Flying high with our Air Force Cadets

We are excited to share that Ivy Ogilvie-Duggan (Year 10) achieved her First Glider Solo Flight through the 306 Squadron Air Force Cadets. This was the culmination of a year’s worth of fully-funded Gliding training finishing on a very high note. Ivy was commended by her squadron on her selection for a prestigious AAFC Gliding Scholarship, and her hard work in achieving a First Solo flight. She went above and beyond, working hard to refine her skills and experience while dealing with early starts, long days, and challenging weather. Her hard work was further rewarded when she was named Most Improved Pilot in her cohort of 18 cadets from across NSW and the ACT.

Ivy’s exceptional achievement is one that only the most dedicated and determined cadets have the opportunity to attain. The 306 Squadron warmly congratulates Ivy for her achievement and for her commitment to the Air Force Cadets.

CPL (AAFC) Blue Barlow
Executive Office
206 Squadron

Road Safety Around our School

Parking Safely in School Zones

It is important that the entire SCEGGS community are mindful of parking around our inner-city campus where space is limited and therefore safety is paramount.

In recent weeks we have had a number of reports of parents stopping and dropping off girls on pedestrian crossings. Please remember this is illegal and can attract a fine exceeding $562 and 2 demerit points.

Further critical parking information is available on this succinct flyer created by the City of Sydney and could save you significant fines and demerit points given the high regularity of parking wardens around SCEGGS at drop off and pick up times.

Road Rules Awareness Week 2025

This week marks Road Rules Awareness Week.  Here are some resources that you may find useful.

We warmly encourage parents, carers and members of our school community to participate in Road Rules Awareness Week by:

• Testing their knowledge and taking the Road Rules Awareness Week 2025 quiz 
• Learn more Road Rules here
• Watch the video about School zone hours
• Read the Top 10 misunderstood road rules in NSW

Thank you for taking care on our roads and therefore respecting the safety of the SCEGGS community and wider Darlinghurst community.

Phil Rogers
Director of Administration

Cambodia 2025 – Skills Session

It’s a Thursday lunch; with a few friends, I briskly walk down to JF and the technology rooms. We sit down, eat our lunch quickly, and before we know it, Ms Smith and Mr Stevenson are calling us in. We gather around the work benches, for a brief demonstration on how to use the newest tool. This week it was the hand drill, last week it was the saw. After the demonstration we spilt into groups and try to replicate what we were just taught. We must measure precisely and control the drill while quickly learning that it is not as easy as it looks. By the end of lunch, each of us has learned how to handle the hand drill and feel comfortable with using it. This is important as we will be building a house in Cambodia in September, and the skills we are learning each lunch time will be essential to building a safe and secure home for a family.

In the September holidays, 50 girls and 10 staff are flying to Cambodia to participate in ‘The Habitat For Humanity Program’, in which we will be building four houses from scratch in a rural community just outside Siem Reap during our eight day stay. SCEGGS has been with this initiative for many years, though this will be the first trip since COVID-19.

In preparation, we are spending one lunch time a week learning everything we can about building and getting hands on experience with the tools we will be using. With Mr Brown’s, Mr Stevenson’s and Mr Molloy’s expert help we have learnt how to saw, chisel, hammer, drill and many other important skills like how to move safely around people when they are working. In teams of 5 – 6 we have each successfully made a stool in the last four weeks of Term 2.

We feel so grateful for this amazing opportunity to give back in such a practical way and can’t wait to get to Cambodia!

Phoebe Lowe (Year 10)

Book Week at SCEGGS

It has been exciting to celebrate Book week in the Senior School at SCEGGS; sharing reading recommendations and the Book Council of Australia’s shortlist and winning books. Students are encouraged to pop down to the Library to see their fabulous display which encourages them to “Book an Adventure” with new fiction. Mystery and Crime Fiction continues to be the most popular genre in the library’s collection, with Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ The Inheritance Games the most borrowed book, Holly Jackson’s A good girl’s guide to murder a close second. After his Term 2 visit to SCEGGS, the novels of Tristan Bancks have featured heavily in the top ten borrowing list.

Year 9 continues to be our strongest group of library borrowers – a promising sign as they move towards their Senior years of school. Many students are now choosing to read eBooks and listen to audio books with the books of Sarah J. Maas being the most popular by far this year.

Wide reading continues to be an integral part of our English classrooms with Year 7 English students all working on oral presentations which consider how the physical, imaginative and emotional adventures offered by fiction. Our Year 11 Extension students are also working on their own Independent Research Projects where they select pairings of classic and contemporary texts to share with their peers.   

After the success last year, next Friday (Week 6), the Library will host a lunchtime book quiz – students are encouraged to look out for the email which encourages them to sign up and join a team with their English teachers. We look forward to sharing the love of literature!

Click here to find out more.

Jenny Bean (Head of English)
Alison Conliffe (Head of Library)

Primary School Fathers’ Day Breakfast

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

Sarah Johnstone 
Deputy Head of Primary, Student Wellbeing

Visual Arts

All members of the SCEGGS community are warmly invited to attend the Official Opening of the Year 12 Body of Work HSC Visual Arts Exhibition.

We look forward to celebrating the stunning achievements of the Class of 2025 with you all.

Refreshments will be served.

Heidi Jackson
Head of Visual Arts

Author Talk in the Primary School by Lisa Shanahan

Last week, students from Kindergarten to Year 2 were fortunate to enjoy a visit from the highly acclaimed Australian author Lisa Shanahan in the Primary Library.

Lisa is an award-winning writer of nearly 20 picture books and works of fiction for children. Her picture book Hark, It’s Me, Ruby Lee! was named a 2018 CBCA Honour Book for Early Childhood and was also shortlisted for the 2018 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards for Children’s Fiction.

During her engaging and animated presentation, Lisa used a variety of props and expressive voices to captivate the students. She spoke about where her story ideas come from, often inspired by her own children, and shared that she always carries a writing journal with her. She enthusiastically described writing as a form of play, reminding students that even the most ordinary things can become extraordinary through storytelling.

Lisa also gave students a behind-the-scenes look at her creative process, sharing examples of her messy first drafts, character sketches, and storyboards to show how she plans the structure and order of her stories. She spoke about the joy of working with different illustrators throughout her career and highlighted the importance of receiving feedback from her publisher, something all real writers value.

Lisa encouraged the students to embrace reading and to enjoy the entire writing process. The teachers also thoroughly enjoyed Lisa’s visit, almost as much as the children, finding her passion for storytelling both inspiring and infectious!

Karen McBride
Primary Teacher Librarian

Gateway8 2025: Exploring the AI Paradox

Twenty-four teams from independent schools across Sydney came together at Gateway8 for a full day of academic problem-solving and cooperative learning. This was the Primary School’s second year competing in the Inter-School Academic Challenge, hosted by Macarthur Anglican School. The theme for the day was the AI Paradox – the idea that artificial intelligence can both enrich and complicate society in surprising ways. This thought-provoking theme shaped six unique challenges; each designed around Howard Gardner’s eight multiple intelligences. Through these tasks, the girls were encouraged to apply creativity, logical reasoning, collaboration, and problem-solving across disciplines such as English, Music, Science, History, Mathematics, and the Creative Arts.

We entered two teams in this year’s competition and were especially proud of the girls’ efforts and strong collaboration throughout the event. Over the course of the challenges, they tackled tasks that pushed them to think outside the box, take risks, and work together under pressure.

Congratulations must go to both teams:

Gateway8 proved once again to be an invaluable experience, one that challenged our girls intellectually while celebrating curiosity, teamwork, and innovation. We look forward to returning for Gateway8 in 2026.

Kristy Williams and Rachel Shiels
Primary School Teachers

Primary & Secondary Music

Musicale 3

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

Ensembles Performing

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

Rehearsals

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

Battle of the Bands

Congratulations to Isabelle Flower, Year 10, whose band Anticz competed at Battle of the Bands at Ascham School. Anticz won Best Original Song and placed first overall. Congratulations to Isabelle and Anticz!

Lunchtime Concert

Four Year 8 violinists from Ms Ella Bennetts’ studio performed a selection of short solos at a Lunchtime Concert this week. Congratulations to Cynthia Cai, Chloe Zhang, Inès Linhart and Louisa Brooks. Special thanks to Ms McKay for accompanying the students.

Viola Festival Weekend – Canberra

The annual Viola Festival will be held on the long weekend during the upcoming school holidays, offering workshops, rehearsals, masterclasses and an ensemble performance. Leading presenters who are professional violists from the Australian National University, Canberra Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music will inspire and challenge viola students with fun repertoires from Bach and Telemann to Bartok and Buenos Aires tangos!

Click here for more information.

Beyond the Green Gate

We love hearing about ways our musicians are involved in music-making outside of school. Please send details to Heidi Jones.

Clipboard

All co-curricular music ensemble schedules are now available on Clipboard. If you haven’t set this up yet, please follow the provided instructions. For any issues with Clipboard set-up, contact our Music Administration Assistant, Miss Alice Kotowicz.

Term 3 Event Overview

Please refer to Clipboard for information regarding rehearsals and performances.

Heidi Jones
Head of Music (Co-curricular)

P&F General Meeting and 2026 Festival on Forbes Think Tank

The P&F warmly invites all parents and carers to our Term 3 General Meeting and 2026 Festival on Forbes Think Tank on Tuesday 26 August in the Lecture Theatre. Join us from 6.30pm for drinks and light refreshments, with the meeting beginning at 7.00pm.

This meeting will be a wonderful opportunity to share your thoughts, ideas, and creative energy as we start shaping one of the most anticipated events in the school calendar.

Whether you’ve been involved before or are simply curious, your input is genuinely valued, and we’d love to hear from you! Come along, connect with other parents, and help us make next year’s Fair better than ever!

Parking will be available in the St Peter’s Street Carpark. For catering and administration purpose, please register via this link.

Rob Jessup
President, P&F Association

Wear it Forward

The Senior School Environment Club Maailma, are excited to announce an upcoming clothes drive at school, aiming to promote sustainable consumer behaviour while also raising funds for WWF, The World Wildlife Foundation.

We invite all parents and the wider community to participate by donating good quality, gently used clothing that is no longer loved and give these items a new life. By doing so Maailma hopes to encourage responsible consumption in our community while educating our students about over production and consumption of textiles and the environmental issues of textile waste. All proceeds from the sale of donated clothes will go to WWF. Leftover items will be donated to The Wayside Chapel.

Please send Donations to school with your daughter or drop off at the front office.

The Clothes Drive will take place on Wednesday 3 September.

Your generosity will not only make a positive environmental impact but will also benefit others—thank you for being part of this meaningful initiative!

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

Class Parent Events