eNews Archive Issue 14 - 11 May 2023

1. Have one-on-one time with each child, without distractions: Relationships with others help to build resilience, and so making time to spend with children helps them to develop strength through tough times as they know they have developed supportive relationships with you. Quality not quantity is the key here, so it is important to use times free from distractions to truly listen to each other and help children know that they have a safe place to open up.

2. Ensure adequate sleep: Lack of good-quality sleep is a huge driver for stress: it has a negative effect on memory, concentration, cognitive function and decision-making. One of the fastest ways to improve sleep in young people is to limit their screen time before bed. Turn devices off at least one hour before bedtime, or even turn off the wi-fi!

3. Exercise regularly: Exercise will increase children’s resilience, and it actually strengthens the brain. Regular physical activity teaches our stress-response system to recover more efficiently.

4. Teach delayed gratification: This is a tough one in the world of uber, spotify and Netflix, but a really important one. Teach children that they are rewarded through effort and this effort takes time. Psychology teaches us that people who can accept delayed gratification lead happier, healthier lives.

5. Eat healthy foods: It has been found that nutrition has a significant effect on mental health and, like exercise, healthy foods can stimulate the brain.

6. Model gratitude: It is important to teach our children gratitude, nurture optimism and recognise kindness. This can be done through the daily debrief that you have with your children at the end of the day. Try asking them three questions. 1) What did someone do today to make you happy? 2) What did you do to make someone else happy? 3) What have you learned today? This helps children to reframe their day and focus on the how and the why things happened.

Karen Gorrie

And then there is the internet: a place where our daughters roam, and we often have no idea of where they are exploring or what image they are putting out there for the world to see. The Media Awareness Network research found the internet to be the biggest point of contention between parents and their children (Carr-Gregg, 2007). Adolescents need boundaries; this is because of the stage of brain development that they are at, which means they are not good at impulse control, prioritising or assessing risk. Often they are unaware of which pictures or comments they post are inappropriate or even downright offensive. The boundaries and consequences need to be laid out clearly, because as psychologist Dr Carr-Gregg states, ‘We are our adolescent’s prefrontal cortex’.

It is clear that it has never been more important to be communicating with our daughters. But more than this, it is so important that as parents and educators we continually talk and reemphasize the values held dear within our own families and communities. Within the School we continually refer to our values and it is comforting to have these values to be able to fall back on when times get tough. Our pastoral care program focuses on cyber safety and awareness and positive self-worth and body image.

There is unfortunately, no manual on how best to parent our children, but there are a number of books and websites that can help us to navigate these often-confusing adolescent years. Of note are authors such as Maggie Hamilton, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg and Steven Biddulph. A website that I find particularly useful is www.parentingideas.com.au. or you may also like to visit our Parent Resource Page on the POD.

References:

Carr-Gregg, Michael (2007). Real Wired Child. Penguin Group: Australia

Hamilton, M (2008). What’s Happening to Our Girls? Penguin Group: Australia

Nikki Townsend

14th Century mystic, Julian of Norwich, is one of the women who inspires me in my faith journey. We are using a meditation from her in chapel this term:

"In my love, you have your beginning.

In weal and woe, you rest in my love.

If you would know your Maker's meaning,

Know it well: My meaning is love.

I who made all things for love; By the same love keepeth them and shall keep them without end. And all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be exceedingly well."

Julian reminds us that God is love, the one who loves us into being and inspires us to live from this love. I give thanks to God for the Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Advent. Particularly, their courage and determination in living out God's love in Queensland by working to found schools and hospitals for women and children who found themselves in challenging circumstances.

This week, let us give thanks for mothers and the mother-like, for the women who have shaped us, who nurture us, challenge, and inspire us, and particularly who have loved us into the people we are today.

God, we thank you now for love, love that stirs and soothes us, love that gatehrs us into all joy and delivers us from all brokeness. Love that hears the soundless language, love that imagines and dreams, that can conquer all and willingly surrenders everthing. Love that brought us into our lives and love that will carry us home. Amen

- Daphne Rose Kingma

Rev'd Jazz Dow

The boarders were given a brief to design their square to contribute to the patchwork quilt – “how would you represent yourself” or “your time in boarding”. Many of them pondered on this for a time before coming up with an idea, while some required no thought and just knew exactly what they wanted to do. Then the fun began as they were given their piece of calico and the required craft supplies to complete their work of art. Some kept it beautifully simplistic while some spent time on intricate design and details. The final product was a magnificent patchwork quilt which will be proudly displayed in the boarding house reception after the unveiling on Sunday night. It is a fantastic example of how individual thoughts and ideas can come together to form a whole story of how we truly are a ‘Patchwork of Boarding’.

National Boarding Week Schedule

Angela Crowe

Exam Block Schedules

Years 11 and 12 Exam Block Schedules will be released this week. Girls should ensure they are aware of their exam dates and start times, arriving early enough to be seated for the exam start time.

Year 11 Academic Progress Meetings

Over the last two weeks, I have been meeting with Year 11 students to discuss their academic progress in Term 1 and goals moving forward. I will be meeting with all Year 11 students for this discussion and still have meeting times available next week for those who have not yet booked in.

Caitlin McCluskey

We encourage students and their parents to discuss this teacher feedback as it is released, to help ensure a plan is formulated for academic development and growth. Further, girls can use their Term 1 grades and feedback to help evaluate their progression towards the academic goals they set earlier in the year with their Form Teacher or Academic Advisor.

Year 9 and 10 Study Hall

As we draw closer to the halfway mark of Term 2, this also means the Study Hall days for Years 9 and 10 are fast approaching. A reminder that during these days, normal classes are suspended for these year levels, and students may have examination and performance assessments scheduled (please refer to your daughter’s Assessment Calendar on the POD).

When girls are not sitting assessment during Study Hall, they are afforded time to undertake independent study, where they can continue with other schoolwork and assessments.

Term 2 Study Hall dates are as follows:

Study Hall schedules will be made available through the Years 9 & 10 POD Pages next week.

Chris Dunn

Omegle is an online platform that allows users to chat with strangers from across the globe, either through text or video. While it may seem like a fun way for your child to meet and interact with people from different cultures, the platform poses several risks due to its lack of regulation and supervision.

Inappropriate Content: With little to no content moderation on Omegle, children may unwittingly encounter explicit, harmful, or distressing material.

Cyberbullying: The anonymity that Omegle offers can sometimes embolden individuals to engage in abusive behaviour. This can have serious emotional and psychological consequences for young people.

Online Predation: Unfortunately, Omegle is also a platform that can be exploited by online predators who aim to establish contact with unsuspecting minors, leading to potential harm.

To protect your children from these risks, we recommend the following steps:

Open Dialogue: Initiate conversations about the potential dangers of anonymous chat platforms like Omegle. Encourage your children to share their online experiences with you and make sure they understand the importance of safeguarding personal information.

Online Safety Rules: Create guidelines for online behaviour. This could include which platforms they can use, time restrictions, and the importance of not sharing personal information or engaging

in video chats with strangers.

Parental Controls: Utilise the parental control settings available on your children's devices. These tools can block access to potentially harmful sites and monitor online activities.

Report & Block: Educate your children on how to block and report any inappropriate behaviour they encounter online. Most platforms have built-in features for this purpose.

Navigating the digital world can be a daunting task, but equipped with the right tools and knowledge, you can assist your child to explore safely. Remember, your active participation is key to their online safety.

Kelly Alford

Showing respect for others

Manners enable society to exist with the most basic tenets of respect. As a school, we are doing our part to model and support the girls in the development of manners and in turn see our value, respect, in action. Saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ is a child’s first introduction to showing respect.  

We do encourage your daughter when making requests to use ‘please’ and show gratitude by saying ‘thank you’. Other rules include ‘listen when others speak’, ‘don’t interrupt’ and ‘wait your turn’. 

We seek your support by reinforcing and modelling these practices in conversations in small and large groups. Demonstrating manners is a platform for developing a grateful attitude and respect for others. So, can I just say ‘thank you’ for working in partnership with us so your daughter can become the best version of herself.

Angela Drysdale

Jersey Thursday will occur on Thursday 1 June and will be a day to celebrate diversity and identity by wearing your team colours. This can be a team jersey, jumper, shirt, or scarf. This becomes the ‘free dress day’ for Term 2, with all gold coin donations on the day going towards the ‘Pay It Forward’ program to support future Yalari Scholarships along with our 2023 charity, Zig Zag Young Women’s Resource Centre. Girls are encouraged to show their ‘team colours’ and join in the celebrations on Circular Drive at morning tea including art, entertainment and more. If girls do not think they have a team to support they can show their house colours and wear their house shirts, socks, and ribbons with their sports tracksuits. We encourage as many girls to be involved with the day as possible to celebrate difference and model inclusivity at St Margaret’s while donating towards a worthy cause. We look forward to seeing the primary school students donning their best attire on the day.

Annette Box

Primary Mother’s Breakfast

Congratulations to Belle Voci who performed at our Mother’s Breakfast last Friday morning at Circular Drive. The students have been working hard in rehearsals this term to prepare for this special event and there was not a dry eye in the audience as they sang a touching and powerful rendition of I See Stars. Thank you to all the Years 4, 5 & 6 students and their conductor Ms Brennan for making such a special contribution at this event.

Extracurricular photos

Music Ensemble photos are taking tomorrow, Friday 12 May. Students will be required to bring their instrument to school for the photos, and they will need to wear the appropriate performance uniform for their ensemble. Ensembles requiring performance uniforms are Chamber Strings, Sister Helen Wind Symphony, Exultate, Volare and Secondary Rock Bands. Students are required to wear their middy for all other ensembles. If students are in ensembles with photos occurring at similar times, the photographers will wait to ensure students are able to be in all their respective ensemble photographs. The photo schedule is as follows:

Movie Magic

On Tuesday 16 May, the Music Department will be hosting a Movie Magic Concert in Eton Hall. This concert will feature Stradivari Strings, Chamber Strings, Jackson Wind Ensemble, Sister Helen Wind Symphony, Volare and Exultate, and will be a wonderful performance opportunity for our secondary ensembles. The concert will be held in Eton Hall, commencing at 6:30pm. There will be no cost for entry, and it is anticipated that the concert will finish by 8.00pm. Refreshments will be available for purchase, kindly provided by the Music Support Group, prior to the concert in Eton Courtyard. All students are asked to attend a warm-up and rehearsal in Eton Hall prior to the concert from 3:30pm-5:30pm. The students will remain at Eton Hall at the conclusion of the rehearsal with the option of pre-ordering dinner via TryBooking, to be facilitated by the Music Support Group. To pre-order dinner for your daughter, please follow this link. (Orders close on Thursday 11 May at 5:00pm). Students will be required to bring their respective performance uniforms to school on the day of the concert, which they may change into at the conclusion of the afternoon rehearsal. We look forward to having family and friends in attendance to support the students at this event!

Music Support Group – Next meeting

The next Music Support Group meeting will be held on Tuesday 6 June at 5:00pm in M’s Cafe. We encourage parents from both Primary and Secondary schools to become involved.

Brad King

We are looking forward to a great day at the event and invite the wider community to come along to support our Maggies. Further information for competitors and the Years 8 & 10 support cheer squad can be found on the respective POD pages:

• The POD - Secondary Cross Country (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• The POD - Year 8 (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• The POD - Year 10 (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)

Autumn Sport Term 2 Fixtures
Please be aware of the following adjustments to QGSSSA Autumn Sport. Upcoming dates:
• Thursday 18 May

Winter Sport Trials
The QGSSSA Winter Sport season is nearly upon us for 2023 and our sports are eagerly anticipating a great season ahead. QGSSSA Winter Sport involves competitions in the sports of Hockey, Netball, Tennis and Volleyball. Girls can select to participate in one of the sports listed and trial for representative teams that contest the QGSSSA competition season, that takes place on each Saturday morning of Term 3. It is expected that those girls selected within a representative team will be committed for the entire season. Girls who are unsuccessful in team selection are encouraged to continue to participate in the program in a development capacity.

QGSSSA WINTER FIXTURE

For further information regarding each sport, please check out their respective POD Pages:
• The POD - Secondary Hockey (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• The POD - Secondary Netball (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• The POD - Secondary Tennis (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• The POD - Secondary Volleyball (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)

Sporting Achievement
It’s with great pleasure that we can recognise the outstanding sport performances and representation of St Margaret’s students at a national and international level. I would like to highlight and congratulate the following student on her recent achievements:

• 2023 Sport Co-Captain Lucy Bourke (Year 12) had a busy Term 2 holiday period. Lucy was selected and attended the first training camp for the Rugby 7s Youth Commonwealth Games preliminary squad. She was also selected in the Queensland Cricket U18 State championship team. We are excited to see what opportunities await Lucy later this year.

We would like to continue to recognise the outstanding achievements and representation of students participating at a national level, outside of the school sport pathway. I look forward to continuing to hear from our community regarding such outstanding achievements. Please email myself: lknight@stmargarets.qld.edu.au

Latest Sport News and Information
For the latest sport news and information please check out the following Secondary School Sport POD Pages:

• Basketball (Autumn Sport) - (The POD - Secondary Basketball (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• Soccer (Autumn Sport) - (The POD - Secondary Football (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• Touch Football (Autumn Sport) - (The POD - Secondary Touch Football (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• Cross Country - The POD - Secondary Cross Country (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• Rowing - The POD - Secondary Rowing (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• Rhythmic Gymnastics - The POD - Secondary Rhythmic Gymnastics (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• Club Netball - The POD - Club Netball (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)
• Club Swimming - The POD - Club Swimming (stmargarets.qld.edu.au)

GO MAGGIES!
Lloyd Knight

Awarded by the Visual Art Captains, Georgia Barrett and Phoebe Zavros, Sofia's collaged artwork was chosen for her attention to detail and combined use of technqiues including sketching and collage.

A donation to the Building Fund will support the development of The Canopy Cafe, a new cafeteria that articulates to a beautiful and functional greenspace with outdoor seating that will benefit all primary and secondary students. While providing a much-improved catering facility to our students, this significant project embraces the school’s focus on sustainability and the environment and goes hand in hand with our students’ wellbeing.

A donation to the Scholarship Fund will, through needs-based bursaries, help us to support young women in accessing or completing a St Margaret’s education; an opportunity that some girls thought wasn’t possible.

Crucial to the success of the day are our Matching Donors, their philanthropic leadership encourages community spirit and participation, and we thank them for their generosity.

If you are interested in finding out more about being a Matching Donor for Giving Day this year, please do not hesitate to contact me on 07 3862 0884 or email foundation@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.

We are looking for volunteers to help us spread the word on the day by making some phone calls to members of our community from the Operations Room in M’s Café.

If you can spare an hour of your time to volunteer, we would be very grateful. The sign-up form can be accessed via this link: https://www.charidy.com/everygirl

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Professional Women’s Network Breakfast with guest speaker, Tracy Cooper-Lavery ('87) Director, Gallery and Visual Arts, HOTA

This week’s Professional Women's Network Breakfast with guest speaker, Tracy Cooper-Lavery ('87) Director, Gallery and Visual Arts, HOTA Home of the Arts, has been rescheduled to Tuesday 30 May 2023.

Tracy is an arts museum leader with a career spanning 25 years. Tracy will share her personal and professional experiences in the industry, her vision for the future for HOTA and discuss the business opportunities and challenges for visual arts in Queensland.

These events are excellent opportunities for you to attend with your daughter or to take a corporate table and host your colleagues or clients.

If you would like to join us for this event, a limited number of tickets are now available for this new date: https://www.trybooking.com/CFLDG

Date:  TUESDAY 30 MAY 2023

Time: 6.45am arrival for 7.00am - 8.45am

Location: Arts Centre Foyer, St Margaret's Anglican Girls' School, 11 Petrie Street, Ascot

Format: Sit down breakfast 

We also invite you to enjoy Barista Coffee from the Wolff Coffee Roasters cart, before and after the event!

Tickets: $85 Adult, $40 Student (Years 10-12/Tertiary).

Corporate tables: $850 (10 seats), includes company logo displayed on table and acknowledgement during event

We thank our series sponsors, Major Sponsor: Pitcher Partners, Associate Sponsors: Programmed Property Services and Wolff Coffee Roasters, and Supporting Sponsors: Downer, Clear Insurance, Westpac, O’Reilly Shaw Lawyers, Uniform Link and Move Recruitment Solutions.

Cocktails on the Creek

Tickets are now on sale to Cocktails on the Creek which will be held on Saturday 20 May at St Margaret's Rowing Shed.

This annual event is always a wonderful opportunity for our St Margaret's community, including parents, Old Girls and rowing friends, to gather in support of the rowing community.

The dress code for the night is 'comfortable with a touch of orange'.

Date: Saturday 20th May 2023

Time: 7.00pm to 10.00pm

Venue: St Margaret's Boat Shed, Sandgate Road, Albion

Tickets: $75 per person

Book: Tickets are available online via Try Booking https://www.trybooking.com/CHHJK

Aspiring Young Women’s Network Breakfast

Tickets are available for the second Aspiring Young Women's Network breakfast for 2023 with guest speaker Dr Emma Smith ('11). Parents are most welcome to attend these events with their daughters.

The Aspiring Young Women’s Network Breakfast (AYWN) Series provides an opportunity for secondary school students, from Years 9-12, to hear firsthand from alumni who have recently transitioned to university or their chosen career at these networking breakfast events.

Date:              Thursday 25 May March 2023

Time:             6:45am arrival for 7:00am start

Venue:           Arts Centre Foyer, St Margaret’s AGS

Tickets:          $38 Adults/Students

Book:              https://www.trybooking.com/CGQVZ

We thank our Series Sponsor, Cressbrook Station Pastoral.

Thank you for your support of St Margaret’s.

Lara Pickering