A balanced education and a balanced life

We have spent another year doing what we do best – delivering a classic education in a comprehensive environment. It was one of my colleagues who used the term ‘classic education’ recently when he was telling me what he feels sets us apart from other schools: our breadth and balance. A strong focus on the basics, but with 14 elective subjects, including five languages, to give girls choice: Latin in Year 7, to develop an understanding of classical civilisation, grammar and etymology; 20 music ensembles; 20 sports; drama, dance and musicals; service opportunities at home and abroad; overseas tours, exchanges and immersion opportunities; a focus on character development; and a focus on developing strong, enduring relationships. Because, we want our girls to have a balanced education and a balanced life – to be their best intellectually, to be accomplished, to be secure in their character, to be anchored by values that give them strength and hope, to be compassionate, and to live well with others.

Our balanced education works well. Last year 90 per cent of our Year 12 girls went straight to university. Of them, 27 per cent are studying STEM subjects; 25 per cent the arts – but they have chosen a wide range of degrees: design, commerce, health, communications and media; international studies; fine arts; criminology; animal and vet bioscience; music; law. Of the 10 percent of girls who didn’t go straight to university, half went into the workforce and half took a gap year, an increasingly attractive option after the demands of the HSC.

Here are a few examples of what formed part of our girls’ education this year: Our Year 9 design and technology classes worked with FINCH production company to develop their STEM creativity. Over 50 performers, musicians and backstage crew took part in the musical The Secret Garden at NIDA. Years 8–9 girls undertook new cultural exchanges to Massachusetts, Switzerland, New Zealand and Adelaide adding to our established exchange network. Our St Cathodes robotics team entered their robot Rex into the FIRST Robotics Competition. Our Year 9 debating team came second in the Archdale Debating Competition, with the combined team performances placing them fourth and winning them the ‘Most Improved’ shield. Years 10–11 students took part in the ‘Entrepreneurship in STEM program’, where they pitched their business solution in response to The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. 550 girls played sport. Our senior firsts netball team played in IGSSA Division 1 for the second time ever, reaching the semi-finals. Our Tildesley Shield tennis team finished fourth out of 27 schools in the 100 th anniversary of Tildesley Shield tennis. Our dance students entered the DanceLife Unite nationals in Melbourne, with the junior company coming first in the lyrical section, our senior company coming second in the contemporary section and the combined team coming first in the jazz and hip hop section. In The Hills Dance Spectacular, our senior company came second, receiving the ’Most Entertaining’ trophy. Our Year 10 girls spent a week working with various charity and community organisations around Australia for their service ‘Project STC’. Over 180 students performed in the dance showcase Gravity at NIDA. Our senior first water polo team won the IGSSA premiership for the fifth time in seven years. When the NSW Law Reform Commission asked for submissions to their review of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), our Year 11 legal studies students made a submission. It was the only submission from their age group, and was published in the Commission’s Consultation Paper 21, entitled Consent in relation to sexual offences. And throughout the year, girls supported over 20 charities and raised $30,000. I’d say that was a pretty balanced education.

We want our girls to have a balanced education and a balanced life – to be their best intellectually, to be accomplished, to be secure in their character, to be anchored by values that give them strength and hope, to be compassionate, and to live well with others.

Next year, our Faith Patterson Scholarship will be awarded for the first time to a student undertaking Years 11–12. Miss Patterson served as headmistress of St Catherine’s for 33 years, and was dedicated to girls’ education.

An education is only as good as the staff delivering it, and I am so grateful for our excellent team. They are unstinting in their dedication to the girls, and just as busy. After the bell rings at 3.20pm each day, they move on to their co-curricular responsibilities, meetings, marking, lesson planning and reporting. One of our visiting Old Girls recently remarked that it was only after she left school that it twigged that lesson plans didn’t just appear by magic on a teacher’s desk each morning. And, just like the girls, staff have much happening in their lives alongside their school work. There have been weddings planned and performed, babies born, homes bought and sold, children finishing preschool, school, and university, jazz performances and CD sales, City to Surf and marathon competitions run, further education courses completed, television appearances made, conference presentations performed, and interviews in journals and bulletins. Staff have still had time to plan for next year. In 2019 girls will have more curriculum time in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science, which provide the deep learning that underpins all other disciplines. Year 8 will be offered drama as an elective subject so that, along with music and visual arts, they will have plenty of opportunity to develop the creativity, collaboration and presentation skills that are so important to an all-round education. And, our drama department will produce our first Years 10–12 play in many years, which will alternate annually with our musical. The 2019 production will be Girl Asleep, an Australian coming-ofage story. There will be a dance tour to the USA, a classics tour to Italy and Greece, and a service education trip to Cambodia. And, we will move to BYOD computers for Years 10–12, to give our senior students a choice of devices.

Next year, our Faith Patterson Scholarship will be awarded for the first time to a student undertaking Years 11–12. Miss Patterson served as headmistress of St Catherine’s for 33 years, and was dedicated to girls’ education. At Speech Day in 1984 she spoke to the girls about the importance of relationships and character, telling them: “show mutual respect and a positive concern; know yourself; accept yourself and set about the adventure of living as yourself”. Her generous bequest of $230,000, alongside donations from past and present members of our community, has made the Faith Patterson Scholarship possible, and her legacy lives on through it.

I had a specific insight into the dedication of our staff earlier this year. I had a phone call from a representative from the NCCD, an acronym for the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data. The purpose of the NCCD is to collect information about students with disability across Australia in a consistent, reliable and systematic way. About three per cent of our students require some level of educational adjustment in the classroom, so are part of the data collection process. Our teachers know exactly who needs adjustments, make them as necessary, record and collate the information, and inform the NCCD. It is a time-consuming process, but ensures each student is known and appropriately supported. The NCCD representative told me that we were one of 16 schools across Australia who had the best practice in data collection, and they wanted to film us and use our practice as a role model for other schools. It’s an unglamorous, but incredibly important, example of the care and commitment our staff take behind the scenes to make sure that the educational process runs smoothly for all students, and they get the challenge and support they need. I can give you many more examples of work that takes place behind the scenes, the ‘magic’ that happens when no one is looking, so we can do our best for every student.

As we look to 2019, we will continue to give our girls the best possible classic, holistic education in our comprehensive environment. We will continue to teach them to “show mutual respect and a positive concern; to know themselves; accept themselves and set about the adventure of living as themselves”. And, as a community, we will continue to develop and cherish the relationships that give our school its strength. Because, as Mark Twain noted in a letter to his close friend, Clara Spaulding, “there isn’t time, so brief is life, for bickerings, apologies, heartburnings, callings to account. There is only time for loving, and but an instant, so to speak, for that”.

Dr Julie Townsend Headmistress