From Ms Allum

Dear Parents and Carers                       

Welcome back to Term 2! I hope that you all have had an opportunity to rejuvenate and enjoy the Sydney sunshine that has eluded us for so long! Our ANZAC Day service was a fitting start to the term, giving us not only the opportunity to gather as a school community, but to also remind us that we stand on the shoulders of those who have and continue to serve our country.

There is so much to look forward to this term, including our first “live” drama production in almost two years, “Lend us Your Ears”, long-awaited retreats and camps for students in various cohorts, music performances, our Light Her Path Gala Dinner, Inter-house Athletics Carnivals and of course, the enriching learning occurring every day in our classrooms.

On another note, we are going to have a crackdown on uniform. Quite a few non-regulation items have crept in, and the uniform is not being worn as it should. Full winter uniform will be required from Monday 2 May. Please make sure that your daughter abides by all of the following:

• No jewellery is to be worn. This includes rings, necklaces as well as other coloured string bands, and the like.
• Secondary school students are permitted to wear one pair of small, simple, gold or silver, single stud earrings. They can only be worn in the lowest part of each ear lobe and in no other part of the ear. The studs must be simple, not ostentatious, and not too expensive. And there are to be no other visible body piercings. Primary school students are not permitted to wear earrings.
• If the girl is wearing a tunic:
  • it should be of the correct length – just about the knee
  • both the House and School badge should be positioned correctly
  • the tie must be tied neatly and worn correctly (Yr 3-12 only)
• Hair should be tied back with a ribbon if it is longer than shoulder length.
• Nail polish is not permitted.
• There are school jumpers, cardigans and blazers for warmth through winter. Girls should not be wearing any parts of the PE uniform (such as the fleece or the soft shell jacket) with their school uniform.
• Girls are not permitted to wear PE uniform all day – it should only be worn for sport, PE and any other activities as approved by staff.
• School shoes should be polished and every part of the uniform clean and in good condition.
• Every girl should use the school bag and bring it with them each day too.

Please do check all of this before we start with full winter uniform on Monday of next week.

Have a good term!

Finally, have a good term! I look forward to seeing you at one of the many of the opportunities to connect in person during the term.

Best wishes
Jenny Allum

Changed Rules re Mobile Phones at school

We have decided to change the rules around students and mobile phones. Mobile phones will not be allowed to be on their person during the school day. They must be stored in lockers or bags and not accessed at all.

We have been concerned over recent times about a much greater increase in the use of mobile phones at school, a seeming increase in students’ dependency on them, and just the plain distractibility of students too.  Deep learning can’t occur if you are checking your phone every few minutes.

The current research indicates that, when young people have their phone near them, they can experience lower concentration and higher distractibility, and increased stress and anxiety. There is also evidence to suggest that social interactions and the development of interpersonal skills are reduced when students can spend more times on their phones, connecting digitally rather than in person. There are many articles – in the popular press and in more learned journals – about many of the negative implications of students and young people having so much screen time and having constant access to smartphones throughout the day (and the night!).

Phones are a distraction. We want girls to be focused during lessons. We don’t want them to be distracting others via texts, talking to their friends, arranging to meet each other in the bathrooms etc. They can retrieve messages from you regarding routine family and travel arrangements at the end of the school day. You are very welcome to ring the General Office at School and we will pass on messages, small or large, if they are urgent. And of course we would get a student to the phone to talk to you if there is something distressing you need to tell them, or vice versa.

I do genuinely believe that it is not helpful for a student to contact you during the school day if they are upset about something which has happened here at school. I feel that it is better to wait until they get home, and you can have a quiet, considered conversation with them. Firstly, a difficulty has often blown over in an hour or two! But if that is not the case, you would want to spend some time calmly probing what had happened. What did they do, and what did others do? Why might their friends or teacher have acted in that way? What might it have looked like from another’s point of view? What ways might the girl be able to solve that issue? Might it all look better in a day or two, not as bleak as it looks right now? These types of questions help a student to develop the maturity and resilience to cope with the complexities of life. If you “fly off the handle” and ring school to intervene without understanding the full story and helping your daughter to resolve the issue, you take away the opportunity to help her to learn from you about life and to develop the skills she will need as an adult.

We also don’t want students to be using their phones during recess and lunch either. We want them to be present in the moment, engaging in face to face conversations and participating in productive activities with other students. Girls do not need to spend lunchtime using social media on their phone, checking feeds, making TikTok videos and the like.

The rule will start from Monday of Week 3 (9 May). We are just fine-tuning logistical arrangements for full implementation. But I have spoken to the girls yesterday at Assembly and encouraged them to start right away, to get in the habit of having their phones in their lockers from 8.15am to 3.10pm without fail! I know it will feel quite different for some of them. And I encourage parents and carers to have conversations with your daughters too, to discuss how this will work in your individual family.

Jenny Allum
Head of School

NAPLAN Testing

As many of you would be aware, NAPLAN testing will once again be conducted online this year. As the tests are conducted online there is a two-week window in which we are asked to conduct the tests. The arrangements we have put in place this year are as follows:

Years 3 and 5

• Tuesday 10 May – Writing Test – Year 3 will complete this with pen and paper and Year 5 will sit this test online.
• Wednesday 11 May – the Reading Test will take place on this day. The girls will also complete the Language conventions Test (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar).
• Thursday 12 May – the Numeracy Test will take place on this day.

Years 7 and 9

• Wednesday 11 May – The Writing Test will be completed first, followed by the Reading Test.
• Thursday 12 May – The girls will complete the Language Conventions Test (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar). The Numeracy Test will also take place on this day.

If a student is absent on the day of a test, arrangements will be made for them to catch up on the test, provided they return to school within the testing window.

If you have any questions or you would like further information about anything relating to NAPLAN please contact either Cristi Wilsmore, Deputy Head of Primary (Teaching and Learning) or myself.

Andrew Gallagher
Director of Curriculum

Student Wellbeing

Parents and guardians are invited to attend a Body Confident webinar for children and teenagers. Hosted by the Butterfly Foundation, this webinar will offer practical tips to better understand and help promote positive body image in the home. The session will be held on  Tuesday 10 May at 7.00pm and will run for approximately 90 minutes.

Click here to book and find out more.

Laura Connolly
Director of Student Wellbeing

Go Greener

In this issue of Go Greener Year 10’s Bianca Rozsa from the Maailma Environment Committee writes about koalas now being listed as an endangered species.

Koalas listed as Endangered : a wake-up call for Australia

It was only 10 years ago, in 2012, that koala populations were listed as vulnerable under federal laws, but due to policy failures and mismanagement, koalas have seen a shockingly fast decline. On 12 February 2022, under Australia’s national environmental law, east coast koala populations in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have now been classified as Endangered – a devastating but crucial decision. This movement from Vulnerable to Endangered will hopefully provide koalas and their habitats with greater protection under national law and help reverse the decline of koala populations.

Although koalas will now see some additional protection measures, it still leaves most of the logging, land clearing, mining, and development projects unaffected. Already threatened by heat stress through drought and heatwaves caused by human-induced climate change, habitat devastation (land clearing, logging in native forests, and property developments) has drastically reduced the population of the iconic marsupial. Habitat loss has resulted in starvation (as they rely on trees to provide them with food and shelter), injury or death from not having an adequate shelter, and other dangers such as cars, dog attacks and swimming pools. It also creates more competition for food and territory because of overcrowding and impacts the koalas’ stress levels, making them more susceptible to disease.

The 2019 bushfires exemplify the impacts on habitat loss, as they affected 24% of koala habitat on public land, with around 81% of habitat being burnt. The fires resulted in koala deaths, injuries, heat stress, dehydration, reduced food supply, loss of habitat, and increased predation, to name a few! The fires led to the rescue and treatment of many koalas that had been burnt, left dehydrated and hungry. However, many koalas in the bushfire regions died, unable to escape. Already classified as vulnerable, more than 60,000 koalas were impacted – more than 41,000 koalas in South Australia’s Kangaroo Island, more than 11,000 in Victoria, nearly 8,000 in New South Wales, and almost 900 in Queensland.

Koalas moving from Vulnerable to Endangered has resulted in the Australian Government adopting a recovery plan – the Government and WWF have committed large sums of money to address the issue. Still, people remain doubtful about whether koalas’ habitats and lives will be prioritised and protected in the future. It is up to the New South Wales government to stop the destruction of koala habitat and native forest logging, expand the National Parks estate to protect koala habitat, and change the land clearing and spotter catcher laws for animal protection and conservation. Otherwise, koalas are predicted to be extinct by 2050.

Bianca Rozsa Year 10
Maailma Environment Committee

Creative Writing

We hope that it has been a restorative break for all our SCEGGS families and that the time out of the classroom may have offered students time for other creative pursuits and hobbies.  In an upcoming article for the English Teachers’ publication mETAphor, one of our Senior English teachers, Dr Nina Cook, has written about our new Year 10 unit on place and how in a post-pandemic world she sees connection to place as a remedy for the disconnect that many feel. She writes about how “I thought about Romantic, ‘sublime’ responses to the world: being emotionally overwhelmed by the awe and wonder of the natural landscape and the imaginative and transformative reliving of this through verse. In The Luminous Solution by Charlotte Wood, she calls this ‘the rapture.’”

The Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Competition is one which has its foundations in this kind of rapture in the Australian landscape. Hopefully many of us have been able to experience this over the holidays as we have been able to travel around our beautiful country again! In their English classrooms this term, students will have the opportunity to craft a range of creative and analytical responses and may consider submitting their work for one of the competitions below. From Week 2, we also look forward to seeing any keen writers join our Creative Writers’ group on Tuesday lunchtimes in C6.

Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Competition

This is one of the most prestigious Australian Poetry Competitions for school aged students. The theme for the competition this year is “In my Opinion.” Many fabulous resources and past winners of the competition can be found here. The school has registered for this competition, so please contact your class teacher if you would like to submit your poetry. Open now until 30 June 2022.

What Matters Writing Competition

A national writing competition which encourages students to write reflectively and persuasively about topics which they are passionate about. Again, a wide range of resources are available on the website. Open now until 6 May 2022.

Inner West Young Creatives Awards

Limited to students from the Inner West, these awards offer a range of creative opportunities for students. Open now until 31 July 2022.

Jennifer Bean
Head of English

Study Without Stress

In Term 2 we will be offering a Study Without Stress group program for Year 11 students to assist with studying and performing in exams more effectively and with less stress.

Study Without Stress is a psycho-educational program developed by Macquarie University’s Centre for Emotional Health. It has been designed to equip students with knowledge and practical tips on how to approach and overcome the stress associated with workload and exams in their final high school year. The program uses Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) techniques to help participants get the most out of their final year at school while keeping stress to a manageable level.

Topics covered will include:
– Understanding stress (including causes, symptoms and the role of the stress response)
– Goal setting
– Managing expectations and beliefs about exams
– Creating effective timetables
– Learning how thoughts can affect performance
– Challenging negative or unhelpful thinking patterns
– Understanding perfectionism
– Understanding procrastination
– Tips to deal with work avoidance
– Building good study habits
– Procedures for problem solving
– Exam preparation

The program will be run across six sessions starting in Week 3 of Term 2, with a group limited to 12 students. Each participant will be provided with a workbook and handouts, and will be required to spend a little time each week between sessions practising their skills or completing short tasks to facilitate their learning.

The group will be run by Janet McEwen (school counsellor) and Janine Barr (Academic Support)

Further information on the program is available from the Macquarie University website.

If your daughter would like to participate in the Study Without Stress program in Term 2, she should email JanineBarr@sceggs.nsw.edu.au  by Tuesday 3 May 2022.

Janine Barr
Academic Support Teacher

Drama News

Lend Us Your Ears                          

The SCEGGS Junior production – Lend Us Your Ears – opens next week. The show will play four performances in St Peter’s Playhouse.

We look forward to seeing you at the theatre.

The production will play:

• Wednesday May 4^th @ 7pm
• Thursday May 5^th @ 7pm
• Friday May 6^th @ 7pm
• Saturday May 7^th @ 1pm

Bookings are now open.

St Peter’s Players

Classes begin in week 2 of Term 2.

THE DEB @ ATYP

A reminder to students in Year 10 to return permission notes for this excursion on Sunday May 15^th.

To enter a theatre for a performance is to be inducted into a magical space. To be ushered into the sacred arena of the imagination.

Simon Callow – Actor

Peter Eyers
Head of Drama

Music Matters

ANZAC Day School Assembly Service                        

Congratulations to members of Holst Wind Band who performed in the K-12 ANZAC Day Assembly Service. Well done to Charlotte FitzSimons (Year 12) who performed “The Last Post” and “Rouse”.  Special thank you to Mr Michael Tierney (Director of Bands) who helped to prepare and conduct the students’ performance in this year’s ceremony.    

Young Mannheim Symphonists – Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra

Congratulations to Samantha Millin who took part in the 2022 NSW Intensive “Young Mannheim Symphonists” program.  The program took place during the second week of the holidays from Tuesday 19 to Saturday 23 April at The Hills Grammar School.  This program was directed by the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra and was formed specifically to provide students with an opportunity to specialise in historically informed performances.  Samantha successfully auditioned for this program and had an opportunity to play the natural Horn, which would have been the style of instrument utitlised at the time of the Classical period.  Well done Samantha!

Musicale 2 – Thursday 12 May 5.30pm The Great Hall

We are pleased to be presenting our second ensemble performance on Thursday 12 May at 5.30pm.  The following ensembles will be performing:

• String Power
• Stringalong
• Amati Strings
• Lux Strings
• Holst Wind Band
• Basie Jazz Band
• Choir
• Glennie Percussion

Performers will need to arrive at the Diana Bowman site promptly at 5pm to warm up in readiness for the performance.

A reminder for families of Primary school students who will require Afterschool Care to make their bookings.  Students who are performing will be collected by members of the Music staff from ASC around 4:45pm.

Upcoming Events

Pauline Chow
Head of Music

Year 12 PDHPE

At the end of Term 1, the Year 12 PDHPE class was lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to take part in the organisation and running of the Primary School Cross Country Carnival. As part of their Sports Medicine studies, students have been studying the specific needs and demands of child athletes and the physical preparation needs associated with the involvement in sporting activities. The Carnival provided opportunities for the class to assist the students in the Primary School as well as being involved with the preparation and safety measures that need to be put in place to ensure a smooth and safe running carnival. They did an amazing job on the day with students putting to good use their Senior First Aid qualification and knowledge of young athlete specific needs to accompany and support the primary students in all manner of ways. This included running the course numerous times over, providing first aid, providing encouragement and words of support and sometimes just as company around the course. They were exposed to many other organisational aspects and their assistance was greatly appreciated throughout the day. Following up from this experience they joined 3R and 4B on their last PE lesson reviewing and teaching the Nutbush dance and playing fun games to finish off the term.

Lisa Thompson
Year 12 PDHPE Teacher

Secondary Sport News

SCEGGS Secondary Inter-house Cross Country Carnival                                           

The Secondary Cross Country Carnival will take place on Monday May 2 at Queens Park. Please arrive promptly at 6:45am for a 7am start. We will assemble on the Queens Park Rd side, near the exercise equipment.

Buses will depart from Baronga Ave (outside Moriah College) immediately at the completion of the event to take all students back to school.

Results from this event, along with SCEGGS Cross Country training times, will be used to determine selection for the IGSA Cross Country Championships to be held at Frensham School on Friday May 13.

Please check SCEGGS Sport Twitter in the event of heavy rain on the morning. 

Sailing

Over the holidays Olivia Chadwick (Year 12), Xanthe Kibble (Year 12) and Grace Morrow (Year 11) travelled to Melbourne for the Youth Sail Victoria Championships. They competed in the International 420 Class – a double handed, highly technical dinghy. After four days of competing in varied and sometimes quite extreme conditions, they were selected to participate in the four-day Australian National Youth Camp with 40 sailors across six classes from all over Australia. The crew are now ranked in the top 12 in their class (420). Their next competition will be held in Adelaide and we look forward to hearing of their progress.

Swimming

Congratulations to Georgia Cate Baker Wood who competed at the 2022 Australian Age Swimming Championships in Adelaide over the holidays. Georgia placed 24^th overall in the 200m Breaststroke.

Water Polo

SCEGGS was very well represented at the National Youth Water Polo Championships that were held in Brisbane over the holidays.  

• Sienna Green represented Sydney University in the U18 Gold Division winning a Bronze Medal.
• Cassandra Davies and Ashley Goldschmidt represented the Sydney University in the U16 Green Division and won a Bronze Medal.
• Mia Costa represented Sydney University in the U16 in the Gold Division and won the Silver Medal.
• Claudia Quinn represented UTS Balmain in the U16 Gold Division and won the Bronze Medal.
• Elizabeth Shin represented Sydney University in the U14 Gold Division which placed 5^th.
• Charlotte Woollard and Sophie Graham represented Sydney University in the U14 Green Division.

At the completion of the tournament Claudia Quinn was named in the Australian Cadet Squad!

A big congratulations to all students on their wonderful results, and the way in which they all supported each other throughout the tournament.

Australian Surf Life Saving Championships

Following up from the Surf Life Saving report in an earlier edition of Behind the Green Gate, congratulations are also extended to Jemima and Adelaide Sewell who competed in The Aussies held on the Gold Coast in early April. Jemima in Year 9 and Adelaide in Year 7 both represented Coogee Surf Club, competing against clubs from all around Australia. In the individual beach sprint, Jemima placed in the top 16 and Adelaide in the top 20 competitors in Australia. In the beach flags, Jemima also placed 16^th. The sisters were in the mixed Under 13/14 relay team who won a silver medal – well done girls!

IGSA Fixtures, Results and Wet Weather

There is a new IGSA website and platform for accessing wet weather and team results. You do not need to register or sign up to be a member to access this site.

SCEGGS Training sessions before and after school plus Saturday Sport

Please check the @SCEGGSSport Twitter feed for the latest updates relating to cancellations.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact myself on 9052 2721 or 0418 491 521. Alternatively, if you have any news or photos that we can highlight in the newsletters please email alisongowan@sceggs.nsw.edu.au

Alison Gowan
Director of Sport

Primary Sport News

Co-curricular Sport                               

Term 2 co-curricular sport is up and running this week. Years 4-6 IPSHA Netball and Minkey starts this Saturday 30 April. An email has been sent to all parents with daughters enrolled in sport this term with information on how to access start and finish dates, team lists and draws as well as pick-up and drop-off information. To view and download Team Sheets for Saturday Sports Competitions, go to the Sport Course on Cognito.  Information is listed under each sport heading in the modules tab.

Year 3 girls playing Netball this term will have a training session on the Top Court at SCEGGS on Saturday from 8.00 am – 10:00am. Games will begin next week in the Year 3 competition. Please ensure your daughter has applied sunscreen before arriving at school and has a full water bottle and a snack. As this is a training session parents are asked to drop their daughters off at the Sports Hall and pick them up at the end of the session. No spectators will be allowed.

Should you have any other questions, please contact:

Year 3 Netball: Edwina Sweeney (EdwinaSweeney@sceggs.nsw.edu.au)

IPSHA Netball: Sarah Carter (SarahCarter@sceggs.nsw.edu.au)

IPSHA Hockey and all other questions: Tom Mitton (TomMitton@sceggs.nsw.edu.au)

Equestrian

Well done to Georgina Sharp who has been busy attending many horse shows. Georgina was awarded Champion Leading Rein show hunter pony at the Canberra Royal, Champion Leading Rein show hunter pony at Southern Cross Show Horse Spectacular and Grand Champion Mini.  She then competed at the Sydney Royal Easter Show to claim 5th in the Under 9 riding class. Georgina has been working hard to improve her riding and all her hard work and dedication is starting to show.

Tom Mitton
PDHPE and Sport Co-ordinator: Primary

Festival on Forbes – Fair Meeting 2 May

The first Festival on Forbes meeting for Class Parents, the Fair Committee and any interested parents will be held on Monday 2 May, at 6.45pm in the Lecture Theatre. 

This is a very important meeting for Class Parents to attend this meeting as we will be advising Year Groups of their allocated stalls along with the organisational information to help Class Parents plan and co-ordinate their stalls. With this in mind, to ensure each stall holder group has at least one representative at the meeting, we ask all Class Parents to please RSVP by clicking on this link to ensure all stalls are represented. Please let us know either way, if you are or are not, able to attend by Friday 29 April. This will be a great opportunity to have all your fair-related questions answered, so please come along with all your questions, no matter how big or small!

Please note the change in date for this meeting which was previously scheduled for 10 May 2022. The P&F committee meeting (for committee members only) will still go ahead as planned on this date. 

It’s not too late to get involved in the Fair which will be held on Sunday 21 August 2022.

Come along to the first meeting or reach out by email or 9332 1133. 

We would love to hear from you!

Bree Parker
Fair Convenor 

Mothers’ Day in the Primary School

The Primary School is delighted to host a Mothers’ Day event for the significant women in the lives of our students. Please click here for details and to RSVP.

We hope to see you there!

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

Class Parent Events                                                                               

Careers News

We are pleased to publish our first issue of Careers Corner  for Term 2!  This edition contains dates for many online information sessions for various university courses, as well as an interesting article about the workforce of the future and career insights from those in the medical field and much more!