From Ms Allum

Dear Families

It was delightful seeing so many of you at our Easter Festival last night, coming together as a community to celebrate the coming of Easter. I hope you too enjoyed the beautiful performances from the girls and that the Easter spirit of hope and renewal resonates with you all during this holy time.

I look forward to welcoming the girls back on Tuesday to conclude what has been a fulfilling Term 1!

My best wishes to you all!

Jenny Allum
Head of School

From The Chaplain

Wishing you all a very happy and restful Easter, reflecting on the hope and strength that this season brings, as we remember the life-giving resurrection story.

The SCEGGS Podcast “Walk The Mile” Episode 52: Culturally Shifting   

Ross and Sunny Lusted are two of our Primary School parents. They have had years of working in the hospitality industry and together have created restaurants and hotels around the world. Through their travels, they have learnt many lessons about community, culture and people that can only come through experience. In this conversation, they share some of their learnings and how it has shaped what they do and who they are. I hope you enjoy our chat.

And a reminder that we are published on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcast and Deezer, so you can access it easier from your preferred device. I always welcome your feedback or any ideas you may have for further episodes. You will find each podcast as they are produced in this newsletter and on the other platforms as well as our website.

Rev. Garry Lee-Lindsay
Chaplain

Drama News

Cloudstreet at Cranbrook

The Cranbrook School presented the Justin Mojo/Nick Enright adaptation of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet last week. This is the epic story of two working-class families, the Pickles and the Lambs, who come to live together in a large house called Cloudstreet in Perth, over a period of 20 years from 1943 to 1963.

The production featured five SCEGGS students in this company. Congratulations to Emily Dandolo (Year 10), Alexandra Argy (Year 11), Camille McCarthy (Year 11), Claudia Parker (Year 11) and Ines Ashburn (Year 11).

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Shore

The Sherman Brother’s musical, and evergreen story of the magical car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, is currently in production at the Shore school. The remaining performances can be seen from Wednesday April 3 to Saturday April 6.

SCEGGS students Emily Gyton (Year 12) and Samantha Millin (Year 11) are members of this ensemble. We wish them triumph and a fun ride with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Drama Excursion – & Juliet

Students have the opportunity to see the musical & Juliet when the Drama Department takes keen theatre goers to the Lyric theatre on Sunday May 5 (end of Week 1 in Term 2).

This fresh, fun coming-of-age tale gives a new lease on life to a time-honoured heroine: Juliet from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. This musical gives the character a new lease on life, putting her in a story that doesn’t end in death. Instead, she travels to Paris, makes new friends, and finds out who she is independent of Romeo.

This adventure is set to the pop music catalogue of Max Martin, the Grammy Award-winning songwriter behind dozens of hits from the 90s through today. Songs by *NSYNC, Britney Spears, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Bon Jovi, and many more are the soundtrack to Juliet’s journey, and audiences of multiple generations will find something to sing along to. 

Interested students should request a permission slip from Mr Eyers.

Melbourne Drama Tour

Drama students from Years 9 to 12 may join a weekend Drama trip to Melbourne from August 16 to 19. This is the mid-term break in Term 3.

We will see three theatre productions, tour the Victorian College of the Arts, visit the Art Gallery and Museum of the Moving image and indulge in the culture of Melbourne.

Booking forms are available this week.

The Red Balloon Announced

The stage adaptation of Albert Lamorrise’s beautiful short film The Red Balloon, will be presented by actors from Years 7 to 9, in November. Anthony Clark’s vivid adaptation premiered at the National Theatre of Britain in 1996.

Ms Poppy Lynch will direct and Ms Eddi Goodfellow will contribute Technical Design to conjure the streets of Paris.

Auditions will be conducted at the beginning of Term 3.

The Oscar winning short film classic can be accessed here.

Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale

The senior play, Nell Gwynn is presently in rehearsal and features a terrific cast of SCEGGS students (and one from Scots College), presenting this very funny historical tale. Set in a time when women began claiming their place on the English stage, it’s a wonderful story and we are having a great time inhabiting its many engaging characters.

The company members are:

The production is directed by Mr Peter Eyers, Production Manager is Ms Poppy Lynch with Set Design, Ms Anna Gardiner, Costume Design Ms Aloma Barnes and Lighting Design, Mr Tim Hope.

Production dates: Wednesday June 12 to 15. Bookings open Monday May 27.

Peter Eyers
Head of Drama

TAS News

Welcome to the TAS Agriculture Garden

As autumn’s cooler temperatures settled in, it was finally time to start planting seeds into the new TAS Agriculture Garden. Year 8 students, as part of their mandatory Technology studies, will now experience the basics of successful edible gardening; from understanding climate, soil and propagation as well as collecting and analysing data.

The Year 11 Enterprise Computing students are also actively engaged in the garden. They are developing custom apps that will be able to log plant data, which will be accessible on student mobile and laptop devices. The Year 8 students will use these apps to input data that they will record throughout the year; such as soil moisture, pH levels, plant height and other important information. Students will be able to see the growth of their plants in terms of recorded data to better understand optimum growing conditions and the environmental factors of the TAS Agriculture Garden.

We look forward to sharing our results with the wider SCEGGS community when we harvest and enjoy the crops we have grown.

The TAS Department

Year 9-12 Careers Evening with our Old Girls: May 8

On May 8 our school community will welcome back a number of Old Girls with varying careers working in diverse fields including art and curation, architecture, medicine and health, law, banking and financial analysis, climate change and sustainability, animal health, property, tech, engineering, writing, government and policy, media and communications, science, crime investigation and more. We have over 40 confirmed Old Girls in attendance and there are invitations for more Old Girls to provide a wide variety of experiences to share with our current SCEGGS students.

The evening will begin at 6.00pm with a panel discussion and then two sessions of 30 – 40 minutes each, whereby students can explore two careers of their choice.

It is hoped that the students from Years 9 -12 will support this evening and parents are very welcome to attend with their daughters.

It makes for a great car conversation on the way home!

Students from Years 7 & 8 are also very welcome to come along too.

This is a great opportunity to be inspired by the wonderful SCEGGS Darlinghurst Old Girls community who are so generous and willing to share their time and expertise with our students.

We look forward to a vibrant evening on May 8 with as many students and parents in attendance.

Andrea Pinnock
Careers Adviser

SRC in the Primary School

In Week 8, the Primary School celebrated Harmony Week, which had the theme of ‘Everyone Belongs’. The Student Representatives enjoyed providing their Form Classes with a variety of activities to support the initiative over the week, and loved leading some related activities to reinforce belonging, harmony, diversity, and inclusivity.

We also enjoyed promoting an additional poster competition as part an Australia wide initiative, ‘Moving Forward Together’, where students were encouraged to create a visual representation of their understanding of the theme.

The Primary team met with the girls in the Secondary School SRC to discuss some ideas, as well as inviting them to assist us with our activities in Form Classes and hand out some orange ribbons.

We loved participating in these activities as a reminder to include others and embrace diversity every day at SCEGGS.

Miss Jordan-Watt and the Primary SRC Team

Creative Writing Opportunities

This term we have been delighted to see students compose fabulous creative and analytical work; from evocative discursive and imaginative writing in Year 11 to haunting creative fiction in Year 7. Our teachers loved reading some the compelling biographical writing of Year 8 and were impressed by the ability of Years 9 and 10 students to write effective personal responses.

We are always keen to encourage our students to submit their work into external competitions, and I know that many teachers have been sharing information with their classes about some of the upcoming opportunities. As we move towards the holidays, we wanted to share some of the links below as we know there are many keen writers who may want to work on pieces over their break. Many of these websites also have incredible resources for passionate poems and writers. The English Department wishes everyone all the best for the Easter break – what a wonderful time to read a book and get back to writing for pleasure!

The What Matters Writing Competition is open to students in Years 5 – 12. This competition asks students to write personally on a topic which they are passionate about. Entries are due by Friday 17 May. More information can be found here.

The Dorothea Mackellar Writing Competition is one of Australia’s most prestigious poetry awards for young people – this year it is celebrating its 40^th Anniversary! This year’s theme is “Listen, I have an idea.” The school has registered an account for this competition and your daughter will be able to check with her teacher about entering before the due date of Friday 30 June. Many Year 7 – 10 courses will explore poetry in Term 2, so this might complement your daughter’s studies nicely. More information can be found here.

Red Room’s Poetry Forest Competition encourages students to compose poems which have a positive message on climate change. This competition is open until Friday September 27. More information can be found here.

The Insight Writing Competition is open to students in Years 7 – 12. Students are invited to compose creative pieces of up to 1,400 words. The theme for this year is “Beauty in the Unknown” This competition is open until 1 September. More information can be found here.

The Hachette Australia prizes are yet to open for 2024, however include prizes for Creative Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction and Poetry. There are wonderful resources that can be found here.

Jenny Bean
Head of English

Debating

Congratulations to the Primary A ISDA, Year 7 Eastside, Year 8 Eastside, Year 8 ISDA, Year 10 ISDA, Year 10 Eastside, and Senior B ISDA teams for winning their debates on Friday.

This Friday there will be no debates due to the public holiday. The following week, on Friday 5 April, all ISDA debates are rescheduled to Week 1 of Term 2, when we will be travelling to Kings for our final round of debates. For Eastside, we will be travelling to Cranbrook on Friday 5 April for our Round 5 debates.

Imogen Harper
Debating Coordinator

Secondary Music

Thank you to Lux Strings, under the direction of Ms Eliza Sdraulig, who played a selection of music (from Bach to Taylor Swift!) as guests arrived for the New Parent Dinner last Thursday. You created a lovely warm and welcoming atmosphere for the new parents in our school community. Thank you to Mrs Anne Sweeney for her support of Lux Strings and for playing along on the night.

Thank you to Amber Jarman (Year 11), winner of the Outstanding Musician of the Secondary School, who shared her award-winning performance of Debussy’s Violin Sonata, Movement 1, with the school community in Assembly this week.

Thank you also to Sarah Yuan (Year 7) who played the intro and outro for Ms Allum.

Thank you to Miss Allison Harrigan, Mrs Anne Sweeney, Ms Lanneke Jones, Mrs Bronwyn Cleworth and Ms Stephanie Holmes for their involvement in the preparation of music for the Easter Festival and Easter Service.

SCEGGS Eisteddfod

Congratulations to all the musicians who participated in the 2024 SCEGGS Eisteddfod. We are proud of every student who prepared and presented a piece for our visiting adjudicators.

These students were selected by the visiting adjudicators to perform in the Secondary Eisteddfod Highlights Concert held on Wednesday 20 March.

The following awards were made:

The Margot Anthony (Budd) Beyond the Curriculum Award is also awarded in conjunction with the Eisteddfod. The award is made each year to two elective music students who put forward a proposal for a project or an undertaking that will allow them to explore musical opportunities beyond the music curriculum. This year three awards were made. One to Lila Eversgerd (Year 11) and a shared award to Isabelle Flower (Year 9) and Amber Jarman (Year 11).

Congratulations to the award winners.

A special thank you to Ms Stephanie Holmes who organised the Eisteddfod and accompanied a large proportion of the heats and Highlights Concerts.

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

As the excitement builds for our first Musicale concert in 2024, we want to share with you a short profile of the Clarion Concert Band as they prepare to take the stage.

Every year, a fresh ensemble is assembled for students in Years 7-9 of the Band program. While the ensemble retains the name Clarion, its lineup undergoes significant changes. As students progress to Holst Wind Ensemble, Clarion welcomes new leaders and a diverse array of faces, including those from SCEGGS Primary and incoming Year 7 students. 

Over the past several weeks, Clarion members have immersed themselves in preparing Dance the Night Away from Barbie for the big performance. Led by their talented conductor, Ms Ryan, rehearsals have been filled with energy, passion, and a shared commitment to excellence. 

As the day of the performance draws near, we invite you to join us in celebrating the culmination of our hard work and dedication.

Thank you for your support, and we look forward to seeing you at Musicale 1.

The following secondary ensembles will be performing at Musicale 1;

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

Clipboard

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

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

Important Dates

Term 1

Heidi Jones
Head of Music (Co-curricular)

Primary Music

Thank you to Miss Allison Harrigan, Mrs Anne Sweeney, Ms Lanneke Jones, Mrs Bronwyn Cleworth and Ms Stephanie Holmes for their involvement in the preparation of music for the Easter Festival and Easter Service.

SCEGGS Eisteddfod

Congratulations to all the musicians who participated in the 2024 SCEGGS Eisteddfod. We are proud of every student who prepared and presented a piece for our visiting adjudicators.

These students were selected by the visiting adjudicators to perform in the Primary Eisteddfod Highlights Concert held on Wednesday 20th March.

The following awards were made:

A special thank you to Ms Stephanie Holmes who organised the Eisteddfod and accompanied a large proportion of the heats and Highlights Concerts.

A note from Ms Simone Koolhaas, adjudicator of the Primary Instrumental heats

It has been a pleasure to hear all the girls perform to me over the last week. Each and every girl has received wonderful support and encouragement from the music department, and this event couldn’t have happened without the school’s lovely accompanists and music teachers. My thanks also go to all the instrumental teachers who have nurtured and encouraged every girl in preparing for this eisteddfod and to the parents, your support is invaluable.

Learning music opens up a new world and language, and teaches the girls so many skills such as, reading, co-ordination, mathematical skills and memory. I know there will be some girls who were disappointed they didn’t get to perform in the Highlights Concert, but I would like to say to those girls keep up your enthusiasm and practising. Think about what you learnt from this experience. Can you now play a piece you couldn’t play before? Did you learn a new technique? Did you find out that performing wasn’t as scary as you first thought?

Performing takes courage but also preparation, and practice is a skill that takes time and support. A simple piece played well is always better in performance than playing the hardest work you have just learned. Confidence is gained from the knowledge that you have musical security and have practised performing; to your friends, Grandma, Mum or Dad. Find as many opportunities as possible to share what you are learning and also remember to look back to feel a sense of achievement over time.

Musicale 1 – Thursday 11 April 6.00pm, Great Hall

In addition to a number of Secondary ensembles, the following Primary ensembles will be performing at Musicale 1:

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

Clipboard

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

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

Beyond the Green Gate

Congratulations to Viola Heery (Year 6) for completing her Grade 4 Piano Repertoire exam.

We are always happy to hear about ways our primary musicians are involved in music-making outside the school. Please send details to Heidi Jones.

Important Dates

Term 1

Heidi Jones
Head of Music (Co-curricular)

Secondary Sport

Easts Touch Grand Final Results

Congratulations to all of the SCEGGS Touch teams that played in Grand Finals over the weekend. There were some very close matches with SCEGGS winning 3 finals. SCEGGS finished 3^rd overall in the school point score which was a fantastic result.

Swimming

IGSA Swimming

Congratulations to all students who competed at the IGSA Swimming Carnival on Friday: Cassandra Davies (Year 11), Emma Hawkins (Year 11), Ella Leshetz (Year 11), Elizabeth Shin (Year 11), Naylise Thompson (Year 11), Georgia Cate Baker Wood (Year 10), Leo Brenton (Year 10), Coco Espie (Year 10), Isabella Lyndon (Year 10), Chloe Yule (Year 10), Orla Darroch (Year 9), Jessica Venetoulis (Year 9), Stella Brenton (Year 8), Heidi Lyndon (Year 8), Francesca Maughan (Year 8), Gemma Munro (Year 8), Georgiana Porter (Year 8), Isobel Weston (Year 8), Sofia White (Year 8), Cynthia Cai (Year 7), Heidi Collier (Year 7), and Sarah McIntyre (Year 7).

Despite being heavily depleted through injuries and other commitments, the SCEGGS team showed great determination and school spirit throughout the day.

Division ribbon winners for the day were:

Netball

Congratulations to Alicia Singh (Year 10) who has been selected into the Sydney Netball Academy for 2024. Alicia will now be busy commuting to Netball Central in Homebush to continue her training. We wish her well for the season ahead.

Cricket

SCEGGS had three students attend the NSWCIS U15 Cricket Trials that were held at the newly opened Cricket Central at Homebush. Elspeth Herbert (Year 9), Ivy Platt (Year 9) and Marnie Flett (Year 9) all trialled strongly despite missing out on the final team. We look forward to following their cricket development in the future.

Ivy and Elspeth’s North Sydney Brewers Shield team were also successful in winning their grand final.

Congratulations to Mr Tym Crawford from the PDHPE Department on being the joint winner of the O’Reilly Medal for the Best and Fairest Player in the Sydney First Grade Cricket Competition. Previous winners of this medal include cricketing greats such as Bob Simpson, Trevor Chapel, Tony Greig, Mike Gatting and Geoff Boycott!

Tym was the competitions leading batter with 1207 runs at an average of 67.06. He scored 5 centuries and 3 half centuries, including a high score of 205 not out.

SCEGGS at Play

Do you have any sporting news or photos to share in the Green Gate?

We love seeing our students being active and want to celebrate their passion and enjoyment amongst the SCEGGS community. Please send in any action shots from the weekend and any other interesting sporting highlights to Alison Gowan.

SCEGGS Training sessions before and after school plus Saturday Sport

Any cancellations or adjustments will be made in Clipboard and families will receive a notification or email when changes are made. Please ensure you have notifications enabled.

IGSA Fixtures, Results and Wet Weather

The IGSA website and platform for accessing wet weather, fixtures and team results can be found here.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact myself on 9052 2721 or 0418 491 521.

Alison Gowan
Director of Sport

Primary Sport

Year 3 Basketball

The Year 3 Basketball competition wrapped up on Saturday 23 March. It was a successful competition and played in the right spirit. The girls were highly supportive of each other and their opposition and made great improvements with their Basketball skills. Congratulations to the players, coaches, and Mrs Sweeney, for her excellent organisation. You all should be extremely proud of your efforts.

Years 4-6 Football

The final round of IPSHA Football was played on Saturday 23 March. There were many fantastic and nail-biting performances. The 6B team were in the lead for most of their game through an Evie Thorpe (Year 6) strike, although the game finished 1-1 after PLC managed a late equaliser. Jada Lewis (Year 6) featured for the 6C team, scoring a hat trick in the first half with some excellent finishes. The game ended 3-3 after a late come back from PLC. The 6A team went down 6-1 to a strong Kambala team, and the 5A team finished their season with a 6-1 win over St Catherine’s. The 5B team almost pinched a draw off Meriden, going down 3-2 in a tight encounter, and congratulations to all Year 4 teams who managed a win to finish off their season.

Well done to all teams for your efforts this term.

Student Achievements

Stasia Serafin (Year 5) has been training hard in Athletics and has achieved some excellent results in recent competitions. On 16 and 17 March, she competed at the Athletics NSW Youth Championship where she won gold in the 200m, silver in the 100m and silver in Long Jump. Stasia was also awarded the Eastern Suburbs Little Athletics 10 Years Girls Age Group Award on 15 March. Congratulations to Stasia. What a fantastic effort!

Reminders:

• Year 3 Basketball and IPSHA Football have now finished. In Weeks 9-11, trials will take place for Year 3 Netball, IPSHA Netball, and IPSHA Minkey/Hockey. All other sports will continue as usual.
• Any cancellations or adjustments to sport sessions will be made in Clipboard and families will receive a notification or email when changes are made. Please ensure you have notifications enabled.
• Term 2 Sport enrolments have now closed. If you would still like to enroll your daughter in a sport for Term 2, then please email Adrian Hammond. 

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Mr Adrian Hammond
Primary Sports Coordinator

School Shop

Winter Uniform for Sale

The Winter Uniform will be available for purchase in the School Shop this week.

The SCEGGS School Shop is now selling the Winter uniform. The Winter uniform is to be worn from the second week of Term 2, commencing 6 May 2024. Week one of Term 2 is the transition week whereby the Summer or the Winter uniform can be worn. If a full uniform fitting for your child is required, it is advisable to make an appointment. The best available times for full service are between 9.00am-12.00pm Monday to Friday. We will be closed during the school holidays and re-open Tuesday 30 April 2024.

Students who are new to SCEGGS will be required to purchase long sleeve shirts, a winter tunic, knee high navy socks and/or tights and a tie if you are in Years 3-12. The blazer can be purchased in time for the Photography days in Week 6 of Term 2. K-2 Primary students are to wear the belted tunic with a striped long sleeve shirt. Year 3 Primary students are to transition into a collared striped shirt, a tie and an unbelted tunic. For those who prefer to wear pants we offer a tailored wool blend pant. Primary students can wear these pants with the primary striped blouse. Secondary students who choose this option are to wear the pants with a navy striped blouse as well. A tie is not required to be worn if you choose to wear pants.

For your convenience, here is the link for on-line purchasing of new uniform.

We also have good quality second hand uniform available for purchase.

We look forward to helping you with your Winter uniform needs.

Clare Reid
School Shop Manager

Tuning In To Teens™: Parenting Program

Emotionally Intelligent parenting

Term 2

Over the past few years the Counsellors have run the Tuning in to Teens parenting program for our SCEGGS parents. We have received some very positive feedback, including:

Parents said they noticed these changes to their family and children after participating in the program:

This year we are again inviting parents of students in Years 6 and 7 to take part in Tuning in to Teens. It is a six-week parenting program, aiming to help you and your daughter manage the many emotional challenges of adolescence. The program teaches skills in how to manage your own and your adolescent’s emotions in ways that help you to remain close and keep communicating. These skills are likely to help reduce conflict within your family and have been found to reduce the risk of mental health emotional problems.

What is Emotional intelligence?

The program is based on the concept of Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is about using your emotions to guide you through the world.  It is about being able to use your own knowledge of emotions to make decisions, to calm yourself down, to manage anger and conflict, to help you in your relationships with people, to know what is happening in social situations, and to assist you in many aspects of life where you or another person are involved.

Why is Emotional Intelligence important?

Research has shown that young people with greater emotional intelligence:

• are more aware, assertive and strong in situations of peer pressure
• have greater success with making friends and are more able to manage conflict with peers
• are more able to cope when upset or angry
• have fewer mental health and emotional difficulties
• have more stable and satisfying relationships as adults
• have greater career success – Emotional Intelligence may be a better predictor of academic and career success than IQ!

When parents focus on helping their teen learn about emotions, the young person is more likely to have higher emotional intelligence. In this parenting program we will teach parents what to do to help these skills develop, and in doing so we expect teens to manage adolescence better.

Would you like to find out more?

Here is a great opportunity to learn some skills to assist your relationship with your daughter, and also to connect with other parents in a relaxed and comfortable setting.

If you are interested in participating in this parenting program, please send an email to me before Tuesday 30 April. Mrs Lauren Miles and I will be facilitating the group, commencing in Week 4 of Term 2.  There will be six two-hour sessions, from 6.00 – 8.00 pm on consecutive Wednesday nights, 22 May – 26 June inclusive.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, by email or phone at school.

Janet McEwen
School Counsellor

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

Class Parent Events