eNews Archive Issue 18 - 9 June 2022

Ms Kelly has been at St Margaret’s teaching Biology and Science since 2008. During this time, she has been a House Co-ordinator and has contributed to the sporting extracurricular program. Ms Kelly will be missed by her students and colleagues and, although sad to see her leave us, we wish her the best in her new role closer to home. 

Ailsa Crockett is retiring at the end of the term. In 2021, Mrs Crockett was awarded the St Margaret’s Excellence in Teaching and Learning award in recognition of her outstanding work with teachers and staff, particularly in the area of learning enhancement. Mrs Crockett has been with us since 2008 and in recent years, has been part-time. We wish her all the best for her retirement.

Life is full of interesting stories. Ms Kelly and Mrs Crockett started employment at St Margaret’s on the same day and will be leaving on the same day.  

We also farewell Stephanie Cowie who came to us in 2020 as a teacher of Legal Studies and Humanities. In Semester 2, 2021 Mrs Cowie took on the Assistant Head of Faculty role to oversee Learning Enhancement in the school. We are grateful for her contributions and wish her all the best for her new role in strategy and policy with Brisbane Catholic Education. It is not, however, a full goodbye as Mrs Cowie remains a parent member of our school community.

Welcome back to Reverend Susan Crothers-Robertson who has returned from Long Service Leave to provide support to the St Margaret’s community for two days per week.

Ros Curtis

On Tuesday night I was then able to meet some of our boarder parents (present and future) and an Old Girl at a dinner we hosted with Churchie at the Downs Club. It was a pleasure to meet such lovely people and talk about our school and all the experiences they and their daughter have had. Thank you to all in attendance and to our Churchie counterparts for such a lovely event. FarmFest has been on in Toowoomba and Wendy Johnston (Director of Marketing and Communications) and Judy Robinson (Admissions and Community Relations – Secondary and Boarding) have been a presence at the event and have met lots of current and future families. Thank you to those of you who dropped in to say hi to them!

Karen Gorrie

Storytelling and story-listening are a deep part of being human. We each have a story that we want to be heard. We each have a voice that we want to be valued. Being the Chaplain of St Margaret’s gives me the great privilege to hear the stories of the students and families in our community. I also get to tell stories, stories of faith, and stories of people who have impacted the world for good. Fictional stories, too, hold this same profundity. We all have a list of story books that were important to our childhood and have shaped us and helped us imagine a beautiful world, when beauty might feel far from reality.

This is the power of story, to open our imagination, allow us to see the world through another person’s point of view, to help us change perspective, grow, and flourish as community. Storytelling is an ancient artform, one that resides deep within each of us.

Tomorrow night we will gather in the chapel to celebrate the stories of the students being confirmed, and the great gifts that each of them bring to the world. We will pray the Spirit’s empowerment for them. I pray the same for each of you in the week ahead.

Rev’d Jazz Dow

With rules on close contacts now relaxed we have been able to invite our boarding families back into our home, some of them for the first time since their daughters have started here. It is lovely to see the delight on the boarders’ faces to be able to bring their mums up into their rooms, with their dads being able to join them at the beginning and end of each term. The girls are proud to show off their dorms and introduce their parents to their friends. This is also a time for parents to be able to interact with staff on a personal level. Having a chat over the phone is just not the same as being able to put a face to a name and have a face-to-face conversation.

Another positive to come out of the relaxation of quarantine requirements is the fact that a number of our international boarders will be able to reunite with family members for the first time in, in some cases, a number of years. This change has allowed some of the international parents to travel over to visit their daughters, which has been met with much excitement from both the students and their families.

Angela Crowe

Years 11 and 12 Block

Exam block started today for Year 11 students, with Year 12 exam block starting next Monday. A reminder to all students, that when they come to an exam they need to be in full school uniform with the appropriate equipment for the exam.

When attending exams, all students need to have the following equipment:

1. Their Student ID to be presented to the supervisor on entry into the exam room.
2. Approved equipment in a clear, sealed plastic bag, this includes:

• Black or blue pens
• 2B pencils, sharpener and eraser

• Note: a 2B pencil is only required for multiple choice questions and drawing graphs or diagrams. Black or blue pens must be used for all other written responses.

• Highlighters
• Clear plastic ruler
• Water in a clear unlabelled bottle
• Asthma inhaler
• A QCAA approved calculator with memory cleared and ready for checking prior to entering the exam room (if required).

3. Please note that white out and erasable pens are NOT permitted into the exam room.
4. Mobile phones and smart watches are NOT permitted in the exam room.

Finally, can I please remind all Years 11 and 12 Day students if they are attending school during the exam block to study or meet with a teacher, they need to be in full school uniform and all other school rules apply, including the use of mobile phones. Years 11 and 12 boarding students also need to be in full school uniform if they are meeting with a teacher.

Caitlin McCluskey

Please note, that due to the larger numbers of secondary staff this year, face-to-face interviews will be occurring in the Circular Drive Modular Classrooms as well as in Eton Hall during Session #2. Details of where staff will be located for the face-to-face interviews was sent in the email as well.

Below is a summary of the important dates for parents:

• Parent Bookings Open: Friday 10 June 9:00am
• Parent Bookings Close: Wednesday 22 June 5:00pm

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact myself or Megan Farnsworth at mfarnsworth@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.

Chris Dunn

2. Study Every Day - If you study a little bit every day, you'll be continually reviewing things in your mind. This helps you understand things. It also helps you avoid the stress of last-minute cramming.

• Early in the year an hour or two a night might be enough to stay on top of things. Later in the year you might need to study more each day.
• If you're finding it hard to find time to study, cut back on some (but not all!) of your other activities.

3. Plan Your Time - It helps to have some plans in motion so you can make the most of your study time.

• Set Alarms - Set alarms to remind you about your study plans. A regular reminder keeps you honest and your plans on track.
• Use a Wall Planner - Stick a calendar or wall planner up so you can see it whenever you're studying. Mark it up with important dates, like exams and assignment due dates. Use it to block out your regular study timetable too.
• Make To-Do Lists - Lists break tasks down into manageable chunks. At the start of the week, make a list of the things that you need to have done by the end of the week. Make a to-do list at the start of each study session too, so that you're clear about what you need to be doing with your time.
• Set Time Limits - Before you start your study session, have a look at your to-do list and give yourself a set time to spend on each task. If you don't get something done in the set time, consider whether it's the best use of your time to keep going with it, or to start working on something else.

4. Discover Your Learning Style - Most of us have a preferred way of learning. Get to know your learning style and study in the ways you learn best.

• Auditory learners learn by listening. If you’re an auditory learner, you could try reading your notes aloud and discussing them with other people. You might like to record key points and play them back.
• Visual learners learn by seeing. If you’re a visual learner, you could use colours in your notes and draw diagrams to help represent key points. You could try to remember some ideas as images.
• Tactile/kinesthetic learners learn by doing. If you’re a tactile/kinesthetic learner, you could use methods like role-playing or building models to revise key points.

5. Review and Revise - At least once a week you should go back over the things you've studied in class. Thinking things over can help you to understand the concepts and help you remember when you need them the most.

• Quiz Yourself - Get a friend or family member to quiz you on key concepts. Offer to help your friends with their work too. Quizzes are great ways to get confident about what you know and find out what you still need to learn.
• Make your own Study Materials - Think up some practice exam questions or create your own flash cards to help you study. This way you learn it all twice: once when you make the study materials and once when you use them to revise.

6. Take Breaks - It's important to take breaks while you're studying, especially if you're feeling tired or frustrated. Working too long on a task can actually decrease your performance.

• When you take a break, make sure you get away from your desk or study space. A bit of physical activity - even just a walk around the block - can sometimes help you to look at a problem in a different way and could even help you to solve it.

7. Ask for Help - If you're stuck on something, or something just doesn't seem to make sense, you can always ask for help. Talk to your teachers about the things you don't understand. Talk to your friends and fellow students too.

8. Stay Motivated - When you're studying it helps to keep in mind your reasons for doing all this hard work, like a course or career you're working towards. It can help to have something in your study space to remind you of your goals.

• You could also decorate your study space with inspirational quotes or photos of people you admire

9. App it Up - There are heaps of apps out there for helping students with all aspects of study. Have a chat with your friends and teachers to see which apps they recommend.

10. Look after Yourself - You’ll study better if you take care of yourself. Make sure you eat well and get enough sleep and physical exercise. Don't reward yourself with too many sugary or fatty snacks or push yourself to study late into the night. It’s also a good idea to make sure you drink lots of water when you’re studying.

(Adapted from www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au)

Nikki Townsend

Using praise

• Know the difference between feeling good and doing well. Feeling good provides immediate gratification and doing well is about coping. The latter is much more useful in life.
• Praise your child for doing well – trying their best, strength of character, demonstrating resilience. Praise their adjectives and verbs eg. Trying, working not being something, for example, clever or beautiful.
• Avoid excessive and empty praise – this can give them unfounded belief in little talent or unsupported superiority. It can also make the child be dependent upon other’s responses for their good feelings, as children get hooked on praise!
• Have your child own their achievement rather than thank them for it or pay them for it.
• Try to get them to express pride for success rather than you as a parent.
• Help develop the ability to take constructive criticism.

Social Confidence

• It is prosocial to hold back – nothing wrong with being shy.

• Social success is produced by self-confidence and sense of worth.
• Need to draw strength from belonging to teams, communities and families but do not need to stand out as special.
• The danger signs for not being good company is when the child doesn’t respect others and expects things all the time.

Help them develop resilience

• Resilience is the ability to bounce back from tricky or difficult situations.
• Don’t always provide feedback on everything.
• Pay less attention to pessimistic talk – encourage positive talk.
• Process their day with them – What was the best part of your day?

  What was difficult?

  What are you going to do to solve it?

  Brainstorm with them, don’t solve it.

• Don’t linger on issues too long. Move on.
• Normalise feelings – name the emotions to face challenges.

  Help them develop self-regulation

• Self-regulation is the ability to act in their best interests.
• An essential element of developing self-regulation in children is for the parent to be in charge.
• The child needs to respect authority.
• Have clear rules, instructions need to be a statement – don’t give ‘Disney’ instruction.

These parenting suggestions for behaviours, expectations and interactions align with classroom practice. By having this shared approach, both at home and at school, together we are supporting your daughters to become the best person she can be.    

Angela Drysdale

This week we held our first St Margaret’s Way Assembly for the term and welcomed parents to join us to share in the achievements of the girls, to see the students present about their learning, and to be acknowledged for their demonstration of the St Margaret’s values through their embodiment of the ‘St Margaret’s Way’.

As you embark upon vacations or extended periods at home together, it may be useful for you to lean on the questions that underpin the St Margaret’s Way, trading the context of school for holidays: “How do I want to feel every day when I am [on holidays]” and “What am I doing to ensure others can feel this way?” These questions help to place accountability and responsibility for your daughter’s experiences over the break in her hands as well as illuminate how she can contribute to not only her own experiences but also those of others. A continuity of focus on the values we espouse at school in the home context will provide familiarity and a common foundation for the girls while ensuring that their transition and return to school after the three-week break is as seamless as possible for all parties. This partnership between home and school will also hopefully ensure that your family enjoys a fulfilling and rewarding break.

Annette Box

Congratulations to the following girls who participated:

Elizabeth Astill (Yr, 7, Voice – Soprano)

Claire Bastian (Yr 8, Voice – Soprano)  

Kate Bateman (Yr 9, Baritone Saxophone)         

Sophia Blight (Yr 8, Tenor Saxophone)

Abigail Butler (Yr 7, Clarinet)   

Piper Chalmers (Yr 6, Cello)    

Arwyn Freer (Yr 8, Voice – Alto)          

Jemima Given (Yr 8, Clarinet)

Asher Grant-Taylor (Yr 6, Double Bass)

Nina Hutchins (Yr 6, Voice – Soprano)

Valletta Hutchins (Yr 8, Voice – Alto)   

Ha Yeun Kim (Yr 7, Tenor Saxophone) 

India McConnell (Yr 7, Bass Clarinet)    

Ella McCready (Yr 9, Violin)      

Matilda  Owen (Yr 7, Voice – Soprano)  

Darcy Pitman (Yr 8, Euphonium)           

Charlotte Rhode (Yr 7, Violin)

Soloists Recital Series 2

Thank you to all students who performed at the Soloists Recital Series held on Wednesday afternoon. It was wonderful afternoon of music and all students who performed are to be congratulated on their entertaining performances!

Music Support Group

Thank you to all those who attended the last Music Support Group meeting. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 14 June at 5.00pm in M’s Cafe. Parents from both the Primary and Secondary Schools are welcome to attend.

Brad King

In the teams events our 15 years and 17+ years finished 2nd overall, while our 14 Years finished 3rd overall. Individually, Demi Van Itallie (Year 7), Charlie Spies (Year 9), Millie Campbell (Year 9) and Kaya Agnew (Year 11) all showed plenty of determination finishing in the top ten within their respective age groups. Exceptional runs were performed by Matilda Lee (Year 10) and Isabella Harte (Year 11) who both finished 2nd on the podium respectively. Well done coaches, teachers and of course our Maggies runners!

A huge thank you must go to Mrs Susan Uhlmann for her coordination of the team, Mr Eric Brown and all of the coaches for their tireless effort. Additional thanks to Ms Erin Buckingham, Ms Stephanie Cowie and Ms Dominique Nielsen for their contribution to the season. Lastly, thanks to all families for the terrific support of the girls on the day and over the season.

Full results can be found through the following link: qgsssa.com.au

Sporting Achievement

It’s with great pleasure that we recognise the outstanding sport performances and representation of St Margaret’s students at a national and international level. Congratulations to Lara Charles (Year 12) who has been selected in the Queensland School Sport Tennis team. She will be playing in the School Sport Australia National Championships in Perth later in the year.

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

GO MAGGIES!

Lloyd Knight

‘Ballare’ dance students will also perform at the festival. The students have been excitedly choreographing and rehearsing their routines. Watch out for notifications regarding auditions for spaces available for dance troupe 2022/2023, as we rehearse for end of year events and the 2023 School Musical.

This week we were honoured to have international artist, Michael Zavros, to talk to and inspire our Year 11 and 12 Visual Art students about his work and art practices. Michael Zavros is a leading Australian artist whose work has been exhibited in major museums throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe. Michael discussed his creative process, sharing his techniques with students, who will now complete of body of work based on their findings.

Artwork of the Month

Congratulations to Harriet Corish in Year 7, the recipient of our June Artwork of the Month. Harriet's artwork is a vibrant and lively depiction of Brisbane. The river is exceptionally blended with colours from purple to yellow. She has used posca pens to create many different shapes and patterns to imitate the buildings of the city. Overall her work is visually eye-catching. Well done Harriet.

Adrian Walker

Emerging Artist Competition

A reminder that Bernborough Ascot is supporting emerging artists at St Margaret’s through an Emerging Artist Prize as part of the MAYO Arts Festival. Students in Years 7 to 12 are invited to enter an original work that reflects this year’s MAYO theme, ‘reconnect’.

Submissions can be 2D static artworks on paper or canvas using paint, pastel, pencil or mixed media.

First prize (acquisitive prize) will receive $500 and the opportunity to have their artwork permanently on display within the Bernborough Ascot Village near Doomben Racecourse.

Entries close on Friday 8 July 2022. For any questions or assistance, please see Lucy Hulme in the Art Department – lhulme@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.

Sponsorship

Each primary school year level hosts a stall at the festival. St Margaret’s is offering sponsorship of these stalls for $350. This includes the following benefits:

• Company branding displayed on sponsored stall
• Company name listed on festival webpage
• Company name published in festival program

Thank you to those families and businesses that have already sponsored a stall at this year's festival. For anyone who might be still interested, we have availability to sponsor the Pre-Prep and Year 4 stalls. Please contact Pru Reed preed@stmargarets.qld.edu.au if you'd like to take up this opportunity.

Please refer to the attached Information Guide for full booking terms and conditions. We are unable to accept bookings via email or text message. The OSHC registration and Debitsuccess form must be completed, signed and sent back to us to finalise your booking. Please read the information guide carefully as some information has changed. OSHC Registration and Debitsuccess can be completed via the My Family Lounge.

PLEASE COMPLETE YOUR VACATION CARE BOOKING FORM VIA THE MY FAMILY LOUNGE APP

We are very excited to inform you that St Margaret’s OSHC has subscribed to a fantastic online Booking and Waitlist management program called QK Enrol. This program will give you access to manage your own account information, where you will have the ability to make bookings requests and allows you to complete and submit an online enrolment form for your child. You can do this and much, much more all within a parent portal called ’My Family Lounge’.

How do I log in?

Please navigate to the link below and either sign in with your existing My Family Lounge account or Register for an account if you do not already have one. Please note all families who have previously submitted an enrolment form will have an account already set up; all you will need to do is click ‘forgotten password’ and use the email address you used to receive this form.

https://www.qkenhanced.com.au/Account/Embeddable/?databaseId=9385

When making a Vacation Care booking please select Casual bookings, not Permanent.

What is the cost?*

Early Bird Fees: $61 per day

Early Bird Bookings close: 8 June 2022

Fees: $66 per day*

Bookings close: 13 June 2022

*Incursions and excursions incur additional costs. These are compulsory for all students and therefore you are able to claim CCS.

What are the hours of operation?

The service is open from 7:00am until 6:00pm.

How can I obtain more information?

If you would like further information regarding our OSHC Program or if you would like to make a booking, feel free to contact me on 0423 547 653 or email: oshc@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.

Palu Ingram

Each year, the Barbara Sisley Awards acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of those students who top the state of Queensland in AMEB Speech and Performance exams and Trinity College of London Speech and Drama exams in the previous year.

Arabella, Grace and Mana each achieved the highest result in Queensland for their respective AMEB Speech and Performance exams in 2021. Outstanding achievements!

On Saturday night, Arabella, Grace and Mana joined other very talented students from throughout Queensland in performing to a captivated audience of approximately 200 guests at the 76^th anniversary of the event.

The Communication, Speech and Performance Teachers Inc. first established the Barbara Sisley Awards in 1947 to honour the outstanding contribution Miss Sisley made to teaching and the Arts in Queensland over many years. Barbara Sisley was a creative and dynamic actor, director, producer and teacher of Speech and Drama who taught here at St Margaret’s for some time during her early career.

ESU Public Speaking Competition – Junior Grand Final

Congratulations to Speech and Drama student Tia Hooper (Year 8) who represented St Margaret’s in the Junior Grand Final of the English Speaking Union Queensland Secondary Schools’ Public Speaking Competition last Thursday night.

Tia delivered an impromptu speech on the topic “The Best Surprise Ever” and a prepared speech on the topic "Once a word is allowed to escape, it cannot be recalled." Horace

The adjudicators commended Tia on her energised, engaging style of delivery, her dynamic language choices and her use of naturally-released gestures to support her comments. Well done Tia!

Maria Chamberlain

Heidi Cooper is the CEO of CCIQ and is passionate about driving Queensland’s strategic growth.  Throughout her career, Heidi has worked extensively for the advancement of business in Queensland. With over 20 years’ experience in law, corporate affairs and policy making, Heidi has successfully driven strategies for major ASX companies. She has specialised in leading sustainable business initiatives with a key focus on economic growth, job creation, education, sustainability and community engagement. Heidi is currently a member of the Jobs Queensland Board and Brisbane Festival Giving Committee. She also has a longstanding commitment to community and not-for-profit initiatives and is a member of the St Margaret’s Foundation Board and the St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace School Advisory Council. 

Date: Thursday 18 August 2022

Time: 6.45am arrival for 7.00am - 8.45am

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

Format: Sit down breakfast 

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

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

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

Book now via the Try Booking link: https://www.trybooking.com/BZDES     

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

Reunion Weekend 2022

St Margaret’s warmly invites graduate students from 2012, 2002, 1992, 1982, 1972, 1962 and VIP graduates from the years 1961 and prior to return to the school for their reunion weekend in July.

The reunions will be held at various locations at St Margaret’s over the weekend of Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 July.  The Old Girls’ Day Chapel Service and morning tea will be held from 10.30am on Sunday 24 July, and is always a wonderful opportunity to reconnect, remember and share personal histories with one another. For more details and to purchase tickets, please visit the Reunion Weekend event page.

Something from the Archives….

In our most recent Old Girls’ newsletter, St Margaret’s Archivist, Mary Surtees, wrote about something that elicits very fond memories from our past students: ballgames!

“At our recent Open Day, the group of photos that elicited the most comments from old girls from 1940-1990 was the group of ballgame photos. It was a sport close to my heart as I taught and coached ballgames in both the primary and secondary school during my time as a Physical Education teacher here at St Margaret’s.

All the girls who commented, remembered the ballgame competition and the training associated with it, with great fondness. The rapid fire of the Captain Ball action, the speed at taking the turns around the leader and end player in Leader Ball, the stamina of Star Relay and the precision of File Gap were all mentioned.

St Margaret’s was one of the three founding schools (BGGS and Somerville being the others) of the QGSSSA in 1908 and the schools conducted fixtures in tennis only. Swimming was included in 1909 and athletics in 1918. Under 15 Goaling appears for the first time in 1923. Ballgames proper made its first appearance in 1928 with Twelve-man Tunnel Ball, Captain Ball, Zig Zag Pass, Overhead Pass and Long Tunnel Ball. The Ballgames competition formed part of the Athletics Carnival. Our 1928 LINK proudly boasts that we were placed first in senior tunnelling!!

1941 saw the introduction of a new Ballgame – Leader Ball. In this year, there were only three ballgames – Leader Ball, Captain Ball and Tunnelling. The athletics captain of 1941 did not hold back when she wrote in the LINK that ‘the ballgames were not up to the standard of the rest of the team. More concentrated practice in this branch should make our prospects for the next sports very bright’ Sadly in the 1942 LINK, the Athletics captain reported that ‘our ballgames, on the whole, were not up to standard’. In 1944 and again in 1945, things had definitely improved in the ballgame department – we gained a place in every team event! There is a memory from an Old Girl that one ballgame team was recalled after its convincing win in the Captain Ball. Officials were concerned that they were a player short – such was their winning margin. An official count was conducted, and St Margaret’s was declared the winner in a new record time!!

During the Fifties and Sixties, new games were added – File Gap, Tunnel and Zig, Square Spry. In 1971, Ballgames became an independent competition from athletics. In 1991, BGGS and St Peters withdrew from the competition and in 1996, the last QGSSSA Ballgames competition was held. The decision to abandon ballgames was taken to make way for other sports in which girls could achieve representative (state and national) honours.

During competition, the accompanying ballgames judge was someone to be very wary of. When she raised her finger (to advise the team of a warning), the team would hold its breath. Six warnings and the team was disqualified! It was a very serious business!

In 1962, St Margaret’s became part of the Andrews Cup Association. There is no record of when ballgames began in the primary school competition, but it was always fiercely contested with additional games of Star Relay, Exchange Ball Relay and Circle Gap making appearances in various years. The primary students were a little more committed to their training sessions and we did achieve first place in many of the ballgames.

Sadly, the decision was made to abandon ballgames in the primary school with 2000 being the last time we participated in the competition. Being a part of a ballgame team elicited many benefits – not the least of which were camaraderie, teamwork, hand-eye co-ordination and resilience. Whilst the competition is long gone, for many Old Girls, it is definitely not forgotten.”

Lara Pickering