Around the Grounds
Music, Sport and Debating
Music Notes
Spring is officially here, and with the warmer weather comes a fresh start for our School’s Music program. The opening of The Alexandria is a new chapter in the Music at
St Catherine’s, a state-of-the-art precinct is something we are all eagerly awaiting. Over the holidays we will be busy moving in, getting ready to operate from the very start of the Term IV.
We are also looking forward to performing at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Tuesday 8 September for our annual Music Gala. This year, we also recognise the School’s 130th anniversary and there are many special moments throughout the concert acknowledging this. If you haven’t booked your ticket, I would encourage you to do so, as they are fast selling out. This will be a concert you don’t want to miss.
I look forward to seeing you at the events we have coming up:
Music Gala – Tuesday 8 September, 6.30pm (Melbourne Recital Centre)
VCE Music Recital – Wednesday 7 October, 5.30pm (The Alexandria at St Catherine's)
- Chamber Ensemble Concert – Thursday 8 October (The Alexandria at St Catherine's)
Music Gala – Tuesday 8 September
Mr Francis Blakiston
Head of Music
Sport News
Athletics
On Wednesday 26 August, we had 66 students compete at the GSV Division 2 Championships at Lakeside Stadium.
Points were extremely close throughout the entire day, with every event contributing to a very competitive overall result. We were thrilled to finish 6th place overall, continuing to improve and build on our results each year.
A huge congratulations to all the girls who competed and represented St Catherine’s School.
We are also excited to announce that 22 St Catherine’s students have been selected to compete at the GSV Track and Field Finals Night on Tuesday, 8 September. They will compete against the top athletes from all three GSV divisions.
Congratulations to everyone involved, and best of luck to our 22 finalists!
Ms Nana Owusu-Afriyie
Head of Athletics
Snowsports
St Catherine’s Snowsports has celebrated an outstanding eight days of competition at the Victorian Interschools Snowsport Championships at Mt Buller, highlighted by our Junior School winning the Overall School Championship and our Senior School finishing third overall.
Across Alpine, Ski Cross, Moguls, Slopestyle and Snowboard events, our girls produced an incredible collection of team and individual performances, with 33 students qualifying for the Australian Interschools Snowsport Championships at Perisher.
Two St Catherine’s athletes were crowned individual Victorian State Champions.
Annika G won the Division 2 Ski Cross State Championship, leading a brilliant St Catherine’s 1–2 finish with Coco T taking silver. Annika also placed third in Alpine Giant Slalom and was part of two State Championship-winning teams, with St Catherine’s claiming gold in both Division 2 Alpine Giant Slalom and Division 2 Ski Cross.
Our youngest State Champion, Zuza F, won the Division 6 Ski Cross title, taking the final by almost a second. Zuza also finished sixth in Alpine Giant Slalom and contributed to the Division 6 silver-medal Alpine team and bronze-medal Ski Cross team.
Team podium highlights
- Silver - Division 1 Snowboard Cross
- Gold - Division 2 Alpine Giant Slalom — State Champions
- Gold - Division 2 Ski Cross — State Champions
- Bronze - Division 2 Ski Cross Team B
- Bronze - Division 2 Ski Slopestyle
- Bronze - Division 2 Snowboard GS
- Bronze - Division 3 Alpine Giant Slalom
- Silver - Division 4 Alpine Giant Slalom
- Silver - Division 4 Ski Cross
- Bronze - Division 4 Moguls
- Bronze - Division 5 Ski Cross
- Silver - Division 6 Alpine Giant Slalom
- Bronze - Division 6 Ski Cross
Our Division 6 Ski Cross team came incredibly close to another State title, finishing just 0.33 seconds from victory.
There were some exceptional individual performances across the eight days.
Emily L demonstrated extraordinary versatility, qualifying for Nationals across eight events, while competing across Alpine, Ski Cross, Moguls, Slopestyle, Snowboard and Cross Country disciplines.
Bianca F had an outstanding Championships, qualifying in seven events across the week and achieving excellent results across both skiing and snowboarding, including fourth in Ski Cross, fifth in Alpine Giant Slalom and sixth in Snowboard GS.
The depth of our Junior School was also on display. Annabel L finished ninth in Ski Cross and 14th in Alpine and contributed to silver-medal team finishes in both events. Millie W was part of three podium teams — silver in Alpine, silver in Ski Cross and bronze in Moguls — and placed 12th individually in Moguls, while Camilla K finished 12th in Alpine and contributed to both silver-medal teams. Brooke B finished ninth in Division 6 Alpine, qualifying individually and helping the team to silver, while also contributing to the bronze-medal Ski Cross team.
The versatility of our athletes was another highlight. Maddi B competed across five events, recording impressive Top 10 finishes in Division 1 Alpine and Moguls, while Ellyse B competed across four disciplines, highlighted by sixth in Division 2 Ski Slopestyle and a team bronze medal.
Congratulations to every girl who raced, supported her teammates and represented St Catherine’s so proudly across an enormous eight days at Mt Buller.
We now look forward to cheering on our qualifiers at the Australian Interschools Snowsport Championships at Perisher next week.
Ms Jenny Lyons
Head of Snowsports
Student spotlights
Ellie W competed in the recent 2026 Victoria Short Course Swimming Championships. She won an incredible six gold medals in the 200m, 100m and 50m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 100m Individual Medley and 100m Backstroke. Ellie also won a silver medal in the 200m Individual Medley.
Along with Ellie, Mariella S (Year 8) took home an incredible eight podium finishes in her races. Mariella won gold in the 1500m, 800m, 400m & 200m Freestyle, 200m Butterfly, the 4x50m Freestyle Relay (an Australian shortcourse record!). Simply outstanding.
Zara B was also among the swimmers making a splash in the pool. Zara achieved some excellent results, winning gold in the 1500m Freestyle, 200m and 100m Backstroke, 4x50 Medley Relay and was in the same 4x50m Freestyle Relay with Mariella S who broke the record winning gold.
Nell P (Year 12 and Aquatics Captain) and Kimberly C (Year 8) also won gold in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay and 100m Individual Medley respectively, and Vera Z winning silver in the 100m Individual Medley.
We are so amazed by our swimmers continuing to impress in the pool.
Mr Scott Dacy
Acting Head of Sport
Junior School Sport
The Junior School recently competed in the GSV Athletics Championships at Lakeside Track. It was a very challenging day with the weather conditions, and our girls were magnificent in their resilience and efforts. Well done to all girls who represented their school proudly. Many ribbons were won on the day. The Junior School team is pictured below. We are small and mighty!
The School Sport Victoria (SSV) U12 Basketball Championships were held at Oakleigh this term and St Catherine's competed against our local Armadale District schools. The team battled hard against excellent competition. Congratulations to our team and Mr Dan Perry who coached the girls.
Visual Arts
MUMA moments
The Unit 1 and 2 Art Creative Practice students were afforded the unique opportunity to exhibit in a public art gallery, working alongside MUMA (Monash University Museum of Art) staff to curate and install their Water themed artworks. This partnership is aimed at empowering students to collaboratively plan, curate and present a professional exhibition experience within an authentic gallery setting.
Through this high-impact learning opportunity, students developed confidence, resilience, critical and creative thinking, student agency and leadership. Supported through coaching, and scaffolded learning experiences and authentic industry partnerships, students gained valuable insight into professional arts practice while strengthening their capacity to work as a creative collective in preparation for the demands of Unit 3 and 4 Art Creative Practice.
Sara D said, ’I learned that I'm good at collaborating with people to create the results we all desire or are creatively interested in.’
Lily H said, ‘I think the biggest challenge is that everyone has different opinions. The solution is for us to sit down together[and] discuss it.’
Grace M said, ‘I am taking into Unit 3/4 new knowledge about how setting up the artwork can further develop and show the meaning of the artwork.’
We were incredibly proud of the collaboration, creativity and dedication demonstrated by our students. The class also thank Year 10 and 11 Media students for supporting the show with their evocative Water themes short videos projected throughout the exhibition.
Melissa Bedford, Senior Educator at MUMA said, ‘We were thrilled with the quality of the project and was a pleasure working with your students. Everyone who was part of the process at our end was impressed by the finesse and initiative the students demonstrated along the way as they negotiated the curation of their work. It was a joy to collaborate and celebrate their achievements with you all.’
Ms Vicki Marinelli
Head of Arts
Debating and Public Speaking
The past few weeks have continued to showcase the incredible skills of our Debaters and Public Speakers on both the regional and international stage.
Following her outstanding performance at the Asia Pacific Schools Junior Debate Championships in June, Year 9 student, Junya J, competed in the August online competition.
In June, she was named the 10th Best Speaker in Australia and Oceania and was a Quarterfinalist in the 14-and-Under category. This month, Junya has excelled once more in the Under 15 Category, with her team winning the Grand Final Debate in a competitive field of 34 teams. Year 8 student, Ivy Z, another talented young debater, reached the Semi Finals in the Under 13 category. To reach this standard on the international stage is an exceptional achievement.
The Year 10 Debaters have also had a busy week, with two teams competing in the Debaters Association of Victoria (DAV) Finals Series, and two teams trying their hand at British Parliamentary Debating. Having been undefeated throughout the debating season, the C Grade teams met their match in the finals but can be very proud of the skills they have learned and demonstrated. Parnian, Holly, Miley, Janhvi, Nadia and Amber presented excellent speeches on the topic That we prefer user generated content over traditional entertainment.
The students participating in the Intermediate British Parliamentary Debating Competition, promptly adapted to this challenging debating style, with each of the teams winning their first round on the day. British Parliamentary debates have two teams debating in the affirmative role as the Government and two debating in the negative role as the Opposition. Holly, Parnian, Anya, Amabella, Nadia and Miley debated the motion, That this House prefers that galleries and museums have free entry, with their respective teams taking first place. Senior debaters will compete in the Senior British Parliamentary Debating on 13 September.
Year 10 student Parnian H is also congratulated on the very impressive achievement of taking first place in the 15 Years-and-Over Division of the SDTAV Public Speaking Competition on Sunday 30 August. In addition to presenting a six-minute prepared speech, Parnian also met the challenge of presenting two impromptu speeches, obtaining the winning score in a field of 11 speakers. Year 10 student Holly F and Year 8 student Aimee D also presented engaging speeches on the day and were excellent ambassadors for the School.
Next week is another busy week on the Debating calendar, with the much-anticipated House Debating Finals taking place on Monday morning, and the Year 7 and 8 DAV Interschool Debating Program commencing on Monday evening.
Ms Merran O’Connor
Head of Debating and Public Speaking