News

Enews – Week 1, Term 4 2016

Issue no. 30
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From the Principal
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Welcome back to Term 4. It’s hard to believe that in just over nine weeks it will be Christmas! There are some wonderful moments of celebration in the term ahead and the first of those takes place next Wednesday when we induct our new student leadership team.

When I was interviewing for Head Prefect, one of the applicants asked me what I hoped the prefects would achieve.

Saints Girls is 122 years old. The resonance of our rituals and traditions, grown up throughout this extraordinary history, is part of making us who we are. And in their role, the prefects manage many of these traditions. Despite the fact that we are so well established and clear about our direction, we are not so narrow-minded that we cannot continue to add to the collective culture and resonance of our School. Managers maintain the status quo but leaders challenge the norm. And our prefects are leaders, not managers. I don’t want them to ask ‘how’ and ‘when’. I want them to ask ‘what’ and ‘why’. As a group, I want them to leave a positive and unique legacy – an imprint in our history that will forever be a reflection of the leadership team of 2017. I look forward to working with them as they bring their vision to life.

It’s my pleasure to congratulate the following girls on their appointments:

Prefect Appointments

Head Prefect Uthpala De Silva
Deputy Head Prefect Olivia Habel
SRC Chairperson Abbey Goodwin
Kennion House Captain Georgia Bateman
Kilburn House Captain Sophie Freeman
Patteson House Captain Chelsea Marchetti
Selwyn House Captain Emma Mockridge
Chapel Captain Lydia Smalls
Community Service Captain Sarah Richards
Debating and Public Speaking Captain Sophie-Louise Shearwood
International Student Captain Nancy Huang
Music Captain Sarah Brownridge
Sports Captain Rachael Disney

Other Leadership Roles

Kennion Deputy House Captain Carys Jones
Kilburn Deputy House Captain  Georgia Nicholls
Patteson Deputy House Captain Emily Keough
Selwyn Deputy House Captain Molly Ellis

Sports Captains

Athletics Rachael Disney and Jasmine Ledgard
Badminton Emily Murdock
Basketball Chelsea Marchetti
Cross Country Bethany Cross
Gymnastics Alice Petchey
Hockey Lara Khoury
Lacrosse Sophie Auricht
Netball Sophie Freeman and Abbey Goodwin
Rowing Sophie Freeman (Captain) and Lara Khoury (Vice-Captain)
Soccer Dominique Rigby
Softball Jasmine Ledgard
Swimming Rachael Disney and Shania Morgan
Tennis Jade Leyden and Tiana Glazbrook
Volleyball Abbey Goodwin
Water Polo Sarah Richards

Music Captains

Band Captain Lydia Smalls
Head Chorister Sarah Brownridge
Choristers Grace Callen, Uthpala De Silva, Victoria White,
Nancy Huang  and Sophie-Louise Shearwood
Strings Captain Emily Keough

Other Leadership Positions

Library Captain Sophia Casanova Clarke
Student Sacristan Lara Khoury
Environment Club President  Shania Morgan
Technical Theatre Captain Carla Lawrence and Dominique Rigby

As you would have seen, the boundary of the School has been ‘wrapped’ with images of the impending building works and quotes from the girls in anticipation of that which is to come. In the next week we’ll receive samples of furniture for the new Middle School and will again include both girls and staff in the final selection. Over the holiday break the library moved to the newly air-conditioned Chapel and this week we held our first regular chapel service in the Arts Centre. It’s an incredibly exciting time for the School.

Staffing news

In staffing news, Dan Searle commences long service leave at the end of Week 2 this term. I would like to thank Dan for delaying the commencement of his leave until Year 12 have finished. Annika Winter returns to cover Dan’s classes, including his Year 8 Home Group.

Have a great term!

Julia Shea
Principal

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Term 4 Music Dates

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Spring Cabaret, Sarah Brownridge and the Junior Choir

Week 2
Monday 24 October

Double Reed workshop Yrs 4 – 6
Wednesday 26 October
FOA Meeting  – 7.30pm Arts Office
New parents welcome
Friday 28 October
Eucharist
Friday 28 October
Celebration Day
Friday 28 October
World Teachers’ Day
String Quartet and Trio Performance 6pm

Week 3
Yr 5 Musical all week
Tuesday 1 November
Twilight Percussion Concert – 6pm, MB 120
Thursday 3 November – SACE Music Performance exam, 1 – 4pm, MB 120
Sunday 6 November
Strings Concert at St David’s

Week 4
Monday to Wednesday
evenings
Wendy’s Vocal Concerts – 5.30pm, Arts Centre
Tuesday 8 November
Year 9 Dance Class
ADT Open Rehearsal, 10am
Thursday 10 November
Community Drinks on the Lawn,  Chiverton Lawns – 5.30pm
String Quartet/Trio
Senior Arts Night – 7pm, Arts Centre
Friday 11 November
Remembrance Day Service , 11am

Week 5
Thursday 17 November

Middle School Arts Night – 7pm, Arts Centre
Friday 18 November
Extra end-of-year rehearsals
Senior Ensembles  3.45 – 7pm

Week 6
Friday 25 November
ELC Christmas Picnic/String Quartet/Trio

Week 7
Wednesday 30 November
Carols rehearsals at School
Friends of Arts –  AGM  7.30pm,  Arts Office
Thursday 1 December
Carols rehearsal at Cathedral
Carols in the Cathedral – 7pm
Friday 2 December
R – 2 Nativity – 6pm,  Arts Centre

Week 8
Wednesday 7 December
Yr 6 Graduation – 2pm, Arts Centre
String Quartet, Junior Choir
Thursday 8 December
Yr 9 Graduation – 2pm, Arts Centre
Stage Band
Friday 9 December
Presentation Night rehearsals
All day, at School

Week 9
Monday 12 December
Rehearsals for Presentation Night – Town Hall, all day
Presentation Night – 7pm, Town Hall

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Care Pack Drive for the Australian Refugee Association

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Year 10 Patteson are calling for donations of goods that can be packaged into Christmas baskets for clients of the Australian Refugee Association. Second-hand toys and books are of interest and new donations of hygiene and toiletry products are also in need. Each year level has been asked to focus on a particular type of goods to donate towards this cause; however, a donation of any type is the overall goal. Students are asked to place their donation in the boxes provided in their Home Group by the end of Week 5, Term 4.

Reception: Small toys
Year 1: Baskets
Year 2: Christmas themed decorations
Year 3: Books
Year 4: Baskets and ribbons
Year 5: Colouring books, pencils, textas
Year 6: Small toys
Year 7: Cuddly toys
Year 8: Tea towels
Year 9: Soap
Year 10: Shampoo and Conditioner
Year 11: Deodorant
Year 12: Sanitary items

Thank you for your generosity and support.
Mrs Green and the Patteson Year 10s

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Don’t miss Christmas Drinks on the Lawn!

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Members of our St Peter’s Girls Community are warmly invited to join us for Christmas Drinks on the Lawn.

We look forward to acknowledging and thanking you for your continued support of the School.

We will also have the opportunity to introduce our new Co-Deputy Principal/Head of Senior School Kate Mortimer, as well as exciting initiatives planned for 2017.

Drinks, nibbles and a supervised playground will be available so we encourage children to attend.

This is one event not be missed!

Christmas Drinks on the Lawn:
5.30 – 7.30pm
Thursday 10 November 2016
Chiverton Lawns, St Peter’s Girls’ School

To assist with catering, please RSVP to events@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au by Friday 4 November.

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Year 5 Production – The Little Mermaid

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St Peter’s Girls’ Year 5 classes will present the Disney Classic, The Little Mermaid early next term. The Year 5 students, the team of teachers and technical crew are working very hard on bringing this amazing production to life.

The Little Mermaid tells the story of Ariel, the mermaid, who desires to be human. The show features many big song and dance numbers including Under the Sea, Kiss the Girl, She’s in Love and the romantic Part of Your World.

The stunning colourful costumes bring to life the creatures from the sea, as the audience is taken on a journey below the ocean’s surface, a storm and a shipwreck with many special effects. Lively song and dance numbers will have people tapping their toes and singing along. It’s guaranteed to be a real crowd pleaser for all ages!

When: 7pm, Thursday 3 and Friday 4 November 2016
Where: Arts Centre
Tickets: Adults $10 Concession $5.

Tickets can be booked by visiting trybooking.com/NGVL.

Olivia Coulter & Shane Davidson
Year 5 Teachers

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Potential employers required to conduct interviews

Every year as part of their Personal Learning Plan, Year 10 students take part in a practice interview. They prepare a letter of application and resume to apply for a job and are then interviewed by a potential employer.

This year, because of the large Year 10 class group, I am looking for a few more people to help with the interviews. The interviews are being held on Monday 31 October from 1 – 3.30pm in the Senior Resource Centre. I will supply you with your potential employees’ letters and resumes prior to the day and will also provide some possible interview questions.

If you would like to be involved or have a family member who might be able to help, please contact me on kalderson@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.

Karen Alderson
Careers Advisor

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Casual Canteen position
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Casual Canteen Assistants are currently required to join our casual pool. If you or someone you know has previous food handling, canteen or kitchen experience and would like to join our on-call casual pool, please send a resume to HR@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.

For further information, please phone Julie Marsh, Human Resources Manager on 8334 2226.

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111 Reasons to use your school crossing

Reason 1:  Nearly one in every eight road deaths in South Australia is a pedestrian. In addition to fatalities there are on average just under 100 pedestrians seriously injured, as well as many more who receive minor injuries each year.

Reason 2: Your child will learn about pedestrian safety by watching you, so use safe behaviour around cars, roads, footpaths and car parks. Always stop, look, listen and think before crossing a road, and use pedestrian crossings wherever possible. Always cross at the safest point, even if you have to walk further out of your way, and if you’re crossing at the lights, wait for the green man!

Reason 3: Queensland’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety recently conducted an Australia-wide survey of parents focussed on keeping kids safe around roads and cars. They found that until the age of nine, children’s perceptual and cognitive abilities are not sufficiently developed to enable them to make sound judgements when they are crossing roads. Holding hands with your children is the best way to keep them safe around a school crossing.

Reason 4: The Australian Road Rules state if you are within 20 metres of a crossing (including a school crossing) you must use that crossing to walk from one side of the road to the other.

And the other 107 reasons?  107 is the number of dollars an expiation notice (fine) will cost you if you are detected breaching the above Australian Road Rule. So keep an eye out for any hazards and keep holding hands until you’re all safely in the school yard or in the car.

This article has been prepared by A/Sgt Nigel ALLEN of the Road Safety Section, South Australia Police. If parents have any questions about school crossings, please contact the Road Safety Section on the telephone number 82076586.

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School Bus update

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Here are a few important points to remember when travelling on our School bus service.

Seatbelts

All school buses are equipped with seat belts, and in accordance with State Law all passengers travelling on one of the school fleet MUST have a seat belt fitted.

Bus Policy

It is very important that all drivers are well aware of the students intending to travel on the buses each morning and afternoon. Presently, there is high demand on some buses, which creates the possibility of more students than seats on the bus. This is overcome by transferring the required number from one bus to another. Parents are asked to communicate with drivers to ensure all students are picked up and dropped off at the end of the school day. A reminder of the School bus policy is as follows:

  • It is important that all students catching the bus are at the appropriate stop at least five minutes before the scheduled time. Bus drivers are not able to wait for students who are late as this causes all girls on the bus to be late to School. Younger students should not be left to wait for the bus on their own
  • It is important that the driver knows when a student will be catching the bus in the mornings so that they can be sure to stop to pick her up if she is not a regular morning user of the bus
  • The driver also needs to know if a student who would normally catch the bus in the morning will not be catching it that day
  • The driver must be contacted (contact information attached) by 7am to advise if a student will be catching the bus when she does not normally do so or if a student who regularly catches the bus in the mornings will not catch the bus that morning
  • Where a student will be late to the stop, the driver should be contacted on his/her mobile telephone and alternative arrangements made. If the student is not too late, it may be possible for her to be driven to a stop further on; otherwise, it is the responsibility of the parents to get their daughter to School.

Changes to Bus Allocation

During times of high demand for passenger seating on the School buses there may be a need for students to be reallocated to another bus. Whilst the School attempts to maintain current passenger lists, occasionally it is necessary to review the passenger lists and have students placed onto one of the other buses until demand reduces, at which time students can request to be returned to their previous bus. The normal run and student allocations will be reviewed at the end of each school year and with known new arriving students a full timetable will be released at the start of each school year.

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James Partington Tennis Clinics
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James Partington tennis clinics include lessons for all ages and standards, with both private and group lessons.

These ‘Try Out’ lessons are a great way to see if tennis lessons are right for your child. Free introductory lessons are now on offer!

Download the flyer for more information.

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EFM Fitness Classes
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EFM Stonyfell, situated on-site at St Peter’s Girls’ School, is now offering a free, no obligation/no sign up offer for their boot camp or barre fitness classes.

The free boot camp classes occur every Tuesday morning 6 – 7am until the end of December. The class is held on school grounds and caters for any fitness level.

The barre fitness classes start on Tuesday October 25 6 – 7pm and run for 6 weeks. Parents, friends and family are all welcome!

With summer on the way, why not come out and give it a go!

If you are interested, please call Ange on 0417 867 750 or simply turn up at any of the above sessions!

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Sports News

Sports Awards – Thursday 24 November

Please place in your diaries Thursday 24 November. On this day Awards for a wide variety of sports are presented to students in Years 7 to 12 to recognise outstanding individual and team performances.

The function will commence immediately after school, with students able to purchase food and drinks from the Sport Support group and the Awards ceremony commencing at 4pm. Each sport will be recognised and Olympic Rower and former student, Olympia Aldersey, will be our guest speaker.

All students who have participated in sport are expected to attend and we welcome as many parents as possible, who will also be able to purchase wine supplied by Friends of Rowing.

SAPSASA News

It is with great excitement that we have been advised that as a member of the East Adelaide Primary School district East Adelaide has been named as the top district in both Swimming and Athletics. With Saints featuring prominently in both sports it is a fantastic reward to our students. Thanks and congratulations!

 Sports Fixtures

Please note that all of the Term 4 Sports draws can also be found on the ‘Parents’ page of the School website found here.

Any changes and cancellations will be conveyed in advance, via email and where possible directly to students.

Athletics
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Thanks to the wonderful support of the parents involved in the Sport Support group, they have purchased a new high jump mat. This comes just in time for the Summer athletics and after a successful term at both Primary and Secondary level we can now provide more coaching to students on a regular basis.

Congratulations to Portia Maerschel (Year 7) and Molly Dwyer (Year 4) who have both gained selection in the South Australian 12 and under Athletics team. The team will compete at the National carnival to be held in Sydney from 25-29 November.

Rowing 

The October Rowing camp held in the first week of the holidays provided a great chance for the girls to get to know each other and begin to improve their technique. Although the windy weather limited the time the girls could spend on the water, each crew made the most of every session, and made huge improvements in their technique throughout the week. A special mention must go to the junior girls who helped to cox the seniors throughout the week. They did a fantastic job! The windy weather provided a chance for all of the girls to participate in a range of fun bonding activities based on Olympic sports. The girls played golf, using an oar to putt a ball into a bin and scoring a point for a hole in one. This proved to be quite a challenge with the low ceilings of the dining room! The girls also played archery, using their heads covered in shaving foam as the target and Cheezles as the arrows. This was a great activity which provided much amusement for the girls and allowed them to continue to bond. The final activity of a quiz allowed each of our teams to prove their knowledge of rowing and the 2016 Bachelor series!

Our rowing camp was a very positive experience for all girls. I look forward to seeing continuous improvements and successful results from the girls this season.

Sophie Freeman (Captain of Boats 2017)

 Softball/Baseball
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Angela Mourtzios (Year 5) represented Macarthur Little League Majors at Greenies Cup held in Sydney during the October long weekend. With over 500 players this is the largest non-championship junior baseball tournament in Australia. Playing six games in three days against Sydney clubs and representative teams, Angela had a 50% on base rate, a 91% fielding rate and 76% of her pitches were strikes. From this performance Angela has been selected to play for NSW Country u13 Girls at the 2016 GFS – the largest girls’ baseball tournament in the southern hemisphere.

Congratulations to Aroha Munroe (Year 8) and Imogen Parker (Year 8) who have both been selected in the Under 15 State Development teams. Both will travel and compete in the Regional Championships being held at Mirrabooka in Perth, WA, on 15 – 21 January 2017.

Volleyball – Year 8/9 Knockout

Saints entered the State Knockout Volleyball for Year 8/9. Facing another five schools on the same day in a round robin format was difficult, with the top two schools then qualifying for the State finals.

Saints got off to a slow start, losing the first match to Marymount 2 sets to 1. Saints had shown improvement in each set and this carried into Game 2 where they defeated Marryatville 3 sets to 0, with some excellent serving from Amy Li, Amelia Wood and Ruby Bouhamdan and strong hitting from Charlotte White and Brooke Elliott. In Game 3, Saints faced Concordia and lost a close first set 23-25 but won the second 25-13, with Ruby Bouhamdan again winning many points on serve and Ankita Rajbhoj and Isabella Villani saving many points. Unfortunately, Concordia won another close third set to record a 2-1 win.

In Game 4 Saints played Adelaide High and recorded another 3-0 win, with Isobel Tan winning a number of points on serve and Charlotte White making 4 winning net blocks.

In the final game and despite being tired, Saints faced specialist Volleyball School, Brighton, and despite losing demonstrated some excellent skills again. Overall, the team played very well and should be proud of their efforts, which will hopefully carry over into their upcoming Saturday matches. Neil Fuller (Supervisor)