eNews Archive Issue 2 - 1 February 2018

I am sure, if you are a Secondary parent, you have already heard of our new Mobile Phone Policy. In my address to the students, I endeavoured to explain why we had changed our policy. Last year, I went to an International Congress of Principals in South Africa where I heard Dr Adam Habib, Professor of Political Geography and The Vice Chancellor of the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg speak. He claimed that ’Our young people have never been so insecure/uncertain as they have been since the 1950s’. He was talking about most of our student body – particularly anyone born after the year 2000. It appears that a large part of this insecurity is influenced by the relationship of young people with social media; many feel they need to be constantly connected because of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). The demands of social media are high, requiring constant checking of what is happening and what people are saying online. What happens on social media in my view doesn’t make young people feel safe because at any time the reputation and the identity a young person is creating for themselves can be damaged by one inappropriate posting of an image or participation in or exclusion from an online conversation. Whether there is cyberbullying involved, there is little doubt in my mind that this insecurity leads to increased anxiety.

It is for this reason that we changed our Mobile Phone Policy this year so that Secondary students are unable to have their mobile phones on them. For Primary students, the policy remains the same as 2017; phones are collected at the beginning of the day and put in the mobile phone box and taken to the Primary Office.

However, for the Secondary students, once the student enters the school grounds, the mobile phone needs to be locked away immediately in their school locker for the duration of the school day. The phones can only be accessed at the locker during the school day at morning tea and lunch to check and at no other time, otherwise they are confiscated and will have to be collected from the Head of Year Office at the end of the day.

I must say I have been impressed so far with the students who have resisted the urge to check their mobile phones.

With our last Mobile Phone Policy, the school was trying to educate students to use them responsibly; with this 2018 policy we are trying to educate students to use their mobile phone in a limited way (as well as responsibly) and the limitations we have placed on their use will assist with this. I would also encourage parents to rethink their data plans and ensure that their daughter’s phones have limited data. It is the use of social media applications which rely on data which causes the most problems – not the phone call or even the text.

While addressing the students about mobile phones, I told the students about their education being about learning the most vital life skill which provides the foundation of future success - self-regulation. The ability to self-regulate is the key not only to success at school but also life. It is our job as adults, parents and teachers to help our students develop this skill; to self-regulate and mature to a point where they can manage inner thoughts and feelings enough to override animal instinct and programmed insecurities. In the case of adults limiting mobile phone access at school and data usage for students, these boundaries help regulate the practices of young people with a view to them developing over time the discipline to self-regulate their use.

Ros Curtis 

Many of us have seen Turia in the media as a woman who has beaten the odds and triumphed over adversity. She has embraced positivity and gratefulness for people and experiences in her life.

One of the things that Turia speaks about is surrounding yourself with projects, priorities and things that make you feel productive, focused or energetic. Those are the habits and hobbies that you need to keep in your life. The other habits and hobbies that you don’t get benefit from should be cleared out. Here are some of her suggestions for building positivity and goals for the year:

1. What habits or activities could help you achieve the things you want this year?

   Through Form classes in Years 7 and 8, and with Academic Advisors in Years 9 to 12, students should now be setting their goals and working through how they are going to get there. Students should be setting study schedules (or habits) to help them reach their academic goals. They might choose to get in the habit of asking at least one question of the teacher each lesson. Whatever the goal they choose, it is important to persevere with the plan until it becomes a habit.

2. What do you need to say NO to?

   This can be really difficult for a teenager, but an example of this might be for students to perhaps think about keeping their social media away from their study space. Multi-tasking is difficult (impossible) so leaving their phone well away from the study desk can allow for full concentration and learning to occur without distraction. Having social media open while studying is not a productive habit.

3. What helps you feel focused and productive?
   This can be as simple as having a visible plan for assessment – keeping an assessment calendar stuck on the wall above the desk. Adding to that calendar deadlines for progression on those assessment pieces can also really work. Sharing this with parents and teachers can also help keep students accountable for their decisions around progression points they have set for themselves.

I encourage all students to think about what habits they wish to form, and which habits they could think about changing.

Karen Gorrie 

Within a school community, we have such a variety of human resources available to us all. Perhaps something new your family could participate in are our All-Ages Sunday Services? These Services appear in the calendar as “Young Families’ Services” but are absolutely opportunities for all to come and gather in a relaxed setting, where tradition meets today! The first of these is on Sunday 25 February at 9am in our School Chapel.

Upcoming Services

Family Services

Years 7/8: Wednesday 21 February, 6:30pm in the School Chapel

Years 9/10: Tuesday 1 May, 6:30pm at St Mark’s Anglican Church, Clayfield

Years 11/12: Thursday 17 May, 6:30pm at St Augustine’s, Hamilton

Other

Thursday 8 February: Year 10 Chapel, 8:20am

Monday 12 February: Year 6 Leaders’ Induction, 8:30am

Wednesday 14 February: Ash Wednesday Service, 9:50am, PHSC

Sunday 25 February: All-Ages Sunday Service, 9am

Wednesday 28 February: Boarders’ Mid-Term Service, 6pm

Prayer for this Week

Have you ever noticed how the letters of the word “Listen” are the same as the letters of the word “Silent”? Sometimes, it is true that we can be noisy listeners! Encouragement, answers and assistance might be offered and come our way but we are still chattering inside (or outside!) about the problem itself or we are focussing only on ourselves and not truly on others. Sometimes, big decisions can only be made in silence, by listening and having a chat with God. We can welcome the Spirit to calm our hearts and minds … invite Jesus to walk beside us in our light and dark moments … then in the silence, we may begin to listen. In listening, we may begin to Hear!

God of the silent hearts and minds, in the moments of our daily lives, may we be quietly aware of your presence. As our days fill with noise and chatter, may we learn to listen to your calm and your voice.

You have gifted us with possibility. May we cherish our strengths, may we nurture our hopes and dreams, and wherever there is success for one, may we each celebrate with joy.

God, open our listening hearts and minds to new discoveries, to the pursuit of wisdom, the excitement of scientific discovery and research opportunities. But most of all, may we listen to the hearts and voices of others as we build community.

Amen.

With every blessing on you and your week ahead,

The Reverend Nicki Colledge 

Organisation and the worry of getting lost in their new school were high on the list but in saying that, girls were comforted by all the people who are here to help them settle in. Girls naturally shared some of their emotional challenges, homesickness mainly, and that they no longer sleep near their parents or siblings, yet they also showed enormous resilience telling themselves that it will be ok once they get used to it. Quite a number commented on how much fun it has been making new friends and knowing that the girls around them will be with them for the next six years.

Most of the boarders come from afar, hence the reason for boarding, so it’s only fair to say that their surroundings are still completely different to that which they are used to. This, in addition to their busy school day, only proves how tough they have had to be. Each of these new girls has climbed a mountain since their arrival and we are proud to have them as part of our boarding community.

Valuable insight was gained though reading their responses. For example, one of the Year 7s noted that boarding is very different as she was the “only kid on the station” at home. The rural and remote landscape is so vastly different to our leafy hilltop habitat, leaving us with much to learn from these girls and to acknowledge their courageous immersion into St Margaret’s life. A lovely line from another Year 7 about her start to boarding, “It’s fun, silly, sometimes cramped and crazy, but it’s just like a family in a sense”.

This weekend is our Semester 1 ‘Closed Weekend’ where the focus is firmly upon building bonds within groups and across year levels. All our new boarders will be looked after by their buddies, the Seniors and the entire Boarding community. We also wish the Year 7s well on their upcoming camp, where boarders and day girls will come together and strengthen their connections.

Dimity Harris 

He has inspired many teachers and students world-wide with his innovative and dynamic Maths videos that have attracted 100,000 subscribers. The theme of this Australia Day and his acceptance speech was ‘Everyone, Every story’. Eddie captured this theme in the context of education when he said, ‘School is about so much more than learning facts; it’s about fashioning citizens and giving them a passion to make the world a better place’. At school, our students begin to identify what they are passionate about through the subjects and co-curricular activities they engage in.

Over the past couple of weeks, a number of students and parents have been coming to the school to have conversations about the subjects they are studying. Each one of these conversations highlights that students enter subjects with an interest or sometimes because of something they heard. Their true passion for a subject does not form until they begin their study and understand how information connects to the real world and the people in it. To assist this development, I encourage you to engage in conversations about their subjects, the topics they are studying and the types of careers that may stem from a subject. These conversations can help inform subject selection and develop their passion over time. Another source of information to assist conversations at home are the Curriculum Handbooks.

As parents, you are sharing the joys and challenges of your daughter’s academic experience which is a unique story for each person. If you would like to discuss subject selection or academic progress, please contact the school. There are a number of people you can talk to including Heads of Faculty, the Dean of Studies or me. It’s also useful to remember one of Eddie Woo’s final messages, ‘passion isn’t something we follow, passion is something we form, over time’.

Jo Butterworth 

Let me tell you a story about learning! I have been in my job as the Dean of Studies for 2 years and I am embarking on my third year. People will tell you that the more experience you have with something, the easier it becomes. Well, I am not sure where I am going wrong, why is it not getting easier, why do I always feel like I have so much to do! I don’t get A’s for all the things I do, just ask Ms Curtis.

I have spoken at Academic Assemblies before and talked about Grit, Perseverance, Risk Taking, Failing Forward, as yes for some of you I can see and almost hear your eyes rolling back in your heads. I get it, you try and still get it wrong, you organise yourself and still feel out of control…so what is the answer?

To be honest, I am not really sure, but what is working for me at the moment is understanding that learning is hard. It is meant to be. Each year new challenges and changes occur that mess with our systems. You don’t just magically one day wake up and know the answers to everything, and you don’t always get the answer right.

So, I am going to step off my soap box and talk about my learning, about Academic Awards and the Awards Process.

Today was to be the first assembly for the revised criteria for Academic Awards. Yes, the change from Academic Full Pockets and Half Pockets to just an Academic Pocket. To get one of these awards your GPA needed to be 13.5 or above. The ELT spent many meetings discussing this change, one that we did not take lightly. We looked at previous year’s data and calculated many GPA’s and the day came and the answer for us was, the GPA had to be 13.5.

We had done our homework and even went the extra mile to go deeper. But like with all learning, in comes the feedback. Feedback is not always gentle, and more often than not it means more work. I had students give me their feedback, teachers even chipped in because we know they love a good bit of constructive feedback, and then I had to go back to my work and look at where we possibly may have gone wrong.

This is the point where I know I am right. Learning is hard and that is OK, because all we really want to do is our best. Therefore, I had to go back over my calculations, back over the criteria and talk it out again with the ELT and basically I had to start over again. I redrafted, edited, check the calculations, compared to other schools and finally we had revised Academic Awards Policy, because here I go girls… we got it wrong!!! Gasp if you want, so today we are going to be presenting Academic Pocket Awards to girls who have a GPA 13 or above not 13.5. We are also going to be presenting Progress Certificates to students who had a GPA improvement of one whole GPA point from Semester 1 to Semester 2 in 2017.

Congratulations to the girls who are receiving awards today and for those who are not, maybe you have learnt something more about the learning process from my story today.

YEAR 8

Progress Certificates: Arabella Burke, Elise Challis, Lily Coletz, Alexandria Ellard, Imogen Elliott, Brooke Lane, Jacqueline Ma, Emma Pickering, Grace Reilly, Mia Reinhardt, Lauren Russell, Grace Shearer, Sophie Sorensen, Elyne Tighe

Progress Certificate and Academic Pocket: Audrey Denton

Academic Pocket: Kate Bloomfield, Miyan Chia, Rachel Fitzgerald, Ruby Greenup, Bella Griffiths, Georgie Herring, Kaitlyn Higgins, Eleanor Jewell, Holly Marchant, Emi McBride, Isla McWilliam, Emily Millar, Millie Nucifora, Faith Phillips, Lily Shann, Ella Woods

YEAR 9

Progress Certificates: Alexandra Butterfield, Francesca Hirschfeld, Greta Kasprowicz, Kaci-Len Loban, Isabella Shepherd, Georgina Winter, Morgan Wright

Progress Certificate and Academic Pocket: Hannah Baird

Academic Pocket: Paige Bastian, Zara Campbell, Estella Caro, Hayley Forster, Hanna Gustafsson, Yolanda Hunt, Ashleigh Pomeroy, Celia Quinn, Sofia Turner Garcia, Ashleigh Witenden, Eva Young

YEAR 10

Progress Certificates: Aimee Boylen, Charlotte Cattanach, Emily Curr, Jemma Goudge, Pia Malouf, Tyeena Pang, Lauren Toone

Progress Certificate and Academic Pocket: Sarah Mitic, Charlotte Willersdorf

Academic Pocket: Isobel Barry, Eva Campbell, Leilani Chia, Sophia Colledge, Rose Couper, Brenna Cox, Lucinda Davidson, Margot Davis, Cyrah Finlayson, Zali Fisher, Sophie Gerlach-Zuch, Jazmin Goudge, Indigo Hill, Alexandra Hope, Rebecca Lauder, Bianca Licina, Eloise Matyear, Poppy McGown, Alice O'Driscoll, Emily Pitt, Alyssa Renaut, Amelia Simpson, Tamika Tran, Imogen Tsien, Isabel Vittone-Taylor, Harriet Warby

YEAR 11

Progress Certificates: Nina Conomos, Man Kei (Keila) Lei, Skye Littlewood, Mei-Yen (Annita) Lu, Imogen Morison, Grace Solomon-Innes, Orika Tsukamoto, Anthea Williams, Sze Chai (Keiki) Yuen

Progress Certificate and Academic Pocket: Ji A Kim

Academic Pocket: Kelsey Booth, Isabella Corby-Bakkelund, Sophie Cosgrove, Elizabeth Fowler, Lucy Gaspar, Bridie Hunter, Ella Leavey, Georgia Marshall, Hilary McKie, Samantha Morgan, Megan Roxburgh, Emily Woods

YEAR 12

Progress Certificates: Madeleine Brady, Georgia Curr, Christine Dawanincura, Olivia De Pasquale, Lara Doyle, Paris Hall, Shimona King, Kate Kinross, Anastasia Kruse, Phoebe Leach, Luca Masnata, Lauren Masters, Lauren McDonnell, Millicent McKendry, Aoife O'Sullivan, Leah Reiher, Lily Shugg, Isabelle Simpson, Chor Kiu (Trinity) Tse, Annabelle Warner, Isobel Waugh, Ziyao (Yuna) Yu

Progress Certificate and Academic Pocket: Lillith Bartlett, Kealey Griffiths, Hannah O'Brien, Georgia Sprague, Madeline Thornton

Academic Pockett: Penelope Crothers, Jiangwan (Serina) He, Yi Tung (Selina) Kwok, Yang (Tracy) Li, Natasha Licina, Xanthe Lowe-Brown, Jordan Small

Chloe Su

Continuous Reporting and Academic Mentoring

Much has been written about the importance of data in schools and how we use it to inform teaching and learning. As educators, we are aware of the impact assessment and effective feedback can have on individual students; however, we are also aware of the fact that many students do not use or do not know how to use this feedback to assist them to improve their learning and its outcomes. Therefore, there is a need to assist and educate students to use this data and feedback. Tucker (2015) writes about the need to educate students to use data to personalise their learning, by ensuring data/feedback is ongoing, informative and about the student’s own needs. 2018 sees the full implementation of Continuous Reporting across the school and the introduction of Academic Advisors for students in Years 9-12.

In educational settings, students are provided with feedback that can be either performance oriented (grades and comparison against others) or mastery oriented (focussing on developing and improving skills). The process of Continuous Reporting provides students with a hybrid of performance and mastery orientation to enable students to focus on individual improvement, to enable personal evaluation of results, as well as giving the student responsibility and ownership of their learning. To enhance the process of Continuous Reporting students can view their school-based data and teacher feedback in Learning Analytics to assist them to transform the grades and feedback provided through Continuous Reporting into a useful tool to assist learning.

Through Learning Analytics, the students will be able to see and reflect on their results and feedback to set goals for their learning path. This portal will be supported by an Academic Advising model between student and Form teacher (Years 7 and 8) and an Academic Advisor (Years 9-12) to support the girls academically and build a base to allow for successful learning and increased self-worth. The outcome of this initiative is to greatly improve student educational experiences. Through the student ownership of school data, the mentoring from a staff member and the increasing conversation between teachers/students and student/parent, we aim to increase the girl’s learning capacity and enable them to gauge their own learning.

Information to access Continuous Reporting

We are currently in the process of entering all assessment data into the reporting system in preparation for the roll out of Continuous Reporting for Years 5 to 12. All information about assessments and due dates will be available on Parent Lounge on 23 February. After this date, parents will be able to log into Parent Lounge to view assessment details.

This week at the Parent Information Evening I shared details about how to access Continuous Reporting through Parent Lounge. Please click here (PDF 587.6KB) to view details.

If you have any questions about reporting, please email: ndevlin@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.

Nicole Devlin 

These outside professionals not only offer a spiralling curriculum but, have expertise in the knowledge of the girls’ developmental stages and needs. We have found that the students respond well and welcome the opportunity to hear from others in the community who are not their teachers or parents. Heads of Year and Form class teachers have an opportunity then to discuss issues which arise from these workshops during Form class and Year Level meetings. Examples of topics explored in this education program are health - growing and changing, alcohol and drug use, relationships, personal nutrition, sexual health, adolescent and mental health issues, and social media to name a few.

In the comings weeks, Years 7 to 12 students will be learning to fine tune their social and community building skills to ensure they have a great year ahead.

Year 7 Camp

The Year 7 Camp will be held at The Mapleton Centre in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland from Monday 5 February to Wednesday 7 February, organised by QCCC. Making new friends and enhancing cohesion as a year group is important for all students and one of the main aims of this camp is to give the Year 7 girls the opportunity to interact widely with all their peers in a fun and challenging environment. As well as developing interpersonal skills, the camp is structured to promote individual self-esteem and enhance teamwork within the year level.

Nikki Townsend 

I know the parents came away from the classroom presentations well informed and found it a very useful way to start the year. Some parents requested information about my presentation. Outlined below are the key points I addressed:

Data informs our decision-making processes

The dawn of the 21st Century brought exciting times for teachers and students as the educational field embarked on using evidence and research to guide teaching and learning. In the 70’s, educational research began to move from a review of literature to the notion of meta-analysis. This means meta-analysis effects in each study is converted to a common measure (effect size) such that overall effects can be quantified, interpreted and compared. Early this century, John Hattie synthesised data to identify influences on learning and to rank the approach according to the impact that it has. He identified this as Visible Learning.

Since that time, and at the time of co-writing his most recent book, Visible Learning for Literature, he identified that, “1200 meta-analyses with over 70,000 studies and 300 million students” have been conducted (Fisher, Frey and Hattie, p.5). Hattie acknowledges that if the impact is over 0.4, then it is in a zone of a desired effect and has a significant impact on the students learning. It is these results that inform and provide evidence for programs we select and use in our classrooms. On a smaller scale, data is also collected in our classrooms by teachers on our students. This data is reviewed and used to inform our practice and support for individual students.

Teachers make a difference

Positive relationships between teacher and students have strong effect size (.72) and are built on trust. The relationship ensuring high trust in the classroom is so that mistakes are welcomed as opportunities to learn (.72), to provide feedback (.73), as feedback feeds on error.

Effective feedback answers three questions:

• Feed Up – What am I going to achieve?
• Feed Back – How much progress have I made so far?
• Feed Forward – What could I do to next improve?

Closing the gap between where the student is and where they are aiming to be, leads to the power of feedback. Feedback is embedded through the following:

• Productive failure – opportunity to learn

• Desirable difficulties enhance learning – challenging is interesting
• The learning pit – pit of confusion

Throughout the year, students will be challenged by the learning offered in each of the classrooms. They will be encouraged to acknowledge their confusion, doubt, admit and identify errors. Alongside them, the teachers offer specific feedback to support improvement, provide affirmation and model that it is acceptable to be challenged by learning, to learn from mistakes and to take risks in learning.

Our teachers are experts

The expertise of teachers relates to moment by moment decisions or teachable moments, their skill in knowing what students now know and how to move their learning forward. For example, providing them with explicit learning intentions and success criteria near the beginning of a series of lessons (.77) and teacher expectations (.43). The teachers at St Margaret’s have high expectations of each of their students as they facilitate learning. By communicating a learning intention, teachers share these expectations with students. Teachers aim to articulate learning intention and success criteria at the beginning of a series of lessons so that students can answer and ask these questions:

1. What am I learning today?
2. Why am I learning this?
3. How will I know that I learned it?

What is Learning?

Learning is the process of developing sufficient surface knowledge to then move to deeper understanding, ensuring a balance of surface and deep learning (.71).

Surface Learning

Through carefully constructed experiences, students explore new concepts and make connections to procedural skills and vocabulary that give shape to develop conceptual understandings.

In 2017, we introduced programs that address surface learning and each have over (0.4) effect size and are within the zone of desired effect for significant impact. These programs include:

• Big Write
• VCOP – Vocabulary
• Mastery Spelling
• Accelerated Reading
• Phonics Program (P-2)
• Comprehension programs
• PRIME mathematics – introductory level of learning

Deep Learning

Through the solving of rich high-cognitive tasks and rigorous discussion, students make connections among conceptual ideas. Teachers encourage learners to plan, investigate and elaborate on their learning.

The learning pit is an analogy for deep learning. That is, a learner starts comfortably on the sidelines, as the learning becomes more difficult the learner moves into a pit of the unknown. It is not until the learner makes connections, thinks deeply about the learning and reflects upon it with self and others, that significant learning takes place. It is after this point the learner can begin to make her way out of the pit.

In summary, by drawing on the findings of visible learning, teachers see “learning through the eyes of students, and students see themselves as their own teachers” (Hattie, 2016 p. 11).

Updated Parent Handbook

Earlier this week you received pages (term dates) from the updated Parent Handbook. This updated Handbook can be viewed by clicking on this link.

Angela Drysdale

Dear Parents

My name is Cathy Cox and I am the new Assistant Head of Primary. As the year progresses, I will be communicating with you in relation to the School’s learning goals.

My first job is to inform you that we will be holding Parent-Teacher interviews in Week 4. More detailed information regarding times and booking process will follow in next week’s eNews.

I look forward to getting to know you throughout the year.

Cathy Cox 

Music Ensemble Rehearsals have now commenced

Music Ensembles have commenced rehearsals for 2018. Please see attached Ensemble Timetable (PDF 160.1KB) for rehearsal times. Please note that there are some small changes to rehearsal times for 2018. It is not too late for new students to join ensembles. If they are interested in being involved, they are encouraged to see Mr King or Ms Brennan as to what ensembles might best suit them.

Music Camp

The St Margaret’s Music Department is very excited to be offering a Music Camp to students involved in the Music Co-curricular Program. The camp will be held on the weekend of 2-4 March at the Gold Coast Recreation Centre and is open to students in Years 7-12. The Music Camp is an excellent opportunity for girls to not only improve musically, but also connect and build relationships with other girls in the Music Program. There will be a lot of rehearsal opportunities as well as social activities to encourage interactions across the different year levels. A letter is attached (PDF 128.5KB) with further details. Please register via Flexischools no later than Friday 9 February.

Music Staff News

Mr Sean Mackenzie has been appointed to St Margaret’s to teach lower brass students, assist with the Year 5 Band Program and conduct the Stage Band. Mr Mackenzie has taught at the Qld Academy in Toowong and at Clairveaux Mackillop College and currently conducts a music ensemble called Brisbane Brass Juniors consisting of students in Years 4–10. We look forward to having Mr Mackenzie as a member of the St Margaret’s Music Program!

Boarder Music Practice to commence next week

Boarder Music Practice is a program offered to boarders who are undertaking private music lessons and will begin from the start of Week 3. Boarders can sign up for 30-minute practice sessions that occur between 6:00pm – 8:00pm Monday to Thursday evenings in the Darnell Music rooms. Boarders are required to sign up for a minimum of two sessions per week. A Boarder Musician Concert will be held in Term 2 and Term 4, and these concerts will be wonderful opportunities for the boarders to showcase their developing musical abilities.

Music Support Group

The St Margaret’s Music Support Group is a committee of dedicated parents who meet regularly to support the girls who participate in the School’s Music Program. The Music Support Group organises and assists with refreshments at school concerts and fundraises to purchase a range of instruments/equipment to enhance the Music Department’s resources. The first meeting for 2018 will be held on Tuesday 13 February at 5:00pm in the Primary Music Room (second floor of Chaseley). Parents from both the Primary and Secondary Schools are welcome to attend.

Brad King 

For others, it will be to have a go and participate and enjoy being active. Whatever these goals are you can be sure that there will be large support base to assist all girls in achieving their goals and dreams for 2018. This includes parents, coaches and teachers who support and volunteer in many ways across the sports, resulting in a unique sporting culture of teamwork, persistence and commitment.

Sports Trials and Training

All girls have the opportunity to join one or more of the many sports that are on offer in Terms 1 and 2. Trials have commenced for all year levels and will continue into Week 3. Please view the Term 1 Training Schedule (PDF 90.8KB) for training days and times.

Represent the District or Region

Students are invited to represent the Independent North District, City District for those students turning 12 in 2018 and the Metropolitan North Region in various sports throughout 2018.

The nomination process involves students nominating through the Sports Department via the online registration forms. Please nominate by clicking on the links below for the Term 1 sports:

Metropolitan North Swimming – 10 – 12 Years & 13 – 19 Years 

Team Sports – AFL, Basketball, Hockey, Netball, Football (Soccer), Softball, Rugby League, Tennis, Touch Football, Volleyball and Squash 

Once nominated, students and parents will be emailed the details of the district/regional trials as well as the necessary paperwork required to trial.

Interhouse Swimming Carnival

The annual Secondary School Interhouse Swimming Carnival is coming up on Wednesday 15 February. The focus for our Interhouse carnvial is on enjoyment and participation. All Houses choose a theme for the day and nominations for events in all age groups will be conducted in House Meetings on Thursday 8 February.

Where: Valley Pool

Who: All Years 7-12 students

Time: 9:30am – 2:15pm, buses depart St Margaret’s at 8:40am

Transport: All students are to come to School and meet in their Year groups at 8:30am. Buses will depart at 8:40am and return to school at the conclusion of the carnival at 2:15pm.

What to wear: House shirt, socks with PE skirt/shorts. School togs and House swimming cap are compulsory when swimming, however the House swim shirt is optional.

Nutrition: Students are to bring their own morning tea and lunch. Students are also able to purchase food from the pool café.

Sun safety: All students are to have hats and apply sunscreen before the carnival and during the event.

Parents and families are very welcome to attend. Event information will be available in next week’s eNews.

Water Polo

Last weekend signalled the commencement of the second half of the Water Polo season with all teams raring to go to continue their good form. Our U18 Blue team is currently in first place, U18 Brown 9th, U15 Blue 3rd, U15 Brown 4th and U13 Blue 4th.

Games for this weekend are as follows:

U13 Blue at Stuartholme – 10:00am

U15 Blue at Stuartholme – 12:00pm

U15 Brown at Stuartholme – 1:20pm

U18 Blue at St Rita’s – 12:40pm

U18 Brown BYE

Congratulations to…

Meg Mettam (Year 9) who recently played in the U15 National Cricket Championships in Adelaide and was selected in the Australian Cricket Academy Squad.

Tennis Support Group Annual General Meeting

The Tennis Support Group’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 12 February, 6pm in M’s Café. All welcome to attend.

Helen Lobegeiger

St Margaret's Club Netball
St Margaret’s Club Netball has teams from U8/9 and all ages through to Seniors participating against other clubs in the Downey Park Netball Association played on Saturdays, with training either before or after school once a week.

Club Netball is a great way to learn or improve your netball skills while meeting and forming close bonds with other school students and families. St Margaret’s Club Netball has qualified, experienced coaches, and in 2017 had many successes including our Intermediate team being elevated two grades throughout the season and taking out the Premiership and our U11A team coming Runners Up.

Our theme is ‘Fun and Achievement’ with emphasis on each and every player getting the most out of their experience. Please click on the links below for more information regarding trials, dates and sign-on. St Margaret’s Netball also competes in the QGSSSA competition against other schools with trials in Term 2 and matches played during Term 3.

St Margaret’s Club Netball Registration 2018 (PDF 374KB)

St Margaret’s Club Netball Sign-on Information 2018 (PDF 83KB)

Gayle Coutts

Professional Women’s Networking Breakfast

Wednesday 14 March 2018 with guest speaker Roberta (Bobbie) Brazil

Solicitor, High Court of Australia (1998)

Chairman, Land and Water Australia (2001 – 2009)

Chairman, Australian Landcare Council (2005 – 2008)

Director of Heritage Building Society, Director of Condamine Catchment Management Association

Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister (Regional Women’s Advisory Council)

Chancellor, University of Southern Queensland (2006 – 2014), Deputy Chancellor (1995 – 2001)

Officer in the general division of the Order of Australia (AO)

More information about this exciting event to come. Tickets on sale soon….!

P&F General Meetings 2018

The P&F invites the school community to share your views and ideas at the General Meetings, held in the Arts Centre Foyer from 6:30pm on the following dates:

Monday 26 February (Annual General Meeting)

Monday 14 May

Monday 30 July

Monday 29 October

P&F Event Dates 2018

Friday 2 March - Mothers’ Luncheon

Wednesday 28 March - Father Daughter Breakfast

Friday 15 June - Fathers’ Dinner

Sunday 12 August – Mother Daughter High Tea

Saturday 8 September - Race Day

ST MARGARET’S P&F ASSOCIATION INC

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Notice is given that the Annual General Meeting of the St Margaret’s P&F Association Inc. is to be held on Monday 26 February 2018 in the Arts Centre Foyer at 6:30pm.

NOMINATION FOR POSITION

Any one member of the P&F shall be at liberty to nominate any other member to serve as an officer or other member of the Management Committee. If you are interested in joining the P&F Association, all positions of the Management Committee will be declared vacant at the AGM and a new committee for 2018 will be elected. Nominations can be made by downloading and completing a Nomination for Position form (PDF 149.8KB).

All nomination forms must be returned to P&F@stmargarets.qld.edu.au or via School Reception by Friday 9 February 2018.

2018 P&F Mothers’ Luncheon

All Mothers and friends of St Margaret's Anglican Girls School are invited to attend our annual Mothers' Luncheon.

To view the formal invitation, and for more information on the event, please click here (PDF 1.2MB).

Date: Friday 2 March 2018

Time: 11:30am arrival (for a 12noon start), 3:00pm finish

Venue: Hotel Grand Chancellor, 23 Leichardt Street, Brisbane

RSVP: Tuesday 21 February 2018 (unless SOLD OUT prior)

Tickets: $100 per person - Includes drink on arrival, two course lunch and drinks with lunch, followed by a cash bar.

For those organising tables - maximum table capacity is strictly 10.

Enquiries: Angela Pratt - 0413 701 407 and Anthea Damman - 0403 846 258 or please email antheadamman@hotmail.com

New families are encouraged to attend!

This event provides a great opportunity for Mothers to reconnect and introduce their friends to the St Margaret’s community. We look forward to seeing you there and please feel free to bring a friend.

Fancy making a night of it? Accommodation is available at a discounted rate. To make a booking, please contact the Hotel Grand Chancellor directly, or visit www.grandchancellorhotels.com/hotel-grand-chancellor-brisbane  and enter SMAGS in the special code section.

Tickets sales are only available through Flexischools: www.flexischools.com

Old Girls' Events 2018

OGA Annual Brunch – Sunday 3 June

10 Year Reunion – Class of 2008 – Friday 27 July

20 Year Reunion – Class of 1998 – Friday 27 July

30 Year Reunion – Class of 1988 – Friday 27 July

40 Year Reunion – Class of 1978 – Saturday 28 July

50 Year Reunion – Class of 1968 – Saturday 28 July

60 Year Reunion – Class of 1958 – Saturday 28 July

Chapel Service and Morning Tea – Sunday 29 July

60+ Year Reunion – Monday 30 July

AGM – Tuesday 27 November

Lara Pickering

Questions to ask yourself

• Do you like the feel of the university?
• Are the courses right for you?
• Do you feel comfortable with the facilities and the lecturers?
• Can you see yourself studying here for the next few years?

University Open Days
Australian Catholic University (ACU)
28 July 2018 (Saturday) - Open Day Brisbane, 9am-2pm

Bond University (BOND)
28 July 2018 (Saturday) - Twilight Open Day Gold Coast

CQ University (CQU)
9 August 2018 (Thursday) - Brisbane Open Day, 3pm-6pm
11 August (Saturday) - Bundaberg and Mackay

Griffith University (GRIFFITH)
12 August 2018 - Open Day Gold Coast, Nathan and South Bank Campuses

James Cook University (JCU)
19 August 2018 (Sunday) - Townsville Campus
26 August 2018 (Sunday) - Cairns Campus

Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
29 July 2018 (Sunday) - Open Day Gardens Point (City) campus

Southern Cross University (SCU)
29 July - Gold Coast Open Day, 10am – 2pm

The University of Queensland (UQ)
5 August (Sunday) - St Lucia campus, 9:00am - 3:00pm
19 August (Sunday) - Gatton campus, 9:00am - 3:00pm

University of Southern Queensland (USQ)
19 August (Sunday) - USQ Toowoomba
1 September (Saturday) - USQ Ipswich
7 September (Friday) - USQ Springfield

UMAT
UMAT is developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) on behalf of the UMAT Consortium universities. The Test is used specifically to assist with the selection of students into the medicine, dentistry and health science degree programs at undergraduate level at the universities listed on this website: https://umat.acer.edu.au/.

Registrations for UMAT 2018 are now open. Copies of the Information Booklet can be downloaded from the UMAT website. Please note that before registering for the Test, students are required to carefully read the UMAT 2018 Information Booklet, which will only be available online from the UMAT website.

UMAT 2018 Key Dates:

Registrations opened first week in December 2017

Registrations close Friday 1 June 2018, 5pm AEST

Late registrations close Friday 15 June 2018, 5pm AEST

Applications for Special Testing Conditions close Friday 15 June 2018

UMAT Test date Wednesday 25 July 2018

Results released Mid-September 2018

UMAT is only available once every year. If you do not register by the due date, you will have to wait until 2019 to sit the Test.

UMAT Preparation
MedEntry: If you are interested in studying Medicine or a career in health that requires sitting the UMAT Test, visit the MedEntry website for assistance in your preparation: www.MedEntry.edu.au. MedEntry is the only government accredited training organisation for UMAT preparation.

MedStart: is an organisation that assists students to prepare for UMAT. Courses are available in Brisbane. Check the MedStart website: http://www.medstart.com.au/#home for more details.

NIE - UMAT Workshops

Along with the 8 or 10 UMAT books our Premium, Platinum and Concession courses include the intensive one-day UMAT preparation and training workshop. Our workshops are designed to cover every UMAT construct (previously known as UMAT sections), the various types of questions to be encountered and how to tackle them, and then to check where you are at with respect to UMAT-specific study, throwing a full-blown UMAT NIE practice test at you. How will you fare? How have you been going? Which UMAT style questions still need work? Details on workshop dates are available from: https://www.nie.edu.au/umat-courses/umat-workshops

KEY DATES:
University Open Days 2018
Please refer to the information above

Friday 11 and Saturday 12 May 2018
The National Careers and Employment EXPO (Brisbane Convention Centre)

Friday 1 June
UMAT Registrations close 5pm

Wednesday 25 July
UMAT Exam

Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 July 2018
The 37th annual Tertiary Studies Expo (TSXPO), Australia's largest tertiary studies expo, offers a unique opportunity for anyone interested in starting, changing or upgrading their career! Featuring many local, interstate and overseas education providers, student services and support agencies. Don't miss this great opportunity to map out your future, all in the one location! 8am – 4pm, RICC Brisbane Showgrounds. A great opportunity for students to collect information from a huge number of exhibitors.

Elizabeth Johnston