Newsletter Edition 4, 2020

Newsletter

ST GEORGE’S ANGLICAN GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Edition Four 20 March 2020

Contents From the Principal ......................................................................................................... 1 From the Head of Curriculum ................................................................................... 3 From the Head of Pastoral .......................................................................................... 5 From the Head of Science and Mathematics ......................................................... 7 From the Head of Art .................................................................................................. 8 From Head of Health and Physical Education ......................................................... 9 From IT Department .................................................................................................... 11 School News ..................................................................................................................12

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.

From the Principal Mr Gary Racey

As a life-long learner and leader of our school, it is essential that I lead by example in continuing my studies and research in the field of education for the benefit of the entire school community. By doing this I am empowered to dig deeper into various elements of educational methodology that helps direct and guide the School.

One such area that I am currently investigating is the globalisation of education, more specifically the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) and its impact on educations systems. GERM originated in the 1980’s and whilst undergoing a number of manifestations that vary from one education system to another, it holds a few key common features found within education policies since the 1990’s. These common threads are being brought into question by a number of academics who, whilst acknowledging the benefits if not used as primary drivers, note the shortcomings that require addressing as based on evidence of declining performance in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies in systems that employ the GERM. Additionally, those systems that do not employ the GERM as primary drivers e.g.

Finland, Alberta, Singapore and South Korea are seen to be the most successful education systems in the world. This research supports and affirms the direction that St George’s is taking with its teaching and learning philosophy.

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So why is this important for you to know?

Because it informs you that our School is leading from the front in our thinking and is basing our decisions and approach on research-based evidence that is constantly under review. This includes the learning space evolution, environmental focus and 21st century approach to teaching and learning, including delivery of the curriculum.

Indigenous Working Party Thank you to our community for such a positive response regarding our Indigenous Culture Working Party. We had 19 expressions of interest from parents. I look forward to seeing what this group can come up with as we work together on developing this important part of our School.

Mobile Telephone Policy The new Mobile Phone Policy has now been finalised after an extensive consultation and review process and will be shared with the school community next week. The policy will then begin implementation from Monday March 30 for a two-week transitional period, without any consequences to breach of the policy to allow students to get used to the changes. As mentioned previously, the previous policy was already a strong one regardless and it is hoped the slight alterations do not cause any undue stress for our students.

Covid-19 Due to the numerous communications that have been shared with the community regarding COVID-19, I will not refer specifically to this ongoing issue in this newsletter, but reinforce to our parent body that the School and the Anglican Schools Commission are working 24/7 to ensure we St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

are adapting to the relevant advice in order to maximise the safety of our students and staff. I thank the community for your understanding and flexibility as we navigate this unprecedented event. Please continue to monitor your child’s health and do not send them to school if they have any of the symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, shortness of breath and flu like symptoms, including a sore throat, runny nose or cough.

Please see the ‘Head of Curriculum’ notes in this newsletter relating to academic support if online teaching and learning is required depending on how events unfold. Families are reminded that where there is voluntary isolation of children by parents who determine to keep their child at home, staff are not obligated to provide academic work.

Whilst we will support where possible via SEQTA, a full online learning experience is not possible as the focus will be on the students in attendance. If there is a school closure the online learning program will be initiated.

Blessings.

Gary Racey Principal

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From the Head of Curriculum Ms Victoria Kelleher

Novel Coronavirus St George’s Anglican Grammar School is closely monitoring developments surrounding the novel coronavirus outbreak and its impact on our community.

inclusive, personalised teaching. Students can get help accessing resources, through SEQTA and Teams, and access personalised, guided advice on their courses through the support of their classroom teacher either via email, Teams Meetings, Discussions or DM.

All learning and study resources will continue to be available on SEQTA, however, students are encouraged to make themselves familiar with Microsoft Teams over the course of this week. Your child’s This is a rapidly developing situation and it teachers will support them by introducing will continue to be closely monitored by our students to this digital platform, school. St George’s are taking active, demonstrating how teaching and learning precautionary measures to increase our will occur in the event of a school closure. response measures as needed and our highest priority is the safety of our students In addition, here are some valuable tips for and staff. our parents, should our school move to remote learning: Your child’s education is obviously important to us and, for that reason, this Stay healthy and charged: Learning from Monday we engaged in professional home will be a new experience for our development to plan and prepare for remote students. Encourage your son/daughter to learning. In the event of a school closure, we take breaks between lessons to stretch, are confident that we are well prepared to hydrate, or just disconnect. drive student engagement and focused learning while outside of the classroom.

Stay focused: Try to provide a quiet place where they can focus on the lesson with Through SEQTA and Microsoft Teams, we minimal distractions. have a blend of digital technology with flipped classroom models of learning and Encourage communication: It can be difficult teaching, providing course information, to gauge how your child is faring so resources, presentations, online classes, encourage them to communicate with their digital whiteboard and discussions for teacher regularly. Teachers will use SEQTA sharing and collaboration. These DM and Discussion on Teams to create a practices are all supported by SEQTA and safe space for your child to ask questions Teams, which will enable our students to and get the help they need. connect to our learning community. Students will be able to learn at their own pace, participate from home, and benefit from

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St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

International Women’s Day “Feminism isn’t about making women stronger, women are already strong, it’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength” G.D. Anderson.

International Women’s Day, held annually on 8 March, is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. The Equal Opportunity Commission held its Speed Mentoring for International Women’s Day on Friday 6 March and two of our senior students were invited to participate in the event. Kate van Olden,Year 11, and Dejana Matijevic,Year 12, spent the evening mentored by a panel of phenomenal women including Samantha Jenkinson, Christina Mathews, Lacey Flipich, Bianca Sandri, Chloe Constantindes and Sofie de Meyer. Kate and Dejana represented our school marvellously and asked several challenging questions such as: What was instrumental for you in landing your first professional job?

What were the greatest challenges for you as a woman in your chosen field and how did you overcome these challenges?

not only those deemed ‘necessary’. The link to the booking site for these interviews will be sent through to you in a separate communication.

OLNA Students in Years 10, 11 and 12 who were scheduled to sit components of OLNA have now completed OLNA Round 1. The results will be made available for these students from Monday, 4 May 2020.

NAPLAN All schools completing NAPLAN Online are expected to participate in the Coordinated Practice Test (CPT). This practice test is to ensure that CPT reaches the capacity that will be experienced during NAPLAN testing.

Students in Years 7 and 9 will sit this practice test on Monday, 23 March at 9:00 a.m. in order to support NAPLAN testing.

Students will be notified of these practice tests this week.

If you have any further questions, please visit the following link: http://nap.edu.au/ online-assessment/FAQs which provide answers to frequently asked questions about NAPLAN Online.

What do you think the biggest issues are for women in the workplace today and what can I do as a young woman to address them?

Interim Reports Interim Reports will be made available to our St. George’s families on Monday, 30 March. Following the provision of the Interim Report, you will have the opportunity to meet with your child’s teachers at our scheduled Parent/Teacher Interviews on Wednesday, 1 April. You are encouraged to meet with each teacher and

Victoria Kelleher Curriculum Coordinator

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St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

From the Head of Pastoral Mr Hilton Hardman

Gandhi House Charity “On Friday 13 March, the entirety of the St Georges School cohort travelled to Sir James Mitchell Park for the Annual Gandhi House Charity Colour Run. This year, the money raised was donated to the Anglican Schools in Queensland affected by the wildfires. Our Guild members took the early ferry from Elizabeth Quay to place the vibrantly coloured powder around the park to prepare for the exciting event. When the students arrived, the event began! Each year group went for laps around the track whilst the Year 12s threw the colourful, bright flour towards them. All students were laughing and smiling, completely covered from head to toe in all colours of the rainbow. The day was an overall success!�

Maddi Phillips, Gandhi House Captain

The National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and psychological harm.

Approximately one in four Year 4 to Year 9 Australian students (27%) reported being bullied every few weeks or more often (considered to be frequent) in a national study in 2009.

Frequent school bullying was highest among Year 5 (32%) and Year 8 (29%) students.

83% of students who bully others online also bully others in person.

84% of students who were bullied online were also bullied in person.

Peers are present as onlookers in 85% of bullying interactions, and play a central role in the bullying process.

With these facts, bullying is a growing concern in schools and having a proactive approach is crucial in combatting this 5 Edition 2 2020

behaviour. The celebration of this day is one of the many strategies to create awareness around bullying.

On the day students were welcomed with positive messages on their lockers which were handwritten by the student mentors.

During PCG, students took part in creating posters, watching short documentaries and talked about warning signs and what to do if you are being bullied.

The schools notice boards and classrooms were converted into information hubs on the topic. It was exciting to see how the students embraced the day and a huge thanks to the Student Mentors for all of their help.

Hilton Hardman Head of Pastoral

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St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

From the Science and Mathematics Department Ms Charlotte Donovan

Last Friday night 5 exceptional year 11 and 12 students participated in the Have Sum Fun competition run by the Maths Association of Western Australia (MAWA) at Trinity College. The competition consisted on 4 rounds of problems solving questions and a tie breaker round. Students worked hard right to the end; not only did they show their mathematical ability they also showed their teamwork, leadership and organisational skills. Well done James, Mia, Vinnie, Alan and Dustin.

would like to join or consider entering one of the problems of the week presented in room 3.5.

In Science our Year 7’s enjoyed an incursion from Earth Science WA, learning about renewable and non-renewable resources. While other competitions and excursions (including the Science Engineering Challenge) have been cancelled or postponed, rest assured that all teachers are continuing to work on delivering exciting and engaging lessons to our students. Look out for some news on our class activities used to reinforce learning.

This statement was released from MAWA today with respect to the Junior and Intermediate events: MAWA’s priority is the health and safety of staff, volunteers and all those who attend our events and activities.

With that in mind we have decided that it is best to postpone the competitions scheduled for 20 and 21 March until 23 and 24 October 2020 respectively.

Students who had signed up for this event will still be able to compete, later on this year.

In other Mathematics enrichment news, a group of students are working through the Australian Mathematics Trust enrichment stage course and also completing some other puzzles along the way. Anyone is welcome, please see Miss Hewitt if you 7

Charlotte Donovan Head of Science and Mathematics

From the Art Department Ms Carol Wolhnick

The Year 12 Visual Art group visited Perth Institute of Contemporary Art in early March to view the international art collaboration of Laurie Anderson and HsinChien Huang’s work Chalkroom. A captivating artwork of virtual reality where students explored the imaginative realms of contemporary art, music and technological interaction.

‘Created by pioneering artist and musician Laurie Anderson and Taiwanese new media artist Hsin-Chien Huang, Chalkroom is a VR work unlike any other. Instead of the brightly-lit gaming world of most VR, everything is hand drawn, dusty and dark, creating a shadowy, atmospheric world to explore’.

Presented in association with Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Students securing their VR headpieces Year 12 Students: Eva Williams, Genna Price, Sequoya Blythe and Mason Surtee See the excerpt below from the 2020 Festival Program which describes the piece.

‘Step inside an immersive world and take a journey through an enormous structure made of words, drawings and stories. Once you enter this interactive installation you are free to roam and fly.Words sail through the air as emails.They fall into dust.They form and reform’.

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Carol Wohlnick Head of Art St George’s Anglican Grammar School Newsletter

From the Health and Physical Education Department Ms Jodie Scheele

The PE program completed 5 weeks of Swimming at UWA Aquatics Centre and now we are have moved into our second topic of work. Students in Years 7 and 9 have been traveling up the road to Royal Kings Park Tennis Club to engage in the PE Tennis program.

Year 8 travel to UWA to and are completing a Volleyball program while Year 10’s is also at UWA playing Netball. The students are having some fantastic games.

Students are enjoying the new table tennis tables, which are in the Fitness Centre.

The Junior Boys Basketball Team competed in a one-day ACC Championship Basketball Carnival at Bendat Stadium and did very well in their pool. They lost by a few points in the semi final to CBC who went on to win overall. The ACC Staff were very impressed by the level of skill in our team and I commend the boys on the way they conducted themselves on the day.

The NWAS Inter-School teams were gaining momentum with increased participation and some successful results occurring.

Unfortunately, in response to the COVID-19 virus, all ACC sporting fixtures for Term One have been suspended. This includes the cancellation of all Swimming Carnivals. Such a shame as the team have been training all term, putting in many early morning swimming sessions to refine their skills and speed. I commend all ACC Swim Team

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members on their commitment and effort and thank families for getting students to the venue at such early hours.

I wish the community loads of health and wellbeing.

Jodie Scheele Head of Health and Physical Education

From the IT Department Mr Jason Wakefield

Microsoft Teams In a previous newsletter here, I wrote an article about Microsoft Teams.

With all this talk about COVID-19 and the possibility of school online from home, it’s now very important that students become familiar with this app from Microsoft Office 365.

Scroll down the page until you find information under the heading “Computer Rental Agreement”.

The IT department manager will co-sign the form when a computer is ready to go. Once the parent/guardian have received the completed form, the student may come and collect their temporary notebook for the allotted time specified on the agreement.

Battery Recycling

The IT department recycles your household batteries.

Please use this FREE facility to dispose of all your expired It provides that meeting workspace so students batteries (not including car and teachers of the same Team can communiand phone batteries). The bin cate, collaborate and access files, assignments can be found in the IT and OneNote Class Notebooks all from the Manager’s office on level 1. comfort of their own home.

More info on the battery recycling program Spare Computer Loans here.

From time to time computers will fail and require hardware repairs causing the students to Let’s reduce landfill together! go without a notebook for sometimes a couple of weeks.

The School now has the facility to loan out used school Windows notebooks for student use for absolutely no charge.

Should parents require one, please request a loan computer via SEQTA Engage here: https://parent.stgeorges.wa.edu.au/

Jason Wakefield Head of IT

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.

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.

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.

Science Department Request

The Science Department is still after any plastic icecream containers that they could use in the laboratory.

Any donations greatly appreciated.