From Ms Allum

Welcome to the 2021 School Year

I hope all of you are glad to be here! So – to parents, and for the girls too – my best wishes for a good year.

A particular welcome to our new students and their families. I hope that you soon feel part of the School community.

There is a lot of information in this edition of the Behind the Green Gate. Please take the time to read all of the major sections, and skim through the rest, reading in detail the things which are relevant to you. Most importantly, SCEGGS is a community of people who look after each other. If you do have any questions at any time, please do not hesitate to ask any of us – we really do want you to feel part of our community and know that we care that you get as much as you can out of a SCEGGS education.

Who’s Who at SCEGGS
We know that we will do a better job in educating your daughter if we have a really open and trusting relationship. So we do encourage you to ring us and talk any time – as we will too! We want to hear what is going on for your daughter – and for you and your family. So if you are unsure of whom to contact – whether it is to share some good news, ask a question, or just talk about the education of your daughter – the following may help.

The Class Teacher or Form Teacher is often the best first port of call. These teachers will know your daughter best and will always be willing to listen and chat and can point you in the right direction if there is a better person to be speaking to, or just to help you navigate your way around the school. We encourage you to come to the relevant Parent Information Evening in the first couple of weeks of term to meet him or her.

Your daughter’s subject teachers, Years K-12, have the best information about how your daughter is going, and have day to day contact with her too. They will also have detailed knowledge about our programs of learning within their discipline. In the Secondary School, the relevant Head of Department can also answer questions about courses of study, subject choices and issues concerning their teachers.

In the Secondary School, Year Co-ordinators for each of the different Years may be able to address concerns – about academic, social or other issues.

In the Primary School, any one of the Primary Executive can help with more serious matters.

A list of the relevant senior and pastoral staff for 2021 can be found in the Who’s Who at SCEGGS in the 2021 guide which can be accessed via the SCEGGS Portal.

This includes:

• Form Teachers and Year Co-ordinators in the Secondary School
• Heads of Department
• Primary Class teachers and the Executive for the Primary School

Finally, if you have a serious matter to talk about, or something you feel is not being addressed adequately, (or if you just like one of us and have heard us say something that you want to follow-up on!) please feel free to contact anyone from the senior staff:

• Deputy Head of School – Ms Holly Gyton
• Head of the Primary School – Mrs Helen Dempsey
• Director of Curriculum – Mr Andrew Gallagher
• Director of Pastoral Care – Ms Bethany Lord
• Director of Administration – Ms Sarah Walters
• Director of ICT – Mr Ken Emeleus
• Business Manager – Mr Adrian Craig

I am also happy to talk to any parent – on the telephone or in person. Please ring if you would like to discuss a matter or come in for an appointment.

Welcome to (or welcome back to) SCEGGS!

Jenny Allum
Head of School

2020 HSC Results

Please click here to view our 2020 HSC results.

Peer Relations Survey

You will all probably be aware that we have conducted a Peer Relations Survey of our students from Year 4 to Year 12 every second year for the past 20 years. We have wanted to evaluate the implementation of our anti-bullying policy by asking a series of questions about bullying in the school, and are also wanting to evaluate which of our policies and activities have been most successful in making the school a safe place for our students. More recently, we have also wanted to ask questions around mental health and wellbeing, school life, whether students enjoy being here and what concerns them about being a member of our school community, and so on.

You might also be aware that we continue to strengthen our Pastoral Care programs to ensure that our students feel cared for and have a strong sense of belonging to the school community overall and are given the skills to live a productive and flourishing life, knowing what is important and how to look after themselves and their friends. Most importantly, we want to understand what worries our students have and how we can best support them to respond to the tricky parts of their lives. And this time around, we also wanted to understand a little more about how COVID has impacted our students throughout 2020.

And so, in August/September of last year, we again administered our Student Wellbeing survey. As usual, we used our Market Research firm, Ipsos, to administer the survey and analyse the results. In total, 736 questionnaires were completed anonymously by students from Years 4 to 12. Where possible, we have also compared our results against two national surveys, the Mission Australia Youth Survey and the Middle Years Development Index.

To see an analysis of the results, please click here.

Best wishes

Jenny Allum
Head of School

From the Chaplain

Welcome back to the new school year to everyone in the SCEGGS community. I look forward to catching up with you or meeting you soon. I hope and pray that this year will be one of fulfilment and support in all that you do.

In Week 3 we celebrate Harvest Festival, where each girl is asked to bring to school at least one non-perishable food item which will eventually be distributed to those in our city whose lives have been affected by misfortune. At the beginning of 2020, two million Australians relied on food relief and half of those are children. I am sure that the numbers have grown due to the pandemic that we have all experienced.

Many of these children often go to school without breakfast, or to bed without dinner. Unfortunately, this number has only increased in the last few years. This festival recognises all of the good things that we have been given and the opportunity to give to those in need. We continue to pray for those affected and dealing with great loss and trauma. We will continue to consider ways that we as a community may be able to help in the process of restoration.

The Chapel is decorated beautifully with these items and other produce. At the end of the week the food will be given to our local Anglicare office and distributed throughout the south eastern area of Sydney.

Garry Lee-Lindsay
School Chaplain

Managing Online Life

There is no doubt that managing phone and internet use is difficult- our own included! We are regularly contacted by parents who are concerned about their daughter’s technology use, social media and the impact that a young person’s online life is having on their relationships. And while we have guest speakers for parents, as well as providing education for students in the Primary and Secondary School, I thought it would be helpful to provide parents with some resources to explore at the beginning of the year so that you feel better equipped and able to support your child as you navigate “online life”.

Keeping your child safe online

One of the most common questions we are asked is how a parent can keep their child safe online. Safer Internet Day takes place on February 9 this year and the eSafety Commissioner is running a webinar throughout February to support parents. The webinar will cover:

• starting conversations with your child about their online friendships and positive ways to deal with changing relationships
• understanding the rights, laws and community expectations that govern social media use
• where to seek help if your child is involved in a cyberbullying incident.

Find out more and register here.

You might also find it helpful to understand ways you can put in place parental controls and other ways to manage the content your child might access and there are some good guidelines and information.  This is something we are often asked about and this page provides a wealth of information.

Social media

Parents also contact us to talk about particular apps and what they see happening on them. From Tik-Tok to Instagram, AskFM to Omegle, young people will access a range of apps and it is important to know what these are and how they work. Equally so, it is important to talk to your child about the age rating and requirements, the private information that they may (often unwittingly) share, whether they know how to use the privacy settings to block people or if the app allows users to report unwanted or abusive behaviour. Reach Out, for example, has created a guide to Instagram for parents which has some simple but very helpful information about this app. The guide provides information about privacy settings, ways to assist your child to manage their time on social media apps, and how to have the conversations with your child about social media. You can access the guide here. The eSafety Commissioner as well as Connect Safely also have a lot of information about popular apps young people use.

Group chats can also present difficulties, even when a young person thinks that they know and trust everybody in the chat. Girls can be left out on purpose, or people that they do not know added without everyone’s permission, and they are often used as a forum to discuss issues that should be handled face-to-face and not in front of a large audience! Therefore, help your daughter to understand the importance of behaving online in the same way that they would in person, especially when you first give them a device. This could include discussing what they think is appropriate behaviour in a friendship, identifying what might upset them or feel unkind so that they are aware of what behaviours might be inappropriate, and giving them strategies for what to do if they find themselves in a situation that feels hurtful, when they know that someone is being excluded, or where they find themselves in conflict with someone else.

Being an upstander

Lastly, children and young people will see and do things online that we cannot prevent, no matter how many rules or parental controls we put in place. Sometimes this will be an active choice, and at other times completely out of their control. However, in the same way that you would have conversations with your child about friendships, personal safety, consent or risk-taking, for example, so too should regular and age-appropriate conversations be happening about these issues in the online world.

Sometimes it is hard not to speak with judgement or disappointment when you tackle these topics but avoid this if you can. We want all children and young people to feel like they can talk to a parent or trusted adult if things go wrong or when they feel like they might need some advice about how to handle something that they have seen or been involved in. This will build their confidence and help them to be upstanders in situations where they, or another person, are experiencing discomfort, abuse or bullying online.

The School Diary also has information about how to report online bullying or abuse, and this information is readily available from the eSafety Commissioner too. Your daughter should be able to report directly to the app and have material taken down, but if this does not occur the eSafety Commissioner will work directly with the app or online platform.

Some top tips:

• Establish clear rules and boundaries about screen time and technology use that everyone in the family agrees to and upholds. Including them in this process can be very helpful! Agree on what the consequences will be for breaking rules and follow through.
• Keep phones out of bedrooms. Have a central place in the home where all phones are placed at an agreed upon time for the rest of the evening.
• Know what apps your daughter has on her phone and talk to her about these in an open, interested manner.
• Help your daughter to be an upstander. Talk regularly about what behaviour is acceptable and help your daughter to recognise when something doesn’t feel right, including constructive ways that she can respond.
• Lastly, as a family create regular time for activities that are not screen-based.

Bethany Lord
Director of Pastoral Care

Parents & Friends Association

A very warm welcome to 2021 from the SCEGGS P & F Association.  We would particularly like to welcome all new families to our SCEGGS community and extend our warmest wishes to you and your daughters as you begin your SCEGGS journey.

Thank you to everyone, especially our hardworking 2020 class parents, for your contributions to community school life, in what was a very unusual year for us all.

While 2020 was a year like no other, and many of the our “friend-raising” events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the P & F is extremely hopeful that the scheduled events for 2021 will proceed, of course subject to School directives and NSW Health guidelines. 

Given the current position regarding social gatherings, please note changes to Term I P& F Events:

The P & F would like to encourage everyone to participate in our School community as much as possible.  We recognise that things are very uncertain at this time and are hoping that in time we will be able to reconvene in the settings that are more familiar and conducive to friend-raising.

Please do not hesitate to contact me on 0403 061 605 with any questions or comments or to discuss any matters. 

We wish everyone a wonderful 2021.

Penny Newton
P & F President

SCEGGS Scholarships

A reminder for parents that all applications for scholarships for 2022 close on Monday 8 February 2021.

Registrations for Year 7 Academic Scholarships are being taken online through the ACER website. Applications for all other scholarships are downloadable here.

Any questions should be directed to the Enrolments Office on 9332 1133.

Sonja Richards
Registrar

Secondary Inter-House Swimming Carnival

The Secondary School Inter-House Swimming Carnival will be on Friday 5 February, 9.30am – 2.30pm Drummoyne Swim Centre.

Travel Arrangements

All girls must come to school (by 8.15am) in correct sports uniform and travel on the buses to the carnival. All students will be required to wear a mask whilst on a bus. Girls are to go to their Form room and wait for instructions to move to the buses. Form Teachers will travel on the bus with their class.

The Carnival will finish at 2.30pm. All girls will travel back to school on the buses unless a written permission note has been given to the Form Teacher. Students may be dismissed at the conclusion of the carnival, after consulting their Form Teacher.

Uniform

Girls must wear correct sports uniform to and from the school. They may change into other decorative House attire once at school. No girl is to travel to or from school in any clothing other than their correct sports uniform.

A school hat, sunscreen, a school jumper or tracksuit must also be brought to the Carnival.

Girls should swim in the SCEGGS swimming costume or approved race suit, and Swimming cap.

Lunch and refreshments

There will be no canteen facilities available. All girls must bring enough food and drink for the day.

Parents and spectators

Unfortunately the carnival will be spectator-free due to current COVID-19 restrictions.

General

• There are to be no mobile phones, laptops or chewing gum.
• Girls are to move to their allocated House area when they arrive at the pool.
• Attendance at the Carnival is compulsory. Girls unable to attend on the day are required to submit an explanatory note to their Form Teacher.
• The most important contribution on the day is each girl’s support of her House.
• Girls must adhere to the pool rules – no running, pushing, bombing, unsafe or disruptive behaviour. The wading pool is out of bounds.

Wet Weather

Be fully prepared for wet weather – bring umbrella and/or raincoat.

In the case of extremely inclement weather a decision will be made at school on the morning of the Carnival. All girls must be prepared for Day 10 lessons in the event the Carnival does not proceed.

Please Note :
On the morning and afternoon of the Swimming Carnival, there will be NO Secondary co-curricular activities (with the exception of gymnastics).

 Alison Gowan
Director of Sport

Primary Sport News

All Primary Co-curricular Sport will start in Week 2, with the exception of IPSHA Football, Year 3 Basketball and IPSHA Flippa Ball/Water Polo that will all begin on Saturday 30 January.

An email has been sent to all parents with daughters enrolled in Sport this term with start and finish dates, as well as pick-up and drop-off information. These can also be found on Cognito in the Sport course (Parent Access).

Please  contact Sarah Carter or Xanthe Axford if you have any questions.

Year 3 -6 Primary PE Lessons

From the start of the year up until our Primary Swimming Carnival (Wednesday 17 February), all Primary PE lessons for Years 3-6 will be swimming.

When your daughter has her scheduled PE lesson from Friday 29 January onwards, please ensure she brings her swimming costume, a cap, goggles and a towel in her PE bag. She will not need to bring her PE uniform.

Normal PE lessons in full PE uniform will commence from Thursday 18 February.

IPSHA Football Years 4-6

IPSHA Football (Years 4-6) will start the year with three trial sessions, with the first session on Saturday 30^th January, at Moore Park Turf fields.

We will decide final teams at the start of Week 3, Term 1, and training will commence on Tuesday 9 February at Moore Park Synthetic Turf Field (3.15pm – 4.50pm). Saturday games will start on Saturday 13 February.

For all Tuesday sessions, girls will catch the bus from SCEGGS and can be picked up at 4:50pm at Moore Park or approximately 5:20pm outside the Sports Hall on Forbes Street.

Year 3 Basketball 

Year 3 Basketball will start with three sessions of training and learning the rules of the game, starting on Saturday 30 January at the SCEGGS Sports Hall.

Teams and the draw will be released in Week 3 of Term 1, and training will commence on Tuesday 9 February at the SCEGGS Sports Hall (3.15pm – 5.00pm). Saturday games will commence on Saturday 13 February, with all games played at SCEGGS.

For all Tuesday sessions, girls will be ready for pick up outside the Sports Hall on Forbes Street at 5.00pm.

If you have not yet enrolled your daughter in the Year 3 Basketball program, we do still have space! This competition is a great opportunity for new and old SCEGGS girls to meet new people and is an excellent introduction to Saturday team sports. If you would like to enrol your daughter, please contact Sarah Carter.

IPSHA Flippa Ball/Water Polo Years 5-6

IPSHA Water Polo (Years 5-6) will start the year with 3 swimming and skills sessions, with the first session on Saturday 30 January, at Andrew Boy Charlton Pool, The Domain.

Normal training in teams will begin on Wednesday 10 February at Cook & Phillip Pool (6.30am – 7.30am). Saturday games will commence on Saturday 13 February.

For all Wednesday morning sessions, girls need to make their own way to Cook & Phillip Pool. For easy drop off, a coach can meet girls at the cul-de-sac at the end of Cathedral Street from 6.15-6.25am and supervise them into the pool. After the session, girls will get changed and a hired bus will take them to school.

Primary Sport Achievements

Does your daughter compete in any high-level sporting competitions outside of school (for example, at a state or national level)? If so, would love to celebrate their achievements by recognising it in this newsletter!

Please email any information (and photos if possible) to Sarah Carter. High level sporting achievements will be included in newsletters throughout the year.

Sarah Carter
Assistant Primary Sports Coordinator

Student Health Information

Year 7 Immunisation Program                                                                                              

NSW Health offers all school students free vaccinations recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). These vaccines are important and protect students through to adulthood. NSW Health has implemented COVID-19 health measures around the school vaccination program.

At SCEGGS all Year 7 Students will be offered the following vaccines on the following dates:

–              Visit 1: Friday 19 February

–              Visit 2: Thursday 4 November

• Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine as a booster dose for all students
• Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine 2 dose course

Further information will be provided in 2021 Parent Vaccination Information Kits and is also available now in many languages at: www.health.nsw.gov.au/schooltranslations  

A Record of Vaccination Card will be given to the student at the time of each vaccination at each school clinic. Please keep these cards for your records and provide a copy to your local doctor.

If a student is absent for any of the clinics, they will have the opportunity to catch up at the next school visit.

Consent Forms

When available, all Year 7 students will receive consent forms for parents to complete and return to Student Services. Only return the consent form if you wish your daughter to receive the vaccines.

Please note that the consent forms for Year 7 students will need a parent/guardian signature for each vaccine requested. The nurses will not be able to vaccinate any student if their form is not signed.

Food Allergy Awareness

At SCEGGS we are concerned about the safety and wellbeing of all our students. Many of you will know someone who is affected by anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction. A food allergy is an immune system response to a normally harmless food protein that the body believes is harmful. When the individual eats food containing that protein, the immune system releases massive amounts of chemicals, triggering symptoms that can affect a person’s breathing, digestion, skin and/or heart. Nine foods cause 90% of food allergies. Peanuts are the leading cause of severe allergic reactions, followed by tree nuts, shellfish, fish, milk, eggs, wheat, sesame and soy.

There are girls at SCEGGS from Kindergarten to Year 12 with mild to severe food allergies. The only way to manage a food allergy is avoidance. While the children with allergies are being taught to care for themselves at an age appropriate level, we also seek your support. To minimise the risk of exposure for these students, we request that no nuts, peanut butter or other nut products are brought to the school site or other school activities.

We also ask that you help us educate your daughter on the importance of not sharing food with others, washing hands after eating and calling out to an adult if she thinks her friend with allergies is sick. We can never totally eliminate the risk of an anaphylaxis episode, but we are all responsible for helping to lessen that risk.

Thank you for your help in protecting those around us. To learn more about anaphylaxis and food allergies, go to www.allergyfacts.org.au and www.allergy.org.au.

Student Health, Medical and Emergency Information

All parents are reminded to provide the School with accurate and relevant medical information. New families who have not yet returned the Student Information Booklet 2021 are asked to do so as soon as possible.

When medical circumstances change, it is essential that our records reflect your daughter’s current health status. Please send through any changes to the relevant Secondary School Year Co-ordinator or to Sarah Johnstone, Deputy Head of Student Wellbeing in the Primary School.

Sarah Walters
Director of Administration

2021 Parent Information Booklet

What time can I drop my daughter at school in the morning? Who do I email an absence note to if my daughter is sick and away from school? What time does the Secondary Library close in the afternoon?

A booklet for parents is available on the SCEGGS Portal to answer all of these questions and more! The 2021 Parent Information Booklet contains the most important logistical and organisational information for parents including:

• COVID-safe guidelines for parents
• School Attendance Information for all students K-12
• Arrangements for Before and After School Supervision
• Pedestrian Safety
• Students Driving to and from School and School Activities
• Students Riding Bicycles to and from School
• Food Allergy Awareness
• Student accident insurance
• School shop opening hours
• … and much, much more!

The 2021 Parent Information Booklet is now available for all current SCEGGS families to download from the SCEGGS Portal and we would strongly encourage all families to be aware of the important information contained inside.

Parent Information Evenings and Parent-Teacher Afternoons

Parent Information Evenings                                              

These evenings are for parents of girls from Kindergarten to Year 12. Parents will hear from their daughters’ teachers about aspects of the classroom programs, activities planned for the year and ways parents can assist their daughters at home. These are important sessions and all parents are urged to attend.

The School will let parents know if these evenings will go ahead face-to-face or by Zoom as each date approaches.

Primary

Secondary

Parent-Teacher Afternoons

Primary

Parent-Teacher Interviews for Primary classes will take place during Weeks 5, 6 and 7 in Term I. Teachers will organise interview times directly with parents.

Secondary Term I

• Year 12: Wednesday 10 March
• Year 9: Monday 22 March
• Year 7: Tuesday 30 March

Term II

• Year 8: Monday 26 April
• Year 10: Thursday 29 April
• Year 11: Tuesday 4 May

Drama News

Welcome back! I trust everyone has had a restful break and perhaps enjoyed some of what’s on offer at The Sydney Festival, a musical, a play or perhaps some of the excellent entertainment available from our streaming services. The Arts certainly enrich our lives and have been a great comfort in the precarious times we have recently navigated.

I was able to spend some terrific nights in the theatre – The Merry Widow at Opera Australia, HMS. Pinafore at Parramatta Theatres, My Brilliant Career at Belvoir, Pippin at The Lyric and The Picture of Dorian Gray at the Sydney Theatre Company. Spending the evening in a mask and socially distanced must make for an interesting view from the stage, however it’s comforting to see theatres take these precautions.

At SCEGGS we look forward to presenting Olivia Satchell’s play PRETTY.STRANGE in November.

Fangirls

Old Girl Yve Blake’s musical Fangirls is making a return season to Belvoir Theatre playing at the Seymour Centre through February.

The Year 10 Drama class will be attending a performance on Wednesday February 17 at 6:30. Students will receive information pertaining to the excursion in class next week.

An early reminder to parents that students will need to have a mask for the theatre.

Griffin Theatre Ambassador

Congratulations to Year 11 student Olivia Dennison who has been appointed to the Griffin Theatre Ambassador program. The program allows students from schools to participate in workshops and observe plays in their 2021 season. Applications for participation are called for in November of each year.

Things I Know To Be True

Ms Vivienne Rodda will be “treading the boards” this term when she joins Castle Hill Players in their production of Andrew Bovell’s Things I Know to be True. We wish Ms Rodda all the best for rehearsals and a successful season of the play. Ms Rodda will also be directing our production of PRETTY.STRANGE in Term 4.

St Peter’s Players

A reminder that St Peter’s Players classes will begin in week 3 on Monday February 8.

The Semester 1 timetable and enrolment form are available. Please peruse the classes available and complete enrolment. I draw your attention to a new class conducted by Liv Satchell – Writing for Stage and Screen. This is an Open class and will be conducted via Zoom. The day and time for the class will be decided with participants after enrolment.

If you take a child to the theatre, not only will they practise empathy, they might also laugh uproariously, or come home singing about science, or want to know more about history, or tell you what happened at school today, or spend all dinner discussing music, or learn how to handle conflict, or start becoming future patrons of the arts.

Lauren Gunderson -Playwright

Peter Eyers
Head of Drama

Music Matters

2021 Music Ensemble: sign-up at the Co-Curricular and Music Expo – Wednesday 3 February                           

If you are keen to join an ensemble so you can exercise your musical talents, the Music Department would love to see you at the Co-curricular and Music Expo on Wednesday 3 February at lunchtime in the Sports Hall.

This year our sign-up process for NEW members will take place as part of the school’s Co-curricular Expo.  Come and see the ensembles we have on offer and meet our ensemble directors (Choral, Band, String), the 2021 Music Captain Stella Gray and Music leaders. For a full list of the school’s music ensembles, please consult page 34 & 35 of the school diary.

Students who were involved in an ensemble last year will be automatically included in this year’s roll.  If you want to start something NEW then you will need to come and sign up.

When? Wednesday 3 February 1:00pm

Where? Sports Hall

Who should come? Anyone NEW to SCEGGS or those would like to join a music ensemble.

We look forward to seeing YOU there!

2020 HSC NESA Encore Nominations

Congratulations to the following students who have received a NESA Encore Nomination in the following:

• Uma Volkmer – Music 2 (Composition)
• Bonnie Harrington – Music 1 (Performance)
• Annabelle Martin – Music 1 (Musicology)

2020 was a challenging year for our Year 12 students and we are incredibly proud of all of our students’ achievements in both Music courses.  While our students were not in the final selection for the ENCORE concert program, the nomination themselves is an incredible honour and a testament to their hard work.

I would also like to acknowledge the hard work and contribution from the Music staff with their contribution to the learning journey of our Music students in 2020.

2020 Year 12 Valedictory Dinner Performance and Old Girls Function

Congratulations to the following students who performed in the foyer of Dalton House for the Year 12 Valedictory Dinner:

• Alice Wong (Year 12) – Violin 1
• Ella Hackman (Year 11) – Violin 2
• Renee Ayoub (Year 10) – Violin 3
• Scarlett Pearce (Year 11) – Cello

The string ensemble’s performance was a lovely way for the Year 12 students and their families to be greeted as they arrived for the dinner.  A special thank you to Mrs Anne Sweeney who organised the performance and played with the students in the Viola chair.  Thank you and well done girls for your performance!

On 10 December, an Old Girls Function took place at the home of Mr and Mrs Paul Espie.  Special thank you to Ilaria Roncolato (Year 9) who performed a repertoire of solo Harp pieces for the event.  The music was much enjoyed and it’s lovely to hear a harp featured in such a special way.  Well done Ilaria!

2020 Australian School Band And Orchestra Festival

Congratulations to the five SCEGGS string ensembles that participated in the Australian School Band and Orchestra Festival in Term 4. Each ensemble performed a diverse program which included an Australian work and the performances were recorded and beautifully presented by Eddi Goodfellow for the online Festival. All musicians involved, from K-12, worked diligently in weekly rehearsals with Mrs Sweeney and in lessons with their instrumental tutor to perfect their program and should be congratulated for their efforts. It was a wonderful celebration of teamwork and the power of music to maintain connection in the challenging year that was 2020.

Thank you to Mrs Anne Sweeney for her preparation of the students for this event.  Well done, girls!

The results are in:

Music Tuition

Peripatetic music lessons will resume in Week 2. Please contact your tutor if you have not heard from them this year.

A reminder that most students will be allocated a rotating lesson time, within the confines of each tutor’s load. Out-of-class lesson times are given to Senior Elective Music students.

In preparation for the upcoming SCEGGS Eisteddfod (more information to follow) the Music Department will be holding a practice-a-thon in Weeks 2-6.

Practice trackers will be available from music tutors and classroom music teachers. Use the tracker to monitor your daily practice. We are aiming to see how long our best practice streak is. Earn a Bronze award for a 7-day streak, a Silver award for a 14 day streak, a Gold award for a 21 day streak and a Platinum award for a 28+ day streak. The awards will be distributed along with your Eisteddfod award.  

If you wish to learn an instrument or voice, please contact HeidiJones@sceggs.nsw.edu.au. We have vacancies in most studios at present.

Ms Heidi Jones
Accompanist & Performance Coach

Secondary Music Ensemble Rehearsals

Rehearsals for your ensembles commence in Week 3. Students who are taking Music as an elective study MUST participate in at least one Music Ensemble. If for whatever reason you cannot attend your rehearsal, please do the courtesy of letting your conductor or Mr Jewitt know ahead of the rehearsal.

Pauline Chow
Head of Music

Visual Arts

The Art Department invites you to join our cocurricular program for Semester 1.

This semester we offer Darkroom Photography, Observational Drawing and a Painting course. Tutors are experienced educators and highly regarded practising artists in their own field. Darkroom Photography is run by Ian Lever who is a professional photographer with several decades of national and international experience. His work is widely acknowledged especially his social documentation of Sydney Life. Ian’s work is represented in the Collections of the State Library and the National Gallery of Australia. Lilli Stromland and Eliza Gosse are both Old Girls (Class of 2012) and Graduates of the National Art School. Both are exceptionally skilled artists who have established successful fine arts careers. Both have gained Gallery representation upon graduation and continue to build a strong critical and commercial following. Most notably in 2020, Lilli was a finalist in the Brett Whiteley Scholarship and Eliza was selected to hang in the Wynne Prize.

Classes are as follows:

• Monday: Drawing with Lilli Stromland. 3.15 to 4.30. Open to Years 7 to 12
• Tuesday: Darkroom Photography with Ian Lever. 3.15 to 4.45. Open to Years 9 to 12
• Thursday: Painting with Eliza Gosse. 3.15 to 4.30. Open to Years 9 to 12 

    OR

•   Darkroom Photography with Ian Lever. 3.15 to 4.45. Open to Years 9 to 12

Classes are capped at 10 for each session of Darkroom Photography and 15 for Drawing and Painting. Art students are given priority enrolment in Years 9 to 12 with possible non-elective student enrolment available if space is available. The program begins again in Semester 2.

Further information and online enrolment can be accessed here and this link will be emailed to all Art students and their parents during week 1.

Enrolments close on Friday 5 February. Please get your enrolment registered as soon as you can as classes are very popular and places fill quickly!

Students are encouraged to find out more at the Co-curricular and Music expo on Wednesday lunchtime in Week 2 where student representatives from each program will be available to talk further.

Classes begin in Week 3.

Heidi Jackson
Head of Visual Arts

Dorothy Wilkinson Memorial Library

The Library is open to Secondary Students at the following times:

Hours

7.30am – 6.00pm     Monday to Thursday
7.30am – 4.30pm     Friday

Speech Tuition

Speech Lessons are open to girls in Years 3 – 12. These follow the ASCA (Australian Speech Communication Association) Syllabus with graded examinations up to the Diploma of Communication (Year 12). The group lessons focus on all aspects of oral communication.

If you would like your daughter to continue with her Speech Lessons or commence lessons this year please click here.

Sandra Carter
Speech and Public Speaking Co-ordinator

Go Greener

Welcome to Go Greener for 2021! For new people to our school community, this is a weekly section in our newsletter looking at sustainability and environmental issues.

There will be contributions to this column from staff and students who are involved in the Secondary School Maailma committee and the Primary School Enviro Girls. Maailma was started in the school over 30 years ago. The name was taken from the Finnish word meaning “world”.

The United Nations has declared 2021 as the International year of fruit and vegetables. This falls under the United Nations decade of nutrition (2016-2025). More information about this can be found here. 

We are incredibly blessed in Australia with the variety of produce we have access to. It is important for us to consider the sustainability of any food we purchase, as well as making sure we eat everything we buy, in order to minimise food waste.

In this International Year of Fruit and Vegetables you might like to consider having a vegetarian meal once or twice a week. Challenge yourself to a Meat Free Monday and see what amazing vegetarian recipes you can create. You can get ideas from the Meat Free Monday website  or obtain vegetarian meals from Delicious Magazine . 

Eating more fruit and vegetables is nutritionally beneficial and is a small step towards improving our planet! More information can be found on these websites:

• Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth | Environment | The Guardian
• United Nations Climate Report Suggests People Should Eat Less Meat | Time

If you have any suggestions for future ideas, please email any of the teachers below.

Sue Zipfinger, Laura Tennant and Zoe Thompson

School Cafeteria

SCEGGS Cafeteria

The Cafeteria menu embraces the principles of Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia and the NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy. The girls will have the option to purchase from the specials menu, sandwich bar, salad bar or the bakery.

The Cafeteria Menu for Term I is available here.

Recess orders must be placed by 9:30am, and Lunch orders must be placed by 10:30am on the day of order.

Recess and lunch orders can be placed using the Flexischools online ordering system or the Flexischools App (see instructions below). 

Getting started with Flexischools 

If you’d like to start ordering online, it’s super simple to get started. 

Set up your account  

1. Download the Flexischools App

Download the app from the App Store or from Google Play. 
Note: for iPhone and iPad please select ‘Allow’ notification 
 

2. Register

Open the Flexischools App and click ‘Like to register?’, enter your email address and click ‘Register’. You will be sent a registration email. Follow the instructions in the registration email to finish setting up your account. Once your account is set up, login to the Flexischools App, select the Profile icon on the grey navigation bar, select Student and ‘Add a student’, search for their school name, select their year level and class and enter their details. 
 

3. Top Up Your Account

To make ordering fast and simple, you can set up automatic top ups. 

Order  

1. Place your order

In the Flexischools App, swipe up and down to find the service category you are interested in, swipe left and right to find the service you are interested in and select the green ‘Order’ button. 
 

2. Make your selection

Select the items you wish to order. 
 

3. Make payment

Select your payment option and complete payment to place your order.  

Updated Payment System

COVID-19 impacted upon some of our goals for 2020 including reducing single use items as well as the ability to take cash payments.

We have implemented a system to enable students to purchase items outside of the ordering window which will allow them to make food and beverage choices at recess and lunch times, while ensuring parents can maintain visibility over the items they are purchasing.

Secondary Students are now able to use their Student ID card to buy items in the Cafeteria. Girls can select items and Cafeteria Staff with scan their Student ID card at the point of sale to complete the transaction (via Flexischools account).

To enable this function you need to enter the Student ID card number (located under the barcode on the Student ID card *A) into your Flexischools account in the Student card number field *B in the Settings tab.

Your Flexischools account must be in credit to utilise this function – see the Account tab or click Top Up Wallet *C.

Important Note: now that the Students have been allocated a Form Class, the Class field must be updated *D in the Settings tab.

As previously, hot food should now be purchased at the Cafeteria by Secondary Students rather than pre-ordered. Primary Students should continue to pre-order as they are not issued with a Student ID card.

We will continue to work on enhancements to the Cafeteria over the next 12 months as part of our continual improvement strategy.

Sarah Walters
Director of Administration

School Shop

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday
8.00am to 12.00pm
12.40pm to 3.30pm

A uniform price list is available on the SCEGGS website.

If you have queries regarding the School Uniform or the Clothing Pool please feel free to contact us during school hours.

Lost Property

Ensure all clothing, footwear, books and stationery items are labelled. It is advisable to include the full surname and first name or initial so the items can be clearly identified and returned. If required, laundry markers are available from the School Shop.

Years K-6 Lost Property is located in bins outside the Primary School Office.

Years 7-12 Lost Property is located within the School Shop. If the item is labelled, the girls are notified by email. A gold coin donation is required when claiming the item. All donations go to Plan International sponsored children.

Lost lunch boxes and drink bottles are kept in containers just inside the School Shop entry. No notification is sent to the girls. It is their responsibility to check the containers and no donation is required to claim the items.

Clare Reid
School Shop Manager

From the Business Office

I am very excited to have commenced recently as the Business Manager at SCEGGS.  It is a privilege to be working here and I look forward to meeting many of you during the course of 2021 and subsequent years. 

In this first issue of Behind the Green Gate for 2021, I would like to mention two important issues:

2021 School Fees

The first fee account for 2021 was emailed to all families in November last year together with the 2021 Schedule of Fees and a letter from the Chair of the Board and Head of School.

If you have not received the email or require a copy of your account, please contact the Business Office on 9332 1133 or email nicholarobinson@sceggs.nsw.edu.au 

The first account is due for payment today.  SCEGGS greatly appreciates the payment of fees on or before the due date which provides certainty of cashflow and allows us to deliver an outstanding education for your daughters.

Note that SCEGGS offers a discount for the prepayment of school fees.  If you would like to participate in the Fees Prepayment Plan or learn more, please contact the Business Office to discuss.

Student Accident Insurance

SCEGGS maintains a personal accident insurance policy which covers all SCEGGS girls.  If your daughter suffers an injury while at school, we will gladly assist in completing the required forms for the insurance claim.

An amount of $25.50 per girl was charged on the current statement.

Adrian Craig
Business Manager

1:1 Computer Program

SCEGGS is continuing the 1:1 Computer Program in 2021. Every girl in Years 5 to 12 will have their own convertible laptop. Kindergarten to Year 3 have access to class sets of iPads. A number of laptops are also used regularly in these years. The parent information sessions run during the first part of Term I will include information on the 1:1 program.

The girls will receive their laptops during the first weeks of school. Parents and girls will also be provided with important information about using and caring for the computer, as well as other essential information, such as cyber safety, ergonomics and accessing the technical support services at School.

We look forward to the exciting opportunities this 1:1 Computer Program will create for teaching and learning at SCEGGS. More information about the program is also available by clicking here.

If you have any questions about the program at SCEGGS, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Internet Usage

Typically both at school and home your daughter now has access to a technology rich environment. Effective and appropriate use of the powerful tools within the IT sphere requires responsible behaviour to accompany use of the computers, mobile phones and the Internet. Of real concern to us as a school, however, are some instances where there is reported inappropriate use of the Internet by some students. The School has put in place a number of strategies to ensure our students use available technologies to achieve suitable and productive outcomes but there are some ways in which you can assist your daughter to make effective use of the Internet within the home environment.

Important information and advice for students and parents about laws and other information relevant to the Internet can be found in the front section of the School Diary. Students in Years 7-12 and their parents are asked to sign the Internet and Network Users Agreement. This agreement clearly states our belief that students should be responsible for their own actions and goes on to outline the conditions under which access to the Internet and the School’s network is allowed. As a parent you are asked to sign the agreement to ensure that your daughter understands the agreement and to make you aware that use of the Internet and School’s network is conditional.

The School takes other measures to ensure that our students’ online experience is productive, safe and appropriate. Web filtering is used so that our students do not access, intentionally or otherwise, inappropriate websites. Websites on block and allow lists are updated regularly and placed into categories that the School may choose to apply. At present the sites that are blocked fall into the following broad categories: ads, adult, aggressive, audio-visual, drugs, forums, gambling, hacking, pornography, proxys, violence, virus-infected and more. We are able to (and do) block other unsuitable sites not included in these classifications.

Students should treat their login password as an important personal credential and keep it confidential, as they would a PIN for a bank account. If a student suspects that someone else knows their password, or that it has been compromised in any way, she should immediately change it or request that it be changed by visiting the ICT Service Desk. Students must necessarily assume responsibility for any use of a computer accessed via their login name and password.

The School takes these measures to help ensure that each student’s experience on the Internet is positive and productive but, unfortunately, it is not always possible to ensure that all students will use this resource properly. In the past some students have posted, from home and from school, unacceptable material on the Internet. Students must understand that matters on the Internet are accessible to the entire world and that, as a result, care must be taken not to malign other people, or institutions. Any such activity can be subject to legal redress. Parents should be aware that it is not realistic to monitor or control such activities from school computers or, of course, from home computers. Combating this type of activity requires persistent and continuing efforts on our part as well as by you, at home.

Because students’ access to the Internet is not confined to their time at school it is important that you participate in the partnership with the School in educating your daughters about the use of the Internet. The Australian Communication and Media Authority has published several useful articles and tips for parents and students. These can be found at https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents. I strongly recommend that you read this and other sections of the site where you will find tips for children of different ages. Discussing these with your daughter and adopting some of the suggested strategies would be one practical way in which you could support the School in encouraging more appropriate Internet use.

The Internet can be a powerful and constructive technology that provides great educational benefits. Unfortunately, like many other technologies, the Internet has a negative side. Students need on-going education about Internet use and the dangers and pitfalls present and all parents are encouraged to join with the School to ensure that the Internet continues to deliver positive educational and social outcomes for all.

Ken Emeleus
Director of ICT