challenge of brainstorming a huge discovery which would have implications for both the past, present and future. They had to explain the significance of the discovery, how it was discovered and the discovery itself. Within this, they created props, answered the challenge questions and then acted it out !

Well done to the three teams who competed in the recent Tournament of Minds competition and congratulations to the team ‘Kilty Pleasures’, Lucien Cuda, lara Veidners, Lisa Baker, Taylor Rondeau, Ella Hemens, Molly Fileman and Eva Ossowski, all from Year 10, who received a Merit Award.

(Missing girls from below are Luisa Baker and Ella Hemens)

BRIGIDINE’S GOT TALENT Last Term we all laughed and cried when we had the opportunity to witness Brigidine’s amazing raw talent. We had a virtual Brigo’s Got Talent, where the brightest and most talented of our school danced, sang, joked, acted and played.

ASCA SPEECH COMPETITION Tara Thai (Year 11) was awarded the ASCA National Scholarship at the end of Term 2. Congratulations Tara !

SURFING STAR ZANNAH DIXON Zannah (Year 8) recently competed in two surfing competitions and was selected to represent Sydney North in the NSW High School State Titles in Coffs Harbour. She competed for Brigidine in the U16’s ‘All Stars’ event. Due to the east coast low there were some exciting 2m+ swells. Zannah made it to the Quarter Finals in really tough conditions.

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OUR FIRST VIRTUAL CROSS COUNTRY CARNIVAL We had a good level of participation in what was a very different format to our usual carnivals ! The results of our virtual Cross Country Carnival were 2000m Results: 1. Keeley Holmes (Year 9) Fatima 2, Ella Marks (Year 9) Lourdes 3, Lola Meikle (Year 9) Lourdes 3000m Results: 1. Keeley Holmes (Year 8) Fatima 2, Hannah Thonell (Year 9) Prague 3, Ella Marks (Year 9) Lourdes

News MANLY JAZZ FESTIVAL ONLINE The College was very excited to be invited to perform in the online version of The Manly Jazz Festival this year.

We were one of only a small number of schools to submit our performance and this is our 3rd year as part of the Jazz Stars of the Future. Well done everyone involved !

Staff Highlights 2020 ANNUAL DINNER AND AWARD PRESENTATION EVENING

FLORA TUCKER SECOND IN THE PLAIN ENGLISH SPEAKING CCMPITETION Congratulations to Flora Tucker (Year 11) who placed 2nd in the Plain English Speaking Competition. This year the competition was held over Zoom and Flora presented and prepared an impromptu speech with only 3 minutes to do so.

The competition is open to all secondary schools in Sydney, so an impressive result for Flora to achieve 2nd place.

AHIGS (VIRTUAL) FESTIVAL OF SPEECH The festival has approximately 27 schools attend and students have the opportunity to perform in the areas of drama, debating, poetry, prose readings, current affairs and religious and ethical questions. The Festival is for girls in Years 7-11 and offers an important focal point for skill development, personal expression, teamwork and friendship. Congratulations to the students who represented the College and thank you to Mrs Walker, Mr Rutherford, Mrs Abercrombie, Ms Boyd and Mrs Cimen for their help in preparation. The categories were: Current Affairs: Abigail Mills (Year 9), Alexis Pridgen (Year 9), Chloe Nemeth de Bikal (Year 8) Junior Public Speaking: Alex Lawrence (Year 9) Senior Public Speaking: Flora Tucker (Year 11) Junior Poetry: Summer Woods (Year 7) Senior Poetry: Stella Hall (Year 11) Junior Reading: Lila Barnard (Year 8) Senior Reading: Tara Thai (Year 11) R & E Ella Hemens (Year 10), Lucienne Cuda (Year 10), Lara Veidners (Year 10)

Congratulations to our fine teachers, Sherryl Bremner and Chloe Vardy who have both received a World Recognition of Teachers Award by The Teacher’s Guild of New South Wales.

Sherryl was acknowledged for making an outstanding contribution to the profession for many years. She has served Brigidine College with distinction, a passionate historian, and has consistently given back to the profession. Sherryl has mentored a number of earlycareer teachers and is always willing to act as a supervisor for preservice teachers. Sherryl is a woman of integrity who has a kind and generous heart, always engaged with the profession, she is a regular presenter at the History Teachers Association conferences, is a Senior HSC Marker and a member of the CSSA examination committee. A worthy recipient of this year’s World Teachers Award, Sherryl inspires and ignites in her students a passion for life-long learning.

Chloe Vardy is recognised as an outstanding early-career teacher.

Since she started at Brigidine a year ago, and since her first day on the job, she has demonstrated the ability to adapt to the everychanging teaching environment – especially during our remote learning period! Chloe has a passion for her subject area and also works hard to understand how her students learn best and is always open to reflecting on her practice so that she can improve. It is evident that Chloe has the ability to motivate, inspire and encourage her students to aim high and achieve her personal best. She is an excellent role model for our students and we know that she has a very bright career ahead of her.

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News

Staff Farewells relationship that Noela holds with the College will remain strong. We wish Noela all the best and thank her for her wonderful contributions to the College and the life of her students.

FAREWELL KIEREN VALENTINE

FAREWELL NOELA KING Noela began teaching at Brigidine in Term 4 1988, employed by Sister Anita when the Brigidine Sisters still lived in the Convent and the standard classroom equipment included chalk, overhead projectors and fordigraph worksheets. She finishes her amazing teaching career having embraced how the delivery of education has changed through the inclusion of technology, including remote learning this year via zoom, but recognising that the relationship of the classroom and beyond remains as essential as ever.

Through her teaching of English and History, as well as her involvement in cocurricular activities such as Public Speaking, Year 11 Play and musicals, Noela has supported girls to build their confidence and engage their curiosity and desire to learn.

Noela’s choice to be a Year 11 Mentor for many years enabled her to work with young women as they transition to being College and community leaders. The girls have benefitted greatly from her passion for the Year 11 ‘Street’ retreat as she was instrumental in the development of a program that could inspire a sense of mission to make a difference in our world. Such is her passion that Noela’s wish in retirement is to continue as a volunteer with some of the groups that the College has made connections with such as Key College, a YOTS school for struggling youth.

Noela is a woman of strength and of gentleness and has led her students to understand the importance of this motto in their everyday lives.

Whilst the direct teaching connection finishes with retirement, the ongoing community

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THE BRIDGE SEMESTER 2 2020 THE BRIDGE SEMESTER 2 2020

It’s wonderful to honor and acknowledge the commitment and teaching service of Kieren Valentine at Brigidine College. Kieran has worked at the College for 15 years and during this time she has been a valued member of the Visual Arts department. She has taught all Year groups from Year 7 through to Year 12 and was instrumental in establishing and developing the teaching of Photography and Digital Media in Stage 5. Her caring and good humored approach has been greatly appreciated by her Mentor groups, Visual Arts/Design and Technology classes and also Brigidine staff. We thank her for her years of service and wish her well as she embarks on her ‘tree change’ with her family in the beautiful Hunter Valley region.

FAREWELL ANNE-MARIE MITCHELL I would like to take this opportunity to offer my gratitude to Mrs Anne-Marie Mitchell, a brilliant bilinguist and first-rate educator, who has retired from her position as Head of Languages.

Anne-Marie commenced her time at Brigidine College in 1992, initially, as a teacher of LOTE. She has been a French, Italian and Religion teacher as well as a Year Co-ordinator. In 2003, she became the Acting Head of LOTE and was then afforded this role permanently from 2004.

For numerous years she organized and ran the most exceptional Food Fair. Together with

Jan Whiddon, she ran the Club Women’s Issues and Languages Club as well as volunteering her time to Tournament of Minds. She has inspired generations of students to experience exchange programs and remain committed to their language studies. Even when the trend for languages have had less-uptake in schools, the numbers at the College were significantly high.

This is because of her vibrant personality and because she was able to connect with each of her students and execute personalized, inspiring and customized teaching.

Anne-Marie has nurtured generations of students through to the end of the rigorous Continuers and Extension courses. Students have commented on the positive impact that languages study at Brigidine has had on their lives and how Italian and French have enriched their perspective on the world. She has also led her staff through immense educational change, recently overseeing the implementation of new syllabuses across the learning continuum.

Anne-Marie is also renowned for her European style, always wearing beautiful Italian shoes; her easy and sophisticated style reminds us that Italians have an innate sense of timeless fashion.

Anne-Marie truly lived the saying “fare bella figura” (to make a good impression).

We will dearly miss her bruschetta, antipasto and tiramisu! We will also miss her warmth, friendship and the kindness she shows to everyone she meets.

Whilst it is very hard for us to say arrivederci, we know that she will enjoy being able to devote more time to her beloved grandchild.

It is evident from the positive culture of the languages department that Anne-Marie Mitchell leaves her Faculty in a strong position, and we thank her for serving our community with distinction.

From the Alumni and Community Relations Coordinator

Brigidine Alumni Connect

Alumni

Alumni Connect is the home of Brigidine College St Ives alumni community.

We are extremely proud of the almost 7000 young women who have passed through our gate during the College’s 65 year history.

With strength and gentleness each of them has gone on to make a difference in an ever-changing world.

Our alumni are an integral part of our wider College community. Often alumni choose to enrol their daughters or granddaughters at the College to carry on a tradition started years before.

Being part of this community means you can come together, celebrate, and remember your College days.

To ensure you receive news of College events and invitations to Reunion Days we encourage you to register on Alumni Connect, where you can make sure the contact details we have for you are up to date.

Take a trip down memory lane in the Photo Gallery or read about the Principals who have steered the College through the decades in the Principals Hall of Fame. You can stay in touch with one another and share your stories with us. We love to hear where life has taken you since your graduation!

To register simply go to https:// alumniconnect.org.au/ and enter your details under ‘First time users’. Your ‘Peer year’ is the year you graduated.

Welcome to the Alumni section of The Bridge. I hope you enjoy the profile stories we have featured and encourage you to read the Alumni survey results found on page 31 I have been asked before how we find the stories for the alumni section of The Bridge.

The heart and soul of them come from the alumni who allow us to share stories about their passions and pursuits, and the purpose they have found in their lives since leaving the College. The theme of the stories is often connected to the skills and values they learned as a Brigo Girl. Skills and values, they have been able to use in a meaningful way as they journey through life often making a difference to others lives along the way.

The stories come from every walk of life and each one is unique but what I am most struck by is the passion each one has for their chosen path. Once a Brigo girl walks through the gates of the College for the last time as a student our relationship with them does not end, it simply changes, and they become part of the bigger

Alumni community. They are embedded in the history of the College but more importantly they are part of its future too. I hope you enjoy reading the stories we have included in this issue and that they serve as a reminder of the way in which our alumni community is making a difference around the world. In a year where terms like ‘the new normal’, ‘social distancing’, ‘lockdown’ and ‘pandemic’ have become part of our daily conversation’s, now more than ever it is important we choose to live by our school motto “fortiter and suaviter” strength and gentleness.

I hope you and your loved ones remain safe and well as 2020 comes to an end and I look forward to meeting many of you in person in the coming year!

PIP INMAN A L U M N I / C O M M U N I T Y R E L AT I O N S

TO THE COMMUNITY FROM KATRINA TUCKER, P&F PRESIDENT There would be no debating the fact that 2020 has been a year of adapting and being flexible to whatever is thrown at you. One of the distinguishing traits at Brigidine is the importance of the greater community and the opportunity to feel connected and valued. Your Brigo P&F will always strive to maintain and foster the community and we have been working behind the scenes to try and develop events that meet regulations. We soon realised, however, that 2020 was not going to be the year for P&F activities. Rest assured we are looking towards 2021 and where permitted will bring the parent and friend community together. In the meantime if you would like to reach out to the committee we would love to hear from you, either as help with future initiatives or you may have a suggestion, our ears and minds are always open. The P&F sends out our best wishes to the community and strength to tackle the rest of the year with the knowledge that the whole is greater than the parts.

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Alumni

Profiles and Vale

Alyce Kassis

Verity Paton

ALYCE KASSIS CLASS OF 2016

VERITY PATON, CLASS OF 2008

With a passion for the fashion industry, I knew the career path I wanted to take after graduating from the College

Verity moved to LA in 2013. She believes her time at Brigidine taught her how to be an independent woman. Since 2015 she has been in a Marketing and Communications role at a K-12 private school in Calabasas. This is her very personal COVID story.

Since then I have travelled, worked in the industry and whilst working I studied at ORANA Fashion Business College. I began by working in retail and interned at various fashion companies covering ecommerce and Public Relations. After interning at The Iconic I became a stylist, shooting with models for the website and assisting on campaign shoots with senior stylists. The Iconic was such a great experience, it gave me an insight into the many elements of the industry from styling and buying, to photography and marketing: a great opportunity to learn and an exciting company to work for. After The Iconic in 2018 I pursued my own venture and opened my own clothing boutique in St Ives, Alyzz K Boutique. We stock a variety of versatile Australian and International brands, both instore and online, including clothing, footwear and accessories for everyday wear as well as for more formal occasions. I love being able to cover all aspects of the industry, I do the buying, marketing, sales and run the social media and online platforms. It has been such a great experience to be running my own business in an industry I am so passionate about. I think my time at Brigidine gave me the confidence to take risks in my career path and to give everything your best shot!

I write this note on day 167 in lockdown, quarantine, isolation, safer-at-home, honestly, I have lost track of what we are calling it. I am in Los Angeles, California.

Lockdown started on March 13, 2020. Six long months it has been. I have seen the seasons change and my vocabulary gain words like pivot, mask, zoom-fatigue, and social-distancing. Time has ebbed and flowed, weeks felt like months, others have passed more quickly, and I have thought to myself “oh this week wasn’t terrible”.

I am the Marketing and Communications Manager for a large K-12 Private School in Calabasas, and these past months have been some of the hardest of my life. No in-person school is made for an online experience. We had four days to switch on Remote Learning, for what we thought would be two weeks max. Then the numbers grew higher, USA shot to the top of the cases list, and my stomach began to churn in concern. I was forced to get used to my new commute from my bed to my desk, working what felt like all the time, because what else was there to do? Finding a new way to do my daily walk, watching sourdough bread feed as the star on Instagram, and purchasing masks like they were underwear - you can never have enough

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I kept thinking to myself!

Remote Learning soon became Remote Learning 2.0. We were pressured to move the $40,000 (USD) a year education to online for the remainder of the American school year. Another 10 weeks. I felt like the rug had been pulled from beneath my feet. The team worked hard, not wanting to cancel but recreate, it took a toll on all of us. We turned an in-person 400 Gala event, online in just under two weeks. Four locations, 30 media pieces, and my debut as a live stream producer to what I found out later were 3000+ viewers from around the world. We raised over half a million dollars for our families who like many, had come into unforeseen economic hardship.

In the months from March to June, I see Los Angeles improve their numbers, things are opening however, the signs that it was safe were not there. Mixed signs from the local government, “it’s safe to eat out, but stay at home only with your household”. “Don’t go outside without a mask, but if you’re exercising, be smart and don’t wear one - we don’t want you to pass out”. Amongst all unknown, was all confusion.

Then came that fateful day, the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The horrific

images were angering people who had been in their houses for the last three months angry about the state of the world.

People had time, time to reflect, listen, and learn why this image was so wrong.

As I turned on the news and watched streets 20 minutes away, cars were on fire, people were smashing through shop fronts, and the national guard was walking down streets like this was WWIII. Many will argue that this was wrong, it was unjust and created an unnecessary scene. Well, for those people, that was the point. For a few days, I felt unsafe, I felt vulnerable as a white woman in Los Angeles, this was the pain that the Black community was fighting against in reaction to, because this is how they feel every day in this country.

The more I read, watched, and listened, the more I understood the depth and extent of the racial injustices and inhumane actions towards each other. This moment in history has given me an opportunity to pause, reflect, and work towards an end in racial inequality and white supremacy.

So, to end my reflection, I cannot really say I’m yet to have a “happy ending” to COVID. Despite feeling the distance between my family more than ever, we’ve shared joy like watching my niece crawl for the first time, my 97-year-old Oma working out how to answer a facetime on her iPad, to hosting a large family reunion from five different cities on ZOOM. This time has shown me how important it is to connect with your family more often, despite the distance.

Since June, the cases in Los Angeles have only got higher. I am now preparing to start a new school year, this time with Remote Learning 3.0. I do not know when I will see the smiling faces of our students in-person again.

We have a historic election on our doorstep.

I have given up trying to see the end and just take it one day at a time. Everyone’s COVID story is different, I am aware of the disparity in people’s economic and health issues during this time. It will take time for the world to heal from “the COVID era”. I just remind myself every day I am lucky to have a job, my family and friends are well, and ultimately knowing the Los Angeles sun will continue to shine even when there’s darkness.

VALE JULIE ANNE PASCOE (LAMBERT) 20/2/1961 - 31/3/2020 My sister Julie was at Brigidine for only a year and a bit, but in that short time she was able to achieve a high enough HSC mark to qualify for Sydney University, help the school win its first trophy in the 1978 Cardinals Cup tennis competition (Sister Anita was so pleased she gave the whole school a day off to celebrate), and form a friendship group from the Class of 1978 that is still going strong.

Julie passed away in March this year during the height of the Sydney Covid-19 lockdown, 15 months after being diagnosed with cancer. Although only 10 people were allowed at the funeral, a lasting memorial by extended family, friends and community and a reminder of her impact on so many lives has been created with hundreds of messages of respect, love and support from all around the world. The memorial site and a short video commemorating her life have helped enormously in navigating the intensity of emotion for both the small group in attendance and for those who would have been there had we not been in lockdown.

Julie had a very clear view of who she was and what she stood for. Her philosophy, education and strategic skills served her well in her career, and she was highly respected as marketing director for a multinational organisation, qualified expert witness and company director. Her board portfolio included ASX, unlisted, and not for profit

organisations, and she was most recently chair of the health fund rt health.

She played tennis up until January this year, with her highest achievement winning the World Masters Doubles in 2013 with Wayne, her husband of 33 years. She played netball until she was 57, in the same team as her daughter Jess from the age of 44. She was on the sideline cheering at almost every AFL game her son James played. She set high goals, expecting the best of people and giving the best of herself. She prioritised family and was a great believer in traditions.

Her kitchen bench always had a full jar of home-made cookies and she loved to entertain, especially at Christmas.

With many classic sayings like “don’t peak in high school”, “be interested and interesting”, “have a happy resting face”, she loved to be joyful and she was always fun to be around.

She lived her best life on the way through and was a huge presence in many lives.

The plaque on a bench installed in her name at Spit Park Mosman, a favourite walking spot, sums it up: Millions of steps with a cheerful smile and a warm hello.

Julie is sorely missed by her family, her community, and her lifelong Brigo friends.

Karen Doyle (Lambert) Class of 1980 If you would like to visit the memorial site or watch the video by her family and friends go to https://remembr.com/julie.pascoe and at https://bit.ly/3jjiV5X

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Alumni

Past staff MAREE FLETCHER MATHS TEACHER AND YEAR 12 COORDINATOR I left Brigidine at the end of 2016 after 20+ years and moved to Melbourne as the Year 12 Coordinator at Loreto Toorak teaching Mathematics and Positive Education. From there, I began studying a Masters of Positive Psychology at Melbourne University. I will graduate from the MAPP at the end of this year and will miss the joy of sharing a room with impressive academic and passionate practitioners. Recently, I started as a House Pastoral Leader at Star of the Sea College in Brighton with Year 10-12 under my care. Star is part of the Kildare Ministries, and it feels like I have come home in some small way. They tell me there is a staff dance as well, so of course, I am in! Melbourne is a great city and, for the Class of 2015 - I love the number of people from my Brigidine family who catch up when they are in town! My Melbourne friends can’t believe I know so many people, I tell them that is just the Brigidine way.

Right: Madeleine Julian

MADELEINE JULIAN (NÉE HILLIER) CLASS OF 2006 Since graduating from Brigo, which seems like yesterday, life has been busy!

I took a year off and travelled. I worked in a summer camp for disabled children in the US and then travelled around Europe.

I then moved down to Canberra to study a Bachelor of Psychology and Bachelor of Arts in English and Film Studies at the Australian National University. This is where I met my husband Sam. We have been together for 12 years and this March we celebrated our 4-year wedding anniversary.

After becoming quite ill in 2009 I was inspired to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. It was a long road, especially as I did not study science after year 10! However, I am proud to say that I graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Medicine/ Bachelor of Surgery in 2016. I worked as an intern doctor at St George Hospital in Kogarah. I then moved to Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick to start training in psychiatry medicine which I am absolutely loving. I hope to become a child and adolescent psychiatrist.

I gave birth to my first baby, a son, Richard

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“I have very fond memories of Brigidine. It was such a wonderfully vibrant and welcoming school. I was a part of so many musicals, plays, sporting teams and the self-discipline I learnt with my studies set me up to be able to pursue a degree in postgraduate medicine”.

Hugo Julian on 21/11/2019. He is known as Hugo.

I have very fond memories of Brigidine.

It was such a wonderfully vibrant and welcoming school. I was a part of so many musicals, plays, sporting teams and the self-discipline I learnt with my studies set me up to be able to pursue a degree in postgraduate medicine. Most of my best friends remain those that I met at Brigidine.

I would like to share with you a photo of myself and Bronya Metherall (née FraserHills) Class of 2006. This is us introducing our babies to each other, born just under 2 weeks apart. We remain close friends since high school and we hope our babies grow up to be as close as we have been.

THE BRIDGE SEMESTER 2 2020

Issue 1 Correction: Cayleigh Hosking (nee Timm) Class of 2007 On Sunday 17 November 2019, the christening of Sierra Hosking took place in St Brigid’s Chapel. In the photo was former College Principal, John Bowie and his wife Patty who were guests at the event.

Correction: Anne Baillie (nee McElhone) was a member of the Class of 1980, not Class of 1989 as previously shown in Issue 1 2020

Alumni

Survey

SURVEY RESPONSES BY ALUMNI ALUMNI SPREAD ACROSS

Did you know our alumni community spans across almost 7000 past students?

That is a lot of them to keep in touch with!

In June 2020, the College conducted a detailed survey of the community.

The purpose of the survey was for the College to analyse how best to communicate with the alumni community, to review current alumni activities, to understand what being an alumnus of the College means to its members and to encourage the members to update their details with the College.

The survey was distributed by email, using the details we have logged for each alumnus on our database. The email provided a link to the survey which contained 16 questions.

Responses were completely anonymous unless the alumnus chose to enter her details.

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COUNTRIES CONNECTION TO THE ALUMNI

53%

STRONG OR SOME CONNECTION

49

70%

%

ALUMNI DAY ATTENDANCE

OF ALUMNI RECEIVE EITHER A PRINTED OR ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE BRIDGE

26%

BIGGEST RESPONSE TO OUR SURVEY WAS FROM THE 1990-1999 YEAR GROUP

MOST POPULAR CHOICE OF ALUMNI EVENTS

TOP 3

35%

27%

REQUESTS TO STAY INTOUCH

CONTACT THROUGH EMAIL

25%

21%

CONTACT THROUGH REUNIONS

TRHOUGH ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS LIKE THE BRIDGE

21%

REUNION AT THE COLLEGE

[

21%

NETWORKING EVENTS

OFF SITE REUNION

BREAKFAST SLIGHTLY MORE POPULAR THAN A LUNCH

[

MOST POPULAR WITH THE 18-24 AND 25-34 AGE GROUPS

OVERRIDING MEMORIES OF TIME AT BRIGIDINE

1

FRIENDSHIPS

2

FEELING OF BEING PRIVILEGED

3

FEELING OF SUPPORT

4

THE SCHOOL SPIRIT

5

FUN

HELP FIND “LOST ALUMNI” The success of our strategies to engage alumni relies on our being able to communicate with you all. We have records for all our alumni but are only in regular contact with a small percentage. Some may have changed jobs or moved to another city or country, and we are no longer able to communicate with them.

Every small effort to help us find “lost alumni” goes a long way. If every alumnus we are currently connected to helped us reconnect with only one of the “lost alumni”, suddenly we would be able to reach a far greater percentage. This would have wonderful repercussions in every alumni engagement initiative we run. You can support this effort to reconnect in several ways: make sure we have the most up to date contact details for you and encourage your fellow classmates to update their details with us too. Contact Pip Inman – Alumni and Community Relations Coordinator at alumni@brigidine.nsw.edu.au or on 02 9988 6254.

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Archives

New mission, new life, new world At Brigidine College we are led by our Mission statement, ‘We inspire girls to value learning, to be true to themselves and to honour their spiritual heritage. We challenge young women to act in the world with strength and gentleness’

We are inspired by the pioneer Sisters who through their strength and courage, journeyed abroad never to return home to undertake the glorious labour in God’s name for the religious education of young Australians.

In 1881, Bishop Dr James Murray of Maitland, Australia visited Ireland and the Sisters of St Brigid at Mountrath Convent. Concerned for the spiritual welfare of the remote Australian communities, Dr Murray requested the help of the Brigidine Sisters and after much thought, prayer and reflection, six sisters were chosen from the sixteen who volunteered for this mission. Lead by appointed Mother Superior Mary John Synan, her accompanying party were Gertrude Banahan, Stanislaus Hayden, Catherine Bergin, Ignatius Fitzpatrick and Mary de Sales Maher.

On 16 April 1883, the Sisters began their journey from Mountrath to London, pausing along the way to visit various churches, convents and monuments.

Their last Mass on Irish soil was held at the Convent of the Dominican Sisters at Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) before they boarded a train from Holyhead to Gravesend, opposite the Tilbury Docks.

Here they were met with an imposing vessel, the two-masted, iron-built 109 metre Orient Line steamer, SS Chimborazo, which would be their home for the next six weeks. All of the Irish missionaries travelled in first class at a fare of only 47 pound 5 shillings, however conditions were still cramped and uncomfortable. Their luggage squeezed into the small cabins along with statues of Our Lady, St Joseph and St Patrick and the altar requisites.

On 19 April 1883, the SS Chimborazo

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THE BRIDGE SEMESTER 2 2020

departed for Australia. The Sisters were farewelled and blessed by their Bishop and Vicar-General them on their journey.

Mother John Synan wrote in her diary of the voyage that upon the ship’s departure she had never felt more lonely and added: ‘When we had said goodbye, we went to our cabin and had a nice cry.

We dined at 6 and indeed we mingled tears with our dinner.’ It is hard to imagine the emotional state of the Sisters who voluntarily chose lifelong exile from their beloved Ireland, the greatest sacrifice they could make to serve God. Aboard the vessel, their dedication to their mission and faith was unwavering.

As the conditions allowed, Mass was celebrated each day administered by accompanying clergy, the Rosary was recited daily in their cabins and May devotions were observed. The singing and musical talents of the Sisters were most popular with fellow passengers.

The voyage was broken by docks at major ports where the Sisters explored the cities and cathedrals and visited convents.

The ship finally arrived in Sydney on 7 June 1883, but the journey was far from over. Travelling by boat to Newcastle, then train to Gunnedah and finally by a horse-drawn cart to Coonamble, the Sisters finally reached their new home on 21 June 1883.

Top right: Image of the Chimborazo ship courtesy State Library of Victoria, H31030, Public Domain.

Right: Image of The Australian Brigidine Pioneers JESSICA MOORE ARCHIVIST

VISUAL ARTS SHOWCASE DRAWN BY ZARA PITTIONI

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This year has been unique!

Thank you to those whose gifts have made it possible for us to provide a Brigidine education to girls whose families are suffering, through loss or hardship, whatever the cause. Many have given to the Scholarship and Bursary Fund in the past. Those funds are helping us to help girls today. If you can help us continue to offer this support please do so. Your gift can be given through the College website and will be greatly appreciated by us all. brigidine.nsw.edu.au/support/annual-giving/

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