Roseville College Year 9 swimmer, Alice Stuart, has won gold in the 50m Butterfly.
Alice Flies away with Gold in the Pool
It has been a busy season for the talented ‘fly specialist, whose recent podium finishes include 3rd in the 100m Butterfly (and 5th in 200m Butterfly) at the Australian Age National Swimming Championships; 2nd in the 50m Butterfly at the IGSSA Swimming Championships; three gold medals (1st) in 50m, 100m and 200m Butterfly at the Combined Independent Schools (CIS) Swimming Championships; and, alongside her gold in 50m Butterfly at All Schools, 2nd in the 100m Butterfly.
I was always in the water as a toddler. When my brothers started swimming lessons, I just tagged along. By Year 4, swimming had ‘taken over’,” says the dedicated teenager, who attended an AIS Emerging Talent Squad in September last year. “While I enjoy other sports, too, like social tennis and weekend hockey, my dream is that my commitment in the pool might lead to an opportunity like the Olympics!”
Alice says she is inspired by Olympian Jessicah Schipper, whom she has met and found to be friendly, unaffected by her achievements and gracious. To follow in Jessica’s wake, Alice trains nine times a week, including eight pool sessions and one gym workout, as part of her rigorous training program. “I know that dedication and perseverance pay off and that the sacrifice is worth it. If I manage my time well, I can balance my school work and training, with quality time with family and friends.”
Since 2007, Alice has competed in representative swimming for Roseville College. Head of Sport, Mrs Ann Osborne, commends Alice’s diligence in the pool saying her success is very well deserved. “In person, Alice is very modest about her results. However, her goals align with both her commitment and ability. I would love to see her realise her dream to compete on the world stage.”
Alice is also one of several Roseville College students to represent NSW or Australia in sports such as basketball, softball, rowing, tennis and athletics in recent years. In the past three years, graduates have gone on to compete in their sport at Australian and overseas universities in athletics, basketball, softball, rowing and tennis.
Student Book Club Chose Library’s new Winter Book Collection
Middle School students choose new book titles of interest to girls aged 13-17 years.
Student Book Club Chose Library’s new Winter Book Collection
An enthusiastic group of Middle School students participated in the “shopping spree” to choose the new book titles of interest to girls aged 13-17 years.
In a student centred library like ours, with a passionate group of readers in the student body, it’s critical that the students themselves have a stake in building and developing their collection,” says Head of Library Services Mrs Jeanette Harkness. “So, we empowered our girls to select a range of fiction and non-fiction titles they and their peers would enjoy reading!”
Owner of The Children’s Bookshop, Mr Paul Macdonald, says it is exciting and inspiring for a School to hand the power of choice to its students.
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Roseville College is one of only a handful of schools I’ve seen doing this,” he says. “Together with a few College staff, the students and I toured the store exploring a range of sections and topics. The girls were then ‘set free’ to collect their thoughts and a handsome pile of books at the same time!”
One of these students was Year 9’s Sophie Riddell, an inaugural member of the Book Club who says reading has become special for her because “sometimes we need a break from real life and books give you another world to go to”. According to Sophie, there was excited screaming when Mr Macdonald presented the newly released City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare. “We have been waiting for this book to come out all year and it was only released in Australia two days earlier”.
The students’ new physical book collection will be complemented by an ebook catalogue for many of the same titles – as well as an extensive list of new ebook titles – in the College’s soon-to-be launched OverDrive ebook platform.
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Photograph: (L-R) Head of Library Services, Mrs Jeanette Harkness, with a collection of the books chosen from The Children’s Bookshop and members of the Roseville College Book Club: Eternity Lim, Yuka Nagata, Sophie Riddell, and Rebecca Long.
Year 6 students are using social media to share life experiences
Girls Delight in Exchanging Cultural Treats
Year 6 teacher Mrs Henrietta Miller says the highly successful initiative began on a whim as a “fun, authentic and interesting experience” for her students. “Many participants are blogging, and even Skyping, outside school hours,” she explains, emphasising that Edmodo, a moderated online learning environment, allows young people to interact with others of the same age in a safe, secure and interactive context.
“When we engage in dynamic activities like this, especially by our own initiative and in our own time, we benefit from ‘incidental learning’. That is, we develop and refine a range of transferable skills like researching, comprehension, writing and technological literacy without even realising it,” she says.
Earlier this month, a surprise box from Hanscon School arrived at Roseville College. It contained hand-picked magazines, souvenirs, toys, food items and gifts to add texture and context to topics that students had discussed online.
When asked about differences between our two cultures, as revealed through this experience, Emily Dawson mentions that “weird OREO cookies in ‘Spring’ and ‘Birthday’ flavours” arrived in the box, and Angelique Manconi noticed a baseball. “It took us a while to explain what ‘netball’ is!” she laughs.
In reply, the Roseville College students are finalising their own Australian-themed box of treats. Gemma King, who is the daughter of an American living in Sydney and has teenage cousins in the US, believes lollies such as Fantails and Minties will be well received, and Natalie Lackerdis thinks that a boomerang, a pair of “Australia Flag inspired sunglasses” and Australian wildlife books add to the box’s cultural element. Plenty of clip-on koalas, wash-off Aussie “tattoos” and mini Australian flags are also carefully included by Mrs Miller.
Creative and engaging activities, especially ones that transfer beyond the classroom walls and combine people with technology, are vital to the Junior School experience at Roseville College.
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Photograph: (L-R) Year 6 students Angelique Manconi, Emily Dawson, Natalie Lackerdis and Gemma King with a selection of items received from Hanscon School, Massachusetts USA, and the brimming “Australia” box they are posting in return.
History Students To Honour ANZAC Spirit at Villers-Bretonneux Dawn Service, France
Four students will present a Bible reading or a soldier’s epitaph at the Dawn Service, which is scheduled to broadcast live to Australia on the ABC channel.
History Students To Honour ANZAC Spirit at Villers-Bretonneux Dawn Service, France
The four students will present a Bible reading or a soldier’s epitaph at the Dawn Service, which is scheduled to broadcast live to Australia on the ABC channel.
Rose Davidson, Roseville College’s Vice Captain and HSC Modern History candidate, will read the Book of Wisdom 4:7-15 She says this opportunity has inspired her to learn more about her family, especially from her grandmother, Joan McLean, whose uncle, Ernest Roy Kingsman Roberts, is memorialised at Villers-Bretonneux. Ernest Roberts was 30 years old when killed instantly in battle by a single machine-gun bullet wound to the head.
“I’m looking forward to linking what I’ve learnt [at school and about my family] with the actual places where they happened,” says Rose.
Cassandra Smith, Prefect and Captain of Public Speaking and Debating, looks forward to Modern History coming alive as she prepares for her HSC exams later this year. Her great grandfather, Gordon Roy Asprey, received a Distinguished Conduct Medal for his services in France.
“Not only has it been really interesting to discover more about my family history, but it also brings a significant part of Australian history into a personal context”, adds Cassandra. “I’ve been inspired to investigate more about my great grandfather and, while away, hope to discover more about him and his time in France during WWI.”
Harriet Hodge, studying both HSC Modern and Ancient History, will think of her great great grandfather, Arthur Round, as she reads a soldier’s epitaph. A member of the 40th Battalion from Hobart who fought at Villers-Bretonneux, Arthur was 28 years old and already married to Harriet’s great-great-grandmother, Maud, when he enlisted.
“He served for four years and [we learnt from the National Archive medical records that he] was gassed in 1918 just before he came back. Still, he lived until he was 86 years old – luckily for me – and is buried here in Australia,” Harriet explains. “This will be an amazing life experience for me; I had no idea it was such a big deal when I first said ‘yes’. I am most excited that my Pa, Trevor Hodge [living in Hobart], will watch me on TV and be there with me in spirit – it is the trip he always wanted to make.”
Caitlin Byrne is also studying Modern History for her HSC and believes that the Study Tour is an experience that will outlast her final year of school. Her great grandfather, who served as a Doctor in the trenches at Iper and received a Military Cross for Valour, fought on the Western Front as did his three brothers.
“For me, being there will make the impact of war on my family more tangible – the graveyards, the war museums (including preserved trenches that show visitors what it may have been like) and the war memorials themselves,” she says. “I’ve always wanted to attend a Dawn Service abroad and I’m honoured to be involved and connect with part of my family history in this way.”
Head of History, Mrs Stephanie Binsted, one of five teachers accompanying the students on the Study Tour, says the students’ awareness about Villers-Bretonneux is now enriched by such personal family stories – their own and those of their peers.
“The Service was already on our itinerary; but now history is really coming alive for the students, and this has become an even more significant experience,” she believes. “One of the purposes of a study tour is to heighten awareness of historical legacies. In this case, the girls have connected in a real and personal way with their family histories and our national heritage.”
The students depart Sydney on 12 April. For more information about the Villers-Bretonneux 2012 services, contact the Department of Veteran Affairs or visit the Department of Veteran Affairs website.
History Students To Honour ANZAC Spirit at Villers-Bretonneux Dawn Service, France
05-Apr-2012Four students will present a Bible reading or a soldier’s epitaph at the Dawn Service, which is scheduled to broadcast live to Australia on the ABC channel.
Emily, who placed 1st in the 1500m and 3km at the last state All School Athletics Championships, competed at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships at Homebush and won gold in the Under 16 1500m.
Head of Sport at Roseville College, Mrs Ann Osborne, adds context to Emily’s results at Juniors, at which she represented NSW. “To come home as Australian Under 16 1500m Champion is phenomenal – and her race time was inspirational. She’s a great ambassador for her School and her state, and is an unassuming role model for younger athletes at Roseville College.”
Confident, yet quietly spoken, Emily is careful not to be too ambitious in her expectations for the future. While her aspirations include selection in an AIS Development Squad, the two time Cross Country Champion at Roseville College now moves her focus from athletics to cross country for the winter.
“I really like long endurance running and am looking forward to the seasonal change into cross country,” she says. “I love longer races – the distance and the time – because it allows me to fall into a rhythm and work out my strategy for the event I’m in.”
Last December, Roseville College was represented in all three age-groups, Junior, Intermediate and Senior, at the 2011 School Sport Australia Final of the Athletics Knockout Competition, and, in the past three years, has successfully seen graduates pursue sport at Australian and overseas universities in athletics, basketball, softball, rowing and tennis.
In the Long Jump at the Australian Championships, Katrina won individual silver with a jump of 5.68m. In the Hurdles, with 1st place just 0.08 seconds ahead, Katrina was equally delighted with an individual bronze, despite the very tight finish.
“You can never be disappointed with a personal best,” Katrina smiles. “My coaches (at Roseville and Club) have encouraged and prepared me to do my best, and it’s satisfying to come away knowing that you’ve done that.”
Katrina also competed in the 100m (placing 4th in 12.63 seconds) and the Under 18 4 x 100m relay, in which her NSW team placed 2nd – the second of her two silver medals. At the NSW Little Athletics Championships, Katrina won three gold medals in the 100m (personal best time of 12.38 seconds), Long Jump (5.78m) and 90m Hurdles (personal best time and a new state record of 12.66 seconds).
Head of Sport at Roseville College, Mrs Ann Osborne, is thrilled for Katrina. “She was so happy with her results. It’s an extraordinary effort to return from an Australian Championship with a bronze and two silver medals, then a State Championship with three golds!”
“Of course I have aspirations,” Katrina adds, mentioning that she recently applied for Athletics Australia’s Under 17 Development Squad.
“I’m in Year 10 and I am beginning to think about university and my options beyond school. At the moment, I’m enjoying athletics and want to pursue it as far as I can, while keeping a healthy balance with school and the other important things in life.”
Last December, Roseville College was represented in all three age-groups, Junior, Intermediate and Senior, at the 2011 School Sport Australia Final of the Athletics Knockout Competition, and, in the past three years, has successfully seen graduates pursue sport at Australian and overseas universities in athletics, basketball, softball, rowing and tennis.
In Senior School assembly, the girls in Year 10 Geography presented a poignant PowerPoint that they had made to commemorate International Women’s Day (IWD). IWD is celebrated across the world on 8 March each year and is about acclaiming ‘the vital role women play in enhancing economic security for their families, communities and countries as a whole, while recognising that significant barriers to achieving women’s economic security and equality continue to exist’.*
Despite great strides in the quest for equality, there are still, unfortunately, significant barriers to women attaining economic security and equality around the world, this also applies in Australia.
The statistics are alarming: world-wide, women do more than 2/3 of the world’s work but receive less than 10% of the world’s wages and, 70% of the world’s poor are women.*
IWD is about the wonderful achievements women have made and the incredible contribution they make to society. It is also about raising awareness about the struggle so many women across the globe have just to have enough resources to feed their families; or to survive in the face of constant conflict and war.
On March 8 a number of our Year 10 and 11 girls will have the privilege of attending the UN International Women’s Day Breakfast at Darling Harbour in Sydney. They will hear from Sally Sara, renowned ABC journalist who ‘has spent the past year covering the news from the frontline of the war in Afghanistan. During her career, she has broken the glass ceiling, as the first female correspondent appointed to the ABC’s Africa, South Asia and Kabul bureaus. Sally has written for The New York Times and The Boston Globe and is the author of the best selling biography, Gogo Mama.’*
They will also hear from Laotian woman, Nikone Nanong, whose employment of women in her handicraft business has resulted in a direct improvement in the standard of living and education of those women and their families. This is because she ensures that working conditions and the wages she pays are good and that she looks after her workers, all of whom are women, very well. It is indeed true, that when you educate a girl you educate a nation.
As part of our IWD commemoration in assembly this morning, I talked about the revolutionary actions of Jesus who, 2000 years ago, treated women with great respect, dignity and equality. It has taken a long time for that revolutionary ideal to take hold; in some places, it is still considered revolutionary. I also challenged the girls to think about why their parents – you, send them to an all girls’ independent school. I suggested it is because you recognise how important education is and that you want your daughters to become ‘the very best they can be’. Indeed, you, their teachers and I, see our wonderful girls as future leaders of our society who can, and will, make an incredibly positive impact on the world not only locally, but globally.
All direct quotes in the article above can be found at International Women's Day which is another terrific site to visit.
The Year 10 Geography Powerpoint can be seen at the top of the page.
Roseville College congratulates Belinda Slack the HSC Dux for 2011
Roseville College 2011 HSC Results
Roseville College congratulates the outstanding results of the Class of 2011 in their HSC examinations.
Roseville College has five students who achieved a Premier’s Award for All-Round Excellence - Claire Broadfoot, Katherine Farquharson, Medhavi Gupta, Belinda Slack and Rachel Woodhouse.
Students receive a Premier’s medal for All-Round Excellence if they achieve 90 or more (Band 6 or Band E4) in at least ten units of study.
We would also like to congratulate the HSC Dux for 2011 - Belinda Slack (pictured above) - who received an ATAR of 99.65.
