22 February 2024 - 22 February 2024
2024 Parents’ and Friends’ Association Annual General Meeting

2024 Parents’ and Friends’ Association Annual General Meeting

Dear Parents and Friends

The Parents’ and Friends’ Association’s (P&F) Annual General Meeting for 2024 will be held on Tuesday 12 March in the Lecture Theatre at 7.00pm. Welcome drinks will be served from 6.30pm in the Lecture Theatre Foyer and parking will be available in the St Peter’s Street car park.

You are all invited to attend and participate in the meeting. The meeting is a wonderful opportunity for you to hear and understand what the P&F does, its plans for the year and indeed the future. Various reports are presented by officeholders and a general discussion is undertaken.

We are presently looking for any parents who would consider undertaking the roles of Treasurer, Secretary and Committee Members. If you are interested or know anyone who would be interested in undertaking these roles would you please let me know by email and I will provide you with the relevant information and nomination forms.


On a similar note, the P&F are keen to talk with anyone who might be interested in becoming its new president. After three enjoyable years it is time for me to hand over the reins. It has been an absolute pleasure to serve on the Committee, to be involved in the School that I love and that my daughter loves and to help bring the community together.

We would love to hear from anyone who would like to join us – no qualifications are required other than enthusiasm and a willingness to contribute. Please feel free to contact me via the SCEGGS P&F Liaison, Tina Mavritsakis, on 02 93321133 who can connect you to me.

I do encourage you to attend the meeting and look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.

Penny Newton
P&F President

Secondary Music

Secondary Music

Assembly Music

Thank you to Chuyu (Anna) Luo (Year 8) for playing a sprightly intro and outro for Ms Allum and the Hymn this week.

 

SCEGGS Eisteddfod

The SCEGGS Music Eisteddfod is an opportunity for all musicians currently taking private lessons, inside or outside of school to ‘Play (and sing) your heart out.’

  • Entry into the Eisteddfod is free, and applications are now open.
  • A well-prepared piece at the student’s current ability level is best. Chat with your tutor.
  • All Elective Music students are preparing for participation.
  • Heats will be held in the Week beginning 11 March (Week 7)
  • Entry forms have been emailed to all Secondary students.
  • Here are the links:
      1. 2024 Secondary Instrumental
      2. 2024 Vocal
      3. 2024 Percussion
  • Highlight Concert

The Highlight concert will be held on Wednesday 20 March at 6.00pm
A variety of awards are made at these concerts:

    1. Outstanding Musician of the Primary School/Secondary School
    2. Wran Prize for Up-and-Coming Vocalist
    3. Acknowledgement Awards

Entries close on Monday 26 February (Week 5). No late entries will be accepted.

 

P&F Cocktail Party – Basie Jazz Band

The Basie Jazz Band under the direction of our new Head of Music Curriculum, Mr David Gresham, will entertain guests at the P&F Cocktail Party on Friday 1 March. There will be no morning rehearsal on Friday 1 March, instead, the ensemble will rehearse from 3.30pm – 4.30pm before their performance from 6.00pm–6.45pm. Please collect your daughter from the DB Centre at 7.00pm.

 

Open Day – Woodwind Ensemble

The Woodwind Ensemble, under the direction of Ms Nicole Barrett, will play a short selection of music ahead of the Open Day on Friday 8 March. Please arrive at 8.00am and be ready to play from 8.30am – 9.00am.

 

New Parent Dinner – Lux Strings

Lux Strings, under the direction of Ms Eliza Sdraulig, will play a selection of music as guests arrive for the New Parent Dinner on Thursday 21 March. Before the performance, this ensemble will rehearse from 5.15pm – 6.00pm. They will perform from 6.50pm – 7.25pm and can be collected from the DB Centre around 7.30pm.

 

Musicale 1 

Please be aware that the date in the school diary is incorrect.

The following secondary ensembles will be performing at Musicale 1;

  • Contemporary Strings
  • Clarion Concert Band
  • Van Reyk Percussion Ensemble
  • Glennie Percussion Ensemble
  • Years 7-10 Choir
  • Years 7-10 Madrigal Ensemble

Further details can be found in this note.

 

Clipboard 

All co-curricular music ensemble schedules are now available on Clipboard. If you haven’t set this up yet, please log-in to Clipboard.

If you are having any issues with Clipboard set-up, please contact our Music Administration Assistant, Miss Alice Kotowicz.

 

Important Dates 

Term 1
Week Event Date and Time Location
Week 5 Eisteddfod entries close Monday 26 February  
  Basie Jazz Band (P&F Cocktail Party) Friday 1 March JF Terrace
Week 6 Eisteddfod timetable published    
  Woodwind Ensemble (Open Day performance) Friday 8 March Great Hall
Week 7 Eisteddfod heats    
Week 8 Secondary Highlights Concert Wednesday 20 March Great Hall
  Lux Strings (New Parent Dinner) Thursday 21 March Great Hall
Week 11 Musical 1 Thursday 11 April Great Hall 

 

Heidi Jones
Head of Music (Co-curricular)

Primary Music

Primary Music

Assembly Music

Thank you to Aleisha Yeung (Year 5) for her performance of March of the Toreadors by Bizet at the first Years 3 – 6 Assembly this term.

 

SCEGGS Eisteddfod

The SCEGGS Music Eisteddfod is an opportunity for all musicians currently taking private lessons, inside or outside of school to ‘Play (and sing) your heart out.’

  • Entry into the Eisteddfod is free, and applications are now open.
  • Entry forms have been emailed to all Secondary students and all Primary parents.
  • A well-prepared piece at the student’s current ability level is best. Chat with your tutor.
  • All Elective Music students are preparing for participation.
  • Heats will be held in the week beginning 11 March.
  • Here are the links:
    1. 2024 Primary Instrumental
    2. 2024 Percussion
    3. 2024 Vocal
  • Highlight Concert

    The Highlight concert will be held on Wednesday 20 March at 6.00pm

    A variety of awards are made at these concerts:

      1. Outstanding Musician of the Primary School
      2. Acknowledgement Awards

Entries close on Monday 26 February (Week 5). No late entries will be accepted.

 

Musicale 1 – Thursday 11 April, 6.00pm, Great Hall

Please be aware that the date in the school diary is incorrect.

The following ensembles will be performing at Musicale 1;

  • Sinfonietta
  • Chamber Strings
  • Primary String Octet
  • Bugles’ Band
  • Cantare
  • Stage 2 Choir

Further details can be found in this note.

 

Sydney Youth Orchestra

Congratulations to Year 3 violinist Hana Yao and cellist Bronte Lusted who successfully auditioned to be part of Stage 1 Strings of the Sydney Youth Orchestra (SYO). The girls rehearse every Saturday morning at Santa Sabina School in Strathfield, alongside string players from all over Sydney. They will have wonderful performance opportunities throughout the year at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Sydney Opera House and the annual SYO Big Busk in locations around the Sydney CBD. This is an exciting new chapter in Hana and Bronte’s musical journey, and we wish them all the very best! Congratulations girls.

 

Clipboard 

All co-curricular music ensemble schedules are now available on Clipboard. If you haven’t set this up yet, please log-in to Clipboard.

If you are having any issues with Clipboard set-up, please contact our Music Administration Assistant, Miss Alice Kotowicz.

Heidi Jones
Head of Music (Co-curricular)

Drama News

Drama News

House Drama

House Drama is once again upon us. SCEGGS six Houses have been busily attending to the creation, rehearsal and polishing of their theatrical offerings since Term 4 last year. We are delighted to announce that Donna Lee and Octavia Barron-Martin will join us to adjudicate the 2024 House Drama festival. They will be joined by ’23 HSC Drama graduate Eva Harris.

Donna is known to Australian audiences for a vast array of work in cabaret, on television and on the musical theatre stage; most recently in the national tour of Hairspray. Octavia is an old girl of SCEGGS and has amassed an extensive list of credits as a performer. Most recently, she was seen triumphing as Sir John Kerr in The Dismissal – the musical!

Rehearsals are proceeding with much enthusiasm and collegiality. Houses are pumped and (almost) ready to take to the stage.

This year’s challenge sees each House randomly allocated an iconic board game to ignite their creative endeavours.

The draw for this year’s festival sees:

  • Badham perform Battleships
  • Barton perform Monopoly
  • Beck perform Chess
  • Christian perform The Game of Life
  • Docker perform Mousetrap
  • Langley perform Guess Who?

 

House Drama will be held next week on Tuesday 27 February.

 

A history of House Drama at SCEGGS has been provided below by our Archivist, Ms Prue Heath, for some background knowledge.

The Play’s the Thing 
From small beginnings on December 2 1949 great things have grown a SCEGGS tradition, no less, in the form of House Plays.

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of their first performance and Lux reported that the first occasion was “full of critical enjoyment and much laughter… ending weeks of frenzied rehearsals.” So it seems that the basic fun of House Plays has not changed at all.

They have, however, gone through some evolution over the years. In the early days the plays were not in competition. It was only in 1950 that this innovation was instituted. Beck won that year with its performance of St. Joan. In 1963 the school saw the first House play written by an Old Girl when Langley performed The Death Dealer written by Katharine England and it was in 1971 that Barton House made history by snatching first place with a play written totally by current students. Entitled Nursery Nightmares, it was written by Julie McCrossin and Amanda Goodman.

Performers have been many and varied, with some going on to fame and fortune in the world of theatre and entertainment including Pamela Stephenson, Claudia Karvan, Sarah Lambert, Tushka Bergin and Julie McCrossin. Julie generously pointed out recently that “The SCEGGS stage is where I received all my initial training.”

Adjudicators are also a part of the tradition. Miss Chisholm fulfilled this role until 1961 when she handed over the responsibility to Speech and Drama teacher, Miss Edna Spilsbury, who adjudicated until her retirement. She also oversaw the first panel of adjudicators in 1979. Panel members were usually Old Girls with a theatrical connection and this was no different for 1999 when Gabrielle Shannon (Palmer, Class of 1949), Rosalind Martins (Hind, Class of 1968) and Lisa Williams (Class of 1997) lent their expertise to the day. “We were thrilled that these Old Girls could be part of the day,” said Miss Inga Scarlett, Teacher-in Charge of Drama. “They represent a wide range of theatrical interests, talents and involvement.”

The adjudicators’ job was not an easy one, as all the girls were determined that the 50th Anniversa1y House plays would be very special. This saw each House performing its utmost in front of a very enthusiastic audience. The girls emphasised their acting, directing and ensemble skills and in a close competition, Beck were placed first with Badham second and Langley and Docker tying for third position.

And the question that everyone has been wondering about? Which House has won the most House Play Days? The answer is Docker with a total of eleven first places. A fine achievement, but as any SCEGGS girl will tell you, it’s the fun and camaraderie of Play Day that is the most important thing!

(First published in Light Works, April 1999)

 

Co-Curricular Drama

St Peter’s classes have commenced for the year. Classes on offer are:

Monday Years 5 & 6 Drama with Poppy
Tuesday Years 7 & 8 Drama with Poppy &
Open Show Dance with Aaron
Thursday Years 3 & 4 Drama with Poppy

 

Our Senior Production, Nell Gwynn, also went into rehearsal this week with production dates scheduled for June 12 to 15 in Term 2.

 

OnSTAGE

Students from Year 11 and 12 Academic Drama attended OnSTAGE – the annual exhibition of practical work from HSC candidates, on Wednesday February 14 at the Seymour Centre. Students embraced the opportunity to observe examples of high achieving works to propel them into their 2024 study.

Peter Eyers
Head of Drama

Secondary Sport News

Secondary Sport News

Inter-House Touch

Congratulations to the 170 students who competed at the Inter-House Touch Competition last week. Well done to Barton who were the eventual winners.

Results are as follows:
1st   Barton        19 points
2nd   Beck    17 points (countback)
3rd = Badham & Christian  17 points
5th Docker    11 points
6th  Langley    9 points

 

Secondary Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to all the age champions at the Inter-House Swimming Carnival. Well done to Beck who were the overall Champion House.

 

Results are as follow:
Trophy Name House
12 Years Champion Cynthia Cai (Year 7) Beck
13 Years Champion Kate Hawkins (Year 8) Langley
14 Years Champion Gemma Munro (Year 8) Barton
15 Years Champion Leona Brenton (Year 10) Christian
16 Years Champion Georgia Cate Baker Wood (Year 10) Barton
17 Years Champion Claudia Quinn (Year 12) Beck
18 Years Champion Sophie Myles (Year 12) Christian

 

Junior Championship 100m Kate Hawkins  Langley
Inter Championship 100m Georgia Cate Baker Wood  Barton
Senior Championship 100m Claudia Quinn Beck

 

50m Freestyle Champion Claudia Quinn Beck

 

Junior Overall Champion Kate Hawkins Langley
Inter Overall Champion Georgia Cate Baker Wood Barton
Senior Overall Champion Claudia Quinn Beck

 

Open Para Champion Coco Espie (Year 10) Badham

 

Open School Champion Georgia Cate Baker Wood Barton

 

Records

Name House  Event Old Record New Record
Kate Hawkins Langley 13 Years 50m Breaststroke 39.89 39.52
Georgia Cate Baker Wood Barton 16 Years 50m Breaststroke 38.83 36.43
Georgia Cate Baker Wood Barton 16 Years 50m Butterfly 32.64 32.56

Claudia Quinn,
Chloe Yule (Year 10),
Isabella Lyndon (Year 10),
Ella Leshetz (Year 11)

Beck 4 x 50m Relay 2:08.40 2:07.40

 

Overall Points Score

Place House Participation Points Contribution Points Total Points
6th Docker 181 212 393
5th Badham 174 243 417
4th Barton 162 316 478
3rd Christian 183 306 489
2nd Langley 202 417 619
1st Beck 201 472 673

 

Hockey

Congratulations to Jess Weatherall (Year 10) who was selected in the NSW U16 Hockey Team. Jess will compete at the Australian Championships in Hobart in April. We wish her well as she prepares for her competition.

Jess also represented NSW at the National Indoor Championships held in Canberra in January. Her Blues team won the Silver medal in the U15 Girls’ competition. Well done Jess!

Oztag

Good luck to everyone who is travelling to Coffs Harbour to compete at the NSW Oztag Championships this weekend.

 

Equestrian

Calling all equestrian riders. Please contact Ms Gowan if any riders intend to compete at the NSW Equestrian Interschools competition during the April holidays. Entries are now open and filling quickly.

Congratulations to Hannah Doolan (Year 10), who will be competing in the Junior and Young Rider competitions at the Easter Show. Hannah has been busy and had the opportunity in the summer holidays to compete in Spain and Qatar.

 

SCEGGS at Play

Do you have any sporting news or photos to share in Behind 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.

 

IGSA Fixtures, Results and Wet Weather

The IGSA website and platform for accessing wet weather, fixtures 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 Sport News

Primary Sport News

Equestrian Results:

Congratulations to Alessandra (Allie) Voitenko Turner (Year 5) for her recent efforts competing in Equestrian competitions. Some of Allie’s recent results include:

Rosthwaite Christmas Classic 60cm – 1st place 90cm – clear round
Camden Show 65cm class – 8th place 75cm – 10th place
Wallaby Hill Extravaganza 65-75cm – 15th place  

 

Good luck to Allie at her upcoming competitions, including this coming weekend at the Canberra Cup (24-25 February).

 

 

IPSHA Swimming and Diving

Congratulations to all students who qualified for the SCEGGS swimming team to compete at the IPSHA carnival on Tuesday 5 March at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. An email with further information has been sent to those students selected. We wish you all the best with your training!

 

Sporting Reminders:
  • Warm up commences 30 minutes prior to scheduled game times.
  • Girls must arrive in the correct uniform, including a hat, water bottle and other sports-specific equipment (e.g. shin pads for football).
  • Any potential changes or cancellations, including for wet weather will be made in Clipboard  via a push notification.

 

Upcoming Sports Dates:
Tuesday 5 March IPSHA Swimming and Diving Championships
Tuesday 12 March Primary Cross Country Carnival
Saturday 6 April IPSHA Cross Country (chosen from Primary XC Carnival)

 

Have a wonderful week!

 

Mr Adrian Hammond 
Primary Sport Coordinator

Debating

Debating

Congratulations to the Primary B, Year 7, Year 8, Year 9, Senior B, and Senior A teams for winning their first round of ISDA debates last Friday. The first debate of the season (or indeed ever!) is always a challenge, and all teams and debaters did such a good job of preserving through. 

This week ISDA debaters will be travelling to MLC for their Round 2 debates on the topic area of ‘Politics’. The bus to MLC will leave immediately after school for all teams, so please come straight to the lawn once the bell has gone. A bus will return to SCEGGS at the conclusion of the senior debates, which is approximately 8.45pm. If you are going to take the school bus back to SCEGGS at the end of the evening, please make sure that you let me know in advance.

All debaters should also be sorted into their teams on Clipboard. Each fixture has links to season draws and host school information (as it comes) – students and parents should be able to check this when convenient to help make Friday afternoons and evenings easier.

Finally, as Monday afternoon training for Years 7-9 continues, please remember to inform me in advance of any expected absences.

Imogen Harper
Debating Coordinator

Parents’ and Friends’ Events

Parents’ and Friends’ Events

Year 7 Parent Gathering

When: Thursday 22 February. Time: 6.30pm – 10.30pm
Where: The Woollahra Hotel
Cost: $60per person (includes cocktail style food and a welcome house drink)
To book click here.

 

Welcome Cocktail Party

We are looking forward to seeing you at our annual P&F Welcome Cocktail Party to be held on Friday 1 March from 6.00pm – 8.00pm on the Joan Freeman Terrace. Please see the invitation below for booking details.

Annual Collection of Student Information by The Federal Government

Annual Collection of Student Information by The Federal Government

The Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment collects student residential and other information from schools each year to inform Commonwealth school education policy and funding arrangements. This collection is taking place in February and March.

Parents and carers can go to the SCEGGS Parent Portal on the School’s website to see the Government’s official collection notice.

Please also take this opportunity to check on the Portal that your address details are up-to-date. You can update any incorrect information yourself on the Portal. Please contact me or Mr Adrian Craig, the School’s Business Manager on 9332 1133, if you have any questions.

Phil Rogers
Director of Administration