2013 Alliance Branch Reports

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New Zealand

2014 AGSA Conference in We are really looking forward to hosting the AGSA 2014 conference in Wellington next May. I encourage all Australian member schools to send delegates to the conference as they will thoroughly enjoy what is on offer in the capital. The weather in May is still warm enough to enjoy the harbour side and city walks and we look forward to sharing new ideas.

New member school Hamilton Girls High School has joined the AGSA and Jan has sent a letter of welcome.

Craighead Diocesan School The new Principal of Craighead Diocesan School is Ms Lindy Graham.

Alliance School Sports Exchanges In 2012, and Westlake Girls High School formalised a sports exchange in Netball and Hockey and St Margaret’s College also travelled from Christchurch north to Auckland for a winter sports exchange with Westlake in Netball and Hockey.

Updates from member NZ member schools: St Margaret's College Christchurch – Gillian Simpson, Principal - two years after the earthquakes, the school is caring for community - rebuild after losing 80% of our school buildings - exciting and energising to have opened two major buildings: ▪ a 10 classroom and Library E learning Centre ▪ a gymnasium and auditorium/ chapel complex, which is the heart and soul of the school - girls and staff are doing well despite the challenges - looking forward to seeing our Australian colleagues in Wellington

Two girls gained over 40 (maximum mark is 45) in the IB Diploma with their high academic achievement recognised at the annual IB Schools of NZ Scholars’ Awards hosted by the Governor General at Government House in Auckland. In addition, 16 scholarships in English, Technology, Media Studies, Statistics and Chemistry were gained. As girls taking the IB Diploma can sit only those few scholarship papers with similar course content to their Diploma subjects, these results are very pleasing. Information about university destinations for 2012 leavers has been collated. Although girls continue to favour or Otago University, there is a trend to travel north to Auckland and overseas with the 2012 leavers picking up places at New York College Abu Dhabi (fully funded) and universities in London, Adelaide, Sydney and Canada.

Queen Margaret College - Carol Craymer, Principal Extra-curricular activities are integral to a QMC education. In 2012, there were some new opportunities on offer such as Futsal, Handball, Glee Choir and a Robotics Club. With a participation rate of 76% for Years 9 – 13, well above the Wellington average of 57% for girls and 60% for boys, QMC sport continues to flourish, as does Performing Arts (66% of girls took part in Performing Arts on a weekly basis and 13 different ensembles/ activities offered). Sporting success can be measured by the high number of girls we had in Wellington and National teams (40 and 8 respectively). Two girls received College Sport Wellington Sports Person of the Year Awards: Hilla Fukofuka for Rugby; Bridget Liddell for Tennis.

Cultural highlights included: a successful joint production with Scots College, Fame; the Barbershop Chorus’s 4 th placing at the national competition; and a Year 12 student, Jean Lean, winning the Language Perfect World Championship. Three girls were selected to join the Shakespeare Globe Company of NZ Young Shakespeare Company (SGCNZYSC), a 24 strong company of students selected from around the country. The company will travel to London this July and participate in a comprehensive programme, based principally at Shakespeare’s Globe, of workshops, Q&A sessions about the plays with actors and directors, behind the scene tours of the Globe, Rose and National Theatre and watch performances. Over their two weeks at the Globe, they will have twelve rehearsals taken by a Globe Director in scenes from one of Shakespeare’s plays and the opportunity to perform for the public on the Globe stage. We were also very proud of the Head Girl, Rima Shenoy, who won the National Race Relations Speech Contest and Prefect, Brittany Trilford, selected as one of the opening speakers at the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil. Brittany was named Youth Wellingtonian at the 2012 Wellingtonian of the Year Awards, an annual celebration of high-achieving people in the Wellington region.

Westlake Girls High School, Auckland –Roz Mexted, Principal Ashlee Parkes was selected to attend International Space Camp in Alabama which offered Ashlee simulations from weightlessness to moon walking. All challenges related to the workings of the International Space Station (ISS) and space shuttles. Ashlee says “How to work within NASA or on a shuttle was the most interesting and exciting part of camp, as we got to dress up in suits and pretend to be weightless.”

Lixing Wei took part in Youth ANZAAS (ANZAAS stands for Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science), along with 20 other students.

Alice Allfree earned the opportunity to travel in July to the Globe Theatre as one of only 25 students nationally as part of the Young Shakespeare Company. This opportunity will give students a chance to work with highly talented international directors and artists and participate in the company’s version of The Taming of the Shrew.

Lauren Bennett Chamber Music, National Champions Britta Balzat Chamber Music, National Champions Sophia Lee Chamber Music, National Champions Sally Kim Chamber Music, National Champions Sally Shin Selected for National Youth Orchestra Julia Robinson NZ Secondary Students Choir 2

4 teams or groups won New Zealand titles: Badminton; Beach Volleyball; Cheerleading; Sailing; Rowing (x2)

25 students represented New Zealand in 16 sports, including: World Series Lacrosse team and New Zealand Women’s and U19 Lacrosse; NZ U17 Women’s Football; NZ Secondary Schools and U21 Netball; NZ Athletics and Weightlifting; NZ Junior Tall Ferns Basketball; NZ U17 Basketball; NZ U16 Basketball (x2); NZ U17 Beach Volleyball (x2); NZ Cheerleading; NZ Junior Tennis & Junior Fed Cup; NZ Age Group Triathlon (7 th in World); NZ U15 Touch; NZ Trampoline; NZ Junior Women’s Volleyball & NZ U17 Beach Volleyball; NZ U16 Women's Water polo; NZ Trans-Tasman Water Skiing.

Six individual national sporting titles were achieved: a Gold medal in the Junior International Women’s Synchronized Trampoline NZ Champs; Gold medal New Zealand SS Karate Championships; Triathlon NZSS Intermediate Triathlon Gold; NZSS Athletics Senior Girls Hammer Champion; NZSS Swimming Championships 5 Gold Medals; Karate National Karate Champs & National SS Karate Gold Medallist.

Roz Mexted Principal, Westlake Girls High School Alliance Executive

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New South Wales

The NSW Chapter of the Alliance of Girls Schools holds an event each term and tries to ensure there is time for professional growth and collegiality at each gathering.

In August 2012, Brigidine College hosted our Term 3 dinner. Approximately 40 people were addressed by former Brigidine College Captain, Ms Bronya Fraser-Hills who works with the Fred Hollows Foundation within the Global Partnership Program. Bronya is also the Founder and Principal of the Australian Young Communicators (AYC); a unique program that coaches students in the fundamentals of good communication; articulation, confidence and conviction, and leadership. She spoke not only of her work with the Fred Hollows Foundation but also of the inspirational international aspect of her role.

Our Term 4 November meeting was a 45 strong dinner at Kambala and we were delighted to have an opportunity to host and meet representatives from our AGSA partners, CIRCLE and World Challenge. Our presenter this evening was Gabrielle Upton, local Member for Vaucluse and Parliamentary Secretary for Tertiary Education and Skills. She spoke of the importance of education on the political scene at both the State and Federal level. She also talked of the challenges she has faced as a woman in politics.

First term in 2013 we met at where 60 people gathered to hear Dr Nicole Archard speak about her research on girls and leadership. Nicole is Dean of Academic Studies, Wenona and her presentation was fitting for the audience, entitled How are girls’ schools developing future leaders? The research presented by Nicole was appreciated by the group and strong actions were identified which were able to take immediately back to our schools. Preparation for women to ‘take the stage’ is important to all of us.

The conference at Bond is the nominated function for Term 2, 2013.

Our plans for the remainder of 2013 include a combined student/teacher function raising awareness on the plight of girls in the developing world. The provocation will be a film entitled Girl Rising. One of the girls in the film is sponsored by the charity Room to Read and donations will be collected at the door to support the education of girls across the globe. A discussion panel led by students will follow the film. This is the first of what we hope to be an exciting new direction in student focus with our fellow Alliance schools. We hope to run this event in June of 2013.

In Term 3 a dinner is scheduled to be held at with Bond providing guest speakers for the event.

The number of members from NSW girls’ is strong in the independent sector and we are gaining momentum in the Catholic sector. Unfortunately we have not been able to entice many State schools to join us but we are continuing to work on this as an area of focus.

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In closing, I would like to acknowledge how pleased we are to be welcoming back Alliance NSW/ACT Executive member, Janet Freeman, Principal, at the beginning of Term 3. Janet returns from a semester’s leave taken for health reasons and we look forward to having her energy and drive back at the helm next term.

Judith Poole Headmistress, Abbotsleigh Alliance Executive

Janet Freeman Principal, Loreto Kirribilli Alliance Executive

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Queensland Report

The Branch of the Alliance of Girls’ Schools aims to run at least one networking function each term. The 2012/2013 year has been one where the speakers have been both relevant and inspiring.

In Term 3 of 2012, Brisbane Girls Grammar School hosted an early evening function. The guest speaker was Dr Terrance Fitzsimmons from the University of Queensland‘s Business School who was reporting on his research into female Chief Executive Officers and the gender disparity in these peak leadership positions. The conclusions he drew from his research were fascinating and brought home the very importance of the student leadership programs we have in our schools.

In Term 4, we continued with our tradition of having a lunch together to celebrate the end of the academic year. Principals and senior leadership team members of the member schools met for lunch at the Brisbane Club and enjoyed the presentation of our guest speaker, Kate Broadley (Researcher- The Alliance of Girls’ Schools), who provided an overview of some of the latest research on girls’ education.

At this function we formerly farewelled Amanda Bell from Brisbane Girls Grammar School and thanked her for her leadership of the Alliance in Queensland, and wished her well in the next phase of her professional journey. Ros Curtis from St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School was elected to represent the Alliance in Queensland.

In Term One of 2013, we celebrated International Women’s Day by inviting member schools to a luncheon at the Brisbane Club on March 8. The guest speaker was Rear Admiral Robyn Walker, who is the first female in history to attain the rank of Rear Admiral in the Royal Australian Navy and to take on the role of the Surgeon General for the Australian Defence Forces. Her address was both informative and enlightening. Monies raised from this luncheon were donated to the charity assisting homeless women, Second Chance.

In Term 2 of 2013, St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School hosted a networking function for its member schools. Our guest speaker was Karen Spiller, from St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School. Karen was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2012 and in her presentation she shared the result of her research which examined strategies for preparing female leaders for the role of Principalship in Australian Schools.

A pattern of Alliance activities in Queensland has been established over the last few years. This pattern ensures that networking opportunities exist alongside information sessions conducted by those who have undertaken significant research in either girls’ education or women’s leadership.

Ros Curtis Principal, St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School Alliance Executive

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South

Over the past year, the branch of the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia has held a meeting each term. Each occasion allowed for collegiality and professional development or planning. Each meeting is hosted by a different school to give members an opportunity to visit each school.

International Women’s’ Day The Principals of the Adelaide Alliance of Independent Girls’ Schools provide this annual workshop to provide a space where our student leaders can reflect on their roles and the aspects of their own life journey that have nurtured this potential in them. It also gives these leaders an opportunity to exchange experience and practical advice with leaders from other schools to enhance their leadership capacity in the year ahead. This half day workshop is facilitated by Dr Sue Holoubek, who encourages these leaders to continue to share their gifts for the service of others and the community as a whole, and to establish networks of peers.

Visit from Jan Butler (Executive Officer) Jan was invited to attend our term two branch meeting in 2012 to meet and greet all the SA members. This gave her an opportunity to discuss her role and the recent work of the Alliance as well as up and coming events.

Farewells Three of our member schools have had new principals at the end of last year:

Walford Anglican School for Girls - Farewell to Helen Treblicock who retired and welcome to Rebecca Clarke from Woodcroft College.

Seymour College – Farewell to Belinda Provis who went back to WA to take up a principal’s position at All Saints’ College WA and welcome to Anne Johnstone from St Catherine’s School NSW.

St Aloysius College (SAC) – Farewell to Sr Judith Redden who retired after 30 years as Principal of SAC and welcomed to Paddy McEvoy from St Mary’s College SA.

Principal Assistants’ Network meeting In 2012 a new initiative was introduced with great success, the coming together for a breakfast meeting of all the Principal Assistants. This meeting allowed Principal Assistants an opportunity to connect and network with each other, share best practice and ideas on how to support their principals as well as support to each other. This initiative will now be set as an annual event in the SA calendar. Alliance SA will also be trialling this initiative with Student Counsellors and School Psychologists later this term.

Research Presentation We also express our thanks to who invited staff from each member school to attend a thought-provoking seminar led by Dr Erica McWilliam.

Margaret Rouggos Principal, Alliance Executive 7

Tasmania

There are five girls’ schools in which are all located in ; currently four are members of the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia. – Independent girls’ school for Kindergarten to Year 12 Ogilvie High School – Government high school for Years 7 to 10 St Mary’s College – Catholic girls’ school for K to Year 12 St Michael’s Collegiate School – Anglican girls’ school for Early Learning to Year 12 Over the past year the Principals and Liaison representatives of the Alliance of Girls’ Schools in Tasmania have met to organise a number of local events; an International Women’s Day (IWD) breakfast, a Branch dinner, Year 8 Leadership Day, Guest Speaker presentation and Christmas drinks. 2012 In June 100 Year 8 students from the Alliance Tasmania schools participated in a leadership day facilitated by Rising Generations. This was very well received by the girls who were engaged in a range of group activities and challenges. In July St Michael’s Collegiate hosted the Tasmanian Alliance annual dinner where 60 staff from the four member schools and Jan Butler, Executive Officer, enjoyed an evening together. This year the Principal from each School gave a brief history of their school and in addition Alice Pung, one of our Alliance patrons, gave a presentation on her life and the work she does as a writer and legal researcher. Alice Pung also gave a presentation the following day at Ogilvie Girls’ High School to 120 Year 9 students from each of the four member schools. 2013 Four Tasmanian student leaders attended the Leadership conference held at Women’s College at the University of Sydney and feedback was extremely positive. In early March Ogilvie Girls’ High School hosted a visit from Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, who addressed senior students from the Alliance of Girls’ Schools on a range of matters including the ending of all forms of violence against women and girls. Our sixth annual IWD breakfast was held on Thursday 21 March at St Michael’s Collegiate and was hosted by Adriana Taylor, MLC. Our guest speaker, Melanie Irons, a former student of Collegiate, has almost submitted her PhD thesis in the field of Psychology, conducts a most successful personal training business and started the Facebook page Tassie Fires – We Can Help . Her presentation entitled What I learnt from Facebook completely engaged the audience as she talked about the recent bushfires in Tasmania, her Facebook page and about the lessons she learned through running the page. Alliance Tasmania has planned further events for 2013 including the leadership workshop for Year 8 students with Rising Generations, the Year 10 morning tea at Parliament House, the annual dinner for staff and Christmas drinks. As I conclude my term on the Alliance Executive at the AGM in May, Mr Tom Dorey, Principal of St Mary’s College in Hobart has been elected as the Tasmanian Branch

8 representative on the Alliance Executive. I would also like to thank Jan Butler, Executive Officer, for her continued support of our branch activities.

Robyn Kronenberg Principal, St Michael’s Collegiate School Alliance Executive

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Victoria

Membership In 2012 there were 36 member schools.

Executive In May 2012, Ms Fran Reddan, Principal Mentone Girls’ Grammar School and Dr Mary Cannon, Principal Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College were elected to the Board. Our focus during the latter part of 2012 was to revive the energy and enthusiasm of the Victorian branch, and to plan 2013 events.

2012 events:

Student leadership The 2012 International Women’s Day Breakfast was held on Wednesday 7 March again at Queen’s Hall in Parliament House with the following schools in attendance: Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College, Genazzano, Ivanhoe Girls Grammar, Korowa, Lauriston Girls’ School, MacRobertson Girls High School, Melbourne Girls College, , Mentone Girls Secondary College, Mentone Girls Grammar School, Methodist Ladies College, Our Lady of Mercy College, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College, Pascoe Vale Girls College, Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Ruyton Girls’ School, Shelford Girls’ Grammar, Siena College, Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar, Sacred Heart Girls College, and Toorak College. MGGS was host to this event and featured guest speaker, Old Grammarian Ms Vikki Koumis, a leading shipping entrepreneur breaking the gender barriers in a traditionally male dominated business. 212 staff and students were in attendance.

The Victorian Branch has provided leadership opportunities for students, including a successful ‘Passing of the Baton’ conference. This was held at The MacRobertson Girls' High School on 18 October 2012 for current and future student leaders of member schools. We also had good representation at the Student Leadership Conference in Sydney in January 2013.

Staff events Melbourne Girls Grammar, with Committee members Susan Just (Principal-Lauriston), Christine Jenkins (Principal-Korowa) and Jan Butler (CEO, AGSA) hosted Images of a Girl: Diversity, Dilemmas and Future Possibilities as the 2012 Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia Staff Biennial Conference.

Christmas drinks for the Alliance were held on 21 November 2012 at Mentone Girls’ Grammar School to strengthen the collegiality of staff in member schools and to gain input for the agenda for 2013. While it was a small gathering, it was encouraging that every sector (State, Catholic, Independent) was represented. Participants enjoyed the bay views, the hospitality and the collegiality of the event.

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2013 events:

Student leadership The International Women’s’ Day breakfast, hosted by Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College and Mentone Girls’ Grammar School was held in March. Students and staff from the following schools attended: Canterbury Girls' Secondary College, Mentone Girls’ Grammar, Methodist Ladies' College, Presbyterian Ladies' College, The Mac.Robertson Girls' High, Sacred Heart Girls' College, Siena College, Toorak College, Melbourne Girls' College, Strathcona Baptist Girls' Grammar, Pascoe Vale Girls' College, Melbourne Girls Grammar, Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School, Lauriston Girls' School, , Ruyton Girls' School, Korowa Anglican Girls' School, St Catherine's School, and Genazzano FCJ College.

Guest speaker, Ms Rachel Burrows, a former student from Canterbury Girls' Secondary College and a Senior Policy Advisor, Policy Branch, Department of Human Services spoke about the place of women in Western world societies as compared to those in less affluent societies. The Hon Andrea Coote, MLC, was the official host for the function.

The Victorian Branch is currently planning a series of events for the remainder of 2013.

Fran Reddan Principal, Mentone Girls’ Grammar School Alliance Executive

Mary Cannon Principal, Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College Alliance Executive

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Western Australia

Students’ Meeting Parliamentarians On Thursday 1 November, 2012, nine of the ten member girls’ schools sent two school leaders for 2013 and a staff member to Parliament House to meet with a minister from the WA government, Robyn McSweeney, and member for Whitfords, Andrea Mitchell. It was an informative and entertaining afternoon, at which the girls had the opportunity to hear and ask questions about the life of a parliamentarian and the challenges and joys of public life.

Alliance Dinner Our annual Alliance Dinner was held on Wednesday 14 November at St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls. Over 80 members of staff from Alliance Schools attended. Our guest speaker was Elizabeth Constable who has been the Minister for Education in the Barnett government and a former Chair of Council at St Hilda’s.

Student Attendance at the Student Leadership Conference Eight of our schools attended the annual Student Leadership Conference and the reports from the girls of the activities and opportunities to network were enthusiastic and most complimentary. We wish to extend our appreciation to Jan Butler for her organisation of this conference.

Year 12 Leaders Get-Together Forty student leaders from our 10 Alliance schools in Perth attended an afternoon get- together at St Mary's on Friday 5 April. It was a productive afternoon in which friendships from the Student Leaders Conference were rekindled, initiatives implemented to start the new school year were discussed and other plans that the girls had for the remainder of 2013 were shared.

On a personal note, it has been an enjoyable six years as the Western Australian representative on the Alliance Committee. I wish Jenny Ethell well as she takes up the role following the AGM.

Lynne Thomson Principal, St Mary's Anglican Girls' School Alliance Executive

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