Issue no. 34
From the Director of Teaching and Learning
Continuous reporting has arrived at Saints Girls. For students in Years 7 to 11 (Year 12s having already received their final report), this term marks a change in approach to how we report on academic progress. Some of you may already have some experience of the continuous reporting model used in many other schools, but for many parents it will be a new system.
Continuous reporting, in essence, is providing regular feedback on a student’s progress, rather than waiting until the end of a semester and then writing a subject comment in a report.
We have been using the Canvas learning management system for a while now, and parents have been able to access course materials and teacher feedback by visiting Canvas via the myLink parent portal. We have now made this process quicker and easier for you – clicking on the ‘Marks’ tiles under ‘Class Contacts’ in myLink will now take you to a page that has handily already extracted the key feedback information from Canvas and presented it in a clear and easy-to-navigate format. Here you will be able to access and read all of the latest grades and teacher comments relating to your daughter’s work. Please watch the short video demonstration below which explains exactly how this new system works.
I encourage you to visit these pages every few weeks; they will give you up-to-date, task-specific information that will paint a much clearer picture of how your daughter is progressing. These teacher comments that are available to you via myLink will replace the semester report subject comments. Everything else about the semester reports will remain the same.
I hope you like this new system and can appreciate the benefits of having access to real-time feedback from your daughter’s teachers. If you have any questions, or experience any difficulties with the system, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Nigel Scoggins
Director of Teaching and Learning
Master Minds Top the State at Philosothon
On 30 October, five students took part in the State Philosothon held at Prince Alfred College. It was a tough evening that ran for nearly four hours. Students tackled four units of inquiry, two of which were in mixed year groups. Our girls worked hard collaboratively with students from different schools, taking risks as they thought critically, expanding their points and working creatively to bring fresh arguments and thinking to the discussions.
By the end of the evening, the students were exhausted. With trepidation, they took their seats to hear who would be the State Champions. After narrowly missing out on first place last year, they were hopeful that they might take the trophy this time around. As the awards for individual achievements were assigned, we were pleased to hear that Emily Teague won first place in Year 8; in Year 9, Holly Wallman-Craddock scored third; and in Year 10, Natacha Zisos Troupakis also achieved third place. With these awards under our belt, we waited to hear the overall top three positions. It had been a challenging competition but we were finally rewarded with the announcement that we had come top in the State.
This means that the team will have the opportunity to attend Nationals next year in Canberra. However, at Nationals, the team consist of eight girls from Years 8 to 11. So, if there are any students interested in trying out philosophy, come along and see what the Philosophy Club gets up to on a Friday lunchtime in room CW301.
Becca Burton-Howard
Gifted and Talented Teacher
Young Composers Score Notable Awards
This semester, a number of our Middle School students submitted compositions to the Young Composers Award Competition. We are proud to announce that we won an award in the Rock/Pop R – 7 category and received an Honourable Mention in the Composers in Schools Years 8 – 9 category.
Year 7 students Stella Rasheed, Monika Ceplitis and Alicia Toh won an award for their group composition of an original Rock/Pop song. Year 8 student Chi Chi Zhao received an Honourable Mention for her piano composition. The awards are very competitive and there are hundreds of entries, so congratulations girls!
The Year 7 Music classes have been studying song writing this year with their Music teacher. The unit involves the students writing lyrics, creating a harmonic backing track of piano, bass and drums on an iPad, and recording the song’s vocal melody to the backing.
“I really enjoyed the song writing unit, especially the process of making the song. It was fun brainstorming song ideas and lyrics. Once we had finished writing our lyrics together, we recorded background music. This definitely added more ‘bling’ to the song and made it more catchy. Lastly, I am very proud of our achievement.” – Monika Ceplitis
On 26 November, the Year 7 group will be performing their song Take Me Away live at the Young Composers Award Ceremony at St Mary’s College at 6.45pm.
Robyn Habel
Music Teacher
Staff Dance 2018
It’s one of the biggest highlights of the Year 12 Celebration Day Assembly, and this year’s Staff Dance certainly didn’t disappoint.
Many of our staff sweated through lunchtime rehearsals to learn their slick moves for this much-hyped event.
If you didn’t catch the show live, then you’re in luck, as we’ve compiled a short snapshot of the dance in all its glory:
Year 5s Explore Global Religions
The Year 5s have been learning about global religions in our Unit of Inquiry for Who We Are called ‘I’m a Believer’, including Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.
Our Central Idea is people’s values and behaviours are shaped by their personal belief system. This has allowed us to learn about how people’s religious beliefs influence their values and daily lives, as well as building tolerance and respect for those who practise other religions.
On Thursday of Week 3, the girls visited Al-Khalil Mosque and Shri Ganesha Temple, where they learnt more about Islam and Hinduism, and were able to ask questions.
Watch the video to see some highlights of their experience. Permission was given to film the visits.
Sarah Mulraney and Shelley Hampton
Year 5 Teachers
Year 3 Coastal Camp Adventures
The girls were all very enthusiastic about heading away for our school camp to Adare, Victor Harbor. There was a mixture of excitement and nervous energy as we said goodbye to the parents who saw us off out the front of Chiverton.
Our first stop was at Strathalbyn where we divided the group into four tribal teams. The girls named their own tribes ‘The Cutie Penguins’, ‘Saints Sea Sharks’, ‘The Sea Whales’ and ‘The Diving Dolphins’. We continued our journey to Victor Harbor and stopped at the train park for a bite to eat then were quickly ushered away to the Whale Centre. The staff there were amazing and their energy for conservation and action was infectious. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the hands-on experiments while they were there. The walk back to Adare was brisk with Mr Routley at the head and Ms Brooks at the tail. After arriving at Adare House, the girls were excited to find their rooms in ‘the castle’. We met the tribe leaders from Beyond Limits who delivered an incredible program again. The girls then made their way down to the beach for activities such as the holey bucket, trench digging and sand castle creations a real highlight.
Day Two was structured around team building, and the girls enjoyed the strategy involved in the ropes challenge, the decoding involved in the amazing race, the construction whilst applying their knowledge to the tower challenge and a chance to get wet and dirty in the water relay. Victor Harbor’s regular attractions of the horse-drawn tram and the track around Granite Island were enjoyed by all. We headed across to Granite Island again that night to meet Joyce and Will who gave a very informative guided tour of the island whilst searching for penguins. We were very happy to hear that penguin numbers are on the increase with 44 burrows being recorded in the most recent penguin census. The girls slept very well that night after a thoroughly enjoyable day.
Day Three saw us visit the Urimbirra Wildlife park before heading back to school completely exhausted.
“The highlight of camp was spending time with each other, co-operating and working together as a team!” – Lauren
“I really loved camp because the beach was fun, and I liked sleeping in the dorms with my friends. Looking at the cute penguins and staying up late was a great experience.” – Akaisha
“I loved the penguin walk, no not walking like a penguin but going to see penguins in their real-life habitat.” – Rishita
“The most challenging element of camp was the water activity, ducking under really low ropes and having a tiny space to army crawl under and we became very muddy.” – Zoe
“I loved staying in Adare castle. It was so fun in free time to be creative and play games.” – Alysa
Mark Routley
Year 3 Teacher
Upcoming Events
Year 9 Graduation
2.15pm Friday 30 November
Year 6 Graduation
2pm Wednesday 5 December
Presentation Night
Friday 7 December
Adelaide Town Hall
Compulsory for Years 7 – 12
Carols in the Cathedral
Monday 10 December
St Peter’s Cathedral
Compulsory for Years 4 – 12
More information will be provided in due course.
Badminton Success!
Congratulations to our Year 8/9 team members Gloria Gao, Tiffany Zhou, Candy Feng, Cheri Wong and Angela Feng who won the State Knockout title. The girls won every best of 3 set doubles and singles matches without losing a set.
Saints defeated Oakbank Area School 8-0 and Mitcham Girls School 8-0
Maths Honours Divided Between Two Students
The Australian Mathematics Trust (AMT) recognises that problem-solving is a life skill. It offers the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) to give students the opportunity to develop this vital skill. The AMC is an engaging 30-problem competition that demonstrates the importance and relevance of Mathematics in students’ everyday lives.
Two St Peter’s Girls’ School students were presented last week with their AMC High Achievers Award at the 2018 Australian Night of Mathematics. Congratulations to Heidi Gong in Year 6 and Chi Chi Zhao in Year 8 on receiving this prestigious award.
Kim Butler-Nixon
Year 6 Teacher
Results of Distinction for Junior School Students
Earlier this year, the Years 3 to 6 students had the opportunity to sit the ICAS Mathematics and ICAS English competitions as well as the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC). We are very proud of the number of students who achieved highly in these papers. We commend Heidi Gong (Year 6) for achieving a prize and best in Junior School in the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC). High Distinction recipients in the AMC were Romana Walsh and Alysa Zhang (both in Year 3).
Receiving Distinctions in the AMC were:
Year 3 – Lauren Fuller, Xielan Ouyang and Ziyuan Qin
Year 4 – Evelyn Gautier, Sophia Holoviak, Olivia Ng, Chloe Richardson and Jiahui Zhang
Year 5 – Elaine Chen, Shirley Liu, Lauren Pearce, Matilda Powell, Nicole Wang and Charli Young
Year 6 – Stephanie Andrejewskis, Angela Cai, Ishita Chellaboina, Zara Chessell, Molly Dwyer, Lysiane Franchi, Jenna Maione, Claudia Pearce, Zoe Pool, Ruby Powell, Judy (Geng) Tian, Marcella Tolley and Misha Yagnik
In the ICAS English Competition, we congratulate Heidi Gong (Year 6) for receiving a High Distinction.
Distinction recipients in ICAS English were:
Year 3– Shwethakie Karunarathne, Romana Walsh and Alysa Zhang
Year 4 – Olivia Ng, Chiara Ranasinghe
Year 5 – Freya Hermann, Olivia Reynolds, Nicole Wang and Charli Young
Year 6 – Apurva Ichalkaranje
In the ICAS Mathematics Competition, we once again congratulate Heidi Gong (Year 6) on her achievements, being awarded a High Distinction.
Awarded Distinctions in the ICAS Mathematics Competition were:
Year 3– Lauren Fuller and Xielan Ouyang
Year 4– Jiahui Zhang
Year 5– Elaine Chen and Nicole Wang
Year 6– Angela Cai and Ruby Powell
Well done!
Suzanne Haddy
Head of Junior School
eTECH Guest Speakers
On 1 November, the Year 9 Engineering Technologies class attended a session led by members of Northrop Drummond to extend our understanding of unmanned vehicle technology, and open our minds to opportunities within the aerospace field.
During the session, we became enlightened with information about different aerospace vehicles that had the capability to detect and transmit information from around the world. The two guest speakers, Shena Howell and Hannah Scherer, also gave us information about some things we can do whilst we are still students to get involved in aerospace technology.
The students thoroughly enjoyed this eye-opening experience, and were very grateful for the time and effort the staff put in to helping us understand this complex technology.
Bella Parton
Year 9 student
Parents/Guardians of Current Year 3 Students
As your daughter will be in Year 4 next year, there are a few different uniform items you will need to purchase before Term 1, 2019.
The junior blazer (cardigan) is replaced by a navy blue jumper and a blazer. The rash vest and solar pant is replaced by the School bathers.
It is advisable to make an appointment on 8334 2228, as the School Shop is currently busy with new student fittings.
Year 10 Lunchtime Music Concert
After weeks of singing, strumming and playing, the Year 10 Music class will showcase its talents during the lunchtime concert on Friday 16 November. This free show will be held on the Food Tech Deck. With hit songs from artists such as Shawn Mendes and Khalid, this concert is too good to miss!
Faye Ma
Year 10 Music student
Sports News
BASKETBALL
Year 6/7 – Saints 18 defeated by Pulteney 66
We provided all Year 6/7s with an opportunity to play in the lead-up to the Harry Long Carnival so it was always going to be a tough game against older girls. The team gave it everything and I was happy with the hard work and continued improvement. Scoring 18 was a good effort and the highlight was Ashlyn May who hit five 3-pointers. Well done girls. – Brenton Davies (Coach)
SOFTBALL
Year 5/6 Blue – Saints 6 defeated by Pembroke Blue 7
Despite missing several of our regular players, the girls did an extremely good job at staying in front for the majority of the game. However, due to a few errors and good fielding by the opposition, Pembroke managed to get on top in the last innings. Special thank you to Sophia Langley, Jasmine Segredos and Claudia Pearce for filling in to ensure we had enough players. Hayley Webb and Zara Chessell did an exceptional job at batting, showcasing their improvement from the first week and trainings. A lot of improvement can still be made in the girls’ fielding and batting, but every player has improved from the first two games! – Jasmine Ledgard
Year 5/6 White – Saints 2 defeated by Pembroke Green 12
It was an awesome display from Saints who started really well with some strong fielding and excellent pitching. It took us a while to get going with the bat, but when we did our base running was fantastic with some great stealing. – Taylah Gabrisch (Coach)
Year 5/6 Silver – Saints 11 defeated Seymour 9
Saints had a great innings of batting as well as a great defensive fielding inning against Seymour despite there being four seasons in one day! With lots of team batting by stealing bases and watching hits carefully, the team collected 11 runs during the game. Kate Thomas hit a double off the pitcher but also had a top innings as pitcher herself where Saints limited Seymour to only 2 runs. Apurva Ichalkaranje had a great shot at pitching, as did Zoe Pool. Well done to the whole team for playing in rain and shine!
– Claire Hale (Coach)
Year 5/6 Gold – Saints 14 defeated Seymour 8
The girls played an amazing game and I am very pleased in the way they have combined and performed. Each player has shown improvement and confidence. Best players this week were Lauren Parton and Alannah Godfrey for their excellent batting and Scarlett Dillon for her great pitching. – Victoria Gilroy (Coach)
ROWING
The Murray Bridge Regatta was our first as a full Rowing program and I thought we did pretty well. We have been concentrating as a group on technique through the different year levels. I must say that the girls did extremely well with our Year 7s rowing over the 1,000m distance for the first time, and a couple of crews picked up their first wins for the season which was very exciting. Our Year 8s who, like all of our juniors, have been rowing in mixed crews also rowed well, showing great control and rhythm especially the girls who have just come to the sport. The Inters who have been training well put that training out on the water, winning all three of their races and that was also with different combinations. Seniors had a good regatta as well with the first 4 (with mostly new girls to the sport) getting a really good second place. The 1st 8 is getting it together with improvement in every row. The pleasing thing is that they are together as a group and I think over the course of the season will get better and better. I was extremely proud of how all the girls rowed at Murray Bridge and am looking forward to a positive and enjoyable season. – Ben Flannagan (Director of Rowing)
Year 9 Rowing
Saturday was our first regatta of the season at Murray Bridge. The Year 9 crew consisting of Molly Bond, Sophie Barr, Anda Ceplite, Portia Maerschel and Jodi Papendorf worked very hard throughout a very tight race and pulled ahead near the end finishing in first place. A great way to start the season. – Jodi Papendorf (Cox)
Year 8/9
This was the first time together for this crew consisting of Milly Brett, Portia Maerschel, Lucy Benn, Trinity Nelson and Jodi Papendorf. After a difficult start, the girls found their pace and put in a great effort, placing third. They were a pleasure to cox. – Jodi Papendorf (Cox)
SWIMMING
Congratulations to Lara and Georgina Wakeham who contested the 2018 Henley and Grange Swimming Club’s West Lakes Challenge. Lara competed in her first 10km event (the youngest competitor as a 14 year old) winning Gold and missing out on her Open Australian Women’s qualifying time by 22 seconds.
Georgina swam her first 5km event (as a 12 year old) and posted a National qualifying time.
2018 Henley to Grange Jetty Swim (2km) – Lara won the Open Women’s Gold as well as her age group Gold, and Georgina won her age group Gold.
2018 Australian Age Open Water Championships – Lara placed 6th nationally in the Girls’ 14 years 5km and Georgina was the 2nd-placed 12 year old girl in the 2.5km exhibition race.
2018 Brighton Jetty Classic – Lara won the Gold for the Girls’ 13&U 1km swim and Georgina won the Bronze medal in the Girls’ 12U 400m swim.
TENNIS
Congratulations to the Open A (Premier League team) of Tiana and Yasmin Glazbrook (Year 12), Olivia Harby (Year 12) and Sienna Glazbrook (Year 9) who retained the IGSSA Shield after an undefeated season. We especially thank Tiana, Yasmin and Olivia for a number of years of service and wish them every success for the future.
Special mention to Tiana Glazbrook who claimed the Open A singles shield for the most successful number 1 ranked player and to Yasmin Glazbrook who went the season undefeated in singles.
Congratulations also go to Maiya Jakupec (Year 7) who has been selected in the East Adelaide District team to play in the State Primary Schools’ Carnival from 19 – 23 November.
Year 8/9 Knockout
Saints were narrowly knocked out of the State competition with a loss to Sacred Heart 3-21 to 3-26, finishing second in the group play-off when they defeated Tatachilla in the second match 4-27 to 2-20. It was a great effort from Sienna Glazbrook, Mia Dodd, Ruby Deakin and Imogen Nienaber who are all in Year 8 and will have another opportunity next year.
Open A – Saints 5-31 defeated Seymour 1-12
Singles: Tiana Glazbrook 6-0, Yasmin Glazbrook 6-1, Sienna Glazbrook 1-6, Olivia Harby 6-0
Open B – Saints 2-28 defeated by Seymour 4-32
Singles: Mia Dodd 3-6, Maiya Jakupec 4-6, Ruby Deakin 4-6, Annabel Baldwinson 6-5
Year 5/6 Division 1 – Saints did not play
Year 5/6 Division 3 – Saints 1-8 defeated by Seymour Blue 5-22
Singles: Gloria Zou 1-4, Jerrie Wu 4-0, Emily Bates 0-4, Charlotte Thorpe 1-4
TOUCH FOOTBALL
Open A1 – Saints 4 drew with Wilderness 4
From the start of training this season, all girls have been enthusiastic and dedicated to touch, which was evident in this game. The girls’ attacking skills improved from the previous match, allowing us to draw against Wilderness. Ehi Oyugbo scored twice and Hannah Freeman scored once, catching a long pass to the wing and then using her speed to outrun the opposition. Olivia Law worked hard in the middle and used a set play learned in training to score. The whole team was very successful in helping each other to score and their endurance was impressive, allowing fast rucking up the field. – Eve Habel (Captain)
Open A2 – Saints 1 defeated by Wilderness 3
The girls were solid defensively and began to work up from the line in better formation. They attempted some set plays when in attack close to the line and it was great to see a try scored by Sarah Wishart, with Amelia Pudney unlucky not to score. The girls will continue to work on rucking to gain ground and placing the opposition under pressure before passing the ball wide on the 4th and 5th touch. – Eve Habel (Captain)
WATER POLO
Amazing news to hear that Nicolette Miller (Year 11) and Saskia Jonats (Year 9) have been selected for the SA 18 and Under team, and Emily Baldwinson (Year 8) has been selected in the 14 and Under team to represent SA at the 2019 Australian Youth Water Polo Championships in Brisbane in January. Good luck to all girls.
Open A – Saints 11 defeated Wilderness 6
The girls started off strongly, scoring 5 goals in the first quarter. Well done to our goalie, Saskia Jonats who made it very difficult for Wilderness to score, only letting 1 goal past her in the first half. The best players were Fiona Lethbridge, Lara Wakeham and Nicolette Miller who applied strong pressure in defence, resulting in many turn-overs, and they also led our team’s attack whilst being well supported by the rest of the players. Great week again girls! – Nicolette Miller (Captain)
Open B – Saints 6 defeated by St Dominic’s 8
It was a close and exciting game throughout. The girls worked well together, showing good awareness of where their teammates were positioned. They also showed improvement in making quicker decisions and passing the ball faster, which created greater opportunities for goals. Best players were Georgie Wakeham, Tara Young and Steph Smalls, who displayed a great deal of confidence and decisiveness in their attacking play. – Nicolette Miller (Captain)
Open C – Saints 5 defeated Pembroke 1
Saints dominated the play from the beginning, with the girls working well together to create many opportunities to shoot for goal. Their strong defence made it very difficult for Pembroke to score, and they shot their only goal in the last quarter. Best players were Kellie Bested, Keeley Fahey and Mia Humphrey who were very effective in both attack and defence throughout the whole game. Great work girls! – Nicolette Miller (Captain 2019)
Year 7/8 – Saints 5 defeated by St Ignatius 8
The team had a tight match against Saint Ignatius, with Sophie Dansie scoring 2 goals and Lila Gosse notching up an impressive 3. The team was just out of reach of the win but it was an amazing game with excellent defence, strong attacks and quick leads. A special shout-out to the new players, who swam extra fast during the entirety of the game. Well done! Emma Pool (7RMI)
VOLLEYBALL
Year 6 – Saints 2 defeated Seymour 1
The team secured another win against Seymour. The girls displayed loads of energy and celebrated each point as a team, giving them an edge to their performance. Aggressive serves from the whole team put Seymour under pressure; in particular, Ruby Powell and Dani Cox had serving runs that won the team several points. Charlie Piper executed the skill of a dig very effectively and managed to give height to the ball, allowing her teammates to get a second touch. Both Ruby Adams and Lauren Parton worked hard to communicate with players prior to each point to decipher who was covering what space in the court. Another great game girls, good work! — Charlotte White