Learning Across the
Senior School

Year 7 Science: Exploring Forces

Our Year 7 Science students enjoyed observing a range of forces in action in our Exploring Forces Unit this term. They were required to record the changes in the motion, direction or shape of an object whilst performing the specific task and to determine what produced the force. Using a reverse functioning vacuum cleaner to balance a table tennis ball, or two, or three, was the highlight!

These Year 7 students are now exploring the use of Forces in Sport, researching with renewed confidence following their Research Skills workshop last week. During that session, students were encouraged to think about the research process by clarifying a research topic through creating questions and identifying specific keywords to drive high-quality search terms using ‘Assistive Technologies used by athletes at the Paralympic Games’ as a prompt.

Mrs Patty Warrender and Dr Alison Thompson

Student reflections: Year 8 Reflection Day

On Friday 6 September the year 8 students went to The Monastery Church for a Reflection Day focused on sincerity. The day began with a prayer, followed by a discussion on the meaning of sincerity. Students looked at Mary Ward's open circle of friends as well as discussing how people often wear masks to conceal different aspects of themselves. Then to explore this topic further, the students created their own masks. On the front of their mask, they wrote words that represented how they wished others to view them as a person or how they tried to depict themselves to others. This was then followed by writing words on the other side of the mask which they would rather keep hidden from the outside world and others. These masks were then given to Ms Rodi the Reflection Day leader and placed near the altar beside the Loreto cross, candle and bible.

Between all these activities, the students were given icebreakers where they were able to work together and participate in mini games. The students then split into their schoolhouse groups and were asked a series of questions. The students then had to move to one side of the room if they had been treated fairly in the situation or the other side if they were treated unfairly. To finish the day, the students engaged in a meditation session designed to help students become more aware of their bodies and surroundings. Overall, the day was very enjoyable, and we were able to reflect on the portion of the year that has passed and relax while taking part in fun and calming activities.

Written By Bronte Pryor

Student reflections: Year 7 Reflection Day

On September 2nd, the Year 7 students attended a spiritual retreat at the Monastery.

Our focus this year is on sincerity. During the retreat, we learned about Mary Ward's journey for girls' education and the importance of inclusivity and sincerity.

We also participated in arts and crafts activities, such as making masks to represent the difference between our outer and inner selves. We created skits about people whose real identities are hidden behind the mask.

Finally, we ended the day with a liturgy, and each received a Year 7 reflection day symbolic gift – a small wooden doll. We all look forward to more reflection days in the future!

Written by Vivienne Crawford

Writing Workshops – Year 7 and 8 English

On Monday 2nd September and Tuesday 3rd September our Year 7 and 8 students attended Writing Workshops conducted by visiting authors. It was an opportunity for our students to hear and learn from published authors. The visiting authors explored the process of writing and guided our students through a number of practical writing activities. We are thankful to the P&F committee for providing the funding to allow us to deliver this meaningful learning opportunity to our students.

Author and illustrator Mandy Foot spoke about the process of writing and how long it takes to get to the point of publication. She emphasised to students that regardless of their future aspirations, finding mentors in the field they wish to pursue is extremely important. Mandy presented a writing strategy to students and outlined that a visual image can be a good starting point for developing a writing piece. She went on to explain that writers should ask as many questions as possible and brainstorm the answers in order to start developing a piece of writing.

Margot McGovern worked through the importance of creating a setting and how when you get the setting right a story can evolve very quickly. She gave the students the opportunity to create their own setting and challenged them to brainstorm the range of narrative possibilities which can be generated from this one setting.

Adam Cece spoke to students about embracing the messy process of writing. He reassured students that the writing process will not be perfect straight away and that creativity takes time. He challenged students to “embrace the randomness of story creation”. His ‘Story Generator’ activity challenged students to work in groups to create and discuss creative writing ideas.

Charlie Archbold reassured our students that we are all capable of being creative. She talked to our students about how personal experiences can play an important role in the creation of our ideas and writing.

Student Reflections

After experiencing all the four different lessons I realised that I was most drawn to the Writing Activity by Adam Cece. He first told us about himself and his job and all the activities and Opportunities he has access to as an author. He taught us about not overthinking when writing and to just be creative. Overall, I found this lesson very interesting and important. I learnt a lot about writing and different techniques as well as understanding what it means to be an author. I realised that being an author is a very cool job and may be something I want to pursue’

Camille D’Arsie-Hausler (Year 7)

Attending the writing workshop was a beneficial experience that helped me to understand different ways to brainstorm ideas. Engaging with other classmates when attending these workshops was interesting as we were able to collaborate with other people on our table which helped with listening to different ideas. The exercises such as mixing up story ideas was the part of the workshop that really helped me as it challenged me to push myself and think outside the box. Overall, the workshop left me inspired to continue refining my creative thinking skills and it helped me to think of new ways to come up with story ideas.

Lilia Warner (Year 8)

As you all know, the upper years of the school were away for week 7, so the year 8s and 7s were in for a fun treat! On Tuesday were a couple of informative English story-writing workshops. We were visited by the talented authors Adam Cece, Mandy Foot, Margot McGovern, and Charlie Archbold who taught us about the process of creating stories and the ideas that have to go into it. We also got a fun art lesson from Mandy Foot, who is also an illustrator! After that, we had a session on proper researching and how to get the best search results, which I think most of the year sevens will find handy! Wednesday was a maths relay, where students had to run around the school, solving equations to get letters from teachers. These letters created whole maths-related words, and anyone who could solve them got a lollypop prize. Then all the year sevens had fun in the gym, going house to house in a volleyball tournament with the final round being a special Paralympics round where you couldn't use your legs. In the end, Ward prevailed as the winner, though the other houses put up a fair fight! We then had the opportunity to do a technology activity. We made biscuits in Food Technologies, a bag for biscuits in Textiles and labelled them in Digital Technologies. It was a packed week full of learning.

Rose Douglas

Mrs Fiona Griffiths

Leader of English and Languages

Mathematics Relay

During Week 7, students in Years 7 and 8 enjoyed taking part in a Loreto Mathematical Relay. A series of mathematical problems from the Australian Mathematics Trust were hidden in various locations all around the Senior School. Each question required logical problem-solving and outside-of-the-box thinking to arrive at the correct answer.

Successfully completing one problem unlocked the location of another. Each correct answer also revealed a letter within a mathematical word. The team with the most letters was the winner.

Congratulations to the Year 7 winners Marissa Lee, Vivienne Crawford and Olive Maycock and the Year 8 winners Victoria Saric and Violet Mignone.

Mr Andrew Baker

Leader of Mathematics

Student Achievements

We congratulate Emma Choi for being one of 12 Year 11 girls in Australia to be chosen from hundreds of applications to attend the Future Health Leaders Program. This program is designed to inspire female high school students to enter a career in health and medical research, innovation and life sciences. Emma spent a day in Canberra attending the Australian National University meeting with female leaders in research, education, industry and government. Post her trip she is involved in a mentoring program. Emma continues to seize opportunities, creating pathways to venture into the area of medicine, a lifelong dream of hers. We congratulate Emma on this amazing achievement!

Evatt Competition

The Evatt Competition immerses young people into the United Nations as they delve into the world of peace and security on the international stage. We are proud of our Loreto students in Year 11 Emma Choi and Karli Yip and in Year 10 Grace Collins and Iris Hamiliton who were challenged to think critically, problem solve carefully and communicate effectively. Their hard work was evident on the day. We congratulate Grace and Iris who continued in this event, being successful in the quarter finals which led to them be chosen for the grand finale.

Workplace Service Learning

Our Year 10 students have been actively engaged in workplace learning this week. The feedback from supervisors in an Early Learning Centre, dental clinic, primary school, kindergarten, pharmacy, reproductive lab, engineering firm, law office and kitchen has been very positive. Our students are enthusiastic, motivated, keen to learn and are representing themselves and the College with distinction.

Our Year 10 student Ophelia Coshell completed her placement at Sproutt Engineering Consultants last week and ended up having a bit of a Loreto presence. Along with Ophelia, Juliet Morelli the Proposal Coordinator/Administrator is an Old Scholar (2011) as is their Principal Landscape Architect Lisel McLeay (2001).

Tournament of Minds

Over the weekend, we had 3 Loreto teams compete in the State Tournament of Minds competition, 2x Year 7 teams and 1x Year 6 team. They worked for 6 weeks together preparing to present their solution to a range of challenges and problem solve one un-seen challenge on the day. The students did such an amazing job!

Write a Book in a Day

This Friday in the Senior Campus Library, we had 7 teams consisting of 65 Year 7 - 9 students participating in the 'Write a Book in a Day' competition. These students have committed to undertaking a 12-hour day (8am - 8pm) to plan, write, illustrate and edit a book which will be donated to the online libraries of Children's Hospitals around Australia. In addition to creating the books, the students have also been fundraising for The Kids' Cancer Project. The library was filled with great excitement as the girls embraced this wonderful opportunity to let their creativity shine.

Year 9 Camp

The Year 9 terrific camp to Robe was an unforgettable experience. It was filled with exciting, fun, and challenging activities for everybody to participate. The staff at Wilderness Escape were really encouraging and understanding, which made the us feel comfortable and confident. Surfing at Long Beach and Adventure Caving at Naracoorte were the highlights of camp. Camp allowed the students to step out of their comfort zone, encouraging us to try something new and challenging activities. We enjoyed fishing and discovering the beautiful town of Robe. The Hike Walk to Stoney Rise and Trangia cooking were at times testing for us, but we overcame this by problem-solving and great teamwork. Overall, Robe was an enjoyable experience with team bonding, learning to be resilient and having fun memories together.

Many thanks to our esteemed teachers for taking good care of us throughout the 5-day, 4-night camp: Mrs Donnelly, Ms Hains, Ms Martin, Ms Van Gerven, Ms Bale and Mr Bond.

Year 9 students

Year 11 Camp

Last week, our Year 11 students spent camping at the Ikara-Flinders Ranges, immersing themselves in both academic learning and the rich cultural heritage of Adnyamathanha Country. Surrounded by the rugged beauty of Bracchina Gorge, students explored their curriculum through hands-on activities, such as reflecting on Hans Heysen's art, conducting fieldwork for Biology, and exploring ancient geologic formations. English lessons came alive with comparative and descriptive writing inspired by the landscape, while leadership and problem-solving activities fostered teamwork. Through SEAD reflections, students considered their growth and mindset for Year 12. A highlight was the Cultural Studies session with Kristian Coulthard from Dingly Dell Tours, where students were welcomed to Adnyamathanha Country with a traditional Damper and Billy Tea, heard dreaming stories, and marvelled at ancient rock art. The week was a profound blend of learning, reflection, and connection to Country.