Student achievements
Congratulations to the following students:
Lucy Gluskie, Grace Campbell and Ashlee Cripps (Year 12), whose talents have been recognised in the Tasmanian division of the 'What Matters?' Writing Competition. Lucy was named as the Year 11/12 state winner for Tasmania with her essay, 'Healing Matters'. Grace received a Highly Commended award for her piece, titled 'Inner Peace and Self-Acceptance Matters'. Ashlee's essay, 'Words Are Knives (Kindness Matters)', was also shortlisted, selected from almost 5,000 entries Australia-wide.
The competition is presented by the Whitlam Institute (within the University of NSW) and encourages students to write about the issues that are important to them and how they can make a difference. We are very proud of Lucy, Grace and Ashlee, who are now in the running for the national awards! Be sure to have a read of their exceptional entries, which will soon be released on the competition website.
Lucy Booth (Year 11) and Mia Anderson (Year 10), who play for the Waratah Cripps netball team which progressed through to the U19 TNL grand final on Saturday 22 July. Although the Cripps missed out on the premiership win (losing to the Cavaliers 41-46), the team gave it their all, playing a strong game to maintain a level scoreboard at quarter and halftime. Well done to all players on a great season!
Alet le Grange and Mackenzie Graves (Year 9), who were selected in the 2023 U15 Tasmanian state netball team, which is this week competing in the School Sports Australia Netball Championships in Perth, Western Australia. We wish the students the very best for the remainder of the competition and look forward to hearing all about the exciting experience.
Imogen Ransley (Year 7), who represented Tasmania at the 13/U Australian Teams Tennis Championships held recently on the Gold Coast. Imogen and her two teammates competed against teams from all other states and territories, as well as New Zealand and Pacific Oceania.
Aoife Kelly, Estelle Leary, Rhea Debnam and Mia Styles (Year 8), who represented Tasmania in the 2023 Water Polo Australia U13 Development Carnival, which took place in Hobart from 6-9 July. The annual competition sees state level U13 teams come together and enjoy water polo in a carnival style.
Brooke Barrett (Year 8), who was one of six flag bearers to represent Tasmania (and cheer the Matildas on!) at the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Australia v Canada match on 31 July. Brooke had the opportunity to walk on the field and take part in the pre-match ceremony, before watching the World Cup in person - a dream come true for the passionate soccer player!
Sarah Thomas and Alet le Grange (Year 9), who both earned top spots in Grok Learning's Web.Comp 2023 - an international coding competition involving more than 6,000 students from across Australia and the world. The pair used their new coding skills and creativity to produce their own sophisticated and complex website designs, with Sarah receiving a Perfect Score in the beginner's category, and Alet awarded a High Distinction in the intermediate category.
Chideraa Ndupu (Year 12), Sofia Lumb (Year 10), Ava Schultz (Year 10) and Sarah Thomas (Year 9), who were awarded for their outstanding performance in the Grok Academy NCSS Challenge. The five-week programming competition teaches students to code in Python 3.6. (a scripting language used for many different purposes such as web applications and scientific research).
The students completed the challenge with following results:
Chideraa – High Distinction (Beginners)
Sofia – Perfection (Intermediate)
Ava – Merit (Intermediate)
Sarah – Merit (Intermediate)
Mia Styles (Year 6), who was awarded MVP (Most Valuable Player) by Water Polo Tasmania for the Term 2 Season Year 5/6 A Division roster. The MVP is decided on umpire votes given per game. Well done, Mia!
Audrey Long (Year 8), who recently travelled to Ivančna Gorica, Slovenia to represent Australia at the 12th annual International Meeting of Young Beekeepers, which gives young beekeepers the opportunity to meet, work and learn from fellow young beekeepers from almost 30 countries around the world.
Audrey and her teammates placed fifth overall in the country competition, wowing judges with their innovative ideas, beekeeping knowledge and, most importantly, their enthusiasm and willingness to volunteer at the event. Congratulations on your hard-earned success, Audrey!
Taylah Hayes (Year 11), who recently represented Australia at the Asian Cup judo tournament in Hong Kong, her first international competition. Taylah medalled at the event, winning bronze in both the cadets and junior women's (U20) categories. Outstanding work, Taylah!
Martha Coleman-Crane (Year 5), who will be performing in the Hobart Gang Show's upcoming production of 'All at Sea'. This is the first time that Martha has been involved with the theatre production, and as one of the youngest new members of the cast this year, we wish her all the best for her stage debut. The production will be showing from 17-19 August at Mount Nelson Theatre, Hobart College. More details are in the flyer below.
If you have a student achievement to share, we'd love to hear from you. Please get in touch by emailing stmarys@smc.tas.edu.au