FROM THE HILL NEWS FOR THE STUARTHOLME GIRL ISSUE 26. JUNE-AUGUST 2020

How are our international students coping during the COVID-19 outbreak? Find out on p4. When too much Zoom is never enough! How did Stuartholme girls cope with learning on- line? Abigail Coogan and Millie Davies risk a run-in with Zoom to report. See page 3.

On page 6 our investigative reporters Laura Manson and Abigail Coogan take an in-depth look at the school cafe to find out if students are getting value for money?

Is it time to change our school uniform? See p.7

PAST VS PRESENT - What NEWS IN BRIEF - Cross EXCLUSIVE - Need some would you have worn to Country, Interhouse debat- reading recommendations? school in 1954? See our ex- ing, Harry Potter’s Birthday, Check our page 8 story clusive dig into the archives Science Week, Art with where we find out what on page 5. Heart & more - see page 5. Stuartholme’s reading. CONTENTS

Home Learning during COVID-19 p.3 We are all back at school now but how did we go learning at home? Abigail Coogan and Ameila Davies risk an overdose of Zoom to report on STU@HOME and the home learning experience. Snippets Catch up with the #MakeSophieProud video newsletters and listen and follow along to picture book stories recorded by Stuartholme girls. “We don’t know when we’ll ever p.4 get back home”, students say. Multicultural Affairs Reporter Abigail Cooke Rollings talks to some of our international students to find out how they are surviving away from their families this year.

Stuartholme’s Centenary - Looking p.5 forward, looking back. It’s our 100th year this year so we take a trip back in time with a peek into the school’s archives. News in Brief FROM THE EDITORS The news you might have missed. 2020. Stuartholme’s centennial year was going to be a special year. The The School Cafe - Are students get- school had planned a heap of special events: a huge Art Show, Music Con- p.6 certs, a special Madeleine Sophie Day as well as bigger and better Sports ting value for money? Carnival, Choral Comp… Laura Manson and Abigail Coogan take a look at see if stu- Then coronavirus hit. It wasn’t too bad in , however, the govern- dents are getting value for money at the School Cafe. ment still made all schools close in Term 2. So we all left school at the end of Term 1, not really knowing what was going to happen, and how long we’d be away from school for. CaSSSA Cross-Country Win As Term 2 started, we had adjust to learning at home. Fortunately, Stu- p.7 Imogen Foley reports artholme was well prepared for the big transition from face-to face learning, to online learning. We had already been using OneNote at the school for Stuartholme Uniform - Is it time for years. The only thing we had to master was Zoom! On page 3, we look at how a change? students coped with learning at home. Grace Butler poses the question. Most kids had their parents to guide and support them through this difficult time, but the international students didn’t. They were confined to The true story of Mr Carroll the the school’s premises all during the lockdown far from family. On page 4, we speak to these girls to find out how they survived. school snake. Abigail Cooke Rollings, Abigail Coogan and and Lara Coo- On further pages we investigate the rumours about Mr Carroll, the spotted gan get the low down on Mr Carroll. python. Was he found in the bush? Read page 7 to find out! Also on page 7, Grace Butler does an investigative report on our school uniform. A lot has What’s Stuartholme reading. changed since 1975, but Stuartholme’s uniform hasn’t! Is it time for a change? p.8 With COVID-19 restrictions in place, we seem to have more There’s a bunch of other stuff to read as well. time on our hands. That means more time for reading. If you So, 2020, the centennial year. It’s a been great year so far. Special? Yes, but in need some recommendations check out our p.8 story where a different way than what we could ever have imagined it would be. we get an answer to the question: What are you reading? We hope you enjoy reading our newspaper as much as we enjoyed making it.

These two photographs of the school were provided by Year 8 student Lindsey Curl. Got a good photo of the school? Why not send it to us here. .2 HOME LEARNING SNIPPETS MAKE SOPHIE PROUD NEWSLETTER DURING COVID-19 Enjoyed the video newsletters from the Cor Unum Committee? What? You missed them? WE’RE ALL BACK AT SCHOOL NOW BUT HOW DID WE Well you can catch them here. GO WITH ZOOM AND LEARNING AT HOME?

A special report by Millie Davies and Abigail Coogan “I was lonely and jealous as all of my day friends who were back at school and I was stuck at home.” As Stu girls, we are all familiar with the buzzing atmosphere that is present every day. However, It was challenging for boarders to know that the day for several weeks it was replaced with a resound- girls were back and having a great time together, ing emptiness, as the school shutdown due to while they still had to work at home. In some ways, COVID-19, the virus that has swept the world. it was nice for the boarders to have more time with their families. But Mariska commented that, “It was Both day girls and boarders have had to familiarise also annoying being stuck around my siblings all themselves with the “new normal”, which includes day. It was nice at first though.” the constant battle with technology, a changed routine, and a lack of social contact. Sometimes when the siblings are learning different things at home in the same environment, it can be Students have mixed opinions about online school- quite challenging. Being at school allows interaction ing. Did you find online learning challenging, or with peers, and friends. was it easier to learn the material at home? What CATCH UP WITH YOUR aspects of online learning were difficult? It was helpful to have technology so that girls can FAVOURITE FAIRY contact their friends easily when they are far away. One of the commonly agreed benefits of TALES WITH STU STORY home-learning was that students could spend more Rosie told us about her experience in keeping in time on certain parts of the class that they found with her friends during lockdown and com- TIME! more difficult, and work to improve at their own mented about the boarders prolonged absence. “I As part of the School’s social justice initiative Stu pace, or spend more time on interesting topics. did manage to keep in touch with my friends, she Story Time, we encourage you to record a story said.” I had lots of video calls and texted too, and I time experience via video that will be shared with There were no teachers to tell students what to work liked the class Zooms when we could see everyone. children under 10 who are associated with the on, meaning we were expected to be self-disciplined I was also able to Zoom boarders sometimes at Stuartholme community. to complete the work. lunch, to make them feel as if they were here.” To listen and follow along as Georgina reads the Rosie Sheehan, a Year 8 day-girl, along with Maris- However, having girls on the screen is difficult for traditional tale, “Thumbelina” click or scan the ka Hale, a Year 8 boarder, both said they enjoyed classes and for teachers, as some girls couldn’t do QR code working at their own pace. Rosie commented that the same activities, which means that boarders she, “Really enjoyed Home-Learning because I was struggled to keep up with the work and had to com- able to set my own working pace and complete the plete exams and assessments online. work in my own time.” Overall, home-learning was a success on some lev- Rosie also told us that, “I liked home-learning in els, but there was also some cons. some ways as I was able to spend more time with my family.” What do you think? Click or scan the QR code to answer our quick one question poll to help us find To listen and follow along as Elyse reads “Giraffes It can be hard to find time for family, especially out. Can’t Dance” by Giles Andreae and Guy Park- when juggling assessment tasks and exams, while er-Rees click or scan the QR code. being at school all day. With the family at home, lunch times and breaks could be spent together, which proved to be a good way to spend more time with family.

Home-Learning did not cease for Boarders, even when the day-girls returned to school in the last four weeks of Term 2. They still had to endure four more weeks of home-schooling and constant Zoom sessions with their teachers. Want to find out more about the Boarders’ situa- To listen and follow along as Isabelle Reads Fancy tion? Check out this ABC news story featuring two That! by Pamela Allen click or scan the QR code. With the day girls back at school and the Boarders of our boarders Alice and Isobel Martin. Click or still at home, it felt like part of the sisterhood that scan the QR code. binds us Stu girls together, was missing. As Ros- ie Sheehan said, “A lot of the day girls missed the boarders, and it was weird to have some girls on Zoom and the rest in the classroom.”

Mariska Hale shared her views on home-learning and discusses how it was different for Boarders and how she found Stu@Home – Stuartholme’s home Want to record your own STU Story and become learning program. a YouTube superstar? Then see Mrs Lawler. .3 WE DON’T KNOW WHEN WE’LL EVER GET BACK HOME INT. STUDENTS SAY HOW HAVE OUR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS FROM CHINA FARED DURING THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN AND ITS AFTERMATH?

By Abigail Cooke Rollings (Multicultural Affairs Reporter)

International Students Mandy Jiang, Zoe Cai, Luna Chen, Amy Wang, Florence Yao & Charlene Deng

How many of us feel homesick by the end of a the group, like Mandy Jiang said that, “there’s only Girls in our school are generally inclusive and week-long camp? a two-hour difference between China and Austra- helpful towards the international girls during class, The international girls in our community spend lia, so I do not struggle to keep in contact with my explaining problems and helping with assessment. 10 weeks at a time away from their family, in a families.” Whilst the girls agree that our school is an in- place so culturally different, that homesickness is Whilst this is the common case, some girls do clusive environment, Mandy Jiang said, “It is not surely a common struggle. find it difficult tomstay in touch with families and easy for us make friends with Australians students Alongside the difficulty of homesickness, are also friends back in China; they have to arrange conatct because of cultural differences and language com- the struggles of making friends and learning in a so it meets school regulations and is convenient petence.” Ms. Verity supported this, saying that, different environment. for their family. These strategies make homesick- “they are mostly friends with each other.” Now, due to the Covid-19 international bor- ness more bearable but there are still many other Though the girls are tight knit, they do have der restrictions, these girls are stuck in struggles, such as the differences in our culture and non-international friends. For example, Charlene indefinitely and have not seen their families since education systems. Deng said she has both day student and boarding ealry January when they returned to Australia for Most of the regular student body complain about friends, “[because} one of the reasons I come to the 2020 academic year. So, I decided to find out the large amounts of homework handed out each Australia is to make friends with people from all how our school’s international students have fared day. However, the international students say that over the world and learn multi-culture.” Whilst to obtain a better understanding of how Covid-19 China’s education system is ”exam oriented,“ mean- making friends is hard for these girls, they still impacts them. ing that there is more homework, at a harder level, generally get along with their classmates. The girls all have coping mechanisms to help to keep them practising and prepared for exams. These Chinese students are important members them through these rough patches. For example, Zoe Cai said that, “Australia’s education model is of our school community. Despite their battles Luna Chen said, “I like to keep myself busy when I more relaxed and can better focus on the growth of with homesickness, schoolwork, and friendships, feel homesick, which can help to divert my atten- students.” they continue to enjoy coming to Stuartholme and tion,” which was a common theme in the girls’ Not only are the methods of education different learning about Australia’s culture. responses. but also, obviously, the languages. These times bring new challenges for the girls They also identified communication between To help with any problems that might arise, Ms. and they continue to strive in a different environ- friends and their family, as being very important Verity explained that she assists with their welfare ment. In what ways can you make their experience to cope with their homesickness. A majority of and provides academic support to the students. at Stuartholme better? .4 STUARTHOLME’S NEWS IN BRIEF ...... CROSS COUNTRY CENTENARY YEAR - Congratulations to the Cross-Country team who finished 1st place in the CAASA Cross Country meet last week. Stuartholme won all age groups – 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 19s. Roar! See pics: LOOKING FORWARD, http://stuartholme.newzletter.com.au/issue/is- sue-12-2020/#co-curricular-news-hear-the-roar- events-issue-11-2 LOOKING BACK. SCIENCE WEEK Thanks to Mrs MacDonald and the Science Am- With 2020 being the Centenary Year for Stuartholme bassadors for the very successful Science week we continue our series examining the history of our activities. Follow the link for more science news: httpme.newzletter.com.au/issue/issue-12-2020/#- school with another quick peek into the archives. science-snippets-issue-10-2-2 A special investigative report by Lara Coogan and Amelia Davies.

With 2020 being our centennial year we contact- into the world and make it a better place,” she said INTERHOUSE DEBATING ed Sister Carroll and asked her to send us some to us when we spoke to her. With the Queensland Debating Union competi- photos from the school’s archive. Below you can see pictures of the fishpond with tion cancelled this year our eyes were on the In- As you can see below whilst things change a lot, students around it when it was first built in the terhouse Debating Competition. Congratulations in a way they also stay the same. early 1950s and with students striking the same go to Toohey House who took out the Year 7s and Speaking to Sister Carroll she said how the girls pose today. 8s competition, Woodlock House who snatched who go to Stuartholme today are not that different has always been a popular sport at Stu- victory in the Yaers 9 and 10 competition and to from when she attended as a student here in the artholme although we might dress a bit differently Parker House who were victorious in the Years 11 1950s. today. and 12 division. For more details, a list of students “The girls still have a love of learning. They are And the school has always given important roles who competed in the finals and pictures of the still concerned about what’s going on in the world and responsibilities to our senior students. action follow the link: and they still want to leave the school and go out Its nice to have a long history to draw upon! http://stuartholme.newzletter.com.au/issue/is- sue-12-2020/#interhouse-debating-results HARRY POTTER’S BIRTH- DAY CELEBRATION Yes, the biggest day of the year at Stuartholme came and went - and our Harry is another year older. There was action everywhere, costumes worn by students and staff and our annual Quid- ditch match. Follow the link for pictures and final scores of the Harry Potter Day House Competition: http://stuartholme.newzletter.com.au/is- Around the fishpond - 1930s Around the fishpond 2020 sue/issue-11-2020/#harry-potters-birth- day-book-week-celebrations TECH COMMITTEE PHOTO COMPETITION The 2020 Technologies Committee is holding a photography competition using the theme Building a Community. There will be house points awarded for every entry and prizes for the winners. Entries must be submitted via MyStu- artholme by Friday August 21st. Anyone can enter Ready for tennis before WW2 Ready for tennis 2020 so we encourage you to check out the page on MyStuartholme by following this link: https://my.stuartholme.com/homepage/4781/

ART WITH HEART - VOTE AT INDRO! Our ‘Art with Heart’ competition has kicked off at Indooroopilly Shopping Centre. Please vote for our students’ ‘best heart’ at Indooroopilly Shop- ping Centre as part of Indooroopilly’s 50th cele- brations. This competition is part of Stuartholme’s Centennial Art Show. Get the full details on the Stuartholme School Alumnae Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StuartholmeSchoo- Student leaders 1954 Student leaders 2019 lAlumnae/posts/1634361660062699

.5 THE SCHOOL CAFE - ARE STUDENTS GETTING VALUE FOR MONEY? IN THIS EXCLUSIVE REPORT WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE PRICES AT THE THE SCHOOL CAFE TO SEE IF STUDENTS ARE GETTING VALUE FOR MONEY. By Laura Manson and Abigail Coogan

The school cafe serves breakfast, morning tea and lunch.

You’d think that the prices for savoury foods and dollars at the shops, whereas at the café, they are are available, are more expensive, which makes sweet treats at our Stu Café would be more afford- one dollar for one small Tim Tam, and I don’t really it more convenient to buy something unhealthy able than at the local supermarket. However, that’s want to use my money to get one Tim Tam when I at the café, because they are cheaper. Some of the not the case. Want to get that chocky milk you’ve could buy a pack of twelve Tim Tams at the shops!” healthy choices available are cups of fruit, healthy been looking forward to all week? We all know that healthy eating is important, and juices and salad. A glance at the price would tell you otherwise. we would expect the school cafe to be enforcing Overall, the majority of students think the cafe You’d think that the prices for savoury foods and this belief, with healthy options cheaper than the is overpriced, and they would much rather buy sweet treats at our Stu Café would be much more expensive options. snacks from the supermarket, even if it means affordable than at Woolies. missing out on that fresh container of Nachos at However, that’s not the case. Friday lunch. So what do you think? Think about this. All week you’ve been doing “Overpriced food leads chores to get pocket money, and now it’s time to spoil yourself with a treat at the school cafe! students to make un- Take a look at a packet of chips, you’d expect them to be cheap, right? Think again, a small healthy choices.” packet of 45g chips costs $3.50, whereas you could simply buy it for $1.25 at your local supermarket. However, unhealthy options are actually much A price gap of more than $2 is very common cheaper than healthy options, and many students when items at the cafe are compared to the super- are choosing to buy them instead. market prices. “I buy the unhealthier options. The juices are defi- There is a significant price jump between the nitely more healthy, but they are very expensive, prices of food. As cafe prices are more expensive and one of the things I buy are zooper doopers then supermarket prices, girls tend to prefer pack- because they are only 70c, and the zooper doopers ing their lunch, rather than do the dishes for a are one of the most popular food choices from the whole week. One student, Maddie Henderson said, café because of the low price”, said Maddie. “The café is very overpriced because, for example, Overpriced food leads students to make un- See the video about the art show you can get a whole pack of 12 Tim Tams for 2 healthy choices. Healthy food choices while they .6 CaSSSA CROSS- COUNTRY WIN! SNAKES ALIVE! STUARTHOLME ARE CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONS FOR ANOTHER YEAR. THE TRUE STORY Competitor Imogen Foley reports OF MR CARROLL. ast Friday (21st of August), around 25 Stu- every single race - a spectacular effort all thanks to L Abigail Cooke Rollings, Abigail Coogan and Lara artholme girls hopped on a bus and travelled out Cross Country coach Mr Chris Gale. Coogan get the low down on the school snake... to Limestone Park, Ipswich to compete in the 2020 Unfortunately, due to coronavirus restrictions, no CaSSSA Cross Country Carnival. spectators were allowed to come but never fear, Everyone in the Stuartholme community has surely This year, Stuartholme did something that NO because in a From the Hill exclusive, below you can heard of the school snake, Mr Carroll. Some have per- school had ever done before - we won all six age see never before seen photos of the 2020 CaSSSA haps even had a chance to meet him. But how much do divisions, with a Stuartholme girl placing first in Cross Country Competition. Roar! Stuartholme girls really know about this special snake? Speaking to a number of people in our community, both staff and students, we discovered just how mysterious Mr. Carroll’s history really is! To find out more about him and to uncover the truth, we decided to interview Ms Bell and share his story. Where did Mr. Carroll come from? According to Mr. Elliott, one of our school’s oldest teachers, Mr Carroll was found in the bushes or in the old art department, now a shed found near the Jolimont drop-off/pick-up zone. We discovered this wasn’t true. Ms Bell said, “I personally bought him from a snake breeder in Camp Hill... he [the breeder] actually picked out the one that had the prettiest markings.” STUARTHOLME’S UNIFORM - IS How old is Mr. Carroll now? Alongside the confusion of how and why Mr. Carroll became a part of our school community, is his age. IT TIME FOR A CHANGE? When we asked, Ms Bell said that, “[Mr. Carroll] was Grace Butler reports born in January 2002, which makes him 18 going on Help us change for the better! are much easier to move in, so adding pants to the 19... His breed will live for about 25 – 30 years.” Can you believe our current school uniform has uniform would encourage students to play and How did Mr. Carroll get his name? been around since 1985! That is 35 years of this exercise rather than sit around. An important question with an answer, that many flimsy, impractical dress! The other problem is the under the arm seam senior students and staff know almost by heart. “Mr. Carroll was a teacher here a long time ago [and] he is Stuartholme has gotten away with it for this long of the Stuartholme dress. As many students have experienced, the seam splits with the smallest arm actually Sister Rita Carroll’s cousin... My TMG, was in but it’s time for a change. charge of naming the snake, so we decided to make a has made it compulsory for movement! Adding a t-shirt to the uniform would reduce competition out if it! We said “Alright, for 50 cents you schools to have a pants option for girls and Victo- get to nominate a name for the snake and if we choose this problem, allowing students to move more ria is also discussing making it compulsory. your name then you get a packet of snakes.” So, we went freely and play a wider variety of games than Australia is in the midst of a big change for the around to all the TMG rooms and asked for people to better! Schools are realising that it’s horribly sexist handball. submit their names... [The girls] went up to Mr. Car- that girls’ uniforms usually consist of a shirt and A survey conducted by our From the Hill over- roll, who was a little bit deaf, [and] they asked, “What skirt or a dress, while boys’ uniforms usually con- whelmingly found that students support adding a name?” He said, “Mr. Carroll,” because he thought he sist of a shirt and pants. pants and skirt option to the uniform. was buying raffle tickets...[Mr. Carroll] was retiring that What message is that sending? 72% of students want a skirt/shirt option. 66% year and all the girls loved him so much, and so they [chose his name and] said “this way he will live on at Adding pants to the Stuartholme uniform would wanted shorts to be added and finally, 62% of stu- Stuartholme.” benefit students a lot! dents want long pants to be added. Girls would be encouraged to run, play and Let’s make Stuartholme part of the uniform Is Mr. Carroll easy to look after? What is he fed? For those who have not had the experience of looking exercise at lunch breaks. At the moment, with the revolution! Bring up the issue with your parents and get after Mr. Carroll, this is a quick insight about how easy dress, it’s nearly impossible to play so students sit it is to care for him. Ms Bell says that, “All he needs is around all lunch break. them to contact Mrs. Sharpe, Mr. Crump, Mrs. Lonsdale-Walker and Mr. Golding today! his water bowl topped up and a heat mat in winter.” She You have the basic problem of it being a dress also said that, “We feed him small, juvenile rats [but] he and dresses are very hard to run or climb in. Pants doesn’t even eat for about 5 months in winter!” Do you believe Mr Carroll has enhanced student’s ex- periences at Stuartholme? For those that have been in any of Ms Bell’s classes, you would know how quickly Mr. Carroll can turn around a boring period 6 lesson. Ms Bell said, and we agree, that, “I think it is really good fun to have him in the classroom. I think it is important to see people looking after animals [and] it is always good for boarders to have a look at a friendly snake, because they aren’t used to friendly ones!” To end our article, we thought it would be nice to share a funny story about our school’s snake. When we asked Ms Bell, she said that there were no funny stories worth telling, though she had an interesting one to share. “Did you hear the [story] about how one of the girls in Year 11 got bitten on the face?” “We had Mr. Carroll out and it was on the last day of school. She was confident in holding Mr. Carroll but I didn’t realise that he had just eaten a rat the lesson be- fore. We had just gotten him out and he was frisky. He went ‘chomp,’ around her eye and left a tiny little hooked tooth in her bottom eyelid.” According to Ms Bell, the girl was thrilled to pieces that she had been bitten by Mr Carroll as she got to keep the tooth, but it still serves as a reminder that animals are not machines and we have to be careful when surround- The world has changed a lot since 1975, but Stuartholme’s uniform hasn’t! ing ourselves with them. .7 WHAT’S STUARTHOLME READING? COVID LOCKDOWN MEANS MORE READING TIME. COOL. NEED SOME INSPO? TO HELP YOU WE TOOK A LOOK TO SEE WHAT STUARTHOLME GIRLS ARE READING.

“I’m reading White Cat by Holly Black.” Anila Seneviratne, “I’m reading All the Light we Cannot See. It’s about a blind “I’m reading Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton.” Eliza Year 8. girl finding her way through the Nazi occupation of Paris in Flannigan, Year 7. World War 2. The book is very moving and bittersweet; it’s bound to make you cry.” Bethany Van Hecke, Year 7.

“I’m reading The Isle of the Lost. I recommend this book be- “I’m readingThe Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Lucerne by “I’m reading Wonderscape by Jennifer Bell. Carmen Ke- cause it has the ability to make you feel like you are actually in Katrina Nannestad. Its about the adventures of a young girl hoe-Biggs, Year 8. this make believe fantasy world. This book is highly recom- moving about Europe, making friends and having fun! I mended for all fantasy genre lovers.” Verity Blair, Year 8. would recommend this book because it is easy to read and funny.” Ava Cheal, Year 8. Library Top 10

Here is a list of the Top 10 books* borrowed from the school library this year:

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Greene 2. Once by Morris Gleitzman 3. A Monster Calls: a Novel by Patrick Ness 4. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book 1 by Rick Riordan 5. House of Earth and Blood : Crescent City Book 1 by Sarah J Maas 6. Two Wolves by Tristan Bancks 7. The Maze Runner by James Dashner 8. Throne of Glass: Book 1 by Sarah J Maas 9. A Court of Thorns and Roses: Book 1 by Sarah J Maas 10. Crown of Midnight: Throne of Glass: Book 2 by “I’m reading Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butter- “I’m reading Mary Durack’s Kings in Grass Castles. I love this worth. Rachel Henderson, Year 8. book because it is an interesting recount of an early Australian Sarah J Maas pioneering family in the outback.” Rosie Sheehan, Year 8. *Data courtesy of Mrs Paruzek. .8