Issue no. 5

Girls in Tech 2023

Girls in Tech 2023 was bigger and better than ever with 250 students from local schools inspired by experts from dozens of STEM organisations.

This event aims to ignite a STEM spark in young girls, shining a light on career paths of the future.

Well done to all involved on another tech-tacular expo!

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From Our Head of Junior School

There are very few activities we enjoy these days that don’t rely on some type of technology. Even the humble Sunday picnic is an opportunity to get friendly with the internet, as I appreciated while sleuthing the clues for a ‘mystery picnic’ last weekend! At a personal level, we welcome getting around with an interactive map at our fingertips, translating foreign languages having no prior knowledge of the language, making quick work of mathematical calculations, and simultaneously seeing and hearing our absent friends and family, all with the help of our mobile phones.

However, we all know that the ever-evolving nature of technologies has far-reaching possibilities, way more significant than our day-to-day interactions with our mobile devices. Our students’ future will be in a world of continual technological advances. Many of our graduates will hopefully be at the forefront of developments that will shape our world and improve the lives of others.

Our annual Girls in Tech Expo introduces a broad array of digital technologies and STEM-related projects to students, enabling them to explore hands-on a range of innovations and digital applications. It’s important that our students see current issues as opportunities for innovation, and that they are encouraged to develop a creative outlook and a solution-focused mindset. Spending time with the creators and supporters of cutting-edge technologies is a valuable step towards this.

Exciting advances of the 2020s include things such as tiny, wearable medical data trackers, further development of green technologies, solving real-world issues through replication in virtual reality, advances in the biotech space, and data analytics in transportation, health and customer behaviour. It will be interesting to see what sparks our girls’ interest as they head towards their future careers. No doubt we will look back in 10 years’ time and be in awe of the next array of changes we have witnessed – we can only wonder at what our students’ involvement in those will be.

Suzanne Haddy
Head of Junior School

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Swimming Carnival 2023 – Full Results

McGill Shield
1st Selwyn (3370), 2nd Kilburn (3339), 3rd Kennion (3209), 4th Patteson (2915)

Junior
1st Patteson, 2nd Selwyn, 3rd Kennion, 4th Kilburn

Middle
1st Kilburn, 2nd Selwyn, 3rd Patteson, 4th Kennion

Senior
1st Kennion, 2nd Selwyn, 3rd Kilburn, 4th Patteson

Year 4 Aggregate Cup
Emily Wang (Patteson)
Lucy Dougherty (Kennion)
Amy Liau (Selwyn)

Year 5 Aggregate Cup
Mimi Birmingham (Selwyn)
Hannah Woo (Patteson)
Milli Richardson (Kennion)

Year 6 Aggregate Cup
Emily Robinson (Kilburn)
Natalia Quinn (Patteson)
Sasha Connor (Selwyn)

Year 7 Aggregate Cup
Chloe Sturt (Kilburn)
Meg Paul (Patteson)
Milla Everitt (Kennion)

Year 8 Aggregate Cup
Ella Pearce (Selwyn)
Ruby Marschall (Kilburn)
Isla Fahey (Selwyn)

Year 9 Aggregate Cup
Holly Robinson (Kilburn)
Genevieve Braithwaite (Kilburn)
Cleo Hart (Patteson)

Year 10 Aggregate Cup
Alyssa Tran (Kilburn)
Elysia Scarr (Selwyn)
Emma Everitt (Kennion)

Year 11 Aggregate Cup
Alice Braithwaite (Kennion)
Summer Bament (Patteson)
Ayla Blaskett (Kilburn)

Year 12 Aggregate Cup
Isabelle Tran (Kilburn)
Emily Whittaker (Patteson)
Poppy Marshall (Selwyn)

Junior Champion Swimmer
Emily Robinson (Year 6 Kilburn)

Middle Champion Swimmer
Ella Pearce (Year 8 Selwyn)

Senior Champion Swimmer
Alice Braithwaite (Year 11 Kennion)

Junior 100m IM
Natalia Quinn (Year 6 Patterson)
Emily Robinson (Year 6 Kilburn)
Juliette Tang (Year 6 Kilburn)

Middle 200m IM
Meg Paul (Year 7 Patterson)
Chloe Sturt (Year 7 Kilburn)
Ella Pearce (Year 8 Selwyn)

Senior 200m IM
Alice Braithwaite (Year 11 Kennion)
Alyssa Tran (Year 10 Kilburn)
Elysia Scarr (Year 10 Selwyn)

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Friendship Day for Strong Saints

Last Friday, students from Reception to Year 3 participated in our inaugural Friendship Day as part of our ‘URSTRONG’ program launch in Junior School. As the girls arrived in the morning, they were excited to see their teachers had transformed into Friendship Ninjas, which set the tone for a day full of excitement and energy!

The girls participated in various activities in their House teams including making sensory jars to assist with managing unpleasant feelings, creating kindness affirmation rocks to go in a small garden space for students to access during play times, designing ninja headbands, decorating their own ninja, rescuing ‘Fred the worm’ in a team-building STEM challenge and learning a fun ninja dance in the Arts Centre.

Adopting the skills taught in the URSTRONG program, the girls were able to put their ninja skills into practice during these activities by being super introducers when meeting new friends. At the end of the sessions, the girls were delighted to perform their dances on stage in front of their fellow students and teachers, and enjoyed some House-coloured jelly from our wonderful Tuck Shop staff.

Meg Jordan
Reception Teacher

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‘URSTRONG’ Friendship Program

We are proud that our Junior School has become a ‘URSTRONG School’ in 2023. This whole-School friendship strategy will connect students, teachers and parents with a common language around friendships.

Junior School parents are invited to take advantage of a free Parent Membership to access hundreds of resources. For more information – click here

We are also pleased to partner with the URSTRONG organisation to offer a ‘Language of Friendship’ parent and child online workshop on Wednesday 22 March at 6pm. This session will teach you and your children the skills and language to foster healthy, feel-good friendships. To register – click here

Helen Smith
Deputy Head of Junior School

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SLIC Award for Library Legends

Congratulations to our Student Libraries Initiatives Club (SLIC) on receiving the inaugural statewide Innovations in School Libraries Award from the School Library Association of South Australia (SLASA). Renowned author and friend of our School Phil Cummings presented the award, commending our SLIC girls on this special achievement.

A short video was created to highlight some of the many activities this co-curricular club engages in such as the Book Fair, promotion of the Premier’s Reading Challenge, and hosting and performing at the Book Week Assembly. During the SLASA meeting, our video was shared with those in attendance and was also streamed across Australia to people from other school libraries.

As part of this week’s Assembly, I presented the certificate to club members as we shared the achievement with the wider School community.

Annie Bui
Library Captain

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Parents Take Note at Music Information Evening

Last week, we hosted parents of Year 3 and 4 students at our Music Information Evening, where they became the learners.

Parent engagement is such an important component to ensuring success in the classroom. Much research has been completed in recent years, confirming what many Music Teachers already know: music enhances learning and supports confidence and wellbeing.

It was easy to see this occurring as our budding young musicians confidently passed on their newfound knowledge to their parents as part of our Years 3 and 4 Immersion Program. Every student learns a string instrument in Year 3 and a band instrument in Year 4 for three terms as part of the Junior School Music Curriculum. They develop skills not only in music-making but also in problem-solving, teamwork, communication, time management, empathy, resilience and literacy on their way to becoming fully-fledged members of our Music family.

We wish our Year 3 and 4 students and parents all the best as they continue their music journey.

Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music

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Culture and Cuisine in Japanese Garden

Our Year 12 IB Japanese class travelled to the Adelaide Himeji Garden in the city last week to immerse ourselves in Japanese culture. The excursion was a great chance for us to practise our Japanese conversation and learn about the importance of gardens in connecting Japanese culture to the environment.

Himeji is Adelaide’s sister city in Japan. The garden includes a beautiful main lake featuring turtles, lily pads and a water-viewing lantern, a teahouse and a sea of sand, aiming to incorporate the three main styles of Japanese gardens.

During our visit, we ate a Japanese-style lunch including obento, ramune (Japanese lemonade) and mochi for dessert! We immensely enjoyed spending our time in the relaxing atmosphere of the garden and learning more about how nature is connected to culture in Japan.

Madison Liddy and Ellie Humphrey
Year 12 students

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New Wave of Learning to Surf

This term, the Year 12 PE students have been taking part in surf sessions at Middleton Beach.

The girls are accessing GoPro, drone and phone footage to discuss how they see themselves as a learner and the impact of different coaching methodologies on their improvement.

Despite some difficult conditions, the girls displayed their typical courage to enjoy the experience and gain new insights.

Dan Searle
Heath & Physical Education Teacher

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Career Superwomen: Making Her Mark

A group of eager Year 10 and 11 students recently attended the launch of a new schools-based initiative called ‘Making Her Mark’. They listened to engaging stories of empowerment from women in non-traditional industries such as space robotics, civil engineering and carpentry.

‘We heard from a group of women about how they were inspired to follow their dreams to create the future they wanted to have, and learnt about their journeys from school all the way into their career, inspiring many of us with their achievements along the way.’ – Charlotte Lorenzen (Year 10 student)

One very interesting story was from Bailee, who achieved an excellent ATAR and commenced a double degree at university, but soon decided this was doing what others wanted and not what her passion was. So, she changed paths, and with her family’s support, enrolled in a carpentry certificate at TAFE. Bailee now owns her own carpentry business and absolutely loves her work. Being a woman in a male-dominated field, she often faces challenges, and when once told she should be at home in the kitchen, she replied, ‘I’ll build your kitchen, and you make me a sandwich!’ Our girls loved that line!

The overall messages were to:
• trust your ‘gut’ when making decisions about your future and not be swayed by
entrenched perceptions – don’t let low female representation guide your career choice
• find strength and support from other women in the industry
• choose subjects to spark your passion, and when spoilt for choice, you can’t make a
wrong decision, but you will need to make hard decisions!
• if you don’t have a network, create one
• be the change you want to see in your industry

Carolyn Farr
Careers Coordinator

Karen Alderson
Careers Counsellor

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Summer Interhouse Meal Deal – Order Now!

The Friends of Sport (FOS) will be cooking up a storm at Summer Interhouse on Thursday 6 April. We’re offering delicious cheeseburger Meal Deals and a sausage sizzle (vegetarian option available).

Pre-order your daughter’s cheeseburger Meal Deal before 5pm, Thursday 30 March via TryBooking – click here

Friends of Sport volunteers will hand-deliver the Reception – Year 2 lunches to their classrooms, and Years 3 – 12 will collect theirs from the FOS barbecue area.

There will also be cash and EFTPOS sales on the day for the sausage sizzle.

To get you into the Summer Interhouse spirit, branded keyrings, supporter hats, House hats, water bottles and wristbands can also be pre-ordered, or purchased on the day.

All proceeds raised by the Friends of Sport directly benefit our Saints Girls and their sporting endeavours.

Thank you so much for your kind support.

Friends of Sport

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School Photos – Next Week

Focus School Portraits will be at school next week from Monday 6 March – Wednesday 8 March to take our School Photos.

A special St Peter’s Girls’ Package has been designed for our families where each student will receive the following photos:

1 – 8″ x 10″ Individual Portrait
2 – 5″ x 7″ Individual Portraits
4 – 2.5″ x 3.5″ Individual Portraits
1 – 8″ x 10″ Class/Home Group Photo

There is no additional cost to families as this has been incorporated into your fees. Should you wish to purchase extra packs, photos or items such as key rings, mugs, jigsaws etc., you can visit www.focusschoolportraits.com to order these online.

Class/Home Group Teachers will be sent the schedule and will communicate photo times to students.

Sibling photos will be taken during lunch on Monday 6 March and Tuesday 7 March on Chiverton Lawns. Order forms for each family will be distributed to Class/Home Group Teachers.

If you have any queries, please contact me via fmcgregor@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Fiona McGregor
Events Coordinator

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Old Scholar Occupational Therapist Seeking Study Participants

My name is Ellana Welsby and I am an Old Scholar of St Peter’s Girls’ School (Kilburn 2013). I’m an occupational therapist and am currently completing my PhD studies at the University of South Australia.

I have partnered with St Peter’s Girls’ School to be involved in the evaluation and testing of a new augmented reality intervention to help children learn and develop key motor skills they need to thrive in their everyday life.

I will be commencing testing this term and would love for your daughter to participate in this exciting opportunity if she is 7 to 12 years of age. All participants will receive an occupational therapy assessment summary of their motor skill performance.

For more information – click here

To sign up to this study, please click here to register your interest.

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Head of the River Dinner

The Friends of Rowing invite rowers, family and friends to celebrate the efforts, improvements and achievements of our St Peter’s Girls’ rowers throughout the 2022/23 season.

The annual Head of the River Dinner will be held at the Adelaide Pavilion. The evening will feature speeches from students and coaches about the season that has been, and will conclude with awards being presented. The dinner includes a three-course menu and drinks package.

Saturday 18 March
6pm arrival for 6.30pm start
Adelaide Pavilion (corner South Terrace and Peacock Road, Adelaide)

Tickets
Students – $85 per person
Adults – $95 per person
Purchase via TryBooking – click here

Ticket sales close at 5pm, Monday 6 March

Please note, all rowers are expected to attend this event.

Brynley Millward
Director of Rowing

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Dad’s Night on the Green

Friday 17 March
From 6.30pm
Tranmere Bowling Club
1 Kings Grove, Tranmere

Tickets: $40
Includes entry, bowling fees, hamburger and sausage sizzle
Drinks and lucky squares can be purchased on the evening

To book your ticket – click here

Bookings close Tuesday 14 March

Participants will be assembled into teams of four. Bring a mate and meet other Saints Girls’ Dads!

Supported by the Friends of Sport

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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.

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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

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Bushfire Action Plan

It is important to remind families about the School’s Bushfire Action Plan.

The policy was developed in consultation with the CFS, MFS, Department for Education and other stakeholders to ensure staff and students are prepared in the event of an emergency.

For more information, you can access our Bushfire Action Plan on the myLink parent portal by clicking the ‘School Documents’ menu item, followed by the ‘Whole School’ tab.

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Car Park Protocols

Burnside Council has advised it will be conducting routine street parking patrols to support the safety of all people within the vicinity of the School. For council parking information, please find an information brochure here.

A reminder about the School’s car park protocols:

If the car park is full and you are unable to enter, circle the block until it is clear to enter, find a park elsewhere or, where age-appropriate, meet your daughter in a surrounding street.

Please note that, unless special circumstances apply, parents of girls in Years 2 to 12 should not enter the car park to collect their daughters prior to 3.30pm. Parents of girls in Reception and Year 1 have exclusive use of the pick-up zone prior to this time for safety and traffic reasons.

Please also refrain from turning right into or out of the car park at peak times, and please do not queue in the car park’s lanes as this often prevents drivers who are legally parked from exiting.

We have also previously received complaints about cars being parked too close to or in front of driveways, or across from other vehicles in surrounding streets, making it extremely difficult for residents and other road users to navigate.

We ask all community members to show consideration for others. Thank you for your cooperation.

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School Shop Notices

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

New ELC Uniforms

Our new ELC uniforms are available to purchase in the School Shop.

This beautiful range is designed for the needs of our youngest community members, giving our ELC children a smart, cohesive look, and simplifying the routine of getting dressed in the morning.

We look forward to seeing the children proudly wear their new ELC attire.