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
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
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
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
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!
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
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
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
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
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
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
Zacharia Henley and Zara Blight
Performing Arts Captains
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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)