Prep - Year 12 & Co-Educational ELC

From $14,000p.a to $21,000 p.a

When you choose to join our Loreto School family, you choose for your daughter the very best of educational opportunities and an exceptional and beautiful educational environment.

When you choose Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak, you choose a fine Catholic School, a school which is firmly grounded in the Loreto values of justice, sincerity, freedom and felicity, a school which nurtures spiritual as well as academic and social development, and a place where students are called to be aware and active in the area of Social Justice.

We know that girls and young women learn and develop best in an educational setting tailored to their particular needs, that is, in a girls' only environment. The benefits of single sex education for girls in an academically challenging and pastorally secure environment are well documented, and are summarised in an article found in the resource section.

Loreto Schools for the education of girls have a long and proud history. Loreto Schools are steeped in tradition. Over four hundred years ago, in an age where it was not usual for women to be educated outside the home, our Foundress, Mary Ward, opened the very first Schools for girls and young women in England and Europe. Today there are Loreto Schools all over the world, in every Continent, and we enjoy a unique, extensive and active worldwide network.

Every student and past pupil of Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak is an important part of this continuing story; every member of the Loreto School family also becomes a part of our living history and fine tradition. Enjoy reading our beautiful prospectus, and learning more about our School here in Toorak.

I look forward to welcoming you in the near future to Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak on one of our many Open Mornings.

Come and visit us soon!

Dr Susan Stevens
Principal

Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak strives for excellence in all that it does. An extensive and challenging academic program is integral to the education of mind and heart that is cherished at Loreto. A love of learning is fostered by the delight with which specialist teachers in every subject share their passion for their subjects with the students.

Students leave Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak with a confident sense of self worth, a taste for excellence, and awareness of global issues, a social conscience, and instilled with a sense of responsibility to help build a better world.

The students at Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak learn in an advanced technological environment, with a wireless network which allows for "anywhere, anytime" access to the online curriculum. There are also dedicated art and music facilities and "the Basement" Drama Centre which provides a creative, atmospheric and flexible teaching and learning area for Drama and Theatre Studies. The Sr. Ruth Winship Science Centre comprises of 5 state of the art science laboratories, equipped with electronic smart boards and the latest equipment.

The Mother Gonzaga Barry Sports and Art Centre includes a 25 metre indoor pool and a learners' pool, diving facilities, a sports hall, a specialist gymnastics centre, weights room and more. The Art Centre contains photography studios, a computer resources space and additional teaching areas on two levels.

Learning Resources Centre

The Learning Resources Centre (LRC) is a vital learning space within the school. The LRC is used extensively for classes, research, individual private study and quiet reading. Students and staff using the LRC have access to the wireless network, scanning, printing and photocopying facilities, as well as a wide range of audio-visual equipment.

Reading for pleasure gives us an opportunity to widen our horizons, enhance our language and capture our imaginations and interest - all these aspects of education are fostered and nurtured in the Learning Resources Centre at Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak. We have a large up-to-date collection of fiction books so that our students are sure to find a book they like. All the Teacher Librarians are enthusiastic readers with a good knowledge of our collection and we are keen to assist our students in finding just the right book. Annotated lists of books are displayed in our Reading Area as an aid to selection. A number of current magazines are always available to read in the LRC. We encourage suggestions for additions to our collection and invite book reviews for display.

The focus of our team of experienced and well-qualified Teacher/Librarians is to assist students and teachers when using resources. The LRC team works closely with teachers to ensure students have the skills necessary to be independent learners.As research studies show, a school library with high quality resources and expert teacher librarians, makes a significant, positive difference to student learning outcomes.

ELC

The Early Learning Centre porvides a happy, nurturing, creative and challenging environment where boys and girls from three years of age can explore learning.

Situated at St. Peter's Church, Toorak, the ELC offers an integrated, play-centred program based upon the Reggio Emilia concepts of learning and is a partnership in education between St. Peter's Parish, Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak and St. Kevin's College.

Junior School

The Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak Junior School is an exciting, challenging centre of learning catering for the individual needs of girls from Prep to Year 6 and providing them with stimulating programs to enable them to achieve their goals.

The Junior School is committed to the development of a healthy mind,body and spirit. the broad curriculum offers a variety of programs in literacy and numeracy, along with many opportunities in the areas of Sport, French, Music, Information Technology, and the Arts.

Individual Differences programs cater for the students at both ends of the academic spectrum, helping to nurture and encourage the girls to be young women of self-worth, as well as preparing them for a smooth transition to the Senior School.

Senior School

An extensive and challenging academic program is integral to the education of mind and heart that we cherish at Loreto. A love of learning is fostered by the delight with which specialist teachers in every subject share their passion for their subjects with the students.

From Years 7 to Year 12 each student is challenged to strive to achieve her personal best. Additional assistance is available for those in need and gifted students enjoy enrichment, extension and acceleration. Our academic results and tertiary entrance records manifestly attest to our commitment to excellence. They are all the more remarkable in the light of our unreserved commitment to non-selective entry of students on academic grounds.

Hands-on activities, excursions, on-line lectures and guest speakers are just some of the varied teaching methods that help to deliver our lively coordinated curriculum that is embraced to help your daughter to discover and develop her talents, to strengthen her weaknesses, to build her confidence and competence and to reach her full potential in a stimulating environment.

Religious Education

The educational vision of Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak remains true to that of the founder of IBVM, Mary Ward, and springs from the Gospel values that she so strongly espoused.

Through our Religious Education program, we aim to work with parents to enable students to grow in faithand in love of God.

Students in Prep to Year 6 are involved in the following school activities:

• Regular masses and prayer services
• A variety of liturgical celebrations that may include elements such as prayer, song, movement, meditation and reflection
• Scripture study
• The celebration of the sacraments
• First Reconciliation - Year 3
• First Eucharist - Year 4
• Prayer leadership program
• Social justice awareness

The fundamental purpose of teaching Religious Education at Loreto Mandeville Hall is:


• To educate students in the Catholic faith and to invite them to commit themselves to a life centred on Jesus and His values
• To assist the individual student to embrace the Gospel values espoused by Mary Ward....verity, felicity, freedom, justice and sincerity
• To immerse students in the life of Loreto Mandeville Hall so that they experience the values of a Christian community, together with the opportunities to participate in and lead prayer and worship.

The Religious Education Program has as its aim to celebrate, understand and respond to God as revealed through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the Church as the community of believers. This is where we experience being members of God's community which calls us to make a response of Christian service and love in helping to build up and renew this world.

We encourage our students to recognize themselves as people made in the image and likeness of God. To develop empathy and understanding and the courage to live as Jesus taught us to in the Gospels.

To become aware of the major challenges facing our society and to be collaborators with God in recreating and transforming the world. To appreciate their history and their ongoing role in the story of the Catholic faith and the community of the Church and to develop an inner life through prayer and reflection where they can experience the nurturing love of God through a relationship with Jesus.

As a compulsory part of the curriculum from Years 7 to 12 students are invited to develop their relationship with God through prayer, study of the teachings of the Church and involvement in the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church through their participation in weekday and whole school masses, and weekly Chapel Assemblies.

Social Justice also plays an important part in the Religious Education Program. Students have the opportunity to participate in Community Service at Year 10, the East Timorese Tutoring Program at Years 11 and 12, Amnesty International and the St Vincent de Paul Society from Years 7 to 12.

All students from Years 7 to 12 participate in the Retreat Program, which is based on the Religious Education program. Students in Years 7 and 8 have a school based program which focuses on their relationships with their God, their families and each other.

The Year 9 Retreat offers students an opportunity to consider their own personal and moral development as well as to prepare for their involvement in Community Service in Year 10.

All the retreats involve students in a liturgical celebration, which is largely prepared, by the students themselves.

Year 11 students attend the Christian Living Camp in conjunction with Year 11 students from St. Kevin's College. These are held at a number of different venues and are designed to allow students to meet together in prayer as well as discussion and consideration of their relationship with God and others.

Year 12 students attend a retreat at the beginning of each year. Its purpose is to allow students to reflect on the challenges facing them in this final year. To consider their fears and their hopes and to learn from the example of their elders that great things await them.

• 6 students achieved an ATAR (Australian
Tertiary Admission Rank) above 99.00,
placing them in the top 1% of the state
• 15% of our graduating Year 12 students
achieved an ATAR of 98.00 or above,
placing them in the top 2% of the state
• 36% of the students received an ATAR
of 95.00 or above (compared with 5%
state-wide)
• 51% achieved scores of 90.00 or above
(compared with 10% state-wide)
• 79% of our students achieved an ATAR
of 80.00 or above
• Perfect scores of 50 were achieved in 2
subject areas
• 58% of all grades were A or A+
• 30% of unscaled study scores in subjects
taught at Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak
were 40 or above

Scholarships

Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak awards a limited number of General Academic, Music, Mathematics, General Excellence and the Sr Deirdre Rofe Leadership Scholarships annually for girls who demonstrate outstanding achievement in several fields of endeavour related to school life.

A scholarship can provide up to 50% remission of academic tuition fees plus, in the case of Music, a 100% remission of music tuition fees for a nominated instrument/s when music lessons are taken in the School, together with a 100% remission of AMEB Theory tuition (Group Lessons) up to AMEB Grade 5 Theory.

All Scholarship holders are expected to complete their secondary education at Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak, to maintain a high standard of academic achievement, and to contribute positively and enthusiastically to school life. Each Scholarship holder's progress in the School and contribution to school life is reviewed annually.

Careers

Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak Careers Department provides students with a program and resources to help the girls to find their career pathway and the tools they need to continue to build their future. To that end we provide a career counselling service, a careers education program and access to facilities and resources to maximise their career and further study options. Our qualified and experienced Careers Counsellor offers career counselling, current information and advice to all students.

School Tours

School Tours and Open Mornings are a great way to discover all that Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak has to offer. These occasions provide an opportunity for future parents and students to meet our Principal, Dr Susan Stevens, the Deputy Principals, teaching staff and current students of Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak. You also have the opportunity to view the school facilities; hear about the wide range of curriculum choices, our pastoral care programs as well as our excellent academic results.

As our guest at one of our Open Mornings, you will join other families for morning tea with the Principal and take a guided tour of the school during a normal working day with some of our current students.

To help prospective parents make an informed decision concerning their daughter's education at Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak we warmly invite you to attend one of our Open Mornings in the Junior School Years Prep to 6 and Senior School Years 7 - 12.

Please visit our website for further information.

http://www.loretotoorak.vic.edu.au/admissions/

To confirm your attendance please contact the Admissions Office via email:

To arrange an appointment at any other time, please contact Mrs Anita McKinnon, Director of Admissions on 03 9823 8211.

Debating

A large and vibrant program of Debating exists at Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak.
From Year 7, girls are given the opportunity to learn the basics of Debating and then to practise them.

Interhouse debating competitions occur in first semester in Years 7-10. At the senior level, girls participate in the Debaters Association of Victoria (DAV) competition. In 2007, Loreto Mandeville Hall fielded 14 teams. At the Junior level, girls in Years 7 and 8 participate in a Training Program over four nights.

During English Week, in August, The Great Debate is held. In recent years, this has involved an exhibition debate between Loreto Toorak girls and boys from Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar. This event traditionally attracts large, enthusiastic crowds.

Loreto Toorak students are frequently invited to participate in social debating afternoons at neighbouring schools, including St Kevin's College and Xavier College.

At the end of the year, a Debating Dinner is held at Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak where students and their parents are able to share the season past.

Drama

A series of Drama productions and a combined musical with St Kevin's College offer students experience in theatre practice; specifically acting, set and costume design, lighting design, costume execution and make-up.

Performances include the Performing Arts Festival at Hamer Hall where all girls from Year 7 to 12 are involved, the Year 6 Play, Year 11 and 12 Plays, Theatre Sports competitions and many other special performances.

Music

Ensembles perform regularly at concerts, eisteddfods, school assemblies, liturgies and other events. In recent years we have performed at well-known local venues such as Hamer Hall, the National Gallery of Victoria, Federation Square, Bennetts Lane and Newman College Chapel. Groups such as the Stage Band, Vocal Ensemble and Mandeville String Orchestra can be engaged to perform at functions outside the school - festivals, weddings and dinner dances. Masterclasses, workshops and Music Camp (for Middle School Ensembles) are activities held each year.

Our Ensemble program is rich and diverse with more than 25 Junior and Senior School groups for girls to be a part of, including bands, choirs, orchestras, instrumental ensembles and chamber groups.

Students can choose to learn an instrument of their choice with lessons taking place during the school day. Group tuition is available for beginners (for one year only).

Instruments offered for tuition include:
• Flute
• Oboe
• Clarinet
• Saxophone
• Bassoon
• Piccolo
• Recorder
• Violin
• Viola
• Cello
• Double Bass
• Harp
• Trumpet
• Trombone
• Horn
• Euphonium/Tuba
• Keyboard
• Piano
• Pipe Organ
• Harpsichord
• Voice
• Guitar (Classical, Folk, Electric)
• Percussion
• Drumkit

Theory and Musicianship

Group Theory tuition up to AMEB Grade Five and Grade Six Musicianship.

Music Performance is an exciting and integral part of our music activities. Our performance calendar gives our girls rewarding performance experiences with annual events including the Music Festival, Celebration of the Piano, Senior Showcase Concert, Oak Parlour Recitals, VCE Recitals and Masterclasses. Lunchtime Concerts and Departmental Concerts take place regularly all year.

For the Performing Arts Festival, which is held at Hamer Hall in late February/early March, our senior music students arrange music, compose original works, and conduct choirs and orchestras. With St Kevin's College, we hold a School Musical in Term 3 each year. We tour internationally every four years and have visited Italy, England, Ireland and France. Our musicians contribute to the Liturgical life of the School playing at Liturgies, Masses and our annual Feast Day Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral.

Social Justice

The Loreto sisters of Australia "commit (their) energies and resources to promoting the dignity and liberation of all, particularly of women and children; to challenging unjust systems and structures; to standing with those on the edges of society; to showing reverent care for the earth and all creation." (IBVM website)

Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak is a school community focused on justice as a core value of the spirituality and tradition of the IBVM sisters. Mary Ward envisioned justice as personal integrity, based on harmonious relationship with God, with other people and with the whole of creation'.

As a school community we are called to take part in "works of justice" as an integral part of our education of young women.

As well as teaching our students to critically analyse the structures of our society that perpetuate injustice and nurturing in them hearts and minds that are aware of issues of social justice in the world around them, we will also provide them with opportunities to take action themselves.Our students take part in a range of activities:

• The Epworth ministry (distribution of Eucharist to the sick at the Epworth Hospital in conjunction with St Ignatius parish in Richmond)
• Friday night school, where students tutor refugee families and others in Richmond.
• Volunteer work with Sacred Heart Mission, St Kilda
• Fundraising for Mary Ward International
• Star Camp, a live in camp for the disabled, run in conjunction with St Kevin's College, Toorak; Xavier College Kew, and Genazzano College, Kew.
• Vietnam pilgrimage: Year 11 students have the opportunity to visit some organisations which have been been set up by Sr Trish Franklin, ibvm • The students organise fundraising for these institutions, including an orphanage and a school for the disabled.

Sport

Sport at Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak comes in many shapes and sizes. Our students are warmly invited to make full use of our many facilities and activities we have on offer! Wether your interests lie in the form of team sports such as soccer, softball, water polo or badminton, or you like to challenge yourself in individual sports like swimming, athletics or gymnastics, we have something for everyone's interests.

Our focus is on participation, and encouraging all to get involved in regular physical activity. Sport is played at both an inter school, and inter house level, and we are fortunate enough to have a first class physical education centre, which comprises of a 25 metre indoor pool a learners pool, and diving facilities (1m and 3m), specialist gymnastics centre, sports hall and weights room.

Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak aims to provide opportunities for girls to develop and foster good sporting attitudes, and a high standard of sporting behaviour.

At Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak we also have many clubs which operate within the school: Gymnastics, Aerobics and Cheerleading, Equestrian, Skiing, Aquatics and Rowing.

Voice & Speech

Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak is one of only a few schools in Melbourne that offers Voice and Speech as a co-curricular subject. We take pride in applying current educational theory and practice in equipping our students with important life skills. Voice and Speech is available to students from Years 7 to 12. It provides the opportunity for students to develop oral communication and interpretation skills in a small group environment.

The overall aim of the program is to produce confident, articulate young women with highly developed interpersonal and presentation skills. Specific objectives include the development and enhancement of a pleasant, unstrained vocal tone, the promotion of clarity of speech and the fostering of oral interpretation of literature. Students best achieve these objectives when working in small groups. The supportive environment of the small group encourages the development of confidence, allows flexibility to cater for the needs and interests of individuals, and enables interaction.

For over four hundred years, Loreto has been educating the leaders of tomorrow. The Foundress of the Loreto order, Mary Ward, said "Women in time to come will do much", and her faith in what could be achieved through the education of girls and young women has proved to be well founded.

The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), more commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, was introduced into Australia in 1875. In response to the request for nuns by Dr O'Connor, first Bishop of Ballarat, Mother Gonzaga Barry came with a group of seven professed nuns and two postulants to Ballarat on 20 July 1875. They left Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, the main house of the Irish Branch of the Institute, in May that year.

The Loreto sisters established schools in Portland and South Melbourne (1880's); Sydney (1892); Perth (1897); Adelaide (1907); Toorak, Melbourne (1924); and Brisbane (1927). Mother Gonzaga Barry took over the parish schools of St Joseph's (1877) and St Aloysius (1882) Ballarat; and Saints Peter and Paul's (1891) South Melbourne. The order also took charge of St Mary's College at the University of Melbourne (1917). Their aim was always the pursuit of excellence in a spirit of freedom, justice and sincerity.

Sincerity

Sincerity in our communication and relationship with others is an essential characteristic of the personal integrity Mary Ward envisaged. Her ideal was that “we should be such as we appear and appear such as we are”.

Verity

Closely linked to sincerity is Mary Ward’s concept of verity. For her it means integrity and truth, particularly the profound truth of who we are and what gives meaning to our lives, a truth that centres fundamentally on the mystery of God.

Felicity

Felicity is an attitude of mind, a disposition of the heart which manifests itself in cheerfulness, good humour, joy, happiness, hope, optimism, friendliness, courtesy, positive thinking, inner peace, self-acceptance and courage.

Freedom

The qualities of freedom, justice and sincerity are at the core of Mary Ward’s spirit. Her most profound understanding of freedom was grounded in her sense of personal relationship with God, her belief that each one of us, in our ordinary experience of life, has access to God’s loving care. This is the truth that sets us free. It is an inner freedom, accepting of self, open to others and trusting of life.

Justice

Justice, as Mary Ward describes it, involves personal integrity based on harmonious relationship with God, with other people and with the whole of creation. It is expressed in “works of justice”, in active participation in the struggle to bring about such harmony.

Vision

The educational vision of Loreto schools springs from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When Mary Ward founded the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM) in 1609, she recognised the critical difference that education could make to her troubled world, especially through the care and development of faith.

Women

A vigorous belief in the capacity and responsibility of women to contribute significantly to society and to the church underlies the emphasis in our tradition on the education of girls.

Challenge

In Australia we are part of a rapidly changing culture which offers us both challenges and opportunities. Mary Ward strove to educate in and for society, not apart from it. Without being simplistic or defensive, she would encourage us to be open and yet discerning of the various movements of our time, “referring all things to God” to sift what is truly good from what diminishes.