Lion's Roar Newsletter
Term 4 | Week 8
2024 FINAL ISSUE
From the Principal
MRS NICOLA TAYLOR
PRINCIPAL
The end-of-year traditions at PLC Armidale involve students attending and engaging in learning experiences right to the end. I was reminded of this in discussion with some families new to the College who commented on the contrast between their daughter’s end-of-school-year experience this year and their previous school experience.The final weeks at PLC Armidale saw girls participate in life-saving activities, with a special thank you to the Year 10 students who, having been trained and selected, worked with the Junior School girls in their learn-to-swim program.
Social Service is appreciated within and outside of our community. Junior School girls delighted residents in local aged care facilities with their visit and musical charm whilst the program in the Senior School took on a new direction.
... continue reading here
... This year each grade across the Senior School has focused on a charitable organisation or enterprise to raise awareness and funds in support: Year 7 - Aged Care services; Year 8 Aboriginal Support Agencies; Yr 9 Embrace/Women's Shelter; Yr 10 Allowah Children's Hospital; Yr 11 AGAPE Children's Home; and Yr 12 Anya's Wish. These will continue to be target charities for the respective grades in future years, allowing us to strengthen our connection over time.
Guild Drama, a signature PLC Armidale event, continues to delight and showcase learning, leadership, collaboration and teamwork, all integral to the PLC Armidale experience. The 47th Guild Drama did not disappoint, with a record number of Old Girls in attendance, including a panel of Old Girls - Anneliese O’Sullivan (2011), Melissa Harvey (2013) and Chelsea Jeffery (2013) as judges and clear marking criteria including a number of pre and post-performance elements (such as cleaning up the Guild Rooms) - Dixon was awarded the 2024 Guild Drama Shield!
Along with these events, our Carols in the Cathedral (St Peter’s Anglican) was a delight, it was encouraging to see many new as well as many familiar faces join with staff and students to mark the significance and purpose of the Christmas account.
We were delighted to host The Reverend Lyle Sims, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of NSW at both our Carols Service and Speech Day , as well as Mrs Leah Russell, Chairwoman of College Council and Dr Paul Burgis, Principal of PLC Sydney. Each spoke positively of these events and were encouraged by the quality, quantity and diversity of accomplishments evident.
We were honoured to have Ms Alice Rickards (Class of 1998) perform and present aspects of her professional journey inspired whilst a student of the College to pursue her studies in music. Alice completed undergraduate and then post-graduate studies at the Queensland Conservatorium and the Royal Academy of London, respectively. Alice was appointed to the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Australian Haydn Ensemble working professionally as a violinist. With the advice of her father Dr Arther Rickards, ringing in her ears -”once you excel in your profession, you can use that platform to influence or contribute to other causes you’re passionate about” and the influence of her regional roots, Alice spoke of being inspired to weave together her desire to raise awareness of environmental issues through music- expressed by the Sequoia Duo which she founded, the ensemble having won a number of awards for their work.
It has been a strong end to a year of encouragement to explore, serve, journey. In addition to the events mentioned above, the 2024 Sports Dinner attended by more than 150 people was another highlight. Nicola Olyslagers, our guest speaker, was inspirational in her advice to the girls to see the winners podium as a shared space . As well, to pursue interests, including sport with a clear sense of meaning and purpose beyond just winning.
It was a fitting recognition that PLC Armidale was also named as the highest NAPLAN performing school in the region. Fitting because of our high participation rate, 98 per cent, but also because all students are given the opportunity to take part and are not coached for the tests. Rather, the results reflect the culture of learning and focus on literacy and numeracy in all grades, not just the NAPLAN ones (3, 5, 7, 9).
Academic Endeavour, Creative & Performing Arts, Leadership & Service, Sport & Outdoor Education - the four pillars of the PLC Armidale experience - clearly evident throughout the year but on display in a special way as the 2024 Academic Year concludes.
Wishing every member of the PLC Armidale College Community a very blessed Christmas and New Year season.
“For to us a son is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
Congratulations
Throughout the year, we want to acknowledge and celebrate the various interests and accomplishments of PLC Armidale girls. We will be aware of the experiences girls undertake to represent the College. We may not know about experiences and achievements in areas of interest outside of school. Please let our Communications and Marketing Manager, Mrs Arundale know. Mrs Arundale greatly enjoys telling the story of the quality and achievements of our PLC Armidale girls.
Congratulations to ...
...our Class of 2025
...who led a fantastically successful fundraising World's Greatest Shave event in our Junior School that raised $10,697 for the Leukaemia Foundation. You can still make donations HERE
... Dixon winners of the 2024 Guild Cup Trophy
and everyone who was part of our 2024 Guild Drama final 2024 extravaganza
What a fabulous finish to our 2024 school year. Our annual Guild Drama is an extravaganza of our girls' talent. Led by our four Guild Captains, each performance is written, choreographed, costumed, staged, and performed entirely by our students from Kindergarten through to Year 11. After only six afternoons of rehearsals, the results astound us every year. To finish the day, a surprise teacher dance delighted everyone!
you can see all the photos and find out who received the Judge's awards HERE
...Hamlin who are once again our overall Guild Shield winners
See all the photos from this sublime evening on our Parent portal HERE
Activities Week
All our girls across Junior and Senior Schools enjoyed a week of service and activities at the end of Term 4. With lifesaving skills development each morning, then singing, craft and service followed by Guild Drama rehearsals every afternoon - their days were full of the spirit of the season.
Student Leaders
Senior School News
Congratulations to ...
... our Stage 4 STEM stars
During a 16-week Maths Extension program, students explored mathematics developed by French Mathematician Peter Dirichlet, including logic problems, tessellations, primes and composites, and specific problem-solving techniques.
Certificates of Credit were presented to Juliette Creamer and Hansali Dammalage for their efforts in this course, allowing talented Year 7 students to widen their mathematical knowledge and skills beyond the standard curriculum.
A Certificate of Distinction was also presented to our Year 8 student Olive McFarlane for her performance in the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC).
... our Year 11 student Nevada Guiance
who has been named runner-up Rural Young Scientist of the Year.Nevada also received an Encouragement Award for highly commended students who show particular promise and are encouraged to pursue further development.This is the fourth consecutive year Nevada has received a Young Scientist Award - a phenomenal achievement.Nevada's project 'A Novel Approach to Ascorbate Sensing Using a Coumarin-Based Fluorescent Probe' has been selected for the National Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA) i3 Awards. Entry to the i3 Awards is by nomination only for school students who have demonstrated exceptional results in their state or territory STEM awards program. From more than 100 prize-winning entries, each state Science Teacher's Association may only nominate up to eight projects for consideration in the national competition.
...our Senior School STEM stars - Emily Adams (Credit- Earth & Environmental); Binudi Vithana- (Distinction- Earth & Environmental); Amelie Van der Werf (Distinction- Physics), and Nevada Guiance (High Distinction- Chemistry)
for their outstanding results in the Senior Science Olympiads. These super challenging papers allow students in Years 10 to 12 to test themselves in specific strands of scientific endeavour. The papers are notoriously difficult and can be used as qualifiers for representing Australia in the International Science Olympiads
..our Term 4 PLC Armidale Citizenship Award recipients: Lucy and Katy Ward, Emily Adams, Anna Song and Emily Wei.
These awards are presented to girls who have received three or more merit awards. Ad Astra girls!
On Thursday, December 5, our Senior School community gathered in the Dorothy Knox Centre (DKC) for Speech Day - a celebration of our girls' academic achievement in 2024.
Those gathered were entertained by our Senior Choir and a Senior String ensemble performance before graduation certificates were handed out to each student and the announcement of our special prize recipients for 2024.
Our guest speaker was Ms Alice Rickards (Class of 1998), who performed and presented aspects of her professional journey.
Year 10 Aqua Aerobics
One of the Year 10 PDHPE Term 4 activities was a weekly aqua aerobics class devised and conducted by the girls for their peers. It demonstrated how keeping fit and acitive can also be fun.
Find all the photos from our 2024 Year 9 Explore Serve Journey peak experience HERE
Year 9 Explore Serve Journey
Our 2024 Explore Serve Journey Year 9 peak experience has come to an end. We ill have a full report in our final issue for 2024
The Dec/Jan issue of RMWilliams OUTBACKMagazine, has a two-page feature on our ESJ program.
Junior School News
Congratulations to ...
... our incoming 2025 Junior School leaders
... all our Junior School Assembly Award recipients
You can find a gallery of our Term 4 Junior School Award winners HERE on our Parent Portal
... our Special 2024 Junior School Time to Shine Award recipients
The Taylor Routley Memorial Prize for Fiction was presented to Sophia Craig
The Armidale Regional Council Citizenship Award was presented to Rose Hopkinson
The Effort and Achievement in Choir Award, was awarded to Bella Wysel
The Alexandria Ada Lam Prize for Choir in the Junior School was awarded to Sophia Craig
The Head of Junior School Award for Excellence in Music was presented to Shiloni Katta
The Presbyterian Church of Australia NSW Trustee Award for Christian Leadership was awarded to Abigail Lidgerwood
The Oorala Indigenous Achievement Award was presented to Miriama Nasilasila
The Junior School Sports Achiever for 2024 was Evie Donaldson
The Junior School community came together in the Astra Arts Centre on Friday, 22 November to celebrate the achievement of our Kindergarten to Year 6 girls.
As their parting gift to Junior School, Year 6 gave more than $1153 to go towards a Gaga Pit from money raised by them throughout the year.
As well as celebrating every girl's achievement throughout 2024, we enjoyed performances by the Junior School Strings Ensemble, K-2 Choir, 3-6 Choir, as well as the Treblemakers ensemble, and all were spectacular!
You can find all the photos in our Parent Portal Gallery.
See all the Photos HERE
Primary School activities for the holidays from our Senior School Speech Day guest speaker alumna Alice Rickards ( Class of '98).
Alice's passion project is Sequoia -an award-winning string duo she has formed with Sonia Cromarty, dedicated to exploring the natural world through music. Their website has a number of activities for Junior School children and you can find them HERE
Boarding Life
Sam and Amy Jacometti
HEADS OF BOARDING
A Festive Season of Fun in the Boarding House
The boarding house has been bustling with holiday cheer and creative energy this December. Our annual Best Dressed Christmas event saw impressive participation, with Venus taking home the overall winner's title and Isla earning a special mention for her dedicated effort.
The dorm door decorating competition reached new heights this year, with increased collaboration among students. Year 9 boarders claimed the championship with their winning door design, which cleverly wove humor and creativity into an engaging narrative.
A highlight of the season was our celebration for Ms Brazier's upcoming arrival, complete with games, festive decorations, and delicious cupcakes. The girls also unleashed their inner performers at our Pop Star themed dinner night, dressing up and enjoying an entertaining evening of karaoke.
None of these wonderful events would have been possible without the exceptional leadership of our Boarding Prefect, Poppy, who has shown outstanding dedication in coordinating activities that bring our boarding community together.
We wish all our boarding families a safe and happy break and look forward to welcoming everyone back in 2025, with our Welcome BBQ scheduled for Tuesday, January 28 at 5pm. The boarding house will open from 2pm that day for student arrivals. The first official day of school will be Wednesday, January 29, beginning with our commencement assembly at 9am.
Sam and Amy Jacometti
Creative and Performing Arts News
String Soirée – A Night to Remember
On Tuesday, 26 November, we enjoyed a delightful evening of music and drama at our annual String Soirée.
Our string ensembles enchanted us with beautiful performances, and this year’s program also featured highlights from our Drama students, including: The Red Tree performance by Edie, Georgie, Ella, Ava, and Emma; a Year 8 Group Devised piece by Poppy-Grace, Imogen, Issy, and Hope; and solo performances by Lola, Rebe, and Kithmi.
String Soirée has long been a cherished event on the PLC Armidale calendar, and this year’s blend of music and drama made it even more special.
See all the photos on our Parent Portal HERE
Holiday Reminder for Cast Members
For those with lines to learn, the holidays are the perfect time to focus on memorisation. Our goal is to have everyone "scripts down" by the time school resumes, ensuring a streamlined and dynamic rehearsal process.
Save the Date: Mary Camp
To kick off rehearsals next term, we will hold Mary Camp on the weekend of Week 1:
Dates: Friday 31st January – Sunday 2nd February
Attendance: This is a compulsory event for all cast members, as outlined during the information night.
Performance dates for Mary Poppins in 2025
Tuesday, June 17 - Preview; Wednesday, June 18 -Schools Matinee; Thursday, June 19 -Opening Night; Friday, June 20- Evening Performance; Saturday, June 21 -Matinee Performance; Saturday, June 21 - Closing Night Performance.
Sport News
Congratulations to ....
...our Celebration of Sport prize recipients:
Reeve Cup Elsie Wake; Lawton Trophy Lilly Higgins; Youman Shield Poppy McLaren; Tom Award Holly Sheedy; Mullen Award Natasha North; Equestrian Shield Lillian Meredith ; Student Coach of the Year Ella Jenkins; Spirit in Sport Sophie Young; Most Improved Team of the Year PLC 4 Wildcats Netball Team; Junior Team of the Year- Sisson Shield PLC Junior Representative Netball Team; Senior Team of the Year PLC Senior Representative Netball Team; Year 7 Rookie Award Emma Birnie; Supporters Award Yvette Ballard; Service to Sport Natalie Meredith; Athletics & Cross Country Cup Olive McFarlane; Years 7-9 Sportsmanship Award Lily Donaldson; Years 10-12 Sportsmanship Award Georgia Whibley; Junior Sports Shield Evie Matthews; Senior Sports Shield Bridie O'Neill; Junior Sportsperson of the Year Trista Dorrian and Lillian Meredith; Senior Sportsperson of the Year Stephanie Blake Most Outstanding Individual Sporting Achievement Sophie Bailey
... everyone involved in our annual Celebration of Sport
Thanks to the generosity of our two major sponsors, Invest Blue and Roberts Morrow, our evening featured Australian Olympic high jump sensation Nicola Olyslagers on Friday, 29 November 2024, at the Armidale Golf Club.
As the only Australian field athlete to win medals at consecutive Olympics, Olyslagers has captured the nation's imagination. Her remarkable journey includes silver medals at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics, and a bronze medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
The semi-formal event included an awards presentation celebrating PLC Armidale student sporting achievements for 2024 and a charity auction supporting PLC Armidale representative athletes.
You can see all the photos HERE
Health News
Healthy Eating and Nutrition
There are several resources that are available to learn more about Healthy Eating. Parents are encouraged to look into this where applicable.
Alternatively, purchasing lunches from the Dining Hall is also a convenient option.
Medicare details and medications in Edumate
It would be much appreciated if all parents/carers can check your daughters' Edumate details, especially for any medical updates, current medications and their medicare details. Please update the Edumate data to notify the school for any changes, or simply email us with any updates.
Health Centre opening hours
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 8:30am to 3:30pm - Emily
Tuesday and Friday 8:30am to 3:30pm - Amy
Contact number: 02 6770 1741. Email: health@plcarmidale.nsw.edu.au
P&F News
Sarah Yassine
P&F President
Thank you for all your support and voluntary efforts this year. I hope you have a fabulous festive season and a Happy New Year.
We have enjoyed wonderful attendance at our recent P & F meetings and I hope this continues in 2025.
We value your ideas and contributions - if you would like to raise anything in AOB please get in touch at
GREEN TARTAN
ALUMNAE NEWS
Send us your news!
We love to hear about what our alumnae have been doing - so please let us know what has been happening in your life.
Births, deaths, marriages, milestone celebrations - whatever you feel like sharing with the other Old Girls, please tell us so we can include it in this section of the Lion's Roar each fortnight.
Our PLC Armidale alumnae are a stellar group of women who excel in a diverse range of areas, leading lives of significance.
Success looks different for everyone, and we like to celebrate it all - not just that which is in the public eye.
Email your news to: communications@plcarmidale.nsw.edu.au
Want to get together with your class?
If you are interested in joining or organising a milestone reunion group during the Reunion Weekend in October 2025, please get in touch with us at enquiries@plcarmidale.nsw.edu.au
Old Girls at our 2024 last weeks of 2024 events
We had many of our alumnae at our 2024 year-end-events.
Our Carols and Service of Nine lessons were well attended by past PLC Armidale choral stars, including one of our most senior Old Girls, Dorothy McRae (Class of '46), who attended with her daughter Old Girl Mary Eickhoff (nee McRae) and granddaughter Esther Eickhoff (Class of '21).
Our Speech Day guest speaker was a Class of '98 alumna Alice Rickards and many recent Old Girls were in the audience for our 2024 Guild Drama - which was judged by Old Girls Chelsea Jeffery and Melissa Harvey (Class of 2013) and Annelise Williams nee O’Sullivan (Class of 2011).
We welcome all our alumnae to visit the College whenever it is convenient - but we particularly like hosting you at one of our many wonderful events.
Congratulations to Dakotah Love (Class of 2017) who married Justin Tjong on Tuesday, December 3, at Goonoo Goonoo Station.
Our Year 12 string ensemble was delighted to be asked to perform in uniform at the service.
General News
PLC Armidale Uniform Shop - Summer Holiday Opening Times
Last Week of Summer Holidays
Thursday, January 23 by appointment and Friday, January 24 Open 9am to 12 pm
Boarders return, and PLC Armidale 2025 Welcome Barbecue
Tuesday, January 28: open 2pm -4pm
Students First Day Back for 2025
Wednesday, January 29 open 8am-11am
Lunch Orders
The full week's menu can be seen on your My Student Account via CONNECT
The deadline each day for ordering a hot meal is 10:50 am, after that cut off, both salad bar and make-your-own-sandwich options are available until 1.15 pm.However, there will be no spare hot specials available.
Junior School families are asked to contact Mrs Creamer for assistance on the day.
Senior School students will need to use their Student ID card for an on-the-spot purchase and all salad bar or make-you- own-sandwich pre bookings need to be marked off on arrival to the Dining Hall.
You can book online via CONNECT by clicking the My Student Account tile.
