It has been a busy start to the term for Middle School girls. The Year 7 girls enjoyed making personalised bags for the Year 12s to collect gifts during the Walk of Honour last week and presenting them with roses. The Year 8 and 9 forms also prepared gifts to give to the Year 12s as they walked past.

Year 8 Physical Education

Late last term, the Year 8 girls took part in wheelchair basketball as part of their PE program. They had been playing different sports and games with simulated disabilities to help increase empathy and awareness for people living with a disability.

VEX Robotics Competition

Congratulations to our three VEX Robotics teams who recently competed at Pedare Christian College. The Wilderness Brown Team, consisting of Reese Liu, Chenuthi Navaratne, Miaomiao Zhu, Avalene Tran, Skyler Luong, Chanulya Senaratne, and Sirui Tang, qualified for the VEX State Finals in November and won the Think Award for their coding and autonomous programming.

2025 Chinese Language Teachers Association of SA Video Competition

Congratulations to Kate Ma and Laura Xiao, who placed second in this competition. We thank the Languages Faculty for supporting the students and attending the ceremony.

Tournament of Minds

For Middle School students who participated, Tournament of Minds has truly been a highlight this year. It offered opportunities beyond the classroom and allowed students to showcase strengths and talents that are not always visible in daily life. In ToM, skills such as public speaking, improvisation, and group organisation are encouraged, and every student has a meaningful role to play.

The Arts team’s challenge focused on global unity. As a group, they reflected on communities around the globe and explored how working together can achieve more. They researched techniques from multicultural artists and choreographers. Their presentation featured five countries as characters and followed how each vision for a better future evolved during the performance.

The Language and Literature team’s presentation centred on the struggles of immigrating and separating from family. Their performance conveyed themes of finding friends, making use of available resources, and passing kindness to others. They adapted a Shaun Tan book into a play, using colour to show emotion. Team members worked hard across six weeks on script writing, costumes, props, and soundtrack. Their dedication was evident in the final presentation and provided a fun and valuable learning experience.

The Language and Literature Team scored highly, and the Arts Team received Honours and the same second place. Congratulations also to our Year 10 students Ava Cabot, Hannah Elsbury Sun, Bella Nguyen, and Seraphina Sun, who completed training this year to be judges for the competition and continue their commitment to Tournament of Minds.

Oliphant Science Awards

Presentations for these awards were held at Brighton Secondary School at the end of Week 1. Congratulations to Nidhi Sinhal (Year 9) for her winning Multimedia entry.

Australian Mathematics Competition

This year the AMC Awards Presentation Ceremony was held in the Wilderness Gym. Congratulations to Chenuthi Navaratne (Year 9) who received a High Distinction and was awarded Best in School.

Extended Curriculum Cluster Group

The Extended Curriculum Cluster group ran an interschool Book Week “Book An Adventure” fantasy map and writing competition this term. It was open to schools in the hub group, with nine entries from Wilderness ECP students. Some girls spent considerable time creating intricate maps and crafting descriptions of their settings.

Outstanding entries included:

• Year 7 – Noor Jilaihawi (Overall Year 7 Winner, First Place Best Map, Highly Commended Writing), Kaitlyn Tran (Second Place Best Map, Highly Commended Writing), Emma Burns (Second Place Best Writing, Highly Commended Best Map)
• Year 8 – Issie Morgan (First Place Best Writing, Second Place Best Map), Jessica Mah and Zoe Crowther (Overall Year 8 Winners, First Place Best Map)

Music Achievements

Following the announcement that Jacey Anand (Year 9) was awarded the Gwen Robinson Prize for Music, it was wonderful to hear from her teacher, Urszula Gruszewski, that Jacey has been selected as a First Prize Winner and Grand Prize Winner of the Intercontinental Music Competition in piano. The level of performance was exceptional, making this a remarkable achievement. Jacey will perform at the Winners Concert at Carnegie Weill Hall, New York, USA, with the New York Orchestra on Sunday, November 23, 2025. Congratulations and best wishes to Jacey for her upcoming travels and performance.

We are also thrilled to share the outstanding achievements of Jessica Mah (Year 8), who has recently been awarded two First Prizes in Music. Jessica was a finalist in the MTASA Riemann-Robinson Scholarship, following a round of pre-selection. She competed against five other finalists, all highly advanced pianists, from a total entry of over sixteen students. She also participated in the Flute Society’s David Cubbin Competition in the '30 and under' category. Despite recovering from a cold, she played beautifully and competed against three other advanced flautists from the Conservatorium, ultimately prevailing to win First Prize. Congratulations Jessica!

Year 8 Methodist Ladies College Exchange

Olivia Oborn reflected on her recent exchange to Methodist Ladies College, Sydney:

"During my exchange in Sydney, I had the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and experience life in a different environment. One of the most memorable experiences was visiting Bondi Beach. I enjoyed exploring the area, appreciating the atmosphere, and experiencing life away from home. I also valued meeting new people. Attending MLC gave me the chance to build connections with students I had never met before, which helped me feel more confident in unfamiliar settings.

The exchange encouraged independence, as being away from home meant managing my own time and adapting to a different lifestyle. My host family were welcoming and supportive, and I realised I am more capable than I thought. Overall, my time in Sydney was unforgettable. I explored new places, made new friends, and grew in independence. I am very grateful for the opportunity."

We have also welcomed Camille Sheehan from MLC for the past two weeks. We hope she enjoyed her time with the Wilderness community and look forward to future exchanges between our schools.

Rhiannon Giles
Head of Middle School