From the Principal 

Dr Nicole Archard

Educating Strong, Passionate, and Confident Girls and Young Women 

For those who were able to witness our Senior girls at the Performing Arts Festival (PAF) last Friday night, you will have no doubt that we are educating your daughters to be strong, passionate, and confident girls and young women. As I have always said, PAF is the epitome of what it is to receive a Loreto education. The leadership shown by the girls in undertaking the whole process of auditioning, choreography, music selection and then bringing the whole House together into one coherent performance without any teacher intervention amazes me. It’s an event that combines leadership, creativity, and teamwork into one. Add to this the challenging circumstances that Covid presented, particularly for Mulhall who saw some of their key performers struck down with illness during the week and each time, including on the day of performance, they had to pivot and adjust and at times totally recreate a whole new performance. The girls could have given up, but instead they persevered and probably learnt more about problem solving in one day than from all their other school experiences. 

You may have seen the recent news article that was shared widely on social media, ‘Why girls’ schools succeed at producing women who lead.’ This article highlighted the disproportionate number of female Independents voted in at the Federal election who had been educated at girls’ schools. To put this into perspective, five out of eight ‘teal’ women who were elected as independents had been educated at girls’ schools, that is 63 percent, whilst girls’ schools only account for 2 percent of schools in Australia. In addition, a Loreto Old Scholar, Dr Monique Ryan, successfully won the Seat of Kooyong, displacing the Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. When considering why this is the case, reflect on what you saw at PAF – confidence, perseverance, creativity, leadership, teamwork, articulate voice, passionate convictions – all the skills that make girls well prepared to become the women leaders of tomorrow. 

Need I say more… 

Dr Nicole Archard

Principal