Blackwatch 2020 Edition One

PRESBYTERIAN LADIES’ COLLEGE A COLLEGE OF THE UNITING CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA

Blackwatch 2020 Edition One

IN THIS ISSUE 4 Message from the Chair of Council 5 Pandemic fails to stop learning 6 Lifers claim Dux title 6 Exceptional Sahara 7 Weather @PLC 7 PLC girls’ future win 8 Pulse Perspectives 8 Mad Week makes a difference 9 Renaissance woman to the end:

Dr Patricia Kailis 10 Bespoke books 11 Junior School end of year assembly 12 Junior School leaders 13 Ocean inspired art 13 Crazy hair day 14 Year 12 Ball 16 Zero waste at foodie heaven 17 Service superstar 17 Bilingual bequest 18 Academic achievements 20 Speech Night 2019 22 These kids mean business 23 Warm welcome 24 Shortlisted for Somerset 24 Piping them home 25 Isolation short-cuts 25 Slippin’ and a slidin’ 26 PLC Foundation Report 28 International Womens’ Day 30 Reunions 32 OCA Report 35 Tartan News 38 From the Archives 41 Obituaries 43 Term dates 2021

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Cover Image The photo used on our cover for 2020 Edition One was taken during MAD week for ‘Close the Gap’.

L-R: Allegra Foulner (Year 9), Shelby Heidrich (Year 9) and Bella Birch (Year 7).

Message from the Principal Writing this piece has been, as with almost everything else these last couple of months, an exercise in remembering just how different things used to be.

Normally, I would sit down to write something like this and look back over the various events and achievements of the School and try to determine which are the most significant, which were the most impactful, and which best to apply to what I am wanting to say. But of course, one thing more than any other is on my mind right now, and refuses to let anything else in without a fight. I am sure COVID-19 is doing the same thing to your mind right now. I’m sure that for almost everyone, it is a legitimate struggle to think outside of the Coronavirus box.

In any other year, I would probably start by touching on what we’ve done in the classrooms over the course of semester one, but this year, we haven’t even been in the classrooms for some of that time. At first this might seem like an unfortunate and insurmountable obstacle to the normal way of doing things, and I suppose it is. But that is also why it’s actually a positive. It can be so easy for us as teachers and students, or really anyone, to get locked into exactly that: “the normal way of doing things.”

There’s nothing inherently wrong with doing things the way we have always done them. But the opposite is also true: there’s nothing inherently right about doing things the way we’ve always done them. “Normal” is, I have discovered, not a value statement. It is neutral. This means that we need to look at the way we have always done things, as often as we can, and assess their value ourselves. And in spite of all of the heartache and turmoil that this pandemic has caused across the world, if it has given us one positive, it is this: the complete overhaul of the way we have always done things has forced us to question those ways.

The classroom is the perfect example.

When we strip it right back to basics,

forgetting for a moment about all the wonderful new learning technology we have access to, and forgetting the various new subjects and reimagined ways we might approach them, most schools today still operate in fundamentally the same way as they always have.

When I was in school, I sat in a room, at a desk, surrounded by other students at other desks, and we all faced the front where our teacher would stand and deliver our lesson. In many schools, this remains at least a major part of how education is delivered. But our response to COVID-19 has proven that this doesn’t have to be the case.

The move away from in-person learning has been a massive shift for everyone, and I cannot thank you all enough for accommodating such an enormous change. I want to thank our staff for the countless hours put in to adapting lessons for online delivery. We as a school, and more broadly as part of the education system, have been looking at how the internet can improve our lesson delivery, but this pandemic has forced us to move much, much faster than we were ready for, but our teachers have risen to the challenge valiantly, and it is thanks to them that PLC has thrived throughout this period.

I also wish to thank all of our parents and families, many of whom have adopted a second job over the last couple of months as teachers themselves. Without the support of families supervising their daughters as they learn at home, even the best online teaching would not have worked as well as it has done so far.

Finally, I especially want to thank our girls. I sympathise with our Year 12 students, whose senior year has been so disrupted by this situation. I sympathise with every student who has been unable to play their favourite sports, who was unable to pull on their PLC uniform and play alongside their friends and represent the college on the field, the pitch or the court. I sympathise with every student who has struggled to adjust to the new way of learning and studying - and I know that that is every student. But more than I sympathise, I have watched in awe. I have watched in awe as girls adapted their study practices to actually do better than they were doing before.

I watched in awe as our girls found new ways to connect, socialise, and most importantly, support one another, without being able to do it in person.

Most of all, I watched in awe as every one of our girls did that thing that is most difficult but also most valuable in life, and that is turning a difficult situation into a learning opportunity.

It is the behaviour I have seen in these tough times that has helped me through every day, in not only the big decisions, but also the little moments, such as writing this piece.

plc.wa.edu.au

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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF COUNCIL

PLC shines amid crisis If we didn’t already know it, the past few months have proved what an incredible community we have at PLC Perth.

CHAPLAIN’S ADDRESS

Hope Early December 2019, we celebrated an impressive Speech Night, oblivious to how life in 2020 would be different. Who could have predicted the impact of a virus on human life, the economy, travel, work and family relationships?

Who could have guessed how different school in 2020 would be? Isolation has challenged us all in different ways.

When we feel stressed, uncertain, worried and even alone, it might help to remember that we are surrounded by people who care and we are not hopeless!

1 Peter 1:3 teaches us: “Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us a new birth and a living hope. This hope is living because Jesus Christ rose from the dead.”

The new life through the Easter miracle, reminds us that no obstacle is too big to overcome, and God’s mercy is our safety net. The focus isn’t on an isolated incident 2,000 years ago, but on God being immanent in people’s lives – God showing up and feeling worry, anger, and isolation as we feel it.

Jesus overcame these challenges by focussing on God – it could be true for us too.

Rev Manie Strydom Chaplain

It is often said that in times of crisis, leaders emerge. In PLC’s history, 2020 will not only be known for COVID-19, but it will also be reflected upon as a time of exemplary leadership. The calm, confident and compassionate leadership shown by Cate and her team has been very impressive and appreciated. We have also seen wonderful leadership across other areas of our community, from our teaching staff, our administration and operations team, and our students, who have all been forced to work and lead in new ways.

Although with circumstances at times bewildering and difficult to understand, particularly for our younger students, our girls embraced online learning. Already adept in technology, they didn’t miss a beat.

The commitment of our teachers to rapidly adapt their programmes to ensure continuity of learning for all girls was testament to their dedication and professionalism. On behalf of the PLC Council, I cannot thank them enough.

Often the efforts of the School’s administration and operations team is overlooked. Ensuring the School adhered to the Government’s directions during periods of rapidly changing advice, gave both parents and staff reassurance that PLC had its community’s health and safety top of mind.

To be a leader, a senior position or title is not needed to inspire, guide and embrace change. We are very fortunate to have many leaders at PLC Perth and, on behalf of our wider community, we thank you.

Claire Poll Chair of Council

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Blackwatch 2020 Edition One

Pandemic fails to stop learning at PLC Perth The shrewd foresight of a Principal and her deputy more than three decades ago has helped PLC Perth to weather arguably the most disruptive period in its 105-year history.

In the space of just weeks, PLC students and staff moved to wholeof-campus online learning after the State Government encouraged all Western Australian parents to keep their children home from school as the global COVID-19 pandemic threatened the State.

“In ordinary circumstances, the planning for something that significant and far reaching would have taken months, if not a year,” PLC Principal Cate Begbie said. “We managed to move the entire school to online learning in just weeks. It was an incredible achievement by all of the staff involved.”

In 1986, then Deputy Principal, Hazel Day received the backing of Principal, Heather Barr to introduce the Apple Macintosh to PLC. By 1993, Mrs Day, by then Principal since 1989, oversaw the introduction of one-to-one laptops for every Year 7 and 8 student. Two years later, Mrs Day wrote prophetically: “We sense that the ‘information superhighway’ of ‘infobahn’ is a further source of information with immense educational potential’.

Ahead of this year’s move to online learning, Ms Begbie told students, staff and parents that she was incredibly grateful to Mrs Day for pursuing that potential. “It is because of the work that evolved in the following years that staff and students are so well prepared for online learning,” she said. “Never have I been more proud that PLC has for such a long time been a leader in Information Learning Technology.”

She would be forever grateful to staff who remained agile and responsive throughout the crisis, which saw changes happen almost hourly, at its peak.

For three weeks – the last two weeks of Term 1 and the first week of Term 2 – staff and students undertook online learning as WA, Australia and the world grappled with the impact of the deadly virus.

April 1930: PLC Perth closed for holidays a week earlier than planned after five boarders and a number of day students were infected with measles during an epidemic.

On 4 May, after the State Government recorded consecutive days of no new COVID-19 cases and the WA borders remained closed to the rest of the nation and the world, students returned to their classrooms.

June 1948: The PLC Kindergarten was closed for three weeks as a result of a polio epidemic.

Ms Begbie said it was wonderful to see classrooms and learning areas filled with students once again. “It is the girls who are the heart soul of our school and their presence has been missed greatly.”

March 2020: All students from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 began online learning during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The school remained open for children of essential workers with attendance at less than 20 students in both the Junior and Senior schools.

plc.wa.edu.au

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Lifers claim Dux title Lucy Jarrett (2019 Dux of WACE, pictured right) and Lucie O'Sullivan (2019 Dux of IB, pictured left) share more than just a name. They have shared the playground at PLC since Kindergarten, the same competitive spirit and now the Dux crown at PLC. Although neck and neck with their academics and achievements throughout school, the girls decided to choose different paths for their university entry.

Lucie chose the International Baccalaureate Programme (IB) whilst Lucy followed the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) pathway for entry to tertiary study.

“It was probably good we took separate pathways, so we didn’t have to compete with each other anymore,” Lucy said.

While they each ran a different race, they ended up with a photo finish of only 0.25 ATAR equivalent marks between them, both achieving Dux of the school for their respective programmes.

Forming a strong bond in Kindergarten, Lucie and Lucy look back on their experience in the Junior School fondly.

“Junior School is a place where you can find out what you’re passionate about, so that when you enter the Senior School, where there’s a bigger emphasis on achieving academically, you can still preserve fundamental passions and bring those out to a more completive field,” Lucie explained.

Their passions have at times been similar. Both talented musicians, Lucie and Lucy have shared the stage many times throughout their academic career with Lucie on the violin accompanied by Lucy on the piano.

Their next performances will be going solo though, with Lucie O’Sullivan headed for Law at UWA after being awarded the Fogarty Scholarship, and Lucy Jarrett has been offered the Chancellor’s Scholarship at Melbourne University.

Exceptional Sahara Year 12 student, Sahara Clarke, was announced as the joint award winner for Exceptional Contribution to the Community by an Indigenous boarding student at the Indigenous Boarding Awards on Wednesday 18 March 2020.

In this category, judges were looking for Indigenous boarding students who have made an exceptional contribution to their communities, at home or in the location they reside whilst boarding.

The award recognises that community service not only enhances the lives of others but is a major contributor to the life-skills and wellbeing of the person giving their time and energy.

Sahara loves the way sport and physical activity has the power to bring people and communities together.

The boarder from Shark Bay is a very talented athlete and dreams of playing AFLW and becoming an Olympic sprinter. Outside of school, Sahara runs her own fitness programme for boarding students, mentors other young Indigenous athletes through Athletics WA, and also works part-time at the PLC Lighthouse.

Watch the video in Digital Blackwatch

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Blackwatch 2020 Edition One

This is an amazing recognition for Sahara, and we can't imagine a more deserving winner.

Weather @PLC PLC Parents funds projects via the Term Fee Draw which add value to the educational, spiritual, physical or social development of students and the School, not normally available for funding through the School budget.

Weather@PLC is a remote weather station that has the capacity to track current and historical weather data and was funded by PLC Parents at the end of 2019.

PLC Director of Library, Innovation and Learning Technologies, Doug de Kock, said that the study of weather and our climate was embedded throughout Geography and Science in both the Junior and Senior School curriculum.

Weather@PLC will also support Radio PLC by facilitating a cocurricular programme on weather and provide our weather ‘team’ with real-time weather data.

“The weather station is now up and running and our students will be able to see current weather conditions, including temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, rainfall, wind speed and direction.”

“They will be also be able to track weather trends and monitor solar radiation,” Mr de Kock said.

Readings from the weather station are taken every 15 minutes and PLC is currently working on a public web interface that will present this data live to the PLC Community. You will be able to access it via home. plc.wa.edu.au in the near future.

PLC girls’ future win In December 2019, our Year 8 team of Jacinta Cuthbertson, Sophie Hardcastle, Madeleine Robins, Sarah Spencer and Anya Sreenevasan, won the Year 8 section of the BHP Future Ready STEM Challenge.

The challenge was developed for children in Years 3 to 10 as part of the Resources Technology Showcase 2019 event and was open to all schools in WA. Teachers were able to select from a number of different challenges and opportunities linked to the mining and resources industries.

Our winning team developed a comprehensive and inspiring rehabilitation proposal for the Mount Whaleback mine site, and they used Minecraft to demonstrate how they thought the area could be rehabilitated once mining ceased.

The team proposed turning the site into a tourist destination with a restaurant and lookout area. Visitors would be treated to guided tours while selected areas would be designated wildlife-only zones. The selfsustaining retreat would have an orchard and veggie garden and be built from recycled materials.

Head of Science, Lesley Kaye said our girls blew the judges away with their project.

“The girls won $10,000 for PLC to use on STEM-related equipment and resources, and each of the girls also won a $500 STEM-related prize.”

plc.wa.edu.au

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Pulse Perspectives features PLC trio Three 2019 Year 12 Art students had their artwork selected for the prestigious 2020 Pulse Perspectives exhibition.

Sarah Hill with her porcelain sculpture ‘Poisoned Home’; Hunter Smith with her expressive landscape painting of Kalbarri titled ‘Kalbarri sub-section study in pink and red’; and Victoria Walford with her chicken sculptures ‘Humanities Puppets’.

MAD Week makes a difference MAD (Make a Difference) Week kicked off again at PLC on 9 March and set out to enrich lives and elevate environmental issues.

Each day had a focus and included activities such as the International Womens’ Day Breakfast, a waste audit, domestic abuse awareness, an environmental film fundraiser, Close the Gap and focusing Farm2Fork as a zero waste event.

Service Captain, Bella Poll, set the school a challenge for the week by giving the cleaners the week off.

“The cleaners were asked not to vacuum or pick-up rubbish for the week. We wanted to encourage the girls to take ownership of our school and look after it by putting their own rubbish away,” she said.

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Blackwatch 2020 Edition One

A Renaissance woman

and active citizen to the end Dr Patricia Verne Kailis AM OBE was well known for her extraordinary services to medicine, genetics in particular, science and the fishing industry.

Described as a trailblazer and philanthropist Dr Kailis’ remarkable life positively impacted many families across Western Australia and indeed, the nation.

whiteboards and the extension of the laptop programme to the Junior School were undertaken during her time as Chair. It was little understood at the time but Patricia recognised the potential of technology to open up the world of knowledge to students.

So, it is a very special place that Dr Kailis holds in the heart of the PLC Perth community, where her foresight and influence will continue for many, many years to come.

“Under her watch, the Junior School was extended and redesigned to open up hemmed-in classrooms and allow for greater light, space and flexibility of spaces. PLC had introduced middle schooling during Hazel Day’s time as Principal but had no designated physical Middle School.

At PLC, Dr Kailis was known and loved as a mother, grandmother, member of the PLC Council, Chair of Council, Life Member of Council, Honorary Life Member of the Old Collegians’ Association, Member of the Summers Society and the PLC Foundation.

Beth Blackwood, PLC Principal during Dr Kailis’ tenure as Chair of Council, said long before STEM became household ‘education lingo,’ she was an advocate for academic rigour and the value of sciences such as chemistry and physics for women.

It was Dr Kailis’ acumen as businesswomen, scientist and academic that she saw opportunities through a global as well as local lens.

“She regularly attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that gave her added insight into the significance of digital literacy, globalisation and the need for a world class education,” Ms Blackwood said. “It was due to Patricia’s encouragement that PLC explored the options of the International Baccalaureate as a means of ensuring a PLC education could be bench-marked internationally and to prepare women for competitive global employment opportunities.”

She said it was under Dr Kailis’ leadership that the School invested heavily in technology infrastructure and hardware to support a differentiated curriculum, long before many other schools. “Wifi access, interactive

“Likewise, her vision for a campus that reflected the changes in pedagogy for a more collaborative, differentiated and technology-based education.

“During Patricia’s time as Chair, plans were developed for a Middle School to reflect the philosophy and pedagogy of middle schooling. She also contributed significantly to the capital campaign to raise funds for the building. Indeed, beyond her time as Chair Patricia continued to be an active member of the PLC Foundation.”

Ms Blackwood said Dr Kailis had a great respect for rural communities, having lived and worked in a number of remote regions of Western Australia. She valued the educational opportunities boarding could offer young girls as well as the strengths, independence of character and community spirit that such students brought to the school itself.

She encouraged investment in facilities as well as professional staff to ensure the best of

care for boarding students as well as the sustainability of a boarding community at PLC. “Patricia often did what needed doing without seeking recognition or reward.

While Chair, we renovated Scorgie House, seeking to preserve its historic significance while still utilising it for administration. It’s ‘modernisation’ in the 1960s had led to the removal and disposal of the original stained-glass windows in the front door and front rooms. Our budget did not allow for the cost of replications (from photographs of the original). Patricia personally paid for the replications but sought anonymity for having done so. I feel I can now acknowledge not only her generosity but also her respect for history, roots and traditions.”

Ms Blackwood said Dr Kailis was a true Renaissance woman in her appreciation of so many dimensions of life -medicine, history, science, the arts, faith, culture, aesthetics, indigenous rights to name a few - devoted to her family and an active citizen to the end.

Bespoke books In Term 4 2019, Year 7s worked collaboratively with our early education students in Kindergarten to Year 2 to create picture books that were individually designed for each of them.

The Year 7s were allocated a little buddy to interview and got to know each of their interests and hobbies.

The girls included a poem written especially for their buddy that was inspired by everything they had learned about them, along with illustrations to make it truly special and one of a kind.

The buddies were presented with their unique picture books and were suitably thrilled by the big girls’ efforts.

continued from page 3

Everything about writing this article has reminded me of how different things are, but I look to our PLC community and remember that this moment of great difference should also be a time to learn how to do things differently. It is a moment to learn from this contrast.

Maria Popova, the editor of a wonderful website called BrainPickings, sums it up perfectly: “... only in the absence of our habitual comforts ... do we befriend ourselves and discover what is most alive in us.

The contrast, uncomfortable at first, even painful, becomes a clarifying force. Without the superfluous, the essential is revealed.”

This pandemic has done just that for me, and I think it has done that for the school too. When the way we normally do things is ripped out from under us, all that can remain is what is essential. We may not have had our classrooms, but we had our teachers. Our teachers are the essential component of a school, not the grounds on which it stands. We may not have had our playgrounds and our cafeteria and our libraries, but our students still had each other to talk to and to lean on for socialising and support. It is our friends that make our friendships essential, not the places we hang out.

Most importantly, though, we have all - staff, students and families - maintained an incredibly resilient mindset during all of this. A mindset that accepted the new normal and got on with what matters. You have all proven to me, and I hope also to yourselves, that you are truly, truly tough. Because it 10

Blackwatch 2020 Edition One

is in the cruellest, most uncertain times that we actually learn who we are and how strong we can be, and I hope you have seen that in yourselves. The great American artist Georgia O’Keeffe demonstrated this exact resilience around the First World War, when she was living in desperate poverty but managed to say: “Anyone with any degree of mental toughness ought to be able to exist without the things they like most for a few months at least.”

I hope that this period has taught us all that we can go without the things we merely “like” from time to time, and that even without those things, without the luxuries and routines of normal life, we can become sure of what is essential, and keep moving in the right direction.

I will leave you with one final quote to keep in mind until the comfort of normal life fully returns, in the hopes that it can remind us how uncomfortable we need to be to understand comfort to its fullest and most real: “To enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must be cold, for there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself. If you flatter yourself that you are all over comfortable, and have been so a long time, then you cannot be said to be comfortable any more.” - Herman Melville.

Cate Begbie Principal

Junior School End of Year Assembly 2019

Introducing Junior School Semester 1 Leaders

Brigette Kapinkoff Head Prefect

Aurelia Qaqish Head Prefect

Layla Cohen-Jones Service Leader

Maya Yew Service Leader

Ava McGillivray Chapel Leader

Madeleine Oborn Chapel Leader

Isobel Barker Arts Leader

Olivia Ockenden Arts Leader

House Leaders

Tilly Cook Baird House

Samara Sudwell Baird House

Caitlin Flugge Carmichael House

Sophia Wenn Carmichael House

Stella Early Ferguson House

Ruby Marinko Ferguson House

Stella Phillips McNeil House

Poppy Walker-Jones

Ivy Downes Stewart House

Olivia Lambo Stewart House

Kyasha Fenton Summers House

Mira Yew Summers House

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McNeil House

Ocean inspired art PLC's Year 5 students participated in a collaborative art competition with the University of Western Australia Girls in Engineering and UWA OceanWorks in November called 'Life Below Water'.

Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator, Michelle Clayton and Art teacher, Colleen Garland headed up this exciting project. To participate, the girls had to submit individual ocean/sustainabilityinspired art works, which were judged by a combined UWA/PLC panel and announced at a special event.

Aurelia Qaqish (pictured centre) was awarded first place, with two runnerup positions going to Olivia Ockenden (pictured left) and Alicia Italiano (pictured right). Shortlisted students include, Portia Pryor, Brigette Kapinkoff, Aspen Murray and Ivy Downes.

Crazy hair day for some crazy kids Our Junior School girls went crazy for Crazy Hair Day on the 25 March.

Raising funds for The Leukaemia Foundation, our girls were nuts for colour, gel and lacky bands.

And for Charlotte Jackson (Year 6), crazy hair didn’t quite ‘cut’ it.

Charlotte allowed her big brother Harry (not qualified to cut hair - Year 12 Scotch College) to trim her down to a lopsided bob live on facebook.

She raised over $1,200 for the World’s Greatest Shave.

The shortlisted artworks were featured on reusable coffee cups and gift cards.

Aurelia’s winning piece was been printed on coffee mugs and is now on display in the foyer of the Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre.

plc.wa.edu.au

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Year 12 Ball 2020 ‘Enchanted Forest’ was the theme for the 2020 Year 12 Ball and it truly was a magical night.

The Riverview Room at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre was transformed into a spellbinding woodland on Saturday, 8 March. The room was beautifully decorated by dedicated parents who, as the Year 12 Ball Committee, made sure our Year 12 girls and their partners celebrated this final year milestone in fabulous fashion.

The Year 12s had a wonderful night and gave thanks to the committee for their months of preparation and hard work at a special morning tea later that month.

Zero waste at foodie heaven PLC Service students made sure this year’s premier food event at PLC wasted nothing. The students took on the challenge of making the Farm2Fork theme ‘zero waste’ a reality, collecting food scraps to be put into BioPak and then composted, and excess food from the event was given to OzHarvest to distribute to people in need.

The PLC Senior School cafeteria and Quad were transformed into a foodie’s heaven for the third PLC Farm2Fork, held on Saturday 14 March. Similar to a gourmet food village, this event gives guests the opportunity to enjoy a degustation of some of WA’s finest produce.

What makes Farm2Fork so unique, is that nearly all of the food producers attend the event, which gives guests the opportunity to speak directly with the producers about the food they are eating.

Guests were treated to tastings from over 30 WA producers, as well as local craft beer and wine, and were entertained by the fabulous sounds of the band, ‘Trip’ fronted by Old Collegians, Holly Dowling and Danée Bairstow (both 2019).

Thank you to PLC Parents Chair and Farm2Fork Co-ordinator, Michelle Barrett, as well as the incredible producers, chefs, volunteers and students, who all helped make the night such a huge success and the best Farm2Fork yet, and didn’t waste a thing!

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Bilingual bequest Introducing the innovative and engaging English and language classrooms, located in the View Street entrance of the Senior School.

The newly refurbished rooms include private pods complete with technology to enhance learning, relaxed lecture spaces and bespoke murals by local artist, Olivia Robinson.

Service superstar Embracing PLC’s strong focus on community and service, Bryzlyn Sin (Year 10) has clocked up over 140 service hours since starting at PLC three years ago. Now she is being acknowledged for her hard work and generosity through the 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards as a semi-finalist.

This interactive language facility was made possible through a generous bequest from the late Jean Randall who recognised the great value it would offer in the teaching of spoken languages.

It is with gratitude that we recognise Miss Randall’s bequest and her contributions as a long-serving member of the Presbyterian Ladies’ College Council.

A strong advocate for community service, Bryzlyn began volunteering at six-years-old, singing and playing the piano at churches, nursing homes, hospitals and fundraising for the Cancer Council.

At school, she is involved in many PLC Service programmes, including Cooking For a Cause, where she cooks meals for disadvantaged people in the community, as well as being a committed reading buddy for the Smith Family Student2Student Buddy Reading Programme, helping disadvantaged students to improve and boost their confidence in reading.

Bryzlyn was so determined to be a reading buddy, despite the fact that she lives nearly an hour away from school. She convinced her parents that she will be able to listen and read to her buddy on the way home in the long car ride.

“I arranged to call my buddy three times a week on my way home from PLC, using my mobile and a head-set to block out any noise,” Bryzlyn said.

PLC’s Head of Service and Community Partnerships, Linda Malone, said Bryzlyn was a model student who exemplified the School values of integrity and community.

“Bryzlyn has been an active part of the School’s Service programme for three years, embracing the various opportunities and pushing herself beyond her comfort zone,” Mrs Malone said. plc.wa.edu.au

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Class of 2019 Academic Achievements WACE students achieving an ATAR of 98 and above

WACE Subject Awards GENERAL EXHIBITION

French: Second Language Lucy Jarrett

Halimah Mohamad Zaini Sophia Mowbray Brenna Orrock Lucy Palmer Emma Rose Playford Abigael Russell Hunter Smith Chloe Sneddon Ellie Stroud Dakota Tingwell Georgia Tovich Emily Veitch

Physics Lucy Jarrett

CERTIFICATES OF MERIT

Lucy Jarrett

SUBJECT EXHIBITIONS Lucy Jarrett 99.95

Halimah Zaini 98.75

Georgia Tovich 99.4

Tabitha Galluccio 98.35

Food Science and Technology Ada Perkins

SUBJECT CERTIFICATES OF EXCELLENCE Chemistry Lucy Jarrett Food Science and Technology Ada Perkins

Chelsea Graham 98.25

Emily Veitch 98.2

French: Second Language Lucy Jarrett Human Biology Chloe Michael Physics Lucy Jarrett

Matilda Dyke 98

Kayla McCulloch 98

IB students achieving an ATAR equivalent of 98 and above

Lucie O’Sullivan IB 43 | ATAR 99.7

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Genevieve Shillington

IB 41 | ATAR 98.8

CERTIFICATES OF DISTINCTION Alexandra Ayers Charlotte Baddeley Danee Bairstow Neha Bolla Poppy Bolt Holly Dowling Georgina Dunsdon Matilda Dyke Ava Fonti Tabitha Galluccio Georgia Grey Christine Harcourt-Cooke Sarah Hill Lucy Jarrett Olivia Langsford Kayla McCulloch Siena Mitchell

Paris Castledine Holly Culloton Georgia Eagleton Lucinda Easton Habiba Elnadi Georgina Fisher Maxi Ford Chelsea Graham Sophie Gubbay Rebecca Gunzburg Molly Haitjema Paris Kay Grace Lauder Moonyean Le Roux Chloe Michael Lucy Muller Aimee Mumme Katherine Nash Clancy Offer Ada Perkins Grace Purves Georgie Purvis Sienna Robson Arabella Smeulders Victoria Walford Alice Warner Stephane Whelan

Individual Achievements Jacqui Swick has accepted a Rowing scholarship to the University of Oklahoma.

Paris Kay has been accepted to Cours Florent, a three-year drama course based on American and English theatre methods.

IB Dux of School, Lucie O’Sullivan was awarded a Fogarty Scholarship at The University of Western Australia where she will undertake a Bachelor of Philosophy with a Direct Pathway to Law.

2019 PLC Academic Achievements Combined IB/WACE

90.95 Median ATAR

Charlotte Baddeley and Alice Warner were awarded Bond University Excellence Scholarships for Bachelor of Laws.

Samantha Deykin has been offered a place at the WA Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) Bachelor of Music – Classical Voice.

Abigael Russell has been offered a place Bachelor of Performing Arts – Performance Making at WAAPA. Lily Stewart has been offered a place at WAAPA - Costume Design.

2019 Academic Captain Halimah Zaini was awarded a full scholarship through Oxbridge to attend the Academie de Paris, which was held in July. She has also been awarded the John Curtin Undergraduate Scholarship: Bachelor of Medicine.

Emily Pruiti was awarded runnerup in the Dorothea MacKellar Australian Poetry Awards.

Alexandra Ayers was shortlisted for her poems entered in the Dorothea MacKellar Australian Poetry Awards.

Sienna Robson has been offered a Design Pathways Scholarship at the University of Melbourne.

IB Diploma

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The following students all received early offers from the University of Notre Dame: Alexandra Ayers Charlotte Baddeley Samantha Deykin Matilda Dyke Maxine Ford Karega Gibbs Rebecca Gunzburg Olivia Langsford Kayla McCulloch Siena Mitchell Lucie O’Sullivan Lucy Palmer Ada Perkins Chloe Sneddon Dakota Tingwell Emily Veitch Stephanie Whelan

90.75 Median ATAR •

WACE Dux of School Lucy Jarrett was one of 15 students in WA to achieve a perfect 99.95

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More than one in five girls scored 95.00 or higher

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75% of the Year 12 cohort achieved an ATAR of 80.00 or higher

Median Score ATAR EQUIVALENT 92.10

Three students had their artwork selected for the Pulse Perspectives exhibition.

Read more about it on page 8.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

WACE

100% of students were awarded their Diploma (World average is 69%) 85% of PLC students were above the world average of score of 29 points.

Two students were in the top 4.5% in the world 28% of students achieved above 35 points / ATAR of 95.75 72% of students achieved above 33 points / ATAR of 90.65 17% of students achieved the maximum bonus points in the Theory of Knowledge and Extended Essay (World average is 7.73%)

PLC students were in the top 15% in the State in: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Accounting & Finance Applied Information Technology Biology Business Management & Enterprise Economics English Food Science & Technology French: Second Language Human Biology Maths Applications Modern History Psychology Visual Arts

NAPLAN VET The VET courses students completed included: • • •

Certificate IV in Education Support Certificate IV in Community Services Certificate IV in Preparation for Health and Nursing Studies

9.2%

PLC AVERAGE ABOVE STATE MEAN

YEAR 3 | 9.96% above state mean YEAR 5 | 8.84% above state mean YEAR 7 | 8.28% above state mean YEAR 9 | 9.81% above state mean

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Speech Night 2019

Watch the video in Digital Blackwatch

These kids mean business From personalised pet bowls to tie-dye shirts, Junior School girls are challenged to create, market and sell their own unique products.

Running once a week after school, ‘Kidpreneur’ teaches students how to successfully open and run their very own small business.

Junior School ILT Integration Specialist, Siobhan Rooney believes that important life skills such as money management should be taught in Junior School.

“It’s important for students to have essential life skills such as money management, time management and teamwork, so that they are well equipped for the challenges of adulthood,” she said.

Students have had visits from a number of local business owners offering valuable advice. Jayde from Denada Co. Ice-cream shared her entrepreneurial journey with the class.

Maths and commerce aren’t the only things that are important to our Kidpreneurs. Art teacher, Colleen Garland has helped students with the design and production of their products.

The Junior School held a Christmas Market Day, where students had the opportunity to open shop!

Year 5 student, Diga, created and sold tie-dye shirts for $12 each.

“I have learned lots through this programme…most importantly calculating the sale price of the shirts so that I make a profit and pay back my loan,” she proudly explained.

Watch the video in Digital Blackwatch

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Blackwatch 2020 Edition One

IN THE

PRESS

Warm welcome It was another balmy Summer’s night for the annual PLC Parents Welcome Sundowner on Valentine’s Day, Friday 14 February. Over 340 parents and staff enjoyed catching up with old friends, making new ones, and welcoming in the 2020 school year.

PLC Parents Sundowner Co-ordinator, Lizzie Marinko, said the Sundowner was her favourite ‘whole-school’ social event involving every parent from Pre-K to Year 12.

“There is always a fabulous buzz from all who attend, and we had a wonderful atmosphere this year. For me, the Sundowner encapsulates everything I love about our PLC community warm, inviting and inclusive.”

“It is both a warm welcome for parents new to the School and a chance for current parents to reunite with familiar faces you may not see in your relevant Year groups,” Mrs Marinko said.

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Shortlisted for Somerset Recently named a Shortlisted Winner of the 2020 Somerset National Novella Writing Competition, aspiring writer, Helen Lovegrove (Year 11) impressed judges with two of her entries making the shortlist: The Town-Savers and Full Moon Figs.

We sat down with Helen to find out a little bit more…

Tell us a little bit about your two entries.

In The Town-Savers, five very different children are brought together by the plotting of an evil teacher. They team up in order to stop him from destroying their town by fracking. In Full Moon Figs, a group of children gather every full moon at their old primary school in order to gather Moreton Bay figs, which can be used as medicine to save lives. However, they have an enemy in an old teacher, who will stop at nothing to hinder them.

What inspired you to write these pieces?

The Town-Savers started as five ‘first line prompts’, and I had the idea of creating five main characters, each inspired by one of those lines, that would come together to create an intertwined story. Full Moon Figs came from a creative writing course that I did, where I expanded on the original work. The idea came to me while I was riding by my old school, which has some very large Moreton Bay fig trees in the playground.

Do you have a genre that you like writing?

I really like writing fantasy and fiction because then I can make up characters and situations that are a lot better than real life. I also like the opportunity to write about stuff that isn’t exactly real, such as magic and interesting creatures.

What do you love so much about reading and writing?

With reading, I love being able to escape to another world, and with writing, I enjoy using my imagination and being able to create my own stories. I am part of the Creative Writing Club run by Ms Cavallaro, and I have been mentored by Mr Roland Leach in his Creative Writing Programme since Junior School.

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Blackwatch 2020 Edition One

Piping them home With the cancellation of Anzac Day commemorative marches and services across Australia due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year marked the first time that pipe bands were not on parade on 25 April in capital cities, regional and rural communities.

PLC pipers, past and present, continued the tradition of the ANZAC Day tribute by playing 'Amazing Grace' from their homes all over Australia!.

Top: Georgie Falconer (1995) Below: Jo Lapsley (1981)

Isolation short-cuts PLC and Scotch College students stayed at home to lop the locks and still raised over $27,000 as part of the World’s Greatest Shave.

PLC’s Head of Service and Community Partnerships, Linda Malone did not let this year’s COVID-19 social distancing challenges get in the way, and encouraged students to share their experiences online.

Stella Chen (Year 12), has shown true determination and service by participating in the World’s Greatest Shave from her home in China, where she has been isolated since the outbreak of COVID-19 late last year.

Service Captain, Bella Poll was impressed with the number of students who participated this year, despite the event not going ahead on campus with its usual vibrancy and fanfare.

“With all of us going through a really strange time at the moment, it’s easy to forget about people within our community who may be struggling more. It’s really important to remember those less fortunate and support them in any way we can”.

Slippin’ and a slidin’ There’s no doubt that PLC appreciates its sports stars and our IGSSA swim team was ‘feeling the love’ when Ms Begbie and swim coach, Ryan Steenkamp presented each of the swimmers with some comfy PLC slides to wear around the pool.

Unfortunately, the 2020 IGSSA Swimming Carnival was canceled due to COVID-19 and the girls will have to wait to show them off.

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FOUNDATION

The PLC Foundation farewelled an exceptional PLC student at the end of 2019. An outstanding role model to current PLC Foundation Scholarship students and her peers, Halimah Zaini will no doubt continue her level of excellence in tertiary study and beyond.

REPORT

Appreciative of the PLC Foundation members’ generosity, she graduated from PLC with a strong personal commitment to ‘give back’ to the community.

Halimah was 2019 PLC Academic Captain and achieved an ATAR of 98.7. She is currently studying at Curtin University having been awarded the John Curtin Undergraduate Scholarship: Bachelor of Medicine.

Halimah’s achievements in Year 11 and 12 include the following: Year 11 Academic Excellence Award; Alliance Française Examination Très Bien; National Chemistry Quiz Distinction; Carmichael House Distinction Pocket; Member Stage Band; Member Wind Ensemble; IGSSA Volleyball D Team; IGSSA Netball D Team; IGSSA Soccer A Team.

Year 12

Halimah Zaini (2019) at a photo shoot for her Academic Captain report in the 2019 Kookaburra.

The Foundation welcomes In 2020 we welcome three new PLC Foundation Scholarship students: (L-R) Sarah Wilkinson, Kaitlyn Sin and Prudence Dhiya.

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Academic Captain; Participated in Australian Computational and Linguisitcs Olympiad; Scholarship to attend the L’Acadèmie De Paris under the Oxbridge Program; Academic Effort Semester 1; Subject Excellence Semester 1-French; Academic Honours; Stage Band Pocket; Wind Ensemble Pocket; IGSSA Volleyball C Team; IGSSA Soccer A Team.

The PLC Foundation serves as an independent manager and custodian for the provision of sustainable financial support to PLC over the long term.

The PLC Foundation Board Members would like to extend their gratitude and thank supporters of the 2019 Annual Giving Programme, those donors who continue to meet their commitment to the 2017 Scholarships Fundraising Campaign and the 152 current families who have donated through Voluntary Contributions. We also acknowledge those Donors who wish to remain anonymous.

Ms Suzanne Pelczar

Dr P V Kailis AM OBE

Mr Graham Reynolds OAM and Mrs Margaret Reynolds

Mrs Anne Kyle (Jago 1948)

Mrs Glenice Shephard

Mrs Ann Macliver (Bird 1952)

2019 Annual Giving - Building Fund raised $46,925

Miss Barbara Baird (1957)

Mrs Beverley Ludlow (Harrison 1956)

W Fairweather and Sons Pty Ltd

Mrs Jill Mowson (Harrison 1949)

Ms Ylva Wakefield Mr Richard Wright and Mrs Nicole Wright

2019 Annual Giving - Scholarship Fund raised $130,400 Miss Wendy Addis (1954) Mrs Margaret Atkins OAM (Cusack 1947)

Miss Kathleen Paterson (2003py) Mr Michael Purves and Mrs Alison Purves Ms Jenny Rankin Miss Sally Rigg (1988py) Mr Leigh Robinson Dr Jennifer Rogers (1972) and Mr Robert Serich

Mrs Berwine Barrett-Lennard (Cook 1945)

Mr Adam and Mrs Winks Shephard (Sheedy 1988)

Mrs Judith Battaglia (Kirton 1963)

Mrs Alison Sloper (Thomas 1960)

Mr David Burt and Mrs Christine Burt

Mrs Margaret Burrows (Chalmers-Brown 1949)

Mrs Margaret Stamper (Monger 1947)

Ms Joanne Cruickshank (1977)

Ms Joanne Cruickshank (1977)

Mr Robert Harridge

Dr Robert Edis and Mrs Prue Edis

Dr Richard and Mrs Elizabeth Vaughan (Overton 1962)

Mr Andrew Hawley

Ms Andrea Gillett (1980)

Mrs Thelma Webster (Fisher 1947)

Mr Mark Hyde and Mrs Carolyn Hyde

Gilmac WA Pty Ltd

Mrs Julie Larkin (Sedgman 1951)

Mr Andrew Hawley

Mr Stephen Lauder and Mrs Janine Lauder

Dr Simon Hellings

Mr Rob McKinnon and Mrs Keryn McKinnon

IJM Foundation

Mrs Jean Brodie-Hall AM FAILA (Slatyer 1942)

T H Rose and Sons Pty Ltd

The PLC Foundation Incorporated is a notfor-profit organisation. Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible. A tax receipt will be issued for all donations.

2019 Voluntary Contributions raised $41,468 Mr V Agarwal & Mrs A Singhal Mr S & Mrs N Anderson Dr M & Dr H Armstrong A P Atkins Mr T Baddeley & Ms C Wood Dr P Bailey & Dr S Sia Mr A & Mrs R Banks Mr D & Ms S Barnes Mrs M M Barrett Mr K & Mrs J Batten Mrs A Beeck Mr B & Mrs M Beresford Mr J & Mrs N Bloch Mr C & Mrs E Bolt Dr N & Mrs R Bootsma Mr D & Mrs L Bradford Mr R & Mrs S Buchanan Mr A & Mrs T Buckle Mr R & Mrs C Burton Mr P & Mrs M Carrington Mr C & Mrs J Chan Mr G Chen & Mrs W Zhou Mr A & Mrs P Cinanni Mr W Clough AO OBE W H & M Clough Mr J C & Mrs P M Court Mr K Cowan Mr T & Mrs J Crannage Mr O & Mrs F Daramola Mr B & Dr J Day Mr A & Mrs K Dowling

Mrs Y Du Mr P Early & Ms S Schmidt Mr T & Mrs P Ellis Mr C & Mrs T Ellison Mr J El-Raghy & Miss T Shepherd Dr M Erickson & Ms R Kelsall Mr P & Mrs G Fairweather Dr S Febbo & Mrs K Webster Mr L & Mrs J Ferguson Mr D & Mrs K Fogarty Mr R & Mrs K Forsyth Dr D Foulner & Ms C La Cava Mr A & Mrs R Gianotti Mr R & Mrs T Gibbs Ms M Gillett & Ms V Edwards Mr G Gishubl & Ms J Grove Mr B Godfrey & Mrs S Raven Mr A & Mrs J Goody Mr J & Mrs R Grono Mr M & Dr A Hales Mr B Haynes & Ms S Burford Mr M & Mrs J Hector Dr S Hellings & Dr A Clare Mr M Hender Mr S & Dr T Hompas Mr M & Mrs C Hyde Mr S Jackson & Dr L Muntz Mr R & Mrs A Johnson Mr R & Mrs K Johnston Mr J & Mrs R Jury Mr R & Mrs O Kapinkoff

Pamela Anne Keil Mr D & Mrs S Kelly Dr J Khan & Mr R Khan Mr B & Mrs M Kitcher Dr A Koth & Ms C Ofoegbu Mr W Lao & Mrs I Ip Mr S & Mrs J Lauder Mr G & Mrs A Lewis Mr H Li Mr B Li & Ms H Shi Mr R Liang & Ms Z Liu Mr M T Lovegrove Dr M Lovegrove & Dr S Smith Mr C & Mrs E Luck Mr M Macdougall & Mrs M Nordstrom-Macdougall Mr J & Mrs C Mactier Mr O Mamuko & Mrs I Purba Mr G McCabe & Ms M Hewson Mr J & Mrs N McDiarmid Mr D & Mrs V McGinniss Dr S & Mrs S McGregor Mr C & A McIntosh Mr G McKellar & Ms E Berdenikova Mr S & Mrs G Michael Mr L & Mrs J Miels Mrs J Mills Zhang Ai Min Mr G & Mrs J Muir Mr J & Mrs A Murray

Mr C & Mrs F Nadason Mr R Nakhoul & Ms C Eftos Mr R Nixon & Ms A D'Arcy Mr S & Mrs J Noble Mr G & Mrs F Norwood Mr M & Ms K Numano Mr D & Mrs S Ockenden Mr K Osling & Ms R Smith Mr S & Mrs J Patil Mr J & Mrs M Paton Mr P & Mrs K Pearcey Mr J & Mrs R Philpott Mr N & Mrs C Poll Mr M & Mrs A Purves Mr J & Mrs G Pye WenXiu Qi Mr D & Mrs E Quinlivan Mr R & Mrs A Quinlivan Mr A Reichstein & Mrs M McDowall Mr A Robinson & Dr A Blom Mr P & Mrs T Robinson Dr R Roden Mr J & Mrs L Rousseau Mr A & Mrs S Ryan Mr D & Mrs K Ryan RT & PM Sarich Mr B & Mrs N Scherini Mr B & Mrs J Schortinghuis Mr B Scott Mr R & Mrs E Scott Dr M & Mrs L Seaburne-May

Mr C & Mrs C Shephard Dr T Silbert & Ms F Hogg Mr J & Mrs S Smith Mr S & Mrs K Smith Subsea 7 Australia Contracting Pty Ltd QingSheng Sun Sunzone International Mr M Swain & Ms J Wholagan Mr A & Mrs H Tait Dr E Tan & Ms X Yu Dr A Van Niekerk & Dr M Salvadore Mr & Ms R G Vines Mrs L Visagie & Mr J Visagie Mr P & Mrs T Wall Mr S Wallis Mr D Walsh & Ms E Tongue Mr G & Mrs K Walter Mr M & Mrs H Wandel Xiao You Wang Mr R Warner & Mrs J McKay-Warner Mr A Weatherall & Mrs V Sheridan Dr C Wee & Mrs C Leung Mr E & Mrs A Wildberger Mr P & Mrs K Wilkinson Mr M J Wong Mr L & Mrs S Wyllie Mr L Zhang & Mrs N Jiang Mr L Zhao and Mrs X Li Mr Z Zhao & Mrs L Niu

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International Womens’ Day Breakfast PLC has a strong emphasis on service and being active citizens in our community and this year the International Womens’ Day Breakfast celebrated and recognised the social, economic and environmental achievements of women.

Members of the PLC community spent the morning enjoying a buffet breakfast on the Senior School Quad, surrounded by student-inspired environmental themes, including waste-wise catering, a waste recycling area and beautifully decorated tables of floral garlands with recycled paper flowers.

We were also very fortunate to have three inspiring PLC Old Collegians, Nicole Giblett (1991), Lucinda Giblett (1998) and Jennifer Keen (1993) as guest presenters, who also took part in a panel discussion hosted by members of the Student Council. Our guests shared their passionate insights and advice

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Blackwatch 2020 Edition One

as to how we can foster long term sustainable, waste-wise opportunities.

Service Captain, Bella Poll, said “one of the most interesting observations from our discussions was the issue of ‘eating with our eyes’ and how this is creating a nation-wide issue of food being disposed of because it’s not cosmetically perfect”.

The breakfast also marked the launch of ‘Make a Difference Week’, an annual school event involving a range of environment focussed activities during the week, including waste-wise cooking demonstrations and a campus waste audit at the end of the week.

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REUNIONS

20 Year Reunion (Class of 1999)

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10 Year Reunion (Class of 2009)

50 Year Reunion (Class of 1969)

There have been so many changes since the Class of 1969 left PLC 50 years ago.

The Chapel was the “old science building” known then as Carmichael Hall, and was under construction.

The Boarding House was out of bounds to “Day Bugs” and the classrooms we knew have been long since demolished.

What hasn’t changed over the years are the enduring friendships which remain today.

Several groups meet regularly, or just keep in touch from time to time.

It hasn’t seemed to matter if you started in Kindy, Junior School or Year 8, our friendships have lasted a lifetime.

The 50 Year Reunion, held on 22 November 2019, was a perfect opportunity for 64 classmates to join together at PLC Perth in celebration of friendship.

We were met in the Chapel by Sascha Hill, Old Collegians’ Alumni Co-ordinator, and then welcomed by the Principal, Cate Begbie, before gathering on the steps for a class photo.

The morning continued on the Senior School Quad where we were divided into groups. Tours of the Lighthouse, Senior School and the Archives room were conducted, as well as a relaxed opportunity to catch up with each other over a coffee from Bev’s Café.

A highlight of the day was being piped across to the Dining Room from the Chapel for lunch by Senior Piper, Bella Poll (Service Captain 2020).

It was a very pleasant afternoon over lunch, sharing stories and enjoying being together again, resulted in a memorable reunion for the Class of 1969. Special thanks once again to Sascha for her support in making our special day such a success.

Colette James (Wilmont)

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OLD COLLEGIANS’

ASSOCIATION

This year is a very special year for the Old Collegians’ Association as it is our Centenary year and we have been working on a number of events and ideas to celebrate 100 years of the Association.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted a number of these events, primarily, the Celebrating 100 years of PLC OCA Soiree planned for Saturday 4 April.

The Soiree has been postponed until later this year and, when we do celebrate this milestone event, I am sure it will be an even bigger and better celebration uniting all the PLC old girls after such trying times.

Social Connection Programme At this time of social distancing and isolation, it is important to stay connected with fellow OCA members.

At the beginning of April, a social connection programme was introduced where students personally contacted the Old Collegians’ who may be isolated from friends and family members.

This is a time we can really make a difference in people’s lives and the lovely lifelong connection with the PLC Old Collegians’ will ensure we have someone from our PLC family looking out for each other.

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Thank you to the School and the students for reaching out to our Old Collegians.

OCA Bursary Honour Boards This year, we plan to introduce honour boards to identify and honour all the recipients of the three annual bursaries – beginning in 1986, for both the Dr Vera Summers and the Oliver Cusack Bursary, and in 1990, for the Heather Barr Memorial Bursary.

STEM Room Funding The OCA Committee has provided funding for a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) room in the Junior School.

There is a growing body of evidence and research that outlines the importance of introducing STEM subjects to children, particularly girls in the primary years.

The STEM room will provide the students and staff with a place to expand and investigate their STEM skills.

OCA Welcome Day Lunch

We are very proud and excited to be able to contribute to such a unique space, one that will undoubtedly build knowledge and confidence in this critical learning area.

In January, as part of Welcome Day to the School, the Old Collegians’ Association hosted a welcome lunch for Old Collegians’ whose daughters and granddaughters are new to PLC. It is always a lovely afternoon, and an opportunity for the girls to meet each other before the start of Term 1.

speed networking breakfast is another mentoring opportunity where Old Collegians’ return to school to share their personal career pathways and experiences with the Year 12 students.

We would like to thank our inspiring alumni for offering to give up their time to mentor the Year 12 students and we hope to reschedule this event later in the year.

2020 Art Exhibition OCA Mentoring Programme In March this year, PLC welcomed Old Collegians’ from the Class of 2018, Eliza Donaldson (Head Prefect) and Tish Martin, back to school to speak to the Year 11 and Year 12 students.

Tish and Eliza spoke to the students about life after PLC and the importance of finding that work, study and life balance.

New to the OCA calendar, and another event that had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was the Career Networking Morning. This

The annual Art Exhibition is traditionally held over the weekend in May, however, due to the scheduling of the Celebrating 100 years of PLC OCA Soiree in April, the proposed date was moved to August. Now, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the OCA Art Exhibition has been postponed until next year.

income for the OCA to fund bursaries and other donations to the School.

In the last few years, we have been proud to donate the OCA Year 12 Common Room, the ‘Old Girl’ quad boat to the PLC Argyle Rowing Club and most recently, the STEM Room donation for the Junior School.

We really appreciate everyone who has supported the OCA Art Exhibition over the years, and we look forward to seeing you all again next year when we will need your support.

I look forward to seeing you all at OCA events sometime in the future. Please stay safe and healthy.

Jennie Deykin PLC Old Collegians’ Association President

We will keep you posted regarding a date for 2021; in the meantime, keep painting and producing beautiful art for next year’s event.

The Art Exhibition is the principle fund-raising activity for the PLC Old Collegians’ and is a major source of

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100 Years of Memories

from Old Collegians Continued from last edition These are some of our memories of our years at PLC, so long ago now. We look back on them with gratitude and affection for all they gave us of learning, friendship and fun.

“Great days full of great memories of friends and fun and learning. Especially our special teachers and Dr Summers.

Bless them all (how did they put up with us?), the naughtiest class in the school until Year 12, when we became the class with the most initiative.”

SYLVIA BRANDENBURG (LEEKE 1951) “I was a Boarder and, apart from having a conduct mark every weekend, I had a lot of fun. I remember locking Helen M… in the Spook room... We also had midnight feasts and after being caught, had yet another conduct mark.

And talking to the Scotch boys at the gates and still another conduct mark!!

Mrs Cusack was a hard task master but very fair and we all loved her. Our stockings were not to be laddered and the seams straight, our berets on a certain angle and nails clean.”

BARBARA POTTER (ALLAN 1955) “Being caught by Dr Summers singing “Long Tall Sally” while dancing on the desk. She was NOT amused! Riding 8 km to school – but one day going by boat. Put outboard motor in Cloak Room! Later, boat had gone out to deep water (near Scotch College boatshed). I had to wade out (in uniform, wet to the armpits) to get it.”

SALLY CASEY (HUELIN 1958)

“As a Boarder for seven years, daughter of an old girl – now with grandchildren here, I still feel a very strong connection to this wonderful school and always will. I would not have had such a privileged life without the education received here. Also wonderful friendships we made and still have.”

JANE THOMPSON (STIMSON 1958) “Putting a large book inside the piano on top of the keys. When Miss Hutchison struck the opening cord – silence!”

SUE DRY (JAMES 1961) “Mrs Woodman (Standard 1 and 2) smacked me on the bottom in front of the class for talking – but it didn’t cure me and Mrs Adams (Maths, Year 9) made me write 100 lines for talking in class seven years later!”

DENISE MURRAY (CHAPMAN 1966) “We were not sun smart!! Lunch time would see us socks rolled down, skirts up sun baking.”

ANTHEA LANG (BOWMAN 1967) “Hiding under the desks during the Meckering earthquake! (Instruction from Miss Barr!) She also sheltered under a desk.”

JAN SUTHERLAND (1969) “Meckering earthquake - the day when walls and ceilings parted and dust filtered down and the room swayed and shuddered. The teacher informed us to remain in our seats. Statement lost its way by the river of students fleeing the room in fear and sheer panic. We all survived!”

JILLIAN PARKER (1972)

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“The transformation of PLC when the new library, new classrooms and Science block were built (1970s).

Cheesies (3 cents) and cinnamon scrolls (8 cents) at the canteen.”

BARBARA MORRIS (BUTCHART 1973) “Having the length of your hem checked and making sure you had regulation navy blue underpants on!

Mr Potasi smoking gauloise ciggies in Physics class.”

LOUISE RADFORD (EDINGER 1974) “I punched a hole in the ceiling with my head in the Sports Centre equipment room. The class was in the room illegally and we were vaulting and I jumped too energetically and made the hole!”

LIZ LANGDON (1978) “Our final Assembly. It was a very happy, cohesive bunch of Year 12s singing a medley from “Grease” about being together forever and have managed to keep very good friendships in all these years.”

JENNY D’CRUZ (CAMPBELL 1982) “Sitting under the pine tree!”

AMANDA KAILIS (1982) “Skipping school with Jenny Nash and Jodie Cooper and going to the beach.

Please don’t tell my daughters!”

RA STEWART (1982)“Painting my Panama hat with liquid paper to cover up the marks and stains!”

JANE KIKEROS (ROE 1984)

TARTAN

NEWS

Penny Hoffman formerly Farrell (Ward 1955) Penny Hoffman is to be admired and congratulated. Awarded Senior Citizen of the Year for the Murray District at the 2020 Australia Day celebrations, she is also a highly respected volunteer and leader within the Murray community.

Mrs Hoffman retired to the Murray District (North Yunderup) in 2003 where she became a passionate member of the community. Her volunteering has played an integral part in the development of numerous community projects along with the initiation of resourceful community organisations.

Starting her working life as a teacher, three years of which were spent teaching at PLC, she completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies in 1981 and accepted a position as Corporate Librarian for Hamersley Iron in Perth.

After 21 years of working with various branches of Rio Tinto, Mrs Hoffman retired to North Yunderup and became actively involved in the Community

Association, contributing significantly to a number of community projects including the Master Plan for the redevelopment of Kingfisher Park complete with a skate park, playground and exercise equipment.

Her drive has shown what can be achieved when a community works together in partnership with Local Government.

In 2004, Mrs Hoffman commenced research of the West Murray district history, developing photo presentations of yesteryear as well as ‘Recollections of West Murray’ calendars. Galleries of these historical images have been staged through the Peel Region including the Murray Public Library,

Mandurah Museum and the Mandurah Visitors’ Centre.

Mrs Hoffman became a foundation member of the Murray Districts Historical Society in 2009 and aims to preserve and promote the rich history of the district.

Murray Shire residents and visitors will continue to benefit for years to come due to the work by Mrs Hoffman and the historical society, as they record tomorrow’s history and preserve the findings for generations to come.

Penny has two daughters, Vanessa Baxter (Farrell 1984) living in Auckland, and Joanna Thumiger (Farrell 1987) currently residing in Singapore.

Photo courtesy Museum of Perth

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TARTAN

NEWS

Kim Farley (Metcalf 1962) Managing Director, Relocation Resources Kim and her daughter, Tobi, have worked harmoniously side by side for the past 25 years in Kim’s Company, ‘Relocation Resources’ which assists the Oil and Gas industry to provide settlement support for worldwide arrivals to Australia.

Kim and her team have helped hundreds of families assimilate into their new Perth-based lifestyle, many of whom have enrolled their daughters at PLC. Kim also travels to places like Stavanger Norway International School to assure any children who may be moving, that there is a wonderful city education awaiting them in Perth.

Jennifer Keen (1993) Community Worker, Food Rescuer, Volunteer, Advocate Jennifer is the State Manager for OzHarvest WA, a not-for profit, for-impact organisation that nourishes disadvantaged children, youth and adults with nutritious food, education and engagement through its innovative programmes.

OzHarvest rescues food from commercial food outlets and delivers this good food, at no cost, to charities who feed those in need.

Prior to heading up OzHarvest in Perth, Jennifer worked in the public relations and events sector which allowed her to experience firsthand the huge volume of perfectly edible food being thrown out from restaurants, hotels and corporate events across the country every day.

Jahney Smith & Lorena Sumich (2007) Co-Founders, KIXXFIT Jahney Smith and Lorena Sumich, both graduates from the Class of 2007, have developed and 36

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Louisa Fenny (1999) Featured on TV Vet show, ‘Desert Vet’; Owner, Holistic Vet at Home Dr Lu Fenny attended Murdoch Uni Vet School to follow her lifelong dream to help animals and worked for over 10 as a small animal Veterinarian however, Wildlife conservation has always been her driving force.

Lu spoke at a PLC Event in 2014 about her volunteer work with Orangutans , in Kalimantan in 2013 inspiring teacher, Jane Brandeburg, to accompany her on her next trip. Louisa also co-ordinated an Art Auction & Exhibition fundraiser for the Orangutans at PLC in 2015.

Besides her philanthropic work, Louisa has also been focussed upon building her business Holistic Vet @ Home which provides a home visit vet service to pets, with a focus on natural therapies, another passion of hers.

Dr Lu also featured on Desert Vet, a Channel Nine TV show that followed her work along with her father, Dr Rick Fenny whom has been running vet clinics throughout regional WA for 40 years. The show also featured her brother Ed Fenny (Scotch College, 2000), a marine biologist who manages the Fenny family owned aquarium, Ocean Park in Denham. Lu will continue with the show for Season 2 which will cover her volunteer work with the bush-fire affected wildlife on Kangaroo Island.

Louisa is also set to open the very first Veterinary Wildlife Hospital and sanctuary in Tanzania, Africa called Kimbilio @ Kisampa, partnering with her mentor Dr Stephen Van Mil (Hale, 1979) and Dr Robert Barbour (Hale, 1980). launched a fitness and wellbeing app, ‘KIXXFIT’. This new app is taking on the wellness industry, much like Airbnb did with hospitality and Uber with the taxi industry. This dynamic duo is at the frontier of health and fitness technology.

Jahney and Lorena’s free-todownload platform hosts a wide range of workouts and wellness sessions that are designed to be completed at home, with little to no equipment.

They have over 30 coaches around Australia including three fellow Old Collegian, Kate Macpherson (2004 Head Prefect), Anna Balston (2008) and Scarlett Duncan (2009).

Greta Bell (2016) Information Technology & Mathematical Sciences Greta is in her final semester of a Double Major in Medical Sciences and Applied Mathematics at UWA. In 2018, Greta completed a population health internship with Enli Health Intelligence in the USA, which confirmed her interest in combining maths and data analytics with medicine and health technology.

Greta has recently accepted a Graduate position at Deloitte in their Analytics and Cognitive Consulting team, starting in March 2021. This role will help her further develop strong foundational data and analytics skills, with the hope of being able to apply these in healthcare.

Nicole Giblett (1991) Director, Newton Orchards Nicole is a Director of a prominent Western Australian pome fruit production, packing and marketing company, Newton Orchards of Manjimup. She has been actively involved in this familyowned business since returning to Manjimup in 2008 and is interested in value adding and waste reduction to foster long term sustainable, nextgeneration farming opportunities.

Nic engages with major retailers, the media, chefs and public wherever possible to promote a return to the ‘commonsense’ way Australians used to approach growing, selecting and eating their produce. In just the past 20-30 years, we have developed the very unsustainable habit of “eating with our eyes” – coming to expect cosmetically perfect-looking produce of every type available every day of the year; often at prices that return growers very little to reinvest into their farms.

Nic and Newton Orchards’ approach encourages us to truly value notquite-perfect looking Australian food that has been grown with care, and that supports ethical wages in local communities into a challenging future. In short, #chooseugly & #choosethebruise!

Lucinda Giblett (1998) Founder, Stellar Violets Life Library Museum & Gallery Lucinda is the founder, creative director, and editor-in-chief of Stellar Violets Life Library, an arts and cultural centre delivering wondrous experiences to help people and planet flourish.

Image: (L-R) Lucinda Giblett and Nicole Giblett with her daughter, Sacha.

After completing bachelor and postgraduate studies in Communications and Creative Industries at Curtin, and then QUT and living abroad in France, Lucinda returned to her family farm in Manjimup, out of which her Stellar Violets dream has emerged.

Stellar Violet’s 2020 vision & beyond is to create an education and immersion programme where mentor and mentees undertake experiences in flourishing organic gardens and

engage community to plant trees upon the eight-acre canvas. She is also planning to restore and fit out a train carriage library and accommodation studio and hopes to publish and support writers, poets and artists-in-residence.

Lucinda and Stellar Violets volunteers are dreaming into a world fit for our time, in which the global ‘whole health’ crisis is met with sanity and soul, for the wellbeing of self, land and society.

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We’ve had a small pile of interesting facts that aren’t quite big enough for an article on their own, so we thought, in the interests of diverting people’s attention from relentless COVID-19 coverage, it was time for these disparate snippets to come to light.

Did you know Bold Park was named for one of our past parents, William Ernest Bold? He was the City of Perth’s longest serving town clerk, from 1900-1944, and the father of Dorothy ‘Doff’ McNaught (Bold 1935).

Another of the City of Perth’s town planners was Harold Boas, after whom Harold Boas Gardens in West Perth is named. He was on Perth’s Council from 1914-1916, 1926-1942 and 1944, and was the father of Peggy Glauert (Boas 1931, dec) and Marjorie Luno (Boas 1938), who celebrated her 99th birthday on 1 April, in Melbourne.

(Many happy returns to you on a very special day, Marjorie!)

is now the Staff Room) in which it is visible on a top shelf. I went looking for it, without luck, and then one day it appeared in Archives during a remodelling of the Library!

Today it stands in our Museum, on top of the display cabinet once belonging to Dr Vera Summers’ (Principal 1934-1961, on staff from 1920).

The other statue given by Harold Boas was an “impressive white polar bear”, the work of Perth sculptor Percy Kohler.

This one has not yet come to light.

A tiny, amusing gem from the Council Minutes of November 1978: ‘Salinity Testing – Bore Water: A report was presented on the level of salt in PLC bores… by Mr Brine.’

William Brine was the father of Wendy Campbell (Brine 1968), Helen Grzyb (Brine 1970), Fiona Brine (1974) and Rosemary Paul (Brine 1975), and was a highly-respected member of PLC’s Council from 1968 until his death in 1981.

The original Nike in the Louvre.

I read in 2007, in the 1963 Kookaburra, that Harold had presented two statues to the School that year on behalf of his three granddaughters, Sally Benn (Glauert 1956), Sandra Monteath (Glauert 1957) and Vanessa Pearce (Glauert 1966). One was the Winged Victory of Samothrace (the goddess of Victory perhaps being better known as Nike). Described as “a two-feet-high replica of the original Greek statue” which is now in the Louvre, it was said there was only one other copy of it in Western Australia; at St Hilda’s.

In our Photographic Collection I found a photo of the Rev George Nisbet Dods Memorial Library (then in the space under Carmichael Hall which

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The Winged Victory of Samothrace gifted by Harold Boas in 1963, visible on the top shelf in the Rev George Nisbet Dods Memorial Library in the 1960s, when it was under Carmichael Hall (now the Heather Barr Memorial Chapel within Carmichael Hall).

The strange ways in which we sometimes find the answer: How did we come by our School motto, ‘Labore et Honore’?

Nowhere in the Archives is there mention of our School motto being adopted, and it seems to have been part of PLC since our founding in August 1915.

Recent Accessions Patricia Tippett, daughter of Edith ‘Billie’ Tippett (Builder 1927) 1925 invitation to Edith for an end of year get-together, along with the request for ‘Dick’ (Helene Forster) and Edith to gain permission from the Principal, Miss Finlayson, and a list of girls who will be present (see image below).

But in 2013 Helen Lancaster, grand niece of Doris Jean Petherick (Hope 1917), donated Jean’s prize books to Archives, in which the question of our motto’s provenance was answered. One of the books was presented in 1910 for Maths, one in 1913, again for Maths, and one in 1914, as Dux of Ormiston College. (See Blackwatch Summer 2014, ‘The Last Dux of Ormiston’.)

The 1910 bookplate was proudly emblazoned Labore et Honore.

Unlike the School colours of brown, pale blue and gold, which we cast aside in favour of our beloved Black Watch in 1934, this revealed we have kept Ormiston College’s perfect, original motto to this day!

Judith McGowan, niece of Margaret ‘Margot’ McKenzie (McKenzie 1923) Margot McKenzie’s PLC blazer pocket, beautifully sewn in original PLC colours; PLC presentation book ‘Actions and Reactions’ by Rudyard Kipling, presented to Margot in 1920 for General Proficiency (Class IIA) and signed by Agnes Scorgie; Brief summary of Margot’s family and life.

Liz Gaunt (Bath 1959) 1960s newspaper cuttings relating to Dr Eleanor Bennett (Scrymgeour 1959) and a group of women competing in the Country Womens’ Hockey of 1959; a wedding photo of Peter and Rosemary Graham (Powell 1959); a PLC pennant, School tie pin, beret badge, Stuart House badge and ribbon.

Sheena Hesse, Archivist, Uniting Church of Western Australia Photo of Rev Daniel Ross, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church 1913, Minister of the West Perth Presbyterian Church 1912-1918 when he died, after which the church was rededicated the Ross Memorial Church.

Shelley Stewart (Brand 1987) Extensive documentation relating to Shelley’s time at PLC (1983-1987), meticulously kept by her mother.

Penny Taylor (Walsh 1958)

Labore et Honore, on a 1910 Ormiston College bookplate, inside a book presented to Jean Hope, 1917.

Presentation copy of Poetical Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson (1908), presented to Jean for History and Geography in 1918, signed by Agnes Scorgie; Photo of the 1954 Boarders’ hockey team. plc.wa.edu.au

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Debbie Scott (Clarke 1969), niece of Stella Clarke (1927) In response to a Time Travel Tuesday post from August 2019 featuring Stella, Debbie sent in Stella’s autograph book, given to her by her ‘Auntie Dizzy’ for Christmas 1924; a photo of Stella with her siblings Nancy, Michael and Frank; a photo of Peter Verschuer in 1925, aged 15 – around the age he was when he nearly drowned trying to save Stella in the ocean at Bunbury at Christmas 1925, with his younger brother.

Nanette Danks (Harvey 1959) Black and white photo of four PLC girls, including Nanette’s mother, June East, c1932-1934; 1959 and 1960 invitations to a game of tennis; the annual PLC dance; Letters from Rose Watson, Margaret Blackburne, and Miss Violet Major; 1958 and 1959 Orders of Service for the annual service at Ross Memorial Church; 1958 press photo of pageant held at Subiaco Oval commemorating Queen Mother’s visit, at which Nanette was present; 1960 souvenir programme of the “Opening of School Pool” by Hon Lady Gairdner; 1959 invitation to the Prefects and order of service for the annual UWA service at St George’s Cathedral; 1957 Order of Service for British Commonwealth Youth at St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Perth; 1958 programme of combined “Ceremony and March Past British Commonwealth Society”; Speech given

by Nanette at the Golden Reunion for the Class of 1959 in 2009.

Rob McKay, owner of the home in which Margaret Reardon (Whittle 1952) once lived Signed copy of The Light of Other Days; News clipping from The West Australian 6 May 1983 on Vera Summers’ death.

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L-R: Misses Dorothy Hutchinson (Music teacher 1920-1965), Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Hendry (Teacher then Deputy Principal 1925-1940), Gwen Dowson (French teacher 1930-1933) relaxing at PLC in the early 1930s.

Andrea Gillett (1980)

Penny Taylor (Walsh 1958)

PLC Band memorabilia – now the Andrea Gillett Collection, including two PLC in Concert records; PLC Band 1979 Tour to Singapore, including itinerary and list of escorts, etc; Newspaper clippings of PLC Band playing at Scotch College and week they left for Singapore; Clarinet [Scrap] Books 1-3 (1976-1980).

Photographs, documents and newspaper Items relating to her mother, Jean Walsh (Cooke 1919).

Joy Wade (Teakle 1961) 1956-1962 Kookaburras; Newspaper article by Margot Lang (Richards 1952) in The Daily News of 1978 on Personalities and Places.

Jane Meneghello (McGibbon) Jane’s McNeil House Captain badge, enamelled tie pin and hat badge; Emily Meneghello’s (2006) Year 12 Leavers’ jumper and hoodie, PLC branded sports socks, striped sports jumper, and Pipe Band jacket.

Shannon Lovelady (Martin 1983) Shannon’s Black Watch skirt from Year 1, 1972.

Ann James (Leake 1968)

John Dowson (1964) Photos once belonging to his aunt, Gwen Dowson (PLC staff 19301933) including with a group of girls at Cottesloe Beach, swimming in Freshwater Bay, PLC staff 1931 (see image above), Gwen with Dorothy Hutchinson and ‘Lottie’ Hendry relaxing at PLC (see image below), and more.

Jennie Deykin (Eastwood 1982) Photo of Jennie with Ticia Juniper (Newton 1982) after a tomato sauce and shaving cream fight on the Quad, late 1982. They think it was taken in the change rooms upstairs in the Hugh Baird Gymnasium, afterwards, in a (possibly futile) attempt to clean up.

David Slee, grandson of Edna Slee (Rose 1921) 1924 invitation to Edna and her parents to the Royal Garden Party, Hampton Court Palace.

Theatre, by De J Racine, presented to Olive Cusack (nee Drummond) by Queen Anne’s School, Caversham, on 9 July 1914 for French.

Digital Accessions Annette Leeson (Angel 1964) 24 black and white images from Annette’s days at PLC (1960-1963).

Tim Baker, relative of Jessie ‘Bet’ Baker formerly Lodge (Easton 1924).

Seven family photos including several of Veroslah (18 View Street).

PLC Staff 1931 Back, L-R: Miss Mildred LeSoeuf, Miss Marcia Hodges, Miss Gwen Dowson, Miss Cecily Nicholson, Miss Jean Murray, Miss Dorothy Hutchinson. Centre: Miss Freer, Miss Janet Phemister, Miss Doris ‘Steve’ Stevens. Front: Miss Ruth Stevens, Miss Gladys Jones, Miss Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Hendry, Miss Marjorie Swain, Miss Vera Summers, Miss Jessie Cheffins.

OBITUARIES

Dr Sally Louise Cook 9 June 1965 – 22 April 2020 PLC lost a loved member of its community in April when breast cancer claimed the life of Dr Sally Louise Cook (1982).

Dr Cook’s ties with PLC were many.

She was a day girl from Kindergarten through to Year 12 when she was crowned McNeil House Captain, a title also bestowed upon her sister Philippa Cook (1978). Her youngest sister Diana Cook (1983) was McNeil Sports Captain and a third sister, Andrea Monkhouse (Cook 1979) also attended PLC. Dr Cook was mother to Terra Tormey (2011), and the cousin of Ra Stewart (1982) and Melanie Stewart (1985).

She was one of seven Old Collegians’ to graduate from the University of Western Australia in medicine in 1989 (pictured above, second from the left). In the 2013 Summer edition of Blackwatch, Dr Cook wrote that after graduating from UWA she moved to Queensland to work at the Mackay base Hospital where she was exposed to new learning experiences such as scuba diving.

She eventually returned to WA and worked in general practice in East Fremantle and as assistant professor in the Medical School at UWA. Her experiences there provided her with opportunities to contribute more broadly to the medical profession as well as to share her passion for thinking “bigger”, using her enthusiasm for cognitive re-patterning and neurosciences and encouraging students to be better doctors. This position also allowed many new

learning experiences and contributed toward her studies to complete a Fellowship in general practice.

In 2013, Sally was elected President of the Old Collegians’ Association. During her tenure the OCA embraced social media as a tool to reconnect with Old Collegians’ and was involved in the School’s decision to add another two Houses to cater for increasing enrolments. However, the OCA’s vote for Dods, in honour of Christina Dods, daughter of PLC founder and inaugural Chair of Council Rev George Nisbet Dods, was not adopted. The School decided to add only one new House and named it Ross.

As President, she led the OCA to become an incorporated body and was also part of the early planning for the school’s centenary in 2015.

Dr Cook also oversaw the decision to create the Francesca Nelson Memorial Art Prize, now an annual prize at the PLC OCA Old Collegians’ Art Exhibition, to honour the memory of Francesa Nelson (1980) who was a past OCA President and PLC Registrar.

PLC Kindergarten 1970 (1982) giving ‘Hairy Harry’ a haircut Dr Sally Cook (1982), centre right with Angela Bunning (1982, left).

UWA graduation L-R: Lucy Williams (1981), Sally Cook (1982), Katy Langdon (1982), Sarah Cox (1981), Maryellen Yencken (1982), Catherine Henderson (Weijma 1982), Moira de la Hunty (Atchison 1982).

Front: Year 1 student Sarah Jackson (2000).

In her President’s report in the 2014 Summer edition of Blackwatch, Dr Cook finished by imploring readers to: “Do more of what you love, find joy around you and within you.”

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OBITUARIES

Mary Edna ‘Molly’ Hallett (Symes 1942) 24 May 1925 – 13 December 2019 Molly was the only daughter of Gladys and Cyril Symes, and born at the police station in Trayning where her father was the local police constable in residence. In 1927, after more than twenty years in the police force, Cyril moved the family to Bencubbin and established his own business – a general store offering everything from giftware, fresh fruit and vegetables, homemade icecream and sweets, to haircuts and the restringing of tennis racquets.

Molly began her schooling at the tiny Bencubbin State School before being sent down to Claremont State School for a few years and, finally, PLC in 1940.

While here she boarded with local families and focussed on her music and speech lessons, she found she loved tennis and played whenever she could.

The effects of the Great Depression and WWII interrupted Molly’s intentions for further education, and after gaining her Junior Certificate, she returned to Bencubbin to work in the local post office.

In early 1942, she commenced a commercial course in Perth, after which she began working with the ES&A (English, Scottish and Australian) Bank in St George’s Terrace.

In 1944, she switched banking for nursing, boarded in Langsford Street, Claremont, and underwent nurse training at Perth Hospital.

The war ended the next year, and Molly recalled walking the packed streets of Perth, celebrating the news with the wildly joyous crowds.

In nursing, Molly found her calling. She excelled in her studies, gained second place in the Nurses’ Registration Board of Western Australia exams in February

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1947, and was appointed Sister of Ward 3 at the hospital, which had become ‘Royal’ in 1946.

After further study in Melbourne, where she worked as a psychiatric nurse, and completing her midwifery training in Sydney, Molly returned to Ward 3 at RPH fully trained and doubly certified.

Molly Hallett (Symes 1942) in her nursing days.

At 27, in 1953, Molly was appointed Matron of Corrigin District Hospital, a general and maternity hospital roughly 120 km north west of Kondinin, where her parents were then living. She met Thomas Colin Park Hallett, a local farmer from Bilbarin, just out of Corrigin. Known as Colin, the family jokes ‘he tractor down’ and married her at St Mary’s Church in West Perth in May 1954.

After a beautiful wedding breakfast at Perth’s Adelphi Hotel, Molly and Colin returned to his Bilbarin farm and, in time, raised their family of three daughters.

In 1977 Molly and Colin retired to Augusta where they spent the rest of their lives in peace and happiness.

Predeceased by Colin in 2017, Molly died aged 94. Her daughters are so proud of the wonderful person she was, and the loving legacy she left.

Molly Hallett (Symes 1942) happy, retired, and smelling the roses in Augusta.

Molly Hallett (Symes 1942) at PLC in 1940.

We are greatly saddened to hear of the passing of the following Old Collegians:

Two former chaplains were lost to the PLC community recently with the deaths of Rev Patricia Burvill and Rev Des Williams.

Apsara Ismail ‘Sara’ Ahmad (1992) 9 April 1975 – 5 January 2020

Rev Patricia Rosemarie Burvill

Rev Desmond Edward Williams

30 July 1935 - 30 April 2020

18 May 1934 - 2 April 2020

Rev Burvill was the PLC Chaplain from 1994-1998 and oversaw the commissioning of the Heather Barr Memorial Chapel. In her Chaplain’s Report in the 1994 edition of Kookaburra, Rev Burvill wrote: “How wonderful at last to have a place of worship after the many years of moving hither and yon, using classrooms, halls and the auditorium. The Chapel has made a great difference for the students in their approach to worship.”

Rev Williams was the PLC Chaplain from 1978-1983 and described as a ‘fit and healthy’ grandfather before succumbing to COVID-19 on 2 April. He was among 2,700 people to disembark from the Ruby Princess cruise ship in Sydney.

Suzette Allnutt (von Pestalozzi 1939) 11 April 1922 – 28 January 2020 Jessica Anne Breheny (Schouten 2003) 23 January 1986 – 5 December 2019 Alison Leigh Burges (Fox 1946) 6 August 1929 – 23 August 2019 Carolyn Frances Clarke (Blackwell 1961) 27 March 1944 – 3 March 2020 Dr Sally Louise Cook (1982) 9 June 1965 – 22 April 2020 Rhona Bebe Cordin (1950) 9 May 1933 – 3 January 2020 Phyllis Margaret Davy (Davidson 1941) 17 June 1925 – 13 February 2020 Kathleen Douglas-Smith (Aberdeen 1938) 6 June 1921 – 19 April 2020 Robin Nicklin Drew formerly Townsend (Kidman 1961) 13 January 1944 – 20 January 2019 Daphne Joan Edinger (Choules 1944) 13 December 1927 – 18 March 2020 Helen Green (Novakov 1961) 29 November 1944 – 4 December 2019 Mary Edna ‘Molly’ Hallett (Symes 1942) 24 May 1925 – 13 December 2019 Robin Sandra Harewood (Hitchings 1958) 6 May 1941 – 4 November 2019

Rev Burvill, who had lived at the Boarding House, retired after her service, to PLC and became a member of St Aidan’s Claremont, where she also launched two books about her life. At her funeral service she was remembered as a faithful friend with a sense of humour and who enjoyed a glass of wine. Her final years were spent in Uniting Church homes in Karrinyup and Balcatta.

An article in The Australian said he and his wife, Bev, were on their 11th cruise together in 23 years of marriage. His stepson, Craig Blackburn said: “He was a loving family man, who loved his plants and his church. You wouldn’t pick him as 85-yearsold as he was very healthy. He had a lot of life left in him.”

Mavis June Hayles (Henson 1945) 4 March 1928 – 13 February 2020 Elizabeth Ann Hoar (Hudson 1946) 9 June 1929 – 4 April 2020 Penelope Jane ‘Pennie’ MacGregor (Lockwood 1963 and 1964) 22 November 1946 – 7 March 2020 Patricia Pearse McKail (Hamilton 1944) 11 July 1927 – 20 April 2020 Philippa Orr (1952) 20 September 1935 – 12 December 2019 Sandra Pardoe (Sandercock 1958) 16 October 1941 – 1 October 2019 Megan Diane Pickering (Howson 1963) 29 September 1946 – 13 December 2019 Barbara Ellen Sewell (Buchanan 1949) 25 November 1932 – 9 April 2018 Frances Beverley Taylor formerly McMahon (Lyon 1959) 10 October 1942 – 4 December 2019 Patrice Dorothy Wookey formerly Fitzgerald (Van Assche 1948) 30 November 1930 – 18 April 2020

We are also sad to advise the former staff members who passed away: Rev Pat Burvill (PLC Chaplain 1994-1998) 30 July 1935 - 30 April 2020 Rev Des Williams (PLC Chaplain 1978-1983) 18 May 1934 - 2 April 2020

2021 Term dates TERM 1 Monday 1 February – Thursday 1 April Friday 29 January – Welcome Day and Boarding House Students Return Friday 26 February - Monday 1 March – Mid-Term Break

TERM 2 Tuesday 20 April – Friday 2 July Monday 26 April - ANZAC Day Public Holiday Friday 4 June - Monday 7 June - Mid-Term Break

TERM 3 Tuesday 27 July - Friday 24 September Friday 20 August - Monday 23 August – Mid-Term Break

TERM 4 Tuesday 12 October – Thursday 9 December Thursday 9 December - SS Speech Night

Editorial Details Blackwatch is published for the community of Presbyterian Ladies’ College A College of the Uniting Church of Australia 14 McNeil Street, Peppermint Grove Western Australia 6011 T: +61 8 9424 6444 W: plc.wa.edu.au Please address all correspondence regarding Blackwatch to Publications and Communications Co-ordinator T: +61 8 9424 6475 at PLC or E: blackwatch@plc.wa.edu.au

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