winter 2016 -...

Ascham Old Girls’ Magazine Winter 2016

Editorial Team The AOGU Committee greatly appreciates the support of Ascham School in the production of the AOG Magazine

Publisher Ascham School

Design Scribble & Think

Layout Ascham School

Founded 1899 Generations of heart and soul

AOG Calendar of events 2016 2

From our Patron—Andrew Powell 3

President’s Report 4

A tree for Katrina 5

The Two of Us 6

Ascham Old Girls pursuing careers in STEM fields 8

Morning tea for mothers with young children 11

Expanding STEM into STEAM 12

2015 Ascham Leadership Scholarship recipient: Verity Smith (2007) 14

2016 Ascham Leadership Scholarship recipient: Alanna Rennie (2010) 15

Writing about Miss Bailey: a new book 16

Golf and Tennis Day 18

Business Breakfast 20

Queensland Old Girls ‘Get Together’ 22

Class of 1991—25 year reunion 23

Announcements 24

Career updates 28

Descendants of Old Girls on the 2016 School Roll 30

Do you have any news? 36

Cover image—Eloise Matheson (2005) with a European Space Agency (ESA) Interact Rover. More on page 8.

Editorial noteThis issue is a great reminder to me of the importance that Ascham places on true equality of women; the fact that there are no boundaries to what Ascham girls can do in their careers and actually in their lives. Old Girls have mentioned often in this issue how they were encouraged at school to have the confidence to pursue their dreams and it seems that many have done so judging by the wide selection of girls we were able to draw from. The disciplines of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) in the current business environment are more inter-related than ever before I believe. Ascham and its method of teaching the girls to respect and value the interaction between teachers and students in order that there is robust debate on subject matter makes the Dalton Plan extremely relevant for the girls facing this choice in their careers. A Head of School who has based his career in Science reinforces this perspective. I hope you enjoy the passion and achievements of the Old Girls featured in this magazine.

Giselle Collins (Jollie 1986)

Honorary Editor, Ascham Old Girls’ Union Committee

Dr Sandra Anderson AM (1958) and Dr Ronnie Harding (Mackellar 1958) feature in The Two of Us on page 6

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AOG Magazine Winter 2016

When I finished school in 1986, I had studied computers in Year 11 and I then went on to do some simple computer programming using Fortran 77. These machines were enormous and you had to book a time to access one. At Ascham, staff began using computers in the 1990s to write reports and assignments. Today, our learning management platform allows our girls to have access to e-textbooks, pre-quizzes, and enables assignments to be more dynamic than they have ever been. According to GradStats, the annual Australian Graduate Survey, 44% of today’s jobs will not exist in 20 years’ time. Having said that, who knows exactly what jobs will exist? We have to ensure that our girls have a broad education that will allow them to move between careers and adapt to the changing world.

STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) has been a commonly used term in the mainstream media and in educational writing for the past few years. Recently STEM has evolved into STEAM, including Art. STEM or STEAM is not new to our students. Ascham has always had a rigorous commitment to the study of Mathematics, Science and Visual Arts. In the 2015 HSC class, 66% of the girls studied the calculus Mathematics course. The design component comes through in their writing in English and History; in their compositions in Music

and performances in Drama. The entire Ascham curriculum opens the girls’ minds to all career opportunities. The biggest change has come with the advancement of technology and the way the girls use it. Today you can enter a Year 2 class and see the girls using algorithms to produce apps. Yes, Year 2! I watched as the girls wrote on paper the set of steps (algorithm) they used to make their character perform a sequence of moves. The girls then used coding to produce their app. This activity not only used some very modern technology, but the girls worked in teams, wrote instructions and discussed what they wanted to do.

I do find it amusing when I read that to be a successful learner in the 21st century you have to be creative and innovative. I am sure many of the Old Girls reading this article were extremely creative and innovative in the 1940s and beyond. The current Ascham girls are very creative, as you can see from the Art exhibitions, Music and Drama performances that they perform in. They are also extremely fortunate to have 3D printers available to them to design and create new town centres or replicas of skeletons if they wish. They have access to a laser cutter that cuts with nanometre precision.

The staff at Ascham model excitement and curiosity in all of their classes and the girls are extremely well supported by the Careers Office from Year 9 onwards. The girls participate in a multitude of STEAM-based activities, including robotics, coding, Maths Olympiad, Maker Movement activities, the da Vinci Decathlon competition, Informatics, in addition to participating in Art and Science tours and excursions. Before the university offers were announced earlier this year, one of the prominent universities distributed a list outlining the jobs associated with STEAM: technical engineer, app designer, games consultant, sports scientists, biomechanical engineer, animator, audio engineer, UX (user experience) designer, renewable energy engineer, urban planner, biomedical engineer, health policy maker, roboticist, health informatics and biostatistician.

Over the years many Ascham girls have had successful careers in the sciences and in this edition you will read about some of their stories.

Andrew Powell Head of School

From our Patron—Andrew Powell

As technology transforms more of our lives, girls currently at school will have an incredible number of career opportunities available to them.

AOG Calendar of events 2016

Friday 22 July 12noon Classes of 1950 to 52—‘Around 65 Year Reunion’ The Glenrock Drawing Room

For more information please contact: Barb North (Bennett) on 02 9416 5695 or Jenny Murray (Scott-Findlay) on 0427 474 053 or at [email protected] or Skye Barry at [email protected] or on 02 8356 7065.

Friday 5 August 12.30pm Class of 1956—60 Year Reunion The Glenrock Drawing Room

For more information please contact: Margaret Durham (Leslie) on 02 9326 2963 or Skye Barry at [email protected] or on 02 8356 7065.

Friday 12 August 6.30pm Class of 2011—5 Year Reunion Drinks at a location still to be confirmed.

For more information please contact: Sally Laughton on 0426 817 827 or at [email protected] or Skye Barry at [email protected] or on 02 8356 7065.

Saturday 20 August 1–4pm

130th Celebration and official opening of Ascham’s new Centre for the Sciences

RSVP essential; book by 6 August via TryBooking www.trybooking.com/209408. Limited seating.

Enquiries: please contact Patti Frawley at [email protected] or on 02 8356 7097.

Friday 26 August 11am HSC Art Show Lunch Dining Room and Packer Foyer, Ascham from 11am–2.30pm

For more information please contact: Skye Barry at [email protected] or on 02 8356 7065.

Friday 9 September and Saturday 10 September Class of 1976—40 Year Reunion Friday 9 September, 7pm—drinks in the Safari Room at the Royal Oak, Double Bay, for those interested. Partners welcome.

Saturday 10 September, 4.30pm—a tour of Ascham, meeting under the fig tree for those interested and at 6pm—drinks at Caroline Stephen’s (Atwill) home.

For more information please contact Belinda Norton (Futter) at [email protected] or on 02 6733 3275 or Caroline Stephens (Atwill) at [email protected] or on 0412 936 022.

Saturday 10 September Class of 1986 – 30 Year Reunion 3.30pm—a tour of Ascham, meeting under the fig tree for those interested, followed by drinks at the Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club, Point Piper, from 7pm.

For more information please contact Lucy Regan (Cannington) at [email protected] or on 0405 626 916 or Vanessa Martin (Cox) at [email protected] or on 0409 034 005.

The Class of 1986 has a Facebook group. Please email Vanessa Martin at [email protected] to be included in this closed group.

Friday 14 October 6pm Year 13 Drinks The Glenrock Drawing Room

For more information please contact: Skye Barry at [email protected] or on 02 8356 7065.

Wednesday 19 October 12noon North and North West Old Girls’ Lunch The Town and Country Club, 45 East Ave, Glenn Innes

For more information please contact Belinda Norton (Futter) at [email protected] or on 0417 633 818.

Thursday 27 October Class of 1954—62 Year Reunion The Glenrock Drawing Room

For more information please contact Sue Litchfield (Robinson) at [email protected] or on 0418 217 364.

Saturday 29 October Class of 1996—20 Year Reunion A late and long lunch at a location still to be confirmed.

For those interested in a tour of the School, please meet under the fig tree at 11am.

For more information please contact Bec Heap (Howard) at [email protected] or on 0408 917 550.

Saturday 17 December, 6pm Class of 2006—10 Year Reunion Drinks at Lucy Haege’s house in Darling Point.

For more information please contact Olivia Etzine at [email protected] or on 0416 008 570. Sarah Fritsch (Ashley 1994) with Andrew Powell at the Ascham

Old Girls’ Golf and Tennis Day

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There have been many positive developments this year and we have maintained the values and structure of the AOGU; part of this is the AOG Magazine.

The AOG Magazine is a great read. When I meet Old Girls at events I am often told how much they enjoy this publication. The Magazine is an important support to the School, as it highlights that a connection with Ascham

continues well after the girls have completed their schooling.

I would like to thank Mr Powell and the School for understanding the relationship between Old Girls and their daughters and granddaughters. The strengthening of the relationship in turn helps to encourage parents and grandparents to choose Ascham for educating their daughters, as they will see the long-term positive effect Ascham has on an Ascham Old Girl’s life.

We try to work well with Ascham School, Ascham Foundation and the Ascham Parents’ Association, as we all have a common goal of supporting the School, current students and Old Girls. Part of being on the AOGU Committee has opened many doors to other areas of the School. I am a member of the Ascham Network Committee, the Duntrim Past Students’ Committee and the Scholarship Committee.

I continue to keep in touch with alumni association presidents from several other schools including Wenona, Pymble Ladies’ College, Abbotsleigh and Queenwood, so that we may learn from each other, share knowledge and improve.

President’s Report

This is my second year as President of the Ascham Old Girls’ Union. Once again it has been an incredibly busy and a fulfilling year. Fortunately I am surrounded by amazing Committee Members who have been hard-working and incredibly enthusiastic.

One of my main aims when I became President was to make being on the Committee a great pleasure and continue to make the AOGU a relevant and easy to tap into resource. Stability, availability and interesting are keywords that describe the AOGU Committee.

There have been many enjoyable events, including the Golf and Tennis Day, and the annual Queensland lunch.

We have gained a better understanding of the financial side of the AOGU. Sarah Merrick (1986) has worked very hard in her role as Treasurer along with Skye Barry (Edwards 1994), and AOG volunteer bookkeeper Rebecca Ridhalgh (2008), who contributed several extra hours. I would like to thank them all for the hours they have put in to create a better understanding of our accounts and to improve the practical, everyday accounting for the AOGU.

At this time I would like to acknowledge our long-serving Committee Members who have stepped down from the Committee over the past year: Hannah Brown (2002) and Caroline Stephens (Atwill 1976), Vice Presidents, Hattie Millett (Street 1980), who was Membership Secretary for many years; and Cathy Lawrie Poulden (Lawrie 1987), Memorabilia Manager.

I would like to welcome our new Committee Members: Svetlana Collantes (2002), Olivia Crowley (2008), Jasmine Stone (Clubb 1997) and Amber Glajz (2002).

I would also like to take this time to thank the Office Bearers, Vice Presidents Giselle Collins (Jollie 1986) and Amanda Pfeffer (Stern 2008), and all Committee Members. Throughout the past year I have made many new friendships in my role as President and I would like to thank our members for your support of the AOGU and our wonderful Committee.

Vi et Animo

Jennifer Ridhalgh (Harvey 1981)

Katrina’s tragic death in the Lindt Café siege in December 2014 profoundly affected many Ascham Old Girls, the wider Ascham community and the people of Sydney. A successful barrister, a beloved wife and a mother of three, Katrina was a great supporter of Ascham. She had remained in close contact with her school friends after leaving school, chose to send her two daughters to Ascham and had even volunteered her time to coach Ascham students in mock trial in 2013 and 2014.

Following Katrina’s passing, Ascham pledged to plant a tree in her memory, an appropriate gesture given Katrina’s nickname from many of her school friends was ‘Tree’. The unique combination of strength, energy and tranquillity that trees represent was also a fitting way to remember a remarkable Old Girl who embodied all those qualities and more.

In our June 2015 edition we featured a story on the necessary felling of the two large fig trees on Fiona Lawn which generations of Ascham Old Girls had played underneath. Many Ascham Old Girls contacted the School, expressing surprise and sadness to see the trees gone as they drove down Ocean Street, with many describing their fond childhood memories of playing underneath them. Unfortunately the Fiona girls have not been able to play in this area for nearly two years due to the increasing danger of branches falling from the very old trees. During this time, Ascham worked with Woollahra Council to develop a new playground that would accommodate Katrina’s tree.

The tree now stands proudly in a garden surrounded by colourful, vibrant playground equipment, which the Fiona girls love playing on. The sound of their laughter and squeals of delight can be heard all the way up Ocean Street during every recess and lunchtime. A fun-loving person herself, I think Katrina would be delighted to know that a tree planted in her memory will continue to grow in a spot that will be the source of many happy memories for future Ascham girls for years to come.

Skye Barry (Edwards 1994)

A tree for Katrina

At the start of this year a two year old Moreton Bay fig tree was planted at the top of the Fiona Lawn in memory of Katrina Dawson (1994).

Fiona girls playing in the new playground

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Those who attended the Gala Launch Dinner last year for The Ascham Duntrim Campaign will remember Dr Anderson’s fascinating account of Ascham and its foundation for her foray into Medical Science. This feature provides a personal account of how this transpired, along with that of Sandra’s school friend, Dr Ronnie Harding, who became a leading academic in Environmental Science. When I asked to conduct this interview, both Sandra and Ronnie commented that ‘the other woman is far more interesting than me.’ Now that’s the telltale sign of true friends and modesty to boot!

Ronnie’s mother, Helen Laidley, was one of the first of three girls to attend Frensham School, so we were lucky to have Ronnie at Ascham. She started at the School at eight years of age, a shy and quiet child. She enjoyed and excelled at athletics—Sandra thinks she was the first person she knew to own a tracksuit! One year, Ronnie and Sandra’s class nearly won the Ross Shield for best in Athletics in the whole school—it must have been a good year—and they believe it was the reason the House system was introduced in 1953: to provide a different system of competition.

When they were in the Senior School, Sandra and Ronnie played together in the Tildesley Tennis competition, and even to this day they play together in the AOGU Golf and Tennis Day, although they have ‘defected’ to golf. Both girls were on the School Committee (a total of six girls). The then-Headmistress, Miss Dorothy Whitehead, would attend Committee meetings although interestingly she was not allowed to speak. Some other observations of the two of them include that Ascham was quite musically focused. Both remember the School production of Dido and Aeneas, which was performed with Cranbrook and was a hit at the time. The Ascham education was also supplemented by many visiting speakers in Science, such as a dietician, a microbiologist, an ‘engineer’ speaking about Sputnik and others giving varying accounts from World War II.

Ronnie says the Dalton Plan did two things for her. In her words, it turned her into a Monday night ‘last ditch specialist’ and secondly, taught her that you just can’t get away with anything; it will catch up with you at some point and that it’s best to do it right the first time. Both Ronnie and Sandra believe that the Dalton Plan instilled in them the necessary discipline that is required when employed in Science. Incidentally, Sandra valued this Ascham lesson in discipline so much that she had an Ascham Old Girl as an assistant for 25 years.

The Two of Us

Dr Sandra Anderson AM (1958) and Dr Ronnie Harding (Mackellar 1958) were pioneers of women in STEM in the 1960s and are pioneers of Ascham in a way—both were part of the first intake of Junior School students in Fiona, which housed Junior School students from 1949.

As some further insight into Ascham, Mrs Coyte, who was the first head of Fiona, was a lovely woman who taught the girls, including Sandra, to be inclusive. Sandra and a few others, including Muffy Beaumont, Sue Palmer, Julie Hammond and Jane Swanton, had formed a ‘gang’ named the CF Club (‘Cubic Feet’). It sounds as if Sandra was already focused on Science with this name, but it was based on the writing on the nearby gas meter where the gang would meet!.

And if we stay on ‘naughty’ as the theme, while in Senior School Sandra and a few others took trips to the Archbishop’s grounds—no more details allowed!—Well ... they can’t give retrospective detentions for that!

Ronnie enrolled in Science at the University of Sydney after school. Her fear of losing her Commonwealth Scholarship in Term 3 (she had been living it up!) meant that she dropped Chemistry in order to study the easier ‘General Sciences’. Ronnie then went on to study Zoology, Anthropology and Archaeology and completed an BArts at Sydney.

After university, Ronnie taught Junior Sciences at SCEGGS for four years. She studied at night at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and, amongst other things, earned a High Distinction in Chemistry—a good payback for dropping it in her first year. She went back to full-time study at university to do Honours and undertake a PhD in Marsupial Reproduction with a particular study on how sperm structure can be used to explore evolutionary relationships in marsupials.

From 1974–1992, Ronnie lectured in environmental issues in the General Education Program at UNSW, which was aimed at broadening the education of undergraduate students in the professional and technical degrees. There were no courses in Environment in those days, so Ronnie was an early educator in this field. In the early 1990s, the UNSW Academic Board proposed bringing different aspects of Environmental Studies together through the establishment of a small unit called the Institute of Environmental Studies (IES) which sat outside the Faculties. Ronnie ran this for many years before the University in 2000 undertook a major university-wide review. The Vice-Chancellor of the time, Professor John Niland, saw the need for an inter-disciplinary Master of Environmental Management degree by course work, which would be run by the IES and open to graduates from any disciplinary background and Ronnie ran this until she retired from UNSW in 2004.

Well, retiring was her word not mine! Ronnie then became a part-time Assistant Commissioner of the NSW Natural Resources Commission (NRC) and held this position for five years. This body oversaw the Catchment Management Authorites and Native Vegetation Management for NSW.

During the latter part of her role at UNSW through to the present, Ronnie has also held positions on a number of NSW Government and non-government, environment-related organisations. These include the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO NSW), which specialises in public interest environmental law and assists those who need help to defend environmental matters in court. She has also served on the Australian Museum Trust, as well as on the Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation, chaired by Ken Coles (a nice link again to Ascham) to support research on the Reef. Incidentally, Ascham girls still take field trips to this location. She is on the Management Committee for the Total Environment Centre and is part of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists. This is an independent group of Australian scientists, economists and business people concerned with advancing solutions to secure the long-term health of Australia’s land, water and biodiversity. The group formed in 2002 when 10 concerned scientists met at the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney and whose agenda was publicised by some dedicated journalists of the time. The Wentworth Group is still going today—a testament to its influence.

Sandra’s account of Ronnie is that she has been selfless in her pursuit of the protection and understanding of the environment.

Sandra’s own story is also wonderful. The Dalton Plan taught her the meaning of deadline and detention, and that effective time management meant she had free time for other activities. Her father, a mechanical engineer, encouraged her to consider Science as a career and suggested that she study Chemistry in town at the Metropolitan Coaching College, as Ascham did not yet have this subject on its curriculum. She went to and from town to the College from mid-1954 to the Leaving Certificate in 1958. Given that three students from three different Year levels at the School all studied privately with the same tutor, Sandra believes this may have contributed to why Ascham established a new Science block for what became the home for Physics and Chemistry from around 1960.

Sandra was also inspired to pursue a career in Science by her Biology teacher, Miss Beatrice Adam, who was fondly called Aunty B. Sandra particularly valued Aunty B’s teachings in how to foster an enquiring mind and how to write up and discuss results of experiments. The fact

that five of the 28 girls in Sandra and Ronnie’s final Year at Ascham entered the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney is a testament to the belief it instilled to be financially independent, and that Science meant ‘you could work anywhere in the world’.

Sandra graduated from the University of Sydney in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Physiology and Microbiology. She took a job at the new Medical School at the UNSW facility at the University of New South Wales at Prince Henry Hospital in the Cardiology Department under Professor Ralph Blackett. In 1963 she went to work at the Cardiovascular Research Institute of the University of California in San Francisco due to a chance ‘interview’ while visiting the facility en route to Canada. There she studied lung disease and its measurement for two years. This was the groundwork for her specialty in Lung Physiology and asthma, which began with the opening of a Lung Laboratory in 1966 at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) in Sydney.

Sandra’s trip to London is an interesting side story. She went travelling around India in 1969 (yes, she is truly independent and even was co-opted in the Salvation Army Hostel in Bombay to be in a film!) and in one of those backpacker moments, agreed to drive with three guys to Munich—from Delhi! She arrived there after two months through Iran and Afghanistan, doing 50 per cent of the driving (she should have ensured they all had driving licences!). In London she met Dr Simon Godfrey with only a few pounds left in her pocket and studied exercise-induced asthma in the Department of Paediatrics at the Brompton Hospital. Sandra graduated with a PhD in 1972 from the University of London. In 1973, Sandra returned to RPA, where she worked until 2014 as a Principal Hospital Scientist. In 1990 she was awarded a Doctor of Science from the University of London for her published work.

In 2012 she received an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine from the Uppsala University in Sweden for her work in exercise-induced asthma. Sandra’s research into how exercise causes asthma attacks led to the commercialisation of a novel test for asthma and a treatment for cystic fibrosis in 2006. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 2012 and continues to contribute greatly in this area of Medical Science.

Sandra and Ronnie have a lot in common, and both, I believe, are inspiring examples of Ascham Old Girls. Thank you both—on behalf of all Old Girls and also from the wider community—for giving so much and in so many ways.


* Photos of Sandra and Ronnie, from now and their time together on the School Committee in 1958, can be found on page 1 and the back cover.

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Eloise Matheson (2005)

Eloise Matheson can’t remember when she decided she wanted to be astronaut, but she knows it was while she was at Ascham: ‘My sister will say it is after someone told me that I couldn’t do it, and my parents might say it was after watching Apollo 11. I don’t remember the beginning; I just remember it being a constant aim.’

Upon leaving school Eloise was accepted into the Australian National University to study Science. A week before moving to Canberra, she had a sudden change of heart and decided to go with her next choice of a combined Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Mechatronic Space Engineering at the University of Sydney. The engineering choice was a last minute addition. ‘I had no idea really what engineering was, I just knew that the title had the word Space in it and that was enough for me!’

Fortunately it was a good choice. Eloise loved engineering and became involved in projects such as Robot Wars and Formula SAE, where she built a race car. Five years later when she finished her tertiary studies, Eloise took nine months to travel through Europe and Africa. She worked briefly in Canberra with a company that did engineering consulting work for Defence, but quickly realised Defence was not the industry for her. At that point she received an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to complete a two-year Master of Advanced Robotics in Poland at the Warsaw University of Technology and at École Centrale de Nantes in France.

Ascham Old Girls pursuing careers in STEM fields

The importance that STEM careers will play in our future was reflected in the Australian Government’s launch of the National Innovation and Science Agenda in 2015. In line with these changes, several Ascham Old Girls have embarked on some very different careers in these fields.

For her thesis, Eloise, in partnership with a French company, developed a robotic prosthetic—the initial prototype for a device intended to replace a missing human hand. While she found medical robotics fascinating, Space was still the dream and so in September 2014 she started as a Young Graduate Trainee at the European Space Agency (ESA) in the Telerobotics and Haptics Lab, where she remains today. Eloise’s work involves trying to control robots that are a long way away so that the human can feel what the robot feels. This means that a robot can be in a dangerous place, while the human can be somewhere safe, but still fully in control.

Eloise believes that Ascham empowered her with a sense that everything is achievable. She fondly remembers English with Dr Samuels and Dr Cook, learning about cultural independence and equality. ‘The values I developed there are ones that I hold strongly today. Living as an expat and working in an organisation with 22 different member states means that empathy, patience and understanding are vital to managing productive and rewarding relationships. These skills also help me being the only woman in my team!’

Eloise says, ‘I still don’t know how to be an astronaut, or if I ever will—but working towards it happily gets me to work every day! The days where you have a rush of emotion in your throat are rare, but when you have them you know you are doing something you are passionate about.’

Nicky Ringland (2003)

At the completion of Nicky Ringland’s Arts Languages Degree majoring in Linguistics, she decided she wanted to fix automatic translation programs like Google Translate and BabelFish. It was through this experience that she fell into the world of coding and embarked on a PhD in Computer Science, specifically in Natural Language Processing, a subfield of Artificial Intelligence.

While working on her PhD, Nicky and her fellow students found there was enormous demand for the outreach programs— workshops, teacher training and online competitions—that they conducted as part of their academic studies. They decided to put their studies on hold to found

‘Grok Learning’. Grok now teaches Computer Science and coding to thousands of students across the world.

Nicky is an expert at delivering engaging experiences with Computer Science in a classroom setting. She says, ‘The biggest barrier to getting students excited about computing is ensuring they have a fun, engaging and authentic experience with computer science. It’s hard to be excited about computing when all you’ve experienced is making PowerPoint presentations or Excel spreadsheets. But it’s a very different story when you’ve written your very own game from scratch, or created a ‘Fakespeare’ chatterbot that makes up fake Shakespeare quotes, or when you’ve written a program to solve Sudokus, or simulate a Zombie apocalypse, or write music! We need to make sure that every student realises that computing is more than just word processing, and that learning to code is a really important (and lucrative!) skill, whether you want to uncover the mysteries of the universe, solve global warming, or cure cancer.’

The teaching of the Dalton Plan has helped Nicky throughout her Computer Science studies, as she believes the concepts of assignments, independent work and planning were not as daunting to her as they were to her new peers when they arrived at university. ‘In the field of Computer Science, it’s not uncommon to work long hours leading up to a deadline and for that work to require substantial concentration and precision. In an essay, a typo can make a sentence incorrect, or a concept unclear. In code, a stray bracket or typo can mean that the program no longer runs, and could require hours or days of debugging!’

Most importantly, Nicky credits Ascham with instilling a curiosity for learning. ‘I have no doubt that this inquisitiveness and love of learning was a large part of what led me to pursue a PhD in Computational Linguistics and to found a startup aiming to instil that love of learning and interest in Computer Science in thousands of students across Australia and beyond.’

Most recently, Nicky completed her PhD and spent the summer of 2015/2016 running the National Computer Science School for 100 top students from across Australia and New Zealand, including one of Ascham’s Year 12 students.

Eloise at the ESA Interact Rover and Control Eloise with the full team at Telerobotics and Haptics Lab Nicky at work

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Christina Chiu (2005)

Christina Chiu’s Year 6 teacher at Ascham was Mrs Carolyn Williams. At the beginning of the school year, Christina was painfully shy and dreaded answering questions in class. Mrs Williams encouraged her to audition for the Senior School piano recital, asked her to perform in a Junior School assembly and encouraged her to participate in class discussions. This gave Christina the confidence to participate in the piano recital every year thereafter. Mrs Williams was the first to congratulate her on how far she had come at the end of the school year. Christina says she experienced this type of encouragement throughout her time at Ascham and that the confidence instilled helped her navigate her way through the male-dominated industry in which she now works.

Christina studied Mathematics, Sciences and Economics in her final years at Ascham, indicating a leaning towards STEM-based careers. She also had an interest in sustainability, so studying Environmental Engineering at university seemed like the perfect fit when embarking on her tertiary studies. After graduating from UNSW with a double degree in Environmental Engineering and Commerce, Christina joined Cardno, an infrastructure and engineering consultancy, in Sydney, as an Environmental Engineer in their Environment and Sustainability team.

Christina’s work at Cardno consisted of natural resource management projects and economic feasibility studies. She was heavily involved with the Stage 1 Coastal Zone Management Plan for Woollahra Council, which included an audit of flood defences, and an assessment of the potential impacts of climate change on assets and recreational amenities in the foreshore. For more information see: http://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/czmp

In September 2013 Christina moved to London to do a Master’s of Science in Environmental Engineering with Sustainable Development at Imperial College London. She is now working for Atkins, the largest engineering consultancy in the UK, in their Networks and Drainage team as a Water Engineer.

Her role thus far has been part of ‘eight2o’, a conglomerate of companies, including Atkins, working with Thames Water to deliver their 2015–2020 program. Much of the London clean water supply network is from the Victorian era and this means that it’s overly complex and leaking in many parts. She is a member of the team that looks for areas of pipe that can be replaced and designs the new network. This includes talking to the members of the operational team who look after the network day-to-day; testing for leakage; analysing leakage data; and modelling new designs in software to make sure that the new network is hydraulically sound, ensuring that customers have sufficient pressure and quality of water.

This year Christina is hoping to gain drainage experience, which deals with surface flow of rainwater and how to store or convey it away from assets to prevent flood damage. She says there is now much more acceptance of softer engineering options for drainage, such as swales—relying on hard engineering options like stormwater drains is becoming less viable due to their limited capacity in the face of shorter and more intense rain events.


Christina enjoying the United Kingdom

The weather was brilliantly sunny without a trace of the humidity that had plagued the previous weeks. A number of Old Girls from the Class of 1992 attended and enjoyed catching up with each other, as well as Old Girls from a variety of other years.

These mornings are growing in popularity. They are informal and operate in a play group format. The Hillingdon play equipment and sand pit are greatly enjoyed by the children and the Ascham Old Girls’ Union kindly provides tea and coffee, fruit, biscuits and cupcakes. We encourage all mothers with young children who are interested in coming back to Ascham and reconnecting with others at the same stage in life as them to attend future events.


Morning tea for mothers with young children

A very successful morning tea for Old Girl mothers with young children was held on Saturday 19 March.

Liz Maynier (Cannon 1996) and Sophie, Marissa Koop (1996) and Lucinda

Julia Estcourt (Condrau 1998) and George, Alice Gruzman (1998), Sarah Cunningham (Armstrong Smith 1998) and Amelia

Jemima Crawford, Isla Barry and Lucinda Hughes Belinda Nisbet (1991) and Alice, and Ali Crawford (Higgs 1991)

Claudette Wadsworth (1992) and Jamie; Pascale Helyar-Moray (Moray 1992); Adelaide Reynolds and Kathryn McLean (1992); Alexandra Helyar; and Christina Hunter (Gassman 1992) and Sofia

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All of these key skills are developed within the framework of the Dalton Plan, and it is becoming more and more evident that our girls are beginning to recognise that there are tremendous STEM opportunities in the future.

Old Girl Anna Hankin (2005) currently works for Microsoft, where she assists third party software companies to leverage Microsoft’s global sales and marketing engines to grow business. She says that studying STEM is incredibly important for girls in the future. ‘To be able to build an idea from concept to finished product is an unbelievable skill and will become more and more valuable going forward …Aside from encouraging girls who are inclined to study STEM because they’re talented at say Mathematics and Science, I also think it’s important to emphasise that any girl with virtually any passion/talent can have an amazing career in technology. Tech intersects with every industry and discipline, and it’s very powerful when a subject matter expert in a specific field uses technology to transform the way that field operates.’

Coding in Hillingdon

In Term 3 of 2015, Hillingdon students were introduced to the app Scratch Jr to learn about computer coding. Prior to using the app, students were involved in hands-on activities to understand what an algorithm is, that there must be an input for an output to occur, and that computers follow a set of instructions that are different to the way we speak or give instructions. The students became ‘human robots’, where each girl had the opportunity to be the robot and the code developer. They used symbols (similar to the ones used in the app) to create an algorithm to get their ‘robot’ to move in a given sequence. The students not only enjoyed this but it was a great introduction to get them engaged, involved and thinking about coding.

Through the process of developing a game using code, the girls developed skills including problem solving, creativity, teamwork and perseverance. Many went on to download the app and make their own games at home.

Ellie Alexander Hillingdon ICT Coordinator

Expanding STEM into STEAM

At Ascham, STEAM—an expansion of STEM that includes Art—is being incorporated into the curriculum, from Hillingdon through to the Senior School. Here are some brief examples of how.

STEAM in Fiona

With the appointment of a STEAM Coordinator in the Junior School, new STEAM projects, both within teaching programs and as co-curricular activities, are available in 2016, ensuring that all students have the opportunity to be involved. With a goal to increase ability, participation, engagement and aspiration, STEAM projects engage the students and assist them to develop essential 21st century skills of collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking.

In Term 1, all girls in Fiona were introduced to coding using Scratch, an online programming resource. Creative computing encourages use of computational thinking skills while developing the students’ digital fluency. The girls enjoyed creating animations, games and stories in their classes and many joined the lunchtime Code Clubs where they further developed their coding skills, problem solving and worked collaboratively with their peers.

A focus in Science and Technology teaching and learning programs in the Junior School has been to work through the design process. In their Pods groups, the girls worked in teams to undergo an engineering challenge to design, make and evaluate bridges. Year 4 students followed a design brief to create a package in Term 1, applying their knowledge of materials acquired in their Term 1 Science and Technology unit. In Term 2, Year 4 girls created their own Rube Goldberg machine following the design process. Year 6 students applied their new programming skills in a design and make

task in their unit on Electricity. In groups they designed a game educating others about safe use of, or conservation of, energy sources. Once designed, the girls made their games using the MaKey MaKey invention kits, which were programmed using Scratch. The unit culminated with girls sharing their games with their peers, giving each other constructive feedback.

With the opening of Duntrim House, one of the Senior Science labs will be given new life as a STEAM Lab for Junior School students and teachers to utilise. A Maker Space with resources promoting inquiry and innovation will offer exciting possibilities of collaboration and cross-curriculum development.

In Term 2, the students in the STEAM Clubs in Fiona participated in the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Crystal Growing Competition and worked towards entering the inaugural team in the Robocup Junior competition, held in Term 3. In Year 5 the girls worked in teams to complete Space robotics challenges using the Lego EV3 Mindstorms kits.

Melissa Thomas, Fiona ICT Coordinator

Architecture in Action using 3D Printing

In Year 7 Technology, Ascham girls look closely at the Built Environment. They begin this unit developing skills in 3D Computer Aided Design Software (CAD) and applying them to focused design briefs, taking the role of the architect and designer. This unit of work is designed to upskill students in the use of 3D rendering software and focuses on internal and external structural design. The development of 3D printing allows students and teachers to expand on their understanding of the production stage of the design process without outsourcing.

The girls work as junior architects who are redesigning an upcoming strip of commercial and residential land being re-zoned in the suburb of Surry Hills. We ask them to assess their individual block of land, look carefully at the developer’s needs and incorporate an effective blend of practicality and aesthetics. Students must work with each other and follow the guidelines provided by the strategic planners at the City of Sydney Council to fulfil the brief appropriately.

At the beginning of the semester, the girls carefully analyse a selection of maps, and begin their preliminary technical drawings. After redesigning their blocks of land on paper, we begin translating these designs into the computer, working with the 3D modelling application Sketchup. This app allows the girls to render their design to scale in three-dimensional space. We look at height and light restrictions, work with our neighbours to make sure we are providing appropriate facilities for the community, and adhere to strict heritage listed guidelines. Next, the final CAD designs are printed as 3D models for analysis, assessment and presentation.

In this unit the girls develop a full understanding of architectural design, from conceptual development to material construction. In this way, the 3D printers are used in a Creative Arts capacity to provide educational opportunities that stretch the learning possibilities for our girls.

Jeff Morabito, Head of Visual Arts & Design Technology and Chris Summers, Art and Technology Teacher

Hillingdon girls working on Scratch Jr Building design using 3D modelling application Sketchup3D models of buildings designed by Year 7 girls and created with 3D printers

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‘Juries in Caddo Parish, which has a population of two hundred and fifty thousand, now sentence more people to death per capita than juries in any other county in America. Seventy-seven per cent of those sentenced to death in the past forty years have been black, and nearly half were convicted of killing white victims. A white person has never been

sentenced to death for killing a black person.’

‘The Prosecutor Who Says Louisiana Should “Kill More People”’ by Campbell Robertson, The New York Times

On 29 April 2015, two Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed by firing squad in Indonesia for their roles in trafficking heroin in 2005. The following morning, I caught a plane to New Orleans to spend three months working on death penalty cases at the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center (LCAC). All of the clients of the LCAC have either been sentenced to death and are appealing their sentence, or they are awaiting trial knowing that the prosecutors are asking the jury to sentence them to death.

To give some background to the use of the death penalty, the United States executed 28 of its citizens in 2015. Of these offenders, 13 were executed in Texas alone. One of these offenders had been on death row for 31 years before his execution. While more States are moving to abolish the death penalty, outlier cases can stir up debate and result in renewed use of the death penalty. For example the ‘Boston Bomber’ Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence, handed down while I was in the US in May 2015. Louisiana has currently suspended executions until July 2016 while the method of execution, lethal injection, is reviewed.

LCAC services clients across the State, including in New Orleans and Caddo Parish in Louisiana’s north. The suspension of executions has not slowed the prosecutors in Caddo, where District Attorney Dale Cox has publicly stated that he thinks they should send more people to death. The LCAC’s small team of lawyers and investigators works tirelessly to provide clients with the best representation possible. Aside from the rigorous legal work involved in trials and appeals, the investigators and volunteers are crucial for undertaking all of the research and investigation to present the story of the defendant’s life. When the prosecutors ask the jury to send a defendant to his or her death, the LCAC team must instead convince those 12 people to give the defendant a lifetime in prison.

2015 Ascham Leadership Scholarship recipient: Verity Smith (2007)

Verity Smith’s experiences working with prisoners on death row have been profound.

The criminal justice system is endlessly fascinating to me. With the success of true crime series such as Netflix’s Making a Murderer, HBO’s The Jinx and the podcast Serial, it is clear that I am not alone. For me, having scoured hundreds of pages of documents and after listening to hours upon hours of calls from prisoners to their loved ones, some aspects of these shows are all too eerily familiar. Unlike these true crime documentaries, I do not have the authority to disclose any confidential material that I was exposed to while working on these death penalty cases.

I can, however, very openly share that I have had an incredible experience. The responsibility given to interns for serious matters integral to the cases has been a privilege. We kept regular phone contact with clients and assisted on prison visits to meet with clients. I was also fortunate to accompany LCAC staff on an investigative trip to Florida to visit a client and to attempt to track down potential mitigation witnesses. We were given such complete exposure to the evidence for the matters that we were able to give meaningful input to the cases.

The team at LCAC is dedicated and fearless. Their resilience is admirable. Volunteering at an organisation such as this at an early stage of my career has been immensely engrossing and rewarding. Thank you to the benefactors of the Ascham Leadership Scholarship for making this possible.

For further information on the work of Reprieve and the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, please see reprieve.org.au.

Alanna grew up on a rural property in central-west NSW. She came to Ascham as a boarder in Year 8 and completed her schooling in 2010. While at Ascham, Alanna studied Mandarin and undertook a number of homestays and study trips to China. Alanna also undertook an exchange in Buenos Aires, Argentina, through Ascham’s Student Exchange Program.

In Year 12 Alanna was awarded the Ascham Honour Board Prize for Achievement in Chinese, the Margaret Bailey Prize, the Teacher’s Scholarship to study at Xi’an International Studies University and a Collegiate Scholarship to study a Bachelor of Laws/Commerce at Bond University.

During her gap year, Alanna spent six months studying in Xi’an, China, where she lived with a local family. Alanna then travelled to Peru, South America, where she spent six months volunteering at an underprivileged primary school.

In 2013, Alanna returned to China, where she spent six months studying Chinese Law at Tsinghua University and undertook a four month internship with international law firm, King & Wood Mallesons.

Alanna recently completed her Bachelor of Commerce (Finance)/Bachelor of Laws at Bond University. She is currently undertaking a clerkship with international law firm, Baker & McKenzie in Sydney. Next year, she will undertake her Juris Master in Chinese Law at Tsinghua University, Beijing.

Alanna’s Project

Alanna has been awarded the Ascham Leadership Scholarship to undertake her Juris Master in Chinese Law at Tsinghua University, where she will complete her thesis on enforcement of plant breeder rights in China.

Plant breeder rights are a form of intellectual property used in agriculture. They are granted to the breeder of a new variety of plant and grant exclusive control over the propagating material (including seed and cuttings). Alanna’s family has utilised plant breeder rights in Australia, working together with plant breeders around the world to find drought resistant and better quality potato, cherry and garlic varieties.

Plant breeder rights have a very poor enforcement system in China and as a result many plant breeders are hesitant to grant rights to Chinese farmers. Alanna believes that plant breeder rights can go a long way to solving many of the problems facing China, including food shortages, soil pollution and the income gap between rural and urban areas.

Before embarking on her Master’s, Alanna will be visiting a number of plant breeders around the world, including Plant and Food Research in New Zealand, Inta in Argentina, Bradfords in California, Meijer in Holland and Denaspo in Germany. These breeders are interested in entering the Chinese market. Alanna hopes that by engaging with international breeders she can come up with a practical solution to enforcement in China, which will allow new and improved varieties to be introduced.

Alanna would like to use the Ascham Leadership Scholarship as an opportunity to generate interest and enthusiasm among the Ascham community about Australia’s agricultural future and the opportunities in China.

2016 Ascham Leadership Scholarship recipient: Alanna Rennie (2010)

Applications are now open for the 2017 Ascham Leadership Scholarship

This annual Scholarship is open to all Ascham Old Girls between the ages of 20 and 30 to enable the recipient to undertake research in alignment with her professional degree or humanitarian aid work outside Australia. For more information please contact [email protected].

Alanna on her family property

A funeral second line proceeds through New Orleans Treme

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During Miss Bailey’s tenure Ascham grew from about 80 students to 400. New properties were added and new buildings constructed. These achievements, although significant, were not her enduring legacy. This was, without a doubt, her introduction of the Dalton Plan which, to this day, distinguishes Ascham from other schools. At the time, a number of other schools were experimenting with new approaches to education. Margaret Bailey had the foresight to see the lasting value of the Dalton Plan as an educational model and made the commitment to ensure its successful implementation within the culture of the School.

Margaret Bailey was my great-aunt. I only met her once, when I was quite young and she was probably 80 years old. Nonetheless, I was always fascinated by the stories about her and wanted to learn more about her. My mother and her two sisters had attended Ascham as boarders from the age of seven. My favourite aunt, Margaret Lundie, had spoken about Margaret Bailey, and I knew that they had been quite close. I knew that Margaret Bailey had studied languages, as had my aunt Margaret. I followed in their footsteps, studying French at University and then doing my PhD in French literature at the Sorbonne University in Paris. There seemed to be a familial line that was drawing me to Margaret Bailey and to the idea of writing her biography.

The search for information about Margaret Bailey’s childhood and early life was challenging. There were photos but not a great deal of other information. I knew that she was the

oldest of five children, born in Toowoomba to immigrants from Northern Ireland. I went in search of information about her family and childhood and travelled to Toowoomba, where with the help of various people, I was able to piece together a picture of her life there. I then followed her to the University of Sydney where she was a student from 1897 to 1899. Her story began to mingle with that of other young women who saw education as a way of leading independent lives, seeking their own paths to economic and intellectual freedom. Like so many of these young women, she moved from university into teaching. I was delighted to find that, in Margaret Bailey’s first appointment as a teacher at Rockhampton Girls Grammar School, the headmistress there was a woman of great vision and energy, who obviously played an important role as mentor to the budding teacher who was to become such a great headmistress.

After teaching for 12 years in Queensland, Margaret Bailey decided she wanted to develop her own skills and experience and went to England, France and Germany where she studied with leading exponents of the direct method of teaching languages as well as with the great educational theorists at the London Institute of Education. It was on her return to Australia in l914 that Margaret Bailey took up a position as a teacher at Ascham School. Nine months later she and Miss Gilman Jones became co-owners and principals of the School when Mr and Mrs Carter, the former owners, decided to retire.

Writing about Miss Bailey: a new book

As the School’s longest serving Headmistress, Miss Margaret Bailey’s name is inextricably linked with the history of Ascham. Here her great-niece and author Dr Jane Gilmour documents her experiences writing and researching Margaret Bailey’s life for a new biography.

A young Margaret Bailey

The subsequent story of Margaret Bailey’s life was essentially the story of Ascham. Indeed, the book I have written could not have existed but for the fact that the School generously granted me access to its archives where I was able to consult Miss Bailey’s Annual Reports and the School Council Minutes, as well as other archival material. Marguerite Gillezeau was a wonderful ally in my search for historical material and generous in her sharing of knowledge about other headmistresses of the time and other schools.

Others at the School, and many Old Girls, have provided valuable advice and insights. Rowena Danziger has supported this project from the outset and has written a preface to the book. Her name, like that of Margaret Bailey before her, is inextricably linked with Ascham School.

I trust that this book will give Old Girls and current students new insights into the achievements of this woman whose wisdom, courage and vision ensured that generations of young women were able to pursue the very best that education, and life, could offer them.

Dr Jane Gilmour Author

A perspective from Marguerite Gillezeau, Ascham’s Archivist: A journey of discovery with Dr Jane Gilmour

Over the last two years, I’ve had the privilege of watching Dr Jane Gilmour conduct her research into Miss Margaret Bailey, Ascham’s third Head of School. As the Archivist at Ascham, it’s almost impossible not to be intrigued by Miss Bailey. Her legacy is inestimable. She built upon the vision of her two predecessors, Miss Wallis and Mr Carter, and introduced innovations that are today hallmarks of Ascham. As a community, we have an appreciation of Miss Bailey’s achievements, which include the introduction of the Dalton Plan, the establishment of the School Council, the purchase of neighbouring properties and the construction of the first modern buildings on campus. However, for many of us, the background to these decisions remains somewhat of a mystery, as does the remarkable woman who shaped Ascham.

When Jane contacted me a little over two years ago, indicating her interest in writing Miss Bailey’s biography, I was enthusiastic but slightly concerned. Like many of her educational contemporaries, Miss Bailey left comparatively few records. However, Jane is no stranger to biography (I can highly recommend her beautiful biography of French writer, Colette), and she was confident that the records in the Ascham archives, which include Miss Bailey’s detailed Annual Reports, would complement her own family records. Although Jane is not an Old Girl, her mother Kathleen Gilmour (Lundie) attended Ascham with her two sisters, Margaret (1932) and Elizabeth (1941), as a boarder in the 1930s. They were in a particularly unique position since

‘MAB’ was not only headmistress to the three Lundie girls; she was also their maternal aunt.

The world after World War I was changing, especially for educated women, and Miss Bailey embraced the new world and the modern ideas it encompassed. She took full advantage of the new social structure that now enabled girls to travel unchaperoned, play a range of sports and study almost any discipline they pleased. Jane and I discussed Miss Bailey’s considerable influence, the times in which she lived and the not inconsiderable challenges of operating a school during two World Wars (each presenting an entirely different set of issues), the influenza epidemic of 1919 and the Depression of the 1930s. Jane would go home to Melbourne to write the next section of her book and return to Sydney within a couple of months with new questions and ready share her latest discoveries. Our discussions, which had begun upstairs in the Octagon where Jane pored over the records, continued by email over the ensuing months.

Needless to say, I was extremely eager to read the finished manuscript. In particular, I was keen to understand the thought process behind Miss Bailey’s major decisions, all of which were made after consulting her small circle of confidantes and colleagues. I can safely say that all of my questions have now been answered. If you are curious as to how Ascham has evolved, and are interested in the development of women, society and education over the past century, I can guarantee that Jane Gilmour’s biography of Miss Bailey will both enlighten and entertain you.

Marguerite Gillezeau, Ascham Archivist

Margaret Bailey with the class of 1945

Copies of the book can be ordered from the publisher: Australian Scholarly Publishing, tel: +61 03 9329 6963; email: [email protected].

Price: $39.95 including mailing within Australia.

The official launch of the book will take place on Thursday 28 July at 5pm at Ascham.

If you would like to attend please contact Skye Barry on 02 8356 7065.

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The Championship Golf Players were joined by Andrew Powell this year who played a very strong game of golf, despite not having played for several months! The 12 Old Girls who played gave each other strong competition, as the humidity and temperatures rose to near tropical levels.

Everyone gathered for lunch and a trophy presentation upstairs at Royal Sydney Golf Club. Congratulations to all those who played, we hope to see you next year.


Golf and Tennis Day

The Ascham Old Girls’ Golf and Tennis Day 2016 was yet another success, with 40 Old Girls playing on Monday 14 March.

Golf—Championship Course Golf—Centenary Course Tennis

Winner Berry Alexiou (Spry 1992) (37 points)

Winner Anne Leabeater (Nicol 1958) (25 points)

Winners’ Competition Group A Sarah Fritsch (Ashley 1994) (29 points)

Runner-Up Robin Bennett (Bucknell) (34 points)

Nearest the Pin Melissa Halkerston (1981)

Runner-Up Edwina Parsons (Maxwell 1972) (26 points)

Nearest the Pin Jackie Boyer (1979)

Longest Drive Jacqueline Blacket (2000)

Social Tennis Winner Milly Arundell (MacCallum 1989) (18 points)

Longest Drive Dani Ecuyer (1981)

Julia Hutchinson (1970) and Peta Golsby (Jaquet 1957)

Sarah Fritsch (Ashley 1994) and Helen Harris (Hourigan 1994)

Tempe MacGowan (1977), Sarah Fritsch (Ashley 1994), Milly Arundell (MacCallum 1989) and Nicole McDermott (Cobb 1987)

Jenny Ridhalgh (Harvey 1981) and Debbie Lloyd-Phillips (MacDonald 1965)

Annette McKay (Bingle 1958), Penny Joyce (Sutherland 1957), Robin Bennett (Bucknell 1959), Hilary Cotman (Green 1970), Julia Hutchinson (1970), Peta Golsby (Jaquet 1957)

Milly Arundell (MacCallum 1989), Juliet Lawson (Hassall 1987), Tina Thompson-King (1987), Nicole McDermott (Cobb 1987), Samantha Walder (1987), Edwina Sweeney (Dunlop 1985), Lucy Regan (Cannington 1986)

Ascham Frensham Golf Day

For the second year in a row Ascham defeated Frensham in this hard-fought competition with a close 7 up to 5 up.

Congratulations to Berry Alexiou (Spry 1992) and Jackie Boyer (1979) who won on the count back for the second year in a row with 3 up!

Nearest the pin on the 6th hole went to Jenny Moulder (Lance 1981) and long drive on 10th hole went to Lavinia Chrystal (Robson 1972).

Thanks again to Jan Solomon (Buzacott 1959) who kindly polishes the Cup and gets the engraving done each year.

Berry Alexiou (Spry 1992) and Jackie Boyer (1979)

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Ninety six Old Girls and parents braved the rain and early morning air to come to the newly renovated space of the offices of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) on Level 61, Governor Phillip Tower. Thanks firstly to Katrina Rathie (Yee 1979) and her professional staff for providing this forum for the breakfast. It was particularly wonderful to see a great range in ages and backgrounds of those attending and asking the questions of the two eminent guest speakers, the Hon. Justice Brigitte Markovic (1982), Federal Court Judge, and Katrina Rathie (Yee 1979), Head of the Sydney office of KWM and a well-respected solicitor by her peers and her clients.

It was great fun for me to pretend to be Tony Jones for the morning as facilitator and therefore be able to ask my own questions before opening it up to the numerous questions from the floor. What was particularly reassuring is that Judges and leading lawyers also forget birthday invitations and at times struggle to fit everything in. It seems that a good support network to outsource what is not that important, and being a part of a community like Ascham helps: if a working mother is not there for say the athletics race, someone will pick up the task of taking and sending a photo of their child.

We had some lovely feedback, some of which I have included here. Please come to our next breakfast—I am sure you will take home some great words of wisdom. I know I did.

Thanks to all those who attended, including our Patron, Mr Andrew Powell, and fellow Committee Members Jenny Ridhalgh (Harvey 1981), Amanda Pfeffer (Stern 2008), Sarah

Business Breakfast

We had a terrific turn out at the annual Business Breakfast.

Merrick (1986), Svetlana Collantes (2002) and Jasmine Stone (Clubb 1997) who made the event a great way to learn from one another and have fun, while getting to know the wider Ascham community.

• I want to thank you for taking the time to speak with the Ascham Old Girls and parents this morning. As a mother of four who has just gone back to work after staying home for a decade, I was particularly interested to hear Katrina and Brigitte talk about managing their commitments at home and at work. As I said in my question, I feel like one of the most important things I’m doing by re-starting my career is providing a visible pathway for my three girls. Thank you again for your time and insights. The event did not disappoint! April Palmerlee

• I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed hearing both Katrina and Brigitte speak and found it very interesting and inspiring to hear about their lives and careers. I’m the Head of Dispute Resolution at a large organisation and I am also the mother of two toddlers aged one and two, so I always like hearing about how other professional women manage work and family. I’ve never been to an Old Girls’ function before, but I will definitely come to the next one of this type! Alex Rodoreda (Crompton 1988)


Brigitte Markovic (1982), Giselle Collins (Jollie 1986), Katrina Rathie (Yee 1979) and Jenny Ridhalgh (Harvey 1981)

Ali Yeldham (1984), Liz Westgarth (1999) and Jasmine Stone (Clubb 1997)

Izzy Jensen, (2011), Felicity Bell (2011), Matilda Hartwig (2011), Jessica Wotton (2011), Sharlene Han (2012) and Sharon Ho (2012)

Tania Markovic (1979) and Penny Collins (1979) Georgina Noack (1975), Caroline Crane (1974) and Susan McKerihan (1967)

AOGU Committee Members Svetlana Collantes (2002), Amanda Pfeffer (Stern 2008) and Sarah Merrick (1986)

The panellists address the crowd

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Andrew Powell and Jenny Ridhalgh (Harvey 1981) were invited and both very kindly accepted our invitation and flew up from Sydney to join us. A great day was had by all. Thirty Old Girls from near and wide came to the lunch that was held at the Moreton Club in Brisbane. Andrew gave a very interesting speech, filling us in with all the goings on

at the School, which was very impressive, particularly the Indigenous Program that is a work in progress. Many thanks to Andrew and Jenny for giving up your precious time to come up and spend the day with us—we all appreciated it.

Sue Litchfield (Robinson 1962)

Queensland Old Girls ‘Get Together’

On 12 November 2016 the AOG Queenslanders had a ‘Get Together’.

Lisa Walshe (Sims 1975) and Fiona Michie (Maxwell 1975) Pattie Houston (Tomlinson 1949) and Andrew Powell

Diana Ketchion (McKillop 1971), Isobel Sommer (McKillop 1965) and Belinda Bridle (Busby 1965)

Elizabeth Adcock (McCredie 1979) and Elizabeth Jamieson (Storie 1984)

Our disbelief that 25 years had whizzed past was a common feeling, and was helped by the fact that everyone ‘still looked the same’—another common catchcry of the evening; a compliment noted and accepted! Forty of us remembered some of the old times and enjoyed being in the company of those who knew us way back then.

Success of such an event is due to the effort of all those able to attend. People came from all areas of the globe such as Hong Kong, London, Uruguay. Not to belittle the effort it takes to travel the smaller distances: some travelled from

Melbourne, Brisbane, Townsville, Noosa, Byron Bay and rural NSW. Those who couldn’t make it sent their well wishes from faraway places such as Bangkok, Singapore, Vietnam, London, Italy, New York and Hong Kong. It was promised to all that they would be given more notice for the 30 year reunion. Before everyone left the event it was agreed upon that the 30 year reunion would be in April 2021. Now that’s organised!

Ali Crawford (Higgs)

Class of 1991—25 year reunion

The Class of 1991 had a wonderful 25 year reunion on Saturday 30 April at Mrs Sippy in Double Bay.

Front left and anticlockwise: Caroline Hawker (Wells), Kirsty Pockley (Vidgen), Vicky Oehm, Sophie O’Neil, Jackie Lee (Arnott-Smith), Melissa Sproats (Hartley), Sally Walker, Roxanne Lancaster, Min Sides, Lee Cobb, Pip Pockley, Heidi Hardcastle, Sophie Moses, Alex Lamont, Sophie Gilder, Kirsty Wettenhall (Mack)

Amanda McGregor, Emily Jallat (Fitz-Gerald), Theodora Gerakiteys, Amber Reynolds and Jassy Dunn

Ali Crawford (Higgs), Theodora Gerakiteys, Louise Holt (Walker), Emily Jallat (Fitz-Gerald), Kate Pelly (Francis) and Jackie Lee (Arnott-Smith)

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Engagements Marriages Births Deaths

Marriages

Sarah Buchanan (1995) to Piers Dudin on Saturday 9 April 2016

Trilby McGaw (1993) to Cameron Hoffman on 26 March 2016

Brianna Edwards (1996) to Christian Stokes on 2 April 2016

Georgia Page (1997) to Mitchell Hansen on 24 March 2016

Krista Robinson-Vidal (2008) to Kenneth Navarro on 6 November 2015. Annie Robinson-Vidal (2006) was her maid of honour and Jessica Harper (2008) performed during the ceremony

Births

Grace Billie Karadimas Claudette Wadsworth and James Alexander Adrian van Praag

Trilby McGaw (1993) and Cameron Hoffman

Births

Sarah Cobby (Diver 1997)—son, Patrick Tristan, on 10 October 2015

Harriet Fesq (1999)—son, Felix Marko Norton-Smith, on 3 October 2015, a brother for Inigo.

Greta Gertler Gold (1988)—daughter, Lila Pannonica on 8 September 2015

Charlotte Hinwood (Dahms 1995)—daughter, Arabella Rose on 12 March 2015 a sister for Harrison and Oliver

Marissa Koop (1996)—daughter, Annelise Elva Hughes on 3 September 2015, a sister for Charlie and Lucinda

Alex Bell (Christian 2001)—daughter, Poppy Katherine on 22 April 2016

Arabella Nicholson (Steel 2000)—daughter, Imogen Arabella on 27 August 2016

Amber Reynolds (1991)—daughter, Arki Arrow Needham on 23 June 2014

Arabella Rose Hinwood Imogen Arabella Nicholson Lila Pannonica Gold

Krista Robinson-Vidal and Kenneth Navarro

Patrick Tristan Cobby

Bridie Ryan (2002)—daughter, Grace Billie Karadimas on 2 January 2016

Sophia van Praag (Harvey 2002)—son, Alexander Adrian on 4 August 2015, a brother for Eva Sophia

Claudette Wadsworth (1992)—son, James Purseglove Claude on 19 June 2015

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Deaths

W Robert Arnott on 23 January 2016, husband of Simone Arnott (Pirenne 1950), father of Adrienne Halley (Arnott 1986) and grandfather of Charlotte Halley (Year 7)

Mary Ann Arnott (Piper 1964) on 29 November 2015

Frances Aveyard on Monday 7 March 2016, mother of Kate Murray (Aveyard 1982), grandmother of Daisy Murray (2014) and Molly (Year 11) and Lily Aveyard, who will be in Year 7 at Ascham next year

Margaret Linley Baker (Littlewood) on 27 November 2015, mother of Bridget Badgery (Baker 1979), grandmother of Zara Badgery (2012) and Georgia Badgery (2014)

Miss Margaret Bell (1934) on 12 April 2014

Arthur Rhodes Bowman on 13 November 2015, father of Dimity Bowman (1990) and brother of Tina Milson (Bowman 1974)

Pamela Campbell (McLeod 1943) on 15 November 2015, mother of Barbie Johnson (1967) and Susan Williams (1974) and grandmother of Jennifer Humphrey (2000)

Ronnie Corbett on 31 March 2016, father of Emma Corbett and Sophie Corbett who came to Ascham for a year in 1979

Helen Ester (Cunningham 1962) on 30 October 2015, sister of Margaret Vischer (Cunningham 1960)

Dinah Fuller (Scott 1943) on 27 December 2015, mother of Carolyn Begg (1967), Wendy Willcocks (1969) and Yvonne Gorman (1972), grandmother of Nicola Clark (1998), Victoria Gorman (1999) and Annabel Gorman (2004) and Harriet Fuller (Prep)

Peter Grose in December 2015, father of Wendy Grace (1973) and Belinda Barcovich (1980)

Patty Laura Grieve (Thompson 1934) on 29 January 2016, mother of Jill Grieve (1963)

Sandy Mack (Croudace 1964)

13 March 1947 – 6 February 2016

Sandy always had fun and extremely fond memories of her time at Ascham. She treasured the special friendships she made, which would last her lifetime.

Sandy was the daughter of Gordon and Olive Croudace, and the

younger sister of Sarah (1959) and Antony. Sandy was born in Wellington, NSW and then moved further west, to Trangie, where her mother ambitiously took charge of Sandy’s home education. Sandy proved to be a challenging student and was soon sent to board at Ascham in 1957.

Macintosh House was where Sandy’s time at Ascham began. She and her friends remember House matrons that were both fearsome and wonderful. Hair was only to be washed once a week, lights were to be out at 8pm, and many hours were spent standing in the hallway with hands on heads for talking.

When asking Sandy’s friends for their memories of their time with her at Ascham, a very common theme became apparent: ‘I’m not sure if they would be appropriate for the AOG’s Magazine’! Stories included quick changes of clothing at the bottom of Fairy Walk, often used as access for leave when they found themselves gated for their ‘high spirited behaviour’; sunbaking on the annual Boarders’ Picnic to Bobbin Head; and climbing over the Archbishop’s garden wall to enjoy his mulberries. Tuesday ‘dits’ and Saturdays were a part of her management of the Dalton Plan.

Sandy was a very accomplished tennis player. She played in the Tildesley team from 1960–1964. She was on the team in 1962 when Ascham won the Tildesley Shield. She was in the Senior A Tennis Team in 1964 and was Vice-Captain when she and Maryan MacGregor won the Senior Doubles.

Sandy married George Mack in 1969 and had three daughters, Natasha (1988), Rachel (1989) and Kirsty (1991). They lived at ‘Weemabah’, Trangie until recently and the three girls boarded at Ascham. Sandy enjoyed being back at Ascham and was a particularly involved parent. Even from 500 km away, Sandy and George would get to as many School events as possible. Many Saturdays were spent driving children to and from sporting events all over Sydney and beyond.

Jenny Gunning (Chapman 1948) on Saturday 13 February 2015, mother of Amelia Schiwy (Gunning 1979)

Olivia Inglis on 6 March 2016, granddaughter of Margaret Inglis (Whitford 1938).

Sandy Mack (Croudace 1965) on 6 February 2016, mother of Natasha Evans (1988), Rachel Greig (1989) and Kirsty Wettenhall (1991)

Helene Munier (Bader 1949) on 1 February 2016

Lavinia Robson on 10 January 2016, mother of Lavinia Chrystal (1972) and Virginia Rundle (1974) and grandmother of Lavinia Chrystal (2006)

Diana Rose (Robinson 1943) on 23 October 2015, mother of Victoria Gibson (Rose 1973)

Mary Seccombe (1941) on 31 January 2016

Sally Sutherland on 29 December, mother of Penelope Joyce (Sutherland 1957), grandmother of Katie Stitt (Joyce 1989), Samantha Sutherland (1997) and Lucy Sutherland (2002)

Geoffrey Thompson on 11 November 2015 father of Camilla Fretwell (Thompson 1999) and Iris Davis (Thompson 2001)

Philip Joseph Wadsworth on 22 August 2015, father of Claudette (1992) Georgina (2007) and Charlotte Wadsworth (2009)

Dorothy Ward (1940) on 26 April 2016, mother of Anna Connery (1969)

Correction

Michael Richmond, father of Samantha Harrington (1986), Tiffany Scotton (1989) and Amanda Haigh (1996). Our sincere apologies to the family for incorrectly stating in the Summer 2015 edition that Rodney Richmond, brother of Samantha, Tiffany and Amanda, passed away.

Obituaries

Sandy was on the Ascham Board of Governors from 1992–1997. She had a very strong sense of community and was particularly involved with local charities and very generous with her time supporting others.

As a student, boarder, Old Girl, parent and friend of Ascham, Sandy was loved by all for her kindness and generosity. Her family was always most important, and over the last 15 years, Sandy absolutely loved the addition of her eight very precious grandchildren: Emily, Angus, Lily, Annabelle, Lockie, Mac, Cecilia and Ollie.

Sandy sadly passed away, aged 68 on 6 February, 2016. Her family would like to thank all her friends who have been so kind with their support and especially for all their special memories of Sandy. We were so lucky to be touched by her wonderful kindness.

Kindly provided by Natasha Evans (Mack 1988), Rachel Greig (Mack 1989) and

Kirsty Wettenhall (Mack 1991)

Helen Ester (Cunningham 1964)

4 December 1944 – 30 October 2015

Helen was born in Sydney, her father was a doctor

and Helen attended Ascham and Frensham. After school she completed an Arts degree at the Australian National University where she quickly became involved in the political left and the activism created by the Vietnam War.

While Helen enjoyed her time in the bush with husband Mike Shepherd, she missed the intellectual challenges of Canberra and moved back there to take a job with Kep Enderby, who became the Minister for Territories and later Attorney-General under Gough Whitlam’s government. Later, she joined the press gallery as a journalist. In that very male-dominated world she secured a place on the newsletter Inside Canberra, run by the legendary Don Whitington, and then set up her own newsletter, Monitor, concerned primarily with social issues.

Helen also worked as a correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review, which gave her the opportunity to travel. Using her left-wing contacts she went to Gaza and recorded a rare interview with PLO leader Yasser Arafat. She also

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Career updates

Lavinia Chrystal (2006)

Lavinia announced her retirement from international ski racing in August 2015, following her win in the National Championships in Thredbo. Lavinia represented Australia at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, two World Championships, World Junior Championships and won nine Australian National titles throughout her 12-year skiing career. Her retirement as an athlete coincides with her completion of a Master in International Business Management from The University of Sydney Business School and Ivey Business School in Canada. Lavinia was awarded the Nigel C Barker University of Sydney Graduate Medal for academic and sporting achievement in April. Lavinia was thrilled to win this award and said in her acceptance speech ‘winning this University Medal is a very close second to being selected for the Olympics!’ In May Lavinia relocated to Oslo (Norway) to commence her professional career at Universum, a Swedish employer branding and marketing company.

Juliet Burridge (2009)

In April 2016 Juliet was a finalist for the Edmund Barton Medal which recognises Master’s by coursework achievement at the University of Sydney. Juliet completed her Master of Diagnostic Radiography in 2015 with a High Distinction average and was a Dean’s scholar. She hopes to use her degree to return to her country roots providing much-needed radiography skills to under-serviced country areas.

Harrie Fasher (1995) wins the Windmill Scholarship Trust, established by Ascham Old Girl Primrose Moss (1957)

Congratulations to Harrie Fasher (1995) who won the 2015 Windmill Scholarship Trust. This is a monetary award made each year to a regional Australian artist to recognise talent and to encourage the recipient to continue in the field. It was established in 1997 by Ascham Old Girl Primrose Moss (1957) in honour of her sister Penny Meagher (Moss 1952) who was an amateur painter and died of Leukaemia in 1995. The judges were unaware of the Ascham Old Girl connection between the Moss sisters and Harrie at the time of judging. Harrie received her award on 4 February 2016 at the Maunsell Wickes Gallery in Paddington.

Greta Gertler Gold (1988)

Greta is currently writing two musicals in New York: one of which is about a woman in her 40s going through the IVF process, as played out through the story of a young pop star, striving to write her first hit.

Anna Hankin (2005)

Anna currently works for Microsoft, where she is focused on helping third party software companies leverage Microsoft’s global sales and marketing engines to grow its business. She is passionate about leveraging Microsoft’s resources to drive growth in Australia’s innovation ecosystem. Only 2 per cent of software bought in Australia is built in Australia, which means there is a lot of work to be done across both industry and government to help make the Australian innovation ecosystem competitive at a global level. Microsoft has a huge number of large enterprise customers and sales teams that have strong relationships with those customers (73,000 sales people and marketers worldwide). A big part of Anna’s role is to operationalise how Microsoft uses that network to generate leads for third party software companies so they can grow their customer base/cloud revenue.

Obituaries continued

visited Cambodia, where she was one of the first Western journalists to report the killing fields left by the defeated Pol Pot regime.

Helen moved back to Sydney, where she changed her surname to Ester, after a family member. Her commitment to participating in anti-war moratorium marches and other demonstrations, as well as an interest in Indigenous issues, led Helen to work with the Peace and Disarmament Movement and she became involved with many of the left-wing trade unions. The advent of the Hawke government in 1983 brought a new opportunity: Pat Dodson wanted a journalist for the Central Land Council in Alice Springs, and Helen was selected. The two became lifelong friends. Helen worked productively for Dodson for more than five years and had time to complete an MA thesis on the press gallery which she later expanded to a Doctorate.

When Helen moved north to Darwin, she concentrated on the successful defence of the Northern Territory Lands Rights Act. Her mother’s death brought her back to Sydney, where she joined SBS as a trainer for Indigenous journalists. After various short-term positions, Helen was offered a lectureship in journalism at the University of Central Queensland in Rockhampton where she worked for ten years, finishing her PhD. She finally resigned, to spend more time with her family.

For a time Helen moved to Byron Bay and worked at the local Community Centre as a very successful writer seeking grants for projects, one of which included an international portrait prize that now hangs in the Australian National Gallery. Her health deteriorated but she was never idle—there was always more to do, both on the political and personal level.

Helen was smart, funny and tough, she never became a celebrity, but her lifelong resume is lengthy and impressive. Most of all she was always committed and passionate—and compassionate. But in matters of belief and conviction she was unswerving to the end.

She was diagnosed with cancer and fought it with her usual courage and resilience. In the end it claimed her but not before she had time to sign up to a new campaign against the imposition of mining over agricultural lands. Now, she said, perhaps the farmers might realise what the traditional Aboriginal owners must have felt when they were fighting for their own land rights.

Helen Ester is survived by her daughters Ella and Niki, and grandchildren Kaia, Javahn, Selena and Alanah.

This obituary is an edited version of an obituary written by Mungo MacCallum (http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/helen-ester-pioneering-journalist-fought-for-fairness-20151119-gl3kqs)

Caroline Koo Simons (1999)

After studying a Bachelor’s degree in Government (Political Science) at Harvard in 2004, Caroline completed a law degree at Columbia University in 2008, and has been practising law ever since as a litigator. Caroline practises white collar defense/investigations and commercial litigation in the Boston office of Fish & Richardson, which is the leading intellectual property firm in the United States.

Lisa Messenger (1989)

Lisa is now a best-selling author for all of her three recently-released books and started The Collective magazine in 2013, which is sold in 37 countries and has one of the largest followings of any magazine in Australia. Lisa recently met with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Wyatt Roy MP in Canberra to discuss innovation and entrepreneurship.

Edwina Wilkes (1999)

Edwina initially studied at the University of Sydney and is now an equine veterinarian in Wagga Wagga. She’s currently specialising in Equine Medicine and working at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Equine Centre. CSU is the only other veterinary school in NSW and specialises in large animals.

Emily Wilkinson (2005)

Emily is currently working for SMEC, an engineering consultancy firm, in its transport team. Her role is highly varied and incorporates design, bid writing, finance and business development. She studied Engineering and Commerce at the University of Sydney. During this time she worked for NSW public works in Bathurst, providing project management support for a range of projects. Following graduation she worked for Leighton Contractors for three years. Emily worked in a range of different teams through the graduate program and has undertaken roles in bid development, project management on construction sites, as well as financial modelling for infrastructure investment.

Juliet Burridge (2009), Belinda Hutchinson (1971), Chancellor The University of Sydney, and Lavinia Chrystal (2006)

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Descendants of Old Girls on the 2016 School Roll

If we have missed any Old Girl connections we apologise and ask you to let us know of any errors or omissions.

Student name Mother Grandmother Great grandmother

PrepSybella Carroll Barbara Carroll

Zara Considine Kate Mortimer

Madeline Crawford Ali Higgs Patricia Glasgow

Allegra Deutsch Natasha Joel

Anna Wiles Gai Willis Joan Fell

KindergartenCleo Carroll Barbara Carroll

Ingse Dive Lisa Lehrer

Harriet Fuller Dinah Scott Isabelle Norton

Beatrice Henderson Yianoula Morris

Isla Oxley Amber Bushell

Sasha Smith Katrina Dawson

Honor Wenderoth Alexandra Beer

Year 1Olivia Aitken Ellie Field Celia Moses Jacqueline Whitford

Barbara ViversJemima Crawford Ali Higgs Patricia Glasgow

Elyssa Gan Shir-Jing Ho

Grace Miocevic Louisa Larkin

Anna Myers Emilie Goodison

Sienna Sharma Shanel Sharma

Skye Wells Kenney Wan

Year 2Marina Barnes Fredricka van der Lubbe

Allegra Martin Heidi Cosgrove

Ivy Smith Daliah Fox

Angelina Walker Christina Adgemis

Year 3Tilly Collins Giselle Jollie

Marni Finkelstein Melinda Marish

Phoebe Hill Victoria Higgs Patricia Glasgow

Annabelle Isles Caroline Allsopp

Teya Logan Georgi Shmith

Student name Mother Grandmother Great grandmother Lyla Mehta Freny Kalapesi

Skye Murray Primula Gollan Judith Playfair Madeline Simson

Anabelle Richardson Jean Kater

Mia Rogers Sue Collins

Skye Stodart Virginia Hyne

Year 4Rose Alexiou Berry Spry Scarlett Boyson Kathleen Mesley Edna Curtis

Kathleen ClaytonViolette Brahimi Sanchia Curran

Chloe Brogan Justine Kirkjian

Lucinda Isles Caroline Allsopp

Hazel Jackman Nicola Allen Beverly Coles Hazel Litchfield

Alice Jordan Emily Stone Margaret Stone

Thomasina Kay Hoyle Brigitte Markovic

Mia Lamb Siobhan Waugh

Lucia Lefebvre Sarah Dickson Sancha Bovill

Amelia Mackay Skye Little

Sophie Simpson Caroline Fairfax

Chloe Smith Katrina Dawson

Year 5Arabella Cossalter Susan Connell

Jessica Gilmartin Shemara Wikramanayake

Zoe Hill Victoria Higgs Patricia Glasgow

Alexandra Jones Jane Throsby Moana Fielding-Jones Margaret Osborne

Coco Lavigne Mia Freedman

Octavia Martin Heidi Cosgrove

Sophia Miller Skye Holden

Sophie Randall Ilona White Feo Sparowe

Zoe Richmond Justine Beaumont

Juliette Stahl Claudia Curran

Rebecca Tallis Kiera Grant

Lauren Young Joanne Mar

Year 6Isabella Alexiou Berry Spry

Margot Duncan Cynthia Piggin Saide Saddler

Mimi Dunlop Nikki Christmas

Erica Herron Emma Longworth

Milla Laguna Nicky Bowie Wilson

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Student name Mother Grandmother Great grandmother Josephine Lennox Charlotte Hayman

Lulu Maison Camilla Ritchie

Isabella Marchant-Williams Sophia Stephen

Rose Mather Emily Toll

Tehya McEvoy Catherine Szeto

India McLean Tain Moxham

Amelia Parker Margaret Terry

Heidi Raine Dorothy Scott

Saskia Roberts Samantha Corlett

Ella Sinnis Ursula Daly

Chloe Sproats Melissa Hartley

Ava Stahl Claudia Curran

Lola White Catherine Agostini Sally Fairfax Pamela Cobcroft

Feo Sparowe

Year 7Madeline Armitage Angela Stanton

Alexandra Beveridge Sally King-Scott

Arkie Dowse Lucinda Ipkendanz

Pia Dunlop Nikki Christmas

Sofia Everett Emilie Morgan

Teya Granger Libbe Ranken Anna Morrow

Charlotte Halley Adrienne Arnott Kirstin Alexander Simone Pirenne

Eliza Howard Georgina Raine Dorothy Scott

Ava Jaques Katherine Holmes Inga Melville

Mimi Kind Kim Hutchins Janette Lennox

Lucinda Martin Heidi Cosgrove

Marlo McClintock Julia Booth Ann Foster

Elizabeth Michel Nicola Dowe Barbara Kirkby

Star Rose Miller Skye Holden

Rebecca Molnar Dania Nathanson

Harriet Morris Joyce Ruskin Rowe Vera Connell****

Abby Newton Ann Chick

Phoebe Oates Belinda King

Victoria Ridhalgh Jennifer Harvey

Alexandra Roberts Samantha Corlett

Eglantine Samway Jemima Littlemore

Emma Saunders Carolyn Rossler

Claudia Steglick Victoria Lewis

Chloe Tallis Kiera Grant

Student name Mother Grandmother Great grandmother India Taylor Brooke Charles Suzanne Stogdale

Ginger Hudson Alexandra Yeldham

Year 8Sasha Allen Beverley Coles Hazel Litchfield

Miriam Arnold Karen Arnold

Olivia Beaumont Erica Shannon

Pippa Bell Philippa Scott Jacqueline Champneys

Miriam Wharton

Honor Brahimi Sanchia Curran

Alexandra Brand Sarah Merrick

Zara Broinowski Michelle Stead***

Alexandra Cooke Nicole Wright

Xanthe Fenwicke Angela Brazier Bronwyn Lee

Neisha Heath Anita Patel

Cara Hersov Fiona Philip

Olivia Hersov Fiona Philip

Francesca Jones Jane Throsby Moana Fielding-Jones Margaret Osborne

Anna Jordan Emily Stone Margaret Stone

Indianna MacKenzie-Wood Sarah Hartley

Sophie Mason Sally Weickhardt

Ava McClure Georgie King

Manon McDermott Nicole Cobb Mary Terrey

Bella McGrath Shan Stevens

Alexandra McLaughlin Abigail Osborne Barbara Ward

Gretel Power Eliane Beaumont

Ellen Regan Lucy Cannington

Jasmine Steele-Park Kate Murray

Phoebe Turner Penny Collins Roseanne Mould Nancy Rose

Georgia York Jean Bennett

Year 9Lulu Anderson Patricia MacPhillamy

Sophie Blades Nicola Downey

Teya Cobcroft Anna Buckley

Romy Cohen Lissy Abrahams

Saskia Collins Giselle Jollie

Lara Elphinstone Julia Weickhardt

Clara Freeman Katherine Molnar

Victoria Gillespie Anna Clark

Rachel Herron Emma Longworth

Annabel Howard Georgina Raine Dorothy Scott

32 33


Student name Mother Grandmother Great grandmother Alex Kelley Nellie Menzies

Teya Kind Kim Hutchins Janette Lennox

Zara Lowe Jocelyn Parker

Florence Macintyre Jilly Gavin

Cate Maple-Brown Susan Arnold Janet Bowman

Adelaide Maurency Elizabeth Stone Margaret Stone

Skye Milson Colin Milson*

Chloe Molnar Dania Nathanson

Sophie Nicholas Alexandra Crammond

Harriet Psaltis Sally Heath Virginia Lane Nancy Wake

Lucy Randall Ilona White Feo Sparowe

Belle Retallack Sandra Gordon Helen Terrey

Gabriella Richmond Justine Beaumont

Julia Ridhalgh Jennifer Harvey

Arabella Riepler Vanessa Schwarz

Isabella Roach Lara Berryman

Francesca Roberts Samantha Corlett

Amera Sarkis Dalal El-Asrawi

Maddie Smith Tiffanie Jones

Zara Vivers Belinda Bucknell Joan Black**** Lucy Tricket****

Alexandra Walton Betty Weihen

Indigo Warner Pip Barnet Ross Barnet* Gladys Gordon

Year 10Georgia Allen Beverly Coles Hazel Litchfield

Harriet Allsop Anna Nisbet

Naomi Arnold Karen Arnold

Camilla Bell Philippa Scott Jacqueline Champneys

Miriam Wharton

Constance Brahmimi Sanchia Curran

Catriona Caldwell Fiona Gardiner-Hill

Ashley Kind Kim Hutchins Janette Lennox

Chelsea Koltai Vanessa Lendvay

Rosie Martin Vanessa Cox Brenda Lugsdin Nancy Hosking

Lucia McDermott Nicole Cobb Mary Terrey

Eleanor Michel Nicola Dowe Barbara Kirkby Hermione Pegler Annabelle Ashton

Rachel Ridhalgh Jennifer Harvey

Mia Samengo Bettina Bartos

Lily Steele-Park Kate Murray

Amber Strelitz Sally Bucknell

Student name Mother Grandmother Great grandmother Year 11Tessa Barry Nicola Francis

Amy Blades Nicola Downey

Alexis Campbell Alison Stoker

Mia Cohen Lissy Abrahams

Zoe Crow Lucinda Kloster

Stella Duncan Cynthia Piggin Saide Saddler

Ellen Everett Emilie Morgan

Claudia Finlayson Nina Cannington Beverly Francis

Elizabeth Gillespie Anna Clark

Annabel Holden Hazel Allen Hazel Litchfield

Aliette Kiss Adrienne Revai**

Juliet Leicester Skye Power Heather MacDonald

Ruby Mann Catherine Stirling

Emma Maple-Brown Susan Arnold Janet Bowman

Maisie McFadyen Peta Jaquet

Tully Robinson Sarah Brazier Bronwyn Lee

Amelia Turner Penny Collins Amelia Mould Nancy Rose

Gabi Warner Pip Barnet Ross Barnet* Gladys Gordon

Skye White Camilla Casey

Year 12Zara Caldwell Fiona Gardiner-Hill

Amy Carrigan Jennifer Chick

Amana Cobcroft Anna Buckley

Charlotte Coogan Smith Fiona Coogan Mary Stephen

Isobel Guinness Holly Johnston

Anna Harrison Judith Austin-Jones Vera Burcham

Hannah Kelley Nellie Menzies

Jessica McGrath Shan Stevens

Matilda Michel Nicola Dowe Barbara Kirkby

Grace Moses Barbara Vivers

Amelia Nielssen Tania Markovic

Ali Oayda Lisa Abrahams Nikki Edel

Edwina Raine Dorothy Scott

Emma Sweeney Edwina Dunlop Jill Saxton Phyllis Haley

Holly Taylor Shan Stevens

Sacha Thane Elizabeth Drew

Portia Waller Fiona Lance

* Indicates the descendant is an Old Boy ** Indicates the relation is a step-mother *** Indicates the relation is a step-grandmother **** Indicates the relation is a great great grandmother

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Next AOG Magazine—do you have any news?

The AOGU office welcomes information including graduations, careers, reunions, engagements, marriages, births, deaths, items of interest and changes of address.

If you would like to let us know of your Ascham forebears and wider connections (for example, aunts) please give as many details as possible including name, maiden name and year of leaving Ascham.

Please use let us know if you would like to receive Ascham’s weekly eNews sent to parents, staff and members of the Ascham community. It is published during school terms and contains detailed news. It is only available via email.

Name: Maiden name:

Email address: Years at school:

Phone (include mobile):

Address: Postcode:

News:

Current career/studies:

FeedbackWe are requesting feedback on the Ascham Old Girls’ Magazine in order to continually improve it and provide a magazine to Old Girls that meets their expectations. We may publish comments that you make. Please let us know if you would not like your comments to be published.

Please send any suggestions and feedback to Editor, Ascham Old Girls’ Magazine, Ascham School, 188 New South Head Road, Edgecliff 2027 or email: [email protected].

NEXT ISSUE – Summer 2016

Submission deadline: Friday 2 September 2016

Yes I consent to sharing my details amongst Old Girls.

Yes I would like to receive Ascham’s weekly eNews.

36


Founder Miss Marie Wallis

Patron Mr Andrew Powell

Office Bearers for 2016 President: Mrs Jennifer Ridhalgh (Harvey)

Vice Presidents: Mrs Giselle Collins (Jollie) and Mrs Amanda Pfeffer (Stern)

Honorary Treasurer: Mrs Sarah Merrick

Honorary Secretary: Mrs Amanda Pfeffer (Stern)

Membership Secretary: Mrs Tina Milson (Bowman)

Committee Mrs Lisa Anne Bell, Ms Julia Booth, Miss Svetlana Collantes, Miss Olivia Crowley, Miss Anna Della Marta, Ms Amber Glajz, Miss Lucinda Spence, Miss Jasmine Stone (Clubb)

AOGU Committee

The School Committee in 1958. Back row left to right: Jane Norman (Wincer), Robin Bennett (Bucknell), Sandra Anderson, Helen Duhs (McLucas), Christine Bear (Molesworth); front row left to right: Muffy Morison (Beaumont), Ray Parsons (Mould), Ms Dorothy Whitehead, Angela Taylor (Ackland), Ronnie Harding (Mackellar)

Ascham Old Girls’ Union

188 New South Head Road, Edgecliff NSW 2027 Australia

P +61 2 8356 7065 E [email protected]

www.ascham.nsw.edu.au

winter 2016 -...

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