In this issue

The Parents of Stuartholme welcome all parents to come along and enjoy a community event supported by the Stuartholme musicians, student Art, and Drama students as MC for the night.  This wonderful community event is a chance for parents to reconnect or make new friends amongst the warm Stuartholme community.

RSVP (for catering) is essential by Monday 28th February.  There will be a cash bar.  Please RSVP via the website www.stuartholme.com/events

We look forward to seeing you there!

In 2022, we are excited to announce a new addition to the co-curricular family … Creative Writing Club! Whether the idea of writing creatively fills you with bone-chilling dread, unimpressed apathy, or absolute elation, this is the club for you. The aim of this club is to understand that the ability to write creatively is a skill that can be developed, and not just something you are born with or without.

In Creative Writing Club, we will be reading and creating all different genres and styles of writing, with each term focusing on something different – from poetry to short stories, and maybe even film scripts. Members will not only get the chance to be readers and writers, but also editors, performers, and hopefully even participants in different Brisbane writing festivals.

Creative Writing Club will run every Tuesday lunchtime (12:50-1:20) in R103.

A hallmark of our successful approach at Stuartholme is the close bond with our parents. We work together, both in the real world and online, for your daughter to be the best she can be.

At Stuartholme, we place great emphasis on the importance of the ‘Stuartholme Village’ and the infrastructure of that support network. If you have concerns about your daughter’s progress in any subject, in the first instance we encourage contact with your daughter’s classroom teacher via email. They are best placed to answer any queries you may have as they will know both the subject and your daughter best. The flowchart below gives further guidance:

We encourage parents’ initial contact with the teacher to be via email, and teachers will endeavour to respond within two business days. Please keep in mind that teachers are unable to respond to emails during lesson time. Our Parent, Teacher, Student Conferences, conducted via Zoom, are our primary method of providing more targeted feedback about student progress. These conferences are scheduled twice-yearly – at the start of Term 2 and Term 3. Parents are encouraged to utilise this opportunity.

Insights from the Cor Unum Committee Member – Greta Robertson

As a 2022 Cor Unum Committee member, it gives me great pleasure to be able to write the Dean of Student Wellbeing’s newsletter article this week. Looking back on the last 5 years of Stuartholme I would like to give insight into the daily life of a student and provide some helpful tips to commence the school year.

I started at Stuartholme in Year 7, along with many of my best friends and even my twin sister, nervous but eager to learn. From my first day at school up until now, I have always felt welcomed by the community and found it easy to get along with everyone. Throughout my Stuartholme journey, many things have shaped me into the person I am today. Being in such a tight-knit community I have been able to create close connections with my teachers which has really helped me to shape my aspirations for the future. Additionally, after becoming one of the Cor Unum committee members, I realised that my entire cohort believed in me enough to choose me to lead them. This instilled a sense of confidence and me and has really helped me open up to new possibilities – something I will be forever grateful for.

What a normal day looks like for me:

Being in year 12 means I am very busy. I do 7 subjects, have a job, do extra-curricular activities and am on the Cor Unum committee. So, for me one of the most important things is making sure that my wellbeing is maintained while juggling all of these tasks. I always make sure that after a long day of classes and sometimes meetings and sport, that I take some time to relax and get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. To do this I make sure to prioritize what I need to do for that day and be understanding that sometimes I will just not be able to get all my work done. I also am a very organised person and make sure I write down important events such as meetings or exams and my homework in a diary that I bring with me to all my classes. I keep track of everything by writing to-do lists and making study timetables, so that even if I don’t get homework done the day it was given to me, I won’t forget it and it will just get done another day.

 My top tips for success:

1. Take breaks – It is so important to make sure you take time off to relax and have some time to yourself. So, take time in your day to take a nap, read a book or watch or movie – whatever makes you feel calm.
2. Be proud of your achievements – many people often view success as getting top marks or being better than other people, but I believe that if you work hard and put in effort, the marks you receive do not define success. So, be proud of your achievements whether that is receiving an academic award or finally getting that really hard maths question.
3. Try everything – Stuartholme offers many extra-curricular activities such as sports, clubs, JPIC initiatives and leadership roles. Even in the junior years, there are always opportunities to be active in your community such as being an SRC rep or attending JPIC junior. Personally, I would try out anything you find interesting. By participating in many extra-curricular activities, I have forged connections, made friends and learned lots of important skills.
4. Be nice/welcoming to others – One of my biggest tips is to always be welcoming to your peers. If you begin being supportive and nice to everyone (even if you wouldn’t consider them one of your friends) you will become really close with your whole cohort and feel as though they are family.

To finish off, below is a little reminder!

Dear Stuartholme Community,

It is my pleasure to deliver the Student Takeover – Message from the Acting Principal in this edition of the Newsletter.  Please click here to watch.

Holly Clemson
Cor Unum Committee 2022

My name is Angelique Boland, and I have just begun feeling my way through the intimidating and exciting path of Year 12. The delay of face-to-face learning at the beginning of the term haltered the excitement part of this year, but due to the resilience and creativity of our staff, and the adaptability and exuberance of our students, the excitement has returned to our Stuartholme community once again. This was particularly seen, felt and heard last Tuesday at our Swimming Carnival.

As I am on the 2022 Cor Unum Committee, alongside Greta Robertson, Holly Clemson and Sophie Howard, we recently had the honour of releasing our theme for this year, ‘See the Rainbow, Be the Light’. This theme is founded on one of the five Sacred Heart goals, ‘A Personal and Active Faith in God’, our focus goal for this year.

As the Lenten Season is upon us, we are given the opportunity to act on our 2022 focus goal. During this time, we are reminded to reflect on the hardship that others may be experiencing in their lives. This is not only for our Stuartholme family, but our wider community and people across the world. In the past week, we have seen on our screens the suffering and injustice for people in Ukraine, and closer to home, the flooding of South-East Queensland which has adversely affected so many, some of which may be our family and friends. With faith in our hearts, we are called to stand in solidarity with those less fortunate than ourselves. We are encouraged to deepen our personal faiths as we pray for the restoration of human dignity and the sanctity of their lives. As a community, we manifested these beliefs as we commemorated Ash Wednesday with a liturgy, and also support the Caritas Project Compassion until the end of term. These initiatives will be led wholeheartedly by our Year 11s as they fundraise and encourage us all to reflect on what we have and through our actions, give hope to those in need. This Lent, we wish for you to all See the Rainbow, Be the Light.

Equestrian News

On the weekend of the 19^th and 20^th of February, the Stuartholme Equestrian Team hosted the annual interschool Stuartholme equestrian competition at the Fig Tree Pocket Equestrian Centre. Being the first interschool event of the year, a large number of competitors chose to enter the two-day event in order to gain qualifiers for the state titles which will be held in June this year. Over the course of the weekend, 220 competitors from schools all over Southeast Queensland competed in the disciplines of dressage and show jumping. The Stuartholme team had an amazing weekend coming second in both dressage and show jumping. An event like this doesn’t just happen and we need to thank the parent support group, the parents and special mention to Ms Ferguson and Ms McMain for coming out to help. Leasa Stephens, the equestrian coordinator (and super coach) was critical to the team’s success in getting all the girls and their horses ready for their rides. With the rest of the interschool season ahead of us, the Stuartholme girls have started out strongly with some amazing individual performances and I am confident that we have a great year ahead of us.

Hannah Cioccarelli

A huge thank you to our Stuartholme community for the generous donations we have received to our Yr 12’s Ponytail Project. In less than a week we have raised close to $30, 000! Although our Year 12s have a goal of $35, 000, we hope to not just reach this, but exceed this, as all funds are vital in the research and care of those supported by the Cancer Council. If you wish to donate  please visit the Yr 12 Stuartholme Seniors fundraising page here.

In the lead-up to our rock the chop event on Monday 16^th May, we will be asking some of our Year 12s why they are participating in the Ponytail Project and sharing their responses with our community.

Chloe Robinson

I’m rocking the chop to raise money for cancer research and support victims of cancer so they know they aren’t alone. I’m also doing this in memory of my Granddad, Paw Paw, who died of brain cancer when I was little.

Holly Clemson

My reason for participating in ponytail project is to show support for all those battling cancer and play my part in bringing much-needed change. During this process, I will be thinking of my aunt Paula and her inspiring courage in her cancer battle, and I will lovingly remember my wonderful grandfather.

Greta Robertson

Cutting off my ponytail seems like a very little thing to do to help and support those affected by cancer. I may never understand the full extent of the struggles that come along with this, but I believe that whether or not you have been affected by cancer it is extremely important to do something to help those who have been.

Lucy Hutchings

I’ve decided to #ROCKTHECHOP for Cancer Council’s Ponytail Project. Several of my family members have been affected by skin and bone cancer, and I know for certain my family are not the only ones. I have been growing my hair for the last two years in the hope to donate in my senior year!  This project means so much to me, helping to put a stop to cancer and assisting to find a cure. Any and every dollar helps to prevent this disease from taking family members away too soon.

To minimise the risk of injury to students, staff and visitors, we ask parents and caregivers to abide by the School’s protocols when dropping off and picking up students.

Please note the only designated passenger set down and pick-up areas are accessed by either driving up to the oval drop-off zone or driving along the road adjacent to the Spruson building. The Spruson access road is used by cars and buses dropping off students, delivery drivers and staff members and can become very congested, particularly in the half-hour before and after school.

Parents are asked to only drop their daughters in the designated areas. It is also not safe nor permissible to drop off or pick up students in other areas of the school grounds including behind Spruson building near the School Shop, staff car parks or any other location along our internal roads.

Thank you for your support.

There are so many activities going on in the Stuartholme Library. Library Lunch Knitting Club is becoming more popular each day with the year 7 students!

Congratulations to all the students who took part in our Interhouse Swimming Carnival on 22 February. A big shout out to Ellie Hicks who broke the record for the Year 9 breastroke, which has been standing since Taylah Tyerman-Webster set it in 2015. Ellie broke the record by more than 2 seconds.

100m BREASTROKE

100m BUTTERFLY

100m FREESTYLE

100m BACKSTROKE

200m IM

Fastest Female Swimmers (50m Free times)

Spirit Stick Trophy

Considered sportsmanship, hype videos, cheers on the day, uniform and costumes. Voted by Leadership Team.

Woodlock House Captains – Audrey Fraser, Amelia Pothecary, Caitlin Forbes & Georgi Hedberg

Champion House Trophy

Stuart House Captains – Ruby Cowan, Issy Allen, Aiofe Knott & Eloise Pietsch

Click on a photo to start gallery

As Academic Captain for 2022, it is my pleasure to pen the newsletter article for the Deputy Principal this week. Reflecting on my time at Stuartholme I’d love to offer some advice to commence the academic year…

When I first started here, I remember being overwhelmed by the increased workload from primary school. It took me a while to realise that those years are meant for trial and error. I put a lot of unnecessary pressure on myself for not having everything sorted out at the time. So, my advice for younger years would be to experiment with all sorts of different study methods and find what works best for you.

For some inspiration, here is what works best for me 🙂

The app Flora is my lifesaver. It implements the Pomodoro Technique, which breaks up study into 25-minute increments with 5-minute breaks. The technique increases your attention span when studying and I have noticed that there’s only a few seconds left when I feel an itch to check the timer. It also grows a digital garden for each Pomodoro session and keeps track of how much study you have done, making it easier to set learning goals. By allowing breaks in between, I don’t get burnt out and Flora actually allows me to get more done in less time by helping me to stay off my phone. It’s a win-win, so make sure to try it out for yourself!

Helpful Habits:

Reading: I know, I know, it’s hard to get into. But a chapter or 20 minutes a night goes a long way. I remember in Year 7 I found English assignments very hard but after starting this habit I topped English the next year! Once you find the genres that interest you, it’s hard to stop!

When I don’t feel motivated to study, I love to watch a foreign TV show or movie with subtitles in my target language. There are few subjects where watching TV can be considered ‘studying’, but immersion is key to learning a language. I also journal in another language when writing about my day. That way, I can learn vocab that’s relevant to me and thus learn the phrases that come up most often.

Your top tips for success:

5-second rule: For master procrastinators like myself, the best thing to do is adopt the 5-second rule. No, not the food one. It’s a rule where the second you think ‘oh, I haven’t done that homework the teacher gave us’, you must get started within the next 5 seconds (before your brain makes an excuse not to).

Prioritise your To-dos: While a to-do list is super helpful to know what you have to get done, it can also be overwhelming when you’re confronted with a page-long list of things you haven’t done. The reality is sometimes you just can’t get to everything. So, number your to-do list in the order you want to get them done, mixing in some easier ones to complete with the highest priority ones. This should give you a bit more motivation to keep up the momentum 🙂

Say ‘yes’ more: Stuartholme has so many opportunities and clubs you can participate in. All bring invaluable skills and memories to make the most of 🙂 It’s a great way to you find out your interests and hopefully inspire some post-school options. And once you have a goal in mind, it’s a lot easier to get there!

Ciara Royds
2022 Academic Captain

This year, Stuartholme School welcomed Mae Carroll, who is also a boarder.

We would like to share with the community a news article from the Clarence Valley Independent congratulating Mae on being the 2022 Clarence Valley Young Citizen of the Year.

Congratulations from the entire Stuartholme community too Mae! We are so proud of you.

Recently at Stuartholme, our Multicultural Committee has been prepping and planning for upcoming Harmony Day which takes place on March 21^st every year. Harmony Day is specifically focused on celebrating diversity regardless of an individual’s cultural background and is about belonging and inclusiveness in our community. This year, one of our goals within our Multicultural Committee is to invite our community to get involved in events such as Harmony Day in order to educate, include and explore issues at Stuartholme. In 2022, I want our Multicultural committee to not only involve our school with fun events, but also use them as a chance to educate our community and provide information on important topics and issues. Please make sure you check out our Multicultural page on My Stuartholme for upcoming events and workshops!

We would like to introduce you to our Multicultural Captain, Milana Tan.

Hi there everyone! Just a short music update.

The music community came t together and did an amazing job on Saturday 19 February for the special Music Weekend! Everyone from the Concert band, Choir, and Strings got involved in the day. Tired from all of our hard work and enthusiasm, we all went home that night for a good rest!

Whilst having lots of fun and doing some activities throughout the day, each ensemble used this time very wisely to prepare for the upcoming music event…Music at Twilight!

Coming up just around the corner on Friday 18 March, is our first music concert for 2022. This concert will be held outside under the stars!

The event will be starting at 5.30 pm with food and drink available for purchase from 4.30 pm while the Jazz Band, RnB Band, and Stuartholme Rocks will be performing. From 6 pm, the actual concert will commence consisting of a vast array of musical talent. The concert will end around 8 pm and will be followed by additional music by the bands to conclude. We cannot wait to play for you all!

The event is free, and we welcome anyone who would like to come and enjoy the night.

Thank you to all of the parents for supporting your daughters in music this year – we appreciate all that you have done. Now time to show you what we can do!

Click here to watch a video of our Music Weekend.

Hope to see you there.

Georgia Manthey
2022 Music Captain

Congratulations to the following students who will be representing Stuartholme in a ‘Firsts’ team this year.

AFL

Tennis

Cricket

Volleyball

Hi everyone!

For those who don’t know, JPIC stands for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, and we are Stuartholme’s social justice club.

We hold meetings every second Thursday for students from Year 7 to Year 12 to learn more about social justice issues and take part in creating change around Stuartholme and in our local community.

This year, we’ve started off JPIC with a bang by diving straight into some big topics in our JPIC ‘Behind The News’ sessions, where we aim to educate our members on some of the issues they might have been hearing about in the news recently. We began the year with a session run by the JPIC committee that aimed to explain the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine and some of the history behind their strained relationship.

The next meeting was run by our Social Justice Coordinator, Ms Lawler, and was about the Religious Discrimination Act and trying to understand the different perspectives surrounding the issue. JPIC has multiple exciting projects planned for the rest of the term. One of these is our mug library, which is going to be a reusable mug collection that can be used at tuckshop to cut down on the number of single-use cups that are used.

Our group for Year 7-9s, JPIC Junior, is going to paint the mugs for the library to give our thrifted mugs a new lease on life! We are also getting ready for our DanDaLion Easter event which is being held at Stuartholme. DanDaLion is an organisation that aims to provide opportunities for young people with a diffability (a word which DanDaLion and Stuartholme choose to use instead of disability) to engage in accessible and fun activities. DanDaLion is one of our most popular social justice activities at Stuartholme, and we are so excited to be holding this event and can’t wait to hold an exciting and accessible day for everyone involved.

We are excited to see what we can achieve in JPIC this year and hope we can bring some positivity amongst the hardships that 2022 is throwing at us.

The 2022 JPIC Committee – Alessa, Anna, Lily, Ciara, Ashley, Lucy and Jayden

Hello everyone, Anna and Alex here, ready to fill you in on all the latest debating news.

Debating this year at Stuartholme has gotten off to a great start, with a POI (Point of Information) workshop at school for the incoming seniors, and coaching getting underway for many of our junior teams. QDU’s first round of debates commences next week for most of our students, and we look forward to hearing about their success. Our senior girls are also off to their first round of BGDA debating next week – the fun never ends!

ven though sign-on has closed, we encourage all of our students to come support the debaters and learn a thing or two about building a solid argument. We are so proud of all of you and your efforts this early in the season, and wish you the best of luck for upcoming debates.

Anna Coman (Debating Captain) and Alex O’Brien (Debating Committee)

Welcoming new sisters

We are so excited that we have had so many new boarders join us this year! All our new sisters are settling in so well and many new friendships have formed. Particularly the new grade sevens have really added some energy to boarding. With their weekly dance parties and hide and seek games around the house there’s never a dull moment.

New Renovations

One floor of the boarding house now has completely new rooms which have been long-awaited. It really was so exciting for everyone to come back and have a brand new, fresh space. Each dorm has its own common area with couches for the girls to hang out and chat after school (a very nice addition). Now, most rooms also have stunning natural light as the design accommodates the large windows. The new renovations have really added a new (modern) layer to boarding life.

A busy time

All the girls are gearing up for the business end of the term with assessment schedules full and exams just around the corner.  Everyone has been really working hard during study, with the consistent support from each other and of course the tutors that are available almost every night. I’m sure the girls are going to make this term a successful one.

Recent rec activities

There has been lots of rec activities on the weekend for the girls to enjoy. Given the wet weather this weekend a spa night was set up for the girls. There was everything from facemasks to pedicures all nicely topped off with rose petals and some Taylor Swift songs. Many movies were played in the common room over the weekend, the wet weather had everyone snuggling up and hooking into some classics. This coming Sunday the girls are going to hit the op shops for some sustainable retail therapy.

New catering

We have started this year off stronger than ever with amazing new chefs (shout out to Kester, Cameron and the team). I can wholeheartedly say the food has been the best it has ever been over my five years of boarding. We have had everything from fancy salmon poke bowls for lunch to classic Aussie sausage rolls for afternoon tea. The salad bar is stocked to the brim with heaps of good stuff every lunchtime just in case you also feel like making your own salad (on top of the hot meal that is provided). Everyone’s been loving it!

This year in boarding is really shaping up to be a good one and I am very excited for what has to come!

Sarah Hogan
Grenoble Boarding Captain 2022