13 March 2025 - 13 March 2025
From Ms Allum

From Ms Allum

Dear Parents and Friends of SCEGGS

It gives me great pleasure to introduce your 2025 P&F Committee:

President Rob Jessup
Vice President Penny Newton
Treasurer Paul Johnston
Secretary Katerina Katsikalis
Primary School Convenor Sunny Lusted
Secondary School Convenor Jenne Tsangaris
Committee

Stevie Brennan
Claudine Cooney
Bree Parker
Stella Wong
Owen Young
Louise Mitchell-Zancanaro

I thank the 2024 Committee for their unwavering support of the P&F and the School and engendering a culture focused on building connections and community.

I know the 2025 Committee will continue this trajectory and look forward to the year ahead.

Jenny Allum
Head of School

Year 12 Cuts for Cancer

Year 12 Cuts for Cancer

On Friday 21 March (Week 8), Year 12 is participating in Cuts for Cancer and we need your help!

There are 140,000 families facing blood cancer right now and it takes the lives of 16 Australians every day. Every year, thousands of Australians step up to cut their hair for the World’s Greatest Shave. It’s the ultimate act of support for people facing blood cancer.

Each year, the Year 12s participate with the goal of raising as much money as possible to support the Leukemia Founation. The foundation helps to provide families with practical and emotional support to get them through the many challenges that blood cancer can bring.  

 

If you want to help out, please click the link here, donate and share the link with your friends and family. Several students are cutting at least 20cm.

Making a difference! Your contributions will support critical research, care, and services provided by the Leukaemia Foundation.

We’re proud to be part of such a compassionate and giving community.

 

2025 Cuts for Cancer Committee

Bush Medicine Market

Bush Medicine Market

Join us on Monday 24 March as we welcome three incredible women from the remote Muludja Community on Gooniyandi Country in the Central Kimberley, WA.

Cherry Smiler and Helen Malo are master bush medicine makers and expert bush dyers, bringing their rich cultural knowledge to our school.

 

On Monday afternoon, they will set up their renowned Bush Medicine Market, offering beautifully hand-dyed silk scarves, healing teas, and traditional medicines for students, teachers, and parents to purchase.

Parents, students and teachers are welcome to stop by, have a yarn, and explore their offerings! They will be located under the fig tree from 3-4pm! Don’t miss this special opportunity, we look forward to seeing you there!

 

Staff Reconciliation Committee

Debating

Debating

Congratulations to all the ISDA teams for their outstanding performance last Friday night during our first hosting session against Kincoppal.

The Primary teams debated on the topic, “That schools should only use books popular amongst students (e.g., Harry Potter) to teach English,” while the Senior teams tackled “Health.” The unanimous wins in Round 4 are a testament to their dedication and the hard work they put in during Monday afternoon training sessions. 

The Eastside debaters also had a fantastic start to the season, traveling to Sydney Girls High School for Round 1. The Year 8 team secured their first win of the competition, debating on the topic of “Education.” 

Looking ahead, this Friday we will be traveling to Monte for ISDA and hosting Sydney Grammar for Eastside.  

The ISDA bus will depart at 3.30pm, and the Eastside teams will meet in the Cafeteria immediately after school. We encourage all debaters to support each other during hosting rounds, which includes this Friday evening for Eastside debaters. 

Best of luck to all teams for their upcoming debates!

 

Suvini Kottegoda
Debating Coordinator
   

Secondary Sport News

Secondary Sport News

Swimming

Congratulations to the SCEGGS Swimming team who competed in the Cranbrook Dual Swim Meet last Friday evening. SCEGGS partnered with the Cranbrook team and were successful in winning the Overall Champion Pointscore. The combined SCEGGS/Cranbrook team competed against teams from St Catherine’s/ Waverley College and a combined Meriden /St Patrick’s Strathfield team.

The SCEGGS Swimming team will now compete at the IGSA Swimming Championships to be held on Friday March 14 at SOPAC, Homebush. We wish everyone a successful carnival with lots of personal bests.

 

Equestrian

Well done to Scarlett Webber (Year 10) who competed at the Sydney International Horse Trials on the weekend in the 95cm junior class and won her category.

 

Secondary Cross Carnival

Following the wet weather washout on Tuesday, the new date of the Secondary Cross Country Carnival will now be Tuesday March 18.

Meet at Queens Park near the Baronga St. end at 6.50am for a 7am warm up.

  • Race 1 – 15, 16, 17 & 18 years
  • Race 2 – 12, 13 & 14 years

Buses will take all students back to school at the completion of the carnival.

 

International Women’s Day – Saturday March 8

The SCEGGS Touch community certainly got into the spirit of International Women’s Day on Saturday. Below is a selection of the teams proudly celebrating IWD in their purple.

 

Here are some of the IWD pledges from our students 

 

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

Primary Sport News

Primary Cross Country Update

Unfortunately, due to wet weather, the Primary Cross Country carnival needed to be rescheduled. It will now take place on Tuesday 18 March at Queens Park (Week 8). For further information, including race times, please refer to the Week 4 edition of Behind the Green Gate.

 

Student Achievements

Congratulations to Klemintine Chylek, Emily Snow and Alice Beaumont (Year 6) who attended the Sydney Metro East AFL trial on Wednesday 5 March at Robertson Road, Moore Park. After an intensive day of trials which included five games, the girls made it into a team of 22, which was whittled down from about 100 competitive players. They will now attend the All Schools Finals taking place on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 June.

Congratulations girls and all the best at the finals!

Congratulations to all the SCEGGS students who participated in the 2025 NSW Surf Life Saving Age Championships last weekend. There were some outstanding results from the day. The photo below is of Stasia Serafin (Year 6) who received a medal for three events for South Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club, including silver for the Under 11 beach sprints, gold for Under 11 beach relay, and bronze for Under 11 mixed beach relay.

 

IPSHA Code of Conduct

With Saturday sport in full swing, a reminder of the IPSHA Code of Conduct:

  • Play by the rules
  • Respect the official’s decision
  • Make it a positive experience for the children
  • Focus on efforts and performance rather than the result
  • Remember they are children and it is a game
  • Any complaints should not be made during the game and should be referred to your child’s director of sport, and any action should be left to his/her discretion
  • Under no circumstances should parents contact other schools directly

 

Sporting Reminders:

  • Warm up commences 30 minutes prior to scheduled game times for Saturday fixtures. Please be on time.
  • Any potential changes or cancellations, including for wet weather will be made in Clipboard via a push notification.
  • If your child is going to be absent from Saturday sport, then you need to contact Helen Dempsey to gain approved leave at least one week prior.

 

Important Sports Dates

Saturday 15 March Round 5 of IPSHA Football and Flippa Ball, and Year 3 Basketball competitions (please check Clipboard for fixtures)
Tuesday 18 March Primary Cross Country Carnival (Rescheduled date)
Wednesday 2 April IPSHA Cross Country (chosen from Primary XC Carnival)

 

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

Primary and Secondary Music

Primary and Secondary Music

Woodwind Ensemble at the Open Day

Thank you to Nicole Barrett and the Woodwind Ensemble for their fantastic performance at the Open Day.

 

Eisteddfod

Congratulations to all students who have performed in the eisteddfod heats this week. We have been very impressed with the hard work that has gone into the students’ performances.

The Highlights Concerts will take place on Friday 21 March, in the Great Hall. A selection of performances, representing a variety of year groups, instruments, and voices, will be chosen by the adjudicators for inclusion in these concerts.

Parents will be notified on Friday 14 March, if their daughter has been selected to perform in one of the Highlights Concerts.

Primary Highlights Concert Friday 21 March 4.30pm – 5.30pm
Secondary Highlights Concert Friday 21 March 6pm– 7.30pm

 

Practice-a-thon

Earn stickers and a certificate for completing goals during the Practice-a-thon!

Practice record sheets are available from tutors.

Try to follow the ‘tip of the week’ when you practise!

This week’s tip is “Listening”!

Find some good quality recordings of your piece on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube and listen to others perform while looking at your score.

 

Musicale 1

Musicale 1 will be held on Wednesday 2 April in the SCEGGS Great Hall. The following ensembles are performing:

Primary Ensembles:

Training Band, Bugles’ Band, Primary Percussion Ensemble, Cantare, Sinfonietta, Chamber Strings and Primary String Octet.

Secondary Ensembles:

Contemporary Vocal Ensemble (Years 7-10 only), Madrigal Ensemble (Years 7-10 only), Clarion Concert Band, Edwardes Percussion Ensemble, Cremona Strings

Further information may be found in this note.

 

SCEGGS’ 130th Anniversary Concert ‘Hope’

 

Save the date:

SCEGGS’ 130th Anniversary Concert ‘Hope’

Monday 23 June, 6.00pm, Sydney Town Hall.

 

 

Sunday rehearsals for ensembles – 1 June & 15 June

Please note: Year 3-6 Choir and Year 7 Choir will not be involved in Sunday rehearsals.

 

Ensembles involved in the 130 Concert:
Primary
  • Year 3-6 Choir
  • Bugles
  • Sinfonietta
  • Chamber Strings
 
Secondary
  • Year 7 Choir
  • Choir
  • Madrigal Ensemble
  • Contemporary Vocal Ensemble
  • Clarion Concert Band
  • Holst Wind Ensemble
  • Basie Jazz Band
  • Year 12 Rock Band
  • Cremona Strings
  • Amati Strings
  • Glennie Percussion Ensemble
  • SCEGGS Orchestra

 

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.

 

Upcoming performances

Lux Strings – New Parent Dinner Thursday 13 March
6.00pm arrival – 7.30pm departure
Cantare, Choir, Madrigal Ensemble, Amati Strings – Easter Festival Wednesday 9 April
7.00pm Start time – 8.15pm approximate departure

 

Heidi Jones
Head of Music (Co-curricular)

Cape York 2024 Student Immersion

Cape York 2024 Student Immersion

We continue to share the personal reflections and photos from the students who were on last year’s Immersion to Traditional Homelands in Cape York. This week we hope you enjoy the reflection from Year 10 Ava Woo and Ruby Sunman-Peters.

For the previous week’s reflections see here.

 

Red Earth Cape York Immersion Reflection by Ava Woo (Year 10) 

The nine days I spent on the Cape York immersion trip deeply transformed my understanding of Indigenous Australia. Before this journey, my knowledge of Aboriginal culture was limited, but now I truly appreciate the significance of the Land and how Aboriginal people have lived harmoniously on it for thousands of years. Listening to Traditional Owners like Ian and Tim was an incredible experience,  they shared stories and showed us their connection to Land. Their knowledge of the environment, from medicinal plants and bush tucker to Dreamtime stories, was both inspiring and eye-opening.  

Our first destination, Kalkajaka homeland, was amazing. Meeting and connecting with Ian, the Traditional Owner, was an experience that made a lasting impression on me. It wasn’t just about learning from him; it was about understanding the bond he has with the Land and how it shapes his identity and life. Engaging with Ian helped me develop respect for the importance of these connections and the sense of guardianship felt by Aboriginal people. One of the standout moments of the trip for me was visiting Black Mountain. Our guide, Gavin, explained the mountain’s sacred status and shared the Dreamtime story of two brothers who fought over a woman. This story made me realise that places like this hold deep spiritual significance, something I hadn’t fully understood before. I’ve come to see how much meaning these sites carry for Indigenous Australians and the role they play in their culture and identity.

Our journey continued to Punamunji, where we helped to build amenities and a garden bed for Tim and Elaine, the Traditional Owners. It felt appropriate to give our time and physical labour to Tim and Elaine who so generously shared knowledge and traditions with us. One of the most impactful moments of the trip was learning the local language from Elaine. Language holds such immense cultural value, carrying stories, histories, and identities across generations. Being taught these words was an honour and something I now realise is a powerful means of connection and preservation.   

Through this journey, my understanding of and appreciation for Aboriginal culture has expanded immensely. Witnessing firsthand the strength, knowledge, and hospitality of these communities has opened my eyes to the depth of their traditions and the challenges they face. It’s a reminder of the importance of preserving these cultures and respecting the wisdom they hold. This experience has inspired me to seek further opportunities to learn about and support Aboriginal communities and to celebrate the richness that of Aboriginal heritage.  

 

Red Earth Cape York Immersion Reflection by Ruby Sunman-Peters (Year 10) 

Waking up at 3am probably wasn’t my ideal start to the holidays, but if I had known about the incredible experiences to come, I would never have complained. Stepping off the plane at Cairns, the first thing that hit me was the immediate heat, completely unlike Sydney. After I had changed into some much-needed shorts, we were off to our first homeland: Wurrey. Before getting there, we travelled through some of the most beautiful and different scenery I had ever seen. We arrived at Wurrey in the afternoon and hopped off our 4-wheel drive bus. Immediately, we were welcomed by Aunty Cheryll and Uncle Bernie. After an initial discussion, we started to set up the tents. While it was challenging, we all worked together to set them up and we eventually had our tents, stretchers, and sleeping bags set up. Thankfully, as the trip progressed, we got much faster at setting them up. In the evening, we sat around the fire with Uncle Bernie and participated in some discussion. Everyone was slightly hesitant at the start but by the end, many of us had asked some really interesting questions and Uncle Bernie’s responses were extremely insightful. Some things that stuck with me from the first discussion was the importance of family and how it impacts other aspects of life, and how critical education is. The next morning, Aunty Cheryll taught us some language and showed us some different plants and their uses. During this, she told us stories of her experiences as principal of the local school. Both Uncle Bernie’s and Aunty Cheryll’s commitment to education is inspiring, especially Aunty Cheryll’s dedication to continuing the Guugu Yimithirr language. In the afternoon, we went down to a nearby creek and played some games, did some reflection, and cooled off in the water. All around us the landscape was so beautiful. During our stay at Wurrey, Uncle Bernie showed us a film about the region. It had so many stories about the hardships that his community had faced, including the Stolen Generation. It was enormously moving and heartbreaking. My time at Wurrey was educational, inspiring, and beautiful. There were so many amazing moments, such as eating green ants, talking with the Traditional Owners, and so many more.   

After we left Wurrey, we headed onwards to Melsonby. This homeland was located in a national park and was very different to Wurrey. When we first arrived at Melsonby, the Traditional Owners performed a Welcome to Country then we set up our tents again. At Melsonby we participated in many different activities such as weaving, fishing, bushwalks, learning about bush tucker, painting, building a humpy, cooking and more.  One of my favourite moments at Melsonby was when we went on an evening bushwalk. We looked out over 32000 acres of national park and watched the sunset. The Traditional Owners talked with us about some stories and showed us some of the different mountain ranges. After this, we walked back down and sat around the fire. That night, we talked with Aunty Denta. She talked with us about her experiences in the foster system and about her childhood. It amazed me how open she was. The next day, we visited some ancient rock art sites. Each one was so interesting and different. The Traditional Owners told us about the stories behind the art, like the Medicine Women. It was really amazing to be able to see them in real life and hear all about it from people who were incredibly knowledgeable.  

Eventually, we had to leave Melsonby. As the bus departed, we were all sang, and some people started tearing up. After a long drive along the coast past the rainforest and seemingly infinite games of Uno, we arrived at our final campsite. Our trip to the Great Barrier Reef was the perfect way to end the trip. It allowed us to connect with the other group, share stories, reflect, and see some more beautiful parts of Queensland.   

While Wurrey and Melsonby were extremely different, both taught me so much.  My trip to both homelands was a once in a lifetime experience that changed my perspective and taught me so many new things. Each minute was special, and I will always treasure the memories and friendships I made there.

Free online workshop for the parents/carers and supervisors of Learner Drivers

Free online workshop for the parents/carers and supervisors of Learner Drivers

Free online workshop for the parents/carers and supervisors of Learner Drivers

Parents, carers and supervisors of Learner Drivers are welcome to join this free online workshop  hosted by the City of Sydney.

The session will offer practical advice about:

  • current driving rules and requirements for L and P platers
  • how learners benefit from supervised on-road driving
  • how you can help make learning to drive a safe and positive

This opportunity will support the students in Year 10 who are currently studying content relating to road safety in PDHPE and will have further experiences throughout the year to develop their knowledge and skills on how to adopt strategies to ensure they are promoting both their own and others safety on the road.

 

Phil Rogers
Director of Administration

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

2025 SCEGGS P&F Trivia Night – Save the Date

 

The Parents’ and Friends’ Association (P&F)
Trivia Night is back!

Friday 9 May from 7pm to 10pm in the Great Hall

 

 

Class Parent Events

Year 5 Family Gathering Date: Sunday 16 March
Time:
12pm-3pm
Location:
The Field at Easts Rugby, 22a Osullivan Road, Rose Bay
Ticket cost:
$30 per adult and $20 per child
RSVP:
by February
The Trybooking link can be found here
Year 4 Welcome Drinks Date: Wednesday 19 March
Time: 6.30pm-10.30pm
Location: The Royal Hotel, Paddington
Ticket cost: $50 per person  
RSVP: Tuesday 18 March
The Trybooking link can be found here
Year 2 Art Night CAO FEI – AGNSW Date: Wednesday 19 March
Time: 5.30pm – 10pm
Location: Art Gallery of NSW
Ticket cost: $45 per adult and $18 per child
RSVP: 12 March
The Trybooking link can be found here
Year 6 Parents Gathering

Date: Thursday 27 March
Time: 7pm10pm
Location: The Bellevue Hotel, 159 Hargrave Street, Paddington, NSW 2021
Ticket cost: $50 per ticket
RSVP by  20 March
The Trybooking link can be found here