Mid-Term Break Monday 18 August 2025

Families are reminded that the School will be closed for the Mid-term Break on Monday 18 August.

Most sporting teams still have fixtures on the Saturday, so it is important to remember that all students are still required to play their scheduled matches.

We wish all families a happy SCEGGS long weekend on Monday!

Year 9 Geography Fieldwork to Three Blue Ducks

On Monday 4 August, Year 9 Mandatory Geography students were fortunate to attend the Three Blue Ducks restaurant in Rosebery as part of our investigation into food security and sustainability. We explored how thoughtful choices in agriculture, cooking, and dining can contribute to a healthier planet and a more resilient food system.

One of the standout moments of the day was a presentation by Executive Chef Daniel Cooper, who shared the restaurant’s sustainability journey and their strong environmental values. At the heart of this is an innovative development: Three Blue Ducks is the first restaurant in the world to serve “Sea Fed” beef, a low-emissions steak created by feeding cattle a native red seaweed called Asparagopsis. This seaweed dramatically reduces methane emissions from cattle by up to 67%, representing a significant leap in eco-friendly farming.

The restaurant’s commitment to sustainability goes even further. In addition to working with organisations like Sea Forest, the team at Three Blue Ducks collaborates closely with ethical producers to drive sustainable food innovation. They source free-range meats and free-range organic eggs, cook with fresh, locally grown seasonal produce, including native Australian foods, and prioritise minimising waste in their kitchen operations. Their menus are carefully designed to maximise usage of the whole ingredient. Creative techniques, such as dehydrating herb stalks to make their signature seasonings, dehydrating orange peel to make jams and cakes, using fruit cores to make their vinegars, composting leftover food scraps, and using eco-friendly cleaning products such as eWater, help minimise their environmental impact.

To add to our experience, we got to enjoy an incredible lunch, sampling the “Sea Fed” beef in a sandwich. The meal wasn’t just a treat; it was a great example of how food can be both delicious and environmentally friendly! It also allowed us to see that there are things we can do to try and reduce our global footprint to the best of our abilities, whether it be trying to buy locally grown, seasonal food, reducing food waste and single use plastics, composting our leftovers or using eco-friendly cleaning products. The day concluded with a Q&A session, allowing us to craft some ideas for our assignment on creating a sustainable menu and restaurant concept. These reflections will help deepen our understanding of food systems and sustainability as we continue our Semester 2 Geography course.

Adelaide Gilpin
Year 9 student

100 Days of school and Just Getting Started!

Can you believe it? 100 days of Kindergarten already!

The first 100 days are more than just a countdown. They are the foundation of a lifelong love of learning. They set the tone for independence, resilience, and a readiness to explore the world one question at a time. To mark this special milestone, our Kindergarten girls celebrated in style with a day full of fun, friendship, and fabulous festivities. The 100^th day of Kindergarten holds special significance at SCEGGS. From the very first day of school, KH have marked each morning using tens frames, 100 charts, base ten blocks, and tally marks to count their way to this exciting day. The girls also learnt how to write an invitation for their parents and teachers to help them celebrate this special day. Ms Gyton’s RSVP included some tricking maths problems that we enjoyed solving and surprisingly every question had the answer 100! This celebration serves as a reflection of the girls’ growth, achievements, and the meaningful relationships they’ve built with their peers and teachers.

What Does 100 Look Like?

Everyone dressed up for the occasion to the theme 100. The outfits ranged from the girls dressing up as 100-year-olds, while others were covered in 100 pom poms, sparkles, stickers or stars.

Counting Up with Cardio

The day started with a burst of energy! Our fitness challenge got our legs moving, arms swinging and hearts racing. From high knees to hopping, the girls proved that maths and movement make quite the dynamic duo. With the help of our wonderful parents, we danced, jumped and stretched our way to 100.

Crunch, Count and Create

The girls set to work stringing 100 Fruit Loops into colourful, crunchy necklaces. They counted 10 groups of 10, then used their fine motor skills to carefully thread the loops and complete their creations.

Race to 100

Using a hundred board, the girls raced their parents and teachers across and down the board to 100. They predicted how many rolls it would take to finish the game an exciting way to show off their speedy subitising and addition skills.

Construction challenge

The girls also took on a construction challenge, using 100 different materials to build the tallest and most stable tower. From paper cups and LEGO bricks to pop sticks and pipe cleaners, the results were as imaginative as they were impressive. It was a brilliant lesson in engineering, patience and the power of teamwork.

The 100-Craft Challenge

In the art room, the girls were tasked with creating a monster using exactly 100 different art resources. The girls used sequins, feathers, fabric pieces and googly eyes and each monster was wonderfully unique and reflected the girls fantastic imaginations.

We’re Only Just Getting Started!

While the 100^th day may be behind us, the learning journey is only beginning. Every day in Kindergarten counts. The girls are now tracking each day to see just how many days of Kindergarten they’ll enjoy in total. Here’s to the next 100 days!

Bella Hood
Kindergarten Teacher

Supporting Your Daughter’s Learning in Mathematics: K-6 Parent Information Session

Aspiring to be the best Primary School educators we can be requires a commitment to high-quality, sustained professional learning. This year, we have been working to develop and strengthen our teaching and learning of mathematics through our participation in the Primary Numeracy Project. This year-long professional learning opportunity, facilitated by the Association of Independent Schools of NSW (AISNSW), aims to enhance and extend teachers’ knowledge of effective strategies to further develop students’ numeracy skills through the exploration of evidence-informed research that aligns to the outcomes and content of the NSW K-6 Mathematics syllabus.

As part of this project, Henrietta Miller, AISNSW Numeracy Consultant, will be running a parent information session. This session will focus on the progression of numeracy learning from Kindergarten through to Year 6 and explore research-informed practices in mathematics teaching. The session will look at how additive and multiplicative thinking develops across Primary School and outline the mental strategies that enable students to think flexibly about numbers. Working mathematically processes such as reasoning and problem solving will also be discussed as well as practical ideas for supporting your daughter’s numeracy skill development at home.

Following this session, parents are then invited to join their daughter in her classroom for a mathematics-focused Look and Learn lesson from 10.05am-11.20am.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday 29 August!

Cristi Wilsmore
Deputy Head of Primary (Teaching and Learning)

School Photographs

The next photograph day for 2025 will be held on Wednesday 20 August. Photographs to be taken will be primary and secondary sport and co-curricular groups, as well as individual portraits of students who were absent for the last photo day. Students will be emailed if they are to participate in a group or portrait photo.

Photograph Packages from Term 2 will be distributed later this week and early next week.

Please contact Advanced Life if you have any other questions.

Phil Rogers
Director of Administration

Secondary Sport News

Term 4 Sport

Activity Selection for Term 4 Sport is now open on Clipboard.

To assist in the planning of all Sport for Term 4, we ask that parents / carers sit down with students to submit the online form by Friday 15 August.

A reminder that all parents / carers must submit activity selections. Secondary students are not permitted to make their own co-curricular sport selections via Clipboard.

Please click on this link to enrol students for Term 4 2025 Co-Curricular Sport.

Football

After another soggy Saturday and many venues being cancelled, we were grateful for some matches that were scheduled on artificial surfaces.

Well done to the Senior 1^st Football team who had a very close match against Ascham 1sts last Saturday. The SCEGGS team won 1-0.

SCEGGS 4 faced tough opposition in St Scholastics 2 and were defeated 4 – 0.

SCEGGS 7 also had a tough match and were defeated 3- 0 by Loreto Kirribilli 10.

Netball

SCEGGS 12 Netball team played Ascham 14 here at SCEGGS and won 27 – 24. This was another close match with the score remaining even all match before SCEGGS managed a few extra goals in the 4^th quarter. Well done team 12!

Hockey

The Senior 1sts hockey team had a strong 4-0 against Frensham 1 down at Frensham School.

Snowsports

Good luck to the SCEGGS Snowsports team as they compete at the NSW Interschools Snowsports competition to be held at Perisher over the next week. SCEGGS has 22 students competing.

SCEGGS Mid Term Break

With our impending SCEGGS Mid -Term break coming up on Monday August 18, it is timely to remind everyone that most secondary sporting teams still have fixtures on the Saturday. All students are required to play their scheduled matches.

SCEGGS Co-curricular Commitment Policy

Regular physical activity is an essential part of promoting positive health and well-being. Building relationships, fostering sportsmanship and teamwork is another element to co-curricular sport. We expect full commitment to all co-curricular sporting activities at SCEGGS. Students should be respectful of the impact that any absence has on team sport: their teammates, the opposition, the coach, and the reputation of the school.

Students are expected to be fully committed and attend all scheduled training sessions, trials and matches.

All absences must be communicated to the PDHPE Department using the following guidelines:

• Parents and guardians are to request written permission for leave from Ms Allum (Secondary) or Mrs Dempsey (Primary) at least a week in advance from a sporting fixture or Saturday trial e.g. Year 12 student attending a University Open Day
• If a student is sick on a Saturday, a parent/guardian must email or message the relevant coach and Sport Coordinator, or Director of Sport, prior to the match explaining the absence.
• If a student is unable to attend a weekday training or trial session, the student, or a parent, is to notify the relevant Sports Co-ordinator as soon as possible on the day.
• In case of a clash with school co-curricular activities e.g. Musicale, Sports Training, Duke of Ed Hike, the student is to liaise with both Co-ordinators to negotiate an acceptable outcome.

Failure to adhere to the above guidelines in the secondary school will result in:

• A detention for any unexplained absences from a competition match.
• A penalty point for any unexplained absence from training or trial sessions.
• A penalty point for late arrival to more than 2 training sessions or matches in the same term.
• If a student’s attendance is deemed unsatisfactory, they will be ineligible for house points and recognition on reports.

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

Saturday Sport

Unfortunately, it was another wet weekend for IPSHA and Year 3 sport, so all primary games were cancelled on Saturday. A reminder cancellations for Saturday sport will be made in Clipboard as soon as possible. A reminder there is no IPSHA or Year 3 sport on Saturday 16 August due to the SCEGGS mid-term break.

Term 4 Sport

Activity Selection for Term 4 Sport is currently open in Clipboard.

To assist in the planning of all Sport for Term 4, we ask that parents / carers sit down with students to submit the online form by Friday 15 August.

A reminder that all parents / carers must submit activity selections.

Please click on this link to enrol students for Term 4 2025 Co-Curricular Sport.

Students Achievements:

Congratulations to all SCEGGS students who participated in last weekend’s City to Surf. It was wonderful to hear of so many girls pushing themselves especially given the wet conditions. Special mention to Clementine Finlayson (Year 6) who completed the 14km course in a time of 1.03 which placed her 4^th in the female 10-14 category and only 21seconds from 2nd place. Below is a photo of Annabel Ling, Charlotte Nixon and Anastasia Atgemis (Year 6) who completed the course and still had a smile on their face at the end. Well done girls and all participants!

Snowsports

Good luck to the SCEGGS Snowsports team and all the primary girls competing at the NSW Interschools Snowsports competition to be held at Perisher next week. SCEGGS has 22 students competing. We look forward to hearing how you go in your respective events.

SCEGGS Co-curricular Commitment Policy

Regular physical activity is an essential part of promoting positive health and well-being. Building relationships, fostering sportsmanship and teamwork is another element to co-curricular sport. We expect full commitment to all co-curricular sporting activities at SCEGGS. Students should be respectful of the impact that any absence has on team sport: their teammates, the opposition, the coach, and the reputation of the school.

Students are expected to be fully committed and attend all scheduled training sessions, trials and matches.

All absences must be communicated to the PDHPE Department using the following guidelines:

• Parents and guardians are to request written permission for leave from Ms Allum (Secondary) or Mrs Dempsey (Primary) at least a week in advance from a sporting fixture or Saturday trial
• If a student is sick on a Saturday, a parent/guardian must email or message the relevant coach and Sport Coordinator, or Director of Sport, prior to the match explaining the absence.
• If a student is unable to attend a weekday training or trial session, the student, or a parent, is to notify the relevant Sports Co-ordinator as soon as possible on the day.
• In case of a clash with school co-curricular activities e.g. Musicale, Sports Training, Duke of Ed Hike, the student is to liaise with both Co-ordinators to negotiate an acceptable outcome.

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 Sport Department.

Have a wonderful mid-term break!

Mr Adrian Hammond
Primary Sports Coordinator

Primary School Fathers’ Day Breakfast

The Primary School welcomes all fathers, grandfathers, uncles and other significant people in the girls’ lives to a breakfast to celebrate Fathers’ Day on Wednesday 3 September 2025. A light breakfast, tea and coffee will be provided in the Primary School playground. We hope to see you there! 

Sarah Johnstone 
Deputy Head of Primary, Student Wellbeing

Visual Arts

Year 11 students are invited apply for a special SCEGGS Visual Arts Award

This award is up to the value of $800.00 for a short course (usually at the National Art School) of your choosing to help with developing your Body of Work in Year 12.

Coursework is usually undertaken during the holiday period between Years 11 and 12 so you can apply what you have learned in the making of your Year 12 artwork.

Applications are now open for 2025/26.

• You need to nominate which specific course you will be attending in your application and how this will help you develop and extend your skills in relation to making your Body of Work in Year 12.
• Applications are up to 500 words, and the application has been emailed to eligible students.

Old Girl (Class of 2006) Ashley Marie reads all applications and will meet with the successful candidate before and during your HSC studies.

Ms Allum announces the successful applicant’s name in the final Assembly for Term 3.

We encourage you ALL to apply!

Applications close: Monday 8 September (Week 8). Please return the Application Form via email to Ms Jackson.

Year 12 Body of Work Visual Arts exhibition

Further details in next week’s Behind the Green Gate…

Banner Acknowledgement: This week’s banner is the invite for the forthcoming Year 12 show…

Heidi Jackson
Head of Visual Arts

Primary & Secondary Music

Trumpet Master Class

Our senior school trumpet players (and one HSC French hornist) had the good fortune to attend a master class in the Great Hall with Greg Flynn, Principal Trumpet with the St Galan Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland. Greg took the students through exercises to work on developing efficiency of air in their playing.

Musicale 3

Musicale 3 will be held at 6pm on Wednesday 3 September in the SCEGGS Great Hall. This concert will feature performances from ensembles in the secondary school as primary ensembles are busy preparing for ASBOF and assembly performances this term.

Ensembles performing:

Emma Pask Jazz Band, Basie Jazz Band, Woodwind Ensemble, Holst Wind Ensemble, Rock Band, Choir, Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, Madrigal Ensemble, Touring Choir, Edwardes Percussion Ensemble, Van Reyk Percussion Ensemble, Cremona Strings, Amati Strings.

Rehearsals

All rehearsal information can be viewed on Clipboard. Please check rehearsal venues in the lead-up to the concert as we try to schedule at least one Great Hall rehearsal for each group.

The Metropolitan Orchestra Junior String Camp

The Metropolitan Orchestra’s TMO Junior String Camp is an exciting holiday orchestral training program for young musicians aged 7-14 years, playing at AMEB Grade 2 standard or above. TMO Junior String Camp will run during first week of the upcoming  school holidays. String players will experience 3 days of orchestral rehearsals and tutorials with tutors from The Metropolitan Orchestra, working towards a performance on the final day. In addition to outstanding music tuition, students will take part in daily yoga classes and team-building activities.

Click here for more information.

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.

Term 3 Event Overview

Please refer to Clipboard for information regarding rehearsals and performances.

Heidi Jones
Head of Music (Co-curricular)

Debating

It has been a successful start to Debating in the Secondary School for the final Debating term of the year. The enthusiasm, dedication, and teamwork demonstrated by our students during training and competition have led to an outstanding conclusion to the “in-round” phase of the Archdale Competition.

Archdale Round 7 Results

The final round of Archdale saw our teams compete against Tangara School for Girls in Cherrybrook, with exceptional results:

Quarter-Final matchups will be announced early next week (via Clipboard), and we wish all our teams the very best as they prepare for the next stage.

Primary School Debating – IPSHA Competition 

The IPSHA Debating Competition continues to flourish in the Primary School. Under the guidance of Coach Catherine Park, our young debaters have grown in confidence and skill. Catherine has commended the SCEGGS girls for their thoughtful and articulate arguments throughout the season. We look forward to welcoming many of these talented students into Senior Debating next year.

Inter-House Debating – Junior Division (Years 7–9) 

Junior students participated in a spirited Inter-House Debating series across two afternoons, engaging in both prepared and impromptu debates. Topics included:

The House spirit was truly inspiring, with House Officials supporting their teams with snacks and enthusiastic cheerleading. We commend all students who participated, especially those who stepped up to debate for the first time.

Senior Inter-House Debating (Years 10–12) 

Upcoming dates for the Senior Inter-House Debating Competition are:

Senior students interested in representing their House are encouraged to speak with their House Officials.

Reminders

• All debating information is available on Clipboard.
• Training sessions continue every Monday from 3.15 pm – 5pm until early September. 

Looking Ahead 

SCEGGS has performed exceptionally well in the Archdale Competition this year across all teams. We extend our congratulations to all debaters and wish them the very best as they head into the Quarter-Finals next Tuesday 19 August 2025. 

Suvini Kottegoda
Debating Coordinator

Year 7 Vaccination Clinic

On Monday 22 September (Week 10) all Year 7 students will be offered the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (dTpa) and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines through the NSW Health School Vaccination Program.

We ask that Parents of Year 7 students complete their online consent form by Monday 8 September.

These vaccinations will only be provided at school if consent has been received.

How to provide consent:

1. To complete online consent for your child’s school vaccinations, visit the NSW School Vaccination Portal. The Vaccination Portal works best on Google Chrome.
2. Follow the steps to log in to your existing ServiceNSW account. This is the same account you may already use to renew your driver’s licence. If you don’t have a ServiceNSW account, refer to ServiceNSW to create one.
3. Update or confirm your personal details in ServiceNSW as required.
4. Complete the School Vaccination Consent Form for your child/ren. You will need to:
   1. Enter your child’s personal details
   2. Provide the Medicare card details for you and your child
   3. Read the linked Parent Information Sheet and privacy statement
   4. Provide consent
   5. For more detailed instructions can be found on the NSW Health website. This includes instructions for how to withdraw consent.
5. You will receive a text and/or email when your online consent has been completed.

If you or your child do not have a Medicare card, consent can still be provided by requesting a paper consent form from SCEGGS Student Services or Reception.

If you have given consent for your child to be vaccinated at the school clinic, but they are absent on the day of the clinic visit, the school immunisation nurses will try to catch them up at their next visit. Alternatively, you can speak to a GP or pharmacist about catching up on vaccinations.

For more information on school vaccinations visit health.nsw.gov.au/immunisation.

or if you have any questions, please contact South Eastern Sydney Public Health Unit on: 9382 8333 (Ext 2).

Phil Rogers
Director of Administration

Careers Corner

Careers Corner Newsletter

Please click here to view the latest issue of the Careers Corner Newsletter.

Andrea Pinnock
Careers Advisor

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

Class Parent Events