eNews Archive Issue 13 - 9 May 2019

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 you 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 

Good morning Ms Gorrie, Mrs Devlin, Staff and girls. My name is Bella and this Tessa, and we are your Sacristans for 2019.

Today we will just take a few minutes of your time to talk about the Archbishop’s theme for Anglican schools this year: generous hospitality where he asks us: “How can we engage constructively with people with whom we differ?”

If you’re anything like me, that is just a big sentence full of big words, so let us break it down for you. Much of what passes for engagement these days seems to be nothing more than a shouting match on social media. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Generous Hospitality is about connection; treating people with respect, honesty and integrity, but how do we put these principles into practice?

It is all about commitment to value the wellbeing of others and to consider the impact our behaviour has on other people. This idea recognises everyone’s dignity and the need for mutual respect regardless of ability, gender, sexuality, race, age or status. Imagine the profound impact that this outlook could have in the world.

It's simple really. You treat others the way you want to be treated regardless of how you may differ. Now yes, we know how cliché this is, but it is not something that should be overlooked. Take note of the two words that are key in that sentence, YOU. Generous Hospitality is about you, every single person in this room has the power to influence the way someone is feeling, do not underestimate that ability.

Ask someone how their day has been and genuinely listen to what they have to say, go out of your way to say hello to someone new or someone you don’t often talk to. If there is a new girl in your grade, ask them to sit with you.

Girls, these are things you have all heard before. But what people fail to recognise is that all these small things add up and can make a big difference to a community or someone’s day, but only if everyone is committed to doing so. This is what embodies generous hospitality.

In times, when sometimes we question humanity, it is comforting to know that we as a faith learning community are enabling our students to develop and deliver such positive and reflective words.

Nicole Devlin 

My name is Shauna Royes, a councillor on McKinlay shire. I attended the Flood Relief Luncheon co-ordinated by one of your students, Emily Curr. WOW, how else can I describe this young girl. Knowing that Emily is a true country girl, I would have easily guessed that during the devastating February flood event Emily would have been totally focused on her family and livestock back in north-west Queensland.

This flood event was very stressful for people in our shire and neighbouring shires. The mental stress that this has created on our community is a very clear picture for me. I also work for a stock and station agent, the usual thing to do in the wet is to phone the graziers each morning to get the rain reports. On the fourth morning I phoned my first two graziers to ask how much rain they had received overnight. My first answer was “My rain gauge overflowed”, he then broke down and cried. I of course felt extremely helpless. I then phoned another person, the answer was “the river is very high, cattle are floating past”. I quickly realised the mental state our normally strong men were in.

The flood event then worsened over the next ten days. We, as a community, pulled together and did what we had to do to keep ourselves going. It all seemed a blur.

Marcus Curr phoned to advise us that Emily’s intention was to hold a luncheon to help us recover from this devastating flood event.

It all happened on the 5th of May. Two hundred and forty people arrived at the Julia Creek Civic Centre to attend the luncheon, that alone was very well received. The best result for all of us was the mental relaxation that this event created. Let alone listen to the speakers that Emily had arranged for the event; Alan Jones and Hugh Bowman are legends to our country of course. To have them attend in person was amazing, a dream come true for us to meet these two gentlemen.

Alan Jones commented: “Emily this is not good, it is truely amazing what you have organised for these shires”. As a small community I am sure that I could truely say this event was extremely well received both mentally and socially and a memorable experience for us all.

Would you please thank Emily from myself and the community? We are now moving forward to recover from the FEBRUARY FLOOD 2019.

Kindest regards,

Shauna Royes
Julia Creek

Lesa Fowler 

• What is ATAR?
• Changes from the current system
• Inter-subject scaling
• VET for Tertiary Entrance
• Adjustment Schemes (currently called Bonus Points)
• Mythbusting
• MyPath

QTAC will be responsible for calculating ATARs for Queensland school leavers from 2020, so this is a great opportunity for you to hear more about the process. The formal part of the evening will begin at 5:50pm with refreshments available from 5:30pm. Please email your RSVP to Rosie Parisi at: RParisi@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.

Career’s Week
This year, we are introducing Career’s Week for Year 10 students from Monday 20 May to Friday 24 May to prepare them with the knowledge and understanding required to make subject selections for 2020. A Broadening Horizons Day and a Transition Day have been organised for Thursday 23 May and Friday 24 May respectively. Naomi Holley, Director of Careers and Portfolio Pathway, has provided more information about this week in the Careers section of the eNews.

Year 11 Exam Day
On Thursday 30 May there is a Year 11 Exam Day for Math Methods (8:20am) and Physical Education (1:00pm). Only students studying these subjects must attend school on this day. All girls are required to wear their formal uniform to the exams. If your daughters choose to attend school on this day to study, they must also wear the formal school uniform.

Jo Butterworth 

School of Life is a club run by a group of teachers, during lunch times on a fortnightly basis, for students in Years 10-12. The focus of this club is on providing our students with skills on a range of topics that will equip them for their lives. The range is wide and expands from topics such as nutrition, budgeting, superannuation, personal credit and credit cards, job applications and preparation.

The presentations began on Tuesday 7 May (Week 3) in the Independent Learning Centre. A range of topics have already been discussed by the working party and will be presented to students throughout the year. Additionally, suggestion boxes are also placed in the Eunice Centre and School Support for students to put their ideas forward for these sessions.

We highly encourage every student in Years 10-12 to attend these sessions to broaden their knowledge and skills.

Tom McCormick 

Congratulations goes to Churchie who won 45 -9! Most importantly, $500 was raised for the Sony Foundation. While the Churchie boys promise to continue to focus on their Netball skills (instead of Basketball) and St Margaret’s girls look to a new competitive game plan, we do look forward to other year level events with Churchie in the coming months. Thank you to Mrs Flanagan for organising this special event.

Nikki Townsend 

On 14, 15 and 16 May the Years 3 and 5 students will participate in NAPLAN. Each of the literacy and numeracy tests is conducted over three morning sessions. On the first day, the students will complete the language conventions and writing component, Day 2 will be reading and Day 3 numeracy.

The feedback provided to schools from the test results is useful when used to review curriculum and identify areas for further development. It is also important to note that this is one test at one point in time and teachers use this information, along with a broad range of other formative and summative assessment, in order to plan instruction and learning goals for students.

In preparation for these tests, parents are advised not to pump their child up as you do before a sporting event but to just encourage your child to do her best. The most significant support your daughter can receive during this time is a good night’s sleep, a healthy and substantial breakfast, the necessary equipment (sharp pencils, erasers etc.) and a drink bottle.

We wish the girls well and know they will put in their very best effort.

Angela Drysdale

Upcoming Events:
Friday 10 May: St Margaret’s Primary Mothers’ Breakfast
14 – 16 May: NAPLAN (Years 3 and 5)
20 – 21 May: Year 5 Leadership Days
20 – 24 May: Year 6 Canberra Trip
22 – 24 May: Year 5 Camp
Friday 31 May: Student Free Day (Day/Border Weekend) 

Movie Night
The Music Support Group are hosting a Movie Night to further fundraise for the St Margaret’s Music Program. The Movie Night will be held on Friday 17 May 2019 and is open to ALL St Margaret’s students in Years 5-12. It will commence with a sausage sizzle at 5:30pm in Eton Courtyard, followed by the screening of Incredibles 2 at 6:30pm in Eton Hall, supervised by St Margaret’s staff. The cost for the event is $15 and includes a sausage sizzle, drink and movie. Popcorn, lollies and drinks may be purchased at an additional cost on the night. Tickets for the event may be purchased via Flexischools. Please click here (PDF 193.3KB) to view the letter with full details. We look forward to a fun night!

Extra-Curricular Music Ensemble Photos
Students in Music Ensembles will have their photos taken on Monday 13 May (please note the Encorah photo will be taken in Term 3). Please click here (PDF 377.7KB) to view the photo schedule. Students are asked to bring their respective performance uniforms to school, along with their musical instrument.

Performance Presentations for students undertaking private music tuition
In 2018, the Music Department implemented a new initiative called Performance Presentations. These presentations were designed for all students in Years 4-12 undertaking private music tuition with the two-fold aim of encouraging consistent practise, whilst providing an opportunity for verbal and written feedback. This year we are continuing to build on these processes with the performance presentations to occur in Weeks 5 and 6 (Term 2). These presentations are not exams but are an opportunity for students to informally present repertoire and technical work they are currently working on within a supportive setting. Two teachers will listen to the presentation (one of which will be the student’s own teacher) and following the presentation, written feedback will be made available to students and parents through our end of semester reporting process.

The aim of the initiative is to provide students with a goal to work towards, along with specific, relevant feedback that will allow them to direct their practise in a more focussed manner. Students are encouraged to view the process as one that will assist in improving their musical capacity and provide motivation to maintain a consistent weekly practise routine. We hope they will have a real sense of achievement at the conclusion of their presentation and continue to practise and build their musical abilities.

Encorah 2019
Encorah commenced rehearsals last week under the direction of Ms Stephanie Taylor. It was fantastic to have so many in attendance. It is not too late to join the choir. Any girls who are in Years 9-12 are welcome to come along on Thursday afternoon, 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, acapella repertoire, Latin music and music theatre numbers just to name a few!

Encorah/Exultate Music Tour 2020
There will be a meeting on Thursday 16 May at 6pm in the ACF to discuss the proposed Encorah/Exultate tour to France and Belgium during the June/July holidays in 2020 (draft itinerary attached (PDF 1.9MB)). The girls will participate in performances, workshops and competitions at the World Choir Games. 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. 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/.

Music Support Group
The next Music Support Group meeting will be on Tuesday 4 June 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 

Details of QGSSSA Cross Country Competition is as follows:

Date: Saturday 11 May
Venue: Rivermount College, Yatala (entrance off Rivermount Drive)
Events:
8:30am - 17 years and over - 3,000 metres
9:00am - 12 years and under - 3,000 metres
9:30am - 13 years - 3,000 metres
10:00am - 14 years - 3,000 metres
10:30am - 15 years - 3,000 metres
11:00am - 16 years - 3,000 metres

QGSSSA Cross Country Spectators – Years 8 and 10
All Secondary students are required to attend two major inter-school sporting events as supporters. The QGSSSA Cross Country is the second major sporting event of the year with students from Years 8 and 10 to attend. If your daughter is unable to attend due to a prior commitment or transport difficulties, please forward a request for leave in writing to: studentleave@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.

Autumn Fixtures
This week’s fixtures will be conducted on Thursday 9 May to ensure girls running Cross Country have sufficient rest. We look forward to taking on the girls from Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School at our home venues. Please click here (PDF 141.3KB) for the game schedule.

Touch Football – The Touch Football Support Group are calling for donations to support their final raffle. Items that can be donated, but not limited to, include gourmet hamper items, beverages and beauty items. All items can be dropped off to the Activities Office or Windsor Park on training or game days.

Winter Sports
The winter sports of Athletics, QGSSSA Hockey, Netball, Volleyball, Tennis and Rhythmic Gymnastics are commencing trials and training over the next 2 weeks. For further information, please see the Secondary Sport POD page or the individual sport POD pages.

Congratulations…

To all girls who competed at the 37th All Schools Cross Country Championships. There were some great individual results and a fantastic team effort with our 12 years team of Matilda Lee, Annabel Bright and Milla Roberts placing 1st overall in the 12 Years age group. Special mentions go to the following runners for their terrific results: Matilda Lee (7) 4th, Milla Roberts (7) 5th, Annabel Bright (7) 6th, Isabella Harte (8) 1st, Chloe Fenwicke (10) 4th and Bella Donaldson (12) 3rd.

Matilda Lee (7) who was selected in the 10-12 Years Met North Touch Football team and Milla Roberts (7) who was selected as a shadow to compete at the Queensland School Sport 10-12 Years Girls State Touch Football Championships in August.

Helen Lobegeiger 

Unfortunately, our Term 2 Wednesday smART Club jewellery activity will not proceed, as we do not have the required number of enrolments. We will offer the course again in Term 3.

Lisa Smith 

Distinguished Past Student Award - Dr Hannah Krause AO ’85
Consultant Urogynaecologist, Dr Hannah Krause AO was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the Queen’s Honours list 2016 for distinguished service to medicine in the field of urology and gynaecology, particularly through surgical assistance to women in developing countries throughout Asia and Africa.

Over the extent of her career, Dr Krause has sustained regular self-funded volunteer medical missions throughout developing countries, working for weeks at a time with only minimal resources and equipment the organisations bring with them. Medical staff operate on eight to ten women each day, beds are limited and post-operative conditions are cramped. However, the missions treat upwards of 100 women who would otherwise experience extreme adversity and social isolation.

Young Past Student of Distinction Award – Lucy Shaw ‘09
After being awarded a Commonwealth Full Fees scholarship to attend the University of Melbourne, studying a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, Lucy was accepted into the highly competitive Graduate Associate Programme at Boston Consulting Group, Melbourne.

In 2015, Lucy decided that she wanted to put her skills gained to good philanthropic use and was appointed to work for the Agricultural Transformation Agency in Ethiopia and Cross Boundary Energy, Kenya, in particular, the off-grid energy sectors.

Join us for Dinner with our winners to hear their incredible stories and celebrate these remarkable women.

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

Limited tickets are still available. If you would like to attend, please contact the Development and Community Office on 07 3862 0768.

Professional Women’s Networking Breakfast
Our special guest speakers, Penny (’92) and 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.

Limited tickets are still available 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

Lara Pickering

The Conference will be recorded to ensure all Year 10 students are able to access the information again at a later date, and also for our students on Exchange. The following day will see the Year 10 students visit the Brisbane Careers and Employment Expo at the Convention Centre which will provide them with further opportunities to connect with a range of tertiary and training organisations for guidance, clarity and prospects in relation to career options.

On return to St Margaret’s, we will present information about the senior study pathways including the ATAR and the Portfolio Pathway. We will look at how the ATAR is calculated and discuss the internal and external assessment requirements in the new QCE system. Students will also hear from Heads of Faculty about senior courses of study and find out more about their upcoming SET Plan interviews. A full program for St Margaret’s Careers Week will be released shortly.

Naomi Holley
Director of Careers and Portfolio Pathways

University of Sydney
Students are invited to join us at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies’ Years 11 and 12 Information Evening. This will be an excellent opportunity for interested students to hear from and meet heads of school, faculty staff, current students and industry speakers. Students will discover our degree offerings, scholarships available, entry requirements and our embedded industry immersion/placement program. This event is suitable for parents, students and teachers.

Event Details:
When: Wednesday 5 June
Where: Eastern Avenue Auditorium, Camperdown Campus, University of Sydney
Time: 6:00pm (for a 6:15pm start) – 8:00pm
Format: formal presentations, industry speakers, Q&A panel, networking
Register here (registration essential)

UCAT
The UCAT ANZ test has replaced the UMAT (Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test) for 2019. Students who are planning to apply to Medicine, Dentistry and Health Science courses commencing in 2020 at our Consortium universities in Australia and New Zealand must sit the UCAT ANZ 2019 test in the month of July 2019.

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 11:59pm 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.

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, go to 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 (16-18 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/

Tertiary Open Days
More information is available on the POD (Careers page).

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 6:00pm–7:30pm

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

Friday 24 May/Saturday 25 May: Brisbane Careers and Employment Expo, 9:00am–3:00pm/10:00am–4:00pm, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre

Elizabeth Johnston