Issue no. 31
From Our Principal
As many countries battle a resurgent coronavirus, the World Health Organization has warned of ‘pandemic fatigue’ threatening our ability to tackle the virus. Whilst fatigue can be measured in different ways, it’s only natural after months of restrictions on daily life that some of our Victorian relatives and friends in particular are feeling apathetic and demotivated. It’s a reminder to us of how lucky we have been and how important it is that we adhere to the guidelines of SA Health so that we can continue to enjoy our relative freedom.
I appreciate that some of you are finding our remaining restrictions frustrating. However, Term 4 is filled with many major events, and to keep those events viable, I ask that you continue to observe the following:
• Students should remain at home if they are unwell.
• Physical greetings are discouraged.
• Parents must continue to physically distance, particularly at drop-off and pick-up. For this reason, we request that parents do not walk their daughters to or from their classrooms but continue to drop them off and meet them on the path next to the car park or at the Hallett Road entrance. I’m aware that some parents are disappointed that this restriction remains in place. However, the School is not in a position to monitor the social distancing of parents in school grounds before and after school. There will be an allocated COVID marshal at all formal events to ensure social distancing is maintained. Our Prefects are doing a wonderful job of greeting our youngest girls each morning, and the strengthening of the bond between our Senior and Junior School girls has been one of the ‘silver linings’ of the crisis with which we’ve been faced. Front Office and the Uniform Shop remain accessible. If you have organised to meet with a staff member, please sign in at Front Office and they will come over.
• As an indoor venue, the Gym remains subject to the rule of one person for each two square metres. The number of spectators remains capped, and in line with SA Health guidelines, there will be a sign-in sheet at the entrance to support contact tracing.
• If attending an event in the Arts Centre, please enter and exit the foyer promptly. There is insufficient space to gather and chat in large groups, so again, please be cognisant of the social distancing requirements.
We are very much looking forward to Celebration Day, the graduations of our Year 6 and Year 9 cohorts, ELC Hat Ceremony, and the Year 1 and 2 Nativity. Due to restricted space in the Arts Centre, each student will be limited to inviting two guests to these functions. It will be necessary to leave some seats empty to ensure social distancing between families. We will be live-streaming the events on Celebration Day, and Year 12 families will receive those details shortly.
The ELC Christmas celebration is an outdoor function. We will have a COVID marshal on site to assist families in maintaining a distance of 1.5m from other families.
Unfortunately, the tight restrictions in St Peter’s Cathedral mean we are unable to hold our annual Carols service there this year. Instead, we will hold two services in our School Chapel: one for girls in the Junior School and one for girls in the Middle and Senior Schools. Sadly, numbers will still need to be restricted. Further details will be made available in the coming weeks.
When the severity of the restrictions became apparent in March, we secured the Influencers Church in Paradise to host Presentation Night. The venue is huge, and even with social distancing in place, we can have an audience of up to 1000 people. Given this has now also morphed into Choral Night, I do hope we can have as many attendees as possible and farewell the Class of 2020 in style. Let’s lift the roof off that place! Once again, we will notify you when bookings open.
Finally, best wishes to our Year 12 girls as their schooling journey draws to a close. In a year where ‘pivot’ is the new buzzword, our girls have been adaptable, understanding and genuinely grateful for the opportunities they’ve been given. It has been an absolute pleasure to walk beside them this year, and I look forward to the laughter and the inevitable tears that Celebration Day will bring.
Have a wonderful term!
Julia Shea
Principal
Saints’ Choirs Hit New High
This year, the Australian National Choral Association held its inaugural Southern Stars showcase, an online festival of choral music with applications submitted by video entry. This event is the choral equivalent of the ABODA band and orchestra competition.
We are very excited to announce that Enchante, Concert Choir and In-Ta Jazz all secured the Gold award! Enchante was awarded overall championship winner of the Advanced Contemporary Division, with Georgie Raftopoulos taking out the Best Soloist award. The adjudicator was highly complimentary of this ensemble, describing their performance as ‘world-class’.
A further congratulations to In-Ta Jazz who were the overall championship winners of the Intermediate Division. Their set was described as ‘honestly stunning’ by the adjudicator and will be featured in a showcase concert held by ANCA on Monday 26 October at Noarlunga Theatre. To purchase tickets to the concert, visit https://www.countryarts.org.au/events/southern-stars-choir-showcase-live-2020/venue/hopgood-theatre/
To top it off, our Junior Choir recorded a Silver placing and received a special judges’ award for ‘an excellent demonstration of young singers achieving high vocal standards’.
Congratulations to all of our choristers.
Sari Noble
Music Teacher
Year 5 Campers Head for the Hills
There was much excitement as Year 5 finally set off on camp after health restrictions prevented the annual study tour to Sovereign Hill from going ahead earlier this year.
The girls were treated to a three-day Hills adventure, staying at Old Woodhouse Manor. During this time, they visited Cleland Wildlife Park and Mount Lofty Botanic Garden as part of a Science study on Adaptations. They also loved touring Melba’s Chocolate Factory at Woodside where they nearly bought them out of supplies, before visiting Hans Heysen’s house, The Cedars, as preparation for a unit of study in Art. Their final afternoon was spent shopping in Hahndorf, including a visit to Beerenberg Farm. Another camp highlight was riding the tube slides at Woodhouse and playing cricket, boules and finska.
We are very proud of the girls’ behaviour and were complemented by staff at Cleland and The Cedars on what well-mannered, intelligent students we had.
Shelley Hampton and Sarah Mulraney
Year 5 Teachers
Clean Sweep for Lacrosse Champions
Congratulations to our U13 Lacrosse team who won their Grand Final on Saturday 26 September. Despite the challenges of 2020, the girls had a remarkable season, finishing undefeated as Minor Premiers before taking out the Grand Final.
They played a very close, competitive match against North Adelaide Lacrosse Club, resulting in a 9 – 7 win! Using their skills effectively and efficiently, as well as the tactics practised throughout the season, the girls were able to stay ahead on the goal score. They worked exceptionally well, hustling hard for every ground ball to gain possession. Their effort to get back and defend on their fast breaks was excellent, resulting in many turnovers.
A special mention to Best on Field Emily Bates in goals for making many saves both in the air and on the ground. Goals scorers were Alannah Godfrey, Cleo Hart and Zoe Pool with 2 each, and Madi Dornbusch, Claris Stolcman and Savannah Walls with 1 each.
Well done girls!
Jamie Cox
Coach
P&F Family Day – THIS SUNDAY!
Sunday 18 October from 12 – 4pm
Join the Saints Girls’ community on Chiverton Lawns for our P&F Family Day!
Tickets include pasta, pizza and a glass of wine or soft drink. Additional drinks and gelato will be available for purchase. There will be kids’ activities and roving entertainment to enjoy.
BYO chairs, tables and/or picnic rug.
Ticket Prices
Adult $20
Child $15
Family of Four $50
Book at: www.trybooking.com/BKUAL
We look forward to seeing you there!
Media Hub Tour
In 2020, the Parents’ and Friends’ Association has been fundraising towards our new Media Hub.
The School’s Head of Digital Learning and Technology Garth Coulter and Foundation Manager Melissa Westgate will be at the P&F Family Day this Sunday to take interested members of our community through the state-of-the-art Media Hub from 1.30 – 2.30pm. Please find Melissa at 1.30pm on Chiverton Lawns if you would like to enjoy a tour.
Dedicated Debaters the Talk of Town
Initially, it looked as though there would be no Debating season in 2020, but in Term 2, Debating SA launched an abridged competition, consisting of four rounds and then a finals series. St Peter’s Girls entered 10 teams across Years 7 – 12.
Our Year 8 Blue team (Stephanie Andrejewskis, Dani Cox, Emily McCorley, Zoe Pool, Naomi Singh and Jessica Zhang) finished top in the State for their year level and consequently competed in the Grand Final, held at Nazareth Catholic College on the first Saturday of the holidays. The topic was ‘that the Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure should agree to the request from PETA’ (involving the erection of a roadside memorial in tribute of chickens that perished in a truck fire), and our team had the Affirmative side. The girls debated very well, in front of five adjudicators. The result was a split decision, three votes to two, in favour of the opposition. The girls will be awarded a silver medal by His Excellency the Governor of South Australia at a special awards ceremony on Friday 30 October.
Congratulations to all debaters for an excellent season and especially the Year 8 Blue team for making it to the Grand Final.
Cindy Pitkin
Year 8 Debating Supervisor
Netball Academy Star Recruits
The Netball Academy Program uses the national ‘Develop a Diamond’ curriculum to provide a development pathway for identified players aged 14 – 16 years. Participants can use the opportunity to showcase their skills for a chance to be selected for Phase 2, 17 and under State trials. Back in February, Willow and myself were amongst 200 other keen netballers hoping to be selected for the Adelaide Netball Academy, and we were successful.
After eight months of training, despite COVID setbacks, the Academy Games were ready to commence. On day one, all nine academy squads from around SA had the amazing opportunity to learn new drills and skills with professional players and coaches. On day two, our team was ready to play a series of important minor round games. Willow and myself were joint in defence in GD and GK respectively. We managed to work well together, keeping other teams’ goals to a minimum. After five games, we only lost one to the Northern Academy, which had us sitting 2nd on the ladder with two more minor round games to complete. On day three, we faced Northern Academy in the Grand Final and managed to come away with a massive 14 point win over our biggest rivals which was an impressive achievement.
We have been extremely fortunate to work together in such an amazing team. Although I will be too old to compete in the program next year, I wish Willow all the best in continuing to pursue her amazing netball.
Olivia Kelly (Year 11) and Willow Stewart-Rattray (Year 9)
Angel’s Sublime Online Performance
I have been invited to play for the Recitals Australia lunchtime concerts ever since I was 9. It has been such a rewarding experience and this year was no different in that sense. Although the concert was live-streamed with only a small audience attending, I still thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will never forget it. Performing for a livestream is quite different to a live audience. It is more difficult to portray the true emotion of the music; as a result, I had to work stylistically and exaggerate dynamics in certain sections of the piece.
Music continues to uplift people globally to hopefully bring the light at the end of the tunnel.
This is the link to my performance:
https://recitalsaustralia.org.au/whats-on/lunch-hour-series-archive/
Angel Li
Year 9 student
Bushfire Action Plan
With warmer weather upon us, it is timely to remind families about the School’s Bushfire Action Plan.
The policy was developed in consultation with the CFS, MFS, Education Department and other stakeholders to ensure staff and students are prepared in the event of an emergency. A fire drill was held today where staff and students assembled in the Arts Centre which is the nominated Bushfire Ready Building.
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.
Car Park Courtesy
The School has again received complaints about traffic blocking Stonyfell Road for lengthy periods during drop-off and pick-up. 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. 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, 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 received complaints about cars being parked too close to 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 please show consideration for others; thank you for your cooperation.
Entertainment Membership
Purchase your Entertainment Membership today and support us to reach our fundraising goal for 2020. Simply order online via our School’s page: www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/161p201
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Bronwyn Bartter on 0402 392 609.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Parents’ and Friends’ Association
Sports News
LACROSSE
U13 Grand Final – Saints 9 defeated North Adelaide 7
HOCKEY
Amelia Lucas (Year 8/U15) and Winnie Vartuli (Year 7/U13) have been selected for the Fire High Performance Hockey Academy and will join the SA Fire Touring State teams in Mount Gambier on 30 October. They will be competing against country and interstate teams. This is a great achievement, with these girls being selected from more than 40 players in each age group for teams of 15.
NETBALL
Congratulations to Olivia Kelly (Year 11) and Willow Stewart-Rattray (Year 9) who represented Adelaide Metro in the 2020 Netball Academy Games. They teamed in defence throughout the tournament and kept the opposition scoreless in the second half of the team’s successful Grand Final campaign.
SWIMMING
Well done to the following girls who competed in the 2020 South Australian Short Course Swimming Champions in the holidays. Great effort! – Lara Wakeham (Swimming Captain)
Alice Braithwaite – 2nd 200 Backstroke, 10th 100 IM, 9th 200 IM, 4th 50 Backstroke
Emma Everitt – 2nd 100 Butterfly, 1st 400 Freestyle, 3rd 50 Freestyle, 1st 100 IM, 1st 200 IM, 1st 100 Freestyle, 1st 200 Butterfly, 1st 200 Freestyle
Poppy Marshall – 6th 100 Butterfly, 1st 200 Breaststroke, 5th 100 IM, 4th 200 IM, 1st 50 Breaststroke, 14th 400 IM, 7th 50 Butterfly, 1st 100 Breaststroke
Meg Paul – 52nd 50 Freestyle, 62nd 50 Backstroke, 44th 50 Butterfly
Ella Pearce – 54th 50 Freestyle, 44th 50 Backstroke, 24th 50 Breaststroke, 34th 50 Butterfly, 13th 100 Breaststroke
Lauren Pearce – 5th 50 Freestyle, 14th 100 IM, 6th 50 Backstroke, 8th 100 Freestyle
Emily Tolladay – 14th 50 Freestyle, 10th 100 IM, 16th 50 Backstroke, 15th 100 Freestyle, 6th 50 Breaststroke, 10th 100 Breaststroke
Alyssa Tran – 6th 50 Freestyle, 2nd 100 IM, 5th 50 Backstroke, 6th 100 Freestyle, 3rd 50 Breaststroke, 9th 50 Butterfly, 4th 100 Breaststroke
Isabelle Tran – 2nd 100 Butterfly, 3rd 50 Freestyle, 9th 100 Backstroke, 5th 100 IM, 7th 200 IM, 7th 100 Freestyle, 7th 200 Butterfly, 7th 50 Butterfly, 1st 50 Butterfly, 8th 100 Breaststroke
Emily Whittaker – 3rd 200 Breaststroke, 3rd 50 Breaststroke, 4th 100 Breaststroke
Tara Young – 4th 100 Butterfly, 4th 400 Freestyle, 3rd 50 Freestyle, 4th 200 Backstroke, 3rd 100 IM, 5th 200 IM, 3rd 100 Freestyle, 2nd 50 Butterfly
BASKETBALL
Open – Saints 23 defeated Pembroke 22
The girls played a great first game back with a strong first half delivering an early lead. They worked well in defence by sticking to their players, making it hard for the opposition to score, and made great space in offence, opening up the basket. The girls let it go a bit in the second half, giving the lead over to Pembroke, but with a strong last couple of minutes, they managed to bring it back. They played the best I have seen yet this season. – Emma Matheson (Captain)
Middle A – Saints 13 defeated by Pembroke 56
Both Middle A and B teams came up against two strong Pembroke sides. The Middles As fought the entire match and never gave up. Their best quarter was in the fourth during which they doubled their score. – Katherine Perkas (Coach)
Middle B – Saints 2 defeated by Pembroke 70
The Middles Bs also had a tough game. They kept playing all the way to the end with special mention to Isabella Sanders-Wills with a nice mid-range jump shot, and excellent defensive pressure from Emily Holloway. – Katherine Perkas (Coach)
TENNIS
The Open A and B teams had an amazing start to Term 4 Tennis, playing an incredible fixture against Pulteney Grammar School. Each player should be extremely proud of their efforts! The Open A girls won 5-1, with Ruby Deakin and Britney Korir playing a magnificent doubles, winning 6-0. A further congratulations to Britney and Tahlia Cahill who won their singles 6-0!
The Open B team also had a successful return, winning 5-1. An outstanding effort! Congratulations to Imogen Nienaber and Charlotte Staples for winning their singles 6-1. The entire team played well and demonstrated terrific sportsmanship. – Annie Baldwinson (Captain)
Premier League – Saints 5-32 defeated Pulteney 1-13
Singles: Sienna Glazbrook 2-6, Tahlia Cahill 6-0, Ruby Deakin 6-4, Britney Korir 6-0
Premier Reserves – Saints 5-35 defeated Pulteney 1-12
Singles: Annie Baldwinson 5-6, Charlotte Staples 6-1, Ella Dnistriansky 6-2, Imogen Nienaber 6-0
Open Knockout
The Open A team of Sienna Glazbrook, Tahlia Cahill, Ruby Deakin and Britney Korir competed in the rescheduled Open Knockout State Finals. With six schools entered, the day started with two pools of three, with Saints recording one win (Victor Harbor) and one loss (#1 ranked Marryatville). This meant Saints faced Immanuel in the 3rd and 4th play-off. The hot conditions did not favour tennis players, and with fatigue setting in, unfortunately Immanuel prevailed with Saints finishing 4th overall. The girls certainly played some terrific tennis throughout the day and should be proud of their efforts. – Neil Fuller (Director of Sport)