eNews Archive Issue 16 - 27 May 2021

In both the Primary and Secondary school, we talk a lot to our students about developing a growth mindset and the importance of learning from their mistakes. Our brains respond to information around us, so resilience can be taught, modelled and nurtured at any age.

This week I’d like to share some advice from Dr Rangan Chatterjee, author of Stress Solution, about six ways to raise a resilient child.

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

Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians - as individuals, families, communities, organisations and importantly, as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, histories, cultures and futures.

St Margaret’s staff, students and community members have been working and reflecting to write and action the School’s Reconciliation Action Plan.

One of the first actions that has come from this work, is the installation of three flag poles outside Mooloomburrum. These flag poles proudly fly the Aboriginal Flag, the Torres Strait Islander Flag and the Australian Flag. These flags are symbols of respect for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and demonstrates St Margaret’s commitment as a community to acknowledge reconciliation.

On Wednesday we observed National Sorry Day. On our pathway towards reconciliation, Sorry Day was an important moment to remember the past policies of forced child removal. We reflected as a community on the sad and painful history of the Stolen Generations and recognise moments of resilience, healing and the power of saying ‘Sorry’.

As a community, all students and staff were invited to write their name on a hand and plant it at the base of the flag poles as a sign of our School’s community commitment to reconciliation and acknowledgment of the mistreatment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, our fellow Australians.

Thank you to the Reconciliation Action Plan Committee for their commitment to this process and I look forward to working again with this committee to plan for our community celebrations for NAIDOC week.

Nicole Devlin

The dates for National Reconciliation Week remain the same each year; 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey - the successful 1967 Referendum and the High Court Mabo decision, respectively.

For reconciliation to happen it must be about our hearts, minds and just as important, our actions towards our First Nations peoples.

We dream and hope for respectful relationships between those who arrived on the first fleet and their descendants, those who have since immigrated to these lands, and the First Nations people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The theme for National Reconciliation Week this year is More than a word, Reconciliation takes action.

Interestingly, National Reconciliation Week first started as the week of Prayer and Reconciliation in 1993 - the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Many different faith traditions came together to support this movement.

However, it was in 1996 that the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation launched Australia’s first National Reconciliation Week. In 2001, Reconciliation Australia was established to continue to provide national leadership on reconciliation. There are hundreds of National Reconciliation events and services held each year, including here at our school. For the Primary students, a Reconciliation Prayer Space had been set up and was open to Secondary students in the lunch breaks.

This prayer was written by Bishop Arthur Malcolm, taken from 'A Prayer Book for Australia':

Lord God, bring us together as one,

Reconciled with you and with each other.

You made us in your likeness.

You gave us your Son, Jesus Christ.

He has given us forgiveness from sin.

Lord God, bring us together as one,

Different in culture, but given new life in Jesus Christ:

Together as your body, your church, your people.

Lord God, bring us together as one,

Reconciled, healed, forgiven,

Sharing you with others as you have called us to do.

In Jesus Christ, let us be together as one. Amen.

Family Services:

Please note the change of dates for Family Services. The Year 10 Family Service will be combined with the Year 9 Family Service on 8 June 2021.

Term 2: 8 June, 6pm - Years 9 and 10 Family Service (PDF 128.3KB)

Susan Crothers-Robertson

I recently had the privilege of attending a regional tour last week with Mrs Fiona Spooner, Head of Admissions, representing St Margaret’s at the PRIMEX (Australia’s Sustainable Farming Industries Expo) held in Casino, New South Wales. We are grateful to be able to have this wonderful opportunity to connect and chat with families personally from this regional area. A special highlight from these tours is also being greeted by past students of St Margaret’s who share their accomplishments and diverse career choices since graduating.

St Margaret’s will be attending other regional shows and expeditions across Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory, and we invite you to come and see us if you are in the area.

Gracemere Mataia

During the Exam Block, Years 11 and 12 students are not required to attend school unless they have a scheduled exam. The girls are required to wear full school uniform to each exam. We are also ensuring that no electronic devices, including mobile phones and smart watches are brought into the exam room, so please remind your daughters to leave them at home or in their lockers.

Year 10

Year 10 students have 3 days of Study Hall from Friday 4 June until Tuesday 8 June. During this time the students will complete their exams as per their assessment planner found on their Year Level POD page. The timetable for Study Hall is also on the POD, please ensure your daughter is familiar with her exam dates and details.

Nikki Townsend

Year 9 Study Hall is occurring on Tuesday 1 June and Wednesday 2 June. Year 10 Study Hall will take place from Friday 4 June to Tuesday 8 June. These schedules are now available on the Year Level pages on the POD. A reminder that any student who misses an exam is required to fill out an extension form, which can be found on the POD. Missed exams will be sat on the day students return to school in the library during Lessons 1A/1B. If students are missing more than one exam, these resits will be negotiated with myself or Nikki Townsend (Acting Dean of Academics).

Caitlin McCluskey

Dr Chris Seton, Paediatric and Sleep Physician at Sydney’s Children’s Hospital, echoes these beliefs as they protect mental and physical health. He believes students need more “green time” rather than screen time! As learning requires short and long-term memory, a rested brain is able to process the learning that occurs at school into short-term memory and consolidate these concepts through REM sleep.

Priorities of wellbeing, organisation, engagement in class and regular revision routines are part of the girls’ conversations with their Form teachers and Academic Advisors. Such intentional learning and study habits support the maintenance of sleep routines, particularly as assessment tasks are finalised in the coming weeks. Students are encouraged to participate in class discussions, schedule short breaks into their study routines (such as the Pomodoro technique) and to focus on one task at a time. These topics are covered in the ‘Mindfulness’ sessions and Years 10-12 students can register via the ‘St Margaret’s Plus’ tile on their POD pages.

Please refer to interviews, articles and fact sheets on sleep, including ‘Technology and Sleep’ (PDF 94.7KB), on the Parent POD page (Parenting Resources tile) – SchoolTV.

Nicole Walker

The relevance of sharing this information is that half the group of students (Years 7-2) who participated in this competition were St Margaret’s Primary students. I think this is an affirmation of how we promote the value of reading. The way in which we do this is twofold – events and classroom programs. Last week, we celebrated National Simultaneous Reading Day with the rest of Australia. The Primary school headed to the Drama Room or ‘outer space’ to hear the story, “Give me some Space” by Phillip Bunting: a fabulous story about a young girl’s desire to become an astronaut. You can hear the story actually read in space by clicking on this link: Story Time From Space Presents -- Give me Some Space! - YouTube. Thank you to our reading coach, Ms Lucardia Moulton for planning the event. Later in the year, we will celebrate Book Week.

Picking up a book of one’s own free will, anticipating the satisfaction of reading, is reading for pleasure, which is the aim of all Primary school reading programs. Through our Cluster Program, we teach students comprehension skills, explore class novels and participate in Literature Circles (LC). In LC, children learn and take on different roles to have meaningful conversations as they share multiple perspectives and unique points of view. There are many benefits of this program; students working cooperatively in groups (effect size of .54; .4 is the base line for effective teaching) and in terms of reading, comprehension and developing a love of literature, which becomes reading for pleasure.

Accelerated Reading (AR) is another program offered to Years 3 to 6 students. It is a platform for students to read for pleasure and to keep track of the number of words a child reads in a year. This term we held two Mad Hatters Morning Teas to celebrate with the girls who have read at least 1 million words. There are growing studies that emphasise the importance of children reading for pleasure, for both educational as well as personal development.

Research has found that children with books of their own read more, and more frequently. Don’t forget to use and contribute to the community library in the Atrium and buy books from our Book Fair during the last week of the term. As the adults in the girl’s lives, we have an obligation to encourage reading for pleasure by modelling reading, signing up for membership at the local library and having a variety of books available at home. Parents can also assist by ensuring their daughters read each night as we work together to instil a love of literature. The benefits for reading nightly are summed up in the diagram below:

Andrews Cup Cross Country

Congratulations to the Cup Cross Country team who travelled to Toowoomba for the Andrews Cup competition. The girls have been training before school and their efforts came to fruition on Monday. Congratulations to the team who tied third in the Aggregate Cup and to the 10 and 11 Years age groups who both achieved third place. Congratulations also to Suki Fidler (Year 3), Estella Uhlmann (Year 3) and Stella McMullen (Year 5) for placing third in their individual age group.

Congratulations to Eva Lewis (Year 6) for making the City District Tennis team.

Angela Drysdale

Music Tour 2022

Flexischools is now open for deposits to be paid to secure a place for the proposed Music Tour to New Zealand in 2022. The Rhapsody Rotorua Music Festival will occur for one week in Rotorua, New Zealand during the June/July holidays in 2022. As part of the festival, students will perform in a variety of community and professional settings, as well as participate in numerous music workshops facilitated by professional musicians. A number of schools from around Australia are involved in the festival with students having the opportunity to interact and build friendships with other music students from the Pacific region. There will also be opportunities to build cultural awareness through special experiences organised by the Festival convenors as well as experience some fun activities unique to the area. The tour will be open to Secondary students who are involved in the following ensembles: Sister Helen Wind Symphony, Exultate and Chamber Strings.

Final costs are still to be confirmed and will be dependent on final numbers committing to the tour. As an approximation, we are aiming to keep the final tour cost under $4,000. To secure a place on the tour, an initial deposit of $210 is required. Deposit payments can be made via Flexischools: www.flexischools.com.au. (The deposit is fully refundable if insufficient numbers sign up for the tour.) To confirm your daughter’s involvement, payment needs to be made by Friday 4 June 2021.

We look forward to having many girls involved!

Draft Itinerary Music Tour 2022 (PDF 1017.9KB)

String Fest 2021

Congratulations to Ashleigh Witenden (Year 12), Elia Chen (Year 10), Hilary Davis (Year 9) and Lily Song (Year 8) who participated this year in String Fest 2021, hosted by Brisbane Grammar School (BGS). String Fest brings together the top string players from numerous schools in Brisbane to rehearse and perform a variety of exciting and challenging repertoire. A wonderful concert was presented on Tuesday evening in the Great Hall at BGS and all girls involved are to be congratulated on their outstanding performance. 

Old Girls News

Congratulations to Xenia Puskarz Thomas (’13) who was recently announced as one of Opera Qld Young Artists for 2021. Last Friday and Saturday nights, Xenia and Strings Coordinator, Mr Jonny Ng performed together at the Festival of Outback Opera for Opera Queensland in association with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra. Xenia appeared as a soloist alongside internationally acclaimed opera singers Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Kang Wang, Eva Kong and Jason Barry-Smith.

The concerts took place in two unique venues – the Australian Age of Dinosaurs parklands in Winton with a glorious sunset and Milky Way emerging during the concert, and on the tarmac in front of the hundred-year-old plane hangar at the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach with the concert being abruptly stopped midway to dim the stage lights to allow a plane to land.

The concerts were a great success and Xenia wowed the audiences with her exquisite performances. Xenia will be our special guest performer for Classics in the Cathedral next Friday and will again be accompanied by Mr Ng, this time on piano. We look forward to hearing Xenia’s superb voice and musicianship again!

Open Mic Sessions

The Music Department is very excited to announce a new initiative. Open mic sessions will be run by the Music Captains in the Barley Sugar Garden with the first session presented on Thursday this week. The open mic sessions aim to provide a platform from which students can gain further performing experience. Microphones, a keyboard and amplifiers are provided for use during the session. Students who wish to perform are required to send through their proposed repertoire to the Music Captains who will then prepare the session. This opportunity is currently open to all Secondary students, regardless of whether they are taking music lessons or not. (An open mic session for Primary students is to be held later in Semester 2.) Congratulations to all students who provided performances this week. It was a thoroughly entertaining event!

Thank you to Highly Strung

Thank you to Highly Strung (Primary Rock Band) for their thoroughly engaging performance of Sia’s Together on our recent Whole School Assembly. The girls played and sung with great spirit and received a well-deserved standing ovation at the completion of their performance. Congratulations to Ellie Astill and Astrid Sawers on vocals, Sienna Blight and Georgia Smith on guitar, Asher Grant-Taylor on bass guitar, Ella Yu on keyboard and Cherry Lok on the drums.

Music Support Group

The next Music Support Group meeting will be on Tuesday 13 July 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

The final round of games for Touch Football and Soccer will be played against Clayfield College at our home venues and there are several premierships up for grabs for our Touch Football teams. The teams who could possibly secure a premiership are 10A, 10B, 10B2, 8B and 7B.

We invite all friends and families of St Margaret’s to support our teams in their final games of 2021. For specific information on game times, please view via the sport POD pages.

Lifesaving Success

Congratulations to our Lifesaving team who competed at the Queensland Secondary Schools Lifesaving Championships on Sunday 23 May. Thank you to Mrs Sue Baxter-Winch, Ms Jaclyn Baxter and Mrs Shirley Patton for their guidance throughout the season and on competition day, as the team threw ropes to rescue, towed patients up and down the pool and raced the team from Sunshine Coast Grammar School. Our lifesavers did not disappoint and continued their winning streak by being crowned the Royal Lifesaving Association Champion Female School for the 22nd consecutive year! Well done girls!

Cross Country Metropolitan North Championships

Congratulations to the 22 students who competed at the Metropolitan North Cross Country trials on Tuesday 25 May at St Paul’s School, Bald Hills. It was a terrific event and a great experience for our girls. Well done to those who were selected to represent the region and compete at the State Championships in July:

• Priya Madders (Year 8)
• Charli Spies (Year 8)
• Millie Campbell (Year 8)
• Matilda Lee (Year 9)
• Isabella Harte (Year 10)
• Chloe Fenwicke (Year 12)

Winter Water Polo Sessions

Winter Water Polo sessions will be on offer for any girls wishing to work on their skills over the winter period, with lead technical coach, Uros Kralj and founder of the Water Polo Academy. Details of the sessions are found below, in the flyer by clicking here (PDF 243.3KB) or on the Water Polo POD page.

When: Every Wednesday, commenced Wednesday 26 May and continuing on 2, 9 and 16 June. Term 3 sessions will also be available.

Time: 3:30pm to 5:00pm

Where: St Margaret's Swimming Pool

Cost: $75 for the term

Register: All registrations must go through Uros Kralj via email: ukralj1@gmail.com

Congratulations…

There were superb results from the Australian Gymnastics Championships over the weekend. Miller Enders (Year 7) became Level 10 Under 13 National Champion All Round, placing 1st on Bars and Floor, 2nd on Beam and 3rd on Vault. Lucy White (Year 10) competed at the highest level in Senior International and was part of the Gold Medal winning team for Queensland. A tremendous effort and result for both Miller and Lucy!

Helen Lobegeiger

We are profoundly grateful for your support in making St Margaret’s Giving Day 2021 such a success. With your generosity, and the help of our matching donors, a whopping $239,290 has been raised by this appeal!

Your gift to the Building Fund will help us to ensure our facilities can continue to deliver the best education to St Margaret’s students. Your gift to our Scholarship Fund will provide some girls the opportunity of a St Margaret’s education they never thought they would have.

Our mission is to give every girl every opportunity at St Margaret’s, and we are so proud of our community’s spirit in helping us to achieve this! We couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you.

The P&F Fathers’ Dinner – Friday 11 June

There are still tickets available for the 2021 P&F Fathers’ Dinner! Please click on this link to purchase your ticket, as it is set to be a fantastic evening: www.trybooking.com/BQSVH.

Date: Friday 11 June

Time: 6:30pm arrival for 7:00-10.00pm dinner

Venue: Queensland Cricketers’ Club

Cost: $150 includes drink on arrival, 2 course dinner, 3-hour drinks package and Heads and Tails Trivia Competition Entry (optional)

There will be fathers attending from all year groups, and will be a relaxed, fun and highly entertaining evening. We will be joined by guest speaker, Caitlin McConnel (’07), Old Girl of St Margaret’s. Caitlin has a strong passion for the preservation of agricultural history and the advocacy of issues pertaining to Queensland's agricultural future, which stems from her rural upbringing. Alongside her work as a lawyer, Caitlin is also a sixth-generation grazier, and an historical spokesperson for her family, who live at Cressbrook Station near Toogoolawah. She is an engaging and highly entertaining guest speaker, so not to be missed!

Reunion Weekend – Friday 23-Monday 26 July

We are so excited to be fast approaching our double reunion weekend in July. Invites will soon be sent out, but as a reminder here are the dates for these events:

10 Year Reunion – Class of 2010 – Friday 23 July 2021

10 Year Reunion – Class of 2011 – Friday 23 July 2021

20 Year Reunion – Class of 2000 – Friday 23 July 2021

20 Year Reunion – Class of 2001 – Friday 23 July 2021

30 Year Reunion - Class of 1990 – Friday 23 July 2021

30 Year Reunion – Class of 1991 – Friday 23 July 2021

40 Year Reunion – Class of 1980 – Saturday 24 July 2021

50 Year Reunion – Class of 1970 – Saturday 24 July 2021

60 Year Reunion – Class of 1960 – Saturday 24 July 2021

40 Year Reunion – Class of 1981 – Sunday 25 July 2021

50 Year Reunion – Class of 1971 – Sunday 25 July 2021

60 Year Reunion – Class of 1961 – Sunday 25 July 2021

VIP 60+ Year Reunion – Monday 26 July 2021

Melbourne Reunion - Friday 29 October 2021

Sydney Reunion – this event has been postponed to later in 2021. The Development and Community Office will communicate as soon as a date is confirmed.

Lindsay Khushal

You are invited to Griffith University's upcoming Pathways to Medicine webinar for school leavers. Join us for an exclusive opportunity to discover the different options available to you as you plan your journey to a career in medicine. Thursday 3 June, 5:30pm-6:30pm. Register today

Open Days scheduled for 2021

QTAC has now updated their Open Days and Expos page. Click here to find out when the tertiary institution/s you are interested in attending has/have scheduled their Open Day.

GUESTS applications for Trimester 2 now open

Griffith University Early Start to Tertiary Studies (GUESTS) program is a great opportunity for motivated Years 11 and 12 students to sample their desired degree and make a start on their university studies. Benefits of the GUESTS program include two adjustments per course completed when applying for a Griffith undergraduate degree, academic credit and Griffith Credentials. Trimester 2 study will commence in July. Interested students should submit an online application by Tuesday 15 June. Click here to complete the application form.

START QUT – online/external units

Did you know that the START QUT program has recently added a lot of online/external units for you to study while in Years 11 and 12? Take a look at some of these units here. Applications close 31 May.

Bursaries for female students

The National Council of Women of Queensland has launched its 2021 bursary program for female students. Visit the website for more information and to download the application form. Applications close on 2 June 2021.

Virtual Work Experience with the CSIRO

Gain first-hand, relevant work experience in a scientific environment to shape your future by joining CSIRO's virtual work experience program. Virtual work experience allows Years 10, 11 or 12 students to undertake science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects. Click here to see if you are eligible and find out more.

2021 Tertiary Studies Expo reminder

The annual Brisbane Tertiary Studies Expo (TSXPO), Australia's largest tertiary studies expo, offers a unique opportunity for anyone interested in starting, changing or upgrading their career. It will be held at the Royal International Convention Centre, Brisbane Showgrounds on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 July 2021 from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Liz Johnston