Thinking Allowed

In July 2022 I was very fortunate to attend the Garma Festival supported by a SCEGGS Professional Learning Scholarship. Garma is held annually at the ceremonial site of Gulkula, 40 kilometres out of Nhulunbuy in remote northeast Arnhem Land. It is widely known as Australia’s premier Indigenous event. This four day festival celebrates the cultural, artistic and ceremonial traditions of the Yolngu people. The Garma Festival is an important community gathering for the clans and families of the northeast Arnhem Land area. It has the warmth and spirit of a large family reunion with enthusiastic sharing of traditional dance, story telling and live music. It has a spirit of sharing and participation rather than just observation. Industrious Indigenous and Non-Indigenous artists stand side by side creating communal large scale art works. The open grasslands are dotted with people sitting on picnic blankets learning to weave, paint and make jewellery.

The Garma Festival has also become a regular date on the political and corporate calendar. It attracts 2,500 delegates from some of our country’s largest corporations as well as Australian and international political leaders, philanthropists, intellectuals, academics, educators and journalists. A simultaneously held Garma Youth Forum attracts Indigenous and Non-Indigenous secondary students primarily from the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales. Festival participants are given a unique window into a slice of life not often seen outside of homeland communities. It is the first time I have felt like an outlier in my own country – surrounded by language very new to my ears, cultural practices and etiquette that I was keen to learn and respect and a witness to a profound connection and reliance on the land.  

The busy festival program began early with dawn crying ceremonies and bush tucker walks. Afternoons featured a daily athletic display of bunggul (dance) showcasing the talents of the very youngest through to the oldest family members accompanied by live traditional Indigenous music. Evenings finished late with biographical or historical Indigenous movies at the outdoor cinema and indigenous bands playing music to a lively crowd dancing and singing along. Lunch times were opportunities to learn traditional art techniques and admire the stunning works on display in the outdoor gallery. The local snake population were particularly taken with frequenting the gallery!

Whilst I enjoyed and valued these activities for their artistic, creative and educational merit, the Garma Festival’s Key Forum Conference was the greatest source of knowledge and transformation for me. At this conference, festival delegates gathered to learn about the most pressing Indigenous issues from the people they affect most and from specialists working in this space. In 2022 the topics of these daily key forums included the current state of play in Indigenous health, unemployment, education, incarceration, land rights and politics. The question and answer sessions in these lectures made for robust discussions, highly charged debates and inspiring ideas and solutions for a more equal and unified future.

The key forums were equally confronting and heartbreaking in the statistical comparison between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Only two of the nine Closing the Gap targets are on track – employment of Indigenous adults and land rights. The other seven including healthy birth weights, finishing Year 12, appropriate housing and reducing suicide rates have fallen behind target. The common ground between each lecture was the longevity and complexity of the problems remaining unresolved. It was at times hard to be in the room with mixed feelings of being humbled to be present but shamed by the past and troubled by the intergenerational trauma of our Indigenous people who live these statistics.

As an educator I was particularly drawn to the Garma Festival key forum lectures on Indigenous education. These lectures were delivered by Indigenous and Non-Indigenous academics, teachers, politicians and anthropologists. In contrast to some of the other forums, there was an exciting, tangible spirit of progress about the Indigenous education space with new models emerging and statistics showing early signs of success. From these daily education forums came three clear and consistent messages. The first key message was that all schools need to include and prioritise accurate, truthful Australian history teaching and Indigenous cultural units. In the past the teaching of Indigenous history and culture has been challenging with teachers citing a lack of resources and non-indigenous teachers somewhat uncomfortable about authentically sharing a culture which is not their own. Given the importance of these inclusions in school curriculum there are now a wealth of resources available particularly through the pioneering and prolific work of Professor Marcia Langton from the University of Melbourne. At the Garma Festival, Professor Langton stressed the importance of schools connecting with their local indigenous community to draw upon a primary source of indigenous culture.  Garma lecturer, proud Bunuba woman and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Social Justice Commissioner, June Oscar, passionately stated at Garma 2022 that all students, not just Indigenous students, have “Not just a right to be educated but a right to be educated about Indigenous societies – how dare we not include their history and issues in our curriculum given they are the oldest continuous civilisation in the world – it is a denial of the worth of our knowledge as a people. Weaving language, knowledge and culture into mainstream education empowers both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous students. First Nation’s history and knowledge should be compulsory as Australian children deserve an accurate and truthful history of their country.”

The second of these key messages was that ideally Indigenous education needs to be conducted on country or close to home. In the Northern Territory 70% of Indigenous people live in the rural areas whereas in New South Wales 70% of Indigenous people live in the cities so close to home can potentially mean very different educational settings between states. Indigenous Elders at Garma expressed the importance of Indigenous students needing to stay connected to other Indigenous students, to community and to culture otherwise their educational experience could be very isolating. Whilst the Indigenous women at Garma acknowledged education as the most important transformational vehicle in a girl’s life, they shared that it is crucial that this learning doesn’t come at the cost of cultural and Indigenous values. With this in mind, Studio Schools Australia has plans to establish secondary schools on country across remote areas in northern Australia. The first of these schools in Yiramalay in the Kimberley is operating with a full residential model of learning on country with a focus on health and wellbeing, staying close to family and community and strengthening culture and language. This program is predominantly staffed by local Indigenous bilingual teachers. In the Kimberley and across northern Australia the Indigenous school attendance rate in 2022 was 10%, whereas Studio Schools Australia’s Yiramalay campus had an attendance rate of 90% in 2022. A strong and exciting message that this model is working.

The third key message was that Indigenous education needs to be informed by Indigenous leaders. Yolngu education consultants at Garma stressed that they need to be at the table and not just on the menu when Indigenous education decisions are being made. As one Elder succinctly phrased it, “nothing about us should be decided without us and never walk in front of me as I may not follow – walk beside me”. This need for “talking with me not about me” was reiterated on a larger scale by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at last year’s Garma Festival. I was fortunate to witness Albanese’s announcement regarding the need to settle as soon as possible on the referendum question asking for an alteration to the constitution that establishes an Indigenous voice in this term of parliament. Australia’s history of referendums sees only eight of 44 nationwide referendums carried.  I am hoping that the Australian public see this referendum as transcending political allegiance and a historic opportunity to right a long overdue wrong. This is about people not politics.

I encourage all members of our wider school community to read the Uluru Statement from the Heart and take the time to make an informed and thoughtful response to the upcoming referendum. I would also urge you to consider including the Garma Festival in professional and personal development experiences for you and your employees. It was a life changing four days that raised more questions than it answered. My pledge to the Yolngu people was that even if I never came back to Garma, I would share the messages that I heard there and the opportunity to write this article is just the beginning of that important promise.

Allison Harrigan
Musical Director of Choirs (K-12)

Primary School Open Classrooms

“Look and Learn” Primary Open Classrooms

This year we are excited to be able to welcome parents and carers back into the Primary classrooms for our “Look and Learn” Open Classroom lessons. These lessons will provide a window into the varied teaching strategies and learning opportunities that the girls engage with every day. It will also allow parents and carers the chance to step into our learning space and become a student once again. Afterall, things may have changed a little since your school days!

Across the year, a variety of Key Learning Areas will be featured, allowing parents and carers the opportunity to discover more about how we approach the teaching of these subjects and to witness firsthand the challenging and engaging approaches we take.

Please note that all year groups will showcase the subjects of Maths and English over the course of the year.

The dates of the Term 1 Look and Learn Sessions are:

Following on from the “Look and Learn” lessons, we encourage you to spend some time discussing with your daughter what learning can look like in this subject and the others she engages with at SCEGGS.

Some questions you might like to ask are:

• What sort of tasks/activities do you enjoy doing most in this subject? Why?
• What learning are you most proud of in this subject?
• Can you think of a time you surprised yourself during a lesson and did something you thought you couldn’t do? How did this feel?
• Share a time when you felt really challenged by a learning task and found yourself in the Learning Pit. What made it challenging? How did you overcome this challenge? How did you feel when you overcame this challenge?
• What do you do if you find a task difficult? How do you approach challenging tasks?
• Can you think of a time when you used one of the learner qualities (collaboration, curiosity, courage, flexibility, persistence, reflection) during a lesson? Why was it important to use this quality? How did it help you to be a better learner?
• What do you think you would like to learn more about in this subject?
• What are you trying to work on and improve in this subject? How do you think your teacher could help you with this? What could you do as a learner to improve?

We would also warmly welcome any questions that you might have following these lessons, that may aid either your own understanding of how this subject is taught at SCEGGS, or help you consider how you can support your daughter’s learning at home.

We look forward to seeing many of you over the next few weeks.

Helen Dempsey
Head of Primary

International Women’s Day 2023

According to the International Women’s Day (IWD) website, the aims are to raise awareness about what a gender inclusive world looks like through celebrating achievements of women, raising awareness about discrimination and taking action to work towards gender parity. Above all, IWD is about valuing a world that is diverse, equitable and inclusive.

I have read several articles and listened to a range of conversations around IWD this year. The theme of “embrace equity” has stirred much discussion. The question of tokensim has become part of the discussion of IWD, and far from being deterred by this discussion, I believe it is something that speaks to a deeper truth in us. We want meaningful change and recognition. The conversation generated by IWD and the ways it is celebrated, or not, can drive further changes. A world that is diverse, and celebrates being diverse, is met with a challenge of how to embrace diversity. The challenge here is one of dialogue and engagement with the issues that are raised in a day such as IWD. The feminist movement is as diverse as society itself and why would it be any other way! International Women’s Development Agency explains that feminism is “about respecting diverse women’s experiences, identities, knowledge and strengths, and striving to empower all women to realise their full rights.” There cannot be a one size fits all in feminism, as the experiences of women are all different. The path has not been created, it is being created, and for every time we may not get it right, we can learn from this, to do it better.

Maya Angelou expressed this beautifully when she said, “When you know better, do better”

One thing is certain though, we do need to hold onto the hope and vison of gender equity for the sake of all in our world, and for our world. We need to recognise where our biases are and look to where there is injustice for all women. The intersectionality of justice is the complex overlap of various social identities and issues, such as race, gender, sexuality, and class, as well as environmental justice and how all these factors are important to address when thinking about women’s rights.  The need for conversation, dialogue and respectful engagement with ideas and actions becomes not only the starting point, but the means by which real change can take place.

Here at SCEGGS last week, we acknowledged IWD through a range of activities. Some generated learning and discussion and some were more of a light-hearted celebration; both of these things are very much needed in life. The Rock Band played a few songs at lunch time while the Prefects encouraged students to write down names of inspiring women and qualities that they admire about them.

Year 9 listened to a presentation by Rabbi Jacki Ninio of Emanuel Synagogue, about her inspiring story of becoming one of the first female ordained Rabbi in Australia. She brought humour and warmth to the Year 9s through her exploration of the challenges she has faced, and also the joy she has in her ordained role. Year 9 are currently studying the religious tradition of Judaism in Religious Education and Rabbi Jacki Ninio’s presentation is a much loved and remembered part of this program each year.  Year 10 and 11 students listened to founder and CEO of Two Good Co, Rob Caslick, speak about the work of Two Good Co. As it states on their website “a business for good. Through the creation of beautiful, high-quality food and products, we support, empower and employ women with lived experience of homelessness, domestic violence and complex trauma. By supporting Two Good Co, you are creating opportunities for someone to change their life and rebuild their self-worth and independence, in order to break free from the cycle of homelessness and disadvantage.”

Rob Caslick said that he isn’t changing the women who work for Two Good Co, it is rather they who are making the changes and the company’s role is to provide support for that to happen. SCEGGS is fortunate to be situated is very close proximity to Yirranma Place where the Two Good Co café operates out of. Supporting social enterprise is a way in which we can all be agents of change. Be it through conversation and learning, action that works to change social structures that perpetuate disadvantage or celebrations of women who have spoken out for a better world throughout history, we all can continue to be instruments of change and question and examine injustice in all its forms.

Year 11 followed up on the theme of being strong and confident women in their year meeting during the week by flexing their sartorial muscles! The picture below shows a range of outfits for iconic women like Princess Diana, Lady Gaga and Marilyn Monroe made from newspaper.

The Primary School held a special Years 3-6 Assembly which focussed on IWD, exploring the history behind this day and what the Women’s Suffrage movement was. Mrs Dempsey shared what this year’s theme means to her and explained the difference between equity and equality.

Primary students followed up their learning about IWD in a range of subject areas with a stand out being Year 3 who learnt about a series of Old Girls who have excelled in their field and wrote letters to them. All Art lessons explored inspiring female artists and the colours of the IWD were used in the K-2 girls’ artworks.

I thank all of our guest speakers, presenters and the SCEGGS community for their time and energy during International Women’s Day.

Dynielle Whitney
Social Justice Co-Ordinator

Respectful relationships & Learning Consent Co-education workshop with Sydney Grammar

On Friday 17 February all Year 11 and 12 students walked to Sydney Grammar School to take part in the first ever pilot program on Learning Consent in a co-educational space. The workshop was unique in that it was co-designed by Learning Consent founder and CEO Dr Joy Townsend and the student leaders from both schools, and then co-facilitated by Learning Consent and the team of student leaders. It focused on offering students the very valuable opportunity to have peer-led discussions around the issue of sexual consent, but more broadly, to listen to each other explore the often unspoken ‘grey areas’ of consent, and the gendered and social pressures that complicate young people’s navigation of respectful relationships.

While this innovative co-educational workshop was a new experience for all the senior students who had taken part. For the student leaders, taking on the responsibility of leading a discussion group of students with a partner leader from Grammar was an even more daunting task for the student leaders. Yet in the end, it was a great opportunity to be able to provide an environment to foster valuable discussions in every group and build a closer relationship between our two schools. 

The co-design process for this workshop started with an after school meeting with Dr Townsend at the end of Term 4 in 2022 and continued throughout two sessions in Term 1 2023 before the final workshop. In these sessions, around 40 student leaders from Year 11 and 12 at SCEGGS and Form VI at Grammar, were able to co-design and plan research driven, evidence based and youth centred consent education workshop for their peers. This was incredibly enriching for the student leaders who were able to think deeply about effective methods of consent education and what they thought was most important to touch on with their peers. 

Ultimately, all the students involved came away with a deeper understanding of the social narratives surrounding consent and how to apply learned skills in respectful relationships.

Georgia McCormack
Year 12

Primary School Kindness Club

Kindness Club has continued in the Primary School this year. This club meets weekly and includes representatives from each class (Years 1-6) who work together with Mrs Johnstone (Deputy Head of Primary, Student Wellbeing) and Mrs Whelan (K-7 School Counsellor) to explore, celebrate and promote the value of kindness. 

Semester 1 Kindness Ambassadors are: 

Last week the Kindness Ambassadors focused on International Women’s Day and shared a woman in their life who they look up to as a kind and strong influence. It was a privilege to hear the girls’ share stories of mothers, grandmothers, aunts, friends and cousins. They certainly are surrounded by some amazing women! 

Sarah Johnstone
Deputy Head of Primary, Student Wellbeing

Easter Festival

The SCEGGS community is invited to this year’s Easter Festival on Wednesday 5 April, starting at 7pm in the Great Hall. This is always a wonderful event which focuses on the meaning and significance of Easter, with readings, prayer and music provided by the School Choir,  Madrigal Ensemble, Cantare,  Years 5 & 6 Choir and Amati String Ensemble. The following day the whole school will be involved in our Easter Service. At both services, a collection will be taken to support Vinnies Community Centre in Redfern, an organisation which addresses the needs of our city’s disadvantaged, those living in social housing and the growing number of people struggling to make ends meet. Students have been asked to bring a monetary donation to go towards their form class’s Lenten offertory in support of this cause. We look forward to welcoming many parents and community members to this special service at this very special time of the year.

Scholarships at SCEGGS Darlinghurst

Three new scholarships for students entering Year 11 2024 are now available. They are the:

1.  Joan Freeman Science & Mathematics Scholarship
2. Barbara Chisholm Humanities Scholarship
3. Diana Bowman General Academic Scholarship

If you know a candidate who demonstrates academic achievement and a willingness to participate in the life of the school, encourage them to apply today!

Music Matters

This week’s banner is from the Holst Wind Band who performed at Monday’s Assembly.

Assembly Performance – Holst Wind Band

Congratulations to members of Holst Wind Band who performed at Monday’s Assembly.  The students performed excerpts from Easy on Me by Adele Atkins and arranged for wind band by Michael Brown for the procession and recession.  Rites of Tamburo composed by Robert Smith was performed as the main item.  Thank you to Mr Michael Tierney (Director of Bands) for his direction of the ensemble’s performance.

International Women’s Day – Rock Band Lunchtime Performance

Last Wednesday 8 March, marked the celebration of International Women’s Day.  SCEGGS’ Year 12 Rock band was invited to perform for the student body at lunchtime outside the school’s cafeteria.  The Year 12 Rock group featured Lara Greenfield (Drums), Isabella May (Guitar), Elizabeth Lapham (Voice) and Year 11 student Bella Stern (Bass).

Open Morning Performance – LUX Strings

The SCEGGS Open Morning for 2025 Enrolments took place at the Great Hall on Friday 10 March.  LUX Strings provided the musical backdrop welcoming new families into the school.  Many thanks to Mrs Anne Sweeney (Director of Strings) and Miss Eliza Sdraulig (conductor of the ensemble) for their support of the ensemble.  Well done to members of LUX strings for their first musical performance of the year!

Eisteddfod Practice Challenge

Students who have participated in the Eisteddfod Practice Challenge this term need to submit their Practice Tracker as soon as possible please. Girls should have their name clearly marked on the Practice Tracker.

Our SCEGGS musicians will receive awards as follows for the Eisteddfod Practice Challenge:

• Bronze Award 7-day streak
• Silver Award 14-day streak
• Gold Award 21-day streak
• Platinum Award 28-day streak

Completed Practice Tracker Forms can be given to Mrs Cleworth, Ms Jones or Mrs Sweeney in the Primary School.

Pauline Chow
Head of Music

Science News

Women in Science

Science has been celebrating International Women’s Day in many ways, including an excursion to a Women in STEM event. There will be more details on that next week, but here’s a sneak preview:

One of the celebrations included Science Club learning about Rosalind Franklin’s contribution to the discovery of DNA. Our wonderful Science Leaders prepared a PowerPoint presentation about Franklin’s work, and then the students extracted DNA from Bananas and examined it.

The experiment required superior squishing skills (to mash up the banana and open up the cells) along with careful pouring techniques to enable two layers of liquids to be formed.

The DNA could be seen as a white layer that formed between the two liquids. Some dye was added to help see the difference between the layers. Students then fished out the DNA and were able to observe it more closely.

Please note that next week’s Science Club will be postponed, since most students will be involved with the Cuts for Cancer fundraiser on Friday lunch.

Mia Sharma
Science Teacher

From The Dorothy Wilkinson Library

World Poetry Day

Tuesday 21 March is World Poetry Day!  Come and join Library staff for a week filled with fun poetry activities. All activities will run at lunchtime in the Secondary Library in Week 8.

The Secondary Library

Year 4 Excursion to the Australian Museum

Last week, as part of our integrated History and Geography unit, Year 4 visited the Australian Museum with their class. The girls participated in the Features of Country workshop with Museum educator, Hayley, a young Aboriginal woman from Halls Creek in the East Kimberly region of Western Australia. Hayley shared her knowledge of weaving practices and how weaving is used in First Nations culture.

We learnt that Lomandra, Club Rush, and Stringy Bark are plants which are used for weaving in NSW. While in other parts of Australia, Pandanus leaves, Palm leaves and Spinifex grass, are used. Once these grasses are dried, they are coloured using different types of berries. We learnt how these grasses are used to make baskets, bags, mats and fish or eel traps using different weaving techniques. The girls were pleased to learn that using these natural materials for fishing is an environmentally sustainable practice.

At the end of the workshop, the Year 4 girls tested their weaving skills. They all showed great persistence and flexibility while they weaved, quietly chanting to themselves “over, under, over, around”.

This excursion helped our girls to understand how Indigenous Australians have and continue to use natural vegetation and natural resources, and how they care for the land in a sustainable way. Year 4 will continue to investigate what life was like for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the past and to understand their culture, tools, customs, art and connection to country.

The students had a fantastic time, showed great curiosity, and represented the School with pride.

We look forward to the next excursion!

Rachael Dossetor and Nada Siljanovska
Year 4 Classroom Teachers

Secondary Sport News

IGSA Swimming Championships

Good luck to our SCEGGS Swimming Team who will be competing at the IGSA Swimming Championships on Friday at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

Congratulations to Georgia Cate Baker Wood (Year 9) who won a Bronze Medal in the 14 yrs 200m Breaststroke at the NSW Swimming Championships last weekend. Georgia also placed 6^th in the 14 yrs 100m Breaststroke and 9^th in the 50m Breaststroke.

Surf Life Saving

Congratulations to Jemima (Year 10) and Adelaide Sewell (Year 8) who have qualified to go the Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships in Perth. At the State Championships Adelaide’s team won the Silver Medal in the U14 Beach Relay whilst Jemima’s were the State Champions winning the Gold Medal in the U15 beach relay.  

Good luck to Chiara Hammond (Year 11) who is also heading to Perth for nationals. Chiara competes for Coogee and is a member of both the U17 and U19 Rescue and Resuscitation Teams.

NSW Schools Teams Racing (Sailing)

Good luck to the following students who will be representing SCEGGS at the NSW Schools Teams Racing Championships being hosted by Woollahra Sailing Club from Friday – Sunday: Gemma Ashton (Year 11), Abby Tattersall (Year 8), Jessica Board (Year 9), Michaela Docherty (Year 8), Scarlett White (Year 8), Sophia Bolot (Year 7) and Alexa Argy (Year 10).

SCEGGS Inter-House Cross Country Carnival

Last week SCEGGS held the Secondary Cross Country Carnival bright and early on Tuesday morning. Nearly 200 runners assembled in Queens Park at 6.30am in anticipation of representing their Houses.

Congratulations to Beck House who were the overall champions.

Well done to each of our individual age champions:

Overall House Results:

Snowsports 2023

For those SCEGGS families who are thinking about participating in the SCEGGS Snowsports Team, now is the time to lock in your accommodation before it all books out. SCEGGS competes in the Sydney Region of Interschools to be held in Thredbo from July 10 – 14. The emphasis at the regional level is on participation so students do not need to be super quick.  Students should however be capable of skiing or boarding down a blue run unassisted.

The competition is open to all students from Kindergarten through to Year 12. More information can be found in these links:

• Regional Interschools Snowsport Competition Championships Fact Sheet
• Event Schedule 2023
• Snow Australia Interschools

Please contact Alison Gowan if you would like to discuss further.

SCEGGS at Play

Do you have any sporting news or photos to share in Behind 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 alisongowan@sceggs.nsw.edu.au

SCEGGS Training sessions before and after school plus Saturday Sport

Please check the @SCEGGSSport Twitter feed for the latest updates relating to cancellations and wet weather.

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

IPSHA Cross Country Team

Congratulations to the following girls who have been selected to represent SCEGGS at the IPSHA Cross Country Carnival. The Carnival will be held on Saturday 1 April at The Kings School from 8.00am.

• Anja Baker
• Emma Bozunovic
• Klemintine Chylek
• Beatrice Emanuel
• Chelsea Fallshaw
• Clementine Finlayson
• Jessica Grace
• Daisy Grice
• Indigo Hasemer
• Sarah Ibrahim
• Emilia Laban
• Isabelle Lee
• Gabriella Orth
• Ava Pepper
• Anna Slack
• Emily Snow
• Imogen Symons
• Evie Thorpe
• Hannah Walker
• Grace Webster

Student Achievements

Congratulations to Alexia Marskell (Year 5) who represented IPSHA at the CIS Basketball Trials last Friday. Unfortunately, she did not make it into the team but gave her best throughout and will have next year to trial again.

Congratulations to Claudia Rennie-Meyenn (Year 6) who went to the CIS Footballs trials on Monday. Claudia made it through the first selection round but was not selected in the final team. Well done Claudia, you should be extremely proud of yourself!

Dasha Jolley (Year 4) represented SCEGGS at the Mountain Bike Interschools Carnival held at Thredbo last week week. Dash placed fourth in her division and came down the hill in 7:58, a great time. Thanks to Dasha, SCEGGS with its team of one student, placed seventh overall in the downhill flow motion!

Holiday Tennis Camp

SCEGGS’s Exclusive Tennis Coaches Justin and Vince are hosting a SCEGGS Primary School tennis program this upcoming school holidays.

All standards and welcome and are programmed for; Beginners, Intermediate, and Frequent Players.

What to expect through both days :

1. 4 Basic Stroke Techniques – Serve, Forehand, Backhand, Volley.
2. Interactive Tennis Drills.
3. Tennis Scoring System.
4. Fun and Fitness Games.

Note: Justin and Vince are the long-time and current coaches of the SCEGGS Tildesely Tennis Team and run certain PE tennis classes for our Primary School.

Please take a look at the attachment below and feel free to contact Justin or Vince if you have any questions/inquiries.

Sport Information

For Years 4-6, please download and use the IPSHA App on your mobile device for Saturday matches. All match locations are posted through the app.  Any wet weather will also be posted on the @SCEGGSport twitter feed.

Tom Mitton
PDHPE and Sport Coordinator: Primary

Debating

The debating season is in full swing this year, and all teams have been involved in some enjoyable and high-quality debates. It’s always wonderful to see Years 6-12 thinking about their topics and learning about the world, while also working on their confidence, analytical thinking, and team work. Thank you to all the debaters for their hard work, and to families for accommodating these late Friday nights!

Last Friday was another evening filled with success for SCEGGS. In the Eastside Competition we won the Year 8, Year 9, Year 10 and Year 12 divisions, and in the ISDA Competition we won the Year 7, Year 9 and Senior B (Year 11) divisions. All teams did a great job and should be proud of their performances. 

Next week SCEGGS is hosting the Eastside Competition, and we will be debating against The Scots College. The ISDA Competition is being hosted by Tangara. For ISDA, a bus will leave SCEGGS promptly after school ends at 310pm to travel to Tangara. It will return to SCEGGS after the senior debates conclude, which is at approximately 9pm. Any year is welcome to catch this bus, and debaters will be supervised between the conclusion of their debates and our departure from Tangara.

If, after settling into the start of the year, you would still like to join debating, please send me an email here. There are many varied opportunities to participate in debating, and it is never too late to start. Years 7-9 train from 3.10-5pm on Monday afternoons, and Year 10 trains from 3.10-5.30pm on Thursday afternoons. All years also train before their debates on Friday, and that is also an open training session from 3.10-5pm.  

Imogen Harper
Debating Coordinator

Primary School Easter Hat Parade

Primary School parents and carers are warmly invited to join us for our annual Easter Hat Parade on Thursday 6 April. The Parade will commence at 2.00pm and will be held on the Primary Playground.

Girls in Years K-3 will make their Easter hats within their Art lessons, alongside Ms Playford and Mrs Kalocsay.

Girls in Years 3-6 are asked to make their hats at home and bring them to school on the morning of the parade.

Hopefully the sun shines for us and it’s a wonderful way to finish the term. We look forward to seeing you all then.

Helen Dempsey
Head of Primary

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

Class Parent Events