Monthly Archives: May 2021

eNews – Week 7, Term 2 2021

Issue no. 17Enews-banner


From Our Director of Early Learning

Adelaide Early Learning Centre

More Than a Word: Reconciliation Takes Action in the ELC

This year’s theme for Reconciliation Week rings true to our ears in the ELC. We have been so empowered by our own journey and having many opportunities to share this important message beyond our own front door. Since we delivered our first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), we have taken stronger steps on our journey of reconciliation, using the vision of the RAP and the three essential pillars of Relationships, Respect and Opportunities to guide our work.

Having an important relationship with the Kaurna community allows us to hear first-hand their narratives, to learn and embrace their culture, and have an authentic history lesson. Kaurna elder Tamaru has assisted us to build our daily rituals, to connect to Mother Earth and to acknowledge on a daily basis the reason why we must enact our pledge to look after our land.

It is indeed the action that matters, and our work is pivotal as it is embedded in daily practice. There is a misconception around what knowledge and stories children need to learn about our First Nations People. At the ELC, we advocate for honesty and change in the area of reconciliation and, over the past four years, have made a significant impact on our ELC and School community, not to mention the wider community.

Our work is so significant in the wider community that I was recently asked to be on the panel at the SA Reconciliation Breakfast representing the ELC to Year 12 education sector at a State level. Speaking and advocating for our work in front of 1700 people was both slightly overwhelming and invigorating as I know our work matters. It comes back to viewing children as citizens and seeing their role in forming their own decisions and understandings from these important early childhood years. We hope that our community can continue this work, listening to children’s questions and answering them honestly, as they continue through their years of education.

We marked our journey in the ELC this week with Tamaru holding a traditional smoking ceremony and a Welcome to Country. Many of our community members attended and together we stood side-by-side on this journey of reconciliation, which was a true act of respect. We look forward to sharing more of this work with you through our videos that document our actions.

Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning

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National Reconciliation Week Breakfast

Teachers and students attended the National Reconciliation Week Breakfast at the Adelaide Convention Centre last Thursday. It was a real celebration of the community, private sector and educational commitment to the spirit of reconciliation and included a panel discussion on this year’s theme: ‘More than a word: Reconciliation takes action’. The challenge to all attendees was to turn ‘safe’ conversations about reconciliation into ‘brave’ ones so as to highlight the need to act rather than merely think it is right to do so.

St Peter’s Girls was represented by Year 8 students Levanya De Silva and Grace Richardson-Stevens and Year 6 student Imogen Wallace, alongside Director of Early Learning Kate Mount, ELC Co-Educator Henrietta Balnaves and Head of Humanities Gregor Dingwall. The breakfast was a great opportunity to build partnerships with community groups united by the recognition that advancing reconciliation will be a partnership or a Makarrata, the indigenous word for coming together after a struggle. How we as a School respond to this challenge will very much shape our next Reconciliation Action Plan.

To coincide with National Reconciliation Week, Middle School classes have also undertaken workshops in the Library to explore the plight of Australia’s indigenous people since Federation, and to discuss the differing interpretations of the legal and political events which have shaped the experience of our First Nations People.

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Podium Finish at Ethics Olympiad

Two Saints Girls’ teams last week entered the South Australian Senior School Ethics Olympiad. This year’s competition was of an incredibly high calibre, so we were very excited to hear that our Year 11/12 team consisting of Sara Peak, Emily Teague, Victoria Thorp and myself placed 1st, and our Year 10 team consisting of Bronwyn Gautier, Jasreet Mavi, Lady Murphy and Emma Pool came 3rd.

The Ethics Olympiad is an interschool competition comprising four or five students per team who present their analysis of an ethical issue, respond to other teams’ critiques of their arguments and answer questions from the expert judges about the issue. Unlike debating, which focuses on defending a single side of an argument, the Ethics Olympiad encourages teams to explore the nuanced ethical perspectives on a case to collaboratively generate a balanced conclusion. We discussed topics such as the line between free speech and hate speech on online gaming platforms, whether it is ethical to defund the police, and whether exaggerating statistics to convince young people to take coronavirus seriously is morally justifiable.

We wish our Year 11/12 team the best of luck as they progress to the online National Final later this year.

Holly Wallman-Craddock
Student

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Can You Be Our Game Changer?


As we embark upon our first major fundraising campaign since our Arts Centre project, we hope you can help us slam dunk our goal of $1M to give Saints Girls a new Gym sooner.

Featuring two indoor courts, an elevated viewing platform and revamped weights area, our new Gym will be a jewel in our sporting crown. If we reach our target, we will bring construction forward by 12 months to commence work in December next year.
So, we need your help: can you be our Game Changer and fast-track our new Gym?

DONATE NOW

Please use reference: Tax 2021

As the end of financial year approaches, please note that donations are tax deductible. Donations of any size are always welcome, and considerable contributions will be formally acknowledged in unique ways in the new Gym, taking into account voluntary Building Fund payments and event fundraising. The ultimate winners will be our girls.

Please contact me, or Foundation Manager Melissa Westgate via 0407 394 183 or mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au, if you have any questions or if you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss this project in detail. We also look forward to sharing our upcoming fundraising events with you shortly.

Thank you for supporting Saints Girls and this landmark campaign.

Julia Shea
Principal

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Meet Our New Board Member

Adelaide Early Learning Centre

Following an extensive, independent recruitment process, St Peter’s Girls’ School is delighted to announce the appointment of a new member to our highly-experienced, voluntary Board of Governors.

Iain Hay is Matthew Flinders Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Geography at Flinders University where he was also foundation Dean (Education) for the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Iain completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Washington as a Fulbright Scholar and was later awarded a Doctor of Letters from the University of Canterbury. He is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year, and includes amongst his academic and governance qualifications Fellowships of the Academy of Social Sciences and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Iain’s wife and mother-in-law are alumnae of St Peter’s Girls’ School.

“I am looking forward to this role for the opportunities it offers to enhance St Peter’s Girls’ reputation as a world‐class school for girls, and to support an organisation whose values of compassion, creativity and courage accord very closely with my own,” Iain said.

“As an academic with a particular background in educational leadership and management, I believe I am exceptionally well‐positioned to support the Board’s work towards its seven current strategic focus areas: Academics, Spaces and Places, Community, Organisational Sustainability, Wellbeing, Staff, and Co‐Curricular.”

The School congratulates Iain on his appointment and we look forward to seeing his contributions in lifting St Peter’s Girls to even greater heights.

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Passionate Public Speaker Set for State Final

Adelaide Early Learning Centre

Last Saturday, I participated in the 2021 Legacy Junior Public Speaking Competition. I presented two speeches, with the first being a six minute prepared speech, and the second a two minute impromptu speech where I was given five minutes to prepare.

Both speeches had to relate to at least one of the ideals of Legacy which are voluntary service, care and compassion, personal sacrifice, mateship and the need for remembrance. For my prepared speech, I spoke about how ‘Every Sacrificed Individual for Public Service Deserves to be Remembered.’ I discussed the importance of offering education for all children for the impromptu speech topic of ‘Do I really care?’

I feel honoured to be selected to participate in the State Final, and I cannot wait for the competition day to finally arrive in August. Public speaking has not only improved my use of plain English and public speaking skills, it has also given me the opportunity to meet and befriend some amazing people who have helped me gain a deeper understanding into some current world issues and a few of their own unique personal stories.

I would definitely encourage anyone entering Years 7 to 9 in the coming years to take part in this remarkable public speaking competition.

Jessica Zhang
Student


Mathematicians Formulate Their Game Plan

Year 6 Maths – Gaming to Learn

The Year 6 Maths Group has been studying decimals, fractions, percentages and their connections. To demonstrate their understanding, they were asked to create a board game with the following Learning Intentions:

• To see how decimal numbers are built up from whole numbers and fractions
• To understand the relationship between decimals, fractions and percentages
• To understand the use and relevance of decimals in our measurement system and money

The girls then designed and created the game over three lessons in a team and played each other’s games to assess whether they met the success criteria:

• The game is colourful, interesting to look at and would be appealing to a Year 6 student
• The presentation is neat and ordered, rules are included and are easy to follow
• The game allows students to practise all three content areas – fractions, decimals and percentages – and conversions between them
• The game makes it evident that the student has a strong conceptual understanding of fractions, decimals and percentages

The collated assessments were then averaged by the students to gain an overall assessment result. Sharing of thoughts verbally allowed for clarifying and critical assessment. This was an extremely worthwhile mathematical activity enjoyed by the girls.

Shelley Hampton
Year 6 Maths Teacher

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Renewed Thinking on Liveability Excursion

The 7RMI class participated in a Geography excursion to examine the liveability of Bowden. The girls toured the Plant 4 community space and were addressed by managers Jonathon and Paige Kaitatzis. After a walking tour of the precinct, the girls then heard from Andrew Bishop, the Senior Project Manager from Renewal SA. Students also visited a display apartment to gauge the affordability of the accommodation options in the environmentally-friendly urban renewal site. The excursion provided valuable insights and liveability comparisons with the suburban accommodation most students find themselves in.

Gabriele Trobbiani
Year 7 Geography Teacher

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St Peter’s Girls’ Piano Recital

Introducing our guest artist for the Piano Recital on Tuesday 15 June: Dr Gabriella Smart.

From the Piano Eisteddfod on Tuesday 8 June, a select number of students from across year levels and years of experience who demonstrate confidence and musicality will be selected to perform at the evening recital on Tuesday 15 June. At the recital, our guest artist Dr Smart will talk about her own musical journey as well as perform a mixture of classical and contemporary works to motivate and inspire our budding pianists.

Dr Smart has been acknowledged as one of the leading advocates of new music in Australia – through performance, education, composition, commissioning and curation. She is Artistic Director of Soundstream, New Music Ensemble in Residence at the University of Adelaide. As a performer, Dr Smart has received several international accolades. Before COVID-19, Dr Smart performed seven concerts in Europe in 2020, which included three solo world premieres, two preview showings of new works by Kasper T Toeplitz (FRA) and Constantine Koukias (AUS/NETH), and overall performing nine Australian premieres in Europe. She has premiered more than 40 new works for solo piano in Europe and China.

We are very honoured to have Dr Smart join our Piano Recital.

Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music

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Bingo Night – Saturday 19 June

The Saints Girls’ community proudly presents:

Bingo Night!
Saturday 19 June
St Peter’s Girls’ School Gym

5 rounds of Bingo + fun and games / bar available for drink purchases / adults only event

Tickets are limited, so organise your table now by visiting: TryBooking

Supported by Friends of Rowing

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Road Safety Alert

Adelaide Schools

The School is extremely concerned by reports of dangerous driver behaviour including speeding through the car park. All drivers must obey the 10kph speed limit.

Please also note the speed limit along Hallett Road has recently been reduced from 60 to 50kph.

Road safety and courtesy is everyone’s responsibility and is of the utmost importance in a school setting. We appeal to all of our families to take extra care in our car parks and on the roads for the safety of our students, parents, staff and the wider community.

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Medical Research Careers Evening

The Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) will be holding an online High School Careers Evening on Tuesday 8 June at 6.30pm AEST. There will be a panel of people from all around Australia, where they will be discussing their jobs and the pathways they took to get there. This is a great opportunity for STEM enthusiasts to gain more information about a variety of industries. The event aims to showcase a range of career opportunities in the health and medical sector to students from Years 9 to 12. For more information, please click here.

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Join ‘Our Saints’ Community

Beyond parents and guardians, our girls also treasure connections with grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family. We name these special people ‘Our Saints’.

In the first week of Term 2, students from Reception to Year 6 were given two forms each to take home to their grandparents. If you did not receive these forms from your daughter, please contact me via mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or 8334 2244.

Alternatively, there is a link to the form here.

Our Saints provides opportunities for those who have a connection with our girls to be more involved with the School community through various means, ranging from volunteering their time, to subscribing to our publications such as eNews and Saints Alive.

We encourage all interested grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family to join this special group.

Melissa Westgate
Foundation Manager

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Entertainment Membership

To support Saints Girls and purchase your Entertainment Membership, including a free upgrade, click here.

Adelaide Schools

Terms and conditions apply. Visit www.entertainment.com.au for more information.

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Absences from School

If your child is going to be absent, late to school or leave early, please use one of the following methods to notify the School providing student name, class/Home Group and reason:

Text: 0428 601 957

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Phone: 8334 2200

Feel free to include the class/Home Group teacher when emailing. It would be appreciated if notifications could be made prior to 9am.

Please note: it is absolutely imperative to keep unwell children at home until they have recovered, even if symptoms are mild. This is not only for their own health and safety, but for that of all students and staff.

We thank all of our families for their cooperation.

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COVID Measures

Please note the following information regarding our continued COVID response.

The School has a QR code tracing system to facilitate the safe return of parents on site, in line with wider government measures. Parents entering the campus to drop off or collect their children need to scan the QR code provided each time. This also applies to parents visiting the School for events such as parent information evenings, Arts productions or sports training/matches.

Parents and visitors with more formal appointments at the School, such as meeting a staff member, are still required to sign in/out at Front Office and also need to scan the QR code as well for SA Health tracing purposes.

Adults who do not have a device to scan the QR code need to write their details on the paper form provided in the Front Office.

Parents who remain in their vehicles in the main car park do not need to scan in, and students do not need to scan in as the School already tracks daily attendance.

Logistics around events will be shared in due course, dependent upon the latest advice. Attendance numbers, particularly for indoor events, will still need to be restricted to facilitate social distancing.

The following general requirements remain in place:

  • Ensure adults maintain a distance of 1.5m from each other.
  • Practise sound hand washing and other hygiene measures.
  • Students should remain at home if they are unwell; please notify the School of absences by texting 0428 601 957, emailing attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au, or calling 8334 2200.

We thank all of our families for your cooperation.

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Sports News

NETBALL

Open A: Saints 43 v 32 Concordia
Open B: Saints 32 v 32 Concordia
Open C: Saints 36 v 22 Concordia
Open D: BYE

Intermediate A: Saints 48 v 12 Concordia
Intermediate B: Saints 41 v 14 Concordia

Year 10 C:
Saints 27 v 21 Seymour
Year 9 A: Saints 47 v 32 Concordia
Year 9 B: Saints 24 v 32 Concordia
Year 9 C: Saints 10 v 25 Seymour
Year 8 A: Saints 28 v 29 Concordia
Year 8 B: Saints 22 v 16 Concordia
Year 8 C: Saints 9 v 31 Concordia
Year 7 A: Saints 18 v 26 Concordia
Year 7 B: Saints 12 v 30 Concordia
Year 7 C: Saints 18 v 17 Pembroke
Year 6 White: Saints 15 v Seymour 12
Year 6 Blue:
Saints 18 v Seymour 10
Year 5 White:
Saints 18 v Seymour 10
Year 5 Blue: Saints 21 v Pembroke 1
Year 5 Silver: Saints 4 v Seymour 25

Meet Our Director of Netball – Alice Johnswood

How long have you been associated with Saints Girls?
I started as Netball Director in 2016.

Do you have a club that you also work with?
Yes, I am a life member of Garville Netball Club and have returned there after five years away coaching Nairne Districts’ A Grade. I am back as the Club Development Manager at Garville. I oversee all the player and coach development as well as coach the Junior 1 team.

What position did you used to play?
GA/GS

Who is your sporting hero and why?
Natalie Avellino (Netball), Darren Jarman (AFL) and Darren Lehmann (Cricket); all players who had amazing skills and the ability to change a game.

If you could have a superhero power, what would it be?
The ability to take peoples’ pain away.

What 3 words would your players use to describe you?
Tough but fair.

Where is your favourite holiday?
Anywhere warm and near the beach with my closest friends.

If you could give one piece of advice to a budding netballer, what would it be?
Don’t practise until you get it right, practise until you can’t get it wrong.

YEAR 7 SAPSASA NETBALL

What a sterling effort by some of our talented Year 7s who this week brought home a Silver medal for East Adelaide at SAPSASA Netball – congratulations girls!

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL

Open: Saints 3 v Wilderness 54
Middle: Saints 2 v Wilderness 13

The teams both had losses but could take heart out of the improvement being seen. Many Year 10s are making up the Open squad and have been willing to learn and develop their skills and game understanding throughout the first few matches. Moving the ball out of congestion and positioning kicks are two areas that will need continual focus, whilst the tackling pressure has generally been high.

In the Middle team, the girls are becoming accustomed to the importance of training at the intensity (and beyond) that you would expect in a match. This has meant skills such as hand passing have developed and been displayed in matches, whilst kicking on the run is a challenging aspect that still requires advancement. The girls’ enthusiasm, encouragement and initiative are three factors that have stood out so far this season. The Middle team’s realisation that they need to increase their aerobic fitness and then looking to add trainings to their schedule is a good example of this.

We look forward to watching this development across the season. – Dan Searle (Coordinator)

BADMINTON

Open A: Saints 3 v Pembroke 3
Open B: Saints 7 v 6 Walford (on sets)
Open C: Saints 5 v 1 Walford
Open D: Saints 4 v 2 Wilderness
Open E1: Played E2
Open E2: Played E1
Open F1: Saints 9 v Immanuel 0
Open F2: Saints 5 v Pembroke 4

Our girls were faced with strong opponents last weekend which challenged their skills. As they made their way through matches, they displayed positive growth mindset towards the results and learnt from coaches’ feedback. Though with some fluctuations in the results, our new players have improved as they play more matches to gain experience. Well done to all! – Candy Feng (Captain)

HOCKEY

Open: Saints 10 v Seymour B 0
Year 3/4: Saints 5 v Seymour 6
Year 5/6: Saints 4 v Wilderness 1

Saints started off strongly, attacking the penalty corner in the first minute and linking up passes to Holly Cardone who scored the first goal by flicking the ball to the bottom corner. It was great to see the girls practising transfers to shift the ball around, creating space for the girls to receive the ball. Well done to Maddie Oborn for getting her first senior hockey goal! It was terrific to have five different goal scores across the game. Congratulations to the team for the first win of the season. – Poppie Goldsmith (Hockey Captain)

LACROSSE

U11 White: Saints 7 v North Adelaide 1
U11 Blue: Saints 8 v Burnside 3
U13: Saints 12 v Sturt 8

Our Lacrosse teams go from strength to strength with another two comfortable wins for our U11s, and our U13s also taking out their second win of the season. In U11, Eliza, Neela and Ivy each scored 3 goals, with Alannah Godfrey and Claris Stolcman scoring 3 and 4 respectively in the U13s. Our U13s look forward to a friendly game against Burnside this weekend.

SOCCER

Open: Saints 0 v 2 Mercedes
Middle: Saints 1 v 4 Pembroke

Our Open team has improved dramatically since the start of the season, with a strong focus on defensive shape. Against a strong Mercedes team, the girls only conceded 2 goals, with the second coming with the last kick of the game. A huge improvement from our girls who were in with a fighting chance of a result until the end. Coach Steve is very happy with the girls’ focus and improvement.

STUDENT SUCCESS

Our girls also continue to thrive in outside of school sport. Please continue to pass these stories onto the Sport Department by emailing tpeak@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

AUSTRALIAN AGE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Three Saints Girls recently participated in the Australian Age Swimming Championships on the Gold Coast, competing against the fastest swimmers in Australia.

Emma Everitt: 200 Butterfly (9th); 400 IM (16th); 400 Freestyle (17th); 200 IM (26th); 200 Freestyle (39th)
Poppy Marshall: 200 Breaststroke (14th); 100 Breaststroke (24th)
Alice Braithwaite: 200 Backstroke (31st); 400 Freestyle (34th); 200 IM (49th)

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eNews – Week 6, Term 2 2021

Issue no. 16Enews-banner

Adelaide Schools

Don’t Miss A Chorus Line – Next Week!

Our girls have been working overtime on stage and behind-the-scenes for next week’s School Musical: A Chorus Line – High School Edition.

This iconic production pulls back the curtain on the life of a Broadway performer, weaving personal stories together to create a breathtakingly moving event. It’s the perfect showcase for our ‘triple threat’ performers whose talents sparkle across dance, acting and singing.

Thursday 3 June and Friday 4 June at 1.30pm and 7pm
St Peter’s Girls’ Arts Centre

Purchase your tickets now via TryBooking

Before the curtain comes up, take a look at this sneak peek:

Conceived and Originally Directed and Choreographed by Michael Bennett; Book by James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante; Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyrics by Edward Kleban; Co Choreographed by Bob Avian
Original Broadway production produced by the New York
Shakespeare Festival, Joseph Papp, Producer, in association with Plum Productions, Inc.
Adaptation and support materials for the High School Edition
Developed by iTheatrics
Under the supervision of Timothy Allen McDonald
A CHORUS LINE High School Edition is presented by permission of ORiGiN™
Theatrical on behalf of Tams-Witmark LLC

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From Our Director of Teaching and Learning

Adelaide Schools

Adelaide Schools

Term 2 is whizzing by, so this is a timely opportunity to share some academic reminders and updates:

2022 Subjects and Pathways
Year 10 students have this week heard in detail about the IB and SACE programs. In Week 8, they will be able to go through a Q&A session to listen to students from both programs, and to ask them questions about their experiences so far. Year 9 students will attend similar pathway information sessions in Weeks 8 and 9. The Curriculum Handbook, which contains comprehensive information about all senior subjects available in 2022, will be published towards the end of term. Faculties will also be sharing subject-specific overviews during lesson time over the next few weeks.

Examinations
Year 10 and Year 11 SACE Semester 1 examinations take place in Week 9 and the timetables have been distributed. Some #EMPOWHER time this term has been allocated to reviewing revision strategies. With more Stage 2 SACE examinations moving online, more of our internal examinations are following suit so that students can gain extensive experience using online platforms. Our internal examination browser can replicate all the features of SACE’s version, and thanks go to our Head of Technology Garth Coulter for developing and enhancing this valuable tool.

Teachers are Learners Too
As covered in previous eNews articles, our teachers are continually looking to improve and refine their practice through professional development and trialling and reviewing new approaches in their learning spaces. A key focus for us this year is making our growth goals measurable, using quantitative data wherever possible. This is so we can gather evidence of impact and enable future strategic thinking to be firmly evidence-based. Another important focus for us this year is reflecting on teaching ‘sweet spots’, in other words, the ideal blend of different teaching and learning approaches.

Last year, COVID hit university pre-service teaching programs particularly badly, with most schools unable to host students in 2020. We are doing our bit this year by hosting students from six different Australian universities across the two semesters.

Tutor Program
A quick reminder about the Tutor Program we offer here at Saints Girls. Students in Years 7 – 12 can book a before or after-school session with a tutor if they need some additional help with an assignment or would like to consolidate their classroom learning. The booking process is easy – via Canvas – and the tutors are recent Old Scholars who well-remember the demands of being a student and the requirements of particular tasks and units of work. Best of all, this service is free!

Nigel Scoggins
Director of Teaching and Learning

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Reconciliation Week at St Peter’s Girls

St Peter’s Girls’ School is proud to mark National Reconciliation Week, which this year carries the theme, More than a word. Reconciliation takes action.

Our ELC is leading the way, with reconciliation and respect for indigenous history and culture embedded into daily life. This week, our Director of Early Learning Kate Mount had the honour of representing the education sector of South Australia from ELC to Year 12 on a panel at the Reconciliation Breakfast at the Convention Centre. Speaking to over 1600 people, she was able to advocate for the importance of having and living a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

Take a look at a snapshot of our ongoing reconciliation journey at St Peter’s Girls:


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Launch Pad for IB Science

Adelaide Schools

As part of the IB Diploma, students study one or two Science subjects. Over the two-year Science course, students complete one internal assessment (IA) task on a topic of their choice.

Weijia Yin can be seen above gathering data for her Physics IA. Out on our School Oval, Weijia is firing her self-made water bottle rocket. She is testing the effect of water level variability, with constant pressure (30psi), on the maximum height reached by the rocket. Super cool!

Interested in the IB Diploma?
Year 9 student information session: Thursday 10 June, Home Group
Subject EXPO: Thursday 22 July, 4.30 – 7pm
Contact cfarr@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au for further information about the IB Diploma.

Carolyn Farr
IB Diploma Coordinator/Mathematics Teacher

Adelaide Schools

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State Selection Sticks for Hockey Guns

Adelaide Schools

Congratulations to our U13 Hockey girls Phoebe Lucas, Yashika Agarwal and Abbey Phillips, as well as the U15 strikers Amelia Lucas, Winnie Vartuli and Leah Huynh, for being selected to participate in the State Zone Championships.

The Hockey SA Championships are taking place over the June long weekend, and our girls are excitedly preparing ahead of their games. We wish them all the best!

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Patteson and Kilburn House Charity Day

Adelaide Schools

Each year, the Houses at Saints Girls support their respective charities through multiple fundraising and charitable endeavours. Today, Year 10 girls used their culinary skills for good by baking and preparing delectable sweets to raise funds for Patteson’s House Charity, the Moore Street Drop-In Centre, and delicious cheese toasties in support of Kilburn’s House Charity, the Cancer Council.

Through this opportunity, the girls have truly realised what an impact these charities have in our society. The Moore Street Drop-In Centre offers a variety of anti-poverty services with the aim to empower people to regain control of their lives. The Cancer Council works across every area of cancer including research, prevention, support and advocacy.

This is a perfect example of how the Saints Girls’ community has come together to Be Bold and have Hearts of Gold in support of two incredible charities who help so many across our State.

Georgina Wakeham and Bridgette Leach
Students

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First-Class Accolades for Dedicated Educators

Adelaide Schools

Congratulations to Year 1 Teacher Liz Sandercock and Head of Languages Cindy Pitkin who have been recognised for their services in education. As part of National Volunteer Week, Liz and Cindy were invited to attend the Educators SA 2021 Volunteers’ Service Ceremony at the Adelaide Pavilion. Liz was awarded for an amazing 20+ years’ service to Educators SA, and Cindy received an award for 10+ years’ service to the Japanese Language Teachers’ Association of SA. Both Liz and Cindy were honoured to be part of an evening that celebrated volunteers in all different educational associations.

In lieu of trophies or similar awards, Liz and Cindy received framed certificates, and Educators SA donated $1 for each year of service by the award recipients to a children’s charity. This year, they selected Backpacks 4 SA Kids, which is a wonderful cause. In total, $1141 was donated from the event.

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Bingo Night – Saturday 19 June

The Saints Girls’ community proudly presents:

Bingo Night!
Saturday 19 June
St Peter’s Girls’ School Gym

5 rounds of Bingo + fun and games / bar available for drink purchases/adults only event.

Tickets are limited, so organise your table now by visiting: TryBooking

Supported by Friends of Rowing

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Piano Eisteddfod 2021

Adelaide Schools

 

On Tuesday 8 June in Week 8 of Term 2, the Arts Department will hold St Peter’s Girls’ Piano Eisteddfod. It is open to all Junior and Middle School students who play piano. Parents are welcome to attend, and times of each student’s performance will be communicated to families.

Girls will have the opportunity to perform a piece to a panel of judges, who will critique their performance based on accuracy, technique and musicality for their specific music level. This is a great opportunity for girls to perform in a supportive environment and receive some valuable feedback.

Girls are asked to play one piece that best displays their musicality and technical ability at their own musical level. There will be no minimum or maximum time limit. While the Eisteddfod provides our top piano players with a platform to perform, the aim is to give performers of all levels the opportunity to participate.

A recital will be held on the evening of Tuesday 15 June in MB120. These students will be chosen from the Eisteddfod performers who show confidence and a high level of musicianship. The selected recital students will be notified by the end of Week 8.

If your daughter would like to be involved, please fill out and return the Piano Eisteddfod consent form by Monday 31 May. Girls can collect the form from the Arts Office. They will later receive a time slot to perform in the Eisteddfod. Students will be notified by email if they have been chosen to have their piece recorded following the Eisteddfod.

Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music

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Road Safety Alert

Adelaide Schools

The School is extremely concerned by reports of dangerous driver behaviour including speeding through the car park. All drivers must obey the 10kph speed limit.

Please also note the speed limit along Hallett Road has recently been reduced from 60 to 50kph.

Road safety and courtesy is everyone’s responsibility and is of the utmost importance in a school setting. We appeal to all of our families to take extra care in our car parks and on the roads for the safety of our students, parents, staff and the wider community.

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Medical Research Careers Evening

The Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) will be holding an online High School Careers Evening on Tuesday 8 June at 6.30pm AEST. There will be a panel of people from all around Australia, where they will be discussing their jobs and the pathways they took to get there. This is a great opportunity for STEM enthusiasts to gain more information about a variety of industries. The event aims to showcase a range of career opportunities in the health and medical sector to students from Years 9 to 12. For more information, please click here.

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Join ‘Our Saints’ Community

Beyond parents and guardians, our girls also treasure connections with grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family. We name these special people ‘Our Saints’.

In the first week of Term 2, students from Reception to Year 6 were given two forms each to take home to their grandparents. If you did not receive these forms from your daughter, please contact me via mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or 8334 2244.

Alternatively, there is a link to the form here.

Our Saints provides opportunities for those who have a connection with our girls to be more involved with the School community through various means, ranging from volunteering their time, to subscribing to our publications such as eNews and Saints Alive.

We encourage all interested grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family to join this special group.

Melissa Westgate
Foundation Manager

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Entertainment Membership – Free Upgrade

To support Saints Girls and purchase your Entertainment Membership, including a free upgrade, click here.

Terms and conditions apply. Visit www.entertainment.com.au for more information.

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Absences from School

If your child is going to be absent, late to school or leave early, please use one of the following methods to notify the School providing student name, class/Home Group and reason:

Text: 0428 601 957

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Phone: 8334 2200

Feel free to include the class/Home Group teacher when emailing. It would be appreciated if notifications could be made prior to 9am.

Please note: it is absolutely imperative to keep unwell children at home until they have recovered, even if symptoms are mild. This is not only for their own health and safety, but for that of all students and staff.

We thank all of our families for their cooperation.

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COVID Measures

Please note the following information regarding our continued COVID response.

The School has a QR code tracing system to facilitate the safe return of parents on site, in line with wider government measures. Parents entering the campus to drop off or collect their children need to scan the QR code provided each time. This also applies to parents visiting the School for events such as parent information evenings or sports training/matches.

Parents and visitors with more formal appointments at the School, such as meeting a staff member, are still required to sign in/out at Front Office and also need to scan the QR code as well for SA Health tracing purposes.

Adults who do not have a device to scan the QR code need to write their details on the paper form provided in the Front Office.

Parents who remain in their vehicles in the main car park do not need to scan in, and students do not need to scan in as the School already tracks daily attendance.

Logistics around events will be shared in due course, dependent upon the latest advice. Attendance numbers, particularly for indoor events, will still need to be restricted to facilitate social distancing.

The following general requirements remain in place:

  • Ensure adults maintain a distance of 1.5m from each other.
  • Practise sound hand washing and other hygiene measures.
  • Students should remain at home if they are unwell; please notify the School of absences by texting 0428 601 957, emailing attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au, or calling 8334 2200.

We thank all of our families for your cooperation.

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Sports News

AFL

Open: Saints 8 v Immanuel 23
Middle: Saints 6 v Immanuel 76

BADMINTON

Open A: Saints 6 v 0 Immanuel
Open B: Saints 6 v 0 Seymour
Open C: Saints 6 v 0 Seymour
Open D: Saints 6 v 0 Seymour
Open E1: Saints 5 v 4 Woodcroft
Open E2: Saints 4 v 5 Wilderness
Open F1: Saints 7 v 2 Woodcroft
Open F2: Saints 6 v 3 Immanuel

Another week of exceptional results coming through from all teams with 7 out of the 8 winning their matches. Great match skills displayed from all players, especially from the A to D teams winning all matches and all players in Open A and Open C remaining undefeated. The girls showcased a consistently strong performance, and again, impressive and dominating plays coming from the Open A and to best player Gloria Gao winning by 15 – 2 and 15 – 3 against Immanuel College. The girls have also demonstrated excellent teamwork in their doubles and I’m sure everyone has improved throughout the matches. It is great to see girls playing with passion and more confidence as they continue to improve in terms of mindset, teamwork and basic skills. Congratulations to all who competed, well done! – Candy Feng (Captain)

CROSS COUNTRY

SAAS

Middle School
Malaika McLeod – 1st 14:29
Isla Fahey – 2nd 15:40
Daisy Braithwaite – 3rd 15:49
Alice Braithwaite – 7th 17:03
Carys Kinsella-White – 15th 18:01
Zara Trim – 17th 18:19
Charlotte McAuliffe – 18th 18:54
Dani Cox – 20th 18:58

Senior School
Lady Murphy – 6th 19:11

HOCKEY

Open: Saints 1 v Seymour 4
Year 5/6: Saints 10 v Seymour 0

The Open As started off strongly by connecting passes together while working the ball down the field, resulting in short corners. Saints scored the first goal of the match from a short corner, with Phoebe Lucas pushing out to Winnie Vartuli on the top and hitting the ball in the bottom corner. This was pleasing to see as it is what we have been working on in trainings. Best player goes to goalkeeper Alice Reid who saved some amazing balls. – Poppie Goldsmith (Hockey Captain)

It was a great win for the 5/6 Hockey team playing against Seymour. Having a wider pitch really helped our game play and the team worked well to use every inch of the field. There was smooth passing into the circle and some incredible shots on goal. We had clean tackles and our strikers made a lot of excellent leads. This game was a time to shine for our team! Great work girls. - Abbey Phillips

LACROSSE

U11 White: Saints 7 v Burnside 5
U11 Blue: Saints 6 v St Aloysius 5
U13: Saints 11 v Wilderness 10

Our U13 team had a fantastic game against Wilderness with a dramatic late comeback. After being 5 down in the first quarter, a change in the number of players on the field from 8 a side to 10 a side kickstarted the Saints’ comeback. Despite some early confusion and needing time to adapt to playing with 10, Saints Girls showed fantastic resilience to continue to create scoring opportunities, with Lois Burton-Howard scoring the last goal in a nail-biting victory.

NETBALL

Open A: Saints 30 v Scotch 49
Open B: Saints 27 v Scotch 41
Open C: Saints 28 v Scotch 58
Open D: Saints 7 v Scotch 48

Intermediate A: Saints 28 v Scotch 49
Intermediate B: Saints 9 v Scotch 44

Year 10C: Saints 24 v Seymour 46
Year 9A: Saints 15 v Scotch 33
Year 9B: Saints 23 v Scotch 24
Year 9C: Saints 6 v Seymour 17
Year 8A: Saints 24 v Scotch 49
Year 8B: Saints 17 v Scotch 12
Year 8C: Saints 9 v Seymour 17
Year 7A: Saints 13 v Scotch 22
Year 7B: Saints 19 v Pulteney 14
Year 7C: Saints 6 v Immanuel 6
Year 6 White: Saints 13 v Pembroke 5
Year 6 Blue: Saints 30 v Pembroke 7
Year 5 White: Saints 7 v Walford 9
Year 5 Blue: Saints 9 v Seymour 8
Year 5 Silver: Saints 1 v Seymour 17

Year 5 Blue: Saints 9 v Seymour 8
The team came up against our toughest competition of the season. Seymour Blue had some strong players who used the ball very well and defended tightly. Our girls had to work extremely hard to get in front and make strong leads. We had some great passages of play, particularly when we were steady and made good decisions with our passing. Defensively we worked hard all game to play one-on-one and picked up lots of loose balls and deflections. The game was goal-for-goal for the duration, with the winning goal being scored with less than 20 seconds on the clock! It was a great game and all players from both teams should be commended on the standard of netball played. – Alice Johnswood (Netball Coordinator)

Year 7A: Saints 13 v Scotch 22
Even though we lost, our effort was still really good. In defence, our hands were up, in the mid-court, we always had someone going for the ball, and our efforts were really consistent. Our shooters tried hard all game and a special mention goes to Alyssa who had a go at every ball, and when she was in defence, she blocked out her player really well. Another special mention goes to Isobel as she was really good at blocking out her player also. – Mia Bennett

Year 8B: Saints 17 v Scotch 12
In the first half, we started off very strong; however, Scotch came back at us in the second half. The final score was 17 – 12 Saints’ way. Scotch College was a solid team; well done to all the girls who played! – Elysia Scarr

Intermediate A: Saints 28 v Scotch 49
The girls knew they were up for a challenge, but we put in an amazing effort all game and kept pushing even when we were down. By implementing the defensive throw in drills that we practised in training, the defenders were able to effectively bring the ball down the court. The attacking skills progressed from a difficult first quarter to an excellent last quarter as the shooters made fast movements around the circle. Special thanks to Sammi Keough for stepping up to the team. – Maddy Liddy

Intermediate B: Saints 9 v Scotch 44
The girls put up a really good fight against a very strong, defensive team. The players in defence had a great game with turnovers and a strong front against a tall, skilled attacking side. The attacking team did very well and held their own throughout with some mid-court work from Anda and Tahlia. Thanks to Ellie and Georgia for filling in; they did a top job moving up into the team. Great effort girls! – Milly Brett

SOCCER

Open: Saints 0 v Seymour 7
Middle: Saints 5 v Immanuel 1

A great game from the girls with an outcome that did not represent their hard efforts, a loss of 7 – 0. Only 2 down at half-time, the girls were really executing what they had learnt in training, displaying another big improvement. Player of the match was Victoria as she took control of the midfield marking. Well done! – Lucy Benn (Soccer Captain)

STUDENT SUCCESS

Our girls also continue to thrive in outside of school sport and we really appreciate it when their stories are passed onto the Sport Department.

TOUCH FOOTBALL STATE FINALS

MIDDLE
The girls were ready for a big day in the State Finals, having to play 6 matches with the top 2 teams playing off in the Grand Final. The girls got off to a fantastic start, defeating Marryatville and then winning the next 2 games to be top of the leader board. By the end of the pool matches, we stayed in the top 2, with a 5 minute turnaround before the Grand Final against Wilderness. The girls were right in the game and a try late to Mathilda Thomas put us down by 1. Unfortunately, the siren sounded as we were mounting an attack, losing 2 – 1. The girls displayed remarkable determination, fighting through injuries and awful weather to put up a great fight. We look forward to a new Touch season in Term 4.

OPEN
Our Open team took out victories against Temple Christian College (4 – 2) and Grant High School (5 – 1) in the group stage. However, a loss to Golden Grove (2 – 3) meant they finished 2nd in their group overall and were tasked with the prospect of facing Wilderness in the Semi-Final, who topped their group with 3 wins. Wilderness proved too strong for Saints and finished 4 – 1 winners. This resulted in a second game against Golden Grove with a repeat of the group stage score line, meaning Saints finished 4th overall.

VOLLEYBALL

After a long time away from Volleyball, our Middle As, joined by two Year 10 students, were challenged to compete in the SSSA Year 10 Knockout. This development opportunity saw our girls face some touch competition, particularly in the form of Seaview and Glenunga, who both had strong and experienced Year 10 sides on the court. Despite the challenges, the girls were able to take out straight set victories against Adelaide, Adelaide Botanic and Mount Barker, eventually beating Adelaide in the 3rd place playoff.

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eNews – Week 5, Term 2 2021

Issue no. 15Enews-banner Adelaide Schools

From Our Deputy Principal / Head of Middle School

Adelaide Schools

We were delighted to once again host the annual South Australian da Vinci Decathlon this week. We were visited by over 500 students and staff from government and non-government schools across three days. With the event being cancelled last year due to COVID-19, and many states this year opting to hold a virtual event, it was with great excitement that we were able to welcome staff and students for these energetic and fun-filled days.

Students engaged in challenging and creative tasks across 10 disciplines including Drama, Engineering, Science, Mathematics, Art and Poetry, English and Code Breaking.

Our students thoroughly enjoyed the experience, with their dedication over the preceding weeks being rewarded with outstanding results.

The Year 5/6 competition was especially close, with our team missing out on a Gold medal by just 60 points. They came 2nd in Science and Code Breaking, and 3rd in Mathematics. Even more impressively, they placed 1st in Cartography, Legacy (the study of important change-makers since the Renaissance) and Ideation. Their result in Ideation continues a tradition of success in this discipline since it was introduced to the event in 2017. It requires students to identify and solve problems using an empathetic and creative thinking approach. This vital contemporary skill is central to our Futures Entrepreneurial Thinking subject in Years 7 and 8. Our 5/6 team placed 2nd overall, and received their Silver medals from Ms Shea with great excitement.

On Wednesday, we welcomed 23 Year 7 teams who participated in what became a victorious day for our Year 7 team. Placing in the top 5 teams for eight out of the 10 events, their consistency and excellent teamwork and task delegation was what contributed to them being crowned SA da Vinci Decathlon Champions for 2021. Along the way, they also won the Ideation, Creative Producers and Art and Poetry tasks, whilst placing 2nd in Code Breaking and 3rd in Science.

Expectation was thus fairly high when it came to yesterday’s Year 9 event, and our team didn’t disappoint! Remarkably, they placed 1st in Ideation (making it a clean sweep in this event for all three year groups), Cartography, Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Code Breaking, whilst also placing 3rd in English. In doing so, they achieved an unassailable overall lead, being crowned 2021 da Vinci Decathlon Champions, ahead of Pembroke (5th), Walford (4th) Immanuel (3rd) and Westminster (2nd).

Congratulations to all involved, and many thanks to those specialist teachers who gave up their time to assist with coaching the teams. This is by far the most successful set of results we have ever seen since the event’s inception here in South Australia in 2013. They are a fitting consequence of the hours of preparation and expert support given to students who attended da Vinci Decathlon training sessions by our Gifted and Talented Coordinator Becca Burton-Howard, who was justifiably delighted by the results, and very proud of the students’ achievements.

Year 5/6 Results
1st – Wilderness School
2nd – St Peter’s Girls’ School
3rd – Pulteney Grammar School

Year 7 Results
1st – St Peter’s Girls’ School
2nd – Seymour College
Equal 3rd – Scotch College and Saint Ignatius’ College

Year 9 Results
1st – St Peter’s Girls’ School
2nd – Westminster School
3rd – Immanuel College

Richard Lisle
Deputy Principal/Head of Middle School

Adelaide Schools

Adelaide Schools

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CRE8-ive Dance Production

Last night, the Stage 2 Dancers presented CRE8, a showcase of their own choreography. Each student presented a 3-minute dance work, all with such captivating concepts and original movement development. Themes explored included phobias, online grooming, identical twins and the 7 deadly sins.

Everyone I spoke to after the presentation was so impressed by the creativity of the young choreographers and the talent of all the dancers involved. It was also so wonderful to welcome new Old Scholars Tilly McCormack and Emma Carrodus back to the Arts Centre stage. What really stood out to me throughout the evening was the commitment and dedication of all the senior students from Years 10 – 12 who were involved in the performances. They have given up many lunchtimes and even weekends to learn, refine and perform the choreography created by our Stage 2s.

It was a wonderful night that really highlighted the creativity, artistic abilities, collaboration and leadership skills that Dance bestows on the girls.

Kate Burnett
Head of The Arts

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Our School Musical: A Chorus Line

Adelaide Schools

The stage is set for our School Musical: A Chorus Line – High School Edition!

When deciding upon which musical to perform this year, the creative team looked to our students for inspiration. We were blown away by how many of our girls are true ‘triple threats’, being trained in dance, acting and singing at an elite level. So, we have chosen to share with you their amazing talents through the wonderful show that is A Chorus Line – High School Edition.

A Chorus Line – High School Edition pulls back the curtain on the life of a Broadway performer, weaving personal stories together to create a breathtakingly moving event.

Thursday 3 June and Friday 4 June at 1.30pm and 7pm

Tickets can be purchased via TryBooking

Conceived and Originally Directed and Choreographed by Michael Bennett; Book by James Kirkwood & Nicholas Dante; Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyrics by Edward Kleban; Co Choreographed by Bob Avian
Original Broadway production produced by the New York
Shakespeare Festival, Joseph Papp, Producer, in association with Plum Productions, Inc.
Adaptation and support materials for the High School Edition
Developed by iTheatrics
Under the supervision of Timothy Allen McDonald
A CHORUS LINE High School Edition is presented by permission of ORiGiN™
Theatrical on behalf of Tams-Witmark LLC

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 Bold Fundraiser Smashes Target

Adelaide Schools

The brave students and teachers participating in the World’s Greatest Shave were finally shaved on Monday! The event started at lunchtime, with a performance by the staff band, ‘Duty of Care’, to provide entertainment for the girls watching, and to hopefully relieve the nerves of the girls doing the shave. The Chapel was completely filled with girls who had donated a gold coin to watch the event and to support their soon-to-be bald peers. After the performance, the shave began, with many girls opting to have their ponytails chopped by their friends, before being shaved by volunteer hairdressers. For many girls, this was an emotional event and more than a few tears were shed, but everyone was incredibly brave and stuck it out. Here’s what a few shavers had to say:

‘I chose to do the shave as I have been in hospital myself and saw children with leukaemia. Also, as my cousin is a children’s nurse in the UK and she looks after kids with diseases and helps them. I did have mixed feelings about it, but I was determined to do it. I now feel proud of myself for what I’ve done and I know I’ve now helped those in need.’ – Gracie Marsh-Smith, Year 6

‘I decided to do the World’s Greatest Shave because I wanted to help those facing cancer by doing something that came from me, not just my parents. By shaving my head, I aim to break the stigma around being bald. Hair does not define our beauty or personality. Doing the shave is my way of reaching out to all those who have lost their hair during cancer treatment and letting them know that they are not alone. While I was having my haircut, I felt so nervous and scared! It was the strangest sensation to literally have a weight lifted off my shoulders. However, I feel so much better now and love my new look!’ – Misha Yagnik, Year 9

The ponytails that were chopped off have been donated to make wigs for patients of leukaemia, and the hair too short for this has been donated to a company that creates mats that soak up oil spills from waste fibres. I know that myself and all the girls who shaved were overwhelmed with the outpouring of support from our School community. From this event alone, you helped us raise $860, and we have now raised a total of over $30,000, eclipsing our goal of $22,000. We could not have done it without the support of everyone who donated, shared, or came to watch the event on the day.

Sara Peak
Student

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Knockout Result for Touch Footballers

Adelaide Schools

Congratulations to our Open Touch Football Team who finished in the top 2 of their division at the State Knockout Championships on Monday. The girls came out firing, defeating a strong Pembroke team, and continued with high level performances throughout the day. We had many highlights; in particular, the interception and full pitch run from Stephanie Smalls to score a try was the pick of them. We wish the girls all the best in the State Final next Wednesday!

Dan Searle
Head of PE, Health & Outdoor Education

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Musicians Blown Away by Wind Workshops

Adelaide Schools

Over the past two Monday evenings, members of the Concert Band have been busy rehearsing with the Adelaide Wind Orchestra (AWO) as part of an ongoing collaboration with our School and this wonderful Adelaide-based music ensemble.

AWO is made up of over 50 semi-professional wind, brass and percussion musicians who rehearse weekly at St Peter’s Girls and perform concerts in our Arts Centre and other performance venues across Adelaide. They are making a name for themselves as the premier wind band in Adelaide, and the Concert Band is honoured to be working with these talented musicians in an ongoing collaboration. Having the opportunity to sit alongside these experienced musicians helps our girls gain a better understanding of the music they are playing as well as wonderful mentoring and technical support for their specific instrument type.

Being a part of these wider community associations offers our students valuable insights into pathways for music after school. As part of our continued relationship with AWO, we are offered complimentary and discounted tickets for all their concerts. Stay tuned for ticket information via eNews for AWO’s next concert on Saturday 26 June at Elder Hall.

Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music

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Federal Fest with Special Guest

Adelaide Schools

Through our Unit of Inquiry ‘How we organise ourselves’, the Year 6 students have been investigating our Federal systems of government.

They were fortunate to have Simon Birmingham visit this week to answer questions about his experiences as a Senator and Minister in Federal Parliament. His wealth of experience and candour gave the girls many insights into the life of a politician and the intricacies of the Australian Government system. Thanks to Simon for giving up his time to meet with the group.

Year 6 Teachers

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Japanese Filmmakers Blossom

Adelaide Schools

On Tuesday, the Year 10 Japanese class participated in the Japanese filmmaking day at St John’s Grammar School. Each group, comprised of students from different schools, created a short commercial based on a Japanese item. We incorporated aspects of Japanese culture and language to achieve an authentic advertisement featuring our assigned product. Students were marked on accuracy of language, creativity, authenticity and cinematography. It was a great opportunity to meet other students studying Japanese and to gain a further understanding of Japanese culture. We experienced a traditional Japanese tea ceremony on tatami mats, wore yukata and enjoyed sushi for lunch! It was a fun day where we could immerse ourselves in Japanese culture.

Ellie Humphrey, Lady Murphy and Madison Liddy
Students

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Thought-Provoking Visit to ThincLab

Adelaide Schools

The Year 11 Business Innovation class visited the University of Adelaide’s ThincLab, the place where unconventional thinkers give their ideas an unfair advantage. It’s home to the creative thinkers, the rule-breakers and the challengers; the ones who see the world differently, and for whom ideas are everything and the future is unlimited. The girls benefited from unique access to the university’s brightest academic minds and female business mentors who helped advance their business ideas. Students met female ThincLab entrepreneurs and were mentored by Zrinka Tokic, the Director of ThincLab and Australian eChallenge, as well as Julia Miller, Australian eChallenge and Shark Tank eSchool Manager. Each group had individual session time with Scott Maney, the lab’s 3D Laser Print Manager who helped with their prototypes.

Gabriele Trobbiani
Business Innovation teacher

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IB EXPO

Adelaide Schools

Last Tuesday, a team of passionate IB teachers, Old Scholars, current students and parents met and talked with interested Year 9 and 10 students and their parents about the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. Following an information session by IB Diploma Coordinator Carolyn Farr which outlined the structure of the Diploma, everyone had a chance to share and ask, ‘What it is really like to do the Diploma?’ So, how did it go?

IB Teacher:
It was wonderful to have the chance to talk to parents about the benefits of the IB and answer their questions directly. We had the chance to explain how the programme builds over two years and the sorts of things the students can do by the end of it. It was also great to talk to some of the Year 9 and 10 students and encourage them to consider continuing their language and respond to the questions they had about that. I loved seeing the Old Scholars come back and hear what they are doing too! A number of the 2020 graduates commented how easy study is this year after doing the IB – they have covered quite a bit of the content already! One of the parents made the comment that the teachers were all so enthusiastic about their subjects. I think that enthusiasm just sums up the IB really – we all believe in the programme and we love teaching it.

Year 9 Parent:
It was a great opportunity to learn how the IB programme works and some of its benefits. My daughter and I asked all sorts of questions of the IB teachers, IB graduates and IB parents who made themselves available. We came away impressed by the approach to learning, the vision that graduates will be set up to thrive at university, and most of all, the passion for the IB programme.

Year 12 IB Student:
The IB Expo helped me reflect on how the IB has helped me develop as a learner and why I chose it in the first place. Being able to answer questions about my experiences in the IB really allowed me to consider all of the benefits of the programme, and the ways in which the programme has helped me grow.

Interested in the IB Diploma?
Year 10 student information session: Wednesday 26 May, Lesson 4
Year 9 student information session: Thursday 10 June, Home Group
Subject Expo: Thursday 22 July, 4.30 – 7pm

Contact Carolyn Farr via cfarr@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au for further information on the IB Diploma.

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Anglican Schools Unite

Adelaide Schools

On Tuesday, a group of Year 8 students participated in the Combined Anglican Schools’ Service, held in St Peter’s Cathedral. The theme of the day was Reconciliation, and students from across South Australia had the opportunity to think, learn and pray about reconciliation.

Bishop Chris McLeod (National Aboriginal Bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia) shared some of his personal story and what reconciliation means for us today. He challenged the students to listen to our Aboriginal brothers and sisters, and to help rebuild the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. Reconciliation is an important theme of Christianity, both in our own personal relationship with God, and in the way we relate to and seek to love our neighbours.

It was a great day for the students to meet and connect with other students from across South Australia and was a reminder of our unity in the gospel.

Thomas Bassett
Humanities & Philosophy and Religion Teacher
School Chaplain

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Patteson and Kilburn House Charity Day

Adelaide Schools

On Friday of Week 6, the Year 10 Patteson girls will be baking up a storm with delightful cupcakes, cookies, brownies and so many more delicious treats ranging from $1 to $3. All funds raised from the stall will go towards Patteson’s House Charity, the Moore St Drop-In Centre. The Reception to Year 2 girls will be able to order a cupcake via their parents using the TryBooking link below, and the Year 3 to 12 girls will be able to purchase these delicious treats at the lunchtime stall on the day, so don’t forget to bring in your gold coins to help a worthy cause and to receive a scrumptious treat.

Also that day, the Year 10 Kilburn girls will be making and selling delicious cheese toasties ($2.50 each) and soft drinks ($1.50 each) during lunchtime. All proceeds from the event will go towards our House Charity, the Cancer Council. Girls in Reception to Year 2 may pre-order a toasty via their parents using the link below, and all Years 3 to 12 girls may purchase from our stall on the day. Orders via TryBooking close next Monday 24 May at 9am. Thank you for your support!

https://www.trybooking.com/BRDJT

Georgina Wakeham and Bridgette Leach
Students

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Piano Eisteddfod 2021

Adelaide Schools

 

On Tuesday 8 June in Week 8 of Term 2, the Arts Department will hold St Peter’s Girls’ Piano Eisteddfod. It is open to all Junior and Middle School students who play piano. Parents are welcome to attend, and times of each student’s performance will be communicated to families.

Girls will have the opportunity to perform a piece to a panel of judges, who will critique their performance based on accuracy, technique and musicality for their specific music level. This is a great opportunity for girls to perform in a supportive environment and receive some valuable feedback.

Girls are asked to play one piece that best displays their musicality and technical ability at their own musical level. There will be no minimum or maximum time limit. While the Eisteddfod provides our top piano players with a platform to perform, the aim is to give performers of all levels the opportunity to participate.

A recital will be held on the evening of Tuesday 15 June in MB120. These students will be chosen from the Eisteddfod performers who show confidence and a high level of musicianship. The selected recital students will be notified by the end of Week 8.

If your daughter would like to be involved, please fill out and return the Piano Eisteddfod consent form by Monday 31 May. Girls can collect the form from the Arts Office. They will later receive a time slot to perform in the Eisteddfod. Students will be notified by email if they have been chosen to have their piece recorded following the Eisteddfod.

Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music

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Medical Research Careers Evening

The Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) will be holding an online High School Careers Evening on Tuesday 8 June at 6.30pm AEST. There will be a panel of people from all around Australia, where they will be discussing their jobs and the pathways they took to get there. This is a great opportunity for STEM enthusiasts to gain more information about a variety of industries. The event aims to showcase a range of career opportunities in the health and medical sector to students from Years 9 to 12. For more information, please click here.

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Bingo Night – Saturday 19 June

The Saints Girls’ community proudly presents:

Bingo Night!
Saturday 19 June
St Peter’s Girls’ School Gym

5 rounds of Bingo + fun and games / bar available for drink purchases/adults only event.

Tickets are limited, so organise your table now by visiting: TryBooking

Supported by Friends of Rowing

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Join ‘Our Saints’ Community

Beyond parents and guardians, our girls also treasure connections with grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family. We name these special people ‘Our Saints’.

In the first week of Term 2, students from Reception to Year 6 were given two forms each to take home to their grandparents. If you did not receive these forms from your daughter, please contact me via mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or 8334 2244.

Alternatively, there is a link to the form here.

Our Saints provides opportunities for those who have a connection with our girls to be more involved with the School community through various means, ranging from volunteering their time, to subscribing to our publications such as eNews and Saints Alive.

We encourage all interested grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family to join this special group.

Melissa Westgate
Foundation Manager

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Media Hub Tour – Lights, Camera, Action!

We invite our Arts’ parents to come along and experience our new Media Hub!

It features industry-standard technology including advanced cameras, microphones, lighting and a production green screen. As well as structured learning opportunities, students who are particularly passionate about media production can book the facility and equipment to record, edit and deliver quality content with minimal set up time and a streamlined workflow.

Enjoy an information session and tour of our Media Hub with students Olivia and Jodi. Special thanks to Garth Coulter for organising this event.

Media Hub Tour for Arts’ Parents
Wednesday 26 May at 6pm or 6.30pm

For more information and to RSVP, please email Melissa Westgate via mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au by Monday 24 May.

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St Peter’s Girls’ Community Members

Receive a Free Membership Upgrade!

All Member offers are subject to terms and conditions. Check individual offers on the Entertainment Membership App or www.entertainment.com.au for more information. For all dining offers, it is optional for participating businesses to accept your Entertainment Memberships on all official Australian and New Zealand public holidays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day.
© 2021 Entertainment Group.

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Community at Saints Girls

Parents are a vibrant and pivotal part of the St Peter’s Girls’ community. Many opportunities are available to become involved with the School, connect with other community members, and build strong and lasting friendships. Please note the following Term 2 dates:

Friends of The Arts Community Group Meetings

Wednesday 26 May, 6pm or 6.30pm, Media Hub Tour for Arts’ parents
Wednesday 26 May, 7pm, Elizabeth Pike Art Centre
Contact: Danielle Parker – dslparker@gmail.com

Friends of Rowing

Fundraising Working Group Meetings TBD
Contact: Ed Parker – edontheroadagain@hotmail.com

For more information about our community groups, please contact me via 0407 394 183 or mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.

Melissa Westgate
Foundation Manager

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Absences from School

If your child is going to be absent, late to school or leave early, please use one of the following methods to notify the School providing student name, class/Home Group and reason:

Text: 0428 601 957

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Phone: 8334 2200

Feel free to include the class/Home Group teacher when emailing. It would be appreciated if notifications could be made prior to 9am.

Please note: it is absolutely imperative to keep unwell children at home until they have recovered, even if symptoms are mild. This is not only for their own health and safety, but for that of all students and staff.

We thank all of our families for their cooperation.

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COVID Measures

Please note the following information regarding our continued COVID response.

The School has a QR code tracing system to facilitate the safe return of parents on site, in line with wider government measures. Parents entering the campus to drop off or collect their children need to scan the QR code provided each time. This also applies to parents visiting the School for events such as parent information evenings or sports training/matches.

Parents and visitors with more formal appointments at the School, such as meeting a staff member, are still required to sign in/out at Front Office and also need to scan the QR code as well for SA Health tracing purposes.

Adults who do not have a device to scan the QR code need to write their details on the paper form provided in the Front Office.

Parents who remain in their vehicles in the main car park do not need to scan in, and students do not need to scan in as the School already tracks daily attendance.

Logistics around events will be shared in due course, dependent upon the latest advice. Attendance numbers, particularly for indoor events, will still need to be restricted to facilitate social distancing.

The following general requirements remain in place:

  • Ensure adults maintain a distance of 1.5m from each other.
  • Practise sound hand washing and other hygiene measures.
  • Students should remain at home if they are unwell; please notify the School of absences by texting 0428 601 957, emailing attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au, or calling 8334 2200.

We thank all of our families for your cooperation.

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Sports News

The Saints Way

One aspect of sport at Saints of which we are incredibly proud, is the way that our community gives back to the program through mentoring and coaching. This includes student mentors, student coaches, Old Scholars returning as coaches and parents stepping up into coaching or team management roles to ensure our co-curricular program is delivered with quality. This is particularly the case in Winter Sport where Old Scholars are coaching in Badminton, Lacrosse, Hockey and Netball, parents contributing in Hockey, AFL and Soccer, and student coaches/mentors across the board.

NETBALL

Year 5 White: BYE
Year 5 Blue: Saints 22 v Wilderness 8
Year 5 Silver: Saints 12 v Pembroke 8
Year 6 White: Saints 17 v Pembroke 19
Year 6 Blue: Saints 21 v Pembroke 5

Year 6 Blue
The girls played an amazing game once again and came out on top with a win. They worked well as a team which led to many goals against Pembroke. After having a very strong first half, the girls dropped off in the third quarter, but after some feedback from Coach Karen, came our firing in the fourth quarter to record a 21 – 5 win. – Charlie Piper & Sophie Edwardes

Year 6 White
The Year 6 White team faced Pembroke in a tight game with many girls in positions they have never played before. The final score was 19 – 17 Pembroke’s way. Pembroke had a strong team, and with a bit more practice I am sure we will beat them next time. Well done girls! – Olivia Reynolds & Zara Wallace

Year 5 Blue
The Year 5 Blue team headed to Wilderness, and despite some early issues with traffic, we managed to get 7 players to the courts and started the game at 4.15! Much like the traffic, we took a while to get going. In the first half, we were playing too fast and while we defended well and took many intercepts and picked up loose balls, we were not playing a steady game when in possession and often rushed our passes, creating turnovers. The score was 6 – 4 at half-time. In the second half, we were much more disciplined with our ball use and made sure we played to the team game plan – catch, pivot, pass! We dominated the second half, outscoring Wilderness 16 – 4 to come away with a solid win. – Alice Johnswood

Year 5 Silver
The Year 5 Silver team played a competitive match against Pembroke Yellow, with the final score 12 – 8 Saints way. A great job by each girl! The game was very close throughout; however, the girls had a new positive attitude at the end of the third quarter and really wanted to win this game. They played as a team and moved the ball well in the final quarter, providing our goalies with opportunities to shoot. Evie played an exceptional game through the mid-court. She ran tirelessly, up and down the court, always spreading out and finally understanding the ‘butter’ method. Vienna was a standout in defence and turned the ball over on many occasions. Maggie and Matilda combined well in the goal circle, creating space and providing strong targets for the feeders. Coaches and parents were very proud of the girls’ efforts and enjoyed cheering them onto their first victory of the season. Well done team! – Maddy Lisle & Lila Gosse

SOCCER

Open: Saints 0 v Walford 7
Middle: Saints 2 v Wilderness 4

Continued improvement from our Soccer teams this week, and although our Opens are currently struggling to find the back of the net, our Middles are having more success in front of goal. After being 2 – 0 down, they did really well to come back into the game at 2 – 2, but unfortunately, two late lapses in concentration meant Wilderness came out on top.

AFL

Open: Saints 0 v St Ignatius 34
Middle: Saints 0 v St Ignatius 41

After some disappointing losses in the first two weeks of the season, the girls have had a challenging training session with Mark Ricciuto to work on some specific skill areas. A couple of areas in particular that the girls are working on is kicking on the run and breaking out of congestion. We look forward to seeing their hard work in training being reflected in future matches.

LACROSSE

U11: Saints White 10 v Saints Blue 4
U13: Saints 11 v Woodville 13

Our U11s came up against each other in a head-to-head. Both teams were undefeated in their first two games of the season, which resulted in a high standard of game. The first and last quarters were even; however, two strong middle quarters from Saints White ensured that they ended as 10 – 4 winners. Mimi Birmingham and Grace Marshall were the main contributors, both scoring 3 goals.

Our U13 team were much improved in a game that was back and forth throughout. In the first quarter, Saints stormed to a 5 – 2 lead, with Mavis Cook scoring 3 in the first quarter. Woodville, however, started to fight back and were level by half-time, then taking a 2-goal lead into the final quarter. Despite Saints continuing to create opportunities, Woodville were able to hold onto to a 13 – 11 victory.

TOUCH FOOTBALL

The Open Touch Football team took part in the State Knockout championships round robin on Monday. They needed to perform well; finishing in the top 2 would guarantee a place in the State Finals. The girls came out firing, beating a strong Pembroke team and continued with high level performances throughout the day, eventually finishing on top of the division. There were many highlights, but the interception and full pitch run from Stephanie Smalls to score a try was the pick of them. We wish the girls all the best in the State Final next Wednesday. –Dan Searle

HOCKEY

Year 5/6: Saints 18 v Loreto 0
Year 3/4: Saints 1 v Pembroke 2

Amazing win for the 5/6 girls playing against Loretto. Everyone had an outstanding game and worked well as a team. Players worked really well on passing to their teammates and tackling the opposition. Great shooting from all the girls and working together in the circle. Yashika, Phoebe L and Claris were some of our star players at shooting and defending. All the girls should be very proud of how they played and cheered on their team, great work girls. – Maddison Sims

STUDENT SUCCESS

Our girls also continue to thrive in outside of school sport and we really appreciate it when their stories are passed onto the Sport Department.

LITTLE ATHLETICS SA

Milly Richardson: 400m (4th) High Jump (3rd)
Chloe Richardson: selected in the Little Athletics State Team for 1500m and 800m in the Northern Territory later this year

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eNews – Week 4, Term 2 2021

Issue no. 14Enews-banner Adelaide Schools

From Our Head of Junior School

Adelaide Schools

Compassion, one of our School’s core values, is a trait we encourage in all of our students from ELC to Year 12. Our Service Learning program fosters compassion by providing avenues for our students to build citizenship and empathy, and take action through engaging in meaningful service of others. For Junior School students, involvement in House Charity Days through purchasing lunchtime treats enables our younger students to work towards the common goals of the Houses. But service learning is more than charity; service learning seeks a cognitive, emotional and physical investment from students.

Along with our annual Christmas giving appeal, Junior School service learning initiatives this year will focus on the importance of education for all. At last Friday’s Assembly, I talked with the Reception to Year 6 students about energy poverty. I highlighted the difficulties for many people in the world, including many of our close neighbours in Vanuatu, who don’t have access to electricity, and how educational outcomes are affected as a result. Lack of electricity and adequate safe lighting is a significant inhibitor to learning, with study time reduced to daylight hours only. Potential safety issues when walking to and from school in the dark in winter months can also be an obstacle to attending school. An Australian initiative, Solar Buddy, in partnership with School Aid, aims to provide 47,000 solar-powered lights to primary school children in Vanuatu by 2023. Solar buddy lights are delivered in kit form to schools and businesses, who assemble them in readiness for them to be sent back to Brisbane for checking, then delivered to some of the most remote communities in the world. Each light is accompanied by a letter written by the person who constructed it, with a personal message. At $35 each, the Junior School would like to provide at least 50 solar buddies to the Light Up Vanuatu campaign, and our Year 6s are primed to construct them.

This year, all profits from the Junior School Scholastic Book Fair (17 – 21 May) will go towards purchasing solar buddy lights for the Light Up Vanuatu campaign. A collection box for cash donations will also be placed in the Library during the Scholastic Book Fair, and families can donate directly to the campaign via this link if they wish: https://www.schoolaid.org.au/stpetersgirlsschool

While our Year 6 students will manage the construction of our collective purchase of solar buddies at school, some parents of younger students may like to enhance their daughter’s personal engagement in this initiative through constructing a solar buddy light and writing the accompanying letter with their daughter. We will therefore provide an opportunity for families to purchase a solar buddy kit for construction here at school later in the year. Further information will be sent home to Junior School families in coming weeks.

Of course, primary-aged students benefit from the support of their families in their endeavours to contribute to service learning initiatives. For our Junior School students to actively and deliberately engage in the Light Up Vanuatu campaign, we encourage even the youngest ones to ‘earn’ some of the money they bring to school for the Book Fair or for donating. Doing small jobs at home, over and above their normal chores, to earn money to put towards this cause will help them understand the value of their contribution. Perhaps some extended family members may offer to reward a service done for them with a small donation to put towards this vital cause.

We look forward to our students learning more about energy poverty and its effects on life and education, and seeing their compassionate action come to fruition. Please keep an eye on future eNews articles where we will no doubt be celebrating the results of some wonderful service learning in the Junior School.

Further information about Solar Buddy can be found here https://solarbuddy.org/

Suzanne Haddy
Head of Junior School

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Women in STEM Breakfast

St Peter’s Girls’ School was proud to host a fantastic Women in STEM Breakfast in the Arts Centre yesterday morning. Many of our Year 10 – 12 girls joined approximately 40 thriving industry women to learn more about their journey to a STEM role.

Our guests included software engineers, PhD candidates, heads of marketing, analytical scientists and study directors, to name a few. The theme of the event was, ‘Creativity; Cracking the STEM Code.’ Our four speakers discussed how creativity is at the forefront of their work and offered our girls inspiring direction to achieve their goals. Many thanks to:

Barbara Vrettos – Director, The Legal Forecast
Dr Vanessa Pirotta – wildlife scientist and Science communicator
Alex Kaczmarek – Digital Evidence Specialist, South Australia Police
Nicole Russo – Director of Product, Myriota

Thank you to Carolyn Farr, Fiona McGregor, Wesley Hiscock, our students, staff, speakers and all those involved in helping to make this event a huge success, including Jenni Manson and our fabulous Year 10 Food Tech students who prepared a delicious breakfast for all to enjoy. Thanks also to our students Emily Teague and Caitlin Middelberg for hosting the event. Everyone did an exceptional job!

Monique Green
Digital Tech Teacher & STEM Coordinator

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Watch Our Sustainability Journey Evolve

Our sustainability journey at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC is ongoing and constantly evolving. As part of our Centre’s Strategic Direction, we pledged to help educate our ELC community through sustainable engagement with food and waste. A key focus is given to the concept of responsibility. We believe in modelling our behaviour so the children will develop a deep understanding of what it means to be sustainable.

We recently had the pleasure of welcoming back a special guest and friend to the ELC, Charlie Aykroyd (Kennion 2010). Charlie is a St Peter’s Girls’ Old Scholar and the General Manager at Australian Green Clean, a waste management service that supports events and businesses, and she will continue to work with us throughout the year.

Take a look at our video above to see our ever-evolving sustainability journey!

Kate Mount, Director of Early Learning, and Henrietta Balnaves, ELC Co-educator

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Global Honour for Songwriting Saint

Adelaide Schools

A big shout out to talented Music student Georgie Raftopoulos who has received an Honourable Mention as a Finalist in the International Songwriting Competition for the title track of her debut EP, ‘Breathing to Prove That I Can’.

Georgie shares her excitement:

Last year, I entered the International Songwriting Competition (ISC). The ISC is an annual song contest, whose mission is to provide the opportunity for both aspiring and established songwriters to have their songs heard in a professional and international arena.

Judged by the likes of Coldplay, Hozier, Bebe Rexha and Blackbear, this was a very big and exciting competition for me to be a part of. I entered two of my songs, both of which made it into the Semi-Finals.

This year, I found out my song ‘Breathing to Prove That I Can’ had been selected for the Finals of the teen category, going on to receive an Honourable Mention too! Being in the top 1% of over 26,000 entries is a thrilling achievement, and I’m glad to have been recognised in such a major competition for my songwriting.

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Dance Choreographers Keen to CRE8

Adelaide Schools

CRE8

Our eight Stage 2 Dance Choreographers would love to present their work to you at CRE8 next Thursday 20 May at 6pm. You’ll be in for an hour of innovative, powerful, thought-provoking dance, all created by our talented students. Many other dancers from Years 10 – 12 are performing, as well as a couple of Old Scholars too! We would love to have your support! Tickets via TryBooking.

Kate Burnett
Head of The Arts

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Saints’ Cyclists Riding High

Adelaide Schools

Congratulations to Alice and Daisy Braithwaite on competing in the recent State Cycling Championships at Victoria Park. They finished 2nd and 3rd respectively, with Saints Girls placing 5th overall!

The day consisted of three different races including a time trial, points race and criterium. Points were scored after each race, determining the cyclists’ positions. Well done to both girls, and we look forward to seeing more cyclists at next year’s competition!

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Aerobics goes from Strength to Strength

Adelaide Schools

Last weekend was a very exciting one for the Saints’ Aerobics girls. It had been over a year since their last official competition due to COVID-19, and they were ecstatic to get back up on stage. Additionally, our aerobic athlete numbers at Saints are higher than ever, with four full teams competing in a range of year group divisions.

Our girls entered the FISAF (Federation of International Sport Aerobics and Fitness) Super Series on Saturday, with three teams placing in the top three of their divisions. The Feisty Fives and Glisten competed in Secondary School Pre-Choreographed Teams (Years 7 – 12: Advanced) division and placed 2nd and 1st respectively. The Golden Girls and Pink Ladies competed in the Secondary School Pre-Choreographed Teams (Years 7 – 9: Novice) division, with the Pink Ladies claiming 1st place.

These teams will now contest the FISAF State Championships early next month. Well done to all the girls who competed at the weekend!

Maddi Harmer
Student

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Quiz Marathon Tests Language Legends

Adelaide Schools

In March, the Education Perfect Languages Championships were held online for eight days. The timing of the competition was a little unfortunate this year, as it clashed with Choral Night, so we did not have as many students actively involved as we have had in the past. Nevertheless, as a School, we answered over 63,000 questions across a total of 122 hours.

The following students received Credit Awards, placing in the top 20% of over 200,000 competitors from around the world for answering more than 1,000 questions: Alannah Godfrey; Emily McCorley; Olivia Ng; Mathilda Thomas; Neya Titus; Victoria Zou.

These students received Bronze Awards, placing them in the top 10%: Asha Krywanio; Vanessa Pols; Holly Wallman-Craddock.

Given that these three students are Year 12s and were busy polishing their Choral Night dances and leading choir rehearsals that week, this is particularly impressive. Congratulations to all who took part. We look forward to even more students from Years 4 to 12 entering the next EP Languages Championships.

Cindy Pitkin
Head of Languages

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Wise Words at Rostrum Voice of Youth

Adelaide Schools

Last Saturday, seven students across Years 7 to 12 competed in the Rostrum Voice of Youth Public Speaking Competition. All of them spoke well, addressing a variety of topics and issues in the world. They engaged with personal stories and global stories. As part of the competition, the girls also had 15 minutes to prepare an impromptu speech. For many, this was a great challenge, and they are to be commended for stepping out, giving it a go and showing courage.

A special congratulations to Year 12 Sara Alkhazrajy who won her heat and will be competing again in a few weeks in the State Semi-Final. We wish Sara all the best for the next part of the competition, and hopefully will see her at Parliament House if she progresses to the State Final.

Here is a short reflection from one of the students, Year 7 Elodie de Wit, who took part in the competition for the first time:

Last Saturday, I participated in my first public speaking competition. The thought of this made me quite nervous. First, we had to do a 6 minute prepared speech followed by a 3 minute impromptu speech with only 15 minutes to prepare. Yes, I was shaking and nervous throughout; however, the overall experience was challenging and enjoyable.

Thomas Bassett
Humanities & Philosophy and Religion Teacher
School Chaplain

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Hair-Raising Finish to Fundraiser

Adelaide Schools

This year, several students from the Middle and Senior Schools and two teachers are participating in The World’s Greatest Shave, taking place next Monday. So far, we have raised $20,000 and are well on our way to reaching our goal of $22,000, which will support 300 families dealing with the aftermath of a leukaemia diagnosis. However, we cannot reach this milestone without your help.

If anyone wants to donate to this cause and support our brave students and teachers shaving their heads, and the tens of thousands of Australians diagnosed with blood cancer every year, you can do so here.

The participating girls are shaving their hair in the Arts Centre at lunchtime on Monday. For students who would like to come along and watch, as well as enjoy a brand new performance by the Staff Band, you can do so for a gold coin donation.

Sara Peak and Emily Teague
Students

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Federal Focus in Year 6 Activity Week

Adelaide Schools

Week 4 was a celebration of all things Canberra in Year 6. Our Unit of Inquiry’s central idea, ‘Government systems and decisions impact the broader community’, sees us focusing on the Federal Government and, of course, our nation’s capital is where the Australian Parliament sits.

The girls participated in a variety of on-site activities and excursions throughout the week. They discovered the intricacies of the preferential voting system, the importance of our House of Representatives and the Senate, and the historical significance of the Australian War Memorial. Linking to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), we were inspired by guest speaker Neil Fuller as he described his remarkable athletics journey. The girls took part in the Motorworks Education program where they explored the effectiveness of teamwork and further enhanced their problem-solving approach to learning. We also visited South Australia’s Government House and undertook a democracy walk along North Terrace.

A fun and educational week was enjoyed by all.

The Year 6 Teachers

Adelaide Schools

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Girls Extend Talent to Physical Theatre

Adelaide Schools

Trust. Strength. Confidence. Fun.

This week, the Year 10 Dance and Drama students were fortunate to have Harper and Annalise from Gravity and Other Myths (GOM) conduct a Physical Theatre workshop. GOM is a circus and theatre company based in Adelaide. You may have been lucky enough to see them perform The Pulse at the Adelaide Festival this year!

I asked that the workshop focus on partnering and lifting. Dance, and also some aspects of drama, rely heavily upon duo work, physical contact and building trust with others in an ensemble.

The students were thoroughly engaged, learning to take some risks and challenge themselves in order to build confidence. I look forward to seeing some of these movements and lifts featured within their own self-devised work later this term.

Kate Burnett
Head of The Arts

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Poetry in Action Achieves Reaction

Adelaide Schools

On Wednesday, the Year 7 to 11 students were entertained and enlightened by the group ‘Poetry in Action’. Consisting of three actors, the troupe travels the country presenting dynamic performances aimed at deconstructing poetry and convincing students of the power of language. Humorous, fast-paced and instructive, the sessions were both engaging and relevant for students in approaching the study of literature.

The Year 7 and 8 students viewed a zany, wild production in which the actors explored the techniques, form, structure and impact of poetry while telling a story about a mysteriously missing team member, fledgling love and intellectual discovery. The Year 9, 10 and 11 students were more cognitively challenged as they experienced a production involving ‘verbatim theatre’ in which the actors presented a warning about the way in which language can be used to position and manipulate its audience, but also explored the power of fiction in enabling individuals to come to a deeper understanding of truth.

‘Poetry in Action was exciting, riveting and emotive. It really made me think!’ – Arabella Hawking, Year 11 student

‘The poetry performance was a fun, amusing and entertaining way to capture the elements and key factors of poetry. I definitely learnt a lot about poetry whilst watching an excellent performance.’ – Lily Marshall, Year 7 student

‘I thought the Poetry in Action performance was amazing! The topic was really interesting and the actors made it enjoyable and exciting. The show was humorous but also challenged my thinking and my perceptions about current issues. It was a great experience!’ – Angelina Hii, Year 9 student

Michael Butler-Wills
Head of English/Drama Teacher

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Chorus of Support for Lunchtime Concerts

Adelaide Schools

Our first lunchtime concert for the year was presented in the Arts Centre on Monday. This was a student-led initiative supported by our Music leadership team headed up by Music Prefect Cheri Wong.

We heard some wonderful piano solos by Lady Murphy and Tammy Tang, and twin sisters Olivia and Valerie Ng performed a fabulous piano duet. Ably accompanied by Sue Mears, Lauren Parker performed a solo on cello and Matilda Chu on French Horn. We also had the Junior Choir perform, directed by Ms Lizzy Mitchell, and Concert Band performed two assessment pieces for Year 12 student Stephanie Demmrich who is using Concert Band as her ensemble for her Year 12 Music subject Ensemble Performance.

To finish the concert, choristers Emeshe Robson and Georgie Raftopoulos sang an excerpt from the beautiful ‘flower duet’ by Delibes. Both girls will sing this piece in full, as well as their own solo pieces, at the upcoming St Peter’s Rotary Music evening on 25 May. We wish them well.

The student music leadership team hope to put on more lunchtime concerts in the near future. A reminder our Piano Eisteddfod is also coming up in Week 8. You can receive the application forms form Mrs Philips in the Arts Office.

Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music

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High Performance Number Crunchers

Adelaide Schools
On Wednesday, the ‘Certificate III in Sport Coaching’ students took part in a UniSA field study for data collection. The outcome was to collect data on their own performances to develop their knowledge on ‘Energy Systems’. This was done through UniSA’s sophisticated VX GPS units and Suunto heart rate monitors.

The practical allowed the girls to experience how the information captured by these tools can be used to analyse their movement. They completed a touch football and speedball game to compare the different intensities between each of these activities, and witness the changes in distance travelled, speeds reached and heart rates, as they fatigued.

Being able to receive such detailed, personal data across these variables so quickly after the activity developed the girls’ understanding of how much science is being used to assist performance analysis.

Dan Searle
Head of PE, Health & Outdoor Education
Adelaide Schools

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Patteson and Kilburn House Charity Day

Adelaide Schools

On Friday of Week 6, the Year 10 Patteson girls will be baking up a storm with delightful cupcakes, cookies, brownies and so many more delicious treats ranging from $1 to $3. All funds raised from the stall will go towards Patteson’s House Charity, the Moore St. Drop in-Centre. The Reception to Year 2 girls will be able to order a cupcake via their parents using the TryBooking link below, and the Year 3 to 12 girls will be able to purchase these delicious treats at the lunchtime stall on the day, so don’t forget to bring in your gold coins to help a worthy cause and to receive a scrumptious treat.

Also that day, the Year 10 Kilburn girls will be making and selling delicious cheese toasties ($2.50 each) and soft drinks ($1.50 each) during lunchtime. All proceeds from the event will go towards our House Charity, the Cancer Council. Girls in Reception to Year 2 may pre-order a toasty via their parents using the link below, and all Years 3 to 12 girls may purchase from our stall on the day. Thank you for your support!

https://www.trybooking.com/BRDJT

Georgina Wakeham and Bridgette Leach
Students

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Nourishing Novelties for Mother’s Day

Adelaide Schools

The celebration of significant events is an important aspect of food service. This was recently represented by the Stage 2 Food and Hospitality class with the creation of Mother’s Day gift boxes. The girls worked collaboratively, using their broad range of skills to trial a variety of recipes that were suitable for the boxes. Both traditional and contemporary techniques were used to preserve a range of items such as dehydrated citrus fruits and strawberries, and quince paste. Students also explored sustainable and food safe packaging to ensure quality control of the contents in each of the boxes. Seasonal produce was considered with the use of items such as quinces and figs from local gardens. The boxes were full of a range of artisan products that were created, labelled, packaged and preserved by the students.

The design and creation of the gift boxes has certainly a highlight of the year for the class.

Mrs Manson and the Stage 2 Food and Hospitality girls

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Community Connections at Ladies’ Night Out

Adelaide Schools
Saints Girls’ Ladies’ Night Out was a wonderful start to the Mother’s Day weekend!

Thank you to all the ladies connected to the School community who gathered at the Feathers Hotel last Friday. We had close to 100 ladies book for the event which was an opportunity for them to connect and catch up. A special thank you to the Feathers Hotel staff for hosting such an excellent evening in the Greenhouse Restaurant, and for the wonderful and delicious selection of canapés. A warm thanks to our Friends of The Arts parents for sourcing some terrific prizes for the raffle, and to those local businesses that generously supported by donating goods and/or services.

Our Principal Julia Shea presented prizes to the raffle winners. Congratulations to the lucky recipients of our Friends of The Arts raffle prizes:

PRIZE #1 – Alison Bartlett
$200 Athlete’s Foot Voucher
Clear Skincare Norwood Voucher
A bottle of Chapel Hill, The Parson 2018
PRIZE #2 – Amelia Porter
$100 Love Affair Boutique Voucher
Versace Perfume
PRIZE #3 – Melinda Buttignol
Glasshouse Pack – including hand cream, body bar, soy candle
PRIZE #4 – Nina Marshall
Elume Guava & Plum Luxury Reed Diffuser
Two bottles of wine: Greenock Estate, Fruity TNT 2016; Longview Vineyard, Shiraz Barbera 2016
PRIZE #5 – Helen Jeffrey
Home Space Book, Darren Palmer
Two bottles of wine: Ceravolo, Petit Verdot 2009; Whites Road, Riesling 2018

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Piano Eisteddfod 2021

Adelaide Schools

 

On Tuesday 8 June in Week 8 of Term 2, the Arts Department will hold St Peter’s Girls’ Piano Eisteddfod. It is open to all Junior and Middle School students who play piano. Parents are welcome to attend, and times of each student’s performance will be communicated to families.

Girls will have the opportunity to perform a piece to a panel of judges, who will critique their performance based on accuracy, technique and musicality for their specific music level. This is a great opportunity for girls to perform in a supportive environment and receive some valuable feedback.

Girls are asked to play one piece that best displays their musicality and technical ability at their own musical level. There will be no minimum or maximum time limit. While the Eisteddfod provides our top piano players with a platform to perform, the aim is to give performers of all levels the opportunity to participate.

A recital will be held on the evening of Tuesday 15 June in MB120. These students will be chosen from the Eisteddfod performers who show confidence and a high level of musicianship. The selected recital students will be notified by the end of Week 8.

If your daughter would like to be involved, please fill out and return the Piano Eisteddfod consent form by Monday 31 May. Girls can collect the form from the Arts Office. They will later receive a time slot to perform in the Eisteddfod. Students will be notified by email if they have been chosen to have their piece recorded following the Eisteddfod.

Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music

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Medical Research Careers Evening

The Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) will be holding an online High School Careers Evening on Tuesday 8 June at 6.30pm AEST. There will be a panel of people from all around Australia, where they will be discussing their jobs and the pathways they took to get there. This is a great opportunity for STEM enthusiasts to gain more information about a variety of industries. The event aims to showcase a range of career opportunities in the health and medical sector to students from Years 9 to 12. For more information, please click here.

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Bingo Night – Saturday 19 June

The Saints Girls’ community proudly presents:

Bingo Night!
Saturday 19 June
St Peter’s Girls’ School Gym

5 rounds of Bingo + fun and games / bar available for drink purchases/adults only event.

Tickets are limited, so organise your table now by visiting: TryBooking

Supported by Friends of Rowing

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Join ‘Our Saints’ Community

Beyond parents and guardians, our girls also treasure connections with grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family. We name these special people ‘Our Saints’.

In the first week of Term 2, students from Reception to Year 6 were given two forms each to take home to their grandparents. If you did not receive these forms from your daughter, please contact me via mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or 8334 2244.

Alternatively, there is a link to the form here.

Our Saints provides opportunities for those who have a connection with our girls to be more involved with the School community through various means, ranging from volunteering their time, to subscribing to our publications such as eNews and Saints Alive.

We encourage all interested grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family to join this special group.

Melissa Westgate
Foundation Manager

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Media Hub Tour – Lights, Camera, Action!

We invite our Arts’ parents to come along and experience our new Media Hub!

It features industry-standard technology including advanced cameras, microphones, lighting and a production green screen. As well as structured learning opportunities, students who are particularly passionate about media production can book the facility and equipment to record, edit and deliver quality content with minimal set up time and a streamlined workflow.

Enjoy an information session and tour of our Media Hub with students Olivia and Jodi. Special thanks to Garth Coulter for organising this event.

Media Hub Tour for Arts’ Parents
Wednesday 26 May at 6pm or 6.30pm

For more information and to RSVP, please email Melissa Westgate via mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au by Monday 24 May.

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Community at Saints Girls

Parents are a vibrant and pivotal part of the St Peter’s Girls’ community. Many opportunities are available to become involved with the School, connect with other community members, and build strong and lasting friendships. Please note the following Term 2 dates:

Friends of The Arts Community Group Meetings

Wednesday 26 May, 6pm or 6.30pm, Media Hub Tour for Arts’ parents
Wednesday 26 May, 7pm, Elizabeth Pike Art Centre
Contact: Danielle Parker – dslparker@gmail.com

Friends of Rowing

Fundraising Working Group Meetings TBD
Contact: Ed Parker – edontheroadagain@hotmail.com

For more information about our community groups, please contact me via 0407 394 183 or mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.

Melissa Westgate
Foundation Manager

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Absences from School

If your daughter is going to be absent, late to school or leave early, please use one of the following methods to notify the School providing student name, class/Home Group and reason:

Text: 0428 601 957

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Phone: 8334 2200

Feel free to include the class/Home Group teacher when emailing. It would be appreciated if notifications could be made prior to 9am.

Please note: it is absolutely imperative to keep unwell children at home until they have recovered, even if symptoms are mild. This is not only for their own health and safety, but for that of all students and staff.

We thank all of our families for their cooperation.

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COVID Measures

Please note the following information regarding our continued COVID response.

The School has a QR code tracing system to facilitate the safe return of parents on site, in line with wider government measures. Parents entering the campus to drop off or collect their children need to scan the QR code provided each time. This also applies to parents visiting the School for events such as parent information evenings or sports training/matches.

Parents and visitors with more formal appointments at the School, such as meeting a staff member, are still required to sign in/out at Front Office and also need to scan the QR code as well for SA Health tracing purposes.

Adults who do not have a device to scan the QR code need to write their details on the paper form provided in the Front Office.

Parents who remain in their vehicles in the main car park do not need to scan in, and students do not need to scan in as the School already tracks daily attendance.

Logistics around events will be shared in due course, dependent upon the latest advice. Attendance numbers, particularly for indoor events, will still need to be restricted to facilitate social distancing.

The following general requirements remain in place:

  • Ensure adults maintain a distance of 1.5m from each other.
  • Practise sound hand washing and other hygiene measures.
  • Students should remain at home if they are unwell; please notify the School of absences by texting 0428 601 957, emailing attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au, or calling 8334 2200.

We thank all of our families for your cooperation.

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Sports News

NETBALL

Open A: Saints v Bye
Open B: Saints 38 v Pulteney 37
Open C: Saints 16 v Immanuel 44
Open D: Saints 4 v Immanuel 68

Intermediate A: Bye
Intermediate B: Bye

Year 10 C: Saints 29 v Wilderness 28
Year 9 A: Bye
Year 9 B: Saints 23 v Immanuel 27
Year 9 C: Saints 7 v Wilderness 29
Year 8 A: Bye
Year 8 B: Saints 38 v Immanuel 16
Year 8 C: Bye
Year 7 A: Bye
Year 7 B: Saints 44 v Pulteney 1
Year 7 C: Saints 10 v Immanuel 19
Year 6 White: Saints 5 v Walford 19
Year 6 Blue: Saints 48 v Seymour 4
Year 5 White: Saints 14 v Seymour 24
Year 5 Blue: Saints 24 v Seymour 3
Year 5 Silver: Bye

Year 5 Blue Report

Year 5 Blue: Saints 24 v Seymour 3
Excellent win for the girls against Seymour, everyone played exceptionally well and improved so much from their previous games. Players worked on many forward cuts and defence in training which was used throughout. Great shooting from all shooters who worked well in the ring together. Inga, Caitlin and Lois were some of our star attackers and defenders in the game. All players should be proud of another amazing win!! – Sivanthi Sivasuthan

Open B Report

Open B: Saints 38 v Pulteney 37
This game was extremely close with Pulteney leading for the majority of the match. Near the end of the third quarter, Saints managed to break even and then led by a few goals. In the last quarter, the defence managed to turn many balls over, with the attacking positions driving first to the ball. This led Saints to winning the game by 1 goal. – Ella Dnistriansky

Year 9 B Report

Year 9 B: Saints 23 v Immanuel 27
During the first half of the match, we focused heavily on communication and calling for the ball. At half-time, we spoke about strategies on how to make space and to position yourself in front of your player. This constructive feedback worked in our favour in the following two quarters, as we took our time and made sure to re-offer. A special shout out to Alice Braithwaite for shooting some amazing goals under tight pressure from defence! Regardless of our loss, I am proud of our achievements! – Charlie Edwards

SOCCER

Open: Saints 1 v Concordia 4
Middle: Saints v Walford (Walford forfeit)

Unfortunately, our Middles had no game this week due to a Walford forfeit. This, however, presented us with a great training opportunity in a Saints v Saints modified game where Coach Ange was able to work on some key tactical concepts that will hopefully assist in our game development moving forward.

After a tough start to the season, our Opens performed much better in this match and began to play like a team. With only 10 minutes to go, the score was tightly set at 1 – 1 after a goal by Lucy Benn. Unfortunately, the girls couldn’t quite hold on and conceded 3 late goals to give Concordia the victory. Despite this, the coach is pleased with the team’s progression and looking forward to watching the girls’ development.

AFL

Open: Saints 1 v Pembroke 58
Middle: Saints 9 v Pembroke 45

Although we were not successful against Pembroke, there were many aspects of our game that were outstanding. Congratulations to both Letitia Page-Thomson and Olivia Slivak on their first games! Throughout the game, the team had amazing pressure forcing Pembroke to make errors and allowing us to keep the scores low, led by Grace Richards whose amazing pressure lifted the team and encouraged us all to follow her lead. Anna and Lucy White both played amazingly and showed incredible ball skills throughout the game, particularly Anna who demonstrated her great abilities to read the play, allowing her to take strong marks. For last week’s game it was no doubt that our player of the game went to Lily-Rose Spartalis who had an outstanding game not only with her skills and tackling pressure but also in taking a leadership role in encouraging the girls and lifting the attitudes of the team on and off the field. Congratulations Lily! It was incredible for both myself and the coaches to see the massive improvement from our trial game against Seymour and I can’t wait to watch the team develop their skills and become a stronger side as the season progresses. – Kellie Bested (AFL Captain)

BADMINTON

Last Saturday was the first week back of the Badminton season for Saints and the girls achieved some great results. A strong start from our A team winning all matches, and a shout out to our A1 player Yang Yang Gu for an outstanding achievement in her singles, leading by 21 points, accumulated from both sets (15 – 3, 15 -4). An excellent comeback from the B team playing neck-and-neck with Wilderness in tough matches, and the C team with an impressive result winning all matches. Special mentions to the great skills and energy displayed by the Open F1 and F2 teams as the majority of them are new players joining this year and winning all matches for F1 and most for F2. Overall, though there were some defeats, it was great seeing girls utilising skills learnt from training and applying them on the court. I wish to extend a special congratulations to the new players who joined us this year who had their first-ever match and showed great enthusiasm and engagement. Well done girls! – Candy Feng (Badminton Captain)

Open A: Saints 6 – 0 defeated Wilderness A
Open B: Saints 3 – 3 defeated by Wilderness B
Open C: Saints 6 – 0 defeated Wilderness C
Open D: Saints 0 – 6 defeated by Wilderness D
Open E1: Saints 5 – 4 defeated Wilderness
Open E2: Saints 5 – 4 defeated Wilderness
Open F1: Saints 9 – 0 defeated Wilderness
Open F2: Saints 7 – 2 defeated Wilderness

CROSS COUNTRY

Nine Saints Girls participated in the second SAAS Cross Country event of the season in the north Parklands. Following on from the great results in Week 1, our girls continued to pick up points with 6 girls finishing in the top 15 places.

Malaika McLeod: 1st
Daisy Braithwaite: 2nd
Isla Fahey: 5th
Alice Braithwaite: 7th
Zara Trim: 14th
Carys Kinsella-White: 13th
Charlotte McAuliffe: 16th
Dani Cox: 21st
Lady Murphy: 23rd (7th Senior)

SAPSASA

Last Friday, a great group of girls from Years 4 – 7 had the opportunity to compete in the SAPSASA District Cross Country. It was a terrific atmosphere with everyone supporting and cheering each other. They all did an incredible job representing St Peter’s Girls against numerous other schools. Another big congratulations to all the girls who participated in this hard running event, you should all be very proud of yourselves. Also, congratulations to the girls who made it to State Cross Country, this is an amazing effort. Great job Saints. – Chloe Richardson and Elodie de Wit

Girls who have qualified for State Cross Country are Isla Fahey (1st), Elodie de Wit (1st), Emily Robinson (2nd), Ella King (4th), Chloe Richardson (3rd) and Jess Woods (6th).

LACROSSE

U11 White: Saints 8 v Eagles 1
U11 Blue: Saints 12 v North Adelaide 2
U13: Saints 5 v Glenelg 14

After winning the flag in Division 2 last year, the U13 girls have moved up to Division 1 this year. It has been a challenging start, facing the two toughest teams in the first two rounds, but the girls have taken it in their stride and are showing improvement every week. The team consists of girls ranging from Years 5 – 7, with many of the older, more experienced girls being amazing mentors to the younger ones. Although we haven’t had a win yet, the girls come out to every game with a positive attitude and show great determination, fighting hard for the ball from the first whistle to the last.

Our two U11 teams have had a great start to the season with both teams having won both their games with flying colours. Once again, there has been a lot of positive inter year level mingling as the teams are comprised of girls from Years 3 – 5, with all showing amazing team spirit. They have been responding well to feedback and drills practised in trainings and have incorporated this into their gameplay. Good luck for the rest of the season girls! – Steph Smalls (Lacrosse Captain) 

HOCKEY

Open: Saints 0 v Pembroke 8
Year 5/6: Saints 10 v Pembroke 0
Year 3/4: Saints 1 v Walford 5

The opens started off strongly against Pembroke, with the younger players playing really well and holding their ground against an older team with a particular mention to Kiera See, playing her first Hockey game for Saints. Whilst Saints had some turnovers resulting in short corners, unfortunately we were unable to convert; the girls are all very excited to continue the season together and hoping to turn results around soon. – Poppie Goldsmith – (Hockey Captain)

We’re delighted with the work of the Year 3/4 Hockey team who, despite struggling for numbers at the start of the season, have been recruiting their friends to join the team and now find themselves with 8 players! Both our Junior teams have started the season well, with our Year 5/6 team posting a convincing win over Pembroke in their second game of the season. 

AEROBICS

FISAF (Federation of International Sport Aerobics and Fitness) Super Series

Secondary School Pre-Choreographed Teams (Years 7 – 12: Advanced) division
Glisten: 1st place
Feisty Fives: 2nd place

Secondary School Pre-Choreographed Teams (Years 7 – 9: Novice) division

Pink Ladies: 1st place
Golden Girls: 4th place

STUDENT SUCCESS

Our girls also continue to thrive in outside of school sport and we really appreciate it when their stories are passed onto the Sport Department.

LITTLE ATHLETICS SA

2021 State Individual Championships – Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 March

Lauren Disney: 100m (1st), 200m (1st) 400m (1st)
Lucille Trengove: Heats
Chloe Richardson: 800m (4th), 1500m (4th)
Carys Kinsella-White: High Jump (2nd) Triple Jump (6th), 400m (1st)
Charlotte McAuliffe: High Jump (4th), Long Jump (2nd), 100m (1st)

SAPSASA Netball 

Congratulations to all students who have worked so hard during SAPSASA Netball trials. After 5 challenging trial sessions, the following students have been selected to represent East Adelaide next month:

Year 6 – Imogen Huf; Phoebe Lucas; Chyndelle Capobianco
Year 7 – Mia Bennett; Isobel McArthur; Alyssa Piantedosi 

EQUESTRIAN 

Imogen Lindh competed in the Victorian Jumping State Championships over two weekends, qualifying for finals and jumping in her biggest class yet. Her results in the first weekend were: 85cm – 4th on Raylyns Eliza, 95cm – 5th on Hark, 104cm – 6th on Hark.

Adelaide Schools

Photo credit: One Eyed Frog Photography

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eNews – Week 3, Term 2 2021

Issue no. 13Enews-banner Adelaide Schools

From Our Deputy Principal / Head of Senior School

Adelaide Schools

Unsurprisingly, the first three weeks of Term 2 have passed remarkably quickly, and the girls have been enthusiastic in their approach to academic work, co-curricular activities and school events. It was wonderful to attend the Senior Drama Production this week. The girls’ hard work and dedication was evident throughout their performances. Also of note is the Prefect-led Assembly for Years 7 – 12 that occurred in Week 2. Over the past three years, the Prefects have been required to broaden their leadership skills through the coordination of additional events. These events are important as the Prefects must have opportunities to engage and connect with younger students. Their collaboration with girls in many year groups to provide a very memorable ‘Saints Got Talent’ was appreciated by students and staff. The highlight was no doubt the inaugural performance by the newly-formed staff band. On reflection, the wide participation in the Assembly was another example of the wonderful sense of community that is so embedded within Saints.


Our bespoke ‘Career.Ready’ program continues to move forward. This term will see the delivery of our Careers curriculum to students in Years 10 – 12. Lessons for Year 11 will focus on a number of ‘career deep dives’, where the girls thoroughly explore a range of industries and professions they have identified as areas of interest. It is important that they gain a deep understanding of the work that occurs within a profession. This must go beyond a simple explanation and should involve an exploration of the dynamic nature of the profession across a number of years. Furthermore, it is vital that they are able to assess the transferrable skills that are required within each profession and determine if these are areas of personal strength or require improvement. Year 12 students will complete a ‘university deep dive’. Research indicates that many students are unprepared for university life. Specifically, regarding the independent nature of university work, assessment processes, HECS and administrative requirements. Our intent is that our girls should not be surprised by the tertiary environment and are able to engage in a smooth transition to university life.

This week also saw the launch of our ‘JobChat’ initiative where we hosted Simone Hogarth who talked with a number of girls about her career in the health sector. JobChat is an individualised and flexible program where the School facilitates discussions with industries and fields of interest identified by the girls.

Finally, I encourage you to talk with your daughter regarding her involvement in the many activities and units of work that we are covering this term through our #EMPOWHER and Service Learning programs. I spent this past week working with Year 10 Patteson, who will later this term be cooking a three-course meal for patrons of Moore Street Drop-In Centre. Their willingness to be involved, organisation and attention to detail are impressive and I am confident they will do a fantastic job. Year 11 will next week be completing an intensive ‘study skills workshop’ in preparation for their semester exams. A reminder that our #EMPOWHER content can be viewed via our CANVAS course, and parent resources are available on our myLink parent portal.

Kate Mortimer
Deputy Principal/Head of Senior School

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The Second Commandment – First Class!

Bravo to our Year 12 Drama and Theatre students for their magnificent production of The Second Commandment.

Written and directed by Michael Butler-Wills, the 70-minute show told the classical Greek tale of Narcissus and Echo. The production was an evocatively poetic exploration of self-love that immersed audiences in a feast of sights and sounds.
 

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Noteworthy Success for Music Ensembles

Adelaide Schools


Congratulations to our fabulous ensemble Enchante (pictured above) who achieved a Gold award and were crowned overall winners in Division 1 at the Vocal JAZZ Fest 2021. We are also incredibly proud of Stage Band (pictured below) who competed against 17 schools in Division 3 at the 2021 SA Schools Jazz Festival and came away with 2nd place.

This time of year, the Music Department is usually in full ‘swing’, preparing for our trip down to Mt Gambier for Generations in Jazz. Last year and this year, the event was cancelled due to COVID. Many SA music teachers felt it was important to find alternative events for our passionate music students. The Vocal JAZZ Fest and SA Schools Jazz Festival were created through the combined efforts of three wonderful South Australian volunteer associations: ANCA (Australian National Choral Association), ABODA (Australian Band and Orchestra Directors Association) and AHOMINGS (Association of the Heads of Music in Non-Government Schools).

A huge congratulations to Music teacher Sari Noble and Old Scholar Chelsea McGuinness (Kilburn 2016) for their amazing work in helping Enchante deliver such an engaging and masterful performance.

We hope to have Generations in Jazz back in 2022 and look forward to heading down to Mt Gambier and competing in such a wonderful community event.

Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music

Adelaide Schools


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Matilda’s Taekwondoful Achievement!

Adelaide Schools


Year 4 student Matilda has achieved an amazing result, claiming 3 Bronze medals in her first interstate competition at the Mooto Gold Coast Taekwondo Open last weekend.

She competed in the female red belt U12 youth division across three events in which she was awarded for her sparring, jump kicking and form.

Matilda says:

“I think I did well on my jumping front kick because I kicked 1.82m which is good because I was the second smallest in my division. My sparring was a little bit tricky because the girl I was partnered against was much taller and a higher grade belt than me. When she punched me in the face it put me off a little bit, but I kept going until the very end.”

Well done Matilda, we are very proud of you!

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Touch Footballers’ Knockout Performances



Our Middle A Touch team participated in the SASSA Knockout Competition this week and enjoyed an incredible day of success, growth and development. The girls have provided a recap of the event:

On Thursday, the Year 8/9 Knockout tournament took place at the Greenhill Road touch fields. We sent a team of 10 girls to compete against four other teams. Our first game against Woorabinda went well with a solid 3 – 0 win. We made sure to spend our breaks powering down and doing some drills to warm ourselves up.

Our second game against Unley also resulted in a well-deserved win, with the score 4 – 0. Our rucks were top notch and our talk was up the loudest it has ever been. After having a bye and some much-needed time to cool down, our third game was against our strongest competitors, Wilderness. Once the match started, we made sure to play at full intensity; however, Wilderness came out on top with the final score of 1 – 4. We kept our heads up going into our final game against Botanic and claimed a 4 – 0 victory. After winning 3 games, we ended up placing 2nd, scoring us a spot in the finals.

Well done to everyone who played and thanks to Mr Searle for coaching us!


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Career Connections at First JobChat

Adelaide Schools


On Wednesday, Saints Girls welcomed our first ‘JobChat’ guest, Simone Hogarth. While eating lunch together with a group of students from Years 10 – 12, Simone shared her experience across several careers as a diagnostic pathologist, a medical scientist and a director of business development for a large healthcare organisation. The girls really enjoyed the chance to hear from someone working in a field of interest to them:

I found Simone’s expertise really insightful because I never knew that working in a hospital laboratory was so hands-on and that pathology leads to so many different areas of work. – Lara, Year 12

By attending the JobChat, I was able to challenge previous career stereotypes and be enlightened to the countless opportunities and pathways available in a medical science field. Annabel, Year 10

It was really good because I learnt about different pathways through a degree and how your career can change. Gemma, Year 12

I found the JobChat really eye-opening. Hearing Simone’s first-hand experiences helped me understand what being a medical scientist and pathologist is like and will definitely help me make career decisions in the future. Chi Chi, Year 11

A big thank you to Simone and those who have expressed interest in participating as we have many more JobChat sessions planned. If you would also like to join in our JobChat sessions to share your career experiences, please contact me via cfarr@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.

Carolyn Farr
Careers Coordinator

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IB EXPO 2021

IB School

Next Tuesday 11 May 5.30 – 7pm

Would you like to learn about the IB Diploma Programme? In Years 11 and 12, students can undertake the excellent and world-renowned IB Diploma. Before they do, it is important to understand the structure of the programme, as well as its courses and assessments, so your daughter can choose the pathway/courses that best suit.

The IB EXPO will be held next Tuesday 11 May from 5.30 – 7pm in the Middle School. As well as our Year 9 and 10 parents and their daughters, all members of our community and the public are also welcome.

As the IB Diploma Coordinator, I will present the structure of the Diploma, including differences with SACE and how universities recognise IB Diploma achievement. Another amazing way to understand the benefits and experiences that the Diploma offers is to hear from our graduates who have completed it and our students who are currently undertaking their Diploma. IB teachers will also be available to share their perspectives from a subject specialist point of view.

5.30 – 6.15pm
Carolyn Farr, IB Diploma Coordinator: What is the IB Diploma?

6.15 – 7pm
Chat with current IB students, IB teachers, IB parents and IB graduates

Year 9 and 10 students will also have smaller information sessions during this term; however, the IB EXPO experience is a great way to hear from different people all in the one place.

Please contact me if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing you and sharing my passion for this programme.

Carolyn Farr
IB Diploma Coordinator

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Year 6 Leaders Grow STEMs

Adelaide Schools


Our Year 6 iChampion Leaders are participating in a Girls in STEM program at the University of Adelaide. It consists of six sessions based around Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, with this week focusing on Science.

This incredible opportunity has been facilitated by our Digital Technologies teacher and STEM Coordinator, Monique Green. The girls undertook an activity where they were challenged to create something to protect an egg from a drop using only the provided materials and within a set timeframe. They now have a greater appreciation of kinetic energy!

Kim Butler-Nixon
Year 6 Teacher

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Women in STEM Breakfast – Next Week

Adelaide Schools


Saints Girls is again hosting a Women in STEM Breakfast. The theme of this event is ‘Creativity; Cracking the STEM Code’. It will be held next Thursday 13 May with the aim of encouraging Senior School STEM enthusiasts to learn more about the people and roles in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Dozens of professionals from STEM fields will be attending, so it will be a fantastic opportunity for our students to network with other like-minded women. We also have four keynote speakers:

  • Barbara Vrettos – Director, The Legal Forecast
  • Dr Vanessa Pirotta – wildlife scientist and Science communicator
  • Alex Kaczmarek – Digital Evidence Specialist, South Australia Police
  • Nicole Russo – Director of Product, Myriota

Students from Years 10 to 12 can register to attend the long breakfast which will be held from 8 – 10.30am. The event is being catered for by the Year 10 Food and Hospitality class. The girls have been sent a link to register. If STEM is an area of interest for your daughter, please encourage her to attend.

Monique Green
Digital Technologies Teacher and STEM Coordinator

Carolyn Farr
Careers Coordinator/IB Diploma Coordinator/Mathematics Teacher

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Age No Barrier at Meeting of Minds

Adelaide Schools


This week, the Year 11 SACE Psychology class joined together with the ELC, Year 1 and Year 5 girls to investigate Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.

The students participated in a number of activities with the younger girls and recorded their thoughts and reasoning about the various tasks. It was great to have the younger students come up to the Science Centre to work with the older girls, and much fun was had by all.

Craig Byrne
Head of Science

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Deep Reflections on Holocaust History Excursion

Adelaide Schools


From Tuesday to Thursday in Week 2, all four Year 10 History classes visited the newly-opened Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Andrew Steiner Education Centre in Wakefield Street. Studying the Holocaust is a vital part of the History curriculum and the exhibits allowed students to view and listen to accounts of why the Holocaust occurred, the methods employed by Nazi Germany, the legacy of the Holocaust and survivor testimonies. One of the key aims of the Museum’s curators is to empower students to stand up against injustice and system persecution.

Here are some student insights:

After World War 1 ended and the Treaty of Versailles was signed, Germany had to pay reparations as it was believed that the war was solely Germany’s fault. Great disgrace was brought on the country and Germans were desperate for relief. Adolf Hitler was one of these people and he held the belief that Jews were to blame for the disgrace of Germany and so he sought to rid them from the country. The events that followed came to be known as the Holocaust. –Ruby

Visiting the Holocaust Museum gave me an in-depth understanding of what life was like during World War 2. Being able to see physical exhibits and read first-hand stories from Holocaust survivors showed me how difficult and horrible this time was. – Olivia

The Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Steiner Education Centre provided us with additional insights into the Holocaust and its lasting effect on society. In addition to watching Andrew Steiner’s testimony of his childhood during the Holocaust, we also saw pictures that were taken inside Auschwitz, allowing us to understand the true extent of suffering and fear felt by the Nazis’ victims. One of the most interesting displays at the museum was a chart of the different badges used to classify prisoners in the concentration camps. I had no idea that the Nazis had such an organised social system within their concentration camps. – Genevieve

The Holocaust itself is horrifying enough; however, when you look at the methods employed by the Nazis to implement their ‘Final Solution’, it defies comprehension. During our visit to the Holocaust Museum, we were given a first-hand glimpse into the barbaric methods employed to dehumanise anyone considered undesirable. Some of the methods used against Jews, Gypsies, the disabled and many other ‘undesirable’ minorities included stripping of belongings and identity and forced imprisonment into labour camps, many of which were extermination camps where modes of killing included starvation, gassing and shooting. Being able to view first-hand sources and hearing from Andrew Steiner, a Holocaust survivor, truly opened our eyes to the horrors which resulted in the death of over six million innocent people. – Georgina

Gregor Dingwall
Head of Humanities

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Money Matters for Year 5 Students

Adelaide Schools

On Tuesday, the Year 5 girls went on an excursion to the Adelaide Central Market as part of their inquiry unit on ‘Money Matters’.

The girls’ task was to prepare a budget for a family of four to buy food for meals and snacks for two days. The girls were divided into groups with our wonderful parent helpers. Groups decided on what meals and snacks they thought the family would like and then set about costing the meals. They made allowances for one-off elements, for example, if a whole amount such as a kilogram of food wasn’t needed.

For lunch, the girls were allowed to spend $12 of their own money on some of the delicious foods the market has to offer. Everyone returned to school with a full tummy and enjoyed the ambience of the market and the delicious fresh food it has to offer. Each group budgeted the $100 allocation carefully and now have to share their information in a brochure.

Shane Davidson
Year 5 Teacher

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Sweet Treat for Mother’s Day

Adelaide Schools

This week, our Year 9 girls were given the task of designing, preparing and decorating cupcakes for Mother’s Day to give to someone special in their lives!

It was extra ‘sweet’ for the girls as we don’t usually prepare treats, but it allowed them to get creative, using fondant, buttercream and various other ingredients to experiment with decorative techniques.

The girls had lots of fun garnishing their cupcakes!

Jenni Manson
Home Economics Teacher

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Bright Future for Young Poets

Adelaide Schools


This term, the Year 8 English students have been studying poetry. They were given an opportunity to select a piece by a famous poet to analyse, followed by a task to write their own poem based on the same theme. One of our girls, Bella, was inspired to write a poem about her mother’s love ahead of Mother’s Day.

I told the sunset about you,

I declared your endless tenderness,

I whispered your boundless greatness,

I spoke of the dazzling stars in your eyes,

And revealed that I couldn’t imagine,

How brightly they shone in the skies.

I danced at sunset because I loved you,

I waltzed in the sea because I understood you,

I ran into the ocean because I missed you,

I walked on the soft sand because I needed you,

And showed that I could not live without you,

You are the heroine of my life.

I smiled at the sunset and spoke of your devotion,

I grinned because you made my heart feel warm,

I beamed with joy because you loved me,

I trusted because I knew you would protect me,

I loved you, without reservation,

And without reservation, you loved me.

Your kiss told the sunset of your love,

Your kiss told the universe that I was important,

Your kiss told the world that I was safe,

You gave me a soft, warm hug,

A blanket wrapped tightly around me,

You are my nurturer and protector,

You are my mum.

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Endless Pastabilities for Year 1 Girls!

Adelaide Schools


Last Thursday, the Year 1 girls visited the L’Abruzzese pasta factory as part of our ‘How we organise ourselves’ inquiry. Our central idea this term is ‘Food can go through stages of production to meet people’s needs.’

Being able to see the workings inside a factory first-hand was an exciting and valuable learning experience. The students gained an understanding of how pasta begins with ingredients that come from plants, and the processes that occur for pasta to end up on the supermarket shelf.

Seeing each stage of the production of pasta sparked the girls’ thinking and further discussions allowed them to make deeper connections with how other foods they eat are processed. The insightful questions they asked demonstrated their curiosity and inquiry skills as they gained knowledge about how one of the most popular foods they love to eat is produced.

We were even spoilt with a delicious bowl of pasta to eat! An enormous thank you must go to Pooi (Charlotte’s mum – Year 3) and the other staff at L’Abruzzese for making our visit such a valuable and enjoyable learning experience.

Liz Sandercock and Michelle Liddy
Year 1 Teachers

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Piano Eisteddfod 2021

Adelaide Schools


On Tuesday 8 June in Week 8 of Term 2, the Arts Department will hold St Peter’s Girls’ Piano Eisteddfod. It is open to all Junior and Middle School students who play piano. Parents are welcome to attend, and times of each student’s performance will be communicated to families.

Girls will have the opportunity to perform a piece to a panel of judges, who will critique their performance based on accuracy, technique and musicality for their specific music level. This is a great opportunity for girls to perform in a supportive environment and receive some valuable feedback.

Girls are asked to play one piece that best displays their musicality and technical ability at their own musical level. There will be no minimum or maximum time limit. While the Eisteddfod provides our top piano players with a platform to perform, the aim is to give performers of all levels the opportunity to participate.

A recital will be held on the evening of Tuesday 15 June in MB120. These students will be chosen from the Eisteddfod performers who show confidence and a high level of musicianship. The selected recital students will be notified by the end of Week 8.

If your daughter would like to be involved, please fill out and return the Piano Eisteddfod consent form by Monday 31 May. Girls can collect the form from the Arts Office. They will later receive a time slot to perform in the Eisteddfod. Students will be notified by email if they have been chosen to have their piece recorded following the Eisteddfod.

Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music

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Bingo Night – Saturday 19 June


The Saints Girls’ community proudly presents:

Bingo Night!
Saturday 19 June
St Peter’s Girls’ School Gym

5 rounds of Bingo + fun and games / bar available for drink purchases/adults only event.

Tickets are limited, so organise your table now by visiting: TryBooking

Supported by Friends of Rowing

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Join ‘Our Saints’ Community

Beyond parents and guardians, our girls also treasure connections with grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family. We name these special people ‘Our Saints’.

In the first week of Term 2, students from Reception to Year 6 were given two forms each to take home to their grandparents. If you did not receive these forms from your daughter, please contact me via mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or 8334 2244.

Alternatively, there is a link to the form here.

Our Saints provides opportunities for those who have a connection with our girls to be more involved with the School community through various means, ranging from volunteering their time, to subscribing to our publications such as eNews and Saints Alive.

We encourage all interested grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family to join this special group.

Melissa Westgate
Foundation Manager

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Media Hub Tour – Lights, Camera, Action!


We invite our Arts’ parents to come along and experience our new Media Hub!

It features industry-standard technology including advanced cameras, microphones, lighting and a production green screen. As well as structured learning opportunities, students who are particularly passionate about media production can book the facility and equipment to record, edit and deliver quality content with minimal set up time and a streamlined workflow.

Enjoy an information session and tour of our Media Hub with students Olivia and Jodi. Special thanks to Garth Coulter for organising this event.

Media Hub Tour for Arts’ Parents
Wednesday 26 May at 6pm or 6.30pm

For more information and to RSVP, please email Melissa Westgate via mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au by Monday 24 May.

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Community at Saints Girls

Parents are a vibrant and pivotal part of the St Peter’s Girls’ community. Many opportunities are available to become involved with the School, connect with other community members, and build strong and lasting friendships. Please note the following Term 2 dates:

Friends of The Arts Community Group Meetings

Wednesday 26 May, 6pm or 6.30pm, Media Hub Tour for Arts’ parents
Wednesday 26 May, 7pm, Elizabeth Pike Art Centre
Contact: Danielle Parker – dslparker@gmail.com

Friends of Rowing

Fundraising Working Group Meetings TBD
Contact: Ed Parker – edontheroadagain@hotmail.com

For more information about our community groups, please contact me via 0407 394 183 or mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.

Melissa Westgate
Foundation Manager

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Entertainment Membership

To support Saints Girls and purchase your membership, click here.

 

Terms and conditions apply. Go to https://www.entertainment.com.au/promotions

All Member offers are subject to terms and conditions. Check individual offers on the Entertainment Membership App or www.entertainment.com.au for more information. For all dining offers, it is optional for participating businesses to accept your Entertainment Memberships on all official Australian and New Zealand public holidays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day. © 2021 Entertainment Group.

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Absences from School

If your daughter is going to be absent, late to school or leave early, please use one of the following methods to notify the School providing student name, class/Home Group and reason:

Text: 0428 601 957

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Phone: 8334 2200

Feel free to include the class/Home Group teacher when emailing. It would be appreciated if notifications could be made prior to 9am.

Please note: it is absolutely imperative to keep unwell children at home until they have recovered, even if symptoms are mild. This is not only for their own health and safety, but for that of all students and staff.

We thank all of our families for their cooperation.

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COVID Measures

Please note the following information regarding our continued COVID response.

The School has a QR code tracing system to facilitate the safe return of parents on site, in line with wider government measures. Parents entering the campus to drop off or collect their children need to scan the QR code provided each time. This also applies to parents visiting the School for events such as parent information evenings or sports training/matches.

Parents and visitors with more formal appointments at the School, such as meeting a staff member, are still required to sign in/out at Front Office and also need to scan the QR code as well for SA Health tracing purposes.

Adults who do not have a device to scan the QR code need to write their details on the paper form provided in the Front Office.

Parents who remain in their vehicles in the main car park do not need to scan in, and students do not need to scan in as the School already tracks daily attendance.

Logistics around events will be shared in due course, dependent upon the latest advice. Attendance numbers, particularly for indoor events, will still need to be restricted to facilitate social distancing.

The following general requirements remain in place:

  • Ensure adults maintain a distance of 1.5m from each other.
  • Practise sound hand washing and other hygiene measures.
  • Students should remain at home if they are unwell; please notify the School of absences by texting 0428 601 957, emailing attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au, or calling 8334 2200.

We thank all of our families for your cooperation.

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Sports News

AFL

Open: Saints 6 v Seymour 31

Our girls’ first run out against Seymour was a difficult challenge with both Saints’ teams losing by several goals. Despite this first setback, the players are open to the challenges that lie ahead and are in great hands with the experienced coaching team of Mark Ricciuto, Emily Moxon, Dan Searle and Roger Mills. Training has been of a high standard and the intensity in which the girls are working suggests a season of swift development ahead.

BADMINTON

Our Badminton girls have been working hard in training and trial matches as they approach their first official fixtures tomorrow. We wish them the best for the start of their season.

CROSS COUNTRY

Eight Saints Girls participated in the first SAAS Cross Country event of the season at St Peter’s College. Despite the challenging course, week one saw our girls continue their form from 2020 with all finishing in the top 15, scoring vital points for the team.

Malaika McLeod: 1st
Daisy Braithwaite: 2nd
Isla Fahey: 4th
Alice Braithwaite: 6th
Zara Trim: 11th
Carys Kinsella-White: 12th
Charlotte McAuliffe: 14th
Dani Cox: 15th

HOCKEY

Open: Saints 0 v Trinity College Gawler 0
Year 5/6: Saints 9 v Walford 0
Year 3/4: Bye

There are lots of new beginnings in Senior Hockey this year, with several new players joining our team and a new coach, Natasha Dinan, taking the reins. Training has been great to watch, with Friday mornings at PAC a highlight of the girls’ week. Their first official fixture comes this weekend; however, our girls have started well with the annual trial game against Trinity College Gawler. Whilst Saints dominated play and created the majority of chances, the game finished as a draw, with Saints retaining the trophy following the 2020 victory. It has been particularly pleasing to see how well our older Hockey players have integrated younger members into their team, which will make for a sustainable and growing program.

This flows into the Junior School program, with Senior School players and Old Scholars doing an amazing job mentoring our younger students. The Year 5/6 team was excited to win their first game of the season, with a 9 – 0 victory over Walford. The girls showed fantastic team play throughout, rotating positions and learning the game. It was impressive to see them sing the School Song at the finish, building culture and passion for their participation in school sport.

LACROSSE

U11 White: Saints 7 v St Aloysius 0
U11 Blue: Saints 10 v Eagles 6
U13: Saints 6 v Brighton 15

Following a successful skills program in Term 2, our three Lacrosse teams played their first game of the season last Saturday. It was a successful round for both U11 Saints Blue and White teams. For some junior players, this was their first-ever game and they did a fantastic job. It was a great opportunity for the girls to form strong relationships and develop their teamwork, something which was clearly established from the starting siren! The White team demonstrated excellent stick skills and speed on the ground, dominating the play for the entirety of the game. Similar highlights were noted in the Blue team’s game, with excellent goalie saves and the girls’ ability to share the ball around in attack whilst defending the opposition tightly. The goalies were Amelia Birmingham and Willow Chong. Both showed bravery, determination and did very well. It was wonderful to start the season on a high note and I am looking forward to what the future holds for both teams.

Our U13 group has stepped up into Division 1 this year after a successful season in 2020. Inevitably, this poses a different set of challenges for our girls; some younger players will need to quickly adapt to the higher standard. Whilst the girls were effective going forward, the challenge will be to tighten up in defence and ensure that the whole team works effectively together to reduce the oppositions’ chance creation.

NETBALL

Year 6 Blue: Saints 47 v Wilderness 10

Netball continues to grow at Saints Girls under the tutelage of Alice Johnswood, our Netball Coordinator. 250 girls have signed up to play this year, highlighting the success of our Netball pathway from ELC – Year 12. Whilst our Year 7 – 12 teams will start their first official games this weekend, they have been working hard playing both internal and external trials for the past two weeks. With 17 teams across Years 7 to 12, there are plenty of opportunities for participation, growth and development over the coming months.

Our Junior teams are now two weeks into their Term 2 season and have had some fantastic performances to date, assisted with wonderful support from student mentors and our coaches. Our highlight game this week is Year 6 Blue, who opened with a great contest against Wilderness.

Student mentor Charlie Piper provided this report:

The Year 6 Blue team played an amazing game against Wilderness, taking the win with the final score of 47 – 10. The girls played well at both ends of the court, making many intercepts. Phoebe Lucas did a great job in attack and defence as she made multiple turnovers in the centre position. All of the girls worked well as a team considering it was their first game of the season. Sophie and I look forward to seeing the girls improve and win more games.

SOCCER

Open: Saints 0 v Scotch 15
Middle: Saints 5 v Seymour 1

Our Open team had a difficult start to their season coming up against a strong Scotch opposition; however, the coach was proud of the hard work that the girls displayed and is confident that their attitudes indicate improvement will quickly follow.

Meantime, our Middles had a fantastic start to their season. With a big squad, it was great to see the girls rostered-off present and supporting their teammates as they raced to a 4 – 0 lead at half-time. The second half was much closer, yet the girls continued to be tight in defence and created plenty of opportunities in attack with the final score of 5 – 1.

STUDENT SUCCESS

Our girls continue to thrive both in and outside of school sport, and we really appreciate it when their stories are shared with the Sport Department.

As reported earlier in this eNews, Matilda Purvis came away with 3 Bronze medals after participating in her first interstate taekwondo competition.

Lucy White recently competed in the National Junior Beach Volleyball Competition in Coolangatta. In a very high standard of volleyball, Lucy’s team qualified for the Quarter Finals, eventually finishing in 6th place.

Wonderful achievements girls!

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