Autumn 2024 edition
From the President’s Pen
Can you believe it's already April? Time flies, and in just six months, our committee has been hard at work laying the groundwork for our projects in 2024 and beyond.
This abridged, reintroduction edition of the independent Green Tartan gives you an update on our progress and plans.
Here are five key areas I'd like to highlight and place a general callout for assistance:
Events: We're planning two external events in Melbourne and Sydney over the next six months. If you're in these areas and would like to help organize these gatherings, we'd love to hear from you.
Reunion Weekend: Save the date for our reunion weekend in October in Armidale! Alumni celebrating 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40+ years, if you missed your milestone reunion due to COVID-19 or simply want a year group reunion, you’re invited to attend.
Please reach out if you're interested in organising or joining a milestone reunion group either on Facebook or by emailing the school. It would be great to have a year group coordinator for each year, including upcoming years so please consider if you can represent your year group and let us know via this form.
Green Tartan: We intend to send out the Green Tartan every season and are looking to include interviews from our alumni in each edition. Whether you have a life update, anecdote, or recipe to share, or if you're interested in conducting interviews as a contributor to the Green Tartan, please get in touch! It is really important to the committee that we are representative of our whole group so we are interested in all stories, not just national-newsworthy achievements. Please email us or pop us a message on Facebook to dob in a friend or tell us what you are proud of.
Mentoring Program: We are hoping to establish a mentoring program for recent school leavers. The goal is to pair graduates with mentors in similar life or career paths, offering guidance and support. If you're interested in becoming a mentor or mentee, please reach out to us via email. Keep reading for more information.
Continuing to Grow: We value your input on how we can better serve as a committee. We'd love to hear your ideas for questions or suggestions. Also, if you know anyone who would like to receive this newsletter or prefers a printed copy, please let us know. Contact us at ogu@plcarmidale.nsw.edu.au or call 0487 646 419 (my personal number).
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Best wishes,
Peta Taylor
2023-24 President
Introducing our 2024 Committee
Peta Taylor (nee Jeffery) – 2009 President
Peta lives in Armidale with her husband Ben, baby Grace and two dogs. Peta is a family law & estates solicitor and in her downtime she enjoys planning a garden and reading fiction.
Natasha Purvis – 2006 Vice President
Tash is a Senior Federal Prosecutor living in Canberra. While her profession keeps her busy, she chooses to spend her free time trying to learn French (and wishes she'd paid more attention to Madame), playing tennis or in the peace of her garden.
Chelsea Jeffery – 2013 Treasurer
Chelsea lives in Armidale with her dog, cat and ducks. Chelsea works at Reader’s Companion where she combines two of her loves: books and talking about them. In her spare time she can be found crocheting or working through her long list of dream renovations.
Melissa Harvey – 2013 Secretary
Melissa is a public servant who specialises in communications and is currently working on an agricultural project with NSW DPI. She lives in Armidale and loves, puffing around a sports field, travelling, and all hobbies that involve creating things.
Please give us a few minutes of your time to help us shape the Old Girls Union to be the best it can be.
Entries can be anonymous, we are just looking for expressions of interest, opinions and ideas to help determine the way the OGU can best serve our members.
OGU Events
On 28 December 2023, the Old Girls Union held an afternoon tea at the Armidale home of Old Girl Chelsea Jeffery (2013). We were delighted to have in attendance a mixture of girls across several school years who enjoyed a light spread supplied by the OGU.
We will hold a similar OGU afternoon tea annually between the Christmas and New Year holidays. If you are in Armidale during this time please keep us in mind, we would love to have you attend!
Want to host an event?
We would love to see some similar events held in other areas of Australia, not just Armidale. If you live in area outside of Armidale and would like to hold an OGU event in your town or city, please reach out to us and we can help you spread the word and can assist financially. Email us at ogu@plcarmidale.nsw.edu.au
Proposed Mentoring Program
Mentorship is vital for empowering women both professionally and in their every day lives. Women encounter a myriad of challenges, spanning from pay inequity and limits on career progression to the perceptions of work-life balance and the nuanced impacts of women's health on daily life. It is incumbent upon the Old Girls Union to ensure that students and alumni of PLC Armidale cultivate connections in their desired industries and receive the support they need.
To that end, the Old Girls Union is developing a Mentoring Program. The program will be tailored for Year 12 graduates and recent alumni within their first 3-5 years post-university. We aspire to enlist Old Girls from diverse industries and professions as mentors, enabling mentees to connect with someone in their chosen field. Year 12 graduates will ideally be matched with mentors to navigate the transition from school, while recent alumni will benefit from mentors with relevant expertise.
We aim to unveil the finalised mentoring program and introduce the inaugural mentors and mentees at the Alumni Weekend in October 2024. In the interim, we invite former students to express their interest in becoming mentors or seeking mentorship.
To register your interest or share insights on how this mentoring program can best serve our Alumni community, please email the Old Girls Union at ogu@plcarmidale.nsw.edu.au
Want to know what is happening at PLC Armidale? Check out the latest issue of the Lion's Roar HERE
