Wilderness Times - 96

CONGRATULATIONS

“My aim is to design better mathematical models and effectively communicate my work with decision-makers. I want to work as a leader to strengthen communities, and elevate and share the work of others.”

Bridget Smart (2017)

Photograph Credit: @Photojo

BRIDGET SMART – 2023 SA Rhodes Scholar-Elect

2022 SPEECH DAY ADDRESS

PRINCIPAL’S THOUGHTS

Ms Shanti Berggren, Ms Denise Fung, members of the Council of Governors, special guests, staff, parents and girls.

I am so pleased to speak tonight, in my first year as Principal of Wilderness School. I would like to say that it has been a successful year, but of course, success means different things to different people, so I will share with you the ways in which I have seen us grow, and the accomplishments that I believe we have achieved.

Our girls have certainly achieved academic success and soon the Year 12s will receive their final results—one measure of their learning. We are so proud of our girls and the ways in which they strive for excellence in the classroom, as well as on the sports field, in debates, in performances and in all of the areas in which our girls are engaged.

At Wilderness, beyond individual pursuits, we have also always deeply valued and celebrated our care for each other and how well we collaborate, listen, form relationships and act as citizens. But how do we quantify that, and say that we have been successful?

I was reading in the media recently about students at a high school in Lismore, reflecting on how they were

being affected by the floods along the Murray.

Facing incredible adversity – including losing homes – many of them said that the event actually brought them together as a group. They were more likely to talk openly with each other about how they were feeling, and the students and teachers went above and beyond to support one another. The relationships in the school and community matured; they felt more grateful and also more generous.

It made me reflect on the year that has been at Wilderness. We began, again, with online learning and, as the year progressed, managed student and staff illness with ongoing disruptions to activities and learning. Many of our families and staff have faced incredible personal difficulties and as a school, earlier in the year we faced one of the hardest things of all, the death of Mr Gavin Haydn, our muchloved Head of Mathematics.

Jane Goodall said, “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

We have faced difficulties as a community, but like the students of

Lismore, we have grown together and had a positive impact on each other.

Our relationships have been made stronger, support has been given and accepted readily and we have learned to appreciate the things that we have, and what we are able to give to others. This has felt like success to me.

Looking ahead, it seems that the future will continue to become increasingly uncertain and variable. We face a changing climate and ongoing natural disasters. There are geopolitical shifts, growing digital and data economies, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems changing the ways in which we live and work. New ways requiring new skillsets.

To prepare for these changes, I look then to how we will next measure our success as a school, and the success of our girls in this future. It is clear that we will need to focus on agility, adaptability and rigour, without rigidity.

Globally, the agendas for diversity and equity, as well as environmental renewal, are growing, as they well should. To meet these agendas, our ways of working are changing. Cities are now abundant with co-working spaces where exciting, small start-ups do not need to struggle alone, but instead share spaces and ideas—just as

we share our spaces around the School for collaborative learning, such as the Chrysalis and the Cub Space.

Women are meeting an environmental agenda and driving circular economies – a framework attempting to tackle global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – by recapturing waste and keeping materials, products and services in circulation for as long as possible.

It seems that success for the future, in the face of change, continues along themes that we have known at Wilderness for 138 years. Themes of ‘doing well’, striving for excellence; ‘being well’, taking the time to focus on your own health and growth; and also that of ‘doing good’, acting with social responsibility.

So, for our school and our community, what is next? What do we continue and what do we change to meet the demands of the future? How will we be successful? What will be behind the green door in the years to come?

It is clear to me that whether learning occurs with virtual goggles or on the Coorong, Wilderness will always be a place that measures itself on how clearly our girls are seen, how well they are heard and much they are valued.

A place where the environment is one of belonging and love and where self-efficacy supports success.

Our teaching staff are constantly working to meet this aspiration for our school, ensuring that learning experiences are rigorous and relevant for the girls now and in the future. I thank all of the teaching staff for their dedication, for their wisdom and for their care. It has been my pleasure and my privilege to teach, lead and learn alongside Wilderness teachers for the past 18 years.

Likewise, I acknowledge and thank the tremendous professional support staff who are the engine of this school. Our professional support staff are also committed to our shared purpose, ensuring the growth and success of our girls. To enable this, they support both the girls and the teachers, and are instrumental in building a positive, seamless learning environment.

This year, I particularly thank my assistant Ms Rebekah Lyons, who, like me, started in her role at the beginning of 2022 and has certainly made these 12 months easier and more enjoyable. The people who I worked alongside as Head of Middle School did not hesitate to support me in my new role and I am so grateful.

The Senior Leadership Team in the School have seen some changes this year, and I am incredibly grateful to each member for their support of the School. I rely on them each day, and this team works tirelessly to achieve the ambitious goals we set together. I also particularly welcome Ms Renee Coventry and Dr Rhiannon Giles, who joined the team this year. It has been a pleasure to work alongside you.

I spoke earlier about the success of our community, and this would not be possible without the many individuals who volunteer their time to nurture and sustain our school. Our Governing Council accept a great responsibility in their roles, and they lend invaluable expertise to the leadership of the School.

I extend to each of you the appreciation of the School community for your careful guidance, and personally thank you for your trust in me and your generous and prudent support. Our Chair of Council, Shanti Berggren, even with her incredibly busy life, consistently makes Wilderness a priority. Shanti, I am very grateful and thank you sincerely for your encouragement, support and good judgement.

The Parents and Friends (P&F) Association, under the fine leadership of Ms Jen Guest, once again played a central role “friend-raising” in our school community and we are grateful to the many parents who volunteer on this committee. I thank the P&F for the generous contribution they make.

Ms Jacki Smith, leading the Wilderness Old Scholars’ Association, continues to build connections with our old scholars, and reach out for ways to nourish the links that Wilderness women have with each other and with the School. Their industry forums have been a resounding success and we look forward to many more opportunities for our network of old scholars next year.

Likewise, the philanthropic endeavours of the Foundation have played a central role in enabling us to provide outstanding facilities to enhance the learning environment of our girls now and into the future. I particularly thank Ms Sarah Matthews and now Mr Michael Petrucco for their stewardship of the Foundation.

Our many other committees, including the Rowing Committee led by Mr Jock Gosse, add to the life and richness of our school. All of you give willingly and voluntarily of your time to support Wilderness and take us confidently into the future. For this, I thank you. I thank, too, all our students for their energy, their love of learning and their humour and effort with which they take on the different opportunities they have while at school. You are the reason why we are all here.

On your last official day as a Wilderness student, I finish with the hopes that I have for you, our Year 12s. Graduation is an opportunity to reflect, individually and collectively, on what has been experienced and achieved, as well as on what is hoped for and yet to come.

This year, as Year 12s, there has inevitably been a focus on attaining results, and tonight we celebrate your efforts and achievements. We are so proud of you and of your ambitions. One of my greatest joys in becoming Principal has been sharing this final year with you and I look forward with anticipation to following your progress as old scholars.

As you leave the School gates, it is continuous growth and learning that I hope for all of you to experience. The end of school does not mark the end of a learning journey, it has been the foundation of the learning that is still to come. As you look to the future, I ask you to reflect on the School’s mission. We, collectively, have tried to enable you to be the best you can be throughout your life. Not to do the best, but to be your best version of you.

And who is it that you would like to be? What kind of person? I hope that you will continue to be curious, be bold, be welcoming and be generous. Edith Wharton, in The Reef, writes, “I want our life to be like a house with all the windows lit.” I want that for all of you.

I was interested to hear that many girls are keen to take a gap year, or to spend the summer break at least, travelling or working somewhere unfamiliar. Post COVID-19 restrictions, what a wonderful thing it is to be able to travel and see the world, or to get to know the people and places around home, slowing down before tertiary study.

I read somewhere that “gap” can be considered an acronym—gathering alternative perspectives. Whether travelling, working or studying, this is a goal that I propose for each of you. Spend some time in the world, paying attention to the environment, the people around you and yourself to better understand the world and your

place in it. Then, you may better begin to decide on who and how you would like to be.

I am told that in your lives, you will have an average of 17 jobs across five careers. Five careers will require quite a bit of new learning, and the agility that I mentioned earlier. Throughout your lives and various careers, I am sure that you will face challenges, but I ask you to be open to seeing problems as possibilities; an opportunity to try something different to what you were expecting. Try to be comfortable with challenges. It is how we grow.

As you step towards independence, as young women, know your rights. You have the right to be present, the right to speak and the right to lead, but also know your responsibilities and help others to know and assert their rights.

We have experienced together, at Wilderness, the power of positive influence and the strength of community. Take this experience with you and distribute it generously. Work with and for others, and use what you have gained here to create change for better outcomes for people and the planet.

As you leave, know that you are loved—and your family, your school and your community will always be here for you, through all of your next stages. Go well, but equally, I hope to see you soon.

Belinda Arnfield Principal

You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

JANE GOODALL

CHAIR OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL SPEECH NIGHT ADDRESS

Welcome everyone. I especially want to extend a warm welcome to Valerie and Patrick Haydn, parents of our beloved Head of Mathematics, Gavin Haydn, and I welcome back to Wilderness, our guest speaker Denise Fung.

Tonight, we come together to celebrate the achievements of our senior students and to formally congratulate and farewell the Year 12 Class of 2022. I am delighted to be sharing the stage for the first time with our new Principal, Mrs Belinda Arnfield, as we write the next chapter in the Wilderness story.

This year, in South Australia alone, there were leadership changes in 12 independent schools—enormous change and opportunity in the education landscape for students across our state.

We are so glad that Mrs Arnfield chose Wilderness as much as Wilderness chose her to lead us through a world that never seems to stay still and, in 2022, has surprised us with some new firsts for women—and let’s face it, ‘firsts’ are a big deal. Everyone remembers the first person to do something. It is a way to mark time. When someone achieves something positive that has not been done before, it is a milestone that we are hopefully on the path to progress.

This year, for the first time, professional women disrupted mainstream politics as teal independents. This year, for the first time, the Communications industry in Australia is led by women—the Federal Minister for Communications, the Shadow Minister for Communications, the CEO of Telstra, the CEO of Optus and the Chair of the National Broadband Network (NBN) are all female. It is probably just as well, because communication is a make-or-break skill, and as parents of young women, we have all witnessed how well, how clearly and how purposefully our daughters can communicate!

This year, for the first time, the Australian Football League Women’s (AFLW) competition has expanded to include all 18 teams, solidifying it as an integral part of the fabric of Australian Rules Football—and this year, for the first time, a Wildy girl played for the inaugural Port Adelaide AFLW team.

Wilderness also continues to embrace a series of firsts. The Principal and her leadership team will prepare their first set of next steps about how they take Wilderness into 2023 and beyond. Given the change we have experienced and had to manage as a result of COVID-19, the old modus operandi of preparing a three-to-five-year strategic plan feels too static as a tool to navigate a future that may, at times, present unfamiliarity, uncertainty and the unknown. But, at all times, at Wilderness, we will concentrate on our four key priorities.

First, and always, to be girl focused. Second, to provide a centre of excellence and innovation anchoring to the tenets of the SACE curriculum.

Our third priority is to continue to provide a thriving and connected community, nurturing and valuing the relationships we have with each other. Numerous studies indicate that Generation Z are now the most-populous generation on Earth. Members of Generation Z, born after 1997, now account for two and a half billion people, or 32% of the world’s population. According to a Deloitte global survey this year, the biggest concerns of members of Generation Z are the environment, unemployment, healthcare and education.

Generation Z are the young women sitting in front of us. Against this backdrop of their quite rightful concerns, the Centre for Strategic Education in Melbourne has identified that the education we offer today has to be an education for human flourishing.

SHANTI BERGGREN CHAIR OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL

At Wilderness, this is brought to life particularly in our Artemis program. It does not replace the education we have, but it rebalances it in the service of a broader idea: to nurture in every human being a suite of distinctive human intelligences, which equip us to not only flourish as individuals, but also contribute to flourishing societies and economies in balance with the planet.

Our fourth key priority is to provide stewardship. The heavy lifting of this work is, of course, executed by the staff of this school who continue to teach our daughters with sincerity, kindness, passion and critical reasoning. My thanks to the staff of the School on behalf of the community never seems nearly adequate, but again, I humbly extend our gratitude for everything you do.

I also want to acknowledge the stewardship provided by the Principal’s Senior Leadership Team, in particular Ben Manifold and Paula Jolly. Your support in settling in a new principal, regardless of her long standing in our community, has been invaluable. We thank you.

The Governing Council provides stewardship, applying judicious governance to ensure that Wilderness continues to thrive as a leading girls’ school into the future. I want to thank all Council and Committee members for their dedication. It is your love of the School without fear or favour that we rely on and benefit from. This year, we welcomed first-time members to the Governing Council: Michael Petrucco, Maria O’Brien and Danielle White.

In 2022, Council tested itself to think differently and be as prepared as possible for emerging challenges. We introduced first-time initiatives by redesigning the format of our regular meetings and our Council Planning Day, during which we held an interactive dreaming session focused on capital development.

We asked ourselves what were the ‘easy wins’, what were our ‘darling ideas’ and if money were no consideration or limitation, what would the School’s ‘moon-shot project’ be? Thank you to Mario Dreosti for leading such an enjoyable session.

Unsurprisingly, however, and unfortunately not for the first time, Wilderness faces volatility and decline in Government funding. Fee increases are thoughtfully and carefully discussed at both Finance Committee and Council. We are well aware that our base fee must ensure we can absorb any future funding cuts, whilst also maintaining a level of fees that are affordable. This intersection of pressures throws into sharp light the work of the School Foundation, which has never been more important. The Foundation events and fundraising initiatives are something we ask each of you to be always true to and lean into willingly. Your continued support counts. Every dollar is spent with great consideration to ensure maximum return for your daughters, for their daughters and for Wilderness girls we have not even met yet, but who will be mentors, leaders, activists, creators… women who will be future firsts, and who will be connected to what matters and energised by what is possible because of the benevolence of the past.

And now, to our extraordinary Year 12s, who have already ticked off so many firsts. What will you prioritise first for yourself? Life outside the School gates will pull you in many different directions, but remember that friendship and connection are vital for your health and wellbeing. Some of your first friendships began at Wilderness. Some of those first Wildy-fied nicknames are never going to go away, and your future partners and children will just have to get used to them. In my year, it was Booie, Atty, Bubbles,

Sudie, SOG, Plop, Zany and Flick – an exceptionally long list that usually elicits the response, “oh, you were part of ‘that’ year” – but the nicknames make light of what was really going on, and that is the cementing of a support system made up of our graduating year.

As an old Wildy girl, I remind you that even though you physically leave Wilderness, this support system will – if you choose – go with you.

In closing, I am going to steal some lines from another young woman who was the first. In the United States, Angela Gorman was the first person to be named National Poet Youth Laureate, and at the age of just 22, she found herself reciting a poem she wrote called ‘The Hill We Climb’ at a presidential inauguration. Part of her poem reads:

“We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:

That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped. That even as we tired, we tried. That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.”

“For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

Year 12s, I wish for you rich and fulfilling lives, but first and foremost, I wish for you wonderful wellbeing. Go well and take good care of yourselves and each other.

Shanti Berggren Chair of the Governing Council

Good evening! Thank you so much for having me. It is such a privilege to stand here before you all. I was unable to attend my 20 Year Reunion earlier this year, but being here and seeing all of you Wildy girls well and truly makes up for it.

When I received the call from Mrs Arnfield asking me to speak here tonight, I was very surprised and I recall saying, “Are you sure you have asked the right woman?” This was particularly because I was – and still am – at a career crossroads, currently a full-time mum to Lily and Lucy (who are three years old and five months old respectively) whilst trying to find time to start my own business—a womenswear label.

In my deliberation to speak tonight, I evaluated my life and my career choices, and realised that perhaps the most interesting part of my story that you don’t hear every day is that… I am a structural engineer who wants to get into fashion.

Now, if anyone told my 17-year-old self, sitting there like you, that I would be pursuing a career in fashion – let alone attempting to start my very own fashion label – I would have thought there is absolutely no way, you are crazy, go away! The 17-year-old me was a complete nerd, in the nicest way. I studied hard and always gave it my all. I excelled in and enjoyed Music and Mathematics, I was okay at Science, while English and the Humanities were the subjects I had to work hardest at. I envisioned myself having a professional career, a job of significance, a job that I was good at, a secure job (definitely not in fashion), being an employee, working for someone else and climbing my way up the corporate ladder.

As you can see, life does not always go to plan—which, in my opinion, should not necessarily be feared. Perhaps I am here today to show you that success in adulthood is not a finite moment in time; it is not limited to finishing university, achieving that promotion or earning a particular salary, but for most of us, it is an evolution. My 17-year-old self defined success as doing something you love that allows you to support and spend time with your family. That is the dream! So, how did I find my passion for fashion design? Well, it happened by accident. At school and university, I was very focused on my academic pursuits and getting my professional career established, which left little time for anything else.

SPEECH NIGHT GUEST SPEAKER DENISE FUNG

I studied at the University of Adelaide and graduated with a double degree in Structural Engineering and Law. Shortly after, I also completed a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, in the event that I wanted to be a solicitor. After graduating, I chose to pursue Structural Engineering as, for me, designing buildings and creating something was far more exciting than reading and writing letters and arranging my life in sixminute intervals.

What do structural engineers do? To put it plainly and broadly, we design and build any structure you can imagine for any purpose, whether it be a simple house, a multi-storey building, a bridge, or infrastructure required on a mine or a sports stadium. The options are limitless. It was my job to conceptualise how a building should be constructed and what structural systems would be used to ensure its stability. Then, it was a matter of calculating the size of all the structural elements, like the depth of the slab, size of beams and columns, thickness of walls and ensuring that all these structural elements were sufficient to support vertical loads (like you and me) and horizontal loads (like wind, earthquakes and even pandas).

I have worked on a variety of projects, which include designing the glass enclosure for Wang Wang and Funi at the Adelaide Zoo, and designing the glass façade and overseeing the construction phase of the CMI Toyota showroom on West Terrace. You also have me to thank for the beautiful fence posts and robust retaining walls that surround the Junior School Tennis Court right here at Wilderness School.

After seven years of study, shortly after graduation, I decided it was time for an adventure: a six-month holiday around Europe, which turned into an unplanned nine-year stint of living and working in London. I worked as a structural engineer and was able to work on some incredible and complex projects. I worked on the roof structure for the main Winter Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia; the Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan; The Avenues shopping mall in Kuwait; a five-star luxury hotel in Piccadilly Circus, in the heart of London; and the redevelopment of the iconic but derelict Battersea Power Station in London, transforming it for commercial and residential purposes. As a structural engineer, I was living the dream. I worked on exciting projects with interesting architecture. I was constantly learning and being challenged.

Despite feeling fulfilled in my job as an engineer, there was something creative missing in my life, so one year, rather than taking my annual leave to go on a holiday in Europe, I enrolled in a three-week intensive Womenswear Pattern Cutting Course, and this is where it all changed. I was hooked! I never thought I would love it that much, and I could not think of much else. Over the next five years, I monopolised the fact that I was in London with some of the best fashion schools in the world, and I would use my annual leave, weekends and evenings to study at the London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins. I studied all aspects of fashion, like experimental pattern cutting, design, tailoring, fitting garments and producing technical drawings… courses that I knew may be hard to find once I was back in Australia.

I led a strange double life. I was designing buildings by day and clothes by night. At the age of 31, I undertook an unpaid part-time internship at a London fashion label for five months, which was a very humbling experience. I was the oldest intern by far, definitely the most over-qualified and, more often than not, doing the most menial tasks. But I did not care, as I wanted to learn—learn how to run a start-up label, design and produce the product, conduct the fittings, cast models, undertake photoshoots, market a product and how to present a collection at London Fashion Week. It was not uncommon to work 12-hour days, weekdays and weekends. It was far from glamorous and a world away from my structural engineering office job.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, moving to the UK was pivotal to changing my career path. Being in London broadened my horizons to what else was possible. It is such a creative and innovative city. I met people with different backgrounds, occupations and aspirations to what I was familiar with, who encouraged me to believe that maybe I could do something a bit more unconventional.

My transition into fashion has been considered and gradual. For so long, I felt like an imposter and constantly battled my insecurities. But if I have learned anything from my 13 years at Wilderness, it is that we should shoot for the stars, never settle, nor should we be afraid of a challenge. We are nurtured to be confident, resilient and capable women, and it is this self belief and determination that has given me the confidence to just give it a go… also, I have now just told a room full of people that I am starting a womenswear label, so I really can’t back out now.

I moved back to Australia in 2019, and currently call Melbourne home. After a period of uncertainty with the lockdowns and taking time out to start a family, I can finally get back to working on the launch of my label. I am not saying a complete goodbye to engineering, because I still consider myself a proud engineer, but right now, being my own boss feels more compatible with the pace and demands of having a young family.

My womenswear label is called Elaine Dee, and it is still very much in its infancy. Elaine Dee is effortless style that exudes a quiet confidence. In my designs, I am constantly exploring in pursuit of that unique point of view. Balancing creativity and the need for longevity, the brand’s DNA is to

create timeless pieces with a contemporary twist (like this dress I am wearing tonight).

The exciting part about forging your own path is that you get to write the rules. I want to slow fashion down and have a positive impact. My label is based on a simple ethos of being kind—kind to people, and to our planet. This translates into going at our own pace, producing limited runs and reacting to what is in demand (in an effort to reduce waste), a focus on quality over quantity, using deadstock fabric, sourcing natural fibres wherever possible and producing ethically and locally. The skills that I have gained as an engineer have helped with my endeavour in starting my label. Being an engineer means being a problem solver and a lateral thinker. Fashion Design and constructing garments is one big geometrical problemsolving exercise. For example, how do I fit a 2D sheet of fabric on the female form in the most aesthetically pleasing way? Being numerically literate and a lover of spreadsheets also makes life easier with the day-to-day running of a business. However, being an engineer also makes me a realist and gives me an appreciation of risk. Starting a business is exciting, but is not always easy. Currently, I am the designer, pattern cutter, seamstress, fit model, website designer, IT support and even the ‘coffee run lackey’. I am just one person trying to juggle it all and build an empire within my daughter’s nap times. In engineering, we are required to incorporate safety factors into our designs, and if my business takes longer to establish (or sadly does not work out), I know that my safety factor is that I have this incredible career in engineering that I can always fall back on. I never sought to necessarily get out of engineering; I accidentally found something I loved doing even more and thought life is too short not to give it a try.

For those of you struggling with the question I am sure you have been asked many times – “What do you want to be when you grow up?” – know that you can be many things (maybe not all at once) and that the answer to that question does not need to be singular or absolute. I am an example of that. My parting advice to all of you wonderful Wildy girls, and particularly to the graduating Class of 2022, is to use your formative years to discover your strengths and weaknesses, find out what your passion is and maybe take some risks in doing so.

Just say yes! Be open to new experiences and meeting new people. Be curious. Ask questions. Keep broadening your horizons to what is out there in the big wide world. Push yourself. Do things that make you uncomfortable and that might be hard. This will only make you grow and become more resilient.

Give it your all. Work hard. Try your best, as that is all we can ask of you.

Lastly, follow your dreams wholeheartedly—but, as an engineer first and foremost, I can’t help but say to ensure to incorporate some safety factors along the way.

Denise Fung Class of 2002

2022 YEAR 12 RESULTS

Once again, our students have achieved excellent results. There were 93 girls who applied for the ATAR this year.

• The MEDIAN ATAR obtained was 95.05

• The POSITION OF DUX is awarded to OLIVIA TALLENT who attained an ATAR of 99.95

• There were 19 GIRLS who each gained an ATAR OF 99 OR MORE

THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS ALL GAINED AN ATAR OVER 99

20%

20% OF OUR YEAR 12 STUDENTS WERE PLACED IN THE TOP 1% NATIONALLY

50% OF OUR YEAR 12 STUDENTS WERE PLACED IN THE TOP 5% NATIONALLY 50%

68%

68% OF OUR YEAR 12 STUDENTS WERE PLACED IN THE TOP 10% NATIONALLY

2022 GRADE DISTRIBUTION

% OF RESULTS

WILDERNESS SCHOOL STATE

2023 FIELDS OF EDUCATION

2023 TERTIARY DESTINATIONS

OVERSEAS UNIVERSITIES

INTERSTATE UNIVERSITIES

FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Suneli Athukorala Amolika Bhatia Georgina Birchall

Yan Hei Annecy Cheung Jacinta Chronowski-Wong

Harriet Craig Hansika Gunawardane

Emma Jolly

Madeleine Jose

Annabel Manifold Ellen Maiello

Trishna Ramkumar

Isabel Roberts

Olivia Tallent

Isabelle Yu Amelia Vlahakis

Adeena Zafar

Chengcheng Zheng

Mia Jersmann

YEAR 12 RESULTS

THERE WERE

MERIT LISTINGS 53

IN THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS:

Activating Identities and Futures

Evie Basham

Chenuli Basnayake

Imogen Beadman

Jessica Craig

Stephanie Davidson

Nuhaa Hasan

Devika Mukherjee

Charlotte Thomas

Ashley Tran

Emily Venning

Nicole Webb

Ziyu Xie

Biology

Isabel Roberts

English

Alana-May Baggio

Georgina Birchall

Annecy Cheung

Harriet Craig

Mia Jersmann

Madeleine Jose

Annabel Manifold

Isabel Roberts

Isabelle Yu

Adeena Zafar

English Literary Studies

Jacinta Chronowski-Wong

Olivia Tallent

General Mathematics

Alana-May Baggio

Emma Jolly

Annabel Manifold

Annabel McConnel

Catherine Portolesi

Geography

Harriet Marshman

Amelie Rawes-Ryan

Legal Studies

Georgina Birchall

Devika Mukherjee

Isabel Roberts

Olivia Tallent

Mathematical Methods

Olivia Tallent

Modern History

Chenuli Basnayake

Physical Education

Georgia Brown

Mia Cardone

Jessica Craig

Zara Hoadley

Ava Lange

Eva Leathart

Olivia Scamoni

Jessica Schultz

Jessica Truman

Physics

Harriet Craig

Research Project B

Diya Gowda

Rashi Gupta

Allegra Kleinig

Workplace Practices

Tessa Moloney

Isabella Rosser

Olivia Tallent was awarded the Tennyson Medal, which honours the top student for English Literary Studies in the SACE graduating class. She was also selected for the highest accolade of the SACE, The Governor of South Australia Commendation Excellence Award for Meritorious Achievement, which recognises overall excellence in the SACE.

Alana-May Baggio

Chenuli Basnayake

Evie Basham

Imogen Beadman

Georgina Birchall

Georgia Brown

Yan Hei Annecy Cheung

Nuhaa Hasan Zara Hoadley

Mia Jersmann

Emma Jolly

Madeleine Jose

Allegra Kleinig Ava Lange

Eva Leathart

Annabel Manifold

Harriet Marshman

Annabel McConnel

Tessa Moloney

Devika Mukherjee

Catherine Portolesi

Amelie Rawes-Ryan

Isabel Roberts

Isabella Rosser

Olivia Scamoni

Jessica Schultz Olivia Tallent

Charlotte Thomas

Ashley Tran

Jessica Truman Emily Venning

Nicole Webb

Linda Xie

Isabelle Yu Adeena Zafar

Jacinta Chronowski-Wong

Harriet Craig

Jessica Craig

Stephanie Davidson Diya Gowda

Rashi Gupta

Mia Cardone

What legacy would you like to leave Wilderness?

I would like to leave a legacy that benefits each member of our collective Wilderness community. To do this, we must create a school where everyone feels included and seen. This is central to our 2023 theme of U&I—Unity and Identity.

By fostering an environment that celebrates and encourages everyone’s individual strengths, we will build a more appreciative, united school. This environment will encourage responsible adventurousness, allowing Wildy girls to show great courage when pursuing their dreams.

I hope to leave the School more connected, with no student feeling isolated or left out, and every Wildy girl flourishing in a dynamic and supportive environment.

What does leadership mean to you?

Leadership is about service. Instead of solely forging a path for others to follow, it is about helping the group to decide the best direction together. Leadership is about doing everything in your power to allow students to thrive in an interconnected community. It entails diligently working to ensure everyone has the best opportunity to prosper. Most importantly, it is about impacts: how you make others feel and how you enable them.

As a leader of Wilderness, I promise to try my hardest, taking every opportunity to leave all students feeling inspired and ready to act to make better versions of themselves and their community.

Tell us three things that people wouldn’t know about you.

1. My absolute favourite animated movie of all time is Frozen 2. The music, plot and acting (especially from Olaf) are all impeccable.

MEET THE

SRC EXECUTIVE FOR 2023

2. Despite my lack of singing ability and hatred of cats, I experienced the peak of my acting career in Year 2 when I was cast as Morz, the cat, in the annual play.

3. From the time shortly before my eighth birthday, I asked for a dog literally every day for two years (sometimes multiple times). Then, suddenly, our family was rushed to the airport, on the pretence of picking up a computer. I am eternally grateful that the computer was actually the cutest dog in the world—Fudge.

Which three people would you invite to a dinner party and why?

This is a bit of a strange choice, but I would invite Eliza Hamilton. You may recognise her from Lin Manuel Miranda’s hit musical, Hamilton. Despite the unbelievable heartbreak of losing both her child and husband, she became a philanthropist, co-founding the Orphan Asylum Society and speaking out against slavery. She was resilient and courageous, always acting with selflessness despite her trauma. I aspire to her audacious and kind personality and would love the chance to meet her.

Although we are now lucky to pursue high levels of education without gender barriers, Marie Curie was not. Barred from pursuing higher schooling, she went to a secret institution for education before moving to Paris to secure Physics and Mathematics degrees. Through hard work and intelligence, her insights into radiation and atomic physics led her to win two Nobel prizes—the only person to win in two fields (Physics and Chemistry). Her combination of dedication and creativity would be inspirational and something incredible to observe.

The final person I would invite is Terence Tao, a famous mathematician from Adelaide. He was the youngest mathematics professor in UCLA history and one of the youngest ever to be awarded the prestigious Fields Medal, often described as the “Nobel Prize in Mathematics”. Not only would it be fascinating to try and witness how his brain works, but his humble brilliance also made him one of Mr Gavin Haydn’s heroes.

ALLEGRA KLEINIG PRESIDENT

At Wilderness School, leadership begins in the classroom, with opportunities to take informal leadership roles and nurture necessary skills and attributes on a daily basis. By the time our girls reach their senior years, they are well equipped to lead, guide our younger girls and initiate a positive contribution to our community.

JESSICA CRAIG VICE PRESIDENT

What legacy would you like to leave Wilderness?

When I finish school and my SRC role, I hope to have enlightened others to value the importance of fun. Our school cultures students to love learning, and therefore all girls put so much effort into attaining unbelievable academic achievements.

Another very important aspect of school is the bonding and support network that all girls build and develop throughout their time at Wildy and maintain once they have graduated. This network of closely bound girls comes about through times of fun, laughter and even out of the ordinary initiatives and events. Therefore, I hope to run activities that ensure students feel comfortable to laugh a little, dress up as a crazy character or even decorate gingerbread together.

With these fun times will come bonding and support, which I think is one of the biggest, but sometimes forgotten, benefits of school.

What does leadership mean to you?

Leadership is aiming to change by listening, followed by action. Trying to lead a team without listening may result in change, however, in the wrong direction. The team may be trying to express their goals and viewpoints, although if the leader does not listen to these, the direction they head in may not fulfil these demands.

This may be like throwing a dart with your eyes closed. Leadership without action results in a clear vision of the team’s goal and direction, but no action to push towards this. Therefore, although the leader may listen to ideas the team is expressing, no change will be made if no steps are taken to fulfil this. The target is in clear vision and the strength, direction and wind have all been calculated for the shot, but the dart does not leave the hand. Therefore, leadership must incorporate both elements; a true leader must be able to

listen and encapsulate a goal or direction, before taking steps to lead the team to this shared ambition of change.

Tell us three things that people wouldn’t know about you.

1. I used to be an avid colouring in expert when I was younger. I spent my weekends entering colouring in competitions, in which I won many different prizes, with my best being a $300 Bunnings voucher.

2. I have played 16 different sports.

3. We have eight chickens and three Guinea fowls in the backyard of our suburban home. They love to explore over the fence and sometimes on the road, meaning we get the occasional neighbourhood complaint!

Which three people would you invite to a dinner party and why?

Firstly, I would pick Isaac Newton to attend my dinner party. Ever since we learned about Newton’s laws of motion in Year 7 Science, I have been beyond intrigued about how they act in our daily lives. If he were at my dinner party, I would most certainly try the old tablecloth and glass magic trick, which only happens due to Newton’s third law that an object at rest will stay at rest!

Secondly, I would invite Anne Frank. This would mainly be for tips and tricks on how she managed to stay in a single room for 761 days. I struggled with my seven-day COVID-19 isolation!

Lastly, this is not really a specific person, but I would invite the first living being on this planet. From this, I would hope to gain insight into how the earth was first created. This topic has always baffled me and it would be very relieving to gain greater insight into the mystery I think about daily.

GEORGIA BROWN SECRETARY

What legacy would you like to leave Wilderness?

Growing up, my father instilled in me the important idea that "rule number one is to always have fun".

This has resonated with me throughout my life and has become an ideal that I value greatly. I want to leave a legacy that encourages this motto of ‘having fun’. By instilling a greater sense of joy, I hope to see the Wilderness community thrive and flourish just that little bit more, by providing girls with the opportunity to work in joyful environments or by cultivating a culture that emphasises the academic and co-curricular rigour of the School.

By fostering this enjoyable community, I hope to encourage girls to be bolder, take risks and have fun with their learning.

What does leadership mean to you?

To me, leadership is like the cogs behind a mechanical clock. From the outside, the clock runs smoothly. You see the second, minute and hour hands ticking away, and although they each have different functions, they work perfectly together to display the correct time. However, these hands cannot do this by themselves. Instead, the silent cogs behind the clock face work endlessly to ensure that the goal of showing the correct time is always achieved. Despite all their hard work, the cogs are never seen. This metaphor represents how leadership is not about having the loudest voice, but rather, it is about working in the team's best interest and allowing others to perform at their best. Leaders are the essential cogs behind a smooth-running community.

Tell us three things that people wouldn’t know about you.

1. I have been SCUBA diving since I was 10, and the deepest dive I have completed is about 43 metres.

2. I can recite the first 100-ish digits of Pi.

3. I am allergic to cats, but I have three of them.

Which three people would you invite to a dinner party and why?

I would invite Albert Einstein to my dinner party to fulfil my curiosity, as I have so many questions for him. I am dumbfounded by someone’s ability to even think of such genius mathematical and scientific theories like special relativity (E = mc2) and quantum theory of light.

It is also incredible that these theories are still valid today. How did he do it with such limited technology? What is the process of even coming up with an idea so advanced?

I would next invite Neil Armstrong and Amelia Earhart. They were the first to undergo extremely challenging experiences before the 1970s. He was the first person to walk on the moon and she, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

It is quite remarkable how they managed to achieve their tasks with the limited technology they had, especially Amelia Earhart, who completed her journey in 1928. I want to discuss how they mentally and physically prepared for something no human had ever done before, and what empowered them to be brave and risk their lives.

...leadership is not about having the loudest voice, but rather, it is about working in the team's best interest and allowing others to perform at their best.

THE EVOLVING LANDSCAPE OF AI: ChatGPT

As the Director of Learning and Teaching at Wilderness School, I feel it is imperative to address the rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our lives and the recent development of ChatGPT by OpenAI. While the progress of AI can be seen as thrilling, it also brings up questions about its impact on society and education.

ChatGPT is a language model that generates human-like text based on input, making it one of the most advanced AI systems available. As we integrate AI into our daily lives, it is essential that we educate our students on how to effectively work with these technologies to support their learning and growth.

At Wilderness School, we understand that the integration of AI and new technologies can be both exciting and challenging. That is why we are committed to working closely with our students and families to provide them with the support they need to navigate this new landscape. Our aim is to equip our students with the critical thinking skills necessary to make informed decisions about AI.

Wilderness School has always been at the forefront of education innovation, and our commitment to this continues today.

We have offered AI, Robotics and Digital Futures as Middle School subjects for a number of years, reflecting our understanding and belief in the importance of these technological advancements and educational agility.

We believe that new technologies, such as ChatGPT, have the potential to complement student learning and provide opportunities for students to develop important skills, such as digital literacy and creative problem-solving. However, it is also crucial that our students are equipped with the knowledge to critically evaluate the information generated by AI.

As we navigate this rapidly evolving landscape of AI, it is essential that we work together as a school community to support our students and families. At Wilderness School, we are committed to providing our students with the education and resources they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world and remain at the forefront of education innovation.

Chat GPT assisted in crafting my thoughts for this article

Brad Snell Director of Learning and Teaching Excellence

The science of reading

Teaching girls how to read is one of the great joys of our curriculum. This fundamental step in one’s literacy journey is carefully considered and constructed behind the scenes, beginning in the Early Learning Centre and Junior School.

Like learning to walk, many of us do not remember how we learned to read. Not recalling the challenges of an event can invite us to forget its complexity, its trials and the joy that our success brought at the time.

Learning to read is an essential step in our lives, as it not only enables us to inform ourselves, but it broadens our choices and strengthens our voice.

Developing our ability to read is a process that is both physically and academically rigorous. We start building these skills during the period of explosive neurological development that takes place between a child’s birth and their sixth birthday. It is during this peak growth that we harness the brain’s capacity to decode symbols in order to create shared meaning. While reading may feel natural to a young person or an adult, it is important to remember that this process is not natural to the inherent structure of our brain.

As a community of innate storytellers, oral communication has a purposebuilt home in our frontal lobes. However, the written language is a comparatively recent invention in the story of humankind. As a result, our brains had to learn how to adapt existing neural structures in order to decode the symbols that make up our written language.

Consequently, the way each child learns to read is unique to their existing neural structures, a fact that deeply impacts the way we teach reading and dictates the shape and pace of each child’s progress. Learning to read is not a straightforward, one-size-fits-all pathway. It is dynamic, non-linear and responsive. It requires teachers to have a strong academic knowledge and rigorous classroom practice. It is this challenge that, as a community of educators, we have dedicated our time and resources to re-examining, reimagining and redesigning.

While the formal process of learning to read often begins in Reception, we pay homage to the transition from oral language to written code in our Early Learning Centre (ELC).

We carefully prepare our youngest students by developing their phonological awareness, enriching their oral language opportunities and fostering their love of stories. Phonological awareness is the skill we use to notice that words are not just representative of concepts, but that they are built from sound relationships. Recently, AITSL (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership) shared that:

“A dedicated, high quality preschool program results in significant learning gains for children. AITSL research shows an increased score of 10-20 points on NAPLAN in Year 3 (the equivalent of 15-20 weeks of schooling) compared with children who do not have targeted preschool teaching.”

It is clear that an early, structured teaching approach deeply benefits our students. While many of us learned to read with a system known as the ‘three cueing’ or MSV (Meaning, Syntax and Visual cues) approach (i.e. look at the picture, sound out the word, take a guess), research has shown that this method encourages children to take their attention away from the symbols and sound relationships, and causes them to guess (or hypothesise). As a result, the child has a reduced chance of practising those sound relationships and forming their understanding of the word. Further to this, it increases the chance that the brain will incorrectly store unrelated symbols and sounds, leading to slower growth in their reading, but also deeply-held misassociations in their written spelling as they age.

As children continually practise their knowledge of the sounds that parts of words make, they consolidate that understanding and form a visual map of the word. At this point, you may notice a child’s reading begins to flow and the ‘barky’ sound begins to reduce.

This is why daily practice is essential. Once a word is mapped, the brain has formed its understanding of that word as a whole picture and changing a child’s knowledge of its spelling can be quite a tricky task.

At Wilderness, we committed to the researched, best practice approach known as Systematic Synthetic Phonics long before the Federal Government’s mandate in 2022. Wilderness leaders, teachers and co-educators have all studied with Dr Pamela Snow, Australia’s leading researcher in the Science of Reading. This means our girls pass from the ELC, having built their understanding of sound relationships and ready to continue. It is a rigorous and carefully designed literacy path that supports each girl through the study of their language, from sound knowledge to whole word mapping and then into our spelling program that focuses on the study of vocabulary through the spelling rules. This process draws on the four knowledge pillars of our language: Phonology, Orthography, Morphology and Etymology. The skills of comprehension are built explicitly through our Library lessons, in collaboration with our classroom novels and they are often embedded in our outdoor education experiences.

Literacy takes time and many threads feed into a student’s understanding to allow them to become highly able, agile communicators. It is a complex, essential and dynamic journey—one we bring our passion and constantly developing professional knowledge to. Best of all, it is done in the name of sharing and understanding the true joy that is a good book.

Lani Brockwell Assistant Head of Junior School –Teaching and Learning

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

In September 2022, we were fortunate to send six students and two teachers to the first post-COVID-19 Round Square International Conference in Oxford. It was an amazing experience which was perspective changing for both students and teachers.

In particular, the adventurer Ben Fogle forced us to contemplate what life is about by asking the question, “Is life the journey or the destination?” This prompted us to think about the importance of working not for our own ends, but being altruistic when he said, “Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not the world see you” (David McCullough Jnr.).

Another key message was ‘if you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.’ This encouraged us to think about the fact that we always have something to learn, and need to constantly challenge ourselves and learn from others.

Stephanie Andrews Head of Global Learning

TAKE LESS, BE MORE

From our students’ perspective

We participated in the Round Square International Conference in Oxford, England, with a post-conference tour in Berlin, Germany. The conference theme of ‘Take Less, Be More’ influenced the activities, speeches and the lens through which issues were viewed and discussed. It was particularly meaningful as we reflected on how our lives have changed due to COVID-19, and focused on being less materialistic and more appreciative of the small things. We also considered the growing unstable geo-political environment that we as young people live in.

We heard from guest speakers who presented their experiences both during school and since graduating, giving us a broader understanding of the meaning of life. We also learned about how focusing on the big picture can lead to more fulfilling life experiences. Many speakers shared their adventurous and global lives, broadening our horizons. This constant search for adventure and excitement resonated with us and has influenced our outlook and approach to life.

One evening we participated in a Ceilidh, a traditional Scottish dance, where we linked arms and danced with students from across the world. To celebrate the many cultures attending the conference, a cultural night was held where students from many countries performed traditional dances and songs. These experiences were eye opening and rewarding, and many of us got goosebumps cheering and celebrating cultural diversity. These events enabled us to develop a more global perspective, and showed us the potential of Round Square within our school and wider community as we recognised the opportunities available to us.

Although 1500 students attended the conference, we worked closely with five to six schools (about 70 students) from across the world. Through baraza discussions, shared meals and activities, we created meaningful relationships with these students from diverse backgrounds. It was with this group that we travelled to Cobham Hall, an independent girls boarding school in Kent, for the second half of the conference.

Here we participated in community service and adventure activities, such as litter collection and a high ropes course. Our final night was a ball at Cobham Hall where we celebrated our new friendships and learnings. We got dressed up, had a formal dinner and danced with our new friends to music from around the world. This experience further opened our eyes to the possibilities available to us, and made the world feel small.

The Berlin post-conference tour further enabled us to explore the world and to discuss and develop a more international perspective. Together with two other schools, we explored the rich culture and history of Berlin and saw firsthand the devastating effects of World War II. We also learned about how the Nazi regime has influenced the people of Berlin today. This opportunity enabled us to further extend our friendships and build new connections and understandings of the world.

Nidhi Karachur and Nicole Webb Year 11

FORMER WILDERNESS PRINCIPAL AND AISSA CEO RETIRES

Wilderness School extends its thorough congratulations to Mrs Carolyn Grantskalns, who has retired from her role as Chief Executive of the Association of Independent Schools of South Australia (AISSA) board after a decade in the position.

Carolyn is an old scholar (Class of 1970) and she was the Principal of Wilderness School from 1988 to 2005.

Former State Government Minister for Education, the Hon. John Gardner, acknowledged Carolyn’s lifetime of service in parliament, saying, “she has developed an extraordinary reputation for the support that she has been able to give to principals and schools; the way that she has supported strengthening of the governance within schools; the support she has provided to… an increasing, growing number of new independent schools that have been able to establish with the advice and support from Carolyn and the team at AISSA.”

Carolyn has received particular praise for being a “national leader in the Middle School years”, as well as her efforts in guiding South Australian schools throughout the pandemic and removing the risk of mixed messages to parents and staff.

She arrived at Wilderness School in 1988 to take up the role as the inaugural Head of Middle School. In June of 1989, she was appointed as Vice Principal, and after acting in the top job, she was officially appointed as Principal in 1990.

Over 16 years, Carolyn’s leadership propelled Wilderness forward as one of the leading schools in South Australia. She moved to Victoria in 2006 and accepted the role of Principal at Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar. After she returned to South Australia, she was appointed as AISSA CEO in 2013.

Her successor in the role is also a former leader at Wilderness School—Mrs Anne Dunstan, who is a former Head of Sparaxis House. Anne taught at Wilderness from 1996 to 2003, coincidentally, during Carolyn’s leadership of the School. AISSA is the peak body for 103 independent schools around the state, and we are proud to see these former Wilderness School leaders making a difference within the organisation. We wish Anne all the best and we look forward to working with her to better South Australian education into the future.

A MINIMESTER FESTIVAL

The 2019 Alice Springs Australian Education Declaration (Education Council, 2019) emphasises the need for educational systems to foster young people's development as self-assured and creative individuals, successful lifelong learners and engaged and informed community members.

In line with this, at Wilderness School, we firmly believe that the girls should continue engaging in challenging and fulfilling learning right up until the end of the school year.

To end the year, our committed teachers created tailored learning experiences for our students in Years 7 through to 11. These "minimester" programs are designed to give students experiences tailored to particular focus areas that develop lifelong, transferable skills and capabilities.

Our Years 7 to 9 students improved their agency, critical and creative thinking skills and resilience via the lenses of drama, film and animation and storytelling. These skills closely match the dispositions young people will need to be innovative, connected and involved in a complicated and fast changing world. Our Year 10 students took part in a two-day Science ‘off-the-grid’ experience, while our Year 11 students gained useful "life skills" by participating in lessons on budgeting, time management and car maintenance.

I want to highlight the significance of this learning and thank our teachers for their commitment, thoughtful planning and contemporary pedagogy and learning design.

Brad Snell Director of Learning & Teaching

Connecting to Country, Culture and Community

The Year 7 students were gifted the wonderful opportunity to learn and work alongside cultural educators, artists and elders through a four-day immersion program called ‘Connecting to Country, Culture and Community’. Working in core groups, the girls undertook storytelling workshops with Dave Booth, where they learned about the origins of Aboriginal symbols and the function of these in mapping and sharing stories. Dave and his sons also shared a traditional performance for the girls, presenting song and dance and explaining the significance of this as a method of storytelling or sharing important information about Country.

Uncle Cedric Varcoe facilitated painting workshops. He shared the gift of the Ngurundri dreaming with them, then invited the girls to express their own significant cultural stories or special places through a suite of symbols and colour. Aunty Lena shared her stories with the girls while they worked on constructing beautiful flowers made from pelican feathers. Dance workshops with Caleena Sansbury introduced the methodologies of contemporary Aboriginal dance. The minimester concluded with the girls sharing the stories, paintings and dances they had developed with each other over the week and reflecting on their learning.

Jessica Foster Head of Drama

The 18 Hour Film Festival

Based on the global annual event ‘The 48 Hour Film Project’, this minimester challenged our Year 8 girls to make a film during 18 hours of school time, working with their peers to ideate, film and edit their films.

This minimester aimed to give each girl the opportunity to develop her skills in film creation, including preproduction planning, collaboration, running a film shoot, editing and using the camera.

To help mentor the students through this process, it was wonderful to welcome back some old scholars from the Class of 2022, Inika Weber, Toni Pham and Meg McGrath. It was also great to have Laura Franklin, co-producer of Adelaide 48 Hour Film Project, help guide the students throughout the process.

The week finished with a celebration of the students’ film making skills by having the ‘18 Hour Film Festival’ in Newman Theatre, where awards were handed out and the girls enjoyed watching their films and celebrating their successes.

Hal Bruce Head of Creative Industries

“The

Moth”

What makes a good story? How do humans connect with each other through telling their stories?

The Year 9 girls were asked in their minimester to consider how they can effectively tell, and listen to other people telling their stories. Starting with a series of staff stories, the girls heard a range of heartfelt, encouraging and hilarious tales from the Wilderness community.

Through a mandala workshop, hosted by artist Cathy Gray, the girls learned how to develop and focus their ideas, quietening their minds with mandalas so that their stories could begin to take shape and evolve.

A series of story workshops were facilitated by Mr Mathew D’Aloisio, Miss Billie Newton, Miss Bella DrioliPhillips and Miss Georgia Fisher, with the support of the broader English Faculty. After each girl shared her story, the squads then put forward their best and most courageous storytellers.

At the completion of the ‘story slam’, we reflected on why we tell our stories, how we can be versatile storytellers and ways that we can engage and appreciate other people’s stories. The girls learned about themselves and each other this minimester. Their bravery, and courageous spirit to stand in the spotlight and deliver their story, was adventurous and memorable.

Kate Hanson Head of English

Off the Grid

To provide girls with an immersive learning experience, and an opportunity to participate in ‘hands-on’ Space Science, Year 10 girls worked with Karl Grice from Stellar Science.

This pinnacle learning experience for Year 10 students kicked off with each girl being allocated to a Clan. Each Clan represented a country with a space program and received materials that matched their National Budget Allocation for Space Research. The girls then elected Scientific Advisors, Research and Development Personnel, Media and Politicians. Across two days, the girls negotiated treaties, conducted espionage, filmed news reports and the scientists worked to complete four space challenges.

The first challenge was to create a Marshmallow ‘Space Girl’ complete with a space suit. These designs were tested in a pressure tank and resulted in some marshmallow explosions when suits were not air-tight! The second challenge saw girls ‘launch and land’ a spacecraft cradling a raw egg (mostly) to safety. This was followed by the longest propulsion of their spacecraft. Teams battled throughout the day with teachers and students undertaking mini challenges to gain points in the quest to win the space race. Culminating in the testing of heat shields with propane guns, girls showed their ingenuity by designing a shield to specifications in order to protect their marshmallow crew from the gruelling seven-minute re-entry into Earth’s orbit.

Simone Burzacott-Gorman Head of Science

BOARDERS’ FASHION PARADE RETURNS WITH STYLE

It was wonderful to bring the boarding community back together for the annual Boarders’ Fashion Parade in 2022, following COVID-19 impacts in previous years.

The two-year hiatus did not dampen enthusiasm for this wonderful event, gathering the Wilderness community to showcase regional designers and raise money for the Bahadure Boarding School. Pleasingly, the event surpassed its fundraising goals by raising $9500 for the girls in Nepal.

As well as fundraising, the event raised the profile of several South Australian designers and businesses, including Iris & Wool, Binny, Yellow Bird, Anneva, Liv Sienne, Bullrush, Daisy Says and Salubrious Hour. Our girls were also extremely fortunate to showcase Jo Politis’ RAW Cloth Garments again, featuring beautiful Top End fabrics and designs.

For the first time, old scholar Sarah Laurie was featured on the Wilderness runway with her clothing label, Salubrious Hour. Having started in Robe in 2018, Sarah and her brother Billy have continued their love of design through their business—a surf wear label with was a favourite for many girls.

We were pleased to see this annual event up and running again as it provides a wonderful opportunity for the Wilderness boarding community to connect and promote regional areas with Wilderness families in Adelaide. The support and representation of regional businesses and designers showcases the richness of talent and resources that our country areas have to offer.

Boarders from Years 7 to 12 actively contributed to the event through involvement as models, back-ofhouse, performers and other support roles. We are extremely grateful for the generous support from our boarding families, staff and girls who made this event possible.

Renee Coventry Head of Boarding

BOARDERS’ FASHION PARADE

FRIDAY 12 MAY 2023 7.00PM WILDERNESS SCHOOL GYM

WE ARE PLEASED TO BE FEATURING THE FOLLOWING BRANDS

RM Williams

Sant and Abel

One Rundle

• Bullrush

• Iris & Wool • Binny

• Outdoors on Parade

• Salubrious Hour

Kira Bayliss Clothing

Lonely Goat

• Yellowbird

• Scarlett Bird

• Daisy Says

• Aston Studio

LIVE ART PERFORMANCE BY

Special guest designer Kira Bayliss

FUTURE-FOCUSED EDUCATION

Innovative and excellent teaching and learning programs are central to each girl’s learning entitlement at Wilderness, which is why over the past 12 months, we have continued to develop and deliver a rigorous curriculum that is maximising student growth and achievement, and truly preparing them for the world they will participate in.

Artemis

Our Artemis program has seen particularly exciting developments. Through this subject, our students across Years 3 to 11 are challenged to think about the potential futures of humanity and how they will shape and be shaped by the people, society and world that surrounds them. They are encouraged to explore a wide range of topics, from inclusivity, ethics and sustainability to leadership and global citizenship, in order to develop their capabilities and dispositions. This interdisciplinary subject also places a strong emphasis on the health and

wellbeing of both individuals and the world, empowering our students to make a positive impact on their communities and the planet. This subject has proven to be extremely popular among our students, and we are excited to see it grow and evolve in the coming years.

Activating Identities and Futures and Exploring

Identities and Futures

Wilderness successfully piloted two new SACE subjects, Activating Identities and Futures and Exploring Identities and Futures, as part of the School's commitment to the SACE Strategic Plan, named "Thrive". These subjects have replaced Stage 2 Research Project and Stage 1 Personal Learning Plan, and they have been well received by students and teachers alike. The inclusion of these dynamic and engaging subjects in the School's curriculum reflects Wilderness School's dedication to providing its students with a comprehensive education that prepares them for success in the modern world.

Extending our STEAM offerings

We have also seen a marked increase in the number of students selecting from our new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) offerings. At Wilderness School, we are committed to providing our students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the 21st century. Whilst having a long tradition of Mathematics and Science achievement, our focus in recent years has been to expose students to content and skills in engineering, the arts and technology.

In 2019, we rearranged our offerings in Year 9 to ensure a greater spread of choice in STEAM subjects for our girls. In addition to teaching them technical skills in sciences, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, we also strive to develop the necessary capabilities and dispositions of future industries.

We believe that this holistic approach is essential in preparing our students for

the challenges and opportunities of the future. This includes courses in Design, Technology and Engineering (DTE), which will be critical for readying young people for the workforce.

According to a recent report by the World Economic Forum, jobs in these fields are expected to grow significantly in the coming years, making them an important area of focus for educators. Our students have shown a growing interest in this space and we are excited to offer our first Stage 2 DTE class in 2023, with 20 students choosing the new subject, called Entrepreneurial Solutions.

The importance of STEAM education cannot be understated, as it provides young people with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in an increasingly technology-driven world. Wilderness School's commitment to offering a diverse range of STEAM subjects is a testament to its dedication to preparing its students for the future.

Fostering a Passion for Creativity

In addition to the growth in STEAM subjects, the School has also seen an increase in enrolment in its Art classes. With a large Year 12 class and two Year 11 classes in 2023, our school is fostering a passion for creativity and expression in its students. This is no surprise to our Art department, who have creatively designed their Middle School curriculum to ensure their offerings are targeted to the interests of our girls, whilst aligning learnings with industry of today. Once such example is our amazing Product Design course in Year 9, which provides girls with the opportunity to create art in partnership with JamFactory.

A Leading PE Program

Our Physical Education (PE) teachers are working closely with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) on developing work samples for the new ACARA Version 9 Curriculum.

Our PE department is widely recognised as one of the leading PE programs in Australia, and we are excited to be part of this important project. The new curriculum will focus on providing students with the knowledge, skills and values they need to live healthy and active lives, and our PE faculty is committed to helping ACARA create work samples that will effectively demonstrate these goals.

I am proud to say that Wilderness School continues to be a worldleading school in teaching and learning innovation. We are committed to providing our students with the best possible education and the skills they need to thrive in the 21st century, and we look forward to even more exciting developments in the year ahead.

Brad Snell Director of Learning and Teaching Excellence

The future is an exciting place, full of possibilities and opportunities. It is our responsibility as educators to prepare young people for this bright future, so that they can make the most of the world that awaits them.

SIR KEN ROBINSON

VALEDICTORY ADDRESS

I would like to pay my respects and acknowledge that the land that we meet on today is the traditional lands of the Kaurna people and that we respect their spiritual relationship with their country.

We also acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the Adelaide region, and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living Kaurna people today.

Good evening Mrs Arnfield, Mr Manifold, staff, parents, friends and the Class of 2022. My name is Amelia Vlahakis and I have the honour of delivering the 2022 Valedictory Address.

Needless to say, our Senior School experience has been eventfully unique. Diluted by quarantines and online learning, we have endured a turbulent three years infused with hand sanitiser and Webex notifications. Despite this, I can confidently say that while at times we may have been physically isolated, not once have we ever been truly alone. I believe there are two characteristics of our cohort that have been fundamental to maintaining this spark: first, our severe attachment to one another, with multiple cabins being busted on REALISE for moving their mattresses into the same room; and secondly, our almost-magical ability to turn any given situation into a good time, with Webex calls becoming opportunities to show off our pets and host virtual Form breakfasts.

While we may have started this year wearing masks, there was no way we were going to let that dampen our spirits

and prevent us from composing class songs, playing ‘The Floor is Lava’ during lessons or hosting the renowned spike-ball tournament.

Swimming Carnival was a testament to our simple and inherent desire for fun, abandoning our competitive nature to bask in the spray of our classmates’ superwoman dives and witness Carob’s Olympic-worthy relay where we wore life jackets because “why not?” Additionally, the Colour Run was the perfect way to end a busy term, with the bright skies and colourful afternoon restoring both a literal and figurative glow. This brings us to our last week, when we enjoyed our final school event: Athletics Day. There, we ran our last races (most of us without falling over), attempted to jump our last physical hurdles and gave our all to our last round of novelty events.

Year 12 is encompassing of “lasts”, but branding these occasions in such a way gives an impression of absolute finality… almost a sense of abandonment. As if they happened, and now they are gone and inaccessible. This could not be more false. Swimming Carnival may not stir a conventional core memory of winning a race. Instead, you will remember laughing with your friends as you try and touch the pressure pad at the exact same time. Or, perhaps, there is a memory of you cheering with someone in your Form who you were not previously close with; your synchronised yelling sealing a bond of comradery. Those moments, while outwardly insignificant, are what convert these seemingly “final” days into ones that will remain at the forefront of our minds for years to come.

It is a tradition that a student toasts those who have supported their class during their years at Wilderness. In 2022, Year 12 student Amelia Vlahakis saluted Wilderness School.

To our SRC Executive—Amolika, Harriet and Eliza—you girls are truly phosphorescent. You have led with ambition, appreciation and adventure, saturating our final year with life and light, and inspiring the Wilderness community with your determination, creativity and contagious enthusiasm.

To Mrs Arnfield, we have been fortunate as a cohort to grow alongside you. This year you have guided our final steps as we branch out of the Wilderness. You have transitioned into your role as Principal with grace, and we thank you for being a continual role model, radiating truth, gratitude and kindness.

Mr Manifold, after last year’s sky-diving analogy went a bit further than you anticipated, this year you met us with a safer alternative: Year 12 is like a soccer game, using Sam Kerr as a figure to guide our spirits, leadership and grit. At times we may have been losing, it may have been raining and we may have felt defeated, but your endless support and guidance on the sidelines encouraged us to keep fighting and taught us the importance of resilience. In exchange, this year we taught you that soccer is played in halves, not quarters. Right now, we are entering the final few minutes of the match, so let’s hope we pull through and claim the title of victors.

To our teachers, what you have taught us this year goes far beyond the subject outline. The role of a teacher is synonymous to that of a mentor, a carer, a friend and a counsellor. Thank you for being a constant during a time of continual change.

You have filled this school with passion, and modelled the importance of patience and purpose. Words cannot describe your dedication to us, exhibiting absolute selflessness, compassion and a genuine desire to help us excel in all aspects of our lives. We cannot thank you enough for your unlimited commitment and kindness over these past years, but especially in our most important year.

To our families, friends and carers, you are the crossbeams of our existence. Thank you for your support throughout this year, offering comfort at times deemed inconsolable, and strength when simply holding a pen demanded an unwarranted amount of energy. Your unconditional love and guidance throughout this year kept us alight. Last term, my mother bore witness to something I am sure we can all connect to: an embarrassing number of – for lack of better words –meltdowns, because of the uncertainty of the future. She responded by relaying the following quote from A Repurposed Life by Ronni Kahn:

I believe the answer to this question lies not definitively in our Biology notes or English essays, but in the values this school has distilled into every one of us.

To the Class of 2022, as we approach the next stage of our lives, remember: the answer lies in our position as responsible citizens, acting with integrity to serve our community and generate a world of joy and justice. It lies in our adventurous learning; in our desire to seek excellence and success in whatever form we find gratifying. It lies in our ability to be true and courageous; trusting ourselves to stand up for what we believe in, while knowing we have a support network that will catch us if we fall. It lies in our capacity to build respectful, fulfilling and constructive relationships, and knowing the importance of letting kindness dictate every action.

And most importantly, it requires truth. Always. Because the answer to the question is not the same for any two people sitting in this room, nor is it likely to remain the same for the duration of your life outside of Wilderness. Yet, the skills we have acquired during our time here will enable us to front this question with honesty and bravery. By letting this question and this answer guide you through life, you will be able to live authentically, meaningfully and unapologetically.

To the Class of 2022, I invite you to please stand, raise your glasses and toast to our school.

Amelia Vlahakis Year 12

“The real question to ask is not ‘what do I want to do,’ but ‘what does the world need from me?’”

WHERE THE MOST COURAGEOUS

We are thrilled to have commenced the first stage of the Lower Junior School redevelopment that will define a new era in Early Learning at Wilderness; where our dearest-held traditions will endure in high-quality, engaging and beautiful learning spaces for our smallest custodians.

Celebrating the natural beauty of Wilderness School, the redevelopment will provide a distinctive and welcoming environment for girls in their formative years, where the most courageous of adventures begin.

Wilderness School has always been committed to developing learning facilities that empower each of our girls to be the best they can be. We believe this masterplan embraces the new, through its future-focused and best practice learning design, while holding true to the foundations that have nurtured and empowered Wilderness girls since 1884.

We are pleased to be working with Adelaide architecture firm, Grieve Gillett Andersen and construction company, SARAH, who are bringing to life the innovative structures, as well as alterations and additions to existing beautiful buildings.

SUPPORT OUR LITTLEST LEARNERS

Help make a difference to our girls’ learning and lives by supporting our ELC development VISIT

wilderness.com.au

/2023-annual-appeal

TO DONATE TODAY.

OF ADVENTURES BEGIN...

EARLY LEARNING CENTRE

Our new Early Learning Centre will come to life in a beautiful c.1925 former residence—16 Hawkers Road. This repurposed character building will maintain its feeling of stature and distinction while capturing the essence of the Reggio Emilia philosophy that influences the rich learning of our three- and four-year-old girls where, along with educators and families, the environment is seen as the third teacher.

With specialist ateliers throughout, our girls will have the opportunity to engage in deep thinking and exploration as their educators provide rich and intentional provocations for their learning.

IN THE OUTDOORS

Learning in nature has always been of great importance at Wilderness. Our new outdoor spaces will be purposefully landscaped to encourage curiosity and enable countless opportunities for creative play.

There will be spaces for girls to explore, to prepare concoctions in our custom ‘mud-laboratories’ and play in the beautifully curated domestic gardens. Growing food in our kitchen garden and caring for our chickens will also support the girls' learning as they become sustainable and contributing citizens of their community.

“LOGGIA” PAVILION

Our school is characterised by rambling paths, informal gardens and inviting places where the girls assemble, play and learn.

The Loggia, also referred to as an Italian ‘exterior gallery’, will be an architectural feature where the girls from the Early Learning Centre and Lower Junior School will gather to further explore their learning in an open outdoor environment.

THE ANNUAL SHOWCASE OF MUSIC

The 2022 Annual Showcase of Music concert was just that... a real and vast showcase of student talent.

The event showcased as many of our 24 ensembles as possible, something we do not usually do in the interest of spreading out performance opportunities across the year. But given that we lost scheduled opportunities in Term 1, it meant many ensembles were yet to perform. Inevitably, this meant we were in for a long showcase, and it meant we needed to look at it with fresh eyes—something we have all become very adept at doing.

2022 saw us hosting the Showcase in the Wilderness Gym, transforming the space into a cabaret performance hall complete with a huge stage, lighting and screens. We welcomed back our 2022 Musician in Residence, Adam Page, who shared his passion and joy for creating music with our musicians by offering inspirational mentorship across all ensembles.

Our Years 9-12 Senior Choir opened the event with a unique Acknowledgement of Country which featured Australia’s first pop tune, ‘Waltzing Matilda’ blended with words of our land around us in Indigenous language, extending the learning outside of just the musical sphere.

Highlights came from the Dream Girls’ rendition of Madonna’s ‘Vogue’, an incredible performance from the Piano Trio with Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, the Rock Band’s Beyoncé hit ‘Crazy In Love’ – complete with a rap by Year 12 student, Olivia Kyriacou – and Big Band 2’s Michael Jackson take on ‘Thriller’, featuring two drum kits onstage. But the unexpected surprise of the night showcased over 220 students who came together to perform pop icon Dua Lipa’s hit ‘Love Again’, which featured our String Orchestra, two Concert Bands and all three of the School’s core choral ensembles. Only rehearsed twice beforehand, our resilient and clever girls demonstrated our value of being true and courageous to conclude a wonderful evening of music.

If you missed the music coming out of our school in 2022, make sure you come and support the creative community in 2023.

Anna Lenartowicz Head of Music

ASPECT THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS

TOP GIRLS

In 2022, the Wilderness School Stage 2 theatre company – Aspect Theatre – developed and performed an adaptation of Caryl Churchill’s seminal feminist play Top Girls

This page-to-stage process asked the girls to explore and apply naturalistic performance techniques to craft and present nuanced and complex characters. The work, though set in 1980s Britain, is a study of the sacrifices and tropes women are subjected to in order to ‘make it’ or be professionally successful in a patriarchal world. In doing so, the play asks the audience to examine how we define success and to question whose definition it is. This is achieved through the lens of professional and personal relationships.

The girls worked hard, employing accents and managing Churchill’s signature overlapping text and heightened realism. Churchill’s humorous observations of relationships and human nature were illuminated by the performers with command and skill. Public performances of the work took place over two evenings in Term 3. The audience was taken on a journey which revealed to them how our history and origins shape the person we become. The characters were authentic, and the successful playing of momentto-moment subtext took the audience right into their emotional journey.

Jessica Foster Head of Drama

ABODA BANDS AND ORCHESTRA FESTIVAL

The Adelaide Bands and Orchestra Directors’ Association (ABODA) is run by volunteers whose passion is creating opportunities for the youngest band and orchestral musicians in schools.

Our own Ms Cassie Pope is heavily involved and we are grateful that these passionate educators are not only out in the community creating events for our students, but that Wilderness School has access to this passion each and every day.

Two Wilderness core concert bands – led by Ms Pope and myself respectively – earned the highest honours in their respective divisions at the ABODA Bands and Orchestra Festival in 2022, as did our second Big Band under the direction of Mr Damien Hurn.

These highly competitive divisions had over 15 bands, so placing first in these sections was a tremendous honour for our girls. For me, having been part of the Bands program at Wilderness for two years has given me a different perspective on what our amazing Music students can do.

They balance so many commitments on top of their first priority, their academic studies. Their commitment to each other and our value of Responsible Citizenship was on display all year, and ultimately contributed to their success at this festival.

The purpose of learning Music at Wilderness is vast, but at the core is developing joy and passion for the creative art of music. Congratulations to all of the girls, not only in these bands who won top honours, but also those who take part in all of our bands and orchestras. 2023 is shaping up to be another successful and joyous year.

Anna Lenartowicz Head of Music

Intermediate Concert Band Plus (Div 2): Gold and Overall winner Symphonic Band

Intermediate Concert Band Plus (Div 3): Gold and Overall winner Concert Band

Novice Stage Band (Div 3): Gold and Overall winner Big Band Two

The Wildy Film Festival showcased films created by Middle and Senior School girls, including the Year 9 Film and Animation students, Media Team and a film created by 2021 Creative Arts girls. At the centre of this festival was also the celebration of the Year 10 Certificate III in Screen and Media films, including a selection of advertisements, one-minute films and incredible short films.

Following the screening at the Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas, guests enjoyed food and drink as they mingled with the stars. The night was a great celebration of the wonderful creative work developed by the Wilderness Multimedia students.

Hal Bruce Head of Media Arts

WELCOME

We are delighted to welcome Ashleigh Young to Wilderness School. It is always wonderful to meet new members of staff and learn what inspired and led them to their current role. We sat down and asked a few questions to get to know her.

ASHLEIGH YOUNG Director of Sport and Recreation

Tell us a bit about yourself ...

I was born and raised in Adelaide, and I have always been passionate about sport and being active from a young age. This began with watching my dad on the football field; I was captivated by the competitive nature of sport. After playing multiple sports throughout my schooling and early adulthood, I knew that I wanted to work in sport and give back to what had provided me with so much joy. I have since learned that I am a much better administrator and coach than I was a player. I also have a Beagle puppy named Russell and in my free time, I love to go to the beach.

What personal qualities do you value most?

I have always appreciated the qualities of honesty, hard work and kindness. I believe these qualities are invaluable and they are ones I identify with strongly. Honesty, because then you know if you can genuinely trust someone. Hard work, because I believe this holds you in good stead no matter what you choose to do. Kindness, as it is easy to be a nice person.

Why Wilderness?

Wilderness has a great reputation and I feel its values closely align with mine. Having worked in notfor-profit sporting organisations and co-educational colleges, I was eager to return to an all-girls environment. I enjoy working with young female student athletes to help guide them to engage in sport and recreation and build a lifelong love of being active. I hope to encourage Wilderness girls to excel and help them to reach their full potential.

What are you looking forward to most in your new role?

I am looking forward to having a positive impact on the Sport and Recreation program and being a leader and role model for the girls. Since starting here in late 2022, I have met many of the wonderful coaches and support staff who are invested in the program. I look forward to working with them and the wider school community to continue building the program into the future.

What is the most rewarding aspect of the work you do and what makes it so worthwhile?

I just love sport, and there is nothing more rewarding than when you can work with passionate individuals and come together to achieve a common goal. It is exciting to work with young aspiring athletes and watch them represent their school and community with pride.

Saying goodbye to our long-standing staff members is always a bittersweet celebration. We are grateful for the years they have given to the School, contributing to our mission and building connections with students and staff, and wish them well in their well-earnt retirement.

BESS SMITH Head of Extended Curriculum and Learning Support

Whether it be her work with girls who need support with their learning, or those who need to be extended, Bess has always gone out of her way to support and guide all the girls she has worked with.

In a farewell speech, Mr Ben Manifold recognises the value Bess has provided students throughout more than a decade of facilitating outstanding opportunities for them to broaden their learning and understanding.

When I meet with parents and their daughters for the first time at an enrolment interview, I often say that an education at Wilderness is much more than an ATAR. One of my key measures of success is what each girl gives back to their community. A focus on service and helping those who are less fortunate to promote equality is central to this notion, and this is no better highlighted than through the work that Bess has undertaken over her 11 years at Wilderness School.

The Brown Sisters stressed the importance of unlimited kindness and I believe that this epitomises Bess.

What I have loved is that there is no stigma attached to Learning Support, and girls ask to have the opportunity to spend lessons in this area as they value the support Bess has been able to provide. Bess genuinely cares about learning outcomes and will go out of her way to bring equality to the learning of all girls. Experience tells me that confidence breeds positive academic outcomes and Bess’s work at Wilderness has contributed to this in spades.

I remember a recent conversation I had with Bess, about how she had just spent two and a half hours typing for a student in her Stage 2 Modern History exam. I listened with amazement and awe as she recalled the process. The fact that she was able to keep up with this student’s thoughts and type them on her behalf, to ensure that her knowledge could be recorded and provided to the SACE Board to truly reflect her capabilities, is inspirational. There are countless more stories like this one.

Bess mentioned at the Valedictory Dinner this year that her work over 40 years has been all about promoting inclusion, valuing diversity and challenging the ‘cookie cutter’ mould. Bess’ journey has not always been along a linear path with clear

signposts and she acknowledges that this is a good thing, because it has built a richness into her life that she could never have anticipated. Bess has valued the twists and turns, roadblocks and detours as growth opportunities. This philosophy is an important lesson for us all, rather than becoming stressed with change.

The opportunity to work closely with Bess through the introduction of the SONY Camp to Wilderness allowed me to see firsthand the quality and care that Bess provided as she coordinated the campers and the support she gave to the student companions who were taken out of their comfort zone. This, combined with her work with the service arm of the Duke of Edinburgh award in after school programmes or tree propagation, reinforces her lifelong commitment to service.

While a wonderful educator, we hope Bess thoroughly enjoys her retirement. I know she will look forward to spending time travelling, in her garden and with her family. We will miss her smile, infectious laugh and genuine care, but she will always be part of the fabric that makes up the Wilderness community and we look forward to hearing about her journeys in the years ahead.

Ben Manifold Head of Senior School

MICHELE OSTERMANN

Junior School Physical Education Teacher

Michele’s love of the outdoors will continue to see her swimming, cycling, kayaking and hiking throughout South Australia, and she is planning to pack the Land Cruiser and camper trailer to explore Outback Australia. We hope Michele might even visit us again in the capacity of a Relief teacher. Undoubtedly, there are many new challenges and exciting opportunities awaiting Michele in 2023 and beyond. We would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her commitment to the Wilderness community over the past 14 years.

Travis Henderson

Head of Physical Education

Michele began her journey at Wilderness School as a Relief Teacher in Term 4, 2008 and she permanently joined the staff team in the following year as Junior Sports Coordinator and Physical Education teacher.

For 14 years, Michele has been a valued teacher in the Wilderness Junior School community, modelling the four values upon which our School was founded to the students she has taught.

Michele trained at Teachers College as a secondary teacher 44 years ago, graduating with a group of female Physical Education teaching peers who all share their careers with a love of sport, outdoor activities, health and physical education. Michele’s journey to Wilderness School included teaching Physical Education and Outdoor Education at schools located in northern Adelaide, the Riverland and with Life Education across South Australian schools.

During her time at Wilderness, Michele has enjoyed creating opportunities for students to gain a love of lifelong learning through physical movement. She has provided essential learning experiences for her students during the early years, as well as an environment where they can develop resilience and confidence in learning new skills

We trust Michele will enjoy her well earnt retirement, spending more time with family and friends, in addition to home renovation projects.

(ELC-Year

6)

MICK ANNETTS Maintenance Team

Firstly, Mick, none of us need to be reminded what a pleasure it is to be around such an amazing person as you. It is evident that you thoroughly enjoy working at Wilderness every day and you have made many lasting friendships with staff, students and parents alike. That will last long after you have hung up your leaf blower. Your passion is ensuring the School campus matches the Wilderness tradition. You love building the Drama props and sets, and then watching the productions come to life.

I think your favourite job is helping the girls at the Mamie and Annie Houses; you always have heaps of patience and ensure they can help along the way.

Vincent van Gogh said, “To love is nothing. To be loved is something. But to love and be loved, that’s everything.” Mick, you are the epitome of this!

Not only do you love Wilderness, but you are openly loved by the Mamie and Annie girls, and probably most of the older ones (however, they are too cool to show it). You are passionate about everything you do at Wilderness, and you are a proud member of Cedar House. I have heard Mick say that “all his favourite people are in Cedar”, so you know who you are.

After 18 years of tending to our grounds and preserving the natural beauty of our campus, this farewell speech delivered by Mr Ian Wilson captures Mick’s character and his connection to the School.

For the Maintenance team, today is a very special and significant day: the final day for our dearest friend, Mick “the Doctor” Annetts, who is retiring after 18 years of loyal service. This is both a joyous and sad occasion, as we farewell a fantastic friend and colleague.

A wise man once said that it is better to find a friend than to need one. I did not know what that really meant until I met Mick. He is one of the kindest, loving people I have ever met and it is a pleasure to know him.

My favourite memory of Mick will be how he meticulously looks after his walkie talkie. Most team members have had several replacements over the years, but Mick still has the same one after 18 years. He has devotedly maintained it throughout, and it has only had seven new batteries, eight new antennas and five new casings. As a thank you for saving the School so much money, we would like to present you with a solid gold radio (well, it’s solid and painted gold). I am sure it will look good in the pool room.

Ian Wilson Property and Facilities Manager

SUBS IN SCHOOLS

STATE CHAMPIONS

The Year 9 SUBS in Schools teams performed exceptionally at the State Championships, which were held at the Royal Adelaide Show in September.

The Argo-22 team won nine categories to become the 2022 State Champions, and qualified to represent the school at the 2023 National Championships in Sydney.

SUBS in Schools is a great way for our students to be creative and collaborative with their engineering knowledge and skills, and it is encouraging to see our students excelling in this space.

The PorPoise Team finished in Fourth Place while KreyFish finished in third place and won two categories: Best Managed Enterprise and Best Manufactured Remotely Operated Vehicle).

Argo-22 won the following nine categories: Best Team Trade Display, Best Team Marketing, Best Team Verbal Presentation, Best Team Portfolio, Best Graphic Design, Best Engineered, Best Engineered Computer Aided Design (CAD), Outstanding Industry Collaboration and the Innovation Award.

A major thank you must be extended to all the businesses that supported the teams and helped make the event a success!

YEAR 7 ETHICS OLYMPIAD WINS GOLD!

Wilderness sent two 2022 Year 7 teams to the SA/NT Ethics Olympiad final.

Congratulations to our Gold Medalwinning team of Mihika Kanhere, Bella Pasin, Alexandra Pringle, Addison Raeside and Seraphina Sun, who will progress to the International Middle School Ethics Olympiad final, to be held online this year.

GOVERNOR’S CIVICS AWARDS

On Proclamation Day, seven Wilderness students were awarded with 2022 Governor’s Civics Awards for Schools.

These awards acknowledge students who are engaged with essential aspects such as Humanities, Social Sciences, English, Sustainability and Citizenship within the Australian Curriculum.

Congratulations to the following students: Hazel Newman (Year 6), Grace Tully (Year 6), Asha Dan (Year 7), Evangeline Lee (Year 7), Nidhi Sinhal (Year 6), Manha Abaid (Year 8) and Sarah Mah (Year 8).

A further four students achieved merits: congratulations to Imogen Dreosti (Year 6), Annabel Ryder (Year 6), Matilda Burns (Year 7) and Edie Lydeamore (Year 7).

TOURNAMENT OF MINDS –INTERNATIONAL FINALS

Wilderness entered two Year 7 teams into the 2022 Tournament of Minds State Final, with Wilderness Team 1 – Bella Pasin, Bella Nguyen, Hannah Elsbury Sun, Madeline Perry, Ava Cabot, Seraphina Sun and Saanvi Khanna – winning the Secondary Language Literature section and earning the right to represent South Australia at the international final. The team travelled to Canberra during the October holiday break for the competition, and made the most of their time in the nation’s capital (including a scavenger hunt around the National Triangle).

OUR FIRST GRADUATE OF THE INDIGENOUS YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

Anesha Rahman has been a proud participant in the Indigenous Youth Leadership Program (IYLP) throughout her schooling at Wilderness.

In December 2022, more than 50 students participating in the IYLP from across Australia came together to celebrate their graduation, and Anesha became the first Aboriginal student to graduate from Wilderness School through this program.

The Indigenous Youth Leadership Program is “designed to empower and support Indigenous young people in developing leadership skills and building their capacity to engage in their communities and wider society. The program aims to create opportunities for Indigenous young people to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to become effective leaders in their communities and beyond.”

Anesha was also invited to Parliament House in December to receive a Muriel Matters Award, to acknowledge her efforts to revive the now-extinct Badimia indigenous language. The award profiles and recognises the work and life of Muriel Matters

(1877 to 1969), a South Australianborn suffragist, educator and social reformer. The Muriel Matters Awards aim to identify and recognise young people in SA schools who show the qualities of self-initiative, determination to make a difference despite personal challenges and a commitment to make the world a better place for all.

Congratulations Anesha!

WILDERNESS CLAIMS THE 2022 OVERALL INTERCOLLEGIATE TROPHY

2022 was a phenomenal year for our Wilderness athletes, with grand final victories, state championships and undefeated seasons which resulted in a packed trophy cabinet.

Our successes during Summer Intercol meant that the School was well placed for a historic moment as we approached the Winter Intercol week. After a week of fierce, fair and – most importantly – fun matches, Wilderness came away with wins in debating, football, soccer and badminton, which tipped the final overall tally 7-6 in our favour.

This victory was a long time coming; thank you to every Wilderness girl who contributed to this team effort, along with the coaches, officials and parents who made it possible. We treasure our Intercol rivalry with Seymour College for the good sportsmanship of their teams and the high calibre of competition—and we look forward to the 2023 contests.

PARENTS AND FRIENDS ASSOCIATION

The Wilderness School Parents and Friends Association (P&F) comprises 24 volunteer parents from across all sectors of the School.

The AGM is held in the third week of February each year, where any interested parent or friend may nominate to join. The requirement is simply being a person interested in your daughter’s education environment, who can volunteer several hours throughout the year. Our key role is friend-raising and fun-raising.

We sit under the Wilderness School Governing Council, and alongside the Wilderness Foundation Board and the Wilderness Old Scholars’ Association. Together we each focus on our respective audiences and for us, it is our current parents and girls who are most important. To support and engage with our community we are guided by three pillars: governance, community and connectivity.

The Executive Committee is comprised of Jen Guest, Viv Camerini, Jay Pandaya and Joe Maurici.

In 2022, we reviewed the Constitution and streamlined the treasury aspect, as our world moves into a cashless society. Within governance, we have taken steps to ensure transparency and ease of decision making to comply with school rules and regulations whilst providing our girls and their families with fun additions to events. An inaugural strategic planning evening was held, facilitating a threeyear strategic plan for the association, as our school continues to grow in its strength and commitment to girls’ education and wellbeing.

A small subgroup of the P&F is the Friends of Music (FOM), a separate entity that friend- and fun-raise for the Wilderness School Music Department. Being a smaller entity, P&F take care of FOM monetary funds to allow the FOM to remain viable, as well as assisting them at Music events.

To enhance connectivity through our school, we support the Class Representatives. These are parents, separate from the committee, who act as representatives for their daughter’s

year level, coordinating parent events such as bottle and plate nights, daddy-daughter bowling, picnics in the park and ice-skating afternoons. These parents are the go-to for questions about the school year, excursions, camp requirements and reminders of when school sport starts and finishes. They are the little angels who help with parent survival from week to week.

Every November, existing parents volunteer to act as a buddy to a new family joining our community. They contact the new family and introduce themselves to the parents, offering guidance and a point of reference as their daughters start their own journeys at Wilderness. Sometimes they even meet up for a play date or two before the school year starts. Our buddies assist in introducing the new family to the cohort, ensuring a streamlined induction for the parents as well as the girls to our school.

Community events in 2022 were restricted due to COVID-19. We once again ran a Wilderness School team

at the Mother's Day Classic and were awarded the Largest Participating School Team award for the 11th consecutive year, and in 2022, we also took the title of the Highest Fundraising School Team. Our bright school tent and goodie table proved quite a point of interest at Elder Park, showcasing a girls’ school supporting breast cancer awareness and being a wonderful collection point for our team members.

At school sports, you will have seen the P&F’s Wildy supporter merchandise, which can be purchased through flexischools. An initiative of the committee, the garments have been designed to reflect our school's colours so that parents can stand alongside as a proud supporter of Wilderness School.

Our largest initiative in 2022 was creating a Wilderness Cookbook. A P&F subcommittee comprised of Pooja Newman, Sharan Callus, Adrian Balestrin, Sheree Redic and Sarah Stroeher created the community publication.

Many hours of collating, editing and publishing went into this amazing cookbook, highlighting the diverse cultures within our school through tasty dining table ideas.

Our year finished on a high, with the return to social events and two of our special annual features. The P&F provided drinks and canapés to all Year 12 valedictorians, parents and teachers at the Senior School Speech Night, held in the Wilderness Café, and later that week, at the bright Christmas party on Memorial Lawn as part of the Junior School Christmas Concert.

To all of our school community who donated to the Parents and Friends subscription in 2022, I thank you. The P&F family subscription is a small donation that can make such a difference as a collective from all families across the School. In 2022 we were able to direct a portion of the funds to the Wilderness Scholarship Fund, managed by the Foundation Board through our 2022 Giving Day.

In recent years, the contribution from our parents has allowed the P&F – representing the entire parent community – to proudly fund the Gym lighting installation, the Parents and Friends terrace between the Michell Music Centre and Newman Theatre, equipment in the Science faculty, the Raising Amazing Girls education seminars and we have been a matching donor for the 2021 Charidy Day.

As we head into 2023, please consider contributing to the cause and embrace the difference we can make as Wilderness School parents and friends—each and every one of us.

Jen Guest President, Parents and Friends Association

Our Parents and Friends Association plays a vital role in strengthening intergenerational friendships, building upon Wilderness’ strong community spirit and bringing together parents, staff and friends of the School.

STORIES FROM THE ARCHIVES

THE STORY BEYOND THE BOOK

In 2022, Poppy Dawes (a Year 7 Boarder) presented the Archives with a beautiful book that was given to her maternal great, great aunt. After Poppy’s granny found the book, she showed it to Poppy, who was very surprised to see a note in the book written by Miss Margaret. She put the connection together that Medindie High School was Wilderness School, and she was very surprised to see how far back her family’s connection to the School went.

“I felt pretty surprised, because I didn’t think my granny would have something like that,” Poppy said. “I knew my family had been coming here for years, but I never knew [it was] from basically when it started.”

The book is a beautiful artefact—a velvet covered Complete Works of William Shakespeare spread over 1,350 pages.

Ms Muriel James was gifted this book in December 1915 by Miss Margaret H Brown in recognition of her wonderful university Junior Examination results. This examination was the equivalent of our current Year 11 examinations.

The examination results were published in The Advertiser on Thursday 30 December 1915; Muriel placed 34th in the State’s General Honours list and was equal 4th in the State for French. Muriel received a Credit for French, and she passed English, History, Algebra, Latin, Botany and Physiology. Muriel was 15 years old when she sat these examinations.

From the Archives, we know that Muriel attended the Misses Brown’s Medindie High School and Kindergarten as a day student before the name of the School was changed to The Wilderness School in 1918.

In 1916, Muriel played the Messenger in the Operetta Prince Ju Ju which was performed at the December Children’s Concert. After leaving school, Muriel became a nurse and specialised in Midwifery.

Her family legacy continues at Wilderness today and spans three generations through Poppy, and her paternal grandmother Sarah Dawes (Lyons) who also attended Wilderness as a day student from 1952 to 1964.

Marg Keane Archivist

DO YOU HAVE AN OLD SCHOOL MAGAZINE NEEDING TO BE REHOMED?

The Archives is currently seeking copies of School magazines from the following years:

> 1920-1925

> 1927-1930

> 1936-1940

> 1954 > 1974 > 1975 > 1977 > 1978

If you have a copy that you are willing to donate, please contact Mrs Marg Keane at mkeane@wilderness.com.au

The School’s Archivist is always willing to receive items that are part of the School’s history, should you wish to donate something that you have at home.

If you have an item, please contact School Archivist, Marg Keane at mkeane@wilderness.com.au, who can assist with and provide further instruction. Please include as much information as possible about the item.

If you wish to donate photographs, each one should be captioned with the names of the people pictured, the event that it was taken at and the date (or year).

COFFEE CATCH UP

Coffee Catch Ups are a great opportunity to meet with old scholars over morning tea, to share cherished memories of their time at Wilderness.

MARGIE FORBES (BLACKBURN) CLASS OF 1946

NOEL HAYMAN (ROSS) CLASS OF 1948

Margie Forbes had a reputation amongst her fellow Wilderness students for being bossy—in fact, she even earned herself the nickname of ‘Bossy Blackburn’. One day, she told this to her father. He asked her, “Well, are you?” Her reply was swift: “Nothing would get done otherwise!”

Margie has strong memories of Miss Mamie, whom she became fond of in her later years at school, and remembers her for having a great sense of humour. That being said, when you did something wrong, Miss Mamie knew how to use her words so that the girls realised the significance of their actions. “She would make you feel small with words,” Margie recalls. She also remembers Miss Wait, who taught French at the School, for her lovely kindness and for being a wonderful cook.

One particular Miss Mamie moment is still memorable to her now. She – along with her fellow students – begged Miss Mamie to let them host a school dance. They were thrilled when Miss Mamie agreed, although she had one clear warning for the girls: “No darting into dark corners or Carob bushes [with boys]”.

After she graduated from Wilderness, Margie went on to teach at Scotch College for many years, and she served on Council. It certainly seems that in pursuing teaching as her career pathway, she made the most of her tendency to ‘get things done’ and lead confidently.

Noel Hayman arrived at Wilderness as a bright-eyed four-year-old, ready for the first chapter of her school journey, which would traverse from early learning to her graduation.

While she was a day student, she got her own short experience in the Boarding House. One year, her parents went on a cruise, and it was decided that Noel and her sister, Susan, would stay in the Boarding House while their parents were away. Unfortunately, one evening Noel had a terrible toothache and was in such pain that she wandered down to the Drawing Room at night. There, she interrupted the Misses Browns, wearing only her nightie, and Miss Mamie had to escort her back upstairs!

In her senior schooling years, Noel was awarded the privilege of being named School Prefect. However, this came with responsibilities—including the necessity of telling off the other girls when they were not wearing their gloves. Even after she left Wilderness as a student, she returned to the School’s story between 1968 and 1972, where she took on the role of School Librarian.

WILDERNESS SCHOOL FOUNDATION

FELLOWSHIP AND PRIZE RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED

Through the generosity of donors, Wilderness is proud to annually offer students and staff opportunities outside of the classroom that contribute to their personal development. We are also proud to be in the position to formally recognise girls for their contribution to society at the conclusion of each year.

Jane Danvers Foundation Senior School Prize

In 2022, the Jane Danvers Foundation Senior School Prize was awarded to Year 10 student, Fengfan Zhang and Year 12 student, Anesha Rahman, who are both truly outstanding candidates who personify the School’s values and amply fulfil the Prize criteria: a Senior School girl who models ethical behaviour and channels her energy and compassion as an activist, advocate and philanthropist.

Fengfan Zhang was recognised for her commitment to helping a younger student with their reading through the Smith Family’s Student2Student program over the past three years. As an avid reader herself, Fengfan was interested in helping children foster their love for reading and overcome a learning curb. Drawing on her experience as a migrant child with parents who did not speak English well, she knew that she would have appreciated reading to someone, who albeit just listened, regularly.

Anesha Rahman was equally as committed to her philanthropic pursuits. Over the past two years, she has helped her mum and poppa to revive the extinct Badimia language that has no fluent speakers left. She has also brought Indigenous Australian adversities to the forefront of the discussion in both the parliament and sociocultural spheres.

Roger Masters Fellowship

In 2022, the Roger Masters Fellowship was awarded to Year 11 student, Sarojini McGrath and Year 12 student, Esen Cinar. Sarojini has undertaken acting classes with Adelaide Model Management, while Esen has continued to develop her audition techniques with workshops offered by Free Agents Youth Theatre Company.

Catherine Ye Fellowship

Our teaching staff also benefit from a culture of philanthropy. Through the Catherine Ye Teacher Fellowship, they are supported in pursuing their own educational ambitions and are encouraged to complete research/study projects outside of the regular Professional Learning programme which all staff participate in at the School.

The 2022 Catherine Ye Teacher Fellowship was awarded to Mr Mathew D’Aloisio, who plans to undertake a Master of Education at the University of Melbourne and looks forward to contributing to the development of differentiated learning at Wilderness through best practice underpinned by research-based evidence.

Mary Ann Matthews Scholarship

In 2016, The Mary Ann Matthews Scholarship was established in memory of the dearly loved Matthews family matriarch—Mary Ann, who was a medical practitioner and passionate about education through experience.

Thanks to the generosity of her family, the Scholarship is awarded each year to current Year 11 and 12 students so they can undertake a project or placement to broaden their perspective of the world.

In 2022, the Mary Ann Matthews Scholarship was awarded to Year 12 students Inika Weber and Victoria Lane, who will both embark upon life-changing adventures made possible through the Scholarship.

Inika will volunteer with GVI (Global Vision International), focusing on the conservation of endangered turtles in Thailand and Victoria will support the education of disadvantaged children in Tanzania.

Congratulations to all of these worthy recipients and, of course thank you to the Foundation, Matthews and Ye families and the anonymous donor funding the Roger Masters Fellowship for their amazing generosity.

April Ridgway Director of Communications and Marketing Interim Head of Advancement

STUDENT FOUNDATION

The Student Foundation is one of the largest committees within the School, led by each year’s elected Student Foundation Representative and powered by dedicated student volunteers. Hear from the outgoing 2022 Representative Yan Hei Annecy Cheung and incoming 2023 Representative Lily Craig about the initiatives and fundraising drives which have been run to support the work of the Foundation.

FATHER’S DAY STALL

The Student Foundation is dedicated to giving back to the School community through fundraising initiatives and volunteering.

In 2022, the Student Foundation worked towards raising funds for the establishment of a Middle School Foundation Prize, which will recognise a student for their compassion as an activist, advocate and philanthropist. Despite our activities being heavily impacted by COVID-19, we successfully managed to raise $1162 towards the prize. On Father’s Day, we ran a stall on the Running Track selling funky socks, sugar cookies, aprons and fedoras. These items sold out within one lunchtime, demonstrating the girls’ enthusiasm to express gratitude and love through these gifts.

Yan Hei Annecy Cheung 2022 Student Foundation Representative

CHRISTMAS DRIVE

Thanks to the very creative and ambitious SRC, 2022 was filled with so many new and exciting initiatives. As the Student Foundation Representative for 2023, I sought to carry on their legacy by trying something different for the recent Christmas Drive. I wanted to offer our girls the opportunity to give their friends and family an affordable and simple yet meaningful gift—something a little different from candy canes or chocolate.

I was inspired by small ornaments which one of our Digital Technology teachers created and gave as gifts to their classes last year, and I decided – with very limited knowledge of laser cutting – to try and replicate this idea.

Wilderness girls have the privilege of accessing state-of-the-art digital technology and resources that I had full reign to use. With the help of Mr Liam Sloan, Mr Thomas Keller and a YouTube video about how to use Adobe Illustrator, I created two Christmas ornament designs.

Through a TryBooking link – set up by Ms Maryanne Saracino, who assisted at every step of the way – students and the parents of our younger girls could order silver acrylic or plywood ornaments, with an engraved option. The latter was the most popular, due to the appeal of a personalised gift. In total, there were 222 ornaments purchased, ranging from our Mamie girls up to the Year 11s and staff. We thank everyone who ordered ornaments and contributed to the success of this drive to share the Christmas spirit. I hope these ornaments, adorned on our trees over Christmas, were a reminder of our Wilderness School community.

Lily Craig 2023 Student Foundation Representative

SUPPORTING CATHERINE HOUSE

Each Christmas, we look forward to seeing the annual Christmas tree, kindly donated by the Petrucco family, on Memorial Hall Lawn as it prompts our excitement for the festive season with our families and friends.

It is also a reminder that not everyone feels the same or is as fortunate. For some, Christmas can be difficult, particularly if they are separated from their families. This is why, for several years now, we have proudly donated items to women in need by supporting Catherine House for our Christmas Appeal. Catherine House is a local organisation that offers crisis, longer-term accommodation and support services for women experiencing homelessness.

Thank you to the girls, their families and our staff who took the time to give to this wonderful cause and share in the spirit of Christmas. With the donations received, we have not only provided women with a gift, but also presented them with the opportunity to give to others, particularly their children.

Everyone deserves to feel valued and cared for and with our community’s support, we made this possible.

April Ridgway Director of Communications and Marketing Interim Head of Advancement

OLD BOYS’ COCKTAIL PARTY

Over the years we have often spoken of the tapestry that is bound together by each student who once walked the paths of Wilderness.

Once upon a time, these paths were also walked on by young, cheeky and adventurous boys who attended the School in their early years.

As a precious and unique moment in our school’s history, these ‘old boys’ are a group of men we cherish dearly, so it was no surprise how much we enjoyed their company at their annual cocktail party held in August last year.

It might have been a short, dreary winter’s day, but inside the Drawing Room beamed warmth and laughter as our guests happily shared their memories of Wilderness and relished the opportunity to reconnect with one another.

After what was a truly enjoyable evening, I look forward to the next occasion when these wonderful past students and honorary old scholars join us again.

April Ridgway Director of Communications and Marketing Interim Head of Advancement

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHESS

As Mrs Lorraine Gormly OAM entered her 41st year of running the Chess program at Wilderness in 2022, the School had the privilege of honouring her longstanding volunteer service with a special celebratory event.

After needing to be rescheduled due to COVID-19, the evening took place on Wednesday 31 August 2022 in The Chrysalis. Many old scholars returned to celebrate their former mentor, enjoy canapés and drinks, reminisce memories and challenge each other to chess matches.

Over four decades, Lorraine has impacted several generations of Wilderness girls, who have spent their lunchtimes learning the craft and tactics of chess under her guidance.

ARE YOU AN ‘OLD BOY’?

If you are a male past student of Wilderness who attended the School in your early years – perhaps from the Browns’ era or the years that came after –we would love to hear from you. To ensure you are invited to these special events and others, please contact oldscholars@wilderness.com.au.

We thank her greatly for her ongoing service to the School, and we were glad for the opportunity to recognise this formally.

WILDERNESS OLD SCHOLARS

FROM THE WOSA PRESIDENT

Looking back on 2022, there is one word that comes to mind: inspirational. Within the old scholar and school community, I found many moments of inspiration.

Here are a few that I would like to share and reflect upon:

The WOSA Industry Forums

The WOSA Industry Forums require us to ask old scholars to be panel members and share their expertise with others. Despite many of our panelists having had minimal ongoing connection to WOSA or the School, their generosity and willingness to jump on board was nothing short of inspirational (as indeed are their personal career stories!). Thank you to all of the women who made up our Industry Forum panels.

Quiz Night

Quiz Night set up requires many hands on the day, and last year the committee found itself a little short of help. It was lunchtime at school and without a grumble or heavy sigh, a team of girls came to our rescue. The tremendous initiative and work effort they demonstrated was inspiring— thanks girls!

Principal Appointment

2022 saw the appointment of our new Principal, Mrs Belinda Arnfield. The professionalism and leadership with which she, her executive team and the teaching staff managed the transition is a lesson in inspiration for all business leaders.

Staying Connected

WOSA Committee Member, Jane Lee (1970) enjoys writing birthday cards to our older old scholars and it is not uncommon for them to send her a handwritten reply. I am inspired by their courteousness and genuine interest in staying connected as an old scholar. In an age of fewer personal emails, they are keeping the art of the handwritten letter alive—keep your letters coming!

WOSA Committee

Finally, I continue to be inspired by every member of the WOSA committee who volunteers their time on top of career, family and study commitments. Somehow, they manage to fit it all in and always bring their best selves to the table.

No matter what age or stage of life we are in, we all have the capacity to inspire and be inspired. I encourage everyone to keep an open mind and be receptive to the inspiration that is all around you.

Jacki Smith (1978)

President, Wilderness Old Scholars’ Association (WOSA)

LinkedIn: Jacki Smith

Email: president@osa.wilderness.com.au

2023 EVENTS AND CELEBRATIONS

OLD SCHOLAR EVENTS

Wilderness Old Scholars’ Association Incorporated

NOTICE OF 2023 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

NOTICE is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the members of the Wilderness Old Scholars’ Association will be held at Wilderness School, 30 Hawkers Road, Medindie, South Australia in The Chrysalis room on Tuesday 6 June 2023 at 6.30pm.

BUSINESS:

1. President’s Report

2. Principal’s Report

3. Treasurer’s Report

4. Resignations

5. Nomination and Election of Office Bearers

6. Nomination and Election of Committee Members

7. Special Business Apologies should be made via email to adolling@wilderness.com.au or by phone to Amelia Dolling, Old Scholars’ Engagement Officer on 08 8343 1029 by Friday 2 June 2023

Danielle White Secretary

Gentlemen of Wilderness Cocktail Party

Thursday 27 April

Founders’ Day

Friday 19 May

WOSA Industry Forum

’Women On Boards’

Wednesday 14 June

Wilderness Quiz Night

Friday 1 September

OVERSEAS REUNIONS

United States of America

Date and Venue: TBC

INTERSTATE REUNIONS

Victoria Reunion (Melbourne)

Saturday 6 May

The Carlton Wine Room trybooking.com/CHBXJ

NSW Reunion (Sydney)

Saturday 24 June

Venue: TBC

Tasmania Reunion (Hobart)

Date and Venue: TBC

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/wildernessoldscholars

Connect with us on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/wildernessoldscholars

GRADUATING YEAR REUNIONS

Class of 1963 – 60 Year Reunion

Date and Venue: TBC

Class of 1973 – 50 Year Reunion

Saturday 13 May

The Kent Town Hotel trybooking.com/CGWZT

Class of 1983 – 40 Year Reunion

Date and Venue: TBC

Class of 1993 – 30 Year Reunion

Date and Venue: TBC

Class of 2003 – 20 Year Reunion

Saturday 12 August Fine and Fettle trybooking.com/CHCEM

Class of 2013 – 10 Year Reunion

Saturday 29 April

The Lion Hotel

Class of 2018 – 5 Year Reunion

Saturday 6 May

The Brompton Hotel

ARE YOUR DETAILS UP TO DATE?

To receive information relating to events and reunions, please ensure your details are up to date with us by contacting

Amelia Dolling

Old Scholars’ Engagement Officer adolling@wilderness.com.au

(08) 8343 1029

INDUSTRY FORUMS

LEGAL INDUSTRY

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

The Legal Industry Forum held by the Wilderness Old Scholars’ Association was an invaluable experience for all in attendance.

Current students and old scholars gathered in The Chrysalis on the Thursday 18 August 2022 to hear Mellissa Larkin (1995), Holly Gardner (1986), Lucinda Dolan (1998) and Rosie Jervis (1998) speak about their legal professions. Through a casual Q&A interaction, we were all able to learn so much about their careers and the experiences of these successful women in law. As a student hoping to pursue law, I found it fascinating to listen to the four presenters, each with such unique career paths and skills.

To end the night, we were invited to network over light nibbles, and I was able to engage in a very insightful conversation about the profession with one of the speakers. This opportunity provided a clearer outlook for my future career goals and allowed me to gain a further understanding of the legal profession, bringing light to the myriad of unique prospects in this field.

Georgina Gross Year 12

The Creative Industries Forum was the second event of its kind for 2022 and was held in November.

Focused on the topic of ‘Passion for the Creative Industries –Adapting and Thriving to Touch Hearts, Minds and Souls’, the panel consisted of Cathy Adamek (1986), Kathryn Fleming (1984), Daniela Leska (2005) and Helen Sheldon (1981), who represented a broad range of careers across the industry. The ladies shared their knowledge and expertise with a group of 30 old scholars and even some past staff who were crucial to the creative arts education of the women who are so successful today. Audience members were treated to tips and tricks on nailing an audition and what it is like to be a young woman pursuing a non-traditional path after school. The panel ended with a wonderful networking opportunity where old scholars had the chance to connect and get some personal advice for their futures.

Thank you to the panellists for donating their time and for inspiring a new generation of Wilderness women to continue their careers in this field.

Amelia Dolling (2016) Old Scholars’ Engagement Coordinator

WOSA MERCHANDISE

The Old Scholars’ Association offers a number of beautiful jewellery pieces as representative keepsakes of a student’s time at Wilderness.

Signet rings and charms are available for purchase online at www.trybooking.com/BXBAN exclusively to old scholars and make a fabulous gift for friends, daughters or granddaughters.

Ring sizing must be provided when ordering. Sample rings for sizing are available through the Old Scholars’ Engagement Coordinator.

OLD SCHOLARS GOLF DAY 2022

The 2022 Old Scholars Annual Golf Day was held on Monday 14 November at Royal Adelaide Golf Club.

Sixteen Wilderness Old Scholars from Adelaide, Burra, Naracoorte and Renmark joined our friends from Seymour College, Annesley College, St Peter’s Woodlands Grammar and Walford Anglican School in abnormally chilly conditions to compete for inter- and intra-school trophies. Over 100 women took to the field by 8.30am to see what challenges Royal Adelaide presented!

Everyone was looked after magnificently during their rounds by a band of volunteers who served up delicious homemade slices and biscuits, coffee and cool drinks.

Lunch ensued in the dining room, along with a great deal of chatter, followed by individual and overall prize presentations.

Walford was this year’s winner of the Ingrid Esau Cup for the Best Overall School Result. Wilderness experienced some great golfing performances, with Briony Williams (1969) winning the Wilderness School Old Scholars’ Perpetual Trophy and Steph Murdock (1982) as the runner-up. Briony combined strongly with Di Moore (1971), Lesley Gosse (1967) and Sandy Hayes (1972) to win the Best Team Stableford Award.

All in all, it was another happy get-together. At present, we are waiting on confirmation of next year’s date. Please refer to future editions of the Wilderness Times for details. All Wilderness Old Scholars’ Association members, plus this year’s participants, will be notified by email.

We would love to welcome any new players as well as our existing players to this extremely enjoyable day.

Vicki Thwaites (Bruce) (1975)

A CELEBRATORY HIGH TEA

On Wednesday 16 November 2022, we hosted old scholars who graduated in the 60s and prior to a special event at the School: a high tea event to acknowledge their special place in our community.

It was a wonderful occasion to catch up with friends, share a cup of tea and enjoy exceptional musical performances from current students. We cherish the connection we have with our old scholars from past generations, as newer old scholars like myself are able to hear stories of what life was like at Wilderness in its earlier days and gain a deeper understanding of the long-lasting relationships that they have created.

It was especially wonderful to hear the School song, sung proudly in its original key, by the attendees. Thank you to the ladies who attended and we hope to see you all again in 2023.

Amelia Dolling (2016) Old Scholars’ Engagement Coordinator

GRADUATING REUNIONS 60 YEAR

Classes of 1960, 1961 and 1962

Saturday 22 October 2022

After a three-year-long hiatus, it was wonderful to welcome back our old scholars for their graduating reunions—to reminisce, reconnect and enjoy the company of schoolmates. Thank you to every old scholar who attended and became part of the largest suite of reunions we have ever held in a single year!

On Friday 21 October, we were warmly greeted at the School by the Principal, Belinda Arnfield, and taken on a guided tour.

We were shown the wonderful facilities and learning environments we could never have imagined in our final year—1962. Imagine having a sleepover in the library with the Principal? Or a cafè that served barista coffee? A lunch held on the following day gave us the opportunity to catch up on lives interestingly and well lived. We were sorry the numbers were low (mainly due to illness). Fortunately, many of us still live in Adelaide and have maintained friendships through the years, so more stories were shared beyond those who attended.

Anne Russell produced a fun collation of photos, collected over the years from many girls in our peer group. This has been given to the School’s archives.

Anne Russell and Marilyn Pitt (Kidnie) (1962)

50 YEAR

Classes of 1970, 1971 and 1972

Saturday 24 September 2022

At last! After being delayed in recent years, the classes of 1970, 1971 and 1972 were able to get together for their 50 Year Reunion.

There was much laughter and chatter as we were shown around the School grounds. So much has changed in 52 years. The Running Track, School Hall (now Newman Theatre) and Green Door brought back memories from years gone by.

We enjoyed lunch the following day, exchanging photographs and more memories. It was lovely to hear what our Wilderness girls have done since leaving school and we look forward to the next reunion for 60 years!

Elisabeth (Jane) Lee (1970)

40 YEAR

Classes of 1980, 1981 and 1982

Saturday 29 October 2022

Well... after a long wait to catch up with our classmates, we finally met for a fabulous tour of the “new, improved and wonderful” Wilderness School.

We were all totally in awe as Amelia showed us through Wilderness. What a wonderful place for young women to spend their formative years.

We then went on to enjoy a fabulous lunch at The Cathedral Hotel; it was such fun, with so much to chat about. I am so thrilled to be forever part of the Class of ’81.

We are all part of many groups throughout our lives; the wonderful thing about belonging to this group is that it does not grow or change (depending on new appointments and resignations), and that is why it will be so special to us all for the rest of our lives!

I am looking forward to seeing this great gang again in 2031. Booie Hayward (1981)

30 YEAR

Classes of 1991 and 1992

Saturday 19 November 2022

On Friday 18 November, a small group of ’91/’92 girls met at the School to look around the beautiful new buildings. The new Library and Learning Commons were amazing. The girls are so lucky to have this modern, high-tech experience. The learning nooks were also very cosy.

We loved seeing the Art Centre and all the learning spaces we enjoyed when we were at school. The girls remembered the typing room with fond memories, and we are all grateful to be great touch-typers in our work lives due to the methods we learned on the typewriters. Some girls enjoyed a photo outside the Middle School Office where they spent many a time in Years 8 and 9 under the watchful eye of Mrs Carolyn Grantskalns. The visit to the Boarding House was also a highlight for the old boarders.

On Saturday 19 November, a group of almost 60 old girls met at The Cathedral for a lovely lunch with lots of chats and reminiscing from more than 30 years ago. It was wonderful to have so many girls visiting from interstate for the lunch and we were grateful they made such a big effort. After a separate lunch in different rooms for the ’91 and ’92 groups, it was great to all come together. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves with lots of smiles and much chatter.

Many thanks to Miss Amelia Dolling and Mrs Belinda Arnfield for supporting and organising such a great catch up. We all look forward to our next one—we are planning a catch-up in five years, rather than waiting until our 40 Year Reunion.

Naomi Fahey Quick (1991)

20 YEAR

Classes of 2001 and 2002

Saturday 13 August 2022

Kicking off the 2022 Reunion events in August, the classes of 2001 and 2002 were together once again for their 20 Year Reunion.

Starting the day with a School tour, there were many stories shared of their time as girls and their experiences at Wilderness. Marvelling at new developments and reminiscing about what has stood the test of time, the group then moved on to the Cathedral Hotel to reconnect with each other over drinks and nibbles in the evening.

Sharing lifetime achievements, baby photos, career goals and much more, the night was one to be remembered and we look forward to hosting again for the 30 Year Reunion!

Amelia Dolling Old Scholars’ Engagement Coordinator

10 YEAR

Class of 2012

Friday 30 September 2022

It has been a decade since the Class of 2012 women walked together through the gates of Hawkers Road, but for those who attended the ten-year reunion in September of 2022, conversations sparked like no time had passed at all, though it was talk of careers, real estate and the excitement of travel, rather than of ATARs, the lunch menu at the cafe and the latest Mathematics test.

We thoroughly enjoyed reminiscing about our adventures of the Junior School, the exciting subjects of the Middle School, and the empowering years of the Senior School— each of which contributed to the dreams, ambitions and goals we set as young women leaving the grounds of the wilderness, and to the marks we are making on the world today as Wilderness Old Scholars.

It was wonderful to be together again, to appreciate our time as Wilderness students, the friendships we made and the incredible range of paths we've each been on since then.

On behalf of the Class of 2012, thank you to Miss Amelia Dolling and the Old Scholars team who put together our reunion.

Tori Tasker (2012)

5 YEAR

Class of 2017

Friday 30 September 2022

On Friday 30 September, the Class of 2017 had the opportunity to catch up for our 5 Year school reunion.

The reunion started with the much-anticipated school tour. It was absolutely fantastic to see the incredible transformation that Wilderness has undergone in only five short years. We walked through the School as we recounted memories from our time as Wilderness girls.

After the School tour, we headed to The Cathedral Hotel for drinks and nibbles. The conversations went late into the night, as we all had so much to talk about. It was amazing hearing about all the successes and triumphs that my classmates have achieved in just a short amount of time. Since leaving Wilderness, many of us have moved interstate and it was great to see everybody come back for the event.

The night was definitely one to remember and we are all keen for the next one.

Once a Wildy girl, always a Wildy girl.

Denver Matthews (2017)

WILDERNESS INTERGENERATIONAL FAMILIES

Walkley Family

Antholiza and Amaryllis House

Marita Walkley (Fullarton) (1922) ANT

Robert Walkley (Old Boys entered 1934)

Jean Tregenza (Walkley) (1947) ANT

Cathy Miller (Walkley) (1954) ANT

Wendy Raymond (Miller) (1978) AMY

Catie Raymond (2011) AMY

Jacqui Raymond (2013) AMY

Wilderness and women go hand in hand in my family. With four generations having attended Wildy, it is impossible to deny the role our Hawkers Road Alma Mater has played in our lives.

My older sister, Catie (2011) and I were aware of the significant connection between my family and the School from an early age, as our great-grandmother Marita Walkley (Fullarton) (1922), grandmother Cathy Miller (Walkley) (1954) and mother Wendy Raymond (Miller) (1978) had all passed on to us stories of their time at the School with the green door. Through maintaining its focus on excellence, and expert balancing of its celebration of history whilst embracing the future, there was never really a question about which school mum wanted Catie and I to attend.

I remember the excitement we felt when it was finally our turn to go to Wilderness at the ripe young ages of 8 and 10. I can also recall how this excitement was quickly overshadowed by what felt like one of the biggest decisions we had ever had to make: what House did we want to be in?

Whilst most girls are randomly assigned a House, those with relatives who previously attended or are

currently attending the School will generally remain loyal to their family’s House. My family, however, fell prey to an unfortunate administrative error that placed my mum in Amaryllis, after my gran and great-gran had both donned the Antholiza blue. Many would have chosen their children’s House for them, but not my mum. Catie and I were tasked with hearing out both our gran and mum’s arguments as to why their House should be the chosen one, and told to arrive at a joint decision—never an easy task for young siblings! Thus began the great family debate of 2002. The numbers game was played (that two from Anty, one from Amy means Anty should win) and the recency bias was put on the table. We heard “pink is better than blue” and “Anty is stronger in sport” (I’m pretty sure that was bogus). However, it was the “But I’m your mother” card that finally handed Amy the win—and I can’t imagine it any other way.

The ten years I spent at Wilderness were some of the best of my life, with many of my fondest memories including participating in musical ensembles and acting in the School plays.

After my gran’s role as Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest (circa 1952) and my mum’s claim to fame as

Mole in The Wind in the Willows in 1975, I went on to take part in four plays, with Drama being one of my favourite subjects. Thank God You’re Here was my drama game of choice (the ideal activity for a child with a rampant imagination) and the hours spent rehearsing Ms Sheldon’s choreography and perfecting scenes with Mr Roger Masters are undoubtedly highlights of my time at school. I am so grateful that Wilderness encourages its students to be courageous and always true to themselves, and I feel very fortunate to have grown up in an environment that valued creativity as much as I did. Now a producer at a creative studio, I would not be where I am today if my artistic curiosity and penchant for the weird and wonderful had not been so openly embraced by the School.

Sport has also played a significant role in my family’s lives, no doubt born from our competitive streak and the countless hours spent playing sport at school. My gran was a strong runner and fondly remembers racing on the infamous Running Track during her time at Wilderness.

Back then, there were a couple of tennis courts and a basketball court on the school grounds where she and her friends would play at lunchtime, often

whilst enjoying a treat from the old tuckshop. My mum was (and still is) a handy sportswoman, having played netball, squash and tennis at school, which later blossomed into a lifelong love of racquet sports. This was passed on to Catie and I, who both played tennis, then lacrosse, for the School. Some of my favourite days of the year were Sports Day and Swimming Carnival, and I was lucky enough to be part of Amy’s legendary five-year winning streak. My mum, sister and I still sometimes play tennis together and I continued to play lacrosse for the Wilderness League Team up until the end of 2021.

My family also enjoyed taking on various leadership roles over the years. I was a House Captain in Year 12, and my gran and mum were both prefects. Mum clearly recalls the ‘Teachers versus Prefects’ netball match, when the prefects all dressed as Martians in green garbage bags with antennae of pipe cleaners (you can’t make these things up!) and cheated relentlessly.

The teachers pulled on their garbage bag clothes and covered them in talcum powder to try and get the ball throughout the game. How the times have changed!

In Catie’s final year of school, she proudly took on the role of SRC President. My sister made a remarkable number of contributions to Wilderness as a diligent student, skilled sportswoman and impressive musician, but she went above and beyond in her final year as President. She organised fundraisers, delivered speeches and inspired her peers with her ability to balance her numerous commitments, all whilst remaining a kind and loyal friend—she is a Wildy girl through and through. The skills she learned in roles such as this have undoubtedly aided her career, as she is now a successful lawyer, currently practising in London.

After graduating from Wilderness, gran studied nursing at the Children’s Hospital. She maintained her involvement with Wildy by regularly serving on the tuckshop roster and helping out at Sports Days. Following a year-long Rotary exchange in Germany, Mum went to medical school and is now a specialist histopathologist and Associate Professor at Flinders University, a title she earned after dedicating countless hours to breast cancer research. She continued to be involved with the School through the Wilderness School Foundation and

Friends of Music Committee, and has sponsored the Raymond Music Prize for Solo Performance since 2014.

Aside from lacrosse, I have remained a part of the School community for the past few years through my participation in the Old Scholars’ Jazz Choir. It is so special to sing with this fabulous group of women every week and it has been such a joy to perform at school events again, including the Annual Music Showcase and Advent Service.

Wilderness has certainly had a profound influence on the women in my family. We share a true curiosity about life, alongside a belief that we should always try to make the best of every situation and embrace the challenges life offers. Who knows, maybe we can even extend the tradition to five generations one day!

Jacqui Raymond Class of 2013

Marita Walkley (Fullarton) (1922) Cathy Miller (Walkley) (1954)

Wendy Raymond (Miller) (1978)

Catie Raymond (2011)

Jacqui Raymond (2013)

Jean Tregenza (Walkley) (1947)

Robert Walkley (Old Boys entered 1934)

1. Wendy Raymond (Miller), Cathy Miller (Walkley), Catie Raymond and Marita Walkley (Fullarton), 1993.

2. Catie Raymond, Cathy Miller (Walkley), Wendy Raymond (Miller) cutting ribbon for OS Practice Room in Michell Music Centre, 2011.

3. Jacqui Raymond, Catie Raymond and Wendy Raymond (Miller).

LEADING THE WAY

Wilderness School is proud to celebrate the success of all our past and present students and their many outstanding achievements. Leading the Way offers our community insight into our amazing old scholars’ lives, beyond the Wilderness School gates.

Since then, I have continued to develop wine brands for a wide range of markets and demographics. I am passionate about bringing a fresh approach to a very traditional industry and evolving our concept of wine to resonate with the next generation consumer.

Alongside my career in wine, I study a Bachelor of Laws and Economics at the University of Adelaide. This provides a nice balance to my life, with my law degree teaching me invaluable frameworks to approach problems and my economics degree opening up my eyes to how the world works.

VICTORIA MOULARADELIS CLASS OF 2019

Business Development Manager at Kingston Estate Wines

What ignited your passion for your career choice? Can you describe your journey?

I was very exposed to the wine industry from a young age, from my parents’ involvement in the industry, as well as growing up in the Riverland, Australia’s largest grape-growing region. I always knew that wine would form a meaningful part of my life.

My ‘career’ began when I was in Middle School, when my sisters and I began a handmade jewellery business, ‘The Mo Sisters’, that we would sell on Etsy, at markets and to boutiques. This experience taught me the fundamentals of selling—I distinctly remember sitting at markets all day, learning how to sell our product to passers-by.

Three years later, our natural extension to our jewellery venture was purchasing a small vineyard in the Coonawarra, which we called ‘Mo Sisters Vineyard’. Over the next few years, my sisters and I developed our first wine brand, ‘Mo Sisters Wines’, a new-age wine brand that embodied our distinctive style. This was the start of my chapter in wine and ignited my passion in the industry—for me, nothing is more rewarding than securing a listing for your brand with some of the world’s largest retailers.

What advice would you give aspiring Wilderness girls?

To get comfortable being uncomfortable. The biggest and most rewarding leaps of growth in my career have happened when I have been faced with a new challenge or experience that seemed especially daunting at first. I would encourage all girls to lean into discomfort and embrace the countless opportunities available to you during your time at Wildy and beyond.

What have been some key defining moments in your career and life?

Graduating from Wildy was an influential moment in my life, as my eyes opened to the countless possibilities now available to me. This was beyond exciting, but, of course, also brought uncertainty. I went from being in Year 12 – where my goal and purpose was so clear – to entering a time of new beginnings where I was to define my own goals. It is important to honour this period of transition—to take the time to honour what has ended and allow yourself to embrace your passions and fears that may be tapping you on the shoulder. I continue to remind myself to embrace uncertainty as a fact of life!

Favourite professional memory/day?

Visiting my first international wine trade show in Germany! I remember walking through the multiple halls and my jaw dropping at how big the international wine industry is. Being face-to-face with buyers for the first time was also an invaluable experience.

Please provide one motivational / inspirational quote that might appeal to our current students.

“Do one thing everyday that scares you” – Eleanor Roosevelt

QUIZ NIGHT 2023

SAVE THE DATE

Friday 1 September Wilderness Gymnasium

Look Out For Ticket Sales Opening Soon!

PRESENTED BY THE WILDERNESS OLD SCHOLARS' ASSOCIATION AND PARENTS AND FRIENDS ASSOCIATION

ANNOUNCEMENTS

We congratulate the following old scholars on their special milestones.

Wilderness Babies

1. Kathryn Forth (2004) and Jim Hawtin welcomed Jeanie Hawtin on Thursday 29 September 2022.

2. Eleni Raptis (2007) and Nick Pelvay welcomed Hector Pelvay on Tuesday 6 December 2022.

3. Leigh Wilden (Bateman) (2000) and Simon Wilden welcomed Willow Eloise Wilden on Tuesday 13 September 2022.

4. Katie Neef (2013) and Daniel Ralph welcomed Phoebe Lauren Ralph in May 2022. She is adored by her family, especially her Granny, Sharon Bain (1981).

5. Sharlene Sampson-Karger (Sampson) (1999) and Brenton Karger welcomed Ryan Tate Sampson-Karger in August 2022.

Wilderness Engagements

6. Ruby Fox (2012) and Zac Blunt got engaged on their anniversary at Mount Lofty. They will be married in November this year in McLaren Vale.

7. Elizabeth Glouftsis (2015) and Georgia Chamberlayne (2015) got engaged on Friday 30 December 2022, at the Riverbend Reserve in Clarendon.

If you are an old scholar, we would love to hear from you so that we can share your milestones and celebrate your success. Please email your news and accompanying photo to oldscholars@wilderness.com.au

We extend sincere condolences to the family and friends of the following old scholars:

Hervey Bagot (attended 1938-1941)

Colin Cowan (attended 1947-1949)

Rosemary Craddock (Smith) (1963)

Sina Douglas (Kidd) (1946)

Rosemary Henderson (Stacy) (1948)

Wilderness Weddings

8. Abbey Price (2011) married Sam Springbett on Saturday 22 October 2022 at Red Wing Farm. Maddison Johnson (2011) was Maid of Honour.

9. Courtney Harrison (2013) married Andrew Camens on Saturday 7 January 2023 at Mount Lofty House. Samantha Voss and Annika Lioulios (2013) were all part of the wedding party. Former Wilderness teacher Jayne Kelly was their celebrant.

10. Belinda DeGaris (2009) married Hamish Burns on Saturday 3 December 2022 at Treasury 1860. Mother of the Bride Ros DeGaris (1978), Mother of the Groom Margo Burns (Hayward) (1979) and Maid of Honour Alexis Heim (2009) each played a special role in the day.

11. Rebecca Proudman (2011) married Nicholas Edwards on Saturday 19 November 2022 at a private venue. All of Rebecca’s bridesmaids were Wilderness Old Scholars—Charlotte Proudman (2013), Kimberley Voss (2011), Sarah Funnell (2011) and Mia Murdock (2011).

12. Lucy Rackham (2011) married Jake Campbell on Friday 14 October 2022 at Al Ru Farm. Long-time friend Ella Marmion (2011) was a Bridesmaid.

13. Jasmine Daniel (2013) married Hugh Woods at the South Australian Museum on Saturday 14 January 2023. Jasmine’s sister Caitlin was Maid of Honour, and old scholar Ella Price (2014) was in the bridal party.

14. Georgina Champion de Crespigny (2011) married Henry Crawford on Sunday 10 December 2022 at Georgie’s family home. Her two bridesmaids were both old scholars, Lucy Campbell (Rackham) (2011) and Miranda Hewett (2011).

Special Announcements

Congratulations to Dr Amanda Rischbieth (Griggs) (1975) who received an AM (Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia) for her significant service to public health administration and governance in the Australia Day Honours for 2023.

Louise Bassett (1988) has released her debut novel titled The Hidden Girl Publishing a book was a long-held dream for Louise, and she has fond memories of her years at Wilderness, where her English teachers and librarians nurtured and encouraged her love of Creative Writing.

Helen Inglis (Thomas) (1952)

Lorene Jordan (Iliffe) (1950)

Ann Murrie (Bruce) (1948)

Bett de la Perelle (Theakstone) (1952)

Jane Polkinghorne (Fennell) (1965)

Jane Steele (Geschmay) (1970)

Ann Winnall (1959)

If you know of an old scholar, friend or past staff member who has passed away, please let us know by emailing Amelia Dolling, Old Scholars’ Engagement Coordinator adolling@wilderness.com.au.