From Ms Allum

Welcome to the 2023 School Year

To everyone in our community, parents, and students – my best wishes for a good year. I hope all of you are glad to be here and feel supported and cared for!

A particular welcome to our new students and their families. I hope that you soon feel part of the School community. I look forward to meeting you all soon.

There is a lot of information in this edition of Behind the Green Gate. Please take the time to read all of the major sections, and skim through the rest, reading in detail the things which are relevant to you. Most importantly, SCEGGS is a community of people who look after each other. If you do have any questions at any time, please do not hesitate to ask any of us – we really do want you to feel part of our community and know that we care that you get as much as you can out of a SCEGGS education.

Who’s Who at SCEGGS

We know that we will do a better job in educating your daughter if we have a really open and trusting relationship. So, we do encourage you to ring us and talk any time – as we will too! We want to hear what is going on for your daughter – and for you and your family. So, if you are unsure of whom to contact – whether it is to share some good news, ask a question, or just talk about the education of your daughter – the following may help.

The Class Teacher or Form Teacher is often the best first port of call. These teachers will know your daughter best and will always be willing to listen and chat and can point you in the right direction if there is a better person to be speaking to, or just to help you navigate your way around the school. We encourage you to come to the relevant Parent Information Evening in the first couple of weeks of term to meet him or her.

Your daughter’s subject teachers, Years K-12, have the best information about how your daughter is going, and have day to day contact with her too. They will also have detailed knowledge about our programs of learning within their discipline. In the Secondary School, the relevant Head of Department can also answer questions about courses of study, subject choices and issues concerning their teachers.

In the Secondary School, Year Co-ordinators for each of the different Years may be able to address concerns – about academic, social or other issues.

In the Primary School, any one of the Primary Executive can help with more serious matters.

A list of the relevant senior and pastoral staff for 2023 can be found in the Who’s Who at SCEGGS in the 2023 guide which can be accessed via the SCEGGS Portal.

This includes:

• Form Teachers and Year Co-ordinators in the Secondary School
• Heads of Department
• Primary Class teachers and the Executive for the Primary School

Finally, if you have a serious matter to talk about, or something you feel is not being addressed adequately, (or if you just like one of us and have heard us say something that you want to follow up on!) please feel free to contact anyone from the senior staff:

• Deputy Head of School – Ms Holly Gyton
• Head of the Primary School – Mrs Helen Dempsey
• Director of Curriculum – Mr Andrew Gallagher
• Director of Wellbeing – Ms Laura Connolly
• Director of Administration – Ms Sarah Walters
• Director of ICT – Mr Craig Whalland
• Business Manager – Mr Adrian Craig

I am also happy to talk to any parent – on the telephone or in person. Please ring if you would like to discuss a matter or come in for an appointment.

Welcome to (or welcome back to) SCEGGS!

Jenny Allum
Head of School

2022 HSC Results

Please click here to view the 2022 HSC results.

2022 Parent Satisfaction Survey Analysis

Firstly, I want to thank all parents who completed our parent satisfaction survey last year. We do really value all your comments – about the things we do well and the things you think we can do better. I want us to be the best school we can possibly be, and we are definitely assisted in that commitment of ours by all your ideas, feedback and suggestions. So thank you to you all.

As you know, we want an open and transparent approach in the administration of this school. It is very important to me that:

1. We know what parents think and use this to continue on our journey of striving for excellence and constant improvement.
2. We report to parents openly about the results of this sort of survey, so that parents know, too, what we are thinking and about the way forward.

I hope that this summary of the results of the parent survey from 2022 is clear and helpful. If you do have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a ring.

IPSOS Australia was again commissioned by us to design and administer the survey, and analyse the feedback and present us with the results.  Fieldwork was conducted in August/September of last year. The survey was completed online as usual. The structure of the questionnaire was similar to that used in the previous studies conducted for the school, with a few minor modifications for length and to ask a little about COVID – our responses and the way forward post the disruptions to school caused by the pandemic.

In total, 311 questionnaires were returned – reasonably representative across students from Kindergarten to Year 12. We thank everyone who returned a survey – your feedback is very important to us and I know your views will contribute to helping us grow and develop in the years ahead.

Jenny Allum
Head of School

From the Chaplain

Welcome back to the new school year to everyone in the SCEGGS community. I look forward to catching up with all of you or meeting you for the first time soon (even if it’s just a friendly wave at the gate in the morning). I am always open for a chat so please feel free to come and say hello. I hope and pray that this year will be one of fulfilment and joy in all that you do.

Harvest Festival

In Week 3 this year, we celebrate Harvest Festival, where each student is asked to bring to school at least one non-perishable food item which will eventually be distributed to those in our city whose lives have been affected by misfortune and underprivilege. At the beginning of 2020, two million Australians relied on food relief and half of those are children. These numbers have increased dramatically since then due to the pandemic and the rising cost of living.

Harvest Festival recognizes all of the good things that we have been given and the opportunity to give to those in need. We continue to pray for those who struggle to put food on the table and provide for their families. It is important for us as a community to consider ways in which we as a community can help the disadvantaged and marginalised.

Each year, the Chapel is decorated beautifully with these items and other produce and our services are dedicated to the themes of generosity and thankfulness. At the end of the week the donations will be taken to the St Vincents Community Centre at Redfern which provides for those within inner Sydney. I appreciate your generosity and thoughtfulness in these difficult times.

“Rough Edges” Cooking with love: A great opportunity that the whole community can be involved in.

SCEGGS has had a great connection to many of the local welfare agencies for a long period of time. One of those services that we are consistently working with is Rough Edges, another community centre for the poor, lonely and marginalised, located under the hall of St John’s Anglican Church, Darlinghurst. On Wednesdays and Fridays, our staff take whatever leftover food we have at the end of the day from our cafeteria to Rough Edges so that they can provide it to those who attend this centre.

Unfortunately on Monday nights, food is difficult to come by for the centre. In the middle of last year we started a program where families and individuals were invited to make fully cooked meals, enough for about 6-10 people. In the month after the program started we were able to get almost 70 volunteers from the school community which was amazing. Each week, 8-10 families or individuals would cook enough food to feed Monday night’s clientele.  It wasn’t a regular weekly commitment as we had enough people to create a roster where most people cooked once a month. With the more people that we have involved, the more we can share the love around. The food gets dropped off to me at the Forbes St gate on a Monday morning and I deliver it to Rough Edges later that day. If you would like to join our current team of generous volunteers or have further questions, please let me know via email. I have a list of menu ideas, preparation requirements and other important information that I can send you. It has been a great thing for us as a school community to be involved in and a great thing for our local community as well.

Garry Lee-Lindsay
School Chaplain

From the Primary

Welcome everyone, to a new school year! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday and got to enjoy some beautiful sunshine and quality time with family and friends. I’d like to take this opportunity to extend a very warm welcome to all our new girls and their families; we hope that you settle into life at SCEGGS quickly and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at all over the coming weeks.

This year we also have a number of new additions to our Primary teaching team. Please see the article From Ms Allum.

We are very much looking forward to meeting you all at our Parent Information Evenings in Week 2. These evenings are for all parents of girls from Kindergarten to Year 6. Parents will hear from their daughters’ teachers about aspects of the classroom programs, activities planned for the year and ways parents can assist their daughters at home. These sessions will be held in the girls’ nominated classrooms. However, we would love it if you could join us in the Primary Playground for some informal drinks before the sessions begin as an opportunity to get to know each other and to start the year in a positive way.

The Joan Freeman Carpark will be open for parking from 5.15pm and will close promptly after each event. The entry of the car park is positioned on St Peters Street which can be accessed via Forbes Street.

Parent Information Evenings

We urge you to come along and meet our wonderful team of teachers and to hear about the exciting things that will be happening at the school during 2023.

Helen Dempsey
Head of Primary

Navigating the Primary School car line

Bourke Street Car Line

Navigating the Primary School car line can certainly be a tricky part of the afternoon! The good news is that, as a community, we can make it work. Below are some helpful tips to ensure the safety and efficiency of the afternoon car line queue.

How can you help?

• Primary School pick-up times are 2.55pm for Kindergarten to Year 2 and 3.10pm for Years 3 to 6. Please arrive at the correct time, not earlier.
• Year 6 girls should be collected from Forbes Street, unless they have a younger sibling. In this case, parents can collect their daughters from Bourke Street.
• Always display your daughter’s name sign.
• Follow the directions of the teachers; they are in the best position to see the overall situation.
• Move up the queue as far as you can go; please avoid leaving empty spaces in front of your car.
• Remain in your vehicle. The teachers will assist your daughter to ensure her safe departure.
• Encourage your daughter to quickly enter the car on its curb side with her bags. It is much safer to place bags into the front or back seats rather than the boot.
• Please do not double park. Always join the moving queue from the northern end of Bourke Street, no matter how frustrating it might be.
• If a vehicle is pulling out of the moving queue after collecting a child, please grant them easy access.
• Please avoid taking phone calls during this time as your full attention will ensure safety is made a priority.
• If you are approaching or leaving the school on foot and need to cross the street, use the Bourke Street pedestrian crossing. A traffic controller will also be on duty before school to ensure your family’s safety.

A collective effort to follow the guidelines of the dismissal process will ensure road safety measures are in place, keeping your daughter, the teachers and you safe. 

Thank you for your patience as these car line etiquette expectations become habitual for the year ahead.

Gabriela Grocott
Manager of Primary Administration and Operations

2023 Parent Information Booklet

What time can I drop my daughter at school in the morning? Whom do I email an absence note to if my daughter is sick and away from school? What time does the Secondary Library close in the afternoon?

A booklet for parents is available on the SCEGGS Portal to answer all of these questions and more! The 2023 Parent Information Booklet contains the most important logistical and organisational information for parents including:

• School attendance information for all students K-12
• Arrangements for before and after school supervision
• Pedestrian safety
• Students driving to and from school and school activities
• Students riding bicycles to and from school
• Food allergy awareness
• Student accident insurance
• School shop opening hours
• … and much, much more!

The 2023 Parent Information Booklet is now available for all current SCEGGS families to download from the SCEGGS Portal and we would strongly encourage all families to be aware of the important information contained inside.

Student Health Information

Year 7 and 10 Immunisation Program                                                                                             

NSW Health offers all school students free vaccinations recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). These vaccines are important and protect students through to adulthood.

If your child is in Year 7 or Year 10 this year, you can now provide consent online for their routine school vaccinations.

In Year 7, students are offered free vaccines for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (dTpa) and human papillomavirus (HPV). In Year 10, students are offered the meningococcal ACWY vaccine.

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

Further information and details on how to provide consent will be available in next week’s newsletter.

Food Allergy Awareness

At SCEGGS we are concerned about the safety and wellbeing of all our students. Many of you will know someone who is affected by anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction. A food allergy is an immune system response to a normally harmless food protein that the body believes is harmful. When the individual eats food containing that protein, the immune system releases massive amounts of chemicals, triggering symptoms that can affect a person’s breathing, digestion, skin and/or heart. Nine foods cause 90% of food allergies. Peanuts are the leading cause of severe allergic reactions, followed by tree nuts, shellfish, fish, milk, eggs, wheat, sesame and soy.

 There are girls at SCEGGS from Kindergarten to Year 12 with mild to severe food allergies. The only way to manage a food allergy is avoidance. While the children with allergies are being taught to care for themselves at an age appropriate level, we also seek your support. To minimise the risk of exposure for these students, we request that no nuts, peanut butter or other nut products are brought to the school site or other school activities.

We also ask that you help us educate your daughter on the importance of not sharing food with others, washing hands after eating and calling out to an adult if she thinks her friend with allergies is sick. We can never totally eliminate the risk of an anaphylaxis episode, but we are all responsible for helping to lessen that risk.

Thank you for your help in protecting those around us. To learn more about anaphylaxis and food allergies, go to www.allergyfacts.org.au and www.allergy.org.au.

Student Health, Medical and Emergency Information

All parents are reminded to provide the School with accurate and relevant medical information. New families who have not yet returned the Student Information Booklet 2023 are asked to do so as soon as possible.

When medical circumstances change, it is essential that our records reflect your daughter’s current health status. Please send through any changes to the relevant Secondary School Year Co-ordinator or to Sarah Johnstone, Deputy Head of the Primary School: Student Wellbeing in the Primary School.

Sarah Walters
Director of Administration

Parent Information Evenings and Parent Teacher Afternoons

Parent Information Evenings

These evenings are for parents and carers of girls from Kindergarten to Year 12. Parents will hear from their daughters’ teachers about aspects of the classroom programs, activities planned for the year and ways parents can assist their daughters at home, and from guest speakers on various topics. These are important sessions and all parents are urged to attend.

Parent Information Talks

Year 7: with guest speaker Paul Dillon Tuesday 21 February

Parent Teacher Afternoons

Primary

Parent-Teacher Interviews for Primary classes will take place during Weeks 5, 6 and 7 in Term 1. Teachers will organise interview times directly with parents.

Secondary

Secondary Parent Teacher Afternoons take place from 3.30pm on the dates below.

Sarah Walters
Director of Administration

1:1 Computer Program

SCEGGS is continuing the 1:1 Computer Program in 2023. Every girl in Years 4 to 12 will have their own convertible laptop. Kindergarten to Year 3 have access to class sets of iPads. A number of laptops is also used regularly in these years. The parent information sessions run during the first part of Term I will include information on the 1:1 program.

The girls will receive their laptops during the first weeks of school. Parents and girls will also be provided with important information about using and caring for the computer, as well as other essential information, such as cyber safety, ergonomics and accessing the technical support services at School.

If you have any questions about the program at SCEGGS, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Internet Usage

Typically both at school and home your daughter now has access to a technology-rich environment. Effective and appropriate use of the powerful tools within the IT sphere requires responsible behaviour to accompany use of the computers, mobile phones and the internet. Of real concern to us as a school, however, are some instances where there is reported inappropriate use of the internet by some students. The School has put in place a number of strategies to ensure our students use available technologies to achieve suitable and productive outcomes but there are some ways in which you can assist your daughter to make effective use of the internet within the home environment.

Important information and advice for students and parents about laws and other information relevant to the internet can be found in the front section of the School Diary. Students in Years 7-12 and their parents are asked to familiarise themselves with the Internet and Network Users Agreement. This agreement clearly states our belief that students should be responsible for their own actions and goes on to outline the conditions under which access to the internet and the School’s network is allowed. As a parent you are asked to sign the agreement to ensure that your daughter understands the agreement and to make you aware that use of the internet and School’s network is conditional.

The School takes other measures to ensure that our students’ online experience is productive, safe and appropriate. Web filtering is used so that our students do not access, intentionally or otherwise, inappropriate websites. Websites on block and allow lists are updated regularly and placed into categories that the School may choose to apply. At present the sites that are blocked fall into the following broad categories: ads, adult, aggressive, audio-visual, drugs, forums, gambling, hacking, pornography, proxys, violence, virus-infected and more. We are able to (and do) block other unsuitable sites not included in these classifications.

Students should treat their login passphrase as an important personal credential and keep it confidential, as they would a PIN for a bank account. If a student suspects that someone else knows their passphrase, or that it has been compromised in any way, she should immediately change it or request that it be changed by visiting the ICT Service Desk. Students must necessarily assume responsibility for any use of a computer accessed via their login name and password.

The School takes these measures to help ensure that each student’s experience on the internet is positive and productive but, unfortunately, it is not always possible to ensure that all students will use this resource properly. In the past some students have posted, from home and from school, unacceptable material on the internet. Students must understand that matters on the internet are accessible to the entire world and that, as a result, care must be taken not to malign other people, or institutions. Any such activity can be subject to legal redress. Parents should be aware that it is not realistic to monitor or control such activities from school computers or, of course, from home computers. Combating this type of activity requires persistent and continuing efforts on our part as well as by you, at home.

Because students’ access to the internet is not confined to their time at school it is important that you participate in the partnership with the School in educating your daughters about the use of the internet. The Australian Communication and Media Authority has published several useful articles and tips for parents and students. These can be found here. I strongly recommend that you read this and other sections of the site where you will find tips for children of different ages. Discussing these with your daughter and adopting some of the suggested strategies would be one practical way in which you could support the School in encouraging more appropriate internet use.

The internet can be a powerful and constructive technology that provides great educational benefits. Like many other technologies, the internet also has a negative side. Students need on-going education about internet use and the dangers and pitfalls present as well as the many benefits. Parents are encouraged to join with the School to ensure that the internet continues to deliver positive educational and social outcomes for all.

Craig Whalland
Director of ICT

School Cafeteria

The Cafeteria menu embraces the principles of Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia and the NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy.  Girls will have the option to purchase from the specials menu, sandwich bar or the bakery.

The Cafeteria Menu for Term 1 is available here.

Opening times are:

 
Recess orders must be placed by 9.30am and Lunch orders must be placed by 10.30am on the day of order.

Recess and lunch orders can be placed using the Flexischools online ordering system or the Flexischools App (see instructions below).

Note that we have had to increase the price of most items in the cafeteria in response to significant increase in prices from our suppliers.

Getting started with Flexischools

If you’d like to start ordering online, it’s simple.

Set up your account 

1. Download the Flexischools App

Download the app from the App Store or from Google Play.
Note: for iPhone and iPad please select ‘Allow’ notification

2. Register

Open the Flexischools App and click ‘Like to register?’, enter your email address and click ‘Register’. You will be sent a registration email. Follow the instructions in the registration email to finish setting up your account. Once your account is set up, login to the Flexischools App, select the Profile icon on the grey navigation bar, select Student and ‘Add a student’, search for their school name, select their year level and class and enter their details.

3. Top-Up Your Account

To make ordering fast and simple, you can set up automatic top-ups.

Order 

1. Place your order

In the Flexischools App, swipe up and down to find the service category you are interested in, swipe left and right to find the service you are interested in and select the green ‘Order’ button.

2. Make your selection

Select the items you wish to order.

3. Make payment

Select your payment option and complete payment to place your order. 

Payment System

During the pandemic, the Cafeteria became cash-free to avoid the issues of money handling.  We have found this system works very well and the girls are now used to it so we will be remaining a cash-free cafeteria. 

We have implemented a system to enable students to purchase items outside of the ordering window which allows them to make food and beverage choices at recess and lunch times, while ensuring parents can maintain visibility over the items they are purchasing.

Secondary Students are able to use their Student ID card to buy items in the Cafeteria. Girls can select items and Cafeteria Staff will scan their Student ID card at the point of sale to complete the transaction (via Flexischools account).

To enable this function, you need to enter the Student ID card number (located under the barcode on the Student ID card *A) into your Flexischools account in the Student card number field *B in the Settings tab.

Your Flexischools account must be in credit to utilise this function – see the Account tab or click Top Up Wallet *C.

Important Note

Now that the Students have been allocated a Form Class, the Class field must be updated *D in the Settings tab.

Primary Students should continue to pre-order as they are not issued with a Student ID card.

Please also note that students are not able to make purchases with their mobile phones or smart watches.

SCEGGS, together with our catering partner, Cater Care, will continue to work on enhancements to the Cafeteria as part of our continual improvement strategy.

Adrian Craig
Business Manager

Visual Arts

Welcome back to 2023 from the Art Department!

Following the announcement at Speech Night last December, we take this moment to warmly congratulate Amelia Hush (Year 12) on receiving the Howard Tanner Prize for Drawing 2022.

Visual Arts Co-Curricular Program Semester 1

Students are encouraged to attend the Co-Curricular expo next Wednesday where our Art Captain Sienna Apted will be able to answer questions about the opportunities on offer to attend the Visual Arts program for 2023. In the meantime here is a general overview of what’s on offer.

This semester we offer Observational Drawing, Darkroom Photography, Digital Photography, and a Painting course. Tutors are highly experienced educators and practising artists in their own field. Darkroom Photography is run by Ian Lever who is a professional photographer with decades of national and international experience. His work is widely acknowledged especially his social documentation of Sydney Life. Chris Gleisner is a valued member of the broader Visual Arts team, bringing a wealth of experience and creative expertise to her teaching and wider involvement in SCEGGS school life. is Lilli Stromland is both an Old Girl (Class of 2012) and a graduate of the National Art School. She is an exceptionally skilled artist who has established a successful fine arts career. Lilli continues to build a strong critical and commercial following.

Classes are as follows:

Classes are capped at 10 for each session of Darkroom Photography and 15 for Drawing and Painting. Art students are given priority enrolment in Years 9 to 12 with possible non-elective student enrolment available if space is available. The program begins again in Semester 2. Further information and sign up is available online here and this link is emailed to all Art students and their parents in Week 1.

Look out this term for short courses on offer too on Friday afternoons…

• ceramics – tea pots and tea sets 
• paper animal sculptures
• still life printmaking

More info to follow in upcoming Behind The Green Gate editions.

This week’s banner is from Isabelle Senes (Class of 2020).

Heidi Jackson
Head of Visual Arts

Secondary Sport News

Secondary Inter-House Swimming Carnival

Monday 6 February, 9.30am – 2.30pm Drummoyne Swim Centre

Travel arrangements

All girls must come to school (8.15am) in correct sports uniform and travel on the buses to the carnival.

Girls are to go to their Form room and wait for instructions to move to the buses. Form Teachers will travel on the bus with their class.

The Carnival will finish at 2.30pm. All girls will travel back to school on the buses unless a written permission note has been given to the Form Teacher. Students may be dismissed at the conclusion of the carnival, after consulting their Form Teacher.

Uniform

Girls must wear correct sports uniform to and from school. They may change into other decorative House attire once at school. No girl is to travel to or from school in any clothing other than their correct sports uniform.

A school hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, a school jumper or tracksuit must also be brought to the Carnival. If it is particularly hot, we would also strongly recommend a light long sleeve top for further sun protection when not swimming.

Girls should swim in the SCEGGS swimming costume or approved race suit, and Swimming cap.

Lunch and refreshments

There will be no canteen facilities available. All girls must bring enough food and drink for the day.

Parents and spectators

Spectators will be permitted at the carnival.

General

There are to be no mobile phones, laptops, chewing gum or face paint (coloured zinc for sun safety is permitted).

Girls are to move to their allocated House area when they arrive at the pool.

Attendance at the Carnival is compulsory. Girls unable to attend on the day are required to submit an explanatory note to their Form Teacher.

The most important contribution on the day is each girl’s support of her House.

Girls must adhere to the pool rules – no running, pushing, bombing, hanging on lane ropes, unsafe or disruptive behaviour. The wading pool is out of bounds.

Wet weather

Be fully prepared for wet weather – bring umbrella and/or raincoat.

In the case of extremely wet weather or thunderstorm/lightning, a decision will be made at school on the morning of the Carnival. All girls should have some basic equipment with them (eg some paper and their pencil case) to participate in Day 6 lessons in the event the Carnival does not proceed.

Please note

On the morning and afternoon of the Swimming Carnival, there will be NO Secondary co-curricular activities (with the exception of gymnastics).

Alison Gowan
Director of Sport

Primary Sport News

Welcome back to school for 2023, and for those of you new to SCEGGS, welcome! 

What better way to start the new year than with sports! 

Our first day of school on Tuesday afternoon kicked off Primary co-curricular sport for the year with over 60 girls getting involved in IPSHA Football (Years 4-6) at CPSC, Moore Park. Year 3 got underway in the Sports Hall for their Year 3 Basketball competition with over 25 girls participating.  Wednesday morning saw our IPSHA Water Polo girls get in the pool at UNSW with plenty of new faces giving it a go for the first time. 

Reminders for the weekend

• Year 3 Basketball has training from 8.30 – 10.00 on Saturday morning 4 February, in the SCEGGS Sports Hall. 
• IPSHA Football has training from 8.00 – 9.30 on Saturday morning 4 February, at CPSC Synthetic Turf Moore Park. 
• IPSHA Water Polo has training from 8.30 – 10.00 on Saturday morning 4 February, at UNSW Pool. 

Sport information

An email has been sent to all parents with daughters enrolled in sports this term with start and finish dates and pick-up and drop-off information. These can also be found on Cognito in the Sport course (Parent Access).

In case of wet weather, please check the @SCEGGSport Twitter feed. This can also be viewed on the ‘Sport’ course home page on Cognito.

For Years 4-6, please download and use the IPSHA App on your mobile device for Saturday matches. We will also post on the @SCEGGSport Twitter feed.

IPSHA Swimming Trials

 At SCEGGS we host our annual Primary Swimming Carnival in Term 4 each year. While this is predominantly a fun day for students to get involved and challenge themselves, we do choose our representative team to compete at IPSHA from times at this carnival. 

Students who are new to the school or did not participate in last year’s Primary Swimming Carnival due to injury or illness will have the opportunity to trial for the IPSHA Swimming carnival this Monday morning (6 February).

Students wishing to trial will be given the opportunity to compete in Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly. Students must confidently swim 50m in the stroke(s) they are trialling for. 

Please meet at UNSW Pool (UNSW Aquatic Centre, High St Kensington) at 6.30 am. A return bus will be provided for students to make their way to school. 

To nominate, please complete the following form by Saturday 5 pm.  

If your daughter is not able to make the trial or currently has NSW Swimming times you would prefer to use instead, please get in touch here.

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 Tom Mitton. These will be included in newsletters throughout the year.

Tom Mitton
PDHPE and Sport Coordinator: Primary

Music Matters

Seniors Festival Launch – Basie Jazz Band

The SCEGGS Darlinghurst Basie Jazz Band were invited to perform as part of the Woollahra Council’s Seniors Festival Launch on Wednesday 1 February.  Students performed songs from their repertoire including – to the delight of the audience who attended.  The girls specially rehearsed ahead of the term in preparation for this special performance. Thank you to Mr Michael Tierney (Director of Bands) for organising the opportunity and to Ms Alison Ryan who directed the band’s performance.  Well done girls and we look forward to hearing you at the P&F Cocktail Party!

Music Ensemble Rehearsals

The Directors and conductors from Band, Strings and Choir are looking forward to meeting their ensembles in their first rehearsals. Communication will be sent from your ensemble Director for the first rehearsals. 

Please see the ensembles beginning in Week 2:

Please note:

• No Contemporary Strings in Week 2
• LUX Strings – Mrs Sweeney will send communication for Week 2 rehearsal

All other ensembles will commence in Week 3.

Music Ensemble Sign-Up at the Co-Curricular Expo – Wednesday 8 February 1pm Sports Hall

Welcoming any new or newly interested students that have would like to sign-up for Music ensemble participation this year or would like to ask questions about ensembles.  The Music staff would love to see you and answer any questions next Wednesday 8 February (Week 2) at 1pm in the Sports Hall.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Pauline Chow
Head of Music

Science News

Fantastic Opportunity to join the SCEGGS Team for the Australian Science Olympiad Competition (for Year 10 and 11 Scientists)

The Science Olympiad competition is an Australia-wide competition with an exceptional reputation for posing challenging questions that encourage students to extend their knowledge and strengthen key problem-solving skills. Joining the SCEGGS Training Team for the competition will also allow students to meet and collaborate with peers who share their interest and passion for  Science.

This year SCEGGS is running a collaboration with Sydney Grammar School, who are very generously providing the training for the competition free of charge.  All training session will take place at Sydney Grammar School and will run from 3.20pm until 4.30pm, starting in Week 2. Students will need to make their own way home from Sydney Grammar at 4.30pm. The training sessions will run as follows:

Students can choose to complete either Chemistry or Physics, or complete both. The training sessions will run until late July/early August until the 2 hour online exam is completed. High achieving students in the examination are then invited to attend a Summer School camp, and top performing students from Summer School are then invited to a further Training Camp and can form the team that competes in the International Science Olympiad. If you would like further information about the Olympiad Program, please see here.

If students with a passion and flair for Physics and/or Chemistry are interested in taking part in this amazing opportunity, please contact Ms Sharma or their classroom teacher for further details.

The Science Department

Public Speaking – Speech Tuition

Speech Lessons are open to girls in Years 3 – 12. These follow the ASCA (Australian Speech Communication Association) Syllabus with graded examinations up to the Diploma of Communication (Year 12). The group lessons focus on all aspects of oral communication.

If you would like your daughter to continue with her Speech Lessons or commence lessons this year please click the relevant link below:

Years 3-6

Years 7-12

If your daughter has already submitted an enrolment form via email, there is no need to re-submit again.

Elizabeth Walsh
Speech and Public Speaking Co-ordinator

School Shop

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday
8.00am to 12.30pm
1.00pm to 3.30pm

A uniform price list is available on the SCEGGS website.

If you have queries regarding School Uniform or the Clothing Pool please feel free to contact us during school hours.

Lost Property

Ensure all clothing, footwear, books and stationery items are labelled. It is advisable to include the full surname and first name or initial so the items can be clearly identified and returned. If required, laundry markers are available from the School Shop.

Years K-6 Lost Property is located in bins outside the Primary School Office.

Years 7-12 Lost Property is located within the School Shop. If the item is labelled, the girls are notified by email. A gold coin donation is required when claiming the item. All donations go to Plan International sponsored children.

Lost lunch boxes and drink bottles are kept in containers just inside the School Shop entry. No notification is sent to the girls. It is their responsibility to check the containers and no donation is required to claim the items. All unclaimed lost property items are recycled at the end of every term.

Clare Reid
School Shop Manager

Dorothy Wilkinson Memorial Library

The Library is open to Secondary Students at the following times:

Hours

7.30am – 6.00pm     Monday to Thursday
7.30am – 4.30pm     Friday

SCEGGS Scholarships

A reminder for parents that applications for scholarships for 2024 close on Monday 6 February 2023. Registrations for Year 7 Academic Scholarships are being taken online through the ACER website. Applications for all other scholarships are downloadable here.

Any questions should be directed to the Enrolments Office on 9332 1133.

Sonja Richards
Registrar

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

A very warm welcome to 2023 from the SCEGGS Parents’ & Friends Association (P&F).  We would particularly like to welcome all new families to our SCEGGS community and extend our warmest wishes to you and your daughters as you begin your SCEGGS journey.

Thank you to everyone, especially our hardworking 2022 class parents, for your contributions to community school life, and especially your generosity and participation in our Fabulous Festival on Forbes, which was the most successful ever.

We were particularly thrilled that all of our scheduled P&F events were able to proceed in 2022 after a rough few years with the COVID-19 pandemic. The P&F is extremely hopeful that the all of our “friend making” events for 2023 will proceed, of course subject to School directive and NSW Health guidelines. 

The P&F would like to encourage everyone to participate in our School community as much as possible.  We will be publishing events each week in this newsletter as well as communications direct to your respective year groups, organized by the class parents 2023.

For now, we ask that you Save the Date for these events in Term 1:

• Year 7 Welcome Picnic – Sunday 5 February
• Class Parent Briefing (for Class Parents and Committee Members) – Monday 13 February
• Years 9 & 10 Father Daughter Breakfast – Friday 17 February
• P&F Cocktail Party for all Current Parents – Friday 3 March
• Term 1 P&F Meeting and AGM – Tuesday 7 February

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments or to discuss any matters. My contact details are available on the SCEGGS Parent Portal.

We wish everyone a wonderful 2023 and look forward to sharing some wonderful times together.

Warmest wishes,

Penny Newton
P & F President