Sometimes endings are necessary before new beginnings can unfold. We are very proud of the Carmel cohort of 2023 Year 12 students, whose last week of school was an ending characterised by dignity, courage and integrity. A fabulous beach breakfast, bowling expedition, lunch and valedictory rehearsal made for a fitting final day of school. Now that they have celebrated, enjoyed valedictory and are studying for their final exams, the High School may be slightly quieter, but we are looking forward to the Year 11 students starting to step up and demonstrate their leadership skills.

Another highlight of this week has been the celebration of Carmel’s fabulous results in STAWA’s 65^th annual Science Talent Search. Mrs Poustie’s dedicated promotion of and enthusiasm for this annual competition has not waned. On Monday, she attended the STAWA presentation night and awards ceremony at SciTech alongside Ms Dunn, Head of the Science Learning Area and another keen promoter of the authentic learning that ensues when students get involved in a project of their choice.

For the second year running, ÁùºÏ²ÊͶעÍø won the prestigious School of the Year award, given to a school whose students have submitted top entries in all three areas of engineering, investigations and communications. And as if this top prize were not enough, significant numbers of ÁùºÏ²ÊͶעÍø science students again proved their scientific expertise as they accepted their awards at SciTech (click here to see the full results).

Vanessa in Year 8 was honoured with the prestigious Young Scientist of the Year and Ariel in Year 9 was named as the winner of the Rowe Scientific Emergy Talent of 2023. Three groups of Year 9 students swept the board as they won all three Intermediate Engineering prizes – first place went to Hannah, Rachel and Bella for their inventive pen which is durable, sustainable and ergonomic; second to Eliora and Maya for their innovative gadget used to stem nose bleeds and third to Dan, Ben and Matthew for their collection of flammable gases from waste food. Ariel in Year 9 won third prize for the Intermediate Investigation category with her investigation into the possibility of using peat as a burial material by testing the decomposition of meat under a range of conditions. A senior Photography Communication prize was awarded to Lucy, Emma, Asher and Niv and Video Communication prizes went to Blake and Ashri Fisher. Of note is Ashri’s long term support of the competition and his many successes over the years.

Our budding scientists are the future of innovation and we are very proud of these outstanding accomplishments.

Julie Harris

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