Issue no. 6
From the Chaplain
Lent: a time to reflect
With Easter being quite early this year, we are already well into the season of Lent and about to commence our Holy Week and Easter events. From a Chaplain’s perspective, Lent isn’t the easiest season to place at the start of a school year. Traditionally, Lent is a time of repentance, abstinence, and prayerful reflection. As such, it stands in stark contrast to the lively, upbeat, and exciting atmosphere of Term 1 when most students are energised from their summer break, enjoying new opportunities, and having tremendous fun with events such as the Swimming Carnival, Choral Night, Formal, and all the festivities that come to Adelaide in March.
To step aside from all the activity, just for a few minutes each day, and take time to reflect is a challenge for all of us, not just the young. But our Christian tradition tells us that it’s important, and our IB learner profiles tell us that reflection is a vital attribute of learning. And it is perhaps when life is at its fullest, that we can gain the most from taking that time to reflect and connect with our true selves and our spiritual understanding.
Through our Chapel services we have reflected on themes such as ‘attitude of gratitude’, regret and forgiveness, love and compassion, justice and peace. We have practised stillness through meditative colouring of Christian labyrinths, and we have thought deeply about where we have come from and where we are going. Through it all, we have been constantly reminded of God’s love and forgiveness and the promise of new life. Lent prepares us to go forward in life, with a strong sense of letting go past mistakes and a real hope for what is to come. In that sense, Term 1 is the perfect time for Lent!
Rev’d Natasha Darke
The Centenary of Anzac – Camp Gallipoli
On two occasions in Weeks 5 and 6, the College has been visited by Camp Gallipoli representative, Ms Ruby Fox, to promote the upcoming event on the night of 24-25 April this year (Wednesday night, Week 2 of the Term 1 holidays). Ms Fox addressed the Junior School at their assembly on Friday last week and the Year 9 cohort this week, prior to their excursion to the Spirit of ANZAC Centenary Exhibition on Wednesday. Through the Year 6 trip to Canberra and the Australian War Memorial and the Year 9 History curriculum’s focus on World War One, there is a very strong incentive for involvement in this event, but this is also a great opportunity for wider involvement of students and families from the whole school community.
What is Camp Gallipoli?
The Camp Gallipoli Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation established to help preserve, foster and perpetuate the unique Spirit of ANZAC commemorations. The aim is to educate students about the service and sacrifice made by Australian and New Zealand soldiers throughout World War One and conflicts since.
Following the inaugural event at Morphettville Racecourse in 2015, Camp Gallipoli has moved to the Wayville Showgrounds this year and is inviting St Peter’s Girls students and families to participate in this unique commemorative event. Each venue nationwide has an historic link to Gallipoli, World War One and other theatres of war.
As part of the promotion for this year’s event, Camp Gallipoli is offering each student two tickets as part of a package which can be activated upon online payment. This promotion will be sent home through each Home Group in Week 7. There has been a significant reduction in ticket prices for this year ($54.95) for students, parents, teachers and community members. It promises to be a great night of community spirit, live entertainment and reflection, closing with the Dawn Service on 25 April.
If you have any queries about the event and the material distributed to each student, please contact Ms Fox at ruby@campgallipoli.com.au or 1300 951 951. Furthermore, if you have questions about how Camp Gallipoli complements the School’s curriculum, please contact me via email at: gdingwall@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
Gregor Dingwall
Head of Humanities
International Women’s Day
On Friday 4 March, 20 Year 12 girls were invited to attend the annual International Women’s Day breakfast, hosted by none other than Senator the Hon Penny Wong. Upon arrival at the Adelaide Convention Centre at 7am, the girls found themselves surrounded by tables filled with fresh fruit and beverages, all set within suitably purple decorations and lighting.
The International Women’s Day Breakfast, established in 1993, celebrated its 23rd year, and did not disappoint those who attended. The morning was filled with delicious food, and even better speeches made by many respectable women. ABC Adelaide’s Sonya Feldhoff introduced Senator Wong, as she brought to light the issues women in Australia have faced.
Senator Wong opened our eyes to the great achievements our ancestors had made, and reminded us all that we would not be where we are in society if it weren’t for the women who came before us. Guest Speaker, Fran Kelly, respected radio presenter and current affairs journalist, challenged our thinking, as she presented the question of whether or not the term, ‘Feminist’, was “past its use-by date”. Fran discussed her view of feminism, and introduced us to issues such as wage differences, domestic violence and safety rights. Her passion for women’s rights inspired me to set higher goals, and understand what I can do to really fight for equality.
We were then given the opportunity to walk around and observe the stands at the breakfast. The information given to us developed our understanding of the discussions we had just heard, and really set in stone our opinions on equality and feminism. I would like to personally thank all those involved for such a wonderful opportunity to develop our understanding, and be given the chance to continue to help those women who are not as fortunate as us.
Isabel McMillan
Year 12
Have your say: Strategic planning process
The online survey as part of our strategic planning process will close on Tuesday 15 March. In this survey, we are seeking your opinion on a range of issues at the School. Your feedback is very important to us and will be used as we move forward.
Our new strategic plan will outline the way forward for the School over the next three years. This document will provide a clear path of improvement across a number of areas to ensure we continue to deliver excellence in education to our students.
The survey is being conducted by an external provider and all responses will be kept strictly private and confidential. No member of the leadership team or Board will have access to your individual responses. We will be provided with a summary of collated results only. There are no right or wrong answers and we ask that you respond honestly.
Following this survey process, we will also be holding a series of open forums which you may like to attend. Parents will be invited to contribute to areas such as the academic, co-curricular and well-being domains. This is a vital way for us to hear your feedback and discuss ideas in an open and transparent way. Please mark these dates in your diary and attend the session/s that interest you most:
Monday 4 April – Academic
Tuesday 12 April – Well-being
Thursday 14 April – Co-curricular
Sessions will be held in the Humzy Theatre from 7pm. More information will be circulated next week.
As always, if you have an idea, issue or topic to raise with me, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at jshea@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or to make an appointment, please call 8334 2226 to arrange a convenient time.
I look forward to hearing your feedback.
Julia Shea
Principal
Successful Saturday night at the Mary Mags Centre
St Mary Magdalene Church in the city has a Drop-In Centre which provides a three course meal every Saturday night for between 80 and 100 people who are unable to have a nourishing meal due to ill health or lack of resources. Volunteers from different organisations across Adelaide provide and serve food and St Peter’s Girls’ School is proud to be involved.
On Saturday 5 March, under the coordination of one of our parents, Susanna Anderson, the Senior School provided food and monetary donations to feed about 60 patrons. Staff at the Centre were overwhelmed with the amount of food donated, and as well as the nourishing food provided on the night, all the patrons were able to avail themselves of some takeaway packs.
A special comment on the night from many of the patrons was about the fantastic apple crumble which we provided for dessert and which was prepared by Mrs Manson and her Year 10 Kennion Home Group on Thursday morning.
A heartfelt thanks to all of the girls and their parents who helped make a difference in the lives of some of Adelaide’s most marginalised people. Also thanks to the parents who volunteered to help in the kitchen on the night and to Emma Mockridge, Sarah Richards and Abbey Goodwin who helped me on the night by serving food and talking to the patrons. Some of our senior girls help out each Saturday night during Term 1 and that roster has been coordinated by our Community Service Prefects, Mila Loechel and Ashleigh Jones.
If you would like to be involved, our next two Saturdays are 14 May and 19 November when the Junior and Middle School will be asked for donations.
Karen Alderson
Careers Counsellor
ELC explores digital technologies
Last week Caterina Pennestri and I presented at the Morialta STEM Conference on digital technologies. The conference title was Inspire, Innovate, Integrate: STEM Education for the future. The preschool to Year 12 conference focussed on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The keynote speaker from Google Australia gave a challenging presentation on inspiring young people to be the creators of tomorrow’s technology. This set the scene and it was clear why we were attending.
With our focus on Digital Technologies in the ELC, and indeed across the school, we are leading the way in developing critical, creative and caring thinkers. Our students will be designing their own careers in the future and it is our role to create learning opportunities that will challenge their thinking and encourage them to become problem-solvers. This requires the use of computational thinking skills that develop from the earliest stage of learning.
Across the ELC, we use a variety of technologies to promote these skills, including the robot, bee bots, iPads, cameras (including action cameras), data projectors and interactive tables. With the child as the leading force, we are able to construct our learning side-by-side. This creates a social interaction for the child, rather than the more traditional one-on-one model.
The ELC is supported in its work by the School’s e-Learning Coordinator, Ms Melissa Bray, who plays a lead role in our professional learning and implementation of technologies across all age groups.
In the ELC, everyday learning experiences are enhanced by the use of technology, rather than technology being the single focus. It is very much integrated across all learning areas, building children’s confidence and competence.
We are very excited about the learning that is to come and recognise the need to be a few years ahead of ourselves at all times!
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Mozart’s Magic Flute
If someone were to ask me six months ago if I liked listening to or watching opera, my response would be one that you would expect of a 15-year-old: no. However, after having the opportunity to spend a month doing work experience with State Opera of South Australia, my opinion on opera has changed completely.
A couple of months ago I was put in contact with Daniel Barber. Daniel is a Lighting Designer who has done designs for shows all over Australia. He was willing to allow me to come on board for the State Opera’s production of The Magic Flute. I first met Daniel at Novatech in mid-January, when I was invited to observe a pre-visualisation plotting session. This is where the lighting designer (Daniel Barber), Director and Lighting Operator discusses and visualise their ideas and plot the occasional lighting cue.
From then on, I was able to attend rehearsals at the State Opera Studio at Richmond, to see how all the elements of the production came together. I initially was only expecting to learn about lighting design from this experience; however, I also learnt about what is involved with being a director and a stage manager.
I first visited the Freemason’s Grand Hall on North Terrace on 9 February, where I was able to see the part of the process of turning the hall into a theatre. Then, until 17 February, I spent all the time I could at the hall, trying to learn as much as I could about lighting. It was amazing to see everything coming together and finally being able to see all of Daniel’s ideas being put into action. I learnt so much from this experience and I am now even more intrigued to learn more about lighting design.
I would like to thank Ms Shelley Hampton for helping me contact Daniel and supporting me throughout the work experience. I would also like to thank Mrs Karen Alderson and Mrs Kerry Skinner for helping arrange the work experience and also supporting me throughout the process.
Dominique Rigby
Year 10
Hallett Room visits the city
This term the Hallett Room children are exploring the central idea, ‘Children around the world have rights’. One of the key rights we are discussing is the right to be a citizen. We strongly believe that our children have the right to be citizens of Adelaide from birth.
Through our discussions on this topic, it was clear that the Hallett children thought that the City of Adelaide was a place for adults to go to work. Through playful deconstruction of their thinking, the children placed the adults in a circle having a meeting in the city and the children outside the city at a playground with the teachers. This was a powerful provocation for us.
We wanted to challenge the children, to find out if there really were no children in the city. As Lily quite rightly said, “If we go into the city to see if there are any children, then there will be children there, because we will be there.”
The investigation happened on Sunday 28 February, with the Hallett children and their families invited to explore the city of Adelaide with the Hallett Room educators. We walked through part of the city to gain the perspective of ourselves in our city, to find out if there are children there and if the city is a place for children.
At the same time we challenged the parents to think about the following question, “What does it mean for a child to have rights from birth?”
The excursion was magical. The children met in Hindmarsh Square, armed with cameras and clipboards to record their investigation. The accompanying parents watched, listened and provided the children with gentle provocations along the way. The atmosphere was incredible – a community of learners on a journey of inquiry.
As we arrived at the Rundle Mall fountain there was a man playing beautiful music on an electric classical guitar. The children were captivated. We also discovered the large balls sculpture, which became a place to discover the tympanic drum qualities of the balls, as well as a place to play with our reflections. At the end of the walk we had a picnic on the lawns in front of the museum. By the end of the excursion, the children knew that the city really is a place for children.
Sarah Croston-Melling
Hallett Room Teacher
Upcoming School Tours
Our next School Tour is scheduled for Tuesday 22 March at 9.30am. If you have family or friends interested in learning more about our School, please encourage them to attend our upcoming tour by contacting Jess Geraghty, Enrolments Manager on 08 8334 2215 or jgeraghty@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or register online.
For families wishing to view the facilities of St Peter’s College and see their school in action, the next tour is available on Thursday 7 April 2016. For any enrolment enquiries at St Peter’s College, please contact Amanda Bruce, Admissions Manager, on 8404 0517 or abruce@stpeters.sa.edu.au.
Choral Night 2016
Choral Night 2016 is just a few weeks away. We hope Years 7–12 families can join us for this annual highlight on the School calendar.
We encourage you to book your tickets early to avoid disappointment, as this is always a sell-out event.
Time: 7pm (doors open 6.30pm)
Date: Wednesday 30 March 2016
Venue: Adelaide Town Hall, 128 King William Street, Adelaide
Tickets: $10 each (a maximum of four tickets per family applies)
Year 12 parents now have priority access to book tickets and can access the Trybooking site using the password provided via email.
Years 7-11 parents can book tickets from Tuesday 15 March at www.trybooking.com/HAQC.
We hope to see as many parents as possible join us for what is sure to be a fun and entertaining evening.
For further information, contact the Development Office on events@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
Gifted education information night
Parents of students in Reception to Year 10 are warmly invited to attend the launch of our Gifted and Talented Program, EDGE. EDGE stands for Extended, Differentiated and Gifted Education. The launch will be held at 6.30pm on Thursday 17 March in the Arts Centre.
The EDGE program is a culmination of staff professional learning, research and consultation on the nature of giftedness. We believe that a differentiated curriculum benefits all of our girls, not just the gifted and talented. Please join us to hear more about how the program will be put into action this year.
This evening will be an opportunity for us to share details of what we will be doing both in and out of the classroom to ensure our gifted students have an enriched and challenging curriculum.
It is our hope that the EDGE program will deepen and extend learning experiences, foster curiosity and creativity, and inspire a love of learning.
We look forward to seeing you on the night and sharing our vision for gifted education at St Peter’s Girls.
For further information, please contact Becca Burton-Howard on bburton-howard@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or Meredith Beck on mbeck@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
Dads Night Out: tickets now on sale
The inaugural Dads Night Out, ‘A Night on the Green’, will be held on Friday 1 April.
Come along for a great evening, bring a friend and enjoy some barefoot bowling at the Toorak Burnside Bowling Club.
7–11pm, Friday 1 April 2016
Toorak Burnside Bowling Club, 25 Giles Street, Toorak Gardens
To book, visit www.trybooking.com/KRNT.
Includes finger food and prizes. Drinks can be purchased on the evening.
Earlybird special: $30 tickets available before 29 March 2016! Keep an eye out for your invitation.
It’ll be a fun and social evening. Remember – no bowling experience is necessary! This fundraising event is hosted by the Mothers’ Club.
The Mothers’ Club would love to offer you the opportunity to promote your business at this event. If you have a product or service that can be donated for a raffle or auction prize, please let us know. Contact Emma on emmarob@bigpond.net.au.
School Shop update
From next term, students will need to change their uniform from Summer to Winter.
Students will be required to wear their winter uniform from the first day next term.
If you require a winter uniform fitting, please contact the School Shop on 8334 2228 to arrange an appointment.
We will only be open for limited hours during the second week of school holidays.
Sue Burnett
School Shop Manager
Junior School banking reminder
Don’t forget that Wednesday is School Banking day and students should bring in their weekly deposit.
For every deposit made at school, no matter how big or small, students will receive a cool Dollarmites token. Once students have individually collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for an exclusive School Banking reward item in recognition of their continued savings behaviour.
Thank you for supporting the School Banking program at St Peter’s Girls’ School.
Come and support us at Head of the River
The countdown is on for the Head of the River, to be held on Saturday 12 March at West Lakes. Students, parents and families are invited to attend and support our girls from the edge of the rowing course.
This year a bus will be provided from School to West Lakes for students wishing to attend. 45 seats are available and students can book at the School Shop by Thursday next week. The bus will depart at 7.15am and return to Saints Girls by approximately 12.15pm.
This year’s rowing is expected to be bigger and better than last, with the girls’ lead-up training being exceptional. Please come along to attend this historic regatta and support our rowers.
As with previous years, spectating students are expected to wear full School uniform, including hat. If the weather is cool and an outer garment is required, students must wear their blazer.
Sports News
Basketball – Wednesday 2 March
Open A – Saints 15 defeated by Scotch 40
Saints got off to a slow start against Scotch. It was good to see the girls’ movement down the court and effective use of fast breaks. The second half was a much better half and showed how much potential the team has. A special mention to Abbey Goodwin who worked hard all game and managed to get many turnovers. Josephine Dal Pra (Captain)
Junior Softball – Wednesday 2 March
Year 6 – Saints did not play
Teeball – Wednesday 2 March
Year 4/5 – Saints did not play
Water Polo – Thursday 3 March
Open A – Saints 1 defeated by Pembroke 7
Open B – Saints 6 defeated by Walford 7
While both teams have been training hard and working on capitalising on our scoring opportunities we did not work as a team. Pleasing improvement from our Year 10 players in the Bs kept us in the game against Walford as we hit the lead late in the final quarter, only to give up a goal on the siren. Best in As: Antonia Kirsten-Parsch, Grace Sampson. Best in Bs: Belen Swart and Katherine Woolley. Lynne Spry (Supervisor)
Year 7/8 – Saints 10 defeated Pembroke 9
A great match played against Pembroke, with Olivia Goldsmith scoring the winning goal in the final seconds. The top goal scorer was Alyssa Woolley with three goals. Everyone played an amazing game, especially our goalies, Alyssa Woolley, Saskia Jonats, Olivia Goldsmith and me. Hopefully, we can bring up another win against Loreto next game. Fiona Lethbridge (7/8 Captain)
Junior Tennis – Friday 4 March
Saints 5/6 Blue v Saints 5/6 White Advanced
Doubles: Sienna/Georgia v Emily/Tahlia – 3:6
Singles: Sienna Glazbrook defeated Tahlia Louca 4-0, Georgia Langley defeated by Emily Baldwinson 0-4
Year 6 White – Saints 1-8 defeated by St Ignatius 5-23
Singles: Chloe Venning 4-3, Lara Slape 0-4, Charlotte Hocking 0-4, Primrose Robinson 2-4
Year 6 White – Saints 2-12 defeated by Cabra 4-19
Singles: Caitlin Walker 0-4, Adele Russell 4-3, Sivanthi Sivasuthan 4-2, Emily Elston 2-4
Rowing – Saturday 5 March
We did have the School State Champs over the weekend, in which there were fairly trying conditions. Our Juniors have continued to keep up their impressive rowing and have been getting many places. Our Year 7/8s were generally rowing against girls older than them and were putting up great efforts; this shows huge promise for the future. I would like to mention the 8D crew, who have only been racing since Murray Bridge, winning their C Final – you couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces.
A big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to the 9B crew who won their State Championship final, which really is reward for them and all the hard work they have been putting in. 9C Crew who have only recently had Zoe Wilmshurst join them are getting better with each row; they just need to put it all on the line this weekend and who knows what could happen? The 9A crew are getting closer to the pointy end, coming fourth in their final, but they are not far off; they need to leave nothing out on the course at Head of the River.
The 10B crew had a great result on Sunday, coming second to Walford, sticking with them the whole way and just letting them go just before the finish. They have been really improving each week and I would love to see them up there on Saturday, fighting it out again. The 10A crew have had bit of a rollercoaster ride over the past couple of weeks and I am hoping that they can put everything behind them and just focus on having fun and a fantastic row on the weekend; who knows what could happen:)
The First VIII didn’t row on Saturday; it was a race for lanes so Simon decided to give the girls a rest. This meant that we drew one of the outside lanes on Sunday for the final, which as it worked out will be the lane they are rowing in Head of the River, i.e. Lane 2. The girls came out and had a great row, finishing second to Seymour, so hopefully this gives them all the confidence moving into the weekend and on to the Nationals. Ben Flannagan (Director of Rowing)
On Saturday Imogen Parkinson, Hannah Keough, Paris Robinson, Sophie Johnson and Abigail Lisle competed in two races. In the girls’ heat they pushed really hard and came first. In the second race, after a few complications, the girls went from last and finished in second. The girls did amazingly well and should be proud. Abigail Lisle
The 9Bs, consisting of Emily Brophy, Sarah Carrodus, Olivia Law and Eve Habel, all rowed a very good heat, coming first with a tight win and progressing to the 8/9B final. The final was very tight between Saints, Walford and Loreto. We broke away from Walford at the 500m mark and the finish was intense, going stroke for stroke with Loreto. With a last big effort we broke away and earned a well-deserved first place, becoming state champions. So well done, girls; you deserved every bit of success. Zoë Scobie
Our crew on the Saturday consisted of Grace Edwards as Cox, Wilhelmina Fowler as Stroke, Chanel Stefani as 3 seat, Grace Packer as 2 seat and Alexandra Reade as Bow. Facing Scotch, Pembroke and Walford we knew it would be a tough race. We got into it and pushed Walford the whole way. On Day 2 of the Championships, Chanel was unable to race so we had Rachel Kameniar fill in for us. As Scotch wasn’t in our race, we knew we had a fighting chance to come first or second. It was a great race, pushing against Walford the whole time, and we led until the final sprint, when Walford just managed to get ahead. We were still pretty happy finishing second and are all looking forward to next weekend to try and finish on a high. Grace Edwards
Softball – Saturday 26 February
Cancelled due to heat
Tennis – Saturday 5 March
Cancelled due to heat
Volleyball – Saturday 5 March
Cancelled due to heat
Basketball – Monday 5 March
No games due to Years 7 and 8 camps
Tennis – Monday 7 March
Open A – Saints 6-36 defeated Wilderness 0-9
Singles: Yasmin Glazbrook 6-0, Tiana Glazbrook 6-0, Jade Leyden 6-4, Olivia Teh 6-2
Open B – Saints 4-30 defeated Wilderness 2-20
Singles: Olivia Harby 6-2, Emily Loh 6-2, Sarah Richards 1-6, Neve McCormack 6-1
Other News
Netball school holiday clinics
Netball SA are providing School Holiday Netball Clinics to all players aged 5-16 years, with the chance to be coached by State Premier League Players and accredited Netball SA Community Netball Coaches. Clinics focus on ball handling skills, attacking, defending, centre court, goal shooting, circle defence, footwork, small-sided games and most importantly they are FUN! Go to www.sa.netball.com.au > Participate > Players (Look on the players’ page list)
Future Stars camp
This two-day program gives players aged between 11 and 16 years the chance to develop their netball skills and work alongside some of South Australia’s most respected netballers and coaches.
Participants will receive a specialist technical coaching session conducted by Adelaide Thunderbirds Head Coach, Michelle den Dekker, Assistant Thunderbirds Coach, Kristy Keppich-Birrell and Thunderbirds players, Kate Shimmin and Maddy Proud. Specialised physical coaching sessions will be run by athletes, Erin Bell and Leigh Waddington, and you will hear from Australian Champion and Thunderbirds Captain, Renae Ingles, about her Netball journey. Players will learn about what it takes to be an elite athlete, plus be coached by Nationally Accredited Coaches, enjoy competitive match play and receive a 2016 Future Stars Camp singlet. Go to www.sa.netball.com.au > Participate > Players (Look on the players’ page list)