Reflection
November 13, 2023
My name is Caitlyn Bowling, and I started my journey back in 2021 in Year 10.
I come from a small rural town called Wandoan, on a cattle property 50km out of town. From a school of about 70 students and being the only girl in a class with 7 other grade 9 and 10 boys, adjusting to the fact that I would be a part of a family with 220 sisters was – let’s say the least – a little daunting.
I have a younger sister and brother and I thought that was a handful enough, let alone living with 220 others.
My parents, having had their heads stuck in the sand of where to send me for so long, decided that we should probably find somewhere for me to go one year out. Fairholme was the first school we looked at, and in an instant, I knew this is where I wanted to go. I made my decision that day after our tour, not even considering any other schools.
It was during my orientation that I had met my best friend, Amelia. Her constant smile and openness to chat to when I didn’t know anybody made coming here so much easier. Now lifelong best friends, I realise how important those little interactions are.
While boarding was very foreign to me, I was ready for something different.
My first day of Fairholme wasn’t quite as I planned it; falling down the stairs and dropping my morning tea wasn't quite what I had in mind… thinking how could this get any worse? I was in a different school, eating different food at morning tea and was just trying to get through my first day, alive… but I survived.
You may be known as the girl who fell down the stairs, but that doesn’t matter! When you are accepted, loved, and supported like you are at Fairholme, you learn that little things like this only help shape you into who you become.
For me, this journey has now led me to the appreciative role of Boarder Prefect and the girl who only falls down the stairs maybe once or twice a term.
I understand that boarding is hard for both parents and their daughters. It as much as your first day as it is theirs. While I may have managed to keep it all together, my mum, however, not so much.
But YOUR GIRLS too, will survive this incredible journey and want to do it all over again as I do now, even if they fall down the stairs on their first day.
More News…
With 29 teams and more than 300 girls stepping onto the court this year, Fairholme’s netball program has enjoyed a hugely successful 2025 season. From the very first pass to the final whistle of the season, Fairholme was a dominant force in the Saturday Association competition. Seven teams earned their place in the Grand Finals, with five of them claiming the titles: > Cadet Intermediate A Champions – Junior Vicki Wilson 1 > Cadet C Champions – Fairholme Cadet White > Cadet Intermediate D Champions – Fairholme Junior Development > 13B Champions – Fairholme 13 Navy > 12B Champions – Fairholme 12 Gold Adding to this impressive tally, we celebrated two runner-up finishes with 13 Gold in the 13A division and 11 Gold in the 11B division. The success didn’t stop there. On Wednesday nights, all four Fairholme teams powered through to the Semi Finals, with three advancing to the Grand Finals. > Division 1 Champions – Senior Vicki Wilson 1 > Division 2 Runner-Ups – Senior Vicki Wilson 2 > Division 3 Champions – Junior Vicki Wilson 1 And at the Darling Downs Vicki Wilson Carnival, Fairholme once again stood tall. Both our Senior and Junior Vicki Wilson 1 teams qualified for the prestigious State Finals – one of only two schools in the region to do so. Against 24 of Queensland’s top school netball teams, our girls shone with our Junior Vicki Wilson 1 team finishing an incredible fourth, and the Seniors going undefeated through the pool rounds before finishing sixth overall. Our youngest athletes also made their mark. At the Andrews Cup Primary School Netball Carnival, the Senior A team were crowned A Division champions, showing that the future of Fairholme netball is just as exciting as the present. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the many people who support Fairholme Netball behind the scenes. This year, 21 of our own students took on the important role of umpiring across the season. Reflecting on the season, our Fairholme Netball Co-ordinator, Lis Irwin shared, ‘To see so many of our girls not only reaching finals, but also competing and succeeding at state level, is a testament to their hard work and love of the game. We’re so proud of every player, coach, and supporter who has helped make 2025 such a great year for Fairholme Netball.’ With so much talent rising through the ranks, Fairholme’s netball future looks brighter than ever.
On Friday 9 September, our Head of Teaching and Learning, Pam Stains, and our Head of Faith and Wellbeing, Cath Butler, were invited to present a session at the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools Symposium highlighting an important element of the Fairholme culture: Relational Pedagogy. At Fairholme, we believe that learning begins with relationship. That when a girl feels safe, seen, and supported, she is far more likely to flourish - not just academically, but emotionally and socially too. This belief isn’t just a nice idea; it’s a lived reality, reflected in the feedback from staff and students collected through interviews and surveys conducted by Professor Andrew Hickey from UniSQ in 2024. We’ve long worked in the “with” quadrant of Ted Wachtel’s social discipline window - doing things with students, not to or for them. However, a few years ago, we noticed something. While our restorative approach was helping resolve conflict, it often came too late. Teachers were feeling stretched, and students - especially in moments of challenge - needed more than resolution. They needed connection and they needed skills. This aligned with research supporting the idea that our students have varying levels of skill in demonstrating empathy or engaging with others using social and emotional intelligence, and therefore have varying ability or desire to resolve conflict restoratively. It’s not a will problem, this is a skill problem. So we asked ourselves: what could help staff to enhance the skill level of students struggling to meet expectations, whilst still strengthening connection and building relationships? That question led us to Dr Ross Greene’s Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS). CPS is a gentle, trauma-aware approach that sees behaviour not as defiance, but as communication. A child who struggles isn’t choosing to misbehave, they’re lacking the skills to meet expectations and communicating this in a variety of ways, using behaviour that will either frustrate us or engender empathy. And so, instead of reacting, we slow down. We listen. We work with them to understand what’s hard, to build the skills they need, and see the change. To strengthen this approach in the college, in 2025, twelve staff members joined a CPS pilot program. These staff were offered professional learning time to train, reflected, and practise and what they found was remarkable. Relationships deepened, classrooms became calmer, students began to take ownership - not just of their behaviour, but of their learning. Teachers felt more regulated, more connected, and more hopeful. Instead of asking what’s wrong, in this approach, we seek to ask: what’s hard? What skills might be lagging? What expectations are difficult to meet? It’s a small shift, but it’s changing the way we see our girls, and the way they see themselves. Students are not problems. Rather, we collaborate, and become problem solvers together. Of course, it’s not always easy. CPS takes time. It asks us to stay curious longer, to resist the urge to fix, and to trust the process. But the rewards are real. From 2026, our staff training will evolve to include both Restorative Practices and CPS—under the banner of Relational Pedagogy. Because at Fairholme, we’re not just teaching content, we’re building skills now and into the future. And, we’re doing it together, with collaboration, and enjoyment.
The 2025 Senior IMPACT Ensemble, Empire Theatre, present their self-devised new work ‘When I Think of The End’, and Year 12 Drama student, Emmi Lange, is one of the lead characters... Tell us about the character you are playing… My role is Millie Morgan. She is hosting an ‘end of the world’ theme party… literally. She has a huge secret about her parent’s evil plan to restart humanity by wiping out the human species at midnight of the party. While her parents left her alone in the house where she will see out the catastrophe, she invites a random group of classmates in order to save them from the event. How would you describe the play? The play is very funny. Whilst it uses humour, it also reveals how we treat each other as teenagers when we know the end is closer than expected and how these connections can diminish or expand once we realise our time is almost up. It mixes comedy with darkness all the while seeing the light even through the murky. What’s been the most challenging part of the whole process? The most challenging part is coming up with a single idea with a million and one sub ideas from our research. Our prompt was ‘the end of the world’. While we were in the writing process, we looked at stimulus from poetry, media, movies and TV and analysed their end of the world scenarios: supernatural, political, environmental, rich vs poor and much more. We also used sources from news and current events and many deep conversations were raised about our stance in society in relation to these topics. From here, we explored us as students in Toowoomba facing the end of the world to which created some condensed ideas for the play! How do you get into character before a performance? Before each performance, of course, there is nerves. However, overcoming this, I relay my purpose in the story. Understanding who am I? What are my values? My reactions, my opinions, my relationship with other characters? This helps me understanding what my character is saying and why. How do you and your castmates support each other on and off stage? The cast has become a tight group... like a big friend group! Like-minded, close friends. I love the cast with all their different acting styles and opinions to contribute. We frequently do group building exercises/games at the start of each rehearsal and check-ins. With the help of Grace, our director, we are well looked after and becoming close friends, we all care for each other. What have you learned about yourself through this process? I have learned throughout IMPACT the importance of working in a group. It is easy to bounce off other people and, being an extrovert, I love working around other like-minded people. Another thing is for my character, she faces many reactions to everyone finding out the end is near and two very different energies contrasting from the beginning to the end of the performance. So, through this, I have learnt how to distinctively differentiate my reactions and how I say my lines to project my feeling towards the end of the world situation which isn’t an easy skill. For example trying to hide this huge secret from a group of people but project to the audience my anxiety towards this big revelation VS the end of the play when everyone knows. Is drama something you would like to pursue after school? Drama has been a dream for me since I was in Year 5 when I started Speech and Drama lessons. Whether its on the movie screen or on a small stage, I want to pursue my love for entertaining through performing. Wherever this takes me, I will enjoy every bit of it if I’m acting. I have started applying for drama schools for next year. Any advice for someone who wants to get into an impact play? My advice for wanting to apply for IMPACT is to be prepared to contribute immense ideas and writing. Writing has never been my strong suit but coming to IMPACT I’m able to get assistance and corroborate ideas with others to grow my ideas. Therefore, don’t be discouraged if writing isn’t your best talent, because like me, IMPACT will help grow your creative writing skills. Tickets are on sale now for the October performance of ‘When I Think of the End’ at the Empire Theatre starring Fairholme’s very own Emmi Lange, Adeline Hamilton and Eliza Kinniburgh.
