Issuu

SIONIANS Beyond

From the College Captains Contents

Sionians: Beyond the Cherry Red Gates is produced by

Our Lady of Sion College, 1065 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill, Victoria 3128.

Licensed under NEALS.

The NEALS licence permits Australian schools and educational bodies to reproduce print and digital materials for educational use in schools free of charge.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to those who contributed to the articles and photographs in this issue.

Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Our Lady of Sion College. The editor reserves the right to amend or reject any item submitted for publication.

Correspondence is welcomed to:

Tina Apostolopoulos, Principal, Our Lady of Sion College PO Box 254

Kerrimuir, VIC 3129

E: principal@sion.catholic.edu.au paststudents@sion.catholic.edu.au

T: +61 3 9890 9097

W: www.sion.catholic.edu.au

Front cover image

Current Year 8 student Simona at the 95th Anniversary Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in February

Zurzolo and Ava Strentz, College Captains 3 From the Desk of the Principal 4-5 STEAMD & Administration Centre

Throughout our time at Sion, and for the rest of our lives, we’ll spend a considerable amount of time questioning what it means to be a leader – to be a part of the future –regardless of our chosen fields.

As we develop our understanding through participating in new activities (like sport) or being a part of the process in expanding our facilities (like the new STEAMD and Administration Centre), we are called to take on new challenges and ideas. These challenges help us to grow and learn, so that we can find new passions and hobbies, or even change the way society thinks.

(At the 2014 HeforShe campaign kick-off) Emma Watson perfectly described our attitudes towards being ‘Future Leaders, Designers and Creators’. She said, ‘If not me, then who? If not now, then when?’ So, when faced with the question of ‘What does it mean to be the Leaders, Designers and Creators of the Future’, we find ourselves swaying towards the path of change; one filled with activism and education, with human rights and respect being the standard, with an importance placed on mental health and empathy, and with a need to expand our understanding and make this world a safer and more equitable space.

All this can and will be done through the communication of ideas and feelings, no matter how big or small. To be a leader is to be someone who can not only stand up for others, but can provide a platform for others to stand up for themselves.

Bettina

From the Desk of the Principal

The College theme for 2023 With a Grateful Heart was chosen with much consideration for the context of our world today and the journey we have experienced in recent years.

When the peace of Christ rules in our hearts, thankfulness overflows. Even in the darkest of times, we can praise God for his love, his sovereignty, and his promise to be near us when we call.

Psalm 145:18.

Two thousand years ago, the philosopher Plutarch wrote that many if not most people can miss what is good in their lives, because we too often focus on the unpleasant elements.

With a Grateful Heart invites us to see the world through a lens, where every moment, even when we face challenges, is an opportunity for living gratefully. When we live with a grateful heart, I think we see our life and our world in a way where each moment is precious, and full of promise and hope for better times to come.

The symbol for our College theme is a plant. Like living gratefully, a plant requires support, nourishment, attention and patience, and with the right conditions, it will flourish. In fact, our plant has grown quite a lot since the beginning of the school year!

Our Lady of Sion College celebrates its 95th anniversary this year. What a wonderful achievement and source of pride it is for the Sisters and staff who have educated and supported thousands of students and families during this time. Our Lady of Sion College has always sought to be a faith-filled and welcoming community, where students are encouraged to work hard to achieve their goals and to be open to the many possibilities that life offers them.

Since taking up the role as principal in 2016, I have gained a deeper appreciation for the many pathways our past students have pursued, their commitment to making a positive change in our world and the myriad of communities within which they now live and work. Like a plant which thrives under optimal conditions, the Sion community has continued to grow and expand. Our current students are also very attuned to this legacy and it is heartening to hear them speak of their commitment to our Sionian traditions and identity.

This year the College launched a major building project which will see many new and exciting opportunities open up for students and staff as we begin a new era in the College’s history. Our STEAMD and Administration Centre will support the development of skills such as creativity, critical thinking and discernment, collaboration and teamwork; skills that are valued by our students and that will support them into the future, wherever they may be.

I am grateful for the opportunity to nurture and support our students in the great Sionian tradition of faith and learning that we enjoy, and I invite all students past and present to celebrate our anniversary with gratitude for the opportunities we have been offered. Much like the symbol of our 2023 College theme, may we continue to be nurtured by our Sionian legacy and may we celebrate the small part we have each played over the last 95 years to grow and enrich Our Lady of Sion College.

Tina Apostolopoulos, Principal

Images © Williams Ross Architects

STEAMD and Administration Centre

Our Lady of Sion College is committed to providing an excellent learning environment where students may continue to grow, develop and work towards the endless opportunities that await them beyond secondary school. In recent years, the College has embarked upon the exciting development of a masterplan that ensures that its facilities align with the vision we have for our students.

In 2021, we began with a small project that saw an extension of our Louise Humann Centre (LHC) together with a new stage and the upgrade of our audio-visual infrastructure within the LHC.

The next stage of the masterplan addresses the needs identified by staff, students and parents in the consultative process undertaken in 2018. Thus the process to imagine and create a new STEAMD and Administration Centre was begun.

The new, cutting edge, fit-for-purpose addition to our facilities will represent the most significant building project in our 95-year history and underpins Our Lady of Sion College’s proactive approach to providing enhanced learning experiences now and into the future.

The construction of the STEAMD and Administration Centre will act as a Project and Design Hub, to support innovation in the teaching of Science, Technologies, Engineering, Mathematics and the Arts and Design.

It will not only foster the creative and critical thinking skills of our students but also provide innovative ways to encourage and support our students to continue to pursue their interest in STEAMD subjects.

The new building will comprise state-of-the-art Science and Project Labs, flexible learning areas dedicated to the Arts including Music and Drama, breakout spaces, meeting rooms, staff facilities, two Reception areas, administration offices, a Fitness Centre, Sickbay, and inclusive access for all members of our community. Working in collaboration with staff, Williams Ross Architects has designed a three-storey building that will ensure the highest level of learning and teaching outcomes, and wellbeing support for our students.

The project commenced in January 2023, with the use of brilliant purpose-built portable classrooms to house our temporary Learning Resource Centre and Music and Art departments (see pictures below and third right). There is an expected completion date at the end of 2024. We eagerly await the opening of this state ofthe-art STEAMD and Administration Centre where we can continue to offer the Our Lady of Sion community an environment to grow, develop and work towards endless opportunities awaiting our students beyond secondary school.

To discover more, visit www.sion.catholic.edu.au/facilities.

Leaders, Creators and Designers of the Future

As our STEAMD and Administration Centre begins to take shape, we’ve been looking at the ways in which our current students embody the concept of being the ‘Leaders, Designers and Creators of the Future’, both through the gifts and talents that they bring to the College, and the passions and interests that they find here. At the end of 2022, it was hugely rewarding to hear that 1 in 3 of our students had applied for leadership positions at the College for 2023. Our students are concerned for their world, and they see leadership as a channel through which they can voice their opinions and shape the world around them.

Creativity and design are two aspects of not only the Arts and Design subjects we offer, but also Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Our students learn how to apply critical skills to a wide range of subjects, and it is this cross-application of skills that sets students up for their careers beyond our cherry red gates.

We were interested to hear about some of the ways in which our past students have also become Leaders, Designers and Creators of the Future, through their chosen careers, and so we invited a couple of students from STEAMD backgrounds to showcase their experiences and offer advice about how their chosen careers might change in the future.

Maureen Eldridge (Class of 1991) completed a Bachelor of Computing (Computer Science) at Monash University, before working in the IT industry as a graduate programmer – working on a number of projects in the Banking / Finance industry.

While she enjoyed the technical work of programming, Maureen wanted to engage earlier in the project lifecycle, and work more closely with people to detail business requirements, and to design solutions that meet requirements. This led her to her current role as an Account Director at a global software company, responsible for leading a virtual team to grow the company’s business and for managing relationships with a number of large Enterprise customers.

Images: Above, Maureen Eldridge at a security conference. Right, Tess Dawson painting the Children’s Ward at Box Hill Hospital.

Tess Dawson (Class of 2010) is an artist, living and working in Naarm/Melbourne. Following her Sionian education, she completed tertiary study and worked in Advertising, Marketing and Communications, most recently in the office of the Vice-Chancellor at NSW University, before turning to her art full-time. She was commissioned by Box Hill Hospital to write a children’s story and to design and paint an accompanying series of murals throughout the Children’s Ward there.

When asked how their Sionian educations helped to prepare them for the future, both Tess and Maureen spoke of the community they experienced at Our Lady of Sion College. Maureen felt that a strong focus on honesty, trust and relationships at the College engendered a clear set of values that she could take into business, and which she believes are critical values for leadership in any industry, while Tess found that the continual opportunities for creativity and growth at the College fed her passion for the Arts.

Despite working in quite different fields, when asked how evolving technologies are changing the face of their industries, both women identified these core values as ongoing necessities for their own careers. With the current conversations around AI technologies and its place in art and creativity spheres, Tess thinks it is hard to know what the future might look like for creators, but says that living through such a time of

technological advancement can only bring new and exciting ways of doing things. Ultimately, Tess believes that humans will continue to look to form connections through art and creation in the same ways that they have always been drawn to do so, regardless of the possibilities for new creation that AI might offer.

Maureen agrees; she identified the importance of being true to one’s self and mutual respect as being the critical elements in leadership and managing a team – aspects that emerging technology might offer support with but should never replace.

In offering advice for students looking to enter these areas, each woman also prioritised the human connection: finding connections with potential new networks and exploring new opportunities to maximise avenues for creativity, but also recognising that building trust and empathy with the people around you is critical to ongoing success in leadership. Maureen spoke of the need to develop the confidence to ‘be human’ and to be true to your own self, while Tess identified ‘being okay with uncertainty’ as the advice she gives to herself. For other creative people, she also suggests finding ways of doing what you love, in your work or in your free time, because you never know where it might lead.

Top Achievers Assembly

Each year, our top achieving VCE students from the previous year traverse the cherry red gates to attend our Top Achievers Assembly. This year, we were delighted to welcome back Mish Eastman (Class of 1988) as our keynote speaker and Caitlin Gorry as our 2022 College Dux.

The content we learnt at school is interesting, and is an important part of our education; however, we should remember that coming to school teaches us so much more: we are taught to problem solve, to think critically and creatively, to work in teams and to think outside of the box.

Caitlin Gorry, 2022 College Dux

Caitlin’s address to the Our Lady of Sion community really set the scene for why we celebrate success as a College and her academic excellence demonstrated to the community the skills and attributes that make for that success. Not only was Caitlin Dux of five subjects, she was also highly involved in College life, the Liturgy Captain for 2022 and an active and supportive friend.

Mish Eastman extended this idea when she spoke of the values she gained as a student and how they became the guiding principles for her actions in life. As the keynote speaker, Ms Eastman talked of finding the right pathway and personalising learning so that the individual is allowed to shine.

We acknowledged the hard work of the 31 students who achieved above 90 in the ATAR in 2022. What a tremendous achievement for those students. These students, named and known, were celebrated for the pathways they are embarking upon, highlighting the many roads to success.

It is wonderful for the current students to see their learning role models recognised, especially those students who achieved a study score above 40 as part of an accelerated program. These 13 students are completing Year 12 this year and are wonderful examples for our younger students to learn from and grow with.

And of course, it would not be a Sion assembly without a stirring rendition of the College Song, performed to perfection by the College Vocal Ensemble and sung with gusto by the whole community.

Allison Stott, Deputy Principal, Teaching and Learning

L–R: Keynote speaker Mish Eastman, 2022 College Dux Caitlin Gorry, Principal Tina Apostolopoulos

Where are They Now?

Mish Eastman (Class of 1988), RMIT University –Deputy Vice-Chancellor Vocational Education & Vice President – RN (Non Prac), BEdSt (Monash), Grad Cert Nursing (Deakin), MTEM (UniMelb)

Mish Eastman is responsible for developing and leading a renewed vision and strategic direction for Vocational Education as Deputy Vice-Chancellor Vocational Education at RMIT. Since joining RMIT, this has included establishing the new College of Vocational Education and the development of a five-year strategic roadmap for vocational and applied learning.

She is passionate about gender diversity in all aspects of education and creating space for women in nontraditional roles, continuously providing diverse opportunities and support as part of her leadership style. An advocate for creating a safe and respectful community, Mish is also co-chair of RMIT’s ViceChancellor’s Advisory Group on Gender-based Violence Prevention.

An experienced education and health leader, Mish has strong expertise in identifying and creating new models of education and training in collaboration with industry, enhancing tertiary pathways, and understanding how to create educational and employment success for learners. Beginning her career as a Registered Nurse, before moving into educational leadership roles, has given Mish a deep knowledge and passion for Vocational Education.

She has previously held positions with TAFE Tasmania, Tasmanian Polytechnic, and Swinburne University of Technology, providing strategic and operational leadership of teaching and learning programs in pathways and Vocational Education.

What were your fondest memories of Our Lady of Sion College?

Sion was an environment that really encouraged us to imagine the possible. There were so many opportunities to stretch and develop for me, which included music, school musicals, debating and sport.

What did your Sionian education teach you? Compassion, social justice, and that women could be anything.

What is the best advice you can give to our current students, who have aspirations and dreams about their future careers?

Be daring … say ‘yes’ when unexpected opportunities present themselves to you. Supplement your work and career with formal study along the way, and don’t be afraid of changing direction.

What are your plans for the future?

My plans for the future are to help our teachers to have the greatest impact they can on the 20,000 students I currently reach each year in my current role. I’d love to get back into discovering places around the globe now that international travel is possible, and building in a balance of life, work and fun.

Daughter of Sion Award

The 2022 Daughter of Sion Award was awarded to Sarita Tanzimat.

At the start of Year 8 I wanted to be the best version of myself by volunteering for different areas of the school and getting things done – not just well, but extremely well. I helped people in many areas of the school and stayed as positive as ever. I made the most of last year by putting my name down for activities in the Liturgy and Performing Arts areas like the Lenten Liturgy and many other offerings such as the College Choir and the Junior production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. By involving myself in these opportunities, I was able to communicate with students from different year levels who probably had more or less experience than me with these kinds of things.

There were so many main projects last year that I wanted to be involved in. As a 2022 Liturgy rep, I took part in the Lenten Liturgy and the Anzac/Easter Liturgy. Towards the end of the year, I was accepted into the College Vocal Ensemble (CVE) where I participated in a lot of musicthemed events, and this helped me earn colours on my blazer.

There are so many things that I just love about Sion that it is difficult to narrow it down. One of the highlights would be that I have met so many people. Sion has given me the chance to talk to new people and make new friends to have a great time with, that I wouldn’t change for the world.

The term ‘friends’ does not have to be people that you sit with every recess and lunch; it’s the people you play GSV with, be in productions with, even people that are in your elective classes. If you talk to them or are in a group assignment with them, checking up on people is the best thing to do as they become a new friend of yours that you don’t have to sit with at recess or lunch, as long as you see them that’s all that matters, and Sion has been the perfect place to make new friends.

If it wasn’t for being a Drama Representative in Year 7, I don’t think I would have been able to participate in the activities I did last year. Drama is something that I will always enjoy.

Mentors required

I have memories from the Year 7 Family Mass where my Homeroom read a small script and when I tell you I was terrified, I was terrified! But after performing in the CVE or in a College Mass I feel a great sense of achievement, and it helps me to understand that if I can do it once I can do it again. I like working with people older and younger than me, as the older students help me with any tips, and I can give the younger students a bit of an insight to what they are expecting in the years to come.

I’m going to donate the $500 from this award to the ‘Orange Sky Laundry’. This charity supports homeless people all over Australia to stay clean and warm during the week. The charity does this by offering free laundry and showering services. When I looked more into the charity and saw how many Australians don’t get as much warmth and don’t shower as much as we all do it was heartbreaking. I could never imagine how cold we would be without jackets, beds, shoes and socks. I could also never in a million years imagine what it would be like if I wasn’t able to shower. But unfortunately, people all over Australia have to do this every day, week and month of the year.

Sarita Tanzimat, current Year 9 student

Past students of Our Lady of Sion College, Box Hill, are invited to share their experiences of further study and career pathways with our Senior students.

If you are interested in taking up this opportunity, to provide support for our students as they navigate their own pathway, including participating in the Mentors Breakfast on Friday 19 May, please contact Mrs Brooke O’Hara, Careers and Pathways Counsellor at bohara@sion.catholic.edu.au or 03 9890 9097.

Named and Known

In 2023, Our Lady of Sion College is celebrating its 95th anniversary. While we are looking forward to the upcoming centenary, we also acknowledge the host of wonderful individuals who have contributed to the rich history the College has enjoyed during its 95 years of educating young women (and, at times, young men!).

To mark the occasion, the entire school population – 950 students and over 100 staff members, together with the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion – celebrated Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral to open the school year.

Mass was followed by a full-school lunch in Treasury Gardens, where all were able to mingle and enjoy a change of scenery as they reflected on the history of the College and all it has brought about in its 95 years.