Issue no. 17
From Our Director of Early Learning
More Than a Word: Reconciliation Takes Action in the ELC
This year’s theme for Reconciliation Week rings true to our ears in the ELC. We have been so empowered by our own journey and having many opportunities to share this important message beyond our own front door. Since we delivered our first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), we have taken stronger steps on our journey of reconciliation, using the vision of the RAP and the three essential pillars of Relationships, Respect and Opportunities to guide our work.
Having an important relationship with the Kaurna community allows us to hear first-hand their narratives, to learn and embrace their culture, and have an authentic history lesson. Kaurna elder Tamaru has assisted us to build our daily rituals, to connect to Mother Earth and to acknowledge on a daily basis the reason why we must enact our pledge to look after our land.
It is indeed the action that matters, and our work is pivotal as it is embedded in daily practice. There is a misconception around what knowledge and stories children need to learn about our First Nations People. At the ELC, we advocate for honesty and change in the area of reconciliation and, over the past four years, have made a significant impact on our ELC and School community, not to mention the wider community.
Our work is so significant in the wider community that I was recently asked to be on the panel at the SA Reconciliation Breakfast representing the ELC to Year 12 education sector at a State level. Speaking and advocating for our work in front of 1700 people was both slightly overwhelming and invigorating as I know our work matters. It comes back to viewing children as citizens and seeing their role in forming their own decisions and understandings from these important early childhood years. We hope that our community can continue this work, listening to children’s questions and answering them honestly, as they continue through their years of education.
We marked our journey in the ELC this week with Tamaru holding a traditional smoking ceremony and a Welcome to Country. Many of our community members attended and together we stood side-by-side on this journey of reconciliation, which was a true act of respect. We look forward to sharing more of this work with you through our videos that document our actions.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
National Reconciliation Week Breakfast
Teachers and students attended the National Reconciliation Week Breakfast at the Adelaide Convention Centre last Thursday. It was a real celebration of the community, private sector and educational commitment to the spirit of reconciliation and included a panel discussion on this year’s theme: ‘More than a word: Reconciliation takes action’. The challenge to all attendees was to turn ‘safe’ conversations about reconciliation into ‘brave’ ones so as to highlight the need to act rather than merely think it is right to do so.
St Peter’s Girls was represented by Year 8 students Levanya De Silva and Grace Richardson-Stevens and Year 6 student Imogen Wallace, alongside Director of Early Learning Kate Mount, ELC Co-Educator Henrietta Balnaves and Head of Humanities Gregor Dingwall. The breakfast was a great opportunity to build partnerships with community groups united by the recognition that advancing reconciliation will be a partnership or a Makarrata, the indigenous word for coming together after a struggle. How we as a School respond to this challenge will very much shape our next Reconciliation Action Plan.
To coincide with National Reconciliation Week, Middle School classes have also undertaken workshops in the Library to explore the plight of Australia’s indigenous people since Federation, and to discuss the differing interpretations of the legal and political events which have shaped the experience of our First Nations People.
Podium Finish at Ethics Olympiad
Two Saints Girls’ teams last week entered the South Australian Senior School Ethics Olympiad. This year’s competition was of an incredibly high calibre, so we were very excited to hear that our Year 11/12 team consisting of Sara Peak, Emily Teague, Victoria Thorp and myself placed 1st, and our Year 10 team consisting of Bronwyn Gautier, Jasreet Mavi, Lady Murphy and Emma Pool came 3rd.
The Ethics Olympiad is an interschool competition comprising four or five students per team who present their analysis of an ethical issue, respond to other teams’ critiques of their arguments and answer questions from the expert judges about the issue. Unlike debating, which focuses on defending a single side of an argument, the Ethics Olympiad encourages teams to explore the nuanced ethical perspectives on a case to collaboratively generate a balanced conclusion. We discussed topics such as the line between free speech and hate speech on online gaming platforms, whether it is ethical to defund the police, and whether exaggerating statistics to convince young people to take coronavirus seriously is morally justifiable.
We wish our Year 11/12 team the best of luck as they progress to the online National Final later this year.
Holly Wallman-Craddock
Student
Can You Be Our Game Changer?
As we embark upon our first major fundraising campaign since our Arts Centre project, we hope you can help us slam dunk our goal of $1M to give Saints Girls a new Gym sooner.
Featuring two indoor courts, an elevated viewing platform and revamped weights area, our new Gym will be a jewel in our sporting crown. If we reach our target, we will bring construction forward by 12 months to commence work in December next year.
So, we need your help: can you be our Game Changer and fast-track our new Gym?
Please use reference: Tax 2021
As the end of financial year approaches, please note that donations are tax deductible. Donations of any size are always welcome, and considerable contributions will be formally acknowledged in unique ways in the new Gym, taking into account voluntary Building Fund payments and event fundraising. The ultimate winners will be our girls.
Please contact me, or Foundation Manager Melissa Westgate via 0407 394 183 or mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au, if you have any questions or if you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss this project in detail. We also look forward to sharing our upcoming fundraising events with you shortly.
Thank you for supporting Saints Girls and this landmark campaign.
Julia Shea
Principal
Meet Our New Board Member
Following an extensive, independent recruitment process, St Peter’s Girls’ School is delighted to announce the appointment of a new member to our highly-experienced, voluntary Board of Governors.
Iain Hay is Matthew Flinders Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Geography at Flinders University where he was also foundation Dean (Education) for the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Iain completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Washington as a Fulbright Scholar and was later awarded a Doctor of Letters from the University of Canterbury. He is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year, and includes amongst his academic and governance qualifications Fellowships of the Academy of Social Sciences and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Iain’s wife and mother-in-law are alumnae of St Peter’s Girls’ School.
“I am looking forward to this role for the opportunities it offers to enhance St Peter’s Girls’ reputation as a world‐class school for girls, and to support an organisation whose values of compassion, creativity and courage accord very closely with my own,” Iain said.
“As an academic with a particular background in educational leadership and management, I believe I am exceptionally well‐positioned to support the Board’s work towards its seven current strategic focus areas: Academics, Spaces and Places, Community, Organisational Sustainability, Wellbeing, Staff, and Co‐Curricular.”
The School congratulates Iain on his appointment and we look forward to seeing his contributions in lifting St Peter’s Girls to even greater heights.
Passionate Public Speaker Set for State Final
Last Saturday, I participated in the 2021 Legacy Junior Public Speaking Competition. I presented two speeches, with the first being a six minute prepared speech, and the second a two minute impromptu speech where I was given five minutes to prepare.
Both speeches had to relate to at least one of the ideals of Legacy which are voluntary service, care and compassion, personal sacrifice, mateship and the need for remembrance. For my prepared speech, I spoke about how ‘Every Sacrificed Individual for Public Service Deserves to be Remembered.’ I discussed the importance of offering education for all children for the impromptu speech topic of ‘Do I really care?’
I feel honoured to be selected to participate in the State Final, and I cannot wait for the competition day to finally arrive in August. Public speaking has not only improved my use of plain English and public speaking skills, it has also given me the opportunity to meet and befriend some amazing people who have helped me gain a deeper understanding into some current world issues and a few of their own unique personal stories.
I would definitely encourage anyone entering Years 7 to 9 in the coming years to take part in this remarkable public speaking competition.
Jessica Zhang
Student
Mathematicians Formulate Their Game Plan
Year 6 Maths – Gaming to Learn
The Year 6 Maths Group has been studying decimals, fractions, percentages and their connections. To demonstrate their understanding, they were asked to create a board game with the following Learning Intentions:
• To see how decimal numbers are built up from whole numbers and fractions
• To understand the relationship between decimals, fractions and percentages
• To understand the use and relevance of decimals in our measurement system and money
The girls then designed and created the game over three lessons in a team and played each other’s games to assess whether they met the success criteria:
• The game is colourful, interesting to look at and would be appealing to a Year 6 student
• The presentation is neat and ordered, rules are included and are easy to follow
• The game allows students to practise all three content areas – fractions, decimals and percentages – and conversions between them
• The game makes it evident that the student has a strong conceptual understanding of fractions, decimals and percentages
The collated assessments were then averaged by the students to gain an overall assessment result. Sharing of thoughts verbally allowed for clarifying and critical assessment. This was an extremely worthwhile mathematical activity enjoyed by the girls.
Shelley Hampton
Year 6 Maths Teacher
Renewed Thinking on Liveability Excursion
The 7RMI class participated in a Geography excursion to examine the liveability of Bowden. The girls toured the Plant 4 community space and were addressed by managers Jonathon and Paige Kaitatzis. After a walking tour of the precinct, the girls then heard from Andrew Bishop, the Senior Project Manager from Renewal SA. Students also visited a display apartment to gauge the affordability of the accommodation options in the environmentally-friendly urban renewal site. The excursion provided valuable insights and liveability comparisons with the suburban accommodation most students find themselves in.
Gabriele Trobbiani
Year 7 Geography Teacher
St Peter’s Girls’ Piano Recital
Introducing our guest artist for the Piano Recital on Tuesday 15 June: Dr Gabriella Smart.
From the Piano Eisteddfod on Tuesday 8 June, a select number of students from across year levels and years of experience who demonstrate confidence and musicality will be selected to perform at the evening recital on Tuesday 15 June. At the recital, our guest artist Dr Smart will talk about her own musical journey as well as perform a mixture of classical and contemporary works to motivate and inspire our budding pianists.
Dr Smart has been acknowledged as one of the leading advocates of new music in Australia – through performance, education, composition, commissioning and curation. She is Artistic Director of Soundstream, New Music Ensemble in Residence at the University of Adelaide. As a performer, Dr Smart has received several international accolades. Before COVID-19, Dr Smart performed seven concerts in Europe in 2020, which included three solo world premieres, two preview showings of new works by Kasper T Toeplitz (FRA) and Constantine Koukias (AUS/NETH), and overall performing nine Australian premieres in Europe. She has premiered more than 40 new works for solo piano in Europe and China.
We are very honoured to have Dr Smart join our Piano Recital.
Sally Rounsevell
Director of Music
Bingo Night – Saturday 19 June
The Saints Girls’ community proudly presents:
Bingo Night!
Saturday 19 June
St Peter’s Girls’ School Gym
5 rounds of Bingo + fun and games / bar available for drink purchases / adults only event
Tickets are limited, so organise your table now by visiting: TryBooking
Supported by Friends of Rowing
Road Safety Alert
The School is extremely concerned by reports of dangerous driver behaviour including speeding through the car park. All drivers must obey the 10kph speed limit.
Please also note the speed limit along Hallett Road has recently been reduced from 60 to 50kph.
Road safety and courtesy is everyone’s responsibility and is of the utmost importance in a school setting. We appeal to all of our families to take extra care in our car parks and on the roads for the safety of our students, parents, staff and the wider community.
Medical Research Careers Evening
The Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) will be holding an online High School Careers Evening on Tuesday 8 June at 6.30pm AEST. There will be a panel of people from all around Australia, where they will be discussing their jobs and the pathways they took to get there. This is a great opportunity for STEM enthusiasts to gain more information about a variety of industries. The event aims to showcase a range of career opportunities in the health and medical sector to students from Years 9 to 12. For more information, please click here.
Join ‘Our Saints’ Community
Beyond parents and guardians, our girls also treasure connections with grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family. We name these special people ‘Our Saints’.
In the first week of Term 2, students from Reception to Year 6 were given two forms each to take home to their grandparents. If you did not receive these forms from your daughter, please contact me via mwestgate@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or 8334 2244.
Alternatively, there is a link to the form here.
Our Saints provides opportunities for those who have a connection with our girls to be more involved with the School community through various means, ranging from volunteering their time, to subscribing to our publications such as eNews and Saints Alive.
We encourage all interested grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends of the family to join this special group.
Melissa Westgate
Foundation Manager
Entertainment Membership
To support Saints Girls and purchase your Entertainment Membership, including a free upgrade, click here.
Terms and conditions apply. Visit www.entertainment.com.au for more information.
Absences from School
If your child is going to be absent, late to school or leave early, please use one of the following methods to notify the School providing student name, class/Home Group and reason:
Text: 0428 601 957
Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Phone: 8334 2200
Feel free to include the class/Home Group teacher when emailing. It would be appreciated if notifications could be made prior to 9am.
Please note: it is absolutely imperative to keep unwell children at home until they have recovered, even if symptoms are mild. This is not only for their own health and safety, but for that of all students and staff.
We thank all of our families for their cooperation.
COVID Measures
Please note the following information regarding our continued COVID response.
The School has a QR code tracing system to facilitate the safe return of parents on site, in line with wider government measures. Parents entering the campus to drop off or collect their children need to scan the QR code provided each time. This also applies to parents visiting the School for events such as parent information evenings, Arts productions or sports training/matches.
Parents and visitors with more formal appointments at the School, such as meeting a staff member, are still required to sign in/out at Front Office and also need to scan the QR code as well for SA Health tracing purposes.
Adults who do not have a device to scan the QR code need to write their details on the paper form provided in the Front Office.
Parents who remain in their vehicles in the main car park do not need to scan in, and students do not need to scan in as the School already tracks daily attendance.
Logistics around events will be shared in due course, dependent upon the latest advice. Attendance numbers, particularly for indoor events, will still need to be restricted to facilitate social distancing.
The following general requirements remain in place:
- Ensure adults maintain a distance of 1.5m from each other.
- Practise sound hand washing and other hygiene measures.
- Students should remain at home if they are unwell; please notify the School of absences by texting 0428 601 957, emailing attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au, or calling 8334 2200.
We thank all of our families for your cooperation.
Sports News
NETBALL
Open A: Saints 43 v 32 Concordia
Open B: Saints 32 v 32 Concordia
Open C: Saints 36 v 22 Concordia
Open D: BYE
Intermediate A: Saints 48 v 12 Concordia
Intermediate B: Saints 41 v 14 Concordia
Year 10 C: Saints 27 v 21 Seymour
Year 9 A: Saints 47 v 32 Concordia
Year 9 B: Saints 24 v 32 Concordia
Year 9 C: Saints 10 v 25 Seymour
Year 8 A: Saints 28 v 29 Concordia
Year 8 B: Saints 22 v 16 Concordia
Year 8 C: Saints 9 v 31 Concordia
Year 7 A: Saints 18 v 26 Concordia
Year 7 B: Saints 12 v 30 Concordia
Year 7 C: Saints 18 v 17 Pembroke
Year 6 White: Saints 15 v Seymour 12
Year 6 Blue: Saints 18 v Seymour 10
Year 5 White: Saints 18 v Seymour 10
Year 5 Blue: Saints 21 v Pembroke 1
Year 5 Silver: Saints 4 v Seymour 25
Meet Our Director of Netball – Alice Johnswood
How long have you been associated with Saints Girls?
I started as Netball Director in 2016.
Do you have a club that you also work with?
Yes, I am a life member of Garville Netball Club and have returned there after five years away coaching Nairne Districts’ A Grade. I am back as the Club Development Manager at Garville. I oversee all the player and coach development as well as coach the Junior 1 team.
What position did you used to play?
GA/GS
Who is your sporting hero and why?
Natalie Avellino (Netball), Darren Jarman (AFL) and Darren Lehmann (Cricket); all players who had amazing skills and the ability to change a game.
If you could have a superhero power, what would it be?
The ability to take peoples’ pain away.
What 3 words would your players use to describe you?
Tough but fair.
Where is your favourite holiday?
Anywhere warm and near the beach with my closest friends.
If you could give one piece of advice to a budding netballer, what would it be?
Don’t practise until you get it right, practise until you can’t get it wrong.
YEAR 7 SAPSASA NETBALL
What a sterling effort by some of our talented Year 7s who this week brought home a Silver medal for East Adelaide at SAPSASA Netball – congratulations girls!
AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL
Open: Saints 3 v Wilderness 54
Middle: Saints 2 v Wilderness 13
The teams both had losses but could take heart out of the improvement being seen. Many Year 10s are making up the Open squad and have been willing to learn and develop their skills and game understanding throughout the first few matches. Moving the ball out of congestion and positioning kicks are two areas that will need continual focus, whilst the tackling pressure has generally been high.
In the Middle team, the girls are becoming accustomed to the importance of training at the intensity (and beyond) that you would expect in a match. This has meant skills such as hand passing have developed and been displayed in matches, whilst kicking on the run is a challenging aspect that still requires advancement. The girls’ enthusiasm, encouragement and initiative are three factors that have stood out so far this season. The Middle team’s realisation that they need to increase their aerobic fitness and then looking to add trainings to their schedule is a good example of this.
We look forward to watching this development across the season. – Dan Searle (Coordinator)
BADMINTON
Open A: Saints 3 v Pembroke 3
Open B: Saints 7 v 6 Walford (on sets)
Open C: Saints 5 v 1 Walford
Open D: Saints 4 v 2 Wilderness
Open E1: Played E2
Open E2: Played E1
Open F1: Saints 9 v Immanuel 0
Open F2: Saints 5 v Pembroke 4
Our girls were faced with strong opponents last weekend which challenged their skills. As they made their way through matches, they displayed positive growth mindset towards the results and learnt from coaches’ feedback. Though with some fluctuations in the results, our new players have improved as they play more matches to gain experience. Well done to all! – Candy Feng (Captain)
HOCKEY
Open: Saints 10 v Seymour B 0
Year 3/4: Saints 5 v Seymour 6
Year 5/6: Saints 4 v Wilderness 1
Saints started off strongly, attacking the penalty corner in the first minute and linking up passes to Holly Cardone who scored the first goal by flicking the ball to the bottom corner. It was great to see the girls practising transfers to shift the ball around, creating space for the girls to receive the ball. Well done to Maddie Oborn for getting her first senior hockey goal! It was terrific to have five different goal scores across the game. Congratulations to the team for the first win of the season. – Poppie Goldsmith (Hockey Captain)
LACROSSE
U11 White: Saints 7 v North Adelaide 1
U11 Blue: Saints 8 v Burnside 3
U13: Saints 12 v Sturt 8
Our Lacrosse teams go from strength to strength with another two comfortable wins for our U11s, and our U13s also taking out their second win of the season. In U11, Eliza, Neela and Ivy each scored 3 goals, with Alannah Godfrey and Claris Stolcman scoring 3 and 4 respectively in the U13s. Our U13s look forward to a friendly game against Burnside this weekend.
SOCCER
Open: Saints 0 v 2 Mercedes
Middle: Saints 1 v 4 Pembroke
Our Open team has improved dramatically since the start of the season, with a strong focus on defensive shape. Against a strong Mercedes team, the girls only conceded 2 goals, with the second coming with the last kick of the game. A huge improvement from our girls who were in with a fighting chance of a result until the end. Coach Steve is very happy with the girls’ focus and improvement.
STUDENT SUCCESS
Our girls also continue to thrive in outside of school sport. Please continue to pass these stories onto the Sport Department by emailing tpeak@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
AUSTRALIAN AGE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Three Saints Girls recently participated in the Australian Age Swimming Championships on the Gold Coast, competing against the fastest swimmers in Australia.
Emma Everitt: 200 Butterfly (9th); 400 IM (16th); 400 Freestyle (17th); 200 IM (26th); 200 Freestyle (39th)
Poppy Marshall: 200 Breaststroke (14th); 100 Breaststroke (24th)
Alice Braithwaite: 200 Backstroke (31st); 400 Freestyle (34th); 200 IM (49th)