eNews Archive Issue 11 - 26 April 2019

We finished the last term well, and it was great to see a number of fathers of our Secondary students attend the annual P and F Father/Daughter Breakfast. On the last day of term for the students we also celebrated the Year 11 Dinner Dance, with students and their partners attending the Greek Club for a fun night with friends. Thank you to all who participated and were involved in the organisation of these successful events in our school calendar.

At the end of last term, Ms Curtis emailed all families about her long service leave this term, and we wish her well for this much deserved break. Therefore, until the end of term, there are a few changes to the structure of the Educational Leadership Team, with myself as Acting Principal, Nicole Devlin as Acting Deputy Principal, and Tom McCormick as Acting Dean of Studies. Louise Brown will step into the role of Acting Head of Faculty -Sociocultural Studies.

We welcome (back) John Walsh who will be taking some History and RVE classes, and Jess Marrinan who will be taking Angela Bowen’s music classes as she has taken maternity leave.

This year, the school commemorated ANZAC Day on Wednesday, and we marked the occasion with a special assembly. It was time where we reflected and remembered all Australians who served and died in war, and on operational service past and present.

I would like to take this opportunity to inform the school community about our Day/Boarder weekend beginning on the afternoon of 30 May. As part of our commitment to broaden the horizons of our students, each year we add an extra student free day in Term 2 to allow our day students the opportunity to visit our Boarding families and learn about life in rural and regional Australia. We usually add this day to our Labour Day weekend; however, due to a late Easter, we have added this day on 31 May. Many thanks must go to our Boarder families for opening up their homes to our day students to visit, and for their ongoing hospitality and support of this event. More information about this weekend will come from our Head of Boarding.

Karen Gorrie 

This change will mean that buses are removed from the S bend where Towers Street turns into Butler Street on the tight bend. The location of the current bus zone restricts visibility and manoeuvrability on this bend. The trial aims to create more visibility and allows for three buses to load at one time, meaning buses can load passengers and exit the zone more promptly. Attached is a diagram (PDF 1.8MB) of the changes to the bus and loading zones and relevant signage.

Nicole Devlin 

Goondiwindi/St George: Thursday 25 – Sunday 28 April
Kingaroy Show: Friday 3 – Monday 6 May
Longreach/Blackall: Thursday 16 – Monday 20 May
Townsville/Charters Towers/ICPA: Sunday 2 – Friday 7 June
Mount Isa/Cloncurry: Monday 10 – Friday 14 June
Emerald: Wednesday 19 – Sunday 22 June

A reminder the Day/Boarder weekend will take place from Friday 31 May – Sunday 2 June. We encourage all Boarding families to invite a Day Girl home for the weekend.

Lesa Fowler 

Cognitive verbs are not new and are already used in the classroom. They include words like describe, analyse and evaluate and are used in subject-specific contexts in different classrooms. These cognitive verbs are prescribed in syllabuses to specify the cognitive depth to which students engage with knowledge and how understanding should be demonstrated in learning and assessment. By continually refining our focus on how explicitly we are teaching the skills and processes of the cognitive verbs means that we are better equipped to help your daughters demonstrate their learning. In our planning sessions we also looked at how we develop these cognitive skills from Year 7 right through to the senior year levels.

On the POD, there is a Cognitive Verb page that provides teachers and students with definitions of the verbs, modelled processes for thinking about how to respond and even sentence starters all students can use for classwork and assessment. You can access any of the senior syllabuses on the QCAA website here: https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/senior-subjects to view the prescribed subject matter and assessment for the new Year 11 and 12 subjects. This can be a great resource to have at home as you assist your daughters in Year 11 or even for families of younger students as you consider subjects for the future.

Jo Butterworth 

NAPLAN
On 14, 15 and 16 May the Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 girls will complete the NAPLAN tests. As a school we use NAPLAN data as a tool to review our teaching practices and enhance our student tracking for each cohort. The teachers in each of these year levels have been preparing the girls throughout the year with quality literacy and numeracy teaching. The girls have been engaged in activities that are presented in a similar approach to the way they are presented in the tests. The tests are a mix of written responses and multiple-choice questions. The girls have also been focusing on writing persuasive and narrative texts in preparation for the writing component of the test.

More information about these days will be sent home to parents of the cohorts involved. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or find more information at: www.nap.edu.au.

Supervised Study Sessions
Supervised Study Sessions will resume on Monday 29 April. A reminder that all students attending Supervised Study Sessions from 5:00pm need to be booked in via Flexischools. This term, students who have not been booked in will not be able to stay. This service is being run to assist students; however, due to the number of girls just ‘turning up’ we are not sufficiently staffed, and this is putting pressure on the tutors. Thank you to those parents who are booking their daughters into this service.

To book, parents will need to log into Flexischools and select ‘Supervised Study Sessions’. Bookings are limited to 25 participants each night and when a session is full no more bookings can be made. Bookings are essential and should be made in advance to ensure a place is available. If dinner is required, payment must be paid at the time of booking and this option selected in Flexischools.

Tom McCormick 

At around 4:30am on 25 April 1915, the first soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (more commonly known as the ANZACS) landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. On the same morning soldiers from Britain, France and their colonies launched assaults at nearby Cape Helles and Kum Kale. The Allies were determined to destroy the forts overlooking the Dardanelles. They hoped this would force Turkey’s surrender. Historians estimate that some 2,000 Australians were killed or wounded on 25 April, but there are no precise casualty figures for that day. These facts are important to acknowledge on ANZAC Day. However, ANZAC Day is about more than just the brave soldiers who fought on the peninsula, it is about those who served with them and supported them from around the world.

The 2019 theme from the ANZAC Day committee is ‘Nurses in War’.

The Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) was formed in 1903 as part of the Australian Army Medical Corps. During World War I, 3,000 of its members served overseas alongside Australian nurses from other organisations, such as Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service and the newly formed Red Cross. There were a number of reasons a nurse may have volunteered for service in World War I: the chance to travel; the chance to be involved in the war; the opportunity to be closer to a serving loved one or help troops in need; or the allure of independence. Whatever the reason, by the time the war came to an end it had become clear that nurses were essential to military medical service. However, theirs is a story rarely told. From the first Allied landings at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, Australian nurses cared for hundreds of casualties in hospitals and on transport ships anchored offshore. Working in often gruelling conditions in hospitals, on hospital ships and trains, or in casualty clearing stations close to the front line. With limited medical supplies and a desperate lack of fresh water, they tended to a seemingly endless stream of wounded and sick soldiers for the duration of the campaign. Twenty-five nurses died during their service and eight received the Military Medal for Bravery.

Lest we forget

For those parents and friends who were not able to attend the Service, you may view the recording here.

Nikki Townsend 

Many of these parents and the new students have already told me the ease with which they have settled into their new school. I believe this is to do with our school community. Research suggests that it is difficult today to create and maintain a community. The organisational structure and the different people within a school allow for a community to be created. However, a school community is much deeper that a structure. We regard our school community as a learning community, which is based on a high degree of relatedness of the stakeholders who in turn, share agreed values, behaviours and a shared vision of learning. Our school is like a ‘nested community’ in which collections of people are tied together by common values founded on our faith.

This term, we open our school to our extended community of families and friends when we celebrate the special people in our lives at the Primary Breakfast to celebrate Mother’s Day on 10 May. The term will conclude with a celebration of our grandparents, godparents and friends on 20 June.

I look forward to sharing a successful term with the staff, students and our school community.

Angela Drysdale

Continuous Reporting
The following results will be available this week through Parent Lounge:

Year 6

• Science: Multimedia Weather Report – 26 April

Year 5

• HPE: Individual Written Response – 26 April
• HaSS: MacQuarie Island: Past and Present – 26 April

Cathy Cox
Assistant Head of Primary

Upcoming Events:
Thursday 2 May: New Parents and Class Parent Representatives Morning Tea, 8:30am, ACF
Friday 10 May: St Margaret’s Primary Mothers’ Breakfast
20 – 21 May: Year 5 Leadership Days
20 – 24 May: Year 6 Canberra Trip
22 – 24 May: Year 5 Camp

3 May: Exultate performance at St Mark’s Clayfield (Rev Nicki’s Commissioning)
10 May: Sculthorpe String Quartet and Soloist performance at Past Students Awards Dinner
15 May: PWN Breakfast
16 May: France/Belgium Music Tour Information Evening (ACF)
20 May: Boarder Musician Recital One
24-30 May: Semester 1 Music Presentations
5 June: Private Music Students’ Recital Two
19 June: Strings Concert

Encorah 2019
As part of the St Margaret’s Choral Program restructure, Encorah will now be open to all students in Years 9 – 12. Encorah will commence rehearsals under the direction of Ms Stephanie Taylor from Thursday 2 May (Week 2, Term 2) with rehearsals each week from 3:30-4:30pm in the Sister Helen Orchestra Room (SHOR). The choir will work on a large selection of styles including R'n'B, soul, pop, indie pop, a capella repertoire, Latin music and music theatre numbers just to name a few! There will also be some more traditional choral pieces in the mix as well. Ms Taylor has experience in arranging for vocal ensembles and is interested in bringing this expertise to the choir. Also, in 2020 there will be the opportunity for the choir to travel to France and Belgium to participate in the World Choir Games (further details below). We would love to have many girls involved in this choir!

Encorah Music Tour 2020 – Proposed Itinerary
We are exploring the opportunity of taking Encorah on tour next year to participate in the World Choir Games which will occur in Flanders, Belgium during the June/July holidays in 2020 (draft itinerary attached (PDF 1.9MB)). This event is the largest global choral festival in the world and brings together choirs from around the world. Students will have the opportunity to participate in the opening ceremony which brings together 20,000 choristers in a single venue. Prior to the World Choir Games, the girls will visit Paris where they will perform in spectacular venues such as La Madeleine Church. Students will also take a backstage tour of Palais Garnier, the Paris National Opera House. En route to Belgium, students will visit Villers-Bretonneux for a WW1 historical tour and also provide a performance at the Menin Gate Ceremony. The tour will then proceed to Flanders where the girls will participate in performances, workshops and competitions at the World Choir Games. This promises to be a truly unique experience, bringing together thousands of people with a love of choral music from all around the world. Further details may be found here: https://www.interkultur.com/events/world-choir-games/flanders-2020/.

A meeting will be held on Thursday 16 May at 6pm in the Arts Centre Foyer (ACF) to provide further information.

Music Support Group
The next Music Support Group meeting will be on Tuesday 30 April 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 

Artistic Gymnastics
Congratulations to our WAG team who competed at the QGSSSA Artistic Gymnastics competition on Wednesday 3 April. After 50 hours of training over the 10 week season, the girls demonstrated their finely tuned skills on the 4 apparatus of Vault, Beam, Floor and Bars with all girls experiencing success on the day.

The Year 7(i) Team consisting of Stephanie Gerber, Sophie Ellis, Eloise Round, Emily Smith and Molly Woolf placed 1st, while the A Grade and Year 7(ii) team placed 2nd! All other teams also achieved pleasing results; B Grade - 8th, C Grade - 5th, D Grade - 4th, Year 7(iii) - 4th and Year 7(iv) - 9th. Meanwhile, Sarah Stephenson, Georgina Lucas and Lucy White (injured) our Open team members looked all class scoring credible points on the four apparatus.

Special mention must go to Julia Elks (A Grade) and Stephanie Gerber (7i) for being the top ranked gymnasts in their grades. A huge thank you to the coaches and Coordinator, Trish Kirkpatrick and Teacher Assistant, Louise Burgman for their efforts in organising the season.

Autumn Fixtures
Fixtures recommence for all Autumn sports on Friday 26 April against St Peter’s Lutheran College. Please click here (PDF 144.4KB) for the game schedule. Good luck to all teams for the second half of the season.

Cross Country – 2 weeks, 2 days and counting!!
The assault on the QGSSSA Cross Country Championships is underway and the team is aiming for a great result. The next 2 weeks will be fast and furious, just like our team and therefore it is important that all girls and parents are involved in the following:

1. QGSSSA Practice Cross Country Meet: A practice meet will be held on Thursday 2 May at Rivermount College which is the venue of the QGSSSA Championships. All girls are expected to attend this final meet. Information regarding this meet can be found on the Cross Country POD page.
2. Wednesday Morning Trainings: Every Wednesday is compulsory for ALL runners in ALL age groups. Fitness will not be gained or maintained if you do not put the training in.
3. Parent Support Group Meeting: will be held on Wednesday 1 May at 6:30pm in the Year 7 Precinct. It would be great to see many of you there.

Secondary Schools State Lifesaving Championships
St Margaret’s will defend the title of ‘Champion Female School’ at the 2019 Secondary Schools State Lifesaving Championships on Sunday 28 April at Somerville House. St Margaret's has an excellent track record in this competition, having been the female champions for the past 20 years. Best wishes to all team members for a successful day of Lifesaving!

Congratulations…

To the following girls who competed at the 2019 Age Swimming Championships: Kydeesha Crawford, Catherine Herbert, Tiffany Mackay, Sophie Martin, Isabella Martin, Olivia Peck, Evangeline Phillips, Abigail Shearer-Smith, Sienna Timms, Tahlia Thornton and Lauren Walker.

Special mentions go to…

• Sophie Martin (8) who won 5 silver medals and 2 gold in the 13 Years 200m IM and 100m breaststroke races.
• Tahlia Thornton (11) who received 3 silver medals in the 16 Years 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and the 4x50 medley relay resulting in her being selected to participate at the World Junior Championships in Budapest from 20-25 August.
• Bella Donaldson, Chloe Fenwicke, Isabella Harte, Maicey Lynch, Tyla Proctor and Tayden Tomich who competed for Queensland at the recent Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney.
• Isabella Harte (8) who won two golds for the 15 Years 1500m and 3000m.
• Lucy White (8) for being selected in the Queensland team to compete at the upcoming Australian Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne as a Level 10 individual competitor in May.
• Sarah Stephenson (8) for being selected to represent Queensland at the Border Challenge competition in Caloundra at the end of June.

Helen Lobegeiger 

Returning Exchange Students
We welcome back Lucinda MacPherson and Emma Arnott who returned from their Rowing Exchange to St Margaret’s College in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Outgoing Exchange Students
The following students are away on their Exchange and we wish them a fantastic experience:

• Rosie Turnbull – Shawnigan Lake, Vancouver, Canada
• Charlotte Brown and Eva Moller – Crofton House, Vancouver, Canada
• Celia Quinn and Estella Caro – Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie, Montreal, Canada
• Edwina McLachlan and Julia Elks – St Stephen’s, Hong Kong
• Lucy Howard, Rachel Sands and Teneille Allen – St Anne’s, South Africa
• Charlotte Heather and Sophia Henebery - Nga Tawa, Marton, New Zealand (leaving in 2 weeks)

Exciting News
We are pleased to welcome on board St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls in Kloof, South Africa as a new Exchange partner for this year’s Exchange Program. Successful students participating in this Exchange in Term 3 are Alice Boughey, Elizabeth Kettle and Greta Kasprowicz. Their Exchange partners will be coming to St Margaret’s in Term 4.

Upcoming Events:

• Weekly Exchange meetings commence from Tuesday 30 April in Tutorial Room 1 in the Library between 1:15pm and 1:45pm.

Angelin Achari 

We also have our second Professional Women’s Networking Breakfast for the year on Wednesday 15 May where our special guest speakers, Penny (’92) & Peter Wolff, owners of Wolff Coffee, will share their 30 years of expertise in the industry with a coffee tasting experience for all our guests.

As always, I would encourage those of you interested in the work of the P&F and sharing your ideas to attend the General Meeting on Monday 13 May, 6:30pm in the Arts Centre Foyer. Further details for the P&F Fathers’ Dinner, our final event for the term, will be coming to you via email soon, but what we can share is that we have secured another excellent past student as our speaker for this year’s event.

On behalf of the Development and Community Office, I would like to say thank you to the parents who have volunteered to be Year Level Parent Ambassadors for 2019. Your support will further strengthen the partnership between the school and families through this initiative. We are still looking for volunteers to be Year Level Parent Ambassadors in Year 7 and Year 9 and would encourage you to volunteer via the link provided in the ‘Year Level Parent Ambassadors’ section of the eNews below.

Lastly, as work continues on the site for the new sports precinct, we ask for your support of this important project. So far, thanks to the generosity of our community, including past students, parents and staff, we have raised just over $899,000 of our $1 million Capital Campaign goal.

We are so close, but it will be the collective support of our community donating at all levels, that will enable the school to achieve this. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so online via St Margaret’s Foundation Building Fund.

To those who have already kindly made a contribution to the new sports precinct, we sincerely thank you for your support.

Past Students Awards Dinner
The Past Student Awards Dinner is a wonderful opportunity to connect with fellow Old Girls and parents, and to hear from this year's amazing award recipients, while enjoying premium canapés, a sumptuous two course dinner and drinks.

Initiated in 2015, the St Margaret's Past Student Awards were established to recognise and celebrate the many and diverse achievements of St Margaret's past students and to honour their legacy.

Two awards will be presented on the night: The Distinguished Past Student Award (for alumnae who have passed their 20th reunion) and The Young Past Student of Distinction Award (for alumnae in their 20th reunion year or younger).

When: Friday 10 May 2019
Time: 6:30pm–9:00pm
Venue: Arts Centre Foyer, St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School
Tickets: $75 adults, $55 students

Tickets are on sale via Flexischools. Please click here to purchase your ticket. 

Professional Women’s Networking Breakfast
Our special guest speakers, Penny (’92) & Peter Wolff, owners of Wolff Coffee, will share their 30 years of expertise in the industry with a coffee tasting experience for all our guests.

Penny Wolff (’92), the creative and educative mastermind behind the Wolff Coffee brand, and her husband Peter, a Master Roaster and a coffee connoisseur instrumental in the evolution of coffee drinking in Brisbane, have crafted a niche in the realm of Specialty Coffee in Brisbane. Join us as Penny and Peter share their love of coffee and how entrepreneurship has become their way of life!

Date: Wednesday 15 May 2019
Time: 7:00am arrival for a 7:15am start, 8:45am finish
Venue: Arts Centre Foyer, St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School
Tickets: Corporate tables $800 for 10, $80 adult and $40 students (Years 10-12/tertiary)

Please click here (PDF 562KB) for more information.

Tickets are now on sale via Flexischools. Please click here to purchase your ticket.

We sincerely thank our corporate sponsors for their generous support of the Series:
Associate Sponsors: Pitcher Partners and McCullough Robertson
Supporting Partners: Downer, NAB, Programmed Property Services and Clear Insurance

P&F General Meeting
The P&F invites the school community to attend our first General Meeting of 2019. This is an opportunity to share your views and ideas, so please join us.

Date: Monday 13 May 2019
Time: 6:30pm start
Venue: Arts Centre Foyer, St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School

Year Level Parent Ambassadors
Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to be Year Level Parent Ambassadors. We are still looking for volunteers to be Year Level Parent Ambassadors in Year 7 and Year 9.

What does a Year Level Parent Ambassador do?
A Year Level Parent Ambassador is one who is a liaison with other parents, working together to support the parents, students, Teachers and the Head of Year:

• Meet and support new parents of the school
• Develop a sense of community within the year level
• Help support P&F school functions and fundraising events
• Encourage parents to attend P&F General Meetings and events
• Be a point of contact for parents who have queries about school activities and events

Year Level Parent Ambassadors may also meet as required with Heads of Year to plan and discuss current and upcoming activities. This meeting also provides the opportunity for representatives from each year level to get to know each other.

If you would like to be a Year Level Parent Ambassador for 2019, please volunteer here. Positions will be filled on a first come, first served basis.

Lara Pickering 

Registration and bookings are open on the UCAT ANZ website and will close on 17 May 2019 at 11:59pm AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time). The UCAT ANZ is offered on a choice of dates throughout the month of July, rather than on one single date.

Students who will be sitting the test in 2019 for entry to university in 2020, should visit the UCAT ANZ website to register an account and book their test by 11:59am AEST on 17 May 2019. Late registrations or bookings will not be accepted after this deadline. More Information is available from the UCAT website here.

Preparing for UCAT
You can find the official preparation materials at: https://www.ucat.edu.au/ucat-anz/practice-tests.

UK/USA Study
Crimson Education are offering two free information sessions dedicated to students and parents who want to know more about the US/UK tertiary application process.

8 May - Hamilton, Brisbane: Brisbane to the Ivy Leagues and Beyond - Feat. 2019 Brisbane UPenn Admit Khushi Shelat: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brisbane-to-the-ivy-leagues-beyond-feat-2019-brisbane-upenn-admit-tickets-58402474373?discount=FREE

9 May - Brisbane CBD: Brisbane to the Ivy Leagues and Beyond - Feat. 2019 Brisbane UPenn Admit Khushi Shelat: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brisbane-to-the-ivy-leagues-beyond-feat-2019-brisbane-upenn-admit-tickets-60556265420?discount=FREE

Torrens University Open Day 11 May 2019
Join us at Open Day to learn more about our courses in Natural therapies, Counselling and Community Services, Beauty and Aesthetics, Sport Development, Public Health and Wellbeing. Register for Open Day.

UNE
Year 12 students are invited to participate in our Early Entry Program for admission in 2020. UNE's Early Entry application process is fully online, it’s free to apply and you can submit their Early Entry applications now.

ANU
Ready to begin your undergraduate studies at ANU in 2020? You can start your application now by applying directly to ANU and receive an early conditional offer. Applications opened 4 March 2019 and close 31 May 2019. For more information, Apply Now.

QUT
START QUT gives you the best chance of finding a course you'll enjoy by trying out university subjects while you're in Year 12 OR Semester 2 of Year 11. Applications for Semester 2 of the START QUT program are now open. High achieving (averaging at least ‘B’ grades) students have until 16 May to apply. More information is available here.

Griffith University
Griffith University has developed a website to assist you to decide on a study pathway: https://www.griffith.edu.au/study.

UQ: Experience Science is a free event open to students in Years 10-12. Programs will be held on 12 July (last week of the holidays) and in the first week of Term 3 (16, 17 and 18 July). Discover more here.

Scholarships in Australia
No matter what you are intending to study and where, you will be sure to find some financial assistance on offer to help you pay for it: https://www.gooduniversitiesguide.com.au/scholarships.

QTAC Year 12 Tertiary Applications
The Educational Access Scheme (EAS): https://www.qtac.edu.au/applying/educational-access-scheme can help you if you have experienced circumstances that negatively affected your most recent studies. If you are eligible for EAS, you may get OP or rank adjustments that improve your chances of getting an offer. Apply when you complete your QTAC application in August.

QUT Match My Skills
Looking for some inspiration on what to study? https://match-my-skills.qut.edu.au/

Open Days
More information is available here.

QUT Parent Information Seminar
Come along and hear about the options available at QUT at the Gardens Point Campus.

Date: Wednesday 8 May 2019
Time: Campus tour: 5:15pm–5:45pm, Seminar: 6pm–7:30pm

KEY DATES: 2019
17 May 11:59pm: UCAT Registration closes

Elizabeth Johnston