Staying Connected

Despite restrictions on travel and gatherings, our Loreto spirit and sense of community prevailed this year. It took some extra creativity, but we kept in touch and enjoyed wonderful virtual events that reached alumni living interstate and even overseas. Religious Education students wrote Christmas cards to connect with graduates from the classes of 1960 and 1970, who normally would have met in person to celebrate their 60 or 50-year reunions. The Class of 1970 – our newest Golden Jubilarians – also received a Loreto Hat Pin as they were welcomed into this esteemed group of ex-students. Staying connected was as important as ever in the context of 2020!

We were thrilled to share our first-ever custom-designed Loreto Normanhurst Advent Calendars. We hope you enjoyed opening each window, alongside fellow alumni, students, staff and community members, to reveal special symbols of our Loreto tradition during the joyful approach to Christmas. The Advent Calendar was originally conceived as a gift for our treasured Golden Jubilarian exstudents, in lieu of our customary end-of-year luncheon. It was so well-received that we decided to make it available for purchase to our wider community. Two hundred Advent Calendars were sold with all profits going to the School’s Bursary (Welfare) Fund. We also acknowledge those members of our community who made additional donations to the Bursary Fund and thank them for extending this kindness and generosity.

ADVENT CALENDARS – A NORMO FIRST

STAYING

CONNECTEDMS ALEXI KAYES CAREERS ADVISOR

YEAR 11 ALUMNI CAREER CHATS

In November 2020, the Loreto Normanhurst Careers Department piloted our ‘Alumni Career Chats’ program which matched current Year 11 students with alumni for a ‘one to one’ career discussion.

The aim of the program was to assist students in their understanding of a career path of interest, facilitated through a Q&A session with alumni volunteers via Zoom. This virtual format allowed students to connect with ex-students from all over Australia. Students found the experience highly informative and were very grateful to participating alumni, who also appreciated the opportunity to re-connect. It was wonderful to see the varied career paths that our alumni have pursued as women of influence. They shared their advice and expertise in law, psychology, business, neuropsychology, engineering, journalism, marketing, fine arts/design, nursing, HR, speech pathology, politics, international relations, teaching, dietetics, social work, physiotherapy and medicine. A big thank you to our alumni who volunteered for this program. We hope to develop the program further in years to come.

RADIO REUNION – A CHANCE ENCOUNTER

When a member of the School teaching staff happened to tune in to the radio, little did she know that it would lead to a special reconnection. Ms Mary Anne de Mattia caught the end of a radio broadcast in which a caller recollected the moment when peace was declared in the Pacific 75 years ago. She attended Loreto Normanhurst at the time. Our Community Engagement team dove into archives and databases and were delighted to eventually contact Yvonne Quarrell, aged 90, who had commenced at Normanhurst as a boarder when she was 15 in 1945. Yvonne was “touched and delighted that a Loreto Normanhurst teacher heard her phone call to the radio” and was interested in what was happening at her “deeply cherished school filled with so many fond memories.” This encounter is a perfect demonstration of how our School, staff and alumni communities so closely interlink!