Newsletter Term 2, Week 1 28 Apr 2022

Of course, the figures on infections confirm that, sadly, COVID-19 is still with us. This means students, their families and school staff will continue to be affected, causing some disruption to school operations. At the same time, we can be reasonably confident that wholesale lockdowns and enforced remote learning are behind us.

It is wonderful to see the students and staff engaged in the full curricular and co-curricular life of the School. This week, we had our first ‘normal’ whole School Anzac Day Assembly, which was beautifully done. Captain Marc Preston was our guest speaker. He has been on many overseas deployments, and I include his words to the girls below. His message was simple but important.

"Firstly, the ANZAC spirit represents a sense of purpose and direction. The original ANZACs knew what they had to do, they knew of the dangers and the difficulties but they got down and did not let those difficulties stop them from obeying their orders. It is true that the whole campaign in Gallipoli did not achieve what was hoped for but the soldiers on the ground stayed until their leaders decided it was time to withdraw.

You can apply this sense of purpose to your everyday life. You know what work you have to do at school and what jobs your parents may have set for you at home. No matter what difficulties you think are in the way, think of the ANZAC's and others who have followed them and push the difficulties to one side and accomplish your task.

Secondly, the ANZAC spirit represents an acceptance of responsibility. This is another quality you should apply in your everyday lives. Take responsibility for everything you do. It is easy to say 'I did that' or 'that's my work' when everything goes right. However, we all know that sometimes things do not go right and sometimes you do something which is against the wishes of your parents and teachers. Remember the ANZAC spirit and take responsibility for what you are doing.

Finally, the ANZAC spirit also includes a sense of compassion, in other words being kind and considerate. This has been summed up in the Australian experience as mateship. This means to watch out for your mate, help him or her at all times, particularly during times of misfortune."

If you would like to read the full Anzac day address click here.

We are very excited to be able to announce that planning approval has now been granted for Strathcona’s new Early Learning Centre in Scott Street. The new purpose-built centre is designed to give our youngest students the very best in opportunities to learn, grow, wonder and experience joy in discovery and play.

Working alongside experts in architecture, heritage retention, landscaping and design and town planning, we are maximizing the potential of the new remodelling and building to provide benefits and learning experiences for our entire community, both indoors and outdoors.

Included in the plans is a multifunctional learning and event space. Importantly, we will share the benefit of extra land which exist in the backyards of the properties across the road from the Senior School, by increasing playground and learning spaces for both the Junior School and the ELC. We look forward to sharing more of this exciting project as it develops.

The very best of wishes to you as we move into second term.

Warm regards

Marise McConaghy, Principal
 

Items in the Career News include –

• Dates to Diarise in Term 2

• Reminder: VCE and Careers Expo 2022

• Focus On Melbourne Seminar Series 2022

• Victorian Law Week 2022

• Solar Apprenticeships for Women

• News from Monash University

o Find My FIT Quiz

o MYSci 3-Day Program

o Climate and Atmospheric Science Major in the Bachelor of Science

• Aspire – Early Admissions Program to La Trobe University

• Biomedicine/Biomedical Science Degrees in Victoria in 2022

• Fashion, Textiles, & Visual Merchandising Courses in Victoria in 2022

• Snapshot of Deakin University in 2022

• Snapshot of Deakin University – Waurn Ponds Campus in 2022

Good evening, my name is Emily Harle, and I am a Year 12 student at Strathcona Girls Grammar in Canterbury. My parents have fostered a love of nature my whole life, always encouraging my brother and I to learn about the world around us. Throughout secondary school, I have been engrossed in learning about the environment, and how we influence the planet. During my studies of Year 12 Geography with Ms Fields last year, I studied the many factors contributing to the degradation of our planet, and the grim impacts that climate change was having around the world. While learning about the melting glaciers in Greenland, the widespread deforestation in Cameroon and the desertification of the Sahel region, it struck me that the people in local areas were coming together to protect their environment. These formidable activists and organisers come from countries where poverty runs rife, and many people are barely surviving. This begs the question, why, do we as an extremely wealthy country, repeatedly fail to do our bit to reduce climate change.

Global warming and environmental degradation do not only affect people across the seas, but in our own backyard, we have seen first-hand, how the changing climate can take lives and livelihoods. The bushfires that burned for an unprecedented amount of time, the drought that devastated our regions, and now the floods across the country. These impacts are not endemic to a certain geographic location or social group, climate change can affect everyone.
 
During my studies of economics this year, I have formed the view, which is shared by many leading economists and academics, that the shift away from fossil fuels is an opportunity, to harness our wealth and vast resources, and to secure future prosperity. The shift towards a secure future for my generations and the generations to come, does not have to cause as much pain to the economy as some say it will, in fact, with the right planning today, we can further grow the economy and become a worldwide leader in renewable energy tomorrow. All around our country, there are everyday heroes doing their bit to create a brighter future. But these people can only do so much. That is why we need to ensure that our commonwealth government is leading the charge for a better tomorrow. We need a pragmatic, concrete plan, that all Australians can unite behind, that will secure a better future for the generations to come.
 
So, on that note, I look forward to hearing from the candidates tonight, on their plan for a better tomorrow.

Do you have lots of spare clothes and accessories lying around in your home that you're not wearing anymore? Maybe it’s best to do a little bit of decluttering and find some valuable clothes that you might throw away and go into landfill. We are accepting one bag of items per student.

Give us any clothes and accessories for all ages from kids size 10 or above to adult.

We will be accepting the following:

-Shoes (sizes 5-11) Women, girls, gender-neutral only

-Women’s, girl’s and gender-neutral cardigans, jumpers, hoodies

-Women’s and girl’s dresses, jeans and shorts

-Jewellery

-Handbags

-Scarves

-Hats

-Gloves

If you have any of the following items you would like donate, be sure to bring to Ms Fields and the Environment Committee in the Senior Centre. Nicola Franklin or Sophie Hall can be contacted with queries about items you may be unsure about. 

Thank you and we can’t wait to promote a future with less fast fashion and more reusing.

The furniture has created flexible learning spaces within the classroom. Being flexible, it has also given more variety to different types of learning areas. For example some of the table surfaces are writeable. Year 2 captured their thoughts and ideas by writing on the table this morning and were able to then engage in meaningful conversations throughout the day, whilst adding further thoughts as they emerged.

On Monday afternoon we will warmly welcome parents back on to the Junior School site for drop off and pick up. Please remember to continue to sign in at the Junior School reception if you are entering the building. 

A big welcome to our new students and families. I wish everyone a safe and happy Term 2.

Kind regards,

Lisa Miller, Head of Junior School

SFA Dad/Daughter Dinner – Sunday 1 May 2022 at 5.30pm

The Strathcona Fathers' subcommittee invite Strathcona dads and their daughters to dinner at Sofia restaurant, Camberwell. The dinner will kick off at 5.30pm, sitting down to a meal at 6pm. There will be shared platters of pasta and pizza and dessert to follow. Dietary requirements catered for. $55 per double (for additional daughters $20). To book please click here.
Book early to avoid disappointment!

SFA Sausage Sizzle/Stall – Athletics Day – Tuesday 3 May 2022

The SFA will be holding a sausage sizzle and stall at the House Athletics next Tuesday. There will be drinks, sausages, etc. for sale so make sure your daughters bring a card or cash.

Junior School Mother’s Day Stall – Thursday 5 May 2022

An opportunity for the Junior School students to purchase gifts for their mums.
Thank you to Kavita Gupta and her team of mums for organising.

Further details to follow.

The Strathcona Family Association would like to invite you and your daughters and sons to join them for a complimentary buffet breakfast on The Deck, Senior Campus to celebrate Mother's Day.

We encourage all mothers and special friends to attend.

A coffee cart and breakfast will be available.

For catering purposes, please RSVP by Wednesday, 4 May 2022 by clicking here and include your daughter/s or son/s year level.

You are warmly invited to this upcoming Parent Seminar Series Event. 

'Body image' has been named as one of the top concerns across adolescent age groups and genders consistently in a number of surveys and studies over the last decade. Far from being a superficial or harmless concern, body image worries can span across physical, mental and social aspects of health and life to have significant impacts on young people, their families and communities. Significantly, this topic has never been as important as has emerged over the last 2 years with the various challenges that have been presented to all of us. It's not unusual that we are concerned about our teen's body image, but we might be unsure what to do or say. Should we be concerned or not? What is 'normal' anyway?

The good news is that parents, families, schools and communities can play powerful and important roles in supporting young people to understand their own experiences and provide environments where they are more likely to take care of their bodies from a place of respect.

This Parent Seminar will be presented by Body Image specialist and Dietitian Fiona Sutherland and is for parents and caregivers who would like to understand how to support a body-positive environment at home. The aim will be for attendees to leave with a deeper understanding of how body image concerns show up, how to have constructive conversations and take timely action if/when needed.

Strathcona’s Wellbeing Workshop (for unstoppable girls and women).  Book now here: https://www.trybooking.com/BYT...

Who: Mothers, Special friends and their daughters from our entire community, school families, alumnae and the local community. The workshops are designed for Mums, special friends and daughters to participate together, from all age groups, fostering connection, and healthy lifestyles in line with Strathcona’s Wellbeing program.

When: Sunday 15 May, 9.30am  - 2.30pm

Day's activities include:

8.30am Yoga (optional) with Strathcona Alumna and owner of Light Space Yoga, Clare Monahan. 
9.30am Breakfast followed by Guest Speaker Jo Stanley, Founder and CEO of Broad Radio, TV host of House of Wellness and alumna of the School.

African Drumming

The wellness benefits of drumming are numerous; it helps to develop enhanced teamwork, leadership and communication skills needed to work together to create rhythms and music in unison. It is good for our state of mind, and will leave you feeling connected, energised and empowered.

Bracelet Making

Mindfulness can be practiced in a variety of ways. Typically people think meditation but there are many activities that can help us to become more aware of our thoughts and feelings, reduce stress and anxiety, improve focus and fine motor skills. The simple nature of bracelet making allows you to follow a repetitive pattern and helps to focus your attention hopefully resulting in slower breathing and feelings of calmness. This is a simple activity that can be done on your own or whilst chatting with friends.

Gratitude Journaling

Gratitude is one of the key pillars of good health and wellbeing. Numerous studies have demonstrated that gratitude journaling can increase one’s happiness. The benefits of practice gratitude include; increased positive mood, more satisfaction with life, nurturing of key social skills such as humility, patience and wisdom and less materialism. Gratitude journaling is an intentional way to reflect on the things, people or situations we are grateful for. It allows us to put these feelings into words and we are then more likely tell someone we are grateful for them!

Where: Our Senior School Campus 34 Scott Street, Canterbury

Breakfast and lunch are provided, as well as gift bags from our supporters.

Places are limited, please book quickly to avoid missing out and to assist us with catering.

Jo Stanley – Guest Speaker

Jo is a performer, writer, TV and radio presenter. She is co-host of The House of Wellness TV and Radio, and creator of the House of Wellness podcast. She writes a regular column for the Sunday Life Magazine, and is the creator of the Play Like A Girl kids book series. Her performance style, which is heavily influenced by her stand-up comedy roots, makes her a much sought-after MC and speaker.In between all these very rewarding roles, Jo has now turned her vast media experience into building Broad Radio – Australia’s first radio network for women, by women, and a platform that will amplify the full diversity of women’s voices and stories.Jo is passionate about mindfulness and meditation, and its profound benefits for mental health, life balance and happiness. She is also an advocate for women’s and girl’s health, gender equality and healthy, respectful relationships. In support of these issues, Jo is a patron for Lighthouse Foundation, a patron for Wellsprings for Women, and an ambassador for meditation app, Smiling Mind.

Clare Monahan – Yoga Instructor

Clare is an Old-Strathconian, Yoga Studio owner, and Mother of 4 beautiful boys. Graduating in 1998, Clare attending Strathcona from Year 3. After graduating, Clare completed a Bachelor of Business/Marketing and went on to spend over a decade working in commercial marketing for various international organisations.

In 2014, Clare left the corporate world to open her first Yoga Studio, Light Space Yoga, in Balwyn with her mother, followed by a second and third studio in 2015 and 2016 in Mitcham and Ivanhoe. In 2020, in response to Covid-19, came the creation of a progressive online yoga platform and app which now houses a growing library of over 3,000 yoga classes plus 36 live classes every week. Light Space Yoga is inspired by a fresh and contemporary approach to yoga, with over 120 classes every week to suit all levels and abilities. Each studio has been designed to feel like a sanctuary with natural light, tree-top views, and white bamboo floorboards.

You are warmly invited to this very special Strathcona Centre for Learning Futures event: Quantum Computing, Carbon Capture and Flying Cars. The talk will feature three guest speakers; Mithuna Yoganathan, Rebecca Phillips and Aidan Biggar.

ABOUT GUEST SPEAKERS

Mithuna Yoganathan

Quantum computers have been hyped to be the next big thing in computing, but will we really all have quantum computers in the future? If so, when? In this talk Mithuna will explain why the buzz around quantum computers might be missing the point. Quantum computers do hold a lot of promise- but probably not for running your laptop faster. 

Mithuna is from Melbourne and did her PhD research at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Her research was about whether certain kinds of computational problems could be run faster on a quantum computer. 

Rebecca Phillips ('17)

Increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere is a concern for many of us and affects or will affect us all in one way or another. Rebecca will introduce carbon capture and conversion as a technology that is expected to play an important role in future efforts to fight climate change. She will outline the approach a Monash student team is using to try and develop such technology and how being involved in student teams can be an enriching experience at university.

Rebecca attended Strathcona, graduating in 2017. She is now in her final year of studying Environmental Engineering and a Diploma of Chinese at Monash University. She is currently involved in the Monash Carbon Capture and Conversion (MC3) team. Their proposed solution of turning algae to biochar won funding in the XPrize student award competition, supporting their progress until the final submission in 2025. 

Aidan Biggar

Aidan will speak about what we can achieve with aerospace technology, where he thinks the future of the industry is going, and why he thinks we direly need more women to enter the field! He’ll share his  background of living in the US and Australia and what it was like to work in Silicon Valley before moving back to Victoria where he joined a small start-up. Aidan believes there almost always exist opportunities to work in your desired industry! 

Aidan was born in New Zealand before moving to France and ultimately settling in Australia. He graduated from Melbourne High School in 2013, before moving to California for university. He studied mechanical engineering at Stanford University and then worked for two years as a flight test engineer for the flying car company Kitty Hawk. His current role has him leading the flight test team at Swoop Aero, a drone start-up in Port Melbourne which focuses on delivering vaccines to hard-to-reach regions of the world.

We are delighted to invite you to join us in celebrating Mother's Day at a lunch at Georges restaurant in Camberwell. $80 per ticket which includes a glass of bubbles on arrival, a 2-course meal plus tea and coffee. Further drinks are available at the bar. Gather your friends and make a booking - numbers are limited! Please RSVP by Friday 13 May 2022 by clicking here.

Lucky tickets are available for purchase on the day and some great prizes to be won.

Junior School Disco – Saturday 21 May 2022

Save the date – booking and further details to follow.