There have been many milestones this week where Year 12 students and families have come together as a cohort, allowing them to farewell so many of those familiar experiences and routines that have shaped their school life as SCEGGS girls. Alongside this, these activities have allowed the wider school community who are still on the journey to reflect, celebrate and (to borrow the words of Eva from this morning) to say “see you later” to the Class of 2026.
Today marked the conclusion of their formal school journey, and their official welcome as the youngest members of our “Old Girl” community. As I said in the Assembly this morning, I am so proud of the young adults they are today – compassionate, courageous, with a zest for life and unafraid to show their vulnerability. Year 12, we are so proud of you all and will miss seeing you all next term. As you prepare for your final exams, be confident and trust the work and preparations you have done to get you here today and be assured that your teachers will be there to support and encourage you all the way to the end.
The Class of 2026 watching the sunrise. Photo courtesy of Kim Colville Art.
Throughout this term, other parts of our community have continued to come together in many other ways – from the fabulous Festival on Forbes to the Magic Carnival of the Primary School Discos, our NAIDOC Week activities and commemorations, and so many celebrations in sport, drama, debating, public speaking and music. Our girls continue to let their light shine and one of the best things about being a teacher is to quietly watch each one of the students grow little by little, to be challenged and find moments of joy along the way.
As a very busy Term 3 comes to a close, I hope all our families have a restful break and I look forward to welcoming you all back in Term 4 on Monday 12th October in full Summer Uniform.
Holly Gyton Head of School
School Landline phone update – Tuesday 29 September
Due to major upgrades on our school phone system, particularly the landlines, inbound calls to the School will be intermittent/not possible during 8am to 12pm on Tuesday 29September.
If you need to contact the School during this time, please use the Contact Us form on the website and if applicable, an office staff member will call you back in due course.
The Vacation Care mobile number will operate as usual.
Thank you for your understanding.
Craig Whalland ICT Director
Visual Arts
We would like to take this moment to thank our outgoing Visual Arts Captain, Finlay Simmons for her outstanding service in this role this year.
Fin has been an active, responsive and organised leader, representing the subject with such energy. Through her vision and an excellent capacity for collaboration, Fin forged a strong partnership with the Visual Arts staff and the HSC students and engaged students across the years through her camaraderie, warmth and passion for Visual Arts.
Fin’s final contribution in her role was to organise an event last week where students were invited to come and create a work of their choice that was then amalgamated together to create one large, united piece.
Fin Says:
Ms Jackson and I hosted an art event where students across the Secondary School were able to spend their lunchtime decorating paper shapes with various materials in contribution to a whole school artwork.
The idea was for students to have full creative choice and show off their individuality as they selected what shape and size of paper they wanted to decorate, materials they wanted to use and patterns they wanted to create. These shapes would then be glued together, combining everyone’s personal artwork to craft one large one, emphasising the ability for art to craft community.
The turnout was amazing, with students across year groups chatting with their friends in a peaceful and fun environment, allowing this creative endeavour to bring people together. This was a lovely event were everyone was able to come together in the collective and immersive experience of creating art.
We are excited to combine and photograph these works to craft the large artwork and also create other collections of works from the shapes that were decorated.
This event was attended by students from across the School and there was a lovely dynamic quality to the experience, with plenty of chatter, immersive art making and laughter.
Well done Fin! We thank you for your wonderful work throughout the year and hope you have a special place in your life for Art beyond the Green Gate.
A reminder that applications for Visual Arts Captain 26/27 are due by 9.00 am Friday, Week 1 of next term.
This week’s banner is two paintings from a suite of 16 works made as part of Fin’s Year 12 Body of Work titled Shared Waters, Individual Depths.
Heidi Jackson Head of Visual Arts
End of Debating Competitions for 2026!
This year has been another highly successful one for debating at SCEGGS. We are very proud of every student who has attended a training session, competed in an Inter-House Competition, participated in Eastside, ISDA or Archdale… or even debated in a Social Debating Competition! The opportunities to debate and practice debating skills at SCEGGS are endless. It brings our debating community so much joy to know students are trialing and giving debating a go all the way from Year 5 to Year 12.
Trials for 2027 debating teams will occur later this year:
Trials for Year 8-10 will be held in Term 4 this year, after examinations. This is due to the large number of students we had trial this year and to allow ample timing, ascompetitions begin in February 2027.
Year 6 ISDA and Year 7 students will begin training in Term 1, 2027.
Registration information will be shared via Clipboard in due course. Further updates will also be published in this newsletter next term.
SCEGGS Representative Squad
Congratulations to our very own Yang Zhou (Year 11) for qualifying for the IGSA Representative Squad for 2026! Yang competed against students from schools across the state and earned a place in the team. The competition has begun and her IGSA team has been successful thus far. We are very proud of Yang for her commitment to Debating inside and outside of SCEGGS and she is representing the School with pride.
Monday Assemblies 2026
We also thank Yang Zhou and Caitlin Cameron (Year 11) for stepping up this term and speaking at assemblies each Monday and keeping our school community informed about debating activities and achievements. They have both done a stellar job.
Archdale Updates
Quarter Finalists
Seniors v Meriden – That the Australian government should increase public investment into AI development
Year 8A v Wenona
Year 8B v MLC School
Semi Finalists
Year 10 v Monte – That we predict that gender inequality in the West will worsen, rather than improve, in the next 10 years – Affirmative
Juniors v Mt. Saint Benedict College – That the votes of young people should be weighted more highly in political elections – Affirmative
Grand Final Winners!
Both SCEGGS teams were victorious in their respective Grand Finals this year, a testament to the strength of our debating program. Congratulations to the following students:
Juniors – That we should impose penalties on sports clubs when their players are charged with a criminal offense (e.g. fines, points deductions, etc) – Negative
Year 10 – That we predict the United States will be less, rather than more democratic in 2036 than it is in 2026 – Negative
Archdale Juniors
Year 10 Archdale
Anastasia Botros
Cynthia Cai
Clementine Reuss
Isla Roberts
Anna Slack
Emily Whiting
Audrey Young
Flora Balagna
Radha Bhindi
Alice Flynn
Josephine Hatherall
Anna Luo
Olivia Roberts
Sophia Whiting
To have two teams crowned Archdale Premiers in the same season is an outstanding achievement and reflects the dedication of our students, coaches and debating community.
Juniors – Archdale Grand Final Winners
Year 10 Archdale Grand Final Winners
Festival of Speech – Debating
Festival of Speech is back this year and we have two teams – Junior and Senior teams representing SCEGGS on Friday, 23 October. If the teams qualify, they will continue onto Saturday, 24 October 2026 at PLC Sydney. The students will commence training in Term 4. All information can be found on Clipboard.
Congratulations to the following girls for being selected to represent SCEGGS this year:
Junior
Senior
Anastasia Botros
Cynthia Cai
Arianna Li
Sophie Wang
Caitlin Cameron
Holly Johnston
Pascale Otton
Yang Zhou
Head Coach Report for 2026
2026 was another excellent year for SCEGGS debating, and I am so proud of the diligence, resilience and passion displayed by all of our debating students. Across three competitions (Eastside, ISDA and Archdale), our students approached every round with intellectual curiosity and care, debating topics that challenged them (and often also challenged their coaches). Secondary school debating is demanding, and the expectations are high. But our debaters rose to the challenge every time. Our students made arguments about current political issues both in Australia and overseas, the pros and cons of fiscal policy, the merits of social norms, and the efficacy of health policy, speaking eloquently for eight minutes with only 45 minutes of preparation, something that would be difficult for many adults. The nature of the topics combined with the requirement to think on your feet with relatively little time to prepare, is what makes debating so challenging, yet so rewarding.
I know our students are more knowledgeable, compassionate, and curious people because of the lessons they learn through debating. The skills they learn will be invaluable as they move into the world outside the Green Gate.
There were some standout achievements this year. The Year 12 Eastside team showed enormous courage and strength and went on to win the Grand Final. I felt incredibly fortunate and so proud as I watched them in their final debate in high school.
Our Year 10s won both the Eastside and Archdale competitions, an incredibly impressive accomplishment in the face of serious competition. We also retained our Junior title in the Archdale competition, holding on to the shield for another year.
Finally, Year 11 debater Yang Zhou was selected for both the NSW State Debating Squad and the Archdale Representative Firsts, two of the most prestigious debating opportunities for senior students.
Debating is one of the longest co-curricular commitments, spanning almost three terms and multiple afternoons a week. It asks a lot of our students, both practically and intellectually. As coaches, we feel so proud of our students every week at training, especially when they return after losing a debate, and it’s warm and sunny outside. Getting to know and build relationships with students over the school year is what makes coaching so valuable. It is the reason we return to SCEGGS every year. I hope everyone enjoys their much-deserved break from debating. We are so excited to see you all succeed again next year.
Mia Freeland Head Coach
Social Debating
Keep an eye on BTGG in early Term 4 to read about all the Social Debating that has been happening over the past few months. There will be more Social Debating opportunities for students in Term 4, so please keep an eye on emails from “Debating@SCEGGS” to sign up for dates after Year 7-10 Examinations early in Term 4.
We look forward to supporting your daughter’s debating journey as SCEGGS continues to thrive in this exciting co-curricular space.
Suvini Kottegoda Social Sciences Teacher and Debating Coordinator
Secondary Sport
A special thank you to all players, coaches and parents for making this term such a successful season of sport. We are grateful for the dedication and commitment shown by everyone. It takes a community and SCEGGS does it well!
I am delighted to share the following sports news this week:
Congratulations to the following teams who played in finals.
Netball
SCEGGS had four powerhouse teams reach the finals:
J07 – SCEGGS 7 were runners up to Loreto Normanhurst 15 (30-16)
J09 – SCEGGS 8 defeated Abbotsleigh 19 (25 – 23)
J10 – SCEGGS 9 were runners up to St Vincent’s 15 (16 – 23)
Y708 SCEGGS 15 defeated Ascham 15 (18 – 10)
The mighty SCEGGS 15 Year 7 team continued their winning ways with a very spirited cheer squad of parents on the sidelines. The team was coached by SCEGGS Old Girls Anwen KIDSTON (2022) and Molly ESPIE (2024) who even donned their SCEGGS blazers for the occasion!
Football
S02 – SCEGGS 1 defeated Abbotsleigh 1 (1-0)
This was a particularly close match with both teams having chances to score throughout the game. Just as we all thought the match was going into extra time, a late goal to Piper Fincher in Year 12 secured the win. This was a fitting way to send out our seven Year 12 students who were playing their final games for SCEGGS. There was not a dry eye on the sidelines as everyone stayed behind after the game to soak up the SCEGGS sporting spirit one last time.
Basketball
J02 – SCEGGS 7 defeated Tara 4 (21 – 17)
Our Junior 1sts played a tough game to defeat Tara and show that the future is bright for SCEGGS Basketball with the talent pushing through the grades.
NSWCIS Athletics Championships
Congratulations to Coco Espie, Maddie Coutts and Stasia Serafin, who represented SCEGGS at the NSWCIS Athletics Championships on Tuesday. It was an exciting but also sentimental day, with Maddie and Stasia were competing at their first CIS Championships, while Coco took to the track for her final school Athletics competition. Despite the damp conditions making personal bests difficult to come by, all three students produced outstanding performances.
Stasia had a superb day on the track, claiming two gold medals with commanding victories in both the 100m and 200m.
Maddie competed strongly in the high jump, clearing each of her first three heights on her first attempt. She finished in 6th place, with a best clearance of 1.40m.
Coco competed in the combined Para events, which bring together athletes from a range of classifications. She finished her final school Athletics competition with an excellent set of results, winning gold in the 800m, bronze in the 200m, and finishing 4th in the 100m.
A wonderful day to finish a great season of Athletics in 2026 and three performances to be extremely proud of.
NSW All Schools Athletics Championships
Best of luck to Sarah James, Matilda Emanuel, Annabelle Jessup, Maddie Coutts, Stasia Serafin and Beatrice Emanuel who will be at the NSW All Schools Athletics Championships in the school holidays.
If any other students have registered to compete, please reach out to Ms Axford.
The IGSA website and platform for accessing wet weather, fixtures and team results can be found here.
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 alisongowan@sceggs.nsw.edu.au
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact myself on 9052 2721 or 0418 491 521.
Alison Gowan Director of Sport
IGSA Chess Tournament 2026
Last Friday evening SCEGGS competed in the IGSA Chess Tournament held at Meriden School. This marked a significant achievement for the team, as it was the first year SCEGGS had progressed to the Finals, with only division winners qualifying for the round-robin competition.
The students performed exceptionally well throughout the tournament, demonstrating strong strategic thinking, resilience, and sportsmanship. Their outstanding efforts resulted in a second place finish overall.
I am extremely proud of the team and their achievements. Throughout the competition, the students displayed impressive skill, collaboration, and mutual support, representing SCEGGS with distinction and embodying the values of teamwork and excellence.
The team consisted of Eloise Phillips (Year 11), Anjola Petrie (Year 11), Alice Mou (Year 8) and Allegra Kennedy-Scott (Year 7).
Congratulations!
Ms Melinda Chadwick Chess Co-ordinator
Betty Behan and Gwen Cockell English Prizes
SCEGGS has a rich history of fostering creative writing and each year SCEGGS invites students in Years 7 – 10 to submit their creative fiction and poetry writing into the Betty Behan Memorial Prize for Short Story and Gwen Cockell Prize for Creative Writing (awarded for Poetry). Named in honour of an Old Girl and former English teacher, these prizes are awarded at Speech Night and are a wonderful way of celebrating the writing of our students. Winning entries and extracts of commended pieces of work are also published each year in the Lux magazine.
Students are invited to submit work that they have completed in class, or which they have worked on independently over the year. Each year we are thrilled to have so many entries from the talented writers at SCEGGS.
The closing date for entries is Term 4 Week 2 (Friday 23 October). Students have been emailed instruction for submitting this work and this year they are invited to submit printed copies of their work to the English Department.
Red Room’s Poetry Forest Competition encourages students to compose poems which celebrate the natural world. This competition is open until Friday September 25. More information can be found here.
Jennifer Bean Head of English
Blazer Pocket Awards
Girls in the Secondary School who are awarded a blazer ‘Pocket’ for excellence and outstanding achievement in a co-curricular activity can have their blazers embroidered during holiday periods.
Awards will be announced for Year 12 at the Year 12 Graduation Assembly on Thursday 24 September and for Years 7-11 at the End-of-Term Assembly on Friday 25 September.
Blazers may be left at the Reception any time before 1pm on Monday 28 September (the first weekday of the School Holidays).
Students with previous awards that have not yet been embroidered can also leave their blazers at this time.
Blazers cannot be accepted after the cut-off time of 1pm Monday 28 September. Any late submissions will need to wait until the next School Holidays.
Embroidery and dry cleaning will be done during the holidays and the cost will be charged to your daughter’s account.
The General Office Team
Careers Corner
Click here to read this week’s Careers Corner Newsletter.
