Issue no. 8
From the Deputy Principal / Head of Senior School
To Rise Above It
There is no doubt that the challenge to apply coronavirus social distancing measures has already had and will continue to have a significant impact on our School community. Whilst Saints Girls, as is the case with many other schools, has had to cancel a range of events and adjust our students’ teaching and learning, there is a glaringly obvious choice that we ourselves can make.
That is the choice ‘to rise above it’.
This does not mean dismissing the circumstances that are occurring around us, or to minimise the fact that life as we know it will continue to evolve in a way that we have not previously experienced. Rather, we each have the choice to focus on what we can control and to continue to celebrate the positive things that are happening within our lives.
So, whilst Choral Night had to be cancelled, prior to this, our Year 12 students were doing an amazing job leading the House rehearsals. We are not over-exaggerating to say that what had been achieved within the timeframe the girls had was certainly lining up to be an absolutely spectacular performance. We must also be grateful that we had the opportunity to come together as Houses, share small wins and many laughs on our journey to learn each song. It is these small wins that we must remember. Conversations, laughter and enjoying each other’s company have not been cancelled.
Year 12 also had the opportunity to perform their Choral Night dance in front of each other, and whilst everyone would have preferred to have done so at an evening performance, we need to anchor our gratitude in what is possible. Ms Shea still drew the order of performance for each House out of a hat, and the energy and spirit within the Arts Centre reflected the amazing bond between the year group and the staff. There may not have been a winner, but there was a wonderful vibe and the winning title remains open – should we manage to confirm an alternative date for Choral Night later in the year.
Today, Year 12 came dressed in their costumes for the Progressive Dinner, which was to have occurred later in the term. The theme of ‘childhood heroes’ proved to be as popular as we thought it would be. Also evident, given the range of clothes borrowed from parents, was that previous fashion trends provided endless entertainment for the girls of Saints.
Finally, not only have the Year 12s been able to showcase their School spirit throughout this challenging time, but the entire Saints Girls’ community has proven to be adept at managing society’s changes with a positive frame of mind. We have chosen ‘to rise above it’. Learning has continued and our girls and staff have demonstrated their resolve to make the most of every opportunity. Our School’s values of courage, creativity and compassion have come to the fore and will continue to guide our approach in the coming months.
Kate Mortimer (Deputy Principal / Head of Senior School)
Bella Bernardi (Head Prefect)
Historic Result at Head of the River
A huge congratulations to our 1st VIII Rowing crew who placed 3rd at a modified Head of the River event at West Lakes this week.
It’s the School’s best-ever result in this prestigious race, and follows our rowers’ stunning success at the recent State Championships where they performed a clean-sweep by winning all five of the divisions they competed in.
“On Monday morning, our Senior rowers competed in a modified Head of the River format. Sadly, the full regatta, which was scheduled for tomorrow, was cancelled in response to the coronavirus situation. However, the decision was made to run races for Senior crews in a spectator-free event. Unfortunately, this did not allow our Year 8 to 10 students to race, but vitally enabled the Year 12 students from all schools the chance to finish their final school Rowing season.
Under these unfamiliar circumstances, our 1st VIII claimed 3rd place, behind Seymour and narrowly behind Walford in 2nd. This was not the result our students had hoped for, but in time, I hope that they will reflect on the success they have achieved this season. This is the best result achieved by a St Peter’s Girls’ crew in this event and caps an already successful season that included their outstanding performances at the South Australian State Championships.
Thank you to Rowing SA for their support in running the modified event, as well as all of the Rowing Directors and Principals for their hard work in getting it off the ground and allowing our Senior rowers the chance to finish their school Rowing careers.”
Brynley Millward
Director of Rowing
Here are some moments from earlier in the Rowing season:
A Message from the Kilburn House Captain
Choral Night 2020 – A Night in the Making
Choral Night is one of the most significant events at Saints Girls. It is a night of tradition, where the four Houses compete for choral glory after a dedicated rehearsal schedule. For the Year 12 cohort, it’s an occasion that becomes a lifetime memory.
Choral Night is about teamwork, dedication and having fun and I believe that all Houses have shown these traits and made the most out of this experience. As House Captain it has been a pleasure to see the Kilburn spirit go from strength to strength at each rehearsal and I am so proud of all that we have achieved. The Year 12 leaders have enjoyed the experiences and challenges of putting on the Choral Night show including choosing the House song, musical arrangements, musician selection, choreographing and learning the much-anticipated Year 12 dance (including props), costuming (very important bows!) and conducting, whilst juggling the demands of study.
Despite the disappointment of Choral Night not going ahead as planned, I am so proud of the Year 12 cohort in particular, of making the most of the opportunities it has presented us with. Our friendships have grown stronger, we are united as a team in leading the School, have had laughs and tears, but our spirit remains positive and hopeful that we will have a chance to showcase to the School community all that we have achieved. As individuals we understand the value of this experience and have learnt so much about ourselves and each other. Choral Night 2020 is a journey that we will never forget in our senior year at Saints Girls.
Tilly McCormack
Kilburn House Captain
Year 5 Artists Strike Gold
In Year 5 this term, we have been learning about the gold rush era in Ballarat, Victoria. The girls have explored the Central Idea, ‘The discovery of any resource has challenges, opportunities and consequences.’ In class, we have explored the social, cultural, economic, environmental and political effects of finding gold in Australia, as well as other places around the world.
The girls are currently in the midst of reading the novel A Banner Bold by Nadia Wheatley, which follows the life of a young girl living on the goldfields. This has allowed the girls to gain an insight into the hardships and conflicts that arose during this period in our history.
Most recently, the girls have undertaken an artist study of Samuel Thomas Gill, famously known as ST Gill, who was a painter during the gold rush. They’ve studied his works, drawing inspiration from the landscapes he painted of the Australian bushland to create their own depictions of life on the goldfields.
Sarah Mulraney
Year 5 Teacher
Year 11s Belt Out Self-Defence
The Year 11 PE girls have completed their Blue Belt assessment in self-defence. Since Week 1, they have worked on their punch and kick routines, judo throws, partner sparring, defending random attacks and their favourite, push ups and sit ups (during the grading they had to complete 45 of each).
The girls developed excellent coordination across these skills and should be proud of their achievement. The self-defence unit sits within the first theory task where the girls looked at their acute responses to exercise and which warm ups work well, along with those that don’t, with data to back up their reasoning.
Dan Searle
Head of PE, Health and Outdoor Education
International Women’s Day Breakfast
On 5 March, 18 Saints Girls were fortunate to attend the Adelaide International Women’s Breakfast, joining 2500 empowering women at the Convention Centre.
We heard an inspiring speech from the guest speaker, Elizabeth Broderick, who is the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner. She motivated us to become more self-determined and optimistic about women’s rights, which are still a problem in society today.
It was an awesome, eye-opening experience which helped us gain confidence for equality to be achieved in the future.
Jessica Wishart and Sarah Wishart
Year 12 students
SaintsTV Breaking the News
As part of the cinematography, filming and editing element of the APEX Club at Saints Girls, myself and a few friends created SaintsTV alongside our tech teacher Mr Coulter. SaintsTV is a news show for the School, covering special events, sports and The Arts. We also discuss the accomplishments and notices of our students. Being in the SaintsTV CORE team, we film, edit and produce all the episodes (with a little help from Mr Coulter).
We’ve been taught how to use the cameras and professional editing software, which proved to be a bit difficult at first! We all contribute to create the episodes. We’re all proud of how far we’ve come and what we’ve accomplished. I’m proud to be a part of the crew, and I can’t wait to see what SaintsTV will look like in the future!
Astrid Teague and Mary Stavrou
APEX Club members
Saints Girl a Class Act in Netflix Series
Congratulations to Year 8 student Zoe Pool, who is currently appearing in the Netflix series Stateless.
“My experience with being on Stateless has been a wonderful learning opportunity. I had so much fun while filming this and I knew that I would enjoy doing things like this for the rest of my life. Stateless is based on a true story and shows the struggles of those living in detention centres around Australia. The TV show follows three people around their daily lives as they all encounter each other at a detention centre. One of the three main characters is a woman named Sophie who is struggling with mental health disorders and ends up running away from her home and pretending to be someone else in order to get away from her family. This brings her to a detention centre as the officers do not know who she is and where she’s from.
The second main character is a man and his family who fled Singapore and have tried to get to Australia as they believe it is a very safe country. On the way, they get stopped by officials and are also led to the detention centre. The third main character is a man who ends up deciding to work as an officer at the detention centre. He finds many things confronting at first as he discovers what is happening behind the fences of the detention centres. I think that this is a great TV show as it shows the real struggles that people face as they live in a detention centre. My role in the show is the niece of Sophie. Even though I am only in the show for a. small amount of time, I think it is worth watching anyway.
In the past, I have done a few professional jobs which have built up my experience. The first was when I was nine years old and was in the professional production of The Sound of Music playing the role of Gretel (the youngest von Trapp child). I loved performing in the show as it was a way for me to find my passion and love for performing and take it a step further. I was also chosen to play the main character in the documentary Missing. It was an amazing experience for me to find out what more photography-based acting was like. Missing was an interactive documentary on the SBS which showed the tragic event of Wendy Jane Pfeiffer’s abduction. This was a confronting piece for me to act out, but in the end, I enjoyed every single second of it.
In the future, I would like to further accomplish many other professional projects. I’m training for this by doing acting, singing and dancing lessons every week to improve my chances of being in a professional environment once again.
Zoe Pool
Year 8 student
Deep Learning at Aldinga Reef
Earlier this month, the Year 9 students visited Aldinga Reef as part of the Biology topic on ecosystems. In class, we had been learning about biodiversity within different environments, interactions between factors in an ecosystem and how energy flows in food webs.
At Aldinga, we conducted a field investigation of the coastline ecosystem and gathered data about how organisms interact with their environment. Exploring the beautiful reef ecosystem was an interesting and fun activity for all students. It was an incredible opportunity to spend the day at the ocean and study real-life ecology.
Eleanor Saies
Year 9 student
School Immunisation Program
1st Visit Reminder for Parents of Year 8 and 10 Students – Monday 23 March 2020
YEAR 8
• 1st dose Human Papillomavirus (HPV) (Gardasil9)
• Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (DTPA) (Boostrix)
YEAR 10
• 1st dose Meningococcal B (Bexsero)
• Meningococcal ACWY (Nimenrix)
SCHOOL IMMUNISATION PROGRAM
Year 8 – 1st Visit
Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPV) and Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (dTpa)
Year 10 – 1st Visit
Meningococcal B and Meningococcal ACWY
Eastern Health Authority (EHA – www.eha.sa.gov.au) will soon be visiting the School to commence the above vaccinations for those students with parent/guardian consent.
If you did not receive an immunisation consent form from your child, please ask for one at the School’s Front Office or contact EHA on 8132 3600.
If any information provided on the original consent form has changed or changes, please inform EHA immunisation staff before the date of vaccination on 8132 3600.
Please notify us if:
• Your child has already started the above program with another provider
• You wish to withdraw your consent
• Your child’s medical condition has changed
Remember: It is your responsibility to notify EHA of any change of information, particularly in relation to your child’s medical condition, on the day of immunisation or prior. A signed and dated note in your child’s diary from a parent or guardian presented on the day is acceptable.
Notice from CommBank School Banking
The health, safety and wellbeing of our communities and our people is our first priority. Due to the rapidly developing situation with coronavirus, School Banking has been temporarily paused from 20 March 2020 until the start of Term 2. Please don’t bring your deposit book with your weekly banking to school at this time. We will notify you when banking will recommence.
NAPLAN Cancellation
Education Ministers met today and decided that, due to the coronavirus response, NAPLAN will not proceed in 2020. The NAPLAN test window was scheduled to be held from 12 to 22 May.
The decision has been taken to assist school leaders, teachers and support staff to focus on the wellbeing of students and continuity of education, and because coronavirus impacts may affect the delivery of testing.
Consequently, the testing of the NAPLAN Online platform scheduled from next week has also been cancelled.
The full announcement from the Education Council can be found here.
The Garden of Saintly Delights Cancellation
It was with a heavy heart that, due to the coronavirus response, we had to cancel The Garden of Saintly Delights which was scheduled for Sunday 29 March.
I would like to thank all the members of the Parents’ and Friends’ Association, the other community groups within the School and everyone else involved for all their hard work that went into the planning and organisation of our School Fair.
We have other events scheduled later in the year, so we hope you can come along and show your support for our community.
Take care
Bronwyn Bartter
Parents and Friends’ Association President
Uniform Reminder for Year 4 Students
If your daughter is in Year 4, there are a few different uniform requirements that you may need to purchase before Term 2.
In the winter uniform, the pinafore is replaced by a skirt of the same fabric, so if the pinafore still fits, the bib can simply be removed. The grandpa shirt is replaced by a collared shirt and tie, and the junior blazer (cardigan) is no longer worn and is replaced by a navy blue jumper and a wool blazer.
Please contact the School Shop on 8334 2228 to arrange an appointment.
Sports News
At Saints Girls, we love hearing about and sharing sports results and news, whether it be achievements at school or externally.
Please email details to nfuller@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
ATHLETICS
Little Athletics State Championships
Under 10 – Lauren Disney: 2nd 60m Hurdles, 1st 70m, 1st 100m, 2nd 200m
Under 13 – Charlotte McAuliffe: 5th High Jump, 3rd Long Jump, 1st 100m, 1st 200m, 1st 400m
Under 13 – Carys Kinsella-White: 8th Triple Jump, 7th 200m, 2nd 200m Hurdles, 4th 400m
Under 14 – Alice Braithwaite: 5th High Jump, 4th 1500m, 2nd 1500m Walk
Under 14 – Daisy Braithwaite: 5th 1500m, 1st 1500m Walk
BASKETBALL
Intercol v Walford
All matches cancelled
CRICKET
Congratulations to Year 6 student Lucy Lowry whose Eastern Metro Cricket team won the School Sport SA Girls’ Cricket SAPSASA State Carnival. They were undefeated all carnival. Well done!
SOFTBALL
All matches cancelled
TENNIS
All Year 7 – 12 matches cancelled
Junior Division 1 Blue – Saints 3-19 defeated Scotch 3-15
Singles: Sophie Blight 1-4, Alison Francis 4-0, Charlotte Thorpe 3-4, Mia Bennett 4-0
Junior Division 1 White – Saints 6-28 defeated Seymour 0-2
Singles: Chloe Richardson 4-0, Elodie de Wit 4-1, Emily Bates 4-0, Aleesha Gray 4-0
Junior Division 2 – Saints had a bye
Junior Division 3 Blue – Saints 3-17 defeated Pulteney White 3-14
Singles: Abbey Phillips 2-4, Eleni Schulze 2-4, Scarlett Parker 1-4, Ziyuan Qin 4-1
Junior Division 3 White – Saints 5-21 defeated St Andrews White 1-9
Singles: Stella Fuidge 4-0, Lucy Lowry 4-2, Elaine Chen 1-4, Anna Wang 4-0
TOUCH FOOTBALL
All matches cancelled
VOLLEYBALL
All matches cancelled
WATER POLO
All matches cancelled