Department News

English Department

As we approach the end of this term, we would like to celebrate the exciting and enriching journey that our College's English department has embarked on this term, and share some exciting news with you.

BOOK CLUB

We are thrilled to announce that we now have three book clubs that run at lunchtime! Our book clubs have been a huge success, bringing together students of all ages and backgrounds to share their love of literature and language. It's been wonderful to see students coming together to discuss books, share ideas and explore new literary worlds. What's more, our book clubs have each been given a unique name! The students have come up with the names "Book Babes",  "Reading Rascals" and “Book Bros” which we think are fantastic, and they perfectly capture the spirit of each group.

ENRICHMENT 

Year 10 had an opportunity to engage in Poetry in Action performance. "Words of War" was a dynamic performance that explores the life and works of Wilfred Owen, one of the most striking and brilliant voices of his era. This show took the girls through the horror, heroism, and hopelessness of conflict, examining people’s attitudes to war and how, through Owen's poetry, they came to a better understanding of war today. Year 10 had an opportunity to hear some of Owen's most iconic poems, including "Spring Offensive," "Dulce et Decorum Est," and "Anthem for Doomed Youth."

Our Year 12 English Advanced students attended  Sport for Jove's performance symposium at Seymour Center. The symposium allowed the students to dissect one of Shakespeare's most formidable plays, "The Merchant of Venice" which the girls study for the HSC.  The timeless story explored themes of justice, mercy, and religious division, as well as the power of money and our willingness to gamble with our lives. They witnessed some of Shakespeare's most extraordinary characters, such as Portia, the brilliant young woman who dressed as a man to save a merchant's life, and Shylock, the Jewish moneylender who legally demanded a pound of flesh from a man willing to sacrifice everything for his friend.

WORDY BIRDS 

A group of dedicated and creative Year 9s spent a number of their lunchtimes in the lead-up to Open Day to create a flock of Wordy Birds, a type of sculpting similar to Papier mache using some pages from extra copies of stories that were destined for recycling. The girls' creativity and enthusiasm delivered an impressive collection that was on show for visitors. Their efforts and generosity with their time is greatly appreciated by the English department. We have received lots of comments on how great they look. A big thank you goes to Caitlin Ma, Jacqueline Liao, Ajelen Castillo, Margaret Ma, Mila Boshuizen, Alexandra Dudek, Bethan Davies-Evans, Olivia Frietas-Evans, Daisy Herr and Katie Ng for giving your time so generously to prepare for Open Day.

Natalia Hennessy  &  Clare Rose

Head of English         Assistant Head of English

Science Department

Term 1 has seen a variety of activities in the Science Department. Year 7 students settled into their laboratory environments very well and they all passed their Bunsen burner licence tests. Every student was issued with a licence which has her photograph on it. Year 8 students have been studying energy transfers and transformations with some fun activities, including making popcorn to demonstrate conduction. Year 9 and 10 students have focused on research activities, investigating scientific concepts through first-hand investigations. 

Students in Year 11 have begun their HSC courses earnestly. They are responding well to the demands of the senior courses as they complete their first assessment tasks in their respective subjects. Year 12 students embraced the challenge of their second HSC assessment task this term. Year 12 Biology students made models to gain a better understanding of the structure of microscopic DNA molecules. In the April holidays Year 12 students have the opportunity to attend Sydney Catholic Schools Masterclasses in Chemistry and Physics.

Open Day provided an opportunity to showcase some wonderful experiments. Enthusiastic students from Years 7 and 8 volunteered to do flame test demonstrations, tea bag rockets and splitting dye in milk. The Science department is also fortunate to have two renovated laboratories and a new spacious preparation room this year. Science staff continue to work tirelessly to create opportunities to encourage and challenge students in their courses.

Jaya Chowdhury   

Head of Science

Visual Arts Department

This term the Visual Arts Department has the joy of officially welcoming two new members of staff to our team, Miss Kismet Koromhaz and Mr Adam Gant. It is wonderful to see how engaged our students are in their visual arts lessons and to already see the beginnings of a number of wonderful artworks in the making. 

Term 1 Learning Snapshot:

Year 7 have begun their artmaking journey investigating the elements of art and perspective in drawing and composition. They are exploring their local environment around the College and The Spot to gather inspiration for their artmaking and complete a series of plein-air drawings of the landscape and buildings. 

Year 8 are well underway in their pet animal pot clay making and will finalise these designs with surface treatment and glazing next term. 

Year 9 has investigated landscapes from a Western perspective and explored the idea of pilgrimage, the theme of this year's Sydney Catholic Schools Clancy Art Prize,  with some beautiful paintings on canvas underway. 

Year 10 have entered the world of Postmodernism and are developing their individual artmaking response to a key world issue using techniques of appropriation, pastiche, irony and satire. 

Year 11 began their journey as senior students and are investigating the three-dimensional form and Response to Site through a series of artmaking activities, including collage, miniature worlds and sculptural forms. 

Year 12 continues to progress through the development of their Body of Work with some wonderful artworks beginning to take shape. They are now halfway through their journey and we cannot wait to see what their final artwork outcomes look like.

Senior Visual Arts Excursion to AGNSW: Inside Art Express Exhibition

On 17 February (2023) both Year 11 and Year 12 Art classes took a trip to the Art Gallery of NSW. We visited Inside Art Express, presented by the AGNSW, commemorating some of the best major works submitted by HSC students across NSW for 2022. The exhibition consisted of many different Bodies of Work, all relying on an original sophisticated concept, represented and displayed through different mediums. Many students, including myself, have been inspired by a high level of creativity that we will apply to our future bodies of work in the form of concepts, mediums and displays. These skills will then be further developed into practice for students’ own Body of Work through our individual studies towards our HSC. The Art Gallery of NSW annually holds the Art Express exhibition to commemorate those who strive for excellence throughout their art practice. This, as well as using the exhibition to drive innovation and motivation. and the potential to have our works displayed in the coming years, is a motivator in our senior years. Overall, we all had a great time and gained valuable inspiration and look forward to coming back. 

Written by Angelina Papayianakis (Year 11 Visual Arts)

Randwick City Women’s Art Prize

Three students' artworks were entered into the Randwick City Women’s Art Prize and while they may not have received an award, it was still a wonderful opportunity to have their work selected and displayed in a gallery setting and to celebrate their achievements in drawing and painting. Congratulations to Nadia Dizon (Year 12), Macey Johnson (Year 11) and Ava Thompson (Year 11). Macey Johnson and Ava Thompson will have their artworks further displayed at Bowen Library until Friday 28 April. 

Sydney Catholic Schools Portrait Art Prize

The Visual Arts Department also wishes to celebrate the beautifully drawn portrait artworks by Ebony Kennedy (Year 10) and Evie Sztor (Year 10). These artworks were submitted to the SCS Portrait Art Prize and exhibited through the Sydney Catholic School Virtual Gallery. These are wonderful drawings that demonstrate the growing talents of our year 10 students in Visual Arts. To view their artworks in the Virtual Gallery, please access the Portrait Art Prize page from Sydney Catholic Schools.

Melissa Nutter

Head of Visual Arts