eNews – Week 5, Term 1 2022

Issue no. 5

From Our Director of Teaching and Learning

‘Hamlet’ is considered by many to be Shakespeare’s greatest play. The backdrop for the story is European countries at war with each other, each seeking to grow in size and influence, making this seminal text as relevant today as it has ever been. Hamlet the character is a scholar – a deep thinker puzzled by the inevitable ups and downs of life. He is a man out of step though; he is living in a time when princes are required to be bloodthirsty warriors. The first line that he speaks in the play is not one of the most famous but is perhaps one of the best examples of Shakespeare’s genius. In response to his recently-crowned uncle Claudius publicly calling him ‘son’, Hamlet mutters under his breath:

‘A little more than kin, and less than kind.’

The fact that this line is delivered as an aside tells us straight away that Hamlet does not like his uncle. This is cleverly reinforced through the many possible meanings and interpretations of the words themselves. In the first half of the line, Hamlet could be acknowledging that he is closely related to Claudius and has an affinity with him. Conversely, he could be saying the opposite – that they have ‘little’ in common beyond the family connection. In the second half of the line, Hamlet is almost certainly saying that he is ‘not the same’ as his uncle, and ‘less than kind’ could be either Hamlet’s description of Claudius’s character, or even a description of how Hamlet feels towards him and his habit of calling him ‘son’. Perhaps the cleverest thing of all about the line though is its close focus on language even down to the level of letters and spelling. Shakespeare was a lover of words, and in this line, his character Hamlet sarcastically invents a new one: more than K-I-N and less than K-I-N-D is effectively K, I, N and half a D. In other words, Hamlet might be suggesting that a new word will need to be invented so that he can describe his feelings of animosity towards his uncle. Or he may even be referring to the fact that he, rather than Claudius, was technically next in line to be king. In truth, the line was probably meant to mean all of these things simultaneously, and therein lies Shakespeare’s genius.

You may have gathered from this that I am a fan of Shakespeare and his wordplay. And where did this enthusiasm come from? Simple: from my English teacher back when I was in senior school. Without his influence, my career path and my life would probably have turned out very differently. Those magical moments in the classroom of learning and revelation can be transformative. That is the power of good teachers – they can influence and even change people’s lives. Our professional learning focus here at Saints Girls continues to be on making those little ‘tweaks’ to our practice as teachers that can make our lessons even better. Allied to this are the invariably positive attitudes to learning that our students take into their classrooms. Together, this is a recipe for enjoyable and stimulating learning experiences and hopefully even some life-changing ones.

Nigel Scoggins
Director of Teaching and Learning

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Class of 2022 Picture Perfect

As the school year begins to hit its straps, it was terrific to catch up with our Class of 2022 during their last-ever School Portraits this week.

Hear what the girls have in store and are most looking forward to in the weeks and months ahead:

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Head Prefect’s Inspiring Insights for Junior Girls

Our Year 4 students were fortunate to have Head Prefect Sophie Norman present insights into her role as a leader at Saints Girls. This tied in nicely with their current inquiry, ‘Role models can reflect the characteristics that communities and individuals value.’

Sophie spoke sincerely about her challenges and achievements, and how these have helped to shape the person and leader she is today. What particularly resonated with the Year 4 cohort was how Sophie believes in treating others with respect and kindness. The girls reflected:

‘I was very impressed that Sophie is influencing girls not to be perfect, but to be their brilliant self.’ – Olivia

‘I learnt that I can be my own little leader. I want to be Head Prefect now!’ – Ishana

Olivia Coulter
Year 4 Teacher

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Starry Night Gala Ball – Save the Date

Saturday 18 June

Saints Girls is over the moon to announce the Starry Night Gala Ball to celebrate and support our fundraising efforts for a new Gym, including our ‘Saints Girls All-Stars’.

Don’t miss out on this amazing evening with our Saints Girls’ community.

7pm, Saturday 18 June
Adelaide Convention Centre

Tickets: $200 per person
Includes three-course meal, beverages and live entertainment

To book your tickets, click here

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Drinks on the Lawns – Next Thursday

A terrific opportunity for parents to socially meet up with other parents and teachers/staff on Chiverton Lawns. Food and drinks will be provided at this adults-only event.

Please seek out your Year Level Representatives and chat with our Community Relations staff on the evening to learn about our volunteering opportunities and the social and community events we are planning in 2022.

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Year 2s Hatch Plan for Chirpy Chicks

The sound of chirping greeted the Year 2 girls earlier this term as they eagerly returned for face-to-face learning at school. The Henny Penny Chicken Hatchery program is a firm favourite of our inquiry work and is the ideal opportunity to explore ‘How the World Works’ through the central idea that ‘All living things go through a process of change.’

We have observed and scientifically recorded the changes as the baby chicks hatched from their eggs in the incubator and transitioned to life in the pen. It is astounding just how much change occurs from day-to-day as the chicks lose their egg tooth, grow wing and tail feathers, and become quite cheeky as they learn to perch on our shoulders.

The girls adore caring for and holding the baby chicks as they discover the lifecycles in our natural world.

Kathryn Clark and Rebecca Greenhalgh
Year 2 Teachers

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It’s a Bugs Life for Year 1 Entomologists

This week, our Year 1 classes had a close-up look at different types of ‘Bugs n Slugs’ during a fabulous junior entomologist activity as part of the central idea that ‘Invertebrates have a role in balancing the natural world.’

Program educators Kris and James brought a large variety of ‘creepy crawlies’ to the classroom for the students to explore and, in some cases, even touch and hold. This included giant snails, stick insects, a scorpion, beetles and spiders. The girls were introduced to the special roles invertebrates have in nature as pollinators, decomposers, pest controllers and a food source for other animals.

This activity sparked the girls’ curiosity as inquirers. It also built on the learning they experienced when they brought an invertebrate to school that they had found in their homes. This has developed the girls’ research skills as they begin to investigate the scientific world around them.

Liz Sandercock and Michelle Liddy
Year 1 Teachers

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SACE Dancers Jazz it up with Joe

During SACE Dance lessons in Week 4 and 5, the talented Stage 2 Dancers have had the valuable opportunity to learn the iconic jazz style of Bob Fosse from Joe Meldrum. Joe is back in Adelaide for a short time before rehearsals for An American in Paris begin again in Melbourne. He attended the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) before studying the Fosse style in New York!

Over the past fortnight, his incredible passion for and knowledge of the style has been imparted on a group of eager and excited dancers. These workshops will help the students with one of their assessments in which they track and evaluate their own development in a certain dance genre. The girls shared:

‘I thoroughly enjoyed the workshops with Joe, especially the style and techniques that we focused upon. Through the exercises and routine that we learnt, I gained much more insight into the Fosse style, and can now appreciate the fluidity and subtle yet effective details of each movement.’ – Jessica

‘After the workshops, I was able to pinpoint both my successes and challenges that I need to improve on in the style of Fosse jazz. As a dancer, this experience helped with my technique in the fundamentals of this classic style and being able to recognise what I can do for future development.’ – Ruby

Kate Burnett
Head of The Arts

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Zara in Fine Voice for State Opera Debut

Congratulations to Year 4 student Zara Millhouse who has been selected as one of nine singers to perform in the children’s chorus of the State Opera (OperaSA) for its upcoming production of Bohème on the Beach.

Set on iconic Glenelg beach, the State Opera presents Puccini’s epic love story on stage, under the stars with a cast of Australia’s best voices and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Zara is the youngest cast member amongst the group of 9 to 12 year olds, and being her first opera, she is excitedly taking part in rehearsals on weeknights in the lead up to the performance at 7.30pm on Saturday 26 March.

Amazing achievement Zara!

For tickets: click here

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Year 10 Explorers Shoot for the Stars

Our Year 10 girls were thanking their lucky stars this week as they tested out some cool Virtual Reality headsets during a visit from astrophysics group OzGrav. The VRs were used to build a conceptual understanding of how stars evolve over time and how star features change. The girls will use the observations to model the basic evolution of a star.

‘I really enjoyed being able to use VR headsets because it was a very interactive and interesting way to learn. I was also really fascinated about how scientists were able to find the diameter of a star using trigonometry.’ – Jessica

‘I really enjoyed seeing the different tools that are used to look at the stars. I also enjoyed how hands-on the lesson was and the learning aspect of it.’ – Ayla

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Important COVID-19 Notice

QR CODE UPDATE

SA Health has advised that COVID-Safe QR code check-in is no longer required at children’s centres, preschools and schools. However, parent movements on campus are still limited at this time, and those with formal appointments at the School should continue to perform the routine visitor sign in/out at Front Office.

COVID-19 REMINDERS

To help protect the health of our families, staff and the wider community, we must all work together to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Please be reminded of 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.

If there are COVID cases within the school setting, parents of classroom contacts will be notified, and these children can continue to attend school provided they have no symptoms.

FRONT OFFICE DROP-OFFS

With current restrictions on parents entering the School grounds and to assist our staff, please ensure your daughter has all of the items she needs for the day to reduce the amount of items being dropped off at the Front Office.

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

Presented by the Independent Schools Victoria Initiative