Issue no. 1

From Our Principal

Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change…

Dylan Alcott made history last week in becoming the first person with a visible disability to be appointed Australian of the Year. The 31 year old athlete, Paralympian, philanthropist, media commentator and advocate was recognised for both his sport and disability awareness work. Alcott stated:

‘To be named Australian of the Year and to get it for not just being good at tennis, but for the work off the court…my purpose 10 years ago, yesterday, today and as Australian of the Year, it’s never changed. It’s not to win tennis tournaments, it’s to change perceptions so people with disability live the lives that they deserve to live.’

Dylan has taken us on a journey to appreciate individuals for their humour, their passion and their ability – to concentrate on the ten thousand things that they can do, not on the one thing that they can’t do. Whether it be through the media or on the tennis court, he has allowed us to get to know him, to begin to understand what makes him tick so that we see him as a normal, everyday good bloke. By changing the perception of what it is to be disabled, he has moved the dial towards inclusion.

As we start the new school year, you will form many perceptions – your first impressions of that new teacher, what you believe to be your daughter’s friend’s motivation for posting that message on Snapchat, how you perceive your daughter is settling into the new school year.

What you perceive to be true and what is actually true aren’t always the same. In fact, those two things can be so far removed from each other, you might wonder how you ever thought what you thought in the first place. Our perceptions are what define our behaviour. When we refuse to allow any flexibility in our perceptions, we close our minds to possibility and sometimes even the truth. Take arriving at a perception of someone as being either likeable or unlikeable. We form that impression very early on in the game but can rarely articulate our reasons well enough to make sense. We just see someone as being either likeable or not. And then of course, we use everything the person says or does to confirm that initial perception.

A shift in perception starts with an increase in awareness. We had to take the time to get to know Dylan. It takes great communication to change perception. We need to ask questions and not assume we know the answers. Dylan has patiently answered the same questions over and over again. It’s been a tough couple of years and the start to Term 1 isn’t that for which we’d hoped. But just because we can’t see many of our girls and parents in person at the moment, doesn’t mean that we can’t answer your questions and help formulate your perceptions. Now more than ever, the lines of communication need to be strong. Your daughter’s Home Group Teacher remains the first point of contact for you, and we are here, ready and waiting to answer your questions as they arise. If something happens that doesn’t seem quite right, don’t just assume that’s the way Saints Girls goes about it. Ask us – challenge us – because we’ll work hard to ensure that your perceptions of the School continue to be very positive ones.

New Facilities

The new classrooms in the Middle School have been completed and the views provided over the Oval are simply stunning. It’s yet another amazing space in which our girls will learn and draws once again on the beautiful surrounds of the School. The landscaping underneath the extension will be completed in the coming weeks.

Of course, our focus remains on the new Gym and the fundraising campaign to help bring that project to fruition. The School will hold its inaugural Giving Day on Thursday 14 April to coincide with the Summer Interhouse competition, and a Gala Ball will be held on Saturday 18 June. Please save both of those dates in your diary. Further details will be available shortly.

Drinks on the Lawns

Unfortunately, this function has been postponed due to the latest guidelines from SA Health. We hope to reschedule this event later in the term so you have the chance to meet the new members of our teaching staff. In the meantime, please join me in welcoming:

• • Joni Combe – Drama
  • Esther Kim – Mathematics
  • Ying Liu – Chinese
  • Kyle Martelle – Business/Economics
  • Melanie Smith – English
  • Lauren Sutton – Deputy Principal/Head of Senior School

You can find links to email your daughter’s teachers under ‘Class Contacts’ on the myLink
parent portal.

Best wishes for the start of the year. We hope to welcome you all back on site in the not too distant future.

Julia Shea
Principal

Back to top

Welcome to 2022 at Saints Girls!

Welcome to the 2022 school year! It was wonderful to greet many of our students at Stonyfell for Day 1 on Tuesday, and we hope to see the rest of our girls very soon.

Check out the video below featuring some of our Receptions on their first day of school, and our Year 12s enjoying their last first day of school with a traditional group walk-in and a few shoutouts for our girls learning from home.

Back to top

Week of Firsts for Youngest Saints Girls

It has been a very exciting start to the school year for the Reception students. The girls have settled extremely well into school life and have enjoyed meeting new friends in the classroom and schoolyard. They have spent time exploring their new classroom, listening to stories, learning about the important rules and procedures of the classroom, and brainstorming ways to be a good friend and learner. We asked the girls some questions about their first week:

What did you have the most fun doing this week?

• • ‘The best thing we have done is colouring the dragon mask for Chinese New Year because I like colouring.’ – Zoey
  • ‘I loved doing PE because I liked playing a game where we put on blindfolds and someone told us how to get to the hoop.’ – Mila
  • ‘I have liked playing with my friends because we made pretend pancakes with bark chips and leaves, and we made pizza as well.’ – Emily

What games did you play at recess?

• • ‘I have been going on the swings that go really fast.’ – Willow
  • ‘I have liked playing on the yellow bars at recess.’ – Nina
  • ‘I was playing ‘the floor is lava’ with Sophie and Charlotte. This is a game where if you are on the ground, you need to wear your lava shoes or else your feet will melt.’ – Olivia

What are you loving learning about?

• • ‘I like learning about the number of days we’ve been at school. We put a sticker on a ten frame each day to help learn and count.’ – Keira B
  • ‘I loved thinking of words for our classroom. We thought of sensible, kind and happy.’ – Sia
  • ‘I enjoyed learning about Twos-Day. On this day, the date had lots of twos in it (2/2/2022). We made special badges to celebrate.’ – Mia

Have you made a new friend this week?

• • ‘My new friend named Ameila is nice and helpful. We became friends when she helped me to the toilet and she said, ‘Do you want to be my friend?” – Mackenzie
  • ‘I made friends with Harper and Charlotte. I loved playing upstairs in the sandpit with them.’ – Olivia
  • ‘I made friends with Emily. We played together on the playground. We made pizza and pancakes.’ – Saarvi

We are so proud of the girls’ confidence and sense of agency and are looking forward to seeing all they achieve in their first year of school.

Meg Jordan and Alana Lesiw
Reception Teachers

Back to top

Important COVID-19 Notice

As we embark upon a very different start to the school year, we must all work together to minimise the risk of COVID transmission. Please note the following:

Children are to be kept home if they are unwell, even mildly.

If your child tests positive to COVID-19, notify us immediately. Please also provide the date your child’s test was taken and the date symptoms started (if no symptoms, note ‘asymptomatic’).

Where possible, to help limit the amount of telephone traffic, please notify us via email or text:

Email:  attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Text:  0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)

If you do need to notify us over the phone, please call the Front Office on 8334 2200.

We thank all of our families for your continued support and cooperation.