31 minute read
SPECIAL FEATURE It’s Personal
Rachel Glover in Year 11 won the Rostrum Voice of Youth State Final this year. She then represented Strathcona and Victoria in Sydney at the National Finals and won! Strathcona is very proud of her achievements. This national public speaking competition provides the opportunity for Senior School students to gain experience and confidence in expressing their point of view and communicating a message. Here is a shortened version of Rachel’s speech at the State Final.
Changing the Narrative
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Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, lived a brave prince searching for a wife. He endures blistering winds, scorching deserts, he climbs to the highest room of the tallest tower and finds (pause) a beautiful princess. He whisks her away on his noble stead and they live happily ever after.
This type of fairytale has cursed us for too long. The prince’s story, one we’ve heard many times before. The passive damsel in distress rescued by a strong handsome prince. Is this what the princess really wanted? What about her story? We need to change the narrative so that princesses can tell their own stories. Make their own decisions. So how do we do this? The first step is to challenge how we view ourselves as women. Additionally, we need to challenge the bias of those around us. So that together we can challenge discrimination.
The first step: questioning how we view ourselves as women. It is not enough to simply believe that all genders are equal. We need to reflect on the way we hold ourselves as women. We have to ask: “Why do I notice a women’s beauty before I notice her heart? Why do I cut other women down instead of admiring their successes? Why do women project insecurity while men exude confidence?” To change the narrative, we first need to ask ourselves these questions. Once we have challenged ourselves, we can begin to challenge those around us. You throw like a girl. Be smaller, be skinnier, be quieter. Show more skin, but what was she wearing? These horrible stereotypes are not going to be broken down unless we break them. We need to challenge those who say these things and encourage instead, saying “She looks kind, I want to hear your voice, do what makes you feel strong, you have the right to set boundaries.” To change the narrative, we need to challenge these biases.
It is so hard to not interpret the world through this male gaze. To combat this, we need more women’s perspectives in the media. We need more conversations, by women, about this topic. Listen to people like Grace Tame and Emma Watson. Sign up to petitions, use your voice on social media and in real life to inflict real change.
And when we return to our fairytales, the princess can tell her own story, and in her story, maybe she will become queen, maybe she saves herself, and maybe she doesn’t need a prince for her happily ever after.
RACHEL GLOVER
Year 11
STRATHCONA WOMEN’S SERIES
International Women’s Day Breakfast
Earlier this year, Strathcona celebrated International Women’s Day with a breakfast at Chin Chin in the city. It was the inaugural Strathcona Women’s Series event and was a morning buzzing with energy and excitement with guests from across the community coming together including parents, alumnae, staff and students. It was a wonderful event that brought women together, made especially special after a two-year hiatus of in-person events.
The breakfast included a presentation from guest speaker Colleen Callandar, former CEO of Sportsgirl who shared her journey as a leader who leads with kindness and her experience with burnout and the challenges she faced in her career. Colleen encouraged the room to find their voice, live with purpose, lead in their own lives, and embrace their superpowers, which was fitting for an event focused on the empowerment and investment in women to support gender equality.
The breakfast will hopefully become a part of the annual calendar where women from all facets of our community can come together to share this important day.
Wellbeing Workshop
Early in Term 2 Strathcona ran its first ever Wellbeing Workshop Day. An open invitation to all members of our school and local community, saw over a hundred mothers, daughters and special friends enjoy a range of workshops to promote positive physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing.
The day started with an early morning yoga session followed by breakfast and keynote from Strathcona Alumnae and radio/TV presenter Jo Stanley. Jo regularly gives up her time to support Strathcona events; her energy and passion for all things wellness made her the perfect breakfast host. She spoke passionately of the importance of prioritising personal wellbeing. She highlighted the significant benefits she gains from journalling and regularly expressing gratitude. Jo provided insightful recollections of how busy her life and ours can be with lots of things, highlighting the need to focus on giving time to the things that make us feel good. To do this we might have to lower our standards! Let some things go! After breakfast, our workshop participants were involved in several different sessions. These included African drumming that was distinctly therapeutic for its meditative beats and rhythms. Bracelet making allowed participants to focus their attention, slow their breathing and practice mindfulness.
After a beautiful and healthy lunch, the last session of the day was focused on exploring the benefits of gratitude with all participants spending some time writing in their gratitude journals or sharing directly with their group. The benefits of practising gratitude include; increased positive mood, more satisfaction with life, nurturing of key social skills such as humility, patience and wisdom and less materialism. It was a perfect way to finish the day.
A huge thank you to the Wellbeing staff who ran several of the workshops and the Marketing Team for running such a positive event. We look forward to making this day a regular part of the school calendar.
AMBER SOWDEN
Dean of Students and Head of Wellbeing
SUSTAINABILITY IN OUR JUNIOR SCHOOL
Life Cycles
The Term 2 Inquiry focus in our Junior School has been Sustainability. All year levels have explored topics relating to the farm-to-plate process, living and non-living animals, energy, materials, and our planet.
A focus in Year 2 was Life Cycles. The students were so excited by the opportunity to observe the process of a baby chick hatching from an egg and then learning how to care for the 12 baby chicks. Our Year 5 students have used this experience in Design classes to look at what environmental aspects a chicken requires to survive while creating their own mini chicken coop prototypes to house our chickens. The chickens have now moved to their new home outside our Prep classroom where they can be looked after by all our students.
THE INQUIRY PROJECT:
Giving Students the Freedom to Explore
Education is a journey of evolution; those being taught grow and thrive as a result of the experience, and those in the business of teaching are forever looking for new and innovative ways to hone their practice for the benefit of their students. Both parties are shaped by one another, and each provides the other with insight, curiosity, and inspiration.
An opportunity presented itself to me part-way through 2020 in the form of the Global Action Research Collaborative (GARC), facilitated through the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools (ICGS). Strathcona is fortunate to have a partnership with these bodies of learning, and I was offered a place on the action research team, with 25 other teachers from around the world. We were invited to up-skill our understanding of action research, and then implement a program of our own, into our own school context.
To begin the journey of action research, we fellows were provided with a broad topic: Building ProblemSolving Capacity, Confidence, and Skills in Girls, and from this point I tailored my research question to suit my interest in the Inquiry Model of problem solving. After some consideration, I settled on the research question: how does the Inquiry Model of Thinking help to build confidence and problem-solving skills in Middle School girls? My task was then to establish a series of lessons with my Year 7 English class of 2021, and I dubbed these sessions “The Inquiry Project”. Each lesson stepped the girls through the five stages of the Inquiry Model: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate.
The girls were presented a new challenge, and they worked cohesively in their allocated Inquiry Project teams to achieve their understanding. The Inquiry Model allows students the freedom to explore the set topic along a path that is of interest to them, and no two students will engage in the content in the same way. For instance, during the Engagement phase, when the girls were provided stimulus materials in the form of puzzles and challenges to solve, no two groups mastered the problems in the same way. They then showcased their findings in the ‘Expo’ in Term 4, 2021.
Upon reflection, the girls were able to explain that the nature of collaboration in fact boosted their own personal confidence and risk taking in their learning, which I expected. Something that I did not anticipate, however, was the girls’ absolute joy in learning that was unleashed through the Inquiry Model, as the absence of a set end point or ‘answer’ allowed them the creative liberation to simply learn and be curious, without needing to achieve at a certain level of understanding. To me, this rich and authentic discovery has made the research worthwhile and will certainly inform my teaching practice from this point and onwards. From the global perspective, the action research team was brought together in Boston, Massachusetts, at the end of June this year (2022), to acknowledge the findings of each fellow’s individual project and share this knowledge with the broader teaching community. I travelled to the conference with Liesl Woods, who is a current cohort fellow and who is embarking on her own research journey this year and into 2023. This conference provided me the opportunity to address the congregation and share my findings during a workshop of other likeminded international educators of girls, which was an honour and a privilege. It has also reminded me that we are as teachers of girls are fundamentally connected. No matter where we travel in the world, or who we interact with in the context of girls’ education, at our core we trust in the same thing: we celebrate girls, we believe in girls, and we strive to achieve for girls.
Being a part of the Global Action Research Collaborative (GARC) experience was not only professionally rewarding for me, but it provided my students a rich and valuable learning opportunity that has put them on the cutting edge of international teaching pedagogy and practice. The girls were given the freedom to explore, and for this, their learning was all the richer.
2022 SENIOR SCHOOL MUSICAL Beauty and the Beast
Disney’s musical Beauty and the Beast was performed in Featherstone Hall in May, presented by a cast, crew and orchestra of 90 students. Based on the animated film written by Linda Woolverton, the musical includes songs by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice.
When Disney produced the live action version staring Emma Watson in 2017, the focus shifted from Belle as a Disney Princess to a determined young woman seeking ‘adventure in the great, wide, somewhere’ while rejecting the values of her small provincial town. When Disney edited the libretto in 2021, they updated the musical to reflect these changes.
At our first rehearsal in January, students listened to Emma Watson’s ‘He for She’ campaign speech delivered to the UN in 2014. This provoked many discussions and was a writing prompt for our reflection activity when we reached the halfway mark in the production schedule. The enthusiasm and dedication of each member of the orchestra, cast and crew sustained throughout the rehearsal process resulted in a production that transported the audience from Canterbury to a village in France, a much-needed holiday after two years of lockdowns. Congratulations to every student involved in this year’s Senior School Musical.
CLAIRE JOHNS
Director of Productions and Senior Mentor
YEAR 10 PRODUCTION EMILIA
Emilia is a call to arms, to reject the injustice of silencing women’s voices and fight for the right to be heard. Inspired by the life of 17th century poet Emilia Bassano, who fought doggedly for her voice to be heard in the patriarchal confines of Elizabethan England, her battle is still sadly relevant today.
Emilia is a symbol of women through the ages who have raged against the misogynist machine and struggled for equity. This passionate play, written for an all-female cast, takes place in a theatrical dream landscape where the 17th and 21st centuries intersect. It is a wonderful play that places women centre stage and the Year 10 Play Production class were unwavering in their commitment to tell Emilia’s story.
MARISA ROWLANDS
Teacher
Failing Forward
How do our students learn academic grit1 — the passion and perseverance over the long-term — if they are never allowed to experience setbacks, mistakes, challenges or even failure? This was the core question posed by the Tay Creggan Creatives team when rethinking the elective and skills curriculum at Year 9 for 2022.
It was John C. Maxwell and his 2007 bestseller Failing Forward which first examined failure. He posited that the secret of moving beyond failure is to use it as a lesson and a stepping stone, believing that the major difference between people who achieve and others, was their perception of and response to failure.
The Year 9 TC Creatives program consists of Art, Music, Drama, Media and Food Technology.
These subjects require students to take risks to test and trial theories, explore new concepts and experiment with ideas to change outcomes.
In the development stages of the creative process, not all ideas will be successful. Teachers of these subject areas wanted to incorporate these values, encouraging students to embrace the lessons of failure while also understanding that the process is as important as the product when evaluating success, which lends itself to the idea of ‘failing forward’.
It is important to emphasise that success derives from failure, and how we respond to failure determines our next direction.
By challenging students to work outside of their comfort zone in the TC Creatives program, we wanted to highlight the benefits of appropriate risk-taking. Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool, in Peak: Secrets From the New Science of Expertise (2017) contend that ‘the seeds of expertise are derived from deliberate practice — or getting out of our comfort zones’. As such, our Strathcona students see that success comes from choosing to take on the hard and challenging tasks, rather than the easy ones.
In response to the evolving nature of skills and knowledge that students will require beyond their schooling, we have begun innovating teaching and learning to foster future ready skills, complex competencies and growth mindsets to embrace perseverance in the face of challenges, mistakes and disappointments.
The TC Creatives program makes concrete our Strathcona Life Learner model, which is a holistic visual representation of these goals that support the development of key attributes, essential skills and habits of mind that define learning experiences at Strathcona and beyond.
We wanted our students to apply their knowledge into passion projects across the TC Creatives program subjects. For this, we knew they needed a broad range of skills, including cognitive and metacognitive skills (e.g. critical thinking, creative thinking, learning to learn); social and emotional literacy (e.g. empathy, self-efficacy and selfregulation); as well as acquiring the practical skills necessary to pursue these subjects in later years.
As a school, we have specifically focused on Michael Fullan’s six global competencies, known as the 6Cs: Character, Citizenship, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking/Problem Solving. Citizenship and Character are embedded in the TC philosophy, and the Creatives program utilises the other four competencies to equip our students with future-ready skills.
Informing this approach was the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 Position Paper: The Future We Want. This thinking understands that today’s students are navigating a complex and uncertain world. Being futureready means exercising agency, in their own education and throughout life and we must acknowledge each learners’ individuality. Their learning environment needs to be personalised to empower each student to realise their passions, problem-solve, establish connections between different learning experiences and opportunities, and work collaboratively with others to design their own learning projects.
The TC Creatives course is a creative investigation which draws on the Humanities curriculum to inform the theme for each term. While the breadth of skills remains the same each term, the end product created changes in response to the topics explored in Humanities. Student engagement and curiosity increases as links are identified between subject areas, drawing on knowledge acquired in Humanities to inform their TC Creatives project choices while consolidating their specific subject skills. This transdisciplinary approach also utilises an open and guided inquiry design process so that students have agency and choice at every stage of the term. TC Creative staff wanted to provide authentic learning experiences and meaningful feedback where students may encounter disappointment or setbacks, but then learn how to recalibrate and move forward.
In Term 1, ‘Sustainability’ was the focus in Humanities and was incorporated through the generation of ideas that responded to the relationship between humans and nature. Students created sculptures in Art using found objects and sustainable materials, wrote protest songs in Music, explored how café culture has changed in Melbourne, created theatre exploring the impacts of climate change in Drama and films about sustainable cities in Media.
Term 2 ‘Place and Space’ prompted further reflection as our students considered their connections to the world around them. They developed these relationships through writing anthems for TC in Music, creating installations that responded to space and place in Art, presented immersive theatre performances in Drama and discovered how Melbourne’s cuisine has been influenced by other cultures and how it may change in the future. The Media unit had students exploring the creative film process, mirroring the film industry with scriptwriting, table reading, storyboarding, camera techniques, filming and editing. Students had the creative freedom to create their short film in whichever style they preferred.
Terms 3 and 4 focus on Australia’s Indigenous communities and the role of women during the First World War, providing students with the opportunity to engage with the works of Indigenous artists, learn about bush foods and preservation methods, explore approaches to devised Drama with Bangarra Dance Theatre and increase their knowledge of Indigenous representation in the Media and in Music. Following this rotation, students in Art will then look at propaganda and the work of war artists.
We use formative assessment rubrics covering collaboration, creativity, communication and critical thinking to aid students in this development. We also use a sequenced process of reflection, anticipation and action to enable students to take a critical stance when deciding, choosing and acting, by stepping back from what is known or assumed and looking at a situation from different perspectives.
There is a concern among educators that students are becoming preoccupied with perfectionism that they are missing out on the deep learning that accompanies failure. Hence, TC Creatives is attempting to normalise risk-taking, not getting things ‘right’ the first time and adapting to change, as part of the learning process. And like most character strengths, it is something that cannot be learned intellectually, but experientially.
As the esteemed Sir Ken Robinson said, “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”
BACK ROW:
Estelle Rodriguez, Tracey Tong, Lauren Joyce, Monique Thomson
FRONT ROW:
Lily King, Jacinta Caruso, Bea Kellock
ABSENT:
Tara Petroro
From Foundation to Graduation
2022 marks the milestone of the 13-year Strathcona School journey for these students. We commemorate these students who faithfully spent their whole educational journey at Strathcona.
Jacinta Caruso, Class of 2022
“I am so grateful for the time that I have spent at Strathcona. It has been a place not only of learning but has also grown and shaped my character. Over the past 13 years, I have been encouraged to develop in so many ways and have been provided with a wide range of valuable opportunities and experiences. I have always been supported by the welcoming community of Strathcona, which has allowed lifelong friendships to form, and has greatly helped my learning. Approaching life beyond school, I have confidence knowing that Strathcona has prepared me well for my future, and I will always look back fondly on my time as a Strathcona girl.”
Bea Kellock, Class of 2022
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Strathcona. From Kindergarten to Year 12 the warm and supportive environment has allowed me to grow as a person and create lifelong friends and memories that I will cherish forever. Strathcona has always been a key part of my life and I am extremely grateful for the time I have spent here, due to the countless opportunities provided to me and the support from teachers and friends. Strathcona has afforded me an extremely positive school journey that I will always appreciate and carry with me into the future.”
Nature and the Environment
Founded on the exploration of a range of art making techniques in two-dimensional and threedimensional media is Strathcona’s Year 7 Art program. Inspired by a theme, the Ceramic course explores nature and the environment as students develop artworks such as pinch-formed seed pods. The course features projects that are focused on hand-forming processes using a range of media including polymer clays, felt and metal.
One of our most exciting Year 7 art projects is the slip cast landscape vessel artwork, where students reflect on landscapes and use expressive lines, natural or organic patterns and selective colour combinations to create a vessel design that evokes these landscapes in some way. Undulating horizons become softly curved rims, coastal textures and colours created with carved or engraved markings and the layering of coloured slips add depth and dimension to the vessel forms. Some students choose to play with positive and negative space and add organic shapes into the vessel’s form. Artist Pippin Drysdale’s iconic Australian landscape vessel series are an appealing source of inspiration for our own series of ceramic forms.
Students through making, learn the creative process which involves sculpting with their fingertips and gradually adding in tools as the sculpture is refined and resolved. The artwork is built over time and throughout the semester the students develop a hands-on understanding of the ceramic medium and the process. The fluid slips invites play and experimentation from the students as they figure out what they want to try and they become absorbed in the process. Pouring each layer of slip, noticing, developing and adding finer details, and scrutinising the samples of fired colours helps them plan and make their artwork. Once the pieces are carved and finished, they are dried, bisque fired and last of all glazed in a high gloss glaze that intensifies the colours and completes the vessels. Sometimes the students choose to glaze only selected sections of their vessel, to explore the contrast between the exposed ceramic surface and shine of the glazed.
Like any other art medium, sometimes things don’t go to plan or something dramatic happens along the way and we need to troubleshoot and resolve the challenge by reworking, changing the approach or by trying something different. Persistence and imagination are fundamental to Art and Design at Strathcona and helps students develop skills in creative and critical thinking, as well as risk-taking and experimentation.
EVE CLOSE Art Teacher
LEFT TO RIGHT:
Chloe Lee, Isla Fithall, Harriet Veenker, Year 7, 2021
STRATHCONA GIRLS GRAMMAR Class of 1970 (52-year reunion) Class of 1971 (51-year reunion) Class of 1972 (50-year reunion) Afternoon tea at Tay Creggan, June 2022
Class of 2020 (1-year reunion) Hawthorn Hotel, November 2021
Reunions 2021/2022
We have been excited to be able to reschedule those reunions that were cancelled over the past two years. It is always wonderful to welcome back our alumnae and witness the reconnection and to hear about their Strathcona days and life beyond. Several alumnae have had no contact with each other since leaving Strathcona. Many entertaining stories were told and memories shared! We encourage you to attend your reunions as friendships formed at School can be life-long. Once a Strathy Girl, always a Strathy Girl!
Class of 2010 (12-year reunion) Class of 2011 (11-year reunion) Class of 2012 (10-year reunion)
Hawthorn Hotel, March 2022 Class of 2015 (7-year reunion) Class of 2016 (6-year reunion) Class of 2017 (5-year reunion)
Hawthorn Hotel, May 2022
2022 Remaining Reunion Dates
1960-1969 REUNION Saturday 13 August, 12-3pm, Tay Creggan OSA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Tuesday 11 October, 7-8.30pm, Senior Campus PRE-1959 REUNION Saturday 22 October, 12-3pm, Tay Creggan 1997, 2001, 2002 & 2007 REUNION Thursday 10 November, 6.30-8.30pm, Senior Campus CLASS OF 2021 Thursday 24 November, 6.30-8.30pm, Senior Campus
Strathcona Connect
If you are not already a member, please join our special alumnae platform, StrathconaConnect, which provides networking, mentoring and engagement opportunities. Following reunions, we create albums of the day and invite you to view them at strathconaconnect.org.au
Community
AT STRATHCONA
At Strathcona, we understand and recognise how important community is and the importance of the contribution made by the many different community groups within the School. Over the past two years, community activities have been restricted due to COVID lockdowns, but 2022 has seen activities being revived and the community spirit reinvigorated. There has been a hunger from our various stakeholder groups to gather and it has been wonderful to see each other in person once again.
The Strathcona Family Association (SFA) and Community Relations Department always play a vital role in bringing the current School community together, providing opportunities for parents and families to celebrate and socialise. New parents to Strathcona are always encouraged to attend. In 2022, some of the events have included a Chinese New Year celebratory lunch, parent welcome drinks and a Year 7 family sausage sizzle in February. The SFA Fathers’ subcommittee hosted a Fathers’ Pub Night and a Dad/ Daughter dinner in May with over 240 attending. The SFA Mothers’ subcommittee, which has recently been established, held their first event for Strathcona mothers in March and a Mother’s Day lunch at Georges in May. The annual parent evening, Dancing Under the Stars 2, was held with 200 parents enjoying a fabulous night of good food, wine and dancing. May also saw the annual Mother’s Day breakfast with over 200 mothers and daughters attending and our Junior School students enjoying a fun disco evening. These are just some of the events that the SFA and Community Relations Department have supported. Strathcona’s Class Reps have also been active arranging a variety of events each term for the parents and families in their respective year levels. These included coffee mornings in local cafes, evening dinners and family picnics.
Strathcona’s Friends of Groups offer support to specific school activities relating to their daughter’s interests. These groups provide opportunities for connection and friendship amongst parents of students, who are involved in the same co-curricular activity, by contributing to the life of the School.
With life returning to some form of normality, 2022 has provided an opportunity to reschedule the many alumnae reunions that were not able to be held over the past two years. The Old Strathconians’ Association (OSA), in conjunction with the Community Relations Department, has held reunions at the Hawthorn Hotel and afternoon teas and lunches at Tay Creggan. We also had small reunions in London and Adelaide. These reunions have provided a wonderful opportunity for our alumnae to reconnect, often after many years. The annual Careers Evening returned in July, on-site with our alumnae sharing their career journeys and providing insightful information to current students and parents.
What is the Strathcona community without its volunteers? We take this opportunity to thank all our volunteers, from all our stakeholder groups, for their tireless work and contribution which makes Strathcona the wonderful school it is today.
The Strathcona Community Remembers Betty Dixon, 1928-2022
Every Wednesday of the school year, for over 30 years, Strathconians of all ages and roles would see an elegantly dressed, silver-haired woman make her purposeful way to the School’s Senior Library. After cheerful greetings, she would settle herself, determinedly, before piles of newly acquired books and, with patience and care, cover them, stopping now and again to read a cover blurb, or dip into a text or study an arresting photograph. This much-loved figure was none other than Mrs Betty Dixon, former school parent, and long-time library volunteer whose service to Strathcona, and to its Libraries in particular, we celebrate here today.
Betty’s daughters, Hadley (’70) and Susette (’81), attended Strathcona, and Betty was an active member of the Mothers’ Club/Parents’ Association, regularly serving in the canteen and supporting school fundraising and/ or celebratory activities. However, it was in her role as a Library Volunteer that Betty truly made her mark. Hers was a labour of love, gracing the humble task of book covering with unmistakable generosity and pleasure. Over the years, she would have covered thousands of books. Even when her eyesight started to fail, ever-resilient Betty soldiered on, her skilled hands finding their way from years of practice.
However, this was not just a practical exercise for Betty: it also sparked her interest and delight. A genuine ‘life long learner’, she was always keen to expand her knowledge, especially of the world of Literature, and she was a lively contributor to morning tea and lunchtime discussions in which current affairs and cultural events were regular topics. The daily newspaper ‘Target’ word puzzle and crossword were also de rigueuer challenges to be solved.
Highlights of the Library’s year were functions celebrating books, readers and reading, and Betty always contributed with her typical joie de vivre and flair. Whether it was creating beautiful flower arrangements, preparing delectable canapés or helping set up, serve and clear away, Betty radiated an ageless exuberance that was infectious. And her ‘so chic’ fashion sense was very much admired!
Betty always said how much her involvement with Strathcona meant to her and how much satisfaction it gave her, the deep personal value of which prompted her to make a most generous donation to the Library in 2016. Yet Betty also meant so much to us. In her style, her spirit, her loyalty, she inspired, not just our heartfelt gratitude and affection, but also our love. If anyone epitomized the School motto : bravely, faithfully, happily, it was ‘our Betty’.
Old Strathconians’
ASSOCIATION
Alumnae Updates
Catherine Holmes (’10) Tory Allen (Pittendrigh ’15)
Engagements
Emily Dalton (’09) was engaged to Brenton Osborn on the Mornington Peninsula on 1 August 2021. Victoria Pittendrigh (’15) was engaged to Ramon Allen on 29 September 2021. Caitlin Backholer (’03) was engaged to Andrew Bonte on 30 September 2021 and will be married on 17 September 2022. Laura Fernandez (’10) and Samuel Weatheritt became engaged in 2022 and look forward to celebrating their wedding in April 2023 at Yarra Ranges Estate.
Weddings
Gabrielle (Gabbi) Tesoriero (’11) married Craig Lia on 29 April 2021 at Half Acre in South Melbourne. Gabbi and Craig were fortunate enough to be able to hold their wedding in between lockdowns and without any restrictions! Quite a few of Gabbi’s Strathy friends attended their special day and Victoria Kladouhos (’11) was one of the bridesmaids. Nicole Watts (Newlan ’10) married Matthew Watts on 5 August 2021. It was quite a story; Nicole and Matthew planned their wedding for 7 August 2021 but, after the shock of the lockdown which was announced at 4.30pm on 5 August coming into effect at 8pm on the same day, they decided to move the wedding forward with only 45 minutes notice! Catherine Holmes (’10) married Matthew Laaksonen at a ceremony on 1 November 2021 but, due to COVID restrictions, their wedding reception was postponed and held on 22 April 2022. Both their wedding
Emma Taouk (Konstantinidis ’12) Gabbi Tesoriero (’11)
Rosie Byth (’10)
ceremony and reception were held at Lyrebird Falls in the Dandenong Ranges. Catherine’s twin sister, Deborah (’10), was her Maid of Honour and a number of Strathcona girls were guests. Rosie Byth (’10) married Daniel Zocco on 4 March 2022 at Tatra Receptions. Bronwyn Chamberlain (White ’10) was Matron of Honour, Zoe Hough (’10) was a bridesmaid. Stephanie Perrins (Edwards), Erin Bailey, Natalie Wood, Nicole Willis (all ’10) also attended. Emma Taouk (Konstantinidis ’12) married long-time partner, Johnny Taouk on 5 February 2021 at Twin Waters Resort on the Sunshine Coast. They celebrated their special day with 135 family and friends… it was an amazing and beautiful wedding. Joyce Lim (’14) married Ben Mitchell on 20 February 2021. Her bridesmaids included her sister, Rachel Lee (Lim, ’09) and Stephanie Lee (’15). Ben’s mother Melinda Mitchell (Adams, ’88) is also a Strathy alumna. Victoria (Tori) Allen (Pittendrigh ’15) married Ramon Allen on 5 March 2022 at NewHope Baptist Church in Blackburn and their reception was at the Alto Event Space in the GPO building. Tori’s two sisters were bridesmaids, Annabel (’17) and Charlotte (’20). Other special Strathcona connections were mother of the bride, Jennifer Pittendrigh (’87), Tori’s grandma, Judy Swanton (Roberts ’66) and her aunties, Sally Pittendrigh-Smith (’84), Michelle Blew (Swanton ’88), Lisa Harris (Swanton ’92) and Debbie Swanton (’00). School friends Laura Birks (’15) and Hannah Brown (’15) were also guests.
Joyce Lim (’14)
Births
Rachelle Moors-Chantry (’09) and partner, Kris Spas, welcomed Cleo Francis Spassopoulos into the world at 10am on 4 June 2021 at the Royal Women’s Hospital weighing 3.27kg. Eleanor Kennedy (Coleman ’10) and partner, Matt Kennedy, welcomed Hamish Hunter Kennedy on 23 October 2021 weighing 4.17kg born at the Royal Women’s Hospital. Desi Clark (Fkiaras ’97) and Sean Clark are excited to announce the safe arrival of Chloe Clark on 3 June 2021, weighing 2.6kg. A little sister for Emily Clark (born 2017). Shannon Flynn (Ramsay ’07) and partner Liam welcomed their beautiful daughter, Indiana Rose Flynn on 19 April 2020. A baby born in a pandemic… certainly not a unique situation anymore! Lucinda Sharman (Hall ’09) and partner, Jimmy, welcomed their son, Billy Charles Sharman on 5 July 2021. Billy weighed 2.8kg at birth (4 weeks early), his length was 50cm and he was born at the Royal Women’s Hospital. Samantha Bangs (’09) and partner, Ross Caton, welcomed Ava Lily Caton on 7 April 2021. Ava was 3.54kg and was 51cm long when she was born at the Mercy Hospital. Sophie Finemore (’04) and partner, Evan Sorby, welcomed their son, Jack Charles Sorby on 7 February 2022 at Epworth Freemasons weighing 4.125kg. A baby brother to Matilda. Michaela Groves (’08) and partner, Kurt Henderson, welcomed their son, Finn Edward Henderson, on 30 October 2021 in New Zealand. Finn weighed 3.57kg. Amy James (Gardner ’02) and partner, Ian, welcomed Seth James on 18 May 2022 at Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, UK weighing 4kg. A brother for Luke and Noah. Emma Taouk (Konstantinidis ’12) and partner, Johnny, welcomed their son, Joseph on 21 December 2021 at the Mercy Hospital for Women in Heidelberg, weighing 3.38kg. Emma’s mother, Eve Konstantinidis (Papazissis ’81),and family were overjoyed and thrilled with their new family addition. Jodie Edwards (’08) and partner, Jimmy Dalgleish, welcomed their son, Leo James Dalgleish, on 6 August 2021 weighing 6lb 7oz and 50cm at Box Hill Hospital. Elissa Blake (Bosma ’00) and partner, Nick Blake, welcomed their son, Michael Oliver, on 21 September 2021. A beautiful little brother for Matilda who simply adores him.
Joseph
Cleo Elissa, Michael and Matilda Emily and Chloe
Finn
Jack and Matilda Indiana
