Winter Warming

With winter well underway, this week we welcomed a new hobby into the house – knitting. Inspired by a few enthusiastic girls in Year 9, a knitting craze has kicked off with many girls teaching one another and pulling out knitting needles and wool after study times in the evening. Thanks to the efforts of our Housemother, Ms Chris Hill, our girls are well equipped with wool and needles to get them through their first projects. Some girls have taken it upon themselves to purchase their own wool supplies, with bigger knitting projects brewing. Over the weekend, some girls also enjoyed making friendship bracelets with a variety of braiding patterns. I would like to recognise the patience and encouragement of Ms Zoe Hampshire, Ms Chris Hill and Ms Mary Smith who have made it possible for these activities to get up and running.

Events

Last Friday, 15 Wildy girls joined 15 Loreto girls for an evening of ice skating adventures. It was wonderful to connect with girls from another school! Thanks to Zoe for organising our events and coordinating with other boarding schools to facilitate these interschool interactions.

On Saturday night, Jina and I joined a group of girls to watch the Adelaide Thunderbirds take on the Melbourne Vixens. It was wonderful to be able to support Wudina's hometown hero, Hannah Petty, but unfortunately, the Pink Army did not witness a win, with a close victory to the Melbourne Vixens who won by three goals.

Reconciliation Week

Friday 27 May marked the first day of Reconciliation Week. This year, a small gathering for our First Nations girls was held in the Boarding House. At this time, the girls connected with other groups nationally who came together to celebrate and recognise the significance of the week for First Nations peoples. The theme for this year’s Reconciliation Week was 'Be Brave. Make Change'. In keeping with this theme, I look forward to talking with our First Nations boarders about initiatives that we can take as a boarding community to continue to celebrate our First Nations peoples throughout the year, not only during this week of significance.

Friday was also the beginning of the Indigenous round for our sporting teams. Our Senior Football team recognised the start of Reconciliation Week with special guest and elder Karrl Smith, who conducted a smoking ceremony and Welcome to Country at Park 9. Sachi Syme (Year 12) and Myarn Alden (Year 11) played a pivotal role in coordinating this event for the football girls and should be recognised and celebrated for their efforts. Our girls' footy guernseys for this important match were designed by Myarn.

Dinner

We have enjoyed having a range of visitors join us for dinner on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Boarding House this term, including Mr Ben Manifold and our Heads of House. Recently, we shared a special ‘last dinner’ with Chef Bobby, who we farewelled and recognised for his 12 years of service to the Café and kitchen at Wilderness.