The BridgeThe magazine of Brigidine College Indooroopilly

Semester One 2018

Brigidine College joins with Kildare Ministries to embrace the theme of Hope, Bringing a Sense of Purpose for 2018. ‘Hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for the soul. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary’. Hebrews 6:19.

The College will endeavour to continue being a place of hope for our students, staff and families. A school that is hope filled not only provides opportunities for its community but it looks for ways to engage everyone in purposeful action with the intentions and spirit being one that embraces our being and connected to a higher call. This is a call to be one with God’s spirit for each one of us.

The girls at Brigidine are our agents of hope for a bright and positive future for

themselves, their families and the wider community. It will be through purposeful action and engagement in all forms of learning, that their spiritual connection to something greater might be reached. When we see images of people who inspire us or when listening to music that moves us, or perhaps as we read stories that shift understanding, let our community be hope filled to reveal our God to ourselves.

As we know, Brigidine College has provided strong and engaging opportunities for generations of young women to learn. With the launch of the Strategic Plan 2018–2020, the College embarks on a new journey that focuses on the directions for our community. With a vision, Inspiring Young Women to be the Difference, the College identifies where growth and change will firmly

Bringing a Sense of Purpose

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Welcome to the beginning of the new school year, with thoughts of new possibilities, an enthusiasm to learn new things and gratitude of heart as we thank God for the opportunities laid before us.

We warmly welcome our new students, families and staff who begin their Brigidine journey with us this year. Brigidine College celebrates all the gifts we share this year and looks forward to exploring and engaging in learning that unlocks all possibilities.

connect our school as a place of learning and growth for the 21st century young woman.

Our key directions include:• Catholic Identity and

Spirituality – through traditions and mission

• Learning Culture – where a passion for learning and excellence are embraced

• Wellbeing of our Community to nurture resilience

• Stewardship – responsibility for a sustainable future.

Brigidine College is focused this year on broadening our connections with our families through opportunities to engage and share the journey with other parents; it is hoped that families will be able to connect more directly with our community. The girls remain our focus as they journey through the College;

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however, we are a school where our learning culture is one for all to share.

The staff at Brigidine are agents of hope through their professionalism, engagement and care for our students and themselves. They continue to enliven the hopes and vision of St Brigid and we look forward to walking together with our families this year.

This year is also an exciting opportunity to assist in the planning and organisation for Stage 1 and Stage 2 of our Building Master Plan. Through the great work of our College

Board and the appointment of Blight Rayner, our architects, Brigidine College is planning a new Science, Technology and Maths building on Fairley Street. This new development will add a vibrancy, passion and entrenching of STEM learning well into the future.

Hope overcomes; it heals, restores, inspires;Conquers, frees and is a gift to the world.Amen.

Brendan CahillPrincipal

‘Hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for the soul. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.’Hebrews 6:19

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2018 Student Leaders (l-r): Amy Denman (Mission Captain), Madeleine Graham (Arts Captain), Emilia Spry (College Captain) and Anna Baxter (Sports Captain)

House Prefects

View from Fairley Street

South East from Fairley Street

South West from Fairley Street

North West from the Curragh

Seniors showing off their badges

our new Year 12 cohort and welcomed and inducted the Year 7’s into our community. The Australian Bishops had also tasked 2018 as The Year of Youth and invited all communi-ties to engage in listening to the voices of young people and provide them with forums to contribute ideas and challenges to the church and the broader society.

In 2018 Brigidine Mission and Identity has focussed on embedding a deeper and more explicit Catholic Social Teaching into our curriculum studies and the religious life of our community which was included in our workshops for staff on our Spirituality Day in January. Although girls struggle with the initial understandings of these concepts, they seem to easily engage with the Faith in Action component where our Catholic community lives out the princi-ples in justice programs, service learning and community initia-tives:

• Dignity of the human person

• The Common Good• Subsidiarity and Participa-

tion• Solidarity

MISSION AND JUSTICE

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St Brigid’s Feast Day

International Women’s Day guest speakers (l-r): Pamela Curr from BASP, RAAF Squadron Leader Sam Fairbairn and Hannah Wil-son from the One Women Project pictured with Emilia Spry, College Captain

Shrove Tuesday frying pans at the ready!

Hope with a Sense of Purpose has been our Mission theme which has guided us through the first Semester of 2018.

The death of colleague Mr Ted Tindall was a terrible tragedy at the start of the year and reminded us about the fragility of life and the importance of being there for each other. We gathered in solidarity with one another to support Ted’s fam-ily in prayer as well as engage in fundraising for Jo Tindall’s charity, QIMR Berghofer, rais-ing awareness and support for mental illness. This has been an important time for our com-munity.

Opening Mass commenced the year as we commissioned

• Preferential option for the poor

• Economic Justice• Stewardship of Creation• Promotion of Peace

Jesus taught that God asks each of us what we are doing to help the poor and needy: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mat-thew 25:40).https://www.caritas.org.au/about/catholic-social-teaching-values

There has been a stronger focus on the growth of our Ser-vice booklet and social justice service programs. This has included Justice and Democra-cy; Vinnies Youth; Interact and visiting Milpera State School to support their Homework Club, the Karibu (Welcome! in Swa-hili) Program. Study Supervisor Helen Jeffcoat and Teacher Renee Dunne have initiated activity-based learning and interaction with Year 10 to 12 Brigidine Students and Milpera girls. Staff and members of the Brigid’s Women Group visit the Ipswich Women’s Shelter and we also have a group support-

ing the Uniting Church Asylum Seeker Project. This involve-ment has seen a very important contribution to the lives of all involved in strengthening rela-tionships, self-confidence and awareness.

Jorja O’Meagher, Yr 12, writes:In Term 2, three groups of girls have gone on Thursday after-noons to the Refugee Support Centre at Indooroopilly Uniting Church. Each time we visited, we talked with the church vol-unteers and the RAILS lawyers to get an understanding of why they volunteer and the work that they do. Each person we talked to gave us a better understanding of the difficulties faced by asylum seekers.

“Hope, with a Sense of Purpose, has guided us through the first Semester of 2018.”

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(l-r): Students Tallulah Kerr and Amy Denman enjoyed meeting new friends Betelhem and Ubah at the blessing of Brigid’s House

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Family Welcome Dinner

Sorry Day saw a sea of hands on the Holy Lawn, beautifully decorated by students and staff

On my second trip to the church, I met a university law student. She spoke to us about how she wanted to make a real difference in the world, changing someone’s life. She volunteers at the centre often and sits down with refugees to help them fill out and file their Immigration Department ap-plications. These are very long and complicated documents so anyone would need help with them. She told me, “Being Australian born and living in Australia my whole life, I found it very difficult to read and un-derstand the document and the complex questions and details required.”

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The work that she does truly makes a difference in the lives of refugees.

My group also had the privilege of speaking to some refugees who have been accepted into Australia; a lady named Betel-hem and her friend Ubah from Sydney. Both women were very nice and were more than happy to engage in conversation with us, speaking about their past experiences and life as a refu-gee. We asked many questions as we were intrigued to find out firsthand what challenges they had faced. The women were grateful to be in Australia and were so thankful to the people who helped them along the

Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane, Fr Ken Howell, paid a visit to the College in March. He spent time touring the campus and classrooms with Mr Cahill, Fr Nev Yun, Mr Beiers and the four College Captains

way. The Uniting Church does a lot for refugees and really does change lives. I am honoured to have had this experience and the chance to expand my current knowledge of the world and people within it.

In April, our Anzac Day liturgy commemorated all those who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom at Villers-Breton-neux in France.

Sorry Day reminded our com-munity of the importance of continuing to recall the plight of aboriginal peoples in our so-ciety and how seven of the ten goals initiated by Kevin Rudd to Close the Gap are still left unresolved ten years on.

For Indigenous Australians land is sacred, they belong to it.

We acknowledge the Turrbl and Jagera People as the traditional custodians of the land on which we gather.

We acknowledge the land and the history, culture and struggle of Australian People, who have lived in this country for thou-sands of years.

And may we continue to work towards true reconciliation together.National Reconciliation Week, 2018

Let us continue to right the wrongs of our government and community and move towards a future in solidarity.

Andrew BeiersDeputy Principal Mission

Karibu Club

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ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Glorious Hastings Point was the destination of the Year 11 Biology Camp in May. The students observed first hand the essential fieldwork of biologists and the habitats of organisms. They had a wonderful learning expe-rience investigating three diverse but interconnected ecosystems; sand dunes, mangroves and the rocky shore.

These five Year 12 students presented their business case in the finals of QUT’s Blueshift Business Case Competition in May. An outstanding experience for all concerned.

In January we welcomed back to Brigidine 2017 Dux Jessica Maher and Academic Ambassador Emma Barrie

Senior Language students attended the exceptional Youth Language Ambassador Conference in Townsville in June

In Science, Year 7, 8 and Year 10 Applied Science students took part in the Science Revision Challenge, answering over 225,000 questions correctly! Congratulations all.

In April, this Year 7 English class used the Reading Comprehension Framework to support their comprehension of a traditional Wiradjiri dreamtime story.

In May Ameya Jaurigue (Year 8) participated in the Rostrum Australia Public Speaking Competi-tion, winning her section.

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Here we go...Brigidine College’s Year of Hope has finally begun and what a year it is going to be! As always, the year got off to a great start with the Year 7s and new students’ nervous excitement during their first day. The Year 11s deserve a massive thank you for their endless generosity of spirit and welcoming nature on this day.

stereotypes and gossip. Ac-cepting that what makes you unique is what brings confi-dence and passion into our lives, as well as accepting oth-ers for who they are.

We are proud to be Brigidine women. It is an amazing privi-lege to be educated at a school that not only prioritises our learning but also supports our wellbeing, physical health and spiritual health. The sense of unity that is present at Brigi-dine amongst the students,

staff and wider community creates that joyful spirit and compassionate environment which makes Brigidine special.

Emilia SpryCollege Captain

“Hope is at the core of our happiness. It is what sustains us now and into the future.”

As College leaders, Amy, Ma-deleine, Anna and I are hoping to inspire all members of our community to be resilient and to create a sense of purpose in all we do.

Hope is at the core of our hap-piness. It is what sustains us now and into the future. Hope is found in many aspects of our schooling and personal lives. We believe that, as young women, authenticity is being your true self, unaffected by

COLLEGE CAPTAINS’ REPORTS

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Let’s make it our mission to be the vision for the future.

2018 has been extremely busy for the Mission Team, starting with the Opening Mass on 9 February. This was a beauti-ful first event for the College, where everyone came together and celebrated our first bless-ing as a school from Fr Frank O’Dea and acknowledged the Year 12 students as they walked across the stage, one by one, to receive their senior badges and ribbons.

Many social justice groups have been up and running, with more girls involved than ever before. With the aim of rais-ing funds for Caritas’ Project Compassion, one of the first events, Shrove Tuesday, run by Mrs Jenifer Byrne, was a spec-tacular success with volunteers helping to make pancakes and sell them at Morning Tea to the rest of the College.

On Assembly, when I gave my opening address as Mission Captain, one of the key ele-

ments I talked about was unity within the College and be-tween all girls, no matter what year level. I asked the students to repeat and remember these important words; One Team, One Heart, One Family. Unity is all about becoming one and working as a team, as one family together with the same heart. I also addressed the Col-lege about our Mission theme for the year - Hope.

I have decided to break down the word Hope and give each letter a meaning per term. In Term 1, therefore, we focussed on the letter ‘H’ which stood for Health, both mental and

physical. Conversations were started during Wellbeing classes about this topic as it is a very important one for discus-sion right across the College.

Term 2 concentrated on the letter ‘O’ which stood for Op-portunity. Term 2 is usually when girls are familiar with the year and their college and are able to get out there and take advantage of opportuni-ties offered.

Term 3 will concentrate on the letter ‘P’ for Persistence, enabling the students to have the motivation to keep going throughout the penultimate term.

Finally, for Term 4, we will look at the letter ‘E’ which will stand for Equality - treating all girls equally as we head towards the end of the year together as One Team, One Heart, One Family.

Amy DenmanMission Captain

“Unity... becoming one and working as a team, as one family together with the same heart.”

COLLEGE CAPTAINS’ REPORTS

Ash Wednesday

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2018 Brigidine Swim Team

also the best feeling, leaving a band rehearsal with a massive smile on my face, knowing I just spent an hour creating music and laughing with a bunch of lovely girls. We are always look-ing for new members, so if you want to try something new or have a secret passion to play an instrument, come and join us.

Some people shy away from the cultural groups due to the fear of failing or ‘’not being good enough’’. I’m sure if you asked one girl involved in a cultural group here at Brigidine, she would inform you that that is definitely not the case. Whether it’s dancing, playing an instrument or acting, you are supported by a group of girls like you; compassionate girls who are in these groups because they enjoy what they do and love learning from each other.

Music Club is a new fun, casual club that is open to girls of any year group. It is not a Cultural

“I dare you to lose yourself in the beauty of music, to dance like no one is watching and to be your individual self.”

As Arts Captain for 2018, one thing you need to know about me is that I can’t dance.

In saying that, I still love to bust my moves, dancing like a luna-tic being the best medicine for a bad day. The other thing you should know about me is that I’m extremely passionate about the Arts. Since coming to Brigi-dine I have tried many groups,

but it’s the cultural groups that I feel most at home with.I know from personal experi-ence the enjoyment I have had in the instrumental and drama groups. The Concert Band has made my Brigidine experience so much more enjoyable. It is made up of passionate, hard-working and kind girls who never fail to make me laugh or to teach me new things. Being part of this group has taught me how size and talent cannot be the measure of success. It is

group, which means you don’t have to be locked into coming every week. This club includes mini instrumental tutorial les-sons such as guitar, ukulele, percussion and plenty more. The repertoire of songs being taught is based on what every-one wants to play. This group is not defined by ability, so don’t worry if you know absolutely nothing about music. We also play games and have times when we come together to talk about music, sharing new songs or artists that other peo-ple might enjoy. Please come along if this interests you.

I leave you with the challenge of trying something in the Arts; this doesn’t have to be joining a group or being the best singer or dancer. This goal could be listening to music every day or singing as loud as you can in the shower. Mine will be to dance whenever I can and as goofy as I can. I also leave you with the challenge of exploring the Arts, expressing your inner passions and pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. I dare you to lose yourself in the beauty of music, to dance like no one is watching and to be your individual self.

Madeleine GrahamArts Captain

Cultural Day Camp February

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As a Year 8 student, I started my high school journey with a skirt that was way too long and brown socks to my knees, not to mention being so enthusiastic that I was told “sorry I can’t be friends with you, you’re too loud.”

Since Year 8, I have been in-volved in all aspects of College sports including swimming, wa-ter polo, rowing, netball, touch footy, rugby 7’s, athletics and a couple more. I have been overly competitive since Year 1, even during tug of war. And,

finally, I have never been able to jump higher than 90cm in high jump, it is not my thing.

So now you know some things about me, I would like to ask you

something; did you know that only 34% of high school girls are involved in various physical activ-ity? This is less than half the number of boys. The leading cause of these numbers is body image, embracement, low self-esteem and not think-ing that you are good enough. Some of you would think this every

time you are involved in sport. The amount of time I have told myself that I was good enough is ridiculous, but the truth is you are good enough, you are all good enough. We had more numbers than usual at the Swimming Carnival this year and I want to see that across everything. It doesn’t matter if you have never kicked a ball, shot a basket or swum a lap, you are the best you can be and only that is good enough. Quoting the famous Mrs Roy, if you fall in love with the pro-cess, the process will fall in love with you. If you find something you love to play, and train hard you will be amazing. And that doesn’t matter if you aren’t as good as someone else; you are only as good as yourself.

Sport and an active lifestyle play an important role in us as young women. Exercise

helps with so much as well as keeping you fit and healthy, it boosts your self-esteem and can reduce stress. Whether that’s going for a walk outside or doing a sneaking squat, you are bettering yourself. My goal for this year is to see as many teams filled as possible, turn up to training and give it a go. Run a Cross Country course; even if you don’t run, walk it and do your best.

I encourage you to do some-thing active this week, set yourself a goal, remember your sports uniform and, most importantly, have fun. Don’t worry about what anyone else is thinking, because trust me they are thinking about how their hair looks. One of my favourite quotes is:

“This ability to conquer oneself is no doubt the most precious of all things sport bestows.”

If you can conquer yourself you are half way there, you are al-ways better than you think you will be, you are stronger than you ever thought possible, and you are worth it.

Anna BaxterSports Captain

“You are always better than you think you will be, you are stronger than you ever thought possible, and you are worth it.”

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SOLAS BHRIDE REPORTS: SEMESTER ONE

Year 7

From 21-23 February, the Year 7 students participated in a very wet three-day, two-night camp at Camp Maranatha, Yandina. We arrived in the rain on the first day and left in the rain on the last...without much relief in between. Mind you, the rain certainly didn’t dampen our spirits! The Year 7 students participated whole heartedly in the activities - raft

The girls were very lucky to have the wonderful support of the Year 10 Camp Helpers, who were there to talk to when things got a bit too much or they were feeling a little home-sick. These students showed great initiative and creativity and did a fabulous job leading some of the night-time activi-ties. I would like to thank Clau-dia Maher, Samantha Mascord,

Jazz Davis, Jessical Parcell, Ab-bey Moran, Ella McHugh, Lucy Brown and Olivia Durrheim. I know all the staff were very grateful for their efforts in help-ing the girls in their groups.

Of course, camps cannot run without staff and I want to

extend a heartfelt thank you to the group of teachers who persevered through some try-ing circumstances to ensure the Year 7 girls had a fabulous camp experience.

Allison PowerYear 7 Wellbeing Program

Leader

Year 12

From 26-28 March the Year 12 students gathered at Luther Heights Retreat Centre in Coolum. It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to spend time in contemplation and reflection with themselves, each other and God.

Retreat specialist from Project Hatch, Dave Jorna, invited the girls to reflect on their school life journey and invited them to share something of their spiritual growth through games and songs, personal reflections and the use of clay.

building, abseiling, high ropes, Tower of Tremble, Possum Pull, challenge trail and Leap of Faith. Many girls pushed them-selves to try these challenging activities and were so proud of their achievements afterwards. I am sure they had some great stories to share upon their re-turn and I know that many new friendships were forged during this time together.

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One of the poignant moments of the retreat was the opportu-nity for reconciliation with each other in a moving liturgy. The theme of the Dinner Dress Up was the letter “C” and our staff and students willingly engaged in a variety of fun, clever ideas including cricket teams, com-mandoes and ceremonies!

Special thanks to Carla Wood, Danielle Gay, Korryn Swindail-Hill, Jenna Burke, Sue Miles, Amelia Cameron and Andrew Beiers for their wonderful support for the students and each other on this important transitional moment for the girls on their journey to young adulthood.

Merryl WheatonYear 12 Wellbeing Program

Leader

Year 9

Year 9 Solas Bhride provided an opportunity for our girls to

challenge themselves in a mul-titude of ways.

The focus on Wellbeing for the Year 9 cohort has centred around leadership. In particu-lar, the girls are encouraged to be an ‘everyday leader’, which means demonstrating leadership in your daily inter-actions with others. A leader doesn’t tell others what to do,

they demonstrate it through what they do. The activities at the three-day Solas Bhride built students’ self-belief and confidence, unity and value of persistence.

The first day involved them

walking the Kokoda Track up Mt Coot-tha, experiencing what the ANZACs might have felt during the battles in Papua New Guinea in World War I. This trek taught them endur-ance, resilience and courage. The girls had to work as a team as there were many times throughout the walk when they had to rely on their team mates, holding onto ropes

and carrying each other on a stretcher. They commented that they also learnt about mateship, making sure no person was left behind when hiking up the mountain.

Currumbin Beach was the des-tination for day two - a favour-ite for many girls. The Charac-ter Builders team had planned many fun activities for the students including tunnelling in the sand and stand-up paddle boarding across Currumbin Creek. The day was filled with laughter and encouragement from everyone as activities were tried by all.

The final day of Solas Bhride looked very much like the American TV show The Amaz-

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ing Race. 26 teams of six girls (plus one teacher team) ran around Brisbane CBD solving brain teasers to find various locations, working in a shop along the way. It took the girls out of their comfort zones and encouraged them to work with girls they had not had the opportunity to know properly until then.

Year 9 student, Isabel Scott, said, “The Year 9 Solas Bhride was AMAZING! I loved every second from working with dif-ferent people, learning about leadership and teamwork and, most of all, stepping outside my comfort zone. These three days have taught me so much about persistence, strength when working with others, and compassion. Thank you to all the Year 9 students for show-ing such awesome enthusiasm, school spirit and kindness dur-ing Solas Bhride.”

Liz McAnallyYear 9 (Acting) Wellbeing

Program Leader

Year 11

The Year 11 cohort began a very important part of their Leadership journey by head-

ing off to Leadership Camp at the QCCC Tamborine Camp at Mt Tamborine on 16 May to 18 May. We were blessed with spectacular Autumn weather and the girls were very excited to be in the bushland setting.

Our Camp Leadership program was ably led by Damon from Character Builders and the girls did a variety of activities, both inside and out, that brought them together as a cohort. The girls also participated in a meaningful Leadership Liturgy on Thursday evening which highlighted many of the impor-tant aspects of the Brigidine charism and traditions.

Brigidine staff who supported the girls on camp were myself, Mrs Power, Mr Crawford, Ms Smith, Mrs Tubb, Ms Ryan and Mr Roberts as well as enjoying visits from Mrs Firmin-Sarra, Ms Sligar, Ms Wedge and Mr Cahill. A heartfelt thank you to those staff for giving of their time for this worthwhile activ-ity. It was a successful begin-ning of the important discern-ment process for Leadership in 2019.

Ruby Cooper-White said it was “an eye-opening experience that really helped me to con-nect with others in my grade and become even closer with my friends.”

Maree AustinYear 11 Wellbeing Program

Leader

This semester, the College hosted our inaugural Twilight Opening Evening. We invited prospective families to the campus from 4-6pm to showcase the facilities and enjoy activities and performances from many subject areas and groups. Over 80 students were Tour Guides throughout the evening and made our future students feel right at home at Brigidine!

Mr Cahill addressed our Year 7 2019 cohort at their Orien-tation event on the same evening and we were happy to hear that they are very excited to be starting their second-ary school journey. Thank you to all students, staff, families and the P&F for making this event possible!

Mahliah IvoryMarketing and Promotions Officer

TWILIGHT OPEN EVENING: TUESDAY 22 MAY

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The Science Reps doing a wonderful job, entertaining as well as educating

College Archivist Mrs Brosnan with displays in the Convent Parlour

A busy evening for our tour guidesBeautiful sounds from the Cantare

CULTURAL

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COMMUNITY

Meet Irene Moodie (nee Kingston), one of our valued Alumni, proudly holding her Alumni keyring.

Leaving Brigidine in 1945, she was one of the few girls to graduate with the Senior Scholarship, gaining entry into the University of Queens-land. Back in those days, however, girls didn’t really attend university and her family needed her to work and earn some money.

Times have certainly changed!

At the Parents and Friends’ As-sociation AGM in March, both Katrina Kupke (President) and Louise Johnston (Vice-President) were successful

in renominating for their roles with Louise Dewar (Secretary) and Alan Riesenweber (Treasurer) taking on the remaining executive roles. Louise Dewar has unfortunately since resigned as Secretary due to work commitments. We thank her for all her work this year.

The P&F fund many special events throughout the year, with our focus on fos-tering the Brigidine Com-munity spirit and welcom-ing new families.

We were expecting our biggest crowd ever this year to our first event, the Welcome Drinks in Febru-ary. Unfortunately, at the last minute, guest num-bers dropped from 200 to approximately 60 due to a large rain event. This did however increase the odds for those who braved the weather to win one of our lucky door prizes. This is always a most enjoyable evening and a lovely op-portunity to catch up with old friends and meet new parents.

On 25 May we held our sixth and biggest Mothers and Daughters’ High Tea at Hillstone St Lucia. Working closely with Hillstone, we

Mr Cahill, staff and students represented the College at a number of ANZAC Day services in April

The Mothers & Daughters’ High Tea is a high point of the College year!

In June we hosted an Internet Safety parent

information evening with Ross Pascoe from

Internet Safe Education

managed to comfortably increase our numbers from 350 to 450 this year. Rachel Burke, Brigidine Alumni, successful fashion design-er, artist, photographer and author captured the crowds’ attention, de-tailing her journey following gradu-ation from Brigidine in 2005, and the speed bumps along the way to lead her to where she is today.

We have also funded other activi-ties throughout the year including:

• Parent Information Evening – Internet Safety with Ross Pascoe

• International Womens’ Day• Water Polo end of season BBQ• Twilight Open Evening BBQ

In September, our Dads and Daughters’ Evening will be held. No doubt this will prove to be another enormous hit. Prior to the Awards and Acknowledgement Evening in October, the P&F serve light refreshments on the roof-top of St Laurence’s Edmund Rice Performing Arts Centre (ERPAC). Introduced in 2015, it has proved to be a huge hit providing another opportunity to meet parents. The Carols by the Convent is our final event on the College Calendar, which we host at the end of Term 4.

Our events are advertised in the fortnightly Brigidine Newsletter, on Facebook and the Brigidine College App. We also have a page on the College website and SEQTA Engage. We look forward to you joining us at one of these events or at one of our regular meetings which are held in the Convent, with dates noted on the College Calendar.

Katrina Kupke andLouise Johnston

P&F Welcome Drinks 23 February

In our Instrumental, Vocal and Speech Departments, we have a record number of students who are taking either private or group lessons in Strings, Woodwind, Voice, Brass, Percussion, Guitar, Piano and Speech.

This year we introduced the Junior Choir, which allows students from Years 7 and 8 more opportunities to follow their musical interests. This new choir joined our existing musical groups, the String Ensemble, Concert Band, Woodwind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, College Choir and Cantare. Participation in our ensembles has increased significantly this year, and the development of sound and performance continues to improve.

A number of our ensembles performed at the QYMA throughout the month of May. A Silver award was given to our String Ensemble, College Choir and Junior Choir, while our Concert band received a Bronze award.

Both Senior and Junior Drama Clubs have proved very popular this year with record numbers of girls involved. At our College ANZAC Day ceremony, the Senior Drama Club presented

CULTURAL

an excerpt from Arthur Miller’s “Playing for Time”. Their performance was both powerful and moving.

The College’s Dance program continues to shine at Brigidine. Our two auditioned troupes, the Sapphires and the Emeralds, performed at the BPAC Eisteddfod in Term 2. Congratulations to all the dancers, particularly for their wonderful results. They both received a Very Highly Commended for their Jazz routines at this highly competitive eisteddfod. Our Dance Now program continues to have record numbers of girls attending this energetic and fun group.

The Bridgettes performed at the Queensland Eisteddfod, this year held in Ipswich over the Easter holidays, gaining second place in the Musical Theatre section. Their medley performance from “Hairspray” was very exciting and entertaining.

2018 has seen an exceptional number of girls interested in Debating including four Year 7 teams, two Year 8 teams, one Year 9 team, one Year 10 team and one Year 12 team. Under the guidance of their coaches they meet regularly, learning new skills, gaining a broad knowledge of different topics

and developing confidence and self-esteem. In May, our Year 8–12 Debating teams travelled to Toowoomba for the QCIS Debating Competition, where Brigidine College won both the Senior and Middle School categories. Our Year 7 teams will be competing in the QDU competition, commencing at the end of Term 2 and continuing into Term 3. Congratulations to all the girls for their efforts throughout the Debating competition season.

Thank you to all the staff who train and work with the girls in all the cultural ensembles and groups, and for the great work achieved throughout the Semester.

Jane MassinghamCultural Coordinator

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Semester One has seen the Cultural Cocurricular Program at Brigidine College continue to grow and to play a vital and important role in the life of the College.

College Choir performing at QYMA

Sapphires Dance Troupe at BPAC Eisteddfod

String Ensemble

Semester 1 in sport was, as always, jam packed and full of life here at Brigidine College. Very early on the girls were challenged with the Interhouse Swimming Carnival.

This year we had a record number of swimmers compete which set the scene for a very impressive Brigidine team to be selected and commence training. Congratulations to Damien House for winning the Swimming Carnival for the second year running. We also saw our 14 years Swimming Team place third overall at the CaSSSA Swimming Carnival and, together with ATC, we won the Aggregate Cup at the QCIS Swimming Carnival held in Toowoomba. While our Swimming

team were training hard, our Trimester 1 sportswomen were also hitting the ground running. This year Brigidine entered teams into Indoor Cricket, Senior and Intermediate Volleyball, Junior

SPORT

Touch Football and Tennis.Congratulations to our Senior D and Junior D Tennis teams and our Junior A cricketers who took out CaSSSA premierships this year after very successful seasons. Rain interrupted most of the Trimester 1 season this year, resulting in our Touch Football and Volleyball games rarely going ahead and premierships unable to be awarded for any teams in these sports for the season.

Before the Swimming Team had wrapped up their season, our Cross Country runners had already started their preparations with Run Club commencing early in Term 1. This led into a more formalised Cross Country pre-season and, with record numbers of girls attending this to improve their fitness, it was sure to be a great season. Our Interhouse Cross Country Carnival was held on the last day of Term 1 and, despite the rain, was a great event with lots of colour and laughs and some very pleasing results from our students who competed. Congratulations to Delany House for winning the Interhouse Cross

Country Carnival this year.The 2018 Cross Country team has really set a high standard this year and they have been an inspirational group across all facets of sport at Brigidine. Their green hearts are exploding with pride and they have worked tirelessly to be the best they can be. The girls were encouraged early this year “to fall in love with the process and the process will eventually love you back”. They certainly took these words to heart and their commitment to training hard, under new coach Mark, was impressive. They loved

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Brigidine/ATC QCIS Swimming Aggregate Champions - March

Senior D Tennis Premiers

CaSSSA Cross Country Carnival,Limestone Park

CaSSSA Cross Country Premiers!Captain Saibh Rennie (left) with Anna Baxter, Sports Captain

Cross Country success for the team running with ATC at the QCIS Carnival, Warwick

Year 11 Zoe Percy played in the winning Youth Women’s team at the Snr Regional Futsal Competition.

She was also selected to represent Australia touring Italy

in April/May

training, they didn’t miss a beat, they worked so hard and they all came together as a tight knit team and guess what happened………SUCCESS! Together with ATC, we again took out the Aggregate Cup at the QCIS Carnival in Warwick, then we moved on to the pinnacle of our season, the CaSSSA Cup. Congratulations to our 13 years team who won their age group, our 16 years team who placed third in their age group and our entire team who won the Percentage Cup for Brigidine for the first time since 2010. Placing fourth in the Aggregate Cup overall as the smallest competing school in the Large Schools Cup – narrowly missing third place – gives us a lot to be excited about.

We have enjoyed watching our Water Polo teams complete their season in Term 1 this year, with two of our teams making it through to semi finals but unfortunately being knocked out in nail biting games. These girls have remained in the pool, training Sundays throughout Term 2 at ATC with our brilliant coach,

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“Fall in love with the process of training and the process will eventually love you back.”

16C Water Polo Grand Final team

Year 12 student Erica Sitcheff placed second in U18 Javelin at the Oceania-Melanesian Championships in Vanuatu, representing Australia in May

Gaetano, to improve their skills and knowledge of the game in preparation for the upcoming 2018/2019 season.

Overall Semester 1 has been a positive start to the year for Brigidine sport. Well done to all students who have been involved in cocurricular sports this semester. We are always improving and always striving for more and it is great to see the girls all stepping up and setting the bar higher every year. Keep reaching for the stars girls and keep those little green hearts of yours pumping with great pride for what Brigidine sport can achieve if you give it all you have!

Kay RoySports Coordinator

Our QC Cup Junior Netball team finished in third place with our Open team battling injuries to play some gutsy netball

The Rowing team, under the captaincy of Tallulah Kerr, has had some success this year, culminating in a season-ending celebration in June. Well done girls!

Three of our Junior A Soccer team, sporting their new team jerseys

With Mr Cahill are (l-r) Marissa and Monique Hanlon sporting medals won at the Qld Athletics Junior Championships in February

Brigidine College IndooroopillyPO Box 475

53 Ward StreetIndooroopilly

QLD 4068Tel. (07) 3870 7225

Absentee Line: (07) 3371 8525www.brigidine.qld.edu.au

office@brigidine.qld.edu.au

Mr Brendan Cahill, College Principal with 2018 Captains (l-r):Madeleine Graham (Arts Captain), Anna Baxter (Sports Captain),

Emilia Spry (College Captain) and Amy Denman (Mission Captain)