See you at the Festival on Forbes!

The weather forecast is for ‘mostly sunny’ with no rain. But rain, hail, or shine, we will be there, so come along and bring the family.

Cake Stall

Cake boxes have now been distributed to the eldest student in each family, excluding students in Year 11 & 12.

If your box has not yet arrived home, please ask your daughter to make sure she brings it home from her locker as soon as possible! If needed, you can find extra/replacement boxes available in the Secondary School Reception or Primary Reception.

Cakes can be delivered to the school at the following times.

SILENT AUCTION

Bidding is now open for the Silent Auction! Register in three easy steps:

1. Go to the link
2. Click on the ‘Register’ button
3. Follow the instructions to complete registration.

Click here to view the 2024 Festival on Forbes Silent Auction Catalogue. Bidding will close at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday 25 August. Some of the amazing items you can bid on are:

• Bespoke dining experiences at Woodcut
• 7-night stay at Club Med Kani
• House of K’dor personalised initial necklace
• A winter or summer getaway to Thredbo

And much more!!

Maps and guides to the Festival can be found here and will also available from the Information Booth under the fig tree.

A few logistics for the day

• The only entry to the Fair is via the Jacaranda Gate on Forbes Street.
• Please remember there is no general parking in the school car park. Parking is available at a Sunday rate in the Riley St Carpark.
• The School Prefects will operate a cloakroom at the top of the “Peanut Alley” stairs (in the Entrance Foyer of the Chapel Building), so please feel free to leave your purchases with them anytime.
• St John Ambulance will be available on-site, so please ask if you or anyone you see needs help.
• We will be accepting cash and cards at all stalls; however, we will not have any cash withdrawals on site, nor be able to provide this service from our EFTPOS machines.
• Please observe the School’s strict no-dog policy.

The Festival on Forbes Committee

Conditions of Enrolment

All families are encouraged to ensure that they are familiar with the Conditions of Enrolment at SCEGGS. These conditions cover important information about areas such as:

• Student and parent obligations
• Payment of fees
• The importance of disclosing any changes in the needs of a student
• Requests for student leave in advance (required for all absences other than illness)
• Process for providing at least one term’s notice before the withdrawal of a student and the charges if a shorter notice period is provided.

A full copy of the conditions of enrolment is always available publicly on the SCEGGS website.

Jenny Allum
Head of School

The P&F Association Years 7 & 8 Parent/Daughter Breakfast

Students in Years 7 and 8 and a parent/carer are warmly invited to attend the Parent/Daughter Breakfast:

We are thrilled to welcome back to SCEGGS Old Girl Poppy LYNCH (2015) as our guest speaker.

Poppy Lynch is an actor and voiceover artist. She graduated from WAAPA in 2019 and since then has appeared on the stage in ‘Distorted’ (Old 505), ‘Honour’ (Ensemble Theatre), 21 Forster St (Steps and Holes), and on Australian screens in ‘Back to the Rafters’ (Channel 7 and Amazon). As a voiceover artist she has worked on various productions including ‘Eden’ (Stan), ‘Limbo’ (ABC), and ‘The PM’s Daughter’ (ABC). She utilises movement in her work to create character and studied with Chopt Logic and practitioners from SITI Company after WAAPA to hone her physical theatre skills. She is also a qualified yoga teacher and a casual drama teacher at SCEGGS, as well as the director of the junior Drama production ‘The Red Balloon’. Poppy adores sharing her craft and learnings with her students. 

To hear more about Poppy’s career journey and her insights, join us on Friday 6 September

HSC Design & Technology Major Design Project Exhibition

The TAS Department warmly invites the SCEGGS community to view the 2024 HSC Design and Technology Major Design Projects.

Please join us on Tuesday August 27 at 6pm in the JF Foyer to celebrate the creativity and innovation shaping the future of design!

Year 12 Body of Work Exhibition

Our community is warmly invited to the SCEGGS Darlinghurst Year 12 2024 Body of Work Exhibition in the SCEGGS Auditorium.

Exhibition Open:

Primary & Secondary Music

Musicale 3 at Festival on Forbes

This year’s Musicale 3 will be held at Festival on Forbes on Sunday 25 August. Every Primary and Secondary Music Ensemble will perform throughout the day on one of three separate stages.

Performers should plan to arrive at the meeting place 15 minutes before their performance. Performance times are listed below.

Please be aware that there is no access to the DB Centre or Primary Music Room on Sunday, so all students need to take their instruments home on Friday afternoon.

2025 International Music Tour

Thank you to all the students and parents who attended the tour meeting last night. Follow-up information will be sent to all secondary instrumentalists and vocalists.

Any questions, please contact Mr. David Gresham.

Theory Lessons for Secondary Students – Friday lunchtime in DB2

The SCEGGS Music Department will be starting free music theory lessons during Friday lunch in DB2. These are to prepare students for AMEB theory and/or musicianship exams. While the lessons are free, there will be a cost involved in the purchase of theory books and registration for exams. Mr. Gresham will contact parents with recommendations for grade levels before any purchases are made. Please contact Mr. David Gresham if you have any questions.

Contemporary Strings Soirees

Thursday 12 September 1.10-1.40pm in DB1 & Thursday 19 September 1.10-1.40pm in DB1

All string players in Contemporary Strings are invited to perform a short solo at one of two lunchtime concerts being held this term. Performances of this nature, in front of a supportive and appreciative audience are vital for a musician’s development and all players are encouraged to perform and support their friends. Mrs Sweeney will be organising the solo concert programs during Contemporary Strings rehearsals over the coming weeks. Please discuss with your instrument tutor a short solo piece that might be suitable to perform. Girls are also very welcome to perform a duet with a friend! Piano accompaniment will be provided at both concerts.

Australian School Band and Orchestra Festival – Sunday, 15 September

Several SCEGGS ensembles will perform at the Australian School Band and Orchestra Festival this year. The Festival is a non-competitive event where ensembles receive a Gold, Silver, or Bronze rating based on their performance. This is a wonderful opportunity for our SCEGGS ensembles to perform on stage, hear other school ensembles, and receive valuable feedback from professional adjudicators. Please find more information here.

Please see the table below for details of the events occurring on Sunday 15 September

Gracie Dunlop, Year 10 Amati Strings, Lux Strings, Choir, Madrigal Ensemble, Glennie Percussion Ensemble

A couple of weekends ago (10-12 August), I had the immense privilege of witnessing one of the world’s finest musicians and arguably the greatest living string player, Maxim Vengerov. On Saturday August 10, Vengerov delivered a flawless performance at the Sydney Opera House, captivating the audience with Prokofiev’s 5 Melodies, Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata No.1, Franck’s Violin Sonata, and Ravel’s Tzigane. Accompanied by the brilliant pianist Polina Osetinskaya, the duo performed with remarkable emotion, elegance, and power, underpinned by impeccable technical mastery. Being part of Vengerov’s audience at such an iconic venue is an opportunity I will never pass up. The performance was breathtaking, and so was he. Every movement he made radiated pure emotion. As a member of the audience, I was completely entranced by his exceptional talent, and I am certain everyone else felt the same.

If you thought that was enough Vengerov for one weekend, you would be mistaken. On Monday August 12, I found myself reliving the memories of the previous days, this time at his masterclass. After leaving school, driving into the city, and entering Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music, I was already in awe of what was to come. My mum and I took our seats in the hall, and at 4.00pm, Vengerov took the stage, followed by five students from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music—four from the university and one from the Conservatorium High School. Each student performed their pieces and then received approximately 25-minute one-on-one lessons with Maxim Vengerov.

I learned so much from Vengerov, from how to stand correctly while playing the violin to how to hold the violin and bow to produce the best sound. He demonstrated the proper use of vibrato and how to utilize the bow effectively. However, what truly captivated me beyond the technicalities was his emphasis on understanding the meaning of the piece being played and how to fully express its raw emotion. Vengerov encouraged the students to imagine themselves in different scenarios or places, allowing them to connect more deeply with the music. It was a spectacular and inspiring experience that left me in awe. The insights and teachings I gained from watching and listening to Maxim Vengerov have already enhanced my violin playing, and I will treasure this knowledge deeply.

This weekend was one of the most memorable of my life. To learn from the best violinist in the world is a privilege few can claim, and I am immensely grateful to be one of them. I must extend my deepest thanks to Vengerov for coming to Sydney and sharing his extraordinary talent, and to my mum, whose unwavering support made these opportunities possible. Both Vengerov and my mum continue to inspire me greatly.

Gracie Dunlop (Year 10)

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 3

Heidi Jones
Head of Music (Co-curricular)

Primary Sport News

I hope you had a wonderful mid-term break. A reminder that IPSHA AFL and Touch Football resume this weekend for Round 5. Please ensure you check Clipboard for the most up to date information on fixtures.

This week the NSW Interschools State Snowsports Championships is taking place at Perisher. Good luck to all students competing. We wish you a safe trip and best of luck for your events.

On Wednesday 28 August the IPSHA Athletics Carnival is taking place at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre. The following students were selected to compete based on their performance at the school carnival as well as meeting IPSHA guidelines. All the best for your training. We look forward to hearing how you go.

IPSHA Gymnastics

With the IPSHA Gymnastics Carnival fast approaching, the K-6 Artistic squad have been working hard to improve their skills, strength and flexibility under the guidance of our expert team of coaches. Recently, the girls competed against Ascham students in a training competition. Keep up the fantastic effort girls.

Upcoming Dates:

Mr Adrian Hammond
Primary Sports Coordinator

Visual Arts

Bundanon Art Camp 2024

In the first weekend of August, a group of Year 10 and 11 Visual Arts students visited Bundanon with Ms. Dawson, Ms. Tesoriero, and Ms. Willems. Bundanon is a stunning location on the land of the Dharawal and Dhurga Peoples, just outside Nowra on the South Coast. In the Dharawal language, Bundanon means “deep valley.” More recently, it was the residence of Australian Modernist painter Arthur Boyd, who lived there from the 1970s after buying a property then known as “Riversdale” on the banks of the Shoalhaven River. He expanded the existing buildings to create both a home and a studio.

In 1993, Prime Minister Paul Keating announced that the Australian Government would accept Arthur and Yvonne Boyd’s donation of Bundanon and establish the Bundanon Trust. Bundanon is both a cultural and environmental treasure, reflecting Boyd’s belief that ‘you can’t own a landscape’ and his desire for others to find inspiration in this extraordinary place.

The Boyd Education Centre, designed by renowned Australian architect Glenn Murcutt, was constructed in 1997 and completed in December 1998. In 2020, plans were unveiled for a new contemporary art museum on Bundanon’s Riversdale property, designed to be light-filled and bushfire-resistant. This new museum, partially integrated into the landscape, is central to Bundanon’s development. It includes a bridge leading to a spacious public plaza near the existing nineteenth-century buildings. The new buildings by Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA) have revitalized Arthur Boyd’s iconic Bundanon property, creating an exceptional space to work, stay, and relax.

Below is a reflection from Year 10 students on their experience:

At Bundanon, we immersed ourselves in a unique fusion of art, nature, and history. We explored the expansive area, admiring the breathtaking scenery, and the adorable wombats and kangaroos. We stayed in the Bridge, a minimalist contemporary infrastructure, which provided stunning views of the surrounding bushland. Engaging in a range of creative workshops, we delved into landscape painting, ink drawings and night photography, fostering a deeper appreciation for the arts. We also had an art trivia night on our last night there which was filled with excitement and joy. During our stay, we also visited the Bundanon Art Museum where we saw a variety of landscape works including the return of a series of Shoalhaven landscape paintings by Arthur Boyd for the first time since 1984. Overall, this incredible experience allowed us to not only hone our artistic skills but also to gain a deeper appreciation for the harmony between art, architecture, and nature. It left us feeling creatively rejuvenated, a sense of tranquillity and more attuned to nature!

Melody Li (Year 10)

Over the weekend of 2-4 August, I had the privilege of attending a two-night excursion to Bundanon. It was a trip of true joy, insight, and calm respite as we disconnected from our active, busy school lives and reconnected with nature and each other. Donated to the Australian people by Arthur Boyd in 1993, Bundanon is an artist’s oasis, filled with the purest natural beauty and most innovative architecture. We stayed in The Bridge – a sleek and utterly beautiful treehouse of a structure that overlooked the whirling gums, rising hills, hopping kangaroos and burrowing wombats of Dharawal country. Experiencing the natural world through an artistic lens was integral to our stay in Bundanon, beginning our time there with a silent bushwalk and ending it with an on-plein-air landscape painting workshop to express our observance of nature. Before we began creating our own art, we were given a tour of the Bundanon Art Gallery. Displaying an exhibition entitled Wilder Times, it housed over 60 works by significant Australian artists from the 1980s, including Boyd. Throughout our tour we absorbed the many forms that the landscape takes in the hands of artists, particularly in the postmodern era where ideas of land ownership and environmental protection were actively interrogated.

I once believed that landscapes followed the same rubric of figurative technique. Bundanon shattered this misguided opinion and revealed that art is always a subjective expression of gaze, a manifestation of how differently each of us perceive and experience those whirling gums, rising hills, hopping kangaroos, and burrowing wombats. So, on our last night, as we lounged in the warmth of our communal dining area playing art trivia and eating chocolate mousse, I looked onto the Shoalhaven River and experienced a kaleidoscopic gaze, each turpentine tree and descending shadow constructed by the brushstroke of a friend sat across the room.

Thank you to the brilliant art teachers and learning staff for enabling this experience of true beauty. And thank you, Arthur Boyd, for recognising the necessity of art for everybody.

Georgia O’Keefe (Year 10)

Additionally, we are very proud to announce that Michaela Gleave, practicing artist and our art assistant, was awarded a 2-week artist’s residency at Bundanon during the last school holidays. This valuable experience offered her time and space to engage deeply with the landscape including the production of a series of exquisite, mediated photographs.

Banner photo acknowledgement: Aurelia Cortese

Anita Tesoriero 
Head of Visual Arts (Acting)

Debating

Congratulations to the Year 7B, Year 8A, Junior, Year 9, Year 10, and Senior teams for making it through to the Archdale Quarterfinals!

A particular congratulations to the Year 7B team and Year 10 team who finished top of their divisions. Year 7B finished on 6 wins and the highest win margins, and Year 10 were undefeated. Some context for this Year 10 achievement is that there is only one other team in the whole of this year’s Archdale competition (which is 192 teams) who was undefeated in the rounds.

SCEGGS is also currently coming second in the overall rankings for the Archdale Shield, which is a testament to the broad success of all Archdale teams this year.

Next Tuesday, 27 August, the Archdale Quarterfinals will be held. Teams will be emailed the details of their debates.

Imogen Harper
Debating Coordinator

K-6 Parent Information Session – Raising Your Child in the Digital World

You are invited to attend a session led by SCEGGS staff members on the important topic of how we can work together to support your daughter as she grows up in the digital world today. Details in the flyer below.

Please use this link to RSVP your interest in attending.

Sarah Johnstone
Deputy Head of Primary, Student Wellbeing

Careers News

Calling Parents with Medical Interview Experience

If there are any parents who have experience interviewing potential medical students, would you kindly contact the careers adviser, Ms Andrea Pinnock.

Andrea Pinnock
Careers Advisor