President’s column

Our Old Girls’ community swelled on Saturday 1 December 2018 as we welcomed 130 Dio graduates at the annual Graduation Ball. This year was made even more special for the Committee as we watched our immediate past President, Sarah Couillault, together with former Committee member (and former Grad Ball organiser) Anna Wight, celebrate the graduations of their eldest daughters. The pressure was on to put on a special night!

Committee Members Emma Cleary and Tania Fairgray produced and directed a truly stellar event and a very special occasion for our graduates and their families. There is always a sharp intake of breath at the cost of the Grad Ball, which is by no means a fundraising event. It is sometimes hard to promote what is provided on the night because it is so much more than the food, drink and music. The Grad Ball is a real celebration for the girls, their families and the School. For the Committee, it is a privilege to be part of it all. While the Grad Ball ended our calendar of events for 2018, we are now looking forward to 2019’s events. The month of May looks busy with the Bryan Bartley Golf Day being held on Friday 3 May at the Remuera Golf Club. The following week sees the celebration of our 2019 Alumna Merita. If you are interested in details about the Bryan Bartley Golf Day, which this year will continue the successful ‘co-ed’ format from 2018, please contact Melanie Eady (melanieeady@me.com) or Kirsty Eady (seady@xtra.co.nz).

This year the Old Girls’ League is also delighted to be involved in a staff reunion, scheduled for Saturday 8 June. Dio is very lucky to have many staff members who have been incredibly valued teachers, administrators, grounds people and managers at the School for long periods of time, and the Old Girls’ League recognises these special members of staff through its Associate membership. The Staff Reunion in June is an opportunity for the School and the Old Girls to acknowledge these people.

DIOCESAN OLD GIRLS’ LEAGUE COMMITTEE CONTACT DETAILS

Email oldgirls@diocesan.school.nz for all enquiries.

PRESIDENT Jenny Spillane (Orsborn) | P. 09 630 3843

VICE PRESIDENT Melanie Eady (Perkins) | E. melanieeady@me.com

TREASURER Felicity Buche (Olson) | P. 09 521 8387

SECRETARY Amber Oram (Railley) | M. 021 757 504

FELLOWSHIP SECRETARY Emma Cleary (Dillon) | P. 09 522 9564

COMMITTEE Sarah Couillault (Willis) | M. 021 489 102 Annabel French (Smaill) | P. 09 575 1175 Penny Tucker (Macdonald) | E. pennydtucker@gmail.com Tania Fairgray (Railley) | P. 09 529 1736 Kimberly Sumner (Wragge) | E. kimberlysumner@happinessblindspot.com Kirsty Eady (McDonald) | P. 09 522 2652

Dio Today Editor, League pages Deirdre Coleman | E. d.g@slingshot.co.nz

Diocesan School Old Girls’ League PO Box 28 382, Remuera, Auckland 1541

Before we move to celebrate our 2019 graduates on Saturday 7 December, we have the privilege of acknowledging and celebrating our older Old Girls at the Senior Old Girls’ Morning Tea and Chapel Service on Tuesday 3 September. This is always a popular and happy event.

More detail about the Senior Old Girls’ Morning Tea and other events will follow. If you’d like to contact us for any reason please email oldgirls@diocesan.school.nz.

The Dio Old Girls entered another strong team in the relay race against the prefects at the Senior Swimming Sports. The team was made up of Sarah Shorter, Anne-Marie Avis, Isobel Avis, Emma Gibbs, Olivia Coulter, Jenny Spillane (League President) and Hannah Ngare. They swam an 8 x 25m freestyle relay and secured the win for the third year in a row!

Old Girls’ League Bursaries

The Old Girls’ League Bursaries are intended to assist families that would otherwise have difficulty financing their daughter’s education at Diocesan.

The bursary pays 50% of each year’s tuition for a maximum period of three years. Bursary recipients must be in Years 9 to 13. Applications are currently invited from daughters or granddaughters of Old Girls who are either current students or who have already accepted a place at Diocesan in 2020. This includes girls entering the School at Years 11, 12 or 13. The primary criterion is hardship. The closing date for applications is Friday 31 May. For an application form, please contact Old Girls’ League President Jenny Spillane, in confidence, via email spillanej01@gmail.com.

Another New Year’s Honour for Dio Old Girl

Distinguished Professor Margaret Anne Brimble, CNZM, has been made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2019 New Year’s Honours for services to science.

Margaret Brimble (Macmillan) has been recognised for the world-class contributions she’s made to research in medicinal chemistry. Margaret is Chair of Organic Chemistry and Director of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Auckland, and has been instrumental in the creation of the drug discovery and development industry in New Zealand.

Her pioneering research includes the discovery of a drug that is currently in phase III human clinical trials for the treatment of Rett Syndrome and Fragile X Syndrome. Margaret also established New Zealand’s first Good Manufacturing Practice Peptide Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Manufacturing Facility. It was licensed by Medsafe NZ and produced clinicalgrade antigens for the MELVAC melanoma vaccine trial in 2014.

A principal investigator in the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Margaret has been Chair of the Royal Society of New Zealand Rutherford Foundation and has supported the L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Programme. Since 2014, she has been Vice-President and President of the Organic and Biomolecular Division International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Margaret has also been a panel member of the European Research Council Synthetic Chemistry and Materials Science Advanced Grants Scheme since 2015.

In the August 2018 issue of Dio Today we shared the exciting news of Margaret’s election as a Fellow to the Royal Society of London. In May 2018, she became the first New Zealand woman to gain entry into what is the world’s oldest and most prestigious scientific academy.

This is the third New Year’s honour for Margaret, who was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004 and a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2012. Margaret attended Dio from 1972 to 1978 and was the 2000 Alumna Merita recipient. We are thrilled to celebrate her ongoing success in the scientific world.