Cohort News

Year 7 Pastoral Care

Our year 7’s have almost come to the end of their first term at Brigidine, and what a busy one it has been! I would love to take this opportunity to commend our year 7’s on how they have handled this transition, embodying the Brigidine College motto as they have displayed the characteristics of both Strength and Gentleness during this hectic start to the year.

Year 7 SRC Leaders

Over the past few weeks, our homerooms have been involved in the proceedings of electing a Pastoral Care Student Representative Council member. This prestigious title reflects a student who displays great social justice and also acts as a voice for their peers. I am pleased to announce the following students as our SRC members for 2022:

Aquinas - Arianna Anderson

Brigid - Klara James

Delany - Cailee Melhem

Regina Mundi - Isabella Ann Tabuena

Winifred - Ella Dungey

Xavier - Charlotte Guillermo

Congratulations ladies!

Peer Support

Year 7 has been fortunate enough to get to know some of our lovely Year 11 Brigidine students through our Peer Support program. The peer support groups aim to assist our year 7’s to learn more about our wonderful College from a student perspective and provide another source of support in the Peer Support buddies, should year 7 ever need a friendly face to talk too. Students enjoyed participating in a variety of activities run by the older peer support buddies that focussed on connection and understanding of each other.

Thank you to the Year 11 cohort for being wonderful role models for our Year 7 students.

As Term 1 comes to a close, I would like to wish all our students and families a wonderful and restful holiday break. While we are looking forward to seeing you next term, enjoy your holidays, I hope you stay safe and healthy.

Kindest regards,

Rebecca Monohan 

Year 7 Pastoral Care Coordinator

Year 9 Pastoral Care

Year 9 is finishing off the term strongly. Having just completed their first lot of assessments for the year, they are confidently moving forward to Term 2. Finishing up this term gives us an opportunity to return to our goals that were set for this term. These goals gave students an opportunity to set achievable personal and academic goals that were specific to them for this term. Goal setting is an important tool in finding success and with more practice Year 9 will see the benefits of these goals and will continue to use them to support their learning and personal achievement. The review of these goals also gives them an opportunity to work with their Pastoral Care teachers and assess if they need to adjust or reassess their goals for next term.

In Term 2 we are moving into cooler weather and this also means that we will be in our College winter uniform when we return. So this break gives us an opportunity to adjust anything with uniforms that might need attending to before the start of the term. So please have a look at this and be ready to go in Week 1 of Term 2. 

Sport has also been a positive introduction this year and Year 9 have confidently participated and embraced the change of routine. For the last five weeks Year 9 has participated in working out at Titans Fitness Gym in Coogee and they alternated with learning how to dance Hip Hop here at the College. They have thoroughly enjoyed themselves and have approached sport and the challenges with the weather in such a mature manner. Next term gives our girls an opportunity to participate in representative sports such as soccer and netball. I wish all those students luck and look forward to another great Term 2. 

Tony Munguia

Year 9 Pastoral Care Coordinator

Year 10 Pastoral Care

Year 10 in the last few weeks have been participating in House sport and raising some community spirit. We have had soccer at Coogee Oval and last week due to the rain we managed to go Rock Climbing. The students had great fun trying to rock climb and also walk a tightrope.  The students scaled the walls and some managed to successfully cross the mats on the tightrope.

The students have got through their exams and assessments and are looking forward to the upcoming break. 

In Pastoral Care lessons, the PEEC programme continues. Over this term the students have set goals, started journaling and learnt about kindness. Wellbeing Wednesday has included journaling as well as mindfulness. Mindfulness is a great tool particularly for students who get anxiety or suffer stress. It is particularly useful for assessment time. Students learn how to breathe and be present in the moment. This is a great life skill for students to have and practice. 

In our final weeks, the students have focused on community service; what it is and how they can help. They have also looked at 'paying it forward'.; how helping now may trigger beneficial effects later on. This idea of social responsibility and caregiving is particularly important through this lenten season. Students have looked at how they can get involved and where they might be able to help. 

Next term students look forward to reviewing their goals and resetting them or making new ones.

Catherine James

Year 10 Pastoral Care Coordinator

Year 11 Pastoral Care

As Week 10 of Term 1 comes to an end, Year 11 has been able to assess, evaluate and embrace College life. We, as a Pastoral team, value our strong school spirit as we in still our Catholic values, set high standards and nurture the wellbeing of our young women. Our College community certainly makes an impact on our students’ lives where we encourage our students to be brave, to be confident and to reach their own potential. Our Year 11 community are not afraid to take risks, to grow from their challenges and extend themselves as community minded individuals. We all as individuals need to experience the challenges and disappointments in life in order to develop a strong sense of resilience and become the best person we can be!

I would like to congratulate and express our gratitude to the following Year 11 students who have been elected as Student Council Representatives for 2022:

11 Aquinas  -  Eliza Cooke

11 Brigid  -  Emily Livissianis

11 Regina Mundi  -  Yasmeen Janschek

11 Winifred  -  Emma Karpes

11 Xavier  -  Isabella Matis

11 Delany  -  Charlotte Blackett

We are all so proud of these students and they will be able to be the voice for our Year 11 students!

Our PEEC program for Term 1 was centred around goal orientation, building self control and regulation of emotions. These themes enabled our students to take on board some strategies on finding a sense of meaning and purpose in their daily lives as well as exploring priorities and finding a balance in our daily routine.

The Feast of St Brigid was a highlight for our College community as Ms Wood and the Year 12 Leadership team prepared a beautiful mass in honour of Saint Brigid.

This was truly a moment of reflection as we realised the importance of our Brigidine ancestors who were truly trailblazers of their time.

The season of Lent is also a time of reflection, commitment and recognising the sacrifices and selflessness of our Lord. May this season bring you and your daughters every happiness; may it be a time for reconnecting with family members and a time of replenishing our energy levels.

God bless,

Adriana Parsons

Year 11 Pastoral Care Coordinator

Year 12 Pastoral Care

With the most recent completion of their assessment block, Year 12 has achieved yet another HSC milestone (accompanied by a collective sigh of relief I am sure!). 

As a cohort, they have impressed their teachers with the way that they have engaged with each task and navigated the many ups and downs that come with the HSC journey. With the bulk of assessments having been completed for most subjects, the girls are now presented with the opportunity to capitalise on their efforts by responding to feedback in meaningful ways that will consolidate their skills and understanding. They are encouraged to reflect on their performance in tasks, to turn feedback into strategies for improvement and to use past tasks as a reference point to inform their performance moving forward. Throughout this process, the girls are encouraged to maintain a growth mindset and to continue to work toward their personal best rather than trying to be the best and comparing their performances with others. 

In keeping with the theme of moving forward, I would also like to stress the importance of all term breaks being considered a ‘study break’ which involves a sound balance of study and personal time. As we move toward the Easter break, it is important that the girls are reminded to utilise this time to consolidate their learning from Term 1 and begin preparing for the Term ahead. 

Sport Update

Whilst the weather on Thursday (most Thursdays as of late!) dampened our plans to participate in House Sport, the girls were fortunate enough to partake in a range of multi-sport activities on site last week that included volleyball, dodgeball and table tennis. They had music to bop to as they played and the day even ended with a huge game of dodgeball with the whole year participating! Participation and enthusiasm ran high and by all accounts I am told it was a real ‘vibe’.

Personally, it has been invigorating to see Year 12 really embrace the opportunity to participate in sport each week and acknowledge its ability to bring people together. A few students have shared their thoughts below:

“[Sport] is such a great time to unwind and have some fun. Competing against different schools in the area enables a sisterhood and encourages a strong team spirit. It’s a pleasure to be part of it”. - Leah Doyle, Representative Touch Football

“[Sport] allows us the opportunity to reap the benefits of physical activity to improve our mental wellbeing. It’s a reminder that your experience and talent doesn’t matter and that the most important thing is having a positive attitude and fun with friends”. - Sophie Hammann & Isabella Cardno

“[Sport] has helped create a sense of unit among our homeroom and had really promoted the spirit of our house”. -  Elizabeth Goutzas & Lucia Martin-Mortess, Xavier House Captains

Lastly, but importantly a very big congratulations to the Year 12 Senior A Touch Football Team on their grand final win. A phenomenal result! 

Pastoral Care Update

Our Pastoral Care lesson looked a little bit different this week. Post what has been an incredibly busy term, the girls relished the opportunity to let their hair down and have some fun. In Pastoral Care classes, the girls played a variety of Minute-to-Win-it 60 second challenges which in hindsight can only be described as hilariously entertaining. Whilst there was plenty of laughter and creativity, there were also some very, very competitive young people!

Face the Cookie was a personal favourite to watch. In this challenge the girls had a cookie placed on their forehead and were given 60 seconds to move the cookie to their mouth without using their hands. The facial expressions in the photos really do not do it justice.

It truly was such a pleasure to see the girls smiling, reconnecting and creating more memories together. 

As always, please do not hesitate to contact your daughter’s Pastoral Care Teacher or a member of the Year 12 Pastoral Care team should you have any questions or concerns regarding your daughter.

Wishing you and your family a safe and relaxing Easter break. I look forward to seeing what Term 2 has in store for Year 12.

Amy Borg

Year 12 Pastoral Care Coordinator