From the Chair of Board

Dear Members of the School community

I hope you all had a restful holiday. On behalf of the School Board, I extend our warmest wishes to you all as we begin what promises to be a rich and dynamic Term 2 at SCEGGS.

This term offers many wonderful opportunities for our community to come together – to connect, to celebrate, and to share in the life of the School. I warmly encourage you to attend our Annual General Meeting on Monday 26 May in the Lecture Theatre. The SCEGGS Trust AGM will commence at 7.30pm, followed by the School’s AGM at 8pm. Whether or not you are a Company Member, all members of the community are most welcome to attend and hear more about the governance and strategic direction of our School.

Before then, I hope to see many of you at the always-entertaining P&F Trivia Night on Friday 9 May – a night full of laughter, friendly rivalry, and community spirit. May the best team win!

There is much to look forward to this term: the Years 7–12 production of Lord of the Flies, the spectacular 130^th Anniversary Music Concert Hope, the Years 9 and 10 Parent/Daughter Breakfast, and many more events that continue to build connection and community. Like my daughters, I’m sure your girls are also excited about the upcoming Inter-House competitions, and other moments that create treasured memories and friendships that will last well beyond the Green Gate.

I’m also pleased to update you on the search for the next Head of School. The recruitment process is progressing well, with applications received from a strong and impressive field of
candidates. The Board expects to announce the appointment of the sixth Head of School before the start of Term 3. We look forward to sharing this important news with you – and
in due course, to celebrating the remarkable leadership and legacy of Jenny Allum.

Thank you for the trust and support you continue to show in our School. Here’s to a purposeful and inspiring term ahead.

Best Wishes,

Sally Auld
Chair

130th Anniversary Music Concert

SCEGGS P&F Trivia Night

The P&F have been absolutely thrilled by the incredible support from our community for the Trivia Night on Friday 9 May. There are limited tickets still available in the Playhouse venue.

Tickets are $50 per person or $500 per table of 10. To make your evening even more enjoyable, there will be optional platters to purchase for your table. These delicious platters, filled with dips, cheese, and cold meats, will be enough to satisfy your group. Perfect for enjoying while you play!

Book your tickets here  today!

Can you help?

Not only will there be prizes to win throughout the night, but the P&F will be adding to the excitement with a raffle draw too! If you can donate a prize, we would love your support! Prizes can be left at the General Office or Primary School reception.

P&F Association

Payments at the Cafeteria

Payments at the Cafeteria

The easiest way for Secondary School students to pay for purchases/orders in the School Cafeteria is with their SCEGGS student ID card. To enable this payment feature, parents need to link the student ID card to a Flexischools account.

The full instructions about how to do this can be downloaded here. To do this, you will need:

• your own Flexischools account details
• your daughter’s student card number

The student card number is visible at the bottom of the ID Card:

Students wishing to pay with their SCEGGS student card at the Cafeteria must present their SCEGGS student card to the Cafeteria staff who are required to see the photo before a purchase is made.

How can you pay?

• Pay with your SCEGGS student card (must be linked to your Flexischools account beforehand)
• Pay with a physical debit card or credit card
• Pre-order online through Flexischools

Please note: As phones are not permitted during the school day, the Cafeteria will NOT accept payments using a mobile phone.

Students will NOT be permitted to make a purchase with a card if:

• The image on their card has been damaged/destroyed/defaced so that their photo is no longer clear or visible on the card
• They choose not to show their photo to the cafeteria staff
• … and most importantly, the image on the card they show is not them!

Need a new student card?

Secondary students are advised to see ICT Department if a new student card is needed for any reason.

Phil Rogers
Director of Administration

From the Archives – Olive May Kelso King

Earlier this year Mrs Phyllis Rogers contacted me with the extraordinary news that a SCEGGS Old Girl was on a set of Serbian postage stamps commemorating the service of six Australian medical volunteers in the First World War. Mrs Rogers is the grandmother of three current SCEGGS girls.

This week, as the school commemorates Anzac Day, I thought you might like to hear Olive Kelso King’s story and see these Serbian stamps.

Olive was one of our earliest students, attending SCEGGS from 1898 to 1900. As an Old Girl she continued to support SCEGGS and remained in contact with the Old Girls’ Union for many years.

In 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War, Olive was in England. She purchased her own converted ambulance nicknamed “Ella”. Initially working in France and Belgium where she was briefly arrested as a spy, she was soon transferred to the Balkans where medical support was very limited. It was here that she served for the remainder of the war.

By 1916 she had enlisted in the Serbian Army as a driver and eventually rose to the rank of Sergeant. During this time, Olive learnt to speak Serbian, evacuated patients from hospitals under enemy fire, and regularly drove the difficult and dangerous roads to the front line, transporting men to battle and carrying the wounded back to the hospital.

After the war ended, Olive was instrumental in organising substantial humanitarian aid to Serbia and Montenegro. For this work King Alexander of Serbia presented her with the Samaritan Cross and the Cross of the Order of St Sava.

Speaking to SCEGGS students in 1921, she said

The war brought a terrible amount of suffering and evil, which seems almost interminable, but it did at least bring one blessing.

It taught us the value of cheerful, self-sacrificing service. … [Service for others] trains us to think, and to realise that it takes all

sorts to make a world, and that there are many others in it beside ourselves … 

 

For further details of her extraordinary courage during this conflict see here.

Many thanks to Mrs Rogers for taking the trouble to share this interesting news with SCEGGS.

Prudence Heath
Archivist

From The Chaplain

Welcome back to Term 2! I hope you all had a good break over the Easter period. I know Term 1 was tiring for a lot of people due to all sorts of reasons so I hope that you were able to refresh for what is ahead.

The SCEGGS Podcast “Walk The Mile” Episode 64: Learning about Learning

Do you ever wonder about how you learn? As in you, personally? As a school, our main business is about learning, but how do we do it? And is learning different for different people? In this episode I speak with Katie Brett, Head of Learning Support. We discuss how students may be supported in their learning, how we might learn and the question of success. This is an important discussion for everyone as it goes further than being delivered information so that we can retain it. I hope you enjoy our conversation. 

And a reminder that we are published on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcast and Deezer, so you can access it easier from your preferred device. I always welcome your feedback or any ideas you may have for further episodes. You will find each podcast as they are produced in this newsletter and on the other platforms as well as our website.

Monday Food Delivery Roster

A big thanks to all of those people that have signed up to help out with meals for those in need this term. The enthusiasm was so huge that the Term 2 dates filled up before we got to Term 2!! We have added an extra three spots to each Monday that we are doing deliveries so if you missed out or would like to do more please feel free to add yourself on. The link for signing up and all the information you need can be found here.

Rev. Garry Lee-Lindsay
School Chaplain

P&F Association Years 9 and 10 Parent/Daughter Breakfast

Students in Years 9 and 10 and a parent/carer are warmly invited to attend the Parent/Daughter Breakfast:

We are thrilled to welcome back to SCEGGS Old Girl Harriet Dawson (BATEMAN 2006) as our guest speaker.

Harriet is a Director in EY’s Government practice. Her love of complex problem-solving and public policy started when her Year 10 SCEGGS team won the national Future Problem Solving Finals in 2004, the same year she completed work experience at Parliament House, Canberra.

During her time at SCEGGS, Harriet was a member of the rowing team and Theatre Club, and received an Academic Merit Prize at speech night in 2005. She was a keen member of 306 Squadron Australian Air Force Cadets, placing third in the national Junior Non-Commissioned Officer Course at RAAF Wagga in 2004, being promoted to Cadet Under Officer and receiving the Sherwood Trophy for Leadership in 2006.

After doing ‘pretty well’ at the HSC (according to her mum), she moved to Canberra in 2007 to study International Relations at the Australian National University where she received the Cambridge University Press Lecturer’s Prize for International Relations. Harriet was a Delegate to the National Student Leadership Forum in 2008, and to the US-Australia Student Symposium in conjunction with the International Scholar Laureate Program in 2008 and 2009.

In 2024, Harriet moved back to Sydney and was nominated for the Pathways to Politics Program through the Trawalla Foundation, designed to improve women’s representation and participation in politics and public office.

To hear more about Harriet’s career journey and her fascinating insights, join us on Friday 16 May!

Jump Rope for Heart

After the success of Jump Rope for Heart at SCEGGS last year, we were very excited to once again be participating in this wonderful initiative in 2025 as part of House Families. Jump Rope for Heart is the Heart Foundation’s skipping and fundraising program. It encourages children to have a positive attitude towards exercise, healthy eating and heart health, while helping to raise money to help fight heart disease.

Our Year 6 students have been outstanding leaders in their House Family groups, supporting students from Years K-5 and being advocates for such a great program. Year 6 have taught the K-5 girls new skipping skills and tricks throughout the term and all girls have had lots of fun making connections with one another and staying active.

In Week 10 of Term 1, we were lucky to have Nina, one of the field officers from Jump Rope for Heart, run our Jump Off Day to conclude the program for 2025. Girls were able to showcase their new skills in front of the primary school in their colour houses. Nina also reminded girls of the importance of healthy eating and regular physical activity and the positive impact they both have on an individual’s overall wellbeing.

We are pleased to announce that SCEGGS has raised over $21,000 throughout the initiative. This is a huge achievement, and we thank all girls in the primary school and our wider school community for helping to support such a great initiative.

We hope that your daughter has enjoyed this wonderful initiative and has taken this opportunity to become aware of the importance of heart health and overall wellbeing.

Melissa Joukhadar
Acting Wellbeing Programs Leader (Primary)

Primary and Secondary Music

We have an incredibly exciting term ahead with hundreds of students in Years 3 – 12 preparing for the:

Performances

Sunday Rehearsals

To prepare for this important event, we have scheduled two Sunday rehearsals:

Sunday 1 June

Sunday 15 June

If your daughter is unable to attend a Sunday rehearsal, please communicate directly with the Ensemble Director (Miss Harrigan, Ms Holmes, Mrs Sweeney or Mr Tierney).

Commitment to Co-curricular Music Ensembles

A reminder to all students and families:

• Full attendance at rehearsals is essential in Term 2.
• Please review the Music Department’s Commitment Policy (Secondary students) on page 34 of the school diary.

Check Clipboard regularly for updates. (For help with Clipboard access, please contact Alice Kotowicz).

Additional Performance Highlights

Alongside preparations for the 130^th Concert, we have many other exciting events across our Primary and Secondary programs, including Assembly performances, a Rock Showcase, and community performances at St Vincent’s Hospital.

Click below to read the Term 2 Overview for each of our programs:

• Band
• Choral
• Strings
• Percussion

Thank you for your ongoing support. We can’t wait to share these performances with you!

ANZAC Day Service

Thank you to the Holst Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Mr Tierney for their involvement in the ANZAC Day Service on Tuesday. A special thanks to Jemima Lowe (Year 11) for playing The Last Post and Rouse.

Gondwana Voices ABC Recording

Congratulations to Josie Grayden (Year 10) for her involvement in a very special recording project during the Easter school holidays. Josie sang with Gondwana Voices under the artistic direction of Lyn Williams AM and Mark O’Leary to record a new album which will be released on ABC Classics later this year. Brava Josie!

Beyond the Green Gate

We love hearing about ways our musicians are involved in music-making outside of school. Please send details to Heidi Jones.

Clipboard

All co-curricular music ensemble schedules are now available on Clipboard. If you haven’t set this up yet, please follow the provided instructions. For any issues with Clipboard set-up, contact our Music Administration Assistant, Miss Alice Kotowicz.

Heidi Jones
Head of Music (Co-curricular)

Secondary Sport News

Welcome back to Term 2. We look forward to a busy term of sporting fun. Please click here for all dates and times for each activity. 

Gymnastics

Well done to Jamilla Yamani and Alexa Falzon from Year 9 who competed at the NSW State Trial 1 for Artistic Gymnastics last weekend.

Jamilla placed 1^st and Alexa achieved 3^rd overall in the Senior Division of Level 8. These are outstanding results, and we look forward to hearing more of their results at future competitions.

The girls are pictured with their coach Alex Lober from Bunnerong Gymnastics, who is a SCEGGS Old Girl (Class of 1982).

Equestrian

Congratulations to Hannah Doolan (Year 11) who competed at the Sydney Royal Easter Show over the holidays in the Junior and Young Rider sections. She ended the competition by placing 2^nd in the Young Rider Grand Prix.

Well done to Abby Simmons (Year 10) who placed 2^nd in her class in the Eventing category at the Quirindi competition. Abby will be back again in Quirindi for the Pony Club NSW State One Day Event and Combined Training Championship to be held this weekend.

Isla Oxley (Year 9) was recently named in the Children’s World Youth Ranking class for Dressage. Isla and her horse Enbarr are currently ranked 44^th.

SCEGGS at Play

Do you have any sporting news or photos to share in the Green Gate?

We love seeing our students being active and want to celebrate their passion and enjoyment amongst the SCEGGS community. Please send in any action shots from the weekend and any other interesting sporting highlights to Alison Gowan.

SCEGGS Training sessions before and after school plus Saturday Sport

Any cancellations or adjustments will be made in Clipboard and families will receive a notification or email when changes are made. Please ensure you have notifications enabled.

All Clipboard notifications will now come through the SCEGGS Mobile App too, so if you have been receiving notifications from Clipboard (eg when sport is cancelled due to wet weather), you will need to download the SCEGGS Mobile App to ensure that you continue to receive these push notifications.

IGSA Fixtures, Results and Wet Weather

The IGSA website and platform for accessing wet weather, fixtures and team results can be found here.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact myself on 9052 2721 or 0418 491 521.

Alison Gowan
Director of Sport

Primary Sport News

Term 2 Sport Information

All Term 2 sports activities will commence in Week 1. Please click here for all the information on Primary Sport Venues, Dates and Times.

IPSHA sport

IPSHA sport commences on Saturday 3 May. Please check Clipboard to ensure you are aware of your daughter’s fixture for Round 1.

A quick reminder for all parents and supporters taken from the IPSHA rules.

• Focus on the efforts and performance of the children rather than the result

• Children play organised sports for fun. They are not playing for spectators’ entertainment, nor are they miniature professionals.

• Applaud good performances and efforts from each team. Congratulate all participants upon their performance regardless of the game’s outcome.

• Respect the officials’ decision.

• Never ridicule or scold a child for making a mistake during a competition.

• Positive comments are motivational and encourage continued effort.

• Show respect for your team’s opponents. Without them there would be no game.

• Encourage players to follow the rules and the officials’ decisions.

• Demonstrate appropriate social behaviour by not using foul language, or harassing players, coaches or officials.

• Comments should not interfere with the running of the game.

Student Achievements

Congratulations to Lark Xiao (Year 3) for her outstanding effort and result at the NSWPSSA on Thursday 10 April at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. Lark swam in the 50m Freestyle event. She recorded a personal best time in her race and placed first overall, making her the state champion for the 50m Freestyle. Congratulations Lark!

Important Sports Dates:

Primary Sport Achievements

Does your daughter compete in any sport outside of school (for example, at a representative level or a sport we do not currently offer)? If so, I would love to celebrate their achievements by recognising them in this newsletter!

Please email any information (and photos, if possible) to Adrian Hammond. These will be included in newsletters throughout the year.

For any questions or issues, please email Adrian Hammond and the SCEGGS Sports Department.

Have a wonderful week and good luck to all players for the first round of Saturday competitions.

Mr Adrian Hammond
Primary Sport Coordinator

Year 4 and 5 Parent Information Session

Your daughters are at an age where they will likely be going through a lot of emotional and possibly physical changes. Often it isn’t easy to navigate this stage of development as a parent or know the right thing to say to help your daughter cope with the considerable amount of change.

We acknowledge that these changes are occurring earlier and earlier and have adapted the PDHPE program for Years 4 and 5 to ensure we cover this important learning at the right time.

We thought it fitting to also welcome you to school for a session to hear about how we will explore this topic and provide suggestions, share resources and discuss the girls’ wellbeing during this development stage.

We’d love to see parents there, no matter their gender, to learn together as a community with the goal of equipping your daughter with the correct knowledge and skills to flourish!

Please RSVP your interest in attending via this link.

Sarah Johnstone
Deputy Head of Primary (Student Wellbeing)

School Photographs

School photographs are taken and managed by Advanced Life Photography. Group and portrait photographs can be purchased by following the link below or by returning the order envelope with your payment to Advanced Life photographers on school photo day.

Photo Order Envelopes will be distributed to students by their Form/Class Teachers this week. The envelope will have instructions on how to order school photography packages via their website.

To order online, you will also need to enter the 9 digit SCEGGS Advanced order code, which can be found on the envelope and on the Parent Portal.

Additional order conditions to note:

• Online orders do not require an envelope returned to the school.
• Late fees – a late fee will be applied to each package purchased after photo day due to the additional cost of producing these packages separately.
• Package delivery – photographic packages will be returned to school for distribution approximately six weeks after photos are taken.
• Previous Years’ photos – Past years’ photographs including sports, co-curricular and representative groups are also available to order under the “previous years or group photo” tabs at your school’s advancedorder site. You can also order past packages, portrait images and gifts from your child’s unique, individual and secure advancedyou image archive site using the unique 9 digit image code found on packages you have ordered in the past.

Please contact Advanced Life if you have any other questions.

Phil Rogers
Director of Administration

Visual Arts

This term, the Visual Arts Department are pleased to offer a suite of Co-curricular art classes that extend the creative learning opportunities at SCEGGS. Two NEW classes are offered for Term 2 Only in the absence of Ms Lilli Stromland who is on a Painting Residency in Denmark until Term 3.

In Term 2 we are offering Darkroom Photography, as well as new courses in Experimental Drawing and Film Making.

Our tutors are highly experienced educators and practising artists in their own fields. Darkroom Photography is run by Ian Lever who is a professional photographer with decades of national and international experience. His work is widely acknowledged, especially his social documentation of Sydney life. The Experimental Drawing class will be run by practising artist Chris Gleisner. Already well-known for her documentary and commercial photography, over the last several years Chris has established a successful drawing-based practice, receiving accolades including the Ravenswood Women’s Art Award in 2024. The Film Making course will be run by Claudia Leonard, a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts and SCEGGS Old Girl (class of 2020). Already an award-winning film maker, Claudia won ‘Best Animation’ at Sydney Women’s International Film Festival and received a nomination for ‘Best Australian Short’.

There are limited places available for these activities. Once an activity is at capacity, your child will automatically be placed on a waitlist and the co-ordinator of that activity will contact you if a place becomes available. Please select carefully, as once enrolled it is expected that the student will remain in the activity for the duration once the term has begun.

**Priority will be given to currently enrolled Visual Arts students. Please contact Ms Jackson in the Art Department if your child is not studying Visual Arts and would like to join these classes.** 

If there are any applicable fees, these will be placed on the school account towards the end of the term. Fees will be charged for late withdrawals once the term has commenced.

Registrations for all Visual Art Co-curricular activities will close on Friday 2 May at 5pm, with classes commencing the week of 5 May.

We look forward to another wonderful term ahead in Visual Arts!

Banner Acknowledgement: This week’s banner is by Jessica Hokin (Year 11) from her Term 1 series on the Landscape.

Heidi Jackson
Head of Visual Arts

Debating

SCEGGS Debating Achievements in Term 1!

We are thrilled to share that SCEGGS had an incredibly successful first term of Debating! With all ISDA competition rounds now wrapped up, we can’t wait for the Octofinals starting on Friday 9 May 2025. Stay tuned for the announcement of the qualifying teams.

A huge congratulations to our Primary B team for their fantastic victory in the final in-round against Loreto Kirribilli on Friday 28 March 2025. Plus, our Year 7, Year 8, Year 10, Senior A, and Senior B teams each won their senior in-house debate rounds for the season. What an amazing achievement across the board!

SCEGGS Darlinghurst also had the honor of hosting an exciting round of the Eastside Debating Competition on Friday 4 April, against The Scots College. We’re proud to report that our Year 7 and Year 11 teams won their debates on the topic of International Relations.

Here are some of the thought-provoking topics our students debated last term:

A big thank you to all the wonderful students who supported Debating as timekeepers and chairpeople. Your dedication and hard work have been invaluable. Overall, Term 1 was filled with competitive and engaging debates, where our students showcased their skills and represented SCEGGS with pride.

As we move into Term 2, the Eastside Competition continues this Friday at SCEGGS against Cranbrook, focusing on the topic area of Politics. Additionally, the Archdale Competition kicks off with eight teams competing in Round 1 on Tuesday 13 May 2025. We look forward to another exciting term of Debating ahead!

Let’s continue to support our talented debaters and celebrate their achievements. 

Suvini Kottegoda
Debating Coordinator

Primary School Mothers’ Day Breakfast

The Primary School welcomes all mothers, grandmothers, aunts and other significant people in the girls’ lives to a breakfast to celebrate Mothers’ Day on Wednesday 7 May 2025. A light breakfast, tea and coffee will be provided in the Primary School playground. We hope to see you there!

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

Class Parent Events