Department News

The English Department

“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.” – Oscar Wilde

Why Study Literature? 

We pose this question to our students daily, not as a challenge but as an invitation.

Because it holds up a mirror and sometimes a window.

Because it lets us time-travel without leaving our seat.

Because it hands us someone else’s shoes and says, walk.

We study literature not just to understand stories, but to understand silences.

We read to meet strangers on the page who feel uncannily familiar.

To learn the weight of a single word, and the world it can hold.

Literature doesn’t just ask us what happened.

It asks us why it mattered and what it still does.

In a world of fast answers and loud opinions, literature teaches us to pause.

To question.

To listen.

To feel.

Welcome Back – Term 1 in Full Swing

The academic year began with energy and purpose in the English classrooms. Students were immediately immersed in literary challenges by debating themes of alienation in modern texts, experimenting with creative voices, and delving into the richness of poetry. Far from easing in, we’ve seen a quick return to the intellectual demands of English and, more importantly, to the kind of thinking that shapes the curious, empathetic minds of Brigidine girls.

Book Club and Big Sister Tutoring

The Book Club, guided by the ever-creative Ms MacKeon, is already buzzing with plans for the year. Students are currently organising a Blind Book Date. A playful and mysterious way to discover new reads, where books are wrapped and labelled with only a few intriguing clues. It’s a wonderful way to shake up reading habits and spark conversations about unexpected choices.

In the meantime, members are also casting their votes to select a shared text from the CBCA Book of the Year Awards shortlist, engaging with some of the most exciting recent works in Australian literature. To top it all off, the club has chosen a brand new mascot: a very lovable bookworm, “Ned”.

Meanwhile, the Big Sister Tutoring Program has seen a surge in demand this year, especially from our enthusiastic Year 7 cohort. In response, students from Years 10, 11 and 12 stepped up with genuine care and commitment, offering regular support in reading, writing, and confidence building in English. It’s been heartening to watch these cross-year connections flourish, with younger students gaining not only academic support, but also a sense of belonging and encouragement from their older peers. 

Poetry in Action Visits Year 10!

To deepen Year 10’s exploration of war poetry, we welcomed Poetry in Action back to Brigidine for their powerful production, Words of War. Tracing the life and works of Wilfred Owen, the performance blended humour, rage, tenderness, and clarity. It gave students a visceral understanding of Owen’s poetic voice and the historical and emotional weight of his writing. Through this immersive experience, students engaged not only with the past, but with timeless questions about humanity and conflict. Students commented on how much they learned from the performance.

Year 12 English  – Stepping Up with Insight and Intention

Our Year 12 English students have returned this term with focus and a clear sense of purpose. With their second round of assessment tasks underway, they’ve been immersed in rich textual conversations, analysing the interior worlds of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway alongside Daldry’s adaptation, The Hours. They have explored the tensions of tradition and change in Ray Lawler’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, engaging in lively discussions about how the cultural landscape of Australia has evolved since the 1950s.

What continues to impress me is the shared commitment between students and staff. We’ve taken the opportunity to utilise Thursday afternoon's study session to focus on refining essay writing skills. The staff delivered an interactive session encouraging student participation and deep thinking. We focused on practical strategies in argument writing, helping the girls to sharpen their thesis statements, organise their ideas purposefully, and strengthen the clarity and sophistication of their written expression.

Year 7 – A New Chapter Begins

Our Year 7 students have begun their English journey with energy and a willingness to learn. Immediately laying strong foundations for the years ahead. At the heart of these first steps in English is literacy - the ability to read with insight, write with purpose, and communicate with confidence. Building strong literacy skills early on is essential, not just for English, but across all areas of learning and life.

In their first unit, students explored the power of persuasive language through the lens of advertising. They analysed how words and visuals can influence audiences, then applied their learning by creating their own original print adverts. From catchy slogans to clever layouts, their work reflects both imagination and growing control of language. 

Year 8: Life Writing

Year 8 have embarked on a new unit focusing on finding their voice and bringing their experiences to life through Life Writing. Using Lion: Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley as a mentor text, students wrote about different things in their lives that are important to them and have played an important part in the shaping of their identities. 

Year 9: Poetry

Year 9 started the year exploring how poetry is a platform for the exploration of different voices and experiences. They examined how poetry can have a social impact and create powerful imagery for readers through language. At the end of the unit, some classes experimented with blackout poetry using different texts, including Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning. 

Natalia Hennessy

Head of English

The Science Department

We've had an exciting start to the year in our Science Department and a warm welcome to our new Year 7 students. They've dived headfirst into the world of science, exploring the very nature of scientific inquiry and discovery. Our Year 8 students have been equally engaged, delving into the world of energy, conducting experiments, and exploring its various forms. Year 9 chemistry students have been investigating the Law of Conservation of Mass, while Year 10 physics students have been exploring Newton's Laws of Motion and forces, having completed a Student Research Project. 

Year 11 biology students have been busy bringing cellular biology to life, constructing detailed and creative models of the fluid mosaic model as shown. 

Congratulations to all students across the school for their diligent work this term and for completing Assessment Task 1 well.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to the incredible volunteers who made our Open Evening a

resounding success. The evening was a whirlwind of explosive experiments, captivating microscopic views, and engaging hands-on activities, all designed to spark curiosity in future scientists. We couldn’t have done it without them!

Our Year 12 Biology students ventured to the Museum of Disease for an excursion this term, gaining invaluable real-world insights into human pathology. Meanwhile, the Year 12 Chemistry cohort experienced a cutting-edge spectroscopy workshop at the University of Sydney, developing their analytical skills and exploring advanced chemical techniques. 

We’re excited to share that the STEM Club is now up and running! We meet every Tuesday at recess during Week A, and we can’t wait to see what Term 2 brings. Thank you to our proactive Year 11 students for taking the lead and making it happen. All students are welcome—new faces are always encouraged to come along and get involved!

Looking ahead, we encourage all students to sign up for the national Big Science Competition if they haven't already, as deadlines are closing soon - find the signup sheet posted by myself on Compass. We also wish the best to our Year 12 Chemistry students who will be returning after the holidays to begin training for the RACI Titration Competition, taking place in Week 6 of next term. 

We are immensely proud of our students' dedication and look forward to a year of continued scientific exploration.

Amy Commane

Head of Science

The Visual Arts Department

The Visual Arts Department has been filled with energy as we have welcomed a new year, new students and new opportunities to explore the unique creativity of all our talented artists. This term has been filled with a great deal of activity and excitement as the girls have started their journey in the ideation and making of wonderful artworks.

Semester One Year 7 and 8 Visual Arts students have settled into their respective courses with great enthusiasm and interest in their topics. Year 7 have dipped into Gelli printing techniques, colour theory and perspective drawing, with opportunities to draw on location around The Spot and Brigidine College. We cannot wait to see what they continue to achieve as they start to develop their printmaking skills further into the coming term. Year 8 has embraced ceramic construction techniques in the making of a pet animal pot. Each approach has been unique, with all of the girls interpreting their animals in highly creative ways. Their ceramic pots will now dry out over the holidays ready for their first firing next term, after which colour and surface decorations can be applied and their ceramic forms fully realised.

Year 9 and 10 elective courses are well underway in their studies, refining their skills and creating unique artworks that respond to various themes and topics. Year 9 Visual Arts students have extended their ceramic skills in the construction of a botanical-inspired vessel, as well as dabbling in the effective use of a DSLR camera and Photoshop to take macro photographs. The girls have also explored the textural and vibrant quality of chalk and oil pastel drawings depicting abstract viewpoints of botanics. Year 10 Visual Arts are exploring the concept of Postmodernism, creating individual artworks in response to concepts or key world issues that interest them. The girls are using a variety of media to portray their work from painting to drawing, sculpture, assemblage and ceramics. Year 9 Photography and Digital Media have dived into analogue-style photography and the darkroom, exploring silhouetted images and how photographs can tell a story. They have investigated photographic artist Man Ray and undertaken the making of their own photogram while engaging in safe work practices within our darkroom. Year 10 Photography and Digital Media have continued to build upon their ability to record images of their world by investigating the concept of collage inspired by Hannah Hock. Students have used their own photographic digital images around the school to create digital photomontages, as well as magazine images to create a physical photomontage in response to their world.

Our senior students are well underway in refining and finessing their practical skills as they explore deeper concepts and meaning in art and resolve larger-scale artworks and photographic portfolios. Year 11 Visual Arts are embracing the unknown in the experimental approach of abstract artmaking to convey ideas and meaning in unique and emotional ways. Year 12 Visual Arts are fully engaged in the development of their Body of Work using a wide variety of mediums including ceramics, sculpture, painting and drawing. Year 12 Photography, Video and Digital Imaging have investigated photo narratives from a school and cultural context inspired by their study of Tracey Moffit. 

Earlier this term, year 11 and year 12 Visual Arts students had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Art Gallery of New South Wales' new and old buildings. During their visit, they were able to view artworks from Art Express, featuring high-achieving student artworks from the NSW 2024 year 12 cohort. The girls were excited to celebrate and view Jasmine Miller’s successful artwork at this exhibition from the year 12 Visual Arts class last year. Jasmine was kind enough to meet us at the gallery and take the year 11 and 12 girls through her process in the making and resolution of her Body of Work, as well as provide advice for approaching the HSC and the importance of organisation in your senior years. The girls were enriched with inspiration and ready to take on their artmaking experiences back at school with renewed enthusiasm for the ongoing development of their Bodies of Work in year 12 and exploration of skills and techniques in year 11. 

The Visual Arts Department wishes to again extend congratulations to Jasmine Miller on her wonderful achievement on being selected to exhibit in Art Express this year with her oil paintings ‘The Sanctity of Stillness’, as well as to Ebony Kennedy of Year 12 2025 for winning the Youth category of the Randwick City Council Women’s Art Prize with her ceramic form ‘The Unseen.’

Melissa Nutter

Head of Visual Arts