As we come to the end of Term One, it is hard to believe how quickly the past eight weeks have gone and all that we have celebrated and achieved together. It has been a pleasure to witness the dedication of our students and staff, and we extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone for the wealth of learning, memorable moments, joy, and shared experiences that have enriched our school community. From the electrifying House Dance and House Music Extravaganza last week, to our triumphant performance in the pool at GSV Swimming, to the myriad of excursions, camps and Upskill sessions, this term has been brimming with opportunities for our students to flourish, explore, forge connections and fully embrace the vibrant spirit of Camberwell Girls.
As we look towards the holidays, and time spent with family and friends, we wish all members of our school community a peaceful and relaxing break. To the 45 participants embarking on the UK Literature Tour, we wish you a truly enriching experience as you delve into the rich literary history of London, Bath, Oxford and the Lake District. We eagerly await your return and anticipate hearing about the highlights and insights gained from this remarkable experience.
We are excited about the opportunities and achievements that await us in Term Two, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to Camberwell Girls on Tuesday 16 April.
Kath Woolcock
Head of Senior School
Tom Clark
Head of Middle School
To mark the end of Term One, Secondary School students enthusiastically participated in the coveted House Cross Country event, held at a new venue, Deepdene Park for the first time. This event served as a perfect embodiment of the vibrant House spirit that has characterized this term, providing an opportunity for the entire school community to unite and vie for both individual glory and collective House pride.
The competition featured both a short course and long course Championship Race, setting the stage for an entertaining showdown among the competing Houses. Throughout the event, the atmosphere was high in energy, as students from all year levels showcased their athleticism and determination. As students crossed the finish line and celebrated their achievements, it was wonderful to see the support of all runners and we thank staff and students for their engagement in this event.
Congratulations to Singleton House, whose outstanding performance saw them win the title of House Cross Country Champions for 2024. We also recognise the top 10 Championship runners across the line in each age group, and we can’t wait to have them join the GSV Cross Country Team next term! We look forward to acknowledging these students at an assembly early in Term Two.
Nareen Robinson
Head of Sport
The first event on the 2024 Performing Arts Calendar was no doubt one to remember. For the very first time, the student-led House Music and Dance programs ran simultaneously throughout Term One, culminating in one massive day of performing arts celebration: the House Music and Dance Extravaganza! It was truly fitting that the event landed on Harmony Day – a day that recognises the diversity of all Australians – as we celebrated the extraordinary diversity among our students in the field of song, dance, and technical design.
Barbara Sutton Hall was buzzing all morning, as our entire Secondary School awaited the commencement of the event. As we began, the energy was electric. Students cheered, clapped, and sang along – gasping and marvelling at the talents of their peers. After a thrilling day, our Choice, Acapella, Group and Theme Dance performers prepared once more for their final showcase to the CGGS parents/guardians and the wider community, in the traditional evening performance.
It was truly spectacular to witness our performers revel in the energy brought by their audience of peers. Faces beaming, they attacked their performance with an unbridled spirit absorbed from the roaring crowd. Backstage, the joyous, giddy pride was infectious.
Results of the House Music and Dance Extravaganza:
House Music
House Choir – Taylor
A Cappella – Singleton
Staged Song – Schofield
Best Technical Assistance – Schofield
Overall Winner – Schofield
House Dance
Theme – Schofield
Group A – Lawrence
Group B – Taylor
Best Technical Support – Lawrence and Taylor
Overall Winner – Schofield
House Spirit Stick Winner – Singleton
Events like this are never possible without masses of behind-the-scenes organisation, management, and problem solving – congratulations, and thank you, to all involved in bringing the Extravaganza to life. What a beautiful celebration of this School’s magnificent spirit and defining sense of community.
Helena M
2024 School Drama Captain
This week, five Year 8 students, Panya S, Christine M, Celeste M, Sienna T and Jessica W, participated in the Secondary Open Zonal Chess Tournament at Brighton Grammar School. Of the 246 competitors from 15 different schools, the CGGS team finished with 13.5 points, with Christine taking the most wins for the team on the day, winning 5 out of her 7 games, and ranking equal 19th.
Demonstrating excellent sportsmanship, the team displayed patience and respect towards opponents, and carefully followed tournament rules and etiquette throughout the day.
Despite facing tough opponents, the team showcased their skills, with Sienna and Celeste achieving endgame checkmates in round three, and Panya executing an impressive back-rank checkmate in just ten moves. Jessica secured 2 wins and 2 draws, clinching a victory with a bishop-queen checkmate in round 6, and our player of the day Christine made a textbook king-queen checkmate in round 6, and pulled off a cunning rook sacrifice to land a checkmate with her queen in round 5.
The team thoroughly enjoyed the competition and are all looking forward to the next event.
Sam Fitzgerald
Head of Digital Technologies and Event Organiser
Days for Girls is an international nonprofit organisation focused on providing sustainable menstrual hygiene solutions and education to girls and women in developing countries. Their mission is to empower girls by breaking the stigma surrounding menstruation and ensuring access to sanitary products and providing reproductive health education. Through partnerships and community-driven initiatives, they aim to improve health, dignity, and opportunities for girls worldwide.
Each year, CGGS works with the Camberwell Chapter of Days for Girls to make and assemble hygiene kits to be sent all around the world. Last week, eight wonderful volunteers from Days for Girls worked with our Year 10s to pack 150 kits that will be sent to Brisbane for Days for Girls Australia’s Conflict Islands Conversation Initiative, to be distributed to the Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea.
A Service Learning kiosk was open to all guests at last week’s House Music and Dance Extravaganza. The proceeds from this have been combined with the money raised from a recent Service BBQ to go towards Days for Girls and their amazing work.
We are most grateful for the opportunity to be useful in service through our ongoing partnership with Days for Girls.
Tyra D and Katharine P
Service Learning Captains
The 2024 VCAA Top Class concert series showcases a variety of high performing students, who completed their VCE Music studies in 2023. The concerts provide current VCE students with valuable insight into the technical & expressive skills required to achieve outstanding success. Our 2024 VCE musicians attended the first concert in the series on Wednesday 20 March at the Melbourne Recital Centre and enjoyed the performances presented by the selected students. After the concert, our students reflected on the variety of musical styles presented, the high standard of performance skills displayed by each student and the artistic intent conveyed within each presentation.
This was an extra special occasion, as Sasha Wee, Class of 2023, was one of the featured performers on the program. Sasha’s performance of Sergei Golovko’s Concerto for Marimba wowed the audience, and she received a very enthusiastic round of applause. Sasha’s exceptional technical skill & ability to communicate a range of musical colours on the Marimba substantiated the perfect score she received for her performance assessment last year. Our students and staff in attendance could not have been prouder of her achievements, and it was a pleasure to see Sasha after the concert to congratulate and celebrate with her. Sasha is currently studying Music, specialising in Percussion, with Associate Lecturer in Music, Brent Miller, at the University of Melbourne’s Conservatorium of Music. We wish her every success with her future Music endeavours.
Kate Savige
Director of Music – Curriculum
On Sunday 17 March, six CGGS student musicians took part in the annual Combined Schools Orchestra Concert at Scotch College.
This student driven initiative and concert event raised funds for ‘The Song Room’, an organisation which delivers impactful arts learning programs throughout remote and metropolitan Australia.
Our CGGS students rehearsed alongside like-minded musicians from a range of schools, preparing a variety of orchestral works for the concert. The student directed orchestra presented classics such as The Nutcracker Suite and Swan Lake, and other well-known orchestral works, alongside the Studio Ghibli piece ‘Town With an Ocean View’. Our musicians included Angela L (Cello), Elysia W (Violin), Nonie M (Trumpet), Isabel S (Violin), Hannah L (French Horn) and Amanda L (Percussion).
All participants valued the opportunity to meet new people and make friends with musicians from other schools. For some students this was a new experience, which provided many possibilities to explore and express musical ideas. It was a very unique way to learn challenging repertoire and build individual music skills, whilst having fun. All students found the rehearsal process and performing together rewarding and enjoyable.
This concert event and our students’ contributions to this very worthy charity have highlighted the importance of music education and the ways in which music performance provides confidence, connections and opportunities.
Kate Savige & Rohan Mack
Directors of Music
Amidst a day full of activity to end the term, our Upskill program saw students from Years 7-12 engage with a variety of programs before our Easter Service and House Cross Country.
Our Year 7s continued their introduction to our Service Learning Program, whilst our Year 8s rotated through a series of Easter themed activities linked to their Food Studies sequence of learning. At Year 9, rotations in 360° of Being, Digital Technology and Future Ready included sessions on cyber safety and also saw them share their ideas for the co-design of their World of Work program later in the year. Embracing the opportunity to share their thoughts on how they want to meet the learning outcomes for this important experience in the middle of the year, they’ve contributed lots of great ideas that we are excited to try to bring to fruition.
In the Senior School, our Year 10s undertook a Digital Technology program dedicated to learning about web development and applying some of the skills and tools related to this. Finally, both our Year 11 and Year 12 students welcomed former CGGS teacher Ali Larkey and her new venture, Speaking of Money, to present on The real cost of owning a car and Do I really need insurance? Rounding out their program students engaged in activities as part of the 360° Being, drawing upon themes set in Period 5, with a focus on mindfulness, connection and belonging.
Kate Manners
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Year 7B and 7T students were excited to visit a local wetland on Monday 25 March for their Geography fieldwork. Throughout the day, they rotated through a series of hands-on activities to learn about and see the urban water cycle in action. Students also had the important job of collecting primary data such as testing the pH and turbidity of the water to determine the health of the waterway, they completed field sketches and learned about the Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) features in the area. They also went on a nature walk to observe and record the biodiversity at the wetlands. The highlight though, was definitely inspecting water bugs up close and identifying them. To finish, students were able to enjoy the outdoors with a picnic beside the wetland and some students even had a chance to fly the CGGS Drone.
Karoline Walter
Head of Geography
This term, another cohort of ‘Daring to Drone’ students successfully completed the elective on offer to Years 8 and 9 students. They undertook a range of skilled-based activities and scenarios to learn to fly safely. The “drone pilots” developed their skills in problem solving and collaboration as they worked together to virtually navigate the mountains and valleys of the Himalayas and deliver medical supplies to remote villages and transport important ‘test samples’ to hospitals. As a part of their virtual training program, they also undertook search and rescue missions to find lost property and people. Putting their learnings into practice, students had the opportunity to take the CGGS Drone for a fly, which is always a clear highlight and a chance to take in some stunning city views – all through the lens of the drone of course.
Congratulations to the students for earning the micro-credential badge as a “Beginner Drone Pilot”. There will be plenty of exciting opportunities coming up this year for all interested students to participate in the Drone Program offered as part of the Upskill program. This year, there will also be an exciting new ‘fieldwork experience’ being offered as a taste of a ‘day-in-the-life’ of someone working in the geospatial industry. This will be a great opportunity for students who are looking to be future ready and engage widely in different experiences to develop new skills. These are exciting times! We look forward to sharing more information about these programs soon.
Karoline Walter
Head of Geography
In 2024, CS in Schools launched an exciting new initiative – the Cadetship Program. This fully-paid cadetship is a partnership with leading Australian tech companies and supported by Victorian universities. It is designed to offer school leavers a direct pathway into the technology sector, combining academic study with practical, on-the-job experience.
The Cadetship Program represents a commitment to not only enhancing digital literacy and skills among young Australians but also to creating meaningful opportunities that align education with industry needs.
CGGS is delighted to announce two students from the Class of 2023 have been offered this cadetship, becoming innovators and tech leaders of tomorrow.
This cadetship will be a cornerstone in developing a robust pipeline of skilled, diverse, and industry-ready tech workers to drive Australia’s digital future forward. We are thrilled that CGGS is preparing students to be future ready!
Trish Dolan
Careers Counsellor
The GSV Representative Tennis Team event was one of the biggest highlights of my term. I not only won both my singles and doubles, but I formed so many new friendships, and strengthened many existing bonds. I strongly enjoyed sharing my love of tennis with other like-minded people, and it gave me the opportunity to learn to improve from others, including doubles strategies, and tennis skills in general.
Overall, the GSV Representative Team was an amazing experience that I cannot wait to try out again for next year, allowing me to continually grow and improve as a person and a tennis player.
Chloe W
Year 9 Student
