Newsletter - Edition 10 2019

Edition Ten 05 July 2019

Newsletter

ST GEORGE’S ANGLICAN GRAMMAR SCHOOL

St George’s Anglican Grammar School; an exciting, innovative co-educational secondary school based in a high-rise building in the Perth CBD. The School caters for local and international students in Years 7-12, and is a proud member of the Anglican Schools Commission network of schools in Western Australia.

We are committed to child safety and protection, and expect all staff, volunteers, visitors to the School and contractors to respect and abide by all policies, procedures and practices developed and put in place by the Anglican Schools Commission (ASC) and/or the School in this regard.

Contents From the Principal ......................................................................................................... 1 From the School Council ............................................................................................. 3 From the Head of Curriculum .................................................................................... 5 From the Head of Pastoral .......................................................................................... 7 From the Head of Mathematics and Science .......................................................... 9 From the Head of Music ..............................................................................................11 From the IT Manager ................................................................................................... 13 School News ................................................................................................................ 15

From the Principal Mr Gary Racey

As we come to the end of an extremely busy and productive Term 2, I reflect on what an amazing educational organisation St George’s is. For those of you who follow the School on Instagram and other social media, you will know what a diverse and engaging program we provide to your children on a daily basis. We continue to push the boundaries in engaging with the city and providing our young people with experiences that reflect the real world, whilst permitting them to gain an understanding as to the ‘why’ for education.

Why do we need to learn how to learn?

Why do we need to uphold the values we hold so dear? Why do we aspire to serve the broader community?

I take this opportunity to thank our tireless staff who continually go beyond the norm and extend themselves to afford students with the opportunities for personal growth and development. We are extremely lucky to have a group of people who genuinely want to make a difference and have the care of your children at the forefront of their minds every single day.

end of their secondary education. We have a lot to be excited for in the months to come.

NAIDOC Week Whilst NAIDOC Week actually occurs from 8 -12 July, being the first week of our school holidays, we as a school determined to acknowledge this significant event this week.

The 2019 NAIDOC theme is “Voice. Treaty.

Truth.” and families are encouraged to investigate and unpack this further by reading up and attending events that may be occurring within your local community and/ or in the CBD. NAIDOC Week began for our student body in a themed Chapel Service on Monday 1 July, followed by each year group engaging in activities throughout the week. This will be on our annual calendar and I thank Ms Evans for her coordination, passion and care.

Electrocity – WAM Song of the Year As many of you may be aware, our Electrocity Ensemble won the Western Australian Music (WAM) Award for Song of the Year, Schools15-17 year old category, as presented on the evening of 26 June. A massive congratulations to the group, and to the Music staff who facilitated the entry. A significant achievement!

I wish all staff, students and families a safe and enjoyable holiday period, with three weeks of rest and recuperation. It is hoped that you all return fresh and ready to tackle another term, and in particular our Year 12’s who are preparing for one final push to the

Project Neil As previously informed, ‘Project Neil’ is a homeless project that the School is developing to bring awareness and understanding of the plight of many within our local community. For a start, the project’s namesake, Neil, has been our focus.

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St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

Our students are now saying hello to him and using his name when passing for Chapel or sport, the Year 9 student body have each written personal letters to him, and we have put together a ‘winter pack’ to help him get through the challenging weather we have been experiencing. It is hoped this is just the beginning and this project grows into a sustainable and impactful program for the broader homeless community.

Year 10 Work Experience An exciting way to end the term for our Year 10 students, who it is hoped had an enjoyable and eye-opening experience into the world of work. The aim of this program is to give some relevance to what the students are doing at school and to seek to help them develop some career goals.

Whilst it may provide some clarity either way for the work of choice selected, it also permits insight and perspective relating to the environment that our charges will be moving into over the next few years. Thank you to Mrs de Witt for her oversight and coordination.

Blessings

Gary Racey Principal

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From the School Council School Council Member On behalf of Council of the St George’s Anglican Grammar School, a school of the Anglican Schools Commission, we are delighted to invite expressions of interest for a position on School Council.

Now in its fifth year, the St George’s Anglican Grammar School is located in the heart of the Perth CBD and provides an ideal environment for students to engage in authentic and future focused education.

Students explore learning in a dynamic and relevant context, using the resources of our City as an extension of the classroom. See www.stgeorges.wa.edu.au for further information on the school.

Ideally you will bring professional experience on a Board or Council and perhaps have some background related to secondary or tertiary education. Our preference is also that Council members are connected to the Perth CBD in some way.

Intending applicants should be aware that Council will give preference to participating members of an Anglican Church.

Council seeks to appoint an additional member to the already strong team.

People interested in considering this opportunity are encouraged to contact Geoff Blades on 9221 0744 or geoff@lesterblades.com.au for a preliminary confidential discussion.

Alternatively, please forward your expression of interest/Resume to applications@lesterblades.com.au quoting reference number LB302292.

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St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

Edition 10 2019 4

From the Head of Curriculum Mrs Angela Tanham

End of Semester One Semester One has been very busy for the students. Many students have been working very hard in their academic programs, but holidays provide them with the opportunity to have a break and maintain some balance between work, rest and recreation. I encourage all students during the holidays to ensure they get good sleep, eat well, exercise and have some fun. By all means do some school work, particularly the year 12 students, but avoid three weeks of the grind of only school work. With balance in their lives, the students should come back rested and ready for Semester Two. Semester One Academic Excellence Certificates At the end of term assembly, some students were presented with Academic Excellence certificates. These are given to the student who has finished at the top of their class for a subject. Students who received these certificates should be very proud of their efforts throughout the semester. Next term, all student are encouraged to work very hard to be considered for an Academic Endeavour certificate.

St George’s Anglican Grammar School Open Day Friday 23 August is marked on the calendar as St George’s Open Day. This is a pupil free 5

day for all students in Year 7 to 11. Year 12 students are expected to attend on this day and their classes will run as usual. Other students may be invited to attend school on that day to be involved in alternative programs to be run on the day that will showcase all of the things our School has to offer. We encourage students to become involved on the day to share with members of the public all that is wonderful about belonging to the St George’s community.

University Open Days During July and August, the Perth Universities all run Open Days. These are designed to show case the facilities of the Universities and to allow prospective students to find out about courses and careers advice and to have an opportunity to speak to academics, lecturers and current students of the University to learn about study and campus life. All Year 10 to 12 students who are considering attending University after completing high school are encouraged to attend the open days.

Curtin University – Sunday 21 July Murdoch University – Sunday 28 July Edith Cowan University Joondalup – Sunday 28 July University of Western Australia – Sunday 4 August Edith Cowan University Mount Lawley and WAAPA – Sunday 11 August University of Notre Dame Australia – Sunday 11 August

St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

Revision Courses During the July school holidays a number of organisations run revision courses for Year 11 and 12 ATAR subjects. Revision courses give students the opportunity to revise course content, prepare for exams and learn to maximise exam performance and are presented by experienced ATAR subject teachers. Venues include UWA, Notre Dame, Churchlands Senior High school, Perth College, Perth Modern and Rossmoyne Senior High School. Further information about the courses and how to enrol can be found at the following links: www.academicassociates.com.au www.academictaskforce.com.au www.teeconsultants.com.au Notre Dame University Early Offer Program The Early Offer Program at Notre Dame acknowledges and rewards achievements of outstanding Year 12 students by simplifying their access to programs at the University.

Applications for the Early Offer Program are due by 5pm Wednesday 31 July 2019 Late applications will not be accepted.

If a student accepts their Early Offer to Notre Dame, they still have the option of applying and being offered a place at another university. More information and a copy of the application form can be found here https://www.notredame.edu.au/study/ early-offer/early-offer-fremantle

Careers Edith Cowan University Campus Tour Join your tour guide and check out the facilities on-campus and in some of our schools.

Mount Lawley Campus Date: Tuesday 9 July 11:00 am – 12:00 pm International Night For international students in Perth – covers courses, entry requirements and plenty more Mount Lawley Campus Date: Tuesday 9 July 6:00 – 7:00 pm Campus Tour Join your tour guide and check out the facilities on-campus and in some of our schools.

Joondalup Campus Date: Wednesday 10 July 11:00am – 12:00pm https://www.ecu.edu.au/future-students/ events University of Western Australia Year 12 Individual Advisory Sessions Designed to help answer in-depth questions about UWA courses, admission requirements and more.

Date: 15, 16 and 17 July https://study.uwa.edu.au/events/year-12-individual-advisory-sessions-2019

Angela Tanham Curriculum Coordinator

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From the Head of Pastoral Mr Hilton Hardman

With us hitting the half-way mark for the year, it’s an opportunity to reflect on what has been a productive period for the pastoral team.

We have had thirteen guest speakers give talks to different Year groups, one school camp, 18 hours of Protective behaviours curriculum, 16 hours of Pastoral and Well-being sessions and two School Charity days, just to name a few of the many areas of focus within our Pastoral program.

There has been a spread of personal development within Year Groups as well as a number of opportunities for Year groups to interact and support each other.

Student Mentors Our Student Mentors have been working with the Junior school this term. These Mentors would plan and run one of the PBP sessions with the focus on PCG unity through team games and activities that require teamwork and communication.

the unity between students in our school.

The personal touch of handwritten cards, motivational quotes on lockers, or walking around the school during recess doing raffles goes a long way in creating the environment we have in our school.

The Block Winners During the second half of term two, all PCG’s took part in The Block. Each PCG were required to develop their classroom in line with the school’s vision of enhancing learning spaces while keeping within a budget. During the big reveal in week seven we were amazed to see what the students had come up with; walls had been painted, plants incorporated, fairy lights were put up, and learning spaces redesigned just to name a few.

Congratulations to Year 7 Lincoln who won the overall competition and were rewarded with lunch up the road at the Painted Bird Restaurant.

The Mentors have also written personal cards to our Year 12 students wishing them well as they move into their last term before Mock exams. These were presented to the Year 12 students on the last day of Term 2.

The Student Mentors continue to play a key role in supporting students on a day to day basis while looking for ways to enhance 7

Neil’s Book of handwritten letters Neil has become a familiar face to our students as they walk to Chapel or Supreme Court Gardens for sport. He is one of the homeless you may come across as you walk through the city. Neil is a friendly individual who regularly waves and smiles at our students as they walk past. Our students discovered Neil enjoys reading, and they often come across him reading a book. With this in mind, our Year 9 students decided to write open letters to Neil, and these were bound into a book to be handed to him. It was extremely heartwarming to read the letters our students had written. They touched on how his smile makes their day, his ability to maintain a positive attitude and how fortunate they are to be in the position they are. This act of kindness from these students will go a long way in making Neil’s day but also reflecting on the importance of our programs that look to support those in need around the city. Our Year 9 students have already requested to meet and come up with ideas of how they can raise funds to support the homeless in the city.

Behaviour Management School Rules and procedures for managing a breach of School Rules are necessary to create a safe and harmonious environment in which to teach and to learn. To this end, rules, regulations and standards of expected behaviour are clear, and their observance is insisted upon. With this being said, staff will be placing a large focus on students making use of their school diaries from the start of Term 3.

Staff will be looking to ensure students have their diaries and using these as an organisational tool in supporting them around time management for assessments, monitoring homework and tracking student movement within the school. PCG Tutors will be required to sign student diaries once a week, and during this time they will be checking the points mentioned above, and it will be requested parents do the same. It is an expectation that students will have their diaries on them every day at school. As a privilege, a Year 12 student, who is working well and who has demonstrated good organisational skills, may not be required to have his/her diary signed once a week. If the Year 12 student does not show that he/she is self-disciplined in this area, the PCG Tutors may revert to the Year 7 – 11 models.

Parents have access to the full Behaviour Management Policy on SEQTA.

Hilton Hardman Head of Pastoral St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

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From the Head of Mathematics and Science Ms Charlotte Donovan

Titration Stakes Competition On Tuesday 25 June, two teams of Chemistry students represented St George’s at the annual Titration Stakes. This is an extra curricular competition run by RACI (Royal Australian Chemical Institute).

The Chemistry students are challenged to determine the concentration of three solutions of acetic acid by carrying out titrations, which involves technical skill, chemical knowledge, teamwork and mathematical acumen. The winner is determined by how close their results are to the correct concentration.

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The event was held at the Chemistry Centre located on the Curtin University Campus and ran from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Over 40 schools were represented and there were 77 teams in total.

The St George’s teams comprised of five year 12 Chemistry students and one very keen year 11 Chemistry student. Team 2 (comprised of Nicholas Purnell, Amanda Yeong and Jingyi Xu) placed in 24th position and team 1 (comprised of Zixin Wang, Hao Chai and Dejana Matijevic) placed in 69th position. The students in both teams arrived at results that were very similar to each other but the competition was tight and there were many schools that produced results that separated these two teams.

A huge thank you to the six students who participated in this event and to our Laboratory Technician, Ms Helen Chatfield, for providing the equipment for the event.

Ms Chatfield worked tirelessly behind the scenes in the weeks leading up to the event to help the students to prepare for the event. The students attended some after school practice sessions and Ms Chatfield provided both the equipment and solutions for the students to use. The students all worked well together and the event was a wonderful showcase of their skills and expertise.

Perth Zoo On Friday 7 June the Year 7’s went on an excursion to Perth Zoo as part of the Biology unit that they are learning in class.

At the zoo they were able to join in an education experience where they learnt about classification of animals. They were also able to use their knowledge of

St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

adaptations, habitats and interactions in discussion about how the zoo created their enclosures or how the animals survived in the wild. While the weather threatened to shower us with rain, we were blessed with a lovely afternoon which made traveling through the zoo an amazing experience.

I would like to thank the Year 7’s for their wonderful behaviour on the day and the enthusiasm they displayed at the zoo. I also thank Perth Zoo for once again providing us with an excellent education experience.

sharing their career stories. There are 8 x 90min speed networking sessions to choose from across a Sunday and a Saturday during National Science Week (Sunday 11 August and Saturday 17 August). This is a great opportunity for students to learn about STEM careers and be mentored by industry professionals.Visit the website to learn more and to register your place: www.innovatorsteaparty.org Girls Focus on Mining Camp Do you want to learn about WA’s high tech mining and resources sector, visit operational mine sites, rub shoulders with industry professionals and learn about the role of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the mining industry? If this sounds like the adventure you are looking for, then join us for five days as we experience what the mining industry in WA is really like. During the tour, students will visit operational mine sites, participate in hands-on workshops on campus, and meet lecturers, university students and mining industry leaders.

WHEN: Monday 23 - Friday 27 September 2019 (school holidays) WHO: Open to girls in Year 10 in WA schools COST: Free. All travel, meals and accommodation is provided thanks to the sponsorship of WA’s industry sector ‘Focus on your future: Focus on Mining’ Places are LIMITED and applications close FRIDAY 26 July, 2019. Follow the link below to apply or contact Mr Andrew Hannah, STEM Outreach Manager STEMOutreach@ Innovators Tea Party curtin.edu.au The Innovators’ Tea Party is a free https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/girls-fospeed-networking event for girls in Years 10 cus-on-mining-camp-2019-registra–12 who are interested in careers in Science, tion-63415138386?fbclid=IwAR0UQa4UVXTechnology, Engineering and Mathematics 6EBMHrRIrCrF7X8hU_m9vtm-n6xse8m6x(STEM). The event will be attended by 100 OiJpJodO_PsD9S6c women in STEM, mentors who are all passionate about their fields and

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St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

From the Head of Music Mr Michael Newton

It has been quite an eventful past few weeks for the music department. We have participated in events such as the SGAGS Music Festival, The Battle of the Bands, The ASC Piano Competition, Make Music Day and The WA Music Awards. First to occur was the SGAGS Music Festival with professional muso Alex Baker visiting to help our performers and give them advice.

On June 19 the piano students had the ASC Piano Competition which was held at Peter Moyes Anglican Community School. This was an amazing event for the SGAGS piano students who took part in this event. Every student is to be commended for participating; however, Ronan Dixon excelled, winning the event overall.

Vocals Award, Ronan Dixon won the Instrumentalist Award and The Ride won the Battle of the Bands competition.

studio time at Artisan Music. This is a wonderful success story for the group as there were over 1400 entries overall.

However, we were able to pull through and win the Schools 15-17 years category, so congratulations to Electrocity Ensemble.

This would not have been possible without the constant support of Mr Newton and Mr Byron Keno. Congratulations to all of our performers on great performances and an enjoyable day! And also, don’t forget to listen to Electrocity’s song which is on Apple Music and Spotify!

good way to socialise and make new friends.

5. What’s your advice for anyone learning Music?

Even if at some point you find the music boring just remember that the better you get, the better music you get to play.

Marvel Sukadis 2019 Music Captain Coming Up & Opportunities 23 August – Open Day (Electrocity Ensemble Recording Session) 12 September – ASC Rock Concert (Peter Moyes Anglican Community School)

The next day on Friday some of our Music students went to Brookfield Place to offer free music lessons on guitar and ukulele to the general public. After a slow start we had a full house of people learning to play for the first time!

Michael Newton Head of Music

Muso Profile - Finn Samuelson 1. What instrument(s) do you play?

Percussion.

2. What first got you interested in Music?

My dad was in a cover band during his younger years.

On Thursday 20 June we had the SGAGS Music Festival Concert and Battle of the Bands. This was a very successful night with many tickets sold. Eliza Griffin won the

Finally, the music departments most successful event was the WAM Awards, as Electrocity Ensemble was nominated for this and during the ceremony, we found out that we WON!! The prize is $500 cash and free

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St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

3. What’s the best thing about Music at St. G’s?

There are so many people that do music so there is a large community to play music with and discuss music also.

4. Why should other people do music?

It’s a creative release for me and many other of my muso friends and I believe it’s a very

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St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

From the IT Manager Mr Jason Wakefield

In the next few articles, we will review information on all of the apps within the Office 365 suite.

It is free for staff and students to download and install on up to 5 devices including mobile phones! Further help can be found under SEQTA > Documents.

More information on Office 365 can be found here.Tune in next time for our review on OneDrive.

A reminder to please make sure your devices are at least protected by a reputable anti-virus program.

NB: It is school policy to have an active Overview of Microsoft Office 365 anti-virus installed on all computers using Office 365 is a line of subscription services the school network so please take advantage offered by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft of our free offering of Trend Micro found Office product line (thank you, Wikipedia!). on the student’s SEQTA Learn home page.

These products include well-known Instructions can be found under SEQTA > applications such as Word, Excel, Outlook, Documents > Trend Micro for Students PowerPoint, OneDrive plus many more!

Business and Enterprise plans offer access to cloud-hosted versions of their server platforms also known as software-as-a-service (SAAS); including Exchange, SharePoint and browser-based Office Web Apps suite.

Since the School’s inception we have had a business plan with Microsoft enabling us to host our emails in the cloud and gain access to all of the Office apps both on our computers and in the web, amongst other things like 1TB of OneDrive storage per individual!

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Don’t forget we recycle your household batteries. Please use this FREE facility to dispose all your expired batteries (not including car and phone batteries). The bin can be found in the IT Manager’s office on level 1.

Let’s reduce landfill waste together.

St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

TIP OF THE WEEK – Creating your Resumé with the help of Word and Linkedin.

This feature is available to Office 365 subscribers only.

With the help of Linkedin, you can create your very own professional resumé. In Microsoft Word, go to Review > Resume Assistant (the first time you do this, click Get Started in the pane).

Type the role you’re interested in, such as project manager, and optionally, an industry, such as computer software. Click See examples, and Resume Assistant shows you work experience descriptions to use as inspiration for writing your own description.

Video: https://bit.ly/2KOilQD If you have missed any of our IT articles this term, I encourage you to have a read of them here as they may contain information that could help you out in your everyday life.

One such article covered information regarding a home internet safety product from Disney. More information here: https:// cybersafehouse.com

Jason Wakefield IT Manager

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School News Student Term Dates - 2020 Term 1 30 January - 9 April New Student Orientation 29 January Students Mid Term Break, Friday 28 February Term 2 30 April - 3 July Students Mid Term Break, Friday 29 May Term 3 27 July - 25 September New Student Orientation 24 July Students Mid Term Break, Friday 21 August Term 4 13 October - 9 December Enrolments The School Enrolment Policy requires one full term’s notice in writing prior to the withdrawal of a student from the School.

Where such notice is not received, the School will charge an amount equal to the tuition fees for that current term.

To avoid fees in lieu being charged, notice of a student’s withdrawal must be received by the School before the first day of the School Term preceding the Term of the student’s departure. If this does not occur, families will be charged the remainder of the current Term, plus an additional Terms fee in lieu.

If the account has been paid in full and a refund is due, payment will be processed for the full refund due within seven days of exit.

SEQTA The St George’s Anglican Grammar School SEQTA account is not assigned to a staff member and, therefore, is not monitored.

Please contact the staff member directly to ensure prompt action to your message.

in advance. As the events and details thereof are outside of the School’s control, we can no longer accept these requests or assist in the promotion of these events.

We do encourage parents to continue planning get-togethers, and are happy to include a photo and a short report on the activities in the newsletter after they have been held.

Uniform Shop St George’s uniforms are purchased from Matrix Uniforms Showroom, 1 Hasler Road Osborne Park or online. Uniform fittings are available from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm Monday to Friday.

The Science Department needs your help!

Donations of any old working fish tank accessories will be gratefully received to fit out our 2 new fish tanks. We are seeking the following: • Gravel; • Lights; • Filter and Air pumps; • Decorations (Plastic plants etc); and • Large sheets of acrylic or polystyrene.

Also, any ice cream containers (any size, with or without lids) will also be accepted.

Students can bring their donations in directly to the Science department or their Science teacher.

Upon withdrawal of a student from the School, all fees and charges incurred for that student are payable to the School in full within seven days of exit.

Newsletter Advertising The School enjoys hearing news of St George’s parent community events but recently, the School has received a number of requests to advertise parent-run events

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St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

16 Edition 10 2019