Department News

Diverse Learning Department

The Ngara Future Focus Program

The Ngara (listen, hear, think) program promotes academic skills development and academic capacity-building workshops through:

• Increasing students’ knowledge around degree prerequisites to support them in making their decision for subject selections.

• Equipping students with useful tools and resources to help prepare for life after school

• Connecting with the community of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and students at the University of Sydney.

• Learning about opportunities to apply for our residential Gadalung (Summer) and Tahgara (Winter) programs, and the Gadigal Program admissions pathway specifically designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

The Year 9 and 10 Indigenous girls were fortunate enough to go to the Sydney University Day. It was a great opportunity to help us learn and understand the different pathways we are fortunate enough to go through in life after school. We learnt about the different subjects and discovered our own strengths and weaknesses. This day played a major role in our future Uni decisions and what we want to study in the future.

Tarni Doyle, Hannah Dilger, Piper Jackson, Jaide Berger and Lillie Loveridge.

Natalie Harkins 

Student Administration/ Indigenous Support Officer

Languages Department

Year 8 Italian classes have been busy preparing for their final formal assessment this term, a speaking task in which they need to answer questions in an interview situation with their teachers. The students have been able to put into practice much of the vocabulary and structures they have been learning throughout the last two years in Italian. It has been a joy to see the growth in both their knowledge and confidence in the language.

Students have also been exploring the topic of Italian clothing and fashion. This has involved the acquisition of new vocabulary and the revision of adjectives such as colours. 

 Some classes even produced slide presentations to display their newly learned vocabulary while showcasing some of their favourite celebrities and their outfits!

Here are two slideshow presentations from class 8.4:

Janine Christofides

Head of Languages

Music Department

This term, the Music Department has been preparing for our end of year showcase, which will include performances by our Junior Orchestra, College Orchestra, College Choir, String Ensemble, Flute ensemble, Clarinet ensemble, Guitar ensemble, our Year 9, 10 and 11 Elective Music classes and solo piano performances from Yasmeen Janschek and Ashley Wu of Year 11. We would love you to come along and support the students! Tickets are on sale now. Details are in the poster below.

At the end of Term 3, our elective music classes performed at their recital nights. On these evenings, the students perform one or two pieces for their performance assessment task. We have a broad selection of instruments and styles which provides us with a wonderful variety show. The students invite their family and friends along to watch. As well as it is a great performance opportunity to practice for the HSC in future years, and it is a wonderful opportunity for the families to see how their daughter is progressing. Below are two highlights videos from the Stage 6 and Stage 5 recital nights. Please enjoy!

Gregorian Chant is now back up and running on Wednesdays at lunch. All the choir girls were invited to come along and join in. We are very lucky to have Ronan Reilly facilitate the sessions for the students. As well as the singing, Ronan has been teaching the girls how to read neumes, with can be quite difficult if you haven’t seen it before. A huge thank you to Mrs Robyn Ross, who has organised this ensemble. It is such a valuable experience for our students to be a part of. 

Jacqueline Hanniffy

Head of Music

PDHPE Department

Years 7-10 PDHPE

Term 4 has been a busy one for PDHPE. Students across Years 7-10 have now completed their assessments in the personal development and health component of the subject, and they are now working through the varied and stimulating health topics in their theory lessons. In the practical component of the subject, our girls have been participating in Team Games, and our elective PASS classes have had the excitement of experiencing a new program on Acrobatics. 

Year 7

Year 7 have been studying a unit called ‘Managing Safety and Risk’, which explores positive and negative risk-taking behaviours that affect health and wellbeing. In this unit of work, students are also learning the basic principles of first aid, such as the DRSABCD action plan and how to treat common illnesses and injuries such as burns, bleeding, shock, anaphylaxis and choking. They will also examine strategies to keep themselves safe in a range of sun, water and road safety environments. 

Year 8

In the unit  'Celebrating Diversity',  Year 8 has been exploring the concept of diversity, where they investigate the diverse nature of the Australian population, recognising and celebrating differences. There is a focus on discrimination and groups experiencing health inequities. Our Year 8 students have been working well, submitting a range of formative tasks on this unit of work.

Year 9

Year 9 students have been studying the unit ‘Physical Activity for Me’. This is a very worthwhile and relevant unit that explores the impact of a lifetime of physical activity on health. Students have been busy creating and evaluating health campaigns, designing recreational health facilities that could be beneficial to young people in their area and creating game and sports ideas for the class to participate in!  Great work, Year 9! 

Year 10

Year 10 students have been studying a unit called ‘Future Success’, which is assisting them in developing a broad range of skills that will assist them in attaining employment and meeting other challenges in the future. A particular focus is on work-related skills and job readiness. Students have been busy exploring career options in the job guide provided by the Australian Government, writing resumes and a letter of inquiry and exploring how to prepare for an interview. We hope this assists our girls in seeking employment and heading towards life beyond school. 

Years 9 and 10 PASS Elective Courses

In Term 4, the Year 9 and 10 PASS elective students have had the opportunity to trial the new program of Acrobatics! This has proved to be a popular unit of work. Guided by trained instructors each week, the girls have gained an understanding of how acrobatic training sessions are typically run and what is physically required of individuals participating in the sport. Each class begins with a warm-up, which consists of exercises aimed at increasing the heart rate and warming up the full body, as well as dynamic and static stretches specific to the muscles used in acrobatics. We then move on to drills down the mats, where students have learned how to do a variety of acrobatic movements such as cartwheels, forward rolls, handstands, partner holds and acrobatic sequences.  The partner work has proved to be the highlight of the classes, where the girls can work in pairs to master various acrobatic poses and gain extra physical strength. Overall, the PASS girls have loved being able to take part in this new program and the support that the girls show towards each other makes it a great bonding experience. 

Here are some comments from our 10 PASS students on the new Acrobatics program:

Our Year 10 Pass classes were fortunate enough to partake in Acrobatics as our sport for Term 4. We have learned new tricks and acrobatic skills. Additionally, we now understand the value of stretching and which muscles can be activated by particular exercises. Since most of us had never performed acrobatics before, it was also a blast to try this new activity. With lots of smiles and laughter, it was a wonderful chance for the girls to bond. We wholeheartedly advise upcoming PASS girls to take advantage of this chance.   

                                                                                                        Tarni Doyle & Mia Mitchell

Yesterday Year 10 PASS participated in acrobatics. We have been practicing our skills for the past few weeks. There have been improvements from jumps and forward rolls to walking handstands and one-handed cartwheels. Last lesson the class tried a new skill, partner lifts. We started with a handstand hold (shown in the photos) and then progressed to a box hold and finally a plank hold. The class was very good at these lifts and it was a great team-building experience. Many of the girls responded very well to this program with laughter and smiles throughout the lessons. The instructors helped make these lessons really fun, very simple to learn, and helped everyone do what they were comfortable with. Everyone participated and had a great time doing so. Many girls learnt a lot of new skills and got out of their comfort zone. 

                                                                                                      Olivia Daley and Elke Munro

Acrobatics is a good way to test our strength, ability and flexibility. I think a lot of people were surprised with the skills they were still able to do from primary school and the new skills they are learning. It’s really fun and a good way to relax at the end of the term with no assessments left. 

                                                                                                                                       Jessie Ryan

Year 11 

Our Year 11 PDHPE and CAFS students have started their HSC units and are preparing for their first Year 12 assessment tasks. We wish them all the best as they begin their final year of school. 

Vanessa Culhane

Head of PDHPE