eNews Archive Issue 27 - 1 September 2022

On Friday 2 September 2022, MMG Education will email you an invitation to participate in the review and provide you with your confidential, secure access to your questionnaire.

To ensure confidentiality and to encourage frank and full expression of views:

• all responses will be de-identified
• the data will be reported back in aggregated form only
• all data collected by MMG Education will remain under its control and archived according to research protocols. The school will not be able to access it.

At the conclusion of the research period, MMG Education will provide me with a report. I would like to encourage all Year 12 parents to complete the survey. Your feedback is invaluable, and your responses will assist the St Margaret’s School Council and Senior Leadership Team to review the school’s operations and plans for the future. Thank you in advance for your participation in this important project.

Last weekend was another busy one. Ushered in by another spectacular ‘Primary Arts Spectacular’ on the Friday evening, followed by a nail-biting Head of the River win, a thought-provoking performance in Optiminds by our primary students and the participation of 35 members of staff in the Bridge to Brisbane, the weekend went very quickly and here we are in Week 8 of the term! Our Year 12s begin their mock exams this week and we wish them well in this very important preparation period for their external exams.

Ros Curtis

This year bookings for Speech Night tickets will be handled online through the QPAC booking system. As outlined in a previous eNews, the following students will be required to attend Speech Night:

• All Years 11 and 12 students. All students in Year 12 will be required to wear a Church dress. Only prize winners in Year 11 will be required to wear a Church dress. Students in Year 11 who are not prize winners will wear their school middy.
• All boarders will be attending. Boarders who are not prize winners or in Year 12 will wear their school middy.
• All additional prize winners in Years 5-10.

Bookings will open for Year 12 parents only next Friday and these families will receive an email early next week with the details of how to make their booking.

Tickets for all other year levels will open to the rest of the school at 5pm on 4 October. The prize reading assembly occurs on this day.

Your daughters will receive their tickets at school (they will not be sitting with you) and therefore you do not need to book seats for them.

This year there is the added option of print@home which will make it much easier for families to access their tickets. Of course, families are still able to choose the option of QPAC box office collection; however, please be aware that the box office is a busy place just prior to the event so you may wish to opt for print@home.

We look forward to seeing many students and families at our annual Speech Night and Prize Giving Ceremony.

Karen Gorrie

In the winters of life,
when the flowers and leaves have fallen by the wayside,
the stripped-back branches reach starkly towards the sky
and the roots cling to the earth and its rocky foundations
like a grip of hard-won faith,
there is God,
our company in the questioning,
the seeker after truth,
the passion in our indignation,
always gently, tenderly, holding us all in love.
            (Prayer by the Revd Dorothy McRae-McMahon)

So, as we welcome the season of Spring, with the earth springing forth with life and energy, may you know the presence of God – holding, tending, loving – energising you for the journey ahead.

Notices:

• We have a Spirituality and Faith tile on the POD which has many different resources for spirituality and prayer, exploring big questions, and well-being.
• Sunday 4 September – The SSA will be running a Eucharist in the Sisters’ Chapel at 4pm. You are welcome to attend. There will be more of these special services in the future, so stay tuned.

In peace,

Rev’d Jazz

Recently, the Year 8s held a special sunset picnic in our Barley Sugar Gardens, and our Year 12s held their sit-down dinner in the Arts Centre Foyer for the final time. How special it was to acknowledge how far the girls have come and to enjoy each other’s company outside of routine. There is unity and a great sense of community when we hold our dinners and more importantly sharing the joy as we gather.

Congratulations to our rowers who over the weekend won the percentage cup and claimed the Head of the River 1^st VIII title. We also congratulate our boarders who participated at Met North Trials for track and field.

Gracemere Mataia

Self-regulation is a powerful skill to learn with respect to their learning. It requires students to set goals, develop strategies and monitor the effectiveness of their strategies throughout. Learning self-regulation should start early and takes time and practise (like any skill!). By being intentional about their actions throughout each term or learning period and reflecting on their application and subsequent achievement on each task, students are able to evaluate the effectiveness of their strategies and make adjustments to their approach for the next learning period.

I encourage all students to consider this as they come to the end of Term 3. What were your strategies for this term? How successfully did you follow them? And did they result in an outcome you are happy with? Take the opportunity to discuss this with your Academic Advisor as they can help to tweak current strategies or introduce new ones to optimise your learning and achievement.

Caitlin McCluskey

As Dr Matthews emphasised in her presentation, metacognition is cyclical. As students draw on their current state of cognitive knowledge (for example, of their assessment tasks and strategies to prepare), they can also engage in metacognitive regulation. This involves:

• Planning – specific task setting; subdividing large, complex tasks; predicting task outcomes
• Monitoring and Controlling – keeping track of progress and effectiveness of strategies being used, and being prepared to change course where necessary
• Evaluating – critically examining the outcomes of tasks and sub-tasks and the way they were navigated.

As a result of this metacognitive regulation, there is feedback to expand and refine their cognitive knowledge. This is knowledge that can then be drawn upon in the next task.

At St Margaret’s, we are committed to finding new ways to embed metacognitive thinking into our Academic Advising and Pastoral Care Programs, and I encourage parents and carers to continue conversations with their daughters that also assist with this important endeavour.

Chris Dunn

Reference

Skillful Learning, 2022. Metacognition. [Online]
Available at: https://skillful-learning.org/theory/ [Accessed 28 August 2022].

Examples of the different ways of praising were shared:

Intelligence Praise:

“Wow, that’s a really good score. You must be really smart.”

Process Praise:

“Wow, that’s a really good score. You must have tried really hard.”

Professor Dweck challenges parents and educators to praise effort and struggle, strategies and choices, choosing difficult tasks, persisting, and learning and improving over ‘being smart’ alone. In fact, every word and action sends a message.

Carol Dweck’s research is re-writing the psychology text books. It is an exciting time in education as we endeavour to implement strategies, approaches and methods in our teaching that have come out of this ground-breaking research. If you are interested in reading more about the relationship between mindsets and praise you can click on the link below for one of Professor Dweck’s colleague’s papers, which appeared in The New Yorker.

http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/

Nikki Townsend

The students’ costumes were spectacular and ably created by each child, supported by their families, a long list of parents and Sandra Franklin and Kate Hansen who worked tirelessly to help bring the wearable art pieces to life. The Year 6 performances transitioned perfectly into the haunting sounds of the digeridoo played by Derek and the visual effect of the iconic Big Pineapple. The juxtaposition of these two images was stunning. The Big Pineapple was the work of the Moody family, especially Simon and Sharni who went above and beyond to bring us this incredible feast for the eyes.  

The Year 5 choir brought the audience back to Brisbane in their tourist shirts and their catchy song. Thank you to Mrs Brennan for this musical item. A special thank you to artist-in-residence Ros Haydon, supported by our staff members Jacinta Stewart and Meg Cohen, the Facilities and Functions teams and our primary staff who have helped realize this event. A big thank you to Annette Box for her vision and direction of the event.

Arts Spectacular is a particularly momentous occasion for the Year 6’s as their time in the Primary School comes close to the end. For the Year 5’s, it is a taste of what is to come. Each year, our Primary Arts Spectacular theme ties in with the Book Week theme, which this year was Dreaming with Eyes Open. The 2023 theme has not yet been announced, but we look forward to what lies ahead.

Angela Drysdale

Teams were required to work together on a Long-Term Challenge for up to six weeks without assistance from anyone outside the team. They are encouraged to explore possibilities and experiment with ideas as they endeavour to produce the best possible solution. Teams then present their responses to challenges and are judged by other Brisbane teachers.

Teams also participate in an unseen Spontaneous Challenge. Thank you to Ms Sands and Mr Howard for facilitating the project and attending to support and judge on Challenge Day. Congratulations to Allegra Pople, Isabella Goodrick, Lily Tribe, Gigi Bissett, Isobel Stobie, Chloe Nheu, Ally Cowley, Anjelica Owen, Emma Kardooni, Piper Chalmers, Stalla Rhode, Gia Comino, Christy Lok and Georgia Van Riel who represented St Margaret’s with confidence and grace.

Kate Frewin

The theme for the 2022 Music Dinner is ‘Iconic Songs’. Students (and parents!) are encouraged to choose an iconic song and dress in a costume that represents their chosen song. Music Dinner is an occasion for students and parents to celebrate a wonderful year of music-making at St Margaret’s with awards given, and presentations made to acknowledge the girls’ many achievements. It is open to students in Years 6-12 who have been involved in the Co-curricular ensembles throughout the year. It is always a special night and we look forward to having many in attendance!

Flute and Clarinet Ensemble Performance

Congratulations to the Flute and Clarinet Ensembles who gave fantastic performances in the Primary Atrium on Monday at Morning Tea. The performances were greatly appreciated by all of the Primary students in the audience!

Soloists’ Recital Series 3

Congratulations to all students who performed in the Soloists’ Recital on Wednesday afternoon in the Arts Centre Foyer. There were many wonderful performances provided on a variety of different instruments with a wide range of musical styles. All girls should be exceptionally proud of their musical contributions!

Student Congratulations

Congratulations to Edith Barber (Year 7) who gave a wonderful performance on the alto saxophone of The Listener by Lachlan Davidson at last week’s Aspiring Young Women’s Network breakfast. The performance was highly engaging and enjoyed by all who were in attendance!

Music Support Group

The next Music Support Group meeting will be held on Tuesday 6 September at 5.00pm in M’s Cafe. Parents from both the Primary and Secondary Schools are welcome to attend.

Brad King

The premier School Girl 1st VIII race was one of the most exciting I have had the pleasure of watching. A fast-starting St Hilda’s led from the start and put the pressure on from the outside lane. Our crew closed it out in the last 20 strokes of the 2000m race, powering through the line displaying their determination and strength across the water. A huge congratulations to this crew and the many other crews who either won races, rowed in season best performances and/or simply made it to the finish line… completing their season as a St Margaret’s rower. Thank you to the staff, coaches, Rowing Support Group and families who have supported the program throughout 2022. Congratulations on your efforts and spirit towards our school.     

For a full list of QGSSSA results please check out the following POD News post. and for future information regarding fixtures please see our Sport POD Page.

Further QGSSSA sport information can be found on the following POD pages:

• QGSSSA Hockey POD Page
• QGSSSA Tennis POD Page
• QGSSSA Netball POD PAGE
• QGSSSA Volleyball POD Page

Hockey Report

The Senior A’s had their final game last weekend, topping off an outstanding season. The Senior A’s went 3W-1D-2L for the season, which will see them finish third on the pennant ladder. The team shared a picnic afterwards celebrating the Hockey journeys of those students playing their last games for St Margaret’s. Well done Seniors, you smashed it!

Unfortunately, our Opens hockey team lost 2-0 this weekend against St Peter's. St Peter’s is one of our closest matched opponents and the game was fought fiercely. Unfortunately, the result did not go our way. However, we're proud of our hockey player's efforts! The team currently sits fourth on the pennant ladder, with a good chance against Ipswich Girls Grammar to come.

Big shout out to Becky Bodkin (Year 12). Becky played astonishingly well and was a powerhouse in defence for our Opens, as was Gemma Hooper (Year 10).

The Junior A’s had one of their closest games yet and played so well together. This team has battled all season as a largely Year 7 team playing in a Junior (Yr 7,8 & 9) competition. Their 0-2 result, although a loss, highlights the improvement for this team across the season. A huge shoutout to the Junior A's goalie, Bella Beasley (year 7), who was a superstar during the game, stopping countless goals. Well done Juniors, we look forward to your continued improvement for years to come!

We have a weekend off coming up and will use our training to focus skills for our final game against Ipswich Girls Grammar.

Annabel Lauder & Grace Shearer

Hockey Captains

Rowing Report

Last Saturday, our rowers boarded the bus to Wyaralong for our final regatta of the season, Head of the River.

The spectator’s headland was filled with brown, white, blue and orange 😉 as an unmatchable amount of St Margaret’s supporters flooded the hill. The war cries and yelling from the bank encouraged our rowers as they rowed their hearts out towards the finish line.

The day was a great success with the Year 8s placing fourth, and the Year 9s, Year 10s and seniors placing third. On top of this, our First VIII won their race after a close final 500m sprint which had all of our hearts racing. Through the whole shed’s effort, we were able to bring home the Percentage Cup.

We would like to thank the school for allowing us to participate in this amazing sport and our Head of Rowing, Jared Bidwell for his continued mentorship, leadership and passion towards our rowers and shed. GO MAGGIES!

Georgia Campbell & Ruby Greenup

Rowing Captains

QGSSSA Athletics Practice Meets

In the lead up to the QGSSSA Track & Field Championships set to take place on Thursday 15 September, our Maggies team will be participating in several practice meets this term.

All students participating within the QGSSSA Athletics Program are encouraged to participate within these practice meets. They are lots of fun, with an exciting atmosphere under lights at the track.

For further information please see the Athletics POD PAGE.

Sporting Achievement

It’s with great pleasure that we can recognise the outstanding sport performances and representation of St Margaret’s students at a national and international level. I would like to highlight and congratulate the following students on their recent achievements:

• Sophie Martin (Year 11) represented Australia at the Junior Pan Pacific championships in Honolulu, Hawaii as a result of her success during the National championships earlier in the year. Swimming in multiple finals, Sophie did herself, country, and school proud with some amazing results in the 100 Breaststroke (5^th), 200 IM (7^th) and the two relays. We congratulate Sophie on her fantastic results and look forward to her leading our QGSSSA Swimming team as Co-Captain in 2023.
• Mena Bertinato (Year 7) recently competed at the Australian School Sport Swimming Championships as a representative of team Queensland. Mena performed extremely well winning the gold in the 12 Year 50m Individual Freestyle, silver in the 50m Individual Backstroke and winning relay golds. Well done, Mena, we are excited to follow your journey and see you pull on the Maggies cap at next year’s QGSSSA Championships.
  
• Gloria Finselbach (Year 7) recently competed at the Australian School Sport Swimming Championships as a representative of team Queensland. Gloria placed 5^th in the Australian Final for the individual 100m Breaststroke and 8^th in the 50m Breaststroke. We are extremely proud of Gloria’s achievements and look forward to following her performances across the QGSSSA season ahead.
• Cosette Cooke (Year 9) recently competed at the Australian School Sport Swimming Championships as a representative of team Queensland. Cosette placed 5^th overall in the Individual 100m Freestyle. We are extremely proud of Cosette’s achievements and look forward to following her performances across the QGSSSA season ahead.
• Bless Daly (Year 8) has been selected within the U15 Queensland Maroon Water Polo team that will compete at the nationals in September. This is the 4^th state representative team Bless has made this year. Congratulations Bless we are excited to see the results that follow.
• Charli Spies (Year 9) & Isabella Harte (Year 11) who represented Queensland at the Australian Cross Country Championships in Adelaide. Both Charli and Isabella were involved in respective age groups that won that state competition for Queensland. Congratulations to both Charli and Isabella we look forward to seeing you on the track in the coming weeks at the QGSSSA Championships.

We would like to continue to recognise the outstanding achievements and representation of students’ participating 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 me lknight@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.

GO MAGGIES!

Lloyd Knight

Current Year 11 students will be required to have textbooks and stationery for the commencement of Term 4 2022.

Delivery is free within Queensland. Boarders only can have their book pack delivered to St Margaret’s for pickup on their return to school in Term 4 by confirming in the delivery address: Boarder – Deliver to St Margaret’s AGS.

All other year levels will have access to the 2023 booklists around mid-October 2022.

This is a wonderful opportunity for you to attend with your daughter or to take a corporate table and host your colleagues or clients.

Amanda Johnston-Pell is global leader in the fields of Business Transformation, Digital Sales, Marketing, Brand and Entrepreneurship. Her career spans 25 years working across US, Canada, APAC and Japan markets in both Executive and Non-Executive roles. She currently serves as the Vice President Digital Sales, Chief Digital Officer for IBM Japan, Asia Pacific and Greater China. Prior to this appointment, she held several executive positions within IBM, Telstra, where she was an Executive Director in the Brands + Marketing Communications Group, and BigPond, among others.

Amanda is a highly respected business leader and pioneer in her field, espousing an entrepreneurial spirit and an 'anything is possible' mantra. Her entrepreneurial credentials as Co-Founder and Founding Co-CEO of a New York City based start-up have helped drive agility, cohesion and a growth mind-set within the remits she has led.

She was the 2021 recipient of The University of Queensland Vice Chancellor’s Alumni Excellence Award and the inaugural Women’s College (at the University of Queensland) Alumna Award – awarded for outstanding leadership in business, and for services to community, education and private diplomatic initiatives.

Sarah Clarke is an award-winning journalist and TV presenter now based in Australia. She works for the international TV network, Al Jazeera English covering stories across the Asia Pacific region.

She returned to Australia in 2021 after 8 years living and working in Hong Kong covering the rise of the pro-democracy movement in 2014 and the more recent protests which saw hundreds of residents and journalists detained and jailed under China's national security law. Sarah began her career in Australia and spent 20 years with the ABC working out of Brisbane, the Canberra press Gallery and Sydney as the National Environment and Science Reporter.

Date: Wednesday 19 October 2022
Time: 6.45am arrival for 7.00am start. 8.45am finish.
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 Try Booking: https://www.trybooking.com/CBLHB

We thank our 2022 PWN 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, Uniform Link and Move Recruitment Solutions.

2022 Mother Daughter High Tea – Tickets on sale next week!

St Margaret’s P&F Association invites all girls in Years 3 to 12 and their mothers or significant women in their lives to the St Margaret’s 2022 Mother Daughter High Tea.

Date: Sunday 30 October 2022
Venue: The Greek Club

Tickets will go on sale from 9.30am on Tuesday 6 September via Try Booking: https://www.trybooking.com/CBVLB .
(Year 12 families will be given early access to purchase tickets from 9:30am Monday 5 September).

This event is proudly supported by Major Sponsor, Adcock Prestige and Supporting Sponsor, Rogue Hair Hamilton.

Calling all Old Girls! Join us for the inaugural Cocktail Event, an 'Evening on the Green' hosted by St Margaret’s Old Girls’ Association.

Enjoy a cocktail on arrival, three-hour drinks package, gourmet food truck delights, live music, and a chance to catch up underneath the stars. This event provides a great opportunity for past students to reconnect beyond their reunion years.

Date: Saturday 24 September 2022
Time: 6.00pm – 9.00pm
Venue: Circular Drive, St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School
Tickets: $110 per person or $165 per person with a bottle of Mumm champagne.
Book now via Try Booking: www.trybooking.com/BZOVT

Lara Pickering