Learning Across the
Senior School
SEAD in Year 9 and 10
In our Year 9 SEAD Program, we acknowledge the important integration between the Social, Emotional and Academic Development of girls. The integration of social-emotional skill development, in conjunction with academic learning outcomes, ensures that students develop holistically as resilient and confident girls and young women. During 2024, Year 9 SEAD Focus is Connection – Building Communities, where the girls are challenged to think beyond themselves, consider the needs of others and reach out to others in need.
Congratulations to our Year 9 Leaders:
Maria Barbaro
Elise Desteno
Coco Glastonbury
Olivia Grbin
Georgia Mastrantuone
Elisha Minicozzi
Isabelle Ryan
In our Year 10 SEAD Programme, we warmly embrace our new 17 students to our Loreto community. All Year 10 students at Loreto commence their SACE Stage 1 journey, undertaking Exploring Identities and Futures (EIF) which has replaced Personal Learning Plan (PLP) and the students’ new experience with Spiritualities, Religion & Meaning, each accounting for 10 SACE credit points. With EIF, the students consider potential career paths, learn how to write resumes, and attend 5 days of Work Placement (commonly known as Work Experience) in a workplace of their choice. In addition, the girls are ready to embrace the Mary Ward Connect programme with Loreto Kirribilli and Loreto Cooparoo.
We remind our students to be the best they can be…
Sincere listening
Active listening – sitting with an open posture, taking notes, showing concern, maintaining eye contact and demonstrating empathy – and taking time to get to know and understand your cohort will go a long way to make them feel valued and cared for.
Respect
Acknowledging and embracing differences and rich/varied backgrounds without judgement is a beautiful thing and something we should all strive to practise.
Trust
When respect exists and flourishes at school, it fosters and nurtures trust. Knowing your cohort have your back (and you theirs) makes for a happier and healthier working environment. It also means people can rely on one another and feel safe in the knowledge that you’re all working towards the same shared goal or goals.
Compassion
Genuinely caring about each other means thinking about them, what’s happening in their lives and checking in with them to see how they’re doing when times are tough. Celebrating people’s wins, also shows compassion and helps people thrive, whatever the situation. When there’s love all around us (at home and school) we feel better, are more engaged and put more into everything we do, getting better results and making more time and space to share the love around.
I congratulate the girls for warmly embracing our motto: Let’s Do This!
Mrs Fi Donnelly
Leader of Student Wellbeing and Academic Care, Years 9 and 10
Year 7 Camp Reflection
On the second day of school, us Year 7s were sent off to camp. We hopped on four buses and began making our way to Normanville. The bus drive involved practically all of us singing our hearts out to Taylor Swift and seeing lots of wildlife. Who knew that there were so many different patterns on cows and horses? The campsite was on a hill overlooking the ocean, which had beautiful views of trees, especially at night time.
After we hoped off the bus, some groups went straight into the water for kayaking or snorkelling. It was a blast; we were all struggling to use the snorkelling masks at the start but after we drank the whole ocean, we finally got it, and we were looking at the beautiful coral and we saw so many jellyfish and marine life. I think everyone's favourite was 100% the snorkelling and the rope bridges. We weren't the best at it, as they all kept breaking, but at least we tried.
We would like to thank everyone who contributed to our wonderful camp. Especially to the teachers, Miss Kostas, Mrs Walker and Mr Houston for your support and staying with us the whole time, as well as Dr Boots and Mr Bond. Spending time with us instead of being with the warmth of their families meant a lot to us. And finally at the heart of it all was Ms D’Angelo - thank you for organising this whole camp for week 1. It is not easy to imagine all the hard work she’d had to go through!
And for one group, what a way to finish camp by getting stuck in a stinking hot, broken down bus on the side of the freeway!
Written by Year 7 Students, Leja R, Grace C and Chloe D
Ethics Olympiad
Is there a moral difference between a verbal promise and a written contract?
What’s the difference between incentivizing and bribing?
We would like to congratulate our Year 10 Eth-letes who competed in the International Ethics Olympiad. With ethical questions like the ones above, the students used skills in creative thinking and communication to share their ethical theories on 8 case studies. We congratulate our girls on receiving an honourable mention from the judges.
Ms Tennille Cobb
Gifted and Talented Teacher