A Fortnight at Fahan - Term 2, 2 July 2021

Principal's Report

Mary Poppins Jr

What a joy it was to see our students in Years 4 – 6 on the stage of the TM Hall as they brought the much-loved story of Mary Poppins to life!

The performing arts has long been a tradition at Fahan School, and I congratulate all of the students involved and acknowledge the many hours of line-learning, dance practice, blocking, lighting and costume changes that make up the telling of a story on the stage. Girls, you were luminous and completely supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! The joy you brought to our Community will be remembered for a long time to come.

For every scene we see on the stage, many hours of preparation, planning and hard work went into each and every one by our teachers. To them I offer my sincere thanks for the time, energy and love they gave to this show and to the girls – it was sensational, and we look forward to many more performing arts events at Fahan School that honour our long connection with music, dance, drama and art.

Capital Master Plan: 2021-2031

It gives me great pleasure to announce to the Community that Fahan School will partner with Bence Mulcahy to complete the new Capital Master Plan for our School. Bence Mulcahy was established in 2014, and from the start of the tender process, led from the front with their deep understanding of Fahan School, its history, its grounds and its unique context.

Bence Mulcahy maintains a focus on public, particularly education, projects with an emphasis on community and stakeholder engagement. They approach every project with a spirit of collaboration, enthusiasm and curiosity, and for the Fahan Master Plan they have put together a team of primarily female consultants. This has been done specifically to offer the School a team that is sympathetic to the School’s culture and student needs and as an opportunity to showcase and role model the skills of some of the leading women in the construction industry.

A close partner of Bence Mulcahy is landscape architect firm Inspiring Place. Together, they will provide valuable expertise not just about buildings both old and new, and our landscape, but importantly vehicle movement and parking, pedestrian circulation, play and recreation spaces, levels, water control as well as understanding the intrinsic natural values of a place when considering the long-term future of a site. Opportunities have already been designed for our students of all ages to engage with the master planning team ranging from participating in focus groups to shadowing the architects as they work on our site from time to time.

The Fahan School Board and Senior Leadership Team is thrilled to work with Bence Mulcahy and Inspired Place to create a vibrant and exciting future for Fahan School that is aligned to our vision, mission and values.

Giving Month

As you know, June has been our Giving Month, and we are sincerely humbled by the generosity of our Community. At the close of the month, we had received almost $60,000 towards our Building, Scholarship and Library funds. A magnificent result! Thank you to all who donated to our appeal – every donation, big or small, will inspire the future for our girls for many years to come.

Gerdy Jevtic Medal 2021 | Travers Morphett Lecture | Pride of Fahan Alumni Award

At Fahan, our Alumni hold a very special place in the heart and soul of the School, and on Wednesday 30 June, we gathered in the Gymnasium to pull together the common threads of what it means to be a Fahan girl, in the past, in the present and in the future. We do this by listening to, and learning from, Fahan girls who have gone before us, and the Fahan girls to come in a celebration of our alumni.

The word ‘alumni’, or in our case as a girls’ school, alumna, comes from the Latin verb alere - to nourish, and this nourishment of current girls by former girls is stronger than ever at Fahan. It is the purpose of our Alumni Association to nourish the values of a Fahan education through strong alumni connections in life, learning and leading after Fahan, and on Wednesday we saw this connection shine brightly through the presentation of the Gerdy Jevtic Medal for 2021, the delivery of the Travers Morphett Lecture, and the bestowing of the Pride of Fahan Alumni Award.

The Gerdy Jevtic Medal is presented to a member of the Fahan Alumni who has brought honour to our School – through their work, their achievements, or their contribution to the community – in Tasmania, nationally or internationally and, this year, the recipient of the Gerdy Jevtic Medal delivered the Travers Morphett (TM) Lecture. It was an honour and a privilege to present Commander Phillipa Hay, CSC and Bar, with the Gerdy Jevtic Medal for 2021, and her TM Lecture will go down as one of the most real, honest, heartfelt and impactful addresses in the School. Our girls in Years 7 – 12 hung on every word, and it was wonderful to celebrate this achievement for Commander Hay with her family, friends, class mates and former teachers.

Later in the program of events, we presented the Pride of Fahan Alumni Award. This prestigious award is given to a current Fahan student each year and gives students in Years 10-12 the opportunity to fuel their dream in an endeavour they are passionate about, and have achieved some success in, but require extra assistance to fulfil their ambitions. With sincere thanks to Pip Cooper (President FSAA) and Lisa Brown (Vice-President FSAA), Year 12 student, Chris Anderson Black, was presented with this Award for 2021. As Pip Cooper said on Wednesday, “Chris had a very clear goal in mind. She is an extremely talented artist with a goal to exhibit her works in a public exhibition. It was obvious Chris lives and breathes her endeavour, was able to tell us what she needed the Award for, how she was going to make it happen and how she would bring her experiences back to the School. We really felt she exemplified the values of Fahan – it’s learning, spirit and community.  We wish Chris all the very best with her endeavour and can’t wait to see her first public exhibition.”

Today we farewell Bus Driver and Groundsman, Chris Percey. It has been a pleasure to have Chris on the team at Fahan.  He is always approachable and kind, and I know that Chris has enjoyed his time here at Fahan and we wish him all the very best. 

And finally, my sincere thanks to all in the Community for a magnificent Semester One at Fahan School. I wish you all a wonderful holiday break – stay safe and well, and we look forward to seeing all students K – 12 back on our beautiful grounds on Tuesday 20 July.

Best wishes,
Penny Curran-Peters

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Learning to be Apprentice Entomologist

Year 8 Science

As part of our Year 8 Biology studies earlier this term, we have been working on a project called Apprentice Entomologist. The students have learnt about the different types of invertebrates, including insects. Each student, as part of their project, had to find their own insect, photograph it, identify it, draw it, complete a fact sheet on it, and, finally, produce a model of it. The results have been really beautiful and we will be making a display in the science area next term using the models. Some of the insects and invertebrates found were: a feather-horned beetle, a katydid, a weevil, a sombrero spider, a slater and a lacewing, to name just a few.

Ms Felicity Jacobs

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Learning about Debating

On Thursday 1 July, the Years 5/6 Debating teams participated in their final debate of the term. Whilst both teams lost by very small margins to the Friends’ School, their attitude and team spirit was outstanding. From the beginning of the term the girls have been dedicated and committed to supporting their team to produce the best arguments possible. On several occasions, teammates have stepped in to help a fellow debater prepare their notes or on short notice debated for someone who has been unwell. Not only are the girls developing fabulous life skills but they are setting a wonderful example to their peers. It has been a pleasure working with these girls and I hope they continue to pursue debating next year.

Mrs Susan Wright

Learning about Mount Field

On the 29 June, Year 6 went to Mount Field National Park. We had to leave on the bus at 8am in order to be able to reach our destination on time. We were really excited to have Charlie, an Outdoor Education Educator, with us on the trip.

Along the way we had a pit stop at New Norfolk and then continued on to the visitors centre at Mt Field. We had morning tea in the playground before meeting Fiona (a Fahan Alumni from the Class of 1982!) who was our Discovery Field Officer for the day.

Fi discussed the Indigenous heritage of the area and the importance of acknowledging their existence then and now.

As we made our way to the base of Russell Falls, Fi showed us the different fungi that we could have easily missed due to their small size. Fungi is a fundamental part of our ecosystem helping break down materials of a stressed or dead tree.

We saw where some glow worms live which were not visible during the day but the spectacle at night would be amazing. Did you know that glow worms can only be found in New Zealand and Australia?

After a photo shoot at the base of Russell Falls, we continued on to Horseshoe Falls and the Tall Trees lookout where you could measure the age of the tree by looking through an instrument called a clinometer. Following a little performance of ‘Supercalifragilistic’ in the forest we headed back to the playground at the visitors centre and had a bbq lunch.

It was a “fantastic”, “exceptional”, “tremendous”, “awesome” trip away with friends.

Eliza, Rachel & Aviya

Learning about Aleesah Darlison

On Wednesday 23 June, Years 1 and 2 students were excited to welcome author, Aleesah Darlison, to the Junior School. Aleesah is a multi-published, award-winning Australian children’s author. Aleesah shared her new book, Coco the Fish with Hands, beautifully illustrated by Mel Matthews. This book tells the story of Coco, a spotted handfish, which until the 1980s were common in southern Tasmania’s Derwent estuary. In 1996 they became the first marine fish to be listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.

Aleesah is passionate about animals and Coco is the first in a series of five books about endangered species.  Coco the Fish with Hands is very appealing because it has clear information as well as a great story. Earlier in the week, Kinder students were fortunate to have Educational Assistant, Mrs Kate Greaves, on hand to talk to us about the important role she plays in conserving the Spotted Handfish, by removing the Pacific seastar, largely responsible for the demise of the Spotted Handfish. The weekend before, in just three hours, Kate and eight other divers removed 6119 starfish!

The students were delighted to have their books signed by Aleesah and spend time creating their own handfish characters.

The visit was very good and it was perfect because I love books. - Cecilia

The handfish can walk and it eats shrimp. It has its own lure. - Sophie

They don’t swim very fast, they usually walk. – Nellie

I didn’t know handfish were actually true. I didn’t know they lived so close to us. I remember that they eat fast but they walk really slowly and they only lay their eggs on a sea squirt.  In the book, Coco was protecting her babies from the predators. – Min

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Learning about the future

The Year 11 cohort participated in a program last week involving students from across Australia tuning into our futures. Achieve Fest was streamed into classrooms all over the nation. It was an interactive and ambitious investment in our futures exploring our values, vital enterprise skills and greatest qualities in relation to differing career paths.  

 Throughout the course, we were guided through different activities, each exploring our own hopes and dreams for our future and the ideal pathways crucial in achieving our career goals. Activities involving quizzes were used to generate suggestions as to which careers would suit us individually.

Achieve Fest highlighted how everchanging and unpredictable the 21st century world of work will be for us. Through Achieve Fest we aimed to develop new mindsets, skills and capabilities to help us transition ourselves to be 'future focused'.  

We were joined by an inspirational group of guest speakers who shared their journeys of success, resilience, fulfilment and familiarised us with their setbacks and versatility, learning that it is okay not to know exactly what you want to pursue from the beginning, and you can change your mind and your interests.  

Achieve Fest was an eye-opening experience instilling confidence in ourselves and our futures, displaying what we can achieve through hard work and determination with our only limit being our imagination. 

By Lucia Hunt 

Some of the ‘take-aways’ from Year 11...... 

Break down intimidating tasks into plans to follow (the twenties). - Tilly   

I enjoyed finding ‘Who I Am’, and the identifying descriptors exploring our major and minor identities. - Charlotte  

I loved drawing and creating the visual notes and finding out minor and major identities. - Maddi   

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Learning about Outdoor Leadership

Students in Outdoor Leadership enjoyed a five day expedition experience on the West Coast of Tasmania from 28 June to 2 July. The learning focus of the trip was for students to take responsibility for preparing their own menus, manage trip logistics and both personal and group equipment lists. Students also undertook a research project based on a topic related to the area with the theme of Connection to Place.

The group was based at Corinna Wilderness Campground for the five days and participated in a kayaking trip on the Pieman and Savage Rivers, a day walk to Mount Donaldson and trip out to the Pieman Heads on the Pieman River Cruise.

On the camp we had the chance to use our leadership skills that we’ve learnt in class. Every group used different skills that related to their activities. On the last day we had a big day of driving ahead of us, so I used an autocratic leadership style to delegate jobs between the group so that the camp was packed up quickly.  - Alice Brodribb

On the third day of camp, we prepared our group for a day on the river cruise and exploring the Pieman Head Area. 

Our leadership skills were put to the test when our group became separated whilst exploring the Pieman Heads. Luckily we all made it safely back to the cruise and enjoyed the rest of our camp.  - Grace Crawford and Kate Hodge

On the second day of our outdoor leadership camp in the North-West we planned to leave Waratah early at 9am to head to the Philosopher’s Falls short walk. Tess and I led the walk which was the first activity of our camp.  We encouraged everyone to stick to the schedule to ensure that we could complete another walk later in the day. After the group successfully completed the walk to Philosopher’s Falls, we hopped back on the bus and travelled towards Corinna. We pulled over ten minutes away from the Corinna campsite and Emily and Poppy got the group ready and organised to walk up Mt Donaldson. They made sure everyone had appropriate clothing, food and water as this walk was estimated to take three or more hours. The group successfully completed the full Mt Donaldson walk, despite some conflict over whether we should walk to the top or not, and we headed off to Corinna where we stayed for the next three nights.  - Olivia Wilkins

Ms Felicity Jacobs and Ms Jayde Steer

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Spirit - Q&A with Humanities Coordinator and Teacher, Mrs Lisa Seddon

What made you choose your career?

Growing up, I had always wanted to be a teacher.  My grandfather was an amazing teacher and he used to sneak me into his Biology classroom and let me watch his classes sometimes.  I was so inspired and wanted to be just like him.  Later on in life, I was working as a lawyer and I couldn’t stop thinking about my earlier calling to be a teacher.  When I went on maternity leave I thought it would be a good opportunity to complete my Masters and re-train as a teacher.  Even though it was difficult at the time, it was a decision I have never regretted.

Of what are you most proud?

Of somehow achieving a balance of working in a career I love, spending time with people I love, and being able to do the things I love.

What do you enjoy most about working at Fahan?

Whilst there is a lot to enjoy at Fahan (the grounds! the canteen! the facilities!) my absolute favourite part of my job is the beautiful, authentic and enriched relationships that I get to build with the girls.  They are dynamic and engaging and so willing to share.  It makes a long day of marking so much more enjoyable!

How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

I would probably have to quote one of my favourite judges – Justice Kirby and say “In life, never be predictable.  It is so uncool.”

Spirit - Kinder and Prep Lantern Walk

To celebrate the Winter Solstice, Kinder and Prep children, accompanied by their families, participated in a lantern walk.  We gathered together with our lanterns lit up to sing, walk and share the magic that is the change in seasons.  It was a crisp, clear night and the girls were very excited to be at School in the dark.

In preparation for our walk, Kinder and Prep wrote verses for our Little Lantern song, recorded music, songs and rhymes that we used on the evening.  We also worked wtih Mr Goodwolf in our Art classes to make the lanterns. Thank you to all the families that joined us on the evening to make it a very special event for the girls.

Mrs Meg Denman, Mrs Rebecca Wiggins and Mrs Tania Gath

Spirit - Southern Tasmania Dancing Eisteddfod

On Thursday 1 July, the Fahan Dance Team competed in the Southern Tasmania Dancing Eisteddfod. The Girls placed 3rd in a tough section against other colleges from Hobart. The Fahan Dance team is a group of nine girls ranging from Years 7 to 11. The girls used their lunchtime to rehearse and create the dance. The dance was choreographed by Charlotte Palmer (Year 7) and myself. We brought in Blair Ashwood in our final weeks of preparation to help us clean and make our routine the best it could be.

Thank you to Ms Best for all her help and guidance throughout this endeavour.

Spirit - Physical Education

In Physical Education, girls in Kinder to Year 2 have been working on "stations activities".  The girls spend a short window of time on a range of skills including bouncing, catching, balancing, skipping, batting, kicking and more, all to some of their favourite music!  The girls were also lucky enough to have the support of the students from the Years 11/12 Working With Children class, with  thanks to Mrs Hogan for organising this.

Mr Tim Dale

Spirit - Year 12 Fundraising Raffle

The Year 12 girls are excited to let you know that tickets in their incredible fundraising raffle are now available!

Each year, the Year 12 girls raise money for charities that represent their core values and the girls have chosen to support the Variety Freya Fund and Kamara’s Heart Foundation, both locally run by Tasmanian families.

The girls have been overwhelmed with the generosity of all their sponsors to create a raffle with a total prize pool of $15,000. There is something for everyone with a phenomenal 22 prizes up for grabs!

Tickets are only $5 and all proceeds will be donated to the Variety Freya Fund and Kamara’s Heart Foundation.

Show your support and click the link to purchase your tickets today!

https://www.rafflelink.com.au/fahanyear12

Head Girl, Miranda Jones and Deputy Head Girls, Hannah Cuthbert and Grace Crawford, on behalf of Year 12

Spirit - Junior School Sport

Junior Hockey

Junior Hockey roster is now complete.  A big thank you to our coaches James Seddon, Kimbra Gumley, Tony Bradfield, Olivia Wilson and Emily Bushby.  Whilst there were a few cold mornings and one in particular where gumboots may have been more appropriate footwear, the girls saw the season out strongly.  Whilst finding it difficult to get to games, I enjoy my Monday morning hockey updates from the girls!

Junior Netball

The final netball games were held during the week.  The Years 3/4 girls had a great time, competing strongly across the roster, with the final game a highly anticipated Fahan v Fahan fixture.  A big thank you to Emma Doherty, Mrs Gath, Carla East and Mrs McTaggart who assisted with training.

The two Years 5/6 teams also had a good season, making good progress with their understanding of positions and what wass required with those different roles.  Many thanks to Vanessa Regan and Mr Hodgman who was good enough to step in when my back let me down.

Primary All Schools' Cross Country

Many thanks to Mr Hodgman and Gemma Wright for looking after the team in my absence and to those parents who were kind enough to assist. 

The feedback I’ve received from the girls is that they definitely enjoyed the experience, which we know is a long day and a challenging course.

On Tuesday 25 June, Years 3 and 4 competed in the Primary All Schools' Cross Country held at Symmons Plains. We left Fahan at 7:45am in the morning and arrived at Symmons Plains about 10:30am. The course was about 2.5 km. The Year 3s ran first and their race was at 11:25am. They all did so well. Then it was our turn and we had to go into the Call Room where we were given instructions. There were 240 people in our race and it was a really great experience. The weather was perfect for running but very cold. It was so crazy and the hills were really steep. Everyone was tired and puffed but so happy they had finished.   By Evie Essex, Year 4

Results Summary:

Maggie Davies – 28^th
Mia Perndt – 77^th
Bianca Lampkin-Smith – 85^th

Out of 253 competitors.

Evie Essex – 25^th
Ruby Pilkington – 79^th
Skye Hansen – 103^rd

Out of 249 competitors.

JSSATIS Cross Country

The JSSATIS Cross Country was finally held this week at Rokeby Police Academy in fine sunshine, possibly the complete opposite to what would have occurred had it been run on its original date!

All year groups had a ‘real dip’.  We talked about being brave and there is a bravery that is required when you embark on an activity that you know will hurt and a bravery to start a race at speed, in preference to starting at a pace that you know will get you there with minimal hurt.  Our girls were all brave and I can categorically say they all finished the race with nothing else left to give and that is all you can ever ask for.  Hopefully these experiences add to those building blocks of self-belief that they can get through the tough stuff and overcome those experiences that challenge them.

Many thanks to Mrs Lumsden-Steel and Mrs Wright who attended with the team on the day and to Mrs Hogan who helped with training.

The official results have just arrived and are noted below.  

Year 3

Maggie Davies – 3^rd
Rose Page – 4^th
Olive Smith- 10^th 
Bianca Lampkin-Smith – 11^th
Charlotte Kingston – 12^th
Mia Perndt – 15^th
Scarlett Doherty – 44^th
Rosie Briggs – 45^th

Year 4

Evie Essex – 7^th
Clare Stewart – 8^th
Ruby Pilkington – 15^th
Skye Hansen – 19^th
Zora Karacic –  28^th
Harper Imberger – 30^th
Hannah Abbott – 31^st

Year 5

Jemima Geappen – 3^rd
Grace Costelloe -  16^th
Lucy Stoneman – 21^st
Alexandra Smith – 23^rd
Felicity Morgan – 25^th
Essie Burke – 34^th
Rosie Nation – 37^th
Mathilda Brown – 40^th

Year 6

Aviya Lincolne-Lomax – 10^th
Sasha Lampkin-Smith – 11^th
Darcy McShane – 21^st
Evelyn Bullard – 25^th
Molly Cheek – 33^rd
Imogen Milford – 34^th
Camilla Cox – 42^nd
Zoe Mansfield – 43^rd 

Junior Basketball Term 3

This roster gets underway next term.  Teams will be entered prior to the end of term and training will start in the first week back.

Mr Tim Dale
Junior Sport Co-ordinator
dalet@fahan.tas.edu.au

Spirit - Senior School Sport

Cross Country

The Tasmanian All Schools Cross Country was held on Tuesday 29 June at Symmons Plains. All girls are to be congratulated on their efforts. Everyone gave their best and we had some pleasing results. 

Well done to Ella Atkins who won the U17 Women's event. 

Winter Sports Day

Winter Sports Day took place on Thursday 24 June. Girls participated for their House in AFL, Netball, Dodgeball, Volleyball, Run the Gauntlet and Flags.

The results for Winter Sports Day are:

1^st Place – Freycinet
2^nd place – Franklin
3^rd Place – Fenton

It was fantastic to see all girls participate and take part with a smile! Whole school days and events like Winter Sports Day are important and show just how much of a tight knit community we are at Fahan - the House and School spirit is always inspirational!

The traditional Staff v Student soccer match was won by the staff team this year and we look forward to the rematch in 2022!

Term 3 Sport

The sign ups for Term 3 sport have been collected and teams have been entered. These will be on the Sports Notice Board and the Tree in week 1, Term 3. Teams will also be put on the Tree.

Below are the beginning dates for Term 3 sports :

Basketball

• Years 9/10 – Wednesday 28 July
• Year 7 and Year 8 – Monday 26 July

Aussie Rules Football

• Years 9/10 - Tuesday 27 July

Badminton

• Years 7-10 - Friday 23 July
• Years 11/12 - Wednesday 21 July

Athletics

• Inter House Carnival – Thursday 29 July
• SSATIS Carnival – Tuesday 7 September
• SATIS Carnival – Saturday 18 September

Athletics training sessions will be on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 6:50am – 7:50am at the Domain Athletics Centre. The first training will begin on Tuesday 10 August.

Training days for Term 3 sports will be determined once teams have been organised.

If any parents are able to manage or coach a team, please contact me. Thank you.

Have a restful school holidays.

Mrs Jo Banks-Smith
Senior Sport Co-ordinator
bankssmithj@fahan.tas.edu.au
0428 031 012

Community - P&F Dinner - Tickets Now Available!

Greetings from the Stamford Plaza, Sydney Airport.  I am on Day 10 of the compulsory Australian hotel quarantine program (despite being fully vaccinated, holding dual citizenship and being Fahan’s P&F President!). I am hoping to get let out on July 6 (fingers crossed). 

As you now all know (thanks to my movie star acting skills), the theme for this year’s 12 August Gala is HOLLYWOOD – check out my video below in case you missed it! 

We will of course have prizes for best (and worst) dressed, so come as old or new Hollywood, or just come as the star you are daily.  We do have a blanket ban on Kanye....just saying.

We will be introducing some NEW fun competitions this year – including a WINE PULL.  For a $25 donation you could walk home with a very special bottle of alcohol with one that has a very nice Hollywood star gracing its rim (he and I have been sharing my q-tine hotel room).  Everyone who enters WINS a prize (a bottle of alcohol).  For this fun event we are looking for donations of all kinds of wine (expensive, moderate, cheap and cheerful, full unopened bottles only).  Feel free to drop your donation off at the School Office from now until 12 August.  

Purchase your tickets to the dinner today using this link: https://www.fahan.tas.edu.au/events/fahan-school-p-f-hollywood-gala-dinner

We are also looking for donations for our live and silent auctions. Please think about donating goods or services.  All items can be dropped off at the School office or we can arrange a collection. Our contact email is pandf@fahan.tas.edu.au

Looking forward to seeing you all on the Red Carpet.   Thank you to our current sponsors - 

• CentrePoint Shopping Centre
• Nicholas Elliott Building
• Peterswald for property
• G J Gardner Homes
• Adviserhub Pty Ltd
• Butler McIntyre & Butler
• Main Street Financial Solutions

If you would like to see your logo on our advertising materials please contact me. 

Cheers, 

Catherine Matterson 
President, Parents and Friends' Association

Community - Year 9 travel to Launceston

On Wednesday 23 June, all of Year 9 travelled up to Launceston to play St Patrick's College in a variety of activities. After a very early, but fun, bus trip, we participated in football and netball.  The footy girls came out with a big win of about 70 points. The netball girls played St Brendan-Shaw College and St Patrick's College. Unfortunately, we lost both games but made some new friends and some great memories. The main idea of the day was to create a friendly bond between the schools which we believe was achieved. Later in the year, St Pats will be visiting us to play more of the activities. We are all very excited to see these girls again.

Charlee Hunt and Sophie Bury 

Community - News from Nateby

Over the past few weeks the boarding community has shared in some really fun experiences. We went to the movies together to see Cruella, in keeping with the House Drama theme of Disney Classics! During the Dark Mofo Festival we took the opportunity to head out to MONA to visit Spectra. It was a great night with lights, music, hot chips and ice cream!

On Tuesday this week we were delighted to have a visit from our past boarding house tutor, Sabina, who, as many of you know, is in this season of MasterChef. We heard all about her experience on the show and she answered lots of the girls’ questions. She is currently in the final seven contestants and we can’t wait to see what happens over the next few weeks! On Wednesday night we went to Hutchins, to share in a Winter Feast with the Burbury House boys and the boarders from Collegiate. We had delicious food, played games and toasted marshmallows over an awesome fire pit that had been designed and made by one of the Hutchins boarders. This is the third time we have been to Hutchins this year and we look forward to inviting the boys over to our Boarding House in the second half of the year.

The Fahan value of Community is all about care, connection and belonging. It has been wonderful to spend time with students and staff from other schools and to connect over the shared experience of being part of a boarding community.

Ms Fiona Short
Head of Boarding

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Community - Speak Up! Stay ChatTY

On Monday 21 June, girls in the Senior School had the opportunity to participate in Speak Up! Stay ChatTY’s ‘Shorts Day’ initiative. This event saw the girls wearing shorts on the shortest day of the year to normalise conversations around mental health and show our solidarity on the matter. As a School, we teach the members of our community to rely on one another, and this event aimed to demonstrate that when it comes to the fight for positive mental health, we are all in this together. Additionally, we hoped that this day would normalise conversations surrounding mental health and for many of the senior girls, the post-exam period was the perfect time to reset and check in with their friends. At Fahan, community spirit is an integral value, and it was fantastic to see the girls exhibit it on such an important issue.

This event coincided with Speak Up! Stay ChatTY’s visit to the Year 12 cohort on Monday 28 June.  The Year 12 group participated in an interactive workshop discussing strategies to support themselves, and their friends, in regard to mental health. With one in five people affected by mental health in their lifetime, it is incredibly important for the girls to be equipped with the appropriate tools to care for themselves and their peers. The conversation revolved around positive coping strategies and the normalisation of setting boundaries in a variety of different relationships, with the girls working collaboratively to identify the signs that someone is suffering from poor mental health. Further discussion saw the girls categorising which actions would be suitable and appropriate in different types of hypothetical situations. The workshop was a positive and valuable experience that saw engagement from across the grade, and an increased level of unity in the following days.

Migali Ennis-Short

Community - Lady Gowrie Fahan Vacation Care Program

The Lady Gowrie Vacation Care Program is now available. Bookings through Lady Gowrie.

Community Notices

Fahan School Bus Service

For more information on the Fahan Bus Service, please click here.