Issue no. 15

From Our Deputy Principal / Head of Middle School

It was our pleasure once again to host the annual da Vinci Decathlon here at St Peter’s Girls this week. With schools attending from across the state, the addition of nearly an extra 600 students on site from Tuesday to Thursday certainly brings some extra excitement to Stonyfell.

As the SA Chapter school, we are delighted to partner with the competition’s founders, Knox Grammar School in Sydney. The decathlon provides students with the opportunity to compete in ten separate events at a level designed to test the brightest minds in the country, and requires teams to work collaboratively and creatively on a range of tasks in three busy sessions.

As has been the case since its inception here at St Peter’s Girls school in 2013, the Arts Centre was an excellent venue for this annual event, becoming an ideal arena in which students competed against some of the best and brightest minds in the State.

A special mention must go to Gifted and Talented Coordinator Becca Burton-Howard, ably supported by many of our teaching staff, who prepared our own students so proficiently. Our Year 5/6 team did extremely well, taking away Silver Medals at the end of an exhausting day, whilst our Year 7 team emerged as State Champions on Wednesday. Finally, our Year 9 team worked collaboratively all day resulting in a 1st place in Ideation and Engineering, and a second place in Creative Producers, finishing a very creditable 9th overall in a very competitive field.

Congratulations to the State winners for 2023:
Year 5/6 – Pembroke School
Year 7 – St Peter’s Girls’ School
Year 9 – Pembroke School

To see the full results and all School photos click here.

Richard Lisle
Deputy Principal/Head of Middle School

Thursday 15 June (Week 8)
12.15pm
Gym, St Peter’s Girls’ School

Issue no. 14

From Our Deputy Principal /
Head of Senior School

With the term and lessons underway, students are well and truly engrossed in learning. It would seem then, that now is a perfect time for students to take a moment to reflect on their time management, their academic goals and study habits.

Having recently met individually with Year 10 students, most commented that they had noticed an increase in workload from Year 9 to Year 10. While most reported that this was manageable, they noted that their time management strategies needed to change to reflect this step up and increased demands. This reflection would ring true for all students regardless of their year level. What worked in the previous year may not necessarily be appropriate as students progress through their schooling journey.

The school diary is always the perfect starting point to help your daughter to manage her time. When I suggest this to the Senior Students some look at me as though I’ve been living under a rock as they opt for electronic diaries, laptop ‘sticky notes’ and the Microsoft to-do list. Whether it be the traditional handwritten diary or an online format, a record of workload, due dates and prioritising is always essential for success.

In addition to reflecting on time management strategies, students and families are also encouraged to look at study habits. Does your daughter leave homework to late at night? Is there a quiet but not isolated place for her to complete homework in? Are phones left in another room to avoid distractions or adequate breaks planned? Making some simple changes such as starting homework earlier in the afternoon, creating a clutter free study space in a dining room away from distraction and leaving phones or devices in another room all help to create positive study habits.

Finally, as the workload increases and as the Senior School builds towards exams, maintaining positive wellbeing practices is important for all students. Taking a break for a family walk, playing sport, or socialising with friends and family are all simple steps that anyone can implement. Reframing the purpose of exams and tests as simply a ‘snapshot of progress’ at that point can also help to reduce stress or anxiety around assessments for students of any age.

I encourage you to take a moment to talk to your daughter about her time management strategies and study habits. They may even have some useful tips and advice for us adults!

Lauren Sutton
Deputy Principal/Head of Senior School

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Performing Arts Dinner – Next Week!

Next Friday evening, our Performing Arts Captains, Amelie and Zara, and The Arts Faculty will be hosting the inaugural Performing Arts Dinner for 2023!

We invite you to this cocktail-style evening to celebrate our vibrant Performing Arts community, enjoy fun music, a live DJ and great food catered by ‘Little Adelaide Catering Company’ whilst hearing from a range of industry professional guest speakers.

If your daughter is involved in Dance, Drama or Music (as a subject) from Years 9 – 12 or is a part of the cast or crew of this year’s School Musical, Matilda, we would love to see you there.

Friday 26 May
6.30pm – 9.30pm
Arts Centre, St Peter’s Girls’ School
Cocktail Dress

Adult: $55 per ticket, includes food and complimentary drink on arrival
Student: $40 per ticket, includes food and unlimited soft drink
Book your tickets via TryBooking by 9am Tuesday 23 May (extended).

To secure your tickets – click here

Amelie Zacharia Henley and Zara Blight 
Performing Arts Captains

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Interhouse Cross Country Results

Last Friday saw students from Reception to Year 9 compete in our Interhouse Cross Country – with the exception of the Year 6s, who competed on Tuesday following their return from Canberra. The course in neighbouring Bell Yett Reserve ranged from 1km for our Reception students, up to 3km for students in Years 8 and 9.

Interhouse Cross Country is a fantastic opportunity for students to challenge themselves to achieve their best and contribute to a collaborative effort, with every student who completes the course earning points for their House.

As always, the final result was incredibly close, with only 28 points separating the winning House from the runners up. Congratulations goes to KENNION for taking out the 2023 Interhouse Cross Country Shield!

House Results

1st Kennion (436 points)
2nd Selwyn (408 points)
3rd Kilburn (374 points)
4th Patteson (263 points)

Individual Results

Reception: 1st – Molly Coulter, 2nd – Ishani Nair, 3rd – Anna Lucas
Year 1: 1st – Angela Guo, 2nd – Olivia Wei, 3rd – Mila Zappia
Year 2: 1st – Matilda Farhan, 2nd – Penny Kelly, 3rd – Millie Dougherty
Year 3: 1st – Mia O’Brien, 2nd – Scarlett Drake, 3rd – Florence Cleland
Year 4: 1st – Lucy Dougherty, 2nd – Jiaen Lu, 3rd – Layla Drake
Year 5: 1st – Milli Richardson, 2nd – Aurelia Tan, 3rd – Vanessa Barnes
Year 6: 1st – Emily Robinson, 2nd – Matilda Purvis, 3rd – Mika Valmorbida
Year 7: 1st – Jess Woods, 2nd – Chloe Sturt, 3rd – Lois Burton-Howard
Year 8: 1st – Isla Fahey, 2nd – India Goodall, 3rd – Aleesha Gray
Year 9: 1st – Elodie de Wit, 2nd – Chloe Richardson, 3rd – Lucy Lowry

Alice Johnswood
Sports Administrator

 

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Senior Drama Production Moves Audiences

On the 17th and 18th of May, the Year 11 and 12 SACE and IB students performed Amelia Bradshaw Turns Eight written and directed by Michael Butler-Wills. The play follows a young girl’s eighth (“with a huh-tuh-huh”) birthday party and delves into the intricacies of each child’s family dynamics. It is a naturalistic play with non-realistic and comic elements, that is structured around a range of nursery rhymes which – like the play itself –  appear happy and joyous on the surface, but often have a darker meaning that lurks beneath.

Working together in our separate classes – Year 11s and Year 12s –  we were able to devise some of the movement sequences and work on the blocking of the individual scenes. We then had rehearsals after school to combine with the Year 12s and solidify the blocking. Before the play started the nerves were kicking in: we had to remember all our lines, focus on our reactions, ensure the accuracy of our timing, and embody the emotions of our character. Both evening performances were tremendously successful with audiences that were engaged and responsive.

Overall, the combined effort of the Year 11 and 12 SACE Drama and IB Theatre students resulted in a beautiful, hilarious, and tear-jerking play.

Charlotte Norman, Zoe Pool, Abigail Papps, Hope Sanders-Wills and Maddy Penley
Year 11 SACE Drama and IB Theatre students

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Saints Girl to Compete at 2023 Asian Physics Olympiad

We are thrilled to announce that Year 11 student Heidi Gong will be representing Australia with a small team of talented Physics students at the 2023 Asian Physics Olympiad in Mongolia next week. The competition is one of the toughest science competitions globally for high school students.

The Australian delegation will travel to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to compete against students from around the world. The 2023 Asian Physics Olympiad marks the first time students have travelled overseas since 2019.

Heidi has trained for twelve months to be part of this team and her journey began by sitting the Australian Science Olympiad Exams in July 2022. Heidi’s performance in the exams secured her a spot at the Australian Science Olympiad Summer School, where her talent, enthusiasm and hard work led to her selection for the final team.

Heidi shares, ‘The Asian Physics Olympiad is very difficult, but I enjoy the challenge and find the experiments very fun. Through preparing for the Olympiad I have also gotten to know my team members – they are all awesome people and I’m looking forward to seeing them in person again.’

Executive Director of the Asian Physics Olympiad, Alyssa Weirman, explains ‘the Olympiad is a fantastic opportunity for Australia and for the students, it helps Australia to develop connections between the countries in our region while at the same time developing the science capability of our students.’

We are so proud of Heidi and her hard work and wish her all the best at the Olympiads.

Craig Byrne
Head of Science

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Year 6s Visit to Canberra

Last week the Year 6s headed to Canberra* to embark on their study tour linked with their unit of inquiry, ‘How we organise ourselves.’ Driving our learning was our Central Idea: ‘Government systems and decisions impact the broader community.’

The four-day tour provided the girls with an exceptional opportunity to learn about:
• our democratic history at Old Parliament House,
• the preferential voting system at the Electoral Commission,
• Australia’s system of government at Parliament House.

During the tour we visited the Australian War Memorial, which afforded the girls an opportunity to commemorate those men and women who lost their lives defending our rights and freedoms. Other destinations visited during the tour included the National Arboretum, CSIRO Discovery Centre and Questacon – National Science and Technology Centre. The absolute highlight of the trip was a visit to Government House, where the Governor General himself graciously made time to talk to the girls and allowed us a special photo opportunity!

The girls shared:

‘The best part of Questacon was seeing the teachers do the ‘Free Fall’ with us!’ – Jovelyn Chan (Year 6 student)

‘At Parliament House it was great to hear from our local members Senator Simon Birmingham and James Stevens MP. I also really loved seeing the Lego made by ‘The Brickman’.’ – Hannah Ibrahim (Year 6 student)

‘Being in Canberra was a wonderful opportunity. My favourite part was going to The War Memorial and seeing all of the historic artefacts peaking my interest to find out more.’ – Willow Chong (Year 6 student)

*The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government contributes funding of $90.00 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. This rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

Rebecca Riley
Year 6 Teacher

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ELC: Our Visit to Reggio Emilia

Over the holidays I was fortunate to visit Reggio Emilia in Italy along with ELC staff members Jess Catt, Elina Qian and Emma Huang. This was a wonderful experience that reinforced the incredible work that is happening across our Learning Communities. It was a great opportunity to engage in rich dialogue about Early Childhood Education with teachers and educators from across the world.

We are now looking forward to sharing this experience within our ELC community. Next week our staff will explore our learnings from Reggio Emilia and how we can use these to build on and improve our programs to provide the very best learning environment for our children and families. This will continue to be a great source of inspiration as we plan for the future and continue our journey as leaders in the early learning space.

Liz Schembri
Director of ELC

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Scarlett on Readings Teen Advisory Board

Congratulations to Year 10 student Scarlett Schmerlaib who was accepted on the Readings Teen Advisory Board. The Readings Teen Advisory Board (TAB) is a volunteer group of teenagers that meets once a month to discuss all things books!

Scarlett shares, ‘Anyone who knows me knows that my Goodreads list is as long as they come. In March this year, Ms Smith suggested I apply for the Readings Teen Advisory Board. Readings is an independent retailer of books with eight shops operating in Melbourne. The flagship Readings Carlton shop was established in 1969 and supports many literary endeavours and has won multiple bookseller awards.

In my application, I expressed my love for reading and everything book related, and to my surprise, I was accepted. As part of this Board, we meet monthly and interview authors, have guest speakers talk about the book industry, post book reviews on the Readings’ website, and create podcast episodes promoting books and the book community. As part of the Board, I receive books from Readings for monthly review and discussion – more books to feed my reading habit! This month I received Royals by Tegan Bennett Daylight, Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman, It looks like us by Alison Ames, and Two can play that game by Leanne Yong.

This experience has been very inspiring for me, and I can’t wait to collaborate with my Board members across the year and dive further into literature and the book community.‘

Mel Smith
English Teacher

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Students Connect with Australian Authors and Illustrators

Earlier this term, the Junior School Library and Chapel Leaders were fortunate to attend an interschool ‘Luminary Lunch’ hosted by St Peter’s College. Each school’s group was joined by an Australian children’s book author or illustrator at their table.

We decorated our table and wore related accessories in a style to suit our author, Kristin Weidenbach, who writes historical fiction books about significant Australians from the outback. Kristin told us about her writing journey, answered all sorts of questions that we posed for her about being an author and was kind enough to give each of the students a signed copy of her book, King of the Outback : The Story of Sidney Kidman.

During lunchtime we also answered quiz questions about books related to the authors and illustrators who were present at the event.

The girls shared:

‘I learned that authors don’t always get to choose the illustrator for their books.’
– Crystelle Cox (Year 6 student)

‘I found it amusing that Kristin really likes to write straight after she eats breakfast.’
– Charlotte Layton (Year 6 student)

‘It was great hearing how Kristin got all the ideas for her book, Tom the Outback Mailman, from actually meeting him.’- Zoe Curtis (Year 6 student)

Louisa Mitchell
Junior School Teacher Librarian

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CREATE23 – Stage 2 Dance Choreography Evening

Monday 29 May, 7pm
Arts Centre, St Peter’s Girls’ School

The Stage 2 Dance students have been working on their own choreography from conception to planning, researching, rehearsing and performing, these pieces are completely student devised. Their incredible work will be presented for assessment at CREATE23.

With many Year 9 and 10 dancers also involved in this process, it would be wonderful for you to join the dance community in supporting our students and their creative work. Entry is free, and no bookings are required.

Kate Burnett
Head of The Arts

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Selwyn House Charity Day – Sausage Sizzle

The Year 10 Selwyn Home Group is selling sausages and drinks on Friday 2 June (Week 6) to raise money for our House Charity, The Smith Family. The Smith Family organisation opens doors to education opportunities for disadvantaged Australian children and their families.

We are selling $5 meals deals with a sausage and a drink. Sausages with onion are $3, soft drinks (coke and lemonade) are $3 and there will be juice boxes for sale as well. There are also gluten free and vegetarian sausages available.

The parents of Reception to Year 2 students can pre-order a meal deal with a juice box via TryBooking – click here

Students from years 3 to 12 can buy sausages and drinks on the day. Cash only purchases.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Asha Eaton and Alex Nguyen
Year 10 students

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Kilburn House Charity Day – Bake Sale

 

 

On Friday 2 June (Week 6) the Year 10s from Kilburn will be running a bake sale to support the Treasure Box Foundation which help support kids and families with basic essentials for life.

We will be selling a variety of sweet and savoury delights ranging from $1 – $3. There will also be dairy and gluten-free options along with vegan options. We will be set up on Chiverton lawns at lunch.

Parents of girls from Reception to Year 2 can pre-order via TryBooking – click here

Students from Years 3 to 12 will be able to purchase items directly from the stall. Cash only purchases.

We look forward to seeing you there and supporting the Treasure Box Foundation together!

Lara Maione
Year 10 student

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Thank you for your Responses

I wish to thank those of you who recently completed our Mobile Phone Policy survey. We received a staggering response rate, with over 500 families and Teaching Staff sharing their feedback. The results will be reviewed by the Senior Leadership Team over the remainder of this term and we look forward to sharing the outcomes with the School community in due course.

Cherylyn Skewes
Principal

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IB Expo 2023

Tuesday 30 May, 5:30pm – 7pm
Would you like to learn more about the IB Diploma Programme? Research suggests that there are many benefits to choosing the Diploma Programme (DP). The programme aims to develop students who have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge – students who flourish physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically.

We encourage students and parents from Years 8 – 10 to attend the IB EXPO which will be held on Tuesday 30 May. There will be an IB presentation in the Arts Centre from 5:30pm. Following this, from 6pm in the Middle School, there will be an opportunity for parents and students to speak with subject teachers, current IB students and graduates. All members of our community and the public are also welcome.

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

Check out the video below for a taste of IB at Saints Girls.

Carolyn Farr
IB Diploma Coordinator

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Books Ahoy at Junior School Book Fair

 

Get hooked on books next week as the Junior School Library hosts a Scholastic ‘Bookaneer’ Book Fair : Where Books are the Treasure! The fair will run from lunchtime Monday 22 May to lunchtime Friday 26 May.

This pop-up bookshop event is a wonderful opportunity for students to purchase books to take home whilst also supporting a very important cause. Funds raised will go towards the ‘Solar Buddy’ Service Learning Initiative helping to provide solar study lights to children living in energy poverty in a range of countries.

Books and stationery will be on sale at the following times in Week 5:
Before school: 8.10 – 8.30am
Lunchtime: 1.15 – 1.45pm
After school: 3.30 – 4pm

Cash and credit card payments are accepted. We look forward to seeing you there!

Louisa Mitchell
Junior School Teacher Librarian

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Now Casting: SEUSSICAL

SHANE DAVIDSON PRESENTS is now casting for its upcoming show: SEUSSICAL.
This song and dance musical follows the stories of Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who and Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. With over 20 roles, there are many opportunities for those seeking experience.

Auditions: Saturday 20 May, St Peter’s Girls’ School
Show: August 2023

If your daughter would like to participate or you would like more information, please email shanedavidson@internode.on.net

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Matilda School Musical – Book your Tickets Now!

In our biggest-ever School Musical, more than 100 Saints Girls are working hard on stage and behind the scenes as we countdown to Roald Dahl’s Matilda in Week 7.

Inspired by the twisted genius of Roald Dahl, with book by Dennis Kelly and original songs by Tim Minchin, Matilda the Musical explores the anarchy of childhood and the power of imagination through the inspiring story of a little girl who dreams of a better life. With high-energy dance numbers, catchy songs and unforgettable characters, Matilda will be a girl-power showcase of our fabulous singers, dancers, actors and musicians.

Matinee Performance: 8 June, 1pm
Evening Performances: 7, 8 & 9 June, 7pm
Arts Centre, St Peter’s Girls’ School 

To secure your tickets – click here

Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical
Book by Dennis Kelly
Music and Lyrics by Tim Minchin
Licensed exclusively by Music Theatre International (Australasia).
All performance materials supplied by Hal Leonard Australia.
Orchestrations and Additional Music – Chris Nightingale.

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Piano Eisteddfod – Coming Soon!

On Thursday 22 June in Week 9 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 the time 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 Piano Recital will be held on Thursday 29 June at 6pm. Students will be chosen from the Eisteddfod performers who show confidence and a high level of musicianship. Selected recital students will be notified by email.

If your daughter would like to be involved, please complete and return the Piano Eisteddfod Consent Form by Tuesday 13 June. Girls can collect the form from the Arts Office or you can download it via the link below. Students will later receive their time slot to perform in the Eisteddfod.

Download the Piano Eisteddfod Consent Form

Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music

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COVID-19 Information

Please find the latest guidance from SA Health:

• It is strongly recommended that students stay home if they have cold or flu-like
  symptoms, and test for COVID-19.
• Whether they receive a positive or negative result, they should stay home until symptoms subside (usually five to seven days).
• It is strongly recommended that parents/guardians inform the School if a student is a
  close contact. For further advice regarding close contacts, click here
• While face masks are no longer mandated, they are an important physical barrier to help stop the spread of COVID, particularly when indoors.

If your child tests positive to COVID-19, please inform the School. Please also notify the School each day of absence, or provide the expected period of absence.

You can notify us via one of the following methods. Please include the name of the ELC Room, Class or Home Group. If emailing, feel free to ‘CC’ the teacher of the Room/Class/Home Group as well.

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)

Phone: 8334 2200

For more SA Health information, click here

Please note that if your child is unwell, they should remain home until they have recovered, irrespective of the illness.

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School Medical Information Reminder

It is imperative that all medical information, including immunisations, is up to date on the School’s myLink parent portal.

Please follow this pathway to check and/or update details: myLink > Community Portal > My Details > select child name

If you have any questions, please email healthcentre@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

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School Shop Notice

School Shop Opening Hours

Monday to Friday: 8am – 4pm (closed for lunch 12 – 12.30pm)

Parents can also order items via our Online School Shop. This is now accessible via the Flexischools platform which also administers our Online Tuck Shop. To sign in or sign up to Flexischools, click here

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Absences from School

If your child will not be attending school/ELC due to illness or otherwise, please notify the School via one of the methods below.

Please include the name of the ELC Room, Class or Home Group, along with the reason for the absence as the School requires this for government reporting purposes.

If emailing, feel free to ‘CC’ the teacher of the Room/Class/Home Group as well.

Text: 0428 601 957

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Phone: 8334 2200

It would be appreciated if notifications could be made prior to 9am.

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Sports News

AFL

Open A: Bye
Years 7-10: Bye

BADMINTON

All teams: Bye

BASKETBALL

Junior School
Year 3/4 Blue: Saints (17) v Wilderness (44)
Year 3/4 White: Saints (0) v Pembroke (36)

CROSS COUNTRY

Senior
3rd – Malaika McLeod
4th – Daisy Braithwaite
8th – Alice Braithwaite
17th – Charlotte McAuliffe
18th – Carys Kinsella-White
19th – Zara Trim
20th – Lara Maione
21st – Marcella Tolley
22nd – Jenna Maione

Middle
1st – Elodie de Wit
2nd – Isla Fahey
7th – Audrey Fox

Overall points: 95

HOCKEY

All teams: Bye

LACROSSE

U13 Blue: Saints (8) v Brighton (9)
Best Players: Matilda Purvis and Lois Burton-Howard for controlling the game from mid-field into attack.
U13 White: Saints (1) v Sturt (15)

NETBALL

Senior School
All teams: Bye

Middle School
All teams: Bye

Junior School
Year 6 Blue: Saints (16) v Seymour (15)
‘Great team effort again!’ – Neil Pahuja (Coach)
Year 6 White: Saints (7) v Seymour (14)
Year 5/6 Silver: Saints (17) v Seymour (19)
Best Player: Clara Polasek – a great game for three quarters in Centre, followed by a strong effort in Goal Shooter. Clara didn’t stop running, leading and chasing balls and played a great support to Sophie in goals.
Super Woman: Lydia Zhao – Lydia watched the attack players and took many interceptions, she was very strong in defence for four quarters and kept working hard to clear the ball out of our defence.
Year 5 Blue: Saints (1) v Seymour (20)
Year 5 White: Saints (4) v Seymour (17)
Best Player: Vanessa Barnes
Year 4 Blue: Saints (8) v Scotch (8)
Year 4 White: Saints (4) v Immanuel (3)

SOCCER

Senior School
Premier League: Saints (0) v Immanuel (6)
Best Player: Monica Isaac – Monica brought the effort and led from the front. She was fantastic on the ball but in particular her effort off the ball, both in attack and defence was of an extremely high standard.
Super Woman: Misha Yagnik – it was Misha’s first game of Open As and she was given the job of right back. Misha led from the front and set the tone with her attitude and effort and this came as a huge source of energy for the rest of the team.
‘A much stronger effort this week. We decided that we would focus strongly on our effort and our attitude and I couldn’t fault the girls this week.’ – Alastair Eglinton (Coach)
Year 7-10: Saints (0) v Wilderness (5)
‘The girls played pretty well and worked well together.’ – Ankita Rajbhoj and Kyle Martelle (Coaches)

Middle School
Middle A: Saints (13) v Seymour (0)

Junior School
Year 5/6 Blue: Bye
Year 5/6 White: Saints (3) v St Ignatius (6)
Year 3/4: Saints (0) v Seymour (4)

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Issue no. 13

From Our Director of Teaching and Learning

Continuous reporting is a contemporary way in which schools assess and evaluate student progress throughout the academic year. Here at St Peter’s Girls’ School teachers provide timely and targeted feedback throughout the teaching and learning cycle to all our girls. Their learning progress for each summative assessment is shared via Canvas and subject summaries are available for families in Years 7-12 via My Link. These academic summaries are accessible by visiting MyLink Home and then selecting “Marks” under each Canvas course listed.

Using platforms such as these supports students to more effectively track, reflect and improve their learning, assisting them to develop their independence. It increases the quantity, quality and consistency of feedback available to students.

Feedback is a key element of the incremental process of ongoing learning and assessment. Providing frequent and ongoing feedback is a significant means of improving achievement in learning. It involves the provision of information about aspects of understanding and performance and can be given by practitioners, peers, oneself and from learners to practitioners.

Effective feedback from teachers will:
• focus on the quality of the learner’s work and/or processes and be specific
• motivate and challenge the learner to further develop their knowledge and skills
• recognise that which the student has done well and identify what has been
misunderstood
• directly link to the learning intentions and success criteria
• be spoken, a gesture or formalised in writing.

Continuous reporting also assists to foster collaboration and engagement within the learning environment. By providing regular updates on a student’s progress, teachers and parents can work together to identify areas where a student may require extension or support. We develop the partnership that we know is crucial between the classroom and home.

I encourage you to log into MyLink Home and follow your Middle or Senior School child’s Term 1 reports via the subject summaries.

Kate Fryer
Director of Teaching and Learning

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Top Honours at Generations in Jazz

On Friday 5 May, and after a 4 year hiatus as a result of COVID, 36 excited music girls headed to Mount Gambier to participate in the renowned Generations in Jazz Music Festival.

This Festival, originally established by James Morrison, brings together over 5000 students from across the nation to celebrate all things jazz. During the course of 3 days, students perform in competitions, participate in workshops and attend concerts.

This year the headline acts included international supergroup ‘Dirty Loops’, an amazing band of virtuosic performers from Sweden, as well as Thando from ‘The Voice’ and many regulars including Ross Irwin from ‘Cat Empire’, Matt Jodrell, Jordan Murray and many other great Australian jazz musicians. One of the most exciting developments was the huge swing toward female representation on stage, providing our girls with some fantastic role models.

Despite incredibly tough conditions, our students acquitted themselves beautifully, trudging through mud while hauling heavy music equipment, walking many kilometres to venues and buses in the rain, and yes…..even hail! Despite these testing conditions, our musicians displayed true Saints Girls grit and determination at all times.

A huge congratulations to all of our girls who achieved truly outstanding results in this national competition. Enchante managed to take out the most highly coveted Vocal Award, placing 1st in the Division 1 Large Ensemble, placing them as the top choir at a national level. Esperanza placed 1st yet again in the Open Small division, while our newest group Revolution Strings placed 3rd out of 30 schools, an incredible feat as the first ever strings group to take Generations in Jazz by storm! Stage Band performed incredibly well in division 3, ranking 5th out of 18 schools.

A huge thank you to our music leadership team: Samantha Keough, Matilda Chu, Lauren Parker, Georgia Evans, Zara Blight, Emma Pool and Stella Rasheed. These girls are the heart and soul of our music department and demonstrated incredible leadership and mentoring of our younger students throughout our Generations in Jazz trip.

To hear the adjudicator’s feedback from our winning choirs’ performances, please click on the links below:

Audio 1 – Esperanza
Audio 2 – Enchante

Sari Noble
Music Teacher

From our Music Prefect and Captains

There was an overwhelming amount of talent present at Generations in Jazz this year. Every school had evidently worked very hard and prepared incredible music for us all to hear. The Saints’ music cohort did an incredible job, with Esperanza and Enchante winning 1st in their division, Revolutionary Strings coming 3rd overall in Jazz Combo and our Stage Band coming 5th in their division. It was so inspiring being amongst like-minded jazz enthusiasts, and the atmosphere was incredible. Congratulations to everyone involved! Our appreciation goes out to our teachers and chaperones for the weekend; Warren Heading and Scott Lorien, and especially Mrs Noble and Miss Rounsevell, whose support and knowledge was so essential to our success.

Samantha Keough
Music Prefect

There was a strong sense of comradery between music students, staff, and professional musicians from all across Australia as everyone gathered to celebrate their talents and passion for jazz. Despite the cold and muddy scene at Mount Gambier, we remained high-spirited and participated in competitions with optimism and confidence. The concerts – featuring the Generations in Jazz all-star band and the guest artists, ‘Dirty Loops’ – were incredible and provided great inspiration for all the girls as they continue on their music journey. I am very proud of everyone, especially the girls in Stage Band, and would like to express my gratitude for all the time and effort that they have put into learning and perfecting the charts for Generations in Jazz.

Matilda Chu
Band Captain

After a 3-year break, it was great to experience my first and last Generations in Jazz at Mount Gambier. It was a jam-packed weekend filled with concerts, workshops, and performances which the girls had been working on for months. All the girls performed extremely well, and the dedication and effort put in by the staff and students was shown in their stellar results. I couldn’t be prouder of these girls, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Saints Girls at Generations in Jazz.

Lauren Parker
Strings Captain

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Senior Drama Production – Next Week!

Next week the Year 11 and 12 SACE Drama and IB Theatre students will present the poignantly comic, Amelia Bradshaw Turns Eight. Exploring childhood, life choices and the people we become, the play tells the story of the precocious Amelia Bradshaw as she celebrates her birthday and, during it, turns more than just eight! Don’t miss what promises to be a humorous and thought-provoking night out.

Wednesday 17 or Thursday 18 May
7pm
Arts Centre, St Peter’s Girls’ School
Suitable for all ages

To secure your tickets – click here

Michael Butler-Wills
Head of English/Drama Teacher

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Year 4s Rise to the Challenge

Last week our Year 4 girls excitedly participated in 3 days of adventures on the Year 4 Camp at Woodhouse Activity Centre. The 3-day program consisted of a range of group and personal development activities facilitated by Active Ed Outdoor Education. Through these fun experiences, students developed important personal and social skills such as being a good team player, building a growth mind-set and resilience through persisting with challenges.

Highlights included cultural clay cooking of rainbow trout, traditional games, conquering their fears on Challenge Hill, and painting their ‘personal stories’ using Kaurna symbols. For some students, this was their first experience cooking and eating trout with a small number brave enough to try the eye! “It tasted salty and googly” exclaimed Jiaen.
As a special treat on the final night the students enjoyed cooking marshmallows around a campfire. An exciting time for those students who had never tried a s’more before!

It goes without saying that the Year 4s had a wonderful camping experience, creating memories that will last a long time.

Zoe West and Olivia Coulter
Year 4 Teachers

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ELC Celebrates Mothers and Treasured Friends

Today in the ELC we hosted our annual Mothers and Treasured Friends’ Afternoon Tea.
It was a wonderful community event where we celebrated the inspirational women in the children’s lives including mothers, grandmothers and aunties. Happy Mother’s Day!

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Staffing News

In our rapidly changing world, STEM skills have become increasingly important. According to a report published by the McKinsey Global Institute in 2017 ‘the development and deployment of technology could create up to 50 million jobs globally by 2030’. The third industrial revolution led to drastic changes in the way we live, work and learn and as the fourth industrial revolution begins, we don’t even know what new occupations will look like.

At St Peter’s Girls we have a commitment to fostering STEM excellence. I am excited to share our next step in support of this excellence, the introduction of our STEM Innovation Leader. Melissa O’Loughlin BSc joins our community to take up this exciting role. Melissa will work with our students and staff to generate curiosity, explore possibilities and develop technological capacity to enhance STEM thinking and application. She will work both in and out of the classroom leading new ventures in the STEM space for our School. Please join us in welcoming Melissa to our community when you see her around.

Kate Fryer
Director of Teaching & Learning

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Piano Eisteddfod – Coming Soon!

On Thursday 22 June in Week 9 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 the time 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 Piano Recital will be held on Thursday 29 June at 6pm. Students will be chosen from the Eisteddfod performers who show confidence and a high level of musicianship. Selected recital students will be notified by email.

If your daughter would like to be involved, please complete and return the Piano Eisteddfod Consent Form by Tuesday 13 June. Girls can collect the form from the Arts Office or you can download it via the link below. Students will later receive their time slot to perform in the Eisteddfod.

Download the Piano Eisteddfod Consent Form

Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music

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Books Ahoy at Junior School Book Fair

 

Get hooked on books during Week 5 as the Junior School Library hosts a Scholastic ‘Bookaneer’ Book Fair : Where Books are the Treasure!

This pop-up bookshop event is a wonderful opportunity for students to purchase books to take home whilst also supporting a very important cause. Funds raised will go towards the ‘Solar Buddy’ Service Learning Initiative helping to provide solar study lights to children living in energy poverty in a range of countries.

Books and stationery will be on sale at the following times in Week 5:
Before school: 8.10 – 8.30am
Lunchtime: 1.15 – 1.45pm
After school: 3.30 – 4pm

The fair will run from lunchtime Monday 22 May to lunchtime Friday 26 May. Cash and credit card payments are accepted. We look forward to seeing you there!

Louisa Mitchell
Junior School Teacher Librarian

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Now Casting: SEUSSICAL

SHANE DAVIDSON PRESENTS is now casting for its upcoming show: SEUSSICAL.
This song and dance musical follows the stories of Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who and Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. With over 20 roles, there are many opportunities for those seeking experience.

Auditions: Saturday 20 May, St Peter’s Girls’ School
Show: August 2023

If your daughter would like to participate or you would like more information, please email shanedavidson@internode.on.net

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Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic Book Club is back for Term 3 with a brand new issue and kid friendly format. This issue features new books from celebrated authors including Anh Do, Philip Bunting, Dav Pilkey, Aaron Blabey, Reece Carter and Skye McKenna. With over 450 books in this issue you are sure to find something! Scholastic are committing to lowering prices on new releases and including more heavily discounted titles.

Place your order via the Scholastic Australia LOOP website. If your child is in Year 7 and above please select class Year 7-12-McBride and enter the first name and full surname of your child.

To browse Issue 3 – click here

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Performing Arts Dinner – Book Now!

Performing Arts Captains, Amelie and Zara, and The Arts Faculty are thrilled to present the inaugural Performing Arts Dinner for 2023!

We invite you to this cocktail-style evening to celebrate our vibrant Performing Arts community, enjoy great food catered by ‘Little Adelaide Catering Company’, fun music and a live DJ whilst hearing from a range of industry professional guest speakers.

If your daughter is involved in Dance, Drama or Music (as a subject) from Years 9 – 12 or is a part of the cast or crew of this year’s School Musical, Matilda, we would love to see you there.

Friday 26 May
6.30pm – 9.30pm
Arts Centre, St Peter’s Girls’ School
Cocktail Dress

Adult: $55 per ticket, includes food and complimentary drink on arrival
Student: $40 per ticket, includes food and unlimited soft drink
Book your tickets via TryBooking by 9pm Sunday 21 May.

To secure your tickets – click here

Amelie Zacharia Henley and Zara Blight 
Performing Arts Captains

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Matilda School Musical – Book your Tickets Now!

In our biggest-ever School Musical, more than 100 Saints Girls are working hard on stage and behind the scenes as we countdown to Roald Dahl’s Matilda in Week 7.

Inspired by the twisted genius of Roald Dahl, with book by Dennis Kelly and original songs by Tim Minchin, Matilda the Musical explores the anarchy of childhood and the power of imagination through the inspiring story of a little girl who dreams of a better life. With high-energy dance numbers, catchy songs and unforgettable characters, Matilda will be a girl-power showcase of our fabulous singers, dancers, actors and musicians.

Matinee Performance: 8 June, 1pm
Evening Performances: 7, 8 & 9 June, 7pm
Arts Centre, St Peter’s Girls’ School 

To secure your tickets – click here

Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical
Book by Dennis Kelly
Music and Lyrics by Tim Minchin
Licensed exclusively by Music Theatre International (Australasia).
All performance materials supplied by Hal Leonard Australia.
Orchestrations and Additional Music – Chris Nightingale.

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COVID-19 Information

Please find the latest guidance from SA Health:

• It is strongly recommended that students stay home if they have cold or flu-like
  symptoms, and test for COVID-19.
• Whether they receive a positive or negative result, they should stay home until symptoms subside (usually five to seven days).
• It is strongly recommended that parents/guardians inform the School if a student is a
  close contact. For further advice regarding close contacts, click here
• While face masks are no longer mandated, they are an important physical barrier to help stop the spread of COVID, particularly when indoors.

If your child tests positive to COVID-19, please inform the School. Please also notify the School each day of absence, or provide the expected period of absence.

You can notify us via one of the following methods. Please include the name of the ELC Room, Class or Home Group. If emailing, feel free to ‘CC’ the teacher of the Room/Class/Home Group as well.

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)

Phone: 8334 2200

For more SA Health information, click here

Please note that if your child is unwell, they should remain home until they have recovered, irrespective of the illness.

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School Medical Information Reminder

It is imperative that all medical information, including immunisations, is up to date on the School’s myLink parent portal.

Please follow this pathway to check and/or update details: myLink > Community Portal > My Details > select child name

If you have any questions, please email healthcentre@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

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School Shop Notice

School Shop Opening Hours

Monday to Friday: 8am – 4pm (closed for lunch 12 – 12.30pm)

Parents can also order items via our Online School Shop. This is now accessible via the Flexischools platform which also administers our Online Tuck Shop. To sign in or sign up to Flexischools, click here

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Absences from School

If your child will not be attending school/ELC due to illness or otherwise, please notify the School via one of the methods below.

Please include the name of the ELC Room, Class or Home Group, along with the reason for the absence as the School requires this for government reporting purposes.

If emailing, feel free to ‘CC’ the teacher of the Room/Class/Home Group as well.

Text: 0428 601 957

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Phone: 8334 2200

It would be appreciated if notifications could be made prior to 9am.

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Sports News

Winter Sport has arrived!

All winter competition and non-competition sports are now up and running. Our winter program is huge and it’s great to see so many of our girls enjoying the benefits of organised and social sport.

Middle and Senior School has 29 teams competing in weekly competitions across AFL, Badminton, Cross Country, Hockey, Netball and Soccer. This involves 294 of our girls participating in one or two trainings per week plus one match.

Year 3 – 6 girls are participating in Basketball, Lacrosse, Netball and Soccer this term. We have 152 girls training and competing weekly across 14 different teams.

168 of our Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 girls are keeping active participating in Kelly Sport, Netball, Tennis and Soccer each week.

Our five aerobics teams have been training hard since the beginning of the year and are competing in their first competition on 20 May.

We also have girls participating in non-competition sports, including Motor Skills (93), Social Badminton (46), Start Moving (18) and Yoga (46).

A reminder that all fixtures can be found on myLink, so please make this your first point of call for all match queries. Team lists, early dismissal times and venue locations can also be found on myLink.

Alice Johnswood and Nikki Brennan
Sports Administrators

State and National Representation

Over the past few months, Saints has had several girls selected to represent the state, or who have competed in State or National Championships in their chosen sport. This is a fantastic opportunity for these girls to continue their development and compete at the highest level possible for their age group.

I’m sure the girls will bring their learnings back to their teams and will enjoy sharing their experiences from the State and National Carnivals with their teammates and coaches.

ATHLETICS
• Daisy Braithwaite
• Elodie de Wit
• Isla Fahey
• India Goodall
• Charlotte McAuliffe
• Malaika McLeod
• Lucille Trengove

BADMINTON
• Yang Yang Gu – Under 19 and Open Team

CLIMBING
• Lois Burton-Howard

HOCKEY
• Phoebe Lucas – Under 15 Team
• Matilda Paterson – Under 15 and Under 16 Team
• Zara Trim – Under 16 Team
• Amelia Lucas – Under 18 Team

NETBALL
• Mia Bennett – 15 and Under Team
• Ella Warrick – 15 and Under Team

SOCCER
• Aleesha Gray – Under 14 Team
• Chloe Richardson – Under 15 Team

LACROSSE
• Ashlyn May – Under 18 Team

WATER POLO
• Ava Fox

SWIMMING
• Summer Bament
• Alice Braithwaite
• Emma Everitt
• Ella Pearce
• Elysia Scarr
• Alyssa Tran
• Isabelle Tran

Congratulations to all the girls selected. I know you would have represented your state and Saints Girls with pride.

Alice Johnswood
Sports Administrator

FROM THE SPORTS CAPTAINS

School Sport SA Athletics Championship

On 5 April, Saints Girls competed in the A Grade School Sport SA Athletics competition. The competition allowed the best athletes for each event from Saints to compete against girls from other schools. The A Grade division had some very tough competition however, Saints Girls finished 3rd overall! This amazing placing would not have been possible without the efforts from every single Saints Girl. Congratulations to the girls who won their events:
• Elodie de Wit – 3000m, 800m
• Lucille Trengove – 200m, 100m
• Claudia Pearce – Javelin
• Isla Fahey – 1000m steeplechase, 1500m
• Malaika McLeod – 1500m
• India Goodall – 400m, 800m

Throughout the day it was especially great to see girls filling in for multiple events without any hesitation. The Saints athletics team should be incredibly proud of the outcome, and we can’t wait to compete again next year.

Amelia Lucas
Athletics Captain

Open A Hockey

School hockey is back! The Open Saints team is in the A grade competition this season and we are all very excited to take on the challenge. This weekend the team achieved a 4-0 win against Walford.

We welcomed Matilda, Anna, Ava, Olivia, Ellie and Soph (on the sideline with an injury) to the team. Most of these girls played their first ever game on Saturday and exceeded all expectations, impressing the coaches and more experienced players. Additionally, we welcome Claris and Jess coming from Junior to Senior hockey this year.

Ayla’s aggressive ball clearances lead to some great linking between defence, midfield and attack which was demonstrated well by Leah, Amelia and Zara. A special mention goes to our player of the week – Matilda Paterson – who worked the ball into our attacking circle and scored two goals. Further goals were scored by Abbey and Bridgette. Well done everyone for an incredible effort and result given we have only had one practice together. Looking forward to the rest of the 2023 hockey season!

Super Women: Anna Tickner, Ava Field, Olivia Park and Ellie Webber
Best Player: Matilda Paterson

Bridgette Leach
Hockey Captain

Cross Country

This Wednesday we had 11 girls from our Cross Country team compete in our first race at Saints Boys. The course was well-known with many of our athletes having competed there in previous years. Although there were some very tight corners and a couple of hills, we had an amazing result for our first run of the season.

We had the top four finishers in the Senior School event and gained 107 points overall. Points are accumulated across all events through the season. The winning school is the one that has accumulated the most points during the season.

Alice Braithwaite
Cross Country Captain

Sport Results

AFL

Open A: Saints (38) v Westminster (8)
Year 7-10: Saints (3) v Westminster (63)

BADMINTON

Open A: Saints (3) v Seymour (3)
Open B Blue: Saints (2) v Seymour (4)
Open B White: Saints (0) v Wilderness (6)
Open C Blue: Saints (2) v Seymour (4)
Open C White: Saints (1) v Wilderness (5)
Open D Blue: Saints (2) v Seymour (4)
Open D White: Saints (2) v Wilderness (4)

BASKETBALL

Junior School
Year 3/4 Blue: Saints (0) v Seymour (29)
Year 3/4 White: Saints (16) v Pembroke (36)

CROSS COUNTRY

Senior
Elodie de Wit – 1st
Isla Fahey – 2nd
Daisy Braithwaite – 3rd
Ava Field – 4th

Middle
Ava Fox – 5th

Overall points: 107

HOCKEY

Open: Saints (4) v Walford (0)

Junior School
Year 4-6: Saints (0) v Pembroke (4)

LACROSSE

U11: Saints (2) v Eagles (11)
U13 Blue: Saints Blue (11) v Saints White (3)
U13 White: Saints White (3) v Saints Blue (11)

NETBALL

Senior School
Open A: Saints (11) v Westminster (82)
Open B: Saints (18) v Westminster (68)
Open C: Saints (12) v Westminster (74)
Open D: Saints (10) v Westminster (73)
Open E: Bye

Middle School
Year 9A: Saints (16) v Westminster (27)
Year 9B: Saints (5) v Westminster (45)
Year 8A: Saints (14) v Westminster (34)
Year 8B: Saints (24) v Westminster (16)
Year 8C: Bye
Year 7A: Saints (19) v Westminster (30)
Year 7B: Saints (24) v Westminster (6)
Year 7C: Saints 7C (15) v Saints 7D (10)
Year 7D: Saints 7D (10) v Saints 7C (15)

Junior School
Year 6 Blue: Bye
Year 6 White: Bye
Year 5/6 Silver Bye
Year 5 Blue: Saints (6) v Wilderness (10)
Year 4 Blue: Saints (15) v Pembroke (6)
Year 4 White: Saints (5) v Pembroke (8)

SOCCER

Senior School
Open A: Saints (0) v Wilderness (9)
Open B: Saints (0) v Seymour (14)

Middle School
Middle A: Saints (14) v Pulteney (1)
Middle B: Saints (1) v Wilderness (5)

Junior School
Year 5/6 Blue: Saints (1) v Seymour (9)
Year 5/6 White: Saints (3) v Loreto (3)
Year 3/4: Saints (2) v Pulteney (1)

Issue no. 12

From Our Deputy Principal / Head of Middle School

Participation in co-curricular activities is crucial to the holistic development of our students.

Co-curricular activities provide a platform for our students to explore their interests beyond the traditional academic setting. By engaging in activities such as sports, music, or debating, our students are given the opportunity to delve into their passions and cultivate their abilities in a supportive environment. These activities foster the growth of self-confidence, individual strengths and a sense of belonging within our school community.

Furthermore, research has demonstrated that co-curricular involvement can translate to academic success. By taking on extracurricular activities, students learn to manage their time more effectively, which can translate into better academic results. Additionally, co-curricular activities teach valuable skills such as collaboration, communication and problem-solving, which can be applied within the classroom setting and beyond.

Moreover, participation in co-curricular activities allows students to build their leadership capabilities and a sense of social responsibility. Through taking on leadership roles within these activities, students learn to delegate tasks, make decisions, and motivate others. Service-based activities can also cultivate empathy, compassion and a desire to make a positive impact within the wider community.

Finally, co-curricular activities offer a space for our students to engage in leisure activities and create fond memories with their peers. Such activities offer a sense of enjoyment and relaxation, which can be crucial for student wellbeing and stress relief.

I am delighted to see so many students have taken on the challenge (and fun) of being involved in this year’s School Musical, Matilda, and we are excited to see the fruits of their labour during ‘show week’ in early June. We also wish our many musicians and singers the best of luck as they head to Mt Gambier this week for the renowned Generations in Jazz festival – I know they will have an amazing time, and benefit from the joint commitment to excellence and each other that such performances demand.

These activities, along with our various winter sports and the start of the debating and public speaking season, provide numerous opportunities for personal growth, academic success, leadership development, service to the community and, importantly, a lot of fun!

Richard Lisle
Deputy Principal/Head of Middle School

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From Our Principal

After eight years of outstanding service, Head of Junior School Suzanne Haddy will bid farewell to Saints Girls at the end of the year. Suzanne has led with courage, creativity and compassion, placing our youngest learners at the heart of everything she does. Her wealth of knowledge and experience in primary years’ education, particularly in single-sex settings, has been of enormous benefit to our School.

Suzanne has overseen various Junior School initiatives, focusing on the provision of consistent, engaging and high-impact approaches to teaching and learning. This has resulted in enhanced literacy learning with the introduction of the Big Write and VCOP (Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers and Punctuation), and an expert focus on THRASS (Teaching Handwriting, Reading And Spelling Skills). Other highlights include elevating and expanding our Mathematics offerings, cementing the ‘Mind Lab’ program where strategy board games support cognitive, social and emotional learning, and our School-funded 1:1 iPad program for Reception to Year 6 students, taking digital learning to the next level.

In addition, Suzanne has guided the development of our bespoke Junior School wellbeing platform, which this year has been complemented by the new URSTRONG friendship program. At the start of 2022, Suzanne also took stewardship of our Early Learners’ Centre with her passion for setting solid educational foundations and supporting children and families with the best transition from ELC to school.

Her dedication to staying at the forefront of junior years’ education has been evidenced by her commitment to quality staff professional development and access to world-leading research and resources, which has been amplified through her additional role as President of the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (SA Branch).

Suzanne says, “I am extremely grateful for my time at Saints Girls. I work with highly dedicated and talented teachers who care deeply for the students in their care, and wonderful non-teaching and education support staff who are integral to the success and growth of the students and the School. Our students are a constant source of delight and joy, with their contagious enthusiasm, desire to learn and support for one another. Watching them develop and mature as they progress through the School is an absolute privilege. I am appreciative of our supportive, engaged and welcoming parent community and of the trust placed in the School to educate their children. Saints Girls is a truly special school that is rightly treasured greatly by its community.”

Suzanne will be pursuing new directions in her career and spending time following personal aspirations, and we wish her all the very best for the future. In the meantime, we look forward to her support with the recruitment of our next Head of Junior School and her continued leadership for the remainder of 2023.

Cherylyn Skewes
Principal

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Sports Day 2023 – Full Results

 

Shields

Page Shield
1st Kilburn (4287), 2nd Kennion (4164), 3rd Selwyn (3982), 4th Patteson (3586)
Junior Shield
1st Selwyn, 2nd Kilburn, 3rd Kennion, 4th Patteson
Middle Shield
1st Kilburn, 2nd Selwyn, 3rd Patteson, 4th Kennion
Senior Shield
1st Kennion, 2nd Kilburn, 3rd Selwyn, 4th Patteson

Spirit Cup

Kilburn

Aggregate Cups

Year 4: Gold – Poppy Davidson, Silver – Alyssia Moro/ Silver – Amber Guo
Year 5: Gold – Milli Richardson, Silver – Violet Tulloch, Bronze – Olivia Ianniello
Year 6: Gold – Emily Robinson, Silver – Matilda Purvis, Bronze – Charlotte Di Blasio/ Bronze – Ella King/ Bronze – Bonnie Qu
Year 7: Gold – Lucille Trengove, Silver – Lauren Disney/ Silver – Jess Woods
Year 8: Gold – India Goodall, Silver – Isla Fahey/ Silver – Phoebe Lucas
Year 9: Gold – Elodie de Wit/ Gold – Chloe Richardson, Bronze – Cleo Hart
Year 10: Gold – Malaika McLeod, Silver – Ava Field, Bronze – Tia Bowering
Year 11: Gold – Amelia Lucas, Silver – Alice Braithwaite, Bronze – Daisy Braithwaite
Year 12: Gold – Willow Stewart-Rattray, Silver – Chloe Porter, Bronze – Ruby Richards

Records

Year 7 200m – Lucille Trengove (SEL) 27s 9ms
Year 10 1500m – Malaika McLeod (KEN) 5m 0s 38ms
Year 10 800m – Malaika McLeod (KEN) 2m 16s 85ms

Champion Athlete

Junior School: Milli Richardson
Middle School: Lucille Trengove
Senior School: Malaika McLeod

Field Champion

Junior Field Athlete: Poppy Davidson
Middle Field Athlete: Victoria Zou
Senior Field Athlete: Chloe Porter

Track Champion

Junior Track Athlete: Milli Richardson
Middle Track Athlete: Elodie de Wit
Senior Track Athlete: Malaika McLeod

St Peter’s Gift Winner:

Lucille Trengove

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Year 3 Museum

Our Year 3 girls are investigating ‘The ways in which history can be uncovered through different sources.’ As part of this inquiry, this week the girls visited the School Museum, under the helpful guidance of our School Archivist, Anne Daniell.

They marvelled at the old school uniforms, the beautiful copperplate handwritten school-books and the changes to the School over time. They enjoyed feeling a connection to the faces in photos from many years ago and the first-hand accounts of experiences of the Saints girls who walked before them.

It was a wonderful experience which sparked their curiosity and helped them place themselves in the bigger picture of our Saints history.

Monique McLeay and Sarah Mulraney
Year 3 Teachers

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Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic Book Club is back for Term 3 with a brand new issue and kid friendly format. This issue features new books from celebrated authors including Anh Do, Philip Bunting, Dav Pilkey, Aaron Blabey, Reece Carter and Skye McKenna. With over 450 books in this issue you are sure to find something! Scholastic are committing to lowering prices on new releases and including more heavily discounted titles.

Place your order via the Scholastic Australia LOOP website. If your child is in Year 7 and above please select class Year 7-12-McBride and enter the first name and full surname of your child.

To browse Issue 3 – click here

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Performing Arts Dinner – Book Now!

Performing Arts Captains, Amelie and Zara, and The Arts Faculty are thrilled to present the inaugural Performing Arts Dinner for 2023!

We invite you to this cocktail-style evening to celebrate our vibrant Performing Arts community, enjoy great food catered by ‘Little Adelaide Catering Company’ and fun music whilst hearing from a range of industry professional guest speakers.

If your daughter is involved in Dance, Drama or Music from Years 9 – 12 or is a part of the cast or crew of this year’s School Musical, Matilda, we would love to see you there.

Friday 26 May
6:30pm – 9:30pm
Arts Centre, St Peter’s Girls’ School
Cocktail Dress

Adult: $55 per ticket, includes food and complimentary drink on arrival
Student: $40 per ticket, includes food and unlimited soft drink
Book your tickets via TryBooking by Sunday 21 May, 9pm.

To secure your tickets – click here

Amelie Zacharia Henley and Zara Blight 
Performing Arts Captains

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Senior Drama Production – Book Now!

The Year 11 and 12 SACE Drama and IB Theatre students have been busily working on this year’s Senior Drama Production: Amelia Bradshaw Turns Eight.

Suitable for all ages, the play is a poignant comedy that explores the nature of human politics, growing up and the effect of the choices we make on who we become.

17 – 18 May
7pm
Arts Centre, St Peter’s Girls’ School 

To secure your tickets – click here

Michael Butler-Wills
Head of English/Drama Teacher

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Matilda School Musical – Book your Tickets Now!

In our biggest-ever School Musical, more than 100 Saints Girls are working hard on stage and behind the scenes as we countdown to Roald Dahl’s Matilda in Week 7.

Inspired by the twisted genius of Roald Dahl, with book by Dennis Kelly and original songs by Tim Minchin, Matilda the Musical explores the anarchy of childhood and the power of imagination through the inspiring story of a little girl who dreams of a better life. With high-energy dance numbers, catchy songs and unforgettable characters, Matilda will be a girl-power showcase of our fabulous singers, dancers, actors and musicians.

Matinee Performance: 8 June, 1pm
Evening Performances: 7, 8 & 9 June, 7pm
Arts Centre, St Peter’s Girls’ School 

To secure your tickets – click here

Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical
Book by Dennis Kelly
Music and Lyrics by Tim Minchin
Licensed exclusively by Music Theatre International (Australasia).
All performance materials supplied by Hal Leonard Australia.
Orchestrations and Additional Music – Chris Nightingale.

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Mobile Phone Policy Survey Reminder

Earlier this week our Mobile Phone Policy survey was sent to parents and teaching staff, as our policy for student use of mobile phones at school is now under review. We have already received a significant response rate and thank those of you who have taken the time to share your feedback.

The short survey will remain open until next Wednesday 10 May, and we encourage those of you who have not yet had the chance, to complete the survey via the direct link emailed to you. We look forward to reviewing the results.

Cherylyn Skewes
Principal

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COVID-19 Information

Please find the latest guidance from SA Health:

• It is strongly recommended that students stay home if they have cold or flu-like
  symptoms, and test for COVID-19.
• Whether they receive a positive or negative result, they should stay home until symptoms subside (usually five to seven days).
• It is strongly recommended that parents/guardians inform the School if a student is a
  close contact. For further advice regarding close contacts, click here
• While face masks are no longer mandated, they are an important physical barrier to help stop the spread of COVID, particularly when indoors.

If your child tests positive to COVID-19, please inform the School. Please also notify the School each day of absence, or provide the expected period of absence.

You can notify us via one of the following methods. Please include the name of the ELC Room, Class or Home Group. If emailing, feel free to ‘CC’ the teacher of the Room/Class/Home Group as well.

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)

Phone: 8334 2200

For more SA Health information, click here

Please note that if your child is unwell, they should remain home until they have recovered, irrespective of the illness.

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School Medical Information Reminder

It is imperative that all medical information, including immunisations, is up to date on the School’s myLink parent portal.

Please follow this pathway to check and/or update details: myLink > Community Portal > My Details > select child name

If you have any questions, please email healthcentre@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

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School Shop Notice

School Shop Opening Hours

Monday to Friday: 8am – 4pm (closed for lunch 12 – 12.30pm)

Parents can also order items via our Online School Shop. This is now accessible via the Flexischools platform which also administers our Online Tuck Shop. To sign in or sign up to Flexischools, click here

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Absences from School

If your child will not be attending school/ELC due to illness or otherwise, please notify the School via one of the methods below.

Please include the name of the ELC Room, Class or Home Group, along with the reason for the absence as the School requires this for government reporting purposes.

If emailing, feel free to ‘CC’ the teacher of the Room/Class/Home Group as well.

Text: 0428 601 957

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Phone: 8334 2200

It would be appreciated if notifications could be made prior to 9am.

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Sports News

Junior School Basketball

Year 3/4 Blue: Saints (6) v Seymour (29)
Year 3/4 White: Saints (18) v Wilderness (46)

Junior School Netball

Year 4 Blue: Bye
Year 4 White: Bye
Year 5 Blue: Saints (6) v Wilderness (10)
Year 5 White: Saints (4) v Wilderness (10)
Year 5/6 Silver: Saints (26) v Pembroke (0)
Year 6 Blue: Saints (19) v Wilderness (6)
Year 6 White: Saints (2) v Wilderness (41)