From Ms Allum

I am very excited to announce that we are introducing the option of pants for the winter uniform, in addition to the current tunic option. We have listened to the girls who have asked for this option and think that this is an exciting way forward. (I know it has taken us a few years to get the design right, but I am thrilled with the final product). You can see some pictures of the uniform below – click on each one to get the full photo.

The wool blend pants are available to be purchased from today and worn as part of the winter uniform when we change over to the winter uniform on 4 May. Details about how you can purchase the pants and to book a fitting time are available here. 

In the Secondary School, we are introducing a new shirt to be worn with the pants. It is a striped shirt, and we think it looks smarter than a plain white shirt with the pants. The Primary School will continue to wear their current winter shirt.

There will be some guidelines around how this new uniform item is to be worn.

The shirt is designed to be worn without a tie and without any badges. Outside the School grounds (e.g. travelling to and from school), girls must wear their school blazer over the shirt and pants (and possibly in a handful of other very formal occasions too). Within the school grounds, any combination of the vest, jumper, cardigan or blazer with the striped shirt is acceptable.

Girls have the option of wearing their shirt either tucked into the pants, or untucked if they would prefer.

Sustainable production

In keeping with our commitment to be a more sustainable school, we have sourced a fabric for the shirt that is a polycotton blend. The polyester is 100% recycled, and the Cotton is 100%  BCI (Better Cotton Initiative), sourced from ethical suppliers and meeting very strict guidelines regarding farming practices, environmental procedures and sustainability. 

Like all items of the SCEGGS uniform, I have no doubt that girls will wear this with care as proud members of the SCEGGS community!

Updates to our calendar of events

The advice from State and Federal Government Departments about managing the Coronavirus is constantly evolving. We will continue to monitor the situation and update our community as information comes to hand.

The health and safety of our girls, staff and families is uppermost in mind and we will continue to reflect carefully about all operations of the school, and the regular advice being given to us all. The modifications we have made to our Term I calendar of events based on this advice are outlined here.

This page will continue to be updated as circumstances evolve.

In This Together

Special Report from School TV: Coronavirus – a guide for parents                                                                                                                                          

Coronavirus is an evolving international health concern. Around the world, people are being affected in many ways. Individuals of all ages from numerous nationalities are being diagnosed with the virus – it doesn’t discriminate. Although children are considered at lower risk of infection, they are not immune to the multitude of news reports regularly seen or heard in the media.

This epidemic is a cause for concern to parents, but it is also very worrying to young people. Many are wondering how best to discuss this epidemic in a way that will be reassuring to kids without making them feel more worried than what they may be already. Parents should not avoid such a discussion with their kids. Not talking about something can often make them worry more.

Although most children will have already heard about the coronavirus, it is important for parents and care-givers to take this opportunity to convey the facts about it and set the emotional tone. This may help kids feel more informed and reassured. Involving them and encouraging self-efficacy can also give them a sense of control and purpose.

Here is the link to your special report. In this Special Report, parents and caregivers will be provided with some guidelines on how best to approach this topic whilst still ensuring the wellbeing of their child.

Furthermore, the Australian Psychological Society (APS) has prepared this document with tips on how to cope with Coronavirus anxiety.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback. And, if you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Bethany Lord
Director of Pastoral Care

Study Without Stress

In Term II we will be offering a Study Without Stress group program for Year 11 students to assist with studying and performing in exams more effectively and with less stress.

Study Without Stress is a psycho-educational program developed by Macquarie University’s Centre for Emotional Health. It has been designed to equip students with knowledge and practical tips on how to approach and overcome the stress associated with workload and exams in their final high school year. The program uses Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) techniques to help participants get the most out of their final year at school whilst keeping stress to a manageable level.

Topics covered will include:

• Understanding stress (including causes, symptoms and the role of the stress response)
• Goal setting
• Managing expectations and beliefs about exams
• Creating effective timetables
• Learning how thoughts can affect performance
• Challenging negative or unhelpful thinking patterns
• Understanding perfectionism
• Understanding procrastination
• Tips to deal with work avoidance
• Building good study habits
• Procedures for problem solving
• Exam preparation

The program will be run across seven sessions starting in Week 2 of Term II, with a group limited to 12 students. If there is demand for more places, we will aim to run the program again in Term IV. Each participant will be provided with a workbook and handouts, and will be required to spend a little time each week between sessions practising their skills or completing short tasks to facilitate their learning.

The group will be run by Olivia Matthews (School Counsellor) and David Scott (Academic Support.) If your daughter would like to participate in the Study Without Stress program in Term II, she should email Ms Matthews or Mr Scott by Thursday 2 April 2020.

Carol Saunders
Head of Academic Support

From the P&F

Dear Parents and Friends                             

First, I wish to welcome to the SCEGGS community all the parents/carers and friends of girls who commenced school at SCEGGS for the first time this year and extend my greetings to those who have returned for another year.  It has certainly been an interesting start to the 2020 school year.

I had hoped that my first message as President would come in more positive circumstances and I would be outlining all the wonderful events our class parents and Primary and Secondary co-ordinators have arranged for our community in the coming months.

Unfortunately, the year has presented us all with unforeseen challenges that have required us to respond quickly to these changing circumstances.

Due to the rapid spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, as a precaution all class parent events have been cancelled. For more detailed information about managing those events that have already been cancelled, please see my email sent to all parents on Monday. Please contact the School if you need to have this message re-sent.

The P&F are committed to working with the School to ensure that we come through this with as little disruption as possible.  If you require any information or I can be of assistance in relation to P & F activities, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Warmest regards

Penny Newton
P & F President

Secondary Sport

Secondary Swimming Carnival

Last Friday the Secondary Swimming Carnival finally went ahead after being washed out earlier in the year. We were blessed with a lovely sunny day and a wonderful day of swimming. Whilst the emphasis is on participation at of all our school carnivals, there was some outstanding swimming with several school records broken on the day.

A special mention to Claudia Quinn who broke the 13 years 50m freestyle record (held by our very own Ms Carter of course!) three times in the same day by saving her fastest time for the final event by winning the Open Invitational 50m freestyle!

The full list of age champions and prize winners is here.

SCEGGS Secondary Cross Country Carnival

Students gathered in Queens Park before school on Tuesday morning for the annual SCEGGS Cross Country Carnival. Despite a more subdued event this year, a group of dedicated competitors all completed the course in true SCEGGS spirit. Congratulations to Beck who won the carnival with some outstanding runners.

 Well done to the following age champions:

           
House Points

Laser Radial World Championships (Sailing)

Congratulations to Sylvie Stannage who competed at the Laser Radial World Championships earlier this month. Sylvie raced against the best sailors in the world as they attempted to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Despite coming into the championships recovering from a shoulder injury she placed a very credible 85^th overall in what were strong windy conditions that required a lot of strength. Her best result was 17^th overall in one of the races which came at the back end of the competition when fatigue generally sets in.

Sylvie enjoyed her world championships experience and the opportunity to learn from the best in the world. We look forward to following her journey post SCEGGS and hopefully we might see her at the Paris Olympics in 2024! In the meantime it is back to studying for the HSC for Sylvie as most sporting events are now put on hold.

IGSSA U’16 Hockey Team

Well done to Emily Michel and Lillian Pritchard who were both selected in the IGSSA U’16 Hockey Team last week. Unfortunately, the NSWCIS U’16 Hockey Championships scheduled for next week have had to be cancelled.

Athletics

Congratulations to Laura Roderick who competed at the NSW Athletics Championships in early March. She placed 7^th in the Open Women’s 800m in a time of 2:17 which has qualified her for Nationals. Well done Laura!

NSW Surf Lifesaving Championships

The State Nippers Championships were held recently. Well done to Jemima Sewell represented Coogee SLS and had a terrific carnival with the following results:

• Individual silver in the U12 girls beach sprint
• Team gold in the U12 girls beach relay
• Team silver in the U12 mixed relay 
• Team 4th place in the girls U13 beach relay

Well done to Tessa McCarthy who also competed at the carnival representing Bronte:

• Team 4^th Girls Beach relay
• Team bronze Mixed Beach Relay
• Mixed Cameron 10th

Sports News

Do you have news to share about your daughter’s sporting activities? Please email any relevant news to alisongowan@sceggs.nsw.edu.au . We love hearing about what our students are doing outside of school and seeing some photos.

Alison Gowan
Director of Sport

Primary Sport

Please note that Co-curricular Sport will continue as scheduled. Some training sessions may not go ahead. If this is the case, you will receive an email and an update will be placed on the SCEGGS Sport Twitter  page.

Primary Cross Country

Despite the early signs of rain, the Primary Cross Country went ahead and was a great morning. All the houses displayed enthusiastic support for the competitors, and it was wonderful to see the girls outside enjoying themselves.

A special thank you to the Primary staff for their help and also to our School Cross Country Captains, Laura Roderick and Amelia Board, who ran with the girls and gave great encouragement along the way.

Congratulations to the following girls:

Age Champions

Final House Points

Sue Phillips
Primary PDHPE and Sport Co-ordinator

Careers Corner Newsletter Issue 2

Issue 2 of the Careers Corner Newsletter is now available online. In this issue you can find out about:

• Upcoming Open Days
• Scholarship, university early offer and youth program opportunities
• Overseas tertiary study
• Industry information

If you have any feedback or information for future Careers Corner Newsletters, please contact our Careers Advisor, Andrea Pinnock.

Drama

This week in Drama, Cassidy Cogin reviews No Pay? No Way! , read about the Norm & Ahmed Incursion as well as about SCEGGS Old Girls who have contributed to an upcoming short film. 

Theatre Club

Last Thursday, the Theatre Club ventured to The Sydney opera House Drama Theatre to see the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Dario Fo’s No Pay? No Way! This example of classic comic farce did not fail to impress the students and provide much mirth. In the accomplished hands of actors like Helen Thompson and Glenn Hazeldine, audiences are assured an insightful and reflective experience of playing style and the political intention of Fo’s writing.

No Pay? No Way! Review

The first thing I noticed when entering the theatre was the brilliant stagecraft set up, and the realism of the set, especially in contrast to the borderline absurdism of the story. Not only was the performance visually stunning but laugh-out-loud hilarious; each line offered multiple meanings and every character felt fresh and entertaining. No Pay? No Way! starts as a simple concept: A group of women steal – sorry, “liberate” groceries due to the ridiculous surge in price and a hunt for the perpetrators ensues. As the play progresses and the underlying political resistance and rebellion grew, even the comedic moments felt more serious and real.

At the beginning of the second half, I had absolutely no idea what to expect, or where the story would go. After a shocking and amusing opening, the performance advances with more wit and satire, continuing with the cause and effect sequence.

As the play comes to a melancholic end, I was left feeling bittersweet. The ending hits hard – the reality that the characters are ultimately unable to fully escape a systematic cycle of corruption and greediness seems very relevant in today’s world. All in all, No Pay? No Way! creates hilarious scenes (such as when Giovanni weighs up the pros and cons of eating dog food for dinner) to uphold a strong and significant political message, that remains just as applicable and important now.

By Cassidy Cogin (Year 11)

Norm & Ahmed

Actors Laurence and William visited the school yesterday to perform the Australian play Norm & Ahmed by Alex Buzo. The play came out of the New Wave playwriting movement in the late 1960s, causing quite a stir with its themes of racism and abuse of power. It is a text that is still relevant today and demonstrates perhaps how little has changed in the past 50 years.

The play is studied, alongside David Williamson’s The Removalists, in the HSC Drama course with the topic Dramatic Traditions in Australia. Our HSC Drama students attended the performance in The Playhouse and were joined by the Preliminary Drama class who will also study the text in 2021.

Following the performance, the actors led a workshop focusing on the two plays. The girls gained much from this experience to use in their investigation and reflection of the plays as seminal works of our national theatre.

Treasure

Congratulations to a group of graduates who have all contributed in various capacities to the short film, Treasure.  Vivienne Smith, Darcie Irwin-Simpson, Olivia Satchell, Georgia Scott and Jacqueline Satchell have worked on this film about two sisters who are reunited after the death of their father. While packing up the family home, they discover a childhood map that leads them to reconciliation and a burial.

For the theatre one needs long arms… an artiste with short arms can never make a fine gesture. 
Sarah Bernhardt

Peter Eyers
Head of Drama

From the Senior Library

125 Years in 125 Days – Join the Library as we begin the countdown to the School’s birthday

What do you know about our very first student? For what is the Edith Badham Memorial Prize awarded? Who were Charlie and Daisy Kelland? Do you know who won the first and last Spencer Horrocks Cup? When was the first copy of Lux printed? What do you know about the Lady Anderson Memorial Prize, one of the School’s oldest prizes?

Each day we will feature and celebrate something special about our School. Each Friday there will be a SCEGGS related quiz, game or activity to help celebrate our “125 years in 125 Days.”

Please come and join us as we begin our countdown to the School’s official birthday. We will begin with the Australian writer, Ursula Dubosarsky (COLEMAN 1978), Children’s Laureate 2020-2021.

Dorothy Wilkinson Memorial Library and Archives

Winter Uniform Now Available to Purchase

The SCEGGS winter uniform is available for purchase through the School Shop. It is to be worn from the second week of Term II, commencing 4 May 2020.

Week 1 of Term II is the transition week whereby the summer or the winter uniform can be worn. If a full uniform fitting for your child is required, it is advisable to make an appointment.

The best available times for full service are between 9.00am-12.00pm Monday to Friday.

Students who are new to SCEGGS will be required to purchase long sleeved shirts, a winter tunic, long navy socks and/or tights and a tie if you are in Years 3-12.

Year 3 Primary students are to transition into a collared striped shirt, a tie and an unbelted tunic. As Ms Allum noted in her article, we have the addition of a winter pant for students in Years 3-12 and a new striped blouse for wearing with the pant for students in the Secondary School.

The pants will retail for $65 and the blouse will retail for $35. 

The blazer can be purchased in time for the Photography days in Week 6 of Term II.

Clare Reid
School Shop Manager

Music Matters

Important updates and news about the Eisteddfod Highlights and Musicale 1 Concerts                          

Following the rapid developments surrounding COVID-19 and Government advice to help slow the spread of the virus, the following concerts have unfortunately been cancelled:

Warmest congratulations to the following students who were selected for the Highlights Concerts:

Primary Highlights

Secondary Highlights

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work from Music staff, tutors and students in preparing for the heats. 

Thank you to Ms Heidi Jones and Ms Stephanie Holmes for their organization and accompaniment of the SCEGGS Eisteddfod heats.

Thank you also to Mrs Bronwyn Cleworth, Mrs Alexandra Dalman, Ms Allison Harrigan, Ms Stephanie Holmes, Mr Peter Jewitt, Ms Vicki Kolacsay, Ms Pip Playford, Mrs Anne Sweeney, Mr Michael Tierney and members of the Primary staff who have assisted with the preparations for the Musicale 1 “Magic of Music” concert.

The Music Department will work to provide performance opportunities where we can for our students to share their music making.

Pauline Chow
Head of Music

Debating

Congratulations to Years 7-11 for winning their Eastside debates last Friday.

Unfortunately, the Eastside and ISDA Debating Competitions have been suspended for the rest of the term, meaning there will be no competitive debates on the remaining two Fridays of Term I.
Training will, however, continue on each years’ usual afternoon, and girls are encouraged to talk to me and their coaches if they would like to do some additional training on Friday afternoons. It is important that we stay prepared for if the competitions restart in Term II, as well as that we continue to enjoy the activity and reap its benefits!

Eastside and ISDA will discuss changes to the Term II draw at the end of April. Both competitions are eager to facilitate as much debating as possible, meaning it is likely that make-up rounds will replace finals rounds if the competition goes ahead. As soon as the arrangements for Term II are confirmed I will email all debaters, so please make sure you check your emails before coming back to school.

Imogen Harper
Debating Co-ordinator

Public Speaking

Read about the Lions Youth of the Year Quest and upcoming cancellations.

Lions Youth of the Year

The Australia wide Quest, Lions Youth of the Year, was held on 25 February. Aisha Imtarnasan represented SCEGGS at the Lions Club of Sydney. There were two rounds to the judging with the candidates facing a panel interview which explored their understanding of current affairs, community service and contribution to school and community life. The second round was public speaking both prepared and impromptu.

While not proceeding to the regional round, Aisha spoke passionately about the importance of the representation of different cultures in movies, praising the recent Academy award for Parasite.

The public speaking round proved how insightful and well-informed young people are about current events both national and international.

Cancellation of Public Speaking Competitions

Organisers of Rostrum Voice of Youth and both Plain English Speaking Award and Legacy Junior Speaking Award have notified the School that they are cancelled for this year. Hopefully the AHIGS Festival of Speech will go ahead late in October.

Sandra Carter
Co-ordinator Public Speaking