Principal Report

Sister Act the Musical

Norwood SC is the first school in Australia to have secured the rights to Sister Act. This glittering stage show is brought to you under the talented direction of our very own Lucy Filor, with Melissa Cherry as the highly accomplished Producer. Our lead vocalists and chorale members have been coached by our Vocal Director, Rachel Tunaley and are  impressive with their delivery of complex harmonies.

I felt privileged last night to attend the opening show, alongside 50 Norwood staff. There is such a buzz at school today as staff share their praise for the high calibre of the show and the outstanding performances of our students. This year Sister Act attracted a record number of talented auditionees, leading to an enormous ensemble of 63 students, including brilliant leads, a murmur of 16 Nuns, a comedic conspiracy of 4 crooks, 7 brilliant ‘Fantasy Dancers’ who moved and grooved under the fabulous choreography of Year 12 student, Hayley Tonkin!

The involvement of our students expands beyond the stage. Some of our Instrumental Music students shine as part of the orchestra, with 5 of them playing alongside staff and professionals in the orchestral pit. At the same time, we are grateful for the 9 students in the technical and backstage crew and the Vocational Major students who have proudly taken on the challenge of prop and set construction.

I am always impressed watching our students perform on stage. The array of talent from singing to dancing, acting to playing an instrument is of the highest calibre. I have enjoyed popping into their rehearsals not just to watch student progress but to admire their commitment to the craft of performance. We have some amazingly talented students.

Indeed, there would be no show without our gifted students.  The entire main cast is impressive. Special mention to Marlea as the sassy Deloris , Lexi as the no-nonsense Mother Superior and Peter as the popular Officer Eddie Souther. Our talented nuns, so many Sister Marys with the voices of angels, including Aoife, Audrey and Jupiter, but also Heather and Kara. Isaac was terrifying as Curtis with Charlotte, Ryan and Lachie providing comic relief. As always Hayley was amazing as Monsignor O'Hara.

I hope that you managed to see the show or perhaps you have tickets for Friday or Saturday night. If you haven't got tickets, please don't hesitate. There are tickets left for tonight but Saturday is close to a sell out. 

Thank-you to the entire cast and crew. You are amazing! Please know that whilst we admire your talent we are also impressed by your commitment and courage to be a performer. As a school, we are so very proud of you.

Student Survey:  Attitudes to School

Whilst I would like the focus of my report to be the College Production, I would like to offer a glimpse into the feedback provided by our students through the annual Attitudes to School Survey. The first take away is that for every measure on the survey, student responses have improved each year from 2023 to 2024 to 2025 and now into 2026. Such a positive trendline is something to be proud of.  Over this period of time, positive responses have improved by as much as 20 - 30%%.

Furthermore, the feedback we are seeing from our students, places our results far beyond similar schools, network schools and the State. Some of the outstanding feedback from students can be seen in the following areas:

• High expectations of success (from 67% in 2023 to 80% in 2026)

• Differentiated learning challenge (from 54% in 2023 to 71% in 2026)

• School transitions (for new students, Year 7 and Yrs 10 - 12)

• Students having an advocate at school (from 60% in 2023 to 75% in 2026)

• Stimulated learning (from 47% in 2023 to 70% in 2026)

• Effective teaching time (from 58% in 2023 to 74% in 2026)

• Managing bullying (from 47% in 2023 to 69% in 2026)

• Student agency and voice (from 33% in 2023 to 58% in 2026)

We are very proud of these results and the work that our teachers and support staff do in support of all students.