Co-curricular Opportunities

St Catherine’s was represented by two students at the Armadale District Competition. Both girls finished midfield in a competitive tournament.

Opportunities to perform were available to students in a variety of modalities, including structured music concerts as well as performances during Barbreck assemblies and community events.

School Assemblies are student-led, featuring upper Primary students playing the National Anthem, and have provided the opportunity for weekly solo performances. All choirs and musical ensembles perform at our Music Assemblies.

In Term 1, the Barbreck community gathered at St. John’s Anglican Church to celebrate Easter through singing, prayers, and instrumental music. The Service was brought to life by contributions from the Epstein Singers and Year 6 String Trio.

Held in Term 2, Special Visitors’ Day was a highlight, providing our Prep to Year 3 students the opportunity to perform to an audience. The Concert opened with Petit and Year 2 Strings, followed by a special solo item. The lower Primary girls loved singing Peace Like a River, which involved special visitor participation, The Barrier Reef, and Welcome the Day (Year 3).

The Gala Concert featured performances from the Epstein Singers and Barbreck Choir, accompanied by the Junior School Percussion Ensemble. These choirs participated in a Combined Choral item singing Out There with the Senior School girls. Our string players played Wildfire, in the Massed String item.

This Concert provided the opportunity for girls from Prep to Year 6 to share their talents and represent the creative community at St Catherine’s. The program was filled with pieces that gave a contemporary and upbeat feel to the night. At the end of the night, the whole Junior School came together to perform a Massed Choral item singing It’s Bonfire Season, an electric song by Alice Chance, a young Australian composer.

2022 was a wonderful opportunity for our Barbreck girls to explore their drama skills.

• Large co-curricular groups presented their works in the new performing arts space, The Jamie and Rebecca Gray Theatre.

• The Year 4 Perform Program staged their self-devised Spooky Musical, highlighting the power of friendship to overcome ‘monsters’ in your life.

• The Year 3 Stage Skills performers presented the tale of Peter Rabbit to an appreciative audience, complete with virtual backgrounds, costumes, and narrators.

• Speech and Drama students in Years 5 & 6 relished the opportunity to compete in both the Eisteddfod by the Bay and the SDTAV Eisteddfod this year, with some exceptional results.

• Speech and Drama lessons are a weekly co-curricular offering that follow the Trinity College London Syllabus to prepare for graded exams at the end of each year.

After two years online, what a delight it was to conduct debates in person! Coached by a dedicated group of Year 10s, our Barbreck debaters rapidly developed their skills in a supportive team environment. Highlights of the season included:

• Senior School Co-Captains were guest speakers during Barbreck debating sessions

• Senior School Debating and Public Speaking Captains were guest adjudicators for a Barbreck debate.

• Year 6 debaters learnt much from their feedback which stood them in good stead in subsequent debates.

The aim of our Writers’ Club is to build on the wonderful teaching and learning that happens in class as we support our girls to become confident and independent writers.

• Refinement and extension of students’ writing skills as they composed texts and used a variety of language features and literary devices to engage their audience.