At Walford, we are continually inspired by our girls’ unwavering ambition as they consistently pursue excellence not only within the classroom but also in their various co-curricular endeavours. 

We believe it is important to harness each student’s aspirations and recognise their hard-earned achievements as it fuels their personal growth and contributes to them each reaching their goals. 

Earlier this term, we were thrilled to acknowledge Year 12 students Claire and Beth, who were awarded the School’s highest honour – a Walford Blue.  

Achieving this award is quite a formidable task. Students in their final year are required to demonstrate exemplary commitment by actively supporting their peers and assuming leadership roles within their school activities. They must consistently exhibit outstanding participation, regularly attending practices, competitions, rehearsals, and performances. Their dedication should result in achieving a notable proficiency level that distinguishes them from internal and external peers. Equally vital is their display of excellent sportsmanship and a collaborative spirit, fostering teamwork within their chosen pursuits. And ultimately, they must have represented the School at a distinguished level, whether at the State, National, or equivalent stage. 

Claire has received this award for her commitment to soccer at a national level. She is the 2023 Soccer Captain and has represented Walford since Year 7. Claire’s talent has been recognised outside of the School gates, having been selected to represent South Australia on numerous occasions and as a shadow player for the Junior Matildas under-17 Australian squad. Claire was also invited to train with Adelaide United FC for the 2022/2023 season.  

Beth is a member of the Sturt District Cricket Club’s 1st Grade women’s team and was the Captain of their Under 18 team for the 2022/2023 season, where she was recognised as their most valuable player, while also being awarded the Sturt District Cricket Club batting trophy. She represented South Australia at the U19 National Championships in Perth, and is a ‘train-on’ player for the State women’s team, the SA Scorpions. In addition, Beth has been selected to play in the Under 19 Lanning vs. Perry Series in Brisbane and has been awarded the Contribution to Sport Award by the Independent Girls Schools Sports Association (IGSSA) for her significant and valuable contribution to sport.  

Our younger students are equally as ambitious. They are also eagerly pursuing their academic goals and co-curricular passions with a boundless enthusiasm that promotes a promising future filled with innovation and excellence. Their hard work has also seen several of them thrive on the state to global stage.  

Ellen (Year 10) has been selected to represent Australia at the upcoming Pacific Games to be held on Solomon Islands this November, while Sophie’s (Year 9) sailing has taken her to Germany for the Youth Final of the SAILING Champions League.  

In their first-ever season of sports Aerobics, our Walford Stars came 6th in their division (Primary Pre-choreographed teams Year 5) at the FISAF National Championships in Queensland after winning the state finals in their respective division. In addition, Indira (Year 9) and Larasati (Year 7) also respectively won silver and gold for their club Activ8. Larasati and her trio team have qualified for the World’s Aerobics competition in Ghent, Belgium and will represent Australia this October. 

Other National representation includes Katrina (Year 9) who qualified to compete at the Australian Interschool Equestrian Championships, Abbey (Year 11) who is representing Australia in Softball, Lucia (Year 9) who is heading to Canberra to compete in the Under 15 Water Polo Championships at the Australian Institute of Sport and Lillian (Year 12) who has attained the title of Under 22 National Tumbling Champion. Alexandra (Year 8) was also successful in being selected for one of the U15 girls state Lacrosse teams to play in the national tournament in Ballarat. 

Outside the sporting arena, our girls are also excelling with their dedicated and outstanding performance in academic pursuits.  

Cristina also in Year 9 was recently awarded 3rd place – Poetry 9/10 for her poem at the Young Writers Awards for the South Australian English Teachers Association, and Zizhao (Year 8) was also shortlisted. 

The success of our girls can also be attributed to our staff and old scholars who – during their own pursuit for excellence-– are positive role models within our community. 

Ms Paula Winter, was awarded the Don Burrows Award for Recognition of Long Service for Music Tutor from the Association of Heads of Music in Non Government Schools.  

Old scholar Emily Elkhoury (1994), was recognised in the Advertiser’s “Listed: Meet 80 innovative businesswomen in South Australia” for her boutique mortgage broking business Phoenix Lending, Danielle Wood (1997) has just been appointed chair of the Productivity Commission and Angela-May Rullo (2017) was named valedictorian at her recent graduation ceremony at Adelaide Uni for her Bachelor of Commerce degree. 

It is evident, the path to our students, staff and old scholar success knows no boundaries. Congratulations to all, we are immensely proud of the strides you are taking to shape your goals and reach your ambitions.