Alumnae News

Cathy McGowan AO (1971)

Cathy came to national attention when she won the seat of Indi as an independent in 2013.  The community backed her again in 2016.  In 2019 Indi made Australian political history when Dr Helen Haines was elected as Indi's second, independent woman. 

During her time as a politician Cathy actively worked in Parliament to develop policy around regional development, constitutional change for first nation's people and a solution to the indefinite detention of asylum seekers.  

In 2019 she was awarded the Accountability Round Table Award for political integrity. She is an Officer of the Order of Australia, a Churchill Fellow and lives very happily on her farm in the Indigo Valley in NE Victoria.

Cathy recently released her book Cathy Goes to Canberra.

From her childhood on a rural Victorian farm in a large family of 13 children, to her dedication to the land, farming life and education, Cathy paints a picture of a life committed to her community and to genuine change. 

It offers a glimpse inside Cathy's grassroots campaign, sharing in detail how thousands of ordinary people got together, organised themselves and amplified their voices.

Hear more about the book:

 Purchase the Book:

Jenna Savannah (Bollas 2010)

Jenna has started a small business making hair accessories, necklaces and keyrings for adults and kids.

Sweet Sophia’s Creations was started because I wanted to add a bit of sparkle to the day of the women around me. When I became a mum, I packed away all my sparkly outfits as I needed to become more practical. However it got me thinking, why should we have to sacrifice our style because we have entered a new stage of life? 

I created this business as I wanted women to feel and look their best and to be empowered. Sometimes all it takes is for you to feel confidence for the world to see you in a different light. To pass the time during the COVID lockdown, I sat down with my daughter and son to make some accessories together. Once we had finished, I looked down at my creations and thought “maybe this could go somewhere”… and here we are today.

You can view the range via the website

or Instagram is @sweetsophiascreations

Your support is appreciated and I am happy to offer 20% off any order with code SAC20 

Sarah Burt (2011 )

Two years ago, in 2019, when Sarah Burt came back to Sacré Cœur to talk to the Year 9 students, she was on her way to Sydney to take up a position at Fox Sports. She wrote at the time:

At Sacré Cœur I always loved all forms of sport, and anything related to writing. Some of my fondest memories are of GSV sport after school with a big gang of girls or discussing literature in Chris Maguire’s or Zoe Poulson’s classes. 

A favourite memory of Sac is when we hid Chelsea Craig inside the whiteboard and she jumped out when Ms Pemberton went to write an equation on the board. Also when Stuart won the house Arts Festival with Jo Weston and I as Co-Captains. 

Since leaving the School, I’ve worked in various organisations in Media and Communications roles, most recently as a reporter at WIN News and as the media coordinator at Hawthorn Football Club. Shortly, I will be off on my next big adventure to start work as a television Journalist and Producer at Fox Sports News in Sydney.

My advice to my Year-12-Self would be to “never apologise for being unique, it’s what makes you wonderful... and stop giving your Maths teacher grief!”

Today Sarah is working at The Age newspaper, championing women's football and the AFLW. Click below to read her articles or connect via LinkedIn.