From The Chaplain

The SCEGGS Podcast “Walk The Mile” Episode 60: 2024: What’s next?? With Peter Eyers

 The idea behind this podcast was that Peter Eyers (Head of Drama at SCEGGS) and I would chat about the year gone by and all that it held. What eventuated was a discussion about religion, power, loss and community!!  A very interesting conversation about how we take what has happened and look towards the future. I hope that you enjoy it. It’s the last one for this year and I want to say thank you to everyone that has listened, been a guest and given feedback. I am proud to say that we have made it to 60 episodes with a growing number of listeners and doing its job of building community and communities. I look forward to another 60 conversations!!!

And a reminder that we are published on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcast and Deezer, so you can access it easier from your preferred device. I always welcome your feedback or any ideas you may have for further episodes. You will find each podcast as they are produced in this newsletter and on the other platforms as well as our website.

Festival of Lessons and Carols

Our Festival of Lessons and Carols is being held this year on Tuesday 26 November at 7.00pm in the Great Hall. Everyone in and connected to our community is warmly invited as we celebrate the joy and meaning of Christmas. We take a collection at this service every year and the money donated always goes towards a local charity. This year our donation will go to GAPP (Glebe Assistance Partnership Program), an organisation that provides food, support and advocacy to the immediate community of Glebe and the surrounding suburbs. Please remember to bring cash if you would like to contribute to the offertory. I hope to see you there!

Christmas gifts collection

As part of our annual school Christmas service, we ask each student to contribute towards a gift for either a boy or a girl, wrapped in cellophane, to donate to different organisations that provide presents for families. These gifts will be distributed to children that may not otherwise receive anything at Christmas due to poverty or other family issues. The demand is ever increasing due to the unsettling times that many families face due to financial pressure and housing stresses. It is a great joy to be able to deliver these gifts personally to these organisations. The feedback that we get each year is that these gifts make a huge difference to children throughout our city, giving them the message that they are loved and cared for. We will be receiving those gifts up until Monday 25 November. More information will be delivered to students via their form or class teachers.

Rev. Garry Lee-Lindsay
Chaplain

Drama News

Last night the Drama department opened their final production for the year – The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse, adapted for the stage by Anthony Clark.

The production, based on a short film about a small child as they follow a mischievous red balloon around the streets of post war Paris, features a cast of girls from Years 7 to 9.

We are pleased to share the images below with you:

Our Cast are:

They are keenly supported by a team of students who will perform technical and backstage roles, including Aasha Maunsell (Year 11), Sarah Bird (Year 8), Sage Galafassi (Year 10), Harper Jones (Year 8), Tilly Murphy (Year 10), Mimi Hildage (Year 8), Pascale Otton (Year 9), Frances O’Donnell (Year 10), Talia Barrack (Year 10), Lucie McCutcheon (Year 10), Verona Floro (Year 10), Madeleine Wilson (Year 10) and Sophie Downes (Year 8).

The season will run through to Saturday 23 November.

Tickets are still available via Humanitix.

Production photographs by Chris Gleisner.

Mr Peter Eyers
Head of Drama

2025 Book Lists

The Year 7-11 Book Lists are now live on Box of Books and available for purchase. Please place your order by 8 December 2024.

Primary School parents will be contacted by Cristi Wilsmore regarding their 2025 requirements, in due course.

Craig Whalland
Director of ICT

Primary Sport News

Year 2-6 Swimming Carnival

The Primary School Swimming Carnival was held on Monday at Lane Cove Aquatic Centre. What a splendid day it turned out to be with warm weather and blue skies. There were so many fantastic performances throughout the day, and it was great to see the students supporting their Houses.

A big thank you to all the staff for their support on the day to make it such as wonderful day. Congratulations to all students for their efforts!

Primary Swimming Carnival Results 

New Records

Sport Reminders:

• IPSHA Tennis and Basketball, and Year 3 Football competitions finish on Saturday 30 November (Week 7).
• All students are expected to make this round.

Upcoming Dates:

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Mr Adrian Hammond
Primary Sports Coordinator

Cape York 2024 Student Immersion

We continue to share the personal reflections and photos from the students who were on this year’s immersion to Traditional Homelands in Cape York. This week we hope you enjoy the reflections from Georgia Alexandra Bradley (Year 10) Jessica Venetoulis (Year 9) Mia Tam (Year 10).

For the previous week’s reflections see here.

Carol Bloomfield
Head of Student Wellbeing Programs

Reflections from the Cape York Immersion

From 29 September to 7 October, we ventured to the furthest part of Australia I have ever been to. Here we got to be apart of the experience of a lifetime. Cape York has not only changed me as a person, but it has also impacted how I see my everyday life. It has changed my values, my friendships and has made me a significantly more sentimental and knowledgeable person.

Going into this experience, I had mixed emotions. I was extremely excited but also extremely nervous to be far away from my family, from my friends staying in Sydney and to be going to a remote location with people I had never met or people I had only ever heard about or seen at school but as soon as we stepped on to our first homeland at Wurrey to when we left Melsonby I knew this would be something to treasure forever.

For me, some of the most memorable experiences which came from this immersion included seeing rock paintings at Melsonby and learning about how ochre was used as a paint, playing in the creek at Wurrey and going on many walks as a group with our Traditional Owners. The Traditional Owners who welcomed us to their land truly taught us things I will never forget and made this experience something like no other.

I will forever be grateful for the friends I made on this experience and the connections I have built with other SCEGGS girls and teachers and for gaining such a profound deeper understanding for the meaning of culture and land for Indigenous Australians.

I have returned to Sydney with a deeper understanding of culture and how we in Sydney should be committing further to Reconciliation in order to help share this knowledge and help others to gain a deeper understanding of this land because sovereignty was never ceded and Indigenous Australians deserve recognition for their land and for their history. This understanding stems from the knowledge I have gained from this experience through the questions my group and I asked, the stories we were told, the incredible artwork we saw, and the innovation in creating huts and other things using natural resources like leaves.

I think everyone should take an opportunity such as Cape York and participate in it for so many reasons.

Georgia Alexandra Bradley
Year 10 Student

Journal Entry – Waking up at 5AM to watch the sunrise at Kalkajaka

We woke up to the teachers waking everybody who wanted to go watch the sunrise at the bottom of Kalkajaka (Black Mountain). At first I wasn’t keen on going because I’m not a morning person, however I thought it would be cool and also, why not? It’s an experience that I’m never going to be able to undergo again, so I decided to get ready and crowd around to go down.

The walk down was quiet because everybody was still waking up, but it was like earth was waking up with us. Birds were out singing their songs, the sound of the water dripping down into the flowing river, and I remembered what Ian said about how it looks and sounds when its wet season. It was a calming, and self-centring sound that I wish we could have back in Sydney. We walked past the river, and up the small hills towards the base of Kalkajaka. The sun was already up by the time we arrived there, hitting the rocks just at the right angle. I could still hear the water running from the river as Abby, Michaela, Annie and I sat on the rocks, starting to write in our journals.

Jessica Venetoulis
Year 9 Student

My visit to Cape York has really shaped my understanding of Indigenous Australia. The Traditional Owners are very welcoming and love to share their stories about their Land and their past and are very proud of their Country.  After 9 days I have learnt more about their language and their culture. The people we met were very kind and welcoming and shared many stories about their childhood, land, beliefs and we also did lots of activities. 

While I was there I learnt how to say how are you “wantharra” and that “nhamagarra” means ‘see you later’; rather than goodbye. I also discovered more about the Dreamtime stories that were written by Uncle Bernie and that green ants taste like lollies. I will share with others their love of nature and their Land and their proud past and heritage. From what I have learnt and experienced I would encourage others to visit and also take the opportunity to join one of the immersions. I will play my in part moving forward in the drive towards Reconciliation by helping in awareness and promote conversations that will lead to change.

Mia Tam
Year 10 Student

From the TAS Department

Year 12 Enterprise Computing and Year 10 Information Software Technology students travelled to Macquarie Data Centre at Macquarie Park on Wednesday 13 November. We were introduced to the intricate and complex world of data security, which proved to be a truly eye-opening experience. Maintaining an optimal environment necessitates precise control over factors such as dust levels, temperature, cloud computing, and the environmental impacts of AI.

“It was very beneficial to my thoughts on data science and the careers and impacts of technology.”
Emma Conway (Year 10)

“An exciting and eye-opening experience.”
Keira Markwick (Year 10).

The tour highlighted robust backup systems, diverse fail-safe methods, 24-hour security, and four-factor authentication. Students appreciated learning about career opportunities in these emerging fields. Kayla and Simone inspired our thinking regarding possibilities in cyber security and networking.

On behalf of SCEGGS Darlinghurst, we sincerely thank George and his team from Macquarie Park Data Centre for their exceptional tour of the facility and generous hospitality, concluded with a delightful lunch.

Richard Hainsworth
TAS Teacher

Secondary Sport News

Inter-House Tennis

Congratulations to Docker who are once again the Inter-House Tennis Champions.

Equestrian

A big congratulations to Hannah Doolan (Year 10) who competed at the annual Australian Show Jumping Championships with her horse Tulara Lady Zirocca. Hannah had a very successful competition over several days to make the final which she won! Hannah is now the Australian Junior (18 and Under) Showjumping Champion!

This was very well deserved after a lot of hard work training and competing throughout 2024. Hannah has competed extensively throughout Australia, Spain, the Netherlands and Qatar at various Grand Prix and World Cup events, in addition to the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Hockey

Congratulations to Jessica Weatherall who has been called up into the NSW U21 Indoor Hockey Team. She will compete at the Australian U’21 Indoor Hockey Championships to be held in December. 

Volleyball

Term 4 has seen the introduction of lunchtime social volleyball on Tuesdays which is proving to be very popular. Year 7 have been working on their skills and have improved rapidly over the past 3 weeks. From never playing or knowing how to serve, many girls are now starting to serve and play some shots.

We welcome everyone from Years 7-11 who would like to come and try volleyball. Play starts at 1.15pm each Tuesday. A reminder that no food is allowed to be consumed in the Sports Hall.

Final Sporting Fixtures

Please note that the final round of matches for Easts Touch, IGSA Water Polo, IGSA Tennis, IPSHA Basketball and Year 3 Football will take place on Saturday November 30. The final day of term is on December 2 (Speech Night) so we will be training and competing right up to the final Saturday. All players are expected to honour their commitment to their teams.

Sports Nominations

All Sports Nominations for Term 1, 2025 are now overdue. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Alison Gowan or Brittany Robbins.

SCEGGS at Play

Do you have any sporting news or photos to share in the Green Gate?

We love seeing our students being active and want to celebrate their passion and enjoyment amongst the SCEGGS community. Please send in any action shots from the weekend and any other interesting sporting highlights to Alison Gowan.

SCEGGS Training sessions before and after school plus Saturday Sport

Any cancellations or adjustments will be made in Clipboard and families will receive a notification or email when changes are made. Please ensure you have notifications enabled.

All Clipboard notifications will now come through the SCEGGS Mobile App too, so if you have been receiving notifications from Clipboard (eg when sport is cancelled due to wet weather), you will need to download the SCEGGS Mobile App to ensure that you continue to receive these push notifications.

IGSA Fixtures, Results and Wet Weather

The IGSA website and platform for accessing wet weather, 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 & Secondary Music

Lux Strings at St Vincent’s Hospital

Last Wednesday, Lux Strings were given the amazing opportunity to play some of our pieces to the staff and patients at St Vincent’s Hospital. After a short walk to the hospital, we were welcomed by Sarah Korbell, the hospital’s Patient Experience and Consumer Engagement Manager. During our time there, we were able to play to many different people, with people walking in and out of the hospital, and some even sitting down and watching us play for the entire time. After our mix of The Girl from Ipanema, Here Comes the Sun, Pachelbel’s Canon, and the spectacular Vivaldi’s Summer, to name a few, we were gifted with huge smiles from the people in the hospital. Many people came up to us at the end of our performance and congratulated and thanked us for our work, including a lovely woman who gave each and every one of us a fist-bump! Thank you so much to Mrs Sweeney, Eliza Sdraulig and the staff at St Vincent’s Hospital for giving us this incredible opportunity. We would love to do it again!

Gracie Dunlop
Year 10

Dear Evan Hansen – Excursion & Masterclass

Last Friday, elective music students had the immense privilege of participating in a workshop with Verity Hunt-Ballard and Georgia Laga’aia, two of the cast members from Sydney Theatre Company’s current production of Dear Evan Hansen. As this is Georgia’s professional theatre debut, she gave a lot of interesting insights as to what it has been like working with such a highly motivated and experienced cast. This contrasted to Verity’s experiences, having a professional theatre career expanding over several decades. We learnt about what it was like to be in a professional production, as well as having the opportunity to sing for them. Having seen their production the previous night, we were all fangirling at the opportunity to learn about the lives of full-time actors, and hopefully take away some key ideas about musical theatre. Personally, through singing for them and guided by Verity, I discovered more about using physical gestures within a song, as well as healthy belting. As someone who has loved musical theatre as long as she can remember, this was such a valuable experience to learn about my potential within the world of musical theatre, as well as technical aspects of singing.

Josie Grayden
Year 9

Festival of Lessons and Carols

• Primary students involved: Years 5 & 6 Choirs (all students in Year 5 & 6) & Cantare
• Secondary students involved: Choir, Madrigal Ensemble and Amati Strings

Further details can be found in these notes Primary and Secondary. 

Noël! Noël! 2024

We are delighted to offer $20 tickets for students to the upcoming concert series, Noël! Noël! at City Recital Hall for the Thursday 12 and Saturday 14 December, 7.30pm performances. 

Find more information here.

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.

Upcoming Events:

Term 4

Heidi Jones
Head of Music (Co-curricular)

Visual Arts

Coming this Monday and Tuesday we will be hosting two Openings in the Art Department celebrating the work created in our co-curricular program.

It’s been an incredibly productive year! Students have developed many new technical skills, expanded their understanding of the medium in which they have chosen to work and enjoyed the camaraderie across year groups in a safe and nurturing creative space.

Here are some of the examples you will see on exhibition from the different classes:

The Howard Tanner Award will also be exhibition at this time.

We are also launching SCOPE, the SCEGGS Art Department student led magazine. SCOPE showcases writing and reviews about the art world and provides students with experiences working within a group to produce a publication that is focused on current events, exhibitions, and the issues and ideas and specific art practice that they chose to explore, ponder or critique.

A digital copy of SCOPE will be available in our last edition of Behind the Green Gate.

If you are interested to find out more or to attend any of the Openings, please join us on either Monday or Tuesday from 3.15pm in JF1.

Banner Acknowledgement: This week’s banner is from Darkroom Student Talia Franks (Year 11).

Heidi Jackson
Head of Visual Arts

School Holiday Arrangements

The School will close over Christmas and New Year from Monday 23 December 2024 and re-open on Monday 6 January 2025.

Reception will be open 8.00am to 4.00pm Monday to Friday during the remainder of the school holidays.

The SCEGGS Shop will be be open from Monday 6 January to the end of the school holidays from 9.00am to 3.30pm by appointment. Please call the school to make an appointment. The SCEGGS shop is closed from Monday 2 December to Friday 3 January.

Phil Rogers
Director of Administration

School Shop

Summer Uniform For Sale 

The SCEGGS Summer Uniform is available for purchase in the School Shop

Remember to pick up Summer Uniform items from the School Shop before the end of term. If a full uniform fitting is required for your child it is advisable to make an appointment. There are limited appointments available during term time. During Term 4 the most suitable time is between 9am-11am Monday to Friday. We look forward to welcoming the new students at the official uniform fitting time conducted throughout January by appointment only.

For existing parents we offer an on-line facility to order Summer uniform items.

Lost Property

We have accumulated a collection of Lost Property items during the course of the term.

All secondary students with identifiable items in Lost Property are encouraged to collect them before the end of term.

We also have a collection of water bottles, lunch boxes and un-named non uniform items. These will be on display outside the School Shop on the last week of this Term, ready to be claimed.

The School Shop will close Monday 2 December 2024 and reopen Monday 6 January 2025. We look forward to helping you with your uniform needs.

Have a safe and enjoyable Christmas break.

Clare Reid
School Shop Manager

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

Class Parent Events