Issue no. 14
From Our Deputy Principal / Head of Senior School
It has been wonderful to have the girls return to school and their energy and enthusiasm has been a welcome relief for many staff. What has been apparent to us all, is that we are far more grateful for what we previously took for granted. Simply, being back in the classroom and back together is a far more valued experience.
#EMPOWHER Update
Communication works for those who work at it
Communication is a constant and vital aspect of school life. Improved learning outcomes are often achieved in a classroom environment where there is clear communication between the teacher and their students. A teacher who is 
able to clearly articulate lesson objectives, explanations, instructions and feedback is one whom students may label as a ‘good teacher’. Conversely, students who ask for help when needed, who participate in class discussions and who ask critical questions of the content significantly enhance the learning environment. Of course, the learning conversations that take place in classrooms, whilst natural, are often complemented by the retelling of stories or events that occurred over the weekend, in the last lesson or at lunch time. With that said, there is more often than not a few students or teachers who will ensure a couple of jokes make it into the lesson, generally to enhance the learning.
However, there are many other conversations that are just as important as those that take place within the classroom. In particular, in the third week of each term, every girl meets with her Home Group teacher for a 1:1 discussion. The girls prepare for these in advance and are asked to identify what has been going well and set personal goals of how they can improve. The goals are not limited to academic performance, but include those linked to social, emotional and physical health. The staff also track these goals across the year, which adds value to the conversations. This is the fourth year that we have rolled out the 1:1s, and this week, I have been impressed with the ability of the girls to explain how they navigated the challenges of the past term and set actionable steps of how they intend to meet their future goals. I encourage you to talk with your daughter about the goals she has set for herself this term.
Witness the Fitness
Whilst we have returned to sport training this week, I must thank the Prefects for their efforts in the promotion of ‘Witness the Fitness’. This was, of course, our online initiative aimed at keeping the girls active. Thank you to the Prefect Team, who designed a follow-along workout, and to Olivia Goldsmith (Kennion House Captain) and Millie Wilkin (Sport Prefect) for their performances in our other online resources. If you are keen to challenge yourself and improve your fitness, please take advantage of the resources below.
Witness the Fitness – Session 1
Witness the Fitness – Session 2
Witness the Fitness – Session 3
Witness the Fitness – Session 4
Witness the Fitness – Session 5
Witness the Fitness – Session 6
Kate Mortimer
Deputy Principal / Head of Senior School
Day in the Life: Our School Chaplain
School Chaplain and Humanities Teacher Thomas Bassett sat down with us to talk about why he chose to pursue teaching, his various roles at Saints Girls and his postgraduate study.
A staff member since 2017, Thomas currently has a Year 8 Home Group, helps run the APEX Club and, in his spare time, plays the piano and guitar!
To find out more about Thomas’s journey here at Saints Girls, check out this video:
Touching Tributes for Mother’s Day
To celebrate Mother’s Day, our girls paid touching tributes to the wonderful women in their lives.
Year 9 student Eliza Monaghan wrote a heartfelt poem, which was underscored by other moving messages from grateful daughters:
Zephyr Quartet Star Stretches Our Strings
Yesterday, the Extension String group was extended in the truest sense, under the guidance of guest conductor Hilary Kleinig from the highly acclaimed Zephyr Quartet.
Hilary is a multidisciplinary musician who works as a performer, composer, curator, producer and educator. As a composer, she has written commissioned works for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Chamber Singers and the Adelaide Youth Orchestras. She has served on the New Music Network Australia board, joined the Artistic Advisory panel of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and is the Creative Producer of Musica Viva’s Sessions Concert Series in Adelaide.
Hilary’s Zephyr Quartet firmly believes in the power of the string quartet as a medium to communicate and explore complex relationships between society and art. As such, Hilary pushed the Extension Strings to explore their instruments in ways they had never thought to, encouraging them to improvise, communicate with each other, and use unconventional string techniques to tell a story. Hilary challenged the girls to experiment in ways that would be deemed ‘wrong’ in terms of traditional classical training. Students worked on imitating sounds; screeching cats, ambulance sirens, the grinding of gears, waves crashing on the shoreline, and many more. These sounds were then used in free-form improvisation to weave together a story. The girls rose to the challenge beautifully, and over the next few weeks will continue to work on creating a soundscape which will then be used as a SACE performance piece. We hope to air this to you soon.
Enchante Goes International
The current global climate has had a profound impact on musicians from all over the world as concert halls, jazz clubs and theatres close down, eliminating all possibility of a live audience. While this has been frustrating for musicians and music educators alike, the upside has been the development of methods of sharing music and, more specifically, concerts online. This has seen the rise of the ‘Virtual Concert Hall’, which allows musicians from all over the world to put together a concert.
Congratulations to our vocal ensemble Enchante whose recent recording work has now been accepted into an international virtual concert hall curated by the American Choral Directors Association.
Sari Noble
Choral Director
Cross Country Athlete’s Runaway Success
My name is Daisy Braithwaite and I am a Year 8 student. This week, I was awarded the SA Athletics U14 Female Road, Cross Country and Walks Athlete for the 2019/20 season. I was so excited to be nominated, and couldn’t believe it when I won!
Last season, I won the 3km race walking at the VIVA All Schools Championships and the Athletics State Championships. I was part of the Little Athletics State Team that travelled to Hobart where I competed in the 1500m and the walk; I was also Captain which was a great honour. I have represented the State at Cross Country every year since I was 10 and love the challenging courses and training. I train most days of the week, mostly running but with some cycling, race walking and swimming too.
I hope I can start training with my teammates again soon and compete in cross country later in the season.
Daisy Braithwaite
Year 8 student
Mother’s Day Gift Boxes
The Stage 2 Food and Hospitality class recently celebrated Mother’s Day with the creation of gift boxes for their mums. The girls worked collaboratively and used their broad range of skills to design and create the boxes. The boxes were full of a range of artisan products that were created, labelled, packaged and preserved by the students. The students also sought support from a range of community members who created aspects of the boxes.
“The elements within the gift box were carefully planned to cater for the enjoyment of our mothers with some products suitable for dietary requirements such as gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. A personalised card was included in each box which outlined the contents of the hamper and all ingredients used”. – Mia Taliangis
“The gift boxes were kindly made with recycled materials and donated by my grandpa, Jack Walls, who has been a qualified cabinet maker for 60 years. These boxes were helpful in executing the overall presentation of the gift box.” – Chelsea Walls
The individual, laser-cut labels were expertly crafted by our Art and Design Teacher Kirsten Mansfield.
The creation of the gift boxes was certainly a highlight of the year for the class and their mothers. I would like to thank all those who assisted us with the creation of these boxes and congratulate the girls on an amazing effort with the production of a beautifully presented hospitality-standard gift box.
Jenni Manson and the Stage 2 Food and Hospitality students
Our New Media Hub: Lights, Camera, Action!
Our new Media Hub is now being fitted-out with equipment, and some small groups are utilising the advanced technology for more than just film.
Along with other renovated areas in the Sarah Wing, the small studio space is receiving advanced equipment from all around the world. This equipment includes cameras, lenses, microphones, lighting, rigs, teleprompters and lightboards to create an industry-simulated environment for the girls to learn and experience from. With current professional specifications, the studio has been designed to cater for just about any job or project that the girls request.
The Lightboard (pictured) is used to film presentations that require handwritten explanations and drawings in a natural way without using extended post processing techniques. Staff use this for instructional design and rich content delivery for ‘flipped’ classroom videos.
The student co-curricular group APEX which produces SaintsTV is being trained to use this equipment as it arrives, and is helping to show others the magic of film and visual entertainment.
Garth Coulter
Head of Digital Learning and Technology
Mum’s the Word for Year 4 Designers
Last Friday, the Year 4s busily created gifts and cards for Mother’s Day. Mrs Coulter tapped into her creativity and prepared all of the materials the girls needed to make bright and happy tassels for mums to put on their handbags! The girls also made cards with a poem of love and appreciation written inside. They enjoyed making these but, even more, they loved presenting them to their mums on Sunday.
“My mum is an amazing cook and can turn anything scrappy into something scrumptious!” – Ruby Kelly
“My mum is compassionate and very kind. She helps me.” – Karishma Agrawal
“The great thing about my mum is that she shares her love with everyone.” – Addison Green
“My mum inspires me to try new things and she is really strong.” – Eleanor Bartter
CLOTHES SHWOP: We Need Your Help
Did you know that Australians are the world’s second largest consumers of fashion? On average, we each consume 27kgs of new clothing and textiles every year. Most of this ends up in the bin after less than a year. Members of the School’s Environment Club would like to change this!
This term, the Environment Club is focusing on sustainable fashion. This will culminate in our ‘Clothes Shwop’, in which students can donate old clothes for tokens, and cash-in these tokens to take new clothes in return! If you have any old clothes you don’t want anymore and are happy to donate or exchange for other items, then please support this worthy cause. Any remaining items will be donated to a women’s charity.
Collections will take place outside of the Junior School Library at lunch every Tuesday and Thursday leading up to the actual ‘Clothes Shwop’ where you will be able to choose pieces from the donated clothing. The first ‘Clothes Shwop’ will be held on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 June in Week 6 in the Drama Room.
Bring in your old clothes, help the environment and make your wardrobe that bit more exciting!
Sara Peak
Environment Club Captain
Bus Tap Card Reminder
Please note that all School bus students must use their student ID cards to tap on and off each time they board and alight a School bus service to comply with our new tracking system.
Also, a reminder that all students from Years 3 to 12 can now use their student ID cards for point-of-sale transactions at the Tuck Shop and School Shop.
To register for the service and ensure funds are available on the cards, parents need to use the flexischools program, which already facilitates the School’s online Tuck Shop. For instructions on how to set up an account and add funds, watch the first 30 seconds of this video. To access flexischools, log in to the myLink Parent Portal and select the ‘Tuck Shop’ tab on the top menu. When registering, search for the School’s name, remembering to add the apostrophe in St Peter’s.
For information on transaction fees and other costs, click here.
If you have any queries regarding these new systems, please contact our System Business Analyst Bronwyn Ledgard via bledgard@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or 8334 2264.
Apply Now – National Youth Science Forum 2021
Are you in Year 11 and love STEM subjects? If so, you should consider applying for the National Youth Science Forum’s Year 12 Program! The @NYSFoz is a 10-day residential program full of visits to high-tech STEM facilities and hands on-workshops. You’ll get stuck into some serious science and meet industry mentors, all while hanging out with a community of 200 other like-minded science-loving students. Applications close on 14 June 2020. For more information or to apply, go to the NYSF website: www.nysf.edu.au
Saints Girls’ students Faye Ma and Ellen Zhang attended the forum earlier this year. Here are some words from their experience:
“An unforgettable time where you will meet lifelong friends, immerse yourself fully in the world of STEM and come out with a greater understanding of what you want to do in the future.” – Faye Ma
“NYSF has been a life-changing experience for me. Not only have I been inspired by this experience, but I have taken away a wealth of new knowledge and amazing friendships.” – Ellen Zhang
Year 2s Turn on the Water Works!
Excitement was high as the Year 2 girls undertook a ‘Water Walk’ to identify water sources and uses as they discover how the Earth’s resources are used in a variety of ways. ‘Water Works’ is the current Year 2 Science focus as part of the ‘Sharing the planet’ Unit of Inquiry. Many water access points were discovered including the rainwater tanks, fire hydrants and even toilet cisterns! Water is collected in gutters and drain pipes, which flow to the stormwater system. Water is used in the School grounds in many different ways; the swimming pool being a favourite!
Once the girls took their photographs, they used a School map to identify the location of each photo and created a key to differentiate between water source, collection and usage.
Our water detectives have undertaken a similar experiment at home to investigate the ways water is accessed and used, and are comparing these findings to the ways children around the world access and use water with the view to discovering how this affects daily life.
Kathryn Clark and Rebecca Greenhalgh
Year 2 Teachers
Year 11s Brainstorm with Our Youngest Students
This week, the Year 11 SACE Psychology class teamed up with the ELC and Year 1 students to investigate Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
They carried out a number of activities together and recorded their thoughts and reasoning. It was great to have the younger students come up to the Science Centre to work with the older girls, and much fun was had by all.
Craig Byrne
Head of Science
Do You Have a Connection to Woodlands Girls’ Grammar?
Year 11 Scholarship Information
The Elaine Balfour Ogilvy Scholarship is for girls who are planning to enter Year 12 next year, who attend an Anglican school and whose mother, grandmother or great grandmother attended Woodlands Girls’ Grammar School. It was created by the Woodlands Old Scholars in honour of an old scholar, one of the Australian Army nurses who died in the horror of war after the fall of Singapore.
Applicants need to post an introductory letter and four copies of their CV to:
The President
Woodlands Old Scholars’ Association
39 Partridge Street
GLENELG SA 5045
Applications close 24 July 2020
Interviews will be conducted in Term 3, giving the panel a chance to have an informal chat with the girls. We will be assessing attributes such as presentation and enthusiasm and will take this opportunity to see certificates and awards which substantiate the CV.
If you have any enquiries, please contact me via sorrell.lou@gmail.com
Louise Sorrell
St Peter’s Woodlands Old Scholars’ Association President
St Peter’s Girls’ Piano Eisteddfod 2020
In Week 8 of Term 2, the Arts Department will hold St Peter’s Girls’ Piano Eisteddfod. It is open to all Junior and Middle School students who play piano, and will be held on Tuesday 16 June from 8.45am in MB120.
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 year, we will not hold a recital but will instead invite 10 students of varying levels to perform in a virtual recital which will be shared online.
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.
Please notify the Arts Department if your daughter would like to be involved by Friday 5 June. She will then receive a time slot to perform in the Eisteddfod. Students will be notified by email if they have been chosen to have their piece recorded following the Eisteddfod.
So get busy practising, and we look forward to hearing all of our amazing piano players!
Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music
Apple’s Cleaning Tips for iPads and Laptops
Apple products are made with a variety of materials, and each material might have specific cleaning requirements. To get started, here are some tips from Apple that apply to all products:
- Use only a soft, lint-free cloth. Avoid abrasive cloths, towels, paper towels, or similar items.
- Avoid excessive wiping, which might cause damage.
- Unplug all external power sources, devices, and cables.
- Keep liquids away from the product, unless otherwise noted for specific products.
- Don’t get moisture into any openings.
- Don’t use aerosol sprays, bleaches or abrasives.
- Don’t spray cleaners directly onto the item.
Is it okay to use a disinfectant on my Apple product?
Using a 70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipe or disinfecting wipes, you may gently wipe the hard, non-porous surfaces of your Apple product, such as the display, keyboard, or other exterior surfaces. Don’t use bleach. Avoid getting moisture in any opening, and don’t submerge your Apple product in any cleaning agents. Don’t use on fabric or leather surfaces.
Here’s the full article from Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204172
Of course, please check your device instructions for specific requirements.
Code Camp After-School Sessions
The Code Camp team has been working around the clock to create a new online program that encapsulates the fun and engaging learning environment children across Australia have come to expect when attending one of our courses. The holidays have given us a great opportunity to test our online courses with over 2500 students taking part. We are confident we have the formula right!
We will be running our online sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and also on Saturday mornings, so families have a variety of times to choose from. Children will be supported through the tutorials with our Live Tech Support Team which is made up of our very best facilitators.
The program, which is available now, is one session per week for eight weeks. Due to our reduced facilitator costs, we want to pass those savings on to parents. As such, the new online after-school price is $160.
Parents can book via https://www.codecamp.com.au/online-after-school-programs