Leadership News
Message from the Principal
End of Term Report
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Message from the Deputy Principal
Message from Chris
College News
Ballarat School Bus Changes
Year 12 Retreat
On Thursday, 6th February to Friday, 7th February, the Year 12 cohort embarked on the highly anticipated retreat. For years, we had heard countless stories from past Year 12s about the retreat, and we couldn’t wait to experience it for ourselves. The glowing reflections from previous cohorts filled us with high expectations, and I’m thrilled to say that our retreat lived up to every bit of the excitement.
Throughout the retreat, we were given the time to reflect both independently and as a team on our journeys so far, while looking ahead to the final year of high school. In small group discussions, we explored topics ranging from school life to life beyond the classroom, touching on our hopes, concerns, and the big questions on our minds. These conversations created a space for vulnerability, allowing us to connect more deeply with one another — often with people we hadn’t expected to have such meaningful exchanges with.
While these intimate moments were powerful, we also had the chance to come together as a whole cohort, strengthening our bond in a variety of ways. Whether it was during snack breaks (of which there were plenty!) or sitting outside taking in the breathtaking views, the retreat fostered a sense of unity and shared experience.
One of the retreat’s most cherished traditions is the affirmations bag. Each student writes their name on a brown paper bag, and over the course of the retreat, peers anonymously write uplifting messages to each other. We opened our bags on the final day, and it was truly heartwarming to see how many people noticed, appreciated, and understood us.
In addition to this, we had a profound discussion on Verity— the value of 2025 - and the importance of being truthful and authentic in all aspects of our lives. Through deep conversations in our small groups, we gained a better understanding of how to embrace Verity and live it out in our actions.
As the Class of 2025, we’re excited to celebrate this pivotal year together, marking a huge milestone not only for us but also for the Loreto community. We can’t wait to see what the rest of the year holds, and we’re eager to share this journey with all of you!
Public Speaking News - Lions Youth of The Year Competition
Lions Youth of the Year is a wonderful program for our senior students to enter where they are recognised for their extensive range of activities and community involvement and benefit from interview skills and public speaking. Each student that enters appreciates the mentoring by pillars in our community.
This year Ella Cartwright and Jemima Knobel embraced the challenge and spoke about youth crime and truth telling in their prepared speeches. Congratulations to Jemima Knobel who won Best Speaker and Overall Winner at the Buninyong Club division and will move on to the state competition.
Year 7 Camp
GROUP 1
On Wednesday 19 February, we arrived at school with bags packed ready for a thrilling adventure at camp. When we got there, we were greeted by friendly staff members and not long after we went into our first rotations. All the rotations were one hour long and they included archery, orienteering, gaga, milk crate stacking and crowd favourite zipline, we had our prepacked morning tea. However, we got given afternoon tea which was fruit and a slice delicious of cake which was gone in 2 seconds then we were sent off for 2 more rotations before dinner.
For dinner we had chicken, veggies, rice and gravy and a delicious chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and ice cream which was so yummy we all wanted seconds. We then went for an intriguing night walk and then made iconic Damper and drank Billy tea by the campfire before heading off to bed at 9:30. The next morning we were up and ready for breakfast, then we had our last rotation. Then we ate a delicious lunch and then gathered all our stuff, thanked everyone and farewelled this amazing camp.
GROUP 2
When us second day campers arrived on Thursday 20 February, it was a bit of mayhem trying to organise us to do the roll and put our stuff down. Once that was done, we met some friendly staff members. Then we had our packed morning tea. Then the staff led us down to the oval were some year tens greeted us. While we were down on the oval the year tens taught us the Loreto College war cry in our home rooms. Then we did one as a big group. Then the others left, and we got into our four activity groups.
The activities we did were zipline and the gaga pit. Then the afternoon came, and we had dinner, for dinner we had jacket potato's and bolognaise sauce. Then we went for an eye-opening night walk where we got to climb over a massive fallen tree. Then we made damper and drank billy tea then we went to bed. The next day the groups finished off our fun activities. For lunch we had burgers. Then we did one last sweep of the camp to make sure we had got everything, and we then got on the buses and waved goodbye to camp. Overall Year 7 camp was an amazing way to get to know more fellow students and make friendships based on laughter and fun. We now officially feel ready to start our Loreto journey.
Year 8 Camp
The best part of camp was making new friends and getting even closer with the ones I already had. Being away from school in a completely different environment gave me the chance to talk to people I wouldn’t normally hang out with, it was so much fun getting to know everyone better! One of the biggest challenges was stepping out of my comfort zone during team activities, especially with people I hadn’t really talked to before. Through those challenges, I learned how important it is to listen to others and work together by considering everyone’s ideas. Next year’s Year 8s should be excited for boogie boarding! Catching waves with friends was so much fun, even if it took some trial and error to get it right. But once you do, the feeling is totally worth it!
My highlights on camp were pizza making and boogie boarding. The pizza was hard to make from scratch, but I soon got the hang of it and boogie boarding was so fun! Although I got dumped a few times, I had the time of my life. The bonitos challenge definitely challenged me and my group the most. There were lots of fun activities during camp. I loved camp because I was there with my friends. I think the Year 8’s next year should be most excited for boogie boarding and pizza making. The water was nice for boogie boarding and the waves were absolutely massive! The pizza was super delicious. I loved connecting with my friends and other people.
Arts News
Loreto Students Lend a Creative Hand at the Begonia Festival
The students assisted with the festival’s children’s activity, helping young artists bring their creativity to life on blackboards.
It was wonderful to see our students engaging with the community, fostering creativity, and making the event even more enjoyable for local families. A big thank you to all the students who generously gave their time—your efforts truly made a difference!
Science News
Solutions for the Future
The event was held at Parliament House in Melbourne to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and included many opportunities to network with other girls interested in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine), as well as members of The Royal Society of Victoria and researchers.
We heard from Ruwini Cooray (spoke on Future Health), Dr Kim Reid (spoke on Future Climate) and Dr Morley Muse (spoke on Future Energy), who are all passionate about girls being included in the future of STEM. Their pathways and research were very interesting to learn about and got me thinking about what I may do in the future.
My connection with Ballarat Tech School over 2023 and 2024 as a participant, then a student leader for their Girls in STEM program led me to this event. I have lots of girls my age with similar interests and aspirations and networked with amazing people in the field of STEM.
