Latest News | Meriden: An Anglican School For Girls

Two girls score 100% in Computational Thinking Challenge

18 June 2020

Year 8 students, Abisha Thevarajah and Teresa Yang, have received perfect scores in the Bebras Australia Computational Thinking Challenge. The competition was undertaken by Meriden’s Year 8 cohort, along with their counterparts at schools across Australia. The girls were two of just twenty Years 7 and 8 students to achieve one hundred per cent and make the Bebras Australia 2020 Honour Roll. The challenge is an interactive way to assess students’ critical, creative and computational thinking skills - all essential competencies for active learning at school and success in workplaces of the future. It consists of fifteen questions such as the one

STEM teaching resilience, teamwork in the Junior School

18 June 2020

Whether they’re 3D-printing French monuments, programming safes or coding computer games, girls in the Junior School continue to make strides in STEM. Mrs Elizabeth Betbeder, Dean of Inquiry Learning, said the Junior School curriculum embeds Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics into the students’ everyday learning. “The girls are going from strength to strength in their STEM projects and, in addition to the technical skills they are mastering, are also learning crucial lateral thinking, problem-solving and interpersonal skills, which are required when working on challenging long-term projects that are open-ended in the sense that they may have

Year 7 girls take over the classroom

4 June 2020

Year 7 students have been encouraged to share their skills with their peers in a program that has seen girls conduct their own lessons on a topic of their choice during Pastoral Time. Year 7 Coordinator, Miss Ji Mee Lee, said the exercise encourages students to bond and also helps them understand that everyone has valuable skills and abilities to share. “Starting high school is a major milestone that can be daunting for students,” Miss Lee said. “Meriden’s pastoral care program aims to ease the transition to Year 7 by helping students make and maintain healthy friendships, gain

Meriden launches Club 88 for budding pianists

4 June 2020

Meriden has launched an exciting cocurricular activity for its student pianists, Club 88. The club takes its name from the piano’s eighty-eight keys and girls meet once per week at lunchtime to play the Steinway concert grand piano in Wallis Auditorium. Meriden’s Director of Music, Ms Jodie Spooner-Ryan, said Club 88 provides an opportunity for students to build upon their understanding of piano technique, repertoire and performance skills. “We are looking to encourage the girls in a supportive performance environment and this idea has clearly appealed to our young musicians, with over twenty girls attending Club 88&rsquo

Meriden’s philanthropic spirit burns bright

21 May 2020

Developing community-mindedness is at the heart of a Meriden education. And for over 120 years, Meriden girls have been giving back to their communities by donating time and funds to those in need. In the 1920s, dances were held in order to raise money for organisations that supported underprivileged children, including Ashfield Infants’ Home. These were the gala events of the year for the community, with history books noting the School grounds were prettily lit by electric lights and the police band played from a balcony. Ever-attuned to global issues and eloquent in their discussion of them, Meriden students wrote

Meriden girls send letters to the front

21 May 2020

This week, Meriden’s Prefects have collated and sent hundreds of letters to healthcare professionals who are on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19. The letters were written by Senior School students in gratitude for the hard work of medical personnel around Australia. Read some extracts from a small sample of the letters below. Thank you for your courage and perseverance in helping those with coronavirus and for the information you have provided us on how to stay safe. Sabrina, Year 7 We really admire the difficult work you are doing to help others and we will always

Meriden 3D prints PPE for frontline healthcare workers

19 May 2020

Meriden is putting its 3D printing capabilities to good use during the COVID-19 pandemic by printing ear guards for frontline medical staff at Gosford Hospital. Many healthcare workers who wear facemasks throughout their shifts experience discomfort from the mask’s elastics that hook around the ears. The ear guard features specially-designed notches that secure the elastics at the back of the head, ensuring they stay in place and do not cause abrasions to the ears. The ear guard was designed by thirteen-year-old Canadian boy, Quinn Callander, in response to an open call from his local hospital asking for solutions

Meriden celebrates National Families Week

15 May 2020

It’s National Families Week@HOME and Meriden is acknowledging the diversity and open-heartedness of all the families that comprise our School community. We’re kicking off the celebration by hearing from our students for whom attending school is a family affair. Sophia, Year 7, with sisters Bethany, Year 4, and Abigail, Year 6 “I love having sisters as it means there is always someone around the house to talk to, play with and confide in. This COVID-19 period has tested our patience with each other but we have also learnt things about each other that we never knew before

Prefects send encouragement to all Meriden girls

7 May 2020

The role of Meriden’s Prefects has always been to inspire the student body to live and learn with courage, compassion and grace. The Prefects of 2020 have been challenged by these responsibilities like no other cohort and their commitment to unify Meriden girls has never been more vital. At the advent of our students’ return to online learning, Head Prefect, Genevieve McKeown, offers this special message to Senior School girls on behalf of the Prefects. Online learning. It’s something we’ve often predicted would be part of classrooms of the future but we never expected

Olympus girls: Overcoming the digital divide

28 April 2020

Meriden’s elite athletes are not letting the latest lockdown laws keep them from working toward their sporting and academic goals. Olympus Program staff have re-launched their specialised support online and the girls enjoy personalised at-home training schedules, nutritional support and a digitally-enhanced wellbeing monitoring system that sees staff and students check in on program participants individually. Olympus Program Coordinator, Mr Ryan Richards, said the Program continues to provide a high level of support to students that begins with helping them maintain their training routines. “Coach Stelios Pikoulas has created at-home training programs that reflect each girl&rsquo