Issue no. 3
In this edition
From the Deputy Principal/Head of Senior School
The first three weeks of the school year have flown past with a predictable swiftness, with which teachers and students are quite familiar. Whilst school life does follow a very routine pattern, the variety of events that occur on a day-to-day basis always ensure the weeks pass extraordinarily quickly. I have appreciated the amount of enthusiasm and energy the girls have returned with and have been impressed with the level of focus already being demonstrated by the senior students.
I spoke to the girls last week about the need to review their habits and to consciously make a decision to ‘call out’ those that inhibit their potential for success. We live in a world where distractions are far too common and attention spans are shrinking. This is of course in direct contrast to what is required for deep learning and thought. I encourage all of our girls to make the choice to ‘work with intent’ in the time that they set aside to complete homework and study. It is often quite revealing how much can be completed when one has the right intent.
#EMPOWHER – Update
While 2019 brings the second year of delivery of our #EMPOWHER wellbeing program in the Middle and Senior Schools, last Friday saw the launch of our Junior School program. From this point forward, all of our girls across Reception to Year 12 will receive a comprehensive wellbeing curriculum. Much work has been completed by the Junior School staff to ensure this program is detailed, relevant and engaging. The content has been developed around survey results collected from our girls and utilises a range of evidence-based resources.
For an overview of the topics being covered across Reception to Year 12 this term, click here.
I encourage you to take the time to look over what your daughter will be exploring. The most successful wellbeing programs are those in which the School and parents work in partnership.
Paul de Gelder – IMPROVISE. ADAPT. OVERCOME.
I am pleased to announce that our #EMPOWHER guest speaker for this year is Paul de Gelder. Paul is an ex-Navy diver, shark attack survivor, author and motivational speaker. In 2009 while completing a dive in Sydney Harbour, he was attacked and consequently lost his right arm and leg. His story of survival and recovery is certainly one which will provide the girls with the inspiration to overcome challenges that will be an inevitable part of their future. Paul will be talking to all students from Years 6 – 12 on Monday 25 March.
Tutor Program
Finally, the Tutor Program will be commencing next week in the Library and I encourage you to discuss the benefits of using this free service with your daughter. The tutors are young Old Scholars who have specialist areas. Bookings can be made through Canvas, with sessions held each morning and afternoon apart from Monday mornings and Friday afternoons.
Kate Mortimer
Deputy Principal/Head of Senior School
Saints Girls – A Passport to the World
Our Global Academy offers students the opportunity to embark upon homestay exchanges with our sister schools, service learning trips to Cambodia and Fiji, study tours in Europe and Japan, and overseas sporting and music tours.
Over the course of seven months, some of our intrepid girls filmed themselves throwing a hat ‘around the world’. Visiting Cambodia, England, Canada, USA and Fiji, our hat is now a seasoned traveller! Check out this fun video that encapsulates our global reach:
Students Lift-Off at Space School
“Last summer holiday, Rachel Banham, Ebony-Jade Nash-Smith (Selwyn ’18), Hannah Keough, Srishti Sharma, and I went to Houston, Texas to participate in the CASE Senior Space School trip where we learnt more about space exploration, NASA and current advancements in the space industry.” – Emily Loh
“During the second week, we got the opportunity to attend Space University where we worked in small teams on real-world challenges faced by NASA today, including designing Martian habitats, building and launching small rockets and designing solutions for extreme weather conditions.” – Srishti Sharma
“The trip was an amazing experience that allowed us to meet people from around Australia and New Zealand but it also enabled us to develop our leadership and teamwork skills along with the ability for us to overcome challenges and frustrations faced on a daily basis.” – Rachel Banham
“Space camp exceeded my expectations beyond anything I can describe and gave me an opportunity of a lifetime to explore the depths of STEM and American culture.” – Ebony-Jade Nash-Smith (Selwyn ’18)
Deep Learning at Year 9 Aquatics Camp
Last Thursday and Friday, the Year 9s went on Aquatics Camp. While it was lots of fun, we were also pushed out of our comfort zones and learnt many new skills. We boarded the bus at 8.30 in the morning and everyone was still a little asleep, but as soon as we got into the water, we were all wide awake.
The first day on the River Murray was filled with activities and it was great to get to know everyone in our groups. We had the chance to try sailing, stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking, knee boarding, water skiing, and we even got to test our boat driving skills. Many of us had never tried any of these activities before and it was an amazing experience. Everyone was very supportive of each other and we were all encouraged to give everything a shot.
In the afternoon, we pitched our tents and played some late night games. The next morning, we woke up and had a delicious pancake breakfast and, after finishing up our aquatic activities, we headed back to school.
Aquatics Camp was an unforgettable experience.
Chi Chi Zhao
Year 9 student
Dance Class Steps Back in Time
This week, guest Dance teacher Joe Meldrum ran a Bob Fosse jazz workshop for the Year 10 students. It was a blast from the past for me personally, as I had taught Joe co-curricular Dance lessons at Westminster School while he was a senior student. After completing the course at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), Joe has since worked on many musicals with the Melbourne Production Company and is leaving for Sydney this weekend to perform at the Opera House in West Side Story. Having only trained in Dance at his school, Joe’s professional journey and experiences inspired the girls. – Kate Burnett, Head of The Arts
“I really enjoyed exploring the work of Bob Fosse as he has greatly influenced the jazz and musical theatre industries. Due to his unique style, I was pushed out of my comfort zone and had an opportunity to explore new techniques and body movements. I really enjoyed learning the original choreography from All That Jazz as it was very precise and detailed. The workshop was great fun and I am glad that I had the opportunity to participate and experience new things.” – Sophie Aplin, Stage 1 dancer
Seat of Encouragement – Style a Tile
The Next Challenge: Building for Tomorrow
Our ‘Seat of Encouragement’ will be a striking feature in our new Science Centre. Located on the second level between the four general laboratories, the seat will be accompanied by individual tiles, recognising donors who contribute to this unique St Peter’s Girls’ Foundation campaign.
We invite current/past parents and staff, Old Scholars, friends of the School and local businesses to purchase an expression of encouragement to embolden and inspire our girls.
The St Peter’s Girls’ Foundation raises funds to advance the School’s educational, scholarship and building programs. By purchasing a tile, you will be supporting the learners of today and tomorrow.
All tiles can be personalised and many offer the choice of a motivational quote. They can be purchased via www.trybooking.com/BARQD.
House Caps Now Available!
Thanks to the Saints Sport Support Group, House caps can now be purchased via www.trybooking.com/BAQLF. Cash sales will also be available at next Friday’s Swimming Carnival.
Hats are $20 online or $25 at the Swimming Carnival. If you pre-order, they will be available for you to pick up at the carnival. These hats can then be worn during all Interhouse events throughout the year.
House tattoos will also be sold at the carnival as a fundraiser for the Saints Sport Support Group. We ask that the tattoos are not visible outside the girls’ school uniforms when returning to school.
The Garden of Saintly Delights
Sunday 24 February 2019
What an amazing event to help kick off celebrations for the School’s 125th anniversary! The Garden of Saintly Delights, our annual school fair, is going to be bigger and better than ever.
Bring the whole family along for a fun-filled day of carnival rides, free entertainment on our Chiverton Lawns’ stage, food trucks, market stalls, local sporting personalities and much, much more.
Head to our Facebook page for a full list of the day’s activities and vendors. Please like and share as this event is also open to the public.
If you are interested in volunteering on the day or being a part of the fair, please contact the P&F Association via stpetersgirls.pandf@gmail.com
Bronwyn Bartter
Parents’ and Friends’ Association President
Swimming Carnival 2019
The Years 4 – 12 Swimming Carnival will be held on Friday 22 February (Week 4) at the Adelaide Aquatic Centre. School buses will be available to take students to/from school and the centre. Click here to book the bus. House colours are encouraged, however coloured zinc and body paint are not permitted in the pool.
School teams for SAPSASA (Years 4 – 7), SSSSA (Years 8 – 12) and IGSSA (Years 7 – 12) will be selected from the Swimming Carnival results.
Neil Fuller
Director of Sport
Choral Night 2019 – A Colourful Affair
Thursday 21 March
Join us at 7pm on Thursday 21 March at the Adelaide Convention Centre for Choral Night 2019! Arguably one of the most popular events on the Saints Girls’ calendar, this year’s event carries the theme of ‘Colours’.
Tickets will be on sale soon, so keep an eye out in the Enews and your emails!
Music Teacher On-Song for Festival Success
This year, I was honoured to be asked to compose the commissioned work for the SA Primary Schools’ Festival of Music. It is a 20 minute song cycle, and this year’s theme is ‘Adelaide and her 5 Sister Cities’. The work is entitled Dear Pen Pal. Each song in the cycle represents a different sister city with its unique culture and musical style.
The song cycle will be performed by over 5000 students at the Festival Theatre in August. The 10 concerts held over 10 nights will involve a student orchestra, drama troupe and a 500-strong choir every night. It’s estimated that around 12,000 children will be involved in the festival from over 250 schools across South Australia.
Last week, the Festival of Music kicked off with a choir trainers’ conference, with 300 trainers and teachers attending. I was asked to share with them my thoughts on the song cycle and then had the pleasure of hearing them sing the work in harmony and full voice.
Robyn Habel
Music Teacher
Music Camp Concert – TOMORROW!
Once again, the Music Department has made its pilgrimage to Ardrossan for Music Camp. This year, more than 130 girls from Years 5 to 12 have been invited, and we look forward to sharing all that we learn over the three days in our eighth Music Camp Concert which will be held at 2pm tomorrow at Ardrossan Town Hall. Family and friends are welcome to drive up for the afternoon. Tickets are $10 and funds raised will go directly to the local hospital to purchase extra resources and lifestyle facilities such as BBQs, plants and even chickens.
We love travelling to Ardrossan every year and feel very welcomed by the residents of this wonderful community.
Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music
Welcome Drinks on the Lawns
Last Friday night had to be our biggest turnout for our annual ‘Welcome Drinks on the Lawns’, proudly hosted by our Parents’ and Friends’ Association. It was great to see so many new parents, returning parents and staff enjoying themselves and grooving the night away with tunes supplied by our DJ.
A massive thank you to ELC parent Luke from Chesini House who partnered with the team at Mercato to supply us with the most delicious wood-fired pizzas. We’d also like to thank wonderful Year 4 parent Makeeley from Little b Catering Co. for supporting us with some amazing cheese platters. A big shout out and thank you to all the P&F volunteers, the Property Services team and staff, and of course, our Year 12 girls who all helped to ensure a terrific night.
We are truly grateful for how the community has come together to celebrate the start of the School’s 125th anniversary year. We look forward to seeing you all again on Sunday 24 February at The Garden of Saintly Delights.
Bronwyn Bartter
Parents’ and Friends’ Association Committee
Would You Like to Join Our Amazing Team of Volunteers?
Our Learning Strategies volunteers are all enormously valued within the department and the broader School community. Our girls LOVE working with them, and the teachers are so appreciative of their generous donation of energy, expertise and enthusiasm. We have some exciting developments within our department in 2019 and we’d love you to join us.
Training for volunteers in the STAR program!
Tuesday 19 February 2019 from 1 – 2pm with Aleasha Francis and Cath Kelly
This one hour training session will be followed by a 30 minute volunteer induction session with Richard Lisle. We’d love you to join the STAR Program volunteer group!
Our volunteers work with our girls on areas such as literacy anywhere between a couple of lessons a week through to a couple of days per week. They include parents, grandparents, Old Scholars, retired staff and university students who are keen to gain further experience working with children.
Please make contact ASAP to register your interest via:
Catherine Kelly – Junior School ckelly@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Susan Bassett – Middle and Senior School sbassett@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
We will send you a volunteer information sheet to fill out and then invite you in for a chat. We will also provide training for some of our Junior School programs.
Learning Strategies Team
US and UK University Information Evening
Overseas study is a fantastic opportunity to explore the world, challenge yourself and to launch your future career. Learn what it takes to get into the best US and UK universities at this information evening in the city on 27 February.
Hear from a recent NYU Abu Dhabi admit about her experience balancing Year 11 and 12 and the overseas application process. The seminar will also cover:
– An application timeline from Year 10 to Year 12
– How to research universities from Australia
– The academic benchmarks for top universities
– The expected costs of overseas study
– Life overseas
Students and parents can register for free here.
Crimson Education – USA College Tour
Departing in January 2020, Crimson Education has designed an overseas tour for 20 students and three school staff to take in the educational and professional highlights from the east and west coasts of the USA.
Students will experience life at some of the world’s top colleges, go behind the scenes of global organisations and be able to learn from inspirational experts. The unique opportunities will include meeting with international diplomats at the UN, software engineers at Google and taking part in a capital markets simulation on Wall Street to discover just some of what the US has to offer.
The application deadline is 14 April 2019. Students will be required to submit an application form with supplementary questions that will be assessed during an interview and selection process. The final student group will be confirmed by the end of April 2019.
Sports News
SCHOOL SPORT
Nominations are now open for a range of State Primary and Secondary Schools’ teams including:
- 12 and under girls’ Football (Soccer)
- 15 and under Volleyball
- 18 and under Golf
Details can be found here.
BASKETBALL
Open – Saints 39 defeated Scotch 18
The team played an excellent opening game. The girls played hard offence and defence, leading to a great victory. They worked very well as a team, especially considering that some girls had never played before. – Sarah Matheson (Captain)
Middle A – Saints 20 defeated by Scotch 24
Being the first game of the year, it took the girls a little while to get used to their teammates and gain confidence, so we fell behind in the first half. In the second half, the girls really picked up defensively and forced a lot of turnovers. Unfortunately, we were not able to capitalise on these as we missed several shots. Everyone contributed really well and it was a good start to the term. – Brenton Davies (Coach)
Middle B – Saints 14 defeated by Scotch 15
Very similar to the A grade game with the girls taking a half to get into the match. Many were playing their first game of basketball but improved as the match wore on. From 10 points down, we almost stole the win. There is a lot to look forward to this term. – Brenton Davies (Coach)
Middle C1 – Saints 4 defeated by Seymour 48
The girls’ first game was very positive considering many haven’t played before. We came up against Seymour who are a very good side. The first-game players were nervous but soon settled in and played a top team game. While we only scored 4 points, the girls still had fun which is the main thing. – Sharnee Jones (Coach)
Middle C2 – Saints 30 defeated by Seymour 50
The second team that played surprised all of us when we scored 30 points against their 50. Everyone was able to have a go at shooting the ball and even dribbling. – Sharnee Jones (Coach)
LACROSSE
Congratulations to Millie Wilkin who has been selected in the South Australian U18 State Lacrosse to play in Perth over Easter.
ROWING
Saturday 9 February was the first School Premiership Series regatta. Conditions weren’t ideal for rowing with strong winds making the course quite rough and very unpredictable. It was probably at its worst when the Juniors rowed, but to their credit, they stuck at it and gave it their all. The pleasing thing was seeing that many of our Junior crews handled the weather well which demonstrates their technique is coming along nicely. I am hoping that this will set a good base for the rest of the season leading into Head of the River.
The Inter girls are showing great promise and have been training hard, which is reflected in their results on Saturday. The B quad had a couple of their girls missing, so some Juniors came up who were rowing a longer distance than they would normally race. Despite that, they showed really good intent and rowed well together, and I believe the results will start rolling for them over the next few weeks. The Inter As had a consistent heat finishing 4th fastest but then came out and showed the other schools that they are going to be a force by winning the A final. Overall, I’m really happy with how the girls are performing and preparing themselves for racing.
The Seniors had an interesting day with the 8 having mechanical problems in their heat which is very hard to come back from, and our 4 missing their start for their heat. In saying that, the 8 had a really good row in their final to finish 4th, and this is despite the seating in the boat not being exact at the moment. The 4 rowed in the B final but actually had the same time as the fastest from the A final, so with all the things that could have thrown the girls off, they actually came out of the day in a positive fashion.
I am really looking forward to seeing all girls improve and hopefully by HoR and the end of the season, they can look back and have nothing but good, fun memories. – Ben Flannagan (Director of Rowing)
Seniors: Both the 1st IV and the 1st VIII performed well in their finals. It was good to see where all crews are at and to have a high level of competition out on the river. We can now take away technical faults that can be improved upon and we look forward to seeing how the next regatta goes. – Amy Carrodus (Captain)
10A Rowing: In very tough conditions, the Year 10 crew consisting of Portia Maerschel, Anda Ceplite, Keely Flannagan, Sophie Barr and Jodi Papendorf, had a difficult race, placing third in the heat. This qualified us for the A final. Passing all the crews, the girls worked hard, overtaking Walford and placing first. Very proud of them all. – Jodi Papendorf (Cox)
SOFTBALL
Year 5/6 Blue – Saints 3 defeated by Seymour Blue 14
The team tried hard and we will focus on skills including knowing where to throw once the ball’s been hit and encouraging each other as they pitch/field/hit. There were some positive signs in hitting the ball and only swinging at strikes. It was a good effort for the first game, and it looks like it will be fun to teach the girls to love the sport. – Steph Collett (Coach)
Year 5/6 White – Saints 9 defeated Wilderness 1
Our first game against Wilderness was excellent. The girls came out excited and ready to play and were very supportive of each other throughout. Kate Thomas and Anna Venning were great at pitching, with the defence making solid plays. Everyone in the batting line-up hit very well and there was lots of excitement. Everyone is looking forward to our next game. – Jess Drewick (Coach)
Year 5/6 Silver – Saints 3 defeated by Pembroke Green 11
For the first game of the season, I was very proud of the girls. They showed some great batting technique, watching the ball. In our first fielding innings, we managed 3 quick outs. Special mention to Aurelia Pyne who did an awesome job at pitching for the first time. – Taylah Gabrisch (Coach)
Teeball Blue – Saints 18 defeated by Seymour 21
A great start to the term and despite not claiming the win, the girls worked hard and used their skills from training. Best player goes to Charlotte Catchpole who played a terrific innings on 1st base and Iris Ran who stopped some ground balls at 2nd base. – Lulu Tierney (Coach)
Teeball White – Saints had a bye
SWIMMING
We wish Grace Sampson (Year 12) the best of luck as she travels to compete in the Victorian Open Long Course swimming competition this weekend
TENNIS
The Tennis season got underway with trial games against Seymour College. With a young squad all stepping up into higher grades, Saints had a focus on how they played rather than the results. All girls looked very competitive against a strong Seymour team and we are hoping for continued improvement throughout the season.
Premier League – Saints 3-25 defeated by Seymour 3-27
Singles: Mia Dodd 6-4, Ruby Deakin 4-6, Maiya Jakupec 1-6, Annabel Baldwinson 6-3
Premier League Reserves – Saints 2-17 defeated by Seymour 4-30
Singles: Imogen Nienaber 2-6, Charlotte Staples 1-6, Georgia Mallick 3-6, Tahlia Louca 6-1