From The Chaplain

Here we are at the pointy end of the year with one term to go (how did that happen?)! There is a lot squeezed into the next 9 weeks so I hope it all goes well for you as we head towards the Christmas holidays. I will be letting you know about a variety of charity drives and other events coming up this term, in the next few weeks.

The SCEGGS Podcast “Walk The Mile” Episode 44: Teaching about Learning

Everyone in our society goes to school and you go to school to learn. But how do you do that? For many people, the act or process of learning is not so simple and can often have a huge impact one’s own identity and wellbeing. In this conversation, I speak to Cristi Wilsmore, the Deputy Head of Primary School (Teaching and Learning). Cristi explains what she has discovered about her own learning and the learning of others. We discuss the mechanics of learning and the need for listening and patience in discovering how different individuals learn. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

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.

Rev. Garry Lee-Lindsay
Chaplain

Betty Behan and Gwen Cockell English Prizes

Invitation to Enter Speech Night Writing Prizes

Each year SCEGGS invites students in Years 7 – 10 to submit their creative fiction and poetry writing into the Betty Behan Memorial Prize for Short Story and Gwen Cockell Prize for Creative Writing (awarded for Poetry). Named in honour of an old girl and former English teacher, these prizes are awarded at Speech Night and are a wonderful way of celebrating the writing of our students. Winning entries and extracts of commended pieces of work are also published each year in the Lux magazine.

Students are invited to submit work that they have completed in class, or which they have worked on independently over the year. Each year we are thrilled to have so many entries from the talented writers at SCEGGS. The closing date for entries is Term 4 Week 2 (Friday 20 October). Students can follow the link below to read the instructions, upload their work and read winning entries from previous years here.

Jennifer Bean
Head of English

Music Matters

Rebecca Colwell 2MBS-FM feature Class Act

Congratulations to Rebecca Colwell (Year 11) whose performance of Ondine by Maurice Ravel was included in 2MBS-FM’s Class Act program. The program aired on Saturday 30 September and Rebecca’s performance were among the many outstanding performances that were included. Well done Rebecca!

Bugles Solo Performance Open Morning

Term 4 Week 6, Tuesday 14 November (7.15am to 8.10am) at Great Hall

In place of our regular Tuesday morning rehearsal, Bugle Band parents and friends will be invited to come in and listen to a selection of solo performances presented by our students. Could parents please discuss this with their daughters’ tutor before completing the performance enrolment form? Solo performances are not mandatory but are highly encouraged. You can find the form here.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Congratulations to the Primary Percussion Ensemble who performed a wonderful rendition of the Cyndi Lauper classic “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” at the End of Term K-6 Assembly. Their Director Ms Jayne Groves gave the girls full creative license to improvise and play without music for the performance. It was a fantastic musical finish to Term 3 for the Primary School Community! The Primary String Octet led the Assembly performing the walk-in music, School Song and national anthem without a conductor. The musical leadership of the girls is testament to their developing maturity as chamber musicians. Brava to the Primary Percussion Ensemble and Primary String Octet. You can watch their performance here.

Primary String Studio Concerts

In Week 4, all primary string players from Kindergarten to Year 5 will be invited to perform a short solo at one of three Studio Concerts being held on Monday 30 October, Tuesday 31 October and Wednesday 1 November at 3.20pm in the Primary Music Room. Solo performances of this nature, in a familiar and non-threatening environment with an appreciative audience are vital to a musician’s development. Please complete the form to enrol your daughter in one of the three concerts.

Parents, siblings and relatives will be most welcome to come along. Girls are encouraged to have a chat with their string tutor in lessons to decide on a performance piece for the concert. Year 6 string players will not participate in the Studio Concerts due to their busy schedule with the musical “Moana” in Week 4.

Upcoming Music Events

Term 4

Pauline Chow
Head of Music

Science News

Fantastic opportunity for Year 9 students to join the SCEGGS Science Olympiad Team!

The Science Olympiad Competition is an Australia-wide competition with an exceptional reputation for posing challenging questions that encourage students to extend their knowledge and strengthen key problem-solving skills. Joining the SCEGGS Team for the competition will also allow students to meet and collaborate with peers who share their interest and passion for Science. Students may enter the competition for Chemistry, Physics, Biology, and/or Earth and Environmental Science.

SCEGGS is working in collaboration with Sydney Grammar School (SGS). There are training sessions for Chemistry and Physics. Chemistry training starts now (Term 4 Wednesday lunches), while Physics training starts in January next year. Chemistry and Physics training next year will be afterschool at Sydney Grammar School in collaboration with SGS teachers and students. Biology and Earth and Environmental Science training is through Independent Study, with resources provided by the SCEGGS Science Department.

The training sessions will run until late July or early August until the 2 hour online exam is completed in early August. These sessions will run from 3.20pm until 4.30pm, starting in Week 2 Term 1, 2024. Students will need to make their own way home from Sydney Grammar School at 4.30pm. The particular afternoon for each session will be provided closer to the time.

High achieving students in the examination are then invited to attend a Summer School Camp, and top performing students from Summer School are then invited to a further Training Camp and can form the team that competes in the International Science Olympiad. If you would like further information about the Olympiad Program, please see this link. 

If you are a Year 9 student with a passion and flair for Science and is interested in taking part in this amazing opportunity, please contact Ms Sharma for further details.

The Science Department

Sports News

Welcome back to Term 4 – we are looking forward to another great term of sports!

As noted at the end of Term 3, parents and carers should have now received an email about the launch of Clipboard, a new online platform to manage and communicate information about Co-curricular activities at SCEGGS. We will be starting with all Kindergarten – Year 12 sports activities this term, with the ultimate goal of rolling the platform out to all other co-curricular activities in 2024.

This platform will help answer questions from your daughter such as:

• What time is your game on Saturday?
• Where are you playing?
• What time am I picking you up?
• Is your training on next week or not?

Clipboard provides an interface for parents and students to access information regarding their co-curricular activities such as:

• Scheduling of training sessions, fixtures, or competitions
• Activity sign ups
• Attendance and absence notifications
• Location details including maps
• Scores and Results

Who will have access to Clipboard?

• Parents: sign in using your existing credentials used to access to the SCEGGS Parent Portal (as Clipboard uses Single Sign On (SSO)
• Students: sign in using your SCEGGS email and school password
• Staff and coaches: staff and sports coaches will be able to see team lists, key information and provide notifications to update families as needed.

What do we need parents and students to do now?

We ask that parents and students sign into Clipboard now to ensure they are able to access the platform and we can troubleshoot any issues.

Data for the various activities will then be uploaded by Week 1 of Term 4.

Details on how to sign into Clipboard are attached here as well as how to save the “app” as an icon to your home screen on your phone. By saving the App to your home screen, you will receive push notifications in real time of student assignments to sessions or fixtures as well as updates, changes or cancellations (note you can turn this off under Notification Preferences once signed in).

How do I logon?

Important: The app and SSO requires you to use a sign in link that is unique to SCEGGS – please ensure you bookmark and add this link to your home screen as per the attached instructions.

This link is also located on the “links” page of the Parent Portal (Parents) and the “Resources Menu” on Cognito (Students and Parents).

Questions, technical difficulties or concerns?

If you have any questions or issues signing up, please contact the IT Service Desk (Contact Form – Select ICT Service Desk) and they will do their best to assist. Questions regarding the actual activity, teams and fixtures should be directed to SCEGGS Sport.

Other Information

SCEGGS Sport will no longer upload Team Sheets and Draws to the Sport Course on Cognito.

Reminder to access the IGSA sport Spawtz page for ladders and venue closures:

IGSA Fixtures/Results and IGSA Venue Closures

Please download the IPSHA App onto mobile devices for venue closures.

For possible weekly sports session cancellation, Parents will be notified via Clipboard.

Alison Gowan
Director of Sport

Primary Sport News

Welcome back to Term 4.

Saturday Sport

As we enter the Year’s final stretch, we look forward to another term filled with many sports and activities. We are hopeful that the weather is kind to us over the term to make the most of the exciting term that we have ahead!

Best of luck to our Saturday Sports Teams in the IPSHA Competition that will go ahead this weekend, participating in Basketball, Tennis and Cricket. We are excited to hear all the results from the weekend ahead.

Sport Reminders

As we enter Term 4 and the temperature increases, please be aware that hats are an expectation for students participating in certain activities. This is particularly the case for those playing tennis! If your daughter cannot attend an after school activity anytime throughout the term, please contact the relevant sports convenor or SCEGGSSPORT or myself at Tom Mitton. Our priority is to ensure your daughter is safe; ensuring we know that she will not be attending an after school activity is one step in making this possible. If your daughter cannot attend, this impacts our training, staffing and venue bookings. Your help in making this process as smooth as possible is appreciated!

Sporting opportunities

For any students looking to get into Waterpolo or play more, check out TigerBall presented by Balmain Waterpolo Club’s latest offering. This opportunity is open to all students who are 8 years or older. Check out this link for more information. 

Other Information

SCEGGS Sport will no longer upload Team Sheets and Draws to the Sport Course on Cognito.

The IPSHA App will still be used on mobile devices for venue closures.

For possible weekly sports session cancellations, Parents will be notified via Clipboard.

Tom Mitton
Primary Sport Co-ordinator

Visual Arts

Lilli Stromland, Old Girl (Class of 2012), co-curricular tutor for Drawing and Painting and part-time art assistant, opened her solo exhibition Home Harvest with Damien Minton Presents at Sheffer Gallery in Darlington on Tuesday evening.

Lilli graduated from the National Art School in 2015 with a major in painting. Since that time, she has been in a number of awards and prizes, including being a finalist in the Brett Whiteley Scholarship (2020), the Portia Geach Memorial Award (2019), the Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize (2021, 2022, 2023) and the Salon de Refusés at S.H. Ervin Gallery (2019). In addition, she has participated in multiple solo and group shows and has work held in numerous private collections across Australia.

This show was once again almost sold out before Opening Night!

We recommend visiting the exhibition this weekend before it closes on Saturday the 14 October or you can visit online:

This week’s banner is a work from Lilli’s current show titled: Crystal Pair 2.1.

Heidi Jackson
Head of Visual Arts

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

Class Parent Events