St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove | Sydney Catholic Schools

Aspiration key to HSC success

St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove’s Class of 2023 graduate not just with impressive HSC results, but with a desire to make a difference to their communities.

Here, three graduates share how their experience of Year 12 – and high-level Maths and Science – have left them on track to reach their future goals.

Jacqueline Keir received an ATAR of 99.4. She sat Mathematics Extension 2 in 2022, leaving her to complete nine units including Physics in this year’s HSC.

“It freed up time for me to focus on the subjects that remained,” she said. “ I still took up nine units which was a lot when I already had four out of the way.”

Jacqueline plans to study medicine at university to pursue a career in neonatal care.

“I applied for early acceptance to a few universities for double degrees with law, and one in medical science and I got those, but I really want to do medicine,” she said.

“It unites my love of STEM with human interaction and it’s a fulfilling career, I think” – Jacqueline Keir

College Vice Captain Chrystalla Kospetas received an ATAR of 97 after balancing humanities including English Extension 1 with Advanced Mathematics.

She plans to study a combined Business and Law degree at the University of Technology Sydney.

“I really enjoyed Year 12,” she said. “I also completed my Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award, so that was another challenge in the year.

“To future Year 12’s I’d say ‘try your best, because the hard work does pay off’” – Chrystalla Kospetas

“At this school especially, we all work hard and push ourselves to get good results. …

jaderamirezsydcatholiceduauDecember 21, 2023|

Online exhibition: 2023 Portrait Prize Winners Announced

Sydney Catholic Schools has celebrated its second year of the Portrait Prize competition with a total of 294 exceptional entries and the announcement of four category winners.

The annual competition allows students from Kindergarten to Year 12 the opportunity of painting or drawing a portrait of someone well-known to them and who plays a the significant role in their life.

“It was a privilege for me to oversee the Portrait Prize this year,” said Education Officer – Creative and Performing Arts, Anne-Maree Wells.

“I was amazed at all the entries’ breadth of talent and it was truly a hard job judging the creativity,” she said.

Across four categories, the winning artworks were awarded to

5-8 years – Sonia Zang – St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School Mortlake
9-12 years – Leanne Trhinh – St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove
13-15 years – Nate Sinkovic – Marcellin College Randwick
15-18 years – Steven Purwadi – Corpus Christi College Maroubra.

Dr Kate O’Brien, Director of Education and Research at Sydney Catholic Schools, said there was an extraordinary level of artistic talent among the 294 entries, an increase of 85 on the number of entries from last year.

“We were incredibly excited to see the artworks our students produced and we certainly were not disappointed,” Dr O’Brien said.

“Congratulations to our four winners on a fantastic achievement – who will now represent Sydney Catholic Schools in the Young Archie competition, run by the Art Gallery of NSW.”

“The Portrait Prize is aligned with curriculum outcomes for the Visual Arts, and learning modules delivered in hybrid remote/face-to-face models supported student learning and the development of art making practice,” Dr …

AdminMarch 17, 2023|

HSC 2022: Nine students place First in Course

Nine students from Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) have received First in Course honours in the 2022 HSC.

In a feat that highlights SCS’s comprehensive curriculum, the nine students placed first in a diverse range of subjects and represent seven schools from across the Sydney Archdiocese.

Marist College Kogarah student Mario Baroud placed first Mathematics Standard 2, Mary MacKillop Catholic College Wakeley student Suzi Coates placed first in Studies of Religion I, and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College Kensington student Otylia Pilat placed first in English Extension 1.

Clancy Catholic College West Hoxton student Daniel Michael placed first in Investigating Science, Good Samaritan Catholic College Hinchinbrook student Katarina Chalfa placed first in Food Technology, and Marist Catholic College Penshurst student Anna-Maria Parissis placed first in Modern Greek.

St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove student Clara Medanic placed first in Croatian Continuers, while La Salle Catholic College Bankstown students Danny Nouseir and Verica Minovska placed first in Arabic Extension and Macedonian Continuers continuers respectively.

The nine were among the 126 students from 83 schools in the state who topped their HSC courses.

The students were acknowledged this morning in a ceremony with Sarah Mitchell, Minister for Education and Early Learning.

“Congratulations to our students on what is truly an impressive accomplishment,” SCS Executive Director, Tony Farley, said.

“We hope that together with their teachers and families, they see this achievement as a just reward for their hard work and dedication throughout a testing few years.”

Mr Farley said the success of the nine students is reflective of SCS’s excellence focussed approach to learning and the efforts of the system’s teachers and educators.

“To have nine students, from schools right across the Archdiocese take …

domenictrimboli01December 14, 2022|

CaSPA alumna debut single

CaSPA Sydney alumna Julia Ivory debut single, ‘To the Bone’, explores the under discussed topic of anorexia nervosa.

The song eloquently addresses the artist’s personal struggles over the past few years, and of “feeling locked in my own mind”.

“I found myself turning to my music in my darkest times,” Julia explained.

“I wrote this song in the middle of the night at my piano to calm down, and it all poured out.

“My recovery is a part of who I am, and I am not doing my job if I can’t shed light on what I’ve experienced” – Julia Ivory

“I want people to know there is a way out of it (anorexia nervosa) and you can recover,” Julia said.

The road to stardom

The talented 2019 St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove graduate co-wrote and co-produced the single with her mentor and former CaSPA tutor, Philippe-Marc Anquetil.

“CaSPA gave me my first recording experience in the recording studio at Southern Cross Catholic College Burwood, and got me looking at the production side as well” – Julia Ivory

Philippe-Marc said Julia joined the CaSPA family in 2013 as an 11 year old, performing an incredibly mature rendition of ‘The Prayer’ in its Have You Got Talent event.

“She continued on as a regular cast member of the CaSPA vocal ensemble, singer-songwriter ensemble and the Youth Ministry Band,” he said.

“It has been a privilege to watch her grow and develop her talent with integrity and honesty” – Philippe-Marc Anquetil

“We cannot wait to continue to follow her rise,” Philippe-Marc said.

Creative from the get-go

Julia’s musical journey began in Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School Kingsgrove, when her Year 1 teacher recognised her incredible singing ability and spoke to her parents about it.

“As a little girl, I sang in the choir a lot, which helped me learn to harmonise; this experience …

Isabell PetrinicNovember 3, 2021|

Early birds are soaring high

Year 12 students at St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove are proving they haven’t let a pandemic slow them down, with more than half of the class of 2021 already receiving early entry uni offers.

One hundred and one of the 165 Year 12 students at the college have been invited to study at institutions across the country in 2022, including at Australia’s two leading Catholic universities, Australian Catholic University and The University of Notre Dame Australia.

Through early entry programs, school leavers can secure a place in courses prior to taking their final exams, based on criteria which can include their Year 11 results, extracurricular activity and personal circumstances.

With St Ursula’s having reported a similar amount of offers at this stage last year, it represents a fantastic achievement for students and teaching staff alike.

Tomorrow’s leaders

Mary Leask, Principal at St Ursula’s, said the college was exceptionally proud of how hard the students have worked.

“It’s uplifting and inspiring to know that these students have been empowered by their education to continue their learning journey and work towards their dream careers,” Mrs Leask said.

“It also gives the girls a great confidence boost and scope of choice of where to study.”

One hundred and one students have received early university offers so far, with that number expected to grow in the coming weeks.

Mrs Leask said the students deserve enormous credit for the way they have navigated the disruptions of what has been a challenging year.

“It’s a testament to their dedication and perseverance – not just this year, but throughout their years of education” – Mary Leask

“To already see so many of them about to take a big step towards their future and the goals they hope to …

domenictrimboli01September 14, 2021|

In their own words: Careers in STEM classrooms

Meet the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) teachers whose passion and past work experience is helping students at Sydney Catholic schools achieve.

As we celebrate National Science Week, Sue Farroukh, Gavin Gant, Sylvia Eleftherides and Andrew Di Lizio share with us the career pathways that led them to our classrooms.

SUE FARROUKH, Marist College Eastwood

– Civil engineering project lead, physics and biology teacher

I loved physics at school. For a curious kid like me it was great.

I was studying construction management at uni and had a little light bulb moment.

I wanted something more rewarding and really liked science at school, so I decided to become a physics teacher.

I worked in a big engineering firm for quite a few years.

One of our projects was to build train simulators for the new Sydney trains. With those large projects, you get a real understanding that nothing is done in isolation.

Making cross-curriculum connections is what I have taken from my work into teaching, especially with the seniors who are studying multiple sciences.

“Science answers so many questions” – Sue Farroukh

A lot of students want to be astrophysicists until they realise it’s a bunch of maths and the computers do everything now, so you’ve got to be a really good computer programmer.

Science is so broad. It’s making them aware that if they choose it as a career they’re not just going to be working in a research lab.

The pandemic has helped in that students see there’s someone who studies diseases, develops vaccines, studies viruses.

I tell students that even if they want to go into accounting or law, it does help to have a science under your belt because it is a different way of thinking.

Accuracy, validity and reliability are …

Isabell PetrinicAugust 18, 2021|

Aspiration key to HSC success

Online exhibition: 2023 Portrait Prize Winners Announced

HSC 2022: Nine students place First in Course

CaSPA alumna debut single

The road to stardom

Creative from the get-go

Early birds are soaring high

Tomorrow’s leaders

In their own words: Careers in STEM classrooms

SUE FARROUKH, Marist College Eastwood

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