ST HILDA'S NEWS

Dear St Hilda’s Community,

As I reflect on Term 1, I am in awe of what our staff and students have achieved over the last eleven weeks. It’s been a term of settling into new courses, making new friends, and exploring new opportunities. Our Combined Music Concert with Christ Church Grammar School was exceptional on Friday night, with the theme “Songs We Know.” This collaboration has been a cherished tradition for over 40 years.

While the holiday break officially starts today, the term is not over for everyone. Our cocurricular offerings extend into the holiday period. We wish our Year 8 community service trip to Fiji all the very best as they continue their support of St Christopher’s Orphanage community. Closer to home, we have Rowing Camp, Music Jazz Tour, the Year 8 and 9 Coral Bay Trip, and a Coral Bay Dive Tour. I extend my heartfelt thanks to our dedicated staff who generously give their time over the holiday period to provide these incredible opportunities for our students. Safe travels, everyone!

At the start of this term, I shared my interest in Ted Lasso’s unique leadership style as I stepped into the Acting Principal role. Ted’s mantra was “believe,” and I shared that it had resonated with me. It encourages us to believe in what’s possible, even when things seem hard, and to believe in each other, even when things don’t go to plan.

This experience has been memorable in the best possible way.  I quickly came to realise that a principal’s role is multi-faceted, with the unexpected being the norm. A school’s community is a broad church. With over 1100 students, 300 staff, 1800 parents and 8000 Old Scholars, the opportunity to intersect with people across a range of issues is the top priority for a principal. This part of the role has found me occasionally double-booked, missing opportunities to be present with students and staff, and sensitively supporting staff, students and alumni through an unimaginable community tragedy. I’ve seen a little less of my family this term, but the experience has allowed me to understand and appreciate the importance of this role as a leader of the community.

I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the School Council and School Executive for their unwavering support, guidance, and encouragement. Their steadfast commitment has been truly invaluable. A special thank you to Jo Swain, who stepped into the role of Deputy Principal while continuing to lead Student Wellbeing. Jo’s dedication to fostering a supportive and nurturing environment for our students and staff exemplifies her continued positive and selfless impact on our community.

Next term, our community welcomes Principal Fiona Johnston back from her sabbatical. Like many, I have missed her presence. I wish to extend my gratitude to Fiona for entrusting me with the leadership of the St Hilda’s community during her absence.

We concluded the term today with our much-anticipated annual Arts Festival. Each sub-school has completed a summary of the day, so please ensure you scroll through the newsletter and have a read.

One final thank you to our parents for your support and kind words throughout the term. Messages of kindness from our parent community have a powerful impact on our staff, who go above and beyond. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a restful and safe holiday break.

Yours sincerely

Andrea McNally
Acting Principal / Director of Senior School

Parent Teacher Interviews – Junior School and Years 7-9 – Monday 28 April

The 2025 Parent Teacher Interviews will take place on Monday 28 April. Bookings are now available, with an email sent from Edval.

Term 2 Commences on Tuesday 29 April

Term 2 Uniform Requirements

Students will return to Term 2 in their formal winter uniforms. Please click here to view our Uniform Policy for Junior and Senior Schools.

Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop will be closed over the school holidays but will reopen on Monday 28 April, from 8.00am to 4.00pm for back-to-Term 2 requirements and will resume normal hours thereafter. Alternatively, visit the online uniform shop here.

St Hilda’s is excited to partner with two renowned experts in child and adolescent wellbeing for our upcoming parent event. Dr Judith Locke and Dr Danielle Einstein will join us to deliver a series of workshops and lectures for students, staff, and parents in Term 2.

Based on extensive research, this program aims to help children and teens better manage their typical fears and worries. It offers practical strategies for parents to encourage their children to overcome nerves and self-imposed limits, empowering them to live life with confidence. With anxiety being the number one limiting factor in life satisfaction, this is a lecture series you can’t afford to miss.

We encourage parents to attend this interactive session to understand the strategies we will be sharing with students and to provide a consistent approach to minimising stress and maximising resilience.

Event Details:
Date: Monday 26 May 2025
Time: 6.00pm – 7.00pm
Venue: St Hilda’s Bay View Campus

Register to Attend Here

This event will be livestreamed for boarding parents and those who are unable to attend in person. A link will be sent out prior to the event for those who have registered. By speaker’s request, it will not be recorded so cannot be viewed at a later date.

The Bonsai Student – Your Questions Answered

Our successful partnership with Dr Locke includes providing all parents with her book, The Bonsai Student. Dr Locke has equipped parents with a range of resources to support their parenting strategies and maintain a positive family life. If you have not received a copy, please contact enrol@sthildas.wa.edu.au

The Bonsai Student key principles are:

1. Responsibility: Encouraging children to take responsibility for their actions and decisions, helping them develop a sense of accountability and self-reliance
2. Respect: Teaching children to respect themselves and others, which includes understanding boundaries and valuing different perspectives
3. Resourcefulness: Helping children become resourceful by encouraging problem-solving skills and creativity, enabling them to navigate challenges independently
4. Resilience: Building resilience in children by allowing them to experience and learn from failures and setbacks, which strengthens their ability to cope with adversity

For those who could not attend last year’s events, Dr. Locke is offering a second opportunity to have your questions answered. She will be recording a video addressing parents’ questions, which will be available in Term 2.

If you have a burning question related to building resilience in your child, you can submit your question here.

Submission Deadline: Monday 21 April 2025

We look forward to your participation in these valuable sessions!

Please join us on Saturday 10 May from 9am-3pm for a family friendly day with stalls, homemade produce, cafe, flowers, petting zoo, children’s activities and much more.

This special event is an important fundraiser for the OSA.

Dear St Hilda’s Community,

As we conclude Term 1, I am delighted to share the wonderful experiences in our final week.

Our Year 3 students wrapped up their science learning by participating in a guided session called ‘Wild Features’ at Perth Zoo. The students had an exceptional time discovering and learning about the diverse animals on display and exploring the classification of living things based on their observable features.

On Wednesday, we officially acknowledged Easter with a lovely chapel service. This special occasion was made even more memorable by having a couple of our talented music students perform for us. Their beautiful music added a heartfelt touch to the service.

We continue to foster joy and friendship through various coeducational experiences. This week, Year 2 students from Christ Church Grammar School joined our Year 2 girls on campus for a Kite Incursion. The workshop began with a visual talk on the history of kites from different countries, including the invention of the box kite by Australian Lawrence Hargrave. The students then made kites from recycled materials and flew them on the oval. Our incursion host, Michael, joined the students, flying some impressive kites and sending up a few large Japanese Koi fish kites, creating a breathtaking visual display.

The 2025 Arts Festival concluded a wonderful and rigorous Term 1. It was a delight to see students from Junior Kindergarten to Year 6 parade with pride in their costumes, each representing their year level theme. The students also connected through House Dance, celebrating their sense of belonging to their House. They enjoyed an exceptional workshop and show by the Big HOO Haa, which brought a rollercoaster of comedy through various mediums that all ages loved. The girls giggled with delight and excitement, bopping to the songs and enjoying the sketches.

As we end this term on such a high note, we look forward to the holidays. I wish everyone a Happy Easter and a safe and restful break.

Warm regards,

Trish Jakovich
Director of Junior School

Basketball WA – Future Development Program

Congratulations to Charlotte Hoath, who has been selected as a member of the Basketball WA Future Development Program.

Swimming WA – Aqua Technics WA Junior Champs

Bianca Pritchard was a standout at the championships, smashing personal bests in the 200m freestyle and 200m IM in the girls’ 10yrs. Her time of 2:35.48 in the 200m freestyle was almost 10 seconds off her previous best. She picked up four gold and two silver medals at this event.

Dear St Hilda’s Community,

To conclude Term 1, we celebrated Arts Festival. A day full of joy and house spirit. A huge thank you must be extended to Sharon Kiely, Head of Drama Production for the coordination and leadership of Arts Festival, with support from the House Coordinators and Arts Prefect, Freya Campbell.

If you missed any of the Livestream performances, these are still able to be viewed online using the links below. The determination and energy that our girls showed not only on the day, but during the many, many hours of rehearsing was phenomenal.

Contemporary Music Ensemble (Group Pop) and Solo Contemporary Music (Solo Pop)

Live Stream Link HERE

Classic Music Ensemble (Group Classical) and Year 7 Song and Dance

Live Stream Link HERE

Contemporary Theatre Ensemble (Group Spoken) and Group Dance

Live Stream Link HERE

Food Artistry

• Year 7- Fantastic Flowers- Chloe Alexander & Roji Aslan
• Year 8- Penguin Land- Cecilia Price
• Year 9- Easter Overload- Georgina Smith, Lucy Brophy, Jemima McGuigan
• Year 10- Don’t Eat My Cake- Kaitlyn Sega & Grace Zhang
• Year 11- Tonight We Steal the Moon- Milla, Abigail & Esme
• Year 12- Crimson Shards- Rani Cirkovic & Amelia Kelly
• Overall Winner- Little House- Clementine Castleden

Congratulations to all our Houses and to Blackwood for taking home the trophy.

The 2025 Arts Festival final placings were:

1st - Blackwood
2nd – De Grey
3rd – Fitzroy
4th - Gascoyne

Thank you to everyone involved!

Yours sincerely,

Andrea McNally
Acting Principal / Director of Senior School

Date: Monday 28 April

The 2025 Years 7-9 Parent Teacher Interviews will take place on Monday 28 April. Appointments will be available to book between 10am and 6pm. Bookings are now available, with an email sent from Edval. Please contact curriculum@sthildas.wa.edu.au if you have any queries.

To access cocurricular notices, please access the St Hilda’s App on your device.

Please ensure you subscribe to your daughter’s year level and all cocurricular activities to ensure you receive all communications.

For details on downloading the School App and setting up subscriptions and notifications, click here.

Dear Members of the P&F,

Thank you to those who attended the meeting on 3 April. At that meeting, members decided that we should elect the new committee at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), giving members time to consider the nominees and arrange proxy votes for those who cannot attend the AGM.

We are pleased to inform you that the AGM will be held on 6 May 2025. This meeting is crucial for the success and governance of our association, and we encourage all members to attend.

Nominations for New Committee

We are now accepting nominations for the new committee. If you are interested in serving, please submit your nomination by 14 April. Your nomination should include a 100-word statement about yourself and why you wish to hold the position. This will help members make informed decisions during the voting process.  We also ask the members who put forward nominations for the last meeting do so again with the knowledge that the 100-word bio will be included in the notice of AGM.

The nomination form link is here: https://forms.office.com/r/PeBrtapYpi

Notice of Meeting

A notice of the meeting will be circulated to all members on 22 April. This notice will include proxy forms and details of the nominees. Please review these materials carefully and prepare for the vote, which will be conducted during the AGM on 6 May.

Key Dates

• Nomination deadline: 14 April 2025
• Notice of meeting circulation: 22 April 2025
• Closure of proxy votes 5 May 2025 6pm
• AGM date: 6 May 2025

We look forward to your participation in these important proceedings and ask you to please keep an eye on your emails.

Sincerely,

Caroline Houghton
President, P&F Association

Dear School Community,

The OSA Mother’s Day Bazaar is taking place on Saturday 10 May from 9am – 3pm, and is an important fundraiser for the OSA.

The Cake Stall has been a huge success over the years and we are calling on your support again for biscuits, cakes, tarts, quiches, rocky road and whatever baked delights take your fancy (no cream please).

Packaging, plates, and labels will be available from Reception at the Chidley and Bay View campuses and the Wellness Centre from Friday, 2 May.

Please label all ingredients (labels included) and drop off to the St Hilda’s Joy Shepherd Performing Arts Centre kitchen on Friday 9 May (before Assembly) or bring to the Bazaar on Saturday 10 May. We hope to see you there.

Thank you for your support.

Jane Barker, OSA Committee