BY TRINITY BROGDEN - HEAD PREFECT, 2025

This article first appeared in Queenwood Weekly News on Friday 23 August 2024.

Imagining the future of Queenwood in our upcoming centenary year.

Per Aspera ad Astra ... et Ultra.
 
In the almost 100 years since the founding of Queenwood, we have evolved into a school that our founders may not recognise in cement and sandstone but would recognise in students and culture. After all, it is not the physical foundations that matter - it is the girls, old girls, teachers and community that make our Queenwood. I am certain that nearly a century later, our school is what Miss Lawrance and Miss Rennie once imagined and hoped it would be.  
 
How many organisations can say that the values on which they were founded remain their foundations 100 years later and beyond? 
 
On the eve of our centenary year, we remain loyal to our foundations and values. Queenwood is a beacon of girls’ education, a school that produces women of Truth, Courage and Service. Girls that aren’t afraid of the struggle that leads them to the stars. Miss Rennie put it perfectly when she said;
 
“Per Aspera ad Astra fits easily into the small space on our badges, but imagine instead, it is only by struggling to overcome difficulties that we can hope ever to reach our highest ideals” 
 
Our traditions, new and old, cultivate the culture that remains throughout the rapidly changing 21^st century. Pink Cupcakes on the School’s Birthday. The House Music Festival. Red Shoes in the Junior School playground. And old girls who visit the school on special occasions to remind us of the lasting impacts of our time at Queenwood. We will soon reflect on and celebrate the impact of a century of Queenwood education and the successful women who have come before us as alumnae. Author Shirley Hazzard, Professor in Medicine Gemma Figtree, Olympian Matilda Kearns, business leader Cassandra Kelly, astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg and thousands of other leaders in their field. 
 
Our history continues to shape the Queenwood of today and beyond. Although reflection on the past brings us joy, the true enjoyment of our centenary year is the excitement that comes with imagining the future. 
 
...et Ultra. And beyond.
 
My hope for the future is that Queenwood leads the way to equality for all women. That we break the barriers that still exist to female opportunity. That we see the Truth, that we have the Courage, and that we give the Service. 
 
In the year preceding Queenwood’s centenary, women have been in the spotlight more than ever. But not always for the right reasons. Our struggles continue and too many won’t make it to the stars. The vision for Queenwood is that we, the students of Queenwood and the women who have come before us, are able to combat issues that, although not of our making, affect us directly. 
 
On average, one woman is killed every nine days by a current or former partner. 41% of women in Sydney earn less than $600 a week in a city where the median rent is $750.  Safety and security are essential to the survival, wellbeing and advancement of women.   
 
A Queenwood girl is one willing to offer their service without question, one reminded daily of our school hymn, which states; 

Star of Service, make us dwell on
Not our own but others’ needs, 
Happiness and comfort bringing 
By self-sacrificing deeds. 
 
In 1925 many opportunities were unavailable to women, but this inspired rather than daunted our founders. A Queenwood education graduated women of substance, independence and self-belief. Next year we celebrate our centenary in a time that welcomes diversity and celebrates difference, a time our founders would be proud of.
 
Looking into our future, knowing our capacity, Queenwood’s future shines brighter than the stars we wish to reach.