In this issue

Welcome back to the new academic year. I mentioned to the students that the school never feels the same without them here, so it feels like things are in alignment now as we have our community back and ready to commence the year. It has been a delight to connect with many of you in person at the start of year functions and parent evenings over the last couple of weeks and I look forward to many more opportunities throughout the year.

 Optimising success

At the first assembly, I addressed the students on the topic of success and embracing their gifts. As the students know, I like stories to enhance our understandings, and I shared the story of the great violinist, Itzhak Perlman with them. As a musician myself, this story resonated deeply with me and the connection to growth and learning I believe, is quite pertinent. I share this below for you:

Itzhak Perlman suffered from polio as a child and lived most of his life in a wheelchair. On one occasion he was performing a violin concerto when, with an audible ping, one of the strings broke in the first movement. Everyone waited to see what he would do.

With astonishing skill, he continued as if nothing had happened, playing through to the finale using only the remaining three strings.

The applause, as the concerto ended, was tumultuous, not only for his performance but for his coolness in continuing undaunted.

As the noise subsided, he was called on to say a few words to the audience.

Sitting in the wheelchair, a living symbol of courage, he spoke just one sentence: “Our job is to make music with what remains.”

Adapted from an article by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in The Times, September 2002

This story is interesting on several levels. Firstly, it highlights the importance of making the most of what we have in the moment. The ability to continue, despite the circumstances, or even because of them. When we embrace what is, and do not get frustrated in wanting to change it, we can achieve anything. What seemed impossible, becomes possible: like playing an entire concerto on three strings!

I emphasised with the students that we all bring different gifts to the table. Through making the most of our gifts, we allow ourselves to grow and develop in ways we never knew were possible. Especially in adverse times.

Secondly, the story is significant because an additional context sits behind the story that is not as widely understood. To be ‘great’, and in this case a ‘great’ violinist, you trained for this exact moment. The moment where you did not have all your strings and were required to perform.

In 2020, we did precisely this. The experiences of the pandemic were like taking a string away from our violin. Through adversity, we as a school performed with remarkable flair. Our performance was impressive not only in the results we achieved, but the courage and adaptability that every member of our community showed when asked to move online and learn from home.

Finally, Itzhak shows us that success in any circumstance comes from continuous training, a growth mindset, and above all, adaptability.

As we commence the new year, I encouraged the girls to consider how they make the most of the gifts they have right now; how are they training to strengthen their gifts to ‘grow their own way’; and how are they working to move from ‘good to great’ to become the best version of themselves.

I look forward to sharing with you following our Academic Assembly next week the successes of our 2020 cohort and improvement in GPAs for students from Semester 1 to Semester 2 last year.

In addition, I am very excited to be joining the Co-Curricular Music Team this year taking Duchesne Voices and working with the Year 7 and 8 singers. I look forward to seeing many of you at their performance opportunities throughout the year.

Best wishes for a successful 2021.

Daniel Crump
Deputy Principal

Greetings and happy new year to all. It’s a delight to be walking the corridors of Stuartholme again in 2021 and to hear the chatter of staff and students as they reengage with school life. 

Our Sacred Heart Tradition 

As we commence the school year, it is important for us to remember the community of which we are a part – a community of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus who invite us to embrace and live wholeheartedly the Goals of Sacred Heart Education. Our goals call us to educate to: 

1. A personal and active faith in God; 
2. A deep respect for intellectual values; 
3. Building community as a Christian value; 
4. A social awareness that impels us to action; 
5. Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom. 

Whilst all of these goals are alive and active in our community at all times, each year we take one for an annual goal.   

Our Annual Goal – We educate to personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom 

This year, our annual goal is to educate to personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom. Prior to the students returning, our staff had a moment of reflection on this goal, focusing on the various layers of the atmosphere that surround us – our global atmosphere, our national or domestic scene, as well as the atmosphere of our school community. 

The Global and Domestic Atmosphere 

In considering our global atmosphere, it is sobering to note the five biggest risks facing humanity in 2021 according to the World Economic Forum are: 

1. Infectious diseases – COVID-19 has led to over 2 million deaths and a $28 trillion hole in the global economy. 
2. Livelihood crises – 14% of workers lost their jobs between April and June in 2020 with major disruption to sectors such as aviation and hospitality. 
3. Extreme weather events – 2020 saw a wave of extreme weather events globally. The wildfires of last summer are a horrific memory. 
4. Failure of cybersecurity measures – digital protections continue to be at risk to sophisticated cyber attacks. 
5. Digital inequality – almost half of the world’s population has no access to internet with the tech-gap widening for people in poverty. 

Clearly, we live in challenging times. 

As well as these global issues, the 2020 Mission Australia Youth Survey highlight concerns closer to home. With 25,800 respondents aged between 15 and 19 years of age, the survey reveals that the three top personal concerns of young people today are: 

1. Coping with stress. 
2. Mental health. 
3. Body image. 

The survey also reports that for young Australians, the three most important issues in Australia today are: 

1. Equity and discrimination. 
2. COVID-19 
3. Mental health. 

An infographic of the survey results can be found here that portrays further insights into the challenges that face our young people today. 

Our Stuartholme Atmosphere 

Interestingly, the issues of young Australia are echoed by our own students at Stuartholme. In Term 4, our student leaders of JPIC led the committee in a discernment process to determine the focus of our social justice initiatives, which were deemed to be: 

1. Environmental sustainability. 
2. Diffability. 
3. Mental Health. 
4. Solidarity with the marginalised/Human rights. 

Whilst the global and domestic atmosphere appears rather stormy, as people of the gospel, we know it’s not the full picture. As a community called to be on earth the heart of God, at Stuartholme, we are blessed to belong to a tradition that promotes an atmosphere of wise freedom. The ingredients that enable this atmosphere are, in fact, the way we live and embrace all the goals of Sacred Heart Education. It is this that enables personal growth to occur. And whilst the stormy weather may continue, the nurturing environment of our school will enable our students to flourish to be the best that they can be.  

Best wishes to all for the year ahead as we continue to navigate these challenging times. 

Justin Golding
Dean of Mission

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to the start of 2021 boarding life. For those of you new to our boarding community, welcome to the Stuartholme Boarding Family!

Stuartholme doesn’t come alive until the boarders have returned to animate the historic Renard Building that is their home away from home. The Boarding House and the girls that live within, are often described as the heartbeat of the school, ever present 24/7, breathing spirit and joy into the entire school community. This year, we are delighted to welcome ten Year 7s, three Year 8s, four Year 9s, seven Year 10s and two Year 11s,  into the boarding community that is 113 boarders strong! These new boarders have come from communities as diverse as St George, Mission Beach, Julia Creek  Sunshine Coast and Warwick! They have shown great courage and resilience in adapting to their new environments.

Our relationship with you is crucial to creating a happy boarding daughter so do not hesitate to contact us with any concerns or queries you might have. No question is a silly one and no concern will remain un-responded to. Our Assistant Heads of Boarding (AHOB) have been on top of all matters ‘Boarding’. This year AHOB Ellen McLean is the Year 7 and 8 contact, AHOB Melissa Robinson is the Year 9 and 10 and Sport contact and  our new Deputy Dean of Boarding Jane Morris is the Year 11  and Year 12 contact. Please email them directly on, for eg, mrobinson@stuartholme.com , emclean@stuartholme.com, jmorris@stuartholme.com

A significant reason that our boarding community is happy and largely achieving its desired outcomes is that we value open and honest communication with our families. We continued this year with our Boarder Parent Support Network meeting chaired by Mrs Susan Shay from Gleneagle. The committee consists of Year Level Representatives and meets once a term. Boarder parents are encouraged to feedback issues of concern or comments about what is going well to their Parent Representatives. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your feedback about boarding (kdavies@stuartholme.com) at any time. Problems can all be solved by talking and what we don’t know about, we can’t fix up!

Our Boarding Captains, Vice-Captains and Mentors (Emma Hall, Maeve Shay, Lily Thomson, Lucy Berge, Tatiana Stinson, Anna Hegerty, Betsy Duff, Leilani Hale and Imogen Philip) have exhibited strong leadership already by facilitating our first Formal Dinner last Wednesday night and will be in full swing for the rest of the term initiating Year Level Activities after school.

REACH (for submitting online leave requests) is active again and new parents will have received REACH log in details from Miss Jen McLaughlin. Please contact Jen to be talked through or sent REACH information. REACH is the online leave system that we require you to use – just like Marist and Nudgee. We ask that leave is submitted by 12.00 pm on Thursdays. Please note that we have a strict policy regarding boarders NOT being allowed to travel in Uber taxis. We received legal advice on this from the Australian Boarding Schools’ Association.

Our commitment to our Catholic faith and that for your daughters requires us to provide for them an opportunity to attend the Sunday Eucharist. Please note that our Community Eucharist is at 5pm in the Chapel each Sunday, and we also engage in our local Parish at least one Sunday in the term. Mass is compulsory for all boarders. Girls who have been on leave over the weekend are asked to return to the Boarding House by 4 pm in readiness for Mass. The girls are asked to be smartly attired for Mass, just as for our Formal Dinners. You are always welcome to join us for Mass or dinner on Mondays.

Enjoy the weekend and please stay in touch with us, join our closed Stuartholme School Boarding Facebook group which is a wonderful way to see the weekly happenings in the House.

Take care,

Karen Davies
Dean of Boarding

Grow your own way – guided by a million hearts

The Cor Unum Captain Annalise Barnes and Committee members Madeleine Roache, Hannah Howard and Amy Horn were inspirational in welcoming all students and staff back to this new academic year with their 2021 theme launch “Grow your own way  – guided by a million hearts”. Supported by the artistic talent of Lucy Wallace who designed the logo symbolising personal and community growth.

Our 2021 Cor Unum Captain articulated the significance of this year’s theme explaining that “it was inspired by the Society of the Sacred Heart – exemplifying the warmth and spirit that our community fosters, a love for each and every individual united in Cor Unum. Our tree characterises growth, our focus for this year. The roots of our tree are surrounded by a million hearts that represent our great network of people who have once been, who are, and who will be a part of our Sacred Heart community in the future, guiding us to be the best we can be”.

It was wonderful to welcome all our new and returning families to the 2021 school year. I have met many of you at our functions and information evenings that have taken place over these first two weeks. It was a delight to be able to connect in person.

The Green Ribbons and the Year 11 cohort were truly superb in working alongside their Year 7 Little Sisters to help them become more confident as they navigate new routines and locker locks. I spoke to many Year 7 students and they are settled and excited about the year ahead.

Vision for learning and student wellbeing

As presented at the recent parent evenings by the Deputy Principal – Mr Danny Crump and myself, research now shows that integrating wellbeing and learning is integral to optimising success. Towards this end, we set the bar high in terms of expectations which delivers optimum outcomes into the future.

There in an intentional focus across the curriculum to aim for the best possible performance and hone the practices required to sustain student success. The inclusion of wellbeing as a subject within the curriculum for all students in years 7-12 enables all students to thrive, flourish and demonstrate stronger academic performance. Stuartholme’ s outstanding results are underscored by a caring village within which we unapologetically expect these standards to be met.

Working together to create the atmosphere for self-knowledge, passion and purpose

 “Our education is not meant to turn the children out small and finished, but seriously begun on a wide basis. Therefore, they must leave us with some self-knowledge, some energy, some purpose.” – Mother Janet Erskine Stuart

To support the students in settling back into school routines and creating the atmosphere for success, the Leaders of Student Wellbeing and Teacher Mentors have been highlighting “positive expectations” challenging them to:

• Positively engage with the school ethos
• Show self-discipline and dedication to academic requirements
• Be punctual to school and all classes
• Show self-respect
• Adhere to the school dress code
• Respect others’ rights and property.

Your support in upholding these expectations will be important in ensuring your child can be the very best version of themselves and transition from good to great in 2021.

Deb Lonsdale-Walker
Dean of Student Wellbeing

Hi everyone,

Welcome back! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful holiday break, and you’re feeling refreshed and ready for another year.

It’s been lovely to see Year 10, 11 and 12 parents this week at our Parent Information Nights. It’s going to be an exciting year for our girls and I’m looking forward to supporting them to explore their options and plan for their futures.

As always, please find below a selection of opportunities, events and information that might be useful to you and your daughters. You can find more information and resources on the Careers page of my.Stuartholme.

Warm regards,

Mr Tom Lillyman
Careers Counsellor

EXPLORE

2021 TSXPO Tertiary Studies Expo

The 2021 TSXPO is on again – Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 July 2021 from 10am – 4pm.

• View the online exhibitor list and note institutions you’d like to speak with.
• Download the competition details, complete the form and bring with you to deliver to the TSXPO prize barrel during the event.

• Read over the visitor tab and complete the student worksheet to bring with you to the event.
• Look over the seminar program to highlight sessions you plan to attend.

World Science Festival Brisbane and regional areas

Do you wonder what science is all about? Find out through an interesting and entertaining program. The festival will take place between 24 and 28 March 2021 at various venues around Brisbane and regional Queensland. View the program on the festival website.

EXPERIENCE

UQ FEAST 2021

What is FEAST? UQ’s Future Experiences in Agriculture, Science and Technology (FEAST). FEAST is a four-day residential program at UQ Gatton where you can learn more about science careers in the agriculture, animal, plant and food industries. It’s open to students in years 11 and 12 and UQ are now accepting expressions of interest for the 2021 FEAST. Click here for more information.

Australian Defence Force (ADF) Work Experience program

The Defence Work Experience Program is planning activities for 2021. As placements are planned and confirmed, they will be advertised through the ADF website. Check the website regularly throughout the year for updates and experiences on offer, and click on the “Placements” tab for details.

Join the YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament

Are you interested in community issues, social justice and advocating for change? Then you might be interested in joining the YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament (QYP). Nominations for the 2021 program are now open and can be made via the YMCA QYP website.

GOOD TO KNOW

Applying to Australian National University (ANU)

If you’re in Year 12 and interested in applying to ANU, it’s good to know that direct applications for ANU courses, scholarships and accommodation open in March – much earlier than all other universities. To get prepared, you might want to read more about the application process here.

We warmly invite parents to join our Community Prayer and Community Eucharist events each week. If you are able to attend, please park on the main driveway.

Reminders

Thank you to all the parents who have been using the pick up/drop off zones.

For the safety of students we ask that you only use the two designated school drop off and pick up zones as indicated in red in the below map; Outside Joigny and the Oval.

Parents are not permitted to drop students at the main Roundabout, Tennis Courts or Pool car parks. These areas are for staff parking only and permitted student/parent access is before 6am for sporting arrangements. We will be monitoring these locations in the next few weeks and you will be stopped and asked not to drop or collect your daughter from these locations.

Boom Gate

The boom gate on Paddington Drive will remain down from 6am to 6pm. We have a large number of Year 11 and 12 students who drive to school and park on Stuartholme Road. A majority of these students walk up Paddington Drive and into the school grounds. To ensure there are limited vehicles sharing Paddington Road with our students, it is vital we keep the boom gate down during this time. Staff who use Paddington Drive to access school car parks are limited to 20kms/hr and remain vigilant of students walking. We also ask students who are walking in a group to walk in a single file.

We appreciate your support and in keeping our students safe at all times.

Updates

In our community consultation about “Our next big idea” at the end of 2020, Stuartholme School received overwhelming feedback from parents and students who have requested trousers be added to the uniform as an option. The introduction of trousers and a blouse, gives students a choice in what they feel more comfortable in wearing. We believe giving young women more options is empowering and freeing. The School Shop will start with a limited supply, which we can increase  in accordance to the demand. The short sleeved blouse, which is similar to the design of the dress, can be worn with the school jumper or blazer in winter. The trousers do not replace the school dress.

The musicians of Stuartholme have been busy in their first week of rehearsals and private music lessons. It’s wonderful to hear music throughout the Music Department, Theatre and Australian Room.  Many thanks to the musicians and their families who have made special arrangements to facilitate morning and afternoon rehearsals.

Click on a photo to start gallery

Market Day performance

Thank you to Stuartholme Rocks and the Year 9 RnB Band who performed at the Co-curricular Market Day!

Welcome to Music Weekend – Friday 19, Saturday 20 February and Sunday 21 February

Friday 19 February 3.30 – 5.30pm (Jazz Band and Joigny Philharmonic only)

Saturday 20 February 8.30am – 9.00pm and Sunday 21 February 8.30am – 1.00pm  all musicians will be involved!

Musicians are: Joigny String Orchestra, Sinfonietta, Concert Band, Joigny Voices, Duchesne Voices (Year 7/8 Choir), Joigny Philharmonic Orchestra, Jazz Band Music Polo shirt with jeans and closed in shoes held at Stuartholme School

Australian Schools Band and Orchestral Festival

As many of you were aware there were few and far opportunities for live performances/festivals in 2020. When the Australian Schools Band and Orchestral Festival (NSW) announced they were offering an online international festival for 2020 we entered all of our string ensembles and Concert Band either for the participation experience or the adjudicated sections.

The recordings had to be unedited and only feature our musicians (no staff etc). A massive thank you must go to Evalyn for her vision to sustain the festival rehearsals through to November and record the girls in the stunning backdrop of the Chapel.

Late last week the awards were given out for our adjudicated sections:

Joigny String Orchestra – Silver

Sinfonietta – Silver

Concert Band – Gold

Water polo State Championships 

Three teams represented Stuartholme at the recent Water Polo Queensland State Championships (19 – 25 Jan) at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre.

All three teams improved significantly over the course of the competition and enjoyed competing against the best teams in Queensland.

The Under 12 team was a mix of current and future Stuartholme students so our future looks bright in the pool. The Under 14 teams stayed at the Gold Coast Performance centre and enjoyed the off field activities as much as the water polo competition.

A huge thank you to our manager and coaches for the support of our girls and the Stuartholme water polo program.

Congratulations to the students who made a ‘Firsts’ team for 2021

Senior Cricket

Senior 1 Volleyball

Open A Tennis team

Stuartholme are looking forward to an anticipated 2021 debating season, filled with new knowledge demonstration games, rebuttal tennis, coaching sessions and of course debates! After only having one round of formal QDU competition in 2020, our students were able to flex their skills and signposting abilities during our Inter-House Debating Competition. All these moments were an interesting challenge, but it is great to get back to what we love doing.

On Friday, your daughter (if in Year 8 to 12) will be emailed with her allocated debating team for 2021. Trials were held at the end of 2020 and further expression of interest was emailed this week to gather and nominate our final debaters. For our Year 7 families and students, the Junior Secondary competition is a separate competition to the Secondary one for the Queensland Debating Union. This is held later in the year. We will trial Year 7 debaters in Term 2, and notices will be emailed to students and posted in the newsletter.

Debating parents will receive an email from the coordinator in the next week introducing your daughter’s coach and the link for debating registration payments. The coach will arrange training times directly with your daughter and her team.

For family calendar planning, please see below for the competition dates for 2021. These are for standard debating rounds. If a team reaches the finals parents will be notified of the dates. Please note, we are aware that some of these dates clash with school events. Stuartholme is unable to apply for postponements until the draw is released by QDU. Once postponements are finalised we will email you the new dates. You may also notice that some debates are on a Thursday, this is to accommodate internal events that hosting schools must also run. All schools hosting debates are still being finalised and will be released once the draw is confirmed.

Year 8

1. Wednesday 10^th March
2. Wednesday 31^st March
3. Wednesday 12^th May
4. Thursday 3^rd June

Year 9

1. Wednesday 24^th February
2. Wednesday 17^th March
3. Thursday 29^th April
4. Wednesday 26^th May

Year 10

1. Wednesday 3^rd March
2. Wednesday 24^th March
3. Wednesday 5^th May
4. Wednesday 19^th May

Year 11

1. Wednesday 24^th February
2. Wednesday 17^th March
3. Wednesday 28^th April
4. Wednesday 26^th May

Year 12

1. Wednesday 3^rd March
2. Wednesday 24^th March
3. Wednesday 5^th May
4. Wednesday 19^th May

Senior A

1. Wednesday 10^th March
2. Wednesday 31^st March
3. Wednesday 12^th May
4. Thursday 3^rd June

There are many ways a Stuartholme young woman can get involved in social justice. There are our weekly sessions of Playmakers and Over The Net, an opportunity to work one-on-one as the ultimate cheerleader for a young person with a diffability. There are fortnightly meetings of JPIC (Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation) our social justice club for Year 7 to 12 students, or our new initiative JPIC Jnr design for Year 7 to 9 students to gain confidence in the realm of social justice. It is not just the education of our students that is important to us, we strongly believe in offering social justice opportunities to our families. If you have ever been interested in learning Auslan (Australian Sign Language) Stuartholme students will be running a community Auslan class in Term 1. Dates for this initiative will be announced soon. Excitingly in Term 2 JPIC are partnering with St Joseph’s Gregory Terrace to host their Civic Advocacy Forum. In our first JPIC meeting of the year our students voted that the topic Solidarity with the Marginalised would be our area of focus for the Civic Advocacy Forum. Students will have the opportunity to learn from experts in this area and can participate in hands on workshops.

Stuartholme has a deep understanding and respect for social justice. We understand that for our young women to understand their place in the world, then they must learn to understand and respect it. This year Stuartholme is excited to launch their four new social justice themes, which will be examined through our social justice lenses. This is best explained in the words of our 2021, JPIC Captain Emma Barry.

To start off let’s go through the 3 lenses of social justice. These lenses are essentially the 3 possible ways to actively contribute to social justice.

The first is Civic advocacy. Civic advocacy is about using our voices and our education to amplify the social justice issues important to us and to also amplify the voices of others who may be affected by those issues. 

The second is volunteer work. Volunteer work is our traditional understanding of how to contribute to social justice. We have done a lot of volunteering activities in JPIC because it works. It is about hands on engagement and understanding how communities work.

The third is social enterprise, it’s about using profit for purpose while also promoting a mindfulness about the items we buy. Thinking about who made it and if it was ethical and what impact your purchase may have on those variables.

All these are important to understand the multiple ways social justice themes can be upheld and promoted especially within our school.

And -speaking of social justice themes here a reminder of what themes we will be aiming to make differences within from this year to 2023.

• Environmental sustainability,
• Diffability,
• Solidarity with the marginalised,
• And mental health.

For further information visit the Mission and JPIC tile on My Stuartholme.

Claire Lawler
Debating/Social Justice Coordinator

Due to the number of students attending the Red Earth Immersion and the Rowing Camp at the conclusion of Term 2, we have sought a change for the Year 11 Semi-Formal.

The Year 11 Semi-Formal will now take place on Thursday 17 June 2021. To facilitate this, there are some changes to the Year 11 program for this week (Week 9A, Term 2).

Year 11 students will participate in the Leadership Days with Peer Power on Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 June. To maximise learning, students are required for regular classes on Thursday 17 June until the end of Period 3, after which time appointments can be made to prepare for the evening. Please note, Year 11 students will be not required to attend school on Friday 18 June following their Semi-Formal.

Red Earth Immersion and the Rowing Camp will remain unchanged.

Thank you for your support with these amendments to the calendar.