From Ms Allum

Dear Everyone                                                                                                         

I thought you would want to know how we are going in the first week of the ‘learning at home’ scenario.

It was lovely to hear the laughter coming from various classrooms around the School yesterday at 8.20am, as teachers were having a “Zoom” Form Time and Roll Call with the girls in their Form Class and girls were giggling away at various activities. I understand that a number of pets joined the group too! Yesterday, I believe that there were a few  “hat party” Form Time activities. And Academic Support have established a Zoom Room instead of the usual Learning Lab.

In the Primary School, yesterday was a day of physical distribution of laptops and iPads to our younger children, whose devices are usually kept at school. A number of books and art supplies and so forth were also picked up, and I understand that we lent over 1000 books from the Primary library!! Today, the Primary girls have begun to use their devices to support their at home learning schedule. Girls have tried zoom for the very first time (albeit with some technical glitches!) and have used Seesaw, Cognito and OneNote to access many of the wonderful learning resources the teachers have created.

To date, lessons are working well throughout the day. I thought I would share with you a couple of comments from parents:

• Congratulations to you and all the staff on moving the school program to the structured online Zoom learning platform. This would have been a huge task and day 1 has been a very smooth transition. My daughter has really enjoyed this new way of learning and we all feel reassured that she can follow an almost ‘normal’ school day program.
• Thank you! You have made the move to online learning look easy, although we can only imagine the work required to ensure a smooth transition! The girls are loving their new “offices” and are grateful for the support and care they received today.
• A heartfelt thanks for the brilliant video on Seesaw this afternoon for Year 1! This is exactly what the girls need – to still feel connected to their teachers and learning community.
• Just wanted to thank you and all the staff for making the transition to online so seamless and well planned.
• I am working from home listening to a lot of home learning going on. It’s so good to see connections being made and no break in continuity.  It seems natural and dare I say it – fun!

So, you can see in this newsletter:  

• A message from Mr Lee Lindsay
• Some resources and ideas about coping with anxiety and managing worry
• Information for parents and caregivers on navigating this time of transition to at-home learning from SchoolTV
• Some reminders about e-safety
• Some reminders about ergonomics
• What to do if your daughter is sick and can’t attend school for a day.

In coming days, we have plans to send out other support ideas as well – ideas for physical exercise, movies to watch, non-screen based activities as well. We also know that we need to support girl’s emotional wellbeing. These are tough times for everyone, and people are understandably anxious, distressed and uncertain.

I wanted you to know that I continue to pray that you are all OK. I hope you stay physically well and also emotionally strong. These are very worrying times for everyone, and I hope we have collected some advice here, within the newsletter,  to help you to manage this “new normal” for yourselves and your daughter at home.

With love to you all.

Jenny

From the Chaplain

I just wanted to let you all know that I continue to pray for each of you and those around you as we go through this time of uncertainty and change. I am sure that this pandemic has hit us all in a variety of ways and can be unsettling for a whole range of reasons. Our community is a strong one and even though we may be operating from a distance, it is important that we remain close and connected. We will need each other more than ever but we also remember those outside of our walls. I have noticed the most isolated before this outbreak have become even more isolated. Lots of welfare agencies have shut down and people’s loneliness is being magnified. I am thinking about ways in which we might be able to reach out to those that we have been able to serve for so many years. If you are interested or have some ideas I would love to hear from you. Thank you to those who have already asked about caring for the most vulnerable.

I continue to be your Chaplain (whether you like it or not) and your wellbeing is of my concern. That is for all of our community: students, staff, old girls, whoever. If you need to chat, via whatever medium you would prefer, I am more than happy to do that. Feel free to send me an email  and we can make a time. As I mentioned, I think connection is key in times like this. Last week in Chapel I shared this prayer with the students:

God of all Creation

We pray for the situation we find our world in today.

We ask that the spread of the coronavirus would be slowed down and eventually stopped.

We pray that you would give comfort to those people that are suffering with the virus, for those that have lost loved ones due to it, for those who are effected economically and for those who are generally anxious about the consequences of this outbreak.

We pray for all those in isolation at this moment and we ask that you would help them mentally and emotionally as they go through this difficult stage.

Help us within our communities, whether they be in our neighborhoods, our school or our wider global community to be loving and compassionate in these uncertain times. As we face a changed and different world, let us be patient with one another and approach each other with grace and humility.

We ask all this in Jesus name

Amen.

I know that we aren’t all people who pray but I hope that this prayer might provide comfort to some.

Take care and may God give you peace.

Rev. Garry Lee-Lindsay
School Chaplain

Looking after yourselves at home

Looking after yourselves and your daughters: 

• A great article from the SMH;
• A great meditation app:  Insight Timer

School TV

Information for parents and caregivers with some guidelines about how best to navigate this time of transition with minimal disruption.
https://schooltv.me/

Cyber Safety

https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/blog/covid-19-keeping-schools-and-learning-safe-online

https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/blog/covid-19-online-survival-kit-parents-and-carers

Managing Worry in Uncertain Times

This information sheet is a valuable resource for parents with advice about how to support children and young people and accessing support networks at SCEGGS and externally. 

What to do if your daughter is sick and cannot attend school

If your daughter is not well enough to “attend” school at the beginning of the day and so is not able to join her Form Class each morning online, please email absences@sceggs.nsw.edu.au  as you usually would. The same process should apply if your daughter arrives late or becomes unwell during the day.

Learning at home: Some Ergonomic Handy Hints!

Creating and maintaining good habits take practice and time – so after our first few days of learning at home, we are encouraging all girls to take a moment to reflect on the spaces that they have chosen to work in. While this change of location can be great in lots of ways – mufti, for one thing – we all have a personal responsibility to pause for a second and think about looking after our bodies too, especially our eyes, our neck and back and our wrists just to name a few!

Setting up each day

Take a moment to set yourself up as ergonomically as possible before you start using a laptop or device each day.  

• Be seated comfortably with your back supported in a chair and the laptop on a table or desk. Keep regularly accessed items close by.
• Centre the laptop directly in front of you with a comfortable viewing distance.
• Ensure the laptop is raised so you can comfortably look at the screen with your neck in a neutral position.

Remember, making and maintaining good postural habits are key. Take the time to adopt a few changes in your day for a safe and healthy approach to laptop use. 

Posture

Prolonged sitting and laptop use stress the body, so consider: 

• When you can incorporate postures other than sitting into your day? Walking and movement activities, leisure activities and eating should all happen away from the laptop.
• Alternating your posture between tasks whenever you can and take regular, short breaks away from the laptop, including taking time to perform gentle stretches and exercises.
• Relaxing your head, neck and shoulders as much as possible when using a laptop.
• In between lessons, everyone should stand up, have a stretch, walk around a little or even dance in your bedroom for three minutes! (This is like the walk from one side of the school to the other that you do each day between lessons).

Tips

As you sit down at your desk to get ready for the start of each lesson:

• Consider your arm position—elbows should be at about 90 degrees.
• Be body aware—keep your arms and wrists straight—take the pressure off.
• Break from continuous typing every 15 minutes.
• Rest your eyes frequently — look up, look down, look at something in the distance, take a break, blink often.
• Stretch— roll your neck, wriggle your shoulders and stretch your arms.

Our classrooms in the Secondary School have these posters which provide examples of stretches that might help some students. Download a copy of the poster here.

Holly Gyton
Deputy Head of School

Updates to our calendar of events

A reminder to parents and students to continue to check this page on the SCEGGS website as we continue to provide updates on events.

Some recent updates include:

• At home learning commenced 24 March
• Year 10 Career Assessment Interviews will be conducted over the phone from 30 March – 6 April 
• Term 1 will end on 3 April
• Events, activities and sporting fixtures

Food Saving Ideas from the Maailma Environment Committee

Now that more of us are learning at home, here are some ideas from Maailma to make your food last longer:

Feta Cheese

Place your feta cheese in a glass jar and fill the jar with ½ canoloa oil and ½ olive oil. Add some rosemary, peppercorn or chilli for flavour. Keep refrigerated.

Make your own yoghurt

Ingredients:

• 500ml milk
• 1-2 tablespoons of commercial yoghurt with a live culture
• 2 tablespoons of milk power (optional)
• 1 sterilised jar

Method:

• Place the milk and milk powder in a saucepan. Stir and bring to the boil until the milk foams and rising up the sides of the saucepan. Remove immediately
• Let it cool for about 20 minutes until you can hold your knuckle in for roughly 30 seconds without burning yourself
• When cooled enough, remove the skin and whisk in the yoghurt
• Pour into the sterilised jar and seal
• Wrap the jar in a tea towel and leave in a warm spot for approximately eight hours until solid
• Refrigerate
• Lasts roughly two weeks
• Save enough to make the next batch

Other ideas:

• Stew any fruit that is beginning to turn using water, brown sugar and spices like cinnamon, ginger and star anise. Enjoy with your homemade yoghurt
• Make banana bread with old bananas and freeze

Remember try to buy only what you are going to eat. Oz Harvest tell us that bread and lettuce are the two most wasted products in Australia. Bread can be frozen. If your lettuce goes off, make sure it is composted. If it is left in the plastic bag and sent to landfill, it can take 25 years to decompose.

Maailma Environment Committee

School Shop Trading Hours

The School Shop is open for trading until the end of Term 1 which is now Friday 3 April.

Trading hours will be 8.00am – 3.00pm and by appointment only.

In keeping with social distancing guidelines, some necessary changes have been implemented and we will not be accepting cash payments at this time.

Stay safe and well and I look forward to helping you with your uniform needs.

Clare Reid
School Shop Manager

Sport News

Thank you to all of our SCEGGS community for the support that you have shown the PDHPE Department over the past two weeks as we navigate our way through this difficult time. We have had wonderful attendance and participation by our students in our various activities that have been able to go ahead. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we have had to cancel numerous activities or reschedule events and sports trials. A special thank you to all of the PDHPE staff and coaches who have been very flexible and adaptable under extraordinary circumstances.

Please be advised that all interschool sport for Term 2 has been cancelled. This includes all IGSSA, IPSHA, NSWCIS and St Catherine’s Netball Competitions. We will re-assess what the current situation looks like when all return to school.

We have plans to conduct some of our own SCEGGS v SCEGGS competitions and training. We also hope to continue with some of our regular activities such as yoga, fitness, Pilates, gymnastics and tennis squads. This situation is evolving all the time so we really don’t know what things will look like next term or what will be possible. Watch this space!

In the meantime, we will be looking at options that you can do from within your own home to exercise and maintain your fitness. We will continue to email and place on Cognito various activities.

On Tuesday I emailed a link to all secondary students from Netfit who are conducting online live fitness sessions for six weeks. These sessions are available on You Tube for 24 hrs if you miss a session. This initiative is free and sponsored by Netball Australia.

We encourage everyone to do some exercise or strength and conditioning whilst self-isolating. You can go for walk or run, play with the family dog, do some stretching, turn on some music and dance like no one is watching, do an online yoga class or get a skipping rope and do a workout. It is important for your health and wellbeing that you continue to do some physical activity each day. There will be an activity log shared with all students to encourage this process.

If you have any exercise ideas that you have been doing at home that you would like to share within our community, please feel free to email me. We wish everyone well as you continue to maintain good health, hygiene and social distancing.

Alison Gowan
Director of Sport

Drama

It is a concerning and uncertain time at present. You would know that many restrictions and guidance have been given to the community to attend to the Coronavirus spread. It therefore gives me great sadness to inform you that our production of Ladies in Black is cancelled.

Unfortunately, the motto of “the show must go on” cannot apply to this scenario. We are very proud of the work achieved in the short time we had to construct the show. Ladies in Black was the first production for many of the cast. There will be many more production opportunities in the future and time to explore a passion for singing, dancing and acting.

We don’t know how long this period of uncertainty will last, but if there is anyway, at the end of it, that we can share the work created, we will certainly pursue that. Our November production of Pretty.Strange is still on our calendar.

Thank you to the girls for the dedication employed for this production. I hope it one day might become a part of your happy memories, though I’m sure disappointment clouds that at present.

I found the post below recently on Facebook. It helped me to feel a bit better about the current state of theatre.

In theatre we have a tradition – whenever the theatre is empty we are always sure to leave one light on. Typically on a stand in the centre of the stage, this light is known as the ghost light. There are many stories about its origin – but it’s meaning is unmistakable.

It means though the theatre is empty, WE WILL RETURN. So here’s to us. The actors, the technicians, the directors, the carpenters, the designers, the dancers, the teachers, the students, the freelancers, those on tour, those at sea, the electricians, the stitchers, the makers, the stage managers…. THE ARTISTS.

The ghost lights are temporary place holders. They are a sign. We might be down now – but our passion, our creativity, our drive is still centre stage. We’ll be unplugging those ghost lights in no time.

The theatre is the only institution in the world which has been dying for four thousand years and has never succumbed. It requires tough and devoted people to keep it alive.
John Steinbeck

Peter Eyers
Head of Drama

Music Matters

A reminder for students to come and collect your instruments from the Diana Bowman Centre.  This is particularly important for Elective Music students as you will need your instrument for your at-home learning.  The time at home will provide everyone with a great opportunity for some dedicated practice.

Skype or Zoom?

Peripatetic staff have been advised to contact parents to provide options for their daughters to continue their instrumental tuition remotely.  This is not compulsory but is strongly encouraged for families to help maintain the learning for their daughters. 

Please read below for some advice and ideas to support this:

1. It is important that there is an agreement between tutors and family for online learning to take place.  Tutors are encouraged to provide families with this agreement in writing with details of agreed date, time or platform on which this is to occur. 
2. There should be a parent/guardian present for the duration of the online lesson.  This is to protect both parties.
3. If you were to proceed with online learning families will need to have the correct infrastructure as the tutor.  (I hear that Zoom is preferred over Skype).

This needs to be agreed between both parties.

Practical considerations with online learning:

• Make sure that students/families are set up for online lessons beforehand. 
• Agree on an appropriate device (iPads? Laptops?)
• Tutors should have the students/their parents’ contact details included for FaceTime.
• Tutors have been encouraged to show parents how to tune the instrument in one of the early lessons – so then moving forward, this is something families can do before a scheduled lesson.

Tuner apps are available through App Stores to help with this.  Very helpful to have one installed if you haven’t got one already.  Your tutor can recommend one for you to install.

• Depending on your instrument, tutors will discuss with their students/families how they should “setup” for the lesson. For example – where should a student stand in relation to the camera, making sure no relevant parts of the student’s setup are cropped (e.g. bow arm)
• Where possible, families are encouraged to stay “offline” during the course of the lesson as this can sometimes help with the quality of the connection.
• A dedicated space for the lesson is useful and helpful to eliminate distractions where possible.
• Students should be dressed appropriately for the lesson.

The nature of what we do as musicians have dramatically changed.  While online learning may not be ideal, it is helpful for the current situation. 

Pauline Chow
Head of Music

Senior Inter-House Speaking Challenge

Congratulations to the following House winners and students who competed in the Inter-House Speaking Challenge.

Individual Results

Sandra Carter
Co-ordinator of Public Speaking

From the Senior Library

“125 Years in 125 Days”

Welcome to our second week of counting down to the School’s birthday!

This Week in the Senior Library we have been featuring special prizes, House Cups and past SCEGGS girls’ clubs. Can you recognize this well-known Australian and Old Girl featured in the 1936 winning relay team? Can you guess what year this Crusaders’ camp photo took place? Which year was the first House Cup for Sport awarded and who won it? Why is the J, B and P Wootton Cup given?

Next week we will be featuring past School and House productions. See if you can answer some of the following questions. Do you know who won the first Interhouse Drama Festival? Which House has won the most Drama cups?

Congratulations to Zara Ibrahim, in Year 8, who submitted the correct answer to last Friday’s Lux magazine question. Mrs Prue Heath, from Archives, kindly let us display the first 1900 edition of Lux in the Library, secured in a locked glass case, of course. Congratulations to Old Girl Julie McCrossin, whose post on the Old Girls’ Facebook page, revealed she not only knew our first student but could quote the day and month she started school.

Answers to last week’s questions

Mary Watson was our very first student.

The Edith Badham Memorial Prize is awarded for English as well as two Religion prizes in the Junior and Senior categories.

Charles Kelland worked at SCEGGS as our general handyman from the early 1920s until 1961. His wife Daisy was in charge of the tuckshop and is remembered for her nutritious home-cooked meals. Well done to Old Girl Noelene Barton who knew who the Kellands were and commented on the Old Girls’ Facebook page.

The Spencer Horrocks Cup was first given as a choir cup in 1967 and is now given to the winner of House Music, which was won this year by Docker.

The Lady Anderson Memorial Prize is awarded, in her honour, to a Year 12 girl for Modern History but was first known as the Gift of Josephine WIGHT (1902) and was first awarded in 1921 for English and History to Grace Thompson.

Stay tuned for this Friday’s featured quiz question about our House Cups.

Dorothy Wilkinson Memorial Library and Archives

How to continue your Duke of Edinburgh’s Award during the challenging months ahead

There are many ways in which Participants can continue their activities for the Skills, Voluntary Service and Physical Recreation Sections from their own homes, to ensure they can keep their Award progress on track, whilst still providing enough evidence to Assessors and Award Leaders to continue progressing goals. It’s important to stay engaged, active and healthy in a safe and positive way and the Award can be a great way of doing so. Participants will continue to have the support of their Award Leaders, Doric Swain and myself. We are happy for you to call us, set up a Zoom meeting or send an email with questions and concerns.

Please be sure to personally start conversations with your Activity Assessors about how you might look to complete your activities in the weeks and months ahead. Activity Assessors are permitted and encouraged to be flexible in the way you will pursue your Award activities. Please note: it is paramount that anyone considering undertaking Award activities outside of the home in areas affected by the COVID-19 virus outbreak comply with the latest relevant government policies before doing so, and may need to consult relevant health authorities. The health of the individual and community should always be the first priority when choosing new activities.

Physical Recreation

This Section is about improving physical fitness and wellbeing. It is very important to keep this up, especially if restricted to the house. Whatever activity and goal you have chosen, there are many ways to continue progressing by exercising at home. Fitness workout, yoga sessions, running, walking, hiking, swimming in your home pool, online aerobics classes etc can all be used instead of your usual team sports. Increasing your fitness levels in home workout sessions will undoubtedly contribute to your physical recreation goals. It is important evidence is shown of progress to Assessors by uploading any photos, videos or workout plans to your Online Record Book (ORB).  

Skills

Progress towards the Skills Section is something that can easily be done from home. If the Participant is learning a musical instrument, a new language, cooking new recipes, designing software or creating art – or any other activity – chances are they have all the tools they need at home to continue working towards their goal. They can also get in contact with their Assessor or Award Leader to help them find some activities, or alternatively, can look online to find tutorials to help continue their progress towards that skill. Setting yourself new challenges is a very healthy approach at this time. Make sure you are specific with your log descriptors and upload photos or videos directly to the (ORB) as evidence of you improving your skills from home.

Voluntary Service

 The Voluntary Service Section may appear difficult to complete remotely, especially if the Participant has chosen a group project activity, or if their goal requires them to visit a particular location away from their home. There may be a sense of agreed “pay it forward” here with your assessor, and you might be able to complete the more physical aspects of your volunteering later in your Award while still working on activities that can be done from home that contribute to a Participant’s overall goal. Remotely working towards a project is possible, as they can start a chat group with fellow Participants and brainstorm activities that can be done at home to continue contributing to the project. Online research, creating brochures for raising awareness, or posting helpful things online for the community can all be activities that contribute to a Participant’s goal. If they are not sure of what activities can be done to contribute to their Voluntary Service Section, Participants should contact their Assessor or Award Leader to support them in finding new creative ideas. Otherwise I have listed some remote service activities below that you may decide to switch to.  Another worthwhile option is Ms Chadwick’s knitting/sewing items for the homeless or for those affected by the bushfires. Please email Ms Chadwick to find out more about what is involved if this could be of interest.

Adventurous Journey and Gold Residential Project

As the Adventurous Journey and Gold Residential Project Sections are group activities, they both represent the most challenging sections to complete during the virus outbreak. The hikes will be delayed until school goes back, or we are given the go ahead. We will email the girls in advance once we know when we might be able to resume and will send out the new dates. I will contact participants with any updated and additional specific advice about our planned departures across the year ahead. We love delivering our hikes and still hope to be able to head out on some expeditions this year.

Similarly options for organising Gold Residential Projects will be limited, however they can start planning in detail what they may wish to do for their Residential Project from their home and potentially reach-out to organisations that they are keen to support and/or work with for their project.

We are particularly sympathetic to the Gold participants who might have one hike or their Residential Project to complete their Gold Award and we will do everything we can to support them with university applications etc. Duke of Edinburgh NSW Office is also aware of these issues and may come up with assistance. They have also pointed out that Participants have until they are 25 years old to finish. With honest discussion, negotiation and support from your activity Assessor and Award Leader we will get through this together.

Whilst the ideal situation for a young person progressing through the Award remains that they pick an activity and stick it at for the time requirements for the relevant level, the COVID-19 outbreak is a good example where pragmatic and practical solutions will need to apply and some students will need to change their activity. Participants will need to send me an email with the name of the new activity and assessor’s email if a change is required.          

Please be sure that your discussions, suggestions and solutions are in line with the SCEGGS values and will meet the Award requirements. No short cuts here.

In conclusion, I urge everyone to take care, remember your responsibilities to others in our community, and remain positive in these times of crisis. Many of the tasks and goals you have set yourself for this year need not change, whether that is with school work, the Duke of Edinburgh Award, or personal ambitions. Doric and I are still fully committed to doing everything we can to assist you with your award – we can be contacted by email, and will provide Award updates as they arise.

Joanne Bower and Doric Swain
Award Leaders

Temporary Road Closures – Bourke Street and sections of William Street

The City of Sydney have advised us that they are about to begin two projects in the near vicinity of SCEGGS to carry out stormwater drainage works in Bourke Street, St Peters Lane and William Street Darlinghurst.

As far as we are aware, the projects will begin on Monday 30 March (weather permitting) and they have indicated that this may take 8-10 weeks to complete, again depending on the weather and other restrictions.

How will this affect us?

• Bourke Street will be closed for significant periods of time between William Street and St Peters Street.
• William Street will also have restricted traffic flow between Palmer Street and Crown Street at night.
• Traffic flow may also be more restricted than usual in nearby streets, especially in Stanley Street, and this will be managed by 5-6 different Traffic Controllers.
• Pedestrians may need to take extra care when using footpaths adjacent to the works and follow the instructions of the Traffic Controllers to ensure their safety crossing the road and around any work vehicles.
• Other temporary traffic restrictions will also be unavoidable, particularly between 7.30am-5.30pm on weekdays and on Saturdays. At times, this may involve allowing vehicles to turn right at the bottom of Forbes Street into Premier Lane to alleviate traffic congestion in the area.

How can you help?

Please just be patient and take extra care if you are driving near the school and follow the directions of all Traffic Controllers to ensure the safety of any girls, staff and other pedestrians.

The City of Sydney is going to continue to keep us informed of the progress of this work, and we will pass on any relevant details as soon as these come to hand. If you have any questions about this project, please don’t hesitate to contact us.